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I'm afraid I am far too tired to take part tonight, but the theme will go ahead regardless. @Dcubed will be hosting, and I've set everything up so that all he has to do is create an arena and not change any of the settings. It is literally foolproof! I hope. Have fun!

RPG lovers looking at early 2024 like:

They're turning the classic sitcom into a RPG?!

Here's the 2023 Switch year in review. Safe to say nothing else will be added at this point. Demos and game trials excluded. Sports Story : carried over from 2022. Much like the developers, I haven't finished it either. Virtua Racing Crisis Core - FF VII - Reunion : carried over from 2022, loved it. DQ Treasures : carried over from 2022, loved it. Shiren The Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate : if I had to select my "desert island Switch games", this would make the cut. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope : excellent. Need to get back to it. Immortals Fenyx Rising : loving DQ Treasures gave me the confidence to give this a go and it's no secret I loved it too. Had a great few weeks with it around April time. OutRun The Suicide of Rachel Foster Pokémon UNITE : must have been back on this for a Mew or Mewtwo that would have been too much effort to claim for free. Monster Hunter Rise : probably go back on soon to do the Sonic stuff before it's gone. TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection : great package. NEO: TWEWY : was back on for a dabble. Probably for a breather from turnbased. Persona 3 Portable: pleasure to finally have, a relief to finish. Wish it was a lot shorter. Can't say if I'll get to P4G or go back to P5R in 2024. Got all these day one. Collection of SaGa FF Legend : finally went back for FF Legend 2. Maybe do 3 in 2024. World of FF Maxima : overall, had a great time with this. It was like FF greatest hits. Animal Crossing: New Horizons : tried to go back. Think I'm done. Disney Speedstorm : seemed all right! Castlevania Advance Collection : played Harmony of Dissonance in October. Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered : top fun to be part of the GB team. ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove : great update of a classic. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line : unbelievable value. Want Angeal, Tseng and Cissnei to be added. Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster : immediately played Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. Looking forward to playing Origins in 2024. Super Mario Maker 2 : still one of the best on Switch. Clockwork Aquario : lovely little game. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Collection : bunch of unlikeable characters made for an immensely likeable game. Go figure. Portal : is a girl?? Is a puzzle game??!! I'd osmosised the cake is a lie, at least. Super Mario Bros. Wonder Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tetris 99 Burnout Paradise Remastered : more open-worldery! Weird for a racing game. Doom : still getting updates. F-Zero 99 : outta nowhere! Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince : ongoing. Among Us Fortnite The various NSO apps : dipped into quite a few games. At least remember fully playing Majora's Mask, Link to the Past, Link's Awakening and got up to the Fire Temple in Ocarina of Time before Mario Wonder came out. So I pretty much replayed all the best Zeldas this year. Not too bad going! Played a good whack of Wario Land 3 as well. Splatoon 3 : took in and did the single player earlier in the year. I played this pretty much daily to keep up to date with the seasonal catalogues until September which made it an entire year from release. It's great fun but enough's enough. Happy to draw a line under it and move on. GotY: Immortals Fenyx Rising. Even having played the demo, I wasn't sure to what degree this was going to work out. After I got used to the controls and cautiously started figuring out what the game wanted from me, we got on like an absolute house on fire. By the time I'd wrapped it up (not 100%), I was left with that empty feeling you get when you've come out the other side of a top gaming experience that you know your next game won't measure up to. Fantastic. Glaring omission: Pikmin 4. I know. I said in the Pikmin 3 thread I'd have to remember to get on the next one day one. And I didn't forget... I think the timing of release just wasn't ideal plus I would have still been grinding Splatoon 3. Haven't even so much as tried the demo! Though I did enjoy having a go on it at one of those Nintendo events. Mustn't leave it on the backburner forever. Had intended to slot in Lego City Undercover to keep the open-worlding going after Immortals but that window closed. Hoping to get it off the shelf in 2024! ------------- 3DS - this is off memory because my activity log has been a mess for years from repeatedly letting the battery drain and the internal clock resetting. Some games I fired up just because there always seems to be a file going or they're infinitely replayable: chrono trigger ds theatrhythm outrun etrian odyssey of some variety earthbound : still refuses to let me click with it mario land mario bros 2 dq 8 mario bros dx wario land kirby triple deluxe New games I got and played: yokai watch legend of kusakari dkc 80s overdrive japanese rail sim 3d fairune : not a hidden gem! mario maker : the built-in levels are top-notch. 3D classics twinbee lylat wars 3d : fichina??! luigi's mansion 2 gurumin 3d : lovely, charming game. mole mania : yes, @Jonnas, I confirm this game is okay. also, got these one weekend in a three for two: mario tennis 3d : fun, actually monkey ball 3d : scratched to pieces but worked pilotwings : unknown only to return them the following monday because pilotwings didn't work (it was the reason i tried to take advantage of the deal). in an oversight, i bought style boutique twice—from the final eshop frenzy, and picked up the cart along with yokai watch 1 & 2, style boutique 2 and dillons dead heat-breakers. head like a sieve, sometimes. And there's still more new 3DS stuff (unplayed games and demos!) to go in 2024 and beyond. No chance of being on top of things in time for the Switch 2.

