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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is simply not as good as Super Mario Galaxy. It isn't-- and anyone declaring the opposite is LYING.

Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion. But I can tell you why Super Mario Galaxy 2 is not as good as the first game:

  • Too much pseudo 2-D: the best suit from Super Mario Galaxy is the Bee Costume, which makes a welcome return in SMG2. But, they confine the use to levels with 2-D platforming. HOW can THAT be an IMPROVEMENT over the past game which had levels that let you fly around in 3-D environments??? Verdict: Worse than Super Mario Galaxy.

  • They made a crappy mini-game even worse: SMG1 had the riding-the-manta race levels, which were jittery & a chore to get through. But in Super Mario Galaxy 2, it gets even WORSE with the riding-a-bird levels... you can only use the wiimote, twist it left/right to turn (fine) but tilt down to speed up AND go down, and tilt up to slow down-- but NOT GO UP. Yes, you can NOT fly upwards in this level, ONLY down. It's a completely moronic control scheme where the speed up/down controls could've been mapped to buttons. Verdict: Worse than Super Mario Galaxy.

  • The camera is worse. How do you wreck a camera? By having it too close to Mario we can't see as much of the level... and being able to see a level is KIND OF important in a platforming game. Verdict: Worse than Super Mario Galaxy.

So these factors alone should rate it lower than the original Super Mario Galaxy, yet it's getting higher scores-- perfect scores--- despite having glaring problems. This is like when the final Lord of the Rings movie got all the Oscars, obviously it isn't the "best"-- each movie in the trilogy is just a piece of the story-- but they didn't want to give all 3 of them a bunch of Oscars, so they saved it till the last. Maybe reviewers are trying to make up for not scoring the first Super Mario Galaxy as high as they should've/would like to, and so they're overdoing it now... at the expense of people new to the franchise who don't know about shitty game politics like this.

I'm almost at the final world, and I decided to pop in the first Super Mario Galaxy and play that a bit, to see if things were actually better for the first game. And I'm sad to say that yeah, they were. The music is much better, it feels epic & fun, as well as the level design & even the handling of Mario seems smoother. One of my big gripes about Super Mario Galaxy 2 is that Mario is so damn sluggish. He takes about 3-4 seconds to recover from a hit! So most of the time during his recovery animation he gets knocked off of a platform and dies. Stupid.

All the pseudo 2-D shoe-horned into the game, the galaxy (level) select is made to look just like older Super Mario games like New Super Mario Bros.... how does it make sense to have a linear select path in space??? But much worse is that there's too much 2-D in the levels themselves. All this feels like they're trying to make Super Mario Galaxy 2 more like the older Mario games, which is stupid and a waste of not only 3-D movement capabilities but the uniqueness of the Super Mario Galaxy franchise. Why would it need to "feel" like the previous 2-D Super Mario games???

New costumes like the rock & cloud suit are ok, but Yoshi isn't nearly as fun to play with as he should be. Yoshi levels often require you to aim, eat jump and shoot pretty much simultaneously. All those are mapped to the Wiimote and it feels like too much. Plus the level design for the dash peppers-- whoever came up with those levels needs to be kicked in the head.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is not all bad. At it's best, it is like Super Mario Galaxy. There's now checkpoints so you don't have to start all the way at the beginning. The graphics may be a little bit better, but I don't think the design is as good so I wouldn't say so. And it is more of Super Mario Galaxy, so for those who need more of it, this is about the only option. The developers were honest when they admitted that Super Mario Galaxy 2 started off as a "1.5" expansion pack, because this is essentially what Super Mario Galaxy 2 is. Not the worst game ever, but it doesn't live up to the very high standards that were set with the first game.

The Crap in Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2 initial thoughts


later
don

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Google Pac-Man permanent!


Awesome! That great playable Google Pac-Man logo is still around, Google has made a permanent link for it:

http://www.google.com/pacman/



Nice.


later
don

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Crap in Super Mario Galaxy 2

To all you reviewers who gave Super Mario Galaxy 2 perfect 10's: SHUT THE HELL UP.

