The next Legend of Zelda adventure is due out next month, and here's a sneak peek at the North American commercial before it's set to air. It's rather artistic, really reminiscent of the Gamecube era line of commercials. I really dig it. What do you think?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS) Review
Yesterday was a brand-new retro review for Diddy Kong Racing. Today we're looking at the remake on the DS with an absolutely terrible review. One of my first reviews, here's Diddy Kong Racing DS for the Sony PSP. C'mon. It's for the DS, of course.
Voices have been given the boot for text.
Weird choice at first but with how bad the in-game voices are,
maybe that's a good thing.
It's not to say the game is bad. It's a far distance away from bad, but some of the design choices with this game makes me wonder if Rare is just trying to screw with their classic games to get revenge on Nintendo for selling them. For one, Rare opted to use gimmicky options to start off each race. In a car, you have to rub the bottom screen up and down repeatedly to gain speed. In a hovercraft you need to blow into the microphone. Hopefully no one playing has asthma. Finally, a quick circling of the stylus to the bottom screen starts off the plane. These ways to boost are simply gimmicks and hinder the experience. I'm blowing into the mic, and then I have to quickly raise up and begin the race? Whaaaaaaat?!
Additionally, silver coin challenges have been removed from adventure mode replaced by touch challenges. These are mostly unresponsive, needing you to drag the screen to look in different directions, trying to grab coins and pop balloons simultaneously. It's just a jumbled mess. A handful of the boss touch challenges require you to draw lines to guide your racer to the finish. Completely terrible controls and design choices. Thankfully the latter chore isn't required to complete the game. Furthermore, a new mode called T.T.'s Wish allows players to draw their own tracks-- albeit very simplistic tracks.
This game won't win any graphical awards.
Graphically the game looks a little grainy compared to its big brother.
Audio-wise the voices have changed drastically. Some are ear-curdling to listen to quite honestly. David Wise returns to compose tracks for this version of the game. The quality is lessened compared to the N64 version as expected. It's still as catchy as ever, so it's nothing too major unless you absolutely loved the original's soundtrack and do not want to hear any changes whatsoever.
After all of those questionable or mediocre changes you may be wondering what decent upgrades there are. For one, four new characters have been added to replace Conker and Banjo (removed for obvious reasons), two of which are Dixie and Tiny Kong. The other two are unlockable characters. Also, four new themed tracks of DK Isle have been included as unlockables. The biggest draw to this version of DKR is the inclusion of online play. The game supports six players via Wi-Fi in a variety of modes such as trophy race (a four race cup), battle mode (which was missing from Mario Kart DS), T.T.'s Wish (players take turns drawing and racing on tracks) and token tussle (a collect before your opponent does mode). Online lobbies allow you to see if your friends are online, and they allow you to join them freely.
Pre-race minigames are a pain in the ass.
Diddy Kong Racing DS isn't 100% faithful to its N64 brethren, but it does give more to the table than the N64 ever did. ...Unfortunately. Online play is a big plus with this title, and although other modes may have been replaced or stupidly given gimmicks to, DKR DS remains nowhere near as satisfying as its N64 counterpart.
[SuperPhillip Says: 6.5/10]
A Kong-fused kart racer
Diddy Kong Racing was a game that originally came in the hey-day of the Nintendo 64 back in 1997. This was when Rare and Nintendo were still joined at the hip. This time around Microsoft owns Rare and has allowed the company to continue developing for Nintendo's handhelds, thus Diddy Kong Racing DS is here. Playing this game I couldn't help but wish Rare left DKR alone.
Voices have been given the boot for text.Weird choice at first but with how bad the in-game voices are,
maybe that's a good thing.
It's not to say the game is bad. It's a far distance away from bad, but some of the design choices with this game makes me wonder if Rare is just trying to screw with their classic games to get revenge on Nintendo for selling them. For one, Rare opted to use gimmicky options to start off each race. In a car, you have to rub the bottom screen up and down repeatedly to gain speed. In a hovercraft you need to blow into the microphone. Hopefully no one playing has asthma. Finally, a quick circling of the stylus to the bottom screen starts off the plane. These ways to boost are simply gimmicks and hinder the experience. I'm blowing into the mic, and then I have to quickly raise up and begin the race? Whaaaaaaat?!
