Top Ten of the Week #8 - Does this battle make my butt look fat?

[Helmo]

I'm not gonna do ten because I'm afraid it would just be all the Mario rpgs...


#1 Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door
Possibly my favorite game of all time, everything in this game is literally perfect from the battle system to the humor. I love the style and the music and all the characters dsfhsdjhfdsfjgsdjfgh

#2 Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story
This game is just plain amazing, I'm not sure if I prefer this battle system or the above's! The fact you can dodge any attack in this game as well as counter based on the enemy's tell is just great! Not to mention all the fun Bowser stuff that adds an extra dimension of play over the previous titles in the Mario & Luigi series

#3 Yoshi's Island
What can I say it's a classic! It's very impressive for a SNES game that's for sure, the crayon style and great music really stuck with me. I liked the boss fights a lot...

#4 Diddy Kong Racing
It's kind of funny to think of this as a Mario game but I mean hey it's Diddy Kong...? The adventure mode and item system was absolutely great, I much prefer this to actual Mario Kart. It was actually really challenging, the boss races really had me sweating and I had an absolute blast with em!!

#5 Luigi's Mansion (Pal)
This game is so creative, ghost busting with Luigi? That's quite a strange choice for a launch title but I absolutely loved this growing up. The atmosphere of this game is just great and the system of grabbing all the dough you can and getting rewarded for the way you catch ghosts is just great You have to search every nook and cranny to find everything, and there's definitely plenty to find! All the hidden cheese and speedy spirits add extra challenge and fun! The only downside is in the NTSC versions (North America & Japan) the hidden mansion is hardly different at all... you just take twice as much damage when hit and then the game still isn't very hard.

That's why I give the award to the Pal version, Miyamoto heard all the complaints and fixed all this when he did the Pal release! The Pal hidden mansion is more like "Luigi's Mansion: Master Quest" everything is mirrored and mixed up as well as making the bosses and standard ghosts more difficult... plus there's more money to collect!

[Shade]

10 - Mario Party 2/Mario Kart Wii
At ten because I was mostly trying to include single player Mario for no reason. I can't NOT mention them somewhere, though.

9 - Super Mario Galaxy 2
Didn't like it as much as the first, but I really enjoyed Yoshi.

8 - Super Mario Bros
The classic. Still incredibly fun to play through.

7 - Super Mario RPG
Played this a ton over the years. Absolutely love it.

6 - Super Mario Bros 3
Perfected the original formula fantastically.

5 - Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Was an artistic masterpiece in my opinion. Almost everything about it is amazing.

4 - Super Mario Galaxy
I feel like this was the first Wii game I played (aside from Wii Sports) and I still remember how amazing the experience was. Each level representing a new galaxy with new planets to explore was a truly amazing experience, and the platforming along with the gravity mechanic made it especially unique and awesome. It didn't lack the Mario "feel" either.

3.5 - Luigi's Mansion
Had to fit this in somehow I realize. Probably one of the five best gamecube games

3 - Super Mario Sunshine
Played this game absolutely dry years ago, and still love to randomly sit down and play it. I honestly really like how F.L.U.D.D. was implemented, and can't get enough of the environments. The bosses are fun too. (That electric piece of... Nevermind)

2 - Super Mario World
Mario platforming at it's absolute finest.

1 - Super Mario 64
And at the top. Needs no introduction and no explanation I hope.

Honorable mention goes to the NEW Super Mario Bros for DS and Super Mario 3D World.

[Jermungandr]

Okay I'm listing a top 20 because I couldn't NOT include some of these titles, but to keep this from being too much reading I'm only going to write out opinions for the top 10. So here goes:

#20 - Paper Mario (N64)
#19 - Wario World (GC)
#18 - Super Mario World (SNES)
#17 - M&L: Partners in Time (DS)
#16 - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
#15 - Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
#14 - Super Princess Peach (DS)
#13 - M&L: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
#12 - Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 (Wii)
#11 - Wario Land 4 (GBA)

#10 - Wario Land 2 (GB)
My favorite Wario game. I mean, 4 is pretty great don't get me wrong; it has vivid colors, creative environments, faster paced gameplay, and the Super Hard mode is INSANE but also really fun, if you have the game but haven't tried that mode you really should. But I've played both games relatively recently and for some reason 2 just appeals to me more, and I couldn't really tell you why. I think it probably has something to do with the secret exits and branching story paths mechanics, or the fact that it just has a lot more content. I couldn't really tell you.

