Support NeoGAF

[Neo Child]

uh, getting annoying playing a mission over and over and doing perfect except for a 9/10 on impact.

I guess the missions aren't too long so it isn't a huge issue, but I'm wondering if I should even bother going for perfects?

It's times like this when you wish the 3DS has achievements (that friends could view) and a point system (Club Points(?))

 

[giggas]

uh, getting annoying playing a mission over and over and doing perfect except for a 9/10 on impact.

I guess the missions aren't too long so it isn't a huge issue, but I'm wondering if I should even bother going for perfects?

Do the invisible balloons ever become "uninvisible" after you unlock later modes, or are they just there as guides?

Yeah I've been trying to do perfects since I did everything else in the game and it is VERY frustrating to do an amazing run through a course only to lose that ONE point on landing, especially with the plane (perfect landings on the rocket belt are cake).

So far I've gotten red stars on the first two classes and I'm halfway through the third, but I don't know if I have it in me to do the whole thing.

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but invisible balloons are only invisible if you're using the wrong vehicle to get around. Meaning the balloon might be invisible if you're in a plane, but visible when you're using the hang glider. It's been a while since I completed that mode so I might be wrong.

 

[gingerbeardman]

What you say about (semi-opaque) balloons is correct.

 

[Rekubot]

So Pilotwings dropped to £20 recently and so I had to pick it up.

I have 3 stars in all the missions and unlocked

Spoiler

a weird-ass diorama; is it from the older Pilotwings games? I never played them

. No way in hell am I going for perfect scores on all missions, the landing sequence is too unpredictable. Props to metsallica and the rest for achieving that.

I found myself with 3D turned off for most of it. It causes a lot of double-vision which is a pain in the ass when I don't know which balloon I'm supposed to be flying to. It's one of those games which has me moving my head around a lot in an attempt to make the plane turn faster, breaking the 3D effect. 2D works fine though.

Favourite vehicle? Hang glider, mostly because the music is soooo good. Sucks that we didn't get more

Spoiler

squirrel suit

missions though. Only one? Big disappointment.

All that's left for me now then is to tuck into free-flight mode. I'm guessing the plane is the recommended vehicle for this?

 

[EvilMario]

So Pilotwings dropped to £20 recently and so I had to pick it up.

I have 3 stars in all the missions and unlocked

Spoiler

a weird-ass diorama; is it from the older Pilotwings games? I never played them

. No way in hell am I going for perfect scores on all missions, the landing sequence is too unpredictable. Props to metsallica and the rest for achieving that.

I found myself with 3D turned off for most of it. It causes a lot of double-vision which is a pain in the ass when I don't know which balloon I'm supposed to be flying to. It's one of those games which has me moving my head around a lot in an attempt to make the plane turn faster, breaking the 3D effect. 2D works fine though.

Favourite vehicle? Hang glider, mostly because the music is soooo good. Sucks that we didn't get more

Spoiler

squirrel suit

missions though. Only one? Big disappointment.

All that's left for me now then is to tuck into free-flight mode. I'm guessing the plane is the recommended vehicle for this?

This is what I ended up doing. 3D looks great in the game, and I use it for casual free flight mode, but in missions, I have to turn it off.

 

[Futureman]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but invisible balloons are only invisible if you're using the wrong vehicle to get around. Meaning the balloon might be invisible if you're in a plane, but visible when you're using the hang glider. It's been a while since I completed that mode so I might be wrong.

The transparent balloons that you need to switch vehicles to hit are in Free Flight mode.

I'm talking about in Mission mode, there'll be those orange cirlce guide dots, but if there's 6 in a row, only 2 of them will be lit up and "hittable." I've beaten the game now, and I guess they are just guide dots.

if you go to the start of the mission at 9:20 in this video, he passes two of the invisible dots right at the beginning and then the third one is hittable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcN2hyBqTGo

 

[metsallica]

They are indeed simply guides.

 

[gingerbeardman]

Finished this on Monday

38.5 hours over 2 months and 58 play sessions!

Mission mode 11:44:30
Free Flight 3:47:00
Total 15:32:30
1126 stars, 85686 points.

Now that's value for money!

 

[Neuromancer]

Finished this on Monday

38.5 hours over 2 months and 58 play sessions!

Mission mode 11:44:30
Free Flight 3:47:00
Total 15:32:30
1126 stars, 85686 points.

Now that's value for money!

Daaamn! Congrats on 100% completion!

 

[Galactic Fork]

Finished this on Monday

38.5 hours over 2 months and 58 play sessions!

