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Showing content with the highest reputation since 04/17/25 in Posts
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6 points
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6 points
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Just popping in to say my Switch is all fixed and like new again. I looked at the link @Dcubed sent and was going to do it that way, but 1. I found someone close by that fixed them for £40 so thought with postage id probably be paying less this way. and B. I didn't want to mess it up this close to Switch 2 release just incase I did something wrong. It does look an easy job though. If the Switch 2 was out and I could have transferred everything before doing it than I may have tried for the experience. But thought it wasn't worth it when I could get it done for the same cost. At least I'm back in time for Mario Kart on Thursday.6 points
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My Switch 2 hype levels are as follows: For Mario Kart World - 11/10!! Don't think this one really needs much explanation, it's Mario Kart, a franchise that I've absolutely adored since the SNES original. Not only that, but it would appear as if Nintendo have pulled out all the stops for this version, I mean it looks sensational! So yeah, I don't just want it, I NEEEEED it! justhookittomyveins.gif For the Switch 2 hardware - 7/10? This would almost certainly be higher (probably a 9 or even 10) had I not returned to gaming on PC a few years ago, but seeing as I did, the wow factor of Switch 2's technological improvements will definitely be taking quite a hit. Still looking forward to seeing Nintendo's own titles make use of the increased power though. For Nintendo's new pricing strategy - 0/10... I have a really hard time believing these increases are out of necessity. I mean, with the volume of sales that Nintendo games typically enjoy, there's no way they wouldn't continue being immensely profitable even if they stuck with the current game prices. It all just seems incredibly opportunistic and greedy. Has put a serious dampener on my excitement for Switch 2. So yeah, overall about 5/10, maybe. Could very well be the least hyped I've ever been for a new Nintendo system actually, which is nuts considering how good it looks. Don't have a pre order. I'll still attempt to pick one up at launch (purely because of Mario Kart) but if that's not possible, I think I'll survive having to wait. Will just have to remember to shield myself from all MK World gameplay/impressions, otherwise...6 points
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I'm coming very close to the point where my Blue Prince save data might become "corrupted" (i.e. no progress can be made until/if it gets patched), so I decided to tackle a trophy that has eluded me for years (since the game has been added to PS+ in 2019!) The Witness - Challenge In short: You have to solve a random assortment of puzzles. Since you unlock this challenge by beating the game (I think) and basically doing everything else it has to offer, you know how to solve these puzzles. The kicker: You only get 6 minutes and 30 seconds. In recent years I have tried to get it done many times. To no avail... Since I've come back from Spain last Monday, I decided to give it yet another go. Took me a few hours to get acquainted with the puzzle types again. Surprisingly, this didn't take up the majority of time during this attempt. Now...actually solving all puzzles in time...that is the real challenge. Especially when the song that plays during the final minutes is this: But, as you can imagine, given the fact that I'm writing this post: I did it! It was a bit anticlimactic, since I completed the challenge before In the Hall of the Mountain King reached its climax I was surprisingly calm during my successful run. I came close to getting the trophy many times and I noticed my heart beat becoming faster. Not this time Anyways, there it is: Coincidentally, this is my 200th Platinum. I don't really care about making certain Platinums special, but it is kinda cool (And yes, I know there is a way to glitch the final challenge right before the last two puzzles, but I would've done it that way years ago if I wanted to - getting it legitimately is so much more satisfying)6 points
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Well after jumping ship a couple of generations ago I've finally decided to come back to Nintendo for the Switch 2. I've been flogging a bunch of N64 and Gamecube games on Ebay which were gathering dust in a couple of boxes for years. So the Switch 2 should cost me about £0.00. Look forward to playing with the forum crew again.6 points
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Split Fiction Release Date: 6th March 2025 Developer: Hazelight Studios Publisher: EA Originals Platform Played: Xbox Series S Platforms Available: PC, Xbox Series, PS5, Switch 2 Split Fiction is the latest two player co-op from Hazelight Studios. The developers started this journey with Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons – which was a co-op game designed to be played by a single person controlling both characters with a single controller, and somehow managed to get emotion out of how you control the game. A Way Out started the full on co-op, a game that can only be played with two players. This one also started the trend of their games being played entirely in split screen, even if you play it online. It Takes Two was where their big success was, winning multiple Game of the Year awards and selling extremely well, even with its generous nature of letting player 2 join a friend online without owning the game. It was made up of lots of varied segments which changed up the gameplay and had each player working together by performing different tasks. Split Fiction doesn’t deviate from this formula, but it does refine it a lot, alongside doing a load of new things within the formula. The game stars Mio and Zoe, two aspiring writers who hope to get their work published. They turn up at Rader Publishing and find out that the deal isn’t quite what they expected, as it involves being connected to a mysterious machine. Mio refuses to participate, but ends up getting pushed into Zoe’s bubble and joining her simulation, which starts causing glitches. In order to escape, as well as to save their ideas from being stolen, they must work together to find more glitches by completing their stories. Mio works with sci fi, while Zoe works with more traditional fantasy. The main chapters alternate between these genres, each one telling a story which relates to their lives in some way, you discover their past through these stories. Both characters are likeable with plenty of depth with engaging stories, both their real world tale and their fictional stories that you play though. The main movement mechanics are kept the same throughout the entire game (other than a few specific sequences), the girls both have a double jump and a dash that can also be performed mid air. They also have a grapple to latch onto specific targets. The platforming feels very precise and a ton of fun, and allows for some enthralling chase sequences. The rest of the mechanics differ throughout the game, and are often different for each character. Ok the first main sci-fi chapter, you play as cyber ninjas. Mio has a gravity sword which allows her to use special tiles to shift her gravity to walk on the walls and ceiling. Zoe, on the other hand, has a gravity whip that lets her manipulate and move objects. Meanwhile, the first fantasy chapter gives both players two transformations each. At one part of the game I was even excited because I got to be “Banjo-Kazooie” Quite often, you’ll have to manipulate the world to allow for each other to progress. Split Fiction does err a bit on the easy side, option more for the odd brain teaser or tricker short platforming segment. Chase sequences are nice in that a player will respawn next to the other if they die (although you go back to a checkpoint if you both die) and when in bosses (and other combat scenarios), there’s a short quick time event to respawn to add a bit of tension to it, although bosses are also kind in that they often have checkpoints part way through them. Throughout the main levels you’ll also find portals that lead to side stories. These are short segments based on unfinished ideas of the main character. They’re completely optional, but I have no idea why anyone would willingly skip them (although there is one that is easy to miss, although there’s a handy chapter select to find it after finishing the game). These are filled with magical moments, with some surprising dark turns, beautiful journeys, some playgrounds for a nice change of place or even a bit of competition, such as a level that plays like an SSX game. This all culminates in a final chapter which is just too good to go into detail about, it does amazing things with the dual genre idea as well as with the split screen. This final chapter does things which are so impressive that this is the first game of the Series/PS5 generation which feels like it truly takes advantage of the technology and doesn’t just seem like a slightly nicer looking PS4 game. It also looks stunning without needing to use demanding graphics processes, which means that the only compromise the game makes for the Series S is that it runs in 1080p. It’s truly wonderful how astonishing and advanced the game looks and feels. If I had to give a flaw for the game, it’s that I wanted more. I wish that each chapter and side story was its own complete game. Not that Split Fiction is a short game, each chapter is a few hours long and the side stories are a great distraction, but some of the ideas seem too good to just be used for a single section. It still helps the game feel incredibly fresh the entire time, though, and it’s easily become one of my all-time favourite games. If you can get someone to enjoy the journey alongside you (either locally or online, I immensely recommend it. I’m certainly looking forward to playing the game with the roles swapped around. 10/106 points
