To tell you the truth, I didn't do much better in week two than I did in week one. In part, that's because all sorts of things once again conspired to keep me from gaming as much as I would have liked. (I'll spare you the details.) It has to be said, though, that it's also due to me just not enjoying this game--for all of the reasons I mentioned in my last Super Mario Sunshine write-up and then some.
Still, I gave it a go and collected a handful of additional Shine Sprites. I only nabbed two of them, though, after turning to videos on YouTube. Before that, I had no idea how I was supposed to accomplish the goals mentioned at the start of each respective stage.
Before you call me an idiot: I never had this problem with Super Mario 64 or either of the Super Mario Galaxy games. Maybe I'm just trying to run through things too quickly? Or maybe I should better pay attention to the things that are being said to me by the odd-looking residents of Isle Delfino?
Regardless, I'm not quite to the point of giving up on Super Mario Sunshine, although I'll admit to being awfully close to that breaking point. I'd say that if things don't improve appreciably within the next few days, I'm going to move on to something else. Life is too short, in my opinion, to waste time on games that make you want to stomp on your controller until it's a pile of plastic dust.
Speaking of games that produce violent reactions: when I wasn't attempting to play Super Mario Sunshine last week, I attempted to play one of the latest games to hit the 3DS eShop, Game Freak's HarmoKnight.
As flawed as I've found the latter title to be so far (I'll explain in further detail in a "somewhat gay" review of it that'll be published tomorrow), I've enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine--although even HarmoKnight has made me consider throwing my 3DS against the nearest wall on more than one occasion.
19 comments:
Bummer to hear it's not "clicking" for you. I personally never had any issues figuring out what was needed. They game is much more exploration focused so perhaps just slowing down and taking it all in will help? In any case, I hope life goes smoother for ya this week and you get a chance to relax period. :)
Hey there, Matt! Yeah, I don't know what's up with me and Super Mario Sunshine at the moment. Maybe it just came into my life at the wrong moment? It's entirely possible.
That said, slowing down and taking everything in isn't bad advice.
If it doesn't click with me soon, though, I'll probably put it aside for a while and focus on something else. I'm sure I'll come back to it eventually, though--if only to see if I'm right about encountering it at the wrong time.
Thanks, by the way, for hoping things go smoother for me this week :) Work is actually worse than last week, but all should be better in that regard by the end of tomorrow. Things are better in other regards, too, so I'm very hopeful this weekend will be the first relaxing one I've had in a while.
I hope you're able to relax, too, by the way. Isn't that something all of us could benefit from?
Too bad this one isn't turning out! Your reaction seems very similar to mine, and I think you've probably sunk a lot more time into it than I did already. I really agree that there's no point in playing games you aren't enjoying very much, even just in terms of other games (I could be replaying a game I already know I like, for instance), why waste your time?
Definitely interested in your upcoming HarmoKnight impressions. :) I liked the demo a lot, but I don't know if I $15 liked it. (suddenly becoming a skinflint I guess!) I read another review by someone who also found it frustrating, specifically mentioning the boss battles which were compared to Space Channel 5. I totally agree on the SC5 comparison (the boss was my favorite part of the demo), but since she didn't say if she actually liked SC5 it kind of rendered what should have been a key point of the review for me completely moot. Whoops! :(
Hey by the way, did you see the screens of the new Castle of Illusion remake? I think it's really interesting what with the recent Ducktales announcement, to have two Disney remakes at the same time with very different visual approaches.
Hey there, Michael! Yep, that's how I think about the situation, too--why waste my time if all the game is doing is frustrating me? That said, I'm going to give it some more time this weekend, just to see if things change at all. And if not, I'll push it aside.
As for HarmoKnight: hopefully you'll find my review tomorrow helpful. I will say that it's price tag weighs heavily in my decision to either recommend it or not. If it were, say, $5, I'd recommend it with little hesitation, but at $15 it's hard to recommend it to anyone other than rabid fans of the genre, I'm afraid--and even many of those folks are likely to find it flawed.
Oh, and for the record: I loved the boss stages. And I never had a problem with any of them in terms of controls. Of course, you're looking at someone who LOVES Space Channel 5 and its ilk, so I guess that shouldn't be too surprising.
Finally, I have seen screens of the Castle of Illusion remake. At this point, I'm not sure what I think of it. It looks OK, I guess, but doesn't really stand out for me. I actually prefer the look of Duck Tales, I think. Which one do you prefer--if any?
Yeah I think actually it's less a case of $15 being too much and more that the demo just didn't light me on fire, less a case of "how much is it worth" and more "do I really even want to play it?" Even if I liked the boss, it certainly didn't floor me the way SC5 did!
I prefer the hand-drawn elements of Ducktales but I really like that they went all-out for Mickey with a cohesive look, and I really do like the detail in the backgrounds. That doesn't have anything to do with which one I would prefer to play or own, it's probably mostly just that I Really Really wish Ducktales had gone full 2D. :/
I don't think you ever have to be ashamed for thinking $15 is too much, Michael, even if that isn't the case here. To me, some digital games are well worth $15. This isn't one of them, and for various reasons.
Oh, and you definitely don't want to buy this game for the boss battles alone. They're fun (IMO), and definitely very SC5-esque, but there aren't enough of them to be a selling point.
