New Super Mario Bros. 2 [3DS]

penev10 · 03-08-2012 11:34am

My son is 6 and the difficulty of NSMB DS is just right for him. He needs all those extra lives as it takes him a good few goes for each level. Considering most DS owners appear to be <10 perhaps this is a smart move by Nintendo.

Galaxy was easy enough but had the additional stuff for the more hardcore players and Galaxy 2 (haven't played it) is adjudged to be a lot harder. Perhaps they're aiming the Wii entries at the Wii user-base which is mostly >10 I'd imagine.

Retr0gamer · 03-08-2012 12:35pm

penev10 wrote: »

My son is 6 and the difficulty of NSMB DS is just right for him. He needs all those extra lives as it takes him a good few goes for each level. Considering most DS owners appear to be <10 perhaps this is a smart move by Nintendo.

Kids these days have it too easy! You didn't see us complaining and yet we managed to beat rock hard games like Contra, Castlevania and the older mario games. Tell your son to man up!

Mr E · 03-08-2012 1:31pm

I was just thinking about this over lunch (as you do), and the cynic in me thinks that a hard mode of some description might be released as paid DLC (now that Nintendo is in the 21st century).

Maybe the equivalent of SM3DL's 2nd half...

Or "Pay us €15 and we'll turn off coins and cap lives at 3".

Josey Wales · 03-08-2012 2:03pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Kids these days have it too easy! You didn't see us complaining and yet we managed to beat rock hard games like Contra, Castlevania and the older mario games. Tell your son to man up!

I would imagine that playing games on devices like iPhones and iPads is having an impact on young players abilities to handle harder games. A platform game on an iPhone like say, League of Evil has decent controls but doesn't give you the fidelity you get from a normal controller. If you then handed a kid a game like Contra and a controller I'm sure they would struggle.

Just for the record I'm pretty sure I would struggle myself now on Contra

Retr0gamer · 03-08-2012 2:15pm

Josey Wales wrote: »

Just for the record I'm pretty sure I would struggle myself now on Contra

Played it recently, first time taking it seriously and had it beaten in an evening. It's quite an easy game, definitely not deserving of it's reputation.

o1s1n · 03-08-2012 10:39pm

Josey Wales wrote: »

If you then handed a kid a game like Contra and a controller I'm sure they would struggle.

They'd struggle in the beginning - anyone would. But leave a kid with a game for long enough and they'll master it. If we could do it back then, then they can do it now.

I think the main difference is kids today are spoiled for choice, so they wouldn't be willing to put the same effort in to one title.

Kinski · 03-08-2012 11:45pm

Oh good, a "Pfft, kids these days..." discussion! Yeah, the little bastards are totally spoiled. They get given way too many games for one thing. After having a NES maybe four or five years, my games collection numbered less than a dozen (used to loan to and borrow from my friends to try other titles); my nephew receives at least four on Xmas day alone. By God, when you only get to play like six different games in a year, you master them.

On topic, this game looks ****ing boring, and I never thought I'd say that about a mainline Mario title. Guess it's all part of Nintendo's slow, painful transition from creators of some of the most innovative, challenging and clever games the world has ever seen, to pedlars of perpetually rehashed, casual-friendly tripe.

drunkglitch · 04-08-2012 2:21pm

oh that game looks beautiful you can be raccoon Mario again. I am looking forward to this

04-08-2012 11:51pm

why not just add a hard mode

Nollog · 05-08-2012 1:05am

o1s1n wrote: »

They'd struggle in the beginning - anyone would. But leave a kid with a game for long enough and they'll master it. If we could do it back then, then they can do it now.

I think the main difference is kids today are spoiled for choice, so they wouldn't be willing to put the same effort in to one title.

What?
The market almost crashed due to too many bad games back then.
Are you making the bad versus good games distinction?

over 400,000 sold in a day is incredible though.
(Released in Japan on the 28th of July, and the figures came out July 29th)
Curious how it does against the competition at Christmas, NSMBU.

Mr.Saturn · 05-08-2012 9:20pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'm actually playing SMB again on a NES and trying to finish it without warp pipes and what Futureguy says is true. You really have to collect every 1up and collect every coin you come across so you have enough lives to continue. It's ridiculous that I maxed out the extra life counter in the DS game by the second world without even trying.

I did the exact same thing last week, oddly. For a game so universal, it sure does get somewhat diabolical near the end. I've been meaning to give Mario 2/Lost Levels a proper go too, but all my memories of it are me being trolled every time I started to make any inroads. Yanno yourself, you make a near impossible jump, only to find a massive gust of wind coming your direction as soon as you get anywhere near the next platform. Fundamentally borked and broken.

o1s1n · 05-08-2012 9:51pm

/\/ollog wrote: »

What?
The market almost crashed due to too many bad games back then.
Are you making the bad versus good games distinction?.

No, what I'm saying is back then, I got one game for Christmas (two if I were lucky) and then the same on my Birthday. I had limited choice. If I got a hard game I'd have to stick with it.

Kids now have a second hand game market which didn't exist back then. They don't have to 'stick out' hard/bad games in the way we did.

Josey Wales · 07-08-2012 4:03pm

So what are you guessing is the prize for collection one million coins? I don't think I will ever collect that many. I know there is a lot of coins all over the screenshots and videos of the game but one million is an awfully large number. I bet whatever the prize is it will be underwhelming.

