In-game footage of Mario and Sonic

[Radrappy]

I AM SO FUCKING PUMPED!!!!!!!!!! BLAAAAAARRRRRGHHH!!!!

[Yami CJMErl]

I'm pumped as well, but all my free monies are going to Mario Galaxy next week. ;_;

If I don't get it afterwards, it's definitely going on my Christmas list.

[Radrappy]

then this is just what the doctor ordered for you!

http://kotaku.com/gaming/deal/toys-r-us ... 318566.php

Hell, I'm doing it. 25$ Mario and sonic yes please!

[Yami CJMErl]

But then I'd have to cancel my preorder with Target...

*brain hurt*

[Ngangbius]

I heard it's going to be tough to get ahold of the TRU SMG deal since supposedly, many of their stores pre-order slips have been already sold out.

[Delphine]

To who, employees? It's a miracle the TRU near me hasn't gone out of business yet. Maybe I just go at the wrong time, but every time I'm there the place is damn near empty. (They <i>did</i> have Wiimotes when everyone else was sold out, though.)

[Yami CJMErl]

I dunno, it depends really on what you're looking for.

[offtopic]I managed to find an '09 Bumblebee figure (one of the hardest mainline TF movie toys to find) there, when the local Target has YET to even BOTHER stocking their "exclusive" G1 Starscream repaints, which infuriates me to NO end.[/offtopic]

So I'm pretty much sticking with the Target preorder--it'd prolly be too late to change it now, and at least I get the nifty free coin.

[Black Rook]

To who, employees? It's a miracle the TRU near me hasn't gone out of business yet. Maybe I just go at the wrong time, but every time I'm there the place is damn near empty. (They <i>did</i> have Wiimotes when everyone else was sold out, though.)

Wouldn't surprise me, TRU is known for being staffed by collectors/gamers/etc, and they tend to get all the good stuff before it even makes it to the floor. In a lot of cases, the managers don't seem to care, assuming they're not part of that themselves.

Of course, in your case, that just sounds like general incompetence... which TRU is also known for.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

Mine's a ghost town as well, though they occasionally get the stuff the Electronics Botique and Wal-Mart stores near me don't have in stock.

[j-man]

[offtopic]I managed to find an '09 Bumblebee figure (one of the hardest mainline TF movie toys to find)

That's weird. Those are the only Bumblebee figures I can find over here. I've got him sat on my desk right now, in fact.

[Yami CJMErl]

[offtopic]I managed to find an '09 Bumblebee figure (one of the hardest mainline TF movie toys to find)

That's weird. Those are the only Bumblebee figures I can find over here. I've got him sat on my desk right now, in fact.

Well, mayhaps the stores over in Britain simply have better distribution than my area. All I know is that it's ludicrously rare here (as are most mainline movie toys)--I personally blame a mix of scalpers and general store incompetence. I mean, a big summer movie based on a long-running TOY franchise and you're going to underorder your stock? WTF man?!

[DackAttac]

I did buy this, more reluctantly than any game I can recall. I think I gave Shadow less thought than this.

It kind of hurts because this game could fill the online niche so well. But the games are a little too simplistic and short to do on your own (although I've yet to try mission mode), but they're too complex for a handful of drunks hanging at your house wanting to play "that gay Nintendo thing". The onscreen instructions explain what should be the basics as wordily as possible, illustrated by confusingly skewed diagrams. And you can only view them before you start. (Please, even Mario Party and Sonic Shuffle got that pause-menu shit right.) Like 1Up (I think) said, it'd best to familiarize yourself with it beforehand, and then explain it to the newcomers/guests.

So, yeah, with something like the hurdles or the trampoline or the skeet shooting, you give a little 15-second tidbit, then you have fun. The triple jump will leave your guests fantasizing about strangling you with the cord that connects the nunchuck to the Wiimote while you explain "Well, you have to run by holding down B, then flicking the wiimote, then drumming the two things until it locks your speed. But then you have to flip up the wiimote at just the right time. Then the nunchuck at just the right time. And then the wiimote at the right time again. But do it too hard and you foul and it doesn't count."

