Metroid: Other M

I suppose since I gave my thoughts on one of the most well loved of the Metroid series, I should say a little something about the most controversial: Metroid: Other M.

Before I even got the game, the word was out: this game sucks. At best it was a disappointment. That's what everyone seemed to be saying, anyway. Sure, there was a voice poking through every now and again saying it was actually pretty good, but they would get shot down by the more vocal "It Sucks!" group. I got the game anyways, figuring "It's Metroid. It can't be that bad."

And you know what, it really wasn't. Was it the great return to Super Metroid gameplay style Wii fun I was hoping for? The kind of thing that complemented Super Metroid the way New Super Mario Bros Wii complemented those early Mario platformers? No. In fact, there's a lot annoying with Other M. I would read all the gripes about it and think, "That's a good point," and nod my head at what everyone was saying.

Yet I kept coming back to it, wanting to play it. I actually liked the story. The story was interesting and kept me staying with it to see what would happen. The EXECUTION of the story was the flaw. The melodramatics, yeah, that was a problem. The way the story handcuffed the open exploration that Metroid was known for, that hurt the game. The long cut scenes when I just wanted to blast away at weird alien lifeforms annoyed. I would argue that of all those flaws, the worst one was the fact that, as I alluded to, the story is told in such a way that it drives the game play to where it needs to go to keep the story flowing. That door you could go down and explore off the beaten path in previous Metroid games? Locked. Previous pathways are taken away from you as the story keeps pushing you in the direction it needs you to go to keep its beats going. This is where the Prime games were brilliant, you discovered the story as you went along, whereas Other M forces it down your throat.

The gameplay itself, I don't have much of a problem with. You run, jump and shoot and it feels natural enough. It depends on if you like the auto aim mechanic and I didn't mind it too much. If it took away my ability to shoot the thing that posed the most danger, it would be a problem, but I didn't find that to happen very much, if at all. It was a bit awkward to go from first person to third person to shoot missiles. The "concentrate" to restore your missiles and health was lame.

The boss fights were challenging, but after the majesty of the Prime boss fights, they felt a little lacking. The game does hold your hand quite a bit, letting you know where all hidden objects are.

Look, I thought the game was fun. I don't regret picking it up and it kept my interest throughout the run time of the major story mode. It's just not up to Metroid standards. I do appreciate that something different was tried and I think they came close to recapturing the magic. Metroid Prime was a giant departure from the side scrolling Metroids of yore, but it still had that same magic.

In the end, the thing that keeps the game down is the fact that it got away from the fundamentals of Metroid gameplay: the isolated open world exploration. Yes, in the end when you're done with the story, the world opens up for exploration, but it's too little, too late.

It's a fun game that people are probably too hard on, but that's because they expect the best from the franchise, and this game did not deliver "the best". Instead of recapturing the glory of Super Metroid, it plays more like a watered down Metroid Fusion (and I liked Fusion) with a character backstory a lot of people didn't want.

Super Mario Galaxy 2: Just as Fun as the First Blast Into Space

Well folks, Mario's back to his planet hopping ways that we first saw in the original Super Mario Galaxy. Once again the Princess gets whisked away by a Galactus sized King Bowser (this gal gets captured more than Nancy Drew) and Mario is off to save her. Storyline wise, I'm kind of confused as if this is supposed to have anyting to do with the first one at all. But this is Mario, let's not let something as trivial as "storytelling" get in the way of a good time.

This game is just as much a hoot as the first. The level design is nothing short of amazing. The boss battles are probably even more fun and imaginative than the first one as well. And I found those original battles full of both. I would say that I am very fond of the drill that shows up early in the game, I thought that was neat. The old powerups are all back, including a couple of new ones, including the neat-o cloud Mario and the insanely awesome rock Mario. I could still probably go through an entire game without being Bee Mario and and not lose a lot of sleep over it. And I don't know if its the fact that I'm not Super Gamer Man, but I still have a bit of trouble with the direction of the fireballs when I'm wearing Mario's patented White and Red Fireball Suit.

And let us not neglect our little buddy Yoshi, back after being absent in the first Galaxy Game. Yoshi, as always, is a helpful little dinosaur and I don't think I'll ever not get a kick out of watching him eat a red pepper. Go, Yoshi, Go!

