Nintendo eShop Deals Thread

[Steven Pendleton]

19 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I'd agree about the bosses I had Mania and got fed up with it eventually as I never was a super huge Sonic fan,  something with a boss with a lot of missiles, lack of inertia on a hilly ground and way too many unavoidable hits with rings flying everywhere was my total demise of any interest in keeping it.   I've seen it before recently at Target, pretty sure it was some 2pack with that racing game.  We will widely agree to disagree on it being any form of a best game on Switch let alone in general for 20 years, unless you mean that specifically to Sonic, then yeah I would.  Sonic Neo Geo Pocket Color and Sonic 2 are more my enjoyment level with the 2D side of the franchise.

That 2-pack is a relatively new release and it doesn't have Sonic Mania Plus, just regular Sonic Mania, which was a very strange decision, now that I think about it, but it's modern Sega, so not totally unexpected. The one you want is the older one with Sonic Mania Plus, although I think it's going to be quite difficult to find a new copy of it at this point. I do quite literally mean that it's one of the best games of the last 20 years in general, though; Sonic Mania (Plus), AM2R, and Shin Megami Tensei IV are the best games I've played since like 2000 or so.

 

I suppose you could go for Sonic Origins if she's never played Sonic, especially as it's digital-only as of now, but it's expensive and twice the price of Mania and has a few issues.

Edited October 29, 2022 by Steven Pendleton

[DavidD]

15 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I suppose you could go for Sonic Origins if she's never played Sonic, especially as it's digital-only as of now, but it's expensive and twice the price of Mania and has a few issues.

I am going to qualify this slightly... make sure she LIKES Sonic-styled platforming games.  Mario titles are more universally enjoyed.

 

I'm trying to remember if there's a demo for any Sonic titles on the Switch...

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, DavidD said:

I am going to qualify this slightly... make sure she LIKES Sonic-styled platforming games.  Mario titles are more universally enjoyed.

 

I'm trying to remember if there's a demo for any Sonic titles on the Switch...

Yeah, I'm one of those people who thinks Mario is boring as hell lol. They are good games, but they are very safe and by-the-numbers, so they are not for me. Sonic is thrilling and fun and has a lower skill floor and a higher skill ceiling! I do love Super Mario World, though I rather regret learning how to beat the game in 15 minutes using the warps.

 

Alternatively, Rayman Legends is really good. I always preferred Rayman Origins over Legends for some reason, but Legends is generally considered to be a better game. I've heard the Switch version is good, but I have it on PS4 because I didn't have anything else to buy on PS4 on launch day and the PC version is region locked, so I can't buy it on PC anyway.

 

I think Sonic Forces might have a demo, but that game isn't so great... I like Forces more than Adventure 1 and 2, though I wouldn't say any of those 3 games are particularly great.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about Sega Ages Sonic 1 and Sonic 2! Those are better than the Origins versions and way cheaper. No 3&K or CD, sadly, but the Sega Ages ones are great. Might as well check out Sega Ages Columns or Puyo Puyo or something if she likes puzzle games. I know there is some cool stuff on ACA, as well, so also check ACA.

Edited October 29, 2022 by Steven Pendleton

[digdugnate]

My Youngest really likes the Lego games (although they don't like Star Wars; I've failed as a parent!).  They also really like rhythm-type games like Taiko no Tatsujin and Pianista.

[Steven Pendleton]

Oh yeah, Lego Jurassic World is awesome! I love that game! Steam said I played it for like 100 hours or something insane like that.

[Tanooki]

@DavidD Cat Quest I have that 1+2 card, she enjoyed that.  Blossom Tale is a maybe to look into, she's not into the rabbids or that genre, and Cave STory I have, might have to see i I can get her to try it again but didn't care last go around.  Pikmin is a maybe as well, I do have 2 on Gamecube but she's never tried it.

 

I had this long run of dumb luck with deals at 2 retail and a flea spot yesterday, only noting it because I got Sonic mania for $10 (not plus) so I could throw that her way and see if she likes it, but I've never seen her get into the more flashy fast type stuff, but who knows.  I'm not much of a Sonic fan, a lot of them are just more about boring speed than really going at your own pace and exploring, finding things, like a Mario game does which Steve oddly hates putting him in the minority there.  Yet he does like Mario World, no reason to regret, because there's no reason to cheap your way to a 15min finish just because it's possible.  Self control.

 

I had one of those switch Rayman games before, she took no interest in it.

 

I'll keep reading and when she's ready to pull those point cards out and use them it should get interesting.

[MrBeefy]

What about something like Katamari?

