Messages

2976

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 11, 2009, 07:28:50 PM »

You had to be paying attention to 5 and 6 to really notice.

2977

Gaming / Re: Super Smash Bros. Thread

« on: December 11, 2009, 06:29:04 PM »

After midnight on a work night isn't a good way to find a matchup.  But it's Friday now, and I'm itching for some Super Dragon action.  So, if anyone's up for a match tonight, that'd be awesome.

2978

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 11, 2009, 06:25:19 PM »

I'd say Magma Man's stage tells you that a lot harder.

you know, kind of think a bit, it's not surprise that Inti only stick to the MM2 style of gameplay since Inafune orgasm with that one and is scared of MM3

That's something that bugged me about 9.  I don't mind the NES style in the least, but Rock refusing to slide is just moronic.  And no matter what development-horrors Inafune faced with 3, choosing 2's Get Weapon music for re-use is complete insanity.

For the X-series gameplay, the SNES does not mark its epitome. Neither do any of the X-series games that postdate those. If gameplay was what truly matters, we'd use a variation of the RockmanZERO/ZX engine. No use in Inti emulating that which they've exceeded by miles.

Physics are but one element of gameplay, and yes, Inti delivered the easily most fluid movement in ZX.  But there's still plenty in the gameplay department that they could learn from actual X-series titles.  Not the least of which is how to properly handle Zero's abilities (kudos for Model OX's Double Charge Wave, though).

With the decreased focus on graphics IntiCreates should be able to put their all into the game's very essence; they simply have to put their heart into everything else to justify their graphical shortcuts. R9 had heart, and this will too. Using what they've learned in their previous title, they're going to understand more and more what Rockman is truly about. A valuable experience indeed.

If it goes that way.  I've often said that I consider R9 to be at best a good start, that is they're going in a good direction but failed in any initial attempts at matching the quality of actual NES gameplay.  I certainly want them to learn to do it better, and I believe they're close.  Inti usually but does not always outdo themselves with sequels.  So we'll see.

2979

Gaming / Re: Phoenix Wright, now objecting and pointing on the Wii?

« on: December 11, 2009, 01:30:53 AM »

That is extremely unlikely.  Three carts averaging less than ten bucks a piece?  Maybe if you're ridiculously lucky in yard sales and Goodwill.

That said, you do get the bonus of them being portable, so it could easily be worth the extra effort/cash.  But in all honesty Phoenix Wright is one of those games I'd like to have people watch me play.  So, even owning the DS versions already, I'll be nabbing these.

2980

ZX / Re: How was Albert going to "reset the world"?

« on: December 11, 2009, 12:14:27 AM »

You might change your tune once you see the Bonnes and Servbots in action, a whole game of that would be hard-pressed NOT to kick ass.  At *LEAST* play the first two bank robbery missions.  If you're not laughing your ass off by that point then you're beyond all hope.

2981

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 10, 2009, 04:06:16 AM »

But WiiWare could.

But if it does, it ceases to be the SNES style.  That was Flame's point.

I'll remind you that PS1/PC X3 also discarded the one thing the SNES did right: sound effects. Who wants that?

To limit yourself strictly to the SNES in a series considerably more evolved than Classic would be foolish.  To mish-mash it would be ugly.  There's simply no need for that.

2982

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 10, 2009, 04:01:20 AM »

If it's Iris, yeah.  >.>

Nine pages of discussion and we STILL haven't gotten to an agreement except to make more sheepman hentai.

Just for spite, I'm going to go ahead and argue with that and say that we need to establish a Sheep Woman first.

The way I see it, if MMX9 comes along with a great sprite style all its own and animated its cutscenes within those boundaries (think of how Sonic 3 & Knuckles cutscenes & transitions happened except add your text boxes and dialogue as needed), that'd be more than great. Hell they can do things like that within the limits of a 16 bit MMX. Something a few folks here need to remember that 16 bit only refers to the color limitations. It's not a style restriction, especially in good hands.

It is if you're trying to be retro, Jelly.  No 16-bit hardware actually gets new games anymore.  So when people discuss a "16-bit X9," they are discussing, specifically, a style restriction, that being the style used by the SNES.

