So what’s the difference between each level playthrough then? What’s different about the pink, purple and black coins? (I haven’t played Super Mario Run!)
This sounds like the very reason I prefer Rayman Origins over Legends. It had this structure that encouraged replays and mastery of each level before moving on. You had the basic completion Electoon (survive), the secret Electoons (explore), the Lum Electoons (accurately collect Lums (whose placement actually hinted at the best ‘line’ through the level)) and the speed run Electoon (one non-stop dash to the end using everything you know about the level). To me the speed run is the ultimate expression of mastering the game’s sublime movement and fluidity, as well as the tight level design to accommodate it, but it was also the perfect way to ‘sign off’ a level before you moved on. There were a lot of high fives during co-op.
Legends added sequential Lum collecting which boosted your Lum score but this prompted a lot of level restarts if you had a minor slip up or two (or worse, you risked completing the level only to find you were a few Lums short). Worse still, Ubisoft removed the speed runs from each level so all that restarting and replaying had no meaning beyond trying to nail those Lum collecting sequences. It was an amazing game still, but the structure was nowhere near as smart.
It sounds like Super Mario Run not only learnt a thing or two from the Rayman run games but also the (superior of the two) full fat versions.
Their placement in the levels is in completely different spots. Doing the level without getting those coins is easy. Getting the pink coins is tougher, especially if you’re going for all 5 on a level. But it really starts getting tricky when you’re repeating to get the purple coins. Some purple coins you look at, and you think, how am I even supposed to get over there? And the answer is sometimes you have to find a hidden switch, other times you have to be invincible and suck that coin right out of where you can’t get to it, etc. And now the black coins are even tougher to get to and require really precise timing and even higher level of skill, and sometimes you’re even forced to sacrifice a life in trying to get a black coin.
I agree. I also prefer Origins over Legends for the same reason. It was a much better game. I even liked the parts where you couldn’t even get all the Lums in your first runs through the first few levels. You had to gain more powers and come back to those parts with the new powers in order to get everything. And the Speed Run Electoon was just a great idea that shouldn’t have been taken away. That one was always fun to get.
Have you played N++? I enjoyed my time with it but it was ultimately a bit too dry/clinical and hardcore to keep me interested. It’s an excellent platformer though that takes on an almost puzzler-like quality as you try to work out the optimal line through a level and then execute it perfectly. Tough as nails.
No, but I did play N+ extensively. I even enjoyed it for many, many levels. But ultimately I got to the second hardest tier of levels, and you had to finish the whole tier in one sitting, or start over from the first level again the next time you fired up the game. So I was having trouble with the third level. And each time I had to go through the tough as nails first two levels again, and I just got tired of it. Making me repeat things again and again that I’ve already beaten just so that I can play the part I’m actually stuck on? Yeah, that’s just bad design. Rayman Origins did none of that.
On console mario games (at least the ones from the past decade) replaying a level is mostly done to get all the special/big coins, which are then used to unlock bonus levels.
New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U have the big coins. You can also find them in NSMB 2 on 3DS. Also, if you’re looking for a constant supply of 2D platforming, one of the best Mario games in forever is Super Mario Maker on either Wii U or 3DS though the Wii U version is best. You’ll find an endless supply of interesting levels there plus you can make your own! All of that came within the last decade.
Aren’t these the same game? I thought Super Luigi U was an expansion for Super Mario U?
I thought we were sticking to consoles, not handhelds! I always assumed that the handhelds had a lot of Mario games that I’ve never heard of.
Now this is a game I had zero interest in, based on youtube videos of people making ultra hard levels. But after playing Super Mario Run, I’m suddenly interested. The level design in Super Mario Run is just so good, it made me consider for the first time that maybe the levels people are making aren’t just the super-ultra-hardcore levels that are popular on Youtube. It’s sad that the game is stuck on a dead console though.
Skip it. It’s 90% complete garbage levels, other than the select curated stuff. I’ve put hundreds of hours into it, but that includes gobs of creation. You have to work at finding quality, creative levels. They do exist, but a huge portion of the game (a couple game modes) is complete shit because of the filler.
Only 4 levels left on which I don’t have all the black coins:
4-1, 4-2, 5-3, and 6-2. These are really hard. Hard enough that I gave up on my run-through and moved on to other levels. Now that all the other levels are finished, I’ll go back to these and see if I can get them.
Only 4-1 left now. It’s going to be a tough one to crack, but then, so were the others! The end is in sight! Finally a game this year that I might be able to put in the “completed” column.
Now I just have to get through the special levels unlocked for getting all the purple coins, and the one that unlocked for getting all black coins.
Then I can brand this game finished! Woohoo! It feels good. I’ve never been able to finish a Mario game before.
in Mario 64, I found all the stars except one. I kept going through the game again and again. I used online guides to try to find where the missing star could be, but never found it.
In Super Mario Galaxy, I had a hell of a time with the levels that unlock after you finish the story. So hard!
Same with Super Mario Galaxy 2. Those levels that unlock after the story is over are no joke.
So I count this as my first real victory on a Mario game.
You spend $10 to buy the game. And it’s yours. It’s a very old fashioned, customer-friendly business model.
Meanwhile Plants Vs Zombies 2 is “free”, and I’ve spent
0.99 (Squash on sale)
0.99 (Jalapeno on sale)
0.99 (Pean-nut on sale)
0.99 (bonus seed slot)
1.99 (Snow Pea on sale)
4.99 (Cactus… Not on sale, I couldn’t wait anymore, I really, really wanted the Cactus)
Total: $10.94 on it so far. Honestly, it wouldn’t be so bad if I’d waited for a sale on Cactus.
Now you are making me curious - what does the Catcus do? I haven’t played PVZ2 in some time, and I didn’t spend any money on it, but I did really like it. I wish there was a Steam, “Pay $20 and own all of it” type of deal though. I … assume there isn’t?
So, this part? Yeah, having seen the black and purple coin special levels now, I can honestly say I’ll probably finish the purple course, but the black course? Never going to happen. So once again, a Mario game that will never be truly finished.
Here’s a video of someone doing it and getting all 5 coins:
There’s never been a deal on getting more than two or three plants at once, no. And even then they throw in coins or gems to make it a better “value”, but not really a better value to someone who just wants the plants.
The Cactus is great on the front lines and on the back. It fires these needles that pass through all the zombies. So it damages everyone constantly on the rows you plant it on. And when someone gets to the cactus, it hides in the ground, and zombies pass over it. When it’s hiding, it acts as a spike, and the zombies take damage as they walk over it.
So just a really well designed, fun to use plant. I love it. And they keep giving you use of these kinds of plants on the daily pinata levels, so when they release more content for the main game, you really miss plants like that. It’s well balanced too, because the cactus needles don’t really do that much damage, but it is constant damage to everyone in the row.
That’s been impressive me about all these plants. Even the ones that seem like they’re too powerful are well balanced. Like the Jalapeno, which is from the original PvZ, was really overpowered in the first game. But in this one, even though you have to buy it, it’s better balanced by having a really long cooldown timer. So you can use it once, but then can’t use it again for a long time, which mitigates the fact that it’s cheap and super powerful.
