Game Scoop! 823: Are These Really the Best & Worst Nintendo Franchises?

Summary

Game Scoop! 823 Summary

Episode Title: Are These Really the Best & Worst Nintendo Franchises?
Date: September 3, 2025
Hosts: Daemon Hatfield, Sam Claiborne, Justin Davis
Network: IGN / Geek Media

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the IGN crew dissecting a new Metacritic list that claims to objectively rank every major Nintendo franchise, from worst to best, based on Metascore averages. The trio debates the credibility of using review averages to determine franchise worth, reminisces about obscure and beloved series, and weighs the methodologies of such rankings. In the latter half, the crew discusses news on the just-announced Call of Duty movie, Capcom’s theory about Monster Hunter Wilds’ performance, and fields listener questions on national gaming pride. As always, the episode wraps up with the fiercely competitive “20 Questions” video game guessing game.

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Main Segment: Metacritic's Nintendo Franchise Rankings

Starts ~03:00, main discussion to ~50:00

The Premise

• Metacritic has published a list ranking every Nintendo franchise (44 in total) from "worst" to "best" based on the average Metascore across their games.
  • "AI could have made this list." – Daemon Hatfield [03:26]
  • The hosts agree the ranking methodology is questionable but a fun discussion starter.

Notable Lowlights (Worst-Rated Nintendo Franchises)

• #44: Pokémon Rumble (Avg Metascore: 55.5)
  • None of the hosts have strong memories or affinity for this “beat ‘em up” Pokémon sub-series.
  • "They made four of these games." – Damon [04:34]
• #43: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Avg: 62.9)
  • A surprise, as hosts recall enjoying some entries. None ever broke a 70 on Metacritic.
  • "Okay, that's it. I'm calling the cops." – Justin [06:46]
• #42: Chibi-Robo (Avg: 65.3)
  • First two games respected, last two tank the average. “That's why.” – Damon [08:20]
• #41: Donkey Kong Spinoffs
  • Inclusion of both classic (e.g., Donkey Kong 94) and oddball titles (Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Diddy Kong Racing) makes this “spinoff” category confusing.
  • "That's its own series." – Justin [09:08]
• #39 (tie): Pokémon Stadium & Dr. Mario (Avg: 69.4)
  • Recognized as slightly above average but not standouts. Confusion over what constitutes a franchise or sub-series runs through the discussion.

Notable Discussions and Franchise Shout-Outs

• Mario Party (#38, Avg: 70)
  • Once seen as mediocre, now “we're in heady Mario Party times”—major U-shaped trajectory.
• Wii Sports (#32, Avg: 74)
  • "This is really shining a light on what a dark time the Wii U was for Nintendo." – Damon [19:16]
• Kirby Spinoffs (#35) vs Kirby Mainline (#21)
  • Hosts object to the distinction, feeling “gerrymandering” could make Kirby’s quality appear different.
  • "You could definitely gerrymander a really good Kirby list." – Justin [29:17]
• Animal Crossing (#23)
  • Recognized for both high highs (New Horizons) and less-beloved entries. Anticipation for the next game.
  • “New Horizons was so good.” – Sam [27:59]

The Top 10 Nintendo Franchises (By Metacritic Average)

Segment starts ~41:12

1. The Legend of Zelda (Avg: 89.6)
   • Supreme praise, "so high" – Justin [49:14]. Only minor clunkers (Triforce Heroes, Zelda 2) lower the average.
2. Super Smash Bros. (Avg: 89)
3. Super Mario (Avg: 88.5)
   • “When you have such a huge sample size, it’s amazing that just the stupid bonehead average is still so high.” – Sam [47:52]
4. Xenoblade Chronicles (Avg: 87)
   • Hosts are awed by the scores, but admit the length of these games keeps them away.
5. Mario Kart (Avg: 86.7)
   • Mainline never scored lower than 82; spinoff/tie-ins (Live Home Circuit) drag the average.
6. Pushmo (Avg: 84)
   • Hosts are surprised by its high placement.
7. Nintendo Wars (Advance Wars, etc.) (Avg: 84)
8. F-Zero (Avg: 83.7)
   • “It’s too cool for Nintendo.” – Justin [42:57]
9. Metroid (Avg: 83.3)
   • NES, Federation Force, and pinball games lower the average, but Super Metroid remains a classic.
10. Mario & Luigi (Avg: 83.1)
    • Praised for genuinely funny writing.

Overall Observations

• Hosts debate the fairness of Metacritic-based rankings, with Daemon noting, "AI could have made this list."
• Some franchises are split awkwardly (main vs spinoff), skewing results (especially for Kirby and Donkey Kong).
• Even the “worst” franchises are rarely outright bad—a testament to Nintendo's quality floor.
• Notable missing or oddly categorized series prompt calls to fix or improve the methodology.
  • "If it's just a meta average of all the games in the series, like there's definitely good Mystery Dungeon games, but maybe there's also some that are mediocre..." – Justin [06:34]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I'm calling the cops." – Justin Davis, protesting Mystery Dungeon's low ranking [06:46]
• "Everything starts off seemingly on the rails. But pretty soon, everything goes sideways with this list." – Damon Hatfield [08:41]
• "You could definitely gerrymander a really good Kirby list." – Justin Davis [29:17]
• "AI could have made this list." – Damon Hatfield [03:26]
• "Fruit Ninja is a worldwide phenomenon." – Justin Davis, recognizing Australia's most iconic gaming export [64:09]
• "F-Zero is too cool for Nintendo." – Justin Davis [42:57]
• "When you have such a huge sample size, it’s amazing that just the stupid bonehead average is still so high." – Sam Claiborne on Mario's high average [47:52]

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Second Segment: Industry News

Starts ~52:22

Call of Duty Movie Announced

• Paramount strikes a deal for a Call of Duty movie, with Top Gun Maverick as the creative template.
• Hosts question how COD will differentiate from standard war movies, and discuss how the games’ stories are often more morally ambiguous than expected.
  • "Call of Duty has always been slightly more shades of gray." – Justin Davis [55:04]

Capcom on Monster Hunter Wilds Sales

• Capcom's president attributes Wilds’ “underperformance” to PlayStation 5's high cost, ignoring that the game is available elsewhere, and is still a massive success.
  • "It's the fastest-selling Capcom game ever." – Damon [56:14]
  • "10.6 million sold...that's not bad." – Sam [56:32]
  • Hosts suspect quality issues and player dissatisfaction are the real cause.

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Listener Mail: National Gaming Pride

Starts ~61:49

• A Canadian listener posits that Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect are Canada's most famous games, but also mentions indie darlings (Tunic, Balatro).
• The team debates Australia's most famous game, ultimately landing on Fruit Ninja and Crossy Road for sheer worldwide reach.
• "Fruit Ninja is a worldwide phenomenon." – Justin Davis [64:09]
• Nostalgia for arcade visits (“not a single traditional arcade video game in there...everything is a ticket redemption machine”) [65:08]

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Game Scoop! 20 Questions

Starts ~65:43

Answer: Resident Evil 7

• Clues established:
  • Japanese-developed, mainline horror, released in last 10 years, has associated movies/TV, playable in first-person, regarded as good to great, not a remake.
  • Sam and Justin methodically whittle down the possibilities, with trademark banter about past game adaptations.
• Quote: "Is it a mainline Resident Evil game?" – Sam [65:57]
• Quote: "Resident Evil 7." – Daemon [68:43]

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Key Timestamps

• 03:00 — Metacritic franchise ranking breakdown begins.
• 13:54 — Brain Age, Labo, mid-tier franchises.
• 21:08 — Excite series discussion.
• 28:21 — Peaking at well-rated yet obscure franchises.
• 41:12 — Top 10 franchises ranking starts.
• 47:03 — Mario Kart, Super Mario, Smash Bros discussion.
• 49:14 — Zelda crowned top Nintendo franchise.
• 52:22 — Call of Duty movie news.
• 56:00 — Capcom/Monster Hunter Wilds discussion.
• 61:49 — Listener mail: national games (Canada, Australia).
• 65:43 — Video game 20 Questions.

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Tone & Style

• Casual, quick-witted, playful (long-running inside jokes, “calling the cops” humor, mock outrage)
• Deep well of gaming knowledge, constant references to lesser-known games.
• Affectionate critique—hosts have fun with the premise while also poking holes in questionable methodologies.
• Emphasis on nostalgia and joy of gaming alongside skepticism of analytics.

