Minority Kart

For any of you out there that have seen Minority Report and have played any version of Mario Kart (I figure you have if you're on this site) then you may enjoy this little nugget. It seems to me that ol' Tom Cruise is having a little bit of trouble catching his friends.

And the cycle doesn't seem to stop either, those crazy characters just don't ever let up. In fact, it almost looks like the video just keeps repeating it goes on for so long. I've been watching for almost three hours now and Tom is still chasing Mario and Toad.

Metroid vs Super Mario vs Smash Bros

In honor of the great (or at least we all hope) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption coming out next week I thought I should do a little research (and I use that term loosely) to see which of Nintendo's big games will sell more this year. With Nintendo claiming this month to be the month of Metroid I figured there would be no better time to compare Metroid Prime 3 to Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros Brawl. According to the popularity of Google searches, Super Mario is a far more important and searched brand. Somewhat unfair though due to the fact that "Super Mario" could easily be connected to a game like Super Paper Mario or New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS.

In the end Metroid is the weakest of the brands and, in all reality, will most likely sell far fewer copies than that of the other two. But who really cares if it sells less than those other behemoths if the game ends up being as fun as it's past games in the series.

Super Mario Strikers Challenge

It's time to test your gaming skill. Here at the Game Gym we like to keep you on your toes and give you various feats of strength to test your gaming ability. This week's challenge has to do with the newly released Super Mario Strikers for the Nintendo Wii. Your goal, and we like pictures for proof, is to win the Fire Cup (first cup option) on any difficulty in it's entirety without allowing a single goal to be scored on you. The captain you use is up to your discretion, as well as the sidekicks, but the final score for every game had better be ?-0. If you find yourself struggling then feel free to read some of the tips I have dropped below. But for a slightly harder challenge, don't read them.

TIPS:

• Possession is key, even if it means holding the ball in corners rather than scoring more goals.



• Slide tackle more often than you hard tackle. This limits the number of items and weapons they get.



• You are better off allowing the captain to charge a Mega Strike (on the Normal difficulty) than you are letting the sidekick charge because they typically don't hit the orange and the sidekicks will knock the goalie out.



• Diddy Kong is the best character to keep the scores low using his Red Card special attack. Using it wisely can gain you a two-person advantage making time wasting and possession easy.

Super Mario Strikers Wii Final Impressions [Update 1]

My Super Mario Strikers battles continue and the further I get along with the game the more little issues I have found with the game. One's not really an issue so much as a personal preference, the other though, is most certainly an issue.

The first issue is the fact that I was in 6th place in the nation with my online ranking at the end of last week and now the season is over. I went online last night and discovered I was now ranked in 594th place with no wins or losses and no record of the previous week. This little fault, to me at least, seems a little dissapointing. So you can play a ton of games one week to gain some ground in the rankings, but you can't play the game slowly and gradually garner rankings. Maybe there is a constant comparison with your friends (no one has accepted my friend code requests yet) but as of right now it appears everything is erased at the end of each seven day season. Bummer.

The other issue is in regards to the single player experience. I will sum this up in as quick a way as possible: the Mega Strike has no effect in later levels of the cups. Even if you get a charged Mega Strike with six shots and a perfect orange finish and he will block all six shots. Sometimes though, you will get a three shot Mega Strike with a grey charge and you will score all three. There is no consistency or reward for obtaining the far more difficult orange Mega Strikes. It would be one thing to make them harder to get by increasing the difficulty of the AI but making them entirely obsolete is just wrong.

All in all though, this game is very addictive and a ton of fun, especially if you play through the online and cups with a friend. Enjoy Nintendo sports games? Then buy this game. Not sure if you like Nintendo sports games? This could be the one that hooks you; try it.

[Update:] I forgot to inform you guys what my Mario Strikers Friend Code is. Just post a comment with your Friend Code if you want to exchange.

141840 088198

See you on the field... suckas!!!

Super Mario Strikers Wii Impressions

Super Mario Strikers, from the first few hours of online and offline play, is the typical Nintendo-type game. You could give the controller(s) to a 10 year old and tell them what pass, shoot, and steal is and they would have fun. On the other side of the token, us gamers, there is a lot of depth and strategy to the game. There have been some serious upgrades in the character department and the new levels have a lot more personality and difference to them than just appearance. There is one level in particular that has no walls on the outside of the field and the wind randomly blows characters, and cows and trucks, across the field. The graphics are slightly improved over the Gamecube version but the game runs at a constant pace even with multiple objects and characters blowing up all around. The new characters all have their own personality and unique move set that can really alter the play experience if used in the proper fashion.

