/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1329147]

So, I've been playing Super Mario Land a lot lately and I've got this strange thought:

Objectively it's like the ugliest game in the series ,there's practically no backgrounds (a pair of lazy drawings and that's it), level design is pretty uninspired/generic. the fire ball is replaced by that bouncy shitty ball, the game is too short and in general it doesn't feel like a Mario game. Not as different like SMB2, but still.

On the other side, I'm having more fun with it than the most praised games in the series and I'm replaying the hell out of it.
It feels way more direct and addictive, the sky/water levels are pretty awesome and I ended liking the weird stuff that at first I found way too random.

So, what's your opinion about it /vr/? Also, Mario general i guess

[Anonymous No.1329164]

Has anyone noticed on real hardware the little bit of slowdown in world three when too many rocks and maoiheads are on screen?

Also I totally agree OP. Another gripe is the length, but that final boss was great.

[Anonymous No.1329185]

I really like the music in it.

[Anonymous No.1329186]

I feel like something like this is what the mario series needs now. It's really fallen into a spiral of the same reused themes/assets/etc in every new game, and they feel plastic.

It just needs something that's totally different.

[Anonymous No.1329192]

I just don't care for it at all. The platforming is extremely simplified since it lacks the fluent physics that made the NES SMB so good.

It's also very short and very easy. I remember playing a ton of it as a kid, but I picked it up recently without remembering much about it and blew through it in about an hour and a half. For the most part, early Gameboy games like SML had to sacrifice playability in order to be portable (with a few exceptions).

The sequel was better, but still not as good as the NES games.

Great music though, really enjoyed that aspect.

[Anonymous No.1329196]

>>1329192
I really think boss fights in 2 are the best in the series.

[Anonymous No.1329209]

It was pretty good, I can can definitely appreciate its atmosphere and inherent weirdeness, but SML3:Wario Land is still the best in the line.

[Anonymous No.1329221]

>>1329192
I've never liked SML2, it just feels like an early version of what later would be the Wario Land series formula (even though the first Wario Land wasn't very different of SML2 and it lacked the god tier puzzle elements from later installments).

[Anonymous No.1329230]

>>1329221
Wario land 3 might as well be named Mario 64 2D.

Amazingly well done.

[Anonymous No.1329250]

>>1329230
In terms of huge/complex levels and alive environments maybe, but Mario 64 is way more slow-paced.
The gameplay of WL3 is like the perfect mix between the first Wario Land and DKGB

Also, anyone here has played any Wario Land after 4? are they any good?

[Anonymous No.1329271]

Still not uglier than NSMB

[Anonymous No.1329282]

>>1329250
Not retro but Wario Land Shake It/Shake Dimension/Shake is pretty good. Excellent art style and awesome music too.

[Anonymous No.1329283]

There's something about the Mario Land games that makes me feel a kind of joy that I don't get from other Mario games. They have a real soul in them. Music's better as well.

[Anonymous No.1329295]

>Play SML
>Complete it within an hour

>Play SML2
>Complete it within about two hours

I really, really don't like these games. They're liked dumbed down versions.

SMB, SMB2, SMB3, SMW, and Yoshi's Island are all way better. The only reason I could see to play them at the time was because you could do it on the go as a time-waster.

[Anonymous No.1329313]

For some reason when I was a kid the china-level creeps me out

[Anonymous No.1329349]

>>1329295
You're probably looking at them as an adult who never experienced countless hours during roadtrips playing them.

While "dumbed down" there were still some good stuff to gleam from them, especially SML2. Sure it was mostly a SMW clone, but damn was it good. Bunny Ears, while in retrospect were fucking retarded, was a damn good power up. The Haunted Pumpkin Zone, Mario Zone, and Space Zone were fucking awesome. And the music and secrets? Fuck yes.
Not to mention the game over mechanic was interesting and I wouldn't mind seein it again (Game Over = Loss of the Boss Coins, meaning you had to go get them back again), and the final Castle was actually pretty challenging.

I'm sorry you didn't get to experience them as a child, though.