Additionally, silver coin challenges have been removed from adventure mode replaced by touch challenges. These are mostly unresponsive, needing you to drag the screen to look in different directions, trying to grab coins and pop balloons simultaneously. It's just a jumbled mess. A handful of the boss touch challenges require you to draw lines to guide your racer to the finish. Completely terrible controls and design choices. Thankfully the latter chore isn't required to complete the game. Furthermore, a new mode called T.T.'s Wish allows players to draw their own tracks-- albeit very simplistic tracks.
This game won't win any graphical awards.Graphically the game looks a little grainy compared to its big brother.
Audio-wise the voices have changed drastically. Some are ear-curdling to listen to quite honestly. David Wise returns to compose tracks for this version of the game. The quality is lessened compared to the N64 version as expected. It's still as catchy as ever, so it's nothing too major unless you absolutely loved the original's soundtrack and do not want to hear any changes whatsoever.
After all of those questionable or mediocre changes you may be wondering what decent upgrades there are. For one, four new characters have been added to replace Conker and Banjo (removed for obvious reasons), two of which are Dixie and Tiny Kong. The other two are unlockable characters. Also, four new themed tracks of DK Isle have been included as unlockables. The biggest draw to this version of DKR is the inclusion of online play. The game supports six players via Wi-Fi in a variety of modes such as trophy race (a four race cup), battle mode (which was missing from Mario Kart DS), T.T.'s Wish (players take turns drawing and racing on tracks) and token tussle (a collect before your opponent does mode). Online lobbies allow you to see if your friends are online, and they allow you to join them freely.
Pre-race minigames are a pain in the ass.Diddy Kong Racing DS isn't 100% faithful to its N64 brethren, but it does give more to the table than the N64 ever did. ...Unfortunately. Online play is a big plus with this title, and although other modes may have been replaced or stupidly given gimmicks to, DKR DS remains nowhere near as satisfying as its N64 counterpart.
[SuperPhillip Says: 6.5/10]
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Diddy Kong Racing (N64) Retro Review
You might be asking yourself, "Phil. SP. You always have a reason for posting a certain review at a certain time, so why are you posting a review of Diddy Kong Racing now?" And I will answer with, "Um... well... I played it again recently? I don't have a good reason." And thus here we are with a retro review of Diddy Kong Racing.
Up until the November of 1997, Mario Kart 64 had a stranglehold on the multi-player kart-racing mindset. It's because that November, Rare's Diddy Kong Racing roared onto the Nintendo 64 with more options, more things to do, more tracks, more racers, and subjectively more fun. Does Diddy Kong Racing rev its way up to first place, or does it get lapped by its predecessors?
In order to get the full story (of what little there is) of Diddy Kong Racing, you'd need to check out the instruction manual. Otherwise you're just thrown into an adventure with little direction. A friend of Diddy Kong's, Timber, is in trouble. His parents are away, and an evil invader known as Wizpig has arrived on Timber Island to take over. With the help of a genie pachyderm, Taj, and a little help from friends far and wide, it's up to Diddy Kong and company to save the island and give Wizpig a going away party that he'll never soon forget.
Ew. Where did this mountainous monstrosity come from?
The cast of Diddy Kong Racing stars none other than Diddy Kong as well as several one-off characters, Timber the Tiger, Pipsy the Mouse, Bumper the Badger, Drumstick the Rooster, and Krunch the Kremling. There's also several characters that would make appearances in future Rare games such as Banjo the Bear of Banjo-Kazooie fame, Tiptup the Turtle who would make a cameo appearance in said Banjo game, and Conker the Squirrel who is apparently bipolar as he appears cute and cuddly in this game and in Bad Fur Day he's violent, foul-mouthed, and grumpy. Alas, that's the life of a squirrel.
