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TBC 025: Paper Mario: The Origami King

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Paper Mario is back! Whereas the last few entries in the series were not received warmly, Nintendo fans were slightly more optimistic about this particular outing. Maybe because Nintendo has been serving up first party hit after hit on the Switch. Maybe because the developers finally seemed to hear our feedback about certain things like attacks-as-inventory being bad or battle companions being good. Even with a more positive outlook, many decided to sit back and wait for reviews before plopping 60 crisp dollar bills down for this origami adventure. Glen and Scott have spent a lot of time with the title and are here to talk about every detail.

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“Two Button Crew Theme” by Katie Straughn

Which Nintendo Series Needs a REBOOT?

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Nintendo has rebooted several of their franchises, but there are so many that are left in the dust! And it’s sad to see some of our favorite characters and series trapped in the past. Simeon and Scott each compiled a list of the games they want to see Nintendo bring back with a fresh coat of paint.

“Exit the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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The Devolution of Paper Mario Scott's Thoughts

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I remember being drawn to the first Paper Mario like a magnet.

It was in a video rental store, and I saw the N64 cartridge sitting on the bottom shelf. I didn’t know why Mario was paper, or why it was turn-based, but I immediately brought it home.

Of course, an RPG like Paper Mario can’t really be explored and beaten during a rental period, so I ended up buying it. I had to! The story, the characters, and the gameplay were so compelling that I had to see the adventure through to the end.

The Thousand Year Door was a beautiful follow-up on GameCube, which I first laid eyes upon at a WalMart. It was one of those demo kiosks where you had to stare up at the ceiling and snap your head backward to see. It continued the wonderful characterizations, thickened the plot, and introduced exciting new transformations for Mario that shook up the gameplay.

Super Paper Mario was memorable. Although stripping out the beloved traditional RPG elements, the game introduced a compelling tale of love and tragedy, alongside an interesting 2D-to-3D mechanic.

And then it all went downhill.

Unique, lovable, captivating characters were replaced with gimmicks of stickers and paint.

This image sums it up well.

The modern entries have their own merit, and bring some amount of charm. But along the way, the franchise lost focus. Paper Mario became more about churning out a quick win for sales and marketing than it was about world-building.

It might have been when the father of Mario gave the Sticker Star team these directions:
There were two main things that Miyamoto-san said from the start of the project—”It’s fine without a story, so do we really need one?” and “As much as possible, complete it with only characters from the Super Mario world.” –Iwata Asks

Miyamoto was wrong.

Favorite Art Styles in Gaming

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Put that in your paint brush and stroke it.


#584 – Are video games art? You bet they are! Or… they CAN be. Simeon and Scott have an eye for artistic expression in games, and today we’ve gathered a list of the best looking games to feast your eyes upon. We hope you enjoy!

Footage credit: CGR Undertow, BradleyNews11, Polygon, IGN, Throneful, Free Emulator

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What is “L is Real 2401”?

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I guess we’ll have to wait 384 years to see what this cryptic message means.


#576 – L Is Real. Those 3 mysterious words have echoed in our minds since the Nintendo 64 days, where they showed up in Super Mario 64 and later in Ocarina of Time. But the question still stands: what does it mean? This video goes out to Crew member Rachel!

Footage credit: The Easter Egg Hunter
“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Top 10 Mario Characters!

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Did we have a little bit of trouble coming up with 10? Possibly…


As requested by Crew member Chatot, we’ve got a list of the top 10 Mario characters! From the craziest villains to the manliest heroes, here are the Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants that left the biggest impression on us!

Shot by Alex Campbell

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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An Open Letter to Whiny Nintendo Fans

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We need to talk. I’ve been a part of the Nintendo community for a long time now, and what used to be something to be proud of has me quite ashamed from time to time. The actions I see online are absolutely ridiculous and seem to get more out of hand every Nintendo Direct. Of course, not everyone acts the ways described below, but far, FAR too many do.

Make up your minds, please.

When Nintendo releases new games in the same franchise (Mario, Zelda, etc.) a lot of what I hear is whining for new ideas and new IPs. When Nintendo releases a new game or new IP (Federation Force, Codename: S.T.E.A.M., etc.) I’m also hearing a ton of complaints and hate. If you try a game and decide you don’t like it, that’s completely justified, but when Nintendo announces a game and it’s suddenly the apocalypse… not okay. Nintendo is completely aware you want a new Metroid game, I assure you.

No unreleased game deserves this much hate.
No unreleased game deserves this much hate.

I’m a HUGE fan of the first two Paper Mario games, but couldn’t get into Sticker Star at all. While Color Splash looks more like Sticker Star than a traditional RPG, that doesn’t mean I’m going to attack the game. I’m going to do something revolutionary instead: I’m not going to buy the game. If reviews come out and the game happens to be incredible maybe I’ll change my mind, but there’s no reason whatsoever to throw punches at Nintendo for simply making a game I’m not interested in.

Nintendo is a business.

Why make Paper Mario: Color Splash when Sticker Star wasn’t as well received as the other games in the series? It sold well. Nintendo makes decisions that will first and foremost make them money. They try to please as many people as possible, but you’ll certainly never please everyone, and they know that. If Sticker Star hadn’t sold well either they would have taken a different approach for the next Paper Mario game or the franchise would cease to exist.

Enjoy your (extra) life!

So many people act like the decisions Nintendo makes will make or break their quality of life. Just take a deep breath and calm down. It’s completely possible to not be interested in any games Nintendo is releasing for months (possibly years) on end. Luckily they have such an amazing backlog of games that it should be easy to find something you’ll enjoy. So bust out that dusty N64 and 4 controllers, because Mario is always ready to party with you.

I wont stop being a part of the Nintendo community – it’s in my blood – but I sure hope the overall attitude changes soon.

/endrant

Check out our non-biased review of Metroid Prime: Federation Force and our rant on game review scores.

Crazy Amiibo Requests

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Can we please just have amiibo chips in everything?


Can you ever have too many amiibo? NO! Especially if they are very unique, like the ones we are officially requesting Nintendo to produce. We will preorder promptly when they are announced!

Shot by Alex Campbell

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Favorite Moments from Mario RPGs

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Don’t hate. I’m sure your crummy old TV was hard to read from at one point, too!


With a more complex story than “save the princess”, it’s no wonder the Mario RPG series has so many great moments!

Shot by Alex Campbell

“Reformat” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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Ranking All Mario RPGs – Worst to Best

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Did our last place spot surprise you?… How about our first place?… Ok, yeah, you probably saw both coming.


The Mario RPG series has been around for quite awhile. It’s time to rank them all from last to first!

Shot by Alex Campbell

“Reformat” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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What we Want in the Next Mario RPG

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Never would we dread the tall grass again!


Mario RPG Week continues! Today the Crew discusses what they want (and don’t want) to see in the next Mario RPG!

Shot by Alex Campbell

“Reformat” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Review

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With Paper Jam hot off the presses, will it sell copies, or is the series out of ink?


Today the Crew kicks off Mario RPG week by reviewing the latest installment: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam!

Shot by Alex Campbell

“Reformat” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/