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SSX Tricky Resist gravity. NA release: 27th November 2001 JP release: 27th December 2001 EU release: 12th July 2002 Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Sports BIG (NA/EU), EA Square (JP) NGC Magazine Score: 87% Mods Used: None When it comes to basing your game’s identity on a single song, it has to be a good one. Thankfully, “It’s Tricky” by Run-DMC is up to the task and the song shines through at just the right moments, successfully making it feel special when you hear it instead of getting annoyed by its repetition. The SSX games are snowboarding racing games that focus on tricks and my only prior experience is SSX Blur. I didn’t even realise this wasn’t the first game until the commentator kindly pointed out how many tracks were brought back from the previous game (albeit with changes). While the snowboarding games on the Nintendo 64 featured tricks, including Nintendo’s own 1080° Snowboarding, they didn’t usually gel with the racing itself, often being more of a liability than anything else. The SSX games have two ways to help the two aspects fit together. The first is leniency. You can land at some odd angles without much issue and falling over still has you tumbling downhill and getting up at a decent pace. The second is tying it into a boost system. However, if you hang onto your boost and continue tricking, you’ll fill up the bar and “It’s Tricky” will start playing. During this, you have infinite boosts and can prolong it by performing uber tricks – and pulling off six will give you infinite boosts for the entire race. Another neat feature is how the other racers develop as you play. Attacking or not attacking other racers during races (which nets you boost) will impact future races – rivalries and friendships will form, adjusting how aggressive they are towards you. The tracks themselves all manage to both feel and look unique, and are a good length with a ton of fun segments. SSX Tricky is a game chocked full of the style and attitude of this era of sports games, which makes it a ton of fun to go back to as I kind of miss all this today. It’s still hugely enjoyable to play and the art style still holds up quite well. Great Remake or remaster? An SSX collection would be great. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play SSX Tricky. -- The GameCube really did have a great start to it, with plenty of great games and nothing particularly terrible.6 points
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Yeah, this was something very special. Fantastic set of characters, gripping narrative, phenomenal soundtrack, amazing voice acting and a awesome battle system. If I had to criticise anything it would be that the game could do with a mini map when in dungeons and the world map. Other than that... What's crazy about all of this is how such a game has been created. It was done by a very small team and for many of them it was their first job in the industry. It's a prime example of what can be achieved when a development team are allowed to create what their vision is, without the focus testing and interference from big publishers. These are the kinds of games that are needed more than ever in this industry, which IMO, has become very stale. I'm thrilled that the game didn't get buried and has found success, both critically and financially. It's funny when you look at what the game was released with. The Oblivion remaster was dropped alongside this and yet this is the game that is on people's minds. Oblivion may have sold more but look at the state of the thing. Again, it's a good comparison between a game that has been created with care by a small team and one that has been pushed out the door for a quick buck by a large publisher. The battle system in the game is something very special. Every character brings something unique to the table and I had a blast with playing around with different abilities and team selections. The creative director of the game has said that FFVIII is his favourite Final Fantasy game (a man of good taste and Ben Starr must have loved him) and this kinda comes through in a few places. The Expedition uniforms are very SeeD like, one of the later bosses reminds me very much of a FFVIII boss fight, and the battle system in this game can be busted wide open early on, just like FFVIII. Due to the amount of customisable load outs, you can decimate enemies. I took on the game's super boss with a single character and killed it in a single hit. I wasn't even max level at that point but the game rewards you for smart use of ability stacking. @Glen-i you would love it. The game feels very much like a PS1 era JRPG but with modern designs. The game has 3 acts and each of them end as if the disc is finished and the next needs to be inserted. I loved this feeling when playing those games as a teenager and this game recaptures that feeling at the end of each act. The third act certainly feels like the final disc of FFVII or FFVIII, where all that's left in the main story is to take on the end boss but the whole world is open for you to explore. You end up losing yourself hours upon end in side quests, super bosses and general exploration. Like I used to do on those games, I made sure to do everything and reach the max level, before taking on the final boss. I won't go into the narrative but all I will say is that it gripped me from start to finish. The English VA cast done an amazing job and really brought the characters and story to life. It's another example of good VAs really elevating a game to another level. Usually in JRPGs I can't be bothered with reading logs or listening to random dialogue but that wasn't the case here. I was listening to every conversation by the fire at the campsite and reading every log that I came across. I was so engrossed in the world. Once in a while a game like this comes along and reminds me why I love gaming. These experiences seem few and far between these days but this has been a light in what has been a very dark year for the majority of the industry. What made this even better was how it just kinda came out of nowhere. What a marvelous surprise it has been. If you have any love for the RPG genre then you owe it to yourself to play this game.5 points
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5 points
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Well, it's been a while since we had A Jonnas NSO Update , but it's not a very interesting one. I've been very busy. The replays I replayed Wario Land 4, for a long time. I started around the time it released on the NSO and I've been playing it at a rhythm of... one level per week? It's an incredibly pretty game (in a grotesque way), with an incredible game-feel. Very solid level design as well. It's weird, it's like a 4-out-of-5 game, but I consider it essential playing for anyone minimally interested in platformers at the same time. It's the best kind of unique that a videogame can be. I also replayed Streets of Rage 1 in a single session when that came out as well. It's nice to go back to it after playing SoR2 so much. It definitely feels more archaic (no unique special moves is a bummer), but it's still very solid. I've played a few other games since then that take a lot from SoR2, but they often lack the tight design that was already present in SoR1. My only true complaint about this first entry is that boss fight with the twins: they're so dodgy, they will literally wait out the clock to beat you, it's one of the most legitimately frustrating bosses I've ever seen. The one new game ...The word "new" is doing a lot of legwork here. Mario's Picross is as typical as Picross games get. There are some challenges missing, like the puzzles that don't warn you of mistakes (the Game Boy can only hold so much). There's also an annoying delay with the buttons that caused me to make occasional mistakes. Still, Picross is a trusty companion to us, the folk-who-are-too-busy-for-truly-new-games-and-who'd-rather-look-at-some-creepy-eyes-if-that-means-something-comfy-and-familiar (There are dozens of us! Dozens!) My next update will definitely feature something more interesting. Whenever that is.5 points
