Topic: "25 Years Of Nintendo" Party

[bustin98]

Geist multiplayer is not what I would have choosen. Might as well have picked Metroid 2. Personally, I love Bloody Roar on the Cube. Oh yeah, Smugglers Run. What an awesome game that is, especially when you turn on unlimited power abilities. You NEED to have Smugglers Run in there.

Mario Kart64 was my intro to the Kart series, so that would be one of my pics, but you already have two kart games. Banjo Twoie was a fun multiplayer too, but no contest with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.

All in all, should be a fun time.

[Peardian]

Actually, that reminds me. Metroid Prime 2's multiplayer was pretty awesome. Of course, unlocking all the stages requires playing the game, but it's worth it. I love Sidehopper Station.

[JonLeung]

Geist multiplayer is not what I would have choosen. Might as well have picked Metroid 2. Personally, I love Bloody Roar on the Cube. Oh yeah, Smugglers Run. What an awesome game that is, especially when you turn on unlimited power abilities. You NEED to have Smugglers Run in there.

Mario Kart64 was my intro to the Kart series, so that would be one of my pics, but you already have two kart games. Banjo Twoie was a fun multiplayer too, but no contest with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.

All in all, should be a fun time.

I do have Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, so it can be put in if necessary.  I want to play some Geist because it's an underplayed game that I kind of enjoyed, the ghost/possession thing is kind of quirky.  (The funny thing is, I finished it on a rental, and hadn't ever played the copy that I own until yesterday, because I got that free with my purchase of the Wii way back in November 2006.)  I had Perfect Dark and the TimeSplitters games suggested to me too (I remember I enjoyed TimeSplitters: Future Perfect), but I'm running out of time to get stuff (especially off of eBay), though I think GoldenEye is good enough since most of us aren't total FPS lovers.  I may cut some games shorter than their alloted half-hour to bank some more time for GoldenEye.

I also loved Bloody Roar: Primal Fury when I rented it on the GameCube, but I don't have a copy, and my friends are very leery about fighting games they haven't played before, since my brother will definitely defeat them.  That's why I left off the two Killer Instinct games (he'd just Ultra Combo everybody), and the fighting games I have on there might already be much.  I did buy Mortal Kombat Trilogy on the N64 on a whim, regardless.

I never got into Smuggler's Run, though I think I played one of them on the PS2 for a few seconds at a friends' place.  Guess I'm missing out.

I also wasn't sure about having two Mario Kart games.  I had hoped to find a four-player simultaneous Super NES game (besides just Super Bomberman), but most games that use the Super Multitap are sports games.  I don't like sports games, unless they're more arcade-style like NBA Jam.  That (or its Tournament Edition) almost made it on the list but I decided on NBA Hang Time on the N64.  Though NBA Jam for the Wii should be out soon.  For the Wii, I almost had New Super Mario Bros. Wii in place of Mario Kart Wii, but we did a lot of NSMBW before...still, I could always sub that in.  Just Dance 2, being the newest game right before the party, was also a potential pick, but since my invitee list turned out to be just guys, who probably will be uninterested (or too tired toward the end of a gaming marathon), I decided to leave that for some other time...I do want to try that 8-player (4 vs. 4 team dance-off) mode one day.  

Because of the amount I spent on games and controllers, I will definitely have more "Retro Nintendo" game nights in the future.  I wish there were more multiplayer NES games (and competitive and don't take an hour to finish), especially for this particular party, considering the occasion.  If Anticipation is a dud, I could always do a R.O.B. and/or Power Glove demo...then again those might be kinda lame too.  >_>

If I lived in the same city as bustin, and a few others of you, you'd be invited too!

[Peardian]

On a small side note, a free poster was included in this month's Nintendo Power. On the front is Mario jumping with a mushroom, the same art I have on one of my shirts, with the (in)famous line from Toad below it. And on the back? A full map of SMB 1-1, split up into three even rows.

[JonLeung]

We had this party last night, and it was crazy fun!

We subbed out Anticipation for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade game (and just played until we got Game Over, which was in the second stage, in the sewers) and replaced Super Mario Kart with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters.  Unfortunately we couldn't get to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but it was still an insane night without it.

The half-hour per game we actually managed to stick pretty well to, surprisingly, but next time I'll set aside more time for the better game.  Every game managed to elicit some laughs regardless.  Sure, Geist was a little weak, though it still had its moments.  Crash 'N' The Boys: Street Challenge was tons more fun than I expected.

Because the party was such a hit, I've been asked to host more "Retro Nintendo Nights" in the future.  Can't deny people that if that's what they want!

