Nintendo Is Hurting :(

[ZeroAX]

Mario Galaxy brought quick platforming gameplay to 3D for the first time.

Did it? If the only criteria is fleetness in 3D platforming, I feel like that was done in Sonic Adventure, Billy Hatcher or Rayman 2. Nothing in Mario Galaxy felt particularly quick or fresh to me, though. Felt like Mario 64 in space, with some instances of slightly different perspective.

Not the Sega marketing kind of quick. I meant the fast paced, quick reflexes needed to survive, quick gameplay of all traditional 2D platformers. In Mario Galaxy for the first time it felt like the obstacles were your enemy, and not the bottomless pits you fell into cause you didn't have 100% control over your character.

[pierrot]

Mario Galaxy brought quick platforming gameplay to 3D for the first time.

Did it? If the only criteria is fleetness in 3D platforming, I feel like that was done in Sonic Adventure, Billy Hatcher or Rayman 2. Nothing in Mario Galaxy felt particularly quick or fresh to me, though. Felt like Mario 64 in space, with some instances of slightly different perspective.

Not the Sega marketing kind of quick. I meant the fast paced, quick reflexes needed to survive, quick gameplay of all traditional 2D platformers. In Mario Galaxy for the first time it felt like the obstacles were your enemy, and not the bottomless pits you fell into cause you didn't have 100% control over your character.

Spring Mario aside?

I get what you're saying, I just don't think Mario Galaxy really achieved that any more than the bevy of 3D platformers before it, personally.

[BurningDoom]

I didn't even think Galaxy was as good as the Mario games before it. It felt gimmicky to me.

[ZeroAX]

Oh well, difference of opinion .

Though pierrot I'm curious which games do you think did this before Mario Galaxy did. I'm not asking for the debate's sake, I'm asking cause I'm actually interested in checking them out .

[pierrot]

Oh well, difference of opinion .

Though pierrot I'm curious which games do you think did this before Mario Galaxy did. I'm not asking for the debate's sake, I'm asking cause I'm actually interested in checking them out .

I'm a little wary of offering any 3D platformers I think might have beaten Mario Galaxy to the punch, as I feel there will be a bit of disagreement, regardless. For arguments sake, though:

Rayman 2 and 3

Billy Hatcher

I-Ninja

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Napple Tale (Not a pure platfrormer, not incredibly slick, but has an emphasis on rather quick, calculated platforming, for the time.)


As far as just some general 3D platforming game recommendations: The first three Scooby-Doo games for the sixth gen consoles; First three Tak games; Dr Muto; Pac-Man World series; Super Magnetic Neo.

I'm not really all that high on vanilla 3D platforming games, though, to be honest. Really prefer action, or action platforming for 3D games.

[wyatt]

What Sony and Microsoft offer is a tidal wave of derivative first person shooters, arcade racers, and the occasional one off like The Last of Us. Oh and the greatest targeted advertising system ever developed (Microsoft) and social interaction gimmicks (Sony).

Oh, the innovation!

You could say the same for Nintendo. They marketed their last two consoles on a gimmick, gotten more shovel ware on them than the 2600, and ignored/bungled/under-implemented social gaming. Pokemon hasn't innovated since it was created. Mario and Zelda have had exactly one innovative game each since the N64. Metroid Prime was great but Nintendo didn't make it and the sequels didn't innovate much either. Last of Us isn't a one off, it's another incredible game in a long list that either shows up on Nintendo years/whole generation late or never at all.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The Wii motion controls are far from gimmicky. They're quite well-implemented. And plenty of games use traditional controls instead.

The amount of shovelware on the Wii is about equal to the amount of terrible/generic big-budget titles that ended up on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

[Michi]

The amount of shovelware on the Wii is about equal to the amount of terrible/generic big-budget titles that ended up on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Exactly. And lets not forget the amount of less than stellar fare that was released on the PS2, DS, and NES. When a system is popular more people are going to release games on it in an effort to try to cash in on that success, whether they games they release are good or not.

[BurningDoom]

The amount of shovelware on the Wii is about equal to the amount of terrible/generic big-budget titles that ended up on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Exactly. And lets not forget the amount of less than stellar fare that was released on the PS2, DS, and NES. When a system is popular more people are going to release games on it in an effort to try to cash in on that success, whether they games they release are good or not.

I like the Wii. Of course Nintendo's first-party games were good, as is usually the case with Nintendo. There were also some great hidden gems on it. And the Virtual Console is a great alternative for when a game is just too expensive.

But lets not kid ourselves. The Wii was indeed chock full of shovelware. And it was more than your average amount for a popular console. There were a ton of "waggle" games that were basically the same game with different skins.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I love shovelware. A system doesn't end up with a ton of hidden gems unless it has a ton of shovelware, and the Wii has a ton of hidden gems.