What are you currently playing? 4.0

[Avaitor]

Oh, is Super Paper Mario worth playing? I hear it's not as good as the other 2, but now that it's fairly cheap, I might keep an eye out for it.

[Kiddington]

It isn't as good as the other two, no, but if you find it cheap, I'd say it's still worth playing.

It's not a straight-up RPG like the first two; it's more of an RPG/Platformer hybrid. It's okay, and the humor is as solid as ever (IMO, this might actually be the funniest game in the series, when it comes right down to it), but the gameplay is lacking when compared to the earlier installments. Again though, if you can find it pretty cheap, I'd still say it's worth giving a look.

[Foggle]

The Thousand Year Door is the best of the three, so you won't be disappointed.

I still like the N64 one the most. I actually was disappointed the first time I played the sequel, but I got over it eventually. They're both pretty great.

[Avaitor]

I hear that 2 has a lot of annoying backtracking, but that's the only strike I can find against it.

[Kiddington]

The Thousand Year Door is the best of the three, so you won't be disappointed.

I still like the N64 one the most. I actually was disappointed the first time I played the sequel, but I got over it eventually. They're both pretty great.

Well, I guess I should've added an "IMO" in there. 

I hear that 2 has a lot of annoying backtracking, but that's the only strike I can find against it.

Nah, it's not too bad. Some of the chapters have more than others (Chapter 3 has a lot, but the mysterious backstory and overall theme of Glitzville is fun and interesting enough to make up for that), but it's not like Banjo Tooie or anything. It's certainly manageable.

[Foggle]

Hey guys, just so you know, if you join The Rockstar Official Group on Steam by May 15, you'll get a free copy of Midnight Club 2.

[talonmalon333]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has a lot of padding, and it feels less polished than the original. However, everything else is much better than it was in the first game, so I find it to be superior overall.

As for Super Paper Mario, I think it's great. The gameplay could've been fine tuned, but it's still a lot of fun. The humor is better than ever, and the story is very nice. Some of the best characters in any game I've ever played.

[Avaitor]

The one thing I still really want is to be able to level up your partners. "Ranking" just isn't as fun or satisfying.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I also like 2 the best.

Though to be honest, I prefer the Mario & Luigi series over the Paper Mario series. They both have three entries with one letdown, but I think the highs in M&L are higher.

[Daxdiv]

I must be one of the few people in the world that enjoyed Super Paper Mario. I mean I know it's different than the rest of the games in the Paper Mario series that it's more of a platformer than an RPG. It's been a while since I played it, but I think the only flaw I noticed with the game was how it felt more like a GCN game with tacked on Wii controls. I know SPM was meant to be a GCN game from the start. I remember hearing about that game from Nintendo Power a long time ago.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The one problem is that the jumping in the Paper Mario games isn't very fun. So basing a platformer around the jumping wasn't the best idea.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

Hey guys, just so you know, if you join The Rockstar Official Group on Steam by May 15, you'll get a free copy of Midnight Club 2.

Thank you for feeding my freebie fetish.

The one problem is that the jumping in the Paper Mario games isn't very fun. So basing a platformer around the jumping wasn't the best idea.

Pretty much. SPM is a fine game, but using the same overworld controls in a series that was never about twitch platforming makes the game feel tedious at times. Also, every single boss is a complete pushover.

[Foggle]

Been playing a lot of Metal Slug lately, so here are my thoughts on each of the games:

Metal Slug - Absolute classic. It's very basic compared to the sequels, but it holds up much better than some of them. It's still fun and funny, and it's also the only one where I can beat any of the missions without dying.

Metal Slug 2 - Practically unplayable due to slowdown.

Metal Slug X - An improved version of the second one. As a whole, this is the series' finest entry, IMO. The levels, bosses, and music are all perfect.

Metal Slug 3 - The Final Mission is by far the best level in Metal Slug history, but the other four are pretty bland for the most part (IMO).

Metal Slug 4 - This game is really underrated. It gets a bad rap for being made by another team and mashing together old art assets, and I don't like the fact that my two favorite characters (Eri and Tarma) aren't playable, but it's still really fun and the music is awesome.

Metal Slug 5 - Boring as hell. This one just puts me to sleep. Even co-op can't save it.

Metal Slug 6 - Plays it a bit too safe with things like level and enemy design, but on release it was easily the best one since 3. A lot of people don't like the added character-specific skills and weapon-switching, but I think both of those things really improve the base gameplay and replay value.

Metal Slug 7/XX - Plays things even safer than 6, but it's also a little bit stronger overall. XX sees a return to the more visceral feel of the first two games' shooting, which I really like.

And my rankings:

MS X
MS 3
MS 7/XX
MS
MS 6
MS 4
MS 2
MS 5 (that's right, I'd rather play the awful slowdown-ridden 2 over this one)

[Kiddington]

The original Metal Slug is still my favorite, though admittedly, I haven't played any of them from 6 onward.

You have 7 ranked pretty high, so I take it that's worth a look?

[Foggle]

The original Metal Slug is still my favorite, though admittedly, I haven't played any of them from 6 onward.

You have 7 ranked pretty high, so I take it that's worth a look?

Yeah, it's pretty great. (And so is 6, IMO.) You should definitely check out the XBLA version of XX, since it's the cheapest. As a quick side note, 7 doesn't have multi-player or blood effects and XX PSP has awful load times. XX XBLA is by far the best version.

And for the record, I like 1 far more than 3's first 4 missions... but the last one is a total masterpiece. Without that, it'd be near the bottom of my list.