VideoGame_Discussion

Everything should be up to date. If anyone's missing a badge, please lemme know.

Also, Happy 4th of July!

Thanks Frank.

Played some more NWMB-Wii and accidentally found the hidden exit door in World 3-Ghost to the canon and shot myself to World 6. Pretty stoked about that since while I wasn't hating this, as mentioned before 2D Mario lost it's shine in my view and generally just frustrates me now. So jumping to 6 should let me finish sooner and with less frustration and hand cramps from the Wiimote in landscape mode.

Slickriven wrote:

As somebody who's played at least a little bit of every game in the series over the past week or so, there's something about NSMB Wii that makes it more frustrating than the other ones. I can't really pinpoint what, though. It might be control or physics related.

Renaissance2K wrote:

I think part of my hang-up with 2D Mario stems from using emulation and save states a bit too much the past 2+ years. I've got into a place where I really dislike failing and with save states I can and would use and abuse them preventing deaths and even taking almost any damage. When I played SMW for this thread back in December, within a few levels I was just so annoyed with taking damage and the slippery controls/feeling in that. I was playing on my SNES mini and it has save states but I think I wasn't using them a ton.
With NSMB-Wii, I'm up to 25ish lives from collecting 100s of coins and the 8 red coins often and so forth, but still dying gets pretty annoying to me. World 1 I did reasonably well in, World 2 (sand world) a few levels ate several lives, but thankfully 1 of them was basically optional and I just went to the other. World 3 (ice world) got a little annoying with the penguin suit and sliding/falling around resulting in damage taken or deaths, then the bullet-Bills started to show up. So frustration crept in some, but had I not found the shortcut, I was about to visit the mid-world castle and would've stopped playing for that session likely after beating it.

For sure the controller's cramped holding position doesn't make playing it for too long too much fun as my hands get sore. The recommended BOSS controller thing could be decent, but I haven't sought one out. For now I'll stick with the Wiimote and just limit sessions to only a few levels.

From memory, all of the game's physics are identical, minus the first game and the 3DS variant.

Good grief I just love rage quitting a friggin Mario game @!#%@#$^%$@^!!!!!!!!!

World 6-6 rather sucked, taking a good 6-8+ tries and stoking the fires of annoyance and then the 6-Final-Castle wasn't bad until after the checkpoint with these tilting platforms that tilted into lava which is an instant death and then there's these spike balls rolling above you banging around and every 10 seconds or maybe less they can optionally and basically randomly drop from some spaces in that ceiling.
I got so pissed and sick of dropping lives that I just straight held in the Wiimote power button and shut the Fk'r off. I realize that means I'll need to replay 6-6 again, but this is EXACTLY why I stopped playing Mario games basically after SMW, just way too infuriating.
I guess I should have stopped either after the 6-Mid-Castle or after 6-6, but after 6-6 was just a small Bullet-Bill type interaction designed to give you 3x mushrooms and then it was on to the castle, which before this I only needed 1 or maybe 2 tries to beat the boss, and generally would reach him without too much difficulty. Also the game wants to save for you after those castles, but if you want to save just after a standard level it's some quick-save thing that says you can only do that once - whatever the heck that means.

I will beat this... I will slowly and surely start hating it more and more, but I will complete it. Bah.
EDIT - So I wanted to know if 6-6 was the only level that I would need to redo, and annoyingly I'll have to redo 6-5 as well which wasn't that bad, but had a huge spiked fish that would come at you and a few places jumping to avoid it, if you didn't take it out with a fireball, were royal PITA areas thanks to rising/lowering water levels or the 'cliff-edge' sections. Then on the wiki I was looking at, I noticed that 6-6 has a secret exit to world 8... so now I'm going to try for that and end this sucka asap.