It doesn't refer to color limitations, either.  PS1 and DS games use 16 colors to a sprite the same as the SNES does.  They just pay better attention to detail, and the extra processing muscle allows for more bells and whistles (faster framerate, larger characters, transparency effects, more crap happening on-screen, streamed audio, etc.).  Compare MM8 to MM&B.

2983

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 10, 2009, 03:55:42 AM »

True NES games didn't have Cut scenes, Playable Blues, DLC, Endless Mode, Challenges, Playable Blues, etc.  So there's no reason why they couldn't implement Anime Scenes into a Retro SNES X Game.

The later of the true NES games had "cut scenes" in the same sense that MM9 did.

The rest is all gameplay, not aesthetics.  Possibly a retro X9 might include an anime short akin to a shorter TDoS, but they would not do them mid-game.

All that MMX needs for storytelling is a big black box with text.

End of story.

I beg to differ.  Sensei's mugshots, even if 8-bit, contribute infinitely more.  It's a sad thing when the GBC provides better eye-candy than the SNES.  The SNES, in terms of system capabilities, could easily handle a better presentation than what it actually offered.  Therein lies my gripe with returning to the style.

They did it to X3.

X3 was a port, not a new game in retro style.

Not to mention nearly the entire internet considers the actual SNES X3 superior.  The main appeal of PS1/PC X3 is the fact that, prior to X Collection, it was impossible to obtain in the U.S.

2984

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 10, 2009, 03:42:17 AM »

Oh man, imagine if MM10 has Broken MM3 Rush Jet...

Dammit, PB, stop filling our heads with pure win that is far too orgasmically good to be true.

In my OPINION, it never could.

It could.  In X1.  Then they redesigned Zero.

2985

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 10, 2009, 03:37:43 AM »

I think they just learned that the others didn't work out as well as the old 8-bit games, so they've gone back to that, it worked, why not do it again until they can't anymore and close the gap.

Personally I think 8 worked out a hell of a lot better than 9.  But 9 was good, and 10 has ProtoMan without having to pay extra, so I'm damn well giving it a shot.

And who am I kidding, I'll buy any non-BN/SF MegaMan at this point.  Hell, I just downloaded Rush Marine (that's the Action/Adventure department for you Verizon users out there) so that I could cramp my thumbs playing on my craptacular 176x220 screen.

2986

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 10, 2009, 02:55:20 AM »

Just imagine, Hypershell, if they did X9 in PS1 Graphics, and gave you Playable Iris!   

That level of awesomeness would be seizure-inducing.

2987

ZX / Re: How was Albert going to "reset the world"?

« on: December 10, 2009, 02:47:38 AM »

Hey, hey, I want to play them, but I have trouble finding a full Legends 2 UNDER 40 bucks.
seriously. if I can get 1 for 8 bucks, I want to get 2 for a low price as well. Im not about to pay upwards of 30 bucks for it. I mean, hell, maybe im asking too much, but I want a full l2. including the disc, case, and manual.

The fact that you cannot find L2 for a reasonable price is unfortunate, but nevertheless, if you can find L1 then start with L1.  Even if I consider L2 superior, you miss a lot (enjoyable-wise, not story-wise) by skipping the first.  No Legends experience is complete without the Marlwolf battle, among a great many other things.

BTW, it gets worse.  Misadventures in a paper sleeve runs nearly 60 bucks on Amazon.
No Power Stone game touches that. =P

2988

News and Announcements / Re: Nintendo Power announces Mega Man 10

« on: December 10, 2009, 02:41:25 AM »

The X series is the equivalent of technologic evolution, always has been, and should be forever. Leave the classic classic.

Well said.

The PS1 visual style is arguably the more iconic one for the X-series anyway, given that they tie with the SNES in game count and a great deal of the GBC sprites are based on it.

- play as Proto Man right from the start

*makes sure that today's date is nowhere near April 1st*

YES!!!

3rd hero?  Dragon robot?  Proto-Zedd?  Laughable (in a good way) Robot Master?  Pretty damn hard not to love this so far.

