10-21-2014, 10:52 PM
Excuse me for ignoring your no-Nintendo clause, but I had intended to talk about some of these before you even made the suggestion.
Super Metroid
I'll be honest and shamefully admit that I actually hadn't played Super Metroid for the first time until just this past January. But I got to say, even with it being an older game and it having an inferior control scheme to the GBA Metroids, I still found this game to be incredibly fantastic. The feeling of isolation, the telling a story through environment rather than cutscenes or text, the way the game teaches you its mechanics, and the designs of the aliens all added up to an incredible sense of adventure and discovery. And I want more.
Okay okay, so I can already hear people pointing out that Super Metroid already has sequels. Even if you are someone who chooses to completely ignore the existence of Other M, there also exists a direct Super Metroid sequel in Metroid Fusion. But even though Fusion was a fantastic game in its own right and one of my favorite GBA titles, neither it nor Other M really captures the same game feel that Super Metroid presents us. The need to communicate with other characters removes us from the feeling of loneliness and isolation, and being handed objectives subtracts from the feeling and satisfaction of discovery. Plus the freedom of exploration feels stilted when Adam literally seals us off from revisiting certain parts of the ship in order to keep us on task. Plus let's face it, even if you are one of the few that can look past the story related flaws of Other M, the game's enemies had a really cartoony look to them and really didn't feel right in Metroid's usually Geiger-inspired creature lineup, which ruined a lot of the aesthetic to me.
Actually, this alone is why I wanted to make this topic. Or more specifically, Smash Bros 3DS is the reason. If there's one thing that the Smash Run mode has made me realize, it's that Metroid would work really well as a 3D sidescroller (or 2.5D or whatever you prefer to call it). I think that the 3DS would be the perfect platform to pull this off and could easily get the same aesthetic feel that Super Metroid had to it. And yes I'm aware that Other M already tried to pull this off, but they kind of missed the mark with it. There's a lot more to the feel of the game than just viewing it from the side.
Also it doesn't necessarily have to be a direct sequel to the SNES game specifically, I would also be open to a game taking place after Fusion, or a pseudo-remake of Metroid II. I only mention Super Metroid specifically because it's the game I most want them to emulate.
So how unlikely is it?
Weeeeell ... it depends on if they actually learned any lessons from the Other M fiasco. My understanding about Other M is that it was designed to make the franchise appeal more to the Japanese market, as it's always been much more popular in the West than in the native home of its creators. And while die-hard Japanese Metroid fans were also critical of the game, it overall did get a much higher rating and acceptance in their country than it did in the West. So the question then is, do the game designers even think there's a need to change it from the Other M design? Did they learn anything at all? Do our opinions mean anything at all, or are they just going to pay attention to the opinions of their home market?
Super Mario Bros 2 (USA)
Okay this one is just self indulgent and clearly would never happen in a billion years, but as long as I'm fantasizing I just wanted to throw this one out there. Super Mario Bros 2 is one of my favorite NES games of all time, and even though I love both Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World, SMB2 will always be my favorite Mario sidescroller of all time. My one issue with the game is that there really wasn't enough of it; I've always fantasized about Nintendo creating a sequel with the same game mechanics and world aesthetics ever since I was a little kid. It's a bit late for this wish to ever come true at this point and it probably wouldn't be what I wanted even if they did create it, but good god it would be glorious to return to those 8-bit Subcon days in a new adventure. Nostalgia, you've got me by the horns on this one.
Psychonauts is actually very likely to get a sequel relatively soon. The creators of the game have stated that they're planning on looking into funding options for it as soon as they are completed with their current big project. I imagine this will consist at least partially of Kickstarter funds once again.
Super Metroid
I'll be honest and shamefully admit that I actually hadn't played Super Metroid for the first time until just this past January. But I got to say, even with it being an older game and it having an inferior control scheme to the GBA Metroids, I still found this game to be incredibly fantastic. The feeling of isolation, the telling a story through environment rather than cutscenes or text, the way the game teaches you its mechanics, and the designs of the aliens all added up to an incredible sense of adventure and discovery. And I want more.
Okay okay, so I can already hear people pointing out that Super Metroid already has sequels. Even if you are someone who chooses to completely ignore the existence of Other M, there also exists a direct Super Metroid sequel in Metroid Fusion. But even though Fusion was a fantastic game in its own right and one of my favorite GBA titles, neither it nor Other M really captures the same game feel that Super Metroid presents us. The need to communicate with other characters removes us from the feeling of loneliness and isolation, and being handed objectives subtracts from the feeling and satisfaction of discovery. Plus the freedom of exploration feels stilted when Adam literally seals us off from revisiting certain parts of the ship in order to keep us on task. Plus let's face it, even if you are one of the few that can look past the story related flaws of Other M, the game's enemies had a really cartoony look to them and really didn't feel right in Metroid's usually Geiger-inspired creature lineup, which ruined a lot of the aesthetic to me.
Actually, this alone is why I wanted to make this topic. Or more specifically, Smash Bros 3DS is the reason. If there's one thing that the Smash Run mode has made me realize, it's that Metroid would work really well as a 3D sidescroller (or 2.5D or whatever you prefer to call it). I think that the 3DS would be the perfect platform to pull this off and could easily get the same aesthetic feel that Super Metroid had to it. And yes I'm aware that Other M already tried to pull this off, but they kind of missed the mark with it. There's a lot more to the feel of the game than just viewing it from the side.
Also it doesn't necessarily have to be a direct sequel to the SNES game specifically, I would also be open to a game taking place after Fusion, or a pseudo-remake of Metroid II. I only mention Super Metroid specifically because it's the game I most want them to emulate.
So how unlikely is it?
Weeeeell ... it depends on if they actually learned any lessons from the Other M fiasco. My understanding about Other M is that it was designed to make the franchise appeal more to the Japanese market, as it's always been much more popular in the West than in the native home of its creators. And while die-hard Japanese Metroid fans were also critical of the game, it overall did get a much higher rating and acceptance in their country than it did in the West. So the question then is, do the game designers even think there's a need to change it from the Other M design? Did they learn anything at all? Do our opinions mean anything at all, or are they just going to pay attention to the opinions of their home market?
Super Mario Bros 2 (USA)
Okay this one is just self indulgent and clearly would never happen in a billion years, but as long as I'm fantasizing I just wanted to throw this one out there. Super Mario Bros 2 is one of my favorite NES games of all time, and even though I love both Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World, SMB2 will always be my favorite Mario sidescroller of all time. My one issue with the game is that there really wasn't enough of it; I've always fantasized about Nintendo creating a sequel with the same game mechanics and world aesthetics ever since I was a little kid. It's a bit late for this wish to ever come true at this point and it probably wouldn't be what I wanted even if they did create it, but good god it would be glorious to return to those 8-bit Subcon days in a new adventure. Nostalgia, you've got me by the horns on this one.
(10-21-2014, 01:46 PM)Mystie Wrote: Also, Psychonauts.
Psychonauts is actually very likely to get a sequel relatively soon. The creators of the game have stated that they're planning on looking into funding options for it as soon as they are completed with their current big project. I imagine this will consist at least partially of Kickstarter funds once again.