Rate the Game: Week 125 ***THE EPIC CONCLUSION!!! (MAYBE???)***

[M-A-G]

Click the video. :o :heart:

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<select><option selected="">Rate the Game Results

<option>1. Super Mario World (4.81)
<option>2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (4.8)</option>
<option>3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (4.8)</option>
<option>4. Hitman: Codename 47 (4.75)</option>
<option>5. Mass Effect (4.75)</option>
<option>6. Goldeneye 007 (4.72)</option>
<option>7. Super Mario Bros. 3 (4.7)</option>
<option>8. Silent Hill 2 (4.66)</option>
<option>9. Portal (4.5)</option>
<option>10. Red Dead Redemption (4.5)</option>
<option>11. Chrono Trigger (4.5)</option>
<option>12. Final Fantasy 3 (4.5)</option>
<option>13. Silent Hill 3 (4.5)</option>
<option>14. Mega Man 2 (4.44)</option>
<option>15. Donkey Kong Country (4.44)</option>
<option>16. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (4.44)</option>
<option>17. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)</option>
<option>18. God of War (4.4)</option>
<option>19. Mega Man X (4.36)</option>
<option>20. Metal Gear Solid (4.33)</option>
<option>21. BioShock (4.33)</option>
<option>22. Perfect Dark (4.3)</option>
<option>23. Shadow of the Colossus (4.28)</option>
<option>24. The Last of Us (4.28)</option>
<option>25. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)</option>
<option>26. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)</option>
<option>27. Resident Evil 2 (4.14)</option>
<option>28. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)</option>
<option>29. Super Mario 64 (4.07)</option>
<option>30. Grand Theft Auto 3 (4.06)</option>
<option>31. The Legend of Zelda (4.06)</option>
<option>32. NBA Jam (4.05)</option>
<option>33. Super Mario Kart (4.0)</option>
<option>34. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (4.0)</option>
<option>35. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (4.0)</option>
<option>36. Super Smash Bros. (4.0)</option>
<option>37. Super Metroid (4.0)</option>
<option>38. The Simpsons (4.0)</option>
<option>39. Resident Evil 4 (4.0)</option>
<option>40. EarthBound (4.0)</option>
<option>41. Fallout 3 (4.0)</option>
<option>42. Mirror's Edge (4.0)</option>
<option>43. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (4.0)</option>
<option>44. Donkey Kong Country 2 (4.0)</option>
<option>45. Banjo-Kazooie (4.0)</option>
<option>46. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)</option>
<option>47. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (3.92)</option>
<option>48. Mega Man (3.89)</option>
<option>49. Castlevania (3.86)</option>
<option>50. Contra (3.86)</option>
<option>51. Devil May Cry (3.86)</option>
<option>52. Half-Life 2 (3.85)</option>
<option>53. Half-Life (3.83)
<option>54. Infamous (3.83)</option>
<option>55. SimCity 2000 (3.8)</option>
<option>56. Final Fight (3.8)</option>
<option>57. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)</option>
<option>58. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)</option>
<option>59. Double Dragon (3.75)</option>
<option>60. Max Payne (3.75)</option>
<option>61. Tetris (3.69)</option>
<option>62. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)</option>
<option>63. Alan Wake (3.66)</option>
<option>64. Diablo (3.66)</option>
<option>65. F.E.A.R. (3.66)</option>
<option>66. Mortal Kombat (3.65)</option>
<option>67. Doom (3.625)</option>
<option>68. StarFox (3.61)</option>
<option>69. Resident Evil (3.58)</option>
<option>70. Kirby's Adventure (3.57)</option>
<option>71. Ninja Gaiden (3.5)</option>
<option>72. Burnout Paradise (3.5)</option>
<option>73. Thief: The Dark Project (3.5)</option>
<option>74. Dark Souls (3.5)</option>
<option>75. Shinobi (3.5)</option>
<option>76. Dead Space (3.4)</option>
<option>77. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)</option>
<option>78. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)</option>
<option>79. Crash Bandicoot (3.33)</option>
<option>80. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (3.33)</option>
<option>81. Wolfenstein 3D (3.33)</option>
<option>82. Dead Island (3.33)</option>
<option>83. Left 4 Dead (3.33)</option>
<option>84. Nights Into Dreams (3.33)</option>
<option>85. Condemned: Criminal Origins (3.33)</option>
<option>86. Gauntlet Legends (3.28)
<option>87. Gears of War (3.27)</option>
<option>88. Borderlands (3.22)</option>
<option>89. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (3.22)</option>
<option>90. Duke Nukem 3D (3.2)</option>
<option>91. Darkstalkers (3.2)</option>
<option>92. Quake (3.2)</option>
<option>93. SoulCalibur (3.16)</option>
<option>94. Pac-Man (3.125)</option>
<option>95. Killer Instinct (3.11)</option>
<option>96. Virtua Fighter (3.09)</option>
<option>97. Rock Band (3.09)</option>
<option>98. Earthworm Jim (3.0)</option>
<option>99. Metroid (3.0)</option>
<option>100. Time Crisis (3.0)</option>
<option>101. Tekken (3.0)</option>
<option>102. Halo 2 (3.0)</option>
<option>103. Destiny (3.0)</option>
<option>104. The Secret of Monkey Island (3.0)</option>
<option>105. Sonic Adventure (3.0)</option>
<option>106. Shenmue (3.0)</option>
<option>107. Guitar Hero (2.875)</option>
<option>108. Ecco the Dolphin (2.85)</option>
<option>109. Streets of Rage (2.84)</option>
<option>110. Altered Beast (2.8)</option>
<option>111. Bayonetta (2.75)</option>
<option>112. Assassin's Creed (2.71)</option>
<option>113. Gauntlet (2.71)</option>
<option>114. Dead Rising (2/71)</option>
<option>115. Saints Row (2.66)</option>
<option>116. The Sims (2.6)</option>
<option>117. Silent Hill (2.6)</option>
<option>118. Tomb Raider (2.55)</option>
<option>119. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)</option>
<option>120. Twisted Metal (2.42)</option
<option>121. Crackdown (2.42)</option>
<option>122. Golden Axe (2.33)</option>
<option>123. Gran Turismo (2.3)</option>
<option>124. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)</option>
</select>