Gave it another try and that went a lot better. Only needed 1 shot at 6-5 and stumbled upon a vine to get out of the level a bit earlier, which let me skip 6-6 and go right to the final castle. Initially I was thinking that I should go back because I wanted to warp to World 8, but figured I should try the castle at least twice and sure enough I beat it on my 2nd try. Then I beat the sky pirate ship and made it to World 7. I wisely quit while I was pleased with that progress. The sky pirate levels were always my favorites from SMB3, especially the music, so I'm glad I got to do that one.

I think I’ll participate this time. I’m gonna bring NSMB on vacation next week to play multiplayer with the fam, so I’ll do it then.

Started a new NSMB, finished NSMB. Thanks, Warp Cannons!

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Yeah, these games were made to be portable...

Another evening, another session, another F@#$ Y*@ Mario.
Level 7-1 wasn't very fun, 7-2 and 7-3 were alright, then 7-Mid-Castle. The slowly rising tiltable platform was just annoying in the first section, but it's second appearance with the walking bombas dropping on you was hot garbage - 8+ attempts often starting with a mushroom and I only reached the boss like 50% of the time and each time he got me b/c I was already small by then. I don't know how a platform that rises that slow can be so stressful.

2nd F-U quit via holding down the power button in as many nights. I hate this game. I'm considering returning to World 6 and shooting for that 1-way ticket out of there to 8 via the warp cannon.

Slickriven wrote:

I'm glad to hear someone who isn't complaining that Mario games are too easy/for babies.

@benstylus thing is, I really wouldn't call the levels hard. Annoying for sure, but even after dying that many times and getting pissed, I still had like 24 lives remaining. It's more like they know certain level designs are BS so they give you a ton of lives and expect you to keep ploughing through the garbage... It's a 'challenge' via s#itty design.
Most levels take 1-2 attempts, and some times a level can frustrate me a bunch, then I take a break and come back and beat it on the first or second try, so I'm sure plenty of this is on me. Also like I said prior, I think the use and basically abuse of Save States by me on many similar platformers has messed up my expectations of my own progression.

More updates - y'all sick of me yet?
Played today (have the day off) and decided to put the condom thing on my Wiimote and the fat bit around the D-pad was actually helpful, so that was a plus. I decided to go back to 6-6 to warp to World 8 and that wasn't too bad. I beat 6-5 on 2 tries and actually got out the secret exit in 6-6 without losing any lives. In World 8 I made it to and beat the Mid-Castle all without losing more than 2 lives on any level.
I then took on 8-4 and the dark swimming was crappy, so after just 1 failed attempt and knowing the game saved after the Mid-Castle I quit. Am happy with my progress. My next update should be about me beating this.

Well I would've loved this update to be me claiming I beat it, but that flarking lava in the fight against Bowser S U C K E D !
Pleasantly I got 8-4, 5 and 6 without even dying, then I beat the final air pirate ship after I think 3 tries and it wasn't too bad, though the boss I was doing the ground pound wrong the first time and shaking the stupid controller vs. just holding the down direction. Bowser's castle wasn't too bad and took me like 3 tries to reach the checkpoint right before him... but then that final (I think) chase sequence just sucked. I got to the propeller hat most times, but I'll be a SOAB if I didn't just land in that lava like 7 times. Thanks to the coins, I only net lost maybe 2 lives before just giving up. So I'll need to redo the first part of the castle when I try this again. But that Dpad is too small, and my thumb is sore.

So close to ending this painful and frustrating romp.

Renaissance2K wrote:

That sexy beast belong to you?

Thank Goodness that is finally over!!

It took a bit longer than I wanted, but I finally beat Bowser. Just getting to the checkpoint this time took close to 10 times, and I am recalling that it surely took me closer to that many tries last night too. I know for sure that I get too antsy or impatient after seeing an area a few times and want to push through it and by pushing/rushing only make more mistakes and further frustrate myself. So dumb on my part... 100% did that in this game, especially in the final stage. After I got to the checkpoint I proceeded to fail a good 10+ times <sigh>. I failed so much that I got the Luigi block to show me how to beat the level (got this last time too). I decided to watch it to see how far I had yet to go in the level and yeah I hadn't even reached a whole section past the final vertical wall obstructions - anyhow I also noticed that the Luigi tutorial thingy, he never ran or did any momentum jumps, while I did them endlessly. I didn't take much from that only trying to slow myself down some... and about my 3rd time after watching that I FINALLY reached the end and saved Peach.