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Conclusion

Episode 823 is a rapid-fire, nostalgia-fueled examination of Nintendo’s vast legacy, mediated by Metacritic's sometimes-unwieldy data lens. The crew’s spirited debates, deep knowledge, and good-natured ribbing make this an engaging listen for both hardcore and casual Nintendo fans. It’s not just a ranking episode—it’s a celebration (and gentle roasting) of everything that makes Nintendo special, quirky, and, at times, delightfully baffling.

Transcript

[Damon Hatfield]

So Metacritic ranked every Nintendo franchise ever. It is our duty as Omega cops to police the list. We will weigh in on how we would rank every Nintendo franchise. Plus, Capcom has an interesting theory about Monster Hunter Wilds and a Call of Duty movie has just been greenlit at Paramount. It's all coming up on gamescoop right after these messages. Planning any exciting trips this year? I bet something you might not be planning is learning the local language. Well, with Babel, you only need a few weeks to learn. This year, speak like a whole new you with Babbel, the language learning app that gets you talking. Babbel's quick 10 minute lessons, handcrafted by over 200 language experts get you to begin speaking your new language in three weeks or whatever pace you choose. And because conversing is the key to really understanding each other in new languages, Babbel is designed using practical real world conversations. Babbel's tips and tools are inspired by the real life stuff you actually need when communicating with a focus on conversation. You'll be ready to talk wherever you go. I've used Babbel to brush up on my Spanish before trips to Mexico. It's useful for learning an entirely new language, but also for those who, like me, haven't used a second language in years and could use some refreshers. Need proof that Babbel gets you talking? Studies from Yale, Michigan State and other leading universities continue to prove Babbel works. One study found that using Babbel for 15 hours is equivalent to a full semester at College. With over 16 million subscriptions sold. Babbel's 14 award winning language courses are backed by a 20 day money back guarantee. This year I want you to learn another language so I'm teaming up with Babbel to gift you 55% off subscriptions, but only for our listeners at babbel.com Gamescoop get up to 55% off at babel.com Gamescoop spelled B A B B E L.com Gamescoop babbel.com GamesCoop rules and restrictions may apply. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets. Mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail] what's up everybody? Welcome to IGN GamesCube I'm your host Damon Hatfield. And joining me this week are Sam Claiborne.

[Sam Claiborne]

Hey, greetings everybody.

[Damon Hatfield]

And Justin Davis. Scoop, we got a great show for you this week. Capcom seems a little confused as to what the issue is with Monster Hunter Wilds and a Call of Duty movie has officially been greenlit from Paramount and they're using Top Gun Maverick as their guiding light. It's kind of interesting and there is a baked in legitimate reason for Justin to talk about factorio what later on.

[Justin Davis]

I didn't know about that.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I didn't know about that either.

[Justin Davis]

Please.

[Sam Claiborne]

A goof to get him on the show.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, please be excited for that. But first I noticed over on Metacritic, the website Metacritic, they have. They have a new list. They've ranked every Nintendo franchise ever. From worst. From best to worst. I'm still sorry. From worst to best.

[Sam Claiborne]

Obviously every like they have Urban Champion on there.

[Justin Davis]

Is that arms what makes something a franchise?

[Damon Hatfield]

More than one. More than one release.

[Sam Claiborne]

Urban Champion got the three day remake on 3DS. You loved it, Damon.

[Damon Hatfield]

I did love it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Probably scored it at 9 out of 10.

[Damon Hatfield]

I probably reviewed it and gave it 9 out of 10.

[Sam Claiborne]

7 at that time.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, this is a list. Every Nintendo franchise. 44. They count. It begins at 44. So they count Nintendo as 44 franchises under their belt. I am a little bit tickled. It says this list is from the editorial team. Although there's no. There's no editorializing here. It's just ranked by their meta score. So literally AI could have made this list. But I think it's interesting. It's interesting because these are, you know, they're at the point they're at. They're slotted in where they are on the list because of how they've been reviewed.

[Sam Claiborne]

So it's because the AI knows now to say this is put together by the editorial team. That's what all of our editorial teams say in any listicles.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Anyway, I think it's interesting. I was not planning on spoiling this stuff. Jobert.

[Justin Davis]

Oh man.

[Sam Claiborne]

Mystery Dungeon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. As our viewers can see, we do begin. We do begin the list at number 44 with Pokemon Rumble, which yeah, never heard of it, I guess is its own zone franchise. Pokemon Rumble. Which is what the smash brothers of Pokemon. Is that what this is?

[Justin Davis]

I literally don't know what it is.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, it's like four of these games.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, four of them.

[Damon Hatfield]

They made four of these games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Action Y game, top down.

[Damon Hatfield]

Pokemon Rumble has an average metascore of 55.5. That's out of 100 folks.

[Justin Davis]

So is it more like Pokemon Power Stone then?

[Sam Claiborne]

No, it's not like you just run around. It's like an RPG still.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, weird.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's like a top down action rpg. But you play as the Pokemon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah. I don't even know. Simplified, real time beat em up action is what Metacritic has to say about these.

[Sam Claiborne]

There you go.

[Damon Hatfield]

Four games in the beat me up in the Wii in 2009. Pokemon Rumble then Pokemon Rumble Blast on 3ds, Pokemon Rumble U on Wii U, and Pokemon rumble world on 3ds.

[Sam Claiborne]

Remember when they made Pokemon Rumble? I believe Amiibo like things, but they were side the side on the side of Amiibo. They were more like in the era of Skylanders.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nope, I don't remember that.

[Sam Claiborne]

That all happened.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, well the high point for this series was the original Pokemon Rumble that had a 59. The low point was Pokemon Rumble U has a 49 on Medicare. Hell yeah. So that's where we begin a franchise that none of us had even really heard of before. Oh my gosh. I love it.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is them.

[Damon Hatfield]

Joe Bird has found an old video of Pear and Jose.

[Sam Claiborne]

They were for Rumble U. Yeah. These are for the Wii U. Yeah. So yeah, CFAI can remember that.

[Justin Davis]

It can, yeah. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Isn't this interesting though? So this is. I mean, Amiibo were concurrent with the Wii U, so this was. Was kind of alongside Amiibo, but they're not Amiibo.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Too bad.

[Sam Claiborne]

Don't you want all of those now they're like polygonal too. You see how the graphics look all crappy in that game? So these looks like those crappy graphics, but it looks cute in real life. The graphics just look crappy.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Interesting. Okay, that's Pokemon Rumble the franchise.

[Sam Claiborne]

And that's it for the list.

[Damon Hatfield]

And that's it. Coming in at number 43 is the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon franchise, which I was surprised to see because in my. In my head I like this. These games.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I mean if it's just. I mean if it's like a meta average of all the games in the series, like there's definitely good Mystery Dungeon games, but like maybe there's also some that are mediocre and not as good, but.

[Damon Hatfield]

Justin, no Mystery Dungeon game hits 70 on Metacritic.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, that's it. I'm calling the cops.

[Sam Claiborne]

There was a time in which Mario Party was like that. But you know, we're in heady Mario Party times now.

[Damon Hatfield]

We'll get to Mario Party in just a little bit.

[Sam Claiborne]

The Pokemon breaking that 7.5 wall whenever that happens. The ceiling.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, ceiling. The Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series has an average Metascore of 62.9.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's like, what, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 games in the series, ranging from the DS in 2006 all the way up to the switch. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue team DX was 2020. Looks like the high point would be that one. That one and Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon on 3s both have a 69. And the low point would be Mystery Dungeon Explorers ofSky on DS2009.

[Sam Claiborne]

So this is. This has RPG elements. So I guess I described the other one like, you're saying, like, more like a brawler, but almost like a. Like a Musou brawler. It was, like, always like clumps of.

[Damon Hatfield]

Enemies, like Dynasty Wars.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, this is a little bit more RPGish.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, these are roguelikes, right? With the random randomly generated dungeons each time.

[Damon Hatfield]

These are the Shin Wanderer likes.

[Justin Davis]

I think I played one on DS and totally loved it. I don't know. I guess I didn't know that these games weren't that great.

[Damon Hatfield]

In my head. I like these two, but I haven't played them in a long time. Yeah, I like the one for Game Boy advance, the Red Rescue Team. Okay, coming in at 42 is the chibi Robo franchise.

[Sam Claiborne]

What?

[Damon Hatfield]

With an average meta score score of 65.3.

