IT'S SOUP

The first truly fun platforming video game, SOUP MARIO has arrived!

It's a genius game really, pioneered a ton too and you can still go back and have a good time today. The only things holding it back are the limited amounts of scenery across 8 worlds (with there really only being 5 types of levels), that really encourages people to just use warp zones to skip most of the repetition.

And I forgot to mention the music, but the music.

It's still a game I enjoy replaying from time to time.

If this game was made like two years later it would have been much better.

A good idea with weak execution, mostly in part due to the poor physics. Jumping is almost fun but it just doesn't get along with the game. Collisions can also be wonky.

The biggest sin is multiplayer is worthless since you'll just be unintentionally working against each other despite it being co-op, which (while not this game's fault) goes against everything Nana and Popo are known for these days.

Also visual level variety would have been great.

Iwata's big balloon break

It's no 5 star title, not to burst anyone's bubbles, but there is still some quality on offer.

The many levels of Game A are dynamic in the challenges they offer, your head start on your opponents can also lead to feeling really smart if you know how to stop your foes before they can take off. Rapid popping also feels satisfying, but in turn it can also happen to you if you're not careful. I'd say the thunder bolts can feel cheap as is any interactions with the edges of the screen and how things loop, and bumpers offer little more than annoyance.

Game B is also great since it's a static obstacle course you can only get better and better at with time. Not as much to say but if you wanna master the controls this is the way to go. I do wish multiple courses were on offer though as just the one gets old fast.

The only other real issue I can think of is just that that's all there is to the game, but what is there is pretty solid.

Slippery game with a fast character, scrolling stage, and my ears shrilling when I jump. It's also very easy to lose progress just by an enemy contacting your trail which sucks. It's a risk/reward for scoring, but not one I have as much control over than I feel like I should.

The song is still in my head, but if you're putting BGM in your levels and changing the visuals, you could have at least had more than one song.

Update: Upon playing the Master System version I've gained a bit more appreciation for this game, so its score is going up from its original 2 stars. I found enjoyment out of the core mechanics of Flicky that I've grown to appreciate and it speaks volumes as to how an opinion of a game can change over time and understanding more about games in general. Thanks Flicky.

the two-screen novelty is a neat idea but I can't imagine it having much real effect beyond using up twice as much electricity and really running the bill at the arcades, since the info could easily be moved around onto one screen as the console sequels would later do. And I played this on an actual cabinet before so I'm not just spewing random ideas.

Outside that the boxers don't have their expressive personalities here and it feels more like you're mashing your way through them than employing any general strategy.

It's an ancestor to a game I love so it still gets a star.

When I was at the mall as a kid, a vendor selling those garbage 1000 in 1 bootleg machines challenged me to make it past level 20. If I did, he'd give me a machine for free. I took on his challenge thinking I could do it since I played a bit of ol' Mario Bros. on GBA, but ultimately failed at level 12 or so.

The game inbetween Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros., that gave us Koopas, Coins, Luigi, and far better jumping than anything before it. Jumping, for the first time in a video game, is fun!

But Mario Bros. is just okay. It's really slippery (even before ice levels) which prevents real precision play, and the enemies eventually get so fast that combined with the slipperiness is really easy to die and ultimately brings a great game down a peg.

Or maybe I'm just salty about not being good enough to win the 1000 in 1 machine.

The barcade was really crowded, the beer selection was really limited. I spent like $8 on a super tiny bowl of mac and cheese, smaller than those microwave ones you can get for a dollar at the super market. It's been some time, but I'm also pretty sure I never got 4 quarters for my dollar, if you know what I mean. Yet, these are the real only places to play arcade machines these days, which is a huge bummer.

Q*Bert is okay, not a lot to write home about. I rank it the same as the Barcade experience.

Update: I played it again at a smaller not barcade experience and found the game to be much more exciting and frantic so I'm upping my score half a star.

Home of the annoying Up Air.

Fairly intricate for a Game and Watch title, with a lot to manage this time around. Pretty good way to spend 5 minutes. The risk/reward with letting them get close to earn more points is neat as is blowing wind further back to repel so you can go elsewhere while still playing it safe.

Still hate that Up Air though.

the story's a really interesting reversal of the previous game, and also introduces a character so iconic that he'd be completely replaced by Diddy in like 12 years.

Vines are fun and also offer a fun risk mechanic, while grabbing two leaves you more vulnerable, it lets you move up much quicker. Yet going down is quicker when holding one for an evasive maneuver.

Shame the jumping in video games will still take a few more years to feel good.