Why Jim Sterling's Mario Kart 7 review is bullshit.

MultiElford

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You should not take the review-score too seriously, friend.
The review explains exactly what the player will be experiencing during gameplay, so it is an honest review.

Now, I do agree that a game that is great but 'like the last one' shouldn't get a bad review score simply for its lack of innovation.
The real problem with his review is the fact that he claims Madden and the Dynasty Warrior series to get more updates in gameplay with each iteration than a Mario Kart game. That's just ignorance and he pretty much puts himself in the worst spot a game-reviewer could ever be as these games are famous for just being 'like the last one'.

It is hard to make an argument like that without feeling a little unprofessional, I hope.
 

jboking

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Look at you complaining because someone's opinion is different from yours! bravo!

Also, good job justifying releasing a new call of duty every year with little to no changes. Reviewers tend to measure how much the series has advanced in their reviews because they understand that they have to justify me spending another $50-60 on it. If it is essentially the same game with some re-skinning done and one or two new features, I won't bother.


Also, cause I'm sure it's been thrown around, Jim isn't a troll. He just has an opinion that is different from yours. Honestly, if you want an interesting discussion, you might talk about how the word troll is now being used to describe anyone that has an opinion different from ones own.
 

AngelBlackChaos

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itsmeyouidiot said:
My problem with game reviews like this one are not because the reviewer has a different opinion, but because, in cases like these, they are pretty blatantly letting a personal bias/preference dictate how they judge the game's quality.

A game reviewer is supposed to look at a game and provide rationale behind its quality or lack thereof, not just say "I like it" or "It sucks." While most game reviews definitely have subjective elements, subjectivity being human nature, you're supposed to try as hard as possible to avoid letting personal bias get in the way and be as objective as possible, so people reading your review will know if the game is worth buying. By letting personal preference get in the way, you're giving people the impression that the game is good/bad based on false or misleading information.

Jim's argument here is indeed a valid point, Mario Kart hasn't really changed much, but he plays it up like it's some terrible crime against gaming, when in reality it isn't really a flaw at all. He spends most of the review complaining about lack of innovation instead of judging the game based on its own merits.

Basically, I dislike the review because it misleads people into thinking the game will be bad, and because he makes no effort to maintain objectivity, which is what being a critic is all about.
He did provide reasons, and a critic is SUBJECTIVE. Just as much as someone if you reread the comment about what the score 5 means, it means simply meh. Not bad, as you say. He didn't call it a bad game, just mediocre. They could have done so much more to make the game more dynamic, but instead they keep the same, dull styling throughout the game. And if I feel like playing Mario Kart again, I could play one of my older games and it would still have the exact same feel, and I wouldnt suffer any, or miss out on anything new. Kart customization isn't a pull to me. Not new tracks either. But if they did something fantastic, turned the game on its head. Add surprises, not just new gimmicks, and I would be far more excited about it.

I think people get too upset about numerical scoring anyways. An actual review to be read? Far more interesting and gives me a better idea. The fact that jim explains what he is biased on, makes it far easier to take a grain of salt with a review of a game you like. Just like Yahtzee is pretty honest with his bias, and how he dislikes multiplayer, etc.
 

loudestmute

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Here's an interesting little fact about humanity: We're allowed to like different things. In fact, it's to be expected at this point. With as many people we have on the planet at this point, if so much as 25% of us shared exactly the same interests, the rest would accuse them of being an alien hive mind and start exterminating.

...Look, we all miss Sega being in the console race. And we're afraid to see that happen to any other company, I get that. But you're honestly worried about protecting Nintendo? The company that turned the greatest jokes in gaming (Motion controls? Touch screen portable?) into licenses to print money, that Nintendo? Just relax, and enjoy the fact that they haven't nerfed the red turtle shells in over 20 years now.
 

Toriver

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@Aku_San (sorry, unable to quote) You wouldn't know that from the way this site treats Nintendo. Here, Mario gets it worse than Master Chief. I can't remember the last time an Escapist member declared a new Nintendo game good and didn't get flamed into oblivion for it by Yahtzee's legions.