#9 - Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (WU)
#8 - Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
Mmm ... not much I can think of to actually say about these two. Just that I'm a big Donkey Kong Country fan and these two games are excellent additions to the franchise in ways I didn't even expect. Personally I prefer Returns slightly more over Tropical Freeze for reasons I can't really explain but probably has a lot to do with the frustrating Air Meter in the swimming areas. The games are already challenging enough without having to worry about breathing too.

#7 - Super Mario Sunshine (GC)
I think one of the things that made Mario 64 so great was the freedom and openness that the worlds within provided you. Sure, you were given objectives to complete in each stage, but with such large open playgrounds to explore, you could spend as much time dicking around as you pleased. And honestly, who didn't take advantage of that? How many people, upon playing the game for the first time, always went straight for the star objectives in the most linear fashion possible? I'd wager to say pretty much no one, unless they were some sort of incredible prude. Just fuckin' around in the worlds and testing the limits of what you could do in them were their own rewards.

Super Mario Sunshine, at least in my opinion, extrapolated on that concept by introducing FLUDD, the water-gun backpack that could spray water but more importantly allowed you to hover wherever you wanted. Suddenly there was a dozen different routes you could take to reach every objective dependent on how good you were at utilizing your jumps and the hovering mechanic. Sure, there were always clear routes that the game expected you to take to reach your goals, but with the FLUDD mechanics there were always a variety of ways for you to "break" the game and do things your own way, which was encouraged.

So that's what made the 3D Mario games so great for the time; the openness and feeling of freedom that the games provided.

... aaannnnd then, Super Mario Galaxy came along.

Don't get me wrong, I really like the Mario Galaxy games, but I feel like they've spoiled the future of 3D Mario games. The Galaxy Games still allowed you to move around in open space, so it still felt like you had some freedom, however you were still forced to follow a very distinct linear path. It's like comparing playing in a playground to walking down a very wide forest path. Sure, you can move back and forth in the path, but you're always stuck traveling down it from point A to point B, and you can't really go running off it and exploring the forest on your own as much as you would like to.

At least the first Mario Galaxy had some free-roaming areas. Galaxy 2 was almost entirely linear which is why I didn't like that one quite as much. And don't even get me started on 3D Land and World.

Anyways I'm getting super off topic I think. My point is just, this is why Sunshine is my favorite 3D Mario game.

#5 - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GC)
Definitely the best of the Paper Mario games, although to be fair the only two I enjoyed were this one and the N64 game anyways. Super Paper Mario I guess I kind of respect for being experimental, but actually playing the game always gives me a headache. While I think this game's gameplay is superior to the SNES Mario RPG game, this game does have quite a few flaws that I feel make it a slightly more inferior game, such as some levels being just way too long (Boggly Woods I'm looking at you), some of the music is just irritating, and the quest board system feels lazy compared to just going out into the world and finding quests for yourself. Stuff like that.

#6 - Super Mario RPG (SNES)
I want to call this a solid RPG, but if we're being honest, this game is severely broken in the player's favor. Still, I do feel like this game outclasses every other Mario RPG in regards to story, humor, and sheer amount of things to discover. This game never really fails to be fun from start to finish, no matter how many times you've played it.

#4 - Yoshi's Island (GBA)
I never had the opportunity to play this game on the SNES, but if I had I probably would have considered this to be one of the finest platformers on the system. Definitely the best of the Yoshi games; most of them I didn't like at all, but we'll see what happens when Woolie World comes out. Unfortunately I lost my GBA copy of this game at some point and was forced to repurchase it on the Wii U instead, which idoes not feel quite as good to play, but whatever.