[Justin Davis]

Nah, chibi robo is so good. But it's only. There's two of them, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

There's four of them, Justin. And the first. And the first two are good, and the last two are bad. So that's why.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Chibi Robo on GameCube has a 75. Chibi Robo Park Patrol on DS has a 78, but then Photo Finder on 3DS has a 49, and Zip Lash on 3DS has a 59. So that's.

[Justin Davis]

Those are spinoffs. That's not.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's a franchise rating. It's a franchise.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, but why. Why are the Pokemon games, like, in their own series?

[Sam Claiborne]

Nobody does.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which is why I meant as a disclaimer at the beginning of this, everything starts off seemingly on the rails. But pretty soon, everything goes sideways with this list as we're seeing right now. Because sooner than later, here is where I first raise an eyebrow. Coming at number 41 are the donkey Kong spinoffs franchise. Okay, which includes the likes of King of Swing and Donkey Kong Junior Math on NES, but then Donkey Kong 94 on Game Boy. Nope.

[Justin Davis]

No, not a spin.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not a spin off at all.

[Justin Davis]

Also, that's its own series of like, Donkey Kong puzzle platformers like the Minis, the March of the Minis and all of those. Yes, Mario versus Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong 94 is the original one.

[Sam Claiborne]

Could call that the Donkey Kong series. And then you could call the others Donkey Kong, maybe Country series.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, there's a whole Donkey Kong series later on too. And what they consider the spin offs to be Junior Math Dunk on Junior Math, Donkey Kong 94, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Konga Conga 2, King of Swing, Jungle Climber, and Barrel Blast.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, it's unfair to include Duncan Jr. Math because it got universal tens, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that's true. No, Sam has a 32 and I don't even know why. What review scores has Metacritic swapped up for Don Kyung Jr. Math from 1986? I don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, I'm sure Levi reviewed it for us and it was on the. It was on the.

[Justin Davis]

The WWII eShop from IGN Retro.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, well, he did it. He did Junior Math Dirty. The high point is actually Diddy Kong Racing. That has an 88.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Best kart racer.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. Donkey Kong Game Boy is an amazing game. And not a spin off.

[Justin Davis]

No, it's the first in a series.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then we have. Coming in at number 39 is a tie. A tie with two franchises. Pokemon Stadium and Dr. Mario.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, well, there was a Dr. Luigi and a Dr. Mario 64, except Dr.

[Damon Hatfield]

Luigi is not included in this franchise. Pokemon Stadium and Dr. Mario both have an average Metascore of 69.4. Great Stadium would be Stadium 1 and 2, Colosseum, Pokemon XD, Gale of Darkness on the GameCube.

[Sam Claiborne]

Including that.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, I think Pokemon. I mean, and Grant, I'm not. I have a little bit of a blind spot for Pokemon. I'm not a big Pokemon guy, but I thought the first few Pokemon Stadium games were basically just like battle visualizers. Like, I didn't think there was much gameplay in it, but like, you could import your old, like, blippy bloppy, you know, Game Boy Pokemon.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's good for the first one. The second one has like tons of minigames and like an explorable area and stuff like that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Like this player name that we're seeing is Cassamassy. That would ab. That'd be mad. Cas. Messina.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

So that's old footage we're looking at right there.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's also Pokemon Battle Revolution on Wii in 2007.

[Justin Davis]

Cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, weird.

[Damon Hatfield]

So the first two games have good scores 79, 78. But then Battle Revolution on Wii has a 53 meta score.

[Sam Claiborne]

What's the Dr. Mario franchise?

[Damon Hatfield]

The Dr. Mario franchise is Dr. Mario, then 64. Dr. Mario on game Boy advance, which is probably just. Okay, a port.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't remember that one. There's Dr. Mario and Tetris.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's Dr. Mario Express on DS. I'm sorry, they are including Dr. Luigi here for the Wii U. And then Dr. Mario Miracle Cure on 3Ds.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

They don't include the NES game, which I. What? I don't know. The high point would be Dr. Mario Express on the DS, but that got a 76. And then let's see the original. Or Dr. Luigi has a 65. I love Dr. Mario.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

But I played mostly on the NES original and that's not even here. So I don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

Two of the best songs written for the NES.

[Damon Hatfield]

Dude, the whole sound check on Dr. Mario is amazing.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, there's just two songs. Fever and Jill. That's it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Chill Sam. Coming at number 38 is the Mario Party franchise with an average metascore of 70. You're right. So right.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I mean it's a real franchise of highs and lows. Right. Like, you know, there was a long period. There's like five Mario Party games in a row that just launched with like a shrug and like. But. But it's quality.

[Sam Claiborne]

And then you have to argue about them still because that 6 range had so many points at the time.

[Justin Davis]

Yep. But it is, it is a U shaped quality curve of like Mario Party one and two. You know, maybe three stone cold classics.

[Sam Claiborne]

But we didn't rate those high. Well, IGN still gave them like six or so middling scores. I think it wasn't Tom started or who is. Who's Raining? I mean, I gave a few high scores. Then Logan did the last one, so.

[Justin Davis]

That's right.

[Sam Claiborne]

I just saw Tom there.

[Justin Davis]

But now. But now they're good. Now they're good again.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Well, the. The most recent one, Jamboree is the highest rated one ever. 82.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I count 18 games here, by the way, in this series.

[Sam Claiborne]

So cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

The low point is Mario Party advance.

[Sam Claiborne]

Which maybe because that one's so sad. It's a single player.

[Damon Hatfield]

Single player game. Yeah, that's. Yeah, that's the outlier.

[Justin Davis]

What were they thinking?

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, coming in. Number 37 is the brain age franchise. Five games in this franchise. The first two on DS are. Have good scores. 77. Then there's brain Age Express Math, Brain Age concentration, training and Dr. Kawashima's brain training for Nintendo Switch Brain.

[Justin Davis]

Brain Age was kind of the. Was it like literally the first, you know, Nintendo, like Nintendo is going to do like the like the DS and Wii era. That's still kind of going to the Switch to this day of like. No, we're going to broaden gaming and it's not just going to be like you listening to this presentation. Gaming's not just for you, it's for your mom too. And like brain age was $20 on the DS. So not for nothing but like, you know, train your brain for a few minutes a day for $20. Like that really worked. That really went over with people.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Was there any actual science before behind it? No, it was all hokum. But irrelevant.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is Dr. Kawashima not a real person?

[Justin Davis]

He's a real guy. But does not. It does not actually do anything for your brain.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not a real doctor. And then this one's interesting. Coming in at number 36 then is the Nintendo Labo franchise, which I guess is. I don't know if you want to count it. Is it like there's like four kits listed here? Yeah, but is that four separate games?

[Sam Claiborne]

Some of them have multiple games in them. They're just little games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Is it? It's better than Mario Party, huh?

[Damon Hatfield]

It is. Average Metascore 71.3 oh, here's John Carpenter. Oh, this is great. Playing the Halloween theme or attempting to play the Halloween theme. Nintendo Labo.

[Justin Davis]

I like that. John Carpenter is just a hardcore gamer.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean that's. That's what he does instead of making movies. For the past two decades at least, he just plays games. Plays Destiny.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's a variety kit, a robot kit, vehicle kit and VR kit for Nintendo Labo 2018-2019 RIP. A short lived Nintendo franchise. Okay, this one is curious to me. Coming in number 35 are the Kirby spin off franchise, which looks like we're doing this. Which looks like 20 games. Everything from Kirby's Pinball Land, Avalanche, Dream Course, Block Ball, Star Stacker, Tilt and Tumble, Air Ride. But then like Canvas Curse on ds. That's not a main Kirby game. Yeah, Epic Yarn, Mass Attack, Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, Kirby Fighters Deluxe, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Team. Kirby Clash Deluxe, Blowout Blast, Battle Royale Extra Epic Yarn Super Kirby Clash, Kirby Fighters two and Kirby's Dream Buffet. Okay, so there's that many spin off games just outside of the Kirby franchise proper.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I mean that makes sense. But some of those are like such essential Kirby games. Like all the ones where you draw on the DS and the Wii eu. Like, those ones are like such. Those seem like core games.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I. I don't want to be. I want to focus my commentary on the games and not my commentary on the list itself. So, you know, I'll just say I don't understand it and I don't like it and I'll just leave it at that.

