by riostarwind
Well the first year of the Switch Online Service has only been three months. But I thought it would be worth looking at the games they’ve put out so far. From my point of view this small library of games is really the only worthwhile thing Nintendo is offering so far. Paying just to play a super small amount of games online seems bad especially when it still seems so far behind their competitors. Plus my love for old games knows no bounds so I thought it would be worth taking a quick look at what they’ve released up to this point.
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A puzzle game that is about matching different Mario enemies together. Instead of the standard 3 match this one is all about matching 2 together. The addition of a Yoshi egg that is split into two lets the player clear a stack of random enemies if you match the eggs together. It has a endless mode and a mode focused on clearing the board. The second one presents a mini cutscene of Yoshi eating a power up after every round is cleared. Because this is a puzzle game it is still fun to play. Sure it is rather simple but it does pose quite the challenge as the speed picks up. Although the replayability is a bit lacking. I never really wanted to attempt another go at it after losing. Which is something I like to see in a really good puzzle game.
Plumping is hard work and the Mario Bros have quite the problem on their hands. A bunch of mutant turtles,flies and crabs have infested the pipes. Only a swift bop from below and a good follow up kick afterwards will get rid of them. As the game goes on things start to speed up and new obstacles get introduced like a icicle. While this certainly doesn’t have the delph of what was to come it is a solid little arcade game port. The controls are still snappy and it offers a solid challenge even if the end game is eventually defeat. Mario Bros has always been a game I like to come back to for 30 minutes and it continues to be that kind of experience for me.
A vile force of evil has scattered the triforce throughout the land of Hyrule. Only our hero Link was bestowed a sword to fight evil from a wise old man. Now he must travel across the land to 9 different dungeons to rid the world of the evil Ganon. I’ve played this game multiple times at this point but the roughness of this first outing is a bit tough to go back to. That didn’t stop me from finishing it although the layout is ratter baffling compared to how well most future titles are laid out. Very rarely do I accidentally stumble upon the final dungeon after only finishing the first one. Plus rebeat battles with bosses was a bit of a let down too along with some of the later levels been a bit unfair without a health potion. So this is one you might not want to revisit. The special version of this game they released is just a save with a powered up Link from the start. Uninteresting use of these new versions.
With Mario referring these matches of tennis the tension is palpable in every match. Becoming the champion is our newbie tennis players goal and no one will stop him/her. While this is certainly a step up from the early days on the Atari this is rather basic. With two difficulty levels being the main replay factor. Mid match it is possible to control where the ball goes depending on positioning and which way the player is holding on the dpad. Being able to lob shots too makes this is solid take on the sport. With no real depth it isn’t really something I could see wanting to play more than once.
Becoming champion of the Tecmo Bowl is the goal of any football team. Weeks of matches will be put to crown the champion of the league. A lot of what I said for Tennis applies here. They did a excellent job of recreating football on the NES. Being able to choose a reasonable amount of plays that can used to trump your opponent if you pick the right one. At least with the AI if I did pick the right counter they would 100% get wiped out every time. It was at least fun to blow through the computer once. Plus the little cut-scenes they added give some flair to each match.
King Koopa and his Koopa Kids have turned every king in the land into animals. Along with the required Princess Peach capture that is all but required every time he thinks up a evil plot. Only Mario & Luigi have the jumping skills to wipe out his army one jump at a time. With Nintendo’s third take at the Mario Bros foruma the name of the game was more. Every land is unique looking and new power ups are introduced to give a few extra options mid level. Additionally the way it controls feels much more snappy compared the first Super Mario Bros. Eh this is pretty much a timeless classic I don’t need to tell you that it still holds up.
The start of a everlasting legacy starts now. King Koopa has one thing on his mind and he is willing to turn every living thing in the Mushroom Kingdom into brick blocks. Only one brave plumber stands in his way. After falling into this strange new world he takes up the task to save the princess from the clutches of this evil king. Even with a heavy dose of nostalgia this first attempt at jumping around with Mario doesn’t quite feel that great compared to what they do later. Even the stage design is rather repetitive too looking at it in a modern context. Not that it isn’t still good since I still like it just feels more dated than the rest.
I can’t think of any sort of story to spin for this sports game. It doesn’t even try to give the player much of a reason to play this more than once. Either winning or losing the one match goes directly back to the main menu. Sadly playing this doesn’t even feel that good because it is sooooo slow. It takes forever to make it to the other side of the field. Really saps any small interest I might have had in this title. At least it has some flair with the team running all over the place once a goal is scored.
Jumpman Mario has a huge issue and his name is Donkey Kong. This primate just kidnapped his girlfriend and took her up a huge under construction building. Only with his powerful jumps and handy hammer skills will he even stand a chance to save her. These early NES arcade game ports are very formulaic in how they are all made. Each one has a A & B game that is slightly harder. Which doesn’t change to much other than things being slightly faster. This is another game that feels very timeless to me. The short length is certainly really bad unless you really want to go for the high score. Yet I seem to come back to this game quite often to just play through till I get a game over once. A small oddity popped up while I was playing this. The first level glitched out a bit on my third time through the first level. Just some graphical glitches on the screen which seemed odd for something emulated.
All is well in king Arthur's court. Until a vile demon lord shows up while he was on a picnic with the princess. She gets taken away and Arthur being the brash type just starts running after them. Which is ill advised thanks to the many foes that stand between him and the castle of the demon lord. Many times have I played a assortment of versions of this game and the sequel. Never made any progress at all because this game is 100% crafted in a way that will destroy your will to finish it. Which does mean it is a faithful adaptation of the arcade game even if the graphics aren’t as good. Jumping around slinging lances and other weapons at foes feels good. If only the stages didn’t seem to be laid out in a way where you pretty much need to memorize everything. Pointless tough games like this don’t interest me anymore but I’m sure to some this game is still a tough but fun game.