#3 - Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES)
What is there I can really say about this one that people haven't already said before. If you're a fan of the DKC series at all you already know that this one is considered by most fans to be the best in the series. It's also considered to be one of the toughest, but I've personally never had much difficulty with it.

#2 - Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES)
Just slightly squeaks ahead of DKC2 as my favorite DK game. I know most people would argue that DKC2 is the best, and I do think it's an excellent game, but 3 has some of my favorite stages in it. Plus I just like the aesthetics of this game a bit more; you guys know me, I'm a Kirby fanatic ... clearly I have a thing for vivid, colorful worlds.

#1 - Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
I'll be honest, this one's rank might be purely out of nostalgia reasons, because I can't come up with any legit reason why it deserves it other than the fact that I love this game so much. Sometimes you just have to go with your heart, you know?

The GBA remake was shit though. Yeuck.

[MrYoshbert]

Top Ten (in no particular order) 

Super Mario Advance (GBA)

I'm probably going to hunt Jermungandr down in a murderous rampage and fight him to the death, because this is what I think is the definitive and certainly not shit version of Super Mario Bros. 2 out there.  The original SMB2 was a bit drab for my liking (even the All-Stars version), and I have to appreciate this version's added flair.  Said flair comes in the form of characters going all bouncy, extra aesthetic effects and details, a few new (and rather weird) enemies and items not seen in the original game, and... score (I guess), all together giving the game a much-needed boost in liveliness.  The end result is something that feels much more... Mario-like.  

The Ace Coin and Yoshi Egg challenges were neat, and they give the game some replayability, which is always nice in my book.  The bonus Mario Bros. remake is pretty fun, too.  I have some really fond memories of crazy times me and my cousins had in the multiplayer mode.

What's that? The graphics are too bright?  The sound and music took a massive hit in quality, you say?  The voice acting is annoying?  Yeah, that's inconsequential.  It's still Super Mario Bros. 2.

This version in particular was one of the games that introduced me to Mario as a whole (including Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, but that's another story).  For that reason, Super Mario Advance gets mad childhood bias respect from me despite its faults.

Also, I never was serious about that "fight you to the death" thing, Jermungandr.

Yoshi's Island (SNES/GBA)
Give me Yoshi's Old Island, any day.  This game is pure platforming bliss. 

Super Mario Galaxy Duology
Yeah, I'm cheating here, but I like to think of these two games as one single adventure (since Galaxy 2 takes place right after the first).  These two are certainly two of Mario's greatest, and they were the solitary reasons why I bought a Wii.

Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
Although I'm slightly more fond of the Galaxy Duology, this is still one of the plumber's best 3D platformers.  What's even sweeter is being able to choose between five playable characters; playing as characters other than Mario and Luigi, each with their own attributes and perks, was something I'd really like Nintendo to do more, and I appreciate this game for reviving(?) that concept.  All that with co-op multiplayer, too.

Also, holy hell, the level design.  Leave it to EAD Tokyo to cook up some of the most beautiful and creative Mario locales ever.  This game makes NSMB2 and NSMBWii tremble in fear and cry in shame, respectively.  It makes 3D Land obsolete.  Here, we have consolidated proof that with a little subversion and creativity, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Super Mario World (SNES/GBA)
What more can be said about what many consider to be the best of the classic 2D Mario platformers?

Keep in mind that I've only played the GBA re-release a lot when I was a kid.  What's that? The graphics are too bright?  The sound and music took a massive hit in quality, you say?  The voice acting is really cheesy?  Eh, none of that matters to me.  It's still Super Mario World.  

Also, playable Luigi.

New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U & Knuckles(Wii U)
I'm probably gonna make heads roll/get chewed out for having no taste by including this.