[Damon Hatfield]

The high points are Canvas Curse and Epic Yarn. Let's see. What. What's the low score here? 60 or 57 is team team Kirby Clash Deluxe. Also Kirby Battle Royale and 3Ds.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, this looks cool. Block Ball. I gotta check this one out. 95.

[Justin Davis]

An Arkanoid like.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that looks cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Game Boy. Okay. Coming in number 34 are the Pokemon Puzzle games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, just cording those off.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which includes.

[Justin Davis]

Isn't that. Go ahead.

[Damon Hatfield]

Pokemon Puzzle League, Pokemon Puzzle Challenge, Troze Battle, Troze, Pokemon Shuffle, Picross, and Pokemon Friends.

[Justin Davis]

Well, I guess Picross. So they're lumping some different puzzle games in there together. But is it. I thought the most Pokemon puzzle games, aren't they like Tetris Attack likes. Isn't that how they play? Yeah, man, what a game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. That's why Pokemon Puzzle Challenge for Game Boy Color. That has a 90. A meta score of 90. It's a great game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Interesting.

[Damon Hatfield]

The low point would be Pokemon Friends, just released on Switch. Coming in at number 33 is the Luigi franchise, which has a meta score of 73.4.

[Justin Davis]

Is that different than Luigi's Mansion or is it just Luigi?

[Damon Hatfield]

It's Luigi's Mansion, but they also threw Dr. Luigi in here again.

[Sam Claiborne]

What about Super Luigi U?

[Damon Hatfield]

They include Super Luigi. Uh, it's new. Super Luigi U. And then they include Mario is missing Super Nintendo. And that's the Low Point with 44.

[Justin Davis]

It's the best one. Luigi's Mansion 3, probably 3 and Dark Moon on 3Ds.

[Damon Hatfield]

Both have an 86.

[Justin Davis]

3. 3 was really good.

[Damon Hatfield]

3 is great. 3 is really, really good.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

As much as I like Dr. Mario, I never even played Dr. Luigi. Maybe because it was a Wii U game.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

You can't learn a new puzzle game at this stage in life. It's not gonna happen.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's like trying to play Metroidvanias today. We're just too old for him.

[Justin Davis]

Just too old for him.

[Damon Hatfield]

Coming in at number 32 is the Wii Sports franchise.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Four games average. Metascore 74, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Sports Club on Wii U, and Nintendo Switch Sports Yeah, I wanted.

[Justin Davis]

I never got Nintendo Switch Sports and I still kind of flash on it sometimes. Like maybe that'd be a fun family game, but. Nah.

[Damon Hatfield]

The Highport is actually Resort that has an 80.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that one's cool.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I mean Wii Sports resorts legit.

[Sam Claiborne]

I like the free flying in that one a lot. Good collectibles.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then the low point is Wii Sports Club on Wii U, which is like, man, this is really shining a light on what a dark time the Wii U was for Nintendo. Not only did nobody buy that console, but Nintendo was releasing the worst versions of all of its franchise for it. What was going on?

[Justin Davis]

Rushed or like just bad games?

[Damon Hatfield]

Weird time, like what that was. Those were the Iwata years. And Iwata was wonderful.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

But Miyamoto was even making crazy stuff by the end of the Wii cycle with Wii Music and of course Skyward Sword and stuff. So there was just some. So there's really. I think they're chasing that brain age magic, you know, in the Wii Sports and just really trying to make things widely appealing. Does not work for Metroid, you know.

[Justin Davis]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Coming in at number 31 is the Mario Tennis franchise. Average Metascore is 74.17 games from the GameCube all the way up to the Switch with Mario Tennis Aces. But the original, the high point is the original Mario tennis on Nintendo 64 that has a 91.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, I miss when these games. I mean, I can't believe Mario Tennis was that high. Mario Tennis, Mario Golf. I miss when they were like full on RPGs on, you know, like the Game Boy advance and the what the Game Boy color even was the originals too. Like those, Those Camelot Sports RPGs. Mario Sports RPGs are incredible. Everything else I could take or leave.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, I've reserved the word incredible for the Virtual Boy game, but yeah, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Why isn't that on here?

[Sam Claiborne]

Maybe I need to score it.

[Damon Hatfield]

The low point is once again, Ultra Smash on Wii U58.

[Sam Claiborne]

I really just need to go through the Virtual Boy games and just score them and nobody will ever even notice if I publish those in ign. Just get them out there.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, if you do that, Sam, we'll record a special three hour episode of Game Scoop to discuss it. Coming in, number 30 is the excite franchise.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, Excite Truck, Excite Bike.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's just funny that the head of stuff like Mario Party Average Metascore is 74.6, has a good track record. This franchise includes Excitebike 64, the classic NES series Excite Bike for Game Boy advance, which is of course the NES game. And then three games on the Wii U. Excite Truck, ExciteBox, ExciteBots Trick Racing and Excite Bike World Rally.

[Justin Davis]

I've literally never heard of that. I've never heard of that second one. What was that?

[Damon Hatfield]

Which one? The classic NES series, ExciteBots. ExciteBots.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. That's the one with robots that turn into insects. I wrote the guide for that.

[Justin Davis]

What was Nintendo doing?

[Sam Claiborne]

It is Excite Truck. Like, it's that same thing.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Which is. Excitetruck was interesting because it was a launch Wii game and you could go to GameStop and play that one before the Wii came out.

[Justin Davis]

ExciteTrek's cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Everybody's like, oh, these graphics aren't that bad. Maybe they'll be okay.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, these menus.

[Damon Hatfield]

The high point was, where am I here? I lost my place. The high point was the original Excitebite 64. And people weren't crazy about the NES port to Game Boy Advance. Fair. That's fair. Maybe that's not the most exciting release in 2004.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's weird to think about how there wasn't an excitebite game on the Super Nintendo.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I mean, it was not a franchise until like randomly in the Wii U era. They're like, let's release three of them.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, they also, you know, they also completely skipped GameCube.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

And I was. I didn't know that 64 came out at the time. Like, I just missed that. And then I was always surprised that it got pretty good scores.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Okay. Coming in at 29 is the art style franchise, which is a curious. Like, I don't. I've never played any of these, but they were like little puzzle games that own. They were only downloadable and I think they're actually no longer even available anymore.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah. They're kind of lost media now, which is a bummer.

[Damon Hatfield]

But from 2008, 2010, they released like 10 of these things.

[Justin Davis]

I had one of them and I can't even remember what it was now.

[Damon Hatfield]

They range Metacritic scores from 64 up to 83. That's. That's the range coming in. Number 28 is the Hyrule warriors franchise. Average meta score, 75.5.

[Justin Davis]

Yep. I. I've said before, my daughter is absolutely obsessed with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and she keeps begging me to get her Hyrule warriors and she thinks I'm being a mean dad because I won't do it. And I keep trying to explain to her. I'm like, they're not. It's not the same. She doesn't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

These kids got to learn on their own. What she needs to do is spend her own allowance on it and then have that experience a couple times in her life.

[Sam Claiborne]

We all did it.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, yeah. Yeah. Spent my allowance money on Jekyll and Hyde for nes.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, man.

[Damon Hatfield]

It still hurts to this day. It still feels bad. It still feels bad. This is the only four games in the series. Hyrule warriors, then Legends, then Definitive Edition, and then Age of Calamity.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I do have hopes for the one coming out this fall. Like, it seems like they're kind of getting their act together a little bit, but.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, my gosh, there's one coming out.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

They all score in the 70s, so they're very. They all. They all are good. If you like this kind of game, I guess. Coming in at number 27 is the art Academy franchise.

[Justin Davis]

What?

[Damon Hatfield]

And which one is this? This is just like drawing, like stylus drawing games on the DS and 3DS. Right. Educate edutainment.

[Sam Claiborne]

Great gosh.

[Damon Hatfield]

Average metascore is 76. There's art academy on DS, then lessons for everyone, then Sketchpad on Wii U, then Pokemon Art Academy on 3DS, Art Academy Home Studio on Wii U, and then Disney art Academy on 3ds.

[Sam Claiborne]

I've legit never heard of this.

[Justin Davis]

It doesn't make you so, so happy for, like, you know, Nintendo's figured themselves out. Like, they've really. I feel like they got out of their awkward, you know, teenage years.

[Damon Hatfield]

That looks really good.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, you could do that with. And like, you know, I don't know, like, they have theme parks now and pretty good movies and like the Switch and Switch two just keep going from strength to strength that, like, it didn't have to be this way. Like we were coming off of the Wii U.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's true. Okay. Coming in at number 26, the Warioware franchise.