[JonLeung]

So I had another Retro Nintendo Night party in November for my brother's birthday (I'll post the list of games later), and that was also a success.  Though it conflicted with another party, half the guests had to leave, so some of the games like Pac-Man Vs. will probably make a return in a later party.

In December we had a movie night with The Wizard, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and TRON (to prep us for TRON Legacy) but we also played a bit of the new GoldenEye 007 while waiting for people to arrive and ended the evening with Michael Jackson: The Experience.  January was too busy for a party.

Now I'm planning a February "V - - E - - - - E S Day"-themed Retro Nintendo Night (where the "Vees" actually stands for "video games").  I'm trying to assemble some games that either feature hearts (like DreamMix TV World Fighters) or games that everyone just loves (like N64 GoldenEye 007).  Better than my original idea of making this a mixer with games that girls and guys can enjoy...  However, I'm having trouble finding good multiplayer NES and Super NES games that can fit comfortably in half-hour spans.  I was thinking maybe the first game could be River City Ransom with the passwords put in for all items and such to make it go quicker, but what else would be good?  Any suggestions?

[JonLeung]

So this is what I decided on for the next party and the reasoning behind each one:

Nintendo Entertainment System

Contra: the final boss is a giant alien HEART. Also, these guys will share their lives with each other...when one of them gets game over first.

Joy Mech Fight (J): where there's love, there's joy...so there must be some love in JOY Mech Fight. Or robotic violence. (Plus, their "lives" are represented by HEARTS.)

River City Ransom: save your girlfriend from thugs. That's romantic, right? Plus, "ransom" is an anagram of "romans" which is kind of like "ROMANCE". Whatever, just go with it.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Rock 'N Roll Racing:
Black Sabbath - Paranoid: "Happiness I cannot feel and LOVE to me is so unreal."
Deep Purple - Highway Star: "I LOVE it and I need it!"
George Thorogood - Bad To The Bone: "I broke a thousand HEARTS, before I met you."
Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild: "Take the world in a LOVE embrace."

Super Bomberman 3 (J): the best power-up is a detonator, whose icon is a HEART.  And Pretty Bomber wears one, too!

Yuu Yuu Hakusho - Tokubetsu Hen (J): not a conventional fighting game, you select actions with a direction and a button and see the result play out in anime cinematics. You don't need to know anything about the original manga to enjoy this game. One character, Kurama, likes to use ROSES...

Nintendo 64

GoldenEye 007: everyone LOVES this shooter. It essentially gave birth to the most-LOVED genre today, the FPS. We LOVE this game, and that's enough to make it on this list.

Mario Tennis: if you don't score, your score is LOVE.  Oh snap; obvious pun.  But Peach's special moves also have lots of HEARTS.

Pokémon Puzzle League: last time we played Tetris Attack featuring Yoshi, this time it's the N64 version featuring the Pokémon. Match up blocks with colours and shapes, including HEARTS.

GameCube

DreamMix TV World Fighters (J): Optimus Prime Vs. Solid Snake Vs. Bomberman Vs. Simon Belmont! This is a Smash Bros. clone featuring Konami/Hudson/Takara characters, but instead of knocking people out, you steal their life energy in the form of big HEARTS.

The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures: Link's life is represented by HEARTS. Hopefully we can have four GBAs again. Since we did Shadow Battle last time, maybe this time we'll do a few stages in the main adventure.

Pac-Man Vs.: this seemed to be a hit last time, so we're playing it again! It came PAIRED with Pac-Man World 2, it features the two most-LOVED game characters of all time (Pac-Man, plus Mario's voice), it was created by the PARTNERSHIP of Nintendo and Namco, and just to play it, it's necessary to COUPLE the GameCube and GBA together. Too much of a stretch? Just enjoy the game...

Wii

GoldenEye 007: the reimagining of the most-LOVED console first-person shooter is back.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon: all the Kombatants ever featured in a past Mortal Kombat are back. Now with Kreate-A-Fatility where you can do things like rip out the loser's HEART.

NBA Jam: "I LOVE this game!", so the NBA slogan goes. Boomshakalaka! Bangalangadoodah! Etc.

[Rew]

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series, some amazing artist in Japan put together this tribute (huge image warning):
http://www.zeldauniverse.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/zelda251.jpg

The attention to detail and how everything fits together is simply mind boggling. I've been scrutinizing and admiring it all day! Enjoy.

