Super Mario Series

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'll give Bowser's Inside Story this: the battle against Dark Bowser and Fawful has what could possibly be my favorite final battle theme of all time.

Whoever decided to make Fawful the big boss of the game deserves a promotion. I seriously hope if there's a fourth game that he returns again.

[Foggle]

But as for you guys who don't like TTYD as much as 64 or SPM, can you elaborate on why? I just think it does pretty much everything better than those two games.

Like I said, I haven't played TTYD in something like 8 years. I probably only prefer 64 due to nostalgia, since it was my favorite N64 game growing up.

[talonmalon333]

I loved PiT's final boss. And it's theme was awesome!

But as for you guys who don't like TTYD as much as 64 or SPM, can you elaborate on why? I just think it does pretty much everything better than those two games.

Like I said, I haven't played TTYD in something like 8 years. I probably only prefer 64 due to nostalgia, since it was my favorite N64 game growing up.

And the only thing I preferred in SPM over TTYD was the story and humor. And characters, though they kinda fit under story.

[Spark Of Spirit]

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is looking very interesting.

The whole focus on score attack, speed, and exploration to get the max score is very intriguing, and from everything I've seen the levels are really interesting. It also seems the original name of the game was New Super Mario Bros. Gold, which explains a whole lot.

Either way, I'm glad to say it doesn't look as boring and disappointing as the original NSMB game.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I've been replaying Wario Land on the virtual console, and wow is it leagues ahead of Super Mario Land 2. There are a lot of similarities between the two, but Wario Land has way better controls, music, levels and just general everything.

I realize it's the same team, and they'd change the formula significantly with each sequel, but Super Mario Land 2 and Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land have a lot of startling similarities. So it's nice to see how much better they got with the Wario series.

[talonmalon333]

I loved Wario Land. Didn't play the sequels, though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I loved Wario Land. Didn't play the sequels, though.

Wario Land II is really good, it's almost like a level based Metroid-style game with how many secrets there are. 4 is like Wario Land Shake It, if you've ever played it. The only issue is it's really short.

Wario Land 3 is kind of lame, though. It's insanely confusing and the "No death" mechanic is really frustrating here instead of clever like in II.

[Commode]

So I bought New Super Mario Bros. 2, and I've got to wonder with one of the games objectives of you collecting one million coins, is another one of them collecting a thousand extra lives?  Never has it been so easy to rack up the 1 ups, I have like 70 and I'm not even out of the first world yet.  It's crazy.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I had over 500 by game's end. You won't game over in this.

So final verdict on NSMB2? It's what NSMB1 should have been. All the levels are creative and fun (which coin rush proves), all the power ups are fun (and not useless like the shell), the bosses aren't lame, and getting to hidden areas actually has challenge now.

But after beating all of that and getting all the coins, the real meat is in Coin Rush and getting as many coins per 3 level run you can. This mode is perfect for a portable and very much Super Mario Bros. - Score Attack, everything must be done in one life and with the least amount of time as possible to really score well. Because of this, it can be really challenging to get a good score especially if you keep getting certain levels (I really hate the rising water beach level they keep making me play), but it's quite a perfect mode for a portable.

All in all, if you like Mario, the game is totally worth playing and very fun. It blows NSMB1 completely out of the water.

[Kiddington]

Boy, you really don't think too much of NSMB1, eh?

I dunno, I haven't played it in a few years, but I don't remember it being THAT bad. Just a little on the easy side more than anything.

[Foggle]

NSMBDS is a very good game IMO.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I don't really like it, but I don't hate it. Super Mario Land 2 is way worse, IMO.

It's just that playing this and NSMBWii makes it the clear outlier of the 3 of them.

[Kiddington]

Well, see, I haven't played either NSMB2 or Wii yet, so I guess I can't exactly judge it compared to those two.

That'll be changing soon though! We have a free rental at Blockbuster this weekend (yes, they still exist, amazingly), and I've already made my mind up; I'm going with NSMBWii. It's about I time I got caught up on the Wii. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Sweet! Good choice!

I'm eager to hear your thoughts on it.  8)

[talonmalon333]

NSMB is a solid game, but nothing mindblowing. Maybe it's cause they took so much time away from 2D Mario, cause NSMBW was a huge improvement in every way.