Post by Indigo on Jun 3, 2012 18:26:19 GMT -5
Okay, so Nintendo just did a quick pre-E3 conference thing to cover some technical aspects of the Wii U to gear us up for the real thing on Tuesday. They SAID they wouldn't talk about games until then, but... well, just check out this video. Starting from 22:19. (Watch in HD!)
Why, it's a new 2D Mario platformer! Not exactly shocking, but such a type of game always gives me the warm fuzzies. And of course, there are things I'd like to point out.
-The graphics. The game sports a similar look to New Super Mario Bros. and NSMBW, but it seems much more... polished, somehow. Take a look at the environment: we have grass and dirt instead of a plastic-like green coating and striped ground, smooth rolling hills in the background instead of those ugly grass cliffs, and not a single multicolored-spotted dome in sight, replaced with large trees and those awesome SMW-esque rock structures. It still has something of an NSMB aesthetic, but it looks much nicer, more finely-detailed, and just more natural than the NSMBMii we saw last year; the art has taken a slight but noticeable turn.
-The world map. The area shown is a grassy coast, typical of first-World material. Still, notice how the map looks extremely zoomed out, and how this area seems connected to a much larger continent off to the left. This might be wishful thinking, but perhaps the game will be taking a more SMW-like approach to its map system. Instead of jumping from one themed world to another, it's possible that we'll be able to naturally progress through a much larger and more connected world. Also note the number of branching paths; they don't lead to much other than Toad Houses, but if there are this many branching paths in (what I assume is) the first region of the game, it's safe to say that there are even more secrets later on.
-The Mii's comments. The first Mii mentions that being a "flying squirrel" is fun, so... yeah, it should be pretty obvious that we'll get to see some Raccoon Mario action here (unless there's a literal squirrel Power-Up, but I kinda doubt that). The second Mii boasts about clearing a course in under 100 seconds, and a golden notification confirms this, so maybe we'll be seeing some sort of "achievement" system. Maybe obtaining said achievements could unlock further content... or, uh, maybe I'm jumping the gun. The third Mii talks about a Baby Yoshi being used as a balloon to carry you across the course, which sounds like a very fun idea, indeed, and pretty much confirms Yoshi for the game (and if they REALLY wanna keep up the SMW vibes, we'll be able to take Yoshi from course to course!). And, of course, there's the fact that Miis can even communicate on the world map. I'm not sure how it works - Is it live? Are the comments pre-placed? - but there's definitely an added social element here.
Welp, there's my over-analysis of about 16 seconds of footage for this new 2D Mario game.
Why, it's a new 2D Mario platformer! Not exactly shocking, but such a type of game always gives me the warm fuzzies. And of course, there are things I'd like to point out.
-The graphics. The game sports a similar look to New Super Mario Bros. and NSMBW, but it seems much more... polished, somehow. Take a look at the environment: we have grass and dirt instead of a plastic-like green coating and striped ground, smooth rolling hills in the background instead of those ugly grass cliffs, and not a single multicolored-spotted dome in sight, replaced with large trees and those awesome SMW-esque rock structures. It still has something of an NSMB aesthetic, but it looks much nicer, more finely-detailed, and just more natural than the NSMBMii we saw last year; the art has taken a slight but noticeable turn.
-The world map. The area shown is a grassy coast, typical of first-World material. Still, notice how the map looks extremely zoomed out, and how this area seems connected to a much larger continent off to the left. This might be wishful thinking, but perhaps the game will be taking a more SMW-like approach to its map system. Instead of jumping from one themed world to another, it's possible that we'll be able to naturally progress through a much larger and more connected world. Also note the number of branching paths; they don't lead to much other than Toad Houses, but if there are this many branching paths in (what I assume is) the first region of the game, it's safe to say that there are even more secrets later on.
-The Mii's comments. The first Mii mentions that being a "flying squirrel" is fun, so... yeah, it should be pretty obvious that we'll get to see some Raccoon Mario action here (unless there's a literal squirrel Power-Up, but I kinda doubt that). The second Mii boasts about clearing a course in under 100 seconds, and a golden notification confirms this, so maybe we'll be seeing some sort of "achievement" system. Maybe obtaining said achievements could unlock further content... or, uh, maybe I'm jumping the gun. The third Mii talks about a Baby Yoshi being used as a balloon to carry you across the course, which sounds like a very fun idea, indeed, and pretty much confirms Yoshi for the game (and if they REALLY wanna keep up the SMW vibes, we'll be able to take Yoshi from course to course!). And, of course, there's the fact that Miis can even communicate on the world map. I'm not sure how it works - Is it live? Are the comments pre-placed? - but there's definitely an added social element here.
Welp, there's my over-analysis of about 16 seconds of footage for this new 2D Mario game.
