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• 12Aug 08

  My Top Ten Favorite Mario Games

  Ok, so the last few blogs have been full of cynicism and angst and annoyance over a lot of things lately so I figured, time to do something fun and lighthearted and do a list since I haven't done one in a while. So why not do a list dedicated to one of the all time best game series out there? I've been with Mario since back in the day, so here's my top ten favorite Mario games of all time and it's my list so don't b---- because you don't agree. It's my list damnit! (Ok, just a little angst)

  #10. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)

  When the DS came out, I debated on getting one. It seemed cool but there wasn't a lot of games I was dying for at the beginning. Then Nintendogs came out and it wasn't bad, and a few others came out that looked pretty good, then they made the DS Lite and I said "maybe I'll get one." Then of course there was this game. Mario 64 may have brought Mario into 3D but this reminded us what made him great in the first place. Some complain it was too easy but I thought it was a blast. Smooth controls, great graphics and plenty of good old koopa stomping. Only major gripe? No decent flying item or Yoshi.

  #9. Mario Kart Wii

  I wanted to include a Mario Kart on the list and I almost put in the SNES version but those who read my blog on it will know that I was pessimistic about this one. I figured after five installments, there wasn't much left but this included two things that made me love it. One is obviously online play which works great for me and secondly while many don't like it, I love using the Wii Wheel but as I said before, as a fan of arcade racing sims like Outrun and I had always wanted to play Mario Kart with a steering wheel, but that's just me. I like that it lets you play with your Mii, though they were really digging with some of the Mario characters. Funky Kong? Baby Peach? Zombie Bowser? I suggested at one union of taking a cue from Sonic Riders and bringing in other Nintendo characters like Toon Link or Kirby but no one seemed to like that idea.

  #8. Dr. Mario

  The second greatest puzzle game ever made (I'm sure you can guess the best). Dr. Mario was wicked tough at times but so fun and had one of the best theme songs ever that is still stuck in my head. You gotta wonder when Mario had time to go to med school or why he quit to be a plumber but we really didn't question it did we? I'm sorry to say I have yet to download the updated online VC version, but next time I pick up a Wii points card, you can bet I will.

  #7. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

  This is where my list will probably differ from a lot but I really liked this game (see my top 10 GC games list). The first Paper Mario definitelly filled a gap left in the Mario RPG universe after Square left but this one really took the gameplay a step further. First of all, despite being text heavy, this has to be one of the deepest and darkest Mario stories to date. The game makes more use of Mario's Paper abilities with the abilities to turn into a boat, plane, tube, etc. The sidekicks were more unique and the level design was brilliant. While Mario himself was the straight man as usual the game had some wonderfully delightful and quirky characters and was impossible not to love. In fact I liked this so much, I played through it three or four times. I believe this game deserves more credit than it often gets so screw you guys, it's on my list!

  #6. Super Mario Bros.

  Well we can't do this list without the original. I first played this game at my sitter's house one summer and that was when I learned to love video games. It seemed so hard at the time and I kept wondering when I was going to find the castle the princess was in (stupid Toad). But it was more than that. This game singlehandedly revived a nearly dead industry and if for some weird reason, you haven't played it, stop reading this and go download it right now. I'll wait....

  #5. Super Mario 64

  Believe it or not, during the later SNES years, Mario had fallen out of favor. Everyone was too busy fawing over Sonic who was faster, cooler, hipper and Mario spent the later SNES experimenting in various spinoffs but no one was prepared for Mario's massive jump into the third dimension. The jump to 3D was hard on a lot of old school characters but Mario not only transistioned flawlessly but set a standard for many 3D games that followed. Sure, there wasn't much story and by today's standards the camera is considered broken, but the game was challenging and full of huge levels to explore and an epic battle with Bowser where you get to swing him by his tail.

