2P START! Live!: Animal Crossing Unleashed Edition
November 24th, 2008
In this episode, Tim and Ray discuss how right they were about the good and bad of Sonic Unleashed, the outcry over the Animal Crossing comic, and much more!
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You’re right about Agressive Alpine. Can’t stop playing.
And wow, I knew Sonic was fast, but… 1 day?? Impressive. And from your description, its pretty similar to what everything else I’ve read. And CHIP??? Does he break the “Ch” spell (poor Charmy, no one loves him… her?). But yeah, Werehog slightly reminded me of the tank levels in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, except lamer since there are no robots. And those were slower platformers in some sense. Not as much as it was run’n’gun, but there was some jumping.
My Animal Crossing experience is pretty low, but I already know sim games are games I find hard to enjoy regardless. Also, games with no overarching point fail to motivate me. But I will agree on the lack of new ideas. I think it’s true for most games to some extent that if you keep using the same formula, things will get stale. Don’t fix what ain’t broke is only true to some extent.
Wow, I didn’t realize that used to be grass. Shows how much I’ve played the games…
If it had been an MMO, it would’ve been a ground-breaking game. Still waiting for PokeMMOn.
And epic Black Doom Award. Pretty much seals Sonic Unleashed’s fate with me. And corrupted save files has never been my problem. My little brother however decides that deleting files is a good idea. But I do feel bad for you since I know the general feeling.
Epic image for the podcast 🙂 now if only I wasn’t on Dialup and the podcast didn’t take three hours to download…
TO THE LOCAL LIBRARY
(strikes a super hero pose and flies off)
awwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Okay this is the first time my comments have reached a back page.
1. Your “Hello, Hello, Hello” thing in the beginning, you sure you weren’t doing ad placement for Metro PCS?
2. Response to Internet Loot: 0_o
3. That alarm sound, that’s from Melee when Zebes is about to explode huh?
4. You got to the end it one day? It doesn’t show Ray’s obsession quite as much as it shows how short the game is.
5. Have we figured out what Chip is yet?
6. Oh, and for my mandatory mention: Rouge is better than Chip.
7. The amnesia thing…sound a bit like Shadow the Hegehog?
8. Hey! I think they revealed who Timpani was in SPM at a decent pace. You figured it out long before it was actually revealed though.
9.So basically we were all right. The werehog wasn’t a good idea.
10. I seriously say that they go back to the Adventure formula.
11. Oh, Animal Crossing probably mentions food more than Sonic. Bunnie had to go on a walk because she ate like 50 pounds of peanut brittle apparently.
12.Wait. So Chip’s name really is a play on chocolate chips?
13. AC may last a month and then you get tired of it, but that’s more than I can say of some games. So you get bored of it. It happens with most Sim games. AC is better than Harvest Moon in that regard.
14. I’m thinking that maybe AC needs an Endless Ocean-esque story. Just something to do while you’re getting all the furniture and stuff.
15. The checklist thing never bothered me. I’m not much of a completionist so I didn’t really care. I’d just use the Internet of I had to.
16. The Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving) is coming up and I’m just going to play before anyone comes over. Not that hard to do…
17. And so? Jingle gives you one piece of the Jingle set and then you trade online to get the others. It keeps the game lively.
18. The NES games were a bit meh for me so I’m not to upset that they took them out. I AM however EXTREMELY annoyed that Animal Pics were removed in City Folk.
19. w00t! Another mention. Not in the greatest regard but I’ll take what I can get.
20. And I may have been extremely nitpicky but at least I was kidding, unlike some people. XD
21. Y’know I’m sorry, but I really hate your analogies for the changes to City Folk. It’s starting to get annoying. You’re right, there probably aren’t enough changes for people unlike me, but your analogies extremely exaggerate the situation.
22. Okay, now that’s unacceptable on my part. You forgot Dr. Shrunk’s name. I’m sorry, I cannot let that slip by. Anyone who doesn’t know Shrunk’s name is not a fan of Animal Crossing. (Kidding like always)
23. Meh. I hate slowness in games. Walking = annoying.
24. Actually, Okami has that same method of running. You’ll run and the longer you run the faster you go. Granted it’s not a platformer and it’s hard to fall off, but still.
25. Y’know, Sonic Unleashed definitely has some of my “Who thought that was a good idea!?!?” moments.
26. Sega better just totally step out of The Conduit and let High Voltage do whatever they want, because if they screw up what looks to be the Wii’s first great shooter, I’m not going to be happy.
27. I’ve actually had a save file corrupt before, but that’s because I had third party memory cards, never a good idea.
28. The Musical Misfit reminded me of Paper Mario…so it was good.
29. I’m not sure if you’d consider them Musical Misfits, but I think they’re spiffy songs that more people need to hear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usCGh-PkPeA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbbUv1hz6mE
Okay, that’s it.
Something I failed to mention in the previous post, no too long ago I noticed something else about the comic. I won’t say what because I said I’d stop being nitpicky. XD
Gave it a listen, and have to say it was good. I’ll still give Sonic Unleashed a shot but let’s just say the “which one first?” question between that and Tomb Raider Underground has been answered.