[Justin Davis]

Wow, that's slow. I guess there's been some bad ones.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, there's been a lot of them, I think is the thing. Average Metascore is 76.3, man. Everything from mega Micro Games on Game Boy advance, all the way to Move it on Switch.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I just think of that always being at least a 7 or above.

[Justin Davis]

You know, I mean, it's also. So it's what, you know, we're already at what the average was, what, 76 or something like we're already very high for like an average score. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nothing's going to be too bad from now on. But the low point is Warioware snapped on DS. That has a 53 snapped.

[Justin Davis]

I guess these games have in my opinion been getting kind of steadily worse kind of since the original. So you know, there's that.

[Damon Hatfield]

The original has the highest score, 89. Coming in at number 25 is the Yoshi franchise, which they throw, you know, Super Mario World 2, Yoshi's island in there.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

That has a 96.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

The low point for this would be Yoshi Topsy Turvy, AKA Yoshi's Universal Gravitation.

[Justin Davis]

I like that game. I have a soft spot for that.

[Sam Claiborne]

Do you rotate that one?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it was. It used the little rotating thing and then there's. And then there was a Yoshi's touch and go too. So for a while.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Like an app.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. What weird. What weird control scheme? Like we're gonna make that our next Yoshi game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. And then coming out at number 24 is the Mario vs Donkey Kong franchise which should. It should have either included donkey Kong 94 or put donkey on 94 in the donkey Kong proper franchise, which is still to come. Anyway, average meta score is 76.5. Everything from Mario versus Donkey Kong on GBA in 2004 to there was the remake on Switch just last year.

[Justin Davis]

I really like these games but you know, that ranking seems fair.

[Damon Hatfield]

I like pretty much all these games. Coming in at number 23 is the Animal Crossing franchise. Average score 76.6. High point, Animal Crossing New Horizons on 2020. Low point, Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival on the Wii U.

[Sam Claiborne]

See, those are spinoffs. You know, it's complicated.

[Damon Hatfield]

It is complicated.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. But even Animal Crossing is a little bit what I forget. The franchise that we were talking about earlier. Its quality is a little bit U shaped or like the original was amazing and then there were a few that were kind of so so. And then New Horizons was amazing. So you know, it looks like City.

[Damon Hatfield]

Folk on the Wii was. That only has a 73. So maybe out of the proper games that's the least beloved one.

[Justin Davis]

I'm so pumped for there to be another Animal Crossing.

[Sam Claiborne]

New Horizons was so good.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

At an interesting time too.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

No kidding.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, this is. Everyone's going to smash their. Whatever they're listening or watching this on coming at number 22 ahead of everything that we've just mentioned is the Style Savvy franchise, which I would not have guessed. This is a Nintendo owned franchise.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I didn't know Nintendo made that.

[Damon Hatfield]

I didn't know either. Style savvy Indeed. Was a DS game in 2009. There's a 3Ds game styling star in 2017.

[Sam Claiborne]

All right.

[Damon Hatfield]

They range from 70 to 80. They all got pretty.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then at number 21 is the main Kirby franchise.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I mean, out of like the real, like real mascot Kirby, you know, real mascot Nintendo franchises, your Mario Zelda, Donkey Kongs and so on, like, I would definitely say Kirby's the weakest out of all of them.

[Sam Claiborne]

I would have gerrymandered Kirby. So all of this, these games. And then most of those other games would be in the same group and they would get a really low score. And then there'd be this little group of really good Kirby spin offs. And then the main line, like ones where you draw canvas, curse or whatever. Like all those ones be in there and they'd have great. You have. You'd have an 8 and above Kirby.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, you could definitely gerrymander a really good Kirby list.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I don't know why some of those other games weren't in here. But this is, you know, Kirby's Dreamland on Game Boy, Kirby's adventure on NES. Then, you know, Dreamland 2 and 3, Nightmare in Dreamland, Squeak Squad Triple Deluxe. You know, this is what they consider the mainline games, I guess.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Forgotten Land is in here too. And then coming at number 20 is the Star Fox franchise. Average Metascore 78.1.

[Justin Davis]

I feel like we're overdue. Here's my prediction is we're gonna get a new Star Fox game this generation. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Justin, there's no word for this because you keep on using the U shape, but Star Fox only had a dot and then it had everything that just fell off a cliff from there.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. It's the top of an umlaut. That's it. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, they're mostly all good, except for Star fox assault on GameCube.

[Justin Davis]

Mm, sure. Debra, make that. I can't remember now.

[Sam Claiborne]

What did star fox 2 get which I scored?

[Damon Hatfield]

They did not include that. Would you believe they did not include it?

[Sam Claiborne]

Why not?

[Damon Hatfield]

What you're asking me?

[Sam Claiborne]

It's literally the sequel to the first Star Fox game.

[Damon Hatfield]

But it wasn't released until the SNES Classic, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah. It's so cool to me that they did that.

[Sam Claiborne]

It was really interesting too.

[Damon Hatfield]

They released Star Fox 2, Star Fox games on the Wii U. Garden 0.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

That was a weird time again. They did have. They did have a DS Game that. That I liked at that time, but I just can't remember it very much.

[Damon Hatfield]

Any Star Fox Command.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Yeah, that's it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Coming in at number 19 are the Wario platformers.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Average meta score, 79.5.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wario's getting his due. Better than Kirby.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I mean, I would agree with that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Super Mario Land 3 on Game Boy Warland 2. 3. Wait, there's two Game Boy Wario Land twos. Oh, it's Game Boy. Game boy color. Then 3 and 4. 4 is actually really good. I was just playing that on Advanced recently. Wario World on GameCube. Wario Master of Disgu is the low point on DS. But then Wireland Shake it on We.

[Sam Claiborne]

I love Shake It Again. Yeah, there's big hole for Virtual Boy there, which would have easily scored a 10 or above.

[Damon Hatfield]

Possibly even an 11 off the charts.

[Justin Davis]

Whoa.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cool. Coming in at number 18 is the Pit Cross franchise. Average Met meta score, 80.4. Oh, and something is amiss here, Justin. There's only five games listed here.

[Justin Davis]

Well, because I don't think, like, the Picross games that we all bought on the switch and the 3DS and stuff, those aren't Nintendo games. There's a Mario Picross. Yeah. Pokemon Picross.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Doesn't just own Picross.

[Justin Davis]

No. Oh, and then there's picross 3D.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. So there's Mario. Mario's Picross on Game boy. Then Picross DS pick us Picross 3D, Pokemon Picross, and then Picross 3D. Round two.

[Sam Claiborne]

We're already at, like, 20, and this is there. But we haven't talked about Pushmo yet.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not yet, Tim.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, Pushmo's great, but coming in at.

[Damon Hatfield]

Number 17 is the Mario Golf franchise. Average Metascore 80.6. Like, see, like, man, Nintendo's just. We're not even into the single digits yet, and one of their franchises is just average. Review scores are all great. All great.

[Sam Claiborne]

That is incredible.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, the secret is that the floor is so high. Right? Like, the last couple Mario Golf games haven't excited me, but they're still, like, competent and, like, pretty. Like, they're not bad even at their worst.

[Sam Claiborne]

Unlike the tennis games, which can be bad. And that's. I'm not making a joke. Like, they. They can do that.

[Justin Davis]

I agree with that.

[Damon Hatfield]

They did not in. They did not include the one for Game Boy color. I don't know why, but, I mean, I think that would still.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nobody reviewed it. That.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, nobody reviewed it covers, I guess.

[Damon Hatfield]

But that's a great game. But Mario Golf on Nintendo 64 has a 90. And then the low point is Super Rush on Switch, which. Yeah, I actually didn't even bother with that one because it was getting kind of lackluster reviews.

[Justin Davis]

I think I really like golf games. I like Hot Shots golf. I like Mario Golf. I think there needs to be a new like the tap a twice. Tap it and then tap it in time. Like there needs to be a different swing. Like there needs to be like an analog stick. Like it's not. Not that I'm a golfer, but it doesn't make any effort to like replicate the feel of swinging a golf club.

[Damon Hatfield]

Right.

[Justin Davis]

It's just timing. It's just a little rhythm game that you'll do thousands of times.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, there's. During the Wii U or the Wii era, there was some. Yep, there was some waggle golf. Okay. Coming in at number 16 is the box Boy franchise. Another one I would not would have known was a Nintendo Box Boy. It's created by HAL Laboratory.