[Tanooki]

Not sure, don't think she's ever seen it before.  I've been bugging her to check out the shop, not much progress, but that's dealing with a kid who is resistant to change due to adhd/ocd/control issues. 😕  Kind of just got to coax it or nothing happens.

[Steven Pendleton]

On 10/31/2022 at 12:03 AM, Tanooki said:

I'm not much of a Sonic fan, a lot of them are just more about boring speed than really going at your own pace and exploring, finding things

lol no exploration? Then explain this

 

 

and this

 

 

meanwhile, Mario gets this

 

 

Now tell me which one has exploration! If that's what you want, go play Sonic CD. That game makes Super Metroid look absolutely tiny with how massive it is.

 

Additionally, Sonic is not about speed, it's about momentum, and you won't have speed for the most part unless you have skill, because outside of a few places, Sonic 1-3&K and especially CD won't give you speed at all, and you must use your skill to get it and maintain it. No skill = low speed. Skill = fun, because being bad sucks. Practice, learn how the physics work, and you'll see. Almost every act is a massive playground to have limitless fun in, far surpassing any other platformer in existence.

 

I've noticed a few people on this forum don't know how to play Sonic properly. I'm thinking about changing that somehow, probably through a (probably super long) and detailed set of posts and possibly some videos to demonstrate how to play these games properly, as they have far more depth than many/most people realize, and understanding how to play them is paramount to getting the most out of them.

 

Also, you mentioned that you've mostly played Sonic 2, right? That's probably why you feel that Sonic has little exploration; Sonic 2 has by far the most straightforward level design of 1-3&K + CD by a significant amount. Go play Sonic CD, 3&K, or Mania; the stages in those games are ridiculously massive, and yes, they have plenty of stuff to explore and find.

 

On 10/31/2022 at 12:03 AM, Tanooki said:

like a Mario game does which Steve oddly hates putting him in the minority there

I don't hate Mario, it's just that most of them put me to sleep. Like I said, they are very safe and by-the-numbers games, aside from that ultra weird USA version of Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic. Reskinning that game into Mario was a bold move, seeing as how different it is. I really like that game, actually... I should go play it again, as it's been like 20 years since the last time I played it!

Edited October 31, 2022 by Steven Pendleton

[Tanooki]

Sonic at its heart is a speed run game, it's always primarily been about gotta go fast.  I never could get behind that.  You're a fan I get it, so you're well personalizing and over analyzing the game which is fine.

 

SMB2 is crazy it gets deep post release hate from internet trolls like they were betrayed which is sad.  So much strange back story to the game revealed in the last decade really how it started as a Mario game where verticality worked, but then the suits pop in and want a dream machine themed game so then it morphed from alpha into beta then final both as doki doki.  Yet knowing they had a visually and mechanic was outdated turd that was aggressively hard not wanting to ruin the face of the company, then revert the mario alpha doki doki back to a real Mario game.  It's such a tangled oddity of history, and more so because that game normalized many mechanics and characters that have stuck with the franchise ever since.  The pick up-carry-toss as a weapon attack, (the much later into Wii era) 4 player choices of characters mode, mini bosses like birdo, and various enemies like pokey the cactus, the various shyguys and snifits, a few others, they became canon.

 

It's a unique and fantastic game that's unjustly crapped on, so yeah, go play it, it's a hell of a fun bit of mario mania.

[DavidD]

On 10/31/2022 at 7:23 PM, Tanooki said:

It's a unique and fantastic game that's unjustly crapped on, so yeah, go play it, it's a hell of a fun bit of mario mania.

I don't know if I've run into a single person who disliked Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA).

 

What I find interesting is that the fantastic Donkey Kong for Game Boy feels like a mix of DK with SMB2.  You can hop on enemies, pluck them, and toss them... and the goal is often to find a key and carry it to the locked exit door.

[Tanooki]

Well same here, other than internet betrayal trolls who love to look cool and standout online being woke to Nintendo lies.

 

She has it though, I got her a NES Classic Edition when they first came out, and has access to my original cart from the 80s too.  Very good call.  I tried DK on her before didn't get anywhere, but not in recent times so it might be worth a shot.  It's the only one from that sub-genre of DK/Mario games I find fun in the slightest, the others rely on some shitty subpar AI and cheap gotcha moments, while DK94 if you fail, YOU fail entirely on your own.

[MrBeefy]

On 10/31/2022 at 11:11 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

lol no exploration? Then explain this

 

 

and this

 

 

meanwhile, Mario gets this

 

 

Now tell me which one has exploration! If that's what you want, go play Sonic CD. That game makes Super Metroid look absolutely tiny with how massive it is.

