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major_kerinaIt was pretty nice day today. I got a lot of stuff done.
Also I wanted to write up my thoughts on Wii Fit and Super Paper Mario.
Review - Wii Fit (1 week in)
This isn't really a 'game' in the traditional sense but still it's a lot of fun. Playing it daily really makes me feel better. I didn't get a chance to boot it up today and I feel a little out of sorts for it. It's the kind of game which really gives you what you put in. It feels, first off, a little like Brain Age. If anyone has played that. Only it's working with your body and not your mind. It will test your body in all sorts of 'games' and exercises. I don't recommend it as part of the sole method of losing weight but I wanted it to help with my urinary issues and the stretching and muscle movement definitely helped me a lot. I love it for that and it's well worth it in you need to improve minor muscle issues but it's not a rigorous exercise system.
I give it a...
Green rating. It's a gateway game...to health and fitness. It doesn't actually have all that stuff completely in it but it gives you taste of what you can do with your body in a (mostly) positive way.
In short, it's a fun game if you have good balance or want to stretch yourself out a bit.
Super Paper Mario
Like other Mario things, this is a conflicting game for me. Really interesting. The graphics are fair but it's more about being silly while being epic. It really hits the same areas as Mario and Luigi on the GBA and DS. The only thing is it's an Action RPG all the way. In many ways I consider it the game that I was hoping Galaxy would provide. Unfortunately it doesn't have some of the visual and clarity benefits of Galaxy either. If Nintendo made a game that met the two halfway with the best of both, I would so be there.
I loved how as soon as I started, we had Mario and Luigi go out...da da...Peach kidnapped...they immediately head out to Bowser's Castle (amazingly easy to get into...they even make a joke about it). And we see Bowser and Luigi become damsels too (along with a couple thousand minions).
The new foes in this one are really quite unique. There's a brute force Scottish (?) lug who is isn't a straightforward baddie. Same with all the rest. A mimic who is part "It" and part devious cutie. Bleck, is also interesting as his backstory unravels. Natasha (though never fought) uses to her hypnosis powers to make sure her schedule is kept, mmkay.
Characters are very compelling at times...so much so that the gameplay (which can vary from interesting to tedious to annoying) feels rather disappointing in comparison. It's a little odd that the item system is so limiting but foe difficulty is never such that it becomes a genuine problem that you're limited to holding a said amount of items or storing them somewhere. The card collecting isn't too much of a diversions, the challenge room is not too challenging, and the games are interesting but the benefits of collecting tokens to buy stuff isn't encouraging enough to give them more than a try.
So we're left with a bit of quandary. A Mario game where the story and characters are more of a reason to play than the actual gameplay. Does it hold up? Depends on what you're looking for. Want a riff on Otakus and Geekdom with a full-on dating sim section with a nerdy gecko and Princess Peach? Got it. Want doors who ask you more bewildering questions than a load of Bridgekeepers and unladen swallows. Oh and present you with random old-school turn-based fights. Yes, when it really indulges itself, this games goes all sorts of odd places. But there is one moment in the character story which culminates in such a way that it hits all my zappy buttons in such a way without it being a direct gender-zappy situation. I don't want to say more but it's easily my favorite sequence when the romantic-minded, "thou"ing Luvbi discovers something about herself.
Therefore, I give this game a....
Purple? Yeah I'd definitely flag it for borderline zappy themes, general screwyness and...inani-ish-ness. But primarily it gets a Nintendo yellow so far as most elements but I just needed to flag its character and style for special merit in the same way I would flag the Mario and Luigi series. But again, Mario RPGs and zappyish themes always seem to go together so it's kind of a given at this point. Still, there are some really subsersive elements to the Nintendo typical style which put it outside the usual Nintendo work as well.
Also I wanted to write up my thoughts on Wii Fit and Super Paper Mario.
Review - Wii Fit (1 week in)
This isn't really a 'game' in the traditional sense but still it's a lot of fun. Playing it daily really makes me feel better. I didn't get a chance to boot it up today and I feel a little out of sorts for it. It's the kind of game which really gives you what you put in. It feels, first off, a little like Brain Age. If anyone has played that. Only it's working with your body and not your mind. It will test your body in all sorts of 'games' and exercises. I don't recommend it as part of the sole method of losing weight but I wanted it to help with my urinary issues and the stretching and muscle movement definitely helped me a lot. I love it for that and it's well worth it in you need to improve minor muscle issues but it's not a rigorous exercise system.
I give it a...
Green rating. It's a gateway game...to health and fitness. It doesn't actually have all that stuff completely in it but it gives you taste of what you can do with your body in a (mostly) positive way.
In short, it's a fun game if you have good balance or want to stretch yourself out a bit.
Super Paper Mario
Like other Mario things, this is a conflicting game for me. Really interesting. The graphics are fair but it's more about being silly while being epic. It really hits the same areas as Mario and Luigi on the GBA and DS. The only thing is it's an Action RPG all the way. In many ways I consider it the game that I was hoping Galaxy would provide. Unfortunately it doesn't have some of the visual and clarity benefits of Galaxy either. If Nintendo made a game that met the two halfway with the best of both, I would so be there.
I loved how as soon as I started, we had Mario and Luigi go out...da da...Peach kidnapped...they immediately head out to Bowser's Castle (amazingly easy to get into...they even make a joke about it). And we see Bowser and Luigi become damsels too (along with a couple thousand minions).
The new foes in this one are really quite unique. There's a brute force Scottish (?) lug who is isn't a straightforward baddie. Same with all the rest. A mimic who is part "It" and part devious cutie. Bleck, is also interesting as his backstory unravels. Natasha (though never fought) uses to her hypnosis powers to make sure her schedule is kept, mmkay.
Characters are very compelling at times...so much so that the gameplay (which can vary from interesting to tedious to annoying) feels rather disappointing in comparison. It's a little odd that the item system is so limiting but foe difficulty is never such that it becomes a genuine problem that you're limited to holding a said amount of items or storing them somewhere. The card collecting isn't too much of a diversions, the challenge room is not too challenging, and the games are interesting but the benefits of collecting tokens to buy stuff isn't encouraging enough to give them more than a try.
So we're left with a bit of quandary. A Mario game where the story and characters are more of a reason to play than the actual gameplay. Does it hold up? Depends on what you're looking for. Want a riff on Otakus and Geekdom with a full-on dating sim section with a nerdy gecko and Princess Peach? Got it. Want doors who ask you more bewildering questions than a load of Bridgekeepers and unladen swallows. Oh and present you with random old-school turn-based fights. Yes, when it really indulges itself, this games goes all sorts of odd places. But there is one moment in the character story which culminates in such a way that it hits all my zappy buttons in such a way without it being a direct gender-zappy situation. I don't want to say more but it's easily my favorite sequence when the romantic-minded, "thou"ing Luvbi discovers something about herself.
Therefore, I give this game a....
Purple? Yeah I'd definitely flag it for borderline zappy themes, general screwyness and...inani-ish-ness. But primarily it gets a Nintendo yellow so far as most elements but I just needed to flag its character and style for special merit in the same way I would flag the Mario and Luigi series. But again, Mario RPGs and zappyish themes always seem to go together so it's kind of a given at this point. Still, there are some really subsersive elements to the Nintendo typical style which put it outside the usual Nintendo work as well.
