Zero Punctuation: Super Mario 3D Land & Rayman Origins

[FallenMessiah88]

It's too bad that Rayman Origins have tanked so much in terms of sales, because it really looks awesome. Well, it is decided. It is time to rekindle my relationship with Rayman. The only question now is which version I should get? The PS3, Xbox360 or the Wii version.

As for Super Mario 3D Land. It looks just like the other newer Mario platformers. Good, solid, platforming action with lots and lots of nostalgic charm. Plus, I have been meaning to get a 3DS for some time now, if only for Resident Evil: Revelations.

 

[FFMaster]

So hes not anti nintendo (by his own words), but took another chance to just beat on anything he could for no apparent reason (even if its BS, as hes talking abotu the ps3 in the vid which is ALSO pushing sodding 3d).

Yes origins is a very good game (still playing it myself) and it is difficult (very glad they don't have lifes as it would be annoying but i shoudl point out that the pushing you back to a certain point to lengthen gameplay does happen in that game, with the need to get certain ammounts of electoon (not an issue if you are slightly ocd like me ) and the time trials meaning you have to start from the start of hte level if you fail) but seriously the nintendo bashing is just getting old

 

[The Crazy Legs]

Always been a fan of the Rayman franchise, apart from the Rabbids who are not part of the Rayman franchise and are rather fodder for shoddy Wii shovelware, and Rayman Origins I find to be a wonderful, great, good, fun, fantastic, nice game. I'd even go so far as to consider it the best retail release of 2011. Special mention goes to the underwater segments which are among the best water levels in video games and are so mesmerisingly beautiful that I would gladly replay them over and over again. It's just inspiring to see a game like this on a console again.

Thank god! Someone finally said it! What do those goddamn Rabbids have to do with Rayman altogether? I boycotted the Wii altogether for such treachery! Whose idea was it to keep the title: Rayman, but make it have nothing to do with the original series anyways?!

 

[Marik Bentusi]

Perhaps the most tragic thing about Rayman is that it had very little marketing support from the publisher and was released to compete on the same week as Skyrim, AC: Revelations and MW3 (being better than at least two of those games, but no one would know)

Ubisoft practically sabotaged this game because it didn't know what to do with it. Which is a pity because its easily the best platformer to be released to a proper console in years.

Wait, what? Skyrim and MW3 is one thing, but ACR was developed by UbiSoft as well. What the hell? Aren't the studios connected?
Tho I guess they wanted to throw as much as possible at the Christmas market to maximize sales. Which of course is a stupid idea when everyone does it, and especially if you're increasing your own competition with your own games. Who the hells gets paid for these marketing decisions?

I know Rayman Origins is quite good, but it's not worth a full 60 euros to me. I might pick it up once it drops to below half that. Also, Ubisoft is just about the last company I want to give money to, with their insane DRM schemes and their blatant extortionism (buy Rayman if you ever want to see your precious BGE2...).

Inclined to agree (well, the only console I own is a Game Boy Color, but if I had a console, I would think about that price twice as well). The thing is that it looks really great and is full of soul and I want to encourage developers to do more games like that. But while the art design is very charming and the platforming more than solid, story- and character-wise it's not exactly what I'm used to from Rayman 2 and 3 for example.

And of course the elephant in the room that UbiSoft has pretty awesome devs that are being oppressed by the publishing department.
"HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT"
"WHAT"
"NEW ASSASSIN'S CREED"
"FUCK YEAH"
"SAME TIME PERIOD, SAME PROTAGONIST"
"...we have to fill it with gimmicks and pull some significant story-stunts without actually making any progress, right?"
"YOU KNOW THE DEAL"

 

[hermes]

Perhaps the most tragic thing about Rayman is that it had very little marketing support from the publisher and was released to compete on the same week as Skyrim, AC: Revelations and MW3 (being better than at least two of those games, but no one would know)

Ubisoft practically sabotaged this game because it didn't know what to do with it. Which is a pity because its easily the best platformer to be released to a proper console in years.

Wait, what? Skyrim and MW3 is one thing, but ACR was developed by UbiSoft as well. What the hell? Aren't the studios connected?
Tho I guess they wanted to throw as much as possible at the Christmas market to maximize sales. Which of course is a stupid idea when everyone does it, and especially if you're increasing your own competition with your own games. Who the hells gets paid for these marketing decisions?

I know... And its not the first time (altough this is one of the most notorious because a genuinely good game was sent to the slaughterhouse).

Ubisoft has a history of releasing several games on the very same day. Its almost like their fiscal year ended in Nov 15th, and everything remotely close to holiday has to be ready for that date or be delayed to next year.

 

[newwiseman]

That was one of the best episodes I've seen, can't wait to see another dual review.

 

[Skweebl]

Losing interest in Yahtzee. It's getting hard to take his contrarian views seriously when they don't have at least some basis in fact. He still cracks some pretty funny jokes, but it's just lame how every one of his Nintendo videos is just him hating on Nintendo in general rather than focusing on the game itself. Yahtzee is a nice novelty, somebody who doesn't buy into the hype and "tells it like it is," but it's wearing thin. It's hard to take him seriously anymore when he does the same shit every week.