[JonLeung]

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series, some amazing artist in Japan put together this tribute (huge image warning):
http://www.zeldauniverse.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/zelda251.jpg

I love it!  What's particularly neat are the characters seen only in the "Toon Link" games that are drawn in a more realistic style to match everyone else.  And the Oracle bosses, too!  There are many NPCs, most of which I at least recognize, but I can't name many of them offhand!  Some fan I am.  This masterpiece is definitely the work of a true Zelda fan, who shames my Zelda fanness.  I didn't even touch a Zelda game on the 25th anniversary...I was playing Final Fantasy X-2 on the PS2...(and my brother was playing Dragon Quest VI on the DS...)  Shame, shame, shame!

The Valentines' Day-themed video game party went okay, but we didn't end up hitting up all of those games because the majority of the people came at the very end of the night, and then many people would rather visit with each other than play.  I'm thinking of distinguishing future "Retro Nintendo Nights" as specifically "hardcore" or "casual" game nights and inviting the appropriate people to each to maximize fun.  Or, since I plan on getting a new TV soon-ish, perhaps if my current TV is still working fine, I can split up the party and have two games going at once.

[Rew]

I edited my post, since the pic is no longer available on the original link I used.

I know, man! I love the photo-realistic renditions of characters like Marin, Aryll, the pirate crew, Anjean, etc. It would've been nice to see Sheik and Tetra too, but you can't complain about what we got.

It's okay--I didn't do anything for the 25th anniversary either. Last year I did play through every single game in the series in release date order, though. It was epic. =D

[Rew]

I couldn't resist making this little bit:

[JonLeung]

I had another party this past weekend to celebrate the Super NES's 20th anniversary (even though it's not until next week).  Initially we tried to make it just about Super NES games.  While the party was fun, every now and then we had to switch it up.  Unless you're playing Super Bomberman or its sequels (which was still a blast - pun very much intended), or NBA Jam, there really isn't much use for the Super Multitap.  We got the cables and controller adapters necessary to use Super NES controllers on a PC hooked up to a TV emulating the arcade version of Turtles In Time (because the Super NES version only does two players, not four), which was the only planned exception.  (Unless you're playing fighting games, there actually aren't many pick-up-and-play simultaneous-multiplayer games on the Super NES, and then those are mostly only two-players...maybe we'd best remember the Super NES for its great one-player offerings.)

At least there's the N64's 15th anniversary at the end of September, and the GameCube's 10th in November and the Wii's 5th just a day after that.  Funny how the multiple-of-5-year anniversaries come in sequence (though the NES's 25th was last year in October).  And with the N64 onwards, the four-player games are more standard, so it'd be easier to get more people in the action.  Maybe I should track down Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Double Dash, since for some reason I don't own those...

Now that my gaming parties are becoming legendary, people seem to be getting upset if they're not invited.  Hoo boy...

[magicbay]

it's a shame i don't live closer to ya, Jon, because i'd bring my collection of Snes games over and let everyone play em.

[JonLeung]

Happy 10th birthday to the GameCube!

The GameCube was the first piece of Nintendo hardware I bought on Day One of its availability, a pattern that would continue with the DS, Wii, and 3DS (with decreasing amounts of time between the store opening and me actually getting my hands on it).

Incidentally, it was also the beginning of the end for ReBoot 10 years ago.  I remember that very same day, "Daemon Rising", the first of two ReBoot movies that ended the series (the second movie would be one week later) was shown on YTV, the Canadian channel that worked with then-Mainframe (now Rainmaker) to create that show (which is why I disavow the fact that Cartoon Network showed the movies separated as multi-part episodes in the States shortly earlier).  I always wondered if the fact that ReBoot showed purple-coloured "Game Cubes" was problematic with Nintendo, whose GameCubes launched in a purple (or, as they called it, "Indigo") colour (though I did buy a black one).  I thought maybe they should've shown both ReBoot movies a week earlier, it would seem almost fitting, in a weird way, to end with fictional Game Cubes and then play on real GameCubes.

[JonLeung]

Happy 5th birthday to the Wii!

On the one hand, it doesn't seem like that long ago that we were all playing Wii Sports and Twilight Princess.  On the other hand, given Nintendo's five-year clockwork, it would be expected that we should get the WiiU sooner rather than later...

Some people think the Wii's motion control and casual games are some kind of downfall for gaming, or some kind of "lesser" experience.  But I've found that my gaming parties the last couple years have been possible because of accessible games, and casual gamers (and girls!) know how to have fun without feeling like they have to be skilled.  I've managed to throw gaming parties specific to particular consoles, with varying degrees of success, but turning on the Wii has never given me any doubt about whether or not I'm able to entertain my guests.  The Wii's 5th birthday is indeed something to celebrate.