I'm going to say it gives you an extra star on your save file.

Kinski · 07-08-2012 9:39pm

Deleted User wrote: »

why not just add a hard mode

The difficulty in a platformer really has to be inherent to the level design - just slapping a "less 1-Ups" mode in there doesn't cut it.

Josey Wales · 07-08-2012 10:37pm

Kinski wrote: »

The difficulty in a platformer really has to be inherent to the level design - just slapping a "less 1-Ups" mode in there doesn't cut it.

I agree but that is a very fine art. All too easy to end up with frustrating levels.

Retr0gamer · 08-08-2012 12:37am

Josey Wales wrote: »

I agree but that is a very fine art. All too easy to end up with frustrating levels.

It's pretty much the difference between a good game and crap one really.

chopperbyrne · 08-08-2012 1:32pm

Well Rayman Origins is pretty much just as easy as NSMB, but it's a very good game.

Easy =/= Bad

Retr0gamer · 08-08-2012 1:37pm

It's gotten a pretty mediocre review on Gamecentral. Seems the lack of decent level design holding it back just like NSMB DS.

o1s1n · 08-08-2012 1:39pm

I never get the dislike for NSMB. It's piss easy, but it's fun. The only annoying thing about it was being unable to save anywhere. But then I guess that would have made an easy game far too easy.

Retr0gamer · 08-08-2012 2:04pm

o1s1n wrote: »

I never get the dislike for NSMB. It's piss easy, but it's fun. The only annoying thing about it was being unable to save anywhere. But then I guess that would have made an easy game far too easy.

It's not that it's too easy. It's more that the level design is just dull and uninspired in most levels. Compare it to NSMB Wii or the older mario games where each level introduces something new or uses familiar mechanics in new exciting ways and it's easy to see why it's so dull.

o1s1n · 08-08-2012 3:13pm

Perhaps the problem isn't so much the game, it's that you're comparing it to the best platforming games ever made?

In the grand scheme of things, it's still an enjoyable game. Well I found it to be anyway.

FutureGuy · 08-08-2012 3:22pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Perhaps the problem isn't so much the game, it's that you're comparing it to the best platforming games ever made?

In the grand scheme of things, it's still an enjoyable game. Well I found it to be anyway.

Man iI started playing SMB3 last night. Finished world 1 with 8 lives

Died twice. Coins and lives at a premium.

Superb.

Retr0gamer · 08-08-2012 3:25pm

Well why shouldn't I expect that? It's a Mario game after all. It's far and away the worst of the main series Mario games and is significantly worse than a lot of other platformers that usually wouldn't even compete with a Mario game. I'd rank Crash Bandicoot well above it, that's how mediocre it was. It feels like a ROM hack since it's got none of the intelligent design I'd expect from a Mario game. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, it was alright and definitely not crap. Should I celebrate the fact that Nintendo's laziness and how the game felt like it was made on auto-pilot? Not a chance.

o1s1n · 08-08-2012 3:44pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well why shouldn't I expect that? It's a Mario game after all. It's far and away the worst of the main series Mario games and is significantly worse than a lot of other platformers that usually wouldn't even compete with a Mario game. I'd rank Crash Bandicoot well above it, that's how mediocre it was. It feels like a ROM hack since it's got none of the intelligent design I'd expect from a Mario game. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, it was alright and definitely not crap. Should I celebrate the fact that Nintendo's laziness and how the game felt like it was made on auto-pilot? Not a chance.

Speaking of hacks, do you think it was worse than Super Mario Doki Doki Panic 2? :pac:

I really enjoyed the minigames in NSMB. Played the hell out of multiplayer with the girlfriend back when we both got DSes. Perhaps that's where my rose tinted glasses fondness is coming from. I'll give it a replay sometime and see if it's a bland as you seem to think!

o1s1n · 08-08-2012 4:23pm

FutureGuy wrote: »

Man iI started playing SMB3 last night. Finished world 1 with 8 lives Died twice. Coins and lives at a premium.

Superb.

I haven't played SMB3 in a long time now. NES is packed away in an attic for the foreseeable future.

I did replay Super Mario World start to finish recently enough again (after replaying Zelda LTTP and Super Metroid, what a month that was!) and they really are timless games.

Super Mario AllStars is probably still the best value game ever released with a console, ever

chopperbyrne · 08-08-2012 4:35pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Super Mario AllStars is probably still the best value game ever released with a console, ever

It was, for about a year and then they released the Super Mario All Stars + Super Mario World console.

Retr0gamer · 08-08-2012 9:41pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Speaking of hacks, do you think it was worse than Super Mario Doki Doki Panic 2? :pac:

I used to hate it but then got around to the NES original and love it now. I realised that the GBA version I had been playing was just a crap version of the game.

Now Super Mario Bros. 2 aka the Lost Levels. that's a romhacky piece of crap

Helix · 09-08-2012 9:26pm

just had nsmb2 code arrive

embargoed til the 19th though

Mr E · 09-08-2012 9:56pm

Want a 10 day ban? Just to be safe?

Retr0gamer · 10-08-2012 12:37am

I don't see the point in a review embargo considering it's out in Japan already and Gamecentral Metro have a review out already.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 [3DS]

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