Messages

251

Nintendo Gaming / Ikaruga Hype Thread

« on: February 14, 2003, 11:44:56 AM »

Sky, I remember what you're talking about; I've read that very thing, but I think that that notion, of Treasure developing WW being a translation error, has since been debunked.  I guess I can't be sure, but fairly recent previews of the game have gone on to mention Treasure's role in the game.  Anyone have more concrete evidence than the shifty and unreliable evidence of memory?  ;-)

252

Nintendo Gaming / Metroid Prime 2

« on: February 14, 2003, 11:41:47 AM »

Dr. Synthetic...I think Nintendo will continue to dole out licenses to co-develop with other dev. teams.  Think about it: if Nintendo hadn't done that with Metroid Prime, it quite probably wouldn't have been made (couple the workload with the fact that Japan couldn't care less, nearly, about Metroid, and you've got a big reason why Nintendo shepherded Metroid out).  

Nintendo is great, but they are only so big, and we all know they are perfectionists, usually, too.  They could have done no better thing than to hire great programmers, etc. and to work side-by-side with them to make more games than ever before.  Very, very smart.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I mean, in the end, Metroid Prime, a so-called "second party title," was better than many first party titles.  That's truly an amazing accomplishment and a testament to the fact that Nintendo is one of the best collaborators/leaders/creative directors out there when they aren't the sole makers.

253

Nintendo Gaming / 1080: Avalanche

« on: February 14, 2003, 11:33:02 AM »

Mario, I'm glad you liked Wave Race on GCN.  I thought it was a great game, and easily the most underrated of the launch titles (or was it near-launch?  I can't remember, suddenly).  I find that it's a pretty hard game, too, sometimes.  I'm not really sure what people expected, but it's a fun game with fine graphics and plenty of interesting game mechanics.  I don't know, maybe more people liked it than I think!

Anyway, I think 1080 has plenty of potential.

254

Nintendo Gaming / Soul Calibur 2 Discussion

« on: February 14, 2003, 11:16:37 AM »

It's one of the charms of Nintendo that they make characters that usually say whatever you want them to, and they achieve this by having them say nothing.  I love the Hero Of Few Words thing Nintendo does with Link, for instance.  I can't tell you how many great games have been severely broken by UTTERLY ANNOYING LEAD CHARACTERS.  Prime Example: Final Fantasy X.  If you liked Tidus, I feel so, so sorry for you.  Horrible acting and worse writing.  Okay, sorry about that...

Anyway, it seems like surely they will have Link speak, but all I can say is this: if they do, it had better be perfect.  Namco, you're walking thin ice, baby!!!!!!!!!!  ;-)

255

Nintendo Gaming / Incoming SEGA GCN announcement!

« on: February 14, 2003, 11:02:09 AM »

I'd figuratively have a heart-attack great enough to tumble the mountains if Sega announced a new Shining Force for the GCN.  Shining Force 1 and 2 for the Genesis are my favorite strat's ever, just ahead of Dragon Force for Saturn and Advance Wars.  I'm super anxious to find out more about this VF Quest game--it's seemingly been in the works for twenty years.

That said, only two things I can think of could equal or top nearly anything Nintendo themselves could announce and those things are:

1) a 2.5-D (or straight-out 2-D) Sonic game eschewing the Adventure-style Sonic gameplay.  My dream back in the 16-bit days was that when new systems came along, the companies would actually make games like the ones we had but with 16,000 colors and much more animation and CD-quality music.  Sadly, this never really happened, with few exceptions.  Everything just went 3-D (I know, I'm beating a dead horse that's been thrashed a thousand, thousand times already) and much of it just will never truly work.  Nintendo proved it can be done equally or better, but Sega's Sonic games have done nothing but make Sonic fans wish for 2-D again (even though I think Sonic Adventure was a lot of fun).

2) One word, and it's so predictable: NiGHTS.

Let me add a third just for kicks:

3) Phantasy Star 5 (screw this online stuff for just a while).

(Oh, and I don't think this was solely a Sega game, but I'm dying for an update of the classic Wonder Boy in Monster World games!!!!!!!  Isn't everyone?  Hahaha...they could even use that Tenacious D song for the heck of it.  Or not.)  

256

Nintendo Gaming / a thing N should do?

