IGN Review SMBU

Interesting to see the visuals lower on the list, but I guess it's not like there was much room for improvement, given what they chose to work with.

They aren't for me either, but given that it's a launch title for Nintendo's HD console, one would be in their rights to expect some serious graphic overhaul. That doesn't appear to be the case with this game, from the looks and sound of it, which is perfectly fine given its nature -- it's clear accessibility was given serious consideration.

It's just weird to see that mentioned in a mostly positive review, imo. Like they couldn't find anything better to pick at.

quote Dragoon

Can you really have an HD mario game though? There isn't much to define.

OMG, yes. 2D, 2.5D, 3D, whatever. Mario's universe is one of the most colorful and diverse I know of. The Super Mario sub-series alone deserves at least one true HD entry.

If Nintendo left their comfort zone more often, maybe experimented with throwing hand-drawn backdrops and objects into the mix, even something as basic as NSMB has the potential to look gorgeous -- consider Rayman's recent revamp. If you need more than that to convince you of the possibilities, you're just being nitpicky.

This gets on my nerves, because the New series is specifically designed as going back to the basics. There is an audience, and judging from sales of the series quite a large one, that stopped playing Mario when it got so complicated but feel at home in the far simpler New series. The whole point of the series is to be simple, clean, and fun, like the original Mario before it became more and more complex. This is "My first Mario game" for a whole new generation of players. This is for people that played the NES and quit because everything ramped up in complexity after that, like my Dad who beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES but gets motion sick when trying to play a 3D game.

It drives me crazy when the "gaming media" ignores the obvious goals of a game and try and jam it into the same mold as every other game out there, like there is some one size fits all method to making a good game and one type of player that every company needs to pander to (12-25 white men, specifically). This is like people complaining that a screwdriver isn't a power drill, that's the point.

The point would hold its own a bit better if Nintendo hadn't been experimenting with other designs for their 2D platformer revival anyway, or expanding the core Mario games in new directions. Just go back and look at Donkey Kong Country, WarioLand Shake It or Kirby Epic Yarn and tell me Nintendo doesn't understand 2D art or Mario Galaxy is the same old same old.



Sorry that came off so rant-y, I just find the attitude of the gaming press to anything targeting the "casual audience" incredibly ignorant.

quote bbb7002004

Not ranty at all.