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DKC Tropical Freeze: The sound of a thousand balloons popping.

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  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    Why is every review score either a circle with a meter around it, or a polygonal shape, or both?

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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    Alright I went ahead and pre-ordered this. I wasn't too much of a fan of the Wii version (shake controls) but I'm willing to give this another shot.

  • VariableVariable Mouth Congress Stroke Me Lady FameRegistered User regular
    urahonky wrote: »
    Alright I went ahead and pre-ordered this. I wasn't too much of a fan of the Wii version (shake controls) but I'm willing to give this another shot.

    I am so far beyond happy we won't have to deal with that I can't even explain it

    the 3ds version mostly made up for it but me with my giant hands and non XL system I still had trouble with using the shoulder buttons. often just fell off while hanging onto things. made the game a chore, albeit less of one than on wii.

    FINALLY a new dkc with no control issues. I can barely contain myself.

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  • Care Free BombCare Free Bomb Registered User regular
    Wyborn wrote: »
    I never let the particular graces of reviewers determine if I will or will not buy a game

    My own anticipation has only steered me wrong a very, very few times

    Especially with Nintendo games. With few exceptions the biggest negatives of Nintendo games you hear are "it's too safe and samey" or "it's not this other Nintendo franchise I like more".

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  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    I can understand "Hey, more DKC! That's great, but lacks the impact that reviving the series with Returns had. 8/10" but to knock off four points seems weird?

    God, just get rid of the fucking numbers. They are absolutely meaningless.

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  • WybornWyborn GET EQUIPPED Registered User regular
    The biggest problem with the game review culture is that gamers somehow have managed to be swayed into thinking that granularity in review scales is equivalent to fidelity or objectivity.

    I'm fundamentally opposed to review numbers because it tries to sum up complicated opinions in overly simplistic ways, but I don't think we'll move past them within the next decade because console and PC gamers are so used to the console war-derived dick measuring contest that is number comparisons between games that act as after-the-fact validation of their choices or loyalties

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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    Yeah are they using numbers still for things like:

    Graphics
    Sound
    Story
    etc

    Because that is so very dated. Their reviews normally say "not an average" right? I mean if the guy had a blast playing the game but rated it low there's something wrong there.

  • Niceguyeddie616Niceguyeddie616 All you feed me is PUFFINS! I need NOURISHMENT!Registered User regular
    Rorus Raz wrote: »
    I can understand "Hey, more DKC! That's great, but lacks the impact that reviving the series with Returns had. 8/10" but to knock off four points seems weird?

    God, just get rid of the fucking numbers. They are absolutely meaningless.

    I wish we could just do the two thumbs up or down but for games :(

  • SyphonBlueSyphonBlue The studying beaver That beaver sure loves studying!Registered User regular
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  • VariableVariable Mouth Congress Stroke Me Lady FameRegistered User regular
    numbers are still around for movies too it's not like games are way behind the curve or something, I wouldn't blame it on 'gamers'

    I don't think it's an inherently useless system but it makes bad opinions worse and it makes lazy reviewers/readers even lazier.

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  • SwashbucklerXXSwashbucklerXX Swashbucklin' Canuck Registered User regular
    Maz- wrote: »

    I'm in Toronto, and I haven't been to the last couple of Nintendo PR events, so no. :)

    Want to find me on a gaming service? I'm SwashbucklerXX everywhere.
  • ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    I enjoy picking a part bad reviews, but I can't do that here yet in good faith because I don't know enough about the game myself. But we had a similar situation in the thread for Lords of Shadow 2, where someone gave the game a 4 out of 10 and complained about the combat, and how the game didn't have "hit stun", when from all the gameplay videos available and the demo that is out that you can play yourself that yes, the game does have hit stun and he... does not know what he's talking about or doesn't know what hit stun actually is, and probably has no business telling developers if their games combat is good or bad.

    Or god, any number of the reviews for The Wonderful 101 where if the person reviewing the game, has difficulty with the combat, then the game must have poor combat because learning curves and practice aren't a thing.

  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    "I don't like difficult games, and this game was too difficult even though it had strong mechanics." is a logically consistent review and you can make a purchasing decision off it ("Cool, I like harder games!").

    "Minus four points because it's not the Citizen Kane of videos games." is a weird thing to do unless you're going to put everything at 5/10 by default if it doesn't reinvent the wheel or offer a wheel replacement.

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  • QuicalQuical Registered User regular
    Some of these reviews are just jabs at nintendo as a whole i feel. Jerks.

    What are the control options for this game? Will the classic controller pro plugged in to wii remote work?