Mission mode 11:44:30
Free Flight 3:47:00
Total 15:32:30
1126 stars, 85686 points.

Now that's value for money!

Soo if Mission mode and free flight were 15:32:30, what were the other 23 hours?

 

[Luigiv]

Soo if Mission mode and free flight were 15:32:30, what were the other 23 hours?

The game doesn't count retries.

 

[Morokh]

Soo if Mission mode and free flight were 15:32:30, what were the other 23 hours?

I got a difference between the game clock and the console clock too and I don't know where that comes from since I have never put the system to sleep mode with Pilotwings.

Edit : Damn beaten

 

[idwl]

how do i improve my landing impact?

 

[Ollie Pooch]

how do i improve my landing impact?

Don't come in too steep. If it's the hang glider, make sure his legs are extended out.

Just back into this now, on a quest to 3-red-star all the missions in the game. Only just cleared all of silver.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

at launch this was pretty panned... was it just launch hysteria? I'm getting slowly more interested in 3DS with the coming mario goodness, this game is solid?

 

[RpgN]

I found myself with 3D turned off for most of it. It causes a lot of double-vision which is a pain in the ass when I don't know which balloon I'm supposed to be flying to. It's one of those games which has me moving my head around a lot in an attempt to make the plane turn faster, breaking the 3D effect. 2D works fine though

I haven't turned 3D off but have those problems as well and might do just that. It looks pretty in 3D though...

I've played about 7 hours with the game and went through a couple of platinum missions, 3 stars is a must but I'm not bothered about getting perfect so far. The game has been a lot of fun and it was worth paying full price in the end, just for the different experience and being made pretty well. But they could have done more with it, like creating more missions for vehicles that had one mission for instance, getting outfits/skins for your vehicles and character etc.

I'd love to see a sequel with new locations and more!

 

[idwl]

Don't come in too steep. If it's the hang glider, make sure his legs are extended out.

Just back into this now, on a quest to 3-red-star all the missions in the game. Only just cleared all of silver.

ok cool. thank you. =D

 

[Barrett2]

at launch this was pretty panned... was it just launch hysteria? I'm getting slowly more interested in 3DS with the coming mario goodness, this game is solid?

It's a fun game if you like flying through rings and popping balloons for hours and hours. If you enjoy that, it's great, if you don't, you will think it's boring.

FWIW, I loved it.

 

[Ushojax]

at launch this was pretty panned... was it just launch hysteria? I'm getting slowly more interested in 3DS with the coming mario goodness, this game is solid?

It's an incredibly content-light game but it's good fun while it lasts. I spent about 5 hours on it in total, which was enough to 3 star all the missions and get most of the free-flight stuff.

 

[Neuromancer]

at launch this was pretty panned... was it just launch hysteria? I'm getting slowly more interested in 3DS with the coming mario goodness, this game is solid?

I loved it. Only thing that would have made it better would have been more environments but you can't always get what you want. I put roughly 15 hours into this game and had a great time, other people have played it for more than that.

 

[EatChildren]

The amount of people I've seen bitching that this game isn't worth more than a ~$2 app because they can 'unlock everything' in a couple of hours has killed any faith I might have had left in gamers.

Yeah, I'm siding with developers on this one. The app store has distorted the perception of value for money for the worse.

 

[Chaplain]

The amount of people I've seen bitching that this game isn't worth more than a ~$2 app because they can 'unlock everything' in a couple of hours has killed any faith I might have had left in gamers.

Yeah, I'm siding with developers on this one. The app store has distorted the perception of value for money for the worse.

Is the new Pilotwings as good as Pilotwings 64? If it is not, then there is something really wrong with the new game.

 

[Barrett2]

The amount of people I've seen bitching that this game isn't worth more than a ~$2 app because they can 'unlock everything' in a couple of hours has killed any faith I might have had left in gamers.

Yeah, I'm siding with developers on this one. The app store has distorted the perception of value for money for the worse.

Or maybe it's correcting the market by making it more consumer friendly by pushing back against companies charging $40 for games with insufficient content?

I fail to see the tragedy of gamers realizing that if a developer can put online functionality, achievements, mission creativity, DLC content, and variety into $2 games, why should we not expect the same from a billion dollar corporation charging us $40 for their games?

It's not just that Pilotwings, Steel Diver, etc., didn't have enough "levels," but rather that they didn't have enough of lots of things.

 

[EatChildren]

Is the new Pilotwings as good as Pilotwings 64? If it is not, then there is something really wrong with the new game.

