Mario and Story

Picture source: Nintendo

In the last days I had an interesting discussion with one of my friends about story and gameplay. I'm more a gameplay kind of guy. My game of 2014, for example, was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I think that a Story should never impact the Gameplay in a negative way, so I'm quite happy with Nintendo games. My friend however is a fan of great stories. He loved the ending of The Last of Us or Batman: Arkham City and said that these made the game really worthwhile. They enhanced an already great experience even further. And he criticized Mario heavily because it's the same story since nearly 30 years.

Well I don't see a problem with that, because Mario, for me, is the purest form of gameplay driven game. It doesn't matter if Bowser kidnaps Peach, Sprixies or a bowl of Marios favorite spaghetti. It's simply there to give you a reason to face all the challenges ahead. Even if it's not really a compelling one.

So should Mario have a story? Well I would say it depends on which Mario you are talking about.

2D Mario:

These kind of games don't need a deeper story than they actually have. It serves the needs of the game perfectly well without being unneeded baggage. The whole point of 2D Marios is that they are easy to pic up. There is nothing in this games that detracts from their true stars. The great level design.

The whole reason of New Super Mario Bros. is to be a throwback to the Mario games of old. Simple, easy to pick up and fun. Nothing more. And these games don't need to be anything more. They great they way they are.

3D Mario:

Then what's about 3D Mario? Well baring 3D World all of them had a much bigger scope than the classic 2D games. Especially Galaxy 1. This game didn't have much deeper story than previous Marios (but it was deeper), but it had an interesting lore. We learned many things about Rosalina and the Lumas in passing. Rosalinas history and the ending are memorable pieces that I won't ever forget. And I think Nintendo has been on the right path with this. It's a shame that they threw it out of the window with the sequel and 3D World. But that doesn't mean that they can't pick up this thread once more and one game I'm thinking of, when expanding this kind of storytelling would be Dark Souls.

Dark Souls has a very light story, but a extremely rich and deep lore. After the opening video, which explains the creation of the world and gives a glimpse at the lore, the player is directly thrown into the game. From there on he only receives small tidbits and hints from varying NPCs, while wandering Lordran. One can complete the game without ever looking deeper into the surrounding world and that is totally fine. But if you keep your eyes open you'll realize the connections everything has with eachother. Listening to NPCs you find during your journey, reading the information tidbits every weapon and armor has, keeping your eyes open to the world surrounding you. A player can lose himself in this rich world, if he wants. And that is the great thing with this kind of storytelling and world building. It isn't forced upon you. It's not: Hey look at me, but instead you can discover everything at your own pace, which makes everything so much more fulfilling. If you're interested I recommend checking out VaatiVidya on Youtube for more Dark Souls lore. Or discover it for yourself.

But back to Mario. If the next big Mario title once again has big Worlds, that you want do discover like in Super Mario 64, this kind of approach would be great I think. Keep the groundwork of the story classic and simple, but give people who want to discover more something to discover. For example make it possible to collect the pages of a storybooks similar to Rosalinas in the first Galaxy. Also add some sort of sidquest to collect figurines that give a deeper lore to the whole world. Let us talk to some inhabitants of the worlds Mario visits. Such things make a world feel alive and I think it would suit 3D Mario games.

Also it would freshen the series up a bit and one series which definitely needs this is Mario. Plus this could increase the appeal to veteran Mario players, who are in their 20-30 right now without loosing the series charm and appeal to a younger demographic.

But what do others think about this? Would you prefer everything staying the same or a huge epic story? Is Mario still Mario then? If you want, let me know.

And as always

thanks for reading

PS.:Has anyone noticed that they totally spoil world Bowser in that Super Mario 3D World picture?

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Review

Overview:

Can Nintendo make the bonus games from 3D World into an own flull-fledged game? That question was raised a lot after their Digital Event at E3 2014. Many where skeptic if such a simple game concept would work, but just as many where euphoric. The Captain Toad Levels were a refreshing change of paint during 3D World and well received. Now Nintendo has shown us their answer. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a full game with amazing visuals and a variety of content. The gameplay mechanics weren't changed but enhanced. Just like the rest of the game. Everything feels a little grander in scope, while still retaining the diorama charm from where it all originated.

