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What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

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azeke:

--- Quote from: ThePerm on November 21, 2021, 02:18:18 PM ---i don't necessarily agree that the run button must be a shoulder button. Mario games use B for everything and still work.

--- End quote ---
Mario's B doubles as both fire and run. In Metroid games you might need to press/mash/charge fire while holding or releasing run indepedently. Also while during platforming and switching weapons. It is better to put often used functions on face buttons, but not when buttons you will need to press and hold simultaneously are on the opposing sides of diamond button layout.

Modern platformers like Rayman Origins and Ori map run on a shoulder/trigger. I have problems with their design otherwise but they got at least that part right.

ThePerm:
I thought about that, but I can imagine Ryu Hayabusa running through Super Metroid with NES controls just fine. More button combinations make a game more accessible, but you could do most things with less buttons using button combinations and timing. It would fundamentally change the game though.

azeke:
I bought a pack of 4 Nintendo vouchers a year ago, hoping that Nintendo surely will release some games that would interest me. I tried to use these vouchers to preorder Warioware and Metroid Dread but their release date was after vouchers' expiration date. So i had to buy some games to justify these vouchers. That's how i ended up buying Super Mario 3D World for the third time just for

Super Mario 3D World: Bowser Fury (Switch):

Great DLC? expansion? Bowser interruptions got a bit old by the end and the way you have to replay that boss battle, going through same motions was a bit annoying.

Still great 2 hours, and it really showed what original 3D World movement and controls are capable of in a more open world. And no, 3D World movement was never restricted to 8-directions -- it's the same here as in original game.

I think i enjoyed it more than Odyssey despite rather formulaic structure. For one it's an actual platformer which Odyssey doesn't even try to be one.

Yoku Island Express (Switch):

А fun puzzle Metroidvania, similar in design to Toki Tori 2. Finished game last year and overall enjoyed it. I think i remember being annoyed at some boss because i couldn't understand what was i supposed to do.

Metroid Fusion: (GBA cart on DS Lite)

I spent too much time tinkering with that Metroid Fusion cart and DS Lite itself to make them work so i felt motivated to finish this game on this DS Lite, come hell or high water.

It would be so easy to stay in Super Metroid's monumental shadow -- just like hundreds of games do. Even actual Metroid games after-Super, sometimes chase that Super Metroid high.

Metroid Fusion soundly rejects nostalgia and changes EVERYTHING: old yellow gunship is unceremonously destroyed and replaced with new purple one, main character's look is changed completely, ALL weapons and ALL controls are revamped. If anything, this earns mad respect for Sakamoto and team.

To justify why Samus lost all abilities again, Fusion goes to most extreme -- basically killing and rebuilding main character from ground up. All abilities are now reconceptualised as biological-genetic mutation powers instead of mechanical suit upgrades. The horror element appropriately moves on from Alien to The Thing with X-parasites shape-shifting and body horror.

Just like Metroid 2 on Gameboy, Fusion on GBA was designed around short gameplay bursts so map is divided into smaller sectors. Computer constantly briefs on what you're have to do and places targets on a map, probably to reduce frustration for players getting lost.

But how effective is that really if the game is never a walk from point A to point B? More often than not, goal will be locked behind something so you need to go around the map. Navigation panels reveal some of the map, but most of it will be hidden until you reveal it.

Fusion is not necessarily linear and signature Metroid exploration is still there but the game does feel restrictive sometimes. I wished i could skip briefing cutscenes but game doesn't allow that even on subsequent playthroughs. Which is weird because there are some QoL changes for New Game+ on completed save file, but cutscenes are still forced on you.

Near the end game straight up locks you up, shutting down all exploration, only allowing to finish the game. I had to look up where and when exactly does that happen so i don't get trapped down like that on next playthroughs. There are special passages between sectors and i discovered some of them but not the one from final sector. These passages are also hidden very deviously, so even if you know there must be one it is hard to find them, like one of these passages is placed so it is always obscured by mini-map UI.

Fusion streamlines controls and abilities to adjust to GBA's two face buttons. To eliminate weapons switching they removed scan ray, grapple beam and dedicated super rockets (super rockets are now just ugprades over regular rockets). There is no run button so Samus goes into boosted run automatically if you walk long enough. Diagonal aiming is on shoulder button and defaults to up aiming because most enemies fly and attack from above.

Most bosses are (again) rocket sponges you need to press down right shoulder button constantly. It became a problem for me because when i held DS Lite, it's right lower corner pressed too hard into my palm. I also had trouble sticking to the walls and ceiling which was especially annoying during tense boss fights. Not sure if it was my problem or controls' but half of the time Samus just refused to cling to the wall.

Also wall jumping was made easier to do, but for some reason it gets disabled after you get space jump?..

