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[[RM8]]

Is it me or the GBA games are way too dim looking?

Also, Wario Land 4 has been awesome so far.

[BlueSweatshirt]

They've felt pretty fine to me!
I'm enjoying me some fire emblem right now.

[SirNiko]

Warioland 4's hidden CDs are the best. I think that's around the time when Nintendo decided to make Wario unrelentingly weird, and it was good. Finding all the CDs and getting a Crown score for every level was a satisfying challenge.

Hard Mode is extremely hard. As in, you're given eight seconds to beat the first boss hard. Only downside is grinding minigames for coins to buy boss-killer items you need to actually do that much damage.

Superstar Saga's best point was the slapstick cutscenes that quickly and efficiently conveyed the story. You got the storytelling of your typical RPG condensed so that you were quickly shunted off to the next adventure. I did like how the later games made the combat much more complex, though, with four button input instead of just two.

[Richard Kain]

if they replaced super circuit with mario & luigi superstar saga it'd be pretty much flawless imo.

That would have been a pretty good choice. There's also Metroid: Zero Mission, but that title is less necessary with Fusion on the docket. The style of Super Star Saga would have made it a near-ideal fit in this line-up.

[s0]

They've felt pretty fine to me!
I'm enjoying me some fire emblem right now.

I just compared Metroid Fusion running on a 3DS and a DS Lite side by side and the 3DS version DID look a bit dimmer. Wouldn't have noticed otherwise though. 

[[RM8]]

I never owned a PSP, but the DS Lite had such unrivaled bright, colorful, awesome screens They should have called it "DS Light"

DSi, XL and 3DS are most definitely not as bright, but still okay.

[Karuvitomsk]

Just a reminder: The Start+Select combo for original resolution works on these GBA titles, too, so if you don't want blurry fullscreen, you don't need to use it!

@Ishi on WL4 level design:
What about the timed sequences don't you like? I think it's kind of interesting how the layout of the stage changes once the bomb starts counting down.

Also, 4 has some of the weirdest, coolest sound design ever and some great spritework, but my favorite will always be 3. The sense of progression is great, and Wario's feet give me a silly feeling inside.

[[RM8]]

^ Just start or select works, no need to press both. It looks tiny, I prefer full screen even if the filtering doesn't look as "good" as with DS, NES and GB games for some reason.

[Kramlack]

Just a reminder: The Start+Select combo for original resolution works on these GBA titles, too, so if you don't want blurry fullscreen, you don't need to use it!

THANK YOU! I had no idea about this.

[BlueSweatshirt]

I almost prefer the smaller reso more. What can I say? I like my sharp pixels.
I wish Nintendo could have at least 2x'ed the gba screen(so it could avoid blurring) but ah well, screen's too small for that it looks like.

[Ishi]

@Ishi on WL4 level design:
What about the timed sequences don't you like? I think it's kind of interesting how the layout of the stage changes once the bomb starts counting down.

It just feels to me like the level design was limited by the requirement to be able to run back through it, rather than enhanced. Lots of big flat areas that don't really feel necessary. I don't enjoy the actual timed sequence either, I'd rather play at a slower pace (never saw Wario as being a fast character either really). Maybe it improves later on, I'll keep playing.

[s0]

I almost prefer the smaller reso more. What can I say? I like my sharp pixels.
I wish Nintendo could have at least 2x'ed the gba screen(so it could avoid blurring) but ah well, screen's too small for that it looks like.

What's weird though: why is it smaller than the the original GBA resolution? The GBA's screen is definitely larger than the "unscaled" 3DS image (just checked) and these games look sharp as a razor on there. Why couldn't just have used the same res as the original hardware instread of making us choose between a blurry and a tiny version?

[Ishi]

I almost prefer the smaller reso more. What can I say? I like my sharp pixels.
I wish Nintendo could have at least 2x'ed the gba screen(so it could avoid blurring) but ah well, screen's too small for that it looks like.

What's weird though: why is it smaller than the the original GBA resolution? The GBA's screen is definitely larger than the "unscaled" 3DS image (just checked) and these games look sharp as a razor on there. Why couldn't just have used the same res as the original hardware instread of making us choose between a blurry and a tiny version?

Because the 3DS screen has a higher pixel density. It's display it at 1:1, so because the pixels are physically smaller, the overall screen is smaller.

[s0]

oh ok

[SirNiko]

It just feels to me like the level design was limited by the requirement to be able to run back through it, rather than enhanced. Lots of big flat areas that don't really feel necessary. I don't enjoy the actual timed sequence either, I'd rather play at a slower pace (never saw Wario as being a fast character either really). Maybe it improves later on, I'll keep playing.

Most of the levels change drastically upon triggering the countdown, routing you through completely different paths to get back. The game never comes across as making sacrifices in level design for the sake of the countdown.

Also keep in mind that when the countdown hits zero, you will start to lose money, but not perish. You only actually lose if you run completely out of money as well. This gives you a much bigger margin for error if your goal is to simply explore and complete the levels. Ultimately, though, you'll want to beat every level with a score of 10,000 coins to get the best ending.

[[RM8]]

How can any developer be so brave (stupid?) to release

on a platform with Mario Kart?

[Tanner]

Aw, I like that dev! It looks like a DS game ported to 3DS though.
Moon was great.

[Ishi]

It's looking to be a fantastic week for the eShop.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-12-20-nintendo-letter-box-hits-3ds-this-week

Letter Box for free, finally a way of sending messages and 3D photos to friends.

Mighty Switch Force, which I've been looking forward to for a while. A puzzle/action platformer by Wayforward, who made Shantae and Mighty Flip Champs which were both quality DSiWare games.

Tetris on Game Boy which I may end up getting too, as I prefer it to modern Tetris games personally. Though I might hold out for Tetris Plus or Tetris DX.

In other news I got round to giving the free Eurosport video app a go. It's like Nintendo Video but for sport. It's an amazing example of the worst possible quality post-processed 3D you can imagine (none of the footage I've seen on there so far was actually filmed in 3D). Gimmicky and totally detrimental to the image.

[[RM8]]

Aw, I like that dev! It looks like a DS game ported to 3DS though.
Moon was great.

You know, that's the thing. They're not terrible, they shouldn't be releasing that crap.

And let's hope we get Swapnote in America

[Ishi]

Even the messaging app is named differently between Europe and America? I have no idea why they always do this (Letterbox/Swapnote, Pullblox/Pushmo, StreetPass Quest/Find Mii, countless DSiWare games).

I discovered today that by adding funds during the purchasing process, instead of adding them beforehand, you can choose to add only the exact amount required, instead of adding £10 minimum.