The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Nintendo

  • The Mario triple pack invokes a nostalgia attack

    When I was a child, the first video game system I owned was a Nintendo 64. Among the games I played was Super Mario 64. I played it all the time and when I wasn’t playing it, I was lying on the floor watching my younger brother play it.

    Mario 64 is one of my favorite games and it started an intense love for Nintendo that remains to this day.

    My favorite part was the freedom the game gave you. Jumping into levels to find the stars in any order you wanted, that’s what made it so special. It was one of the first games I played all the way through, of course, with help from my Dad.

    Over the years, I experienced many more adventures with Mario. I started playing Super Mario Sunshine after I found a Gamecube at a garage sale with my Dad. Essentially, it was Mario 64 again, but this time you had a water jetpack and explored an island town plagued by paint creatures. The updated graphics, new location, and ability to fly high up in the air with your jetpack made this game a blast to play.

    In 2006, Nintendo released the Wii and I woke up early in the morning with my Dad and my brother to wait in line on release day to pick up our console. The next year, “Super Mario Galaxy,” was released and of course we had to get it. Flying through space and jumping to different planets felt amazing and brought back the same euphoric sensation I got from Mario Sunshine and Mario 64 before that.

    A few years ago, before I left for college, I got the nostalgic craving to return to Peach’s castle for another battle with Bowser in Mario 64 again. After setting up our old N64, I looked everywhere and couldn’t find our copy of the game. It was gone and the only copies left were sold for small fortunes on eBay. It was so disheartening. I thought I would never be able to experience those memories again.

    When I’d finally given up the shred of hope that my craving for Mario 64 would ever be quenched, about a month ago, something incredible happened. To celebrate Mario’s 35th anniversary, Nintendo released a 3-D Mario bundle for the Switch. Super Mario 3-D All-Stars includes, in my opinion, potentially three of the best Mario games of all time: Mario 64, Mario Sunshine and Mario Galaxy.

    Playing through the bundle today was like paying a visit to my childhood. While the games were only ported over with slightly improved graphics, it didn’t matter to me. In my mind, I was back in my childhood bedroom watching Mario run and jump around on his adventures once again and peace was restored in the world.

    Re-experiencing these games again for the first time in around a decade was exactly the comforting gaming experience I and every Nintendo fan needs to improve their existence in 2020. The nostalgia pack is something to help us escape, even if only for a moment, back to the days when it was just you and Mario trying to collect all 120 stars together.

  • New Details for Animal Crossing: New Horizons

    New Details for Animal Crossing: New Horizons

    The hype is real for the new Animal Crossing game after their recent presentation

    The first console Animal Crossing game since 2015 is less than a month away from its March 20 release date. Nintendo just announced a list of new features for the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch.

    Animal Crossing is a series that puts you in control of a small town filled with anthropomorphic animal villagers. In this edition, you have bought the Deserted Island package, which gives you an island to build your town on. Despite being put into debt immediately by Tom Nook, the owner of the company that you bought the package from, there is no need to pay back the loan. There is no time limit or interest—pay it back whenever.

    That’s one of the main draws of the series. There is no push to play it one way or the other. Whether you want to spend your days fishing or collecting fossils, or just decorating your home, the game will never push you. You’re free to play at your own pace and relax with the other villagers that populate your town.

    On Feb. 20, Nintendo aired Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct. The press conference, given by Tom Nook, the series’ resident loan shark, was broken up into three parts. It gave a refresher of what had been shared before along with new developments that will appear in future updates to the game. It ended with a FAQ section.

    The main addition this iteration of the peaceful life simulator brings is customization.

    When you’re first put into the game, you’re told to choose from four different island layouts for your town and to choose your hemisphere. This will help accurately portray which seasons are happening in your town at their specific times. You’ll also be able to terraform your island so you aren’t limited to the exact layout you choose at the start for the whole game. You can add hills and create new rivers and waterfalls. The island will be truly yours.

    Another big addition is the ability to determine where villagers move in. In past games, villagers just moved in where they saw fit, even if it was on your flower bed or on top of your favorite apple tree. This time you get to map out exactly where villagers move in and shape your town around that.

    The game now allows eight people to live on your island at the same time—not just non-playable villagers, but your friends and family. The game even adds four-player co-op, where you and three friends can explore your island together on the same console.

    Later updates to the game will be for holidays. The first announced update, for Bunny Day in April, will be released the same time as the game, March 20.