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Monday 3 March, 2008
GAMEPLAY
I played the game for another two hours or so, and I started to notice more things.
First off, there is only one Hit Point(referred to as HP from now on) meter, and thats for Mario. I believe this to be a huge departure from other RPGs. And aside from one HP Meter, which isn't shared, there is a shared Flower Point (FP) Meter. The FPs serve the same idea as Magic Points. So instead of the other team members having an HP meter, if they are hit (which seems rare), the amount of damage they recieve puts them out for that number of turns. And where normally you can switch teammates during your turn, it is also disabled.
I really havent liked having to share flower points with my partners. I wouldn't mind except I am given very little flower points. This was made, as best a guess as I have, so you have to really think whether its wise or not to use a certain special move. Because some of the special moves are really powerful. Especially the ones that attack multiple enemies at once.
One thing I have enjoyed a lot is the different characters in the game. There are, at least up to the point in the game that I have played, five different sidekicks. There's Goombario, which is a good Goomba that's also one of Mario's biggest fans. He's also a know it all, so you can ask him about an enemy and from that point forward an HP meter will appear under that enemy. Second was Kooper, he's a good Koopa Troopa. His specialty is Mario can jump on him and he'll spin on his shell retrieving items that are just out of Mario's reach. Third to join the party was Bombette. She's a good Bomb-omb. Her specialty is being able to explode, and if done next to a wall with a crack, she'll blow a hole in the wall. Third to join the group was Para-Karry. He's a flying Koopa Troopa Mailman. His specialty, aside from delivering mail, is being able to carry Mario across gaps that are a certain distance. The most recent person to have joined my group was Bow, which is a good female boo. Her specialty is being able to make Mario transparent so no one can see him.
These characters have made the game interesting to play because as I progress different puzzles are put in requiring the use of the different characters in a certain order. And because I like using characters that are normally associated as being on Bowser's side.
DESIGN
This game was made in typical Mario fashion. Where really bright colors are used. And the only places that a darker palette is used is where there is supposed to be a scary area, or where there is a mysterious area. Although some people don't like it, all the Mario games have shown that using the bright colors is in fact a winning element in the Mario Series.
One thing I have come to appreciate about this game is that it really keeps the player interested. In fact, I ended up playing this game for six hours according to the game clock. But what the game does to keep the player interested is to immerse the player in the world. They do this by unfolding the story as you go. Initially you don't know what is going on. Or why the Star Rod is so powerful. But as you go you learn that it has the power to grant wishes. There is also alot of short term goals in the game. You have to ____ in order to do ___, or in order to acquire ____. All those short term goals kept me interested as the long term goal of defeating Bowser was looming.
I feel like this game has a really upbeat feel to it. This is achieved through the use of the bright palette and the characters. The bright palette is something people associate with light, and light is usually associated with happiness. It is also achieved by having everything be in the day. I almost get the feeling that this game is taking place in the middle of summer. Only certain things take place in darker environments. And as I said earlier this is usually places that are meant to be scary, or mysterious.
All in all, I really liked this game. But there are a couple of things I would change.
1) Make it so my team members have their own hit points. I don't like the fact that everyone goes for Mario. And this is only because he's the only one with HP. This sucks because once Mario runs out of HP, Game Over. I cant even use a revive or nothing.
2) Only two of my team can fight at a time. This really sucks because I have to face upwards of four bad guys at a time. I usually come out on top, but it sucks because they get four chances to attack me, where I only get one.
But besides that, this was another well made game by Nintendo. Mario games have usually been associated with quality. And this game only adds to that reputation.
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