Seriously, it is not better than the first game. It is simply more of the same, with minor additions that are NOT improvements. They add new features to the gameplay but they don't IMPROVE the gameplay. The cloud & rock suits are cumbersome & not all that fun. Even Yoshi is not all that fun-- the speed peppers levels are awful. And the Bee Suit, which was the best suit from the first game, is back but it's penned in to a 2-D level design. In fact there's way more pseudo 2-D in this game and how can THAT be an improvement???

I'm starting to realize a fundamental flaw in platform gaming that has rarely been addressed in all the decades that the genre has been around: the "all or nothing" principle. Either you do it 100% or you can't do it at all. It may've been understandable to have games with that constrained of mission structure when the genre was invented in the '80's. But come ON already-- games have to evolve.

A good example is Marble Saga Kororinpa. It gets mediocre review scores, and one of the main complaints is the difficulty traversing the levels. I disagree, but the real point is that Marble Saga Kororinpa does one thing that helps alleviate the difficulty & improves gameplay immensely-- in each stage you're trying to collect crystals, parts & bonus items. Say you get 75% through a stage, collecting a few crystals & die. You'll either restart at a checkpoint or the beginning.... but those crystals you've collected STAY in your collection, you don't have to get them again. This is a major thing because it's so annoying & endlessly frustrating to do nearly a perfect run, stick your neck out to collect that rare object tucked somewhere very hard to get at, but you do get it-- just to make one mistake & die.... then you have to somehow do that perfect run AGAIN. By taking that out of the equation, there's still challenge in Marble Saga Kororinpa because you still have to make it to the end of the stage. It just cuts down on the huge annoyance factor of games that demand perfect platforming every time.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is automatically a lesser game because it stubbornly sticks to a less advanced platforming philosophy of "all or nothing", and if you mess up 95% of the way through, you have to get all the 1-95% of what you collected back again. The only concession the devs make to sort of combat the all-or-nothing is to have a Cosmic Guide that plays the game for you. But again, that's an "all or nothing" philosophy: they're saying "Either you play it or we play it. Those are the only options." The clueless developers didn't actually fix the core problem. How about not having infinite respawning enemies every time you die? How about NOT including broken flying controls or stupidly impossible chasing bunnies levels? They weren't fun the first time, why would they be fun again??

Mario is so sluggish, when he gets hit he takes about 4 seconds to get up! Why even bother having it knock off 1 health when it takes him so freaking long to get back up that he gets knocked off walkways & cliffs anyway??

Super Mario Galaxy 2 should really be called Super Mario Leftovers because that's all the game is really.... levels that didn't make the cut the first tine around are dusted off & repackaged as a sequel. The game is not as polished as the first; once you accept some challenge modes it will restart the challenge infinite times until you either pass or run out of men, or pause the game & exit. Obviously programmers screwed up & forgot to offer a retry Y/N screen like in the first game. Just so many little missing things like this that make the game less than the previous.

I feel awful to have exorbitantly overpaid for this game. In a perfect world, video game developers who rest on mediocrity & "tradition" should be punished with plummeting game sales, but the video game industry is far from a perfect world.


later
don

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - initial thoughts

So I picked up Super Mario Galaxy 2 - day 1 purchase. I couldn't find any deals, so paid full price for it.... $59.99 + GST + PST... came out to like $67.00-something..... ouch. At least I had a gift card, so I only paid about $3.00-something of my own $$$... but still, I almost paid more for Super Mario Galaxy 2 than about the *last 4 Wii games* I bought...... hmmm....






Tornado Outbreak (ugh.. sucked) - $10.00
Marble Saga Kororinpa (awesome!) - $10.00
No More Heroes 2 (pretty good) - $20.00
House of the Dead: Overkill (disappointing, but may get better with repeated plays) - $15.00

But I really loved the first SMG, so it's probably worth it. UPDATE: it wasn't.

However... I do have to say..... the reviews for Super Mario Galaxy 2 are WAY TOO HIGH.

They keep saying how this is NOT more of the same, that it's better than the original Super Mario Galaxy, etc.

I've only just started playing about an hour or so into it, so maybe I'm not far enough in? And while yes, it is cool & fun as the first game, and there are new suits like the Cloud Suit... reviewers are flat-out LYING when they say it's not more of the same. IT IS MORE OF THE SAME. I'm not saying there aren't a few new twists like Yoshi. There are, and they're nice.