 

[Fusioncode9]

Finally someone who doesn't consider SM3DL a platforming masterpice. Didn't think anyone else thought it was half-assed and paled in comparison to the Galaxy games.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

I know... And its not the first time (altough this is one of the most notorious because a genuinely good game was sent to the slaughterhouse).

Ubisoft has a history of releasing several games on the very same day. Its almost like their fiscal year ended in Nov 15th, and everything remotely close to holiday has to be ready for that date or be delayed to next year.

Really? Damn. They seem to be taking it out on Rayman, too. The rabbids were pretty much his greatest enemy because they almost killed the franchise and turned it into a dull minigame collection.

I wonder if they're going to do something Rayman 2 related again. I thought that adversary gave a better contrast to the natural critters that inhabit the world, and thus made the progression feel more rewarding. One of the few instances where Darker And Edgier actually worked IMO.

He still cracks some pretty funny jokes, but it's just lame how every one of his Nintendo videos is just him hating on Nintendo in general rather than focusing on the game itself.

He does that mainly because otherwise he could just copy and paste his text from the last Mario game. That said, he did respond to the racoon tail and half-heartedness, which seems to be what "characterizes" this game by comparison to its predecessors.

 

[makkebakke]

Yeah he has lost it, allright...

 

[RJ Dalton]

Hmmm... on one hand Yahtzee just went through the typical "Jokes made every time there is a Nintendo review"

He's said before that he'll stop making the same complaints when they stop applying. I think he's going for the "piss and moan until the universe restructures" approach to fixing things. Not all that dissimilar to what Nintendo did with motion controls.

 

[xdiesp]

After Mario Galaxy 2, I can't even play platformers anymore. Like drifting on acid for a year and trying and go back to a blue collar's life.

 

[MrLefty]

Are there any Mutant Enemies in these games?

Grrr! Argh!

 

[MrLefty]

doublepost

 

[F'Angus]

Rayman Origins was frakking insane...I loved it...but it was insane. Such a hard game in the later levels especially the end of the underworld, but gosh darn I loved playing it with friends.

 

[Kanatatsu]

well this sucked. maybe review a relevant game for next week, yahtzee.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I guess I really am part of the minority that genuinely liked the Xen levels in Half-Life. But then, I've always been really good at jumping puzzles, even in FPS perspective.

 

[Xman490]

I think the difficulty in Rayman Origins goes down better not only because of semi-instant respawning, but also because the game "looks great, sounds great, and reeks of personable charm." The charm is a defining feature and is appropriately represented in the video.
Basically, the game has as many smiles as the bytes it has. Every "coin" smiles and gives off a ting noise that goes with a tune. Also, the game finds ways to make the standard "grass/jungle world, then desert world, then ice world" scheme fresh.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

The attacks against the 3D screen technology itself are pretty lame shots. Who is seriously claiming that the 3D screens add anything more than eye candy?

Nintendo.

 

[Spenstar]

This is my least favorite video Yahtzee has done. To be honest, the whole thing was in bad form. Obvious bias against Nintendo and Mario and 3D is obvious, but he did have a point about the lack of original content. Some of the extra levels were just direct copies of some over world level with either cosmic bro or the timer thing added in, and while I loved both mechanics, that was just shameful. There also wasn't as much variety in the power ups this time. I mean, really... no ice flower? No mini mushroom? Those are Mario power up mainstays now! Also, what was the point of the Tanooki Leaf if the extra levels just give you a better version of the same thing? Having said that, the platforming itself was superb. I finally see why so many corners were cut, and Yahtzee should have seen this as well and offered sympathy: Nintendo needed to rush out this game ASAP so that the 3DS could get a great game for it by the holidays, because everything else on that system thus far has been either really bad or a remake of some N64 game. Had Yahtzee seen that, he would have been nicer to the game and perhaps suggested DLC for the game down the road, after Nintendo gets some time to relax, buckle down, and make the game complete.

Reviewing Super Mario 3D Land 3D Mario Super alongside Rayman Origins was unfair to both games, because Yahtzee was unable to really go in-depth to either game. I know he wanted to portray Mario in a bad light and all, but a game like Rayman Origins (which I got on the Wii and is AMAZING) deserves more attention. Especially since it apparently hasn't generated as much excitement as it's worth, Yahtzee could have done away with the biased rant entirely and just given Rayman the spotlight to itself. How good WAS this game? What flaws do you see? Does it belong retroactively in your Top 5 of 2011? Hold on, back up a second. Freaking CRITICIZE this game like you do everything else! Even your favorites (save Portal) haven't gotten away from you without some criticism, why does Rayman get off easy? Is Rayman Origins as good as Portal?! You missed a perfectly good review, Yahtee, and for what? So you could make some more cheap jabs at Nintendo, Mario, and the 3DS? You didn't review Sonic Colors with the iPhone games, so why the hell do this?

For the record, this is not meant to be hateful, but simply a criticism of that review of his. I don't hate Yahtzee, I still watch his stuff... but this is just unfair to both Mario and to Rayman.