Sadly, if everything had come together for HarmoKnight as I envisioned it would, it would be well worth $15 in my book. Given its short length and many flaws, though, $15 seems ridiculous to me.
Is it possible Nintendo priced it so high because of its connection to Pokemon? I wouldn't doubt it.
As for Duck Tales and Mickey: I can see what you're saying about Duck Tales' look. That said, i don't think the 3D backgrounds look as bad as some folks do.
To say I'd prefer a fully 2D game, though, would be an understatement :)
It's not just me then. It's a strong reaction, but I truly do despise this game. Such a massive let-down after the amazing Mario 64. My major grips with it are the camera (if you survive until the underwater dentist stage, you may see why), Fludd thinking it's Navi " MARIO! MARIO! MARIO" OMG go away!? and the nonsense that is only being able to use Fludd once in the air despite having water remaining. I had to turn Sunshine's music off in Smash Bros because the Delfino Village them gives me such a bad reaction. This is the only disc game I've ever yanked out of a still-on console and thrown against a wall through frustration. I did still complete (for the minor ending) the game but not with all the Shine Sprites as I couldn't bear to play it and fall off everything all the time any longer. IIRC it's also rammed full of fruit fetch quests but I did buy this game on release so it's been a while. I did like the sunny graphics, they were a refreshing change, and the one brilliant thing I did love about the game was the void worlds. A rare highlight in one of the few games every made that makes me want to hit things. Violence is not the answer, so please don't put a copy of this game or make any of its noises near me :) Final question: Why did Nintendo use horrible grainy FMVs when the in-game engine is so much prettier and capable of doing the same and more?
Ha! Yes, I guess it isn't just you, Tinpot. Seriously, I came into this game expecting to love it, so it's been disheartening (to say the least) to find myself so frustrated by it. At this point, I really can't see myself sticking around long enough to encounter *any* ending, let alone the full/real one, but who knows? It's too bad, regardless, as so many aspects of the game are top-notch. Oh, and I agree w/ you about the FMVs. I guess that's just the way things were done at the time? Sadly.
Ah, but I kinda do need to be ashamed! I got lured into making it about money, when I prefer the maniacal Genshiken philosophy: "If you like a thing, you should buy it, and not even look at the price!" Therefore, it's the case that I just don't think I'd like HarmoKnight very much. I have my cred as a maniac to think of. ;)
Well, then, all is OK in the world again :) BTW, I believe in that philosophy as well--to a point!
Super Mario Sunshine is boring. I had to force myself through it and get it completed within a couple of weeks, otherwise I knew if I stopped playing it, I would never complete it. It's the only Super Mario game I felt wholly underwhelmed with from the start and didn't have a single bit of fun playing.
Wow! I'm amazed you played through to the end, in that case. What was it that you found particularly boring, J? The setting? I like that aspect well enough myself, although I can see how it may get boring if I continue on with it...
It's difficult to pinpoint. That sense of magic and freshness you get with a Mario game (despite them all featuring the same settings / premises) was just missing from the very first stage. And the whole thing didn't FEEL like a Super Mario game except for when you had to do those trials without the FLUDD - which are the only points in the game when things actually click and something feels right.
Every stage looked the bloody same (some shitty resort). Mario had no power ups. Yoshi's spat juice (WTF?). The soundtrack was crap. The enemies were crap. The only wholly decent thing about the game were the water effects.
The whole crux with Super Mario games is that they always feel familiar, yet unique in the sense that NO other developer could emulate what Nintendo have managed to pull off. But with Super Mario Sunshine, the whole thing felt off. It felt like a game any other developer could have put out. It was on par with those platform games you wouldn't normally put Super Mario in the same league as.
I hear ya, J, in that Sunshine doesn't entirely feel like a Mario game--even a 3D Mario game. The 'bonus,' non-FLUDD stages bring it close to that feeling, but there aren't enough of them to revive the entire package, IMO.
Oh, well, if this was what it took for Nintendo to produce Galaxy 1 and 2, I'm OK with the stumble--as long as it doesn't happen again!
This makes me very sad.
Aw, sorry, Justin :( Like I've told a bunch of other people already, I think I may have just encountered this game at the wrong time. Or maybe I should have played it back in the day rather than after Galaxy 1 and 2? Regardless, even if I end up giving up on it this time around, I know I'll come back to it eventually.
I know, retr0gamer, I know :| A LOT of people are confused by my reaction to this game. Honestly, I don't know right now if the game just isn't for me or if I just decided to play it at the wrong time. (My life has been a bit of a mess the last few weeks, after all.) Anyway, I'm planning to stick with it, so I guess we'll see shortly which one it is.
For the record, by the way, I like the retro, FLUDD-less levels. Of course, they tend to be really straightforward. So maybe my issue is with the regular, more "open" worlds? Which would be weird, as Mario 64 never gave me problems like this game is...
You´re right! I loved SMS, but there are so many places, moments and objects where i had wtf-moments. I never got through the game, but played it for hours!
Maybe it could get a second chance! :-)
Hey there, Barto! Thanks for visiting :)
Well, I'm glad to hear I'm not entirely alone in finding some of SMS to be WTF-worthy.
As for giving it a second chance: you should! Hell, I may give it a second chance myself :P
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