Each number is the required amount of
golden balloons needed to access a given level.
The main single-player mode is Adventure which can be played with two players via a magic code. Already, this is awesome. Adventure mode's goal is to collect as many golden balloons as possible. You collect these helium-filled beauties by completing races in first and finding them hidden around Timber Island. There are five themed worlds in Diddy Kong Racing connected by a decently-sized overworld. Each world has four races in them. You can only enter a race if you have enough golden balloons. Once all races are won, you take on the boss of the world in a one-on-one race to the death... well, maybe not so much to the death as to the embarrassment. You'll take on a bubble-spewing octopus, a dragon who sounds like the current governor of California, a tricky triceratops, a blubbering blue walrus, and of course, Wizpig himself.
"Help me lick the back of my neck!"
After the a boss is completed, he will challenge you to collect all eight silver coins in each of the tracks in his world. They're placed in hidden and precarious positions all along each track. You must collect eight coins and win the race to get another golden balloon. Once that goal is finished, you once again challenge the boss to a more difficult race. For example, Sherbet Island's boss shoots out mines the first go around which will impede your progress while the second go-around will have the same octopus shooting out entrapping bubbles which will cost you even more time if you hit them. With the boss defeated, you earn a piece of the Wizpig amulet. Collect all four and you get to take on Wizpig in a not-so final showdown.
There's also trophy challenges to take on where you play all four races in a world one after the other, grand prix-style. Additionally, each world has a hidden key in one of the four tracks. These are fiendishly hidden and will take a lot of search for (well, except the first one). Grabbing a key will unlock the door to a bonus mini-game. These range from collect ten bananas before your three other opponents, grabbing and hatching three eggs, and battling it out to the death... well, maybe not so much to the death as to the elimination in a battle royal competition. Completing these will earn you a part of the T.T. Medal which is the only way to take on Wizpig a final time.
Get set... Go!
What's even cooler about the Adventure mode is that once it is completed, you can take on Adventure Two where all the tracks are reversed, the racers and bosses are harder, the silver coins are placed in more devious locations, and gold balloons are now differently colored. Once again, you can take on this mode with a friend which makes for some serious fun. Of course, in silver coin challenge races, only one of you needs to collect all the coins and make it to first. Furthermore, whoever won the last race controls their character on the overworld and in boss races.
There's twenty tracks in all to compete on. The first group all takes in a prehistoric world, the second in an icy wonderland, the third on a tropical beach, the fourth in a forest, and the fifth in Wizpig's outer space realm. Tracks are masterfully designed with plenty of twists, turns, hazards, and shortcuts to look out for. While one track has you watching out for a giant dinosaur that wants to crush you, another has you dodging laser fire from all directions in a spaceship. These tracks are fun to explore, fun to race on, and fun to challenge yourself in the wonderful time trial mode.
Haunted Woods is a short but tricky track.
Speaking of which, most tracks have three different versions. What do I mean by this? You can choose to race cars, hovercrafts, or airplanes on them (save for Adventure mode where these are predetermined). Cars are your standard kart-racing fare while hovercrafts control loosely and can race over water with ease. Meanwhile, planes are high-fliers which can perform barrel rolls and flips with a double tap of the shoulder button. Each type of vehicle has an optimum path it should follow in a given race giving different strategies depending on the vehicle chosen.
The control of Diddy Kong Racing feels tight for the most part with hovercrafts feeling a tad loose as they should. You can drift around corners, drive over speed-increasing zippers, and press brake and the shoulder button to make a tight turn. Much like Mario Kart, items are an important part of the game, but unlike Mario Kart, they don't always make the difference between victory and defeat (hello, blue shells). In Diddy Kong Racing, there's five different varieties of balloons. Reds are missiles, green are projectiles that you place behind you, blue and boosts, yellow with purple stars are shields, and rainbow are magnetic-propelled which attract you to players ahead of you. Collecting two or more balloons in succession will give you a stronger item to use. For instance, collecting two reds in a row will turn your ordinary missile into a homing one, and collecting two blues will make your weak boost into a stronger boost.