2989

Gaming / Re: Sonic Classic Collection

« on: December 09, 2009, 02:07:14 AM »

Sums up my thoughts on Sunshine nicely.  Different strokes.

Yeah, like I said, I virtually never consider camera an issue in any game.  It's just that others keep bringing it up as an issue with Sonic, so I thought, "Well, if I *HAD* to say which game gave me camera trouble..."

Yeah, Mario comes to mind a lot sooner than Sonic in that department.  But I never really cared.  When people criticize Mario 64's camera I usually think they're being stingy weirdos.

2990

ZX / Re: How was Albert going to "reset the world"?

« on: December 09, 2009, 02:03:03 AM »

Oh yeah, almost forgot:

Ive never played either Legends

*UPPERCUT!!*

Fix that.  Now.

2991

ZX / Re: How was Albert going to "reset the world"?

« on: December 09, 2009, 02:01:17 AM »

Well, point stands in the absence of that.  Common sense isn't all that common.  >.>

2992

ZX / Re: How was Albert going to "reset the world"?

« on: December 09, 2009, 12:38:50 AM »

I guess this makes more sense to those of us who have played Legends and are already familiar with techno-terms being applied to biological matters.  Reinitializing and such.

But Albert's tone and language said he was going to "reset" the world.  Not wipe it out, not destroy it, "RESET" it.

He sounded almost like the world was a computer or a video game, to be turned on and off at will

As my favorite fork-flinger would say:
If you could just step out of your literal minds for one moment...

You know the difference between a Hard Reset and a Soft Reset, don't you?  A Soft Reset merely returns you to the title screen.  A Hard Reset means effectively the same thing as turning the game off and then back on.  Everything in memory is lost and you start over completely.

Wipe it clean.  Start from scratch.

Annihilate the world.  Create new life.

Get it?

2993

Gaming / Re: Sonic Classic Collection

« on: December 09, 2009, 12:18:50 AM »

Honestly, I don't really see it as a negative that the 3D games have focused less on keeping items and abilities between levels. I see it more as a change in design focus and as such, I can understand why certain things act differently in one set of games rather than the other. It'd be cool though if there came a game built with deeper 2D Mario routes that would allow for this, but for what the current 3d games are, I enjoy em lots.

I get that if the game is not designed with power-ups that you hold in the first place.  Sunshine most definitely does not fall into that category; all nozzles and Yoshi are held indefinitely.  You just lose them for entering/exiting a stage.

As for Galaxy, as I said, the fact that most are either timed or stage-specific lessens the impact.  Bee Mario is about the only one that would honestly have been useful, and even so, the point on the spin maneuver is well made.  And timed Mario power-ups are nothing new, and not in and of themselves bad.  The Ice Flower is essentially a P-Switch with player-dependent platform placement.  It's just odd to see the Fire Flower shoved into that category.  Especially since its abilities actually can be reconciled with the spin maneuver rather easily.  I don't see how it'd break the game considering the fact that you can point-and-shoot to stun the baddies anyway.

As I said, nobody cared in Mario 64.  And by "nobody", I'm including myself.  If the game is not designed for holding on to some power-up, that's fine.  Sunshine was.  They just chose to smack you in the face every time you change scenes.

Not to say the game was terrible, but it's definitely one of those things that time has gotten the better of.

There are games out there that age worse than the Adventures despite initial impressions.  Besides the aforementioned Sunshine, there's also X5.

"One" misstep?

You missed the context completely.  I am referring to SA1 specifically, *NOT* to any other games.  "Future attempts" meant other regions, re-releases, and such.  I am referring to your opinion of SA1, not to your opinion of 3D Sonic in general.

I mean, tell me why they focused on gimmicky things like adding more characters, a Tamagotchi-like diversion, weapons and playstyles, but a lot of the fundamental flaws that have plagued the Sonic 3D gameplay formula since at least Adventure-US, have still remained in even Unleashed, a game released just this last year? That just shows a disturbing thing of how Sega doesn't "get it". It goes even beyond how "returning to roots" is a meaningless tagline.

