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PaperclipPerfector  13d ago (text post)   2171 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 20, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Without waxing at length: Mario 64 (n64 and DS), Sunshine, the original NES and gameboy games, Super Mario World, A smidgen of the Paper Mario series (they didn't really catch my attention so never bothered completing them) and parts of the first Mario Galaxy, again not to completion. It's difficult to analyze exactly what was wrong with the Mario Galaxy games, but I suspect it had to do with the controls not being up to par for my tastes.

(Admittedly, the true fair comparison is Odyssey vs 64 vs Sunshine) Nintendo perfected the art of the dynamic difficulty curve without any actual dynamic difficulty. The difficulty is entirely driven by the player's desire for completion and challenge. They litter vastly more moons onto the levels than needed to progress, and the number is so high that 100% completion is an actual badge of honor and difficulty, but even just getting to the dark side of the moon is still an accomplishment. The difficulty curve has entirely to do with "I think I could get there..." and not arbitrary spikes midway through story progression.

Sunshine and Mario 64 both struggled not just with arbitrary and surprising difficulty spikes, but also slow gameplay and slow progression in comparison. That is to say nothing of the better precision of the pro and gamecube controller over either the n64 or the DS mario 64. The amazing thing about the mario games is in my more advanced age, I find myself unwilling to do collectathons and annoying puzzles- For example, dropping out of both breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom because they were tedious, but somehow, 3D Mario games have always managed to keep me playing longer.

No game isn't without its flaws, however: some things that are tedious about the moons are finding where some of them are, or the conditions for getting them to show. Luckily, obtuse moons can safely be ignored in favor of the more fun ones, and often while completing the others, the solution for a previous puzzle will reveal itself.

I never got past the third level of Mario Odyssey. It wasn't bad, I just couldn't see what made everyone I know rave about it so much. Does it open up or something? For the record my favourite is 64, probably due to my age.

To an extent. As you've probably already noticed the levels change as you clear the local boss of the level and once you "finish" the game they are populated with more moons and challenges and is completely open.

Aha, now that you say that I realise I should have guessed it would open up after the campaign. Alright, I'm giving it another shot.

Did you get to the part where you use the sentient hat to possess a T-Rex?* There's lots more stuff like that later on in the the game.

(*I'd say /r/brandnewsentence, but Mario Odyssey is old enough and popular enough that I'm certain others have independently invented that same sequence of words.)

64 is great (I also grew up with it), but imo Galaxy is the best. But I've always been a sucker for interesting physics in video games.

Same, galaxy is my second favourite, followed by 3d world, that game has a surprising amount of depth. The physics of sunshine were also heaps of fun to play with, although it is a way too frustrating game to start.

Man I love video games, long live Mario ♥️

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