25th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros

[MottZilla]

So if you haven't noticed Nintendo is doing this neat limited edition promotion. http://mario25.nintendo.com/redwii/

I bought a Wii back when it was $250 and came with Wii Sports. I ended up selling it off. I saw this limited edition went on sale today and I decided to buy the Wii again finally. I figure since New SMB is a $50 retail game plus it comes with the Wii Motion Plus Remote that I guess $150 for all that plus $50 for the game was worth it. Plus there is alot more available for the Wii now than there was when I last had it.

Plus I kind of wanted to play some GameCube games again but didn't want to hookup my old GC. Mainly because GC can't do Component Video without a rare expensive cable.

So anyone else interested in this Limited Edition Red Wii with NSMB Wii bundle? I guess it's silly if you already own a Wii unless you just have to have a Red Wii, Red Wiimote Plus, and Red Nunchuck. But for anyone like me that didn't have one, $200 for the Wii plus New SMB, a good solid title, that's not too bad. Sure beats getting just Wii Sports...

[Cloral]

That sounds like a pretty nice deal for picking up a new Wii. What other games do you have your eye on? I just finished up getting the 120 main stars in Galaxy 2 (there's 120 more stars to get after that, but they're just search quests in the levels you've already been to, so I don't really feel like doing that right now), and honestly don't see much else in the near future that interests me. Metroid: Other M was a huge disappointment for me. Epic Yarn looks nice enough, but doesn't sound like enough of a challenge to be interesting to me. Really the next game I know of that I want for the Wii is Skyward Sword, and I don't know when that's shipping.

Wii games that I do have that I would recommend:
Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
Metriod Prime (Trilogy if you can find it, though Corruption on its own is still worthwhile)
Twilight Princess
Wario Land
Mario Kart

[vegeta1215]

I think it's a good deal too. I already have a Wii of course, but Nintendo is also releasing a disc version of Super Mario All-Stars as a limited release for the 25th Anniversary. I sold my original SNES cart, so I'll probably pick that up.

btw, I'm playing through Muramasa: The Demon Blade right now. What a gorgeous game! The negative points I read about aren't nearly as bad as people claimed. (the running around for a super long time to get places, etc you really just keep going forward and when you beat the game you can warp around to do post-game stuff)

EDIT: I second Cloral's nods to the Super Mario Galaxy games, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Wario Land: Shake It. If you want more suggestions, I could name my whole library. There are indeed a lot of good games on the Wii.

[AtmaWeapon]

I'm pretty ticked off that Japan got a SMB All-Stars kit for the Wii and I believe Europe got it too, but the US didn't. I was already not necessarily on speaking terms with Nintendo, but now I'm starting to think about putting duct tape down to show them which side of the house is theirs. (Hint: the duct tape is the Pacific Ocean.)

[rock_nog]

Actually, it looks like SMB All-Stars kit will be released here in the States in December, Atma.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/super-mario-all-stars-limited-edition-hits-north-america-on-dec/

[AtmaWeapon]

So it is. Pre-ordered.

I guess I should take up all the duct tape then. Man, this is kind of awkward.

[MottZilla]

I'm not sure if I'll check out Metroid Prime 3 or not, depends on how I feel about the controls. I'm somewhat interested atleast in trying Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition. Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart are definitely on my list of things to play. Probably want to try the Goldeneye game but I'm not looking to spend $50 on it. Same with Donkey Kong Country Returns and Kirby's Epic Yarn, I want to play them but $50 is steep. Smash bros Brawl and Muramasa are on my list too. Super Monkey Ball is another I want to play again, I've played it briefly before.

I really think its a shame still that the Wii didn't properly embrace standard gaming as the hardware blows away the PS2 and could have taken over the cheaper end of the gaming market. And I like traditional gaming.

[Nicholas Steel]

Metroid Prime series on the Wii has fantastic controls.

[vegeta1215]

I'm not sure if I'll check out Metroid Prime 3 or not, depends on how I feel about the controls. I'm somewhat interested atleast in trying Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition.