Line up and get revvin'!
Visually, what more can we expect from the early days of the Nintendo 64? That isn't to say the game is strikingly ugly, but it obviously has aged. The colors are still as vibrant and bright as ever, and the framerate seldom slows down unlike future Rare games. The soundtrack by former Rare composer, Dave Wise, is masterful. Just masterful. There's so many memorable tunes here to listen and enjoy. It's a real treat.
Diddy Kong Racing doesn't just beat out Mario Kart 64. It's the best racer on the entire system! No other kart racer on the system comes close in accessibility, fun, secrets, tracks, racers, and longevity. If you're stuck between this game and the ill-fated port on the DS, take no substitute for the original. It's just an overall better game. Diddy Kong Racing takes what's fun about the kart-racing genre, adds in an N64-era platform game style of collection, and turns it all on its head. For the optimal kart-racing experience, check out Diddy Kong Racing on the Nintendo 64.
[SuperPhillip Says: 9.75/10]
Kong Kart
Up until the November of 1997, Mario Kart 64 had a stranglehold on the multi-player kart-racing mindset. It's because that November, Rare's Diddy Kong Racing roared onto the Nintendo 64 with more options, more things to do, more tracks, more racers, and subjectively more fun. Does Diddy Kong Racing rev its way up to first place, or does it get lapped by its predecessors?
In order to get the full story (of what little there is) of Diddy Kong Racing, you'd need to check out the instruction manual. Otherwise you're just thrown into an adventure with little direction. A friend of Diddy Kong's, Timber, is in trouble. His parents are away, and an evil invader known as Wizpig has arrived on Timber Island to take over. With the help of a genie pachyderm, Taj, and a little help from friends far and wide, it's up to Diddy Kong and company to save the island and give Wizpig a going away party that he'll never soon forget.
Ew. Where did this mountainous monstrosity come from?The cast of Diddy Kong Racing stars none other than Diddy Kong as well as several one-off characters, Timber the Tiger, Pipsy the Mouse, Bumper the Badger, Drumstick the Rooster, and Krunch the Kremling. There's also several characters that would make appearances in future Rare games such as Banjo the Bear of Banjo-Kazooie fame, Tiptup the Turtle who would make a cameo appearance in said Banjo game, and Conker the Squirrel who is apparently bipolar as he appears cute and cuddly in this game and in Bad Fur Day he's violent, foul-mouthed, and grumpy. Alas, that's the life of a squirrel.
Each number is the required amount ofgolden balloons needed to access a given level.
The main single-player mode is Adventure which can be played with two players via a magic code. Already, this is awesome. Adventure mode's goal is to collect as many golden balloons as possible. You collect these helium-filled beauties by completing races in first and finding them hidden around Timber Island. There are five themed worlds in Diddy Kong Racing connected by a decently-sized overworld. Each world has four races in them. You can only enter a race if you have enough golden balloons. Once all races are won, you take on the boss of the world in a one-on-one race to the death... well, maybe not so much to the death as to the embarrassment. You'll take on a bubble-spewing octopus, a dragon who sounds like the current governor of California, a tricky triceratops, a blubbering blue walrus, and of course, Wizpig himself.
"Help me lick the back of my neck!"After the a boss is completed, he will challenge you to collect all eight silver coins in each of the tracks in his world. They're placed in hidden and precarious positions all along each track. You must collect eight coins and win the race to get another golden balloon. Once that goal is finished, you once again challenge the boss to a more difficult race. For example, Sherbet Island's boss shoots out mines the first go around which will impede your progress while the second go-around will have the same octopus shooting out entrapping bubbles which will cost you even more time if you hit them. With the boss defeated, you earn a piece of the Wizpig amulet. Collect all four and you get to take on Wizpig in a not-so final showdown.
