You can play it on your browser
Thank you!
Secret of the Stars, @BMO’s just a little confused in the excitement
Thanks!
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Yeah, I meant Secret of the Stars. I backed Sea of Stars so forgive me for getting those two mixed up because the latter is always in the back of my mind.
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Sorry, really late to the forum and this comment but I was thinking a few days ago specifically about whether or not dkc holds up after playing super mario Bros 1 & 2 on the NES. Those games felt clunky in the way that mario doesn’t always jump, glides through the air, skids around sometimes on surfaces. Just by chance I closed mario and instantly booted DKC1 to show my partner one of my favourite games and the jumping / movement instantly felt more responsive… I was a bit shocked.
So I guess my question is if you don’t think DKC holds up… Does mario?
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Gutted I missed that months games, DK3 is one of my all time favourite games. George has already covered most things but yeah the level design and music is something that’ll always stick with me. The first few levels with the rats, then wooden docks area near the beach, climbing trees whilst enemies throw nuts(?) at you…
Not to mention the movement during level selection where you can upgrade your boat to navigate around the islands. I remember that gave me such a cool feeling of freedom back in the day despite it being very restricted movement.
Anyway that’s my outdated dkc 3 love letter
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I admit I have never played Mario games on the NES. I did play the original marios in all of its other releases though: snes, virtual console, the one against 40 players in switch (which was an incredible game that should come back btw) and I never for one second felt that the control was unresponsive or that the character wasn’t doing what was intended. There is some inertia, sure, but I have always felt that I can control mario up to the last pixel.
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It’s hard to explain, but yeah I agree you can finely control mario when you learn his movement patterns. I guess what I’m saying is that I felt donkey Kong country had less to learn and accustom myself too imo, but of course that’s all subjective!
One thing that I do remember from mario (the NES titles) is holding down the sprint button and using that to jump, it made mario glide a lot further and when he’d land he’d often shoot off whatever platform he landed on because I would still be holding down the sprint button (maybe I was still holding a the directional movement button too idk
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For me, the only way to jump in any platform game is while holding Y (or its equivalent in any other controller), no matter if it does something or not. I have to thank mario for that.
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A quick poll for everyone: in addition to Secret of the Stars, which of the following would you be more interested in playing? This time choices are limited to one game, and this will select the second game of the month.
- Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty Online (Amiga, DOS, MegaDrive/Genesis, MyAbandonware.com)
- Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GameBoy, Nintendo Switch)
- Wario Land 3 (GameBoy Color, Nintendo Switch)
0 voters
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Thanks for voting all. Our second game will be Wario Land 3 after a petty tight race with Super Mario Land 2. I’ll get an official post announcing the titles up shortly.
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Haven’t played any of the Wario Land games before so looking forward to this. No idea what to expect which is nice for a change
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I’ve been playing Wario Land 3 off and on already anyways, so I guess I’ll try to make sure I finish it during March.
It’s an interesting game so far. In some ways, it feels oddly like a modern indie take on 2D platformers. Quirky vibes, focus on out-of-the-box level completion, sorta Metroidvania-ish (revisiting levels), and no lives system (enemies don’t seem to kill you). It’s my first real romp with the Wario Land series so IDK how much 3 follows or deviates from the other entries.
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From my very limited interaction with Wario content I can remember the wario games on wii? They were kind of like raving rabbids mini games? all of them outside the box and bizarre. I just assumed it had that tone because a lot of wii games seemed to utilise the motion controllers via unique mini games. Looks like I was wrong and perhaps this is just Warios thing?
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Wario Land 1 is one of my favorites; I didn’t get quite as into the sequels as they became a little weird
Though, I think Wario Land 3 was my first Game Boy Color game of my own; I never went back to it as much. Maybe I should at some point
There’s also the WarioWare series, which is completely different [a bunch of rapid-fire micro-games]
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Is this club still active? 
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Yeah! BMO is still doing polls for games every month. I’ve missed the past 2 months but the games for March are Secret of the Stars, and Wario Land 3:)
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Hi, and welcome. As @Atag points out, we are up and running and have two new games for March. I just haven’t had a chance to post the official March game selection because I just got back from a few days out of town on a camping trip. I’ll get it up today. But feel free to start in on either of the games.
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Tried out Wario Land 3 this evening and was not expecting such a unique little game, really enjoying it. Think it’s only the second Gameboy colour game I’ve ever played so setting the bar quite high. The game looks great too!
Really enjoy the creative approach to taking damage - there doesn’t seem to be any lives, just set backs from the various enemies like turning into a zombie. Reminds me a lot of Kirby and how you an assume your enemies powers!
Side note, how do you dive in water? Can’t seem to figure that out.
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My assumption is you’ll get the ability to do so later. Earlier I was wondering how to break blocks below Wario, and a level or two later I gained that ability (a ground pound). This is a game where you need to replay previous levels, but with your new abilities that allow you to access new areas (Metroidvania-style).
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Thank you! I’m on to level 4 in the next world now and I don’t think I’ve unlocked that ability yet… Or any ability lol.
I noticed when you go back to levels they change slightly which is really cool!!
At the end of each level you unlock a chest with treasure inside. I think the first chest was an axe? Are you supposed to be able to use these items? I’m assuming that’s how you get new powers? Just asking because I haven’t found out how to use the axe yet!
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Apologies to all for the delay, here is the selection for the March Retro Game Club. Enjoy!
Secret of the Stars (SNES)
Secret of the Stars, known as Aqutallion (アクタリオン) in Japan, is a role-playing video game released in 1993 and developed and published by Tecmo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Secret of the Stars uses a turn-based RPG battle system where actions in battle are selected through a menu and actions are presented at the end of the turn. Gameplay switches between two parties throughout the game and certain areas are inaccessible without the right party.
Wario Land 3 (GameBoy Color, Nintendo Switch)
Wario Land 3 is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. In the game, Mario’s archrival Wario must free a mysterious figure who is trapped inside a music box. It was followed by Wario Land 4 in 2001. It was also released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2013. It was released as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service on 8 February 2023.
The gameplay in Wario Land 3 is very similar to that of its predecessor, Wario Land II. Wario must take advantage of his enemies’ attacks to physically change and access new areas. For example, if Wario eats a donut thrown by a certain enemy, he temporarily bulks up to twice his size, giving him extra protection against attacks and the ability to break certain blocks. While Wario will always be affected by his enemies, he must also find new powers and abilities in order to progress through the game.
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