AarowSwift

The original Metroid is now on VC and Super Metroid is coming next week I think...if not it's still coming very soon. Here's a great VC site for reviews and news: http://www.vc-reviews.com/

Hmm...I just put the Wiimote on the floor.

Heh, yeah, the Boost Ball Guardian and The Spider Ball Guardian can be tough...but it's the Alpha Blogg That always nearly kills me (and occasionally succeeds). On this particular run, I finished that thing will 4 health points left on my last energy tank.

I saw this a while back. There's nothing wrong with the drawings in and of themselves...but they aren't the Peanuts characters. Art style isn't just to give shape to a character's figure it also gives shape to the personality. These anime style figures have effectively lost the charm and personality of the characters they are based on.

I think the "problem" with Echoes was it was more challenging to navigate. The world had a much more gnarled and maze-like layout which, coupled with the dark version and the need to jump between worlds, was too much for some people. The wimps. Seriously, I find myself impatient while traveling through it sometimes, especially when I just want to get from point A to point B quickly. I'm actually replaying Echoes right now, just got the Spider Ball. This will be my 3rd...maybe 4th time through the game. I still love it and it improved over the first in a lot of areas, but it is more frustrating working your way through the environments. I think the dark world maybe pushed it into overkill and turned some people off of it. Especially these days when far too many gamers want everything spoon fed to them and immediately gratifying, no patience, rather than work at getting anywhere. They'd never have survived the 8 bit days. Edit: For the record, I'm celebrating the release of Prime 3 by playing all of the Metroids I own this month. Zero Mission and Prime 1 are finished, working on Echoes, next up Super Metroid then Fusion to finish it.

A cringe worthy attempt at edgy advertising, nothing more.

It'd be cool if you could DL themes for the Wii in the form of WiiWare. Something Winamp-esque. I'd love to deck out the Wii menu in a Metroid theme.

Hardly. There needs to be more in the way of advertising than a Wii channel. As cool as it is, it requires people make the effort to look at it and it doesn't sell to people who don't yet have a Wii (who are holding off for the release of "Good Games"). I still agree with IGN's take that advertising for Metroid Prime 3 is, as of yet, lacking. The Wii channel is simply a step in the right direction as are the VC releases (which were fully expected). Let's see a few more steps. I for one don't want to see Prime 3 overlooked like Prime 2 was. This is my favorite series, I want it to sell like mad.

Wow, I've never heard of this one...I'm going to have to try it just to see it.

Oooo, Metroid Assist Trophy. That really would be awesome. Sure, there are lots of things from Metroid that could make cameo appearances, but the titular critter is a must. It'd fly onto the screen and latch onto an opponent, sending his or her damage percentage sky rocketing. Better yet, it could be the baby Metroid that grew huge and helped Samus out in Super Metroid. If assist trophies are character specific, which makes perfect sense, then that one would be perfect for Samus. In fact, if this doesn't actually happen in the game, I'll be disappointed at the missed opportunity.

You'd probably also find it suspect that I'm not a fan of pepperoni. Different tastes. I only pointed it out as a guide. I'm asking for advice on making a purchase, so if you know what I do like and what I didn't like, hopefully you can make educated suggestions. I guess the defining differences between Gradius 3 and R-Type 3 for me was, Gradius let you see what was coming and it was up to you to react in time to survive. R-Type 3 tossed in hazards you don't see coming and obstacles that required a certain type of response immediately or you die. No wonder the game gave you infinite lives. That annoyed me. I don't usually like trial and error game play. What about games like Blazing Lasers and Soldier Blade?

Good grief, how many of those are actually on the Virtual Console? And yeah, I'm pretty blah on R-Type 3. It had its moments but got stupid towards the end. C'mon, a level where you have to go trial and error to avoid death? Then make you go backwards through the level when your guns only fire forwards? (unless you have the right power-up). Bah I say. I played a few times and ultimately didn't enjoy it. Anyway Coop, you have a high opinion of R-Type 3 so I find your suggestions suspect.

