VC Forums Monthly Gaming Club: September 2010

[PoisonRamune]

Hey gang! Can you believe we've been at this racket for a year now? Glad that I got the honor to do the anniversary edition of the Virtual Console Forums Monthly Gaming Club, since I figure I'm one of the most well known and liked people on this BBS. So I guess the only better candidates for this one would be Han or Jogo, but they already had their picks.

I've been thinking about what game I could force on you good folks for awhile now, mostly because I have a grip of downloadable games on the Wii with a lot of them being crap people normally don't buy (especially for these inflated prices). However, since I am an eligible bachelor with a million dollar boat, I figure I can take the chance buy for the good of all of us.

After juggling with a couple ideas, I narrowed it down from 4 choices... Here are the ones that didn't make the cut:

1) This game was shown in The Wizard and was part of a key plot development.
Double Dragon (NES) - "You got 50,000 points on Double Dragon?!"
2) Many people call this a Zelda clone due to similar elements, but its original theme and plotline help this stand alone as an action-adventure gem.
Startropics (NES) - Action-adventure games have been the club's most represented/selected genre at a rate of about 25%, let's change it up...
3) Yay! Exaggerated cultural stereotypes!
Punch-Out (NES) - I think the other game might be more fun.

And now for the one that did!

The original game in the series sucks pretty hard/is pretty boring. However, the newest games in this series have really "ramped up" the fun.

VC-F Monthly Gaming Club – September 2010




Title: Excitebike – World Rally
System: Wiiware
Price: 1,000 points (which is not OVER 9,000)
Developer: Monster Games
Controllers: Wiimote

Genre: Race
Release Date: November 9, 2009 (NA); February 5, 2010 (PAL)

Information:
Excitebike - World Rally is a time trial dirt bike racer. Racers make their way through 16 race courses set all around the globe (though you’d never know it, since it all looks like: red desert, brown desert, and desert chaparral) trying to get a B rank or above to proceed. The tracks are set out in a more arcade/exaggerated fashion, so the game is a bit more “entry level friendly” than a simulation racer or even a kart racing game.

Reasoning:
You probably looked at the title and immediately thought of that suck ass Excitebike on the NES… And you really have every reason too, since they do seem very similar on the surface. However, Excitebike – World Rally is actually Excitebike done right and perhaps how it should have been done all along. While the 2 games do share the similar premise of being straight line, motocross racers; Excitebike – World Rally fixes a lot of the flaws from the original Excitebike. The most notable/valuable addition is the tutorial feature; this thing actually taught me so much about the seemingly simple world of Excitebike.

Another great feature added to the game is the visual feedback/commentary… If you land a jump perfectly, the game will tell you with a “Great Landing!” blurb. This small feature helps immensely when trying to shave seconds off a race, since you always know where you could have improved from your last run,

The game also incorporates features from more recent Excite titles, such as the terrain shifting orbs from Excitetruck. These are basically items on the track that temporarily changes the track layout in front of you (for example: turning a flat stretch of blank track into a hulking ramp to catch air on).

Finally, the game has the classic Excitebike level editor and a pretty decent online mode. So even if you’re creepy SKTTR and have gotten a full board of platinum/S rankings, you can still re-boot the game and make a couple tracks or show us all how it’s done in a head to head online heat.

I know the game is a bit pricey and I was almost going to let “Punch Out - ft. Mr. Dream” win out, but this really is a good game. And I think you won’t be disappointed trying it out.

Participants & Friend Codes (idiots who are playing this game):
Angelic Lapras King: 2150-3395-4431
Hansolo350: 3181-1564-6698
Jogurt the Yogurt
Magnanimous Max
MerlinDrazziw: 5199-4461-5557
Moe: 2880-1644-0436
PoisonRamune: 2751-6286-2027
SKTTR: 5199-4354-6613
Yasume: 0818-5387-3252


Links:
Trailer
Sam Witwickypedia entry
A review by me
Some other review that said it didn't suck



History:
2009-09 Wonder Boy in Monster World (MD) by Jogurt the Yogurt
2009-10 Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (NES) by pdRydia
2009-11 Ninja Spirit (TG) by Ausden
2009-12 Water Warfare (WW) by Yossarian
2010-01 The Last Ninja II: Back With A Vengeance (C64) by Betagam7
2010-02 Pilotwings (SNES) by hansolo350
2010-03 Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (MD) by enigmaopoeia
2010-05 Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (SNES) by Kiwi the Tortoise
2010-07 light trax - Art Style - (WW) by SKTTR
2010-08 Bonk’s Revenge (TG) by Tides of Chaos
2101-09 Excitebike – World Rally (WW) by PoisonRamune (quite possibly the hottest dude on this board)

[Tides of Chaos]

Hm...
1) Never saw The Wizard but Super Mario Bros. 3 could be a possibility. Then again, everyone's played that so chances are it's something else.
2) Zelda clone on the VC? Neutopia? But wait, original plotline? From what I know, I think Startropics is more it then.
3) Exaggerated cultural stereotypes.....no idea really. Is this some Wiiware game?
4) Hm...a series that has a sucky first installment but got pretty good later....I dunno, some sort of Street Fighter game?

