James McGeachie

I'm not sure if it has been expressed already, but can I just say I love the Pirahna plant item in this game. It's so devastating when around a pack. It is sad though when it vanishes just as you're about to catch someone. It does make corners slightly harder to turn due to the varying speed but I guess that balances it a bit. On the other hand I really don't like the boomerang. Maybe if it was lower and heavier I'd prefer it. It's far more difficult to aim than a shell and isn't really fun to use, although maybe I'm missing the complexities of boomerang tactics or something.

I'm glad Iwata got voted back in. I have issues with how the company is being run, but there's much more to that culture of sticking to their guns than just Iwata. It's not like if you take him away that all the other directors start instructing developers to make hardcore games and commission powerful hardware. It's also not like Miyamoto suddenly drops his toy experiments and works on a new Mario or Zelda revolution. I like Iwata because I like the current Nintendo set up, with the comedy between Iwata and Reggie, the Iwata asks interviews, the Nintendo Directs, etc. I'd rather not lose all that, I enjoy it and kicking Iwata wouldn't magically save Nintendo. I really hope though that he realises just how crucial this time is to go forward. They've gained a bit of momentum just now from Mario Kart 8 sales, I hope he takes that forward.

It's not an "extra bit" though. The map is a standard feature of Mario Kart. The problem is Nintendo decided to just throw it on the Gamepad like that was a no brainer, without any customisation option allowing it to be overlaid on the TV. That would've been simple enough and would've meant it would be on the gamepad when you duplicate the screen. I play the game on the gamepad only fairly regularly and it does irritate me that it limits my ability to play strategically. I can't decide to fall into 2nd if I can't see if someone else just got a blue shell. I don't know if someone behind me has a red shell or not and therefore if it's safe for me to drop my banana just now. It's annoying.

But it's main use is to make you curse in first place that you decided to drop your banana and take another item box, especially when you end up getting slammed with a red shell seconds later. :P

I know it's not directly comparative, I'm just suggesting that the initial illusion of openness isn't necessarily representative of the final game. With TP it wasn't just that screen, I recall early gameplay footage of horseback fights seeming to suggest there was combat on open plains that were more vast than the sections in the final game. Of course the Wii U's tech is far beyond the gamecube and large open environments are more possible now than ever. There's no reason why other games on other systems should be able to do it and Zelda not be able to. I just hope they stick with that direction though because it will require then staying true to their initial vision and not conforming to a traditional format as development continues.

I have my doubts too. When I saw this screen of TP back in the day, I imagined running across a huge landscape as far as the hills in the background. Without loading screens between areas. http://assets2.ignimgs.com/2004/11/24/the-legend-of-zelda-gcn-20041123110232807-996708.jpg That didn't come to pass. I worry that even if it is a large world it'll still be segmented into little parts and wont really have that sense of exploration. For a game to feel truly open world, I think it needs to be consistently streaming and be one big area.

Can I just note that after seeing Skyward Sword again briefly, it's incredible how much better this new game looks (and I thought Skyward Sword was gorgeous to be honest).

The new version of this game has reached original Yoshi's Island levels of art style perfection I'd say. That's all well and good, but if it plays like the last few Yoshi's Island games, i.e. take the key gameplay concepts of YI and make as generic a platformer as possible, then it's still going to be a shit game. Hopefully they don't think that the yarn unravelling and co-op is enough and end creativity there. Use Yoshi for what he's meant for Nintendo, show us absolutely genius platformer design!

I want to see footage of the original running on Wii U. That will make or break this purchase for me. Apparently it's 60fps but ehh, I want to see comparisons. I've never played the original. If it's included and runs well, then this is a no brainer purchase.

I didn't miss horse riding, but I missed being able to ride something at night in a haunting atmosphere (here's to you, Twilight Princess).

It's so hard to get excited for Crackdown. The original was fun because it filled that period early in the generation where there weren't many sandbox games and gave you super powers to play with. That role has now been taken by many games since then. This trailer doesn't suggest they're changing direction much either.