There's also trophy challenges to take on where you play all four races in a world one after the other, grand prix-style. Additionally, each world has a hidden key in one of the four tracks. These are fiendishly hidden and will take a lot of search for (well, except the first one). Grabbing a key will unlock the door to a bonus mini-game. These range from collect ten bananas before your three other opponents, grabbing and hatching three eggs, and battling it out to the death... well, maybe not so much to the death as to the elimination in a battle royal competition. Completing these will earn you a part of the T.T. Medal which is the only way to take on Wizpig a final time.
Get set... Go!What's even cooler about the Adventure mode is that once it is completed, you can take on Adventure Two where all the tracks are reversed, the racers and bosses are harder, the silver coins are placed in more devious locations, and gold balloons are now differently colored. Once again, you can take on this mode with a friend which makes for some serious fun. Of course, in silver coin challenge races, only one of you needs to collect all the coins and make it to first. Furthermore, whoever won the last race controls their character on the overworld and in boss races.
There's twenty tracks in all to compete on. The first group all takes in a prehistoric world, the second in an icy wonderland, the third on a tropical beach, the fourth in a forest, and the fifth in Wizpig's outer space realm. Tracks are masterfully designed with plenty of twists, turns, hazards, and shortcuts to look out for. While one track has you watching out for a giant dinosaur that wants to crush you, another has you dodging laser fire from all directions in a spaceship. These tracks are fun to explore, fun to race on, and fun to challenge yourself in the wonderful time trial mode.
Haunted Woods is a short but tricky track.Speaking of which, most tracks have three different versions. What do I mean by this? You can choose to race cars, hovercrafts, or airplanes on them (save for Adventure mode where these are predetermined). Cars are your standard kart-racing fare while hovercrafts control loosely and can race over water with ease. Meanwhile, planes are high-fliers which can perform barrel rolls and flips with a double tap of the shoulder button. Each type of vehicle has an optimum path it should follow in a given race giving different strategies depending on the vehicle chosen.
The control of Diddy Kong Racing feels tight for the most part with hovercrafts feeling a tad loose as they should. You can drift around corners, drive over speed-increasing zippers, and press brake and the shoulder button to make a tight turn. Much like Mario Kart, items are an important part of the game, but unlike Mario Kart, they don't always make the difference between victory and defeat (hello, blue shells). In Diddy Kong Racing, there's five different varieties of balloons. Reds are missiles, green are projectiles that you place behind you, blue and boosts, yellow with purple stars are shields, and rainbow are magnetic-propelled which attract you to players ahead of you. Collecting two or more balloons in succession will give you a stronger item to use. For instance, collecting two reds in a row will turn your ordinary missile into a homing one, and collecting two blues will make your weak boost into a stronger boost.
Line up and get revvin'!Visually, what more can we expect from the early days of the Nintendo 64? That isn't to say the game is strikingly ugly, but it obviously has aged. The colors are still as vibrant and bright as ever, and the framerate seldom slows down unlike future Rare games. The soundtrack by former Rare composer, Dave Wise, is masterful. Just masterful. There's so many memorable tunes here to listen and enjoy. It's a real treat.
Diddy Kong Racing doesn't just beat out Mario Kart 64. It's the best racer on the entire system! No other kart racer on the system comes close in accessibility, fun, secrets, tracks, racers, and longevity. If you're stuck between this game and the ill-fated port on the DS, take no substitute for the original. It's just an overall better game. Diddy Kong Racing takes what's fun about the kart-racing genre, adds in an N64-era platform game style of collection, and turns it all on its head. For the optimal kart-racing experience, check out Diddy Kong Racing on the Nintendo 64.
