Away game special: A dreamy start

Every time I go to see a 3D movie, I walk out disappointed. I just don't get the full 3D experience in the theatre. On the 3DS, though, that extra dimension is fully appreciated.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team doesn't use this feature much, aside from in battle and during some cutscenes. But, when it does, it's quite lush. Though I've only just reached the point where you first enter the dream world, so there're likely many much more stunning visuals ahead.

Aside from the game's look (the cleanest and clearest yet in the series), it plays similarly to the others in the series. That is to say, you wander, fight, and talk, though the game's railroaded me so far.

This seems to be the way of it with handheld RPGs, freedom comes slowly. Especially in the Mario & Luigi series. No doubt it's because they always involve a slow build of out-of-battle abilities.

Nonetheless, the game's first hour and a half's been smooth on all fronts. I expect the rest to be the same.

Away game special: Of patterned bosses

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is strangely quick. Levels take less than 10 minutes, and most that are incredbly challenging are a matter of speed, rather than precision or puzzle solving.

The game's bosses are a different story. Yet, they all have patterns that are unwavering. These bosses' difficulty lies in executing these patterns faster and faster and sometimes with extra obstacles in the way. Because of this, patience and observation are enough to make short work of the challenges that the game's bosses offer.

It has to be mentioned that bosses in the Super Mario universe have never been terribly tricky, though.

Actually the most memorably frustrating Super Mario bosses are from the 8- and 16-bit eras. That's because Mario had only his jump and a few minor power-ups (and the odd axe at bridge's end) to rely on then. More attacks and power-ups mean more things for a game to show, and as a result creative uses of said things are stifled.

But who would want a NES/SNES-style Super Mario game big enough to fill a DVD? And who would develop it?

A Brief Soiree

Well, I played a Mario Party game for the first time recently.

It definitely had the same feel as a Smash Brothers game in that anything could happen. DK was the PC character in a 3/1 game, and he definitely seemed to be cheating in some way or other.

Anyway, though there were moments as madcap as any round of Smash Brothers (among them DK, already way ahead in coin count, getting another coin for placing fourth in a minigame where before that honour had been mine as the true third placer), it was a much more organized mini game experience.

Also, finally having played one of the many Mario Party games, I can see why the franchise has been successful throughout all of its iterations. The game has all of the strange humourousness of a modern Mario title, combined with a set of easy to learn, difficult to master mini games.

Plus framing the game experience with a bunch of game boards lends itself well to propagating sequels, as more and more boards can be introduced. I haven't kept up with the franchise, but it would not surprise me if Mario Party 9 has some sort of character customization/levelling system in place, maybe to help shake things up in the minigames requiring movement, or in dice rolls or some other lately added aspect of the games.

All in all, it's pretty ingenious, and makes for a grandly fun multiplayer experience. But, I don't think it'd be that great as a single-player endeavour, something that I don't expect myself to get into any time soon.