Two player co-op gaming is a ton of fun as well, much like the old game, because you can have one player defend the other while they charge up a shot or you can intricately pass the ball around the field to build up the "pressure" of the ball. The game actually rewards you for successfully passing the ball around the field by charging the ball the more passes you complete. When the ball is fully charged (and glowing white) your shots will be far more accurate and powerful.

The online gaming, though no where near Xbox Live quality, is a great step in the right direction. There are online leaderboards comparing you to random strangers and your friends in various different ways. The major selling point to Strikers' online experience is the fact that you are actually competing in an online league. You get points dependent on your win/loss/scoring record and it rates you against others within that week (the length of every league). The game requires you to input a unique Friend Code different from your Wii Code which is really unnecessary no matter how you look at it. There is also no voice chat or communication of any kind. I would have preffered to at least choose from a list of 40 or so sayings rather than not have the option at all. All around it really is a fun experience and one that any Nintendo only gamer should gobble up, especially with the use of Miis as your online avatar.

Super Mario Piano Style

If you like the original Super Mario Bros and enjoy the sound of piano music this is your thing. Click here to check it out.

Super Paper Mario Complaints: Part II

I've been playing Super Paper Mario (Wii) recently now that I beat Resident Evil 4 again and I've honestly not been all that impressed with certain sections. I think a part of it is the fact that I'm not typically the biggest fan of RPG games and this is an RPG game, different type, but still an RPG game. It's not that I haven't enjoyed any of the game because certain parts have been quite a bit of fun. There are some neat little puzzles using the 2D/3D flip mechanic and the different use of characters can be neat at times. There have just been some parts of the game that don't make any sense to me, and in a Nintendo game these things are just so rare to see.

The first major qualm is the interesting running mini-game that got me watching TV while I held left on the d-pad, if you don't remember it click here. The most recent thing that happened to me was when I was asked to say please to someone by typing "please" on an in-game keyboard, and not just once but it required me to type it 6 times. The worst part about it though is the fact that when you typed a wrong letter you had to start all over again. In the end I typed the word 9 times (once for using a "P" instead of a "p"). Maybe if I got to use the IR sensor it could have been at least somewhat entertaining, but no, I had to use the d-pad.

The next thing that irked me, right after asking please, was this little villager who gave me a combination for a lock. He told me to get a piece of paper and a pen to write it down but I figured he was only joking. Lo and behold, I actually had to get a piece of paper and a pen to write down the combo because it was about 25 steps long. Talk about breaking the 4th Wall and taking the gamer out of the experience. Maybe this type of thing is common in RPGs, or an attempt at humor, but I am simply not a fan.

Mario Galaxy, Not Quite Super Mario 3 Caliber?

I was in such a giddy little mood after seeing that Bee Mario suit image for Mario Galaxy that I just started speculating about the game and making assumptions. Well I am here to tell you that there are a few things that need to be told about this whole "back to the old days of suits like in Mario 3" business.

The first thing to note is this little quote from an IGN hands-on preview of the game at E3:

After activating a power-up spot, a black and golden mushroom will show up. Touch the mushroom, and you go into Bee Mario mode, where Mario dons a new sleek bee suit, and can now hover for about five seconds.

This is slighly disappointing, and could be different in the final game, because this is potentially different from the Tanooki and Racoon Suits of Mario 3 fame. The reason I say this could be much different is because I have a feeling you can only don the Bee Suit in Honey Bee Galaxy.

The best part about the suits in Super Mario 3 was that all the suits were scattered all over the world for use in pretty much every area. And if there weren't a direct place to find a Hammer Suit, you could always find one in a Mushroom House and don the suit before each level. That was one of the best parts about the suits, they gave the game so much replayabilty.

So does this mean I am no longer excited for the potential of suits in Mario Galaxy? Not in the slightest. I just hope we have the option to take these suits anywhere in the game and use them at any time. I would totally love to fight Bowser (or whoever the final boss ends up being) in a Bee or Boo suit. Is that too much to ask Nintendo?

P.S. Please watch some video of Super Mario Galaxy if you haven't seen any yet. You can check out one of the few right here if you don't feel like Googling it yourself. Just be careful, your head could explode due to massive potential of fun.

Super Mario Galaxy: Return of the Suits

We're going to be able to dress Mario up in different suits again just like could in Super Mario 3 (personal favorite game of all time). Each suit, back in the day, gave Mario a unique ability that could be used in various ways. In other words, the suits are very similar to the hats in Supar Mario 64. I am basing this entirely on one of the newer screenshots released during this years E3 but still, look at the picture below and tell me Mario isn't wearing the Bumble Bee Suit. Tell me.



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