I'm not all that fond of Chao either, but they are easily ignored.  They are a diversion, nothing more, nothing less, and in no way forced.  The other play styles (mainly referring to the additional characters here) in SA1 are acceptable because the main focus of SA1 is still on Sonic, and that's what Sega's lost since then.  Heck, many of the alternate SA1 characters didn't play that differently from Sonic, which is really as it should be.  Tails and Amy work fine (even if I wish Tails's stages were longer), they're still running to the goal in a platformer, just with different spins on it.  Knuckles is perhaps a victim of the 3D switch as gliding/climbing breaks any "open" stages, so rather than designed closed ones they overhauled his goal.  Big and Gamma are the only real oddities, and their respective stories are short.  Again, it's a matter of focus.  Gamma was awesome when he first hit the scene, but that doesn't mean his play style should be overtaking the traditional.  That's the main mistake that SA2 made, however I find it a vast improvement over SA1 in nearly all other regards.

As far as "meta game" thing went, it still was pretty thin. I guess I can only critique it so much since it was among the first of its kind, but again, I can't stress enough how they would need to give it some serious thought before ever implementing such a feature again.

The keyboard cannot possibly stress enough how much I disagree with you.  It's a matter of personal opinion and I'll leave it at that, but I do not see why it is required for an additional segment of the game (beyond the final boss shpiel we already have going) need be designed around an entirely optional ability.  Take any given Sonic element that worked, expand it, distance it, and segregate it from the established play style, and you fall into the same trap we were already criticizing with new character/gimmick use.  You begin addition a distraction rather than an expansion.

While valid complaints, there's one big thing to note here: they're all aesthetic, in scope. None of these quirks, of which some I agree with, in the end, do anything to actually hamper the actual way the game plays. None of these things do anything to showcase truly BAD coding and play-testing at work. It'd be the same thing as me attacking a modern day Sonic game for its terrible storylines. It may be valid, but it has no bearing on the gameplay itself.

I have to disagree, that counter-point applies soley to point #3.  Loss of otherwise permanent abilities (points 1 and 2) due to a map switch is not aesthetic.  And you encounter that at least twice per Shine Sprite.  Which is a LOT.  One Shine Sprite does not merit a lot of play time, making it a constant annoyance.

Point 4 is arguable.  Being forced to replay the same stage isn't just an aesthetic problem, it's also a matter of when sheer redundancy makes the game feel like a chore.  Heroes and Shadow made the same mistake, albeit to greater lengths.  

95% of the Sonic games made in the last few years.

You keep bringing the entire line of modern Sonic up when in fact I am defending only two titles, the most recent of which is well over eight years old.  You have issues with recent Sonic games?  So do I.  So I don't know who that debate is directed at.

...Yeah, nothing more to talk about in this particular argument.

Emphasis on "occasional".  I will note that in Sonic Adventure 2 I cannot remember the last time my extra life count was below 70.  So yeah, for all those allegedly unfair deaths that every bitching fan suffers, I must be kicking a lot of ass.

When it came time for me to adjust the camera in a 3D Sonic, it always felt very clunky and uncooperative.

It's funny you should say that.  Because if anything I've found camera adjustment in Mario 64, and even Galaxy (both of which I love, mind you), to be far more troublesome than either Sonic Adventure (although to be fair you don't really need to be looking around in Sonic nearly as often).  It feels like every other time I try to adjust the camera I get the buzzer telling me I'm not allowed to.  It gets very, very annoying at times.

That being said I don't consider it a deal-breaker.  Even in isolated incidents where I consider camera issues to be a genuine gameplay flaw, they're usually brief enough that I don't care.  The only game that I ever felt suffered a constant camera problem was Metroid Prime 3, due to the inability to disable the game's auto-level (when you have a pointer to tell the game where you want to look, the game has no business trying to correct you).  And even then, I managed to work with it.  To reiterate:

It usually stays fixed behind me, where it belongs.

2994

Gaming / Re: Sonic Classic Collection

« on: December 08, 2009, 12:29:50 AM »

Well, then it sucks to be you, Ben.   But I think it'd be foolish to prioritize one misstep over any future attempts at correcting it.  Not unless there is some other reason to return to that version when given the choice.