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  • skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    Wow, so many whiney reviews.
    Quical wrote: »
    Some of these reviews are just jabs at nintendo as a whole i feel. Jerks.

    What are the control options for this game? Will the classic controller pro plugged in to wii remote work?

    Haven't heard about Classic Controller support, though it does support the Pro Controller, Nunchuck and obviously gamepad.

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  • VothVoth Registered User regular
    And, yet, Madden gets 8s consistently every year. To be fair, those are different reviewers and expectations.

    But, I just expect a fun, challenging game. And based on the videos that's exactly what I'm getting.

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  • maximumzeromaximumzero I...wait, what? New Orleans, LARegistered User regular
    edited February 2014
    Quical wrote: »
    Some of these reviews are just jabs at nintendo as a whole i feel. Jerks.

    Nintendo hate is popular these days; it's what brings in the clicks.

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  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    No, we're not doing the whiny "everyone hates Nintendo" thing that everyone is so fond of.

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  • Brainiac 8Brainiac 8 Don't call me Shirley... Registered User regular
    edited February 2014
    Rorus Raz wrote: »
    No, we're not doing the whiny "everyone hates Nintendo" thing that everyone is so fond of.

    You're face is fond of hating Nintendo!
    Loves and hugs @Rorus Raz! <3

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  • KriegaffeKriegaffe Registered User regular
    edited February 2014
    skeldare wrote: »
    Wow, so many whiney reviews.
    Quical wrote: »
    Some of these reviews are just jabs at nintendo as a whole i feel. Jerks.

    What are the control options for this game? Will the classic controller pro plugged in to wii remote work?

    Haven't heard about Classic Controller support, though it does support the Pro Controller, Nunchuck and obviously gamepad.

    The GameTrailers review* had a screen with four different control options. I think it was Wii-Mote; Wii-Mote + Nunchuck; Pro Controller; and Gamepad.

    (The review was positive by the way: 9.1 out of 10))

    Kriegaffe on
  • b1rdmanb1rdman Registered User regular
    Screw the reviews. The last one was fun, after the waggle was removed(for me at least), and I can form my own opinion. So, as soon as I have time to play it, I'll be buying it regardless of any negative, or positive for that matter, reviews.

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  • KorKor Known to detonate from time to time Registered User regular
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »
    Kor wrote: »
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »
    Yea, what most people don't think about when they complain about Retro doing Metroid, is that DKCR has sole more than all three Prime games combined.

    As awesome as Metroid and Retro's Prime games are, they were not huge sellers.

    Yeah, but it is hard to compare those two numbers when you look at the install base for each of their systems.

    It's not fair to compare Prime's numbers on the Gamecube, to DKCR's numbers on the Wii.

    What about Prime 3 to DKCR?

    Slightly better, though it's been proven that numerical sequels tend to put off newcomers to a series. So Prime 3 was already going to be feeding off of Prime 2's playerbase.

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  • ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    Rorus Raz wrote: »
    "I don't like difficult games, and this game was too difficult even though it had strong mechanics." is a logically consistent review and you can make a purchasing decision off it ("Cool, I like harder games!").

    We'll yes, but those aren't the ones I'm talking about.

  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    Sounds like it could have used a little more time in the oven but I doubt Nintendo was willing to let the release slide much further.

    Regardless, it only needs to be as good as DKCR to be an instabuy for me.

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  • skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    Sounds like it could have used a little more time in the oven but I doubt Nintendo was willing to let the release slide much further.

    Regardless, it only needs to be as good as DKCR to be an instabuy for me.

    They already delayed it by over 3 months, I don't think that has anything to do with it.

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  • skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    edited February 2014
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Watching some of the video reviews, I am confused why the Gamespot guy thinks there isn't any imagination to the levels. They look pretty good to me and Gametrailers review more than convinced me to play the game when I get a WiiU for Bayonetta 2. Plus I like challenging games and correct me if I'm wrong, but does this game also not have any extra lives mechanic?

    It does have lives, and red balloons give you extra lives.

    Plus you get an extra life for every 100 bananas.

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  • ZythonZython Registered User regular
    Aegeri wrote: »
    Watching some of the video reviews, I am confused why the Gamespot guy thinks there isn't any imagination to the levels. They look pretty good to me and Gametrailers review more than convinced me to play the game when I get a WiiU for Bayonetta 2. Plus I like challenging games and correct me if I'm wrong, but does this game also not have any extra lives mechanic?

    1-Ups? Should be the red balloons. (Like the original, but w/out DK's face on them for some reason)

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  • ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't do so i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
    You can also buy balloons from Funky and Diddy's powerup turns all enemies on the screen into balloons.