Next week, more Duel Mode! Blowhard There are two things you need to keep in mind for this board. The obvious thing is the fan in the center. If you pass it, the fan will swap the position of your partners. Naturally, good use of this can help fix a bad formation. The less obvious thing is that each of the junctions on this board let you go in any direction. OK, not the one you approach it from, but still, this is huge! You can travel clockwise or anti-clockwise freely! You can return to your starting corner in as little as 9 spaces! Loads of opportunities here! OH GOD! WHY ARE THERE SIX GAME GUY SPACES!? We've each played against each other once, so it's time to bust out the Random Number Generator. And it tells me that the matchups this time are: @Glen-i VS @BowserBasher @Dcubed VS @S.C.G

"People achieve greatness by standing on the shoulders of others" In other words, cheers S.C.G! Couldn't have done it without your Hidden Block stars!

This was released today. It's got good reviews on Steam and the reviewer over on NintendoLife liked it a lot. For the sake of £4, I'm tempted to give it a whirl.

There's like 10 members left on this forum. I don't think it matters where the topic goes.

After doing a few franchise playthroughs (Sonic, Star Trek and James Bond), I decided to pick something that would be a bit more varied by focusing on a console. I picked the N64 as I remember loving it, and I read about so many games in N64 Magazine that I never got to play. The number of games (419, including some prototypes) also makes it a reasonable endevour. For playing the games, I'll be using different ways to play. I'll mainly be emulating (using different emulators, as some work better in particular ones), plus using some ports/remasters. The ports/remasters are on a case-by-case basis and the game as a whole needs to have the same vibes as the N64 version, as sometimes the N64 versions had different level designs (and features) to other versions that remasters are based on. That said, some of those do kindly include the N64 mode as well. Some ports will be fan made and I will be allowing some graphical and QoL enhancements (mainly widescreen, textures that keep the right vibe and camera control). There was one game where I felt I went a bit too far on the graphical department, but a bit too late for that (it wasn't a big N64-specific one anyway). In the case of sports games, I'll be mainly getting a feel for them by playing a few matches rather than going insane while playing an entire season of each one. I also won't be shy in using cheats, mainly extra lives (they were pointless in most games of this era and losing them just wasted time as you walk back to where you were) and for games of genres I completely suck at - such as 1-on-1 fighters (I had no idea the N64 had so many). Some games only came out in Japan. I don't read or speak Japanese and I'm dreadful at understanding Japanese. For some games, there are fan-made translations that I will be using, for others, I'm relying on Google Lens (which, while some results are a big mangles, has been fairly successful and I get the gist of what things mean) . My reasoning for all of this is that this is for fun, not a serious challenge. For ordering the games, I've gone by the first release in any region, it seemed like the most logical way to do things. I've also inserted a few prototypes of games into the mix for checking out unfinished (or in a few cases, completely finished but unreleased) games. I'm already a fair amount of time into playing the games, up to number 150 on my list (an obscure game called Ocarina of Time). Out of the three Japanese launch titles, It would be rude to not start with: Super Mario 64 JP release: 23rd June 1996 NA release: 29th September 1996 PAL release: 1st March 1997 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 96% Starting off with a bang, one of the Nintendo 64’s launch titles just happens to be a revolutionary game that’s one of the best games on the system. It didn’t just show the world how platform games could work in 3D, but it set the standard for movement in 3D as well. Despite its legendary status, Nintendo have never given us the port that this game deserves. Super Mario 64 doesn’t need a full remake, just a little bit of sprucing, widescreen and an updated camera. Luckily, fans of the game have done this themselves by fully recreating the game’s engine on PC, with lots of options to set it up the way you want. There are some much more graphically impressive options than what I chose, but I wanted it to look similar to the original game, with just crisper textures and some of the 2D objects replaced with 3D ones. The movement of Mario still feels amazing all these years later. His move set is brilliant with all of his moves (minus the special hats) available from the get-go, it’s just a case of learning it and figuring out the best way to move. Most people will start