Metroid Prime 3 was one of the earlier Wii games I bought. For the first few hours I hated the controls - I was convinced they didn't work, and that the Wii experiment was a failure. But soon it just clicked... it felt so natural. Now I can't imagine going back to a regular controller for the Prime series. I recently replayed MP1 with Wii controls from the MP Trilogy set, and it was fantastic. So, if you play it, just give it some time. Oh, I should mention, I changed the lock-on free aim option to "off". Lock-on with free aiming just makes things more difficult. With it turned off the lock-on behaves like MP1 and MP2, which I like. (though the game forces you to have lock-on with free aim for major boss fights regardless of your setting, cause you have to target specific weak points)

I was a pro at RE4 on GCN, having beaten both difficulties and getting the highest ranks on the Shooting Gallery. I really only picked up RE4 Wii edition cause it was cheap and cause I wanted to play Separate Ways. Boy am I glad I did. If there was ever a game meant for the Wii controls, this is it. It works so well, and feels so good. Also, the game uses all the changes made for the PAL version, and is a little harder (you get more money than health item pickups). Separate Ways alone is worth the price (I think it's only $12 on Amazon right now). After beating RE4 on Wii I went back to play it with the GCN controller - man, it's like controlling a tank. It's such a big difference. I don't see how I ever played it on the Cube.

So basically, yeah, get MP3 and RE4. They're totally worth it.

[MasterSwordUltima]

Resident Evil 4 on the Wii was definitely a major improvement. I could spend hours playing Mercenaries, yet I can't stand to play more than one or two rounds on Resident Evil 5, simply because of the controls.

I definitely agree on not wanting to dish out $50 for a Wii game. I remember I burned the iso for Crystal Bearers when that came out, and I thoroughly enjoyed it...but I finished the game within two sittings. So I know I would have been quite a bit agitated had I paid $50 for a 6-8 hour game. (Like wise, I recently bought WET for my PS3 for a whopping $17, and I think it's worth every penny...however I know it would not have been worth the $50 when it first came out a year or so ago).

If you do end up getting Brawl, Mott, you should definitely look into softmodding your wii. I remember we talked about this a few months back, and it's fairly easy to do. I say that because there are some fantastic things you can do to "fix" Brawl (as I'm sure you can do with other games). Mostly involving codebreaker-esque codes used by homebrew to alter it (and in many cases, change textures - very cool stuff). I think you would enjoy it.

[Brasel]

I was not a fan of Mario Kart Wii at all. The game has just gotten way too chaotic since Mario Kart 64. You can be racing perfectly, and you will lose a lead because the computer always finds a way to hit you with a lightning bolt / spikey turtle shell / etc. I had absolutely no fun playing it. The controls kind of sucked too, but I just never bought into the whole motion control thing. I'll stick with Mario Kart 64, or even Double Dash.

I don't ever play my Wii. I bought a couple games for it that would be really cool if there weren't better / more interesting games to play. I should go play through Wario Land Shake It, because from what I did play, its really solid. New Super Mario Bros Wii was fun too. I still haven't played either Galaxy game. Twilight Princess was okay the first time through, but I can't seem to sit through it again.

I think my biggest gripe, though, is no HDMI support. I'm spoiled. Is there a way to make your Wii full screen? It might just be my TV, because it doesn't have the stretch option, just fill.

[Nicholas Steel]

Mario Kart 64 has the superior deathmatch mode/levels/items but the Wii one has Superior racing in general.

[MottZilla]

If you do end up getting Brawl, Mott, you should definitely look into softmodding your wii. I remember we talked about this a few months back, and it's fairly easy to do. I say that because there are some fantastic things you can do to "fix" Brawl (as I'm sure you can do with other games). Mostly involving codebreaker-esque codes used by homebrew to alter it (and in many cases, change textures - very cool stuff). I think you would enjoy it.

I kind of doubt though I'm not sure that you can softmod a Wii that is running pretty up to date System Software. Also, I was never too clear on the IOS deal, running burned DVD's on some versions uses some 3x DVD Movie mode that was removed from later hardware, something about USB but unclear on speed, etc. In general I'm not so sure I want to mess around with the Wii because it really is unclear what trouble if any I might have to deal with. I saw one neat hardware modification where you put a hard drive into the Wii totally replacing the Optical Drive. It sounds like it's pretty problem free but you can never be sure. If I was 100% sure I wouldn't have any serious issues then modding the Wii might make sense. I guess I'll have to do research maybe.

I'll have to look into RE4 atleast but I may give the MP Trilogy a try, or atleast MP3. I never actually played MP2 much at all. Just maybe for 20 minutes.

Anthony, I think you need to go into your System Settings and set your Wii to WideScreen. It's not an HDMI issue, just aspect ratio. By default the Wii probably sets 4:3 where it doesn't fill a modern TV screen.

