Super Mario Sunshine (Super Mario 3D All-Star) (Switch)

 Starlight, Shining Bright!

Onward to the next game, Super Mario Sunshine. The sequel to Super Mario 64 released on the Gamecube. We got the original back in the day, and this was also one of those games that we won (you could pre-order the game and I think 5 lucky winner would get the game for free), the other game being Star Fox Adventure. Finished it two times before, lastly only a couple of years ago. Got it for myself on the Switch on the 3D All-Star pack and intended to play through 100 %, I did it on Mario 64, so why would it be harder here? I've come to regret those words and in fact ended up only with 115 shines. 

Story is that Mario and Princess Peach together with an entourage of toads are getting an vacation on Isle Delfino where the Piantas and Noki live. Landing on the airport trouble is brewing. Some mysterious goo is polluting the area and Mario  has to clean it up, finding F.L.U.D.D. invented by Professor E. Gadd that made the Polterguster that Luigi uses in the Luigi's Mansion-series. After the airport Mario gets arrested because a Shadow Mario is running around polluting the island and Mario is sentenced to clean it up. Shadow Mario appears and try to kidnap Princess Peach and while hunting them Mario unlocks portals to different areas around the island. Turns out that Shadow Mario actually is Bowser Jr. and of course the game ends with a battle inside a volcano with the king of the Koopas. 

I really tried to get all the shines in game, but it's not as fun compared to star gathering in Mario 64. First, every shine you get throws you out of the level or reset the plaza which is the main hub. Even the 100 coin shine. Mario 64 didn't do that so you could get 2 in a mission so you didn't have to choose between a mission and the coin star that you accidentally gathered 100 coins for. Also, another difference is that it's a lot more linear compared to Mario 64. You gotta do the shines in order, no doing them all out of order just to show that you know what to do. Also, it didn't matter which stars you got, if you got 70 you could fight Bowser and finish the game, here you gotta get the first 7 shines of every stage since by defeating Shadow Mario in all of them you unlock the final confrontation with the Koopa family. And then we have the numbers of levels. 64 have 15 plus the Castle, Sunshine have 7 levels plus the plaza. And you know what, they compensate with filling the levels with 30 blue coins that equates to 3 shines, there is 8 mission and 100 coin shine in every level plus 2 secret missions in all of them, meaning there is 14 shines per level. Get's a bit boring in comparison.

So, finished and got to 115 shines. Peach saved. Is it fun? Yeah, parts of it is actually better than 64. I feel the controls work better and it feels really satisfying pulling off certain moves to get all over the levels. And I had fun on most levels, the ones no one enjoys are the usual suspects, the pachinko secret level, the sand bird, the lily pad ride and the chuckster secret level (and as I now found out trying to get the 120 shines, there is a second run on that level with the time constraint to get 8 red coins, that made me quit since it's gonna hurt). I beat them all (except chuckster version 2), I don't wanna do that again though. Music nice and the only real problem I found was some audio glitches or that one time I tried to hoover in a secret mission and was thrown of the level. I don't understand people I read on twitter that complained that this was a rushed incomplete mess... what kind of standards does people have these days? I've seen unplayable games that still haven't been fixed even though we have ability to patch games or games that actively destroyed my fun by crashing. Super Mario Sunshine did none of that. 

Update: I f***ing did it! 120 shines, spent over half an hour on the damn chuckster level v. 2. I hate chuckster, If I ever meet a chuck they have it coming. But I did it. It feels satisfying looking at that score board. 

Super Mario 64 (Super Mario 3D All-Stars) (Switch)

 It's-a-me Mario!

Of course I was gonna get the All-Stars package for Switch, and of course I got it physical and obviously I began with the first game, Super Mario 64. Bowser kidnapped kidnapped Princess Peach Toadstool (think this was the last time they used that and went with Peach from here on out), stolen the Princess's Castle's Power Stars and trapped all the toads in the walls of the castle. There's 120 stars on 15 different worlds together with the ones hidden in the castle. And Mario gotta do it all by himself. So jump into paintings, battling huge bosses, finding secret stars and secret caps that allow you to fly, turn invisible and turn you to metal.

