| JWeinCom said: Most Disappointing: Probably a two way tie between Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 and Banjo Tooie. Worst: Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels |
If I must elaborate...
With Banjo Tooie Rare went waaaaaay overboard with their collectathon stylings. The worlds were far too large, and several were difficult to navigate. Glitter Glutch Mine, Cuckoo Cloud Land, Terrydactylland and Grunty Industries were just far too inaccessible for a platforming game. This is all complicated by the fact that you essentially have to navigate levels with five different characters (Banjo-Kazooie, solo Banjo, solo Kazooie, Mumbo, and Wumba's transformation) which means a lot of backtracking. It just doesn't have the pick up and play appeal of Banjo 1 or Super Mario 64.
Tactics 2 idk. I was just bored to tears by the story, and didn't find myself caring about anything that was going on.
Nintendo of America made the right call by releasing Doki Doki Panic over here, because Super Mario 2 Japan was pretty bad. There are good challenging games, and then there are ridiculous ones. Springs that launch you too high to actually see yourself or plan your landings are a major pain, half of the game involves jumping from single block in the middle of nowhere to jumping to the next single block in the middle of nowhere. Your choice of character is either Luigi who controls like he's wearing butter shoes or Mario who can't jump high enough for most of the game's challenges.
Worst of all is the fact that the game punishes you for exploration. In the original Mario, you were tempted to hit every block and check every warp pipe to see what hidden things await you. This time, if you go too far off the beaten path... bam. Backwards warp zone. That'll teach you to try and find secrets you little bastard.
Oh and to access certain hidden levels YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE GAME 8 TIMES! FOR REAL?!
I think a lot of people defend this game out of some misplaced national pride. "Oh, they think this game was too hard for us Americans? Hah, not for me. I'm super hardcore man." But in reality, it's an awful game with awful level design. Some games (like Battletoads or Mega Man) are challenging but rewarding. Mario 2 is just plain frustrating. If this game would have come out in the US, it would have ruined a lot of Christmas mornings.