I will however take umbridge with something Ray said. And this is more me being the old school Sonic fan prick than anything. You want a STORY in Sonic to explain something. Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Sonic go in the toilet once they tried story? I can understand the whole “why doth his arms stretcheth so?”
Maybe I can explain being the hardcore Sonic nerd that I am. Long before Sonic was even known as Needle Mouse or even a hedgehog, one of Yugi Naka’s core design ideas was stretchy arms. In fact, this idea of stretchiness and sticking close to a partner would also reemerge years later in the 32X game Knuckles Chaotix and again in the game Ristar (which is why that 1 game always finds it’s way in a Sonic compilation). Stretchy arms was a concept that was supposed to go into the original Sonic game. Of course this was a concept that was explored around the same time Eggman was skinny and Sonic was dangerously close to being a Rabbit.
Haven’t listened to it yet, but that picture is epic!
I usually don’t comment, but as far as Sonic Unleashed goes, I have a story to tell about the 360 version. I’ll cut out a lot of what I was originally going to say to keep it spoiler free and short(er).
My friend Tom ran a 24+ hour Sonic marathon for charity this weekend with a bunch of his friends, and I was part of his group, Ocean City Trinity. The GameStop near him broke the release date for the 360, and we actually made a show of breaking the shrink wrap yesterday morning live as part of the marathon. The experience started out very well for those who were still awake, but the Werehog stages kind of drug on. I had a fun time when I played, and eventually passed the controller to Tom.
Around the first boss, I took a nap. I came back later to find that he was still playing it. We were lost on what to do next, and while I helped to unlock an area, we couldn’t actually get to the stage we had to go to until we had enough of a certain kind of medal (there are two types). We had to go back through the hub world and previous levels and find them, in both of Sonic’s forms.
Yes, go back to find medals as a core part of gameplay. When did this become a platformer collect-a-thon? In my opinion, it was basically Sonic Team’s way to milk all the replay value of the levels on the first play-through, and were just as bad as the Wii version’s missions (as Ray so helpfully described them).
Eventually, after about six to eight hours of playing it, we had to stop. There was no way we were going to finish before the 30 hour mark.
If you play this version of the game, please rent it to see if you like it first before buying. I didn’t play the demo, so I don’t know if it would do anything for you.
Oh and I think the general consensus here is if you’ve played Animal Crossing before, buying City Folk doesn’t justify the 50 dollar point, but the game is actually a lot of fun.
If you’re skeptical about whether the new additions will make it interesting again, give it a rent, you may be in for a pleasant surprise.
Ok, when I heard you say “And “musical misfits” this week is banished…” I was like “WHAT?” I feel really stupid now. XD
I am also Animal Crossing fan, and have similiar complaints about City Folk, but will most likely purchase the game anyway. Why? Well, when you said it was like being a sonic fan, you were right. But there haven’t been a million Animal Crossing games, just four, so I sort of should buy it and I feel like it will be fun for me just because I’m a fan and that will make the few new things feel special.
Anyway, good podcast, I look forward to listening in next week 😉
Ok, great podcast guys! There were a lot of funny things in this one, but I can’t really recall all of them. The ending was hilarious though. I only have my long comments when I type them up while I listen. So yeah, same Musical Misfit I posted on your last podcast. If I find another one, I’ll post it here.
After finding out the library was closed and waiting to download (2.5 hours!!!) it on Dial-up, I have this to say.
Unleashed on the Ps3/360 IS NOT the same game for the Wii/Ps2
The first one is made by Sega
the second (inferior) one is made by Dimps, who made the Sonic advance games.
I have heard that the first option has equal Sonic/Werehog time
instead of the second ones Sonic is not as much as the werehog
Thanks for all the replies everyone, as always. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, we read all of them and talk with each other what you guys mention pretty often.
I’ve been playing Sonic Unleashed on Xbox360 today – have completed two Sonic stages and two Werehog stages – and I must say: I’m having a blast. All of my complaints in the podcast about the Wii version are stripped away on 360, and I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s not perfect, but it sure is fun. I want to say “Sonic’s back,” but I’ll hold judgement until the very end of it all…
Really? Well then, I should see about trying that version out sometime! I wonder if there’s a demo…
Well surely there are still tons of Werehog stages right Ray? Wasn’t that your biggest issue? The annoying running issues, couldn’t possibly be as annoying as that.
EDIT: After reading D3vin’s comment…maybe not. Are you seriously telling me that these are two COMPLETELY different games? That’s is way more deserving of a Black Doom Award IMO.
No, it is just like the Super Nintendo vs Genesis versions of some games, One console has it better than the other most times. Just like Mortal Kombat, The Genesis version has all of the things in with inferior graphics and gameplay while the SNES one had better graphics, but with cencored and no fatalities… It is like comparing Apple juice to Apple cider, they are the same, but different at the same time
Inferior gameplay? The Genesis version had smaller sprites but the timing of the moves were much closer to the arcade original. However SNES got the trump card on MKII when Kung Loa’s hat throw fatality was needed to be guided like the arcade original whereas on Genesis all you needed to do was hold LP and press AAT. Of course SNES also gave you a full extra second to pull off fatalities whereas the Genesis version was arcade authentic on it’s timing. Of course all of this pails in comparison to MK II’s PSN release for $5 which is 100% arcade perfect….
