Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Ralizah No this is actually the very first Dragon Quest game to come to Xbox at all

It's probably why they made a big deal about it during the Series X Games Showcase thing in June

I've played the first two Shantae games. The original Shantae was very good, though it's worth bearing in mind that it was a Game Boy Color game. Whether someone getting into it today will be as keen on it I do not know. Shantae: Risky's Revenge felt a bit underwhelming to me.

I want to play the others at some point, but haven't gotten round to them yet.

It feels like the stars are aligning for Crash Bandicoot being announced today as the new Smash fighter. He's been heavily requested since the days of the Smash ballot, and he's been one of the most consistently rumored characters to appear even dating back to the first Fighters Pass. I also think that given his new game comes out tomorrow, and we've had two back to back first party characters, it just feels right.

If that happens, I think we can just straight up call Smash Ultimate a PS All Stars sequel given how many characters synonymous with Sony this game already has.

Been playing Sunshine, and thank God the controls & camera are so much better than 64 (the camera can still get stuck on things, but nowhere near as bad as the previous game).

It does seem to be a more difficult game at the outset though, especially those FLUDD-less levels (which I believe are mandatory? I know you have to beat every world's Shadow Mario encounter, and I had to clear two FLUDD-less levels in Bianco Hills before it's Shadow Mario mission), the second one I died on at least 10 times before clearing it (those rotating cube platforms you have to ride are devious, lol).

Absolutely gorgeous game though, and the worlds seem to be absolutely dense with organically laid out platform elements (scaling up the windmills in Bianco Hills and looking down at everything down below is seriously impressive).

@RR529 The weird thing is that plenty of prefer thing 64 controls better and has a better camera than Sunshine! Madness I say.

For the FLUDD-less levels, yeah, they can be tough. Though I think they are more forgiving than you may think. Those cubes for example, Mario can walk on them, as long as the side he's walking on is not on a 90 degree angle. So you can walk on pretty steep slopes. But just like 64, there are instances where it doesn't work, sometimes a small incline is enough to cause Mario to slide. So it's not always very consistent.

Pretty happy with Steve being in Smash, Minecraft deserves representation due to sheer brand power. The stage is cool, glad we get some Smash OST remixes and seeing the ‘true Nintendo fans’ wetting their nappies because ‘next we’ll have Fortnite’ is utterly hilarious. People just pretend Minecraft is bad for some reason.

@Kidfried I feel the exact opposite. The self imposed restriction of having everything take place on a tropical island was a good choice. The levels are still very distinct, but share a common theme. It's something I can appreciate more than 64 or Galaxy, where every level can be whatever, because they may as well exist in alternate dimensions. It definitely requires more creativity, and it feels less video-gamey as a result. It's not the typical Mario tropes: ''Here's a bland plains world, a desert world, a water level, and a fire level. Have fun.''

This is literally the happiest I've been for a character announcement since Joker

I'm red in the ***** face from how happy I am

@Kidfried It’s more that if they’re going to be adding a third party character, it stands to reason that they’d be choosing from the very biggest of properties. Nintendo characters, sure, niche characters are fun but when they’re adding third party characters, there’s just no way they’d be adding someone like a Disgaea character since the very nature of DLC is to make it appeal in order to sell on its individual merits. If you look at the ones in Smash 4, you had characters like Ryu, Bayonetta and Cloud, who’d absolutely sell on their brand recognition and fame. This is just that.

@Kidfried I’d kill for a Zack & Wiki sequel that took advantage of the Joy-Cons hardware.

I can understand the inclusion of Minecraft, it's just not personally a series I'm interested in (I know that the art style is probably iconic to the newest generation of gamers, but I just find it to be endlessly dull & lifeless).

At least it's out of the way and we have 4 more characters coming (hoping for Ryu Hayabusa, Sora, Rex with Pyra/Mythra, and maybe Crash? Not a big Crash fan, but either him or Spyro would be welcome to complete the 90's Nintendo, SEGA, Sony rivalry).

I have a feeling Sora was the rumoured character who fell through though. I'd be happy with most other asked for characters like Dante, Geno, Paper Mario, & the like.

@Kidfried @nessisonett I'd buy a new Zack & Wiki instantly!

Minecraft Steve isn't a character that I'm interested to play as. Great for the many Minecraft fans though.

Guess I'll continue to wait, and see whether the next character will convince me to get the second fighter pass.

@RR529 I reckon the Sora thing’s complicated due to Disney. The Disney legal side is pretty crazy and you can’t really have Sora and not have any Disney presence in the stage, music or Sora’s Final Smash.

@nessisonett, yeah, if he was ever considered it would most definitely be the Disney connection keeping him out (whether it be Nintendo/Sakurai being really aggressive with the "game character only" rule, even applying it to things like Spirits or the fact that the Kingdom Key has a Mickey emblem as it's Keychain, Disney just outright refusing for some esoteric reason, or some combination of both).

Apparently the Dissidia games were originally conceived as a Kingdom Hearts spinoff, but Disney said no as they had an aversion to it being a fighting game. If true that probably doesn't bode well for Sora in Smash.

Him being referred to as ‘Minecraft Steve’ is already getting on my nerves. Sounds like a salesman in a back alley, like ‘Porno Phil’ or ‘Dodgy Gear Dave’.

I love how dynamic all the Smash Ultimate character renders are, and there's just Steve/Alex who are like

standing

Some random block guy from Minecraft is included, but no sign of Rayman, Spyro, or Crash.

I feel like if brand power was the primary thing that gets someone a Smash rep, then inclusions like DQ Hero, Joker, and about a million of the Fire Emblem characters don't really belong.

@Ralizah Dragon Quest is crazy huge in Japan compared to the West though, Hero probably makes more sense there. For a Western third-party that isn’t Fortnite, this is probably the smartest choice.

I don't really like Steve's inclusion that much because he's not really a character. He never speaks or displays any sort of personality. So he's just kinda whatever, for me.