By the way. Captain Toad isn't the first game that stars our loveable mushroom heads in the leading role. This honor belongs to Warios Woods on the NES.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker... lets talk about it.

Story:

During a simple trip with his friend Captain Toadette our main hero has to witness his friend and the precious power star they tracked together get stolen away by the mischievous bird Wingo. Without hesitation he embarks on an epic journey to save his friend and get the star. As a Mario Spinoff title there is of course not much to the story, but like in nearly all Mario Games the levels are the true stars of the game that keep you motivated to play.

Gameplay:

The gamplay is the same as in the 3D-World Bonuslevels. Captain Toad has to traverse a small (most of the time) and cubical (most of the time) level in his search for the Power Star. Yes indeed. Instead of five Greenstars which are scattered all across the level our brave explorer now only has to reach the Power Star at the ''end'' of the level to complete it. And I say end very loosely because the Power Star can be everywhere. From completely hidden over right beyond your nose but out of reach to only appearing after completing a special task or puzzle.

But is this all you may ask? Luckily not or the game would be even shorter than it already is. Next to the Power Star each level also houses three hidden Supergems. And these are much harder to find. At least most of the time. These gems are used to unlock later levels of the game, but even if you play it very casually and not really look for them you should have no trouble in progressing. Just like it was with the Green Stars in Super Mario 3D World.

Apart from these two things there are a few other collectibles hidden inside the stages. Coins a scattered around and also can be plucked from various clumps of grass across the stage. One hundred of them give you an extra live, just like they always have and will always do. And every so often you may stumble across a hidden gold mushroom.. or probably won't because they are really well hidden.

So far it sounds like a pretty standard Mario game. You collect stars, coins, run and jump... But here is the deal. Because of his heavy backpack Captain Toad can't jump. Which is a pretty big hurdle in the Mario Universe. But our small hero nonetheless fights his way through the countless perils that await him on his path to glory (and Toadette). Luckily Captain Toad has some other abilities apart from not-jumping. He can run, so there's that, but more importantly, he can pluck. I mentioned the various clumps of grass that are scattered throughout the stages earlier. Under these the player not only will find coins, but also other helpful tools. The good old Turnips from Super Mario Bros. 2 return and are still as deadly as over 20 years ago. They just obliterate everything from Shy Guys to even Bullet Bills. And, apart from falling onto his enemies, are Toads only way of defending himself. Some clumps hold even better things than turnips. One may find a Super-Mushroom, which let's Toad grow back to his normal self after taking one hit. Or you could find the even rarer Super pickaxe. With this Toad turns into an unstoppable machine of destruction, which obliterates everything in its path. But only for a short time.

Weed control, however, isn't the only usage of plucking. There are many switches that only wait for our hero to pull them to see what happens. Toad can even pluck some enemies from the ground and throw them.

So running, plucking and, to some extent, falling are the only abilities Captain Toad has? Yes, but they are the only ones he needs. In addition the the mentioned pickaxe and Super-Mushroom there is also one more power up to use. The double cherry. This power up sadly appears way too rarely, because the puzzles with this had the potential to be real challenges.

The last things in Captain Toads inventory are his trusty turnip-cannon and the mine karts. In some levels you stumble across a swith which let's you jump into a cannon. Through shooting turnips you can then defeat enemies, collect coins and gems and expose new paths by destroying some of the level architecture. The clou is that the ego perspective you use to aim is only shown on your gamepad, while the TV-screen shows an overall view of the level. You aim with your C-Sticks or the gyro-sensor.
The minekart levels work the same and, luckily, are nothing like in the Donkey Kong games. Once you jumped into the kart it will automatically drive and you can fully concentrate on shooting things. These levels are pretty much rail shooters, but they break up the standard gameplay quite a bit. Sadly they also appear a little bit too rarely.