[Justin Davis]

Box Box Boy and Girl. Right. Is that the.

[Sam Claiborne]

I remember there was an Amiibo but four games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Box Boy, Box Box Boy. Bye bye. Box Boy and Box Boy plus Box Girl.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Is it good?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I mean it's the same. Same developer as Kirby.

[Sam Claiborne]

The tricks to solve the later game puzzles in this are like really, really difficult and really interesting. Like these are. These are some smart people making these games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Coming in at number 15 is the Donkey Kong Main Series Average Metascore 81.1. They have it starting with Donkey Kong country. So the arcade games just don't exist in this. In this world.

[Sam Claiborne]

All tens.

[Damon Hatfield]

Obviously it's the country. It's Don Kong 64. Jungle Beat is in here.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Tropical Freeze returns and then Bonanza of course.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. What a weird. Okay, that's fine.

[Damon Hatfield]

They actually, they threw the classic NES series Donkey Kong that was released on Game Boy Advanced and that has a 55. So you know, whatever that's dragging the average down.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Donkey Kong Bonanza is the highest rated Donkey Kong ever with 91.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, yeah, game's incredible and also it's not made but you know, it's a different developer and. Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to criticize the list, but it's like you got to. There's an E like you need to like for like games like put games that are trying to do the same thing together. Right. Like Donkey Kong 64 is like an exploration based. It's not like, you know, a skill based platformer. At all. It's a collectathon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. You probably could have broken up the country and.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Other Donkey Kong games.

[Sam Claiborne]

So you're saying the actual series comprises only of Donkey Kong 64 and Donkey Kong Bananas. That's it. That's the series.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. As I say this out loud, maybe it doesn't make a lot of sense, but like, it makes sense to put country 1, 2, and 3, and then the two 2D. The other two 2D games. Those are the rare five. Yeah. Yes. They should be together.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then maybe you should just put the arcade games in the Mario versus Donkey Kong category.

[Justin Davis]

Sure.

[Damon Hatfield]

Donkey Kong three being an. I don't even know what you do with Donkey Kong 3 because Mario's not even in that one.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Just Stanley and a bunch of bugs.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Okay, coming in. Number 14 is Fire Emblem. Average meta score, 81.5. Man.

[Justin Davis]

Lower than Advanced wars. As it should be.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Yep. What is the high point here? High point would be what? What are the guesses? Three houses that has 89. That looks like that's the high point.

[Sam Claiborne]

I was an awakening guy myself.

[Justin Davis]

I like.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I like to engage a lot, actually.

[Justin Davis]

I love. I love the Fire Emblem plant franchise, but I also have a chip on my shoulder about it because it, you know, it superseded and replaced advance wars and that makes me angry.

[Damon Hatfield]

Do you remember Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light? Is that the old one that was like, just sort of dug up and put out on Switch?

[Sam Claiborne]

I think so, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's like the translation original, I think. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. There might be a few that never came over. Maybe. Maybe that was the final one that had never come over.

[Damon Hatfield]

They've included Tokyo Mirage Sessions. FE in here for the Wii U.

[Sam Claiborne]

Again for Fire Emblem.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, because the FE St. Fire My. Forgot about that.

[Damon Hatfield]

But I don't even know what Tokyo Mirage Sessions like, what those games are like. I don't. I don't even know.

[Sam Claiborne]

I know they're like a hundred hours long.

[Damon Hatfield]

Coming at number 13 is the Pikmin franchise. Average Metascore 81.8.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is there like a mobile game dragging that down or.

[Damon Hatfield]

There was Pikmin Bloom. Hey, Pikmin on 3Ds.

[Sam Claiborne]

3Ds. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And this is weird. I guess the Pikmin 2 port on switch is on here. That's a 69. Why was. I don't know. I don't know what happened with that.

[Sam Claiborne]

Pikmin 2 port on Switch.

[Justin Davis]

So they ported 2 and 3 and I think they just didn't do anything with them. Right. They just released them on Switch, but didn't update them in any way.

[Sam Claiborne]

They're like that. Maybe they're like 60 or something also something probably like that. All I know is that I can't say it enough. Pikmin 4 is incredible.

[Justin Davis]

It is, yeah. Under. Underrated.

[Sam Claiborne]

Everybody needs to play that game that has a Switch.

[Justin Davis]

And I say underrated. Like, look, it got great reviews. Everybody loves it. But I still think it's underrated because it's like legit. Like it's one of the best games on the Switch. And I don't think it's quite held in that esteem.

[Damon Hatfield]

I agree, but it's not the high point for scores. The highest rated game is Pikmin 2 on GameCube.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ah, interesting, interesting. Disagree.

[Damon Hatfield]

Coming at number 11, we have another tie. It's the Pokemon core series and Paper Mario.

[Justin Davis]

That's spicy.

[Damon Hatfield]

They both have an average metascore of 82.5.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I mean, it's another one of those series with lots of highs and lots of lows. Right. There's some really, really good Paper Mario games and some not so good ones. And obviously same with Pokemon.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, if Nintendo could get a time machine, they'd go back and not screw up Pokemon games. But they end up screwing up Pokemon games because they put out so many of them. Right? So you get these years where the Switch can't run a Pokemon game. Everybody, everybody's like, okay, well why did this happen?

[Justin Davis]

It is a little bit awkward. Like, you know, Nintendo does not make Pokemon games. Right. Game freak makes them, which is not Nintendo. That's a third party company. And so like this huge multi billion dollar franchise is like, what conversations do you think Nintendo has with them? Or like, what the hell, guys? Just make a good video game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Do you want to have some tips for designing your game on this engine? Because we just made Breath of the Wild. They're like, nah, yeah, yeah, no, we're good.

[Damon Hatfield]

The high point for that series is Pokemon Gold and silver on Game Boy color. The low point is Pokemon Scarlet and violet on Nintendo Switch.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Gold and silver is the highlight. All right, go to.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then on Paper Mario, there's not really any low point here. The. The original has the highest score. The Nintendo 64 game. But then Paper Mario Sticker Star and 3DS has a 75.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I mean, Thousand Year Door is the one that everybody loves. Rightly so.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Super is great though. Weird game.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then coming in number 10 is the Mario and Luigi franchise. Did I hear an, uh.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, well, just like, I mean, But Brothership was just not very good. So it's like for the most part we've been talking about how the Switch era was so strong for Nintendo, but there are some exceptions. And like Brother Brothership was like very forgettable. Obviously. Pokemon was in a lullaby.

[Damon Hatfield]

Mm. Well, these are all very high, highly reviewed. The original Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside story are both 90s thin. Brothership is a 77. Paper jam is a 76.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I mean they're, they're, they're legitimately funny. Like they're, they're like the writing in them is under. It's just very, very good.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, pick one of them and play. You don't need to play the whole series.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, play, Play the original. Play Superstar Saga. It's great.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Inside Story is like the funniest one if you just do wanna experience good writing in it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which brings us to the single digits. The top nine of Nintendo franchises. So number nine is Metroid Average Metascore 83.3.

[Justin Davis]

That's kind of low.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, Metroid 2 and Mother M. Right. It drags it down. Federation Force. If they're not gonna have a spin off one Pinball.

[Justin Davis]

Federation Force.

[Damon Hatfield]

Federation Force is a low point. And then it's the original NES game dragging it down. Cause they have that in there then they have. And Game boy, right, the NES, the Game Boy advance port. The Metroid 2 on Game Boy has.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, no, no, I'm saying. Really?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, I mean, I guess it is. I mean that, that does, that does check out a little bit.

[Damon Hatfield]

Even other m has a 79.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Question.

[Damon Hatfield]

That one high point of Super, Super Metroid 97. One of the absolute highest rated games of all time. And pretty good. Pretty good game too, if I say so myself.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Stone cold classic was what? I don't remember the last time IGN did a best games ever. But you know, pretty. Pretty safe bet that it's been in the top 10 in most of those lists.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Then coming on at number 8 ahead of Metroid is F0 average Metascore 83.7. Weird.