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Could be Ninja Gaiden...?
StarTropics
Muscle March? Hahaha!
ExciteBike World Whatever (key clue = "ramped up")

I'm cool with all of these choices so far!

[MerlinDrazziw]

Double Dragon?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

SMB3 fits 2 or 3 descriptions, but I guess that won't be PR's pick ...

Ys Book 1 & 2 maybe?

[PoisonRamune]

I posted the game, I kinda got too drunk and I want to take a nap now...

[Betagam7]

I'm unsure if I'll be able to take part or not. I'm heading back to England tomorrow and could well be there for a while. Maybe I'll download this on the folk's Wii and give it a whirl but unless I do then I'm sadly out of the club for the forseeable future as the Wii is staying in Sverige.

On a bright note though, happy anniversary VCFMGC!

[SKTTR]

I'm in.

I love racing games. If there's a racing game on the WiiWare service better than light trax it's Excitebike World Challenge. This game has just very good controls, 60fps, strategic driving and a good sense of speed, addictive online multiplayer and it's fun to play friend races with selfmade tracks.

It really is much better than the NES prequel and out of the 4 games that were in Poisons potpourri, this is likely the best. I liked StarTropics also, but there's no replay value once you beat it and I of course have beaten it (and the sequel) when they were released on the VC. Excitebike World Challenge on the other hand still has something to offer.

From the point of worthyness it's spot on: Getting S-Ranks in the 16 offline courses is taking appoximately 5 hours, and getting 500 racing points in random races and friend races is another 10 hours of gameplay. Plus several hours of just creating playable and nice selfmade tracks.

I got this game in February when it was released in EU and I still play it regularly (mostly because I still need those 500 friend race points to unlock the last bike.) I only played with Moe, and I bet she's showing up soon to join this months club too. In two player mode we could only get 1 or 2 pts eachs race. With 4 players now we can get up to 5 points each race, so this pick will speed up things and give us new players to compete with.


My score: 9/10

One of the best WiiWare games I got.
One of the best online racers on Wii.


My friendcode: 5199-4354-6613.

Added you, Poison.

[hansolo350]

Well it looks like I'll have to get this game afterall. I hope it's a lot more fun than the original like you say.

[Magnanimous Max]

I'm in, I'll be downloading it tomorrow. I actually really wanted to get it when it originally came out, but never did for one reason or another.

I guess I might be in the minority when I say I loved the NES game, maybe that's just nostalgia speaking though. Sure it was a simple game, greatly lacking in depth, but I do remember having lots of fun w/the track editor and trying to land on ramps w/my front wheel, for some reason my friends and I just thought it was the coolest when you could pull that off.

[MerlinDrazziw]

Didn't see this one coming

I'm in also .... friend code: 5199 4461 5557

Have played a couple of races online, but not many. The gameplay is easy enough
to get going and can be improved quickly by learning the tracks. My score for this
game is 8.5/10

Will we finally race each other this time SKTTR?

[Yasume]

I'm also in. This is a good chance to complete the game. I'm stll missing 1 S-Rank and I only played a few random Wifi matches, so there's still a lot to do. I'll post my FC soon.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

I'll probably download this and start playing this weekend. I actually enjoyed the original as a kid, and mainly goofed around with the track editor a lot. Are there nice sortable online leaderboards that you can filter between everyone and just the people on your friends list? I don't understand why more games don't include even basic, competent leaderboards...

[SKTTR]

Originally Posted by Magnanimous Max

I'm in, I'll be downloading it tomorrow. I actually really wanted to get it when it originally came out, but never did for one reason or another.

I guess I might be in the minority when I say I loved the NES game, maybe that's just nostalgia speaking though. Sure it was a simple game, greatly lacking in depth, but I do remember having lots of fun w/the track editor and trying to land on ramps w/my front wheel, for some reason my friends and I just thought it was the coolest when you could pull that off.

It's odd that people like me and Poison who didn't like the NES version very much downloaded this - and people like you and Jogurt who apparently seem to have liked the NES version haven't picked up this already.