This has little to do with my point.

Or maybe it's correcting the market by making it more consumer friendly by pushing back against companies charging $40 for games with insufficient content?

I fail to see the tragedy of gamers realizing that if a developer can put online functionality, achievements, mission creativity, DLC content, and variety into $2 games, why should we not expect the same from a billion dollar corporation charging us $40 for their games?

It's not just that Pilotwings, Steel Diver, etc., didn't have enough "levels," but rather that they didn't have enough of lots of things.

All your complaints are valid, but the game's value is greater than a $2 app. Its a fun game with plenty of challenge.

The problem is that gamers have this obsession with judging value by raw content. Excite Truck/Bots suffered a similar fate; too simple, too basic, not enough content. Dig deep and theres hours of challenge to be found.

 

[Lonely1]

at launch this was pretty panned... was it just launch hysteria? I'm getting slowly more interested in 3DS with the coming mario goodness, this game is solid?

The game is the best showcase of 3D i have seen so far (that includes Ps3&PC). The gameplay is polished and if you are Completionist this game will easily give you over a dozens of hours of gameplay. I personally find that just flying around is a joy.

However, is true that there's only one location and that day cycles don't change much, if anything, the island. It's also true that the only location is recycled from Wii Sports Resort.

 

[idwl]

Nintendo could have added a lot of replay value if they just added multiplayer to it. I'm loving the game so far though

 

[Barrett2]

All your complaints are valid, but the game's value is greater than a $2 app. Its a fun game with plenty of challenge.

The problem is that gamers have this obsession with judging value by raw content. Excite Truck/Bots suffered a similar fate; too simple, too basic, not enough content. Dig deep and theres hours of challenge to be found.

But again, I would say that is ultimately the developer's fault, not consumers.

If devs want to make games light on content in 2011, that's fine. But when it is so easy nowadays to include online leaderboards, challenges, multiplayer, achievements, etc., the devs don't really have an excuse when gamers finish their game in 4 hours and have nothing left to do, or little incentive to do it. The fact alone that neither first party launch title had any SpotPass or StreetPass functionality whatsoever is laughable, IMO.

If devs want to charge $40 for their game, and not have people whine about how short it is, I don't think its unreasonable that they include even the most basic features that would greatly enhance the replayability and overall value of the game.

I keep going back to my iOS Poker example, but it really is true, IMO. If a developer of 5 dudes can implement leaderboards, online challenges, achievements, unique challenges, etc., all in their $2 iOS poker game, a billion dollar corporation like Nintendo really has no excuse.

 

[Chaplain]

This has little to do with my point.

It does have to do with your point. If a remake of Pilotwings 64 was released for the 3DS like the Oot remake, would it offer a better value than Pilotwings Resort?

 

[Ollie Pooch]

Nintendo could have added a lot of replay value if they just added multiplayer to it. I'm loving the game so far though

Much of the time I've spent on this has been perfecting each mission - I guess if you're not one of those people who gets obsessed with completing things like that, it'll feel pretty light on.

Speaking of which - Steel Diver got panned pretty badly for this. Are the missions star-ranked/scored?

 

[Lonely1]

It does have to do with your point. If a remake of Pilotwings 64 was released for the 3DS like the Oot remake, would it offer a better value than Pilotwings Resort?

No, imo.

 

[Mockingbird]

at launch this was pretty panned... was it just launch hysteria? I'm getting slowly more interested in 3DS with the coming mario goodness, this game is solid?

Those who actually play for 100% completion don't seem to have any problem with this game. I felt it was well worth what I paid for it. The game is short if you play to beat, but if you want to get perfect scores on all missions and unlock everything in free flight mode, then it'll take more time. For me it was over 30 hours.

 

[Chaplain]

No, imo.

Pilotwings Resort is a better game than Pilotwings 64?

 

[Kai Dracon]

The game is the best showcase of 3D i have seen so far (that includes Ps3&PC). The gameplay is polished and if you are Completionist this game will easily give you over a dozens of hours of gameplay. I personally find that just flying around is a joy.

However, is true that there's only one location and that day cycles don't change much, if anything, the island. It's also true that the only location is recycled from Wii Sports Resort.

Best short summary of the game. Despite valid criticisms that it doesn't have virtually anything modern games, even portable ones have, the majority of the launch day freak-outs were not because it didn't have achievements or multiplayer, but people screaming it was a 3 hour game and had no content.