However, like I mentioned in the Story section, the real stars of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker are the games levels. This is where it truly shows that this is a Nintendo EAD developed title. It's incredible how much the developers packed into these worlds. Many seem pretty simple at first glance, but are full of hidden passageways, caves and secrets. Also there is a lot of visual variety and although the final objective is always the power star, the way of getting to it is often vastly different than in the previous levels. The only gripe I have with the levels is that they often can be solved in literally seconds, but only if you rush through them. Also the solution to solve the level is almost every time obvious at first glance. The gems and bonus objectives may add some difficulty and replayability, but the game still remains very easy. Sadly the difficulty curve is sometimes screwed up. You may encounter a level which takes a little longer, only to breeze through the next couple of stages without problems. Instead of a smooth line the difficulty curve often feels like a up and down rollercoaster.

But wait. Haven't I just mentioned bonus objectives? Yes and I'm only mentioning them now, because that's exactly how they work. After finishing a level only then you'll get displayed what the bonus objective has been. So in most cases you'll have to play this level right again. Some may find this frustrating, but I didn't mind. Apart from the occasional small blunder, all levels are so full of charm that I also enjoyed them on my second playthrough. Also I often found myself appreciating how well thought out these small levels were.

Even with a second playthrough of all levels to get the bonus objectives the game is relatively short. It took me around 10 hours to completely beat the game 100%. (Without the time trials, because the don't truly add anything, but I may give them a go later). For 40$ this is a little short, but I've definitely seen worse. However at a 30$ the price would have been perfect.

Presentation:

This game is charming. Have I said that already? It runs on the same engine as Super Mario 3D World so you know what to expect. Many assets from this game return and some new are added, but overall I'm happy to say that with Captain Toad the graphics got even more beautiful. They added small details like better shadows or water effects without sacrificing one FPS. So the game just runs as smoothly as it's predecessor. The art style still is beyond any doubt. The game still lacks any form of anti-aliasing, but you won't even notice if you don't exactly look for such things. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker looks absolutely stunning in motion.

Toad and Toadette are also cute enough to give any grown up man diabetes. During spooky levels they may shiver in fear and look around cautiously, while they happily fall asleep in the warm grass, while a setting sun shines on them. With such a great amount to detail it's a pleasure to help those two through all their peril.

Smooth graphics and charming animations. What else is needed for a great game? A soundtrack of course. Many tunes from 3D World return and are as good as one year ago. Together with some new tunes they create a wonderful soundtrack. Nothing completely new or breath taking like the orchestral music in Galaxy, but something that underlines this game perfectly.

Bonusround or the game after the game:

Spoiler Warning:

After you finished the game, rescued Toadette from Wingo and watched the credits, you unlock the Bonus-Episode. This contains some levels from 3D World to play through as Captain Toad. Of course they have been slightly reworked to fit the needs of our protagonist. You also may unlock these levels early if you have a Super Mario 3D World savefile on your system.
There are also some levels where you have to collect the other 3 members of the Toad brigade and guide them through the levels. And finally you have Mummy-Toad levels. Mummy-Toads work just like the shadow clones from Super Mario Galaxy 2. The follow the exact same path you take and damage you if you let them catch up.

However the Mummy-Toad and Toad-Brigade levels aren't completely new ones, but just taken from the normal game.

Also you unlock the Prologue of each of the three normal episodes for repeated playthrough.

And what's in store after you've done it all? You got all the power stars, super gems and bonus objectives in all three regular- and the bonus-Episode?
Well then you unlock the most sadistic level I've ever played. And I've beaten Champions Road five times. It sends you into a random generated maze with fifty floors. You'll be hunted by Mummy-Toads and every five floors the enemy layout changes. And it even comes with it's own bonus objective. It's just a cruel endurance test.

And for beating it you're rewarded with the obligatory Thank you message from Nintendo and a crown, which Toad and Toadette will wear from then on. You also unlock the coin-rush stages to farm some extra lives.

Conclusion:

Captain Toad is a charming little game that is filled to the brim with sweetness. It's colorful, rich in variety and charming. It is, however, also pretty easy, short and the whole game feels a little bit like it lacks ambition. Everything from the reused assets, music, game idea and the small worlds feels charming sure, but also lacking. They enhanced the simple game principle, but it feels a little bit like a standard job. I had lots of fun with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. It's great variety of levels are fun to play through and if you enjoy such puzzle-like games or generally prefer a more relaxed approach, then it's surely the game for you. But it still feels like Nintendo played it safe with this one.