The OP does need to chill out and let Jim have his opinion, but I will have to admit I am annoyed by all the people responding by declaring Mario Kart shit before the game is even released. Heck, I haven't even seen anything about Super Mario 3D Land or Skyward Sword, and they're actually out. But anyway, I wouldn't instantly write the game off before playing it because it's a sequel. Think of it like Bond movies. They're all formulaic sequels too. When you see a Bond movie, you know what you're gonna get: suave spies, Bond girls, cheesy villains (with gimmicks, no less), and cool cars and gadgets. Pretty much no Bond movie has deviated from this formula. You could say the Bond series has stagnated since the second film in that regard. But does that make each Bond movie bad when judged on its own merits? Not really, unless you just happen to hate Bond movies in general. The fact that the Bond movie and Mario Kart formula haven't changed doesn't mean they're not good films or games. It just means that perhaps the formula itself leaves little room for change, or they've become such a recognized brand that too much change would ruin it or make it unrecognizeable (i.e. Sonic), a part of the franchise in name only. I mean, how much more can you do with a kart racing game? Not addressing previous flaws is worrisome, but to expect every single game a company releases to be essentially an entirely new IP is just ludicrous. The way I see it, if they're still doing what they do well, what's the big problem?
 

jboking

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BoredRolePlayer said:
while pokemon still...uses...the...same...stupid...plot...point...every...game *RAGE*.
Cause the story of Black and White is so similar to the story of Red and Blue, right?
 

Korten12

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One Hit Noob said:
Can you see the difference? Not really...
But it's his own opinion so we should all just quit crying.
Um... That's MW1... Not MW3...
 
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Does the hypocrisy invalidate his point about the Mario Kart series? Nope. Sorry, but your post is just full broken logic. Innovation is hard to achieve with each sequel, so remaking the game with a few extra gimmicks is justified? Here's a thought; if you can't think of anything to do with a series, start a f*cking new one! Also: Modern Warfare hater and proud b*tches, and no I won't shut up about it.
 

OManoghue

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Hey kid, grow a pair and accept not everyone's going to like everything.

I personally would argue Nintendo hasn't released a new game in 23 years, but that's just because I think Zelda and Mario are the same game, and then all of those are the same withing their respective series except the Toon link ones.

But so what he didn't like it, did you? Do you need the world to agree so you don't feel guilty abut liking a stagnant rehash of a game on the super nintendo?
 

BoredRolePlayer

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jboking said:
BoredRolePlayer said:
while pokemon still...uses...the...same...stupid...plot...point...every...game *RAGE*.
Cause the story of Black and White is so similar to the story of Red and Blue, right?
Start off in a small town

Tasked to get pokemon to fill the pokedex

Get 8 badges

Stop a Evil organization who wants to you guessed rule the world by having control of pokemon by getting people to get rid of them (slightly different from team rocket, they used business, not folklore)

Go and Battle the Elite 4 become the champion


The only thing I liked about the plot was N (and that gym leaders had real jobs), and his involvement. I just play pokemon just to play it, the plot got me hooked a few times then the "twist" ending that N's

Wanted N to summer the dragon was so people would give up their pokemon believing he is the hero of legends and Team Plasma would have no one to stop them when they take over the world

just bummed me out. If they make "gray" and explore not only N but Kyurem(He is so cool and looks like he has a lot of background story waiting to happen) in more depth I might change my mind.

Edit:Also I said plot point and I was referring to the get 8 badges, fight evil team, become the champ
 

v3n0mat3

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BoredRolePlayer said:
Aku_San said:
The sad truth of Nintendo and its place in the video game industry

>New Halo game is released

REHASH SUCKS FAIL 0/10 STOP MAKING THESE GAMES THE SERIES SHOULD DIE etc. etc. etc.

>New Mario/Zelda/Kirby/Starfox/Mother/Pokemon/what have you

FUCKING GOLD THANK GOD THEY DIDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING 9000/10 GAME OF THE YEAR ALL YEAR EVERY YEAR

Don't get me wrong, I do have some fun with Nintendo games, but when you call one series that only has, what? 4 or 5 sequels (some with various changes/innovations) a rehash failure vs calling a new game in a series that has done nothing different (worth noting) in the ballpark of 20 years or less, with 100+ sequels (that's just the Mario games) the best ever is not only unfair, it's ignorant, really.
snip button
I was being more general about the sequels. True, Starfox has only 4 or 5 games, Mother has 3, and all that, but, they still follow a general formula. It's very predictable. Zelda? Princess gets kidnapped by Ganondorf and he has to look for pieces of whatever to fight against him. Mario? Princess Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser. Starfox? Andross. Kirby? DeDeDe, or... it's KIRBY for Chirissakes. Mother? Creepy children with psychic powers fight aliens... But not all is rehash in Nintendo land. We have the few great, but VERY under-appreciated titles that follow an entirely different formula, but are incredibly fun! For example: Luigi's Mansion. That game was the highlight of my 6th grade year. I loved the hell out of it. It was fun, goofy, and even morbid in some cases. What's not to love? Another point you made is that Nintendo doesn't do annual sequels like CoD. While that might be true, at least they write a pretty cool story to go with it. I actually like the story arc for the Modern Warfare series, and I liked the story for Black Ops. It has more intrigue than what people give it credit for.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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MiracleOfSound said:
How dare he have an opinion!