If there's one nitpick I have, and yes, I realize its only a nitpick, it is the new World Map. I kind of miss the whole Hub World idea from the previous 3D Mario titles. Now we've gone back to Side-Scrollin' Mario's World Map where we go along a line til we get to the planet we must conquer next. Of course there are splits in the road, so you do get choices, but it just kind of loses that little feeling of freedom a hub world gives you. Like I said, just a nitpick really and has nothing whatsoever to do with the fun factor of actually playing these deeply imaginative and super-designed levels.

If Mario ever decides to take another trip out into the galaxy, I won't hesitate to follow him, even if he waits for the Wii U (which is more likely).

New Super Mario Bros Wii

Fess up time, I've had this game for a while. It's one of the very, very, very few games I bought within the first couple of months of release. But I'm not playing much new right now, so the next couple of posts will be on games that I've already played a while ago. So here are my thoughts on New Super Mario Bros Wii...

Nostalgia can take you so far,  but the sheer fun is what brings it home. Sure, playing this game took me back to playing the original NES games when I was a wee lad; same gameplay, ect, but I'm almost positive that I would find New Super Mario Bros. Wii a blast if I'd never had any inkling of what the plumbing siblings from Brooklyn were all about. Make no mistake, Mario has been a fixture in gaming for eons and its not because of the mustache (though let's be honest, the mustache doesn't hurt), it's because they are consistently top quality games. This one is no different. From the vibrant graphics and colors to the familiar and effective gameplay, this game is very addictive. The level design is most excellent as I entered each world wondering what other kind of wacky situations the game designers could possibly get the Mario Bros. and their Toad pals into and was never let down. Yes, there are difficult levels. It might take a few frustrating tries to get some levels figured out, but once you do and conquer that bad boy, it is immensely satisfying. This is simply the Mario Way.

Try activating this lever when the wife keeps accidentally leaping on it first.

And multiplayer, ah yes, multiplayer. What a wonderful creation that has been. There's nothing more fun than sitting down with a buddy and plowing through a rousing game of Mario Bros. And at the same time, there's nothing more frustrating than sitting down with a buddy (or significant other) and dying your way through Mario Bros. Just a word to the wise; if you head into a game with someone with a few less years of experience at the joystick, go with patience. Loads of patience. I'd hate to see good marriages break up over a mustached plumber in red overalls. To be fair though, once I changed my mindset from "go in to win!" to "let's just have some fun", playing with the wife was indeed fun.

It's cool that the game lets you use the controller like an old school NES controller, but this too can have frustrations. Maybe I'm just not as nimble with the fingers as I used to be or I've grown more accustomed to analog sticks, but the D-Pad feels a little small and it can be annoying when trying to hit the "down" button and going sideways or vice-versa. Just a minor quibble though that doesn't take away from the fact that this game is just sheer fun for the whole family.

How it compares to other modern Mario games just varies on your mileage, I suppose. I think I may find Mario Galaxy a bit more fun, but the wife definitely prefers good ol' Side Scroller Mario. In the end, for me, just give me a fun game with that crazy plumber in the tripped out Mushroom Kingdom, and I'm sure I can find a reason to play.

A Little Bit About Me

Just a little info, so you know where I'm coming from, gaming wise. When I was but a wee lad an even wee-er cousin of mine would come down and visit the family for the summer. And one summer he brought forth the Nintendo Entertainment System. Much Mario was played that summer. Eventually, I got one for Christmas with a couple of games (I believe Mario 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). There was much rejoicing. Zelda and Metroid was played and enjoyed. Tetris came along and all the adults would steal our system away from us to play that.

The Super Nintendo came around about the time I was heading into Junior High or so and I remember wanting it so bad. We had to sell our NES, but I didn't care if it meant getting an even bigger and better version of it. With Super Mario World, to boot. The graphics blew me away. Our family never had a lot, but I had friends and cousins that had some cool games. Games like A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Super Metroid and Super Mario RPG were played and beat without ever owning them.

I never put much stock into other systems, understand, me and all my friends were about the Big N. So, Nintendo 64 comes out and it's my first big time purchase with my own cash made by myself working at a real job. I was blown to smithereens by Mario 64. Ocarina of Time eventually made it's way into my hands and I thought it couldn't get much better. I was a huge Bond fan, especially of the movie GoldenEye, the first one I saw on a big screen. I was anxious to get that game before I even realized it was gonna be the game changer it was. Needless to say, multiplayer was played and friends and family had great times executing one another. It was about the time I beat the mission part of the game when we got our first computer with internet access.

