Zero Punctuation: Super Mario 3D World

[NeutralDrow]

The entire time Yahtzee was describing the competitive nature of the gameplay, my mind was turning back to the Freelance Astronauts LP of Super Mario Brothers Wii.

Now I want to see a Let's Play of this game.

 

[TristanBelmont]

You know, in previous years it has actually been pretty easy to guess some of his top and bottom five, but this year that's gonna be a bit more difficult. I'm putting $20 up now that GOTY will be Papers, Please.

 

[Enlong]

I actually wanted to play this game, but now that comments thing is more than a bit of a turn off.

Yeah, um, it's optional. You can turn it off and never see the comments.

Though, that does render the stamps a bit pointless. But then you don't use the green stars for anything but unlocking extra worlds either, so whatever.

 

[Xman490]

Unlike those reviews, I'm not going to go back to suspecting that again because this lacked the same kind of bitter flame bait something like the Mario Galaxy 2 review had 3 years ago. But I just find it that Yahtzee's trying too hard to be bitter at 3D World. Maybe he just shouldn't review Mario platformers anymore and stick to just reviewing other Nintendo stuff.

A whole minute was devoted to the funny-at-best, eye-rolling-at-worst comments system, as if it's as prominent as the core game.
The only positive things he had to say about this game were that the difficulty curve is competently arranged and that it "maybe" evokes the retro charm of Mario 3. He didn't even say something along the lines of "Yeah, it's fun. Just don't make it your only game," like in the Galaxy 2 ZP.

 

[FallenMessiah88]

I like the Mario games because of nostalgia. They remind me of the "good old days". That's basically it. It's not like they're holding the indsutry back or anything. They're basically just doing what they've always done.

 

[TheomanZero]

There are twelve worlds, not eight.

But yeah, I wish Nintendo would realize that shoulder buttons make the most practical run buttons. There are four of them now, so you'd think they could spare one.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I actually wanted to play this game, but now that comments thing is more than a bit of a turn off.

Yeah, um, it's optional. You can turn it off and never see the comments.

Though, that does render the stamps a bit pointless. But then you don't use the green stars for anything but unlocking extra worlds either, so whatever.

Well I can't afford a WiiU so it's a moot point anyway.

 

[duchaked]

user comments at the end of levels in video games?!?! f-ing genius!!

might be better feedback than the starring system for the AC4 levels loll

"STAHP IT WITH THe TAILING MISSIONS"

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

"8 worlds".

Aren't there 9 main worlds and 3 extra worlds? That sounds an awful lot like 12 worlds to me. Thought Yahtzee tends to play these games to the credits, which is a shame because all the best stuff is always at the end. The extra worlds in 3D Land made the game go from "passable" to "great," the extra levels in Galaxy 2 found the difficulty again, and the extra worlds in 3D World, by my accounts, do pretty much the same thing.

Ah well. Pretty agreeable dissection otherwise.

 

[MB202]

Honestly, this review was funnier then I was expecting it to be, and Yahtzee makes a fair point about how this game seems to be designed with 2D play in mind... which is cool and all, but there wasn't anything wrong with classic 3D Mario games.

 

[Nazulu]

I know people shout about the call of duty series being the same churned out game year in year out. But is it not the same for the mario series as well? or that's just how it seems to me anyhow.

It is, and it's just as pathetic. Many Mario games have come out and for some reason they've dropped Starfox, F-Zero and who knows what else. They are really playing it safe and I really wish they would do something a bit more 'out there', though I am impressed with some of their new character choices for SSB4.

Ugh, the cat suit actually puts me off, and the level designs really bore me. I don't see the magic Jim says there is.

 

[IrisNetwork]

I know people shout about the call of duty series being the same churned out game year in year out. But is it not the same for the mario series as well? or that's just how it seems to me anyhow.

I think nostalgia is the key. Mario has been around since the late 80s and has approval from people's dads. CoD hasn't got such an old fanbase. I've even heard bashing against ACIV for being the same thing.

Imagine an alternate reality where CoD was made in the 80s, we'd be bashing Mario and platformers. If people want to play something for nostalgia, why can't they just pick up their old game and play it?

 

[daxterx2005]

KI really hope this isn't the "sequel" to galaxy 2.

 

[MetalDooley]

Many Mario games have come out and for some reason they've dropped Starfox, F-Zero and who knows what else.

The reason is simple...Sales figures.Despite being excellent series neither have sold particularly well in recent years.The most recent Starfox games Assault on GC and Command on DS managed sales of just over 1 million and around 500,000 respectively while the most recent F-Zero game managed around 600,000 sales worldwide.Sales figures for each installment of those 2 series have plummeted compared to their predecessors so maybe Nintendo have looked at the dwindling interest and decided it's just not worth it

 

[Nazulu]

Many Mario games have come out and for some reason they've dropped Starfox, F-Zero and who knows what else.