But there are a lot of little things that are not as cool & "Wow!" as the first Super Mario Galaxy. They streamlined the galaxy select menu to make it a path just like the other Mario games like New Super Mario Bros (Wii & DS). Also, space seems less... space, and more like sky. As seen in the screenshot at the top corner of this posting, that is Starship Mario (cool idea) and it's supposed to be floating in "space", but it looks like sky, right? I really miss the cosmic feel of the original game, it felt big & epic. These changes kinda restrain the game feel even though they may make it easier to select levels to play.

Also the music. I was really blown away by some of the music of the first Super Mario Galaxy, but so far, in Super Mario Galaxy 2, not so much. It's not bad, mind you, but again, not an epic, cosmic feel.

The camera is NOT improved, it is exactly the same as before, with all the flaws of the old fixed camera system. Reviews that say otherwise are lying.

Most of these issues may seem like nit-picking-- maybe they are. The actual gameplay is pretty much what it was in the first game, and while that was great, if you have the same as the previous entry, but some of the minor issues are LESS good than the previous, that means that the second game is NOT as good as the first, right? How can it be if at best it equals the first game, but other parts aren't as good?

Both IGN & Gamespot, I think they gave Super Mario Galaxy 2 a perfect 10 out of 10. That just seems too high if it is slightly not as good as the first game.

And while you don't have to have played the first game to enjoy the second, you really should play the first before playing Super Mario Galaxy 2. It does show you the basic moves but the game right from the outset assumes you have played & know the moves & have fought the previous bosses.

It isn't a bad game at all, but please don't swallow all the hype blindly. I don't know what's gotten into these reviewers.


later
don

Saturday, May 22, 2010

House of the Dead: Overkill

I bought The House of the Dead: Overkill a couple days ago from Best Buy for $14.99. I've been wanting this game for a long time, and that's a pretty good price. But so far I'm fairly disappointed in certain aspects of the game.

The House of the Dead: Overkill is an on-rails light gun style shooter where you shoot zombies... err, "mutants"-- for some reason the game insists on not calling them zombies, I think it's a running joke from the previous HotD games, but they never actually explain it here. The presentation is another tongue-in-cheek humourous style-- this time wholly inspired by Grindhouse style '60's-'70's movies. The overall idea and especially the music are pretty nicely done. But the humour almost tries too hard to effectively elicit big laughs from me.

My biggest problem with the gameplay is that the images are waaaaay too dark on the screen. You can't see ANYTHING. It's a black background with black stuff that you wave your target reticle over and you know it's a zombie mutant because your reticle turns red. I get that it's supposed to be action-horror, but it's just not enjoyable not being able to see *anything*... even the cutscenes are like this. It's impossible to play this game unless the room is completely dark, and even then you can't see much on the screen. And the only adjustments you can make are to the audio-- no contrast/brightness adjustments at all??? Moronic oversight.

If you look up screenshots of the gameplay, you'll notice that they usually have a greenish tinge... that's because someone tweaked the contrast up... there's no greenish tinge here & thus, it's not possible to see much in the actual game. Drives me nuts.



I'm going to play this a bit more, hope I'll warm up to it.



later
don

Friday, May 21, 2010

Playable Pac-Man Google logo


Cool.... in honour of Pac-Man's 30th anniversary, Google made a celebratory logo, which isn't unusual, they do it a lot.

But this one is actually playable! Nice one, Google.

Speaking of Pac-Man, Namco-Bandai is one of those game companies that doesn't get a lot of respect, but they've published a lot of games for PSP. A few of my favourites like Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception, Ridge Racer & Me & My Katamari, but there are many more.

So congrats Pac-Man, and let's hope Namco-Bandai gives the next PSP iteration a shot.


later
don

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wii Intec Retro Controller


The Source is blowing these out for $4.96! I normally don't buy Intec or Madcatz junk, but this is a great price.

I bought 2; one from each store, 1 for me & 1 for my nephew's Wii. At one store, the employee actually knew it was on sale & had a sign up. But at the other, the guy had no clue until he was ringing it up... and while he was he kept saying something like, "Wow, what a price..." but the way he kept repeating it-- it sort of sounded like, "wish I'd *known* this was that cheap...."

So I have another truism in the gamer world, or at least the bargain hunter gamers world: it can be a good thing that The Source employees are clueless because it helps preserve some of the gaming deals for us regular customers. It's like a natural balance of the gaming wilderness or something.....

