New Super Mario Bros. 2

[StarSock64]

Super Mario 64 used random default worlds, but they used them in a way that was interesting. The huge eel in the water? The bob-omb war? The penguins and how momma penguin would get mad if you took her baby? The bird that took your hat? The infestation of boos? Talk about charm! All the details made the difference. Everything felt alive and interactive.

The Galaxies had some of this, sort of, but they felt half-hearted and weren't as memorable. Like Koopaul was saying, they felt like an obstacle course for the sake of an obstacle course, not an obstacle course in an exciting world.

Sunshine's probably my favorite 3D Mario game ever because its atmosphere was just great. Gameplay is good and all, but I've played a lot of games with good gameplay, so why waste my time on one that has good gameplay but lackluster everything else? Just because it has Mario in the name? That's not the way it works.

The games with just good gameplay alone aren't the ones I bother to remember. The gameplay can be similar, because I don't think I'll ever spontaneously get sick of Mario-style platformers, but at least spice up the rest of the game, please.

When I buy a game, I don't just want a time waster doing something I've already done and seen before, I want a new experience.

[Mutsukki]

Recently Nintendo has been knowing the Mario universe pretty well...on the spin-offs. The Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series are so full of personality! Mario Kart 7 has a lot of awesome landscapes that could be stages (seriously, Bowser City is pretty damn nice stage) and Mario Party 9 is so joyfully animated, that for the first time, I can see the personality on the characters.

I only defend this game because it's gameplay mechanics and level design are generally rock solid, so I can't call it a bad game at all. But more life would be nice indeed. (I hope you guys don't think of me as an hypocrite, my opinion can change when I actually understand and agree with the points. But it's like Jetters said, I'll probably enjoy it because it's Mario)

[Koopaul]

Yeah ofcourse I'm still getting it. I'll still enjoy it too. But that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed.

[Keychain]

That's not necessarily a good thing :/

how is enjoying mario games no matter what a bad thing

how is someone liking something that doesn't have any actual negative effect to anything ever a bad thing

i don't even

[Gors]

maybe he meant that it's not exactly that good considering that it could be better, my humble two cents on this though


still, I'll keep an eye on this game, I'll probably enjoy it a lot too

[StarSock64]

That's not necessarily a good thing :/

how is enjoying mario games no matter what a bad thing

how is someone liking something that doesn't have any actual negative effect to anything ever a bad thing

i don't even

It's kind of bad to get so into a series that you're blinded to its flaws and you're not venturing out into better things. That's a waste of time and money. You should be able to make better, more objective decisions...

It's not nice for the industry either when people get so stuck on series that they're familiar with that they just stick with it and then cult hits like Okami don't make any money. Both the developers and the players miss out, and then the industry just sticks to making crappy safe games because it's the easiest way to make money. There ought to be standards for quality.

Sonic used to be my favorite series, but I jumped ship after I hated multiple games in a row. I didn't stick with it even if I loved it in my childhood, and I sure don't care about series loyalty. I just want good games. I was better off for it, too, because instead of playing Shadow the Hedgehog I was using my time to play better games and find new series.

It's important to be able to make good judgments in general. I think your ability to make good judgments in all facets of life is interconnected, so you should avoid biases wherever possible. Sticking with what's familiar with you for the sole reason that you liked it before, whether it's good now or not, is not having good judgment.

[Mutsukki]

It's kind of bad to get so into a series that you're blinded to its flaws and you're not venturing out into better things. That's a waste of time and money. You should be able to make better, more objective decisions...

It's important to be able to make good judgments in general. I think your ability to make good judgments in all facets of life is interconnected, so you should avoid biases wherever possible. Sticking with what's familiar with you for the sole reason that you liked it before, whether it's good now or not, is not having good judgment.

Uh, liking the series doesn't exactly means that you can't enjoy or try other thing. You just like it and things related to it. It's not really sticking to what's familiar, it's more like "Oh hey, I still enjoy this" kind of thing. Not saying that it doesn't have it's flaws, it does, but I guess it impacts people in a different manner. Is people enjoying this a sign of bad judgment? Really?

[Gors]

as I said once, taste are like assholes, everyone has their own


Mario games mightn't be that good in some aspects, but it's far from being a terrible game, really

Sonic, on other hand, went from a perfectly fine series into a shithole, so the change is justified.

though, some things affect people more so what I feel it isn't a big deal can be to another person.

[Cobalt Blue]

what if nintendo actually tried to work on the universe they already have around mario and worked on it? we got Sonic Generations proving that you can actually take and develop old scenarios, grant them a level desing that sticks to the original while still adding new elements and gimmicks preserving and explaing the charm and personality to both apeal new and old players along.

the original mechanics behind a mario game are so solid that they have ironically reached a point wrere they have turned dull and stale. its turns out it has become "that game", rather than aim to be "the game".

NSMB2 could span 200+ levels but you'll end hating the game halfway through them because in the end they look incredibly boring and repetitive. yet fans are going to buy solely for the fack mario is in it. and apparently, thats all what a mario game needs nowdays.

[StarSock64]

Saying "I'll play this series no matter what!" is pretty much the same as giving the OK for a series to get lazy and subpar because you'll play it anyway. That's not exactly good.

It's not enjoying something despite its flaws that's the problem; it's when you literally can't even acknowledge its flaws and you insist on playing the series no matter how it's treated.

The phrase "no matter what" is the red flag, here. With Mario that's not as much of a problem, but you shouldn't act utterly puzzled by the criticism the series gets.

[Mutsukki]

Really, if the game was crap and people were buying it just because it was Mario, I would agree, this happened to Sonic. But that's not really it. It's getting lifeless? Yes. Is it the same thing as the other game? Probably. Are people still going to have fun with it? I don't even doubt it. You see, the game's good, it shows that people put effort to make it good. It can get stale, but people play Mario games more on a basis of "oh, I remember liking this, is it still fun?" and most of the time, the answer is "yes", even if the series didn't go anywhere.

[StarSock64]

People find it fun=/=objectively good game

[Cobalt Blue]

then as i said, you get a mario game like this and play it with someone else solely for the following reasons:

1) the other person cant play anything else more elaborated than this
2) 1) + nostalgia
3) there is nothing else to play.

[Mutsukki]

Nostalgia is a big factor on this, but it doesn't stop people from not liking a game. Using Sonic 4 as an example, I was really hyped about it and as much as I would like to overlook it's flaws I couldn't, it is a bad game. I just don't feel the same about the recent Mario games. I've played new platformers, like Super Meat Boy and I really really enjoyed it! But I also enjoyed Mario, geez, is it that bad? It's not like me not buying it is going to make any difference, because tons of fans will too, so why wouldn't I just enjoy it too? Games are meant to be enjoyed anyway.

[Kriven]

Sonic 4 beats the shit out of NSMBW.

Although I'm one of those few idiots who loved the fuck out of that game, so whatever.