 

Additionally, Sonic is not about speed, it's about momentum, and you won't have speed for the most part unless you have skill, because outside of a few places, Sonic 1-3&K and especially CD won't give you speed at all, and you must use your skill to get it and maintain it. No skill = low speed. Skill = fun, because being bad sucks. Practice, learn how the physics work, and you'll see. Almost every act is a massive playground to have limitless fun in, far surpassing any other platformer in existence.

 

I've noticed a few people on this forum don't know how to play Sonic properly. I'm thinking about changing that somehow, probably through a (probably super long) and detailed set of posts and possibly some videos to demonstrate how to play these games properly, as they have far more depth than many/most people realize, and understanding how to play them is paramount to getting the most out of them.

 

Also, you mentioned that you've mostly played Sonic 2, right? That's probably why you feel that Sonic has little exploration; Sonic 2 has by far the most straightforward level design of 1-3&K + CD by a significant amount. Go play Sonic CD, 3&K, or Mania; the stages in those games are ridiculously massive, and yes, they have plenty of stuff to explore and find.

https://youtu.be/Z9G1Mf6TZRs

[DavidD]

Super Mario Bros. 3 is still the best platformer... although there are times when I think that New Super Mario Bros. U might actually be the best.  I don't necessarily want it to be, but...

[Daj]

On 10/31/2022 at 11:11 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

I've noticed a few people on this forum don't know how to play Sonic properly. I'm thinking about changing that somehow, probably through a (probably super long) and detailed set of posts and possibly some videos to demonstrate how to play these games properly, as they have far more depth than many/most people realize, and understanding how to play them is paramount to getting the most out of them.

Guilty as charged, I think... I have a go at trying to learn how to "really" play Sonic 1-2 from time to time and never can make it click. Crashing into stuff is frustrating, and the games let you muddle through to the end whether you play like a showboat or not.

[Steven Pendleton]

16 hours ago, Daj said:

Guilty as charged, I think... I have a go at trying to learn how to "really" play Sonic 1-2 from time to time and never can make it click. Crashing into stuff is frustrating, and the games let you muddle through to the end whether you play like a showboat or not.

This is exactly what I am talking about. Sonic has a very low skill floor, as you can lean heavily on the very generous i-frames it gives you when you get hit, along with only needing a single ring to not die to most things (there is that one strange boss in Sonic Advance 2 that can still sometimes insta-kill you and sometimes not for some reason), to stumble your way through the game, but it also has a much higher skill ceiling than any other platformer that I can think of. Not bad for a game with only a d-pad and a single button.

 

Remember, speed is not the point of well-designed Sonic games; yes, the marketing tells you that, but ignore the marketing; the point is to be skilled, and speed is your reward for being skilled. Stumbling through these games sucks, but to get to the point where you know how to play them, you must understand how to play them, which means understanding the physics more than any other aspect of the game, and without that, you will probably hate these games, but there are no 2D platformers in existence that are more fun than Sonic 2, 3&K, and Mania (Plus) once you know what you are doing. Except maybe Super Metroid and Zero Mission, but you can do some crazy shit in those and play them in exactly the same fashion as Sonic, and I do, which is part of why I like them so much. Yes, that's right, Sonic and Metroid are pretty much exactly the same thing when you really think about it. Knowledge -> skill = speed = fun -> get better -> level of fun increases -> repeat infinitely.

 

Go learn the physics. Understand how to interact with slopes. Go do that and every single stage (except Labyrinth Zone lol) becomes a massive playground.

Edited November 11, 2022 by Steven Pendleton

[Tanooki]

The last Sonic I did was Mania and couldn't get into it, it was wonky.  I don't know how quick into the game I got tired of it, but it was the stage with robotnik using tracking missiles on wavy ground.  I died over and over dozens of times because the blue rat wouldn't get any speed on the ground due to the humps and the physics when I would try and jump would find jumps going short, curving back, whatever the result was utterly unnatural and I'd just eat a couple missiles and die.  It was demoralizing, grating, utterly infuriating.  Got rid of the game after that, but ended up getting a copy when I got some flea finds a couple weeks back, haven't started it still due to remembering that.  May just give it to my kid, she may tolerate it.

[Daj]

On 11/11/2022 at 5:15 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

This is exactly what I am talking about. Sonic has a very low skill floor, as you can lean heavily on the very generous i-frames it gives you when you get hit, along with only needing a single ring to not die to most things (there is that one strange boss in Sonic Advance 2 that can still sometimes insta-kill you and sometimes not for some reason), to stumble your way through the game, but it also has a much higher skill ceiling than any other platformer that I can think of. Not bad for a game with only a d-pad and a single button.