[vegeta1215]

I was not a fan of Mario Kart Wii at all. The game has just gotten way too chaotic since Mario Kart 64. You can be racing perfectly, and you will lose a lead because the computer always finds a way to hit you with a lightning bolt / spikey turtle shell / etc. I had absolutely no fun playing it. The controls kind of sucked too, but I just never bought into the whole motion control thing. I'll stick with Mario Kart 64, or even Double Dash.

I don't ever play my Wii. I bought a couple games for it that would be really cool if there weren't better / more interesting games to play. I should go play through Wario Land Shake It, because from what I did play, its really solid. New Super Mario Bros Wii was fun too. I still haven't played either Galaxy game. Twilight Princess was okay the first time through, but I can't seem to sit through it again.

Yeah... I heard about all the negatives about Mario Kart Wii. It's the first Mario Kart I haven't bought.

I received NSMB Wii for my birthday last year. I wasn't really interested in the game because I tried the DS version and thought it was terrible and way too easy, but the Wii one actually surprised me. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. I still don't think it's anywhere near SMB3 or SMW, but it is worth playing.

[Cloral]

I actually rather liked Mario Kart Wii. I played it with the wheel attachment, which isn't as precise as the nunchuck or classic controller, but to me was more fun. And yes, the single player AI can be cheap, but really, you shouldn't be playing the single player game at all, except to get some of the unlockables. You should be playing against friends, or online. And unlike SSBB's online component, MK's online is actually really good.

As for Wario Land, that is a really solid game. The art style looks great and the platforming gameplay is smooth and responsive. And while it might look short at first, it is actually a very long and deep game thanks to the completionist aspects. Every level has treasures to find and 3-7 challenges to complete, like beating the level in under a certain time limit or getting above a certain dollar value in coins and treasure. Plus each world has 2-3 secret levels to find and complete. My only complaint is that the basic gameplay is a bit too easy. Other than some of the secret levels and the later bosses, you're never really in that much danger of dying.

[MottZilla]

So Wario Land on Wii is the same sort of platformer as Wario Land on Gameboy was? If so then I think I may have to check it out.

[Nicholas Steel]

Single player AI is cheap until you reach 150CC at which point it's still bearable.

[Pineconn]

The GoldenEye remake is actually quite good. You can use whatever control set-up you like (I prefer Wiimote + Nunchuk on "Experienced 3"), and the online multiplayer has had me engaged. (Same user name: Pineconn.) The single player part is equally as fantastic, although Eurocom has updated it significantly. For example, you go to a nightclub in Barcelona, the frigate level (now called Carrier) is in Dubai, the ending is set around a clean energy facility in Nigeria, Bond has a smartphone instead of a watch and gagdets, etc. Yeah, quite a bit is different from the actual movie, but it's a much needed update to the story. I've completed it on Operative (easy) and Agent (medium), but I'm still plowing through it on 007 (hard). The final game mode is 007 Classic, which brings back the set amount of health with body armor—I've yet to play it, though.

[vegeta1215]

I actually rather liked Mario Kart Wii. I played it with the wheel attachment, which isn't as precise as the nunchuck or classic controller, but to me was more fun. And yes, the single player AI can be cheap, but really, you shouldn't be playing the single player game at all, except to get some of the unlockables. You should be playing against friends, or online. And unlike SSBB's online component, MK's online is actually really good.

In the past, I mostly played Mario Kart with my brother. As hard as it is to admit, he is better than me at Mario Kart (gasp!), and we always worked together to get the best ranking and unlock everything. Unfortunately he lives far away now. Plus from what I've read, Mario Kart Wii doesn't have a co-op Grand Prix - is that right? I supposed we could play online against each other since he has a Wii too. Maybe we'll try that in the future.

I picked up Wario Land: Shake It for full price when it was first released. It's definitely worth it, and it's dirt cheap now. The game is great looking and really polished. The main game isn't that hard as Cloral said, but some treasures/secrets are hard to get to, and the hidden levels are tough. I think I made a post about it a while back - I think I wrote about how you will do a lot of spine-sharking a la Metroid ;) I've only played the original Wario Land - this one's it's pretty similar, except you don't really have transformations per say.

EDIT: Ah... here is: http://armageddongames.net/showthread.php?42771-Wario-Samus-Aran

[Cloral]

Yeah, no co-op grand prix in MKWii. That was the most lamented omission from the game. Some people theorized that Nintendo did that to keep people from getting the unlockables more easily. Though when you consider the inherent randomness in any of the Mario Kart games, I don't think that is a valid concern! My guess is they probably thought it was the least popular game mode and left it out so they could concentrate on other areas.