off doing taller jumps by doing the backflip, but then transition to the quick turn jump to get up to the tall platforms. Even now, it’s an absolute joy to control. The camera from the original game is the main part of the game that now feels clunky. It was pretty amazing when the game came out, but it’s one aspect of games that has improved over time. Luckily, the version I played lets you turn on a more modern analogue camera, which (along with widescreen) is really all Super Mario 64 needs to feel modern. The levels are small, but it’s a style that really suits the game. They’re packed full of secrets, with six stars to find in each one (plus an extra star for collecting 100 coins). Once you collect a star, you’re thrown out of the level, which does mean you have to re-do parts of levels multiple times, but there are sometimes changes to the level depending on which star you collect. There is a mod that lets you remain in levels, but I feel like this alters the game too much, and is itself fiddly as you need to work out when you need to manually leave the level. Each level has a very distinct feel to it and I enjoyed every level in the game, except for two of the water levels. While some have generic themes (lava, water and ice), the levels are still built in unique ways, and even matching themes (like the two snow levels) don’t feel like a reuse due to the level design. Other than a couple of stars that include the wing, metal and invisible caps, you can also complete levels before moving on, or just do a couple of stars and try somewhere else. You only need 70 out of 120 stars to complete the game (far fewer if you choose to do glitches), but it’s enjoyable collecting them all. To unlock different sections of the castle (and access more levels), you need to complete Bowser’s levels. There are three in total (the last one being to save Peach) and these are much more linear platform challenges, which creates a nice change of pace. At the end of these you have to face off against Bowser, grabbing his tail and spinning him to throw him into bombs, and I’m still absolutely dreadful at aiming my throws. The final section of the game has some outstanding levels. Wet-Dry World is the third water level of the game, but this one stands out much more due to the mechanic of raising and lowering the water levels. There are different ways to move upwards depending on the water level, and you’ll need to make use of these to collect all the stars. Tiny-Huge Island has you using pipes to swap between a giant Mario and a mini Mario. You get to see cute tiny goombas or have to fight ones that are much larger than Mario. It’s not Mario’s size that actually changes, but the level itself. It’s an absolutely adorable level full of joy. Tick Tock Clock is actually a lot smaller than I remember, but is focused on well timed jumps. The unique aspect of this level is that the level entrance is itself a clockface, and where the minute hand points alters the speed of the objects in the level, or even stops them completely. I have quite strong memories of trying to figure out what was happening when this happened as a kid. The final main level, Rainbow Ride, is more linear than most levels, with different segments connected via magic carpets. You’ll need to jump off the carpets to avoid obstacles, but if you take too long, the carpets will vanish. This level requires you to have learnt how to master Mario’s moveset. Super Mario 64 is still an absolute joy to play, especially so with an updated camera. I think a full remake would alter the game too much, as the level design and movement is integral to its identity. It just needs a bit of sprucing up, and I really hope we get an official version that does this at some point. This was an amazing start for the Nintendo 64. Not only was this game integral to the development of 3D games as a whole, but the gameplay and levels still hold up today. Games keep trying to be bigger and better, but smaller and varies levels are also a great approach. Remake or Remaster? As the fan-made PC version shows, Super Mario 64 still holds up really well and just needs some basic improvements. A remastered Super Mario 64 would be perfect. Official Ways to get the game There is no way to buy a new copy of Super Mario 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak. Re-releases 1997: Super Mario 64 Rumple Pak Version (Japan Only) 2003: iQue (China Only) 2006: Wii Virtual Console 2015: Wii U Virtual Console 2020: Super Mario 3D All Stars (Switch, temporary release) 2021: Nintendo Switch Online (subscription only) Other versions 2004: Super Mario 64 DS. This version featured altered levels, more stars and extra playable characters. The extra content was well received, but forcing previous stars to certain characters was frustrating. The controls also don’t work very well on the DS. The touch screen minigames were a brand-new addition and were well liked.