Played the original game back in 1997 on our Nintendo 64 and it was the first 3D-game we got. It blew our minds. I also beat it as a kid, but it took years and I didn't get 120 stars. It was also remade for the Nintendo DS to show that the handheld system was capable of 3D-games as well. Beat that as well and got 150 stars on that, checked on my DS cartridge. It was also released on Wii and Wii U on the Virtual Console and I thought I finished them there as well, but my Wii U file only got something like 70 stars. Got tired around Wet-Dry World I guess on the 100 % route. And it's still a great game, I had a lot of fun and even though the later levels can be a bit more frustrating (I think Tick Tock Clock is my most hated level of them all) I still managed to get through them without all that much headache. I guess getting older and take my time payed of really well.

Now, would I replay this I might be more inclined to play Wii U with the added save state since I can't handle the damn stress of collecting 90 coins and by fluke getting thrown of the damn ledge by a chuckya and killed so I have to redo it. Still, compare it to DK64, I don't have any interest in 100 % game and here it just went by (could be that it doesn't overstays it welcome) and I also didn't have any problem with the light (might be the console version). Graphics are of its time, no denying, but it doesn't look bad, and the music is iconic. The fun bob-omb battlefield theme, the soothing water level theme and the intense Bowser level theme. Love it all. Getting 120 stars also unlocks the cannon outside of the castle so that you can climb the roof and get a flying cap and find Yoshi that gives 100 1-ups... bragging rights it is, although I think I'm 23 years to late with that. 

Donkey Kong 64 (Wii U)

 

Here, here, here we go!

So I'm finally here, writing for you, if you know the words you can join in to. Put your hands together as if you want to clap as I take you through this monkey post... what do you expect, I'm not a lyricist. Donkey Kong 64 came out in 1999 and it gotta have been close to Christmas since me and my sisters got to share it as a Christmas present. It was also the first present we were allowed to open on Christmas eve together with N64 controllers for the sisters that hadn't gotten a controller yet. So we sat most of Christmas eve playing the battle mode of this game so our parents could prepare the Christmas dinner or whatever they did. Of course, the battle mode didn't get fun until we unlocked Krusha with his explosive projectiles that blew everyone away. Either everyone played as Krusha or no one played as Krusha. Again, that was probably a couple of months after Christmas.

Basically the story is that king K. Rool has built a new super weapon and is about to blow Kong Island out of the water. And stolen the Kongs banana hoard as well, and trapped most of the members of the Kong family. So it's up to Donkey Kong to rescue his relatives and destroys K. Rools plan. Nothing more to the story really. We never finished the games as kids due to the facts we couldn't get hold of all collectibles to unlock the way to the final boss. And this I heard was a major complaint against the game, too much stuff to collect and all the time switch back and forth between the Kongs since most things are bound to a certain Kong. And that gets annoying at times. Especially in places like Creepy Castle where enemies can throw you off the ledge and force you to restart from the beginning of the stage and you gotta trek all over the place. So playing it now, rereleased on the Virtual Console on Wii U, I at least can alleviate some headache with the trusty quick save alternative. 

You gotta get golden bananas to open new worlds, you also gotta collect 100 coloured bananas with each kong in every world to open the door to the boss that you gotta defeat to get a key to unlock the cage of this giant Kremling so that he can open yet another world for you. You also gotta get coloured coins so that you can pay for upgrades to your weapon, your musical instrument and your moves. The weapon and instruments have their own unique ammo counters, you got explosive oranges and then there is crystal coconuts that power special abilities and attacks. Also, in each world there is this special enemy coloured after the different Kongs that carry blueprints that you exchange for a golden banana, but also gives you time on the final level to finish it before K. Rool fires his secret weapon. And banana fairies you need to catch with a camera you restock with film (which is how you unlock secrets like Krusha), battle crowns won from battle tournament stages and two special coins hidden in to classic games, the original Donkey Kong and JetPac. The Nintendo coin from the Donkey Kong game was the thing that was missing as a child. We weren't that good at that game. And as mentioned, you gotta run around each level with 5 different Kongs. 