[AtmaWeapon]

I'm sorry but complaining about cheap tactics that cost you the lead in Mario Kart is akin to whining that Disneyland is great and all but you can't have any fun what with all the cartoon characters everywhere.

If you don't like getting the lead stolen by some el-cheapo guaranteed-to-hit-the-leader headshot then I suggest you drag yourself back to the SNES original where the cheapest item was the homing shell. The blue shell made its appearance in MK64, which most people love but I despise. The controls in that game felt a little too loose and I lost one too many times because of a blue shell. MK DS felt like it had better controls (perhaps analog controls aren't good for the game) but retained the "being in 1st place is dangerous" mantle. I'm not sure if MK64 went as far as limiting which items you could get when in higher places, but I know it was in MK DS and this is where the game started losing its appeal to me.

Nintendo has created an environment where being that guy who is so good he takes the lead immediately and maintains it for the entire race is *very* difficult. The 1st place player has their speed limited and can only obtain the worst of the defensive items. People in lower places have their speed boosted and can obtain the most powerful items. Some people call this unfair and whine the game should be re-released because they can't stand the thought that they could lose even if they're better at the game. Some people turn this into a strategy, like the guy in my dorm who would always maintain 5th place in a race hoarding a blue shell or 3 red shells until the last quarter of the last lap, where he'd unleash a fury upon the leaders that hasn't been seen since the landing at Normandy Beach. That son of a gun probably won 90% of our games.

MK is like Smash Bros. If you're playing to win or you're playing against the CPU you're doing it wrong. These are games meant to be played when you've invited your buds over and you want to kill some time without worrying about win-loss ratios or anything other than having fun. The mechanics have been fine-tuned to handicap highly skilled players when they play against lesser players while rewarding lesser players who challenge the more skilled. I say SSB in its latest incarnations is more friendly to the skilled player, since most of the better items require skill to wield. If you're that guy who has to be in 1st place the entire game to have fun, Mario Kart is going to make you its love toy, and I mean that in the "stuffed animal with a hole cut near the crotch" sense, not "kinky friend who does the wierd stuff". I'm happy with this; that's the same persona that tried to use his ability to catch a football to assert himself as king of the world in high school. You may think everyone's having fun playing MK with you, but secretly they're wishing blue shells were real and they'd save them for when you're at interstate speed between two trucks on a bridge.

Why is playing against the CPU wrong too? They are merciless and don't make mistakes in a game where being in the lead is a handicap. The CPU never relaxes or puts aside its A-game to try and show off that it can defend 1st with a banana peel. The CPU doesn't have to be the guy who dominates the entire race because the CPU is legion. Whatever place you *aren't* in the CPU knows it will take. Playing against the CPU isn't playing against 3 buddies, it's playing against 11 heartless bastards that want to make you have as little fun as possible. It's meant to be very challenging and far less casual than playing against friends.

I'd also argue that MK isn't meant to be a competitive game. Nintendo didn't design all of these "unfair" angles into the game because they don't understand the needs of the hardcore gamer; they put them in the game because it makes a 4-player race fun and unpredictable to the last second. Competitive players aren't looking for fun, they're looking for a win. Competitive players want to come over to my house and use the game to feel superior; they're the guys who refuse to play another game while they're on a winning streak and no one else is enjoying themselves. There's a time and a place for competitive attitudes and plenty of games that reward your 6+ hour/day training regimen by making you feel superior, but I want those games and the attitudes that come with them far away from my parties. :mad:

[Nicholas Steel]

Chill man, you can set Weapons to "Basic" in the options during multiplayer which pretty much limits weapons to the original Mario Kart ones.

[vegeta1215]

I think MK is a very competitive game. Sure, it's fun that it's unpredictable till the last second, but in the few times I've played MK Wii, the AI was brutal. Getting hit with a Blue Shell, and then immediately after recovering getting hit with Lighting, then a Red Shell, etc. getting bombarded is not fun, and unfortunately the players in the lowest ranks get those kinds of items one after another! It probably wouldn't be so bad if there were only 8 total riders like in past games, but with 12 total that's that many more riders to pound you.

[Cloral]

I call that the 'stack effect' since the hits tend to stack up on you after you get hit once. It happens way too frequently. They really should've given you a couple seconds of invincibility after getting hit so you can't get pounded all the way to the back of the pack at once like that. And no, not star invincibility, just invincibility from getting hit again.

