5th September 2005, 10:17 PM
Expert or Normal mode?
I still haven't unlocked the last two medals to unlock expert mode...
Anyway, yeah in Kirby Canvas Curse they let you play as other characters too, and in fact to get 100% you have to go through the entire game with all 5 characters. Pretty pointless in the end because the game isn't much different at all with the other characters... Dedede sinks in the water and is huge, and Meta Knight has this sword slash effect if he kills an enemy, but it kinda got boring actually. Canvas Curse IS a great game, but those extra characters ran a good thing into the ground.
SM64 on DS is different though. The other characters actually have their own abilities. Um, actually all their flower abilities are actually Mario Cap abilities in SM64 on N64... Except, now they are divided up among the characters. So, only Mario can use the flying cap, only Luigi can walk through some walls, only Wario can turn to metal. Yoshi can't wear hats, but he can do one unique ability, he can eat enemies and make eggs to throw at other enemies. Also, things like Wario being slow but strong, Luigi jumping in that weird fluttery way from SMB2, and Yoshi being able to do a flutter kick. Basically, you need to switch back and forth if you want to get all the stars this time around, plus some of the original stars are changed. Plus, there are 30 entirely new stars.
However, as Weltall said, the major flaw is the controls. That touch screen is just awkward. I never got used to it. Hypothetically it should let you control the characters with full range of motion like the stick did, but their execution leaves something to be desired. It's impossible to really "feel" how far you have pressed to the side of the center position. The tactile feedback is something I never even thought about before the touch screen, but now I realize just how important feeling the stick's resistance truly is. So, you end up trying to stand still and overcompensating repeatedly, ending up looking at the touch screen to see if you are in the dead zone yet. Suffice it to say, I gave it up and used the d-pad the entire game. Awkward, but it worked better than the touch screen...
Anyway, the PSP actually has an awesome stick design. Having actually used one, let me explain. The stick doesn't "stick out" at all, but it turns out that was never needed in stick design. The end that you shove around is just sort of there, almost looking like a button, only it can be slid around within a certain range. It has that tactile feedback so you know how far you are holding it at any time. Further, because of it's very low profile and the fact that it is "slid around" rather than tilted, you won't ever have to worry about breaking the stick when carrying it around. It'll just slide at worst. Plus, it's as easy to control as any stick I've used yet, so it really is pretty great. Now, Sony put it in a bad spot on the system, from my limited use, but that can be fixed.
What I'm saying is, Nintendo should have stuck an analog stick like that one on the DS.
Anyway, the minigames they added to the DS version all work just fine with the touch screen, namely because they are all designed around it. For example, drawing trampolines for Mario to bounce off of.
So, what I'm saying is that while the DS version added a lot, that game was really designed around the control stick. Had they added one, PSP style, to the DS, the DS would not be lacking in control methods. As it is, the touch screen is great when used correctly, but not as a replacement for direct character control.
Also, the DS is still a tad heavy and hurts my wrists after extended play. If they just didn't bother with that top screen and made a massive widescreen instead, it wouldn't be foldable, but it would be smaller and I could just get a protective sleeve for it.
I still haven't unlocked the last two medals to unlock expert mode...
Anyway, yeah in Kirby Canvas Curse they let you play as other characters too, and in fact to get 100% you have to go through the entire game with all 5 characters. Pretty pointless in the end because the game isn't much different at all with the other characters... Dedede sinks in the water and is huge, and Meta Knight has this sword slash effect if he kills an enemy, but it kinda got boring actually. Canvas Curse IS a great game, but those extra characters ran a good thing into the ground.
SM64 on DS is different though. The other characters actually have their own abilities. Um, actually all their flower abilities are actually Mario Cap abilities in SM64 on N64... Except, now they are divided up among the characters. So, only Mario can use the flying cap, only Luigi can walk through some walls, only Wario can turn to metal. Yoshi can't wear hats, but he can do one unique ability, he can eat enemies and make eggs to throw at other enemies. Also, things like Wario being slow but strong, Luigi jumping in that weird fluttery way from SMB2, and Yoshi being able to do a flutter kick. Basically, you need to switch back and forth if you want to get all the stars this time around, plus some of the original stars are changed. Plus, there are 30 entirely new stars.
However, as Weltall said, the major flaw is the controls. That touch screen is just awkward. I never got used to it. Hypothetically it should let you control the characters with full range of motion like the stick did, but their execution leaves something to be desired. It's impossible to really "feel" how far you have pressed to the side of the center position. The tactile feedback is something I never even thought about before the touch screen, but now I realize just how important feeling the stick's resistance truly is. So, you end up trying to stand still and overcompensating repeatedly, ending up looking at the touch screen to see if you are in the dead zone yet. Suffice it to say, I gave it up and used the d-pad the entire game. Awkward, but it worked better than the touch screen...
Anyway, the PSP actually has an awesome stick design. Having actually used one, let me explain. The stick doesn't "stick out" at all, but it turns out that was never needed in stick design. The end that you shove around is just sort of there, almost looking like a button, only it can be slid around within a certain range. It has that tactile feedback so you know how far you are holding it at any time. Further, because of it's very low profile and the fact that it is "slid around" rather than tilted, you won't ever have to worry about breaking the stick when carrying it around. It'll just slide at worst. Plus, it's as easy to control as any stick I've used yet, so it really is pretty great. Now, Sony put it in a bad spot on the system, from my limited use, but that can be fixed.
What I'm saying is, Nintendo should have stuck an analog stick like that one on the DS.
Anyway, the minigames they added to the DS version all work just fine with the touch screen, namely because they are all designed around it. For example, drawing trampolines for Mario to bounce off of.
So, what I'm saying is that while the DS version added a lot, that game was really designed around the control stick. Had they added one, PSP style, to the DS, the DS would not be lacking in control methods. As it is, the touch screen is great when used correctly, but not as a replacement for direct character control.
Also, the DS is still a tad heavy and hurts my wrists after extended play. If they just didn't bother with that top screen and made a massive widescreen instead, it wouldn't be foldable, but it would be smaller and I could just get a protective sleeve for it.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)