It'd be best if you pretended that the Wii and 3DS titles didn't exist before playing this (that's what I did); to me, the New Super Mario Bros. U Master HD Collection truly feels like what a 2D Mario game could have been like if they hadn't disappeared for twenty years after Super Mario Land 2.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)
Say hello to the magnum of the entire Paper Mario series, and the Mario RPG games as a whole.  For your sanity and mine, I'm going to hold off on saying a lot about this one; it'll most likely be parroting what everyone else here has said about it, with 99% more fanboy gushing and brown-nosing.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
Not what I consider to be the star of the Mario & Luigi series (that honor would go to either Superstar Saga or Dream Team), but this is still a fantastic entry in the series.  Playing as lovable ol' Bowser, messing with his body as the Bros., the battless, the new special attacks, the new additions to the RPG mechanics, the wacky story... it's all kickass.

Mario Kart DS
My favorite Mario Kart game, bar none.  It has some of the best track design in the series, some of the best picks for retro courses, the best Battle Mode (second only to Double Dash's), and of course... Mission Mode.  This was the game that pushed me to beg my parents for a new and shiny Nintendo DS.

Super Princess Peach (DS)
Despite the somewhat easy difficulty, this one is really fun Mario-style platformer with a pretty neat mechanic.  I liked the Vibe thing.

For some reason, I really enjoyed playing as Peach.  I sorta have a thing for spin-off games putting characters other than Mario in the lead role; guess that also explains why I love Luigi's Mansion and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker so much.

I really would love to see a sequel to this game someday, like with Daisy, Rosalina, Toadette as playable characters and 4-player co-op or something.  The Vibe mechanic would probably have to be absent though; too bad the mass media had to raise such a big stink over some kids' video game, and accuse Nintendo of some gender stereotyping agenda and such.

...despite the fact that everyone was affected by the crazy mood swing magic, including Bowser and the Mario Bros.  Hell, shouldn't Peach be getting points for being the only one actually in control of her emotions?

Honorable Mentions (because I couldn't stand to leave any of these out)

Spoiler

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)
Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
Mario Kart: Double Dash! (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
Game and Watch Gallery 4 (GBA)
Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (GBC)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
New Super Mario Bros. DS
Mario Party 3
Mario Party 5 (N64)
Mario Party DS

[Davy Jones]

1. Super Mario World
2. Donkey Kong Country 1-3
3. Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi's Island
4. Smash Bros Melee
5. Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2
6. Super Mario 3-D World
7. Super Mario Sunshine
8. Mario Kart 64 & Mario Kart 8
9. Super Mario 64
10. The Mario Party series

The order may be not that accurate since a lot of nostalgia pours into some of these titles.

[Koopaul]

Uh the ENTIRE Marioverse? That's going to be hard narrowing things down. Okay, these are in no particular order but...

Super Mario Sunshine

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Wario Land 4

Donkey Kong Country 2

Mario Party

Yoshi's Island

Mario Kart 7

Super Mario Bros. 3

[Jermungandr]

Week #7: Top ## Favorite Video-Game Abilities You Want to Have

Pretty simple concept this one. What abilities presented in video games would you most like to have in real life, and why? Include at least one character as an example of said ability.

I leave it up to your own discretion what you think qualifies as "abilities" for this list. It could be something as grandiose as pyrokinetic powers, or something as simple as the ability to skillfully wield a sword, or pocket thousands of coins on your person.

[psychospacecow]

Ahem...

1. tgm - take your pick.

[~Axis~]

Lemee see...

1: Shapeshifting (think Megaman in the MMBN series and what he can do with those arms)

2: Control of Ki (DBZ game series)

3: Magnet Shield (the power up in most sonic games where rings are attracted to you. That would make me rich!)

[Key0808]

Here we go:

1. Turning back time a bit (like in Super Time Force). Good-bye silly mistakes. You could also potentially beat any game in one clear run by just going back a few seconds every time you die. Think of the possibilities!
   