And how dare he give a game he enjoyed a better score than one that bored him!
Yes and how dare someone have and opinion about how he based his view of this game, when Jim has handed out high scores to games with the EXACT same issues (9.3 for MW3) as Mario Kart 7.

Shame on the OP. Shame for commenting on someone else's opinion and SHAME AGAIN for having an opinion that YOU don't agree with and for having the audacity of posting it online.

What a world of tragedy we live in.

Serious Face:So basically what you're saying is that Jim can have an opinion and no one can criticize him for his thought?
 

BoredRolePlayer

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Aku_San said:
BoredRolePlayer said:
Aku_San said:
The sad truth of Nintendo and its place in the video game industry

>New Halo game is released

REHASH SUCKS FAIL 0/10 STOP MAKING THESE GAMES THE SERIES SHOULD DIE etc. etc. etc.

>New Mario/Zelda/Kirby/Starfox/Mother/Pokemon/what have you

FUCKING GOLD THANK GOD THEY DIDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING 9000/10 GAME OF THE YEAR ALL YEAR EVERY YEAR

Don't get me wrong, I do have some fun with Nintendo games, but when you call one series that only has, what? 4 or 5 sequels (some with various changes/innovations) a rehash failure vs calling a new game in a series that has done nothing different (worth noting) in the ballpark of 20 years or less, with 100+ sequels (that's just the Mario games) the best ever is not only unfair, it's ignorant, really.
snip button
I was being more general about the sequels. True, Starfox has only 4 or 5 games, Mother has 3, and all that, but, they still follow a general formula. It's very predictable. Zelda? Princess gets kidnapped by Ganondorf and he has to look for pieces of whatever to fight against him. Mario? Princess Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser. Starfox? Andross. Kirby? DeDeDe, or... it's KIRBY for Chirissakes. Mother? Creepy children with psychic powers fight aliens... But not all is rehash in Nintendo land. We have the few great, but VERY under-appreciated titles that follow an entirely different formula, but are incredibly fun! For example: Luigi's Mansion. That game was the highlight of my 6th grade year. I loved the hell out of it. It was fun, goofy, and even morbid in some cases. What's not to love? Another point you made is that Nintendo doesn't do annual sequels like CoD. While that might be true, at least they write a pretty cool story to go with it. I actually like the story arc for the Modern Warfare series, and I liked the story for Black Ops. It has more intrigue than what people give it credit for.
I won't lie but the story in Black Ops is what made me want that Call of Duty(still need to get it for cheap though haha), but I agree the Nintendo sequels are predictable besides Mother 3 (I mean Mother 1 and 2 uses the same plot and the same baddie >_>, 3 is just a power hungry child making robo animals and taking over a island and drag queens helping you along the way. Not gonna lie I did go "Wat" at that). Zelda same, Mario same, pokemon same, kirby same, fire emblem same. I heard someone said they want more Mario plot and pointed to Sunshine as a good example to break the mold, when it broke no mold the same stupid bimbo was still taken away from the very start.

Again I do agree with you (I'm just a nit picker so i pointed Star Fox and Mother out) Nintendo makes to me sequals with to many plot points. But with it spread it, it doesn't feel as bad...then Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros Wii came out >_>.
 