That's a lot of things to keep track of, Mario 64 just had stars, sure you could get coins, but they still gave you a star collecting it (addendum since I've played through Mario 64 again, I forgot the keys you get after fighting Bowser, but those are just 2). And the special coins and battle crowns isn't mentioned until the final stage, and the Nintendo coin you just gotta guess I think since I don't think they mentioned it anywhere? And if that wasn't frustrating enough you got the boss fights that gives me heart attacks on some real bullshit they pull. At least K Rool gave each Kong full life for each stage of the final battle. As you might read between the lines, I'm not loving this game 100 %. It has it's moments and I got huge nostalgia googles for it with the Christmas present and the co-op with my sisters, but playing it again... I won't miss several of the bonus stages or extra frustrating bosses. Also, just navigating the levels are troublesome since I would love a map so I know where to go. Also, yes, thanks for keeping track on every collectible, but couldn't you have named them so I know which golden banana I'm missing? Also, I miss the N64 controller. Since the left stick acts as the c-buttons more often than not you pull of the wrong move, the buttons were much more precise. So this game is probably good enough for die-hards and nostalgia seekers. Would I play it again? Well, me and my sisters thought on getting together and play the multiplayer some time, and if they release a N64 Classic Mini, maybe, but 101 % it? No, never, unless they would remake it and fix certain things, it's really slow at times, especially opening the boss doors or getting the bananas for the blue prints since they gotta play out the animations, and they take time. Total time playing through the main adventure was around 24 hours so maybe just a way to extend play time.

Super Metroid (SNES Classic)

 

Killing the Dragon Again!

Yet again finished Super Metroid, this time for the SNES Classic Mini. Apparently I haven't written about it before, but I can swear I finished it on the Wii U? Played it the first time on Wii and as stated Wii U and have it also for the New Nintendo 3DS. First entry in the series was Metroid Fusion for the GBA. So, on one hand, yes, the game has its moments. You get the Metroid experience that you expect, much improved after Metroid and Metroid II, both graphically and gameplay wise. On the other hand, I prefer Fusion and Zero Mission with the climbing and jumping ball (I didn't find a power-up for that in this game, and that makes the it rather irritating going around). Also, even though you have more buttons, the newer games with limited buttons actually made it easier to switch between the different weapons, don't know how many power bombs I've used when I just wanted to use a normal bomb. And then we have the fact that the space jump and wall jump don't allways connect. Especially when trying to jump upwards, more often that not I can't continue the momentum for some reason and then it's start over from the beginning.

Now, the story continues right from the last game, Metroid II. Samus Aran have destroyed all metroids on planet SR388 except a newborn hatchling that follows her around. She takes it to a federation research station, but just after leaving she gets a distress signal from the station where they are attacked by space pirates. Samus encounter a resurected Ridley that steals the metroid and heads back to planet Zebes from the first game. There you travel around the i terior of the planet to get power-ups and defeat bosses so that you can enter Tourian and defeat Mother Brain. Mother Brain on the other hand have assembled some kind of monster suit that she wrecks you with until the metroid appears and drains Mother Brain and gives it to Samus. Mother Brain kills the metroid and Samus now armed with a special laser destroys Mother Brain, escapes the explosion and saves some animals (of course you do) and then it's on toward Metroid Fusion.

I really felt more irritated with this game. It takes a long time before ammo for the rocket launcher feels like I can handle most things. It could be that I played the more modern games a lot more and therefore have no problem knowing where they are and therefore is a bit more powered up. It's a good game, but I probably play the other games before this again.