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Discussion What were your thoughts on the "New Super Mario Bros" Series?
- Thread starter lemonfresh
- Start date
It made the Mario series feel like this bunch of safe SMB3 rehashes with samey aesthetics, it even reached stuff like the 3D games and spinoffs
The first NSMB I played a bit and there’s not much to talk about here, it was just a nostalgic trip. What did it bring to the table, the big mushroom? Just like most other first party games on the DS, it’s probably the worst in its series
NSMBWii I played and enjoyed, it’s basically the only one of the bunch that was justified. So at the time you had fans throwing tantrums about how there weren’t any new Mario or Zelda games right after Galaxy and TP had came out. NSMBWii was a good game to hit the spot, first home console 2D Mario in years, had Yoshi, had multiplayer. Its artstyle looked clean so it was efficient to mask the fact that the Wii wasn’t HD.
It sold millions of copies, the problem is what came after. They thought they could get away with settling on the same aesthetics and just making a bunch of linear level select platformers with powerups. I know most people think NSMBU is the best one. I played the Wii U demo at stores, I rented it once but didn’t beat it. I wasn’t compelled to because it was still just another 2D Mario only 3 years after NSMBWii.
3D Land and 3D World might as well have the “New” prefix. Same artstyle. They decided to put the 2D stuff in the 3D stuff, they made two 3D games with goalposts, timers, no hubs, no free camera. Same core gameplay loop as SMB3. It didn’t help when a lot of their other games at the time were 2D platformers that also had the same gameplay loop than their NES/SNES entries. This includes NSMB2 which I haven’t played but since most people seem to forget it exists, sounds like I’m not missing out
I haven’t played Sticker Star but my main reason of not bothering with it is the fact that they seem to have put in generic themes and a level select in Paper Mario now. You also had a homogenization of art styles among all spinoffs, the Mario & Luigi ports got NSMBified, even the sports games (Mario Strikers on Switch is not like the past games)
A lot of replies here are about how the games are actually good and have good level design, but that’s honestly a given for Nintendo games in general. The problem is that franchise fatigue is a thing. It’s why I can’t get too excited for Wonder, maybe if we had no 2D Marios besides NSMBWii and Maker for the last 10+ years it would feel more fresh. Now it just feels like a greatest hits of 2D Mario, the fatigue is to the point where the whole “trippy” hook of the game is just not enough to stand out, even that feels sanitized and safe. I haven’t even played Super Mario Land 2, yet I notice how this 30+ year old game had a world map and unique themes like Mario in space, Mario in pyramids, Mario in the belly of something. That’s why I’m not thrilled by the 8th-ish iteration of “plains, desert, beach, lava etc”, not matter how polished it is.
NSMB sadly made Mario feel factory made for a while. Back then every new Mario was an event, roast Sunshine all you want but at least it was distinctly what they wanted to do with Mario in the early 2000s. New setting, new gimmicks, new story, everything. It’s not even a preference thing, as far as linear 2D games with level select screens go, they peaked with Yoshi’s Island (or SMB3 if that’s not a Mario game). Galaxy 2 did that well in 3D. I love these games and think they are amazing, especially for their time. I’m not interested in small iterations on that concept, especially when it comes with hits on the presentation. That’s why I don’t care about NSMB even though some may argue that they “actually have better level design than some 20+ year old games”. I still think SMB3 is better because it was better for it’s time. New games should offer something new that was never made or wasn’t possible before. Retro throwbacks should be done sparingly to avoid fatigue. The NSMB series didn’t do either of that
The first NSMB I played a bit and there’s not much to talk about here, it was just a nostalgic trip. What did it bring to the table, the big mushroom? Just like most other first party games on the DS, it’s probably the worst in its series
NSMBWii I played and enjoyed, it’s basically the only one of the bunch that was justified. So at the time you had fans throwing tantrums about how there weren’t any new Mario or Zelda games right after Galaxy and TP had came out. NSMBWii was a good game to hit the spot, first home console 2D Mario in years, had Yoshi, had multiplayer. Its artstyle looked clean so it was efficient to mask the fact that the Wii wasn’t HD.
It sold millions of copies, the problem is what came after. They thought they could get away with settling on the same aesthetics and just making a bunch of linear level select platformers with powerups. I know most people think NSMBU is the best one. I played the Wii U demo at stores, I rented it once but didn’t beat it. I wasn’t compelled to because it was still just another 2D Mario only 3 years after NSMBWii.
