They re-translated it for the Vita port to be more faithful to the original script, tuned the controls, and also added 4 extra original chapters as paid dlc. So if you have a Vita, I would suggest to get that one over the Wii version. The art really shines on that screen.
I'm biased as hell due to owning a used $5 NES and Wii modding as a kid, but to me the NES is the de facto bare minimum for gaming in general since it's gaming's version of the late 30s-early 40s period of cinema right down to the NES color palette bizarrely lining up with Kodachrome of the era. For every shit busted licensed garbage game I can easily pull up two or three that are easily playable and a good time waster, and I even know a few good ones on top of Guardian Legend, like:
Yeah, the 2600 catalogue is full of crap games (like the 90% of it) so finding a good game on that console is like finding a needle in a haystack. Still, it has some great games.
C'mon, we know 2nd gen takes that crown.
This one is cool and not as difficult as other "NES Hard" games but still a pain in the ass.
And Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure > those.
Mario 3 isn't playable to me. The levels are so short it feels more like a tech demo and then every boss is the same auto scroller taking forever. Mario 3 comes with the problem of Mario world existing, which is just Mario 3 done better. The levels are longer and more complex, the power ups have been refined and it still looks great today. Mario 1 and 2 are still good but 3 suffers from the NES's hardware.
If we include Xbox live arcade we run into a lot of broken or asset swap quality games. 360 is great for shooters and it was the right balance of cinematic to gameplay for cinematic games. I don't mind watching Halo cut scenes or even Gears of war despite it being the first step on how bad things are now.
The shorter levels allow for more variety. SWM kinda drags on at times. The powerups are better too, Tanooki is still the best in the series. The graphics are shit but the remake looks good. The physics are superior to SMW too.
Every boss in mario bros. 3 is in a dedicated room or at the end of a hallway what the fuck are you on about? Unless you mean like the ship stages that lead up to some of the bosses in which case that's kinda the point. It's difficulty mixed with the closest thing NES could get to a cinematic camera.
Ironically I kinda prefer the OG sprites to the remakes. Still weird to me though how they use the same sprite for Mario and Luigi when the sprites in the game were kinda a reuse/tweak of the US version of 2's sprites. Speaking of 2 it's never gonna not be funny to me how it was originally intended as a mario game, was changed to a licensed game at some point during development, then got changed back to a Mario game for the US release which was popular enough they decided to also release that one in Japan too.
The NES sprites are fine, especially for NES, but the backgrounds are pretty minimalistic. I prefer the SNES overall, but they're both fine.
It's why there's some mario powerups in the Doki Doki panic version IIRC. That and the control scheme being pretty much the same.
Same airship levels. They're not challenging they just take forever. I've tried to get through 3 many times and by world 2 I'm ready to tap. I owned it as a kid and I still didn't like it back then.
The first 2 aren't hard, just mildly tense. it's the later ones where you need to start hopping on cannonballs to not die that it gets kinda wacky.
Huh, I never knew about this. Too bad it doesn’t have the title screen music though.
"What 'broken' and 'unplayable' NES games are these people talking about," I wonder to myself. "Most of them seem perfectly playable to me."
I never got past the part where you can unlock the 2600 version of Pitfall, because I just drop the main game and play that instead.
Also try Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Princess Crown also by the people at Vanillaware. Princess Crown is a bit rough around the edges, but overall one of the best and original games on the Saturn. I think it emulates great, bit you need to literally read the script if you want to follow the story.
Mario 3 isn't broken. I find it unplayable because the boss levels are tedious and the normal levels are so short it feels like Mario world's prototype. Mario land 2 feels like a better version of Mario 3 with better levels and more power ups. Then when you get to Wario land (Mario land 3) it shits all over Mario 3 while using the same limitations.
Don’t act like you didn’t use the leaf or cape to skip half of the levels in both games. A lot of 4th gen games had the Amiga problem of levels being super big and empty where you need to find a ton of garbage with bullshit platforming. Short and sweet over tedious and boring
I always sucked with the cape. I couldn't stay airborne very long. Most Mario 3 levels let you fly across them because they're so short. Giant world was a really cool idea.