Maybe I should run to outworld for knowing all this useless crap…
I had save file loss on a ps2:
*starts holding power to turn off game*
“Your game is autosaving, do not turn off the console.”
oh, f***
Also, sounded like Kevin’s memory card had a corrupt file system, which wiping the whole thing can fix.
No, that was a typo, I forgot to put ‘good’ in front of ‘gameplay’ when discribing the Genesis version… my bad.
I don’t know if Genesis/SNES is a good comparison. I would compare the differences as that of Gamecube/Gameboy Advance. That might be a tad too harsh though. Right now there is a werehog stage for ever Sonic stage. That’s a far cry from 1 act day / 4 act night.
Glad you’re having fun with the 360 version, Ray. Sorry if I seemed rather negative earlier; I guess our group didn’t get enough stuff in one run to unlock the stages we needed to go to. We were trying to blindly speedrun a game that should probably be enjoyed in more moderation. That, and we were all very, very tired. The stages, I have to admit, were pretty fun. As an old school Sonic fan, I just didn’t like the backtracking and collecting parts. Annoying, but not a complete deal breaker.
..that, and we didn’t play the Wii version first. The 360 version sounds like such a superior game, like Sonic Unleashed versus a Wii/PS2 port based loosely off the game.
The Wii must be crying after being shafted by Sonic Team. Why, after all those years, Sonic, why? Wasn’t Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario/Sonic at the Olympic Games good enough for you, didn’t it help your popularity after critics beat you up over Sonic 2006? Maybe Mario tried to put the moves on Sonic in the locker room..
That has GOT to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. I just can’t believe that they made two totally different games. If that doesn’t get the Black Doom Award next week then I’m going to be floored.
I just came back from the local games store, and while there, one of the workers jumped at me with a: “Hey, want to try out Wii Music? It’s sure to get you interested!”. I nicely rejected, but he kept on following me, because I’m a girl and most probably don’t know what I’m doing in a video games store. When I picked up Chrono Trigger for the DS, he gasped (he did), and told me how that game doesn’t suit me (highly insulting, as I played the original in my childhood), and that Sonic Unleashed, while very hard (another insult for my gaming abilities), might be better for me.
That’s when I lost hope in even giving Sonic Unleashed a try. And of course I left the store after that.
But, really, two different games? The Werehog, when first seen, did get a shriek out of me, but now I really have a reason to hate it (four Acts? wuzza?). AND THE ABSURD WALKING?! *headdesk*. I’m really trying, Sonic, but you’re not helping 😐
Animal Crossing, yeah. While I’ve never given it a chance, I just don’t like to play games with no define ending, or purpose. I’m sure it’s lots of fun, but just not my cup of tea.
Thanks for picking my entry! And while I don’t think this qualifies as a Musical Misfit, as its known, but it popped up on my iPod a while ago and it’s just stuck in my mind. So — Marble Zone – Sonic 1, to go with all the Sonic talk.
Good Podcast
I was trying to think if I ever had a memory card break down..I don’t think so. but all my SNES batteries are dying, so saves always get erased on those. My brother accidently erased my Tales of Symphonia game when I was 20 hours in. and to prepare for Brawl I went to play some melee, and accidenlty erased my game.
and didn’t they announce the wii version was completely different since the announcement…cuz I already knew that..for awhile.
Well, the better “excuse” is simply because Nintendo Wii is dramatically different from 360 and PS3. So developers have to either develop two entirely different games or farm it out to others so that they can focus on one version. While it sucks this is the common practice, Nintendo has their hand in this since it was THEIR choice to make the system with dramatically different hardware design. Their hopes was it would force more than just ports, the cold reality is their versions get shuffled off to the studio working on the PS2 and PSP versions more often than not.
Losing save files is the worst. My brother and I had a memory card (3rd party) that got corrupted like two or three times before we decided to stop using it…the first time was the worst because all of a sudden all that stuff is gone out of nowhere. Because of that memory card (mostly), my brother’s beaten Sonic Adventure 2 Battle like 4 times.
Also, I have a completely unrelated question: for your logo, is the “2P START!” in a particular font (and if so, what font), or did you draw that up or something? The last comic gave me an idea…
So you are saying it is like comparing the Gamecube port of Crazy Taxi to the Gameboy Advance port? I agree…
It all comes down to hardware, and the Wii is a little shy in that department.
Actually, this is kinda late, but I once again stand corrected. So before anyone came over for Thanksgiving, I thought I’d go through the festivities in City Folk. So I go talk to Tortimer and he has the food laid out, but when I talk to him, he tells me that the festival doesn’t start until 3. Needless to say I was kinda mad, but thankfully the festival was still going at 7.
The food obsession is common in Japan. It’s a cultural thing. If you read books from Japanese authors or Manga (or watch anime) then you’ll notice that there’s an unusually high occurrence of scenes of people eating.
You can hardly find an episode of an anime without somebody sucking ramen out of a bowl…