- Inconsistent Difficulty

- Short

- Recycled Bosses

- Lacking Ambition

+ Full of Charm and Detail

+ Loveable Characters

+ Rich Variety of Levels

+ Surprisingly engaging Gameplay

7/10

source of all pictures: Nintendo

Review incoming

I'm pretty irregular with my posts on here and for a time now, I wanted to change that. And what is a better time to do that than the start of a new year. So I'm glad to announce that apart from my unqualified opinion soon you'll also be able to enjoy my unqualified reviews. And by soon I mean pretty soon, cause the first one will be online by tomorrow.

Unqualified? Then why should you even listen to me? Well that is for you to decide. Some time ago I posted some points I deem important when reviewing a game and I intend to follow them of course. Also I would like to point out that I intend to use the whole spectrum of the review score. So a 5/10 means average.

And the last point is that I intend to rate games on what they try to accomplish. That means I wont hate in a Mario game for not having a great story, but if it's a massive RPG that wants to tell an engaging story, the story will of course be another factor in my review.

My reviews will start tomorrow with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Also here are some of my former review scores on older titles. Just to let you know what to expect.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii-U: 8/10

Bayonetta: 8/10

Bayonetta 2: 9/10

Hyrule Warriors: 7/10

Mario Kart 8: 8/10

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: 8/10

Super Mario 3D World: 9/10

The Legend of Zelda: A Link between Worlds: 9/10

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker: 8/10

Darksiders 2: 7/10

Yoshis New Island: 6/10

Super Mario 3 Land: 8/10

The Wonderful 101: 7/10

Sonic Lost Word: 5/10

New Super Mario Bros. U: 7/10

Amiibo: How they could be used

In my last post I ranted a little bit about Amiibo usage in Hyrule Warriors. In fact it upset me so much, that I intend to boycott all Zelda Amiibos for the time being. Samus will feel a little bit lonely next to my Garp figurine, but so be it. But I'm the last person, who just rants, without providing some sort of thought for solution. So here are my ideas for Amiibo Integration in different games.

Hyrule Warriors:

Yes I know that this game is already released and the Amiibo support is also already revealed, but Hyrule Warriors is the only game, so far, which does it wrong in my opinion. Amiibos should enhance and support a game without feeling mandatory. But in Hyrule Warriors case this is just the case. Weapons have a huge impact on how you play with a character and are a big part of this game. So by binding one weapon exclusively to an Amiibo you create the need to buy this figure. Because it's literally the only way to obtain the spinner weapon.

So how could these figures be used in Hyrule Warriors? There are several possibilities. The first is the way the others are used. Giving you weapons, rupees and materials. Another possible use would be costumes like in Mario Kart. Of course these two possibilities are pretty standard, but they would be nice enhancements.

An even better use would be a variation of the Smash Bros. usage of Amiibos. If you use a supported Amiibo (Link, Zelda, Shiek, etc.) in Hyrule Warriors you call this character to help you. It would attack the enemy, conquer keeps and collect materials for you. You could also equip and train this character and take it to your friends to help them too. And it doesn't have to stop there. If you want added challenge you could summon your character as an enemy. This would increase the challenge, but also yield better loot.

I think this would be a great use of the figures and enhance the game without feeling mandatory.

Splatoon:

The first idea that springs to mind regarding Amiibo and Splatoon would be accessorizes to individualize your characters. We already saw that there are many different inklings, so this would be a nice touch. Buy a Mario Amiibo and get his clothes, cap, mustache, etc. to decorate your inkling with. Maybe you could go even further. Add sigils or emblems to decorate your weapons and headquarters with.

Just don't add weapons or things like that which are tied to Amiibos.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker:

It was announced earlier that this game will also receive Amiibo support and to be honest I'm not sure how this could work. Captain Toad is a pretty basic game so I don't have many ideas on which you could expand the Amiibo integration. The only idea I came up with would be an integration of Mario Amiibos, which were also characters in Super Mario 3D World. When you use that Amiibo you can race it in several levels and if you beat it in every level you unlock this figure as a playable character in the game. Of course the wouldn't be able to jump, but it would be nice to play as Rosalina.