[SuperPhillip Says: 9.75/10]
Monday, November 16, 2009
SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - The VGM is Not Enough Edition
Welcome to another edition of SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs. This week we're jam-packed with excellent tunes starting with a duo from EA, SimCity 3000 and 007: The World is Not Enough. Then we head to Locoroco country, read a chapter from Little King's Story, and duke it out with signposts in MadWorld. Saddle up, and get truckin', buckaroos!
v431. SimCity 3000 - SIM Broadway
SimCity is one of my favorite franchises. I was always enamored with the construction and design of cities, so this series seemed right up my alley so to speak. SimCity 3000 brought with it better visuals, more features, and other goodies. SIM Broadway is one of the first themes you'll hear as you construct your city.
v432. 007: The World is Not Enough - Main Theme
EA attempted to ride on the success of Goldeneye with The World is Not Enough, and they did an admirable job. There was objective-based gameplay, non-linear levels, and enough Bond charm thrown into the mix to keep things fun. A great game with an interesting score, this is the main theme heard in the main menu of TWINE.
v433. LocoRoco 2 - muimui
"muimui" plays during the Loco Stamp mini-game, something optional and enjoyable to do. The LocoRoco series has an eclectic mix of saccharine sweet music, and "muimui" is one of many great tracks on the soundtrack.
v434. Little King's Story - William Tell Overture
The entirety of the Little King's Story soundtrack is made up of classical pieces of music, remixed for the game by a cavalcade of composers. This theme, better known as the William Tell Overture, is played during the little king's many battles with area guardians. Once defeated, the area controlled by the guardian will fall under the little king's control.
v435. MadWorld - You Don't Know Me (Explicit)
MadWorld was a visceral action beat-em-up where it wasn't just about killing-- it was about killing in style. Impaling foes with sign posts, sticking them through spikes, electrocution, et cetera. Sure, the action got sometimes repetitive, but it was a great game to work off some frustration. You Don't Know Me is one of the only vocal tracks performed by a female.
Next week we'll have even more music to cruise to! Hope you look forward to it.
v431. SimCity 3000 - SIM Broadway
SimCity is one of my favorite franchises. I was always enamored with the construction and design of cities, so this series seemed right up my alley so to speak. SimCity 3000 brought with it better visuals, more features, and other goodies. SIM Broadway is one of the first themes you'll hear as you construct your city.
v432. 007: The World is Not Enough - Main Theme
EA attempted to ride on the success of Goldeneye with The World is Not Enough, and they did an admirable job. There was objective-based gameplay, non-linear levels, and enough Bond charm thrown into the mix to keep things fun. A great game with an interesting score, this is the main theme heard in the main menu of TWINE.
v433. LocoRoco 2 - muimui
"muimui" plays during the Loco Stamp mini-game, something optional and enjoyable to do. The LocoRoco series has an eclectic mix of saccharine sweet music, and "muimui" is one of many great tracks on the soundtrack.
v434. Little King's Story - William Tell Overture
The entirety of the Little King's Story soundtrack is made up of classical pieces of music, remixed for the game by a cavalcade of composers. This theme, better known as the William Tell Overture, is played during the little king's many battles with area guardians. Once defeated, the area controlled by the guardian will fall under the little king's control.
v435. MadWorld - You Don't Know Me (Explicit)
MadWorld was a visceral action beat-em-up where it wasn't just about killing-- it was about killing in style. Impaling foes with sign posts, sticking them through spikes, electrocution, et cetera. Sure, the action got sometimes repetitive, but it was a great game to work off some frustration. You Don't Know Me is one of the only vocal tracks performed by a female.
Next week we'll have even more music to cruise to! Hope you look forward to it.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Rank Up! - Super Mario Bros.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii hits store shelves in North America today, so since now we can play it together, let's say it together... Rank Up! The Mario series has been around for more than two decades, so let's celebrate by listing the best and worst (like there's actually a worst) game from the Super Mario Bros. franchise. We will not be listing anything other than official Super Mario Bros. games, so no 3-D Mario and no Yoshi's Island.
Here are the games we'll be ranking:
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (NES/SNES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
In 1981, a carpenter set to rescue his girlfriend Pauline was merely called Jumpman in the arcade classic, Donkey Kong. It wouldn't be until Mario Bros. that the character would be called a plumber and given the name Mario. His first breakthrough console outing was none other than Super Mario Bros., a game that is credited for revitalizing a dying gaming market. Now Mario is a household name appearing in over one-hundred games from standard 2-D and 3-D platformers to racing to fighting to sports to refereeing to... you get the idea. His latest title, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, releases today in North America. What's old is new again.
6) Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (NES/SNES)
The Lost Levels is merely Super Mario Bros. 2 for Japanese audiences. It was deemed to difficult for North Americans, so a little known game called Doki Doki Panic became the US's Super Mario Bros. 2. The Japanese version was devilishly difficult with warp pipes that would send you back a world or two, poisonous purple mushrooms that would revert back to Mario or Luigi's previous form, and levels so fiendishly crafted that they'd make an expert weep with rage. The first time players were able to take on the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was in the Super Nintendo collection, Super Mario All-Stars.
5) Super Mario Bros. (NES)
The one that started it all, Super Mario Bros. is the game that revitalized a dying game market in the United States. While this Mario is obviously easier than the dastardly Lost Levels, it's still challenging as a Mario title. The physics are completely different from future Super Mario Bros. titles with its slipperiness which I didn't prefer. Regardless, this was the game that brought warp pipes, mushrooms that made Mario or Luigi bigger, secret blocks that would give players extra lives (1-ups), and enemies like goombas, piranha plants, bloopers, koopa troopas, bob-bombs, lakitus, bullet bills, and yes, King Koopa (who we would later simply call Bowser).
4) Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
As stated already, the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was created from the Japanese game, Doki Doki Panic as what we now know as Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels was way too difficult for gamers coming off the original Super Mario Bros. Nonetheless, I really dig this game. It may not be socially correct to say so, but deal with it. The gameplay was a drastic departure from any other Mario game. Jumping on enemies didn't destroy them. Instead you could lift them over your head like vegetables and chuck them at other creatures. In fact, all bosses could only be defeating by lifting up projectiles and tossing them at foes. Super Mario Bros. 2 was also the game that brought us shy guys as well as Birdo. Take that as you will.
3) New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
The game that brought 2-D Mario out of retirement, New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS is loved and disliked by many. Some call it uninspired, lacking "soul", lacking the creative flair of past Mario titles. I chalk it up to nostalgia as this game has it all. It has interesting levels with plenty of new challenges and obstacles constantly being thrown at the player, new items, eight new worlds to explore, three star coins hidden away in each level to collect, secret exits to warp cannons, mushroom houses, and new areas, and a fun diversion in the multi-player mini-games and modes. Some may not love this game as much as I, but hey, some people actually like the FPS variety on the 360.
2) Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
The battle between second and first places was tough. There were many casualties, but Super Mario Bros. 3 was edged out barely by our next game. Nonetheless, Super Mario Bros. 3 for many is the pinnacle of any and all Mario games. Who as a kid didn't suffer through The Wizard just to see the first glimpse of this game? It brought with it cool power-ups like the hammer suit, tanooki suit, frog suit, and tanooki suit, it had a very cool overworld structure that would be used in every Super Mario Bros. game since, a massive amount of secrets, challenging and well-designed levels from ghost houses to fortresses to scrolling airships. Super Mario Bros. 3 has it all, but only one title could outshine it.
1) Super Mario World (SNES)
Here it is-- the piece de resistance. It's the creme de la creme, the best of the best, Super Mario World, known as Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan. I love this game. It brought everyone's favorite ride-able dinosaur, Yoshi, into the world, it gave players eight worlds (one hidden and super hard) to play through, it brought with it secret exits that actually listed whether or not the level had a secret exit or not (take that, New Super Mario Bros.), and it was the last time we'd see all of the koopalings together in one game for more than a decade. It's a bittersweet adventure as this would be the very last game in the New Super Mario Bros. in over ten excruciating years.
That's all, folks! Wait, that isn't a Mario saying. Do you have a series you'd like to see get the Rank Up! treatment? Let me know via e-mail or in a comments section near you!