3D Land and 3D World might as well have the “New” prefix. Same artstyle. They decided to put the 2D stuff in the 3D stuff, they made two 3D games with goalposts, timers, no hubs, no free camera. Same core gameplay loop as SMB3. It didn’t help when a lot of their other games at the time were 2D platformers that also had the same gameplay loop than their NES/SNES entries. This includes NSMB2 which I haven’t played but since most people seem to forget it exists, sounds like I’m not missing out
I haven’t played Sticker Star but my main reason of not bothering with it is the fact that they seem to have put in generic themes and a level select in Paper Mario now. You also had a homogenization of art styles among all spinoffs, the Mario & Luigi ports got NSMBified, even the sports games (Mario Strikers on Switch is not like the past games)
A lot of replies here are about how the games are actually good and have good level design, but that’s honestly a given for Nintendo games in general. The problem is that franchise fatigue is a thing. It’s why I can’t get too excited for Wonder, maybe if we had no 2D Marios besides NSMBWii and Maker for the last 10+ years it would feel more fresh. Now it just feels like a greatest hits of 2D Mario, the fatigue is to the point where the whole “trippy” hook of the game is just not enough to stand out, even that feels sanitized and safe. I haven’t even played Super Mario Land 2, yet I notice how this 30+ year old game had a world map and unique themes like Mario in space, Mario in pyramids, Mario in the belly of something. That’s why I’m not thrilled by the 8th-ish iteration of “plains, desert, beach, lava etc”, not matter how polished it is.
NSMB sadly made Mario feel factory made for a while. Back then every new Mario was an event, roast Sunshine all you want but at least it was distinctly what they wanted to do with Mario in the early 2000s. New setting, new gimmicks, new story, everything. It’s not even a preference thing, as far as linear 2D games with level select screens go, they peaked with Yoshi’s Island (or SMB3 if that’s not a Mario game). Galaxy 2 did that well in 3D. I love these games and think they are amazing, especially for their time. I’m not interested in small iterations on that concept, especially when it comes with hits on the presentation. That’s why I don’t care about NSMB even though some may argue that they “actually have better level design than some 20+ year old games”. I still think SMB3 is better because it was better for it’s time. New games should offer something new that was never made or wasn’t possible before. Retro throwbacks should be done sparingly to avoid fatigue. The NSMB series didn’t do either of that
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Played the first one and it didn't set my world on fire, so I stopped caring about the series.
I've talked about this previously, but I'm more into explorative platformers like SM64, SMO or the stuff Rare made for the N64, so NSMB (and tbh the other Mario games that followed it) didn't do much for me.
I've talked about this previously, but I'm more into explorative platformers like SM64, SMO or the stuff Rare made for the N64, so NSMB (and tbh the other Mario games that followed it) didn't do much for me.
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I just woke up from my nap and can't pinpoint who this is, but whenever i see someone harshly criticising artistic expression as if they owned the fucking definition of art itself it makes my skin crawl.
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It's a GIF from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia lol
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Oh, i was thinking that looked like an ungodly fusion between Andy Warhol and Danny DeVito. Turns out it's DeVito with a wig, right? lol
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It is exactly that. The context is Frank (Danny DeVito's character) is putting on an Andy Warhol wig and pretending to be an art expert for reasons I don't entirely remember lol
The first one is a classic. It doesn't get enough respect that it deserves and really that's mostly cause of what came after it. The Wii one was good but doesn't hold a candle to the first one. Ultimately the games are just very samey. I'm not going to get into it because it's been said maybe 31056 times lol.
Kinda just wanted to give the first one the respect it deserves. That shit was hype.
Kinda just wanted to give the first one the respect it deserves. That shit was hype.
D
Deleted member 5265
Guest
Sunshinemario
Moblin
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- He him
NSMB DS was and still is fantastic. The level design is a bit too easy but it still doesn’t get enough credit, it did introduce new moves for Mario as well as many new enemy types.
NSMB Wii was good too, just a little less exciting after the DS game, but it still felt like a new game.