[M-A-G]

Oh, right, I almost forgot:

Honorable Mentions:

Marvel vs. Capcom: 5.0 (Fignuts)
American McGee's Alice: 3.0 (M-A-G)

[drave]

The Notorious M-A-G. Thanks man, for taking the time to compile this list, tally votes and track it all. It has brought back many MANY memories and helped with a few games I totally forgot about. Your voice is much deeper than I thought it'd be, I dunno why I thought any of that tbh.



As long as you are doing this, you can count me in as an active participant. This is fun stuff, and I really enjoy talking games with others. Don't have many friends IRL who still play games, or don't even care to discuss them because "adulting". Pfft, fuck that.






Easy 5 for me.


I remember not knowing WTF was going on for the first couple days of playing it. It was so radically different than what we knew as Mario Bros...... but for the better IMO!


Each character having unique strengths and weaknesses, I felt, led to deeper gameplay. Princess Peach would make some levels stupid easy, while Luigi's super jump made others even easier.


Rarely did I ever play as Mario or Toad. I think I played Toad on the 2nd world due to his super fast digging speed.


I've always wanted a sequel in the same style, maybe add a few new characters in the mix from over the years and give them abilities too! It'd be the shit.




Also want a Super Mario RPG sequel damnit! But that's for another thread.

[Lock Jaw]

Ending with something that I HAVE played!

I'll give it a 4, cause I loved the style, the music, and everything. I actually enjoyed playing it more than the original Mario..... not more than Mario 3 or Mario World though....

[Lock Jaw]

I too always wanted a sequel in the same style.... pretty shocked that in all the years since they never made one....

[Destor]

I give ita 5 for the music alone

[weather vane]

Great job.

Easy 5. One of my favourite games.

[Big Vic]

Deserves nothing less than a 4.

I think you should continue the game after a break.

[M-A-G]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the Shy Guys and Snifits the only things from this entry that carried over to other games? I know Mouser and Triclyde were in the cartoon but they never popped up in another game.

[DAMN iNATOR]

3. Too different and didn’t feel like a Mario title. Was basically a different game with Mario thrown into it for Western markets.

[drave]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the Shy Guys and Snifits the only things from this entry that carried over to other games? I know Mouser and Triclyde were in the cartoon but they never popped up in another game.




Yeah, I believe so. This entry was just so radically different, in all the good ways.

[Lock Jaw]

Some of the concepts like Luigi being a higher/farther jumper and Peach floating have been in other games

[Lock Jaw]

This game actually made Luigi a unique individual.... before he was just a palette swapped Mario. This game made him the taller one with longer jumps

[Destor]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the Shy Guys and Snifits the only things from this entry that carried over to other games? I know Mouser and Triclyde were in the cartoon but they never popped up in another game.might be true. I was thinking POW blocks but theyre in the arcade mario bro.s

[Big Vic]

Birdo came over too.

