PixlBit

Platforming perfection

On October 23, 1988, Mario series creator Shigeru Miyamoto and his crack team of Nintendo EAD ninjas released Super Mario Bros. 3 in Japan. To coincide with its US launch 16 months later, Nintendo produced a commercial featuring kids clamoring for the game like it was the second coming of Christ. The hype was intense, and it worked exceedingly well. The game went on to exceed the first one in sales, fandom, and legendary status. Mario and the crew had undeniably hit their stride.

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As Told by Gunpei

The Game Boy- created by the late Gunpei Yokoi- was Nintendo's first handheld system to mix the portability of the Game & Watch with the seemingly infinite possibilities of interchangeable cartridges.  Although Tetris was the pack-in game with every unit, Nintendo still wanted to have at least one title in the 1989 launch lineup that their consumer base would instantly recognize.

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The Big Leagues

With the year 2020 and the MLB World Series well underway, there’s no better time than now to talk about Super Baseball 2020. In 1991, SNK- the famed developer of such blockbusters as Metal Slug and Aero Fighters- released their spin on America’s favorite pastime in the arcades. Two years later, it was ported to the Sega Genesis with NuFX and Electronic Arts handling the programming and publishing. With its futuristic setting and easy controls, the game offered a level of enjoyment missing from baseball’s more realistic interpretations on the home console platform.

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I can't track these changes.

It almost hurts to write that it’s been 13 years since Sega released Banana Blitz back on the Wii. At the time, I know I couldn’t have been more excited that we were about to see a Monkey Ball game that leveraged the motion capabilities of Nintendo’s hit system. However, when it finally released, I wasn’t thrilled with the results. Rather than leveraging the Wii remote in its horizontal orientation, like many other motion-centric games had, it forced you to point forward and contort your arm in awkward ways to tilt the stage. I quickly shelved the game and wrote it off as a failure. I suspect I wasn’t the only one, because after all these years Sega has released an HD remaster of the game leveraging more standard console controls using the analog stick. Unfortunately, the transition has introduced level design changes that bring things to a degree of difficulty that I’ve found to be insurmountable.

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Is Ultimate perfect? Well, it's pretty damn close.

There’s always been something special about the Super Smash Bros. series for me, even starting with the very first release. I’ve always enjoyed fighting games, but admittedly, I’m not very good at them. Smash Bros. gave me the opportunity to really compete and enjoy mastery of a fighting game for once. Being skilled in the game doesn’t come down to your ability to input complex combos, but rather your ability to read and react to your opponent. It’s a satisfying mind game that continues to draw me to the series, especially as each game becomes more grandiose, featuring bigger rosters and level selections. Ultimate, as expected, is the most impressive offering yet, boasting every character to grace the series, most of the levels, as well as a set of brand new fighters that include many of the big requests fans have had for years.

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