I got Super Mario Bros. Wonder day one and it made me realize I don’t like Mario nearly as much as I thought I did. And I already knew I liked Mario less than most people. It kinda made me realize the only games in the series I truly loved were Super Mario World and Bowser’s Fury. If you include the alternate character spinoffs you can add Yoshi’s Island to the list.
It’s definitely the best 2D Mario since NSMB DS, there’s nothing wrong with it and it’s the most creative 2D Mario since World…but it still fails to stick in my mind the way Kirby games, Sonic games, Mega Man games, and more do. It was fun but it didn’t wow me and I thought it was too easy (am I crazy or are 2D Mario games easier than Kirby games?) I’m glad I played it but I wish I picked it up sometime in the upcoming period when the Switch is completely removed from being current but not old enough to be retro.
What I’ve noticed about myself is that I’d pick a Sonic game that’s considered “decent” or “debatable” over a comparable Mario game that people consider a GOTY candidate easily. with very few exceptions. And while Wonder vs. Superstars is an exception, it’s only because of how godawful Superstars’ bosses are.
Oh, also, if you’re into 3D platformers SM64 ROM hacks are more alive (and accessible) than ever. Serene Fusion in particular is very good. Dog Collab can be hit or miss with some levels, but the hits are really strong hits. They both have a wide range of easy to very difficult stars.
There’s a ROM manager called Parallel Launcher that integrates with a site called romhacking.com, so you can literally click 1 button and have the whole hack set up for you (after PL is installed and you give it a SM64 ROM of course). No messing with different emulators or messing with compatibility settings, just one and done.
It was fun but it didn’t wow me and I thought it was too easy
I totally agree. With the exception of BotW (except for the final fight…), I can’t even remember the last time I bought a Nintendo game that actually challenged me. I guess kids these days are less willing to play games that challenge them.
If you want a good 2D platformer I highly recommend looking at Celeste or Pizza Tower. They’re two very different games, but hands down the best platformers I’ve ever played in my life. (Very cheap, too). Celeste is the most mechanically interesting / challenging of the two. But every screen is a checkpoint, so when you die the penalty is losing like, 30 seconds max. It’s a very chill yet challenging game.
And Pizza Tower has pretty typical mechanics (it’s Wario Land but way more refined) but the art and sound design is incredible. It made me nostalgic for old cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Courage the Cowardly Dog. The characters, sounds, and music are all so expressive I can’t put it into words, you’ll just have to look at the Steam page to see what I mean. It’s also worth noting that there’s no lives or health, so it’s very chill. You’re just playing for points like in old-school SMB. (Unfortunately it’s not on Switch or any Nintendo products like Celeste)
Both games can be very easy or very difficult depending on what you want to achieve. The levels themselves aren’t too crazy but they both have collectables and secrets that really ramp up the difficulty if you want to get them all. Celeste also has “B sides” for each chapter, which are bonus chapters where they crank the difficulty up to 11.
I got Super Mario Bros. Wonder day one and it made me realize I don’t like Mario nearly as much as I thought I did. And I already knew I liked Mario less than most people. It kinda made me realize the only games in the series I truly loved were Super Mario World and Bowser’s Fury. If you include the alternate character spinoffs you can add Yoshi’s Island to the list.
It’s definitely the best 2D Mario since NSMB DS, there’s nothing wrong with it and it’s the most creative 2D Mario since World…but it still fails to stick in my mind the way Kirby games, Sonic games, Mega Man games, and more do. It was fun but it didn’t wow me and I thought it was too easy (am I crazy or are 2D Mario games easier than Kirby games?) I’m glad I played it but I wish I picked it up sometime in the upcoming period when the Switch is completely removed from being current but not old enough to be retro.
What I’ve noticed about myself is that I’d pick a Sonic game that’s considered “decent” or “debatable” over a comparable Mario game that people consider a GOTY candidate easily. with very few exceptions. And while Wonder vs. Superstars is an exception, it’s only because of how godawful Superstars’ bosses are.
Oh, also, if you’re into 3D platformers SM64 ROM hacks are more alive (and accessible) than ever. Serene Fusion in particular is very good. Dog Collab can be hit or miss with some levels, but the hits are really strong hits. They both have a wide range of easy to very difficult stars.
There’s a ROM manager called Parallel Launcher that integrates with a site called romhacking.com, so you can literally click 1 button and have the whole hack set up for you (after PL is installed and you give it a SM64 ROM of course). No messing with different emulators or messing with compatibility settings, just one and done.
I totally agree. With the exception of BotW (except for the final fight…), I can’t even remember the last time I bought a Nintendo game that actually challenged me. I guess kids these days are less willing to play games that challenge them.
If you want a good 2D platformer I highly recommend looking at Celeste or Pizza Tower. They’re two very different games, but hands down the best platformers I’ve ever played in my life. (Very cheap, too). Celeste is the most mechanically interesting / challenging of the two. But every screen is a checkpoint, so when you die the penalty is losing like, 30 seconds max. It’s a very chill yet challenging game.
And Pizza Tower has pretty typical mechanics (it’s Wario Land but way more refined) but the art and sound design is incredible. It made me nostalgic for old cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Courage the Cowardly Dog. The characters, sounds, and music are all so expressive I can’t put it into words, you’ll just have to look at the Steam page to see what I mean. It’s also worth noting that there’s no lives or health, so it’s very chill. You’re just playing for points like in old-school SMB. (Unfortunately it’s not on Switch or any Nintendo products like Celeste)
Both games can be very easy or very difficult depending on what you want to achieve. The levels themselves aren’t too crazy but they both have collectables and secrets that really ramp up the difficulty if you want to get them all. Celeste also has “B sides” for each chapter, which are bonus chapters where they crank the difficulty up to 11.