Well, it has the content in terms of gameplay. One can also say that Child of Eden has no content because it's 5 levels long and you can "beat it" in an hour if you're pretty decent.

Plus, the fact that people have been waiting for a new Pilotwings so long, everyone - understandably - wants the ultimate Pilotwings experience.

 

[Lonely1]

I keep going back to my iOS Poker example, but it really is true, IMO. If a developer of 5 dudes can implement leaderboards, online challenges, achievements, unique challenges, etc., all in their $2 iOS poker game, a billion dollar corporation like Nintendo really has no excuse.

Well, I dislike the notion of including online features just because. Would I have liked 'cool' online modes/challenges? Sure, but what would they be? They don't make much sense in the current game design. Not even leaderboards, they would need another metric. I would take more locations over online features.

 

[EatChildren]

But again, I would say that is ultimately the developer's fault, not consumers.

If devs want to make games light on content in 2011, that's fine. But when it is so easy nowadays to include online leaderboards, challenges, multiplayer, achievements, etc., the devs don't really have an excuse when gamers finish their game in 4 hours and have nothing left to do, or little incentive to do it. The fact alone that neither first party launch title had any SpotPass or StreetPass functionality whatsoever is laughable, IMO.

If devs want to charge $40 for their game, and not have people whine about how short it is, I don't think its unreasonable that they include even the most basic features that would greatly enhance the replayability and overall value of the game.

I keep going back to my iOS Poker example, but it really is true, IMO. If a developer of 5 dudes can implement leaderboards, online challenges, achievements, unique challenges, etc., all in their $2 iOS poker game, a billion dollar corporation like Nintendo really has no excuse.

I cant agree with achievements (another debate for another time) and I dont thing Pilotwings needs online, but yes Nintendo should have added more raw content, especially challenges. As a full priced game, I can see why people would be turned off. It really probably should be priced lower considering what it is.

But the point is that with all its problem it still is, in my opinion, more valuable than a $2 app, and much of the vocalisation as to why Resort is without value tends to come from people who have no interest in persuing three star scores for the existing challenges. Fair for them, but not a good judge of game value for others.

For me something like adding achievements is a borderline embarrassing means of extending replay value and content, especially in the context of a game like this, which already offers such incentives as simply playing to the best of your ability and scoring maximum points on missions. The game already offers such content and challenge.

It does have to do with your point. If a remake of Pilotwings 64 was released for the 3DS like the Oot remake, would it offer a better value than Pilotwings Resort?

For me? No. For others? Maybe. I'm interested in OoT, but I'm really not super keen on remakes. I would, quite honestly, prefer Resort over a Pilotwings 64 remake, because I've played the latter to death already.

Repackaging an old game with new assets is less interesting for me than a new game, even if that new game is lighter in content.

 

[Lonely1]

Pilotwings Resort is a better game than Pilotwings 64?

I don't remember enough of Pw64 to make that assessment. But it does have more content. (The single location is big and far more detailed than the N64 could hope for).

 

[Barrett2]

Well, I dislike the notion of including online features just because. Would I have liked 'cool' online modes/challenges? Sure, but what would they be? They don't make much sense in the current game design. Not even leaderboards, they would need another metric. I would take more locations over online features.

Yeah, I haven't given much thought to what specifically Pilotwings would benefit from, I was just throwing out some general examples.

But, like I said, they don't even have StreetPass or SpotPass in the game, which i assume was just a symptom of the overall rushed launch of the system.

But, imagine a new vehicle you could get via SpotPass, like the Squirrel Suit, and ten challenge maps that then compare your time and overall score to the people on your friends list? I think that would be cool.

Or what about picking up ghost data from people via Street Pass, then you can import their ghost into your levels to see how they did better than you, etc.

But the point is that with all its problem it still is, in my opinion, more valuable than a $2 app, and much of the vocalisation as to why Resort is without value tends to come from people who have no interest in persuing three star scores for the existing challenges. Fair for them, but not a good judge of game value for others.

For me something like adding achievements is a borderline embarrassing means of extending replay value and content, especially in the context of a game like this, which already offers such incentives as simply playing to the best of your ability and scoring maximum points on missions. The game already offers such content and challenge.

I thought the game was great fun. But, im' also at a point in my life when blowing $40 on a game I only play for 7 hours isn't a big deal. But I still remember those college days of only $100 in my checking account, and needing to be able to play the hell out of a game to not feel like I wasted my money, so I can see where people would get frustrated with light content.

