Nintendo Switch

[Wolfe]

I purchased one DLC fighter for SSBU -- Pyra/Mythra, of course. I figured correctly that the Fighters Passes would not be worth it for me. So many characters passed up that would be more interesting to me, but oh well.

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I am nearing the end of Metroid Dread, and I like it a lot. Although I've always liked the weighty platforming physics in Super Metroid, the very tight and slick platforming in this game definitely cements the gameplay style pioneered by Fusion, Zero Mission, and AM2R. Great innovations on traditional abilities. Some of the item puzzles have taken some thought.

While I have my complaints -- one of the big ones being that it's a railroad by Metroid standards, like Fusion was, and the map design suffers for it -- Dread represents a very solid step forward from where Fusion left off, and I hope there's more to come from it. 👍

 

[Com Fox]

I thought Pyra/Mythra is the 2nd worse case of the DLC (Byleth being the worse offender because we didn't need a 3rd Avatar Fire Emblem character).

I understand Sephiroth, Sora, Steve and Banjo even though I don't like them but the others saturate a lot of the roster issues since Smash 4, Sora didn't even feel special because of it.

Not really Sakurai fault. Except for Sora, all the DLC was planned in advanced by Nintendo themselves.

 

[EngieDiesel]

So having decided to go for the N64/Genesis online expansion, I have to say overall I'm pretty satisfied with it. The control layout for the N64 games takes a little getting used to since remapping those buttons to modern controllers is always going to be a bit weird, but once you get it committed to memory it's hardly an issue. The only odd thing I noticed is that the rumble feature doesn't seem to play nice with third party controllers: no real issue with the Joycons or the pro controller, but the 8BitDo SN30 I prefer to use just starts vibrating the second the game starts and won't stop. You can turn the rumble off though, and I never used the Rumble Pak with N64 games in the past anyway, so it's more of an odd quirk than a major problem.

The opening game lineups are pretty solid too, and unlike the Genesis/Megadrive collections I've bought in the past there's no noticeable slowdown or glitching (probably because they're not just slapping a frontend on top of an open source emulator and calling it a day). Just being able to play Sonic 2 as smoothly as it plays on a proper Sega system is really quite nice, because I haven't had that experience for a while. The N64 games also run quite smoothly and look a lot better than I'd expect them to, granted they're still a bit ugly but that's just the nature of early 3D systems, so it's to be expected. And interestingly the N64 games let you choose either the NA or EU versions to play if they have one, which is pretty neat.

Of course whether or not it's worth the extra cost ultimately comes down to if you actually want the games on offer, but for me at least there's a lot less "oh, that's a weird pick" and a lot more "hey, I played the hell out of that!" with these collections than there is with the NES/SNES ones, so I feel like I'm getting my money's worth out of it. And knowing some of the games in either system's library that could be added in the future, I'm really interested to see what's coming up too.

 

[Spacegoat]

Of course whether or not it's worth the extra cost ultimately comes down to if you actually want the games on offer, but for me at least there's a lot less "oh, that's a weird pick" and a lot more "hey, I played the hell out of that!" with these collections than there is with the NES/SNES ones, so I feel like I'm getting my money's worth out of it. And knowing some of the games in either system's library that could be added in the future, I'm really interested to see what's coming up too.

Yeah, I've still got my N64 console from back in the day and I've been picking up games for it sporadically over the past few years. However, I'm holding off on getting the expansion for the time being. Just feel it isn't worth the extra cost with only a handful of games on offer.

 

[Com Fox]

For me, I don't think it's worth it. SEGA is pretty good at reviving old games so I don't need the expansion for it and I don't have any nostalgia goggles for the N64 era and I think the N64 games have aged really, really poorly. It's hard for me to enjoy many N64 games as I can't get nostalgic over them so I'm stuck with multiple trial and errors of 3D gaming and also the worst Mario Kart that makes me glad I grew up with CTR instead.

 

[Wolfe]

My final take on Metroid Dread, having completed it a while ago and started exploring established sequence breaks in an attempt to post a decent time on a new Hard difficulty run: It is a really great game, and though I don't love it as much as Super Metroid, I love what it is doing for the franchise.

The irony is that while I felt chaperoned through the whole game, annoyed with the many times the game obviously funneled me to the next intended destination, according to the internet a lot of people got lost and frustrated with not being able to find where to go. A sense of direction really is not a skill people develop these days, is it? I blame GPS directions in part.