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  • skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    Aegeri wrote: »
    I am not at all a fan of extra lives in platformers anymore and I think its an obscenely pointless mechanic. I imagine like previous nintendo platformers there is probably utterly no consequence to running out of them, but it does make me wonder why it's in there in the first place.

    Tradition and nostalgia.

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  • ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't do so i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
    1-ups are mostly superfluous (with the exception of checkpoint restarts on a game over), but since they're so redundant anyway, who cares? Ignore it and move on. It shouldn't affect how you enjoy the game.

  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    Also, more than any game out there, DKC strongly uses bananas as part of level design. A single banana floating over seemingly nothing is a giant hint of a secret.

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  • MblackwellMblackwell Registered User regular
    edited February 2014
    If you run out of lives you must completely restart the level rather than start from the checkpoint. The levels are hard enough (in DKCR) that this is devastating. I can only assume that's the case here. Also you lose all KONG progress up to your last checkpoint every time you die and those damned things are hard to get.

    Loading screens after the initial load are apparently nonexistent. And also apparently the first level you load in the game takes the longest and other levels are much quicker (around 10 seconds).

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  • Ov3rchargeOv3rcharge R.I.P. Mass Effect You were dead to me for yearsRegistered User regular
    Lives are stupid and games would be significantly better without them.

  • VariableVariable Mouth Congress Stroke Me Lady FameRegistered User regular
    edited February 2014
    skeldare wrote: »
    Aegeri wrote: »
    I am not at all a fan of extra lives in platformers anymore and I think its an obscenely pointless mechanic. I imagine like previous nintendo platformers there is probably utterly no consequence to running out of them, but it does make me wonder why it's in there in the first place.

    Tradition and nostalgia.

    I don't get this. to me lives and game overs are a sign that you're fucking up! in a mario game when I get a game over I think 'maybe it's time to walk away...'

    I lost 20+ lives at a clip several times in dkcr. the game over at that point is a punishment for fucking up. idk why that doesn't make sense to people anymore.

    not to sound antagonistic or anything... they could get rid of em. I just don't see it as purely a tradition move. they still make sense to me as a mechanic. extra lives are a reward for not dying sometimes, sometimes for exploring, etc.

    Ov3rcharge wrote: »
    Lives are stupid and games would be significantly better without them.

    like this is ludicrous to me. seeing the number go down SIGNIFICANTLY effects your experience? why? or is it the 30 seconds lost when you game over? which like even if it's that intolerable hey maybe don't die so much. being punished for failing over and over isn't a dated notion.

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  • FoefallerFoefaller Registered User regular
    edited February 2014
    Well, lives started back in the arcades; the more money you put in, the more attempts you had before having to start back in the beginning, and a lot of games carried that tradition on to home consoles.

    Most games that use lives today though rarely have that harsh of a punishment (or any punishment at all, for that matter) for dying with no lives left, so the concept can come off as superfluous, even sometimes if there is a consequence for losing that last life (like having to start a stage over in DKCR, rather than at the checkpoint)

    Personally I think lives can still be a functional game mechanic in this day and age, there is just all to often little or no though as to why you should(n't) put some kind of lives mechanic in your game and how should it be implemented.

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  • shoeboxjeddyshoeboxjeddy Registered User regular
    Lives are stupid straight up. If you want us to collect things, then just say "Collect all the things!" and we'll do it. If you're worried about investment, just say that we get a medal for collecting all the things (or go crazy and have the medals unlock things). This is a solved problem, only Nintendo games have not caught on. It's honestly sad at this point. In Mario 3D Land for example, I had well over 100 lives by the Special Worlds. What is the point of a limited resource if I have HUNDREDS of them? "It's to punish you if you continually fail." Umm what kind of punishment arbitrarily triggers only after over 100 failures? And why should games have a "punishment" mechanic anyway? Isn't not winning enough of a punishment for someone who WANTS to win?

    In CERTAIN types of games, lives could still make sense. For example, in an arcade shooter like Ikaruga, the push-pull of earning and losing extra lives creates a lot of tension for beginning players. However even in those games, experienced players can generally complete the game with very few lost lives, the real challenge is beyond that.

    Donkey Kong doesn't need and shouldn't have an "extra life" system. The two Splosion Man games were EXTREMELY challenging and they had no pretense of extra lives. Because all that happens when you fail without lives is that you have to redo old content that you completed properly to begin with. Why would a SMART designer ever think of using their own content as a punishment? It's really really dumb guys.

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