So all in, I did the majority of Worlds 1, 2, 6, & 8. I unintentionally (but happily) warped from 3's Haunted House to 6, then beat most of 6 and advanced to 7 only to get frustrated with the Mid-Castle in 7. I quit and lost that progression, but decided to backtrack to 6-6 and take the warp to 8. Overall 8 wasn't too bad and I beat most of the levels in 1-3 lives. But that final was just a bear. My left thumb is sore again with that darn small d-pad.

I think more than any other game you've selected, @Frank, I earned this one via the most frustration and perseverance.
Proof: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i7sXHoDVx3tgz81Y6

New Super Mario Bros 2. for 3DS completed.

The warp cannons stages in this one are my favorite part.

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There's a Target circle offer up now for $30 off certain Mario games, and New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe on Switch is included. If you have a store with one nearby, you can get it for a little over $20 ($19.99 + tax).

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

Go Check your stores. Lots of sales, some toys at 70% off too.

https://twitter.com/wario64/status/167803930869379...

Feeb wrote:

Any other games on sale besides It Takes Two?

My store has 5 copies of It Takes Two available. I can pick up a copy for someone, if the price is accurate, but I don't want to stop if that's the only game.

Most EA stuff. Super mega baseball 4 is like 16$- it’s a new release. PGA is like 27$. Tons of stuff. Mostly sports of course. The Twitter thread is best place to check. They were updating it pretty quickly.

Someone on Twitter found Wild Hearts for $16 on PS5. I don't know how common that is, but there was photo evidence.

Feeb wrote:

I saw it at my target. Both consoles.

Nice. It's not a big deal, but I'm kicking myself a little, as I recently bought it for $30 used from GameFly =).

Feeb wrote:

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

It’s often not worth that to drive to target honestly. Not for me for sure.

benstylus wrote:

Welcome to the club!

After totally not enjoying NSMB-Wii I just started Yoshi's Woolly World on the WiiU and it was just endearing. Clearly a different vibe, but the lack of clock and general lack of challenge is more my speed it seems - gosh am I getting old and soft?

Join the club. We'll save a spot on the Rascal for you.

Slickriven wrote:

To be fair, Wolly World was a really fun game. Such a shame all we got on Switch was the disappointment that was Crafted World.

I beat New Super Mario Bros. .
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://i.imgur.com/OqzXtsd.jpg[/imgt]

This game was a big part of my childhood. I loved the stages, the powerups, the minigames, the 1-on-1 mode, all the new gimmicks, and everything! Going back to it now, it's still an excellent time... but these stages are way easier than I remembered. I beat everything and got every Star Coin and secret exit, but I'll admit, I found myself kinda bored a few times. It doesn't help that the game frequently puts an obstacle in your path that requires the Mini Mushroom or Blue Shell to conquer--the Mini Mushroom is always found in 1-4, but the Blue Shell has no guaranteed spawn point. You'll have to trial-and-error it whenever you need one. That gets to be a pain pretty quickly. Otherwise, the controls are great and the adventure is pretty memorable. But NSMB2's "story" mode is superior to this one, even if it's less original.

I'm way late but finally started New Super Luigi U today. Got through the first two worlds and stopped mid-way through the ice world. The Luigi physics are as weird as I remember, but once you get used to them you can breeze through it. 1-ups still seem plentiful, and with Luigi's high jumping ability it usually isn't difficult to earn an extra 1-up by reaching the top of the flagpole. I'm currently playing a couple of other games, so I already decided before I began that I'm not going for 100% in this playthrough, so that certainly helps. Most of the challenge in my original playthrough came from going for 100% because you only get 100 seconds per level and there are no checkpoints which meant when you died you'd lose any star coins you had collected. That's not to say there is no challenge to this game at all, this is kinda "The Lost Levels" compared to how easy the other games in the series are.