[Sam Claiborne]

There's just not that many of them.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I mean, they're all good, man. Like the two on the two on Game Boy advance were good. That like, you know, replicated the SNES style. And then obviously F0GX on the Gamecube is incredible. F0X on the N64 is incredible. It makes me so sad that like Nintendo has just let f0lie.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know. I think Miyamoto was walking around a corner with a Wii Remote in his hand, and he was about to say, what about F0? And then the creators, F0, like, just dive in front of him with Excite Bike.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Like, no, they're. They're protecting the franchise. F0F0. And I say this with love, as a Nintendo fan. It's too cool for Nintendo. It's like, look, we're watching footage of F0GX. Like, this game is fast as, like, games do. Like, it's incredible. Like, the sense of speed in this game is, like, absolutely unmatched, you know? And, like, I just. I have a hard time seeing as much as, again, Nintendo is in a really good spot right now from a game development standpoint. It's like, they wouldn't put out a game like this now yet.

[Sam Claiborne]

Apparently, Pushmo is better.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, Push was not better. Well. Oh, you're right. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Sam Claiborne]

Let's keep with races. Apparently Wave Race is better.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Mario Kart's still to come.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, coming up at number seven is Nintendo wars, which is Advanced Source Test there. I don't know why they call it Nintendo Wars.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, well, because. I know why. It's because they weren't all on. Well, they do call them Advanced wars in the United States, but there is Battalion wars on the GameCube and actually advanced Wars. I don't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

They have Battalion Wars 1 and 2 in here. Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Really?

[Justin Davis]

And then they. There were wars games going all the way back to the nes Famicom wars and Super Famicom wars, but they never came out in the United States, Never came out in English. I've never played them. I'd be curious to go back and try them someday.

[Sam Claiborne]

I played this one. It was fun.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. They've got advanced wars 1, 2, dual strike, days of ruin, and then 1 and 2, reboot camp, and then battalion wars 1 and 2. One was GameCube, two was we.

[Justin Davis]

Great music, great gameplay. I like that. Every stage had, like, two different ways you could win. Like, just War of Attrition and beat down your opponent or sneak around and capture their HQ is great.

[Damon Hatfield]

And finally, coming in number six is the Pushmo franchise. Average Metascore 84.84 games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Two of them. Four.

[Damon Hatfield]

Four games. Pushmo, Crash Mo, Pushmo World, and Stretch Mode. Who makes these games?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I forgot about Stretch.

[Sam Claiborne]

Maybe Hal.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I think so.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't think maybe.

[Justin Davis]

I'm conflating it with Box Boy.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, Box Boy is hell.

[Sam Claiborne]

Love this game.

[Damon Hatfield]

I've never played these games, but they.

[Sam Claiborne]

Look really cute, really good puzzle games. And, and they make like picross. They make like classic designs in the end, which you're surprised by.

[Justin Davis]

Wikipedia says Intelligent Systems makes the push mode games. Who also makes. Makes Fire Emblem in the wars games. Ah. Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Crazy. Okay, number five is the Mario Kart franchise. Average Metascore 86.7. The highest. Well, this is crazy. The high point is the original Super Mario Kart, which, you know, it's. I mean, it's because those scores were rendered at the time and have never been updated or revisited.

[Justin Davis]

Don't tell us the low point though. Sam and I should guess.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, we know it's double dash 7.9.

[Justin Davis]

I think it's probably Double dash.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, I think it's advanced.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh. But nobody liked the mobile game. But it went on forever and people.

[Justin Davis]

Played Mario Kart Tour. I'm going to say Double dash.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, the, the, the low point is actually an outlier. I'm trying to figure out what the actual low point in this in the main series. Because the lowest rated one is Mario Kart Live Home Circuit, which is what you use along with the toy, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, the toy.

[Sam Claiborne]

That one's. Oh man, what a cool idea.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. But also not a real like Nintendo game.

[Damon Hatfield]

So yeah, the other two, look, a tie would be Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart Wii. Both have an 80 82. That's the lowest score any mainline Mario Kart game has ever received.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which brings us to the real heavy headers. Number four is Xenoblade Chronicles. Average meta score 87.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which is Chronicles 3. I'm happy for those 2, 3 and X definitive edition.

[Justin Davis]

I keep like wanting. It's like I'm interested in playing them, but then you see that they're all 100 hours long and what, there's four of them now. And I'm like, well, never going to do that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I've never played those, but I hear good things.

[Sam Claiborne]

If I was going to play one of like, you know, one of the last five years of like giant RPG series games, I wouldn't pick this. I would pick like a Dragon Quest or something like that.

[Justin Davis]

Well, that, that's exactly where I like. It's like, you know, I can, I can do one of these games a year. One big giant turn based rpg and it's like I'll do, I'll do Drockway or I'll do like a Trails, you know, another Trails game or something like that instead.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, only three left. Number three is the Super Mario franchise. Average Metascore 88.5.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is gonna be. This gotta be the longest.

[Sam Claiborne]

So we only have Zelda and Kid Icarus left?

[Justin Davis]

Yep, yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, everything from the original Super Mario Brothers all the way up to Super Mario Brothers Wonder, which is like.

[Sam Claiborne]

When you have such a huge sample size, it's amazing that just the stupid bonehead average is still so high.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, if it's only Super Mario. So it's not counting spin offs, but just the core 2D platformers and 3D platformers. What's the lowest one? Lowest one is Mario 2DS.

[Sam Claiborne]

Super Mario 64DS. What about that one?

[Justin Davis]

Mario 64DS.

[Damon Hatfield]

Maybe the lowest score is an outlier. It's Super Mario maker for Nintendo 3DS.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, maker.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's maker.

[Justin Davis]

I bet the 3DS. The 3DS version. I guess I can't.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, that's right. Because it got ported to 3DS and it was.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, but other than that, nothing. Let's see. Oh, Super Mario Land on game boy has a 78.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Fair. Although I would call land its own series.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, I guess they. Yeah, they include like six Golden Coins in here and. But then it spun off to be a Wario series, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, Then they're Wario games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, number two is smash brothers average 89.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wait, so kid Icarus didn't get it? Didn't get a ranking.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not recognized as a franchise, even though there are at least three games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Three? Yeah, there's Of Mists and Monsters. The Sakurai one in the original.

[Damon Hatfield]

But there's only two Wave Race games. Right? So that couldn't be.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, so no Wave Race. Darn.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Number two is Smash Brothers. And then obviously number one is Zelda. Zelda's average meta score is 89.6.

[Justin Davis]

Wow, that's so good. That's so high.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which I think would actually be over 90 if you threw out the classic NES series Zelda 2 for Game Boy advance and Triforce Heroes on 3DS. Those are the only things dragging the score down.

[Justin Davis]

What about crossbow training?

[Sam Claiborne]

Here we go. Links for the series.

[Damon Hatfield]

Crossbow training. I don't see it on here.

[Sam Claiborne]

CDI Pigstabber.

[Damon Hatfield]

They did not include links. Crossboard training. Crossbow.

[Justin Davis]

I've never actually. I've never played the CDI games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Surely those aren't on here. Those aren't on here either. Yeah, I don't know why. Okay, there you have it. Metacritic's ranking of every Nintendo franchise just based on their review scores, which I think is interesting.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, that's more fun than playing the games. Looking at the numbers it's true.

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Sam Claiborne]

Then there's the game. Game and the scoop.

[Damon Hatfield]

I want to do the fun stuff and I. So I'm just gonna skip over the news for now.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wait, wait, hold on. Did you say that they're making a Call of Duty movie? There's already a Call of Duty. Surely there's already a Call of Duty movie.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's not a Call of Duty movie, Sam.

[Sam Claiborne]

Are you sure?

[Damon Hatfield]

A live action Call of Duty movie is finally official after Paramount strikes deal with Activision. Top Gun Maverick mentioned as the guiding star.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I mean, it always would have been Top Gun. So this has to have already happened, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

I just.

[Damon Hatfield]

Call of Duty franchise is 22 years old.

[Sam Claiborne]

Isn't Jake Gyllenhaal in one of these?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, he's in a war movie. That's the thing. A Call of Duty movie is just gonna be a war movie. Right? It's just gonna be.

[Justin Davis]

Here's the thing. And like I'm not, I'm not a Call of Duty expert, but I play, you know, I play every third or fourth Call of Duty that comes out. I get the hankering to play through one of these campaigns. They're kind of not the reputation as being these bro y generic military. It's like, that's not really like, they're usually. The storyline of the game is usually kind of anti war and kind of nihilistic often. And like, you know, what the, what is it? Modern Warfare 2 where your character dies in a nuke and then you play as somebody else for like the second half of the game? Like they, they, they're more boundary pushing, I think than sometimes they get credit for. So like, you know, is the movie going to clock any of that? Yeah, no. 100% not. It's just going to be Top Gun Maverick and Rah Rah, you know.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, that's the thing. At least in the games. Like. Well, okay, let me ask you this. You. You've both seen Top Gun Maverick?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

At the end they go on a real mission right behind enemy lines. What country do they go to?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, no, it's just the enemy. It's never stated.