Wart had a cameo appearance in Link's Awakening but that's a totally diff IP.

[Big Vic]

Oh apparently Pokey also debuted in SMB2

[M-A-G]

Birdo came over too.

Wart had a cameo appearance in Link's Awakening but that's a totally diff IP.

Fuck me, I can't believe I forgot about Birdo. Especially when you fight her so many times throughout the game.

[M-A-G]

This game actually made Luigi a unique individual.... before he was just a palette swapped Mario. This game made him the taller one with longer jumps

I like how as the franchise went on Luigi is the one that has a much more developed personality than his brother. Mario is just your typical smiling nice guy hero. Luigi actually has character in that he's a bit of a scaredy-cat but trying to be more like his brother despite it all.

[screech]

Easy 5. One of my favorite games ever. And the music is outstanding.

[Destor]

As a former tpww game runner i can understand if you want to wrap this up. If you do this is high not of a game to go out on. That said i enjoy these threads and im always happy to see a new one.

[Fignuts]

5 for sure.

One of my favorites back in the day. Only ever beat it once.

[Fignuts]

As a former tpww game runner i can understand if you want to wrap this up. If you do this is high not of a game to go out on. That said i enjoy these threads and im always happy to see a new one.

Yeah, I stopped doing the fire pro tournament cause it was a ton of work and only 2 or 3 people, yourself included, gave a shit.

Props to MAG for sticking with this so long even when participation started to dwindle.

[drave]

I watched your fire pro videos :(

[Destor]

I was def having fun but i absolutely get it. Ive ran like 10 games on tpww and im working on a new one now. Its an investment

[Fignuts]

I watched your fire pro videos :(

Maybe I'll start recording matches and post them in the fire pro thread for you and destor.

[drave]

No worries my dude. never played it, but it sure looks REALLY in depth and like a big time investment.


If you do, awesome, I'll definitely watch!

[Destor]

Yeah only do it if it interests you ya know? Im down though

[Helmsphere]

I wish my laptop could run fire pro smoothly. Seriously considering getting the steam deck.

[M-A-G]

OBLIGATORY GAMING HISTORIAN VIDEO!!!

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[M-A-G]

3. Too different and didn’t feel like a Mario title. Was basically a different game with Mario thrown into it for Western markets.

I get this sentiment but I'm trying to picture what the reaction would've been if we had gotten the actual Japanese sequel. Playing the Lost Levels after this entry kind of makes me glad they went the route they did because it was too similar to the original entry.

[Lock Jaw]

I have honestly barely played Lost Levels.... I remember it being on All-Stars but as a kid I was just like "why should I bother, it is the same as the first one"

[Big Vic]

I think it's considered the hardest official Mario game.

[drave]

Lost levels just isn't fun, really.


It's more of just "Let's make nearly-impossible levels and" yeah, that's about it.


I've played through it on All Stars. The reward for the hours and hours of punishment is not worth it

[Destor]

Lost levels is a very bad game and i LOVE platforming and difficult platforming on top of that. Smb1 controls for shit but smb1 is great because it doesnt ask too much of its shitty controls. Smb2 JPN feels like shit and demands precision from a game that doesnt offer the option.

[Destor]

I wish my laptop could run fire pro smoothly. Seriously considering getting the steam deck.
Steamdeck is worth your time and once the dock releases its going to be a must buy for imo

[M-A-G]

I've always wanted a sequel in the same style, maybe add a few new characters in the mix from over the years and give them abilities too! It'd be the shit.




Also want a Super Mario RPG sequel damnit! But that's for another thread.

See, I knew I had seen a mention of a Super Mario RPG sequel.

https://i.imgur.com/Y55uIWc.jpg

They had a chance to do something similar to Super Mario Bros. 2 with Super Mario 3D Land but if I'm not mistaken, every character pretty much plays the same.

[drave]

Not the same - not even close.

[M-A-G]

Oh, well I've only played a demo of 3D Land so I'm not an expert on it. I should probably get around to picking it up.

[drave]

It isn't a terrible game, it just isn't Mario RPG.


I recall the timing mechanic to score a "2nd hit" with each character. I wouldn't know, but that was training me for the epic that is Legend of Dragoon all the years later.

[M-A-G]

Ugh, I went back and forth on this one over what to rate it. Ultimately, I gave it another whirl on the Switch and that combined with some heavy nostalgia, I had to break down and give it a 5.