I always liked SHMUPS, but never enough to buy one. They were always rentals for me. The only two examples of the genre that I beat as a kid were Gradius 3 and Thunder Spirits. The first VC game I bought was Gradius 3 and it took me something like two days to get past the first level; man my skills went to hell. It was another month (maybe longer) before I beat the game, but once I hit the zone that game is utterly sublime. Now I can play through it without dying. I figure I'll let it sit fallow for a while so when I pick it up I'll suck all over again. More recently I tried out R-Type Third Lightning and found it clunky and not so fun. On one hand it's easier than Gradius...until it gets hard, unfairly so I'd say. I ended up dropping it from my system but I'd definitely like to try another SHMUP. So, I like Gradius 3 and hate R-Type 3, can anyone recommend another SHMUP I might like from the VC?

Mine is warm to the touch though I wouldn't call it hot, but then, I don't have anything to compare it to. How warm is too warm?

And most of what I've heard is to the contrary. I'm still not expecting it and advise you not set yourself up for disappointment. If what I've heard is wrong and the game is online in a major way, well then, it'll be a wonderful surprise we can all be happy about.

Yes, I remember that, but the key words are "in some aspect" and they backed off from online statements since then. Reasons why Smash online just isn't really feasible have already been covered by people more technically knowledgeable than I. If it goes online at all, it'll probably be for leader board tracking and such. Whatever ends up happening, my advice to all is don't set yourselves up for a disappointment. Regardless, it'll still be a fantastic game, as was Melee.

Anyone mention the final boss of Gradius 3? I just finished it on the Virtual Console. That game is demoniacally hard. I died during the final level so when I reached the final boss I had an upgraded weapon and that was it. The boss went down with a whimper. Usually the challenge is to dodge the enemy firepower, but that just wasn't an issue this time. I was very surprised when it blew up as the fight didn't feel like it had even started yet.

Err..that doesn't jive with what I heard. What I read was the big three, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, where unhappy with how much it cost to show and how it had turned into a circus. The Expo's original intention was as a media and business event, but it sort of ballooned out of control to the point where the guy who took out the trash at EB could get in. The show was downsized to return it to it's original function as an event for legitimate game news media to cover upcoming products and for games industry people to meet, network, and do business.

First of all, Smash Bros isn't making a serious appearance at E3. It doesn't need to be there stealing the thunder of other titles. Everybody who's interested in Smash Bros already knows about it and is being fed a steady flow of tidbits daily. So the likelihood of any Smash related announcements coming out of E3 are remote. Second of all, it's doubtful Smash Bros will have a full fledged online fighting mode, if it even goes online at all. This is due to the limitation of sending info online. Lag, even a little lag, would kill, murder, and destroy the Smash experience. Smash Bros relies on precision response time. If Smash Bros does have an online component, it will be something different from the primary game play.

Another problem stemming from the under performance of last Gen Nintendo systems is 3rd party developers put their third string, fourth string, and lower dev teams on projects, turned out lesser games, then complained that their games weren't selling on Nintendo platforms. I think it was Miyamoto who pointed out that if they want to compete, they need to put their top development teams on projects. That's what they need to do, and should start doing this generation since the Wii is gaining a dominant place in the market. It's just going to take 3rd parties a while to catch up.

Also needs more cow bell. Any game without cow bell is grafichally inferier. Art style? What's art style? You mean real live people actually chose how a game should look? It's not all just based on processor power?

I've seen lots of complaints about the graphics of NiGHTS (and lots of other games I thought were beautiful). I just gotta know from you whiners....what exactly is there to improve? Since you're all experts, how would you do it?

499 - 199 = 300 I'm pretty sure I meant what I said.

Hmm, that's just one hundred ninety-nine dollars too much. $300 is pretty much the maximum I'm willing to pay for a video game system. I don't care how cutting edge the tech is; I'm buying the thing to play games on, not to mount on my wall like some tech trophy.

I'm sorry but... Your kidding right? That's sarcasm, right?