Nevertheless, so many people are talking about the game out there, it is unreal as a lifelong Metroid fan. Some have claimed Dread is giving the franchise the "Switch effect", and it's fantastic. If the map design had to be what it is for a new generation of gamers who couldn't navigate their way out of a cardboard box, then so be it. It's not badly designed, just not what I'm used to or would have preferred.

Other points -- the art style is very strong, but the environments could have been somewhat more memorable and I think that would help everyone, myself included, with learning our way around (navigating is easy; upgrade locations for future playthroughs are not as memorable as in Super Metroid). Also, the OST is decent (hearing the EMMI zone theme outside of the game already triggers nostalgia), but in general it's too ambient to be as impactful as SM's soundtrack.

All negatives are fairly nit-picky though, considering how after one more pesky handheld game, Nintendo has finally made my dream come true and produced a new 2D Metroid game for a home console. Samus is back! 🐺

 

[05XR8]

Is the switch OLED worth it for racing games?

 

[Wolfe]

@05XR8 -- As a handheld on the go, sure! As a home console for racing games, not so much. Virtually everything worth playing so far is a port -- including Mario Kart, for those of us who gave the Wii U its due.

If you never played MK8 and conceivably would, though, it's an outstanding exclusive. I say that as someone who was never committed to the franchise. SEGA AGES Virtua Racing is also nifty.

 

[Com Fox]

Is the switch OLED worth it for racing games?

For Racing Games on general, there's a decent amount that can suck your time in if you play on Handheld.

In terms of car racers. GRID: Autosport is all we have. There are WRC games but I've only played 8 and not by much to judge.

Though like @Wolfe says, Home Console experience on Switch for Racers is lackluster as everything is on something else so I wouldn't recommend it unless you were going handheld

Out of all the Switch Racers I've played, this is how I rank it (however do note I enjoyed all of them)

1. Mario Kart 8
2. CTR Nitro Fueled
3. FAST RMX
4. GRID: Autosport
5. Team Sonic Racing (however would definitely recommend more if you have friends to play locally, the Team mechanic and character dialogue variety makes it great for gatherings)
6. GRIP Combat Racing
7. Xenon Racer.

...and throw Gear Club in the bin and throw that bin over a cliff

 

[05XR8]

Okay cool. I take it no Circuit Superstars and art of Rally. I'd Definitely play as handheld. Been missing my PSP for so long.

I'll check with those games mentioned above.

 

[Wolfe]

I take it no Circuit Superstars and art of Rally.

art of rally for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy art of rally and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Circuit Superstars Is Out Now On PC And Xbox, 'Coming Soon' To Switch

It's been a long formation lap

www.nintendolife.com

 

[Com Fox]

Just finished Super Sami Roll 100%. It's a Steam Game port.

I'd recommend it, it's a great mix of Super Mario 3D World block level design and platforming and Super Monkey Ball momentum based challenges and physics. The tounge mechanic to pull towards walls for wall jumps or cancel the pull part way through for a mid-air jump is so satisfying to pull off well.

It is a bit flawed. Level Geometry needs to be more flat, several times I die because I'm at the edge of a tight road but the sides are slanted a little bit and I die. You also bounce a bit from landing off a big height which can make reflex based level sequences annoying. It doesn't come up too often early on but the game gets hard FAST and these flaws show up more and more often. Good news, outside of Advanced mode, game is very forgiving, Checkpoints even save the time you took to the Checkpoint for you to respawn to so it's easy to get S ranks even when dying a lot, of course to get S+ ranks you need to master the mechanics and do some very creative and nifty shortcuts so there is still a challenge.

I don't recommended playing on Advanced mode. I tried but gave up after World 3 when the levels were getting way too long for "no Checkpoints" to be any kind of fun. It's useless anyway as you get nothing for it and helps you in nothing due to the forgiving Checkpoint system. If you do try to do Advanced Mode, good luck at "The Gauntlet", that level is so brutally difficult, I beat it after an Hour on Normal Mode.

 

[EngieDiesel]

I gotta say, Nintendo's been stepping up their game with the N64 and Sega collections. The original Paper Mario is still a fantastic game, and all five of the recently added Genesis games (ToeJam & Earl, Altered Beast, Thunder Force II, Dynamite Headdy, Sword of Vermilion) are must-haves for that system. They clearly learned a lesson with how people felt about the scattershot nature of the NES and SNES collections, though it probably helps that both the N64 and Genesis are more known for their first-party games which helps out with licensing issues.

 

[ImaRobot]

ToeJam & Earl, Altered Beast

Oh wow, I think I'm going to have to pick these up. Used to play both of those when they released so long ago. Get a kick every time you get an upgrade in Altered Beast and the character just shouts "POWER UP!"