Monday, July 25, 2011

Retro-Comparo: Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Super Mario World

Comparing two classic games out of a mega-popular franchise is extremely difficult because... well, both games are unilaterally considered classics. But, it becomes even more arduous of a task when both games were for consoles of different generations. In this case, I'm going to look at Super Mario Bros. 3 (SMB3), which was originally released for the NES, and Super Mario World (SMW) for the SNES. Now, to level the playing field, I will actually compare the SNES version of SMB3 that was included in Super Mario All-Stars, a compilation of the first three Super Mario Bros. games that were first released for the NES in the United States (not counting Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Worlds). SMB3 was remastered with enhanced graphics, colors, and sound and programmed with the ability to save progress. So here goes - my comparison of SMB3 and SMW:

Graphics:
Comparing SMB3 for the SNES to SMW, graphics are of similar quality, driven by the SNES' 16-bit graphics processor. That said, the sprites and backgrounds in SMW are prettier and smoother than SMB3 with more detail and rounded edges. Colors are also more vivid in SMW, despite the revamping of SMB3 in All-Stars, which was released three years after SMW. Win - SMW

Sound:
Differentiating sound effect quality between these two games on the SNES is like picking nits, so I won't do that. If anything, both games feature the technology of the SNES well, especially when comparing it to the Genesis' 8-bit sound. Win - push

Music:
SMW has the advantage of musical composition for a 16-bit system, which means (I think) more tracks and more layered sound. But, SMB3 has the benefit of nostalgia and outstanding melodies, even compared to games today. To be honest, the music in SMW is a cut better, despite the fond memories of SMB3. Win - SMW

Stage Design:
Though SMB3 would have the advantage of nostalgia, SMW put forth some serious complications in its stage design, such as different stage endings depending on how quickly you finish the initial parts of a stage. That said, SMB3 is just plain classic with killer suns and those levels where everything is giant. Win - SMB3

Bonus Stages:
The Ghost Houses and hidden fortresses of SMW versus the mushroom houses and flying ships of SMB3... Give me the latter. Win - SMB3

Hit Detection:
Direct landings from above squash bad guys in either game, though SMW benefits from a spin jump that eliminates baddies in one landing. However, both games suffer when interpreting landings from a down angle; hit detection is iffy, in my opinion. Win - push

Miscellaneous:
This one is hard. Both games have the grow-to-giant-size mushroom and the fire flower, but SMB3 has multiple power-ups, such as the raccoon suit, the frog suit, the hammer suit (which lets you throw hammers), and a tanuki suit that gives you the ability to turn into a stone statue (!). Conversely, SMW has a super cape and probably the most important "power-up" in the Super Mario Bros. franchise: Yoshi, a dinosaur that Mario can ride and use to devour bad guys. Also, both games have world maps that allow you to navigate to different levels in an order you choose, and memorable foes in each level. So hard to pick... Win - push

Overall winner - SMW!
I prefer Super Mario World because it was originally designed for a 16-bit system, so it benefits from the capabilities of the SNES. SMB3 was originally designed for the 8-bit NES; though it was enhanced for the SNES, levels are not as complex and rich as those in SMW. SMW also has Yoshi and a cuteness factor that is more apparent than with SMB3. It's really hard to pick, but if pressured I'd pick Super Mario World.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila Review: Not So Retro

As probably 10 or so people in the world know, I write reviews and articles for Epinions and blog posts for RetroBeliever. I sometimes link my blog posts to those articles because they either expand on a topic I discuss on this blog or review a product related to anything anachronistic and retro. Anyway, I wrote recently about a pair of Vibram FiveFingers Bikilas I purchased two weeks ago, which are pictured to the left of this post. Because Epinions reviews do not often appear in Google searches, I am linking to it for your (and my) benefit:


