presented by nibbishment
Super Mario Brothers 2 introduced a lot of cool, quirky gameplay aspects to the series, but one of my personal favorites was the idea the jumping onto an enemy’s back might not immediately kill said enemy. The idea of riding on an enemy over an otherwise deadly obstacle opened the game’s level design up to all sorts of interesting possibilities. My favorite of which is today’s moment.
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| All aboard! |
Presented by nibbishment
“I hate that fish. He just gulps you and you’re dead. Fucking bullshit.”
– Some eloquent YouTube Commenter
You get messily devoured a couple of times the first time you encounter him. After all, he’s one of the very few enemies that can kill Mario no matter how powered up he is. He feeds on your complacency. He doesn’t care that you have a raccoon tail or a fire flower (well, technically, he might care a bit about that). You’re just swimming along, and suddenly – GULP – you’re back to the world map. You’re just bait to him.
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| Exhibit A: Mario about to be reduced to chum |
Presented by nibbishment
We open our countdown with an unexpected moment.
Throughout Super Mario Brother 2, you’ve digging up turnips, carrots, and parsnips. With the exception of the odd potion bottle, these are things you might expect to be planted within the soil. You fling these tubers at enemies to knock them out. Everything is working as God intended it.
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| Pictured: Something you might expect to find sprouting from the soil. |
I’ve decided to team up with Nibbishment to do a series of posts about various video games we’ve both enjoyed way too much. There are so many sites out there that review games as a whole, but we’ll be eschewing that and just picking out our favorite moments. The ones that gives us goosebumps or made us shout “Radical!” because we were hip 80’s kids. We’ll split the workload here, but we’ll be cross-posting.
Our first list will run down the three SMB games released for the NES. Delightfully, we discovered we shared very similar feel-good moments so there was little argument. Hopefully, you’ll feel just a bit of the adrenaline we did while recounting the best moments these games had to offer.
Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Developer: Legacy Interactive
Year: 2003
Platform: Windows
I can nearly copy and paste my review from Dead On The Money.
Only two things were essentially changed in the second episode. One, there is blissfully no longer a time limit, giving you ample time to search the environment without the nagging (and unrealistically fast) clock. And, of course, the plot has changed. We’re still dealing with a murder, but this time it’s over a scientist and his breakthrough research and various interest groups involved with him.
The story line is slightly more engaging than that in the prequel, but the remaining flaws are still present. There are still lock-and-key puzzles that shouldn’t exist in a cop’s world. And, if it’s possible, this adventure is even easier, giving the beginner only a few obstacles over what amounts to a couple of days of play.
If you like the show or the first game, you’ll likely enjoy Double Or Nothing as well. But don’t look for any breakthroughs. At least the money on the actors wasn’t wasted.
I started out the countdown by stating that it’s very possible I’ll never play an RPG again. If I do, here are a few that are on my list:
Breath of Fire series
Phantasy Star series
Final Fantasy V
Two questions for my readers:
1. Have you played any of the above games and do you think I’d like them?
2. What other RPGs have you played that would make your top list? Feel free to drop your own list if you like.
Developer: HAL, Ape
Publisher: Nintendo
Year: 1995
Platform: SNES, WiiU
Considered a cult classic, I have never known anyone personally to dislike this RPG. In fact, I am not sure I know anyone who doesn’t love it like crazy. But when the market for RPGs was still trying to gain steam in America, Earthbound had no place and the sales figures were awful. Released in a huge box with a huge strategy guide, Earthbound was obviously quirky from the start. While on the surface the game seems little more than a goofy parody of American culture and other RPGs, therein lies a high-quality adventure with a gripping story and superb game mechanics.
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Year: 1994
Platform: SNES, GBA, Playstation, PS3, PSP, Wii, Android
I got this for Christmas shortly after it came out, but didn’t play it for two months as I also received Link to the Past. I think that easily qualifies as the most bang for buck Christmas ever as a child. Other than Tecmo Super Bowl, I have never spent more time playing a video game. While this no doubt influenced the ranking, I can’t help but feel nothing but love for this game despite all of its obvious problems.
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Year: 1995
Platform: SNES, DS, Playstation, PS3, PSP, Wii, iPhone, Android
I heard how awesome this game was for five years before I finally put some serious cash down for it on eBay. It blew away all expectation I had. While the characters are only about average as far as RPGs go, it has my favorite battle system and an incredible plot that spans multiple timelines with significant choices the player can make to alter events.
Developer: Chunsoft
Publisher: Enix
Year: 1992
Platform: SNES (Japanese only); DS
I first played this game on a SNES emulator with an English translation patch, then later on the DS. The DS version has a few additions that may increase enjoyment; regardless, both versions are an example of a great RPG, with emphasis on the role-playing.
Continue reading 4. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Death By Troggles 
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