Super Mario
Even though Nintendo hardware has gone up and down in popularity, I don't think anyone can deny that they are the best first-party publisher of games ever. Obviously there are some lemons, but franchises like Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart are perfections of game design.
We only have one Nintendo console in the house - an NES. I have an original GameBoy, my brother has a GameBoy Colour, and Liz got me a Nintendo DS for my birthday. (Clearly Liz is totally awesome. :)
On that DS, I got New Super Mario Bros from Liz's brother and mother for my birthday. The design is masterful. It's a throwback to elements from Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World, with a few new game mechanics thrown in. I'd hardly accuse the New game of being original, but I'm so impressed with how they integrated new mechanics while simultaneously making it feel as perfectly responsive as the originals. I seriously just picked it up and was able to play it at an advanced level. I probably could have stayed up all night playing it, but I've decided to cut myself off at about a level a day. (I brought it over to Liz's place, and she played through 2 worlds in 1 sitting even though she was tired and needed to sleep. lol) I know the development time for these games is pretty high, but I hope there's another Mario side scroller for the DS eventually (and the system is popular enough that this is a possibility).
Even though the games I have are fun enough, I couldn't resist rounding out the collection a little with some must-haves... I went and dropped the $$$ for Mario Kart DS and Brain Age today. Mario Kart was pretty expensive, but then again, it's MARIO KART, and the site I trust for reviews gave it the same score as New Super Mario Bros: 9.5/10.
Liz's mum and brother also got me Cooking Mama, which is a very sweet casual game. I can fold dumplings with the best of them! lol
I was already hesitant to pick up Mario Kart due to the high cost, so I refrained from buying Elite Beat Agents, even though rhythm games are super cool. (Donkey Konga for Liz's GameCube is SO fun.) I already have my hands full between my 4 DS games, Wario Ware Twisted (killer GBA game), Crackdown (360 game which my brother is getting me for my b-day... it's not out yet), Call of Duty 2 (which I have on the go now), and Need for Speed: Carbon. I'm thinking I'll just omit Def Jam: ICON, since my DS games are cheaper and will be more fun.
We only have one Nintendo console in the house - an NES. I have an original GameBoy, my brother has a GameBoy Colour, and Liz got me a Nintendo DS for my birthday. (Clearly Liz is totally awesome. :)
On that DS, I got New Super Mario Bros from Liz's brother and mother for my birthday. The design is masterful. It's a throwback to elements from Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World, with a few new game mechanics thrown in. I'd hardly accuse the New game of being original, but I'm so impressed with how they integrated new mechanics while simultaneously making it feel as perfectly responsive as the originals. I seriously just picked it up and was able to play it at an advanced level. I probably could have stayed up all night playing it, but I've decided to cut myself off at about a level a day. (I brought it over to Liz's place, and she played through 2 worlds in 1 sitting even though she was tired and needed to sleep. lol) I know the development time for these games is pretty high, but I hope there's another Mario side scroller for the DS eventually (and the system is popular enough that this is a possibility).
Even though the games I have are fun enough, I couldn't resist rounding out the collection a little with some must-haves... I went and dropped the $$$ for Mario Kart DS and Brain Age today. Mario Kart was pretty expensive, but then again, it's MARIO KART, and the site I trust for reviews gave it the same score as New Super Mario Bros: 9.5/10.
Liz's mum and brother also got me Cooking Mama, which is a very sweet casual game. I can fold dumplings with the best of them! lol
I was already hesitant to pick up Mario Kart due to the high cost, so I refrained from buying Elite Beat Agents, even though rhythm games are super cool. (Donkey Konga for Liz's GameCube is SO fun.) I already have my hands full between my 4 DS games, Wario Ware Twisted (killer GBA game), Crackdown (360 game which my brother is getting me for my b-day... it's not out yet), Call of Duty 2 (which I have on the go now), and Need for Speed: Carbon. I'm thinking I'll just omit Def Jam: ICON, since my DS games are cheaper and will be more fun.