I guess, I liked the original a little, but I felt there was something missing. Saving your selfmade tracks maybe? Saving your progress and best times?! (Online) multiplayer? More racing tracks? Yes, there's not much difference in gameplay, but it expands on everything the NES version was missing: An update to make the original worthwhile and fun again up to this day.

Originally Posted by MerlinDrazziw

Didn't see this one coming

I'm in also .... friend code: 5199 4461 5557

Have played a couple of races online, but not many. The gameplay is easy enough
to get going and can be improved quickly by learning the tracks. My score for this
game is 8.5/10

Will we finally race each other this time SKTTR?

I forgot I already have you on my list. I remembered it yesterday when I added Poison. And then I knew you'd participate heheh.
And yeah, hope we have some good online matches this month.

Originally Posted by Jogurt the Yogurt

I'll probably download this and start playing this weekend. I actually enjoyed the original as a kid, and mainly goofed around with the track editor a lot. Are there nice sortable online leaderboards that you can filter between everyone and just the people on your friends list? I don't understand why more games don't include even basic, competent leaderboards...

Haven't seen any online leaderboards in this game. Online racing times aren't saved anyway. Only offline times are saved, and they're only saved offline. Now that I think about it it's strange, but I might be wrong.
All the time this wasn't a problem and now this could deduct some points from my score? Nah, we're playing this in a club and we could make our own leaderbaords (like in light trax) again.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by SKTTR

It's odd that people like me and Poison who didn't like the NES version very much downloaded this - and people like you and Jogurt who apparently seem to have liked the NES version haven't picked up this already.

It might be partly because I got/get my fix of this kind of racer from the original. I was always half-interested in getting this, I was just waiting for the right time or impetus (rainy day, extra points, game club, etc.).

Originally Posted by SKTTR

Only offline times are saved, and they're only saved offline.

This sucks. I know we can just make our own leaderboards, but that's beside the point. This is a really basic feature that loads of other games have, so I'm always surprised when a new game comes out that doesn't feature it, especially a game that's so strongly based on best time / high score type gameplay. It's not hard to upload those saved times to an online leaderboard that you can sort, view your position, filter it down to your friends, etc.

Anyway, it does take a few points off the game for me, but not that many. As always, in the end, the enjoyment comes from the gameplay.

[Magnanimous Max]

Originally Posted by SKTTR

It's odd that people like me and Poison who didn't like the NES version very much downloaded this - and people like you and Jogurt who apparently seem to have liked the NES version haven't picked up this already.

I pretty much feel the same way Jogurt does I guess, I've had the original since it came out on the VC and play it every now and again. I was also getting my side scrolling racer fix with Trials HD when World Rally came out, so that could've been why I overlooked it as well.

Like I said, I have always been interested in it and now's my chance to finally give it a whirl, very excited.

[Moe]

Yippee, I love racing games. I'll join you.

FC: 2880-1644-0436

[Yasume]

Okay, September 1st, so it's time to start playing this one again. I just played Kyoto a few times to get into it again.

My FC: 0818 - 5387 - 3252

Are you also going to keep track of our offline records? In any case here are mine:

Bronze Cup

Kyoto - 1.03.74
Canada - 1.02.60
Mexico - 0.49.62
London - 1.07.06

Silver Cup

Fiji - 1.09.68
Mexico - 1.24.32
Madrid - 1.24.14
Canada - 1.06.62

Gold Cup

Paris - 1.23.42
Fiji - 1.35.50
Mexico - 1.41.79
China - 2.08.14

Platinum Cup

Canada - 1.44.90
China - 2.03.08
Fiji - 2.03.65
New York - 1.45.11

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by Yasume

Are you also going to keep track of our offline records?

This reminds me, just a note to everyone: just because PR picked the game doesn't mean he's "running" the club this month. If he wants to keep track of records/scores, he's welcome to, but it's not his de facto responsibility. If someone else wants to keep track of the records instead (Betagam, SKTTR, etc.) they're welcome to say so.

[Yasume]

Originally Posted by Jogurt the Yogurt

This reminds me, just a note to everyone: just because PR picked the game doesn't mean he's "running" the club this month. If he wants to keep track of records/scores, he's welcome to, but it's not his de facto responsibility. If someone else wants to keep track of the records instead (Betagam, SKTTR, etc.) they're welcome to say so.

True that, although it would look better if everything is in the first post, right? Anyway, I could do it if that's okay with everyone. I'm not going to school until September 2011 and i don't have a job at the moment. So yeah, not much to do during the day since everyone is at school/work.

[SKTTR]

-----------------------------

Status: I'm ready for some online action. Opened a room.

-----------------------------

Added: Yasume.