MS's conference was like an hour and a half today and tbh there wasn't that much filler. I really hope the Digital Event isn't 30 minutes, that's sounds shite.

I dunno about that. It depends how you use the items. A single mushroom gives you access to offroad shortcuts, which is when it's used best for catch up. A star allows the same and as long as you're not nightmarishly far behind and then you can plough through the people ahead. A golden mushroom only is really useless when you just continually slam the button because then you just ram walls. I would probably agree that it's not quite as easy to go from last to first in this game as it was in MKWii (going by memory) but that's probably a good thing if it is true. I do wish Mario Kart could overcome the dreaded scenario though where you get shelled, then banged into by another racer, then shelled again, then fall off the track. I don't know why Nintendo don't do temporary invincibility. I don't think that's any worse in this game though than in MKWii.

I got a blue shell in third place and a crazy 8 in 3rd too. Wut.

Those are also my gripes. I mean yeah Nintendo the game is pretty, but I also want to see if someone is about to use lightning before I go to fly over a bottomless pit and looking down to my hands is taking my attention off the road for longer than I'd like. Anyway mostly impressed so far though. Love the haunted mansion track. Such polish on this game.

I have played the game and did think it was junk, but my actual hatred stems more from this.

Every so often I harp on about this, but the fact there wasn't a 2D Metroid on the DS makes absolutely no sense to me. No sense at all. The possibilities... -Castlevania level visual fidelity -Improved sound for even greater moody atmosphere -Dual screen gameplay (imagine wall jumping or shinesparking between 2 screens) -Genuinely good touch screen enhancements e.g. mark an area on a map you know has a secret you can't access yet. I mean that's just scratching the surface. The DS was the perfect fit for 2D Metroid. There was so much potential...so much...

I don't think I've ever been as desperate to play a game as I was to play Zero Mission in 2004. I remember a rom leaked or something, or the game was out somewhere else before PAL (I forget exactly) and I was so eager I rushed through part of the game on an emulator just to get to this area, because I wanted to hear the music remix. After that I just waited until I had the retail copy in my hands and then played it over and over until I got every ending. It doesn't quite pip Super Metroid for me as for me SM's atmosphere is untouchable and the game is the perfect blend of horror, sci fi and adventure, however it does have the best gameplay of any 2D Metroid. I loved how they embraced sequence breaking as a concept too. The fact we live in a world where it's been 10 fucking years since the last 2D Metroid is near incomprehensible to me and thoroughly maddening.

If you're going to bother with an upgraded port, don't just make it widescreen and add texture filtering. Jesus Christ. I appreciate it would be a lot more time and money to remodel and reskin the game but it looks like a turd smeared in vaseline.

If he's unwilling to change direction, yes. If he finally gets it and steers a different course, no. If the different direction is just to try and badly capitalise on the mobile market, super yes.

