Retro|Spective 075R: Super Mario

[Neon Ignition]

Game 81 - Yoshi's Island DS
Questions had been asked about why Touch and Go wasn't a full on DS Yoshi Island game and Nintendo delivered. Developed by Artoon, the game was designed from the outset as a direct sequel to the SNES classic (in some ways that makes this Super Mario World 3!) and continues the gameplay of the original game adding in Baby variants of several other Mario characters. The game was reviewed very well and went on to sell nearly 3m copies even if it isn't mentioned with the same reverence as its predecessor these days.







A worthy follow up?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 82 - Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
The original had proven to be a popular draw in arcades so two years later Namco released a sequel that was more of an expansion in that it contained all the originals content and features but added two characters and two extra cups.







Would home ports have been worthwhile?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 83 - Super Paper Mario
When it came to Paper Mario making the transition to the Wii it was time for change and this time the turn based battles were out and replaced by more tradition side on platforming. The game was incredibly well reviewed, scoring multiple awards and is also the highest selling entry in the franchise and yet despite this the franchise has never attempted to repeat this approach to the gameplay.




A better or worse approach to the Paper Mario franchise?

[Neon Ignition]

Super Paper Mario is one that I've never sat down and played, somehow it has always passed me by but it's probably the highest of all in terms of ones I hope to get around to one day

[Neon Ignition]

Game 84 - Mario Strikers Charged
The sequel arrived for Wii and added online play, for the most part is was very similar to the predecessor however.




2-0 to Mario?

[Nu-Eclipse]

Pretty much the high point of the Mario Strikers franchise.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 85 - Mario Party 8
As gamers waited patiently for the next main platformer, the party themed games just kept on coming with this new entry being the first for the Nintendo Wii. It was also the final entry that Hudson Soft would develop The game was yanked from UK release momentarily due to containing a word seen to be a slur in this country, with an updated version issued quickly. The response to the game was mixed, whilst nothing was wrong it was seen as being visually dated and lacking in innovations.



Time to blow out the candles?

[wakka]

I remember playing this one. You chugged about the map in a car, from what I recall. It was a lacklustre game without any real excitement. The Wii era was one where I lived with three mates so around this time, if a game came out that had a four player mode, we gave it a go. This one didn't get put on more than once or twice.

I didn't recall this slur controversy, so I googled it. It's a rude word for disabled people that used to be part of the name of the charity Scope. Wonder how that slipped in there. Apparently they replaced it with 'erratic', but they managed to recall the game before copies containing the offending word actually hit shelves for customers to buy.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 86 - Itadki Street / Fortune Street
Nintendo was clear - their consoles uncovered niche was board game based titles! Square swooped in to cover this begging gap in the library with Fortune Street. Unlike the Party series, this game took its inspiration from Monopoly with players picking up property as they travelled the board. The games rules were deeper than Party but that and the time commitment meant it didn't draw as strong a response from gamers.




Good Fortune?

[wakka]

I am a HUGE fan of this game.

As I've often mentioned on here I lived with my three best buds during the Wii era, and we played a lot of games together.

This was one I got for us fairly speculatively, but it turned out to be a huge hit with us, with tons of staying power.

It's fundamentally a different proposition altogether to the Mario Party games. Part of a series of digital boardgames dating back to the Famicom, it's pretty closely based on Monopoly, but it's an altogether better game.

Players take turns rolling dice to move around the board. Most squares are property squares, which can be bought if unowned when landed on. Rent is then paid by rival players who land on the square. So far, so Monopoly.

But there is an additional wrinkle in the shape of a built-in stock market. The board is divided into a number of districts. Each district has a roughly equal number of property squares within it. As the property squares are bought, the value of the district's shares on the stock market goes up - and as they are sold they go down. Any player can invest in any district on the stock market at any time during their turn. It means that you can ride the coattails of a friend who's grabbing all the best squares...then crash their net worth later, by selling your shares in their district at a crucial moment.

The ultimate goal of the game is not to bankrupt other players (as in Monopoly), but instead to hit a particular net worth (which changes depending on which board layout you are playing, and can also be customised to your liking). Net worth is comprised of value of owned property, cash on hand, and shareholding value.

There's plenty of flexibility in how you can play. Players can sell properties to each other at any time, making forming (and breaking) alliances an ever-present possibility and crucial to manoeuvring to a win.

Visually simple, it's a title that lives and dies on the dealmaking that erupts organically among players. No minigames here - just paranoia, distrust, greed, and power!

Like its inspiration, it can take hours to play. The game includes a wide variety of board layouts, some of which have to be unlocked by playing the (unfortunately pointless and boring) single player mode. We used cheat codes via custom firmware to unlock the whole lot. The larger boards would take up to 6 hours to play, and we'd honestly be enthralled for the whole thing.

I had a mate that would refuse to go to the toilet because he was convinced we'd all secretly conspire against him while he was out of the room. He'd be dying for a wee by the final rounds!

There's more to it that I could talk about, but suffice to say I'm a huge fan of Itadaki/Fortune/Boom Street (all the same thing, different names for different territories).

Unfortunately this Wii version is the only time the series has been translated into English, but it's not a big deal considering the game has hardly changed since the Famicom days as I understand it.

With the right group of people it's a huge amount of fun, and it's one of my favourite games from the Wii.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 87 - Super Mario Galaxy
The Nintendo Wii came to receive its mainline Mario entry and Nintendo delivered in spades with Galaxy. Visually superior to most of the other games they were putting out that generation and using the interplanetary theme to expand on the scenario possibilities, Mario Galaxy saw the plumber adventure across universes in a grand tale to rescue Peach from Bowser. With a sweeping orchestral score, constant new ideas and planet after planet of action, the game is considered to be one of the greatest ever made.




The King in a Galaxy of Mario games?

[Nu-Eclipse]

Galaxy was a quantum leap for 3D Mario. Both Galaxy games are right up there with the very very best of that Wii/PS3/360 generation.

Fantastic music, fantastic gameplay (no doubt due to the space element allowing for brilliant creativity) and a surprisingly emotional sub-storyline involving the genesis of Rosalina.

The sequel was more or less DLC for the first game in disguise but that was no bad thing at all. Only Odyssey has come close to the magic of the Galaxy games and that was done in a considerably different way.

It still blows my mind that NSMB Wii destroyed both Galaxy and Galaxy 2 COMBINED for sales. I would've happily traded Super Mario 3D World for Super Mario Galaxy 3.

[wakka]

Yeah, an absolutely incredible game. Brilliantly inventive and a return to form unseen since 64.

[Neon Ignition]

Outside of racing this is it for me - Peak Mario
Of all the mainline games this is my absolute top choice with Galaxy 2 not being far behind. It would be an utter dream, as someone who enjoyed but wasn't sold on several of the decisions made in Odyssey, to see Galaxy 3 or something very similar on the next system. Making a similar style platformer three generations on... I can only imagine.

[dataDave]

Galaxy 2 looks absolutely astonishing on a good CRT. Almost current gen. It's up there with stuff like GT4 and Metroid Prime for maxing out the display tech capabilities of the time.