I think it will be interesting to see what the next round of post-launch 3DS games have in terms of content. Because the system launch was so rushed, I kind of give them a pass on the light content. *But*, if next year rolls around and we are still getting 1st party 3DS games with no Spot Pass, Street Pass, or any online or leaderboard functionality at all... then that is a huge problem, IMO.

 

[Chaplain]

Repackaging an old game with new assets is less interesting for me than a new game, even if that new game is lighter in content.

I think this is the main issue. A game released in 2011 should have more content than a game released in 1996. Nintendo has no excuse in this area. They have had 15 years to make this sequel. Resort should have blown the previous game away in every department. But it seems like Nintendo failed at this and many people are upset.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Yeah, I haven't given much thought to what specifically Pilotwings would benefit from, I was just throwing out some general examples.

But, like I said, they don't even have StreetPass or SpotPass in the game, which i assume was just a symptom of the overall rushed launch of the system.

But, imagine a new vehicle you could get via SpotPass, like the Squirrel Suit, and ten challenge maps that then compare your time and overall score to the people on your friends list? I think that would be cool.

Or what about picking up ghost data from people via Street Pass, then you can import their ghost into your levels to see how they did better than you, etc.

I'm the first to agree Pilotwings Resort is a major missed opportunity, for all that I love it as a game.

One of the simplest things they could have done with just a bit more support was spotpass downloads for custom challenge courses for a given vehicle, with a leaderboard system for everyone who has downloaded and attempted the custom route. It wouldn't have been hard to either make a hundred or so of these challenge course in advance, or pay a couple of guys to provide post release support.

I think the problem with Nintendo is that these concepts are still too foreign to their DNA. They still aren't thinking like most contemporary companies; it's not that they're stupid. Their frame of reference is both behind the times, and a little alien.

 

[RpgN]

But again, I would say that is ultimately the developer's fault, not consumers.

If devs want to make games light on content in 2011, that's fine. But when it is so easy nowadays to include online leaderboards, challenges, multiplayer, achievements, etc., the devs don't really have an excuse when gamers finish their game in 4 hours and have nothing left to do, or little incentive to do it. The fact alone that neither first party launch title had any SpotPass or StreetPass functionality whatsoever is laughable, IMO.

If devs want to charge $40 for their game, and not have people whine about how short it is, I don't think its unreasonable that they include even the most basic features that would greatly enhance the replayability and overall value of the game.

I keep going back to my iOS Poker example, but it really is true, IMO. If a developer of 5 dudes can implement leaderboards, online challenges, achievements, unique challenges, etc., all in their $2 iOS poker game, a billion dollar corporation like Nintendo really has no excuse.

Totally agreed, although I find achievements/trophies bad for games that don't need it.

This game...is in a weird situation. It only has value if you're willing to get high scores and it is missing basic features.

Luckily I'm not too bothered about how long it takes me (I have more than enough games) and just want a fun game to play with that's a bit more different. I've complained quite a lot about this game in the past before getting my hands on it and I kept hearing that it took only 2 hours to complete the game. It turned out it wasn't that short from experience so I'm not sure what people were going on about.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I've passed on Steel Diver because of the reviews.
I wonder if I should pick this up?

Do you guys think its solid enough with content or should I wait for lower prices?

 

[Neuromancer]

I was very happy with the game, got a solid 15 hours or so of play from it and still go back to it now and then just for fun.

 

[idwl]

I've passed on Steel Diver because of the reviews.
I wonder if I should pick this up?

Do you guys think its solid enough with content or should I wait for lower prices?

Its fun, But if you can wait to find a second hand version. Do so

 

[imthemaid]

I'm in love. The sounds, the little 3d world, the flutter of the wings on the hang glider. It's so fun to climb the highest thermal and then speed straight down and buzz the town, tiny 3d cars and all.

Miis don't even ruin this game, 'cause their stupid faces are always pointed away from me, which is the only acceptable direction for a Mii to face.

 

[Tom_Cody]

Wow, the 3D in this is total ass. I had played this at launch but I just revisited it in order to get to 100% completion. Now that I have played Starfox and even more so Mario 3D Land, the 3D just seems unusable. I can't believe how hard I was trying to convince myself that the 3D in this title was actually worthwhile.

That said, I still have a soft-spot for this game. It is just a fun, though limited, experience.

I have finally unlocked all the dioramas and I have completed 100% of free mode and I just have 7 perfect scores left to obtain in mission mode with 18 hours played. I think I'll put this back on the shelf for now and revisit it in a few months to take another stab at those perfect mission scores.