[MottZilla]

Which would stop maybe the CPU from keeping you down. But other human players that aren't dumb would know to wait for a bit before using another item. But I think it's pretty much accurate that in newer Mario Kart games they stack the deck to try to keep it interesting. They want to prevent that guy from getting that 1 lap lead where it's just a smooth cruise to the finish so long as they don't make any big mistakes. It makes for a more hectic race for sure. But it can be so very frustrating to lose in the last quarter lap on the final lap when you were just in first practically the whole race.

About Wii Mario Kart, I hear it works with GC and Classic controllers. But I thought I hear some move or something that is just missing from those and you must have the Wii Remote to do it. What is this move again? Is it important? I just vaguely remember hearing something about it. It bothers me because it's dumb when they don't support traditional controls fully.

[Nicholas Steel]

all moves are possible with all controller configs except maybe Wii Remote+Nunchuck.

[Cloral]

About Wii Mario Kart, I hear it works with GC and Classic controllers. But I thought I hear some move or something that is just missing from those and you must have the Wii Remote to do it. What is this move again? Is it important? I just vaguely remember hearing something about it. It bothers me because it's dumb when they don't support traditional controls fully.

Rumble is what is missing from those controller setups.

The main reason the 'stack effect' annoyed me was that once you get hit once, you are effectively helpless for a few seconds. So when people come flying past with their invincibility, bullet bill, or even just going fast, there is no way you can dodge them. If they made you invincible until you had a chance to hit the accelerator, you could at least try to get out of the way. After all, many of those hits aren't even people trying to hit you, it's just them speeding along and running into you because you were stuck in the middle of the track.

[Nicholas Steel]

I picked up Wario Land: Shake It for full price when it was first released. It's definitely worth it, and it's dirt cheap now. The game is great looking and really polished. The main game isn't that hard as Cloral said, but some treasures/secrets are hard to get to, and the hidden levels are tough. I think I made a post about it a while back - I think I wrote about how you will do a lot of spine-sharking a la Metroid ;) I've only played the original Wario Land - this one's it's pretty similar, except you don't really have transformations per say.

Use this link now as the one listed in that topic died. http://www.youtube.com/user/wariolandshakeit2008

[vegeta1215]

Use this link now as the one listed in that topic died. http://www.youtube.com/user/wariolandshakeit2008

I love that page! It's still so neat to see everything fall apart, and still be click-able.

[Nicholas Steel]

Yeah for some reason the Youtube Channel that the Wario web page links to, no longer has the video and the video it self has been de-listed. It's good to spread the link around so it isn't forgotten as it's the only way to reach it :/

[Brasel]

[QUOTE=MottZilla;437937Anthony, I think you need to go into your System Settings and set your Wii to WideScreen. It's not an HDMI issue, just aspect ratio. By default the Wii probably sets 4:3 where it doesn't fill a modern TV screen.[/QUOTE]

I have it set to Widescreen, though it still doesn't fit the whole screen...or do anything different from having it set to 4:3.

[Daarkseid]

I have my wii set to wide screen aspect ratio on my 32-inch LCD, the system menu has the settings for widescreen. AFAIK, you need at least a component connection to get any display modes other than 4:3 interlaced.

[MottZilla]

I got Resident Evil 4 for Wii so I got to try out the whole Wiimote + Nunchuck control scheme for shooters. It failed miserably for me. I just can't hold the nunchuck and use it properly. But that helps me rule out spending any time or money on games with only that control scheme. Atleast RE4 Wii still lets you use the GC controller.

[Daarkseid]

I recall controlling the game using the nunchuck was awkward at first, but I stuck with it because I immediately recognized how much better I was aiming with the wii-mote.. assuming I had my field of vision properly aligned with the analog stick on the nunchuck, of course.

[Nicholas Steel]

I have my wii set to wide screen aspect ratio on my 32-inch LCD, the system menu has the settings for widescreen. AFAIK, you need at least a component connection to get any display modes other than 4:3 interlaced.

You might be right about the component cables being required. But just to reiterate something you mentioned, make sure your TV/screen is also set to 16:9 mode.

[vegeta1215]

I recall controlling the game using the nunchuck was awkward at first, but I stuck with it because I immediately recognized how much better I was aiming with the wii-mote.. assuming I had my field of vision properly aligned with the analog stick on the nunchuck, of course.

Yeah, I think a lot of games are like that - the controls just take a little getting used to. Probably even more so for games that are ports or sequels to games you've played on another system. Like I said, this is exactly what happened to me with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I'm glad I stuck with it :D