The videogame industry's annual summer drought is finally coming to an end and the collective sighs of relieved retailers is now audibly mixing with the breathy anticipation of developers gearing up to unleash their wares upon the expectant masses.
In celebration of 2007's richest gaming months still being ahead, GamerSquad discusses which of the big three home consoles (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii) has the best to offer eager gamers between now and the dawn of 2008.
Which software line-up best deserves the attention of your wallet?
All of the Super Smash Bros. games are incredible, but which one stands as the mightiest of them all and has the best modes?
To me smash brows Melee is my all time favorite. I can't tell you how many hours I played that game between friends and family. When I was a kid, my parents couldn't afford a gaming console so I had to go somewhere that had an arcade like setup with the only difference being instead of arcade cabinets, they had big screen crt TV's and gaming consoles setup. I would go with my friends on special occasions after school or with my family on the weekends.
I would meet and make new friends at that place as we were all gamers and we also brought our game boys and would trade pokemon. I don't think those places exist these days but back then, it was easy to meet like-minded people and have fun for hours.
Well, I’ll add my extremely subjective ranking too. I won’t include the 3DS version as I don’t owned it. I did play it for a few minutes though.
5. Brawl.
4. N64 Smash
3. Ultimate
2. Wiiu Smash
1. Melee
"If you're not directly working on the game, go away" - former Retro world artist, Nate Purkeypile
Then there is Microsoft's approach which is just to piss in the wind and 95% of their stuff turns out bad. Developers might like that personally but you'll be out of a job quicker than you know it through badly shipped products.
First party Nintendo titles are held to a specific standard for a reason. It could be argued that both Sony and MS could benefit from doing the same, but you are right with MS nonchalant approach and "it scored well internally" and then putting out something like Redfall. Even Halo, MS' flagship series, wasn't overseen with the fine tooth comb to ensure it was top notch quality.
Nintendo first party games are very rarely duds, let alone non functional ones. You don't get that without a little (or a lot) of micromanaging. Is it annoying? No doubt. Their track record speaks for itself though and you can't deny that.
I think there is good evidence for both sides of that argument, really.
Japan Studio didn't have much oversight and that studio produced pure magic. Financially, it wasn't a cash cow studio, but I sense that anyone who played their games really felt the care and passion for their creation at work. Media Molecule is another one. I personally feel that Sony and Microsoft micromanagement tends to be overly negative. It might work for Nintendo because they're big on making a fun and engaging game first and entice people that way.
Sony as of late and Microsoft for at least two generations now, when they get into the micromanagement, it seems like a profoundly anxious experience.
i dunno if i agree with that.
i think some leeway is necessary to achieve atleast some sort of spectacle.
VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "With the Switch getting on in years and the prospect of a new Nintendo console growing closer, now seems like an excellent time to take a look back at one of its mascot’s two big evolutionary lines, particularly since we now find ourselves in the longest wait ever between 3D Mario games. Today marks the seven year anniversary for the release of Super Mario Odyssey, and with no full new entry in sight, it comfortably beats the roughly six year wait between Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, which should also be good news to anybody who broke a mirror that day.
3D Mario has delighted fans since 1996, maintaining an astonishing level of quality and bringing innovations not just to the 3D platformer genre, but gaming as a whole. Needless to say, it’s a hard task to rank a series where every entry is beloved, but I shall nevertheless undertake this risky venture with my head held high. Wish me luck."
One of the worst marios.. i hated the fact it was only about finding the moons and very repetitive with the same bosses. There is no exploration in this one.
Galaxy 2 is still unmatched
I played, completed, and enjoyed Mario Odyssey, but I tend to agree that I don't think it's the best 3D Mario. There was sense of sameness that prevailed after the first couple of worlds... not in the levels, environments, or aesthetics, but in the routine of each world. It just felt like each new environment was just the beginning of another checklist of moons to acquire, and the sheer number of them took away the sense of accomplishment I got from the stars in Mario 64 and the like. I can't exactly put my finger on why that is. Galaxy gets my nod as the best one.
I enjoyed it too but i won’t even place it in my top10 mario games.. as you said you are just looking for stars and that irritating music everytime you find one.
Also the bosses are pretty much the same from begging to end. I would have have like some koopalings instead of these dumb useless rabbits
I played a little of this game and freakin' LOVED it! But I forced myself to stop because I hadn't played Galaxy 2, which I've been playing every day for the past week. Cripes, Galaxy 2 is way better than I expected it to be! Even though I dislike the Wiimote and nunchuck controls, and it annoyed me a lot with Galaxy 1, part 2 just feels better and slightly less gimmicky when it comes to the controls.
Sunshine at number 7 no way. I get it's not perfect but it deserves better to date there has not been another 3d Mario that's managed to capture that same movement it's the most acrobatic feeling Mario to date.
It's by and large better than 3d land/world and I'd argue that galaxy 2 didn't offer any trie innovation it was essentially a DLC pack to 1
Personally it's
1) Mario 64
2) Mario Sunshine
3) Mario galaxy
4) Mario Odyssey
5) galaxy 2
6) Bowser fury
7) 3d land/ world.
Xbox 360
In conclusion:
While there’s no doubting that late 2007 promises to be one of the most exciting times to be the owner of any of the main platform choices and even though Microsoft (with BioShock, Halo 3, Mass Effect and PGR4 would perhaps be a more obvious choice in terms of overt ‘oomph’), this writer, while ignoring cross-console releases, is singling out the Nintendo Wii as having the potential to shine the brightest as the dust settles on 2007 and 2008 looms ever closer.
The proximity between the releases of the so-called ‘holy trinity’ of Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is simply unprecedented in industry terms, while growing third-party exclusivity support from the likes of SEGA (NiGHTS: Into Dreams, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games), Capcom (Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Zak & Wiki), Konami (Dewy’s Adventure), and Ubisoft (Rayman Raving Rabbids 2) – to name but a few – should mark the bewildering climax to a twelve-month period for the Wii that not even the most insightful of industry experts could have predicted.
has the best end of year lineup. Three AAA titles. Mass Effect, Halo 3, and Bioshock.
My favorite genre is RPG so I am also looking forward to Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon, and Lost Odyssey.
Not to mention the best versions of all the new Sports Games at a rock solid 60FPS. Honorable mention to PGR4.
WARHAWK,LAIR,HS,GT5 PROLOGUE,UT3<HAZE,RATCHET AND CLANK ,UNCHARTED
vs
cartoon mass effect and halo +BIOSHOCK(flopped already) (8 vs 3)
I think it depends on what you are into. Each console has a strong lineup. I prefer the ps3 lineup for ut3, ratchet and clank, gt5 prologue, but, no one can honestly say that any competitors line up is crap.
note to larry - while i would love to agree with you, you are talking nonsense. I played the bioshock demo and to be honest I wasnt impressed, but I cant argue with the majority of gamers and reviewers who say it is AAA. Will prob give the demo another go at some point