Nintendo went back to Mario’s roots when deciding where to take the franchise and gave gamers a classic 2D side scrolling game.  I was happy with this approach as I am always wishing we would get more retro style games that take advantage of newer connectivity options.  Nintendo excelled in the first category and failed miserably in the second.

No one can deny that New Super Mario Bros. Wii features addictive, classic gameplay in just the right doses.  This game plays exactly like all the retro Mario games you know and love.  To this point the Big N delivers in waves.  However, once again, they have failed to deliver the polish and production we have come to expect from blockbuster 1st party efforts.  It is quite clear that they developed this game with the casual gamers in mind and did just enough to appeal to the hardcore crowd.

I am going to completely ignore the lack of online coop as this is the most maddening ‘missing’ feature of them all and it disgusts me to the point of sickness that it was excluded and I don’t think any further explanations are necessary.

First off, there is only 3 characters available to play with: Mario, Luigi, and Toad.  This is appalling.  Instead of Princess we get another Toad (albeit a slightly different palette).  Were they afraid of the rift in the space-time continuum that would likely occur if Princess was trying to save herself?  Are they that worried about realism?  Why couldn’t they have Daisy as a playable character?  Or, even better, have Princess as an unlockable character once you saved her.

How come said characters all behave the same?  I loved Super Mario 2 where you could choose your character based on their physical abilities.  Would that not be so much more fun with this one?  Would that not make it more fun from a teamwork perspective?  I think Nintendo is afraid that this would just baffle the casual gamer and that millions of gamers like you and I would be subject to countless phone calls from grandma imploring as to why she can’t get the second coin star in level 4-2 using Mario.

How about having unlockable characters?  Example, you finish 4-2 under a certain time and you get to use Birdo.  Is this too much of a stretch?  How about unlockable Mii clothes?

Lastly, I think the coolest thing they could have done was incorporate some sort of video sharing system.  How it would work is that the game would record everything you do in a certain level.  If you do something cool you could save the replay.  Trim off the cool part and upload it to the web or send it to your friends.  Even better if they don’t have to have the game to view them.  Seems like a great way to virally promote the game to me.

These are just a few features I have thought up.  Surely the geniuses at Nintendo with all their innovation can do better.  Why don’t they?

Being a bit of a Metroid fan, and trilogy releases in general (damn you repackaged media!).  I am pretty excited about the coming release of the Metroid Prime Trilogy.  Better still, I have yet to play the 3rd and final game.  This will be the perfect opportunity for me to give it a spin.  Bravo!

Press Release from Nintendo:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption set a new standard for first-person motion controls in video games. Now it’s bringing those controls to the rest of the celebrated series, allowing players to experience the entire Metroid Prime story arc with the peerless precision of the Wii Remote. Nintendo announces Metroid Prime Trilogy, a new premium three-game collection for the Wii console that bundles all three landmark Metroid Prime games onto one disc and revamps the first two installments with intuitive Wii Remote controls, wide-screen presentation and other enhancements. Metroid Prime Trilogy will be available exclusively for Wii on Aug. 24 at a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Each game maintains its original storyline and settings, but now Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes let players use their Wii Remote to aim with precision as heroine Samus Aran. Based on the breakthrough control system that debuted in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, these new Wii controls bring an entirely new level of immersion and freedom to these milestone games.

"Metroid Prime Trilogy puts the best first-person adventures all in one place, with a host of new additions that make these three timeless titles more engaging than ever," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "A great deal of care and detail has gone into Metroid Prime Trilogy, providing longtime fans with new ways to experience the games they love."

All three games now reside on a single disc. Players can access the game they want from a unified main menu that ties together all three adventures. Through a new unlockables system, players can gain access to in-game rewards such as music and artwork by accomplishing objectives across all three games.

Metroid Prime Trilogy was developed by Retro Studios and Nintendo, the same developers that created the original games for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii systems.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

For more information about Metroid Prime Trilogy, visit www.Metroid.com.

e-play, a movie & game kiosk provider, is putting up kiosks in Walmarts nationwide to buy back used games from savvy gamers for store credit.  This replaces the traditional system of having to walk into Gamestop and actually talk to someone when you are getting bent over for your decrepit games.  Don’t even think about gaming the system as it has numerous safeguards in place to prevent hell-bent heathens from scoring some virtual cash.  In fact, you will be looking to get the damn things to work at all, according to jazzking2001 at neocrisis.

They are already being placed in Walmarts in the Northeastern US, so look for them in your local store soon!

I for one wish Tony would just stick to the status quo.  Here’s hoping he indulges us old school fans and includes classic controls.  I couldn’t look at myself is the mirror after pretending to ride a skateboard with no wheels in the middle of my living room.  That’s assuming the damn thing wouldn’t break if I stood on it.

When are they going to stop calling this stuff innovation?