  #4. Super Mario Bros. 3

  Many consider this the best Mario game of all time. It's great but not my favorite. But those who remember the movie "The Wizard" remember the first reveal of SMB3? In a time before there was such a thing as E3, that was the first major hype machine for a game and it pushed the NES to its techincal limits. You had eight insane levels, tons of crazy items and I remember the game being so tough for me that I had to get the strategy guide, something I don't believe in. Though this was one of the first games to have a strategy guide (unless you count that Pac-Man high score guide book). Though I can beat it now in 15 minutes (you gotta know the shortcuts). How about you?

  #3. Super Mario RPG

  "Super Mario RPG, The game is the only one just for me, When I play the game, I get lost in a phase Then I find out I'm stuck in Geno's Maze..." Man did I love this game. This was my introduction into the RPG genre. This was the wonderful combination of Square and Nintendo. Who knew taking Mario out of platforming and putting him into a turn based role playing game would be so freakin awesome? Plus it was more approachable to newcomers to JRPGs with its timed hit system that gave you an edge. This is on the VC in Japan now. SO WHY THE HELL HASN'T IT COME HERE YET?!! WHY DO THEY TOURTURE US?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvB-lIcHHPQ

  #2. Super Mario Galaxy

  Man, was I blown away by this game. I was glad IGN and Gametrailers picked this as game of the year over a bunch of shooters. It seemed like it was forever since we had proper Mario game. At times I wish Mario would do less partying and sports and do a little more adventuring. But Galaxy was well worth the wait. Sunshine wasn't a terrible game but it just lacked, well, that feeling of Wow you got when playing Super Mario 64. Also this Mario game truly had a sense of epicness to it. While Mario games aren't known for deep storytelling, this one did try to make more of an epic adventure. I felt a sense of helplessness watching the Toads run in terror as fire rained down from Bowser's airships and they even found something for Luigi to do this time around. Hopefully Galaxy is a sign that major console platformers are due to make a return (think about it Little Big Planet, Sonic Unleashed, another Rachet and Clank?) or at least I hope so. And I don't know about you but I still find myself humming the tune to the Good Egg Galaxy.

  #1. Super Mario World

  Many think SMB3 is Mario's greatest game but I beg to differ. SMW might have not had as many crazy items but it brought us the greatest item/sidekick to the series. Yes, my avatar Yoshi. But there was more to it than that. The world was huge and massive and ready to explore. SMB3 had a ton of levels but lack of save feature didn't allow for one to explore each level. SMW changed the way I played games. Instead of a speed run to the end, it became more about the journey than the goal. I found myself exploring every level, searching for all the secret paths and how exciting it was to find the hidden "Special World" with those super hard stages with goofy names. Most noteably "Outrageous" named obviously for the number of things attacking you. Or what about that stage on Chocolate Island where the way out is based on your coins and time? There was no part of this game that was unfinished. Sonic may have been the big character at the time but SMW had enough levels and secrets for ten Sonic games. This isn't only my favorite Mario game of all time but might just be my favorite overall game of all time. I can pick it up and still play it and have a blast.

  Well those are my all time favorite Mario games, love it or hate it. And don't worry Sonic fans, I plan to make an top ten list of his games too.

  • Posted Aug 12, 2008 6:30 pm GMT
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• 5Aug 08

  Time for a new banner.

  So I decided it was time to make a new banner for my page as the one that said "Spring is Here" seemed a bit dated now, so as of recently I've been on a tear on gamers who don't give new and original games a chance and just buy the same old stuff, I decided to do a tribute to "The Best Games you've never played." So this is my tribute to those game characters who don't get their due. They think outside the box and try to be different and win a place in the hearts of gamers who give them a chance. As with the last couple, I drew this myself, and scanned it.

  From Left to right:

  Zack and Wiki

  Okami

  Raz from Psychonauts

  Jade from Beyond Good and Evil

  Though you can imagine my surprise to hear that Beyond Good and Evil is getting a sequel. Too bad we didn't learn any more about it at E3.