Anyway, I've been playing No More Heroes 2 with the Intec Classic Retro Controller. I wouldn't say it's better than the traditional Wiimote + Nunchuk combo, there are some advantages & disadvantages.

As for the controller in general, it feels not bad. The 2 analogue sticks are identical to the stick on the Nunchuk, which is kinda cool. The buttons have a fairly good feel. I haven't used an official Nintendo Classic Controller, but as far as I can tell the button placement is identical to it. The controller is very light because there's no vibration feedback within it (I don't think the regular Classic Controller has it either)

My biggest problem with the Intec Retro Controller is that there are seams where the plastic meets the blue rubber, and it's at these seams that the plastic sticks out a bit, it isn't perfectly flush... so it feels sharp against the hands when your fingers curl around the controller.



Indicative of cheap build quality, I may try to slice off/file down these rough edges.

Now I have to dig through my Wii games & see which ones are Classic Controller compatible...

UPDATE: A quick check of the back of the boxes reveals I have 5 Wii games I can use this thing with (including NMH2):

  • Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition - The Wiimote + Nunchuk is about the most perfect control setup for this game I can imagine. So why would I use a Classic Controller?
  • Mercury Meltdown Revolution - The tilt control of the Wiimote is about the most perfect control setup for this game I can imagine. So why would I use a Classic Controller?
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up - Also supports GameCube controller (I have a wireless WaveBird) so why would I use a Classic Controller?
  • Mario Kart Wii - see TMNT answer.
  • No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle - Admittedly there are things that can be done with the Classic Controller that can't be done with the Wiimote + Nunchuk: I didn't even know Travis could punch before using the Intec Retro Controller. Also, switching between swords is *much* easier because it's mapped to the D-pad. But there's a little more satisfaction doing gesture finishes with the Wiimote as opposed to just using the analog sticks on the Retro Controller.


Ooooohh, 5 whole games that support the Classic controller! Oh well, maybe I'll buy a Virtual Console game someday....

One funny thing I noticed when checking the controller icons on the back of my Wii games, Godzilla Unleashed doesn't have ANY controller shown! Man, that's freaky that they rushed through the production of this game & couldn't even remember to put the controller icon support on the back like every other Wii game does. And on a further tangent... when I check out my most played games on the Nintendo Channel, Godzilla Unleashed doesn't even show up even though I know I put a lot of hours into it. When I do a search through the channel it can't even find it. Scary.



later
don

Sunday, May 16, 2010

podcast - IGN Girlfight

I've just listened to the 5 episodes of Girlfight from IGN.... basically, this podcast show is made up of 4 females who work there, including Jessica Chobot, talking about videogames.

The episodes are about 60 minutes long, and are fairly random comments on games, what they're playing, any "big videogame news" , and response to listener mail. I dunno, I actually quite like it. It's refreshing to hear female perspectives on gaming. I know there are a lot of female gamers out there.... but I hardly ever see them represented online in blogs or wherever.

Another thing I like is that even though they don't really cover the games/platforms I own, their interests run the gamut.... they can get just as excited about "hardcore" shooters as they do for "casual cute" games.... which is something I can relate to. Their latest show at this time of writing is a debate on EA's "pay to play" or whatever it's called where they charge a $10.00 fee to access online multiplayer for used copies of their sports games.

I hope they can continue to produce this show regularly.

Download them from here.



later
don

Saturday, May 15, 2010

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

I bought No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle yesterday from Walmart for $20.00. Pretty good price, considering I was thinking of buying it from there last week when it was listed at $29.99. Seems like quite a fast price drop, but just another example of my "rules" about EA Games & Ubisoft.... oh wait, did I actually post my rules about EA Games & Ubisoft here? I'm looking over my recent posts & I don't think so.....

So basically, I believe that EA & Ubisoft games almost always drop in price; whether it's 6 months or a year after the game comes out, games from those 2 pubs usually end up at $20.00 (or less). I think it's because of their market penetration, you can buy EA & Ubi games practically anywhere right? So they end up in bargain bins all over the place.

Yes, you could say that *every* game drops in price eventually, but that's not always the case. Take first-party Nintendo games for instance: Mario games that came out years ago have dropped maybe $5.00-$10.00 from their release MSRP. But with EA & Ubi games, most of those drop like stones eventually.