Cheers. Just something I threw together very quickly for tonight's theme. It'll probably be quite different the next time you see it. Whoops. Yeah, that may have been me. Sorry about that. BTW, was anyone else hearing the Shantae music on that stage (and the Ice Climber one)? Bit of a weird combination. Anyway, thanks for the games everyone, see you next year!

There's a guy on youtube doing exactly this. He is currently 151 games in. Playlist below.

That ice Baby Face stage is amazing @RedShell! Once again, you never fail to disappoint!

Thought I might branch out from my usual sci-fi genre and try Richard Osman's first book, The Thursday Murder Club. Going for this as a proper physical book as well instead of just kindle. I doubt I'll move away from mostly kindle books because it makes life so much easier but it is nice to just sit with a real book from time to time.

Just finished watching it. Really enjoyed it as well. Absolutely gorgeous animation and a fun story. My only complaints would be that I would have preferred the Turtles to be a bit more competent and I thought some of the voices for the Turtles themselves were a bit weak. At times they didn't seem distinctive enough and others I thought actually swapping the voice actors around a bit would have worked better. Michelangelo especially never sounded like himself to me. Great movie though. I'd probably still rank the original 90s movie higher but only because of those reasons I mentioned.

Stacked like those characters "with large chests/ exaggerated proportions".

It's still December! Wintery Smash Each of the 31 characters here have at least 1 white costume. You don't have to, but I encourage you to do so anyway. Ice Climbers get special priveleges because, come on. Bayonetta also gets special priveleges because the second game is a Christmas game. (And 53 is a prime number, so screw that) Use the white hair costume for her. I'm not gonna list them all out, it should be mostly obvious which one is the white costume. Except Palutena's, her white costume is the default one. Mii fighters are allowed if they have a mostly white outfit, or are suitably christmassy. All the stages take place at night, because there aren't enough ice based ones. Items are the standard fare. Format: 3 Stock, 10 minutes FS Meter: On See you at 7:30 for custom stages. 8pm for normal stages.

Thanks for playing. Here's a link to this week's stream... Mario Party 3 on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack - N-Europe Multiplayer (29/12/2023)

It totally matters! It'd be anarchy otherwise! Anyway, Rainbow Ride sucks. Yeah, I said it. Tick Tock Clock is a much better executed platforming test. Here's some silliness that happened when I attempted a 16 star run for the first time. You just know if a remaster happened, they'd fix the glitches. That would suck. Gimme my broken, parallel universe-ridden mess anyday.

Yeah, Lego Fortnite is pretty good. The first day that it came out i gave it a go and then a good four and a half hours later and I was still playing and wasn't aware how much time had past. It's quite a feat that they made Lego versions of so many of skins. My friend and I attempted to make an ewok treetop village but it didn't quite work out... The racing game is a lot of fun too, i finally got my first win last night!. I also like the Rock Band mode they added, but its not possible to play that on a Pro Controller as some songs will ask you to press Left and Right on the D-pad at the same time. I use the Joycons for that mode and it plays fine though.

Does anyone have Baloon Fight selected as the stage, or are we just getting really unlucky with the stage random selection?