Topic: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 79

[Karl Castaneda #2]

Burch and Jonny are around this time to help me think of something to steal from Mike's apartment.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=14903

 Welcome to the RFN Power Hour!    

Episode 79: Too Many Games    

Pride! Secret shame! This podcast has EVERYTHING!    

 
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This week's episode of RFN is out of the ordinary. You see, a while back we cut the "Whatcha Playin'" segment into "New Business," meant to cut down airtime dedicated to our latest purchases and reviewables. For the most part, it's been a good decision, but with the Holiday Rush of Awesome that is Winter 2007, we had no choice but to dedicate damn near the entire episode on what we're "playin'." Oh well...    

What are those games? Fire Emblem, Mega Man ZX Advent, Portal, Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed, Super Mario Galaxy, and a whole lot more! And in the second segment, our old buddy Saturn asks us why we're still using those nasty, archaic review scores. This pretty much devolves into us talking about murder. Thems the breaks, I suppose.    

ANYWAY...    

See ya next episode, folks!    

Credits:    

This podcast was edited by Mike Sklens.    

Music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is used with permission from Jason Ricci & New Blood. You can also purchase their new album, Rocket Number 9 directly from the record label, or call your music local record store and ask for it!

[ShyGuy]

Odeo no worky

[shammack]

Regarding murdering people: although after I've heard it explained that you don't want the review scores to be used for comparisons, I can understand that, the fact of the matter is that when you have a list of games with numbers assigned to them, that strongly suggests that the numbers are meant to be compared; why else would they be there?  Numbers invite comparison.  Okay, it's a summary, but like whoever it was said, it doesn't even work very well for that purpose.  It doesn't make much sense to write a review in one format (text) and then try to capture the essence of that review in a completely different format (numbers), so to the average viewer, what it looks like is that the overall score is a summary of the subscores, which it isn't.

I know you guys are worried about confusing people by having some reviews with scores and some without, but even the current system is pretty confusing if you haven't read the review guidelines and editorials about why you don't like review scores and understood that the scores are basically meaningless.  

[Jonnyboy117]

I don't disagree that it may not be un-confusing.

[Kairon]

Did you just say that you guys were reporting courtesy of Nintendoreport.com?!?!?

[vudu]

Best. Episode. Ever.  

EDIT:  Oh yeah, I feel the need to point out that Karl promised he'd have the Fire Emblem review up by the time the podcast was posted, yet there's still no sign of it despite the fact that the podcast is a week late.  

[Karl Castaneda #2]

I did say NintendoWorldReport.com, actually. I just said it kind of fast, so it probably sounded like NintendoReport.

As for Fire Emblem, well, whatever...  

[Nick DiMola]

I feel as if you guys are really overstating the greatness of Galaxy. While it is a very good game, I don't believe it is as perfect as it is being made out to be. If you were looking for a 3D Mario game I don't feel as if you really got it with Galaxy. You got a 2D Mario dressed up as a 3D Mario. Definitely not the best Mario ever and definitely not the best of the 3D Marios.

I know everyone is going to ream me here over this, but Galaxy is definitely not as good as it's made out to be. I would take Sunshine any day over this for 3D platforming goodness. To redeem myself a bit, Galaxy is still an EXCELLENT game and I am enjoying it IMMENSELY. I think so many people disliked Sunshine so much that it makes Galaxy look better than it really is. If Galaxy was to follow SM64 I think people would've almost been as disappointed with Galaxy as they were with Sunshine.

[NeoThunder]

ok, somebodies gotta tell me what you get when you get 120 stars...

as far as I know, you get to play threw the whole game again as Luigi, is that it or is there something else?

[Mashiro]

Quote
I would take Sunshine any day over this for 3D platforming goodness.

And I thought I was crazy . . .

[Nick DiMola]

Quote
Originally posted by: Mashiro

Quote
I would take Sunshine any day over this for 3D platforming goodness.

And I thought I was crazy . . .

Making some waves. Maybe I am crazy, I don't know, I just didn't think anything in Galaxy was quite as tight as it was in Sunshine.

Galaxy platforming is kind of gimmicky in comparison to the pure platforming that existed in Sunshine, specifically the bonus levels. Even in your average Sunshine level, the game is more focused on platforming than Galaxy is. Galaxy focuses more on it's uniqueness and originality, while Sunshine just did platforming the best it has ever been done IMO. In Galaxy, 90% of the time you are jumping from planet to planet, while cool initially, eventually became boring. Plus Galaxy is waaay too easy, especially when you put it against Sunshine.

Hey, at least there are no tedious Blue Coins to collect anymore.

[Kairon]

I posit that there is no such thing as "pure platforming." Only pure delight and surprise and discovery. I think Galaxy did a much better job of that than Sunshine...

[Caliban]

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack
Hey, at least there are no tedious Blue Coins to collect anymore.

They're purple now, 100 of them to be exact, in each galaxy, and some of them will be a pain to get, seriously.

[IceCold]

I love, love, love Galaxy... but far from it making me care about Sunshine less, it makes me appreciate that game even more.

[Nick DiMola]

Quote
Originally posted by: Caliban

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack
Hey, at least there are no tedious Blue Coins to collect anymore.

