Nintendo Switch Online EXPENSIVE Pack

Image from Nintendo

After that wonderful Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct, which showed off a plethora of new content coming to the game in November, Nintendo dished out the details about Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, which includes N64 and SEGA Genesis games. I guess Nintendo didn't like leaving their fans feeling all happy and giddy with that New Horizon free update because they wasted no time getting us fuming by letting it be known to all that the price of Nintendo Switch Online along with the Expansion Pack would run solo payers $49.99 a year, a thirty dollar price increase. Doing the family plan? That'll be $79.99. This has lead some to calling it the Expensive Pack, a name I find quite fitting.

Given that Nintedno did not divulge the details on the NSO Expansion Pack during September's Direct, we were left to speculate on the price. I thought it might be $10 added to the $20 solo year plan. Maybe $40, which I would find more acceptable. But fifty freaking dollars?! For real?! You need only look at that massive dislike ratio on Nintendo's price announcement video of NSO Expansion Pack to see that the bulk of Switch owners are not cool with this. 

I can already hear the most die hard loyal Nintendo fans saying "But you're getting more games!" You know, you can be a mega fan of a company and still criticize them when they do something stupid and this is definitely one of those times.

Yes, we are getting more games with the Expansion Pack. But three years into NSO and the NES and SNES have come out at a snail's pace. Nintendo has been addicted to the drip feed style of game releases since the freaking Wii era. Nintendo has one of the richest libraries of retro games and not only do they move slow as molasses when it comes to releasing them, they don't even give you all of them. There is no reason we should not have access to every single one of Nintendo's NES and SNES games even the more obscure, Japan only titles such as Devil World and Joy Mecha fight and we should not have to create Japanese accounts to get them.

The other issue with NSO is that the online experience is TRASH. GARBO. DOO DOO! I'm not even talking lack of voice chat, though that is a problem, but the online play experience is a nightmare. How many lag filled matches of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have you played? Or the atrocious slowdown that can take up Super Mario Maker 2 in co-op or versus matches? Yeah, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe runs great but it is the only exception to the rule. 

No longer can we say "At least NSO is cheap" because that argument was tossed out a ten story building and by Nintendo themselves. We're now paying $50 or more for an online experience with their games that isn't even decent. When everyone has good connection, games run great. But all it takes is that one player lagging to screw everything up.

The Genesis games, with the exception of some such as MUSHA and Strider are readily available via the SEGA Genesis Collection, with a ton of other games that you won't have to wait for to be squeezed out like the last bit of tooth paste from a tube that should have been chucked a long time ago. Contra Hard Corps and Castlevania Bloodlines can be played on the very excellent Contra Anniversay Collection and Castlevania Anniversary Collection. If you desire to play any of the aforemetnioned games, it will cost you less than what Nintendo is asking.

I will give Nintendo some credit. Two of the best battle royal experiences can only be played on the Switch with Tetris 99 and Pac-Man 99. It helps that these games also run very smoothly I only wish Nintendo would give us more games like these more often. Super Mario Bros. 35 was fantastic while it lasted. Also props to Nintendo for finally let us English speaking gamers play Panel de Pon and Mario's Super Picross, two Super Famicom games that were released on the SNES NSO app in the west for the first time ever. This marked the first time Panel de Pon was released in America under it's original name and not Tetris Attack.

Even if licensing costs for third party publishers is an issue, Nintendo is still charging way too much for a sub par online experience and games that crawl out to on their chin. I'm a huge Animal Crossing fan and I have a lot of love for N64 and Genesis titles, but this is just wrong. Nintendo deserves every bit of negative press and criticism they get for this one. 

Thank You, Sakurai

Sora is the last character to be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, bringing an end to the added content to a game that launched on day one with a plethora of characters. Seeing Mario and Sora shake hands with the entirety of Ultimate's roster present was quite the image. Fans that have been dying to have Sora in Smash finally got their wish. As great a day as October 5th was, it also marked the end of an truly magnificent era.

Hard to believe it has been a little over 3 years since Ultimate was announced. That fire version of the Smash symbol was a great throwback to how Ultimate all began. Every now and then, I'll watch reactions to Nintendo's E3 2018 Smash Ultimate presentation. Revisiting the genuine excitement and hype from the "Everyone is Here!" trailer will never fail to amaze me. Not only do I feed off other people's joy when I see their reactions, but the trailer itself is just so dang good. 

Not only has Ultimate taken us for a wild ride, but Smash as a series has been insane. 

With Smash being the behemoth that it is, it can be easy to forget that Smash started out as a side project with a small budget. Smash has gone from a series about Nintendo characters pummeling each other to this massive celebration of video game characters. Brawl ushered in the addition of third party characters with Snake and Sonic. Smash Wii U/3DS opened the floodgates with Cloud and Bayonetta. You've seen people lose their minds when Sora was revealed a few days ago. I had that very same energy when Mega Man was revealed for Smash in 2013. I grew up playing and loving his games so while Sora wasn't a character I initially wanted, I am very happy for those that love Kingdom Hearts because I know exactly how they felt.  