-----------------------------

My times: (Edit: Press A-button while selecting a track to view the records)

BRONZE

1:03.59 KYOTO
0:58.10 KANADA
0:48.06 MEXIKO
1:03.54 LONDON

SILBER

1:12.46 FIDSCHI
1:24.31 MEXIKO
1:21.32 MADRID
1:07.56 KANADA

GOLD

1:24.96 PARIS
1:32.50 FIDSCHI
1:40.16 MEXIKO
2:07.05 CHINA

PLATIN

1:45.65 KANADA
1:58.54 CHINA
2:03.41 FIDSCHI
1:46.91 NEW YORK

-----------------------------

Edit again:

Seems like a bad idea to wait for people online.... now that Metroid Other M is out.
Bad timing I guess. And on Friday I too won't play Excitebike or any other game until I completed MOM.

[MerlinDrazziw]

Just played some online races with SKTTR and Moe. The races were fun and the
custom tracks were a nice addition. There was no lag or download time noticable
when racing a custom track the others didn't have. Too bad it is only for 4 players.

My offline times:
Bronze Cup
1:04.91 Kyoto
0:58.57 Canada
0:47.24 Mexico
1:04.69 London

Silver Cup
1:11.45 Fiji
1:24.53 Mexico
1:24.26 Madrid
1:09.26 Canada

Gold Cup
1:24.61 Paris
1:35.05 Fiji
1:41.24 Mexico
2:07.72 China

Platinum Cup
1:45.48 Canada
2:00.98 China
2:08.87 Fiji
1:47.06 New York

Have to recheck these times though, that is, if the online times are saved as
well. Got 1:20 with Gold Cup Paris online, would be a shame if that wouldn't
count offline. (But I guess it just is that way )

[SKTTR]

Originally Posted by MerlinDrazziw

Just played some online races with SKTTR and Moe. The races were fun and the
custom tracks were a nice addition. There was no lag or download time noticable
when racing a custom track the others didn't have. Too bad it is only for 4 players.

My offline times:
Bronze Cup
1:04.91 Kyoto
0:58.57 Canada
0:47.24 Mexico
1:04.69 London

Silver Cup
1:11.45 Fiji
1:24.53 Mexico
1:24.26 Madrid
1:09.26 Canada

Gold Cup
1:24.61 Paris
1:35.05 Fiji
1:41.24 Mexico
2:07.72 China

Platinum Cup
1:45.48 Canada
2:00.98 China
2:08.87 Fiji
1:47.06 New York

Have to recheck these times though, that is, if the online times are saved as
well. Got 1:20 with Gold Cup Paris online, would be a shame if that wouldn't
count offline. (But I guess it just is that way )

@MerlinDrazziw: No, only single player offline times are saved.



Thanks to this club and with MerlinDrazziw's and Moe's help in
the friend races, I just got more than 500 pts in the friend race.
I unlocked the last bike I was missing and completed the game
Excitebike World Challenge.



My stats:
503/500 Random Race Points
524/500 Friend Race Points
16/16 S-Ranks
19/19 Bikes Unlocked

[Yasume]

Originally Posted by SKTTR

@MerlinDrazziw: No, only single player offline times are saved.



Thanks to this club and with MerlinDrazziw's and Moe's help in
the friend races, I just got more than 500 pts in the friend race.
I unlocked the last bike I was missing and completed the game
Excitebike World Challenge.



My stats:
503/500 Random Race Points
524/500 Friend Race Points
16/16 S-Ranks
19/19 Bikes Unlocked

Are you still going to keep playing this game? I'd love to have a few races with you somewhere tomorrow and with Moe and Merlin as well.

[MerlinDrazziw]

Originally Posted by Yasume

Are you still going to keep playing this game? I'd love to have a few races with you somewhere tomorrow and with Moe and Merlin as well.

Don't know if I'll have time to play tomorrow as it was my day off today. Friday
I'll think I've received Metroid: Other M, so I'll be checking that out for a while.
But the month is long, and I won't be spending all my playing time on Metroid.
Next month I can spend more time on that game, so I'll be playing ExciteBike
a lot this month. Just check here on wednesday or weekend, that are the most
likely days I can spent time on the Wii.

[SKTTR]

Originally Posted by Yasume

Are you still going to keep playing this game? I'd love to have a few races with you somewhere tomorrow and with Moe and Merlin as well.

Tomorrow might be the last day
to play Excitebike World Challenge with me
for a few days
until I complete Metroid Other M.

I still like playing this game. I've only made 2 custom tracks,
and now that I've beaten everything else, I have more time
to be creative and put some good playable maps together.
The biggest fun comes from playing them online with friends.
I might play this until 1000 Friend Race Points.