As for Heroes, my gripe with it is that the "character selection" amounts to a difficulty setting and voice preferences, nothing more.  They all tackle the same stages and bosses and there is almost no difference between the teams ability-wise.  Which in itself would have been fine if the game didn't require you to clear it as every one.

Team Chaotix is a whole other beast.  Shadow The Hedgehog's missions were at times a minor annoyance, Team Chaotix was a constant headache.

Technically, you can say that they did that much earlier, with SMB2-JP/Lost Levels.

Lost Levels is one game made in the image of its predecessor.  I meant more long-term.  NSMBW is pretty much is a hats-off to every Mario game from arcade Mario Bros. up to SM64, plus the DS NSMB.

Because what the MD Sonics did with this aspect was inherently flawed. You could earn the glow before the game was over

I didn't say to copy the Genesis approach step-for-step.  It's pretty commonplace for the Emeralds to hold some story-relevant value these days.  If that continues it pretty much mandates that using their power in stages is restricted to replays.  Nothing wrong with that.

and neutralize any remaining challenge away before the game was "finished" (except for Sonic 2).

What Sonic 2 were you playing?  Or are you referring to the fact that the Death Egg doesn't have enough rings to activate Super Sonic?  Still doesn't change the fact that you're neutralizing a lot of stages.

In the fact, I'd call it more true of Sonic 2 than the others, since it lacks a save feature, you cannot carry the hope of replaying with the emeralds outside of cheating.  So, if you care, you're driven that much harder to collect them as early as possible.

There's no other perks to being Super Sonic, like being able to find new things in levels, old bosses having new battle patterns or the like.

Maybe in STH2, but in S3&K that's not entirely true.  The higher jump gives Sonic an easier time accessing branches that would normally require Tails's help.  Super Sonic also breaks walls automatically akin to Knuckles (with the exception of Knuckles' character-exclusive routes, of course), which makes finding hidden paths easier.  You could easily stumble into something you had previously missed.

The worst you can say about Sunshine is that it felt too gimmicky because of FLUDD and tacked-on Yoshi, and lacked the polish that either 64 or Galaxy possessed. But there was never anything truly detrimental about the game, itself.

I actually didn't mind FLUDD, even if the platforming "bonus stages" were generally the better parts of the game.  It functioned fine and was fun to use, particularly when filling up Petey's gut.  No, my issues with Sunshine lie elsewhere:
1. As you mentioned, Yoshi.  Not only is he available by fetch-quest only, but he's impossible to take between stage entrances/exits, and he EVAPORATES ON CONTACT WITH WATER (you also lose him if he goes hungry long enough, but it takes a long time for that to happen so it's not much of an issue; still stupid).  It's atrocious.  As big a fan as I am of the super dragon, even I would be tempted to ignore him completely if not for the fact that his fruit juice is required to get past certain blocks.
2. Speaking of Yoshi's fate during stage entrances/exits, a fundamental flaw in *ALL* 3D Mario's is the inability to carry anything between stages.  In 64 nobody cared because the game had no permanent power-ups anyway.  Nozzles in Sunshine?  Forget it.  This is the one thing Galaxy did nothing to fix, although it's less noticeable since nearly all of its power-ups are either timed or designed for specific obstacles.  Still, I don't know many who would call a timed Fire Flower a good thing.
3. There is a severe lack of variety in the scenery.  Not since Lost Levels has a Mario game focused on a single visual motiff.  In Sunshine, EVERYTHING is the damn island paradise theme.  It gets old.
4. Going with the lack of variety, and perhaps most detrimental of all, you have the same number of stars as SM64 crammed into fewer stages.  Which means even more repetition in an environment already lacking variety, and a general lack of feeling of "progress" as you strive to collect more Shine Sprites for whatever unknown benchmark is next (Sunshine is the only 3D Mario to not bother telling you what your next collection goal is).