Like Super Mario World, I don't go back to this one as much as I do with Super Mario Bros. 3. I find it to be the hardest of the original NES trilogy. In fact, I beat the third game before I ever beat the other two. The thing is this game was a huge fixture in a time when I was really close to my sisters, both of whom are older than me. We didn't (and still don't) have a lot in common to bond over when we were younger but that went away when it came to Nintendo. In fact, one of my sisters joined me about year ago in playing New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on the Switch.

Memories aside though, Nintendo did an awesome job repurposing the template that was Doki Doki Panic! into what we got. Playing as the different characters blew my mind, the music was catchy and memorable, the graphics were an improvement over the original, and the mechanics were fun to mess around with. Granted it didn't really mean much in overall scheme of things as a lot of what was in this game has been forgotten when it comes to making newer entries, but it meant enough.

[Big Vic]

Side note:

I played Mario odyssey this weekend for the first time. Didn't grip me. I'd give it a 3.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Some final thoughts on SMB2:

Destor brought up the original Mario Bros. game before the first SMB, and it got me to thinking how he started as just a humble protagonist in Donkey Kong, not even called Mario, but rather Jump Man, and how if it wasn’t for its success, there may never have been MB, and thus no other games, and Mario never becomes Mario. And at that point, who knows if the video game industry ever recovers if Nintendo can‘t act as it’s savior. Sega, with it’s Master System, was a distant second and didn’t have a mascot that they could put into a game that would’ve been a smash hit, and if they couldn’t develop one, video games may well have gone the way of the dodo not even 40 years after the development of the very first primitive one of the late 1940s. Certainly a dark alternate timeline that could’ve played out (no pun intended). We all owe Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto and the N.E.S./Famicom a huge debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

On the other hand, you have the horrendous educational Mario games, like Mario is Missing! that nearly sank his whole reputation as Nintendo’s mascot. It’s like MiM! was trying to be a competitor to the Carmen San Diego PC games. And we all probably know of, if not remember, the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing educational game. Yep, there unfortunately also exists Mario Teaches Typing. I think we should all be grateful those kinds of titles didn’t get the same kind of attention as Super Mario World and Super Mario 64, or who knows what Nintendo would look like today, or if they would even still be in business.

[DAMN iNATOR]

69ybxGPnuag

[drave]

There was a game on Coleco Vision called Jumpman Jr.

[M-A-G]

Some final thoughts on SMB2:

Destor brought up the original Mario Bros. game before the first SMB, and it got me to thinking how he started as just a humble protagonist in Donkey Kong, not even called Mario, but rather Jump Man, and how if it wasn’t for its success, there may never have been MB, and thus no other games, and Mario never becomes Mario. And at that point, who knows if the video game industry ever recovers if Nintendo can‘t act as it’s savior. Sega, with it’s Master System, was a distant second and didn’t have a mascot that they could put into a game that would’ve been a smash hit, and if they couldn’t develop one, video games may well have gone the way of the dodo not even 40 years after the development of the very first primitive one of the late 1940s. Certainly a dark alternate timeline that could’ve played out (no pun intended). We all owe Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto and the N.E.S./Famicom a huge debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

On the other hand, you have the horrendous educational Mario games, like Mario is Missing! that nearly sank his whole reputation as Nintendo’s mascot. It’s like MiM! was trying to be a competitor to the Carmen San Diego PC games. And we all probably know of, if not remember, the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing educational game. Yep, there unfortunately also exists Mario Teaches Typing. I think we should all be grateful those kinds of titles didn’t get the same kind of attention as Super Mario World and Super Mario 64, or who knows what Nintendo would look like today, or if they would even still be in business.

I absolutely cannot express the severity of my disgust and disappointment when I found out Mario is Missing! was a fucking educational game, and a poorly executed one at that. It was one of those products that got dumped out at a time when parents were applying the heat to developers and the rest of us had to pay the price. It wasn't like Nintendo couldn't put out a product with some learning value as Mario Paint would go on to demonstrate. But to put out a concept as interesting (at the time) as putting Luigi front and center as the sole protagonist and then pull back the curtain revealing the pearl-clutching mothers at the controls was too cruel. Thankfully Nintendo has more Super Mario World and Wii successes under its belt than Virtual Boy and edu-tainment failures.

[Lock Jaw]

I enjoyed Mario is Missing. I'd give it a 4.

[drave]

I remember Mario's Time Machine. I remember being very confused.

[M-A-G]

Mario's take on sex education, The True Liberation of One Princess Peach: An Erotic Royal Adventure, could've been handled better by the developers if they had included information on homosexual relationships. I mean, you have Princess Daisy right there for crying out loud.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I remember Mario's Time Machine. I remember being very confused.