Anyway, that's my "rule" or belief or whatever. So NMH2:DS coming from Ubisoft, I decided to wait rather than giving in to the $54.99 release day MSRP...

Man, I've gotten this far & I haven't even talked about the game yet. It gets good reviews which seem a bit high, though I do think it's a fun game. It's basically a 3D brawler, with stylish art direction & a good sense of humour. In some ways it reminds me of Madworld. I'd say it's faster paced because there are less moves, which makes it a bit less clunky, but it still is rough around the edges as far as gameplay. It's mostly melee sword combat, unlike Madworld which relies on gestures a lot more, here you basically button mash the A button; tilting the Wii remote up or down to do high/low attacks. Then there might be a finishing move where you swipe the Wii remote a direction given onscreen to do a kill.

The premise is like Afro Samurai: the main character Travis Touchdown is fighting his way through ranked players with the ultimate goal of becoming #1. He uses a lightsaber "beam katana", and can purchase other weapons as he goes. Along with the fighting part of the game, there are side jobs which earn him cash-- these side jobs are 8-bit style arcade mini-games, and there are also revenge missions which are much like the "beating up the lackeys on the way to the boss" part of the main missions, except they are time limited. And in between all this are slick & sexy cutscenes of the woman doling out Travis' missions, Silvia Christel.

I really like the artstyle & humourous tone of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, it's goofy & weird that the save mode is Travis pulling down his pants & sitting on the toilet. Luckily strategically placed bands (of toilet paper?) spare us from seeing too much. There's a section of the game where you play as a female character Shinobu Jacobs, and her save mode is her taking a shower...... nice. But again, all the naughty bits are hidden by paper. Still, with the sexiness & coarse language this is not a game to be played with kids around.

Speaking of Shinobu, this is where the game gets clunky: she should be a really cool character to play-- she's very hot looking & well animated, her moves are faster than Travis' & she jumps. But the problem is that they make her have to do a fair amount of platforming & the game is not nearly polished enough for that. Shinobu has to jump up on crates, and her levels are way too frustrating when they should be fun. There's a lot of clunkiness in the actual gameplay... the game relies on its reputation as being "hardcore" but there's a difference between hardcore or challenging and broken. There's no excuse for gameplay that doesn't function properly. Most of the game is fun, but it takes getting used to the rhythm of it.

I haven't played the first No More Heroes, the reason I picked this one up over the original is because I heard it was a bit more refined, but really... I saw a giant robot battle in it and that was what won me over. A bit disappointing, though... the robot fight is more like a mini-game mode inside one of the boss fights, it was actually cool but brief.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is very linear, even the revenge missions are only shown one at a time. There isn't a way to replay past bosses. It's straightforward & probably a fairly short game, but I'm having fun with it. With a name like that-- "Desperate Struggle"-- it sounds like it was meant for the DS??? Kinda odd. I wonder if they were thinking that at first, when they started developing it? It might be kinda interesting to have a DS version of No More Heroes.



later
don

Thursday, May 13, 2010

games wishlist 2010

This is kinda late, but it just occurred to me that I haven't posted a games want list for a long time.

I guess because I just haven't seen too much to get excited for this year.... but still, there are a few titles that are really exciting and others that are intriguing.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - I have to say that the first game was a complete surprise for me, I loved it! As much as I loved Super Mario Galaxy.. I do feel that this will be more of the same, which is both good and bad. There will be small changes & updates which will probably be very cool, but I know what I'm getting. Maybe it's the classic "video game sequel syndrome". Still, I'm getting really psyched up for it, it's coming so soon!

Ace Combat Joint Assault - Another sequel to one of my favourite games, Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception for the PSP. This may actually be my most anticipated game of the year so far.


Metroid: Other M - I was not all that fond of Metroid Prime 3 or the DS Metroid Prime: Hunters, but the different take that developer Team Ninja will spin on the franchise might be cool. I'm really intrgued by how it'll play. Maybe I'll replay those games & see if I can get into them.