They're purple now, 100 of them to be exact, in each galaxy, and some of them will be a pain to get, seriously.

Agreed. Purple Coins are seriously annoying. I don't mind the speed run ones, but the ones where I have to search every inch of the level are plain annoying.

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold

I love, love, love Galaxy... but far from it making me care about Sunshine less, it makes me appreciate that game even more.

The same has definitely happened for me as well. I loved Sunshine before, but Galaxy makes me appreciate it even more so.

[ShyGuy]

Hahahaha Mighty Ducks.  This is a really good podcast. I vote for all future podcasts being 75% new business.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I hate to say it but I think I'll have to agree with Mr. Jack on this one, at least to some degree. The more Galaxy settles with me, the more I think Sunshine is a better 3D platforming game.  Galaxy is amazing when it comes to bridging the gap between 2D and 3D platformers, but that is also a flaw IMO, because so much of the linear nature feels forced, whether it is making new star jumps appear or making you start out in a different place. In Sunshine you got a sense that you were changing the world around you, in Galaxy you don't get that, instead you get "Well let's shoot you off to another planet instead". WITH THAT SAID, Galaxy is still a stunning game and if I were on a desert island I would gladly choose either Galaxy or Sunshine, they are both stunning games, and I think it depends on what you prefer. More open exploration, or a more condensed, yet nostalgia/creativity packed game that is linear.

[Kairon]

I don't know, Sunshine was a half-measure in a lot of ways. The settings often put the camera in very strange places, and they also dispense of the pure abstractness that Mario 64 and Galaxy benefit from. It had some jarring mechanics and restrictions that never seemed that seamless to me (like how Yoshi can't swim and dies an agonizing paint-dot death when you jump into the water), plus, the water pack, for all its newness, had several ways to break the flow of gameplay... I can appreciate Sunshine as a game, but as a seamless and pure Mario experience? I'd take Galaxy to that desert island with me, or even better, Mario 64.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
I don't know, Sunshine was a half-measure in a lot of ways. The settings often put the camera in very strange places, and they also dispense of the pure abstractness that Mario 64 and Galaxy benefit from. It had some jarring mechanics and restrictions that never seemed that seamless to me (like how Yoshi can't swim and dies an agonizing paint-dot death when you jump into the water), plus, the water pack, for all its newness, had several ways to break the flow of gameplay... I can appreciate Sunshine as a game, but as a seamless and pure Mario experience? I'd take Galaxy to that desert island with me, or even better, Mario 64.

Well I'd take Sunshine's camera over erratic Galaxy camera any day. Not to mention, I hate to say it, Mario 64 was outdated a long time ago, the game is way too constraining compared to both Galaxy and Sunshine, because of small levels, and lack of any noteworthy boss battles besides Bowser.

[Kairon]

Re: Re-using Bosses

I disagree wholly. I think it IS cool that bosses return, as long as they have variations. For example, Daredevil comets force you to really hone your boss game and do it without a safety net. Additionally, and I'm not saying Galaxy does this, early bosses are sometimes wasted because if you appear earlier in a game you can't challenge the player as much and can't take advantage of advanced techniques. By re-visiting these bosses later in the game, you can ramp up the difficulty and fully explore the dynamics created by the boss encounter, going deeper into the gameplay implications and surprising the player by adding new limitations and variants to the encounter.

Re: NWR quoted on Puzzle Quest's Box

OMG, just looked at it on amazon.com and YOU'RE RIGHT! YOU GUYS ARE QUOTED ON ACTUAL BOX ART! AWESOME!

Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
Not to mention, I hate to say it, Mario 64 was outdated a long time ago, the game is way too constraining compared to both Galaxy and Sunshine, because of small levels, and lack of any noteworthy boss battles besides Bowser.

*boggle*

... I'm gonna play SM64 on VC just to remind myself how wrong you are!  

[Caliban]

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack
Agreed. Purple Coins are seriously annoying. I don't mind the speed run ones, but the ones where I have to search every inch of the level are plain annoying.

I hate the speed run purple coin events, specially that one where you only have 1 minute to catch them all.

There's one thing that makes Galaxy that much better than Sunshine, it's coming back to play it again and again. After I finished Sunshine I never felt the need to get all the shines or anything else, I just didn't think that the level design was that creative except for the mini levels that had the Galaxy type of platforming, I loved those and I think that's why I keep coming back to Galaxy.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Caliban

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack
Agreed. Purple Coins are seriously annoying. I don't mind the speed run ones, but the ones where I have to search every inch of the level are plain annoying.

I hate the speed run purple coin events, specially that one where you only have 1 minute to catch them all.

There's one thing that makes Galaxy that much better than Sunshine, it's coming back to play it again and again. After I finished Sunshine I never felt the need to get all the shines or anything else, I just didn't think that the level design was that creative except for the mini levels that had the Galaxy type of platforming, I loved those and I think that's why I keep coming back to Galaxy.

That is the one thing I will agree is better, even though I doubt I'll get all of Galaxy's shines, it is definitely more completionist friendly than Sunshine's boring blue coin hunt.