« on: February 14, 2003, 09:42:50 AM »

I just want to say this, just because I saw someone say "I believe N64 did much better than Saturn."  This is so utterly true it's RIDICULOUS.  Walk down the street and ask random people if they know what the Sega Saturn IS, and you might be shocked.  It was so utterly off the RADAR of America, and other places, it isn't even funny.  Not funny especially because I have one, and I still play it, and it had some INCREDIBLE games (Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force, Panzer 1, 2, and Saga, etc. to name a bare few) that made it more than worth the price (perhaps even the original asking price of $450...haha...although I got it when it was much cheaper).  The N64 blew it away by a million leagues, and there's absolutely no argument there.  People who say the N64 was a failure don't realize how much money it made for Nintendo, and they downplay the fact that in an average college dorm, you could find many, many people playing Goldeneye or Mario Kart, at least.  If it was a failure, it was a failure that was enjoyed by half of America at some point.

Okay, aside from that, I admit that it would be cool if we could play GCN discs in the next console, but it's not really a big deal to me.  It would be easier for people like me who have been gaming for a long, long time and keep everything and try to keep everything hooked up (I think I should just go ahead and get another RCA splitter-box.....ugh....).  So, for that reason: cool.  By the same token, let's keep the thing a gaming rig where EVERY LAST DOLLAR is spent by Nintendo on making it the best console available (and not the console with the most features, please).  

257

Nintendo Gaming / Eternal Darkness Request

« on: February 14, 2003, 09:27:38 AM »

I'm so glad you said that, Grey, (and glad, too, that you spell it "Grey" and not "Gray") because Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness are so very dissimilar.  They are really only held together by the genre term "survival horror" and even that is shaky.  I enjoy Resident Evil and have played them since they first came out on PSX, but I can say without a doubt that I had more outright FUN with ED than I ever did with RE, with the sole exception of Code: Veronica, which I thought rocked.  It was still painfully marred by horrible writing and acting, whereas ED was not.  Terrific games both, but, as you say, so very different.

258

NWR Feedback / No Posting Contests = Better Posts

« on: February 14, 2003, 08:47:45 AM »

One of the best things, I can already tell, about PGC Forums is that there doesn't seem to be this race to post the most, as there is at so many other forums.  I may have turned it off accidientally or something, but I don't see a post counter or a stat-ranking or anything.  The nice thing about this is that the posts tend to be longer and better thought out, and if you have two or three thoughts, you don't post them all separately, but together.  It's nice.  I'm not brown-nosing, by the way, it's just something I've noticed.  Can't someone say something nice?  Get off my back!!!  ;-)

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Nintendo Gaming / Burnout 2: Point of Impact

« on: February 14, 2003, 08:41:14 AM »

Is it that obvious?  Whooops....  :-)  You're too kind, really.

To keep this on topic:  Burnout Rules!  Haha...

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Nintendo Gaming / Sega and Nintendo

« on: February 14, 2003, 08:37:47 AM »

I think Sega's still trying to find their footing, and they are quite simply going where the money is.  We should be happy for this because they wouldn't be around if they didn't.  I don't think Sega is necessarily putting more effort into Nintendo than MS or Sony, and that's evidenced by the freaking amazing games that the other consoles have gotten.  GCN has gotten ports and upgrades, very often, while PS2 got Shinobi and VF4 (which I would kill for, but frankly wouldn't much enjoy on the GCN controller, I think I can safely say--however much I love the GCN controller) and XBOX got stuff like Panzer Dragoon and Shenmue II.  I have ShenII on Dreamcast, and I treasure it (I know most people don't care for its game style, but I adore it) and not getting Orta on GCN really, really, really, really deeply hurts me.  Badly.  I have the three other Panzer games on Saturn, and believe me, we're missing a lot not playing Orta on GCN.  Once I get some finances in order, the XBOX will be mine, even if only for that game.  It's that great a series.

Anyway, I think Sega's doing an admirable job, and it's amazing how many games they've released from the inception of the Dreamcast to the present.  Just think about it.  It's amazing.

EDIT:  BY THE WAY, Pat, let me take a moment to agree with you.  Even if GCN isn't getting as many ORIGINAL games, I do believe that Sega and Nintendo are getting along very nicely.  The future looks good.  Triforce alone hints at this.