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5 points
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I always wondered what the game behind that weird Melee trophy was. I am happy to learn that it's as exactly as bonkers as I hoped it would be. Heart-shaped caves for reproduction? Jesus, Nintendo and their love hotels...5 points
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Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest Be the King of Cubivores! Got Meat? JP release: 21st February 2002 NA release: 5th November 2002 EU release: N/A Developer: Saru Brunei, Intelligent Systems Publisher: Nintendo (JP), Atlus (NA) NGC Magazine Score: 76% Mods Used: Widescreen Code Originally an N64 title called Animal Leader, Cubivore is a very strange game where the objective is to bring wilderness back to the land and defeat the Killer Cubivore to become the King of All Cubivores. The animals are made up of cube-like heads while their limbs comprise of squares in many different layouts to create different forms – called mutations – you can use to your advantage. You start off as a little piggy with one limb. As you battle and eat other cubivores, you’ll gain their colour, which alters your form. Throughout the game you’ll get more limbs, and specific combinations for colours will create new mutations. These various mutations affect how you move, how you attack and how much health you have. There’s also some special type of colours – such as ones with streaks of dark colour – that provide additional benefits. In order to get more limbs, you’re going to have to mate and produce a child, which always has an extra limb. You do this by entering a heart-shaped cave and, based on how many mutations you have, you’ll attract a certain number of female cubivores (which you never see out in the open). Some of these will give birth and you’ll be able to select a new “e-z mutate” form for your offspring, which will then let you morph into that shape whenever you want. These love caves are placed at specific places throughout the game, so you always have to advance at the same places for each playthrough. To progress, you’ll also need to create special parts called “Raw Meat”, which are usually held by powerful bosses. These bosses have rather bizarre names like the “Shoplifter Beast”, “CEO Beast” or “Neighbourhood Watch Beast”. Combat is simple, but also extremely tough. You hold L to charge your lock-on and press A to pounce. Enemies are really good at dodging and you need to get good at it, too. Evading attacks is especially important when you’re up against multiple foes, as they can essentially stunlock you and you’ll be unable to compete. I found the combat rather frustrating by the end. The structure of the game is also a bit strange. You’ll improve your Cubivore before getting killed off as the next “animal”, starting from a single limb again and going through the same set of levels (although with large changes) multiple times. It’s still nice to discover the new mutations, and the bosses and new groups of enemies you face still keep things interesting. The fact that Cubivore was mainly developed for the N64 is very evident in the final product. While the cube and square nature of the animals look great, the environments are all a bit drab. I really don’t like how they’ve used textures with detail on the cube-like environment, it’s an odd mishmash where something much simpler would look much nicer. The camera is also stuck in its N64 form, clearly made for the c-buttons, as a press moves the camera a set amount. The camera also tends to leave your cubivore out of frame in battles, and it adds to the frustration. Cubivore is a frustrating game that still manages to have a lot of charm, in both the character designs and the rather bizarre text in the game. It’s such a strange game that it’s definitely worth trying out, even if you don’t finish it – especially as the task of doing so requires you to discover 150 mutations, which is a bit difficult for me due to mixing up some of the colours. It’s an absolutely fascinating game. Fun Remake or remaster? A remake would be wonderful. Improve the camera, make the graphics more coherent and add a bit of flair in terms of particle effects and water, then it could look magnificent. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest.5 points
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I played another session of A Short Hike and ended up reaching the peak and reaching the end credits. I didn't end up finishing everything in the game, and i doubt that i will bother, but i did enjoy it a lot. It's very satisfying, and there always seems to be something just on the edge of the screen that looks inviting enough to explore. The only downside that I found with it is the annoying camera. You can sort of move it a bit (but it moves the opposite way to which you think it should), but not far enough to see where you're headed. And then it forcefully switches perspective sometimes when you aren't expecting it to, which is irritating if you are trying to navigate and you suddenly get disorientated. Anywho, a lovely game, I give a thumbs up to.5 points
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At the Switch 2 Experience in Tokyo over the weekend, they gave people a free magazine: Nintendo Japan have made a free digital version magazine available on their website: https://www.nintendo.com/jp/topics/article/f1ef5869-e060-4ba6-acca-bb7e3f8f6990 For some reason the link only seems to work when I open it in an incognito window, but that might just be an issue with my browser. They seem to suggest an English version is on the way.5 points
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No More Heroes And that's another one down. I bought this and NMH2 in a sale on the eShop probably like 3 or 4 years ago (maybe more). I started playing this and I think I maybe got to about the 3 fight. Must have been a new game came out as I never went back to it, so thought this was a good way to go back and finish it. I decided to just start over again this time. Before, I was using the joycons and using the motion controls but found out that it does support the pro controller so thought Id give that a go so I wasn't waving those around, and I have to say it felt just as good playing with pro controller so I just did that. If you've played these then you'll know that, I guess the main selling point was the excessive blood and the language, along with the sexual references. I kept thinking of this throughout. Right the main story is you are an assassin and your task is to make it to the number one spot. there's 10 people above you and you take each one out. Whilst there is some variety to each part, they pretty much come down to, get the money to enter the fight, fight some cronies on your way to the boss and then defeat said boss. You then climb up the ladder towards becoming number 1. The only issue with this is that each one does start to feel like it is just a slog to get to the main part which is the fight. Each bit before was vey similar. However there were a few exceptions which mixed it up a bit. In between these there is the city to explore but there's not an abundance of things to do. Mainly assassin mission where you are tasked to beat a set number of guys or take out the main guy in a sea of others. Thee are what you will keep going back to to get the entry money for the main story levels. Or at least I did, and once you get more opened there are one or two that you can just go back to over and over to grind that money. The only problem with this is that you need to go to one place to select it, then travel across the map to get to the place to start the mission. Then you need to redo all that if you want to do it again. You can of course use the sops and places in the city to up grade your weapon and skills though I didn't feel that it really did much. It doesn't feel much of a change. There's tons of clothing to find and buy, moves, and a few other hidden things but again not really needed to progress from what I found. So slug on, beat a ranked match, get the money, beat the next. There were a few matches that gave me a bit of a problem, but after turning the game off and then trying another day I was able to beat them first time. IT comes down to figuring the patterns and just hitting them when you can. One thing I did like was it had a twist ending that I didn't see. Nice there, but also it seems there is more, or a true ending that I didn't seem get. Once you beat the boss, you get the cutscene then get sent back to a save where you can clear the data for what seems to be a new game +. It puts you back at the start with all your items in hand, so I guess yo just play through again. Maybe I missed something to get the true ending though. Overall, Im sure these games were considered really good. However I just didn't get that from them for my playthrough. It felt like it was just 10 chapters all doing mostly the same thing. And combos were really just button mashing the X or Y with an occasional B to try to do one of the suplexes. 7/10 Still think it deserves a 7 for just being so what is was for a Wii game. Updated list. I have recently been using up my gold points on the eShop in the recent sale so may take a break from this list to play a few of those. I guess they will show up here too.5 points