[Yasume]

Wow, I'm racing a dude with over 7600 points. I can't seem to beat him too.

I obtained all S-Ranks, btw. China was a pain.

[Yasume]

Originally Posted by Yasume

Okay, September 1st, so it's time to start playing this one again. I just played Kyoto a few times to get into it again.

My FC: 0818 - 5387 - 3252

Are you also going to keep track of our offline records? In any case here are mine:

Bronze Cup

Kyoto - 1.03.74
Canada - 1.02.60
Mexico - 0.49.62
London - 1.07.06

Silver Cup

Fiji - 1.09.68
Mexico - 1.24.32
Madrid - 1.24.14
Canada - 1.06.62

Gold Cup

Paris - 1.23.42
Fiji - 1.35.50
Mexico - 1.41.79
China - 2.08.14

Platinum Cup

Canada - 1.44.90
China - 2.03.08
Fiji - 2.03.65
New York - 1.45.11

I just went through all 16 tracks again on World Tour after playing a few online matches and improved some of my times:

Bronze Cup

Kyoto - 1.02.77
Canada - 0.58.48
Mexico - 0.47.00
London - 1.04.59

Silver Cup

Fiji - 1.09.68
Mexico - 1.20.34
Madrid - 1.21.46
Canada - 1.06.62

Gold Cup

Paris - 1.20.24
Fiji - 1.34.22
Mexico - 1.41.79
China - 2.08.14

Platinum Cup

Canada - 1.44.90
China - 1.58.86
Fiji - 2.03.65
New York - 1.45.11

[PoisonRamune]

Hey guys just letting you know that I'm vacation with limited net access (I'm posting through my phone) so I won't be updating the thread until Tueday or so.

[Angelic Lapras King]

Decide to give the Club a go since my VC/WW activity has been pretty low this year. I'm gonna try and take part every month, provided I don't reach debt again or such.

Downloaded the game today. First impressions from 30 mins gametime, I'm enjoy it so far. I ll give a more detailed review once I've played it somemore.

UPDATE

My FC is 2150-3395-0436 I've added the lot of yas.

[Yasume]

Originally Posted by Angelic Lapras King

My FC is 2150-3395-0436 I've added the lot of yas.

I tried to add you, but it said "Invalid Friend Code".

[MerlinDrazziw]

Originally Posted by Yasume

I tried to add you, but it said "Invalid Friend Code".

Lapras code is 2150 3395 4431 ...

[Yasume]

Anyone want to race me tomorrow or Friday? I've got no plans at all for those two days, so I can play at any time (except for the night).

[MerlinDrazziw]

@PoisonRamune: Angelic Lapras King's friendcode ends with: 4431
I got Lapras friendcode on the chat, before the wrong one was posted here.

Are we going to do something else with the self-made tracks? Sending tracks
to oneanother requires Wii-number registration. The only other option to see
the self-made tracks is racing them. So far, I've made 3 tracks which I've used
in online racing (all 3 with Yasume, the first one with Moe and SKTTR and the
first two with Angelic Lapras King if I recall correctly).

[Angelic Lapras King]

Yeah, that's what I get for putting off correcting it. >_>

Anyhoo, after much playing, I really enjoy the game. Its very simple, like the NES game, but strangely addictive. Online makes things better too. Wouldnt mind if Nintendo do more NES Wiiware Sequels like this, like maybe Balloon Fight with an online race mode.

Score, I give it 9/10

[hansolo350]

I've beaten all of the races with an S-rank and I must admit that I enjoyed this game quite a bit. If any one would like to race me, my friend code is 3181 1564 6698.

[Yasume]

Originally Posted by hansolo350

I've beaten all of the races with an S-rank and I must admit that I enjoyed this game quite a bit. If any one would like to race me, my friend code is 3181 1564 6698.

Added you.

Anyone wants to race this Thursday or Friday?

[MerlinDrazziw]

Originally Posted by hansolo350

If any one would like to race me, my friend code is 3181 1564 6698.

I've added you also. Just yell in the chat if you want to race and I'll join in if I can ...

[hansolo350]

I'm pretty much free from Thrusday until Sunday so whatever time is best for you guys. I monitor the chat pretty much all day so you could mention it there too.

[PoisonRamune]

Hey guys, hope you had fun playing a pretty interesting game this month. Unfortunately, I didn't get to play this near as much as I wanted to. However, we all know who has this game, so we still can seek eachother out later on!

I just wanted to let you know that Magnanimous Max has the honor of picking the VC-F Monthly Game Club: October pick... Be sure to pick a winner!

[Angelic Lapras King]

How are people picked for choosing the game of the month?