GLaD 1: 3DS Edition

On 03/04/2013 at 01:17 PM by Coolsetzer

I was going to repost one of my older blogs from 1up today, but I have a few games that I have played in the last day that I would rather talk about instead. So I decided to start on the Game Log a Day posts I have been thinking about doing. Thanks to the other members for letting me steal their ideas lol. Rules for this are simple: I will talk about a game using a general 1/1/1 ratio. That is, I will try out something for an hour, and if it doesn't hold my interest past that, I'm done with it. Then, I am done with a game if it doesn't hold my interest for more than a day. If it captures me for at least a week, then it wins. I will be trying to kill off my backlog in this fashion. So let's get started.

Super Mario Bros. (e-Shop version)

I played this for several hours over the past several days. It was my first video game, and really sparked a lifelong love of video games. I used to play this religiously as a child. It looks and plays great even today. Even the little tricks work, such as jumping again in mid air after getting a mushroom. Plus, I finally figured out how to get to the Minus World! Screw achievements, these are the OG achievements you get via experience on becoming intimate with a title. I really wished that they had included some content from Super Mario Bros. DX, as that was an awesome title on the Game Boy Color. Hopefully we'll get it in a special rerelease on the e-Shop one day. That would be perfect. Gets 5 stars for being awesome. Grade A.

Rayman Origins (3DS)

Man, is this port bad. I spent an hour on it, and now I'm done. I actually regret purchasing this last night for $30. My problem with it is not the extremely fuzzy graphics. It isn't even the fact that it runs at half speed compared to the console versions. It's the fact that you can only play as Rayman and Globox. My favorite blue and green dude isn't there! Unforgivable, considering that the PS3 version was so good. I spent several days with that title. I wonder if I can still return this game to Walmart for a refund? Gets 1 star because someone else might still get some enjoyment from it. Grade D.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (e-Shop)

This game is great too! I spent several days on this as well. This is the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2, in all its 8-Bit graphic glory. I had played through it in Super Mario All-Stars, which was good, but I didn't see what all the fuss was about then. Now I do. This version is where it's at. Just like the original Mario, but on expert mode! The developers really knew how to trap you, from huge jumps to gauntlets of Hammer Bros. In this game, I managed to beat all the stages in order and get to World 9 (took almost all of my 127 lives!). Now I am working on beating the game 8 times in order to get to worlds A - D. I also had fun finding and memorizing the quickest way to beat the game, since the warp zones are broken up here. Some even take you backward! To sum it up, great game. I'll be playing this for awhile yet. 5 stars and grade A.

Mega Man 2 (e-Shop)

See a theme? Hah! Well, I downloaded this more for the memories than anything else. It's still a fun game. I have spent an hour on it so far, but I plan on continuing with it. I have 3 bosses down so far. It's a really good game just to spend a few moments on at a time. I'm actually anxiously waiting Mega Man 3, which is due out very soon. It was my favorite original series Mega Man game. 4 stars because it's just not all that epic. Grade B.

Tetris (e-Shop)

I had forgotten how enjoyable the original Game Boy title was. Even though it's not in color, I forgive it because of the amazing music. Speaking of which, I just found out that my ex-wife must have stolen Tetris DS in the divorce lol. I will have to rebuy that game because it was great as well. This one gets 4 stars even though it's an old version. Grade B.

Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)

I bought it the day it was released and had a lot of fun with it. The last time I had really played one was the GBA version, which was really good. I have 31 hours into it so far, but now I think it's time for a break. Just like the first 10 chapters (battles) of the original, I'm quitting for awhile after chapter 11. The reason is because now it's just beginning to feel like work. I have a lot of other games that I want to get to as well. 4 stars because while it was pretty fun, the story peters out halfway and loses its direction. Grade B.

Opinions? Counterpoints? Give me a shout in the comments and you know I'll respond. =)

Aboboisdaman

03/04/2013 at 01:40 PM

Great pickups! I love the original SMB, and play it all the time. Even more so than SMB 3 which is my favorite. There's something about it that's so classic. MM 2 is my second favorite MM game.

Coolsetzer

03/04/2013 at 01:50 PM

Thanks! I don't have NES and SNES games anymore, which is unfortunate. I used to eat and digest MM games as a kid. haha

mothman

03/04/2013 at 01:48 PM

I want Fire Emblem but I'm still hoping they do a second run of the physical game before I take the plunge.

Rayman Origins, I saw the 3DS version at Costco for 18 bucks but left it there because I've never heard anything good about it and the demo sucked.

03/04/2013 at 01:51 PM

I heard that they will do a second run of FE before the holidays. But yeah, the 3DS version of RO is really inferior.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/04/2013 at 02:11 PM

I love SMB, MM2, and Tetris, I play those all the time whenever I have nintendo8.com up in a tab if I'm listening to a podcast or something. SMB/Duck Hunt was my first game as well, I believe.

Ever play Super Mario Bros. Crossover?

03/04/2013 at 02:14 PM

Well, that link is all kinds of messed up, and for some reason I can't edit it.

03/04/2013 at 02:23 PM

Yeah, I really enjoyed it until the latest version. I don't know why you can't edit your post, though...

03/04/2013 at 02:53 PM

Well, after waiting a while, I was able to simply remove the link. Must be you can't edit it too many times within a certain period of time? I don't know, but I've ran into that problem before. Oh well, fixed now.

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

03/04/2013 at 09:29 PM

I still play Tetris on my GBA SP sometimes. It's one of the my favorite puzzle games thanks to the music and the game being my earliest memory of playing a puzzle at all. Years later, I would pick up the game again and play it when I needed to think. Somehow, playing Tetris helped me to work out problems in my head.

03/05/2013 at 04:31 AM

Tetris is good like that. It was really the first game that started the puzzle genre. Even people that never played games before were getting "Tetrisized". There were so many immitators back then, too.

angelfaceband42

03/05/2013 at 01:36 AM

Over the past several days I've started thinking like you in tackling mount backlog. I've started several games recently and plan to jump between them until I stop having fun with it. Then i will add another one to the rotation. I used to play a game until I got burnt out on it, but decided it's okay to switch it up and play several at the same time to keep the experiences fresh.

03/05/2013 at 04:33 AM

I think it's a good plan! I have so many games I haven't spent any time on that it's not even funny lol. Literally hundreds.

Temperance

03/05/2013 at 09:59 PM

Hmmm... I wonder if I should try doing that after I finish up with the Mega Man games. It just might push me through my indecision over what to play next. Anyway, having a portable version of Super Mario Bros. is dangerous. I have a bunch of the GBA Classis releases, including SMB, and it's all to easy to get absorbed by them and lose an hour or two. The portable format lends itself well to speed runs, too, as you want to see how far you can get in ten or twenty minute sessions.

That said, I could use portable versions of first six Mega Man games right now (the PSN releases stopped at 3). I haven't had as much time as I would like in front of the TV as of late, which means I can't play the Mega Man games that I need to (I'm currently working through MM2). So, I've been playing the Game Boy ones instead.

Also, that really stinks about Rayman Origins. Cheap and lazy ports are not appreciated anywhere, especially when they could have opted for a larger cart and included all the content of the console versions.

03/06/2013 at 06:18 PM

Yeah, I have to take a break from Mt. Shame because Castlevania 3DS came out yesterday. I have been devouring that game. It's really good. I will get back to it after I finish that game.

PixlBit