Oof, I’m a bit late with this one. Here’s a little of what I’ve been up to elsewhere, but don’t worry, I have some fun stuff to add here soon as well.
From Slide to Play:
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – I have no idea how I was selected to do this one, but I was. No regrets; it’s a pretty decent game, though not without its downsides.
Recently, Burger King revealed the latest promotion in their BK Crown Kids Meals: The Wii U. I covered the line at Mario’s Hat, but now I’m here to examine these toys a little more closely than what the promotional website allows. It’s three of my favorite things together: Toys, fast food, and video games, so how can I resist?
Incidentally, I’ve not been able to find any Burger Kings carrying the toys until tonight, and they only had two. So rather than wait until I have them all (which may not even happen; we’ll see), I’m just reviewing them as they come. Tonight, it’s the Wii U Sticker Dispenser and a Luigi figure.
Here we are, only a couple of weeks away from the launch of the Wii U. Naturally, this has led me to take a little bit of time to sit back and reflect on this last generation of games. And thinking about it, the Wii has had one problem which stood out above all others ever since that November 19th launch six years ago, and it is that…
As it happens, reviews aren’t the only thing I’ve been up to; I’ve been writing a few things for 1UP as well.
Wow, it’s been a little while since I last shared my reviews from elsewhere with you guys. Time to fix that!
On Slide to Play:
Rayman Jungle Run – Undoubtedly the best of the lot. If you have an iPhone, I cannot recommend this any more highly. And yes, the theme from the trailer above is in there.
Nothing too big here, but I made a bit of an oversight in my “Building a Better Mario Kart” article from a couple of days ago, and I have just finished adding it in.
If you wanted to know without reading (or re-reading the whole thing), I added two items to the end: One is for the allowance of single races against the other seven characters without having to play an entire cup. I can’t remember which games do or don’t have it, but Mario Kart 7 doesn’t, so there we go.
The other, much more important thing (in my opinion) is individual endings and character victory themes. Super Mario Kart had them, simple as they were, so why not newer installments? They make a great motivation to go back and use each character to win a cup.
Check out both items explained in more detail (and with some video!) here.
Much as I love Mario Kart, it’s not perfect, and I feel that SEGA’s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has overall managed to surpass it as a more enjoyable, more competitive, and overall more skill-based experience. The sequel, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, is coming in November, and looks like it will have the unique position of beating whatever Nintendo comes up with next to the Wii U.
Some are saying that the “transformed” system is a “rip-off” of what we saw of gliders and underwater movement in Mario Kart 7, though the differences should be very clear. In volume 282 of Nintendo Power magazine, Sumo Digital Executive Producer Steve Lycett stated that they felt they had an “excellent foundation” with Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, but could do more than merely racing on land.
As mentioned at the end of my previous post, I really enjoy Mario Kart. More than anything, the characters, vehicles, and tracks tend to stand out for me. Here are some of my favorites.
Now you're driving with power!
As noted before, playing as R.O.B. was one of my favorite parts of Mario Kart DS, and Rosalina was fun in Mario Kart Wii. In Mario Kart 7, I tend to use my Mii a lot, just as I often use my Avatar when I’m not using Shadow in ASR. Just don’t think I’d rather play a racing game with all Miis or Avatars; playing as myself among these casts of great characters is part of the fun, and it just wouldn’t be the same without them.
Oh, and I also like using Waluigi on occasion. I don’t care what the haters think, he’s fun! Especially when you play “in-character” and ham it up during your wins and losses. Yes, I speak from experience.
Will I ever get a tribute up on time? Probably not on this site. Still, one day late (by a short margin) is better than never, I suppose.
Today’s honor is the 20th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Kart in North America (with Japan’s coming out only a few days prior). And this seemed like a good opportunity to share some memories of the game, and perhaps the series as a whole.
Matt Green over at Press the Buttons recently came upon and posted the above piece of artwork by Michael Julius Peterson on deviantART, “Yoshi’s Island of Dreams.” He notes that “this is not a real Yoshi game, but it should be” while drawing comparisons between the composition of this piece and the art from Super Mario USA (the Japanese version of our Super Mario Bros. 2 and its forebearer, Yume K?j?: Doki Doki Panic.
Obviously, I liked the piece so much that I knew on the spot I had to share it here… and offer my own two cents, of course.