Hmmmmmmm............ I'm trying to think of some other games I'm really psyched up for, but I got nada at this time. Again, 2010 seems like a bit of a dry year for video games if you only have a Wii, DS or PSP. I find myself buying last year's games, it's a little scary how I've snagged just about everything on my old want list....



later
don

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Source employees suck so bad

Looking over my post about Future Shop employees, it seems a bit harsh. But I have to say, it sums up about 80% of my Future Shop shopping experiences. The other 20% comes from when I get in, buy what I need & get out as quick as possible... not giving them a chance to talk to me.

Still, compared to shopping at The Source..... that experience makes the Future Shop people look brilliant in comparison. At least the Future Shop people want to help.. or look like they are... or maybe want their commission... whatever. At The Source, they need the customer to not only tell them the price of their product, but to ring it in & bag it for them too. Oh and to find where the bags are.

Last week I bought a couple things: one was a pair of Sony MD- XD200 headphones. I need some big cans, and I thought I'd take a chance on them. So far they're kinda meh.... but that's another topic.

The girl behind the register was a living, breathing cliche of retail clerk half-assery. She even had the sniffles to fully accessorize the lackadaisical attitude. I see the headphones on the rack, grab one take it to the cash.... and I'm waiting... for about 15 minutes-- while the girl is dealing with someone who brought back some defective earbuds & needs a replacement. Fair enough.... I get that you've gotta deal with customers in order. But there were other people working in this store, some were busy talking to people in the aisles or whatever, but I'm not sure if most of them were just floating around or what. Yes the cashier girl was a tool-- but maybe her co-workers could help her out, y'think? Sheesh.

While I'm waiting for her (or anybody) to ring up my headphones, I spot some Wii nunchuks on a rack behind the counter, and there's a price that looks like $14.99. I ask her if that's the price of those, and she looks at the tag & says yes. So I ask her to throw one of those into my order too. But when she gives me the receipt to sign, the nunchuks come out at $24.99.

So that's when a couple other Source tools employees & manager(?) jump in, all of them trying to figure out what's going on. I don't know if it was a misprint or what... the "manager" muttered something about the sale price ending that day. I don't know. It's not like I tried switching the pricetags or something-- I specifically asked HER if that was the price, and she said yes. She then rang it in, and didn't even notice it was $10.00 more than what she saw 1 minute before. But whether it's the right price or what, I think they have to give it to me at that price. I only endured all that 'cause my sister needed another nunchuk for their Wii.... but honestly, after standing there waiting 10-15 minutes I should've just put the headphones back & walked out the door. I wanted to get back in time to watch the Habs game-- I had AN HOUR before it started to get these headphones & get home, and I *still* missed about the first period. What douches.

Fuck 'em, eh.



later
don

Monday, May 3, 2010

Marble Saga Kororinpa

So the other game I bought from my recent jaunt over to Vancouver... Marble Saga Kororinpa. I started playing it last night, and so far it's not bad. It gets mediocre reviews because of the control scheme. With the "marble rolling genre" of games, control is key. I read someone refer to these games as a genre, and I guess they are when you think about it.

I can understand why some may complain about the control. But it's not as bad as you would think from the reviews. Yes-- you WILL need to turn the Wii remote upside-down at times; so that the A button side is facing the floor. The key to playing this game is to hold the Wii remote with the tips of your fingers & not let it rest in your palm at all. You've gotta think about the Wii remote as a gyroscope or something. And it helps not to use the Wii remote strap.

There are times when I'm thinking, "did the devs actually PLAY this level themselves?" things almost seem broken. Then I went into the level design editor where you can make your own levels, and decided to create one myself. I think that the number of tools I have available are dependent on unlocking them from progressing through the main game, so my tools may be limited, but... I created this level that was UTTERLY BROKEN. It was so funny-- had me in stitches when I test-played it because I thought, "OK, let's play this to see how it works" and it was SO bad.... hehehehe. So maybe this game/level design stuff is harder than it looks....

Another weird thing I noticed is that there's this ant character, and his "vocals" sound EXACTLY like the characters in Animal Crossing.... you know, that fast chirping like sound they make as you read their text dialogue? I actually checked my GameCube copy of Animal Crossing to see if it was made by Hudson, but it seems to be a first-party Nintendo game. Maybe the same company developed both games? I dunno.

It's still early but I'd say Marble Saga Kororinpa is worth the $9.98 Real Canadian Superstore sells it for.



later
don

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