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About a week ago, I started playing the NES version of Donkey Kong 3 on the Switch Online app. I don't remember the last time I played it, but I think I didn't bother because I usually hear negative opinions about it. It has a reputation for being shallow, repetitive, or not a good Donkey Kong game.

While it's true that going from a platform game series to a shooter is a strange turn to take (and oddly ironic considering that Donkey Kong was originally a replacement for a shooter), I have to say, I've found it to be a surprisingly fun, and very addictive game. As a shooter, it's actually quite creative. How many games are like a mix of Galaga, Defender and Donkey Kong? You have to attack DK while also defending plants from being stolen by angry bugs, and you can win each stage by either chasing off DK or killing all of the flying insects. Also, the cartoonish style makes it an early example of a "cute-em-up."

Admittedly, it can feel a little repetitive (it doesn't have the variety of DK and DKJr), but it's a single-screen shooter from 1983, so there's really only so much you can expect. It does feel like it needs something a little more, though. Perhaps a bonus stage every few levels would've helped. (Even Galaga from 1981 had those.)

Still, I feel like that's another reason why DK3 deserves to be revisited. I would like to see an updated version that fleshes out the ideas, and adds new elements. Plus, Stanley deserves another chance to be a hero, right?

I don't know if there's much discussion to be had here, but I just wanted to express my opinion. Do you guys have any thoughts about Donkey Kong 3? Does it deserve its reputation? Should Stanley be brought back like Pauline so he can appear in Mario sports games?

So, here's the compilation of Neo Geo Pocket Color games:



It includes all of the games released on the eShop so far, plus both Metal Slug games, Dark Arms: Beast Buster, and the one I hoped would get included, Big Tournament Golf/Neo Turf Masters.

It's labeled "Vol. 1," so I guess there could be another collection. Also, it's available digitally right now, with a physical release to come later. The price is US$39.99, which is half of what it would cost to by each game individually (if they were all available digitally, that is).

NISA demoed the first stage during the New Game Plus Expo live stream yesterday. The commentary is really annoying, and they don't say anything of substance, so feel free to mute it.



The stage seems rather sparse and uninteresting, and doesn't seem too challenging despite the difficulty being set above normal. These are complaints I've heard against the first R-Type Final, as well. If you compare it to the first stages of any R-Type game previous to Final, there's quite a big difference in pacing and design. I hoped for something a bit more inspired (although, Dobkeratops, the boss and a recurring enemy in the series, being frozen in ice was kind of interesting, I guess).

The game will have recreations of previous R-Type stages as bonus stages, so there's also that. I suppose the real appeal is to experiment with all the different ships, but I still hope the level design gets better later.

I'm waiting for Nintendo to edit the raw video of the presentation before I embed it. I'll update this post later.

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EDIT:

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Well, so far, I haven't been able to convince myself to buy Smash Ultimate. I think I'm just not in the mood for Smash right now. I'm still happy these characters are in the game, though. They look really cool, and I'm happy Rex still gets to be there to some degree. And this could just be an excuse for me to replay Xenoblade Chronicles 2 again, right?

I was surprised that Sakurai specifically mentioned Pneuma when he showed the alternate colors. That seemed like a spoiler, although he does censor the actual artwork later on. (Side note: It's really cool that they made official artwork for that character specifically for this game.) But I guess without context, it doesn't mean much.

There are 16 music tracks, including three new arrangements. And of all the tracks to arrange, why Tiger Tiger? Seems so random.

We didn't get to see the amiibo for these characters yet. I wonder if they'll make an amiibo for each of them, or try to squeeze both Pyra and Mythra onto one amiibo. Or maybe just make an amiibo out of only one of them.

I don't really have much else to say, really.

Here's a new interview with Kazuma Kujo at Eurogamer.

Here are a few interesting parts:

It did feel like a grand farewell. How has the landscape changed to make it viable for R-Type to come back now?

Kazuma Kujo: [laughs] I get that question a lot! When we released R-Type Delta, I thought that would be it, that there wouldn't be a tonne more games in that genre. I certainly didn't think that I'd be asked to make another game in that genre. However, the genre did not die!

In 2003, when R-Type Final was released, I thought that was definitely going to be the end! But contrary to that, the genre stuck around! They have staying power! On top of that, these great indie shooting games were releasing in the genre as well. So that's one reason.

One other thing that's kind of changed was wider TVs. Widescreen is the standard. In my eyes, an R-Type style game on that type of TV feels like a natural fit. But when I presented it, I did not expect the reaction to be what it was - I figured it'd maybe have more of a cult following. We got a really big response and I was surprised by that.

. . .

The original R-Type Final was quite a traditional shooting game, as opposed to more hectic bullet hell type games. Is that going to be a similar case with R-Type Final 2, where it'll be a kind of more sedate, traditional type of shooting game?

Kazuma Kujo: It's definitely coming away a little bit from the danmaku genre and is going to have a more traditional flow. Even if danmaku was all the rage, R-Type would never be that kind of game!

Some more specific questions about R-Type Final 2. You said about making an R-Type game for widescreen TVs. How does that impact the design of the game, the pace and the feel, when having that space?

Kazuma Kujo: The first thing that comes to mind with widescreen TVs, we're able to have what I consider to be a proper distance between the ships and parts of the stage. There's certainly more freedom in general, and essentially making enemies was easier - the process is just a little more natural and a little simpler because of that. We did have to increase bullet speed as a result - if they stayed the same speed the pacing would not feel quite as good so their speeds were increased. It resulted in a creation process that was a bit different than the previous games.

R-Type Final was known for its huge selection of ships. I know you're not going to have quite as many this time around. But how did you go about that selection process and deciding which ones to keep and which ones to discard?

Kazuma Kujo: First of all, I chose the ones I liked the best!

Haha, that's the perfect answer.

Kazuma Kujo: So first I started with the ones that I liked. And eventually they just kind of went in order, and the idea was to fit in as many as possible. I haven't told anyone else this yet, but the end goal, possibly with DLC later on, is to have every single R-Type Final one ship in R-Type Final 2.

I like that he makes the point that R-Type will never be a bullet hell-style shooter. I'm not a big fan of bull hell shooters, and I much prefer classic-style shooters, but even most modern indie shooters that try to be retro in style can't help but fill the screen with bullets. It's like some developers forgot what made classic shooters so good.

And besides, can you imagine a bullet hell shooter where you got sent back to a checkpoint every time you lost a life? (Some of the Gradius games do veer towards that, though.)

So, I have a question I haven't been able to find the answer to.

As you know, I've been playing Smash for Wii U, and I noticed that sometimes in online matches, other players will just stand around and repeatedly crouch for no reason.

At first, I thought this was meant to be a taunt, like "tea-bagging." But I've also seen it used in contexts that don't make sense as a taunt. For instance, right at the beginning of a match, multiple other players will just stand around crouching. Sometimes, they'll move on to other actions, like dancing around, but they'll never actually attack each other for the entire duration of the match. I wondered if this was maybe the Smash equivalent to Splatoon's "squid parties."

Maybe I'm just naïve, and it's simply a taunt. I've done some searching online, and I've found old discussions of other people confused by this, but there was no definitive answer for what it means.

Can you guys explain this?