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I try not to ban people for petty reasons but sometimes it's difficult5 points
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I also imported my copy of AC, as I was convinced it was never coming to Europe. I had read about it in N64 magazine for a long while and just assumed it was a game that would never come out of Japan because of how different it was to any other game at that time. I remember I looked on eBay to find a US copy and was lucky enough to find a person in the UK who was selling one and it came with a Freeloader disc. The person I brought it from had already started a save file on the memory card that came with the game and rather then start my own town, I thought I would check his town out of curiously before deleting it and making my own, but it seems the previous owner had unlocked every single NES game and basically turned the second villagers home in a little arcade with them all lined up, even the unobtainable games. So I decided I won't delete it and that I would just take over one of the save slots/villagers by deleting them and creating my character and move in to this pre-set village. Barely anything had been done in the village so it was almost like a new save file aside from the NES game house and that became the Town i played in for years. I can't really add anything to the praise this game gotten already from @Cube and @BowserBasher other then to say I just enjoyed playing it so much. I remember printing patterns from AC fansites on our printer so that I could recreate them in my game. I also remember how dedicated to it at the time, having favorite villagers I didn't want to leave and trying to fill up the museum and catch every fish. Also, Camofrog was rude to me once so I sent him a letter with some rubbish attached as a gift lol I was so thankful Nintendo released it outside of Japan at the time because its now one of my favorite game series. And of course, Nintendo must be pretty happy too as its now one of their best selling games. Funny enough I went back to playing the Switch version this week and I seem to be hooked again.5 points
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Super Smash Bros. Melee Nintendo’s all-stars are ready to do battle! Let the melee begin! JP release: 21st November 2001 NA release: 3rd December 2001 EU release: 24th May 2002 Developer: HAL Laboratory Publisher: Nintendo NGC Magazine Score: 95% Mods Used: Widescreen Code While the N64 Super Smash Bros was a wonderful novelty, Nintendo realised what potential the game had and decided to go all out with Smash Bros Melee, bringing more characters into the fold and adding in a load of extras to make it a love letter to Nintendo’s history. Melee solidified Super Smash Bros as an important franchise for Nintendo, with each game getting bigger and bigger. Singleplayer has gained a few new features, including Adventure mode, where you play through a mixture of different kinds of stages. Some are platforming levels created specially for this mode, while others are fights on regular stages. The platforming levels do feel a bit odd using the control style of Smash Bros, but they’re still immensely enjoyable and set the stage for more to follow in the next game. There’s also the more traditional fighting mode, event fights and some minigames, like Home Run Contest, which are initially simple but are made quite deep due to the mechanics of the game. There’s plenty to do here when friends aren’t over. There’s also a ton of options for multiplayer as well, there are stock or points based matches, add special features like making the game slower or faster, making all the characters invisible and you can adjust how frequently items appear and turn specific items on or off. All this means you can come up with your own ideas for matches. A personal favourite of mine was setting items to high, Pokéballs only and everyone had to be a Pokémon character. It’s pure chaos and an absolute blast. Melee also introduced a compulsive form of collectible: the trophies. Some are earned by completing specific tasks in the game, while others spawn as items during other game modes. I would always dart towards one whenever I saw one. Once collected, you can view it as a 3D model and read a little bit about the character, offering some background on characters that many had never heard of, including some characters who had never left Japan. What made the trophies extra special in Melee was the amount of trophies that were new depictions of characters. There are a few Custom Robo trophies that bring the art style of the N64 games into more detail, we also got our first 3D version of Pit from Kid Icarus, whose description interestingly ends with “Will pit ever fight again?” and just a ton to discover. It gave weight and meaning to the collectables, which made them so compulsive. Melee just had a ton of lovely touches all around. The music is wonderful (you can’t go wrong with the DK Rap) and the game scores you at the end of matches in many different ways, with some amusing ones thrown in for being cheap or comedic. Even the menus get some love as you can use the C-stick to tilt them around, just because. It’s a wonderful package. Fave Remake or remaster? A “complete edition” Smash Bros game with the gameplay styles of each previous one would be wonderful. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Super Smash Bros. Melee.5 points
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Kart & Wario Wasn't expecting a bloody Game & Wario reference of all things!5 points
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I loved Doshin the Giant. It's a bit rough around the edges and clunky to control but it was such a chill game to play. When I traded my copy in at CEX they had to test it due to it being over the price threshold and the lad who had to play it was like "What the hell is this?" Clearly the game didn't have mass market appeal.4 points
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@BowserBasher going by where the battery is in the Switch, it could well be that. It does seem to be a relatively straightforward fix though, no soldering required, just the right screwdriver, a prying tool, and the new battery to go in place of the old one. Switch 2 is just under 4 weeks away though, so you could chance it until then... but... if it is a bulging battery then... yep... probably sooner rather than later, though it might be OK, and you could be lucky enough for it to last long enough for you to do a system transfer, then you could just sell it as working but 'spares' knowing that it likely needs a new battery. But for the sake of safety, the cost of about £15, and a little bit of time & effort, it could be worth replacing. In fact, going by what other people have said about bulging lithium batteries, it is probably worth putting the entire Switch console inside a metal container just in case... the same goes for if you replace the battery, put the bulging battery inside a metal tin, or maybe even a fire-proof bag, in case the battery reacts further, and definitely keep any lithium battery away from any water source. Heck, just reading up on this has made me think about how I want to store any replacement batteries I have, even new ones.4 points
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4 points
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Randomly mentioned in an Xbox article, remakes of the first two Ecco the Dolphin games plus a new one is in development with the original team. Looks like the full reveal is a year away, though.4 points
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4 points
