E3 Previews - Metroid 3 and Super Mario Galaxy 71
Although Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Super Mario Galaxy were both touched on at the Nintendo press conference ... it didn't really seem like enough. Thankfully, there are plenty of hands-on writeups to satisfy interested parties. Wired's Game|Life has almost nothing but praise for Metroid. Specifically, Chris Kohler singles out the FPS controls as proving the concept for him on the system. 1up is equally pleased with Mario. They cite its unconventional nature as initially offputting, but ultimately one of the things they enjoyed most about the game. "We simply love the way the game feels. Many gamers are of the opinion that Super Mario Sunshine strayed too far from the fundamentals of the series by focusing so heavily on the water cannon/jet pack, but Galaxy puts the emphasis right back on jumping and stomping foes. The controls are tight and the graphics are crisp, if not exactly a dead ringer for top-of-the-line Xbox 360 visuals. And tiny references to games past are everywhere, from the usual coins, to Goombas of unusual size, to "?" blocks that appear as crystalline squares that can be kicked around the levels as weapons or stomped on to yield rewards."
Re:Retard! (Score:4, Insightful)
Jeeze dude... if you dont like it, your mouse has a scroll button. Use it.
This is no better or worse than another article on Internet Radio, security holes, or a new mother board. One geeks garbage is another geeks treasure, no?
Ok so which is it? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Metroid != FPS (Score:3, Insightful)
However, it's tough because the Metroid series started as a conglomerate of many genres:
- it had the intense action of a shooter
- it had the jumping of a platformer
- it had the non-linear and non-episodic structure of an adventure game
- one could also equate it's health and item pickups to giving it RPG-like qualities
The Prime series is EXTREMELY faithful (IMO) to the original side scrollers, Prime 1 probably even slightly edging out Super Metroid as my favorite in the series. But with that territory comes the mish-mash of genres that is the Metroid series.
When Metroid first appeared, since games hadn't developed quite so much, most games fit into pretty well defined genres. Metroid was all alone in it's genre-crossing form. But now, practically all platformers have an adventure element (Mario 64 started that), most shooters do as well, and non-linear/non-episodic content tends to be more the norm these days.
Generally, I consider it in the same relative genre that the modern Zelda games are, action adventure, just with a bit more of an action element. They actually play out relatively similarly. So, whatever genre Metroid Prime is, make sure to put it in the same genre as Zelda. POV is not really all that important.
Dissapointed (Score:3, Insightful)
The biggest problem is that the games they're showing off at E3 now, are the games we were originally promised at the Wii's release, and then in March, and now at the end of the year.
Apart from Wii sports I really don't find much reason to play my Wii now, I don't mind Rayman, but we're talking 30minutes or so once a month kind of thing here. I'm convinced this will change with the Wii becoming the number one console in terms of games line up by Christmas 2008, but for Christmas this year the Wii still remains mediocre.
MS seems to have won the games lineup for this christmas by a longshot, Sony second place, mostly with games that are dual-platform 360/PS3 and Nintendo trailing behind with games that were due out a year before and nothing much particularly new or terribly intersting. I think the difficulty for Nintendo is the fact that games do have to be written/re-written specifically for the Wii, whereas Sony/MS can live off each other's successes with ports across similarly powered hardware with similar control systems. The Wii has a lot of backers however, so this reinforces my view that given some period of time the Wii's lineup will be strengthened heavily, hence my comment that I'm placing my bets on Christmas 2008 for the Wii to really shine.
I'm definitely looking forward to these two games still, the problem is, I was looking forward to them far more in the lead up to last Christmas. Regardless, Nintendo themselves have nothing to worry about, the Wii is selling well now and even if sales did drop they've got a plenty big enough warchest to keep themselves going until they can start throwing out the heavyweight titles that everyone wants.
Re:Metroid != FPS (Score:4, Insightful)
In the Zelda overworld, you are correct, there isn't much emphasis in how to get from point A to point B (although there is some) but inside dungeons, the gameplay becomes VERY similar. Navigating dungeons in Twilight Princess, for instance, isn't really that different from navigating Norfair or Phendrana. There are subtle differences: keys and dungeon items, instead of "activating the elevator" in Metroid; but these aren't genre defining differences, more like slightly different storytelling devices that basically do the same thing.
Basically, Metroid is like Zelda if there were ONLY dungeons and no overworld. The differences between a Zelda overworld and a dungeon, however, can be fairly minor, in many cases. Sometimes getting to the dungeon takes about the same kinds of navigational skills and enemy killing as the actual dungeons themselves. But, again, I don't see these as genre defining differences. Final Fantasy IX and Grandia II are both considered RPGs, even though Grandia II doesn't have an overworld.
To me, both Zelda and Metroid are in the same category because they cross genres in a similar manner. The mixture is a bit different: Metroid has more action and navigation, Zelda has more puzzles and NPC interaction, but just in different amounts.
Here's the kicker, generally, fans of one game are also into the other game, and for similar reasons. Sure, you'll find one person who hates Zelda and loves Metroid, or vice-versa, but usually its because they have some stick up their ass about the stylistic principals behind one, not because they don't like "that kind of game."
The action/adventure genre, as it is, is sort of a grabbag of genres. There are much fewer cliches than in any other genre, so there are fewer common things to pin them down with. All RPGs have HP/MP and a skill system, all FPSs have similar gameplay, all RTSs have some sort of "mine the gold so you can build the jellopy." Where as action/adventures like Zelda, Metroid, and Castlevania (another series that fits easily within this category), don't have as many concrete ideas that tie them all together. But it's their willingness to mix multiple genres that makes them action/adventure games in the first place.
Re:Dissapointed (Score:2, Insightful)