Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

I personally find Nintendo games to be consistent, but generally well made games you could play repeatedly, and a good palette cleanser with my current game lineup. Right now I tend to go through an open world game, an RPG, and a fighting game to wind down (As much as my competitive self can, anyway) from both. With that in mind, playing something like Super Mario Bros. 2 is a relief. Something I find enjoyable and not too taxing on my brain. Not to mention how AAA games tend to be samey themselves, currently with it's open world, "mature" story, look-at-the-graphics love affairs, seeing Nintendo still hitting sales charts tend to be a sign of confidence for me, knowing that the old hands aren't going anywhere.

This carries on to a thought I just had: While Sony and Microsoft take more risks, some that might not be appealing to gamers, Nintendo can be seen as the steady hand of gaming. Yeah, making a hybrid system was a risk in of itself, but they've kept the quality high as far as I can tell. It's great to know that what you're getting is a good product. Yeah, I imagine if you only or mostly play Nintendo games, it can get stale, but if you're a multiplatform gamer, it's probably more a comfortable feeling. I also understand that the greatest games tend to challenge the medium or bring something we've never seen before, but that consistency of making a quality title, even if it's familiar, is something I value just as much. Many of my favorite games don't push the medium much, they're just good games that I love to play over and over.

I dunno if I can really say I'm much of a Nintendo fan. Super Mario World was my first game ever, I've had every handheld since the Game Boy Color, had a Wii, but for multiple reasons I've probably explained before, there was a lot of Nintendo I missed out on, and PlayStation was always my system of choice. But I can't personally deny any value they have.

@kyleforrester87 @Ralizah @DerMeister What's even stranger putting the boot in over Nintendo. I have been watching an in depth deconstruction of a Mario 64 speed run (which is the most complicated thing I have ever watched Mario moves through dimensions literally) and the blind Mario maker speed runs from games done quick over the last couple of days.

Great watch.

@Kyleforrester87 if that's your opinion then that's cool, I can't comment on platformers which admittedly Nintendo are king of because I don't like them but like I said the witcher 3 is the greatest open world game I've played and I don't feel Nintendo have the scope or ability to be able to make a game like that. I absolutely loved occarina of time back in the day but BOTW was bland and boring in my opinion but then again it's universally loved so I would agree that it is my tastes that may be the problem. I'm not saying Nintendo don't make good games just that I don't enjoy them

I'm curious as to how you found this experience? (Especially considering that, to this day, SMW is considered the pinacle of 2D Mario).

Personally, it remains my favourite 2D Mario. I didn't play it until 2003 or so (althought, despite it being over a decade old at the time it was still Mario's most modern 2D adventure). SMB3, although always considered a contender for best 2D Mario, never felt quite the same for me - it was just that little bit too archaic relative to SMW.

@Buizel I actually think every 2d Mario game is great, bar the one on the Game boy. When you see the stuff churned out on Mario maker you know the series has reached its climax with the community making the levels. It can't get any better its probably why they decided to finally make Mario maker in the first place.

@Buizel

I don't like it. The relative lack of power-ups compared to SMB3 always bothered me. I found the dinky SNES music and sprites very weird. I don't like the feel of the platforming. The cape feels like a total downgrade from the Super Leaf. And it introduced Ghost Houses to the series, which are my least favorite set of levels in any Mario game.

My opinions on Mario games are kind of unusual, though. I found Mario 64 to be a thoroughly miserable experience for a variety of reasons. I actually really loved Sunshine and consider it to be the strongest of the more exploratory Mario games. And I consider NSMBU and NSMB2 to be the second and third best 2D platformers in the series after the classic SMB3.

@Ralizah I always felt SMB3 was better then SMW. Yeah SMW looks prettier unless you compare it to the All-star version of SMB3 but SMB3 just played better. The variety of powerups not to mention the Airships made it feel special at the end of a world rather then always being a castle.

I use to get into arguments on the playground on which was better 3 or World lol.

@Tasuki Yeah, SMB3 is a masterpiece. One of my favorite NES games (alongside the original Contra). Some people don't like the more controlled jumps, but the platforming and physics in this game always felt really good to me.

@Ralizah here is an unpopular Super Mario opinion for you, Super Mario Bros 2 is great and Super Mario 3D world is better than Super Mario 64

(fun fact did you know that originally Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to make the Japanese Mario 2 a game based around lifting and stacking objects, and scrolling the screen upward — a design too complex for the Famicom hardware and so it was postponed in favor of a quicker upgrade to the original Super Mario Bros they which was released as Super Mario Bros 2 in Japan (the Lost Levels over here) he then turned that concept into Doki Doki Panic which was then rebranded into Super Mario Bros 2 in the west, so the version of Super Mario Bros 2 we got is IN fact what they was originally going to do so you could say it IS the TRUE SMB2)

@themcnoisy Which Gameboy game? What I really appreciate about Super Mario Land 1 and 2 is that they're very much unique - SML with it's culturally-inspired setting and SML2 with it's very unique zones. That said, SML in particular has aged very poorly.

@Ralizah That's interesting. One reason I prefer SMW is because of the power ups. I prefer a smaller number of more versatile / useful powerups to an expansive set myself (can't stand, for example, the frog suit). And the cape, despite being less intuitive, always felt more satisfying to use once I'd learnt it. I'm with you on the Ghost Houses though.