261

Nintendo Gaming / Burnout 2: Point of Impact

« on: February 14, 2003, 08:28:38 AM »

This game looks so much more polished than the first.  It's like a piece of delicious candy falling into your mouth from thousands and thousands of feet, a bullet of sugary goodness that slams into your clenched teeth, shattering everything in its treacly wake, sending your head snapping back towards the ground with vomit-inducing quickness, bruising the brain with concussive force, sending the people to the countryside, for the hills, to the underground bunkers, creating a rift in time and space; shull-chips fly from your forehead and shatter nearby windows; your eyes jettison from your sockets, an event that the children of the town run from in fear.

That's how good Burnout 2 will be.  Or it could be just a fun little racer.

262

Nintendo Gaming / 1080: Avalanche

« on: February 14, 2003, 08:20:11 AM »

This seems like one of those games that everyone whines about for months about "sucking" or "looking boring" and all of a sudden, it comes out way later, and it's just completely fun and even graphically impressive after more work and tweaking.  I'm just getting that feeling about it.

So, let's officially say this is going to suck so we can really have a great time.  Haha...

(PS--I am not directing my comments towards anyone in particular--it just a negativity I've sensed around the title for a long time.  Phew.  Well, it might apply to someone who merely says "meh" in their post replies, which always gets on my nerves.  But then again it might not apply, so don't get all mad at me!)      ;-)  

263

Nintendo Gaming / My Theory On Nintendo In The Modern World

« on: February 14, 2003, 08:15:41 AM »

I had that same feeling.  I actually broke my rule--I didn't want to play it until I got the game itself, but I couldn't help myself at Babbages a few weeks ago.  It's utterly gorgeous isn't it?  The strange thing is, most people in there weren't paying it much attention.  It always confuses me when the average gamer will look at something like Zelda: The Wind Waker and see it as "just another game."  To me, it actually does look a bit (understatement?) better than most games out there right now.  Is it just a mixture of Nintendo nostalgia and bias?  I hope there's more to it than that, and in fact I believe there is.  Anyway, that's an example of Nintendo in today's America.  Just another company, if not worse.

264

Nintendo Gaming / My Theory On Nintendo In The Modern World

« on: February 14, 2003, 07:39:10 AM »

Quote
 What I like about Nintendo is that they don't dumb down their games, but also manage to make them very accessible.  

I love what you say here, Kai.  It's so utterly true.  I know we're all tired of the "kiddie argument" against Nintendo, but it bears repeating that they aren't "kiddie" while they ARE accessible.  Yes, exactly.  Great point.  The same people who yell "childish" at Nintendo all the time would be shocked at how "mature" the gameplay is in nearly any Nintendo game, if, that is, they ever bothered to play it.

But, most people argue from a very second-, or third-, or fourth-hand view of the so-called truth, and the internet is perfect for that sort of thing because it's so instantaneous, hence the millions of inane posts we read every day.  Anyway, I don't want to beat this into the ground, but it's all about perception, and this, my friends, is a pity--because the games are so much better than to deserve a write-off thanks to a half-hearted perception.

Sometimes I wonder why we spend all this time talking about this sort of thing, and the naysayers like to throw out derogatory terms like "fanboy" and "loser" (I guess), but the truth is, if you love games, and if you really can tell a good game from a bad game (which goes beyond differences of taste and opinion SOMETIMES, doesn't it?), you feel compelled to TELL EVERYONE that they should play what you love, because you just can't stand to think that someone would miss out on such fun and greatness.  That's what drives us, I guess.

I've really been impressed by the posts here--so many people, especially, saying things like "I don't care if Nintendo 'wins' the race, I just want them to survive."  This is so clear-headed and sensible that I just want to cry...haha.

265

Nintendo Gaming / Wario World is looking great

« on: February 14, 2003, 07:22:13 AM »

Graphics matter--everyone knows that, but what's more important is how fun it is, and I have absolutely no idea how the game will play, nor does pretty much anyone else.  I love Nintendo's games, of course, but the only real reason I'm all that excited about this is because Treasure is making it.  Even a subpar game like "Stretch Panic," made by a handful of people, was fun and even inventive (graphically, at times, too).  I think if Treasure has enough time and freedom, this could turn out to the game that finally puts them in the big-time, although I certainly have my doubts, being a bit of pessimist sometimes.  (And Treasure has set a high standard for themselves--Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, Ikaruga, Bangai-O: this is Elite Company, for sure).  

