Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 and Injustice: Gods Among Us

[size=+1]Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 and Injustice: Gods Among Us[/size]​

The Wii U is starting to regain some ground recently. It's a little tenuous but there is some argument for owning one of these things. Especially for me, who is incredibly lukewarm on upgrading my PS3 as it's still perfectly good at what it does. After all, the PS4 and Xbone to me are just extra powerful boxes. I'm more likely to side with a PC if I need to do something like that. Not necessarily a console. Even with long term PlayStation loyalty, there's no Crash, Spyro (in a recognisable form), Jak or Ratchet on the PS4. I'm not a shooter guy and I can't see anything in the line-up on the console that I want.

I have a PS3. If I want dark, masculine power-fantasies, the PS3 has me more than covered. Don't care about The Order or Evolve when I have Infamous and Batman: Arkham City. It's Indie focus is pretty commendable but I have a PC for that.

Xbox One? No, no, no! It's has no identity as far as I can see and it's only enjoyable looking game of it's own, is Sunset Overide. Call me narrow-minded there but it's not grabbing me.

I don't mind if this is your thing, but I look at this and despair. It's not what I know I enjoy and I'm uncertain to enjoy other things of a similar light. It doesn't grab me as being a must own game. It just washes out as a big ol' meh.​

The Wii U, however? Well, there's something different to it. I genuinely thinks that it's a pre-

"Your talking about me?" My Wii U asks, sitting up expectantly.

"Yes...Yes I am."

"Good things, right?" It asks. And then shuffles forwards, looking up with concern. The little guy'd been like this right out the box. Eager to please but it's confidence seemed a little shaken. I can understand that, I guess. "Right?"

Oh, that screen. Like a little puppy. "Will you calm down and let me work?"

My Wii U backs away, settling into it's charge stand while still looking over my shoulder. Very, very eager to see what I've been saying about it. My mild irritation with this distraction becoming apparent as I continue to write.

"Hey!" I said. "3DS behaves itself. You on the other hand, powers yourself up for reasons you've yet to tell me randomly. Are you downloading things or just checking? It's a little weird. It's like you have to remind me of your existence every so often by whirring yourself up."

"But it's what I do." The Wii U replies, somewhat meekly, turning it's screen from me. "You haven't played on me too much recently."

"Well, I've been busy. It's not that I don't enjoy the games I have on you, Wii U. I guess it's that there's not too much I'm desperate to play right now. Don't worry. I'll play, just when I feel like it. I got a couple of your relatives sitting there with games I need to complete on them too. Then there's the Dreamcast, Mega Drive, PS3 and I even got Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath on my Ouya." I watch it's little screen turn in dismay and stroke it's controller reassuringly. "I'm a little bogged down so, relax. Let me work on my code, or the site and I might generate a little need to play Super Mario 3D World a bit more."

It's about as graphically gorgeous as a PlayStation on steroids and Stranger keeps making irritating noises with every, single jump but it cost me £3. I don't think I can really complain.​

"You mean it? Because I was so worried when you played through it then just left it be." My Wii U's screen seemed to glisten with hope at that promise.

"Yeah, I know. It's not bad, I just didn't gel with it all too much." I said, casting my mind back. "I mean, it's pretty safe as far as Mario games go. Good, but it's not like Super Mario Galaxy, which is my absolute favourite game in the series so far. It does so much with the setting, the ideas, the level design and makes everything so incredibly epic. It's a sodding spectacle. Your just so easily swept up in it. Your 3D Mario, my little Wii U, is kinda sedate in comparison."

"Sedate!" My Wii U splutters, with a flabbergasted expression. "It's full of catchy music and thrills, gameplay, excitement and-"

"No...Your not wrong." I jump in. "It's just that the tone is more...Arcade like. It's not really something I feel likes being played in one big lump but is pretty good to jump in when you feel like it. Tones of fun but I can't go through it for more than a few levels without getting a little ground down by it. Especially now I'm running through and 100 percenting the bloody thing. It seems geared more to be relaxing with a level or two, rather than the marathon other games had. A little like how I feel with Mario Kart 8, actually."

Isn't it nice to see Peach doing something? Your floaty jumps are a welcome addition to the team. Especially considering Luigi's cobbler gave him the slippery shoes again and he's been scooting off the side of platforms ever since.​

"Another game you haven't played in a while!" The Wii U protests. "Come on! I thought you loved Mario Kart!"

"I do. I just don't think it's anything more than a pretty solid continuation of the series, not anything new or remarkable other than being in HD."

"B-but the Anti-Gravity!" My Wii U pushes again. "You can use this to find short cuts or get speed by bumping off special Anti-Grav bumpers or other racers. That's pretty cool and it means the level design can go insane!"

I think for a moment: "Eh...Only half true. Usually, I find the gravity sections are mainly there to make a track feel less monotonous as you zoom around and around by breaking how your vehicle performs over certain areas as well as justifying why you can drive in weird places without instantly falling on your neck. And it doesn't even do that too well as it generally feels like just another part of the route, not a special shortcut.

Now, jumping across a pit to another part of the track on the other side by way of a Mushroom, that is a shortcut. Not hopping onto a wall that the developers allow you to."