NSMB 2 and U feel like blatant ripoffs of the Wii game. They feel like they just copy pasted the engine and ported it to 3DS / Wii U with not a whole lot of love or effort. I love how there’s very little to no new setpieces, the enemies are all almost entirely copypasted from the previous game (they even had to dedicate an entire level to one of the few new enemies)
They seem like the literal anthithesis of the development cycle of Super Mario Bros. Wonder
NSMB Wii was good too, just a little less exciting after the DS game, but it still felt like a new game.
NSMB 2 and U feel like blatant ripoffs of the Wii game. They feel like they just copy pasted the engine and ported it to 3DS / Wii U with not a whole lot of love or effort. I love how there’s very little to no new setpieces, the enemies are all almost entirely copypasted from the previous game (they even had to dedicate an entire level to one of the few new enemies)
They seem like the literal anthithesis of the development cycle of Super Mario Bros. Wonder
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Because of how long that "sub" series lasted, it's kinda forgotten how huge that felt even among big core Nintendo gamers back then. The first new Super Mario Bros game since World on the SNES !
3D graphics !
It was huge, and it was a great game.
Then New Super Mario Bros on Wii. Oh, it's the same style. But again, brand new SMB game, on a home console ! Once again, first time since the SNES that we got a brand new one on home console ! Brand new 3D Mario + 2D Mario on the same console felt incredible. And 4 player coop at the same time !
It's only with NSMB2 and U that it started to get tiring but they were great games.
But DS and Wii ones were incredible at the time.
3D graphics !
It was huge, and it was a great game.
Then New Super Mario Bros on Wii. Oh, it's the same style. But again, brand new SMB game, on a home console ! Once again, first time since the SNES that we got a brand new one on home console ! Brand new 3D Mario + 2D Mario on the same console felt incredible. And 4 player coop at the same time !
It's only with NSMB2 and U that it started to get tiring but they were great games.
But DS and Wii ones were incredible at the time.
Was going to write something similar, but this pretty much nailed the biggest sin of NSMB to me. Like, there was a time when a new 2D Mario game was an event. A title that would define that industry. NSMB turned them in to just another 'pretty good' Nintendo game.
LordByron28
Cappy
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I’m unsure why or how but I found NSMB2 to be the most enjoyable out of the entries. Maybe it was because of the lack of having to make each level accommodate 4 players or the portability. I’m unsure. When I saw NSMB2, I expected a boring rehash and was really pumped for NSMBU. I ended up finding NSMBU boring but I had a lot of fun with NSMB2. I enjoyed DS and thought it was a good welcome back entry with lots of nostalgia. I enjoyed the mini-mushroom and koopa shell powerups. NSMB Wii was alright just a bit too safe. Id love a NSMB All stars for the next Mario anniversary that included at least DS, Wii, and 2.
Individualised
Bob-omb
It always pains me to see the original NSMB put together with the later games. NSMB1 is a great game and feels like an almost perfect sequel to Super Mario World. NSMBW is a disappointing sequel to me, the visuals are a lot less vibrant and more generic and the levels aren't all that great, the game just feels a bit cheap and Sonic 4-like. NSMB2 is just a joke (wasn't it designed by interns?). NSMBU is pretty good tho.
None of them are bad games by any means, even NSMB2 is just mediocre at worst.
None of them are bad games by any means, even NSMB2 is just mediocre at worst.
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Out of curiosity - when you say that the classic games became a bit bland and primitive compared to where the genre went in the 90's and beyond, where is the cutoff point? SMW? The North American release of SMB3? Are we including Yoshi's Island? Genuinely curious as to where the games started being conceptually behind the curb in your opinion.
Linkstrikesback
Bounty Hunter
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The last new 2d mario was literally more than a decade ago...
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I thought it was novel when they made the first one, but the gameplay didn’t click with me at all. I was totally indifferent to every release that followed, and eventually thought the efforts were a joke visually - sterile and uninspired.
Wonder looks pretty neat tho. Going to give it a fair shake.
Wonder looks pretty neat tho. Going to give it a fair shake.
Lucifer
Like Like
To me, NSMB feels like a modern take on SMB, it doesn't feel like a sequel to SMW at all. It regressed in too many ways for it to feel like a sequel. U feels like a modern take in SMW, the series just never went further than being a modern take on the classics.
Wonder on the other hand feels like its own thing and like the actual sequel to SMW.