But... this would be the worst possible integration of Amiibos. Locking up characters behind their figurines is a big no go. However this is the only way of Amiibo integration I came up with. So lets hope that Nintendo is more imaginative than me, or we would get Hyrule Warriors 2.0 with this game. And I would really hate it if I had to boycott the Toadette figurine (which they will announce hopefully). That girl is just to cute.

Yoshis Wooly World:

With Yoshi there are also not so much way of Amiibo integration. A wool version of Amiibos would be to cost intensive to create I guess, and it would also be locked character DLC, which is the worst possible outcome, as I mentioned in the Captain Toad section. So from the gameplay which was shown to us I guess that Amiibos will take the part of second player if you don't have anyone around. Touch the gamepad with your figure and summon a second Yoshi to help you.

Also racing would be another option. Maybe exclusive to the Yoshi Amiibo. When you use the Yoshi Amiibo it will race you on different or all stages. Beat it to receive stamps/medals/concept art. It would add another layer of challenge and long time motivation to this game. You could even save your own record times on your Amiibos, take them to a friends home and laugh at him while he tries to beat you.. or cry if he actually does.

Xenoblade Chronicles X:

So far Xenoblade didn't get conformation for Amiibo support, but I'm pretty sure that from now on nearly every big Nintendo title will get it. So how could it work in Xenoblade? My first thought was optional hunting missions which reward cosmetic awards. The game looks like your Hero will receive a great deal of customization. So this would be a nice integration. Kill the Mariosaurus to produce clothes out of his hide. Something like that would be nice. They could also add a Shulk skin for your character if you own the Amiibo.

Zelda:

Zelda will receive Amiibo support. There is no doubt about it. But how will it look like? Well this question only Anouma can truly answer, but I'll try my best. It's pretty hard, because we don't know anything about this Zelda yet, except that it will be open world and probably have a random dungeon order like A Link between Worlds.

I personally like the enhance difficulty approach which I detailed with Hyrule warriors. Amiibos could summon Shadow Links which hunt you, but also reward a ton of rupee/collectibles.

Of course Nintendo would also need to offer the possibility to summon a helpful Amiibo. This would create a nice offer of choice.

If you have problems with a dungeon or fight you could use Amiibos to help you, but if you're a Zelda pro and want more challenge, then summon some Shadow Links to spice things up.

So these are my basic ideas for Amiibo Use. I think these would enhance the games, but don't feel mandatory. Of course Amiibos are DLC in some way and all this ideas could be integrated into the games directly. I would also prefer this, but so far Amiibos don't look like a ripoff. I bought Samus today and she is well designed and processed. And as long as they keep the benefits of Amiibos a bonus I think these figures will be a nice bonus.

But what are your thoughts about them? Do you like/ don't like them? And how would you like to see them integrated into future Nintendo titles?

And as always

thanks for reading

Amiibo: The good, the bad and the ugly

Splatoon looks awesome!

But enough about my hype for this game. Let's get to the topic I want to talk about.

In this weeks Nintendo direct some of the Amiibo features of other games got revealed and I'm pretty torn about it.

When Amiibo was announced I couldn't really grasp the concept of the figures. How would they add value to our games without being hidden DLC. But their usage in Smash Bros. calmed me. It made sense, added value and wasn't mandatory.

So on Wednesday the specified the Amiibo support of two other games. Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors. And while Mario Kart 8 falls into the Smash category, although not as good, the problem lies with Hyrule Warriors. In Mario Kart 8 the supported Amiibos unlock costumes for your Mii. It's a nice feature to give your driver a little more personality, and added value for any Amiibo owner. But I wouldn't buy a figure just because of that. It follows the principle of enhancing the game without being mandatory.