I'm already seeing some Treasure-isms in the apparent full-screen onslaught of enemies, which are taken out by a few swings of a single enemy, etc.  I hope Nintendo does their best to steer Treasure in the right direction, but that they also give them creative freedom; it's the little things that Treasure adds in, little twists, that set their games far apart from mainstream fare.  It's amazing, really.  

266

Nintendo Gaming / Metroid Prime 2

« on: February 10, 2003, 01:16:36 PM »

What I love about Metroid Prime, primarily is how there isn't a story laid out in the conventional sense.  The story is hidden in the details, which you piece together.  The whole game is one big cutscene, if you look at it a certain way.  You land on this planet, and you begin to gather details about the Chozo (whose story has this awesome atmosphere and sense of ancient history around it) and the Pirates' experiments, etc.  

This needs to be continued with the next Metroid--I don't expect this concrete story-line that unfolds with Samus talking to people and Samus sitting at a space-bar and Samus in the shower at her apartment at home.  As much as many of you might be pining for this sort of thing, do you really think it belongs in Metroid??  (By the way, someone--I don't recall the name--expressed fears about having another Metroid game so soon.  This I completely sympathize with, as I would hate to see this "sequelized" into mediocrity.)

It all goes back to the joke going around about when Samus's volleyball game is coming out...haha.  I mean, the last thing I, for one, want is a game where you control Samus's exciting adventures with the resident island hotties, whilst duking it out in a game of cricket or something.

I like the silent hero[ine], and no one does it much better, if at all, than Nintendo.

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Nintendo Gaming / My Theory On Nintendo In The Modern World

« on: February 10, 2003, 12:42:10 PM »

Guys, this thread's going very well, I think, but please, let the "GTA3 didn't come out in the 90's" thing go.  I actually do explain what I was getting at by saying that, if you read my third post.  I am well aware that a year that starts with a "20" isn't in the same decade as one that starts with a "19".  Really, I am.  Call it a huge lack of judgment on my part, but there was a method to my madness.  As is the case with history, I wasn't being all that literal when I said 90's, but if you ask me, GTA3 capped off the 90's and ushered in a new era more apparently than any other game, whether you like the game or not.  Ya dig?

Ian Sane, you make a GREAT point in reminding people that Nintendo doesn't have to make a game like that when 3rd parties can do it for them.  Great point, and well noted.  That's where a few of the errors on Nintendo's part (capitalizing on Pokemon, for instance) sort of began to SLOWLY tell 3rd parties that their games weren't wanted on Nintendo's system.  Of course, Nintendo denies this, even in the face of the "white blood/sweat" debacle way back in Mortal Kombat on SNES, and they say, I have read, that they do not discourage "violent" games.

I would also like to say that if Nintendo did make a game as violent as GTA3 (and not via a 2nd party like Silicon Knights), I wouldn't hold that against them, necessarily, as long as they brought to it their usual touch.  It would be a little hard to bear, perhaps, and we might all question their motives, but I won't say that it would be WRONG of Nintendo as that would be limiting them.  

Still, I think the point has been made a few times here already that Nintendo is still (mostly) catering to who we were 10 or 15 years ago, and believe it or not, there's a whole new generation who needs them just as much we did.  Perhaps we need them now more than ever, not to be too over dramatic.

268

Nintendo Gaming / Drought? What drought?

« on: February 09, 2003, 08:01:25 AM »

GameFreak, I think, by saying you still don't have time to play games and you only buy 9's, you're backing up what we're saying even more.  You buy the "best" and still don't consider yourself totally without things to do.  If you go one step further and can afford to get the 7's and 8's, too, it's compounded that much more.

And, Citizen Kaine (great name), I will admit that hardcore gamers who get games like Metroid Prime tend to beat them very quickly (at least, in fewer days, if not fewer hours), but often those hardcore gamers play those sorts of games more than once to "100%" the thing, you know?  Anyway, I think we're all pretty much in agreement here, when you get to the bottom of it.  No need in overexplaining it all...  

269

Nintendo Gaming / My Theory On Nintendo In The Modern World

« on: February 09, 2003, 07:32:08 AM »

Actually, when you're talking about history, decades aren't literally bound by exactly ten years, as weird as that may sound.  I consider GTA3 sort of defining moment that capped off the 90's Gaming Decade, if you catch me drift.  It sort of helped to usher in a new era of gaming.  Perhaps it could've been better said, but I think my point is still valid.