Hell, I just imaginarily strangled myself as I was giving that speech in my head.

So, if you have a patient (and slightly masochistic) crowd, they'll learn the ins and outs over some trial and error, and then get around to enjoying themselves in brief stints. The moderately impatient will conclude "this is retarded, let's do something else" and that will be the end of that, until you feel lonely enough to play it on your own.

What's weird is how events like skeet shooting and table tennis are actually more realistic than their Wii Play counterparts (especially considering who's playing). M&S realizes TT is meant to be more than just 3D pong, and incorporates chop shots and backhands. But it's slow and clunky, and despite being far more comprehensive than pointing at the place on the screen where your paddle should be, the latter system still looks far cooler in action.

I'll be hard-pressed to judge single player mode because I feel I haven't gotten to it yet. You see, about 40% of the events are locked (ballpark), and so is every difficulty setting but "easy". I've taken home first place trophies in every circuit, and still haven't gotten to that ever elusive "medium".

But the mini-games get dull on their own with such weak CPU competition, but the instructions will make the game a grower rather than a pick-up-and-play title. So, basically, the optimal experience is playing with other people who own this game and like it enough to know their way around it. They've taken a great online game, and failed to give it Wi-Fi versus.

If you're sorely lacking a party game like I was before I got this, save yourself 20 bucks and get Rayman instead. Even if that still throws your guests through a loop, they'll at least get a good laugh out of it.

[Cuckooguy]

I have to say I lol'd in my brain when I looked in the manual and noticed the quality of the Nintendo character renders vs. the quality of the Sega character renders. WTF Sega?

[Yami CJMErl]

That's because SEGA used recycled character art for Team Mario.

[PSMad]

The depressing thing about this game is that if Nintendo had been handed the reigns it would have turned out to be a vastly better game. Just as a small example; the characters look lifeless and have that awful 'sheen' about them. If you take the Nintendo made Smash Bros characters in comparison, they all ooze charisma.

[Cuckooguy]

That's because SEGA used recycled character art for Team Mario.

No, that's not so much the problem I noticed (even though it does scream lazy). Everyone but Peach and Daisy look like they were plucked from low resolution images off the internet and look pixelated.

[DackAttac]

The depressing thing about this game is that if Nintendo had been handed the reigns it would have turned out to be a vastly better game.

Miyamoto directed, so I assume by "reigns" you mean "the whole damn thing".

[FlashTHD]

We sure about that? All other sources name him as a "supervisor" and i'd like to get the final word from the game credits if possible.

[Yami CJMErl]

Well, his influences are pervasive--much of the aesthatics look like the game would fit in neatly with other Mario Sports titles--at least, to the screens and stuff that I've seen.

[FlashTHD]

The same mass retail hysteria that propelled Heroes to "make megabucks long time" status in the UK has now contributed heavily to giving us five million copies sold worldwide, combined between both versions. In four months. Another million or so and Sonic 2's unseated as Sega's best seller ever.

Delightful. We knew Masanao Maeda was evil, now he's a frigging oracle too?

[Isuka]

Following the Wii's unstoppable and unexplainable success, I can't really get astonished by events like this.
It's just another way to know that the old SEGA's gone for sure.

Now, why didn't everyone else here rent the game so to not contribute to this?

[Segaholic2]

Those are combined Wii and DS numbers so it's not a fair comparison. If you count every version of Sonic 2 sold it would be far more than that.

[FlashTHD]

Those are combined Wii and DS numbers so it's not a fair comparison. If you count every version of Sonic 2 sold it would be far more than that.

I thought of that, but Wii or DS they're mostly the same games...though then there's the people who bought both...hmm.

[j-man]

If you count every version of Sonic 2 sold it would be far more than that.

You mean, every version sold and then resold and resold and resold and resold and

[DackAttac]

I thought of that, but Wii or DS they're mostly the same games...

Probably nowhere near as similar as the versions of Sonic 2 are to each other.