What are you playing on your Wii U/Wii right now?

I barely touched Mario Kart without a stick but Excite Truck was big and floaty and drifty enough that tilt never bothered me.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I think it's just the over the topness that appeals. The ridiculous jumps, outrageous drifts and the big damn trucks tickles me. Also, and I know this is a rubbish answer and I apologise, I think I enjoyed it more because I happen to be really bloody good at it. Less crashes, more excitement.

I think this explains the Excite Truck love-in very well. You'll acclimatise to the controls, eventually, and you'll get good at it, eventually, and it'll be really good fun, eventually. I thought that it was mince at first, but it wasn't until a few hours later that I was able to get the knack of it. The controls never get tight, and it's never, ever precise (even when compared to Burnout 3) but there's a degree of mastery needed. Once you're past that, it's class.

I'm trying to get into Swords & Soldiers II, which was part of the old Humble Bundle last year.

DIGRESSION ALERT: Switch'n'3DS Humble Bundle for this year, all? Yes? Yes. Good.

Has anyone had the pleasure? Production values are sky high (not at the level of my personal yardstick, Little King's Story, a game so gorgeously produced that it's a shame I'm so pants at it, but not far off) but the game itself feels a bit lacking.

Played a bit of Eledees and it's another one that feels like it would have benefitted being released a couple years in to the Wii's life. It combines the Finders Keepers premise with Boom Blox-like physics, but it's fiddly. Not sure I'll sink much more time in to it as it's also very hollow and lifeless.

That's disappointing to hear that yet another of our old Wii favourites isn't quite doing it for you. I admit that I've got a lot of nostalgia for early-day Wii stuff, but maybe it's genuinely not aged that well at all. Still, at least you'll not have been ripped off - Eledees and Excite Truck probably came to less than a fiver together, am I right?

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

That's disappointing to hear that yet another of our old Wii favourites isn't quite doing it for you. I admit that I've got a lot of nostalgia for early-day Wii stuff, but maybe it's genuinely not aged that well at all. Still, at least you'll not have been ripped off - Eledees and Excite Truck probably came to less than a fiver together, am I right?

Yeah they were a quid each. I'm not expecting to enjoy all of these games, especially the earlier Wii titles. It's evident that the likes of Red Steel and Eledees are experimenting with new control systems, but they felt too reliant on the motion controls (as opposed to something like Mario Galaxy). Maybe if I'd just dropped £40 on either of them I'd be more patient, but while both are decent titles, they felt more trouble than they were worth. And that's a quid, so not much!

Saying that, I'm looking forward to SSX Blur and Trauma Center. I played most of New Blood, so hoping Second Opinion is similar(ly rage-inducing).

I too didn't get on with Eledees.

...I wish I had anything useful to add, but it was quite a while ago. I just remember being a bit underwhelmed by the experience. Glad that I'm not alone, but sorry that you didn't get on with it.

I'm currently at 56 stars on Super Mario Galaxy 2 and I've hit a difficulty spike BUT, I'm now questioning which Galaxy game I prefer. Initially I felt the sequel's streamlined menu system was preferable to the original's "unlocking of observatories", but there's a grindi-ness to Galaxy 2's method of "beat level, get star, unlock prankster comet" - rinse and repeat. Sure, trophies pop up on the spaceship, but there's definitely a diminished sense of achievement. Coupled with the feeling that the sequel feels tougher, I am now leaning towards the first.

That's one that I've been wondering about for a while. Super Mario Galaxy 2 has more levels an they are all grand, and I can see the appeal in jumping straight into them with less hub exploration and all that. In practice though, Galaxy having a proper opening and ending and feeling of exploration and adventure makes all the difference. Mario games aren't about "story" in the sense of lots of cutscenes and dialogue but they are about the player telling a story, starting at the start and having fun along the way and saving the day at the end. Galaxy 2 doesn't give me that sense of place and importance, and it suffers for it. I see it more as a level pack for the original game: still brilliant, but not a better game in its own right.

