Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@LtSarge Honestly, I’d prefer Prime 4 to slow the pace right down. The adventure elements are what I love about the Prime games and I wouldn’t want it to lose the isolation and atmosphere in favour of more action. I love the way bosses feel like puzzles instead of just shooting missiles in their face over and over.

@nessisonett I agree but I also feel like it's a missed opportunity to not have more action in a Metroid game, even if it's Prime. After all, Samus is supposed to be this badass bounty hunter but it doesn't feel like that when all the battles are fairly straight-forward. If the developers can find a good balance between action and puzzle-solving/atmosphere then that would be great.

It's looking like the online structure in Mario Party Superstars will actually be really good. The game saves after each turn and even if someone disconnects, the game will still keep going as the player gets replaced by a CPU. Then that person can rejoin and resume playing at the next turn.

This is honestly looking to become one of the best Mario Party games ever, I genuinely can't wait for tomorrow.

Trying to get my mum to play Ocarina of Time did not end well.

“The graphics are shocking and it controls like arse”

I’ve created a monster. Oh well, back to Arkham City.

Got Mario Party in the mail today, played one game and man this game is so brutal compared to Super Mario Party. You can easily get screwed over, lol. But I'm loving it, it's pure classic Mario Party and I can't wait to play it online with my friends.

I also like how fast-paced the game is, not to mention that the mini-games are a good mix of skill and luck.

@Kidfried I first played it on GameCube so I do have a soft spot for that. 3D’s great though. Best experience is emulator for me just because you can add D-Pad shortcuts for changing boots and play Rando.

@nessisonett "The graphics are shocking and it controls like arse" basically describes 90%+ of the N64's library.

For my part, I first experienced the game on 3DS, so I have no nostalgia for the N64 version. It was an... appalling downgrade when I first played the GC port of the N64 version.

I understand these are emulated versions of the original games, but I'll never fully understand why Nintendo insists on keeping the definitive versions of some of their N64 classics tethered to handhelds. Super Mario 64 DS, OoT3D, MM3D (it's the best version; I don't care if Nerrel makes hour long videos about slight changes to the in-game movement), Star Fox 64 3D, etc.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-10-30-goldeneye-007-n...

Would be really cool to see Goldeneye re-released on Switch Online with online multiplayer.

@Kidfried In terms of that launch game ‘wow’ factor, Super Mario 64 probably wins. I prefer World as a game for sure but it’s not that much of a step up from SMB3 in scope. Tetris is also fantastic but honestly, it’s nothing that you wouldn’t think could fit on a handheld. Super Mario 64 was a huge leap up and did a lot right for early 3D games. It might not have aged magnificently but if you judge launch games based on the impact they made on release then I could absolutely understand it being the best launch game.

BotW is probably my all-time favorite launch title to date, although SM64 is probably the most impressive game for its time period. Granted, it's rough as hell today, but going back and seeing what the competition was doing with their early 3D games, which usually came years after SM64... yeesh. That level of freedom of movement must have been mind-blowing at the time (I wouldn't know; I was a Sega and Playstation kid).

@nessisonett Aside from the overworld design, I'd argue SMB3 is the better game in many ways. And, if we're talking SNES platformers, Yoshi's Island > SMW every time.

@Ralizah Super Mario Bros 3 is one of those games that eludes me. I just don’t really get that much enjoyment from it at all. Maybe I’ll need to play the All-Stars version and see if I prefer that but yeah, the original didn’t gel with me at all.

@nessisonett That's basically how I am with SMW. NEVER understood the love for the game. Probably doesn't help that I'd never even played the game until the release of the Wii, and even then never bothered completing it until a few years ago. Ditto with SM64, although the legacy of that game is much clearer to me, like I said, when you look at other games that were around at the time. For an early 3D game, it's super impressive.

Something about the aesthetics of the All-Stars versions of the NES trilogy really bugs me, for some reason. Can't quite put my finger on it.

So I've played about six hours of Mario Party Superstars and as a whole, I don't think this is the ultimate Mario Party game that will replace Super Mario Party for me. Superstars definitely has much better mini-games than SMP, but it's not as strategic as SMP and therefore not as interesting to play. The fact that you could get different dice, allies and common items like golden pipes made SMP way more strategic and fun to play than Superstars. But as previously mentioned, the mini-games aren't as good and SMP is nowhere near as brutal as Superstars, which is one aspect that does make things more fun I'll admit.

But yeah, I think going forward I'll be switching between these two games as they both have different things to offer and complement each other quite nicely. Although the online experience is definitely much better on Superstars.

@LtSarge Question: my issue with recent Mario Party games is how heavily they've leaned on weird gimmicks that change the feel of the games. Like recent ones where everybody rode around in a car together, and I believe Super Mario Party is reliant on joycons. Is this more of a traditional Mario Party experience that people can play together with normal controllers?

@Ralizah Oh yeah, absolutely. In fact, Superstars is basically a collection of boards and mini-games from past Mario Party titles. The boards are a selection from the N64 games, while the mini-games have been handpicked from all the mainline entries. So they are all controlled with normal controls and there are no gimmicks whatsoever. That's actually another advantage Superstars has over Super Mario Party, even though I personally really liked the motion-controlled mini-games but I'm well aware that most people don't like that stuff.

@Ralizah @LtSarge I think I’d take motion controls over destroying my analogue stick!

@LtSarge @nessisonett If I get it, I wouldn't be playing it on my own. It'd be to play with family members occasionally. And, in that scenario, I want something simple, basic, and fun that won't cause any confusion or frustration. Also, normal controls expands the pool of available controller drastically, since I have an adapter that allows the use of the Wii U Pro and PS4 controllers in games.

Thanks for the concise answer, LtSarge!

@Ralizah I do feel like Mario Party Superstars is definitely more simple than Super Mario Party. For example, you don't have to think about choosing between different dice. Moreover, the mini-games have very simple controls. Some only use the control stick to move around, some use the A and B buttons as well, then there are others where you just choose options with the control stick or simply mash the same button for a certain amount of time. On top of this, before you start a mini-game, you'll be able to practice it in real-time (without any loading screens) and learn how to play it before readying up. On the other hand, I've played SMP with friends who were annoyed by some of the mini-games that use motion controls as they just couldn't understand how to properly play the mini-games. So yeah, I definitely think Superstars is the way to go for a more simple experience.

I started a new island in New Horizons in time for the update. Found a gold nugget on Day 2 so that should give me a good head start on paying off the first loan!

@nessisonett Yeah, I'm gonna be restarting my island on a Switch Lite so I can engage with the year and a half of updates I missed out on by not playing.

It'll be nice having everything available now. Was never a huge fan of this title's live service game approach.

@LtSarge Thanks, that definitely seals my decision.