In Hyrule Warriors on the other hand Amiibos are hidden DLC. All these fears and bad thoughts I had after the first introduction to the concept reemerged. It's only one game so far, which is not to bad, but we need to let Nintendo know that we're not okay with this or it will expand to more games. If you own a Zelda or Link Amiibo it will unlock an extra weapon for the related character. Different weapons make a huge difference in Hyrule Warriors. You have an entirely different moveset, which turns the character basically into a brand new one. So adding a new weapon, which can only be obtained by buying Amiibos, is the worst this concept could become. DLC. Fans who want to enjoy the whole of Hyrule Warriors now need to buy the Link Amiibo. Nintendo just blatantly lied to us with their their statement that Amiibo will enhance gameplay, but not be DLC.

In the last couple of months Nintendo has been on a roll with DLC. They've done everything right, which you can do right with this concept. Because of that it hurts me to see them doing this. If we don't want Amiibos to become hidden DLC, we, as fans, need to protest against this. Let Nintendo know over the Miiverse. Write them. The spinner should be included without the need to buy an Amiibo. Instead the Amiibos could fulfill their original purpose of enhancing the game without being mandatory. I read the idea of summoning a ghostly helper through the figurines. Or offer special costumes with them. There are many possibilities, but don't make the mandatory DLC. This will probably generate short therm profits, but by doing that you erode the customers trust into your products.

Let's all hope that this is a one time slip up and that there is NOT more to come.

Also the ugly:

picture source:NintendoEverything

and as always

thanks for reading

Quality of Life

Last week Nintendo presented their quarterly report and apart from a most welcome profit report the first news about the quality of life program seeped through. Of course this is only one stone of many, which will in the end make up the quality of life program, but it gives us an outlook of what we can expect. And from a technological standpoint it's very impressive. Satoru Iwata presented the idea of a sensor, which will monitor your sleeping behavior. Your heartbeat, the frequency of your breathing and other things will be recorded and analyzed. And the impressive thing is, that all of this will work wireless. You don't need to hookup yourself to the machine. The collected data will then be streamed into a cloud service and analyzed there. This cloud service will make up the core of the quality of life program. All of this sounds pretty good to be true, but the be also completely blunt, I don't care. I'm a fan of Nintendo, but I'm mostly in for their awesome games. But in our health obsessed society and especially in Japan I can see them doing very well with this service. But it's not for me and I accept that. Because of that I found the reaction of some other Nintendo Fans pretty hilarious. Some comments sounded like they were forced to buy the quality of life service. Just like, if you're a Nintendo Fan you have to buy ALL of their products. Well Nintendo also owns some Love Hotels, so I hope you and your partner are in the mood.

This is, of course, complete bullshit. I'm a huge Nintendo Fan. I absolutely love Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid and all the other franchises. But there are also Nintendo franchises I've never got into. Pikmin or Animal Crossing for example. They just don't interest me. And the same applies to the Quality of Life service, because I'm pretty satisfied with my lifes current quality level.

But this doesn't mean I'm following the news about Quality of Life closely. Because one thing worries me. Satoru Iwata said that this new venture won't affect the traditional games making business. It will be a third pillar next to the handheld and stationary consoles. Hmm when have I heart that the last time? Ohh right... When the DS launched, it should be a third pillar and not a replacement for the Gameboy. We all know how this turned out and this knowledge always lingers in the back of my head, when talking about Quality of Life. What if it is another huge success, just like the Nintendo DS? Will Nintendo then abandon the traditional game sector to fully persuade this more successful market?

To be honest, I don't think so. Satoru Iwata is a game developer. I can't see Nintendo abandoning it's identity under him, but what is a real possibility is they drive back their output in that field. Coupled with the already bad 3^rd party support their systems have (and lets just assume that this stays the same in the next generation) this could turn out to be a huge problem, probably forcing them to abandon (at least) their home console business. And that is something I don't want to see happening. I think one of the main reasons for Nintendo Games to be as good as they are, is their own platforms. Their consoles are tailored exactly for the needs of their own developers. It's a great strength of Nintendo (and of course a weakness in regards to third party developers) and with loosing that Nintendo may take Segas route. And we can agree that no one wants to see this happening.

So in conclusion I think that the Quality of Life service is a good idea and the first information sounds pretty impressive. But I also hope that it doesn't become a huge mega success like the DS or the Wii. A moderate success that turns it into the third pillar for Nintendo, but not the main pillar. This should always be the games business.

And as always

Thanks for reading