Super Paper Mario (Wii)

[voodoolily]

Hell of fun. Played through the first three (four?) levels last night, and think I finally got my groove back. I actually can't wait to get home tonight after work and play some more. S'been awhile.

This version brings in a 3-D element for added challenge, and does away with the turn-based aspect. I like this, actually, as I no longer have to just stand there and take damage when I could easily just kick the enemy's butt if given license. My favorite occurrence so far is getting the star that turns you into a gigantic Mario to go stomping around and crushing things kind of like in New Super Mario Bros, but this time you are just a huge version of the original, brown and orange, pixellated Mario.

I won't spoil anything else, but you should get it NOW. Here is linky to some gameplay movies.

[Margalis]

I will get it - AS SOON AS I GET A FUCKING WII GOD DAMN IT!

[stray]

I feel for you, man. Even if I don't think that highly of it myself. I hope you get one before summer, because I have a feeling the drought will probably just get worse by then.

[schild]

You know what the best part about the Wii drought?

Nintendo knows it fucking exists and is still sending 2-5 Wiis to Gamestops every two weeks. Normally I wouldn't accuse a gaming company of keeping a item popular due to gaming the supply and demand ratio. But that's exactly what Nintendo is fucking doing.

Edit: Just like with the early PS2 years, Rarity increased demand 10-fold.

[Strazos]

Yeah, it's pretty silly, though I hope part of the problem is simply a matter of demand outpacing production.

[Samwise]

Irony.

[schild]

I thought of that comic too when Nintendo said they were having supply problems.

Crock of dick if you ask me.

[stray]

Anyways, about the game... This is a late pickup for me. Still got a lot of stuff to play.

I finally got my groove back

Which groove is that? Have you been burned out lately?

[Nonentity]

I picked it up yesterday, haven't had a chance to play it yet.

It's sitting on my bed at home, waiting for me expectantly.

I will not lie - I've never played any of the Paper Mario games. I played the SNES RPG, the GBA RPG, and the DS RPG, but none of those are in the Paper Mario series.

[voodoolily]

Anyways, about the game... This is a late pickup for me. Still got a lot of stuff to play.

I finally got my groove back

Which groove is that? Have you been burned out lately?

Yes, I have been feeling much ennui to the gamings. Even Cooking Mama has left me feeling meh. After I finished Zelda we started moving and Home Improvement Awesome 3000 became my new favorite time-suck. Now the house is pretty dialed-in (except for a few weekend projects here and there) and games bore me. Until yesterday. Yay!

[MrHat]

Hah, I tried the home improvement thing, and the gardening thing, and found out I hate them both.

Yes, HATE.

As for Super Paper Mario, I can't justify buying console games anymore.  I only play console when I have friends over, even the single player ones.  And since I have no friends, I have boxes with electronics that look kinda fugly cluttering up my TV viewing space.

[Yegolev]

It's on the list.  God dammit.

Also, I am sad to hear the turn-based combat is gone.  I absolutely loved the combat in Thousand Year Door.  In fact I'd rank it up there with the Shin Megami Tensei system, which I consider the peak of turnbased RPG combat systems, followed closely by the Shadowhearts wheel.  I guess now I will have to see if it can measure up to the Devil Summoner combat system since it's entered that real-time suckhole.  After my upcoming weekend of tame debauchery, that is.

[schild]

One of my friends said the Super Paper Mario is mostly hitting a brick a thousand times and running in a hamster wheel.

I lol'd.

[Yegolev]

Running on a hamster wheel is undoubtedly groundbreaking when you use the Wiimote.

[voodoolily]

It is definitely fun.

[stray]

Dangit. Maybe I'll pick it up soon.

[schild]

STRAY.

HAMSTER WHEEL.

[voodoolily]

schild have you even played it? sometimes stress-free good-time fun is just plain FUNZ.

[schild]

That's why I bought an arcade machine.

[voodoolily]

meh. mario anything is great.

[schild]

FINALLY, ONE PERSON SAID IT.

MARIO, ANYTHING.

NO, NOT MARIO ANYTHING.

THAT'S THE FUCKING PROBLEM.

[Margalis]

It's hard for me to think of a Mario game that isn't fun. I like Mario Party, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis...

That doesn't mean I'll automatically buy and love any Mario product, just that Nintendo doesn't whore out mario to complete crap. Hell even Doctor Mario was the bomb.

[schild]

You're right. Mario isn't total crap. It's just not king of the castle anymore. It was replaced by 50 other good action platformers with more interesting storylines (not hard to do... princess... bowser... italians...).

[voodoolily]

Hey, Mister All-Caps Happy. (oh snap an ad just skipped across the screen as I'm typng this and hoverd menacingly) You generically love wierd Japanese shit (so do I, not throwing stones). I generically love Mario shit. We're not flawed humans, we're just fans of our respective genres. Don't hate.

[schild]

But I can see bad japanese shit, I played Mario 3 and Mario world and gave them a decade to remake that magic.

Those motherfuckers haven't. IMO, the last good Mario game was Mario RPG - which required the help of Squaresoft... during their glory days.

[stray]

OK, so this is funny..

[Margalis]

Mario 64 was awesome. I'm not a huge fan of Mario Sunshine though.

[schild]

Well. Mario 64 was awesome. Now there's at least 25-30 games as good as it.

There's still nearly nothing as good as SMW or SMB3.

[stray]

It stops with SMW/SMB3 with me (unless you count Mario Kart). The last Paper Mario was kind of cool though.

I didn't dislike Mario 64, but I didn't like it much either. And I have an even lesser opinion of it now. In the grand scheme of things, there are other games from the same era that are a lot more endearing to me. I mean c'mon. Resident Evil and Quake.

And I was at an age where I scoffed at Mario stuff as well (19 I think?). It couldn't be helped.

[Kitsune]

The Super Mario RPG for SNES kicks absolute swaths of ass.  I wasn't that impressed with the Mario & Luigi RPGs for the portables, though.  Never played the earlier Paper Mario stuff, but am enjoying SPM.  My only complaint is that the RPGishness of it with exploration and puzzle-solving hurts the platforming action somewhat in comparison to the pure platforming action of SMB3 and SMW.

[Selby]

My only complaint is that the RPGishness of it with exploration and puzzle-solving hurts the platforming action somewhat in comparison to the pure platforming action of SMB3 and SMW.

But the Paper Mario series wasn't supposed to be about the platforming.  Mario hasn't had a good pure platform side-scroller adventure since SMB3 & SMW (unless you count the new Super Mario for DS).  Which is why it probably doesn't appeal to the people who enjoyed the first generation of Mario.  Mario 64 was... no fun for me.  Paper Mario has been very enjoyable, but I didn't go into it expecting SM3 (not saying anyone here did either, naturally).  I think it is great that Nintendo expanded on the brand rather than just slap Mario's name on every craptastic game that came out, but I realize that not all of the games out there are for me.

[Yegolev]

Early impressions are that I like it, however I liked Thousand Year Door more because it was more of an RPG whereas this is more of a platformer.  The leveling is apparently simplified and so is the "combat".  Maybe some other dynamic awaits me; haven't gotten through 1-2 yet.  The level design is very interesting, but so far it seems that it took all of the team's creative effort to do that.  Like I said, I only just started.

My son likes it, too, but you know what he likes more?  Super Mario World.

[schild]

so. Real 2D > Fake 2D.

Yea. Pretty much. Much like Real World > Virtual World.

Someone prove me wrong on the second one plz.

[Strazos]

No, No, No. You're correct on the second claim. Who wants to do work and shit, when you're trying to play a game?

[schild]

I'm correct on the first one too.