I do kinda wonder if the Anti-Grav thing was only there to make tracks bunch up and use less space. Although, they all look so crisp and detailed, I'm not sure that would work...​

"But the gliding does give shortcuts, and there's vehicle customisation!" The Wii U seemed a little anxious to please here.

Again, I dwindle on my time with the game: "Hmm...Yeah, you can build a kart but it's nowhere near as personal feeling as say...I dunno, a Need for Speed car you modified over the course of the game or a Gummi Ship in Kingdom Hearts. Really, your choosing a kart and what kind of tires it's going to use. Usually, your just looking to give it little slants in certain ways. Some tires handle better but some are better off-road and so fourth. If I was interested in experimenting, I'm sure it would be awesome but I'm really not. I max out my handling and try to take corners as tightly as possible on a bike. That's it. Everything else feels so weirdly similar to each other, you might as well not bother."

"But...Why did you complete it? The save file is all the way up to the Mirror Cups."

I smirk: "I still think it's pretty fun. All right, it's more unforgiving but damn it! It's gorgeous to look at and pretty decent at what it does. While not all the gimmicks work fully, I think the presentation and overall experience is pretty enjoyable. The tracks are fun, the music is damn well wonderful and needs to make a comeback but it's still full of content to find, unlock and play with. Heck! The DLC so far as been amazing! Cannot wait for the Animal Crossing stuff!"

The Wii U sighs, looking wistful despite what I just said.

"But your not coming back for more. Sorry I'm not blowing you out the water or anything...I'm trying my best! I got Smash Bros!"

I nod: "You also have Harley Quinn exploding people with a landmine covered in whipped cream."

"Huh?"

One of these days, you'll realise I rarely just make these things up.​

"Well, if I might ride this gloriously laid down segue, Injustice is probably one of my favourites on the system so far." I explained. "I usually go for Soul Calibur for one-on-one battles but...Hey! This is fun and it's DC characters. It's hard not to enjoy it. A lot of them have a good sense of humour and the sense of weight to they're battles, while utterly stupid, where dazzlingly action packed. I even got some kicks out of the story mode, that was a lot of fun to watch as it followed these characters chat to each other. The interactions were my favourite parts, bar none, here. The Joker was just prating around as usual, Green Arrow has some memorable lines, Batman get's to argue with Batman and even Aquaman has a certain gravitas to him. Even though I was lead to believe he was kinda lame, here he's kinda awesome."

The Wii U looked up: "But your not playing it regularly now."

"Only because of the control. It's based on Mortal Kombat with a few extra things here and there like slamming opponents into the scenery. However, compared to Soul Calibur, where all combos feel more like branching pathways through a character's move set that flow into one another by moving into stances or certain moves that allow another set of options to build a combo from; this feels like a button-masher."

I can get half-decent combos or special attacks but only if my thumbs break the sound barrier.​

I punctuate my point as I speak by pressing the Wii U's buttons. It keeps up, even if it has to stifle giggles as I talk and, apparently, tickle it. "You can only execute something by hammering buttons in the correct sequence. Some follow a modicum of common sense in terms of what buttons to press but I did find I had to sit down and simply learn the sequence to get the most out of certain characters. Some can chain hits with incredible ease, but guys like Bane or Superman, are a little more sluggish and need you to remember that button chain to succeed in landing a hit more interesting than a basic punch."

"Wait...why did you complete it?" My Wii U asks.

"Apart from it being a hugely expensive, ridiculous but still pretty gripping equivalent of slamming action figures into one another while making all the noises yourself and using sparklers for special effects?"​

"That story was that enjoyable. Plus, I wanted to give something else a try after spending time on three of the four Soul Calibur games so far. I figured a game where I could play as the Joker, might motivate me and, in all honestly, it pretty much has so far. I like it. Not as much as other games in the genre but it's a damn good game for the system."

My Wii U still seemed a little bit in a huff. It sat and turned it's screen away from me.

"Look...I'm busy. If I'm not doing site things, I'm trying to build my own games or some other project. My time is kinda absorbed by plenty of things. I will play you but you have to be patient, like all my other consoles."

Actually as I looked around the room, they seemed pretty miffed at that too. My N64 still had Perfect Dark raring to go. My PS3 had an entire collection of Kingdom Hearts games waiting for me. My Dreamcast sighs, looking longingly at the stack of games I hadn't finished yet in their blue jewel cases. Even my Ouya - that sweet, messed up little grey box - was itching to go but instead, seemed more pre occupied with checking for updates, just to spring them on me when I thought it could.

The only consoles not bothered where my 3DS and my Intellevision. 3DS has always been pretty mellow. Mainly, there when I wanted to hang out. We'd had the chat before so, now we were cool. My Intellevision just seemed happy to be in a warm home and not in a glass cabinet of a shop somewhere. The old codger had seen some scrapes in it's time and the rest seemed to be doing it some good.

Then it hit me. I had a lot of games to play. A staggering amount. It was so easy to find these things now that the second hand markets were open, I'd plain ol' saturated myself with the things. Almost entirely. RPG's, racers, platformers, shooters. I had tones! I would have to play them all.

I should play them all...And because I'm some sort of idiot, I should try getting a review out for them all...Hmm...

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