[Anonymous No.1329371]

If you like Mario Land, especially if you like the music, play Balloon Kid. It feels somewhat similar I think. It's by the same team and the same composer.

[Anonymous No.1329372]

>>1329371

Forgot pic.

[Anonymous No.1329390]

The devs just did their best to recreate the Mario formula with the Gameboy hardware limitations and in doing so they created a weird parallel game that they wisely diverged into the Wario Land series.

I spent more time playing this...

[Anonymous No.1329394]

>>1329390
...and this. Of course, this one developed more naturally with one game per platform and increasingly powerful - though I always thought it was weird for a Game Boy game to get an NES sequel. Must have been more popular than they expected.

[Anonymous No.1329407]

>>1329390

You better mean Belmont's Revenge. The first one on the Gameboy was awful.

[Anonymous No.1329449]

>>1329407
So is Mario Land but here we are discussing it. I played both.

[Anonymous No.1329450]

The game tends to be underrated. It gets the essence of SMB1 platforming, it's just as barebones (no cutscenes or maps for stage selection) and it can be finished in an hour, so it has a good pick up and play mentality to it. The platforming physics are nothing like other Mario games but it still feels good once you get the hang of it, like switching from an nes mario to mega man. The shooter stages are ultimately fluff but feel just as smooth as any shootem up, so they certainly aren't a chore to get through. The art style is really basic, but has a unique charm to it, and manages to get across bizarre locales you don't see in the rest of the series.

And of course you have the soundtrack, which even the game's detractor's agree is god tier stuff.

[Anonymous No.1329457]

>>1329450
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3Ij30btVao

I wasn't ready for this when I beat it. Reminds me of megamans credits turning into megaman 2's opening.

[Anonymous No.1329493]

This is the only Super Mario game Ive ever played and I absolutely love it. Played it 15 years ago and I still remember the great music in it. Was really fun to play, especially the submarine level and the difficulty was spot on so its really challanging but never too frustrating

[Anonymous No.1329498]

>>1329295
there was no save game option and the batteries dont last forever

[Anonymous No.1329524]

>>1329209

Wah nigga

[Anonymous No.1329531]

>>1329498

Then there should've been a password feature or something.

Or at least make the game way harder. There were some really good games released around that time on the Gameboy too.

Like Of Myths and Monsters.

[Anonymous No.1329552]

>>1329209

You got it.

[Anonymous No.1329646]

Honestly, I rank Mario Land 2 as my favourite 2D Mario. Tons of secrets, really unique environments and enemies, lovely soundtrack and - by Mario standards - relatively challenging bosses.

Sure, the levels are VERY easy, but the devs were smart enough to throw in bonus levels/ shortcuts in every zone that took serious effort to reach and complete. Minimum-levels challenge (Basically, a speedrun before speedruns were a thing) was pretty respectable.

Fantastic game all around.

[Anonymous No.1329834]

>>1329295
>Play SMB
>Complete it within 35 minutes

It was on a handheld, one of the first games for it at that, I don't really know what people were expecting. Did you never feel the rush of anxiety when you were just starting world 4 and weren't sure if your battery would hold out long enough to finish? Or you were near the end and your mom called you for dinner and you had to just leave it paused and prayed it would still be on when you got back? They had to design it with these kinds of things in mind, since batteries didn't last that long. Contra is only 20 minutes and it's one of the best regarded games of all time. Complaining about the length is a silly argument since it was designed to be replayed over and over, not just one time and you shelve it forever.

[Anonymous No.1329837]

>>1329295

they're good for the gameboy

the original gameboy had a lack of quality games and a lot of technical limitations

[Anonymous No.1329840]

>>1329834
>Did you never feel the rush of anxiety when you were just starting world 4 and weren't sure if your battery would hold out long enough to finish?

No, never. The original Game Boy's battery life lasted forever.

[Anonymous No.1329986]

>>1329209
I'd give one of my arms away for a Warioland poster, if there's one.

Is that an emulator or just some art? Looks awesome.

[Anonymous No.1331343]

Today's morning I started SML2 on my GBC and completed the all levels in 15-20 Minutes, except the last one. FUCK. I got to Wario a few times but never won. Any suggestions/hints? Want to complete this motherfucker since childhood times.