You might be thinking, "What's so retro about these shoes? They look rather modern!" Well, what's more retro than running without traditional shoes? To summarize the review, the Bikila model is an excellent entry in the Vibram FiveFingers line that is geared toward the middle- to long-distance runner. It doesn't preserve the road feel of previous Vibram offerings, but the Bikila model does provide some of the major benefits of near-barefoot running, like addressing heel striking. More importantly, these "shoes" take us back to a running form that has largely been forgotten - barefoot running.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as Knuckles: 3HN Tips and Tricks

Among all the Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis, some gamers put Sonic 2 on top, even over subsequent releases like Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles (S&K). This may be for several reasons: Sonic 2 added Spin Dash, more speed loops and runs, and Tails to the Sonic 1 formula; the zones are much shorter than Sonic 3's or S&K's zones; the end bosses are challenging but beatable compared to the nastiness of S&K; and, in my opinion, the music for Sonic 2 is much more memorable than past and future offerings (save the Green Hill Zone music of Sonic 1, which is iconic). But, there is something even better than Sonic 2 on the Genesis: lock Sonic 2 onto the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge and you get to play Sonic 2 as Knuckles the Echidna, who can glide and climb walls, but runs more slowly and jumps lower than Sonic.

Knuckles brings a fresh approach to Sonic 2 that opens up new tactics and options for navigating zones. Here are some of the tricks I have learned while playing Sonic 2 as Knuckles:

1) In both of the Emerald Hill Zone acts (i.e. levels), you can glide over most of both acts by accelerating at the beginning and then gliding. Just to get through the Emerald Hill Zone quickly, this tactic may be worth the attempt.

2) Unlike playing Sonic 2 as Sonic, when you play as Knuckles, you do not lose your ring totals after going into Special Zones to try to claim Chaos Emeralds. With this in mind, you can conceivably get four emeralds in those two acts. I recommend doing this instead of trying to retain rings in more difficult zones that follow.

3) In the Chemical Plant Zone, be sure to climb all the high places you can find. These places are added to Sonic 2 by the extended programming in the S&K cartridge to not only provide Knuckles with areas to climb and obstructions to prevent his gliding through the zone, but also with areas to house 1-ups and power-ups. In the second act of the Chemical Plant Zone, you can find at least two 1-ups inside tower-like structures that Knuckles must scale to get.

4) In the Aquatic Ruin Zone, stay well above the action below by gliding and running on the higher platforms. The two acts of this zone are notorious for its extensive stretches of submerged landscape, which require Sonic (or Knuckles) to find sources of oxygen before he drowns. With Knuckles, though, you can remain high above the water for some of those stretches if you glide.

Well, these are the tactics I have used so far and they've been quite effective. Playing Sonic 2 as Knuckles takes a superlative game and enhances it. In time, you may find that you prefer playing Sonic 2 as Knuckles... or you may get "nostalgic" for those days when Sonic and Tails conquered the Emerald Hill Zone and teamed up to defeat Dr. Robotnik's Love Buggy at the end of the zone. Good times.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Hard Drive Size: A RETROspective

Sometimes, when I write a blog post for this site, I am reminded of how self-centered and self-serving some blog posts can be, including mine. In my opinion, for a blog to be useful for others, posts should generally benefit others with information, advice, or humor. Granted, one's introspective catharsis may prove therapeutic for others. Anyway, this blog is not necessarily therapeutic and it may not benefit most people, but it does accomplish one thing: it spreads the word about things that many of us have consigned to obsolescence. For example, obviously, old videogames are still relevant and fun for many reasons: pretty and cartoonish colors, intriguing mascots, and a pick-up-and-play aspect that makes those classic games so much more accessible for kids and adults alike than modern games that need a 10-button, two analog-stick, and one D-pad controller. Another thing people have dubbed as "useless" because of age are audio cassettes. Yes, the sound that one gets from a tape recording is certainly not high-fidelity compared to CDs, but cassettes are portable, rather durable, and accomplish the simple task of allowing for playback. A third item to consider are hard drives and storage media.

