Tuesday, August 9, 2011

SPC Mailbag - August 9th, 2011

It's been a while since I've brought out the old trusty SPC Mailbag. Well, I intend to rectify this by bringing it out today. With three new questions and three new answers, get ready to have your minds blown! Without further ado let's get to answering your hard-thought queries on the gaming world.

Recently IGN wrote an article saying that Mario and Donkey Kong have not evolved in 25 years. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Leave it to a crappy site like IGN to fish for hits with a flame-baiting article such as that one. I will not link to it because I will not give them the hits they so desperately desire. To say that Mario and Donkey Kong haven't evolved at all in twenty-five years is laughable. Mario went into three-dimensions multiple times. His first was in Super Mario 64 where he showed that 3D gameplay could and did work. Then after a bit of a fumble (to some people) with Super Mario Sunshine that introduced F.L.U.D.D. as his companion for some tight and fun platforming action, he went into space for some anti-gravity gameplay on miniature planets in Super Mario Galaxy. Oh, but that must be revolution and not evolution, right? Wrong.

But IGN's article was mainly focusing on the 2D adventures of Mario, so we have to play by their rules. Well, Mario's latest 2D platforming extravaganza, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, introduced four-player multiplayer gameplay, but somehow that isn't evolutionary enough for the hacks at IGN. Apparently the strategy involved when more than one player is on screen at the same time means nothing to them.


With Donkey Kong he went from throwing barrels down ramps for a living to saving the day from krooked kremlings. His journey with the Kong family spanned multiple titles including Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Donkey Kong 64, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat where the bongo controller was the device used to move DK, no, not evolved at all (sarcasm), DK: King of Swing where DK and Diddy climbed pegs vertically to crush the plans of King K. Rool, and more recently Donkey Kong Country Returns for Wii. I guess that popular saying is true: "You can't spell ignorant without IGN".


The Nintendo 3DS recently dropped in price from around $250 to $170. Did you get one like you were saying you probably would?

Actually, I did. Well, to correct myself, my brother did for me as a combined late/early Christmas/birthday present. I immediately made my Mii which looks something similar to me using the facial recognition software, turned SpotPass and StreetPass on, installed the system update giving me access to the eShop where my Ambassadors message was awaiting me, and downloaded the Pokedex 3D application. Now I'm looking into purchasing some downloadable games as well as a couple of retail releases to fully enjoy my new portable pleasure. Thanks for asking.

While I received a Cosmo Black version,
the Aqua colored 3DS is quite nice, too.

I noticed in your Best Boss Battles in Gaming History Part Two feature that you mentioned that Adult Link could use Deku Nuts to damage Ganon's tail. However, Adult Link cannot hold Deku Nuts. Bad, SuperPhillip! Bad!

Thanks for keeping me honest. I hadn't played Ocarina of Time in quite the while, so my memory was foggy on the final boss encounter. When I had to do the writeup for the confrontation, I used a Youtube video as a refresher into the battle, watching how the encounter unfolded. Unfortunately, the player must have used a glitch to enable him to use Deku Nuts in the battle, and I just plain dumb forgot that Adult Link couldn't possibly use this otherwise seemingly useless item. That's my excuse anyway.


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Time to seal up the SPC Mailbag for this go around. If you have a question or comment that you can't wait to get off your chest, then send me a comment or e-mail. Perhaps your words will be read by yours truly in an upcoming edition of the SPC Mailbag!

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