When did you first play SM64? I had fond memories of it as a kid, but I sometimes wish I never went back to play it as a teen/adult because I don't believe it to have aged well at all (and I agree that Sunshine is a far superior experience).

@FullbringIchigo I love Super Mario Bros 2.

@FullbringIchigo Oh yeah, I absolutely enjoy both of those games more. SMB2 is... well, I'm not sure it scratches the Mario itch, but it's a neat platformer in its own right, and I always enjoyed the innovative system where each of the characters had their unique ability. And, of course, it's the first time that we get a playable Princess Peach, so surely it deserves credit for abandoning the reliance on victimizing her so early in the series!

Super Mario 3D World is a lot of fun. Lots of cool ideas, and I appreciate how they evolved the scope of 3D Land in such a way that it felt like a game that belonged on a home console. The game is just exploding with creativity.

3D Land is pretty great in its own right, too. The level design is more focused than 3D World, the way it utilized the system's stereoscopic 3D was great, and it's one of the few games I sat down and 100%ed, from beginning to end, without stopping. I actually think I prefer it to 3D World in many respects.

@Buizel Around the same time I played SMW. It was the period after the 3DS turned me into a Nintendo fan where I was actively seeking out their older games. So I don't get the benefit of nostalgia. And yes, the game has NOT aged well. The in-game camera is borderline schizophrenic, Mario's physics are weirdly slippery, the levels feel barren compared to every other 3D Mario, and, even for an N64 game, it's ugly as sin.

The N64 is my least favorite Nintendo console, and it has my least favorite set of Nintendo first-party titles (I actually really like Majora's Mask and Star Fox 64. but the 3DS remakes make the originals pointless to me, imo).

@Ralizah i also really like the 4 player co-op 3D World has, the whole family can get involved then and it's loads of fun

I find the Metroidvania style of game construction annoying. I don’t understand the appeal. And now every game is adopting some form of Metroidvania map outlays. 3-D Metroidvanias are a little better, and I usually do fine with those if the rest of the gameplay is good, but the 2-D Metroidvanias are maddening and, frankly... boring.

I prefer Black Desert over ESO. I used to like ESO before they changed it to all monsters are the same level as you. I know you can eventually level up past them, but then it becomes more group heavy I found and I'm the more rare solo MMO player. It also may be from my Everquest days or dice rolling days of D&D. There is something about going back to an area you used to struggle in and simply annihilate everything. Maybe Black Desert will taper off, but for now it is far superior for me to ESO.

@Th3solution I agree with you on that one, absolutely.

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As for one of my own, well... over the past couple weeks, I've come to realise that PC gaming isn't the hideous nightmare I thought it was. It still isn't ideal, and a big part of my newfound warmth towards it is because I'm picking older, more nostalgic games which I know my PC can run without issue, but I feared it would be much, much worse than what I've experienced thusfar.

So yeah, PC gaming doesn't suck.

@RogerRoger lol Thank you for that.

So many console gamers act like PC gaming is this massive, complex hassle when, in reality, it's simpler than ever to get into. Really, the worst part is installing your video card drivers. After that, it's pretty easy to just... play stuff. I never have issues with my games. And even though old games can be a pain, services such as GOG help to make them for more accessible on modern systems.

It's brilliant, really: there's no defined generations, you can make one as powerful as your budget allows, buying the right components on sale can net you a pretty decent computer that'll last you for a generation on high/ultra settings for under a thousand dollars, and the sheer amount of software available to play is staggering.

And now that Steam is putting so much effort into supporting various console controllers, you don't even have to worry about playing with a controller you don't like. Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo controllers are all equally viable for the majority of modern games now.

@Ralizah You're very welcome.

I will admit, my biggest problem was trying to get a CD-ROM from 1999 working on this modern machine. Everything else since (now that I know where my monitor's resolution scale settings are) has been pretty much the same amount of effort as making a cup of coffee whilst you wait for a PS4 game's Day One patch to download. I didn't even have to do anything with my "video card drivers" (whatever they are... wait, I might know what that is, actually, and they're a semi-regular auto-update anyway).

There are a couple bits that still frustrate me (taking a screencap in some games is a breeze, but others running at a higher resolution will freeze and sometimes mess up the moment) coming from a "one size fits all" console background, but it's been worth it thusfar.

I'll always get multi-platform new releases on console; that's just where I'm most comfortable, but for checking out some lost gems of yesteryear, I'm okay with being a PC gamer.

Doubt I'll ever use Steam, though, but thanks for the controller tip all the same!

Unpopular Opinion: the Halo series is over rated, now i have played them and i did enjoy them but i just don't think they are the bastions of FPS games that people make them out to be and certainly NOT a console seller

I agree with IGN's much mocked comment about Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire having too much water.

The wild pokemon in the sea routes are mostly water types, and trainers there are mostly swimmers with water type pokemon. So overall there's a lot of battling with water type pokemon, which gets repetitive. It's even worse with Alpha Sapphire, as the baddies Team Aqua specialise in water types.

@KratosMD the only thing MS seem to give any attention to right now is game pass