I’m just here like man. I just wanted to support these creators, wasn’t Playtonic supposed to let me do that without dealing with shitty executives or an apathetic publisher? Can’t have shit under capitalism man. It didn’t have to go this badly…
I was one of the people anxiously awaiting their next project since 2019 and suffice to say after the lay-offs and not so great stuff about the management came out, my enthusiasm has been dampened. I would not be surprised if Replaylee is the last game they release before going under.
I bought Yooka-Replaylee on Switch 2 and am pretty disappointed by how wonky it runs and how buggy it is. Probably my fault for not just waiting to see how the port performs but man. Can’t even necessarily blame Playtonic because they got Switch 2 dev kits really late
My takeaway is that while it is important to do good work and have strong and unique ideas, creating connections and finding allies in important places is also essential. Satoshi Tajiri earning Miyamoto’s respect even before he was pitching Pokemon was a critical step towards making it a reality
There were some big names at Nintendo that supported the Pokemon concept like Miyamoto and Yokoi while the rest of the company was skeptical. Without them sticking their necks out for it, it’s pretty likely Pokemon could have just been cancelled or never even greenlit at all
Nintendo R&D1 oversaw and provided input in the development of Mario & Wario, licensing both characters to an otherwise unrelated gameplay concept was effectively giving Game Freak guaranteed sales based on brand recognition. They wanted them to succeed very badly
The original Pokemon games took over half a decade to make and Game Freak nearly went under multiple times in that period. Nintendo could have pulled out at any point yet they helped any way they could on the project including giving GF unrelated contract work to bring it revenue
They should release a NES Zapper/ Super Scope recreation next so we can get those games on NSO. Some of those Nintendo made light gun games are surprisingly excellent and have not seen substantial rereleases outside of like, Duck Hunt
Mario & Wario!! This game has always fascinated me as a Nintendo-published Game Freak title pre-Pokemon with an interesting gameplay premise. Gunpei Yokoi also apparently contributed ideas and gave Game Freak the project to help them stay afloat while creating the first Pokemon games.
Maybe the connection between Arms and Teleroboxer is that a boxing concept fit what both dev teams were looking for, in different ways. The VB controller had shoulder buttons and dual d-pads while the Switch had split motion controls smaller than the Wii’s. Boxing is a good fit for both
It seems pretty clear to me that R&D1 was probably at least aware of Punch-Out! And ended up making their own bizarro version of it the way they liked to do with other Nintendo game concepts sometimes like how Wario Land was their version of a sidescrolling Mario-esque platformer
You are the first person I’ve found online to make the connection between all four games like this, it’s super interesting. Something that ARMs and Teleroboxer share on a conceptual level is the idea that they are in-universe sci-fi sports that reflect the player’s input in an immersive way
Extremely valid point I see no one else bring up, Red Alarm is also awkward to play this way. Best way I found was to use the NSO N64 controller on PC and map the second D-pad to the C buttons.
Kirby Dream Land 3 is Absolutely GOATED btw, I will ride or die for it and Dream Land 2 to a lesser extent. I am much more fond of that era of Kirby games than most fans seem to be and hold the same level of fondness for them as I do Sakurai’s Kirby games
This is also probably because Gooey was already a very efficient Kirby-clone in Dream Land 3 that is easy to recreate using Kirby as a base. So, why not put Gooey in?
It’s kind of incredible how he went from very sparse cameos to being a core component of the playable Kirby roster. If there’s a game with more than the core 4 Kirby characters, he is pretty much guaranteed a slot.
Gooey is my favorite Kirby character because he’s silly and inexplicable in a way even Kirby isn’t. Gooey has no brain cells and is made from the same material as the villainous Dark Matter. There is a great battle within his empty head between good and evil at all times
It plays to their strengths as a game dev that prototypes far more aggressively and extensively than pretty much anyone because they have the resources to do so. I would bet any other dev/ publisher would find it hard to resolve the potential issues of the concept nearly as well
There are so many technical and design problems that could have made the game’s destruction focus clunky or uninteresting and it’s a testament to Nintendo’s expertise that they sat down and worked it all out so elegantly and cleanly. You never even consider these potential problems while playing
The Bananzas are about the same size as Donkey Kong which makes the digging/ tunneling mechanics more consistent than if you had to deal with a mountable animal. If you dug straight down while riding Rambi, would you just have to get off him to climb out? What happens when he’s in a tight space?
The Bananza transformations were definitely a disappointment for some people compared to bringing back animal buddies but I see why they did it. They all have Donkey Kong’s regular moveset so you can never get stuck or are prevented from interacting with the terrain and objects
If Donkey Kong can essentially climb all breakable surfaces, he can never dig himself straight down in a way he can’t get back out of. All the levels have a “skeleton” of indestructible material that serve as scaffolding for Donkey Kong to get back up to key areas as well