Maximillan Dood said some time ago that we are living in the golden age of Super Smash Bros. with Ultimate and yeah, he's right. When you stop and think about it, Ultimate is a game that really should not exist. Getting Nintendo characters back in the game was probably easy but all those third party reps? The deals worked out to be them in had to be freaking insane, not to mention the licensing fees. There will probably never been another Smash game as ambitious as Ultimate. How do you top something like this? If I were Sakurai, when closing up the Sora presentation, I would have strapped on a jet back and blasted off into retirement. Real talk, those never ask me for anything ever again memes are the freaking truth. After this game, we really can't ask him for jack. Man is an absolute legend. If Ultimate is the last Smash game he'll have worked on, so be it. He'll have left the series on the highest of high notes.

It has been said so many times already but we really cannot say it enough. For everything you have done, for all the time you've dedicated to making Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this spectacular game that it is, thank you, thank you, thank you so very much, Masahiro Sakurai. You and you team have thrown so much passion into this game and for that. It has been an incredible journey and I am so happy I was able to take it.

Am I sad the book on Ultimate is closing? Of course I am. But Sakurai and his team deserve a long break. As the saying goes, don't cry because it's over. Be happy that it happened. 

#ThankYouSakurai

About Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Being a Budget Game

I realize I haven't said anything about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl on this blog until now. But I've been very excited about the game since it was announced. I've only played a handful of Super Smash Bros. clones but this one stands out from the pack for two reasons. It was developed by the same team that made the PC cult hit Slap City (another Smash clone) and it has a roster of much loved Nick Toons. Still, those two wins haven't stopped people from pointing out that Nick All-Star Brawl looks like it was made with a limited budget.

All-Star Brawl has very cartoonish visuals, which given that these are all cartoon characters, makes perfect sense. I think the game looks perfectly fine as is. I wasn't expecting Smash Ultimate style visuals or beyond for this game but some have pointed out that the graphics do have a plastic, cheapish look to them. There are also no voices for the characters, which I gotta admit does kinda sting. PC gamers will probably mode voice overs in but those of us that are playing on consoles may prenatally be outta luck.

More than likely, Nick All-Star didn't get the biggest budget or even a huge budget and if that is the case, to that I say, so what? 

You know, there was this other game that started out with a small budget. It was released in 1999. Maybe you've heard of it. It was called Super Smash Bros.

We all know how huge Smash is, but this was not always the case. Heck before Nintendo characters were in the game and it was called Smash, it featured some generic, no name polygonal fighters. The cast was eventually replaced with Nintendo icons we all know and love and the fighting mechanics were super solid, ensuring we'd come back for more. Even so, the budget for the first Smash was not big. The game's initial roster was 8 characters with 4 unlockable characters and only nine stages. For 1999, those were still some tiny numbers for stages and fighters when compared to other fighting games that were out at the time. Fast forward to 2021, and four Smash games later and the Smash series is a huge cash cow with a budget the first game could only dream of.

Nick All-Star Brawl launched with over 20 fighters and stages and is already being embraced by Smash fans as well as those of Nick Toons. Sure, it may be a game with a small budget but we all gotta start somewhere. Nick All-Star Brawl could really blown up in a similar vein to Smash.

Sora is Finally Here!

Today was the day. Masahiro Sakurai had me wake up just before 10 AM for the reveal for the final character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. As I watched the reveal trailer, marveling at the production values (seriously, these Ultimate trailers have been so on point), I wondered who it could be. And it turned out to be Sora from Kingdom Hearts.

Gotta be honest, I initially was disappointed in Sora being the final character. But happiness can be quite the viral emotion and seeing so many people beaming over Sora making it into Smash, I was quickly won over. Seriously, all you Kingdom Hearts/Sora fans know how to quickly bring a guy out of his funk. And your tears of joy are truly crowning moments of heartwarming.

I honestly didn't think Sora would EVER make it into the game. After all, Walt Disney, AKA, The Mouse has a stake in the ownership of the character. Getting him into Smash had to be a real legal nightmare and I shudder just thinking of everything Sakurai, his team, Nintendo and Square Enix had to go through to make this happen. Most people would rather have several root canals while bathing in acid than dealing with anything copyright related to The Mouse.

Like so many characters, Sora looks insanely clean in this game. True to his games, he kinda bounces around in his idle animation and he's quite the floaty boy. He also comes with quite the DLC privilege. What is DLC privilege, you? Why, it's all the good stuff that DLC characters get that base game characters don't get. Sepiroth's stupidly long sword can kill you through the stage, Kazuya has some super armor and several shield breaking moves, Terry has GO! meter at 100%, you get the idea. Sora has crazy high jumps, he can combo you to the blast zone, kill you and still return to the stage, and he's got fire, ice and thunder magic. 

Those alternate costumes though! Seriously, I think I am loving those alts better than his OG outfit! Call it blasphemy, but I think his Kingdom Hearts II alt trumps his original. That black just looks so dang sleek. But the one I will probably use the most is the Timeless River alt. Man, the effort that had to go into that one. Yeah, all those alts look amazing but Timeless River is gonna be my main Sora pick, much like how I always go Enderman when using Steve. 

Sora was a really good character to end Ultimate's huge roster on and I say that as someone who is not a Kingdom Hearts fan. He the most request character and all odds, Sora is here and he looks really freaking good. October 18th is gonna be lit.

Oh and I am totally getting that Doom Guy Mii Gunner costume and teaming up with Isabelle. I ain't even mad at all at that costume.