Here's a link to an Epinions article I wrote three years ago about hard drive size and how many of us are seduced into buying a new laptop, music player, or media card only because its data storage space is greater than the perfectly useful item we possess:


To summarize, we tend to do away with items that still work because the storage space is relatively small. Who hasn't thrown aside a good 1 gigabyte (GB) MP3 player to get a snazzy 4 GB player? One exception is hard drive size for storing photo files, which can get massive with 12-24 megabytes per file; for these files, larger hard drives (especially for photographers) make sense. In any case, storage size, though an important factor for some users, is often overemphasized. Because most of us are too occupied with storage size, we tend to throw away items that are still functional, like those old 10 GB hard drives from days of yore.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow: 3HN Duck Disappointment

In one of my previous posts, I dubbed the Disney character Donald Duck as the top Sega Genesis game character in terms of personal nostalgia; with a tough and determined demeanor that belies his Disney cute factor and with underrated winners under his belt like Quackshot and World of Illusion, Donald Duck has certainly earned the top spot on my list. So, when I won Super Metroid on eBay last year and a Donald Duck game called Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow was packaged with it, I was pleased to get two games for one.

Unfortunately, unlike Donald Duck's Genesis titles, Maui Mallard on the Super Nintendo is lackluster not because of its graphics (with colorful and sharp backgrounds and character sprites), the animation (which is fluid and comical), or the in-game sound (which is good by SNES standards), but because of its gameplay. One problem is figuring out where to go. Playing the first level, it is initially confusing and difficult to know where to go; for example, I had trouble solving how to enter the background (outside of the house) from the foreground (inside the house). Once I overcame that, I found it annoying trying to navigate in the background with walls and window edges in my field of vision. Even after I successfully returned to the foreground, I could not easily determine where to head (or what to do) to exit the level.

Okay... I realize that it may seem lame that I cannot navigate the first level. Admittedly, Super Metroid is all about figuring out where to go; like Super Metroid, I could just watch someone's longplay video on YouTube or read a walkthrough to solve Maui Mallard. Anyway, it isn't navigation that makes Maui Mallard almost unplayable as much as the slippery controls. In Maui Mallard, jumping feels imprecise, running feels like sliding across ice, and shooting Donald's gun lacks the "fun" factor of Quackshot. What is he shooting -- tomatoes?!

Navigation and controls are the two major gameplay elements that bog down Maui Mallard, but I must also mention the act of collecting objects. Is the point to simply amass a higher completion percentage? I wasn't sure and I grew to not care after a few minutes of gameplay. After a while, the game felt pointless, which is not as much a reflection of gameplay as a lack of a cohesive story. Who is Maui Mallard? Why do I have to wait until later levels to turn into Cold Shadow, the icy, deadly ninja duck? What's the point of having to transform when I could just be a ninja throughout the game?

Yet, more important than these questions was my concern about the "Eastern philosophy" elements in the game, such as the Taoist yin-yang symbol and ninja iconography, as well as the Polynesian-type idolatry present. What kinds of images would be impressed upon my sons' minds when viewing these symbols? All of these questions flooded my mind as I turned off my Retro Duo and pulled out the Maui Mallard cartridge.

As I wrote this post, I pondered how Maui Mallard and Super Metroid share some similar features: laudable graphics, vivid sprites, platform gameplay, somewhat baffling and confusing level navigation, and tracking of percentages of items collected are aspects of both games. Yet, unlike Maui Mallard, Super Metroid features fluid gameplay with accurate jumping and movement along with special abilities gained as the game progresses. Super Metroid also affords Samus Aran wall jumping, which comes with much practice but is available from the game's onset. Maui Mallard is plagued with a feeling that you have little control over where Donald Duck goes and, eventually, little desire to go anywhere. Sadly, because of this game, Donald Duck doesn't rank too highly on my list of nostalgic characters on the SNES.