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Smashing Drive The fare’s waiting, step on it! NA release: 18th February 2002 JP release: N/A EU release: N/A Developer: Gaelco , Point of View Publisher: Namco NGC Magazine Score: 29% Mods Used: Widescreen Code Smashing Drive is an arcade game that advertises itself like it’s some kind of Crazy Taxi competitor, talking about fares and having you drive a taxi. It’s actually an arcade racing game, one where throughout the course of the game you’ll race on top of burning buildings, jump through a helicopter, smash through offices and drive up the Empire State Building chasing King Kong and knocking him off. What’s extremely impressive about Smashing Drive is just how boring it manages to make all those moments. Everything feels like it’s “on rails”, like a Star Fox 64-style of game where all you do is drive left and right. Your objective is to make it to the end of the course before the time runs out while also beating your rival racer. Your rival seems to vary in speed based on if you take shortcuts. Stick to the main roads and you’ll probably make it to the end with time to spare, but your rival will beat you. Take shortcuts and it seems to take longer, but with your rival far behind you (so you’ll be more likely to run out of time, even though you’re in front). It just feels artificial. There’s also no spectacle to the game. The graphics would have been considered poor when the arcade game originally came out in 2000, and the sound effects lack punch. Couple this with a soundtrack of three songs composed of someone singing with zero emphasis, and it makes for an incredibly muted experience. Making things worse is how slow your car is, so there’s no sense of speed. This is also just an arcade port without anything new brought to the table for the home release, so you can see everything in half an hour. A few years after the GameCube release, it was also ported to the Game Boy Advance. While the graphics were blocker (and pedestrians removed, although they have zero impact on the game and you can’t hit them), it’s the entire arcade game in 3D, even with the terrible songs included as well. It still doesn’t make it a good game, but it’s interesting to see how they put the full experience on the GBA. Worst Remake or remaster? It’s something Arcade Archives could have. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play Smashing Drive. (Here's the GBA version if anyone is interested)4 points
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Adding on to that unannounced thing, buying a game on your eShop wishlist now removes the game from your wishlist automatically. Long overdue, that.4 points
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Virtua Striker 2002 Win the Road to International Cup, and create your own best team. JP release: 14th February 2002 EU release: 20th May 2002 NA release: 24th May 2002 Developer: Amusement Vision Publisher: Sega NGC Magazine Score: 55% Mods Used: None Virtua Striker 2002 is a home port of the arcade football game Virtua Striker 3. Unlike many arcade ports, this has a lot added to it – including a comprehensive 4-years “road to International Cup” management mode where you have to train your players, play practice matches and try to make it to the next totally not World Cup. Get a high enough score in the ranked mode (or download a save file) and you can also play as some fun bonus teams, and there’s a really good training mode there as well. What really lets the game down, though, is the gameplay itself. You don’t have full control of the game, as the CPU “helps” you a lot, from always choosing your selected player, deciding on the strength of your tackles, and sometimes doing stuff on your behalf. To make matters worse, controls are stick, partly due to the lack of full analogue controls as players only move in 8 directions, and passing feels disjointed. There’s also some annoying arcade “features” still in the gameplay, such as only giving you a few seconds to decide on how to take a free kick. One strange oddity is that the AI gets extremely aggressive towards the end of the match, getting their players sent off. Although with how footballers like to big up any tackle against them, it was amusing to see Amy Rose grab her leg, get up and carry on after a vicious tackle from England. This is all a shame as clearly a ton of work has gone into all the modes and features, but the matches themselves are just frustrating to play, as it feels like you’re fighting your own team more than your opponents. The arcade version of Virtua Striker 2002 was also the first game to be released on the Triforce arcade hardware, which was built from GameCube technology. I will be looking at a few select Triforce games. Fine Remake or remaster? A Sega arcade collection would be great. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play Virtua Striker 2002.4 points
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Dark Summit Unlock the mystery! NA release: 5th February 2002 EU release: 24th May 2002 JP release: N/A Developer: Radical Entertainment Publisher: THQ NGC Magazine Score: 51% Mods Used: Widescreen Hack One thing I love about playing through games from a particular console or franchise is being surprised by a game you never expected. Dark Summit is another “edgy” extreme sports game that got middling reviews. When I first started playing, I kind of got the same vibe, but the more I played, the more I loved it, and in the end I was absolutely enthralled by it. Unlike other extreme sports games that went into the edgy direction, it didn’t do it by being rude or crass, instead it did something more unique. Dark Summit takes place on Mt. Garrick, a ski resort that has been taken over for the military, with a dark secret being hidden by them. All the skiers seem to be part of keeping it covered up, and snowboarding is massively frowned upon. You play a new snowboarder in the area, who quickly gets wrapped up in the snowboarding resistance fighters. The story is only told in a few brief cutscenes and you get some snippets from the challenges being described to you, so it never gets in the way of the game, but gives it its own feel. This also extends to the slopes, which all take place on a single mountain, with you unlocking more paths as you go on. Each area feels like its own thing – different paths focus on elements like a ski jump, stunt track and half-pipe – while still being part of a connected world, with danger and keep out signs everywhere, a distressed look and a dark and foreboding atmosphere, which is oddly appealing to skate through, especially as you smash through things and watch everything snap and fly down the mountain with you. When you reach a starting point for an earlier part of the level, you can choose to get into the chairlift. You can also do this from the pause menu at ant point (one handy feature is you can also return to the start of your last challenge). Despite it, I went all the way down to the bottom of the mountain every single time – even after I’d gotten the required points to unlock all the equipment and outfits (most of which are minor variations of each other). There’s lots of different paths to take and I was still discovering newthings near the bottom towards the end of the game. The secrets of the mountain are dumb in an amusing way, but the game does kind of end abruptly, barely even having a final cutscene before going to the credits and back to the main menu. You then unlock the other snowboarders you meet as playable characters. These control extremely well, as they start with the best equipment and have no outfits. They don’t change the game, although at the very least the original character takes their spot. There are also a few oddities surrounding the game. The GameCube version seems to be a slightly earlier build than the PS2 and Xbox versions, despite being released later. It also has an “only for” sticker on it in North America indicating it was a GameCube exclusive when it wasn’t. I also found someone discussing the cheats on GameFAQs, which has had incorrect cheats for decades. It’s difficult to describe just how compelling I found Dark Summit. It was bashed and ignored when it came out and is barely remembered now, so I wasn’t expecting much from it, but from the moment the controls clicked to the game ending, I absolutely loved it. Fave Remake or remaster? I’d love a more cleaned up version with a bit more of a finale. Perhaps add in a character creator as well. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play Dark Summit.4 points
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Absolutely under no circumstances should you ever touch the Wii sequel, especially if you enjoyed the original game!! It’s a complete travesty!4 points