Edit: Or were you simply saying that GTA3 wasn't an "important" game in general?  If so, I certainly disagree.

270

Nintendo Gaming / My Theory On Nintendo In The Modern World

« on: February 09, 2003, 06:12:50 AM »

I first saw Super Mario Bros., I believe, during the summer of 1986, when my family was visiting my grand-dad in such an unlikely place as Crossville, TN (which, by the way, isn't exactly known for technological advances, if you didn't guess), and my distant cousin, whom I had never met, lived across the street.  Walking in there for the first time, I was in heaven.  I played through the first level, pulled a spread-eagle face-first into the flagpole, and my life was changed for good.  Haha....

Wouldn't it be great if, in the next Mario game, it was sort of linear and you had to run quickly up these steps at the end and jump onto a flagpole?  Actually, that's not really sounding like a great idea.  But I will admit that that sort of surreal, unexplainable event is sorely lacking from Mario.  I guess I should just embrace realism!  Haha...as if it were realistic to carry a talking water pump or to ride a purple yoshi.  And where are the Hammer Bros.

271

Nintendo Gaming / Drought? What drought?

« on: February 09, 2003, 05:51:12 AM »

Well said, epicac!  Seriously, one has to wonder whether or not most people who buy a lot of games actually PLAY THEM.  A handful of good/great games can go very, very long way, if you take your time and savor them, and ESPECIALLY if you have a lifestyle that is well-rounded enough that you aren't merely playing videogames constantly.  I don't mean to sound rude by saying that, but just to make a point--of course, I don't think it's the case that most game-buyers (who aren't necessarly gamers) simply beat their games too quickly, although I guess there is a case to be made about the simplification of modern games.

I've often used the argument, "Yeah, XBOX, which is a decent enough system, to be fair, has more games than GameCube.  So what?"  The fact is, my belief is that the GCN has a good-game to bad-game ratio that's definitely more good than the XBOX.  In fact, of the exclusives on XBOX, I can only think of two or three games that are out that I truly MUST play: Halo, Panzer Dragoon Orta (what Saturn owner could turn this down?), and the Shenmue II remake--even though I have the DC UK import.  Couple that with Shenmue III and a few others, and the XBOX would certainly keep me busy for a while.  However, the first and second party Nintendo titles ALONE (and there are many 7/10 and 8/10 games from third parties that warrant a buy very much) are more than enough to a) bring much fun into your home for a very long time and b) prove quantifiably that Nintendo is working harder than ever before.

Your comments about gamers who only buy the 9's and 10's were very apt.  First off, a lot scores are just badly rationed out, and very often (as at IGN, for instance) do not gel at all with the written review.  I dream of the day when everyone reads every word of reviews, skips the scores, and the scoring system dies out for good.  It never will, I guess, but it never hurts to dream.  A lot of those 7's and 8's are true gems.  Heck, I can't say how many different critics have given some of my favorite Treasure games "mediocre" 6's and 7's.  If I went by the reviews sometimes, I'd miss out on something truly great.  

272

Nintendo Gaming / My Theory On Nintendo In The Modern World

« on: February 08, 2003, 06:26:16 PM »

Hear me out.  This, I know, is long, but see if you get me.

Okay, everyone, daily, hourly, constantly is talking about how Nintendo needs to change and do things differently if they expect to "win" the console war, etc. etc. etc.  It's never-ending.

Now, by no means do I mean to imply that Nintendo has never made mistakes.  Their reliance on certain things like Pokemon, for example, hasn't really helped their long-term image, and whatever image it helped to create, Nintendo is now, apparently, trying to downplay or even muddle, or even destroy (probably not DESTROY, but you catch me).

However, Nintendo has a clear image of who they are, what they do, what they are going to do, and how they fit into the gaming world.  This isn't arrogance, and the choices they make, I believe, aren't foolhardy or rushed or small-minded or conservative.  They have two main goals, and they are the two goals that they have always had--these two goals also come with a condition, you might say.

1) Make great games and make them fun.

2) Make money with great games to make more great games.

Condition: Never do anything to compromise your value system.

Now, hopefully since that's clear, you will see what I'm getting at.