Kopikatsu

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Andy of Comix Inc said:
Kopikatsu said:
Me said:
Though I do find it somewhat odd that he praises Call of Duty and <Dynasty Warriors[/I], while criticizing a game with the major criticisms of CoD and DW. Ain't nothing wrong with iteration, mind... unless it happens to make a game worse for it. This is Mario Kart SEVEN, I'm really not surprised reviewers are turning to this and calling it "stale", at this point.
He didn't really praise Call of Duty. He just said that it defined the FPS genre. That makes it worth a 9. If he thought it was an awesome game AND defined a genre, then it would be a 10/
I'm talking about his stance on the series as a whole: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/3285-Defending-Call-of-Duty

And, I'm sorry, but what? Since when did "defines a genre" make something worthy of a 9/10, "near-perfect," score? FFXIII defined the pile-of-shit genre. I guess that makes it 9/10! Keeping in mind, beyond anything else, a score is designed to recommend something. (Thus why you're better off buying an 8/10 game than a 5/10 game.) It's consumer advice, it shouldn't be mathematical, or even logical. No "not awesome" game should even get close to 9/10.
You're the one who is assuming that a 9/10 means 'near-perfect'. In the Destructoid's scoring system, it doesn't.

Also, that FFXIII is a bad game is a personal opinion. One shared by many on this site, because most of the people on The Escapist like WRPGs. That doesn't mean that FFXIII is unpopular everywhere, just here. (Indeed, it's extremely popular in Japan and was hailed as one of the best games ever made. Which is kind of who it was developed for in the first place.)

Mau95 said:
So what about Pokemon?
Pokemon has changed a lot. Compare Red and Blue to Black and White. They're almost entirely different games.

AzrealMaximillion said:
MiracleOfSound said:
How dare he have an opinion!

And how dare he give a game he enjoyed a better score than one that bored him!
Yes and how dare someone have and opinion about how he based his view of this game, when Jim has handed out high scores to games with the EXACT same issues (9.3 for MW3) as Mario Kart 7.

Shame on the OP. Shame for commenting on someone else's opinion and SHAME AGAIN for having an opinion that YOU don't agree with and for having the audacity of posting it online.

What a world of tragedy we live in.

Serious Face:So basically what you're saying is that Jim can have an opinion and no one can criticize him for his thought?
I feel like you haven't read his Mario Kart 7 or his MW3 review. You should, if you're going to complain about them having the same exact issues.
 

ThreeWords

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mikey7339 said:
Why is this guy's opinion important?
This is the crux, I believe. The man is a fool, so ignore him.

Though there is an argument that the entire facade that is Jim Sterling is a massive troll stunt. Because this is exactly what I do when i want to troll someone into a rage.
 

Samus Aaron

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I see Jim's point, but if games were scored almost entirely based on how derivative they are of other works, hell, almost all games would get 5's or 6's. Sure, Nintendo's games are very similar, but they spend tons of time on each and every main game ensuring that games are both extremely polished and actually fun.

That's right, fun, the very thing a video game review is supposed to examine and analyze. As unoriginal as the newest Mario Kart, Pokemon, Mario platformer, or Zelda game may be (and in my personal opinion, these games are not unoriginal since they always update them and add new mechanics, better graphics, etc., but that's just me), the fact of the matter is that these games provide such a great deal of entertainment with every playthrough. Yes, they are similar, but what exactly are they similar to? "OMG, Twilight Princess is just like Ocarina! It are teh suxors!" "Oh man, Mario Galaxy 2 is exactly the same as the first one, which is exactly the same as Mario 64" And the same thing for Pokemon and Mario Kart. Has everyone forgotten that all of these original games - Ocarina, Mario 64, the first Mario Kart, Pokemon Red and Blue - all of them were fantastic? And the newer titles that Nintendo is releasing don't just provide the solid basis for games that Nintendo is known for, but also new features and minor but game-changing twists on the old formulas in order to keep things fresh.

And Nintendo doesn't release one major Mario platformer or Zelda game per year, like COD does. Skyward Sword was released 5 years after Twilight Princess, which was released at least that many before Ocarina and Majora's Mask. And Mario Galaxy 2 was released about 4 years after the first one, and the same thing for Mario Sunshine and 64. Even the Mario Kart franchise, possible the most derivative franchise Nintendo owns, has produced a new game only once every three years since Mario Kart DS. Nintendo does not just spit out a new game in each one of its major franchises every single year like Activision. These games take longer development times because Nintendo actually takes the time and effort to make fun, polished games that will more than satisfy you until its next big release comes out. And that is why I still love Nintendo, despite all of its flaws.

TL;DR: Yeah, Nintendo's games are very same-y, but don't deny that they're still very fun to play, and, at least in my opinion, are usually in no way deserving of a "5" given the sheer entertainment you get when you play their games. I haven't played the game, but (especially given most reviews I've seen on the game so far), I expect Mario Kart 7 will be no different.