I barely touched my 64 after that. This is where I fell away. I pretty much missed the Gamecube. Until one day my friend got himself a Wii and sold me his Gamecube real cheap. Then it started again. Metroid. Mario. Zelda. Played them all and the love came back. I was eventually able to scrounge up a Wii a couple of years ago and I thnik I might play it more than when I was a kid. Actually, that's probably not accurate, what with a full time job and all. Plus raising kids. Scratch that, I don't play it as much as then, but I'm probably into it as much as I was back then.

Moral of the story is, I went away and the Wii, and to a lesser extent, my later experience with the Gamecube brought me back and this little blog is my way of chronicling my catching up.

Twilight Princess

So I borrowed Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess somewhere like a year or so ago and got a good way through it before I had to return it.  I was into it, a big Zelda fan and all, but I kinda felt it was trying too hard to recapture Ocarina of Time magic at some points.  After Wind Waker had the audacity to look like a cartoon, go and flood Hyrule and changed up the thing a bit while keeping the core of what Zelda was and being very exciting in the process, I felt this one kind of took a step back. That aside, I enjoyed my time with it and was hoping to be able to finish it.

Not too long ago, the wife found a copy for me on Craigslist for about 15 bucks and it was a near mint beaut.  So I've put it in and began playing it again.  My initial fears of it being OOT redux went to the back of my mind as I just re- immersed myself in the Zelda experience.  Man, there's just nothing like it; getting sucked into the world of Hyrule and exploring your way around it.  Before, I was all into getting as much as the story done as I could and now, I don't want it to end.  I've stopped to smell the roses.   I've begun putting the story off and seeing what surprises await me in the corners of the kingdom.  I've never been much of a complete-ist, always just satisfied beating the story part of the game.  Sure, I'd like to get as much as I can before I ended the story, but it was no big deal for me to complete it at 100%, and honestly, it's still not.

But now I've made it to the City in the Sky and I feel the adventure beginning to dwindle down and I find myself doing any small task just to keep the thing going.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that as much as I do feel like it's trying a little too hard to go back to the Ocarina well, any game that makes me want to postpone finishing the storyline is not one to be ignored.  It is still Zelda, after all, and I have learned never to take that for granted.

Bring on Skyward Sword, baby.

No More Heroes

So I borrowed this little dandy of a game from someone and started playing yesterday. I basically have only played the first level, getting to and defeating the first boss of the game. For those that don't know, No More Heroes is a game of assassins. You play as Travis Touchdown, a bit of a modern gaming dude who needed some cash, so he killed a guy for money and then found out that guy was the number 11 Assassin in the world, making you the number 11 Assassin in the world. After finding out this bit of info, he decided, quite logically, of course, that he would like to be Numero Uno. So he's off to whack number 10 and so on and so forth. Oh, and he's armed with a sword that can only be described as a lightsaber.

That's the gist of the story and, as I mentioned, I've only played the first little bit. The game is definitely for the mature audience, with it's over the top violence and explicit language. In fact, it reminds me a little of another game I've played in the recent past, Madworld. Now, there are differences in the two games, for sure. For one thing, in Madworld, you wield a chainsaw, not a lightsaber. The point is, that while I enjoyed Madworld at first, after the first couple of levels, the spectacle of the hardcore violence and over the top-ness of it all wore off and it became a very repetitive game to me. I hope this doesn't happen with No More Heroes, as I'm enjoying what I've played of it, but I can feel the similarities in the two. Specifically, the fact that it appears to be a lot of button mashing; you hit the A button over and over again til you can swing the Wii remote to execute a sweet finishing move. It's fun now, but will it still be fun three levels from now? I guess we'll see. I hear that there are things to be able to do in between missions to keep it a little fresh, so that might help.

Overall, though, I am enjoying the game. The stylized graphics are great for the Wii and there is something to be said about swinging that Wii remote to finish off your foes. The motion controls of the ol' 'Mote seems to respond pretty well to what you wanna do. It feels like the game could get addicting. Still, it's too early to tell what I really think about it, but I'm cautiously hopeful.

More Mario Kart Wii Online

On further review, screw Mario Kart online.