A Switch in Time (General Switch Chat II)

Nope, no Switch Player for me, I'm all about Super FX.
I just wish it came out in paper format
Even though that's a stupid wish for me right now, the fact its on my kindle is the reason its getting read on the Tokyo Metro.

I still sub to them but like Andy said about The VITA Lounge which they used to do, as the game was on VITA or in this case the Switch they would give decent score regardless of what it is and they use the 5 point system which is muh.

Scullion was sent this as a question would Nintendo or someone bring back a magazine, which he thought no as clearly don't need one to flog systems.

Teslagrad is a 82% rated game on Metacritic, though and is anything above a 8 essential?

I miss print journalism but I don't think that's the mag for me.

@mas: if it's above an 8 in a genre you like, it probably is essential, I'd say. Otherwise... that's tougher to back up.

@the general discussion: I feel that I miss gaming magazines but I know I wouldn't read them these days. I've forced myself to stop buying the occasional issue of EDGE because they go into the recycling bin a few months later with the large majority unread. That said, a spiritual successor to NGamer would be welcome as. Natch.

Castle was tweeting about NGamer only today and it made me sad. In an Internet era where reviews are instant, I still miss NGamer for its humorous takes on Nintendo and Nintendo news. That's something most sites don't offer: it's a niche ready for the taking. It's not something Switch Player (or, I'll wager, Edge/Super FX) seem to have cottoned onto.

masofdas wrote:

Teslagrad is a 82% rated game on Metacritic, though and is anything above a 8 essential?

It is... I can't believe Teslagrad's 80+ though. It felt like a solid 60-70%-er to me. Not that I got far in.

That's what gintendo.co.uk is for

Although Super FX does have a little more of that NGamer spirit, as it comes from the ol' Midnight Resistance stable.

If Super FX don't have a 'Worldy Bloke' type character called 'Chip', then I'm out.

Hmm, that might just have sold me on taking a look at Super FX...

I saw a tweet late last night that Owlboy is now available on the Switch eShop.

The_Jaster wrote:

I saw a tweet late last night that Owlboy is now available on the Switch eShop.

To much ¥£$€ for me

Might graduate to Owlboy once I've finished yer game Celeste; I like the look of it a great deal.

OH GOD DAMN IT (buys, schedules sixth gaming 'audition')

I think I might be booking in an indie double bill with both Celeste and Owlboy out on Switch now. Too many games!

masofdas wrote:

To much ¥£$€ for me

Sell your Xbox for it, get a new one next month.

I could buy it no problem but doesn't look like something worth £19 to me and even more so with Celeste.

By that, do you mean it doesn't look worth shelling out £19 in comparison with Celeste, or that Celeste doesn't look worth shelling out £19 for?

From my brief experience, the former is right and the latter is wrong.

Neither look like something worth £19

I hope to be able to contradict you, now that I'm going to sit down with it and give it some time.

Anyway, I have another topic of conversation, potentially. What with games like Celeste, Shovel Knight, and other such games being both common and good on the indie scene, I have to say my trepidation for Nintendo's own 2D platformers has increased. I can't think of one that truly blew my mind since Kirby's Epic Yarn.

I'm thinking of Donkey Kong, Mario, Yoshi, Kirby: all of them starting to feel a bit tired in two dimensions, when compared to the magic I felt at the start of Celeste. I can't get excited for the new Yoshi game, or Star Allies, or the inevitable New Super Mario Bros. Switch.

Is it just me? If it isn't, any ideas for what could re-inject some life into Ninty's own 2D superstars? An obvious one perhaps is missing a generation, although Yoshi tried that with the Wii (which I maintain would have been perfect for egg-aiming) and look what that did to him.

I imagine going down a Sonic Mania-esque road and bringing in a dream team of superfan programmers would do the trick. I'm also going to restate my suggestion of New Super Mario World, with everything that'll entail (i.e. Switch Palaces (because of obvious yes) and the ability to take Yoshi from one level to the next).

In terms of Kirby Star Allies, I know exactly what we'll get when we boot that up and that doesn't worry me; I like Kirby games for their undemanding fun. Yoshi needs to go back to the very basics but not so slavishly as certain of his games have managed: a true and inventive sequel to Yoshi's Island, basically. Finally, I vote for the 2D return of Wario. Wario Lands 2, 3 and 4 are excellent - something like them but with the beauty of Shake Dimension would be aces.