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ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 10 amazing events on Ice, Snow, and on Nintendo GameCube! JP release: 31st January 2002 NA release: 4th February 2002 EU release: 3rd May 2002 Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami NGC Magazine Score: 37% Mods Used: Widescreen Hack Four years earlier, Konami produced the official Winter Olympics game but this time round, Eidos got the license instead. That didn’t stop Konami from still making a winter sports game without the Olympic license though and, just like their N64 game, it’s a small number of events that aren’t much fun. One additional issue this time round are the control explanations, which are now videos. This means you can’t read them at your own pace and have to wait as it slowly says that you have to go when it counts down and says “go”, and trying to skip to the next instruction skips the entire thing. As there are only 10 events, I may as well go through them. Downhill A basic but fairly promising start. Head down the slope, staying within the flags. It’s not terribly exciting, but it’s the best part of the game, as it controls quite well. Slalom You’d think this would be similar to the downhill, but the turning sensitivity is massively increased so you flail about uncontrollably. You need a ton of luck to finish the event, let alone set a high score. K90 Ski Jumping The instructional video explains that you need to go when the timer starts for every event in far too much detail. But when it comes to explaining complicated stuff, it lacks any detail. This just says “use L and R for balance” without telling you what any of the bars mean. I managed to get it to work once. K120 Ski Jumping This version of ski jumping is more about timing and mashing buttons. It works fine. Moguls Mash L and R to the timer, then push the sticks to perform stunts. There’s little to no feedback on if you’re doing things right. I thought I did OK, but came 8th. Oddly, I also set the 3rd best score in the leaderboard. Halfpipe Since the last Konami winter sports games, stunt based sports games have come along massively, with lots of cheap ones. So it shouldn’t be difficult to have a somewhat decent snowboarding minigame here. Instead, you have no control over movement and just select stunts and push the control stick in different directions. Speed Skating The traditional mash a and b for speed 100m style race. You have to slow down slightly on turns. This one isn’t too bad. Bobsleigh This feels very different to the rest of the sports. The bobsleigh course is quite unrealistic, which makes it more exciting, and there are boosts on the track as well. In two player, you both go down at the same time, bumping into each other. With downhill, these are the two good parts of the game. Curling Boules on ice. Matches take ages and this goes in the opposite direction of the bobsleigh, going into a full on simulation as the ice gets damaged throughout the match and impacts how the pucks move. Figure Skating It’s a simplified Dance Dance Revolution using a controller and with a couple of pieces of classical music. On top of the poor events, the game feels rather lacking in other areas. The game has set characters with different stats, none of which have any kind of personality. These kinds of games really suit creating your own characters, so it’s a shame there’s nothing like that here. Poor Remake or remaster? Mario & Sonic do a much better job. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play ESPN International Winter Sports 2002.4 points
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4 points
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Cel Damage 10 psycho toon tear it up in a wild and wacky drive ’em up adventure. NA release: 7th January 2002 EU release: 3rd May 2002 JP release: N/A Developer: Pseudo Interactive Publisher: EA NGC Magazine Score: 60% Mods Used: Widescreen Code Cel Damage is a vehicular combat game with a cel-shaded view. It’s presented as a TV show where these cartoon contestants compete to smash each other to pieces. Screenshots of this game don’t do it justice as everything moves in a stunning way, from well animated characters to the vehicles themselves bending as they turn to capture the brilliant cartoon style. With mayhem flying, it’s quite wonderful. The main mode is all about causing as much damage to your enemies. Dying doesn’t have much consequence other than wasting a bit of time, and respawns are very quick. Because of this, the weapons are immensely satisfying to use – especially one hit weapons like the axe, which causes car parts to bounce around. Because getting back into the action quick, these weapons aren’t even annoying to be on the receiving end of either. It’s pure chaos, in a good way. Another fun mode is the relay race, where you go between two checkpoints multiple times, while still battling it out. Some levels have multiple potential routes, and there are traps dotted around that are very handy for this mode. The third mode has everyone figuring for flags, but that one isn’t very good. To unlock more stuff you have to win matches playing against the computer with more rules, but really the game is just more enjoyable if you unlock everything and just have fun – it is mainly designed for multiplayer, after all. Hidden in the game are also a few different rendering types – I think the “plastic” mode also works really well, and having everyone’s weapons accessible in the game instead of their own special weapon really adds to the chaos and gives you a tun of fun weapons to use. It’s silly, but also a complete blast. Fun Remake or remaster? The game was altered for the PS2 with the name Cel Damage Overdrive. They tried to “balance” things by nerfing the one-hit-kill weapons and adding a health bar. Cel Damage HD is based on that version. I tried that version a few years ago and didn’t think much of it, but enjoyed the original. Official Ways to get the game The HD version of Cel Damage Overdrive is available on Steam, Switch, Xbox and PlayStation.4 points
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That bloody movement platform puzzle in Talus Cave might as well be the death knell for any Four Swords Run! Missing out on the Hero Key requirement by 23 Rupees is heartbreaking, though...4 points
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Sonic Adventure 2: Battle High speed battle with Sonic and Shadow! JP release: 20th December 2001 NA release: 12th February 2002 EU release: 3rd May 2002 Developer: Sonic Team Publisher: Sega NGC Magazine Score: 70% Mods Used: Widescreen Code With Sega dropping support for the Dreamcast early, it was only a matter of time until Sonic appeared on a Nintendo console, and it was on an enhanced port of his latest adventure with an improved multiplayer mode and many tiny tweaks to smooth things out (such as removing the Big the Cat Easter eggs). With Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic came over to GameCube during his attitude years. Which means an amazing soundtrack, from Escape from the City to Live & Learn, alongside a snarky Sonic and a gloomy newcomer called Shadow. The story is cheesy but enjoyable, and you play through the story from two angles – the heroes and the villains – before the final part of the story and its epic finale. Each story comes with three main mission types. Sonic/Shadow have the main platforming sections, with Knuckles/Rogue having a treasure hunt and Tails/Robotnik having shooting sections. This does mean that sometimes you can go a bit too long between the proper Sonic and Shadow stages of the game, due to having too much or the other sections in the game. Not that those sections are bad. The Knuckles and Rogue sections are mini exploration levels with you hunting for three parts of the master emerald. They’re kind of like little 3D Mario style levels, where you have to use clues to locate the hidden emerald shards. They’re a nice distraction from the main event, and suit the climbing and flying of the characters well. The shooting sections for Tails and Dr Robotnik are the main issue with the game. It’s entirely focused on lock on, as there’s not really a proper aiming mechanic. These levels also tend to go on a bit too long, and they really make you long for the next Sonic level. Which brings us to the main stages. These definitely feel a bit janky now, but are still great fun. They’re full of spectacle without taking away too much control, with the more automated sections being short bursts. With some wonderful levels, from escaping a giant truck as Sonic to grinding gravity- defying rails as Shadow (who “skates” in a cool way instead of running), it’s an immense amount of fun. In addition to the main game is the Chao garden, where you hatch and raise the little animals you find within levels – a great incentive to replay them. There are some hidden types to unearth as well as training them to compete in fights and races. You can also send chao to a Game Boy Advance for extra training, although this isn’t as handy as the Dreamcast’s VMU, as you can’t turn the device off, but it gets the job done. All in all, Sonic Adventure 2 is rough around the edges but still great for the most part. There’s a lot to love and if you spend enough time perfecting the game, you unlock a neat Green Hill Zone level, a level that is still rarely seen in Sonic games. Great Remake or remaster? This game needs a bit if sprucing up and a remaster with some effort put into it. Official Ways to get the game Sonic Adventure 2 is available on Steam and Xbox, with the Battle features (Chao Karate and multiplayer extras) as additional DLC.4 points
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My favourite of the original trilogy getting a reference in a modern game makes me very happy.4 points
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4 points