[Anonymous No.1331349]

>>1329147
>objectively
I wanna strangle greasy-haired, neckbeards every time this word is used now.

[Anonymous No.1331356]

>>1331349
You're not the only one. I report it almost every time I see it since it's just low-tier bait. It's the exact same thing as "THIS GAME IS A PILE OF SHIT AND THAT'S A FACT WHENEVER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, END OF STORY"

[Anonymous No.1331361]

I remember playing SML on my dear old gray gameboy when I was a little kid. The first time I beated the game was a cold morning, I was around 6 years old, lying in my parents bed. No school that day, 'cause I had a little bit of fever. And finally, after many tentatives, I reached the end of the game. One of the nicest memories of my childhood

[Anonymous No.1331369]

my first video game ever played
love it

[Anonymous No.1331924]

>>1331343
Get good.

No, seriously. The difficulty spike between the entire preceding game and the castle is... An interesting design choice. Memorisation by trial and error is your only shot there.

[Anonymous No.1331958]

>>1331349
>>1331356
Are you mentally retarded? If so then seppuku immediately, this is no joke.

[Anonymous No.1332241]

>>1331343
>I started SML2 on my GBC and completed the all levels in 15-20 Minutes

I find that hard to believe. There's something like 25 levels, you would have had to do some serious speed running to do most in under a minute, and I know those space and underwater ones take a decent amount of time to get through. I don't think you're lying, but it was probably closer to 45-50 minutes. If you really did do it in 15 you should record and Youtube that.

[Anonymous No.1332257]

>>1331349
>>1331356
You're the ones who are fucking it up because you've allowed yourself to be conditioned by trolls to the point the word has taken on a new meaning to you.

SML really is the "ugliest" game in the series. Would you have been less upset if, to be perfectly literal he had said "SML literally has the lowest resolution and least polished sprites of the entire series?" Would you break it all the way down to an arguments of semantics about "polished" not being an objective measurement? What game in the Super Mario series could you possibly argue is uglier than SML? Even Mario Brother and Donkey Kong, while not Super Mario games are still prettier than SML.

[Anonymous No.1333134]

>>1329147
Accidentally posted this elsewhere, not I'm posting related pic here.

[Anonymous No.1333179]

>>1329186
It'd be pissed on for being "not like a real Mario game."

I agree, however. The series needs a game that utilizes the same Mario controls but simply does something new in terms of what kinds of places and enemies and power-ups he finds.

One of the great things about the early entries of a series is that they can really get away with trying all sorts of crazy shit. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn't.

Eventually, the idea of a what a particular series is supposed to be gets so cemented that developers either have to try out crazy gimmicks (as have befallen the Sonic series), or they go full retard and reboot the series (as has befallen the Sonic series).

Mario has flirted with the gimmicks aspect in titles like Sunshine and Galaxy, and thankfully they haven't been too awful.

Here's hoping Nintendo never hits the reboot button.

[Anonymous No.1333317]

>>1333179
>>1329186
More than "this is what the mario series needs now", Nintendo should let the series rest and invest more in NEW subseries/spin-offs, because that is what has kept the whole series alive with fresh content but familiar characters.

Mario series kept being relevant till GC/GBA times because the amount of effort put in making interesting spin-offs.

Now Nintendo is basically releasing new titles from preciously seen spin-offs: Mario Kart, MvsDK. M&L, and the list goes on... Even 3D Land/World feel just like slightly improved versions of New Super Mario Bros.

tl;dr more ideas lazytendo

[Anonymous No.1333321]

>>1329147

I just noticed how all the bad guys look neutral, happy even and Mario is the only one who looks pissed.

[Anonymous No.1333335]

>>1332241

Yeah. Seems I exaggerated on that. I just wanted to unerline the huge gap of difficulty between the last level and all previous ones.

Btw. I've managed it by now. Was a little dissapointed that their was no "real" ending like in Warioland 3. But all in all i enjoyed it pretty much

[Anonymous No.1333342]

> If you are just below the red power light of the Gameboy, Tatanga can't hit you