Gaming The Super Mario Super Thread!

♫ “I’m walking on Sunshiiiiiine, woahhhh.... and don’t it feel good!” ♫

 

Since I'm gonna wait until i have time to do a longer play session, I'm gonna hold off on Sunshine today and just do a star or two on SM64 to try it out crisper (and hopefully with better control results than the last time i played with a 3rd party Wii classic controller that had a bad analog stick). Will also do a star on Galaxy just to do a mental visual comparison since I just cleared the original version the other day.

EDIT- Apparently, since these games are running on emulators, previously-invisible debug cubes that mark moving platform paths are now visible in one of the warp zone challenge stages in SMS. The cubes were not present in the original GCN version, but had been seen previously in unofficial emulated versions.



So far, it seems to only affect "Secret of the Dirty Lake".

 

From playing the first star in 64, it's interesting to notice some of the small upgrades. The dialog box text font is actually readable again (and is updated for the Switch controller, not just showing a direct port of the N64 controller's buttons like they did on the VC version) and there's an improved draw distance as the Toads no longer fade into existence as you approach them (though I think that actually breaks the original game's conceptual excuse that Bowser has captured everyone inside the walls). They've also removed the "So long-y, Bowser!" line during the Bowser fights, as well as the reverse-long-jump-glitch. Mario also defaults to facing the camera when grabbing onto a tree.

And then they added the ZL collage background effect to the title screen Mario head gimmicks. That threw me off for a moment, because I was like "What button combo was I NOT hitting on the title screen in 1996 to have never seen this before?". And then there was the really strange "1996, 1997" copyright tag which really making me wonder about this.



So, it turns out, and here is somehow yet another thing about SM64 I never knew (i swear this game, despite being more analyzed and dissected than any other game in history, still manages to have new secrets, tweaks and details revealed annually), after Star Fox 64 came out in 1997, they rereleased SM64 (as well as Wave Race 64) in Japan with added Rumble Pak support and various updates made in the North American edition (now retranslated back to Japan). It's called the "Shindou Pak Taiou" version (kinda, "vibration pak sun", so [in my nowhere-near-knowledgeable guess], "Sunny Shake Pak" version?).

And, one of the easiest ways to tell the difference, besides the added copyright year (since the EU version of the NA version also has two years listed) is to look at the color of the "TM". The original JP & NA versions had a white TM, EU had a red TM and the SPT version had a blue TM.

It's because of this translation back to JP that some of these changes were made- the Bowser line was among voice lines added in the NA version but was replaced because he's King Koopa in Japan (which is kind of ironic since SM64 was the opportunity Nintendo took [ignoring a brief blip in Yoshi's Safari] to change/standardize the Princess's name from her American "Toadstool" to her Japanese "Peach" name).



And, from just playing the first star in SMG, I noticed they have removed the Mii option for the file icons (you have just the character heads). Not surprising, since the Switch doesn't use them in as integrated a manner as the Wii or Wii U- but since they still do exist for user icons and such, a little disappointed that they didn't fully reintegrate the option.

I played using a Pro Controller, and the controls seem fine- though the starbits collecting is awkward with it. There's a distracting amount of arm and torso movement needed to really utilize it in that regard (especially if you're not situated dirctly in front of your TV), due to the weight of the controller compared to a Wiimote and Nunchuk and the closeness of your wrists- you really do need the separated hands configuration from a Wiimote/Nunchuk to comfortably utilize the feature (and I suspect the disengaged JoyCons will at least adequately meet those needs as well, though I haven't tried that control scheme or the handheld touch modes yet).

Also on the subject of changes, due to the change in controller functionality, they've also had to edit some of the dialogue in SMS as well, since F.L.U.D.D. originally spoke the button names during the tutorial, as well as specified the "hold down" functionality of the GCN controller's analog triggers.

Additionally worth noting that you can use the GCN controller adapter with SMS, but it does not uses the analog trigger functionality and reassigns some functions to different buttons, mimicking the Switch control setup, so it won't be a direct 1:1 control scheme (on top of the camera controls already being inverted with no option to swap that back to the original control behavior, either).

 

Dipped my toe briefly into my Wii SMG1 file just to give Luigi a one-star spin. His slippery momentum and higher jump definitely mixes things up just enough to be interesting. Died before the first star by falling into a black hole. But I killed a Goomba first so it's all good. Probably be the last I play of this file- if I ever do decide to do Super Luigi Galaxy, it'll be through a 3DAS replay.