Constantly, gamefans hear that Nintendo is "losing touch" (or has lost touch), that they are mired in the past, that they hold too dear the old ways of marketing, that Nintendo isn't paying attention.  This last assumption strikes me as the most ridiculous.  The question you need ask is how do people come to this conclusion, that Nintendo isn't paying attention?  Well, the obvious answer is this: when a new game, like Grand Theft Auto 3, takes the world by storm and sells untold millions upon millions and ushers in a new dawn of gaming (which it pretty much did.  Just read the way critics talk about the game--critics from magazines as various as EGM, Maxim, even Playboy--calling it one of the most "important" games of the 90s, etc.)  This game CHANGED THINGS.  It's a game FULL of plot and gameplay and story events and tasks, and yet watch how the average guy (which was nearly every person who bought GTA3, based on what I've seen) plays the game--he or she ignores the "tasks" and the "story"; they, for months and months, simply drive around town, running over pedestrians and shooting the legs off old women.

(Disclaimer: forgive the obvious comparison to GTA3, which really is terrific game--it's just such a cultural milestone, I can't help but use it.  Realize I am not beating up on it.)

Now, I am not trying to condescend.  If that's fun for you, great!  Really.  But the problem is, people take the current "Big Thing" and use that as the balance for the rest of gaming.  They look to Nintendo, or "Kidtendo" as they might call it, and they ask, "Does Kidtendo have anything like this?  NO?!!??  They must not be paying attention, or they would be all over this like the flesh-eating virus is on Michael Jackson!"  Do you follow me?

Since this obviously isn't the sort of game, however good, that Nintendo is interested in, the average Joe Gamer says they are irrelevant.  Am I rehashing what has been said time and time before?  I think maybe so, but perhaps something is striking you as you read this.

So, where does Nintendo fit into the modern world?  I know a lot of kids (I'm 24, and I have taught junior-high and high school English, so that's where some of my evidence comes from) who still find magic (I know, it's corny) in a game like Super Mario Sunshine.  They also just love running over prostitutes in GTA3 if their parents allow (or, as the case may be, the sneak a copy into their houses as I've heard), however insane that may sound.  A lot of these kids are also yelling about the new Zelda, the prospect of a new Mario Kart, even a few of my students really enjoyed the much-maligned (but in my opinion quite good) Pikmin and yearn for Pikmin 2.

The fact is, Nintendo IS who they ARE.  They will grow, they will innovate, they will make new things, IN THEIR OWN WAY.  It takes a special eye, in the increasingly competitive and flashy gaming war, to note the difference, but it is there.  We are very hung up on exteriors, so it's easy for us to take a single look at a game and literally write it off for good.  This is unfortunate.

Meanwhile, a lot of kids are having a grand old time, and the Nintendo Purists shout and fill up message boards ad infinitum (case in point, here).  Nintendo belongs where they are, and they know it, but most of the world thinks they are being left behind in the realms of the Old Fashioned.  Flaws and all, Nintendo does still matter though.  And for all the true gamers out there, we know to dig a little deeper before we judge, and that's why it's so much more meaningful for us.  And that sort of thinking is as cross-console as you can get.  

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Nintendo Gaming / Zelda Pre-Order Discs

« on: February 08, 2003, 02:34:43 PM »

I think you have to go by who you got it from--some places, I think like Babbages, charge $25 dollars for the preorder IF you want the Master Quest disc.  It's all been very confusing from the start, and this definitely could have been better handled, but since this is a relatively new phenomenon, I guess we'll have to bear it kinks and all.  I'm anxious to get this thing!

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Nintendo Gaming / Ikaruga Hype Thread

« on: February 08, 2003, 12:40:45 PM »

I imported this game for the DC last year when it came out, and I absolutely adore it.  It's not Treasure's best game, but it's up there with their best, pretty much.  I never played "Radiant Silvergun," but who has?  Haha...

Anyway, it's a frantic and fantastic game that anyone who likes or loves hard-core gaming should pick up.  It's an old-fashioned shooter with new-fashioned graphical beauty and spot-on perfect control.  You won't beat the game quick, so that's quite a consolation considering the game is so short.  Shooters never were all THAT long--heck, think of how fast you could blast through "Lifeforce" for cripes sakes!  Great stuff, certainly, but I'm also anxious to see what Treasure does with "Wario World," and I'd die if they made another game like "Guardian Heroes" or even a bigger version of an action-RPG like "Light Crusader," which had great puzzles but was so, so, so brief.