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The Simpsons Road Rage Move your keister, Meister. NA release: 19th December 2001 EU release: 17th May 2002 JP release: N/A Developer: Radical Entertainment Publisher: EA NGC Magazine Score: 52% Mods Used: Widescreen Code The Simpsons Road Rage is a shameless rip off of Crazy Taxi. Which makes me feel somewhat guilty because I like Road Rage more than Crazy Taxi. The basic premise is identical: you’re in a taxi, pick up passengers and race to their destination before the time runs out, following the guidance of a large arrow at the top of the screen. There are a few differences. The core driving is much simpler. Spinning around and turning is very easy, but there are no special moves like Crazy Taxi’s dash. Some of the other nuances of Crazy Taxi are gone, such as how parking close but safely next to the person you pick up is important. In Road Rage, the timer pauses when picking people up, so it’s not something you have to worry about. This makes it simpler to play, so it’s easier to enjoy initially, but not as deep. But there are things it has going for it. The game captures the style of The Simpsons extremely well, with loads of references littered everywhere. And as this was made during the golden age of the show, so much stuff was a reference I still remember, even though I haven’t seen the show for many years. The voice acting is also true to the show, and while some lines do get annoying after a while, you unlock new characters at a steady pace, opening up new interactions to listen to. Which is another thing the game does right: stuff to unlock to keep you coming back. On top of the large cast of Simpsons characters, there are also six maps to unlock, covering various locations in Springfield. Some have things in small spaces, others are more spread out, and the Power Plant is just awful. Each map has plenty of shortcuts to discover to help you out, so learning the maps is still vital for a high score. One odd thing is that on the minimap, these maps are all connected, so I wonder if they were attempting having them all available in the Sunday drive mode. There’s also a woeful missions mode, only worth it for the cool extra car for Homer. While the amount of copying is appalling, it’s just so much fun that you just want one more go, especially with the destruction you cause and being able to hit Simpsons characters and watch them bounce around. Again! Fun Remake or remaster? It would be nice to see a re-release of this in a Simpsons compilation. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play The Simpsons Road Rage.4 points
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I will admit I thought this was for the GameCube version before I went looking and realised it was the N64 one but whatever... One little touch I like about the Japanese box art is how it's made to look like a postcard The stamps are the most obvious of course, but the little red boxes for the postcode is a neat touch.4 points
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Animal Crossing. I have so many fond memories of that game and the joys it bought. It was the first time I ever bought an import copy of a game along with the FreeLoader to play it. I think the game arrived like 3 days before the FreeLaoder so I had to wait. I made so many friends from a site that I found when I started playing the game, ACC, Animal Crossing Community. Still talk to some today, and I was there like 20 years ago when the game came out. There were two thing I did that I never saw anywhere else on the internet. One, and remember this was before saving photos directly was a thing, I took a photo of every inch of the map and stitched them all together to form (what may be) the only full town photo ever. https://www.bowserbasher.com/images/ACImages/GCFullTownImages/ACTheShireFull.jpg The second was the fabled "huge shadow" in the ocean when you went to the GBA island. I remember hearing about it and seeing people use codes to walk on the water to see it, but I had never seen an actual image of the thing, especially in unedited gameplay. I was playing one day, went over to the island and suddenly saw it. Luckily my camera was right by me and I snapped the only known photo (that I know of). https://www.bowserbasher.com/images/ACImages/GCImages/ACGiantShadow.jpg Sorry for the links instead of images, I think my site is so out of date that things just aren't working right. I last updated it like 10 years ago. Things work, it's just the way I did my image gallery seems to be broken.4 points
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Animal Crossing Welcome to Animal Crossing, where something happens every day-whether you’re here or not. JP release: 14th December 2001 NA release: 16th September 2002 AU release: 17th October 2003 EU release: 24th September 2004 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo NGC Magazine Score: 90% Mods Used: Widescreen Code Animal Crossing was a game born from the 64DD. The extra space for saving games led to the idea of a game that not only grows with the player, but also grows on its own, which led to a clock being implemented into the 64DD. As development of the 64DD struggled, many features were cut for the initial Japan-only N64 release. There are a few different versions of Animal Crossing. For the original Japanese release, many of the original plans were implemented into the game, such as the museum and design shop, with the North American release adding some extra features, such as e-Reader support. The Japanese then had another release with massively increased e-Reader support (and some other changes), before finally Australia (and a year later, Europe) finally got the game, based on the North American version. While the E+ version does have an English patch, I opted for the PAL version due to understanding the holidays more and a sensible date format. Animal Crossing isn’t a game you play in a single setting, but designed more for short visits multiple times a week over a long period of time – which is how I’m playing the game to get a close to authentic experience – I’ll be refraining with messing with the clock, which the game can sometimes tell you off for doing. Interactions As you spend time on your island, you’ll meet other residents that you can talk to. These are brief conversations, and you’ll sometimes be asked stuff. One surprising thing is how mean some of the villagers can be, although they’ll likely be nice again the following day. One problem I had was that you can often get the same conversations from multiple villagers on the same day – they’re often lumped into personality types, which will act in the same way. You can also type out letters to send to the residents, where they’ll respond. No matter what, I couldn’t get a single response other than “I can’t understand you”, no matter how simple I made my letters. It just doesn’t seem to work at all. Still, it’s nice talking to them all each day, and new residents will move into your village over time. Events Events are a large part of Animal Crossing. On certain days, like Halloween or Christmas, there will be an in-game event. It’s wonderful being able to attend these events, but if you’re busy in real life, you either have to miss it completely or mess with the clock on your system. While this goes against the spirit of the game, it really is necessary to get the full enjoyment if you can only play it later on at night, as you’ll find many things closed and your residents asleep. The real time aspect of Animal Crossing is both a blessing and a curse, but I believe a middle ground could be found as the game could cater to the user more. Collecting There are lots of bugs, fish and fossils to find in your village, some of which only appear at certain times of the year. Your village has a museum that you can donate one of each animal or item to, and exploring the museum lets you read up more on each object. It’s something that’s great to work towards as the years go by. There’s also a lot of furniture to collect. A few items will be available from Nook’s shop each day, while sometimes you’ll receive some as gifts from animals or events. Sometimes, you’ll talk to an animal and they’ll force you to give up or trade your new item, which can be frustrating. Your furniture can be placed in your home, which you can pay to make bigger or add more rooms, but there’s only limited space for your furniture. Luckily, once you have an item once, you can then re-order it from the catalogue at Nok’s shop and be sent it in the post. Animal Island If you have a Game Boy Advance connected, you can visit a little tropical island. Here you can find some unique fruit and a special villager. There’s not a massive amount of stuff to do while there, but when you leave, you can transfer the island to a Game Boy Advance. Here, you can get them to eat fruit and leave items behind for them to use – they like fishing, for example. Improving their mood will make them leave bells and other surprises. One slight issue with the GBA was its lack of storage, which meant that all data is lost when you turn it off. It does have a sleep mode to help conserve battery, although that probably doesn’t help if you notice your GBA is low on battery and changing them turns it off. Still, it’s a nice little feature. NES games As you play the game, you’ll sometimes discover NES consoles that come with a game. Put these in your house and you’ll be able to play them – as in properly play the full, original games. You can even transfer the games to a Game Boy Advance to take with you (until you turn the power off). Sometimes these are in the shop, some had to be scanned via eReader, one can only be found on the island and one can only be obtained by cheating (or using an unreleased password in the Japanese version). There was also a NES without a game which held an interesting secret that wasn’t uncovered until much later. This special NES can load any properly formatted NES ROM file from the memory card. People found references to this being done in the N64 version (with special Controller Paks with Ice Climber being in a competition), but it was never officially used for the GameCube version. The NES game functionality unfortunately never returned in later games due to services like the Virtual Console. Overall Animal Crossing is a rather wonderful experience. It’s calm and relaxing and something nice to visit occasionally. There are some annoying aspects, as you need to decide if you’re going to miss events or mess with the game. Animal Crossing can also feel depressing to come back to if you leave the game for a while, as animals will leave and weeds will cover your village the next time you return. But these aspects are what makes the game feel alive, so you make do for the good moments. Great Remake or remaster? It would be nice for a version with the e+ content added into the main game, but I don’t think Nintendo will ever re-release an Animal Crossing game. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Animal Crossing.4 points
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Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones has been added to the service! Given that it got a game on NSO and a soundtrack upload on the Nintendo Music app, I had to check – and the 20th, a few days ago, marked Fire Emblem's 35th anniversary, so that'll explain it!4 points
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Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure Have a good time at Universal Studios with Woody Woodpecker. JP release: 7th December 2001 NA release: 18th December 2001 EU release: 3rd May 2002 Developer: Nai’a Digital Works Publisher: Kemco NGC Magazine Score: 24% Mods Used: Widescreen Hack Often said to be the worst game on GameCube. I’ll have to see how it compares when I’ve made it further into my GameCube games, but it’s certainly the first terrible game on the GameCube. You’re a boy visiting Universal Studios, with free reign of the park. Well, sort of. Navigating Universal Studios is apparently utter hell. This game features pre-render backgrounds and fixed camera angles, with no care taken on how they flow with each other, as the orientation changes on every single screen. Sometimes even finding your character is a challenge, as they’ll be far in the distance, obscured by other park visitors. ET Adventure Most likely you’ll bump into ET Adventure for your first minigame. This is a terrible Excitebike-style game where you slowly cycle to the right and go over jumps. Actually landing is pretty much impossible, so you’ll fall over constantly – thankfully, the game is so easy that you’ll have no problems beating it while falling over every few seconds. With this out of the way, the next time you go to an attraction, there will be a queue, and you’ll be unable to answer. You can buy hats to access events, using points you earn from completing attractions, meeting mascots and picking up rubbish. To be fair to the game, the amount of hassle from this set-up is nowhere near as bad as I’ve heard other people say it is. From the ET minigame, a quiz and some interactions, I had enough points for three hats and was given an e-pass that lets me access another for a single attempt, so I didn’t spend that much time needing to collect points. That said, trying to navigate the park to find the other events, as well as the immensely tiny hidden Universal Studios letters, makes even that an unpleasant experience. With that said, here’s my rundown on the other events. Back to the Future: The Ride This is the only minigame that’s properly based on the ride itself. You need to chase Biff as he races through the first three locations from the ride: Hill Valley, an ice level and a lava world. You have a surprisingly strict time limit so you can’t afford to hit the walls. There’s not much to the game, but it’s probably the best one in the package. Jurassic Park An on-rails shooter. Kill as many dinosaurs as possible, including the ones that aren’t a danger to you. You can hold A to lock-on multiple times and there’s a needlessly robust points system. The problem is that the minigame is both boring and goes on for far too long. If it wasn’t for the music, you’d barely tell that this was related to Jurassic Park, as it looks and feels like a knock-off. Waterworld Pick a seat and watch a 5 second CGI clip of a prop plane landing into water. If they wanted to discourage people from seeing the actual attraction, they managed to do a great job at that. Jaws The shark from Jaws (which this minigame incorrectly calls Jaws) is attacking the Orca. It’s full of barrels, so many that you’ll think they’ll need a bigger boat. On the top right are two different displays showing where the shark will head over from, so just go there and throw a barrel at him. Immensely simple and easy. The Wild Wild Wild West This is loosely based on a stunt show at the park, not related to the fun Wild Wild West film from Warner Bros. The original show features fun stunts, fights and explosions. Here you shoot cans and targets. Focus on the cardboard cut-out and the bonus targets and you’ll win with zero effort. Backdraft Everyone knows and loves Backdraft, right? the film [googles] where Kurt Russel becomes a firefighter to impress his brother. Apparently it got a Direct-to-DVD sequel in 2019. This is probably the closest to an actual minigame, as you explore a burning warehouse (with bad camera angles), putting out fires and rescuing people to run into. This one also goes on for far too long. And that’s Universal Studios. A game where you get to explore a theme park and play minigames based on the rides is definitely a good idea, but this is just a terrible attempt at doing so, partly from how horrible navigating the park is to how soulless all the games feel. The music from the films seems like the only elements actually used, with zero meaningful interaction with the characters (other than the annoying and deplorable Woody Woodpecker). It’s amazing how this doesn’t just fail as a game, but also as an advertisement, as it makes Universal Studios look like a bad place to visit. The game doesn’t even make it clear that it’s based on the Japan park, not the main one in Orlando. Worst Remake or remaster? This idea would be interesting if it were done well, it could even be an interactive website. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure on Nintendo GameCube, but you can experience Nintendo at Universal Studios.4 points
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This is why the game prices have been hiked, to pay for Paul Rudd!4 points
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Super Smash Bros. Melee was my favourite game ever for nearly two decades. Only Ultimate surpassed it. I never really felt the appeal behind Subspace Emissary (excessively repetitive and dull), even if it had the right idea. Adventure Mode in Melee was quick, to the point, and kept all of its ideas focused. Like, if a stage in SE was more fun with, say, Sonic than any other character, there was no real reason to explore and find that out. Melee Adventure kept its levels short and replayable, and as a result, I found out, for example, which characters handled the F-Zero level better (Capt.Falcon can just run through it like a champ, but figuring out how to keep myself airborne with Jigglypuff was a legit challenge) The personalized levels in Break the Targets was also an incredible way to learn the ins and outs of various characters. I learned to wall jump thanks to this mode. And that's just single-player, because also in multi-player there's stuff that it did really well. Even modern Smash games don't do the cheeky bonuses at the end of matches, nor do they measure SDs properly. Finally, the gamefeel was incredible, really good use of rumble (whenever you landed a good hit, you felt it). By comparison, Brawl was like punching with pillows. Melee was also quite fast, which made for a very exciting spectacle. I do admit it made it harder to play for beginners. Thankfully, Ultimate matches Melee in the gamefeel area, while still being very accommodating for beginners (partly because there are many more beginner-friendly stages as well in Ultimate). And there's a lot more to gush about Melee. That's why I still put it at the top of any list where I rank my favourite GCN games.4 points
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This made me remember we did discuss what a new entry might look like a few years back: @Dcubed was right about it being a launch window game!4 points
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The game looks unbelievable! I'm feeling genuine excitement for a game for the first time in ages!4 points