  • Posted Aug 5, 2008 7:43 pm GMT
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• 1Aug 08

  Hype and Game Trailers.

  I want everyone reading this to click on the link below. For those who don't know, Zero Punctuation is simply the greatest video review site ever created. Here's a cynical guy who refuses to put even the holiest of games on a pedistal and isn't afraid to knock high and mighty franchises like Halo and GTA down a notch and like myself, is annoyed that gamers ignore interesting and unique titles to play the latest futuristic FPS or free roaming thug game and he did his wrap up of E3 and for the most part is the only game reviewer who saw it the same way as I did. (warning, video contains swearing)

  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/157-The-E3-Trailer-Park

  First of all it seems that Yahtzee and I were the only ones who got that memo from Nintendo way back with the Wii (then Revolution) was first revealed and understood that Nintendo was shifting it's focus to a more casual demographic and yet despite Nintendo's numerous times beating it into your heads, the hardcore community seems to think Nintendo owes them for some reason. How many times does Reggie have to say "we're focusing on a casual audience" until you all get it through your heads? Let me explain. The so called "hardcore" demographic is made up of the "target male" audience consisting of mostly males ages 15-35, while the "casual" audience consists of everyone else outnumbers the "hardcore" about 4 to 1. Nintendo is content to go after the larger, less picky group who enjoys things like Wii Sports and Wii Fit while the others can fight over the hardcore like two dogs fighting over a scrap of meat. Newsflash: Hardcore gamers, you are not the center of the universe.

  Ok, that rant is out of the way. He also mentioned the overhyping and many trailers shown and like him, I try not to let the hype get to me (though I did check the SSBB website each and every day) But I put very little faith into the trailers I see mainly because, very rarely do these show any GAMEPLAY at least early on. Look at FFXIII. We've heard about it (and it's many spinoffs) for a couple years now and have yet to see any actual gameplay. Look at the first trailers for Banjo 3 and Killzone 2, they show you some pretty bunch of CG, then you don't hear anything for almost 2 years. Some complained that though Miyamoto announced development of new Mario, Zelda, Pikmin, Starfox, and Kid Icarus titles, they didn't show anything for them and as I argued before, going back to the earliest Zelda and SSBB trailers, both still showed something resembling actual in game footage. The crappiest games out there can have pretty CG, it doesn't mean anything. Show me some substance or go home.

  He also made the point that the majority of games shown were all sequels. After 2007 brought us at least somewhat original titles such as Bioshock, Mass Effect, and Assasin's Creed this year decided to go back to just cranking out endless sequels and spinoffs once more. One that does have my interest is de blob for the Wii, one of those good third party Wii titles that you all ignore, but it's different. It's unique and it's something that stands out in a sea of look alikes.

  It doesn't matter what I say here. You all are all about the new Gears of War though it will probably be the exact same as the first, just throwing in a few new weapons and some added multiplayer features. Sure when it first came out, it was shiny and new and pretty, but it's graphics are now "current gen" and many games have adapted the "duck and cover" system so it's going to have to have a few more tricks in order to impress me.

  See, for me the Wii already delivered what I wanted so at this point, I'm coasting. I got to finally play Okami which I believe is still one of the best games ever made. I got to have Mario and Sonic together in, not one, but two games and that's all I went into this generation hoping for. I do hope Nintendo reveals something on the supposed new Kid Icarus game and that I do still wish to see Mario and Sonic team up for an adventure, but other than that, it will take alot more than a bunch of flashy CG trailers to get me excited. Though I'll admit I do look forward to Sonic Unleashed but I'm still cautious.

  The lesson here is, if you set your expectations to high for a game, it's going to end up being a disappointment no matter how good it is. It's fun to be excited for a game you want to play but don't set your standards so high that it ruins the fun you're supposed to be having. I do wish at times, companies cut back on the hype.

  • Posted Aug 1, 2008 4:35 am GMT
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