Stilt Village
GBA
First off, I want to say that 3 and World remain classics because nobody has ever made anything quite like them. I just don't think they still represent the pinnacle of achievement in the genre. And 3 and World are still overwhelmingly the most acclaimed 2D platformers ever made, as far as I can tell. While they're definitely helped by sheer exposure and the continued dominance of Gen X in the circles I run in, like internet forums, I think it's fair to say that the idea they've deprecated at all is probably not the majority opinion.
To be clear though, I was talking about after the fact, relative to games that came later. The classic Mario games were all pretty cutting edge when they released. There's not an exact cut-off point where they become dated, but I think Sonic targeted the weak points of Super Mario World pretty quickly, intentionally or not, and then things kind of developed from there.
It's worth noting that in terms of sound and graphics, the Mega Drive was mostly less capable than the SNES, but those were some of the major areas where Sonic strove to outperform Mario. It was Mario's catchy little ditties inspired by the likes of ragtime and waltz versus Sonic's slick punchy tunes made by actual pop stars. Sonic had surreal, colorful environments that didn't appear limited to a grid and were filled with checkerboards and stripes and spinning and flashing little doodads. By Sonic 3 each level was overflowing with unique mechanics, even the enemy roster was mostly refreshed to match the environment.
So the end result was that by the late days of the 16-bit era, the bar had been raised from where Super Mario World set it in a lot of respects. It has kind of dodgy pixel art, a very limited aesthetic variety, and despite being a mechanically deep game, its level design doesn't take much advantage of its own sandbox for some reason. I never even used the spin jump for anything besides breaking blocks in a couple levels until I played a kaizo hack, yet they dedicated a whole button to that! The levels are unique enough to stand out from one another, but overflowing with creativity they are not. World mainly stands above the 2D Mario games that came later not for its level design, which is not significantly more interesting albeit less standardized, but for its unique structure and variety of gameplay mechanics that went missing for decades like throwing a shell upwards.
In the mid-90's, we were getting games like Super Metroid. At this point, Mario is practically a relic. I've definitely heard similar stories from 90's kids on multiple occasions about how Mario was fun and all, but Sonic and Donkey Kong Country were so much more interesting. Part of it being that they had actual worlds to get invested in, and part of it just, like, compare Aquatic Ambiance or Hydrocity Zone Act 2 to the Mario World water theme. Compare everything about Mushroom Hill Zone or Gloomy Gulch to Forest of Illusion.
A large part of it is "just set dressing", something Nintendo frequently seems to actively deemphasize with Mario in particular as unimportant, even though the psychological significance of music and visuals has been scientifically proven and game designers as a whole should probably pay more attention to that. But I digress. Strip away all of that, and you're still left with games that have developed a greater richness of unique level mechanics.
A big part of why Mario Maker even works conceptually is how much of every Super Mario Bros. is made up of Nintendo reusing the same building blocks to make levels. Sonic zones share barely anything between them, and Donkey Kong Country is way more committed to the "one and done" approach than Mario is. The idea that a Mario level is built around may not even require any unique mechanics, like say, World 7 in Mario 3, which as a whole has almost nothing you haven't seen before.
The game that breaks that mold for 2D Mario is Yoshi's Island, which is sort of part of the Mario chronology even if it's not a real Mario game? Kind of like Mario USA I guess. Anyway, I think that game highlights how things had changed during the 90's and where subsequent Mario games failed to live up to the new standards. I'm not a big fan of it personally, but there's no denying it's considered one of the best platformers of all time. Yoshi's Island is visually lush, long, and overflowing with one-off ideas and creatures that only appear in one room of one level. It has kind of a small soundtrack relative to its contemporaries and its own size, but in quality it's leaps and bounds beyond Koji Kondo's prior Mario scores and can totally hang with other 90's platformers. Compare that to NSMB, which at no point reaches any of these bars set by Nintendo's most recent "Mario" game, a game that was already over 15 years old when that series was at its peak. It doesn't even have the design ambition of 3 and World, regressing at least as much as it modernizes.
Wonder is striking to me because after so long with the idea of 2D Mario as this thing stuck in the 80's, the game looks like it fell out of an alternate reality where they went on to continue making Mario games after Yoshi's Island with that kind of ambition and creativity. It's a little too early to judge it, but it looks like Mario finally catching up to where the genre evolved after World.