I'm sorry, but the Adventures beat that in my book.  I don't care if the occasional glitch sends you falling through the floor, it's worth it.

a truly bad camera

I don't think the 3D game exists that has not, at some point, been criticized for a bad camera.  Tiny Huge Island gave me more camera issues than either Adventure.  If it didn't break Mario, it doesn't break Sonic.

questionable hit/collision detection

One more reason SA2 is a "quality over quantity" issue as compared to SA1.

Sega wasn't exactly master of physics in 2D Sonic games, either.  Many times I've sent Sonic flying through a wall in the oldschool side-scrollers.

Whoa, back the heck up.
Let's get one thing straight.

Other 3D Marios > Super Mario Sunshine = Sonic Adventure 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Other 3D Sonics

Okay, now I don't feel like I've failed teaching you people, carry on.

*gives Aldo ZEE UPPERCUT!!*
If you fail to differentiate SA2 from "other 3D Sonics", then you are fit to teach nothing.

2995

Emulation / Re: Wii Menu 4.2 - FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!

« on: December 07, 2009, 11:40:10 PM »

You could, easily, depending on what level of unsigned stuff you intend to be running.  Your basic homebrew and emulators works perfectly fine on 4.2, HBC was updated to dodge its deletion attempts, and all is well.  The only reason you would not be wanting to run on the latest firmware is if you fear the boot2 update (which contrary to popular belief is a matter of the age of your system and not a matter of whether or not it was modified), or you have a region-changed Korean Wii (guaranteed to brick at 4.2).

2996

Off The Wall / Re: Post Pictures Of Yourself

« on: December 06, 2009, 05:07:51 AM »

this is my plushie

I've got one of those too.



My mom and I wanted to name her Toonces, but Mrs. Shell didn't go for it.

2997

Gaming / Re: Sonic Classic Collection

« on: December 06, 2009, 04:57:05 AM »

Nintendo actually proved that they're quite capable of the "MegaMan" approach with NSMBWii.  They also proved they were capable of handling Sonic in Brawl.  So......why not?

I dunno how much the Rush games count in this light though. Dimps handled the majority of the development, and Sonic Team was in a more advisory role.

I didn't say it had to be Sonic Team that made a good Sonic game.  Frankly I think it would be for the best if Sega dissolved/restructured them, as long as they keep Jun Senoue and Crush40 around.

Extra characters I may agree on, but I still think that Super Forms are just a novelty, at best. You get the ability that pretty much proves your mastery of the game as a bonus, allowing you to plow through the game even faster than before. It's cute, that much goes without saying, but that's about it. The game itself doesn't change up any to respond to your new plateau of power, and so it does more to me to be a bit redundant.

Different strokes for different folks.  To me, that's half the replay value right there.

Of course, it depends on a kickass theme to accompany, such as STH2 and S3&K (STH3 I wasn't too fond of).  Which is the one thing Sonic Team has been (usually) doing right.

If they're going to bring such a thing back, then I would really hope they do more to make it worth the while. Make a separate play mode that can be truly built around the new power you possess, or something.

That's basically what we have, though, except the "new mode" is just the final boss.  Which is fine and dandy.  Emerald power, story-wise, is something of a last-ditch effort due to energy consumption.  What I'm saying is it *SHOULD* be available for the entirety of replays.  There's no reason the game HAS to be designed around it.  The whole idea is you need to control your speed while at the same time maintaining your ring count.  Normal stages work for that perfectly fine.  You move faster, you jump higher, you break stuff quicker, but you still fit the basic character type.  It's a bonus to encourage replays.  By making you WANT to, not by giving you a reason you HAVE to.  That's where Sonic Team fouled up quite a few times.

maybe an "honorable death" is for the better.

That ship has sailed.  Ages ago.

And while I'll give you that the Wii-mote control interface wasn't kosher, hey, that's what I thought the GC/CC controller options were for. Hell, everybody who was raised on the Saturn classic, and wanted to make sure they got fitting, "proper" controls, wouldn't accept anything else.

I've long maintained that providing traditional options is a good thing and all.  The lack of it has been a big criticism of mine elsewhere (ie: Star Fox Command).  But I really thought that NiGHTS could make for an interesting setup, and the sad thing is, when I play it I can see that it could have.  But if you're going to do Wii controls, at least make them technically workable.  The cursor hangs at the edge of an invisible circle, for crying out loud.