Tropical Freeze was pretty good.

But yeah, 2D Nintendo all feels pretty stale at this point. The best 2D Mario of the past 20 years was the 2D bits in Odyssey! It needs some inventiveness and a visual overhaul, but I doubt it'll happen with NSMB being a fairly reliable earner.

Going back to the whole Switch online talk and making the subscription worth the money, had a thought that introducing Download Play as an exclusive feature would help bulk up the package. Purely wishful thinking of course but would be a nice addition. They could also throw in the Pokemon Bank service as well when the Switch version launches.

Going back to the 2D platformer talk... (With apologies, because I have never been much of an online person apart from downloadable games.)

I'm glad it's not just me who thinks they've stagnated. Even DKCTF was a rehash of DKCR, which was good but not SMW or KEY-level good.

ZeroJones wrote:

I'm also going to restate my suggestion of New Super Mario World, with everything that'll entail (i.e. Switch Palaces (because of obvious yes) and the ability to take Yoshi from one level to the next).

Intriguing... Would it have the same art style, this hypothetical game of yours? Like Drunka, I think that's the big problem with the 'New Super Mario...' series now. They all seem too samey.

ZeroJones wrote:

In terms of Kirby Star Allies, I know exactly what we'll get when we boot that up and that doesn't worry me; I like Kirby games for their undemanding fun.

Trouble is, they've been more than that in the past. I've mentioned KEY, but Mass Attack and Canvas Curse also did something different. That's what I'd like to see again from the pink ball.

ZeroJones wrote:

Finally, I vote for the 2D return of Wario. Wario Lands 2, 3 and 4 are excellent - something like them but with the beauty of Shake Dimension would be aces.

Except without the really creepy music tracks from 4, right?

And nobody's even brought up the footnotes that were Chibi Robo: Zip Lash and Hey! Pikmin yet...

Balladeer wrote:

ZeroJones wrote:

I'm also going to restate my suggestion of New Super Mario World, with everything that'll entail (i.e. Switch Palaces (because of obvious yes) and the ability to take Yoshi from one level to the next).

Intriguing...  Would it have the same art style, this hypothetical game of yours?  Like Drunka, I think that's the big problem with the 'New Super Mario...' series now.  They all seem too samey.

I think it was Drunka that suggested an art style similar to the front cover of the NES Mario games. There's no reason not to go all out and make it extremely cartoony and beautiful, a real joy to behold, instead of the slightly soul-free NSMB sprites.

Balladeer wrote:

ZeroJones wrote:

In terms of Kirby Star Allies, I know exactly what we'll get when we boot that up and that doesn't worry me; I like Kirby games for their undemanding fun.

Trouble is, they've been more than that in the past.  I've mentioned KEY, but Mass Attack and Canvas Curse also did something different.  That's what I'd like to see again from the pink ball.

Agreed. I've always said that Kirby platformers come in two flavours: vanilla and experimental (flashbacks to Richard Harris's Dumbledore saying "Alas! Earwax" at the end of the first Harry Potter film). I'm happy with either of those, though I completely understand those who hunger for something a little less... well, vanilla.

Treesmurf wrote:

They could also throw in the Pokemon Bank service as well when the Switch version launches.

This makes a lot of sense, and therefore will not happen.

Re: Kirby. I'm with Zero in saying that I like a Kirby game for its simplicity and for knowing that it's not going to take a million risks in general. They're simple yet good clean fun. I don't think a Kirby game really should rock the boat - I think it fills a niche for a more basic, cutesy platformer. Let Yoshi get a bit weirder, maybe.

Trouble is, I think Ninty puts out quite a lot of simple unexciting platformer franchises (Yoshi and NSMB both qualify to me), so the simplest of that pile doesn't really appeal to me. But I see what y'all are saying: there's room for one like it.

It's also the second-slowest of the platformers, after Yoshi (which is more understandable given that Yoshi needs time to aim his eggs). I think the thing Celeste does for me that these examples don't (as well as story and characters and haunting music from the off and...) is in Madeline's dash. It allows Celeste to be a speedier brand of platformer without going full Sonic.