Dcubed

"Gimmick", AKA novel new mechanics. I would hope that any new sequel would bring in new, novel and major new ideas! Otherwise, why even bother making a new game?

HOLY SHIT!!! ONLINE PANEL DE PON!?!? Uhm... yes? I’ll take that all over my face, yes please!

Artistically, it looks nigh on identical to Color Splash. The origami enemies are about the only thing that really visually distinguishes it from its predecessor. I'm actually a bit disapointed that it looks so incredibly similar (It makes perfect sense to reuse the previous game's engine and assets; they were absolutely gorgeous to begin with. But it is a bit of shame that they didn't really try and distinguish it a bit more...). Honestly, you could take a random screenshot from either game and I probably couldn't tell which was from which game. Intelligent Systems really should be working on more than PMTOK though... They're Nintendo's second biggest studio outside of EPD and typically work on around 3-4 games at a time; even in the Wii U/3DS era they were pulling this off. Hell, PMTOK is actually coming out incredibly late for them, basically 4 years after Color Splash (and this is an asset reuse sequel! It was almost certainly finished last year). I wouldn't be surprised if Intelligent Systems have something else that's ready for release this year... maybe even two games! They're really overdue Switch games at this point, especially since they basically didn't work on Three Houses at all! (it's shocking that it has taken 3 and a half years since the Switch's release for Intelligent Systems to release anything for it!)

And it looks like the TG16 mini itself is coming out in the US next week! Let's hope that the EU release isn't far off now.

Surprise surprise... people are happy and excited for this one, despite it not being a clone of TTYD; PURELY because it’s on Switch and doesn’t have the 2016 Cheap Spinoff negative narrative colouring people’s impressions... Color Splash got done proper dirty... Fucking injustice...

WHAT THE FUCK!? It’s still coming out in July!?!? Wasn't expecting it to actually make its date! Guess it must’ve been another Color Splash situation and the game was actually finished months ago, before COVID struck (Color Splash was actually finished 6 months before it’s release date).

Was thinking that UE5 seemed long overdue. Seems promising, we'll have to see if its lofty promises actually translate into reduced development time and cost this time. I remember all the hype surrounding global illumination last time and that didn't exactly pan out in the end...

I wanted to keep my course to strictly only having enemies that actually appear in SMB2. So that means Koopa Troopas, Bobombs and Pokey’s only. From there, I made use of the variants that were available and the idea behind the Evil Pokey Wall Of Doom came about pretty much by itself. After that? the rest of the level just really ended up writing itself

Right! I’ve played them all now. Thoughts... @Vileplume2000 Really good level overall. I liked the concept, thought it was very clever how you built the level around SMB2 Mario’s ability to ride enemies. It was well paced, interesting throughout and also hilarious how you could keep riding the bullet bill to your doom at the start I wouldn’t say it felt especially like a SMB2 level, but it made really good use of the SMB2 mushroom nonetheless. The only real negative I have with the level is the fact that the first pipe is a bit awkward to get to if you are unlucky enough to hit the P-Switch from anything other than the front bullet bill; you end up giving yourself very little time. Good stuff! Enjoyed this @Sméagol Your level does feel like a legit SMB2 level! Great job! You do a great job of picking out elements from various SMB2 stages; and I especially loved the trick you pulled with using the enemy throw to get across spikes. Very clever! (As is the secret path at the start ). Your Birdo boss battle is also absolute genius, and I probably wouldn’t have thought of something that good myself. Definitely one of your better stages. I also really enjoyed this one! @RedShell You also really managed to really capture the look and feel of a SMB2 level here. Great job as always! Lots of secrets, hidden areas and tricks here make for a really fun level. Man oh man though do you have to WORK for Baby Face here! Really enjoyed this one too! Finally, I do have to say... I LOVE how all of us ended up having a slot machine of sorts at the end of our levels! Great minds think alike obviously Overall, there’s no clear winner this time around, they’re all very close... but I think I’m gonna give my vote to @Sméagol this time. The Birdo battle just manages to tip the scale for me

The year is saved!!

Right! Hard Block Bug is now fixed! It’s now (mostly) softlock free!

Ahh fucknuts, I actually forgot to move that hard block back down! I was experimenting with its position and had actually meant to put it back down so that you could go back if you missed the flying block! I’ll have to reupload it now

But the password entry music is SO GOOD! Best Password Entry Music Ever!

Yeah, we're screwed. We're gonna end up with half the country dead by the end of this.

Right! Mine's up!

It's a double feature! As both my NE Maker Showcase May course AND a brand new, completely unrelated course are now up for your enjoyment! No peeking at the other one until tomorrow though!

The truth is that you don't need a good launch lineup to have a successful console. Sony have always had crap launch lineups, and it has never stopped them from having successful consoles. By contrast, more consoles have had good launch lineups and have craterered, than the opposite. Sony and Microsoft could launch their next consoles with literally no exclusive games whatsoever; not even "next-gen" exclusive games (and this is actually looking very likely at this point), and they will still have successful consoles. While a good launch is important, the actual launch lineup rarely matters in the long-haul. What is important is a good price, an attractive hook, a consistent cascade of titles post-launch (Nintendo's usual No1 screw up) and just not fucking up something tremendously.

Ahahaha! You actually caught my message there? That's great. I actually really enjoyed your ghost house level. Definitely one of your best! (And a very crafty use of duplicate rooms; I cracked a big smile once I figured out what you were doing with it ). That softlock is really unfortunate though... especially since it's literally right after a checkpoint, meaning that you have no choice but to completely quit out of the level and start over from scratch (and it's quite long up until that point too). Outside of that issue though I enjoyed it! You should do more puzzle/ghost house type levels I reckon. You're quite good at it!

THIS!!! This SO much!! Why!?!? Why doesn't it just auto-add a space!? ItMakesTheWholeThingCompletelyUseless!

BTW @RedShell I had no idea that you had made a TLOZ course! I just played it. It was awesome!! The dungeon puzzle with the door had me legit stumped for a good while... And I found the greatest prize of them all... As usual, you knocked it out of the park! Great stuff

BOOM! Here's an extra stupid course, just for you @Sméagol @RedShell @darksnowman @Nicktendo @Vileplume2000 @Glen-i

Sorry guys, I can’t make tonight’s race I’m afraid.

OMG!! It’s Glen-I’s dream game!!! Paging @Glen-i!!! PAGING @Glen-i!!!!

So I missed the window for last month’s N-E Maker challenge... that doesn’t mean that I can’t make a level for it anyway! I’ve had this idea ever since last month’s course theme was announced, but never found the time to make it until now. @Sméagol @RedShell @darksnowman @Nicktendo @Vileplume2000 I’m keen to hear what you guys think