Then I swapped discs to SMG2 to give that a go. It has been so long since I bought this and it has been out of mind for so long on top of that that the cover art was completely foreign to me. Weird feeling. Anyways, already liking the intro to this one better from a gameplay and style POV. Though it lacks the "Disney Light Parade" magical feel that SMG1's intro had, the storybook style of this one is more interactive and appealing than Rosalina's storybook.

Some amusing moments too.



FINALLY!

 

SM64 tends to balance that out by having very sensitive controls. Most tight spots can be navigated pretty easily, even if you have to tip-toe Mario through them to make fine adjustments to your path along the way. It's when you have to really gun it that things can get a little wonky- but that's a problem that SMG suffers from as well arguably moreso due to the added complexity of the gravity mechanics). SMS kinda side-steps that because the FLUDD abilities (particularly the hover nozzle) address a lot of issues inherent to 3D platformers.

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve played deep into SM64. My replays on Wii VC only tended to go into the first star or two of the first 3 worlds or thereabouts.

From what I recall during my original playthrough at launch was that the only real super-pain-in-the-ass star was one involving a series of platforms around a room underground. But I haven’t been back to that since that play since it’s a little deeper into the game.


EDIT- Did a few more stars in SMG2. This is, hands-down, a superior game to the original so far. I really hope they have a Switch port of this for folks to close out the Mario anniversary year with.

I've only done about 6 stars so far and they've been pretty joyful levels. They also feel bigger, with fewer multi-mini rocks jumping point to point (though there is still some of that). Haven't really hit a true exploration sandbox level yet, but SMG1 had 1 or 2 of those so I'm sure there'll be a couple in here somewhere.

Yoshi introduces some great mechanics with the tongue-and-pull eating and grapple points. I'm wondering if maybe that's why they didn't do a SMG2 port for SM3DAS- the wiimote pointer and motion controls are far more attuned and integrated into the gameplay than they were in the first game. It's not just casual independent starbit collection and Luma feeding- the Yoshi targeting requires active targeting (on top of the starbit waggle).

Also- there's a world map! I totally did not expect that! Sadly makes the game a bit more linear in feel but easier to navigate than the bedrooms and such. You can see that and other 2D elements being integrated back into the series- possibly the influence from NSMBW being a big hit on the Wii. That's something that would carry through to both SM3DW and SMO.

 

Pin Set #1 is starting to arrive:

 

Yeah, Mario 64 can be quite challenging with wonky controller hardware issues. I forget if I relayed this recently already, but I got a cousin's kid SM64 a couple years ago for xmas since they still only had a Wii (this was just before the Wii Shop shutdown) and got her a 3rd party Classic Controller replica to go with it. Turns out the analog sticks were buggy on the controller and it made things like walking across the plank in Bob-omb Battlefield almost impossible.

 

I only beat the first one within the last year or so after Mario Maker 2 added the bounce ball power-up. Tough game, but doable. The vehicle levels were actually fun little bonuses and broke things up nicely. Surprisingly unique worlds, given the limitations of the hardware.

The sequel I completed back when it came out- it really is a great game and did a good job of translating a more Super Mario World-like experience on the GB (even if it was more like SMB3 at times). And it gave us Wario!

 

As it turns out, the amount of hatred someone has for me is proportionate to getting this image.

 

New Bowser's Fury trailer:



Also, they've updated the My Nintendo Missions list, so if anyone else is trying for the second pin set, you need to have completed 14 missions plus buying Mario 3D w/BF in order to qualify.

Which might be a problem since I missed a few missions before and will seemingly depend on if I can get the Nintendo newsletter to actually arrive in my e-mail box with the code i need. And, yes, I have just purchased Splatoon 2 because I want a pin set and need to participate in this weekend's Splatfest to get enough missions completed (unless they add more between now and Feb) .

I'm getting a damn Mario Sunshine pin, dammit.

They've also debuted a Mario-edition Nintendo Switch, which is the first time the system has come in a different color (in this case: red).

 

Yeah, I'll be repurchasing that, if only for BF and the online co-op. I'll still go back to the Wii U version to make sure I finish off the Captain Toad levels though .

(and, yeah, I need to buy the game to get the pin set too so I'm stuck either way, alas)