My apologies for the delay! I had it finished by the due date, but a sudden influx of Star Wars-related articles/reviews had it pushed to this week.
At any rate...I have to confess: the more I wrote this, the more wrong it felt. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are such incredible accomplishments in themselves, and yet suddenly everyone's expecting more in the form of an NX port. I mean, there's certainly valid reasons for the idea, but I suspect folks support through the projection of their complaints--be it unsatisfactory Donkey Kong representation or the lack of Ice Climbers-- in the hopes a port will magically fix all their problems.
Whatever happens, I know I will be playing the two latest iterations of Smash for years to come. Thank you, Mr. Sakurai, for your three years of hard work! I wish I possessed your sense of work ethic.
Whatever happens, I know I will be playing the two latest iterations of Smash for years to come. Thank you, Mr. Sakurai, for your three years of hard work! I wish I possessed your sense of work ethic.
...speaking of Star Wars, I got bit by the media frenzy swarming it. Perhaps that could inspire some future Worldly Weekend columns...?
Very interesting article, Anthony. I guess that's what the power of expectations does, and progress. You produce good stuff, people expect you to keep making good stuff, or better stuff, at the same rate. Why, just the other day, I caught a screening of Pixar's first box-office washout, The Good Dinosaur. All the reviews said it was good-but-not-great, which was undoubtedly brought on by the masterpiece-quality of Inside Out. But I found that it was a great film in and of itself - undeniably simple, and perhaps their most kid-oriented film ever, but it achieves it's goal beautifully and with little stumbles along the way. If any other American animation studio made it - and I mean ANY studio, Disney themselves included - people would still be raving about it, the way people raved about Big Hero 6.
ReplyDeleteGot off topic for a bit there. I have started on 3DS Smash myself, and while I haven't sunk a lot of time into it yet, with my gaming focus being absorbed by Pokémon most of the time, as always, I'm glad I finally took the plunge. While a NX port would be cool, I know I'll be getting a Wii U even if the NX comes out next Holiday Season and isn't backwards compatible, so I'm cool no matter what. I've learned to always be grateful in gaming for what we get.
As as far as Star Wars games, I loved sinking time into the Lego games in my youth, and I think any of them would suit your tastes and writing style really well for Worldly Weekend. That is, if you've played them. Otherwise, I've only really played Battlefront and the Episode III tie-in game. But I'd still enjoy if even if it's for a game I've never played!
With the year almost over, Anthony, I must say, you've done very well for yourself. 62 articles makes it the busiest, and there's being a wide variety. I won't deny I'm a little sad we only got three Kirby articles all year, the lowest of Ten Years of Kirby thus far (though a part of me still hopes Super Star Ultra will hit before the New Year), but I know it will only go on to new places from here!
And sorry I haven't been commentating lately. Without getting into too much detail, I've plunged into new directions to find a unique creative outlet for myself, after attempts in the past that haven't met with much. After discarding doing Let's Plays, I settled on something else focused on a YouTube channel, CartoonSins, which, though yet to pick up a sizeable audience, has really helped me as a person. So I must thank you, Anthony. Watching you use this blog to further yourself gave me the courage to do the same, and while I am by no means an anxious person, I can be quite timid to break routine (even thinking about life beyond college, and not in education, gives me goosebumps).
Anyway, though I'll be without internet for the last week of the year, I'll still be here regardless, reading everything you write. Go on!
Mike.
Sadly, I've yet to see The Good Dinosaur. I'm expecting at least a good romp, although I honestly didn't think it'd touch the genius of Inside Out. It had a shake-up in directors, though, so as long as it doesn't have weird pacing problems like Brave did I'm okay.
DeleteThe only Star Wars games I owned were Super Star Wars (which I think is still lying around somewhere) and Shadows of the Empire (which I enjoyed, but I think my brother gave it away; don't worry, it was well before "the incident"). At any rate, I came back from seeing The Force Awakens last night and loved it, so I think Star Wars is a definite inevitability for Worldly Weekend. I'd like to say I'll be starting with the SNES games, but it won't be for a little while (the next three or four games are already lined up).
Ah, great to see you've finally made the jump to Smash! Aren't Smash Run and that GB Dream Land stage INCREDIBLE? Also, try to tell me Dedede's down tilt move isn't the funniest thing ever, because it's impossible. Do keep me updated on your thoughts.
And thanks for the praise, but please, if anyone must apologize, it's me. I was well and ready to begin wrapping up the Kirby column this year (however daunting the KSSU one inevitably would be), but the issues I touched upon last month started catching up with me and messed with my motivation earlier this fall. As you said before, maintaining my health is more important than a blog, and I've made great progress on the former, so hopefully things will turn out fine in January. At the very least, I'm quite proud of what I accomplished for the first half of this year.
Thanks for your dedication and insight, as always. And good luck with your own endeavors!