(And for the record, the 2D platformer hasn't changed all that much since then. Certain design trends have been introduced by influential titles, but overall we haven't yet reached a point where the best 90's games are totally outclassed by the best modern ones, if it is indeed possible.)
Regulus Tera
Ruffian
Wii and U are top tier Mario games
DS is fun but a little shallow
2 is the most unimaginative and by the numbers Mario game ever created and I blame it for poisoning the perception of the other games as a whole
DS is fun but a little shallow
2 is the most unimaginative and by the numbers Mario game ever created and I blame it for poisoning the perception of the other games as a whole
Vookatos
Like Like
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When I first discovered it it was a dream come true.
I live in Russia, so the whole "what's new" in terms of consoles has always been fucked up for me. I got an NES close to the century's end. Figured Mario was dead.
Then some crappy websites that didn't really know how to handle gaming news started reporting on it via like one paragraph with no release dates or any info and I found some footage via Youtube. Had no idea how to search for it so just strolled through recommended and looked at the same couple of levels.
Fun nostalgia for me. Barely knew what internet was, barely knew where video games were.
Same happened with the Wii one where I'd look at playthroughs because I was too afraid to ask parents for a console with games that would cost 2k (haha if only they'd cost this much right now), but eventually got it. Had fun with it.
Afterwards, it definitely became a routine. Even though I was hyped for both 2 and U, Wii U made me into a more cynical person. I suppose everyone had their "never buy a thing on launch" phase whether it be a console or a video game that required patches.
I've enjoyed all of them, but looking back on them, I don't really want to replay them. They're fine, but so familiar and stale that I'd rather find a janky platformer on steam that will at least surprise me somewhat. If we'd have gotten a NSMB Switch, I don't think I would've picked it up or even looked at it for long.
I live in Russia, so the whole "what's new" in terms of consoles has always been fucked up for me. I got an NES close to the century's end. Figured Mario was dead.
Then some crappy websites that didn't really know how to handle gaming news started reporting on it via like one paragraph with no release dates or any info and I found some footage via Youtube. Had no idea how to search for it so just strolled through recommended and looked at the same couple of levels.
Fun nostalgia for me. Barely knew what internet was, barely knew where video games were.
Same happened with the Wii one where I'd look at playthroughs because I was too afraid to ask parents for a console with games that would cost 2k (haha if only they'd cost this much right now), but eventually got it. Had fun with it.
Afterwards, it definitely became a routine. Even though I was hyped for both 2 and U, Wii U made me into a more cynical person. I suppose everyone had their "never buy a thing on launch" phase whether it be a console or a video game that required patches.
I've enjoyed all of them, but looking back on them, I don't really want to replay them. They're fine, but so familiar and stale that I'd rather find a janky platformer on steam that will at least surprise me somewhat. If we'd have gotten a NSMB Switch, I don't think I would've picked it up or even looked at it for long.
BowserIsMyFather
Moblin
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Looking back, I don't think they did enough to revitalise the 2D series and players deserved more. Each one was little more than a reshuffle of the last, but with that said NSMB U was my overall favourite, and the one that felt the freshest out of any of them for me.
Wonder looks worlds apart from any of that, and I'm very much looking forward to it.
Wonder looks worlds apart from any of that, and I'm very much looking forward to it.
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You know how a common console warrior take against Nintendo is that they “release the same game over and over again for 30 years,” despite the fact that Nintendo’s big franchises switch it up WAY more than any other franchise in existence?
NSMB is what allowed that argument. It is so, so iterative compared to Nintendo’s other big single player franchises that it’s just bizarre to me.
NSMB is what allowed that argument. It is so, so iterative compared to Nintendo’s other big single player franchises that it’s just bizarre to me.
Really bad games. The original was a novel but looked horrible even when it first game out due to the bad art style and "DS 3D". It never got better after that, stagnated 2D Mario for almost two decades, and led to a bad trend in 2D platformers with the "collect 3 coins" trend. Good riddance.
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This is good timing because I started replaying New Super Mario Bros. U, since I've had the Deluxe version for years basically untouched until now.
NSMBU is just so utterly bland and boring. It's not a bad game and it's definitely playable, but there's just no appeal to it whatsoever. I think I was much kinder to it when it released in 2012, since it was a Wii U launch title and I wanted to justify the $300 I dropped. But now, it just feels like a snorefest to me, taking no risks, doing nothing of note to set itself apart. I'd argue that it's the safest and dullest of the NSMB series, because even NSMB2 at least had something to set it apart, the coin gimmick, as inconsequential as that was.