For me it boils down to:

Super Mario Galaxy

• Better music
  
• Better bosses
  
• Better items
  
• Better story
  
• Manta ray-cing

Super Mario Galaxy 2

• Better level design
  
• Better hub
  
• Better comet stars
  
• Yoshi

And SMG2 pips it on the level design. Both grand games, natch, although I'll never love them as much as some of you.

It boils down to what Balladeer said for me as well. Also, for me at least, the first Galaxy evokes so fond memories and thoughts about time and place, about a particular time in my life. The second Galaxy doesn't really have the same 'impact' on me. Nonetheless, I think they're both masterpieces of 3D platformer design and - Super Mario 64 aside - they've not been surpassed before or since.

To add my two yennorth (I am back home now ), Galaxy beats its sequel but the margin is fine. Nothing in SMG2 beat the moment I realised Galaxy was brilliant, or the moment I realised the hub music was getting layers of instrumentation added to it every so often. Worse, the moment I remember most clearly from SMG2 was when [possible spoiler]Galaxy's hub music started playing[/possible spoiler] and I nearly cried. Yoshi was amazing and the Green Stars tremendous fun... but it still couldn't quite catch its predecessor. For me, natch.

Seems like the deciding in factor is how people feel about the hubs. I didn't mind exploring the observatory, and in fact found it a key aspect of the game's pacing and sense of home. For someone who just wants to get to those tremendous levels, I can see why 2 would pip it.

On Balla's point about 2 having better level design, I do wonder if that's a factor of it building on the earlier game and whether someone would do well going straight to the second.

I've been reading these comments about which is better; I can't think of a better argument myself as "just play them back to back as one giant mega game" (it's still more coherent than Conker's Bad Fur Day's hub world that way) - however I realise that I'm having trouble remembering which bits are in which game! I've got to admit though, thinking about SMG2, that it's not a "big Mario" without a proper hub world. But then, I could do without "storytime" in the first. Ah, I dunno

Storytime was beautiful and precious and wondeful and I will rip off my shirt and fight a man who says otherwise.

And I will be in Drunka's corner, with the bucket, towel and beer.

I got ya back, buddy.

...meh.

ZeroJones wrote:

Green Stars

How could I forget these in my lists? The SMG2 postgame was so much better than SMG1's.

*blows dust off... er, entire forum, actually*

Blinkin' 'eck - it's been nearly a month since anyone posted in Wii/Wii U! Cursèd Switch, with its novelty and fresh, innovative gameplay experiences!

Anyway, I gave my wife a simple choice: should I play The Wonderful 101 next, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution? After some time mulling it over, she decided I would be better off with the game with the number in the title (she knows me so well! ). So I'm up for that. I've started from scratch - can't remember how far I got last time I played it, but a fresh start seemed like the best idea. The best.

Top tip: There are some dodging/ blocking powers you can buy which are barely hyped up and seem like they could be optional things but they're basically key components.

Thank you, kind sir - I will get right on that! Also, so much rumble.

ZeroJones wrote:

so much rumble.

BRRROOOOOOMMM!!! BBBBRRRROOOOMMMM!!!! BBBRRROOOOOMMM!!!!

Ah, the good ol' Wii U Gamepad . . .

ZeroJones wrote:

*blows dust off... er, entire forum, actually*

Blinkin' 'eck - it's been nearly a month since anyone posted in Wii/Wii U! Cursèd Switch, with its novelty and fresh, innovative gameplay experiences!

If I'm asking for the 3DS to die, Nintendo has already taken the Wii U out back and shot it in the head. How long before I can start asking about merging this with Retro?

What's a Wii U?

The Wii U is the successor to the Wii, and Nintendo's first HD console. It featured such titles as Splatoon, Super Mario Maker and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. The console was not as successful as the Wii - to put it mildly - so Nintendo have since stopped production in order to put their resources into other areas.

I see your bait and know your game, Jones.

(Did I do it right?)