Some of the bosses were annoying like spider who can grab you, throw you on the ground and then grab you again. Similarly floating toaster boss was even more annoying because how hard it was to avoid getting hit. Compared to them, yet another Ridley fight felt refreshing because it was just a regular "shoot a bunch of rockets" deal but with wackier sound effects.

First playthrough was 5:15 with 59%. I tried to go fast on 2nd playthrough but apparently still took too much time collecting stuff with just 2:40. I then went for another playthrough with the goal of 100% but i didn't know i could restart over finished save file (marked with Metroid symbol) to see area completion marks. So i never finished it fully, just getting 93% but i enjoyed it still.

One shinespark puzzle room was especially fun to figure out and execute. It also forced me to learn how exactly shinespark works and helped to solve another puzzle that i spent several hours on previously. Space jump room wasn't as fun to do, but it was ingenious in it's own way -- like some kinda extremely annoying Flappy Bird level. Still, scouring around all sectors looking for passages and items was fun however endgame music became too repetitive because it was constantly blaring, never changing regardless in which sector i was.

Overall game is fun enough on first playthrough, but the way game traps you into endgame was disappointing. On second playthroughs i wished game would allow to skip cutscenes and opened up passages between sectors earlier. Still, a good game.

Oh, and i forgot about SA-X. I didn't think SA-X encounters made too much of an impact, it only happens like 3 times and on first playthrough it is just "hide and wait it out" scripted sequence or "run away or die in one hit". Also during endgame if you explore the game to collect items you're running all over the station but never meet SA-X, further breaking the illusion of being hunted.

Onto Zero Mission!

GK:
The Deadly Tower of Monsters PC

Decided to dip into my Steam backlog & finish this one up. Decent isometric action game once you get used to the controls. My main gripe might be that the platforming can feel excessive at times, but there's a teleport button, so missing moving platforms isn't too punishing.

The director's commentary never stops cracking me up.

MagicCow64:
Game Pass (PC):

I impulsively jumped on a Game Pass cheap sub scheme without really thinking it through, and realized shortly afterward that there wasn't much on there I actually wanted to play that I could run on my computer. But then I noticed the new "Cloud" tab and was absolutely gobsmacked at the feature. It runs perfectly, far better than Stadia, and has a ton of content that I would only touch in this exact circumstance.

Kameo:

Despite owning a 360 at several points, I never tried the post-betrayal Rare games despite being curious about them. Thanks, cloud! The concept of a Zelda-type game with full Majora's Mask type transformations to approach exploration and combat is a good one, and the game is surprisingly ambitious on a technical level. But boy, the controls for the most part absolutely suck and the level design is extremely basic. And goddamn, so much bad combat. I sincerely doubt Nintendo ever would have let this thing out the door in its published state. Really the only positive I can drum up is the Metroid Prime-esque roly poly gameplay, which actually feels good.

Banjo and Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts:

I've been kind of fascinated from a distance by Rare's weird implosion post-Nintendo, and I finally have the chance to give the red-headed step-child a spin. And boy is it weird. It's extremely in your face about game trends from the outset, stating that people only want shooters in the 360 era . . . and then it reformulates itself as a quasi-platformer revolving around Lego vehicle construction, which absolutely no one was asking for. Despite that, it's kind of weirdly compelling in its commitment to an awkward, left-field idea. The actual levels are messy and disorienting and the objectives range from trivial to controller-throwingly frustrating, but I nonetheless kind of respect it. But Jesus Christ, the physics/collision model in no way supports the racing/combat challenges, and the mere notion of going for the bonus trophies is stomach-turning.

Blinx the Time Cat:

In retrospect it's hilarious that anyone was trying to champion this as a Mario-killer type game. I made it about 30 minutes in. It's basically unplayable. The weird arcade-y game structure is also completely incompatible with the headline gameplay hook, which, insanely, you can't even use freely.

Gears of War 4:

I never bothered with this in non-cloud form given its reputation, but with the cloud? Why the hell not. It's worse than 5 in every way and has an extremely depressing vibe to the whole thing, given that it just resurrects the Locust in mostly the same form and makes the entire previous trilogy feel totally pointless. But it does introduce a set of annoying, spongey monsters and robots. The amount of time I spent inside of a stupid critter waiting for the AI teammates to shoot me out . . .

Halo Infinite:

The real test of the magic cloud, a day-and-date debut of a high-stakes Halo refresh. It looks great, plays seamlessly. The gameplay itself is very snappy and smooth and the new grappling hook really gives the experience a much-needed kick in the ass. I'm so far liking the open-world take on the franchise, which elevates the original sandboxy-ness while providing an appealing progress structure that was previously lacking. There is a bit of a loss in terms of the old "just make it to the next checkpoint" ethos of the first games, but that was already deployed a number of times, so why not toss a map at it and see what happens.

Overall, it's insane to me that I'm paying like $5 a month for access to this technology.

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