The reason is simple...Sales figures.Despite being excellent series neither have sold particularly well in recent years.The most recent Starfox games Assault on GC and Command on DS managed sales of just over 1 million and around 500,000 respectively while the most recent F-Zero game managed around 600,000 sales worldwide.Sales figures for each installment of those 2 series have plummeted compared to their predecessors so maybe Nintendo have looked at the dwindling interest and decided it's just not worth it

Maybe. However, they still made them all awhile a go and I don't see why they can't attempt them now. Most of my friends would love another Lylat Wars. And I know a lot of people didn't like the direction of Starfox Adventure and Assault so I wish they would go back to the roots on that franchise.

The last F-Zero game was a very hard game and there was something about it I didn't like, but I don't think they should just drop it. Maybe try a different direction. I can't see why not since they have done with their most popular titles.

They're going to have to do something different eventually. If they really are afraid to go back to them then maybe they should consider listening to the fans on what to do then. Really, they keep showing the characters in Smash Brothers so they shouldn't be ignored.

 

[MrBaskerville]

Bushido Blade feels like someone looked at other fighting games at the time and yelled out "These games don't make sense? It's not realistic at all!" and so set out to make a realistic fighting game.

And this showed us why realistic fighting games are a terrible idea. While someone rushing in and stabbing you in the chest would indeed kill you in one hit in real life with no chance of retaliation, it doesn't make a very fun game.

Also it showed us that guns destroy people with swords.

I found it incredibly fun and it sold well enough (BB2 did, anyways). The only reason the series died was due to a contract disagreement between Square and Light Weight. I actually don't know who owns the rights anymore
There's something about the realism that simply beat the hell out of every other game at the time. Made actions seem more important. This is probably the biggest standout fighter franchise of my childhood. Virtua Fighter, Super Street Fighter, Mortal Combat, Dead or Alive, Tekken, and such, these all blended together with little really different besides the characters themselves (or, in DoA's case, the jiggly physics of the characters).

Bushido Blade stuck out and made me remember it. I have never had fun like it before or since. Did you play it?

Did you play any of these recently? Cause i think you underestimate just how different the combat systems are from each other. It's like night and day, th same way Bushido Blade stands out. Not much of a BB fan though, i have played a lot of Two Player in it during the years (as recently as last month), i think it's fun enough, but it's also fairly broken imo. Sequel might be better though, haven't tried it yet.

 

[MetalDooley]

However, they still made them all awhile a go and I don't see why they can't attempt them now.

Because like it or not Nintendo is a company and companies have to justify expenditure to their investors and shareholders.Look at the sales figures for those 2 series

Starfox 64 - 4.03 million
Adventures - 1.87 million
Assault - 1.08 million
Command - 0.51 million

F-Zero - 2.85
F-Zero X - 1.10
F-Zero GX - 0.65

As I mentioned earlier sales for each one of those series have plummeted with each installment selling around half of it's predecessors numbers.No company on earth is going to greenlight a new installment with that record.It's harsh yes but unfortunately that's the reality of business.

Don't get me wrong I'd love new installments in both those franchises but there's no incentive for Nintendo to make them at the moment

 

[Clunks]

Weirdly enough the thing that made me laugh most in this review was the very fact that someone wrote "I LOVE SAND" in the comments for all the world to see. It's like one of those weird exclamatory sentences characters used to say in Father Ted. "I LOVE MY BRICK," that sort of thing.

Anyway, fun review and all that. I can't honestly understand the mindset of anyone who cares about this game, unless they're comparitively new to Nintendo and it's their first or second Mario game. Ever since Mario Galaxy 2 there's been a distinct lack of anything new in the series, and while that's understandable - where hasn't Mario already been? What has he not done? - I don't get why people still give Mario games the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Nazulu]

However, they still made them all awhile a go and I don't see why they can't attempt them now.

Because like it or not Nintendo is a company and companies have to justify expenditure to their investors and shareholders.Look at the sales figures for those 2 series

Starfox 64 - 4.03 million
Adventures - 1.87 million
Assault - 1.08 million
Command - 0.51 million

F-Zero - 2.85
F-Zero X - 1.10
F-Zero GX - 0.65

As I mentioned earlier sales for each one of those series have plummeted with each installment selling around half of it's predecessors numbers.No company on earth is going to greenlight a new installment with that record.It's harsh yes but unfortunately that's the reality of business.

Don't get me wrong I'd love new installments in both those franchises but there's no incentive for Nintendo to make them at the moment

They are not the same business they used to be. All the teams have changed, and there decisions hasn't really been an aim to improve.

The sequels just got worse and worse. They need to go back to what those franchises were and stop combining so many different elements to it.

Think about it. Why is it that those first games sold well enough? They need to figure that out, because like it or not, I'm going to criticize them for it if they can't find a way to revive it. People still want to play all the different genre's, they need to find someone that knows how to make those great quality titles again.

 

[plugav]

Is it weird that the thing I liked most was the Bushido Blade reference? Well, that and Desk Mario.

Haha, is it weird that I came here just to post that I was happy to hear him mention Bushido Blade?

Not at all! (At least that's what I tell myself to sleep at night.) Cool game, and the multiplayer was vicious. I'm sorry I never got to play the sequel.