Like I said, I’m pretty sure they saw what a hit Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, both the PC games and the 2 PBS TV series were, and CTRL+C, CTRL+V’d them both.

Also, I don’t know if I had outgrown kids’ shows by the time it premiered, but I absolutely could not stand the animated series Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?.

[Big Vic]

Yeah but WITWICS was actually fun.

[M-A-G]

Like I said, I’m pretty sure they saw what a hit Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, both the PC games and the 2 PBS TV series were, and CTRL+C, CTRL+V’d them both.

Also, I don’t know if I had outgrown kids’ shows by the time it premiered, but I absolutely could not stand the animated series Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?.

The live-action game show was the fucking shit. The animated series was fine other than the Chief being annoying as dicks, in my opinion. Overall, Carmen Sandiego was a franchise that did edu-tainment right and is one of the few nostalgic properties that I can credit for not treating kids like idiots.

[Big Vic]

I think the host of the game show was the DJ in "The Warriors"

[Big Vic]

Love all the puns in the song:



Well she sneaks around the world from Kiev to Carolina
She's a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize
She'll take you for a ride on a slow boat to China
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Steal their Seoul in South Korea, make Antarctica cry Uncle
From the Red Sea to Greenland they'll be singing the blues
Well they never Arkansas her steal the Mekong from the jungle
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

She go from Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe
Chicago to Czechoslovakia and back!

Well she'll ransack Pakistan and run a scam in Scandinavia
Then she'll stick 'em up Down Under and go pick-pocket Perth
She put the Miss in misdemeanor when she stole the beans from Lima
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Oh tell me where in the world is... Oh tell me where can she be?
Ooh, Botswana to Thailand, Milan via Amsterdam,
Mali to Bali, Ohio, Oahu...!

Well she glides around the globe and she'll flimflam every nation
She's a double-dealing diva with a taste for thievery
Her itinerary's loaded up with moving violations
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

[DAMN iNATOR]

Yeah but WITWICS was actually fun.

Exactly. Probably because unlike Nintendo, Brøderbund wasn’t a bunch of stuffy suits sitting in some office scheming ways to milk every last penny from their fans. I remember especially enjoying the system of gaining a promotion for every 𝑥 cases solved. THAT’S how you incentivize people to want to keep playing your game. Not with confusing gameplay that finally leads to frustration and rage quitting.

[Destor]

Just so we're clear the icon for emulation if a person wants to keep customers engaged longterm is the company thats defunct and not the one thats grown to the size of disney?

[Destor]

Also lol at the idea edutainment could ever be a cash grab. Kids dont want that their parents force it on them

[drave]

I recall playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego on my Master System :O

[weather vane]

I think the host of the game show was the DJ in "The Warriors"

The Chief yup.

[M-A-G]

Oh, well I've only played a demo of 3D Land so I'm not an expert on it. I should probably get around to picking it up.

OK, I'm officially an idiot because I'm pretty sure I was confusing this with Super Mario 3D World. You know, the one where you could get a cat suit.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Love all the puns in the song:



Well she sneaks around the world from Kiev to Carolina
She's a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize
She'll take you for a ride on a slow boat to China
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Steal their Seoul in South Korea, make Antarctica cry Uncle
From the Red Sea to Greenland they'll be singing the blues
Well they never Arkansas her steal the Mekong from the jungle
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

She go from Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe
Chicago to Czechoslovakia and back!

Well she'll ransack Pakistan and run a scam in Scandinavia
Then she'll stick 'em up Down Under and go pick-pocket Perth
She put the Miss in misdemeanor when she stole the beans from Lima
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Oh tell me where in the world is... Oh tell me where can she be?
Ooh, Botswana to Thailand, Milan via Amsterdam,
Mali to Bali, Ohio, Oahu...!

Well she glides around the globe and she'll flimflam every nation
She's a double-dealing diva with a taste for thievery
Her itinerary's loaded up with moving violations
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

DO IT, ROCKAPELLA!

[M-A-G]

Was playing a round of Trivial Pursuit Live with some friends and one of the questions asked us to pick all of the answers that were actual Super Mario games. The choices that were wrong were particularly hilarious, specifically the one called Super Mario: Black Ops, which I would absolutely play.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I remember back in the day e-mailing (and totally not expecting any kind of reply) one of the members of Rockapella asking if they were the one who portrayed “Mrs. Punpkinklanger”, a curmudgeonly old woman who lived in an upstairs apartment across the alleyway from where the first round was played, and would yell at Greg and the gumshoes to keep it down. I actually received a response confirming that it was in fact him, and that it was a tribute to his late aunt. Pretty cool stuff.