Here are the games we'll be ranking:
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (NES/SNES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
In 1981, a carpenter set to rescue his girlfriend Pauline was merely called Jumpman in the arcade classic, Donkey Kong. It wouldn't be until Mario Bros. that the character would be called a plumber and given the name Mario. His first breakthrough console outing was none other than Super Mario Bros., a game that is credited for revitalizing a dying gaming market. Now Mario is a household name appearing in over one-hundred games from standard 2-D and 3-D platformers to racing to fighting to sports to refereeing to... you get the idea. His latest title, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, releases today in North America. What's old is new again.
6) Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (NES/SNES)
The Lost Levels is merely Super Mario Bros. 2 for Japanese audiences. It was deemed to difficult for North Americans, so a little known game called Doki Doki Panic became the US's Super Mario Bros. 2. The Japanese version was devilishly difficult with warp pipes that would send you back a world or two, poisonous purple mushrooms that would revert back to Mario or Luigi's previous form, and levels so fiendishly crafted that they'd make an expert weep with rage. The first time players were able to take on the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was in the Super Nintendo collection, Super Mario All-Stars.
5) Super Mario Bros. (NES)
The one that started it all, Super Mario Bros. is the game that revitalized a dying game market in the United States. While this Mario is obviously easier than the dastardly Lost Levels, it's still challenging as a Mario title. The physics are completely different from future Super Mario Bros. titles with its slipperiness which I didn't prefer. Regardless, this was the game that brought warp pipes, mushrooms that made Mario or Luigi bigger, secret blocks that would give players extra lives (1-ups), and enemies like goombas, piranha plants, bloopers, koopa troopas, bob-bombs, lakitus, bullet bills, and yes, King Koopa (who we would later simply call Bowser).
4) Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
As stated already, the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was created from the Japanese game, Doki Doki Panic as what we now know as Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels was way too difficult for gamers coming off the original Super Mario Bros. Nonetheless, I really dig this game. It may not be socially correct to say so, but deal with it. The gameplay was a drastic departure from any other Mario game. Jumping on enemies didn't destroy them. Instead you could lift them over your head like vegetables and chuck them at other creatures. In fact, all bosses could only be defeating by lifting up projectiles and tossing them at foes. Super Mario Bros. 2 was also the game that brought us shy guys as well as Birdo. Take that as you will.
3) New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
The game that brought 2-D Mario out of retirement, New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS is loved and disliked by many. Some call it uninspired, lacking "soul", lacking the creative flair of past Mario titles. I chalk it up to nostalgia as this game has it all. It has interesting levels with plenty of new challenges and obstacles constantly being thrown at the player, new items, eight new worlds to explore, three star coins hidden away in each level to collect, secret exits to warp cannons, mushroom houses, and new areas, and a fun diversion in the multi-player mini-games and modes. Some may not love this game as much as I, but hey, some people actually like the FPS variety on the 360.
2) Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
The battle between second and first places was tough. There were many casualties, but Super Mario Bros. 3 was edged out barely by our next game. Nonetheless, Super Mario Bros. 3 for many is the pinnacle of any and all Mario games. Who as a kid didn't suffer through The Wizard just to see the first glimpse of this game? It brought with it cool power-ups like the hammer suit, tanooki suit, frog suit, and tanooki suit, it had a very cool overworld structure that would be used in every Super Mario Bros. game since, a massive amount of secrets, challenging and well-designed levels from ghost houses to fortresses to scrolling airships. Super Mario Bros. 3 has it all, but only one title could outshine it.
1) Super Mario World (SNES)
Here it is-- the piece de resistance. It's the creme de la creme, the best of the best, Super Mario World, known as Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan. I love this game. It brought everyone's favorite ride-able dinosaur, Yoshi, into the world, it gave players eight worlds (one hidden and super hard) to play through, it brought with it secret exits that actually listed whether or not the level had a secret exit or not (take that, New Super Mario Bros.), and it was the last time we'd see all of the koopalings together in one game for more than a decade. It's a bittersweet adventure as this would be the very last game in the New Super Mario Bros. in over ten excruciating years.
That's all, folks! Wait, that isn't a Mario saying. Do you have a series you'd like to see get the Rank Up! treatment? Let me know via e-mail or in a comments section near you!
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