Arguably my favourite 3D Zelda game. I loved the world. Were the sidequests perfect? No. Did the overworld have the same sense of being a complete interconnected world that other entires do? Not quite. Regardless of that, I loved its atmosphere. I loved its life. The art made every area of the game wondrous to me. Walking through that forest, swinging on vines, climbing up trees. Complete overworld or not, I was exploring some fantastic areas and I was happy to be doing so. Then there's Skyloft. I much prefer it to the main town islands from Wind Waker. You're from Skyloft and it feels like home. The characters and sidequests they provide aren't quite up to Majora's Mask level but nothing probably ever will be because of the design of that game. I still enjoyed everything they had to offer, even if it was a fetch quest of some sort, because I was immersed in the world. Motion controls? A great addition. The swordplay in boss fights is excellent. It works and it should never go back. If it does, then we lose the nuance it brought to combat. I want that to remain. Storyline was nice. As an origin story it works well. It didn't hit the sense of full scale epic that Twilight Princess perhaps reached, but I do think it was a well spun tale in its own right. Flaws for me: Dungeon backtracking, eh. I like exploring areas of the world again. Going deep into the hearts of dungeons again is less fun and does come across a bit lazy. Night flying should be in. Why isn't it? There's no equivalent of riding Epona on horseback through the night. Music is not the best the series has had, by a decent margin. It's well arranged and works well but yeah, there could definitely be more in the way of memorable tracks. Fi definitely isn't as good a companion as Midna. Anyway, overall I loved the experience. I didn't want to leave the gameworld. I felt more immersed in it than I did in Hyrule of OOT or TP. Although it was limited in similar ways, I feel like there's more of a sense of life in the game world than in the great sea in Wind Waker. Majora's Mask has an excellent world but the sense that you can't take your time to soak it in (which is good in its own right though). I think the amount of time you want to invest in a Zelda game and how good an impression it leaves on you depends on how you feel about its world. Skyward Sword is one of my favourite worlds and therefore I love the game.

^It's not exactly a "door". Maybe that's enough of a clue for him. :P I was so satisfied when I figured out how to get in there. It's just a shame they relegate most of the more difficult to access areas for optional items. Quite a few times some of the rooms that required more thought to get into were just fairy rooms and I was like "Why?"

Finished this today. Still have a few things to collect but completed the main game. As someone who played LTTP as a kid and still remembers many key moments as some of gaming's finest (thinking I was finishing the game when I got to the dark world and it was only just beginning, pulling the master sword, watching the credits roll and oh so many more), I thought this was a worthy sequel. The puzzle design was all extremely tight. Nothing was obnoxiously over-hinted, the hand holding of recent times took a step back and the game was so much better for it. The new wall mechanic was well used throughout the game and thankfully was never brushed aside or treated like a gimmick. It was a valuable addition and helped to freshen up the dungeons vs. Link to the past. 3D is used very well in the game, I'd say possibly the best use I've encountered on the system. It's hardly essential, but there's some moments where it definitely enhances the experience. Death mountain's massive lava chamber is a prime example. Storyline was barely there, but what was in place seemed like a suitable set-up for a sequel...although perhaps I would've preferred if a certain someone was present in more than just body. Anyway, there is one issue I have with the game though...and it's a pretty notable one. Why does it have to be so easy? Nintendo, I get it, you want games to be accessible. Fine, but the fact of the matter is that I don't think LTTP was ever held back by being a decent challenge. I don't think kids and parents ranted in fury about it and took their games back. They loved it. Although most of the puzzles are well designed, they're almost all self-contained within one room. There's no equivalent of the ice world block puzzle in LTTP for example, puzzles that required looking at the whole dungeon to solve. Also, boss fights are all far too easy. I died in a boss fight once I think. It was the Helmasaur King and it was only because it was the first dark world dungeon I challenged, I didn't have the pegasus boots yet and I didn't think to hide in the walls initially when he was rampaging. After that I rarely even came to half health in boss fights, including the finale. So, great game as a whole and an incredibly nostalgic experience...just wish Nintendo wasn't afraid to make you suffer a bit. It's never going to be Dark Souls, but they should go back to at least their old difficulty standard. EDIT: I believe my dungeon order was...

So is the gameplay of Dynasty warriors still just running around large battlefields, killing hundreds of enemies and targeting high ranking officers? If so, this seems like an absolutely awful combination with Zelda? That would suggest that the game has roughly as much depth as this trailer suggests, hacking and slashing at waves in generic and relatively shitty looking environments. I guess maybe they'll stick a named character/boss from the series somewhere and you'll have to fight them. Wooh. The trailer actually reminded me of that 3D Soul Calibur game on the Wii. Soulcalibur Legends was it? Yeah, not a good thing. The game looks something like a 10 year old's conception of a good Zelda game "Link looks really cool and realistic and fights loads of bad guys and kills them all".