 

Remember, speed is not the point of well-designed Sonic games; yes, the marketing tells you that, but ignore the marketing; the point is to be skilled, and speed is your reward for being skilled. Stumbling through these games sucks, but to get to the point where you know how to play them, you must understand how to play them, which means understanding the physics more than any other aspect of the game, and without that, you will probably hate these games, but there are no 2D platformers in existence that are more fun than Sonic 2, 3&K, and Mania (Plus) once you know what you are doing. Except maybe Super Metroid and Zero Mission, but you can do some crazy shit in those and play them in exactly the same fashion as Sonic, and I do, which is part of why I like them so much. Yes, that's right, Sonic and Metroid are pretty much exactly the same thing when you really think about it. Knowledge -> skill = speed = fun -> get better -> level of fun increases -> repeat infinitely.

 

Go learn the physics. Understand how to interact with slopes. Go do that and every single stage (except Labyrinth Zone lol) becomes a massive playground.

Ironically I think I'd have an easier time learning Sonic if the games were harder, if you had to repeat a section if you messed up. Maybe I ought to grind them with save states. You're not a fan of Sonic 1?

[Steven Pendleton]

4 hours ago, Daj said:

Ironically I think I'd have an easier time learning Sonic if the games were harder, if you had to repeat a section if you messed up. Maybe I ought to grind them with save states. You're not a fan of Sonic 1?

I like Sonic 1 more than Sonic 2, but 2 is unquestionably a better game.

[Razzie.P]

On 10/28/2022 at 10:09 PM, Steven Pendleton said:

Sonic Mania, if you can't find a physical copy. If you can, get the physical copy since that has Sonic Mania Plus, but good luck finding a copy.

 

On 10/28/2022 at 10:36 PM, Steven Pendleton said:

The one you want is the older one with Sonic Mania Plus, although I think it's going to be quite difficult to find a new copy of it at this point.

It's on Amazon right now for 25 bucks.  Is it out of print and usually hard to find?

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, Razzie.P said:

 

It's on Amazon right now for 25 bucks.  Is it out of print and usually hard to find?

That's the European version. Now go find the US or Japanese version, and in a brick and mortar store.

[Razzie.P]

42 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Now go find the US or Japanese version, and in a brick and mortar store.

Don't need to, I've had it since launch.  And definitely not gonna make a field trip to brick n' mortar stores just to see if it's still out there.      Was just asking if it's out of print and usually hard to find.

 

 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, Razzie.P said:

Don't need to, I've had it since launch.  And definitely not gonna make a field trip to brick n' mortar stores just to see if it's still out there.      Was just asking if it's out of print and usually hard to find.

 

 

 

Yes, it's out of print, and I don't think they made many copies.

[MrBeefy]

On 11/11/2022 at 5:15 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

This is exactly what I am talking about. Sonic has a very low skill floor, as you can lean heavily on the very generous i-frames it gives you when you get hit, along with only needing a single ring to not die to most things (there is that one strange boss in Sonic Advance 2 that can still sometimes insta-kill you and sometimes not for some reason), to stumble your way through the game, but it also has a much higher skill ceiling than any other platformer that I can think of. Not bad for a game with only a d-pad and a single button.

 

Remember, speed is not the point of well-designed Sonic games; yes, the marketing tells you that, but ignore the marketing; the point is to be skilled, and speed is your reward for being skilled. Stumbling through these games sucks, but to get to the point where you know how to play them, you must understand how to play them, which means understanding the physics more than any other aspect of the game, and without that, you will probably hate these games, but there are no 2D platformers in existence that are more fun than Sonic 2, 3&K, and Mania (Plus) once you know what you are doing. Except maybe Super Metroid and Zero Mission, but you can do some crazy shit in those and play them in exactly the same fashion as Sonic, and I do, which is part of why I like them so much. Yes, that's right, Sonic and Metroid are pretty much exactly the same thing when you really think about it. Knowledge -> skill = speed = fun -> get better -> level of fun increases -> repeat infinitely.

 

Go learn the physics. Understand how to interact with slopes. Go do that and every single stage (except Labyrinth Zone lol) becomes a massive playground.

I think Sega's interaction with the slope took them all the way down into the gutter.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 minute ago, MrBeefy said:

I think Sega's interaction with the slope took them all the way down into the gutter.

No, that was just Sega of Japan being arrogant and stupid.