mario — Page 3

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (3DS): COMPLETED!

Posted on 16/10/2015 Written by deKay

I got this with some of my Club Nintendo stars. RIP Club Nintendo, by the way. I struggled with what to spend them on before they expired, and of the number I had left Wario Land 3 was the only one I didn’t already have on either my 3DS or Wii U that I hadn’t already completed. I do have it on the Game Boy Colour, but never finished it.

About three levels in, I realised something was amiss. Not only did I not recognise any of the game, but it also wasn’t in colour. And it was possible to die. Hang on, I thought, this isn’t right. Have you spotted the mistake yet, readers? That’s right – I’ve got hold of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, not Wario Land 3. I was actually quite pleased, as I’ve never played it.

Now I have, and I’ve completed it. It was fun, but nowhere near as much fun as Mario Land 2 or Wario Land 3. The extra hats Wario picks up are mostly unnecessary, the levels are linear, the game feels quite short, and although it’s better than 95% of other Game Boy platformers, it isn’t anything special. Of course, I only picked up enough treasure to get Wario a tree to live in (rather than a gold castle or whatever it is he wants), so I could return to find the hidden treasures, but I’m not sure I can be bothered.

Click to view slideshow.

The post Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (3DS): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U): COMPLETED!

Posted on 17/05/2015 Written by deKay

First up, here’s a massive spoiler I don’t mind giving away: Captain Toad is actually the prequel to Super Mario 3D World. I mean, everyone knows it’s a spinoff based on the Captain Toad levels from 3D World, but the end sequence of Captain Toad actually shows how it’s a prequel, what with Toad returning from his adventure then setting off to the Sprixie Kingdom after green stars. Who knew?

Captain Toad is pretty much just more levels like those Toad levels in 3D World. They’re more complex, there’s a hell of a lot more of them, they’re more varied and more clever, but you can see where they come from quite clearly. Toad sets out to collect a star on each level, solving puzzles to get there and optionally collecting three (sometimes hidden) gems in each. Well, I say optionally – you need some, but not all of them, to unlock some of the levels. You don’t appear to get anything for collecting all of them in the entire game though, which was a bit odd.

Toad is useless in a fight, and can’t jump, so most of the enemies need to be avoided or beaten in other ways. You can throw things at them, or drop onto them from a platform, or use other baddies to take them out for you, which totally changes how you play compared to Mario games. It looks like a Mario game, sounds like a Mario game, but really doesn’t play much like one. Even some of the levels look like those Mario plays through in 3D World (in fact, some even ARE from 3D World), but with a different set of skills, the route to the end is not the same.

Like 3D World (and Mario 64, Mario Galaxy, and so on), there are fresh game ideas galore, and many are used just once. If only other game designers had half the skill in coming up with ideas. Even those Mario clichés seen before are used differently here.

It’s pretty easy, although each level has an additional target (such as don’t get hit, find a hidden mushroom, collect a number of coins) most of which I’ve missed so far. Part of the reason for missing them is that you don’t know what they are until after you’ve completed the level, so unless you obtain them accidentally, you have to replay the level. Not that replaying levels is a chore – you don’t need to re-collect gems, so you can avoid some of the puzzles, and each level is pretty short.

In addition to all three “episodes”, I’ve also completed everything currently unlocked in the bonus section – levels from 3D World, the Toad Brigade levels (repeated levels where you have to find the rest of your troop and take them all to the star), and the Mummy Me chase levels – although the bonus level “book” is still far from full, so I expect there are more bonus levels if I complete all the level targets.

Captain Toad is quite short, quite easy, and very, very lovely.

Mario Party 10 – Bowser Time

Posted on 14/04/2015 Written by gospvg

Sunday afternoon was family gaming, so time to dust off the WiiU & play Mario Party 10.

Mario Party 10 makes a change from the previous games in that the players work as a team instead of individuals to reach the goal.

I've enjoyed playing the Bowser Mode where I was Bowser using the gamepad to chase down the other players via mini-games I tried to destroy hearts they own to eliminate them from the game & reaching the end goal.

We tried out the three maps which is a bit limited considering I remember previous games having 6+ maps but overall It's another good family Nintendo release.

Super Mario 64 (Wii U): COMPLETED!

Posted on 07/04/2015 Written by deKay

Look, there’s not lots to write about this that I’ve not written before. Super Mario 64 is one of the best games ever made, on any system, ever. That’s just a fact, and playing it through again did nothing to dissuade me. Of course, I’m still not sure if Super Mario 64 is better than New Super Mario Bros U, or if it’s the other way round, but I can be sure the two of them are at positions 2 and 3 in The Best Games Ever.

The Wii U Virtual Console version is barely different to the Wii Virtual Console and the N64 original, but the graphics seem a little sharper (probably only because it’s now HDMI rather than any changes Nintendo have made) and of course the buttons have moved on the Wii U Gamepad. I moved A and B to B and Y though, so it’s more like an N64 pad, and didn’t have any issues – it feels just the same as it did before.

One addition is the availability of save states, which was useful as I didn’t need to pause the game for hours if I needed to do something else. Oh, and you can take screenshots now, obviously.

Is it just me, or is the game now significantly easier, though? In particular, on previous playthroughs, I’m sure I struggled on at least one of the Bowser levels and getting 100 coins on Rainbow Ride in the past, but no such issues this time. In fact, I’ve had very few deaths at all, all things considered. Maybe I’m just a lot better than I thought. Yes. That’s bound to be it.

Even after nigh on 20 years, Mario 64 is still gorgeous to look at, listen to (the tunes are probably more memorable that pretty much any Mario game since – or any game since, perhaps) and play. The controls are slick, Mario leaps and flips and dives in a fluid way no other game, not even later Marios, has ever managed. It’s an utter joy from start to finish.

Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS): COMPLETED!

Posted on 19/02/2015 Written by deKay

That was quick! I am aware that most of the time you’d spend with a golf game like this would be in multiplayer, or the online tournaments, or (in this case) the extra courses that don’t play a part of the “story mode”, but I didn’t expect to have licked all three course contests in just a few days.

In fact, I won the first and second contests on my first attempts, although the Mountain Course proved trickier and I placed second on my first two tries. I didn’t play especially badly, but it was hard to get birdies and the winners seemed to get -8 very easily. On the attempt when I actually came first on the Mountain Course, I managed -7 with Mario in second place with -4. It all seemed somewhat random as to how well your opponents do.

Completing it has unlocked some more clothes and clubs and Peach’s Garden (whatever that is) so there’s more to do yet.