To say the least, JoD at least GAVE you the option to play the game the way you felt best. That's more than can be said for either Secret Rings or Black Knight. You want a true example of questionable controls? These games possess such in spades. I like how BK has input-lag on sword swings; that's a very BAD thing to have on what is basically the entire premise you're building a game around.

I've not yet bought Black Knight due to it being on my Christmas list, but I'll be able to comment on that in a matter of weeks.  As for Secret Rings, works perfectly fine, as long as you're moving forward.  And not on rails.  Okay, so it could have been better, but the bulk of the game is smooth.  Which is more than I can say for JoD.

If ST were to just get the point that "less is more", we likely would have had a decent successor to the 2D games, and likely a "true arrival" of Sonic in 3D as well, YEARS ago.

The Adventures may have some elements that weren't really necessary (Tails's mech and Big's fishing), but for the most part I think they were as much "true arrivals" of Sonic in 3D as anything Mario ever did.  Considerably better than Sunshine, I have to say.  First Adventure especially, kept the more off-the-wall game modes to short lengths, leaving Sonic with the longest and meatiest story.  Second one, was a bit of a quality-over-quantity issue, but those stages where Sonic/Shadow were featured, they worked excellently.  Final Rush remains my favorite 3D platforming stage, of any game, of all time.

2998

Off The Wall / Re: Post Pictures Of Yourself

« on: December 06, 2009, 04:31:39 AM »

Pics either way?

Oh, alright.  I do happen to have a (very small) Charizard plushie, so I guess that'll have to do.

2999

Gaming / Re: New Super Mario Bros. Galaxy 2 Wii Turbo Edition

« on: December 06, 2009, 03:06:30 AM »

Pretty much the way it was in NSMB for the DS.  Probably due to the fact that, while they were trying to mimick the NES battle style, the fact that Bowser is considerably larger than he was back then makes jumping over him a lot less feasible.

As far as that goes, I STILL say they need to go back to using an axe instead of those damn switches...

(click to show/hide)

And maybe a (golden?) hammer to knock out some key support beam or something at the end of the final battle, instead of flushing the lava-toilet.  Not sure, though.

3000

News and Announcements / Re: Want Legends 3? Get Ready To Make Your Voices Heard!

« on: December 06, 2009, 02:53:35 AM »

Don't forget they had an N64-era game on the DS since launch.

I actually think the PS1-era Legends controls are pretty awesome.  You have full manual control of both the character and camera at all times without the need to move your thumb off of jumping/firing buttons.  Very convenient once you get used to it; I actually modify Armored Core controls to strafe with the D-Pad so that it mimicks Legends.  It's definitely the most comfortable way to use digital inputs to control a 3D character (I hate DualShock stick locations).

There's also the fact that Trigger invented the invulnerable dodge-roll.  And does it a hell of a lot better than Axl.  As far as maneuverability goes, that's a big one in his favor.

Of course, making a more "modern/general" camera system for movement akin to Mario might be in the best interest of series survival.  As much as I love the controls I know the rest of the world doesn't feel that way.  Maybe they could do both and let you switch in the options.  I know they tried to be accommodating for both styles in Misadventures and L2.  There is the issue, however, of if the controls are modified so that you no longer will be turning while standing still, how tumble-dodges will be handled, since that's part of how you activate them.

Heck, I think they should do it on the DS.

I'd still rather see Wii, but this isn't a bad idea.  One thing, though: If the game is not touch-controlled, the action should be on the top screen, and bottom screen should be your map/status, not the other way around.  It's awkward, for me at least, to be ignoring the top half of the system when that's where the sound is coming from.  Most devs seem to agree, looking at various Mario and MegaMan titles that are already out there.  This is especially important if you're going to shoot for SM64DS-esque "analogue" movement as an option (although it's not one that I'm fond of), since:
A. Whatever you're using to operate the touch-screen will obstruct your view, and:
B. Since the touch-screen is not circular and has no tactile feel as to where the "middle" is, a visual display of where the neutral location is (SM64DS does this) is pretty much necessary.