It's kind of wild to compare it to DKC Tropical Freeze, which is a 2D platformer so vibrant and imaginative that it makes NSMBU look like a tech demo.
NSMBU is just so utterly bland and boring. It's not a bad game and it's definitely playable, but there's just no appeal to it whatsoever. I think I was much kinder to it when it released in 2012, since it was a Wii U launch title and I wanted to justify the $300 I dropped. But now, it just feels like a snorefest to me, taking no risks, doing nothing of note to set itself apart. I'd argue that it's the safest and dullest of the NSMB series, because even NSMB2 at least had something to set it apart, the coin gimmick, as inconsequential as that was.
It's kind of wild to compare it to DKC Tropical Freeze, which is a 2D platformer so vibrant and imaginative that it makes NSMBU look like a tech demo.
JR436
Probably looks better in a dress.
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They're all good, occasionally fantastic games.
But they also became very stale, very quickly. Phendrift put it nicely - but it’s kind of crazy that Nintendo, a company that isn't averse to changing things up even when iteration was perfectly acceptable, seemed to go in completely the opposite direction with the NSMB games. You'd have thought 2D Mario would have facilitated a more ambitious approach, but no.
Don't get me wrong, it's not as if they're copy/paste experiences, but they certainly feel that way. The classic 2D platformers all managed to feel distinct while having a level of familiarity. NSMB just feels familiar, even if there's some distinctions between the entries. I think it's telling that Wonder already feels like it's carving an identity of its own, and it hasn't even released yet.
It didn't help that NSMB2 and NSMBU released within like six months IIRC. That was a really silly move on Nintendo's part.
But they also became very stale, very quickly. Phendrift put it nicely - but it’s kind of crazy that Nintendo, a company that isn't averse to changing things up even when iteration was perfectly acceptable, seemed to go in completely the opposite direction with the NSMB games. You'd have thought 2D Mario would have facilitated a more ambitious approach, but no.
Don't get me wrong, it's not as if they're copy/paste experiences, but they certainly feel that way. The classic 2D platformers all managed to feel distinct while having a level of familiarity. NSMB just feels familiar, even if there's some distinctions between the entries. I think it's telling that Wonder already feels like it's carving an identity of its own, and it hasn't even released yet.
It didn't help that NSMB2 and NSMBU released within like six months IIRC. That was a really silly move on Nintendo's part.
GamerJM
Chain Chomp
I like them, they're totally solid games. Maybe if I was a bit younger when NSMBWii/NSMBU came out I'd like them a lot more and would have replayed them a lot with friends, but for the time in my life they came out, they were pretty much just totally fun experiences I played for about a week and then never rarely came back to again.
Individualised
Bob-omb
If you think about it as NSMB2 being the portable counterpart to NSMBU, it makes a bit more sense. See Donkey Kong Land.
Stilt Village
GBA
It was worse than that even, between 2009 and 2013 there was an unbroken stream of six Mario platformers in five years. Mario was so oversaturated during that period, it was a yearly, in one case twice a year series.
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Thank you for taking the time to write this comment. I think you described your point well, and I think what you described is kind of why I always had a harder time getting into 2D Mario. I grew up with the Wii and always found New Super Mario Bros. Wii pretty bland (it was never a multiplayer game to me), and when I tried to go back to the experience the classics I would play the first few levels and get bored at a lack of mechanical hooks (Super Mario World) or being punished for not grasping their slippery controls (SMB3). I did retry them (or at least SMW?) on the Wii U a few years later and didn't get into them either. Your points about the sprite work and music especially speak to me. I've always sort of had similar beliefs but thought they were crazy given how acclaimed the games are (which isn't contradictory, either, all of the above can be true and they can still be great games).
The game that made me love "2D Mario", at least in its demented form, was Super Mario Maker 2 years and years later. Which I guess is sort of like getting attached to the Mario games based off romhacks. That game had a lot of user creations where levels either had great level gimmicks, or required you to put your skills to the absolute test. Of course, it also had a lot of shit as well, but that was part of the charm.
With Wonder, I'm hoping it can be the game to make me a longtime 2D Mario fan. To be fair, I also should go back and give those titles a real shot now that I'm more into retro games.