2. Maxwell's notebook (Scribblenauts series). Once again, just think of the possibilities. Feel like having a ridiculously large cold drink? Write it down, make it appear and enjoy. If this comes with the little bin from the top-right of the screen, that'd be handy too for getting rid of all the stuff you write.
   
3. Free running... skills? (Faith from Mirror's Edge). No other real reason other than I just think it'd be cool to do.
   
4. Flying (NiGHTS into Dreams style). Now there's a lot of games where things fly, but there's something majestic about the way NiGHTS goes about its floating business. Plus it'd go great with the free running. It'd be pretty scary, though.
   
5. Transforming (any Transformers game), maybe? I mean, having the ability to turn into, say, a dodge viper at will is pretty neat, but if I have to look like I have random car parts pasted onto my body than that's a pass.
   
6. And if you must, super speed (a la Sonic), because why not? Plus plus, it'd go great with free running and flying.
   

[Koopaul]

1. Wario's wacky invincibility. Imagine if every deadly thing that could happen to you instead made you stronger in some weird way.

2. Mario's superhuman acrobatics. Not too special until you watch this video: http://youtu.be/WfKxpmnAFRw Now that's just awesome. Mario powers are completely taken for granted.

3. Bayonetta's ability to walk on walls and ceilings in the moonlight. Unlike Spider-Man's wall climbing powers, this is manipulating gravity. So no blood rushing to your head!

4. Link's ability to turn into a drawing on flat surfaces from A Link Between Worlds. Seems like a cool power that could be useful in all sorts of situations. I could also interact with other drawings I made.

5. Dr. Eggman's IQ. Is this a power? I'm saying it is. He's one of the most scientifically brilliant minds in video games.

[E-Man]

Not sure if I'll complete this list, but here are my top desired powers I'd like to have.

1. To be able to rewind time and still keep certain items and progress in a similar way Link does in Majora's Mask.

2. Obtaining a Majora's Mask of my own to try all those insane tricks the Skull Kid pulls off and then some (but hopefully not get consumed by madness and cause the moon to fall).

3. Being able to hold large quanites of items with little effort that nearly any VG Character is able to pull off with ease.

4. The same type of immortality Wario had in at least two games (thanks for bringing it up, Koopaul).

5. Mario's jumping skills to not only travel with ease, but also pull off outrageous tricks seen in TAS Super Mario 64 videos.

6. All the abilities of Dr. Eggman to not only trump others in the fields of science, but also outrun anyone naturally.

[Kosheh]

2. Obtaining a Majora's Mask of my own to try all those insane tricks the Skull Kid pulls off

thanks, now I'm imagining skull kid in tony hawk pulling off a 180 varial heelflip + manual + pop shove it + nose manual + 180 varial kickflip + nose manual + 180 fs overcrook + bs noseslide + fs tailslide + CHOPPER HOP + bs noseslide + kickflip + varial kickflip + varial heelflip lien + manual + kickflip + varial heelflip + kickflip + kickflip to indy + nose manual as the combo counter begins multiplying his score by 13

Oh. me
Well, let's see


1. Pac-Man's eating ability. I just

a) eat anything i wanted
b) eat as much of it as i wanted
c) never feel the repercussions of it

2. Wavedash IRL. Get from point A to point B with a series of airdodges canceled with momentum while hitting the ground. No one sees me running, I just slide across the ground with a bunch of speed-poofs behind me. Everyone's mad jelly but I'm Stylin As Heck

3. Link's ability to pick up instruments with little to no trouble at all, and have things happen when I play certain melodies. idk, it'd just be really cool and i'd be the life at parties if i played a melody and the sun set and rose

4. Knuckles' abilities
shut up you know it's cool
i'd jump from every tall building in NYC and sail my way halfway down to the other side of the city. When I'm done, I'd just climb up another building with my fists and repeat.

[E-Man]

Funny you should mention the Skull Kid and Tony Hawk in the same sentence. It reminds me of this gem of a video from years ago.

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes to play as Knuckles.

[Helmo]

The ability to go completely unnoticed by guards as long as I'm under a box.