I also started it with the Pro Controller. It's odd, but on Switch I bought a Pro Controller specifically for Super Mario Maker 2 because I prefer using a d-pad with 2D platformers and the poor excuse for a d-pad on Joy-Cons wasn't cutting it. However on Wii U I just could never get used to using the Pro Controller with Mario games (2D or 3D), so I always stuck with the GamePad because that d-pad already felt pretty much perfect (I'd even use it over the analog stick in Mario Kart 8 sometimes). But now the Wii U Pro Controller just feels natural and I don't know why I couldn't get used to it back when I'd regularly play Wii U (I did use it fine with non-Mario games).

EZ PZ
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I'll probably play this on my DS. I can do this on my breaks at work!

Do I count as a member because I beat NSMB? Or is this one game an outlier?

Playing NSMBU on the Switch. I agree with someone else's comment about the Mario being floaty. I was able to get through most of the game on my flight home last night. I died a lot, haha. I tend to rush levels, but that approach failed me quite a bit.

Frank wrote:

Woolly World isn't too bad, but my progression has been slow. I hadn't noticed before, but using the standard Wii-U gaming pad, my hands get a bit warm while playing YWW at least. So partly from that (maybe it's just the warmer nature of July) and some of the levels are starting to get a touch frustrating, thus my progress has been slow. I only just completed World 2 and beat 3-1. I've been generally doing 3-4 levels each session, but the console is also slow to launch the game, it's likely that I'm so used to my XSX and Quick Resume, but it takes a well over a minute with a few screens to sit there and wait for them to just basically time out while the game loads up.
I've not come even remotely close to collecting all of the stuff and that's been lame. I went back and redid level 1-1 to get the stage star for maxing the 4 challenges I suppose you'd call them. Other than that, I've only got all of the flowers and/or all of the yarn in maybe 5-6 other levels (for flowers and yarn, each) of the 19 I've now completed, and nearly none with all stamps nor health. Too many of the main 2 collectables, and even the gems and thus stamps are hidden and I'm not trying very hard to hunt them all down. I've also simply missed plenty b/c I missed a jump or didn't have yarn balls to throw or missed the target. Oh well, it's still largely enjoyable, though in the 2nd half of World 2, the stages started to get more difficult, but that just slows progression since you don't have lives. I also didn't realize I could 'eat' the fire in the 1 stage, nor stick my tongue out straight up. I also met the dog and wish I could control him better. I'm not sure if I will revisit levels once I've finished them all, I doubt it, but maybe if I get bored... and maybe with a guild or something to not miss things and just push though seemingly every single level an 2nd time - vs. a 3rd or more.

I beat New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS last night.

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Although it's rather short and very easy, it was still fun. It's actually a rather silly Mario game. The whole emphasis on coins is an interesting take on the Mario series. The only real challenge lies in finding the three gold star coins in each level, but even that isn't very difficult. It feels definitely more geared to younger players, but I still enjoyed it.

After a long dry spell, finally participated in the game of the month and completed the game. It helped that I had NSMBU in my backlog. Overall, I enjoyed the game. I've learned that being too aggressive in some levels lead me to die way more than I should have.

Are we about due for 20 Questions, Sir Frank?

I've been chipping away at New Super Mario Bros. Wii for the past few weeks. I already beat the game back in 2020, but I wanted to work on a 100% run that unlocked every Star Coin and every exit.

I've been banging my head against the wall with Star Road the past few days. I earned the last coin this morning to somewhat of an anticlimax. Mario told me I had found every coin, but I was still missing a shining profile star.

Turns out I missed one innocent exit back in World 2. Took care of that with the help of a Propeller Hat, and I earned my reward.

I'm going to see if I can do the same with New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS next, but I doubt I'll finish that before the end of the month, considering how long the Wii game took.