[Damon Hatfield]

They never name it. They're just somewhere behind enemy lines somewhere.

[Justin Davis]

But like at least irrelevant. Doesn't Matter.

[Sam Claiborne]

Call of Duty gets away with that a lot now by doing terrorists. Right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

It doesn't matter what country you're in, those are the backdrops. But the terrorists are somehow you have to get some. Something from that. Extract a lot of it's extraction missions. So you can go into some cool, you know, level, but you're not like attacking the government of that level on behalf of the United States government.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I don't know. So Paramount obviously they, they did Top Gun Maverick. They also did the three Sonic movies which are successful, but they also produced the Halo TV series. I don't know.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

The top comment on our article is the time to do this would have been 10 to 15 years ago.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's. That's the probably something. That's the rub. Right. Although back then you would have. It would have been a coin toss with it just being like a knockoff of Saving Private Ryan, which is what the campaigns originally were.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

And versus like now we have the Modern Warfare franchise which is a knockoff of I guess, Top Gun type stuff.

[Damon Hatfield]

Right.

[Justin Davis]

We also, I mean Top Gun Maverick is their guiding light. It's like that movie is nostalgia bait. Right? Like that's what it hearkens back like not just because it's Tom Cruise and his characters back from the 80s, but literally like the construction of the film is like ah, like simpler times of like good guys versus bad guys. And like it's not really, that's not really Call of Duty. Like Call of Duty has always been slightly more shades of gray. So at least like the black ops games, I'm kind of thinking about that era of Call of Duty.

[Sam Claiborne]

So we should really get them on the horn because I really think they should aim for Nazi moon zombies.

[Justin Davis]

Right? Yeah, yeah. Like Seth Rogen, you know, as voicing one of the characters.

[Sam Claiborne]

Exactly.

[Damon Hatfield]

I saw a very amusing meme recently. It was like the. The film's description, after witnessing the death of a goose, the hero has to raise their offspring. Could apply to both Top Gun Maverick or the Wild Robot. And I just thought that was pretty funny.

[Justin Davis]

That's very good.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, let's just quickly cover off on the Capcom news then. Also, Capcom's president says high price of PlayStation 5 has contributed to low sales of Monster Hunter Wilds, which is a very strange story because first of all, Monster Hunter Wilds is the best selling game of the year here.

[Justin Davis]

Here in the US isn't it also on PCs?

[Damon Hatfield]

It's on PCs. I mean it's also on Xbox.

[Justin Davis]

What are you talking about?

[Damon Hatfield]

It's the fat. It was the fastest selling Capcom game ever. But.

[Sam Claiborne]

But it was also the. The fastest to stop selling.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, yeah, apparently. But it's sold. It sold 10.6 million units.

[Sam Claiborne]

That ain't bad.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's not bad. The reason this is happening is because Monster Hunter World, it's still Capcom's best selling game of all time. And it hasn't reached those cap.

[Justin Davis]

It's capitalism and number must go up all the time. And like 10.6 is bad. When you. When the previous one was like 21 or whatever, however many.

[Damon Hatfield]

25 million, 23 million, something like that.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean as far as I know, nobody, not a single person on this entire planet thought this was a better game than Monster Hunter World.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's the thing. So in their most recent financial results, Capcom describes Monster Hunter Wild sales as software. Obviously 10.6 million sold. But for the quarter ending June 30th, Wild sold 477,000 copies. Whereas Monster Hunter Rise, which is a four year old game, sold 389,000.

[Justin Davis]

That's almost as many.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's the four year old game sold almost as many copies as the brand new game. So Capcom Presley only on Switch or something Rise has. Has since been made available on other platforms, I think.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

So Capcom president Haru Haruhiro Tsujimoto attributed this drop to the high price of the PlayStation 5 and subscriptions. Along with the $70 game price, it says it's a barrier for most consumers. The quote is the console costs about 80,000 yen or $538. When you factor in the cost of software and monthly subscriptions, it comes to about $672 at the time of purchase. This is not an amount that can be easily reached, especially for younger generations. The situation is not limited to Japan, but is similar overseas as well.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'll just stop making games then, I guess I just.

[Justin Davis]

Because the comment makes no sense.

[Damon Hatfield]

The plate. So like you say, it's also available on PC, which you know has a very low lower barrier in entry for most people. It's also available on Xbox, but he doesn't even mention. But then the PS5 has been out for five years. Yeah, I think most people who would be interested in playing Monster Hunter already owned it.

[Sam Claiborne]

So they like maybe there's some translation issues. But it also sounds like he's kind of pointing at like they need to start doing these on mobile because the barrier of entry is so low.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean maybe.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, they've done that before. I mean I. This is also. You're the quote, like you're speaking to an audience like this is an investor, you know, call or quote, right? Where like people that own Capcom stock are like, yes, okay, that makes sense. You know, like don't, don't think about it too deeply.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. He seems to be ignoring the fact that it has mostly negative reviews on Steam. And I, you know, I think, I think the gist is that veteran players think it's too easy. It's like been. It's like they feel pandered to it doesn't run well on PC and the overall package just feels shallow and the end game is boring. It's like you were saying, no one Sam likes this game more than world. Right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it was, it was a mistake that it made some development bad choices here. It could have just been more World and I think it would have been the biggest game in the world.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which is a rare miss for Capcom, which we praise often as in recent years ever, pretty much ever since Resident Evil 7.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it doesn't even seem like a money grabbing mess. You know where they're like made it a live service or like something done with it. They just kind of try to make it easier.

[Damon Hatfield]

They tried to appeal to a wider audience and disappointed there Wii U generation.

[Sam Claiborne]

Of Nintendo right here.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep, yep, yep.

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[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, all right, we've talked about the news. Now we can do the fun stuff. Let's check in with the listeners.

[Justin Davis]

Hey listeners.

[Damon Hatfield]

Listeners, remember you can always reach us at the email address gamescoop.com Just like Jesse from Hamilton, Ontario did. And Jesse says In the recent 20 questions, Damon tried in vain to assist the question merchants by dropping the hint. You aren't the question merchants. You're not buying, you're not selling questions. What are you buying by dropping the hint that the game they were grasping to guess was the most famous one to come out of Australia. The answer of course was Rockstar's L A Noire. I would suggest actually that Hollow Knight and potentially the upcoming Silk Song have usurped the Australian top spot as the most famous game. Sure, that's fair.

[Sam Claiborne]

So what you're saying is Hollow Knight is the most popular Australian game, huh?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, what's every country's most famous, I wonder? What do the scoopers think? I'm Canadian. I'd wager ours is the Assassin's Creeds.

[Sam Claiborne]

But I personally prefer it's Punch out for a week.

[Damon Hatfield]

I personally prefer the Mass Effects or Far Cry's or Luigi's Mansion Threes or Balatro. The most famous Demi game from Canada is Darkest Dungeon. Of course, this is Jesse speaking for me, which I don't know. That'd be a real Sophie's choice between Dark Extension and Blotcho for me. Sam's favorite Canadian game would likely be Tunic.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, I think Mass Effect 2. Did that count?

[Damon Hatfield]

And last but most likely not least, Justin's favorite would be Factorio.

[Sam Claiborne]

But Tunic is amazing. I don't know where any games made. I don't think Factorio is actually made Canada.

[Justin Davis]

No, I think it's made in like the Czech Republic or somewhere. But is it?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, Jesse from Hamilton, Ontario thinks it is.

[Justin Davis]

Well, they might be remote but the developer is Woob. Wbe might be Wube. I'm actually not sure. I'm such a fake fan but like their office is in Prague so. But who knows, maybe there's developers spread around worldwide.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean that's true for everything now, but I respect Canada's game development. Market. I also respect Australia's game development market. And I didn't even know that L A Noire was made there.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep, Eleanor was. But you're right, Hollow Knight is also there. But we should also mention both Cult of the Lamb and Untitled Goose game hail from Australia. Great games, but we're all kidding ourselves. The most famous games to come out of Australia are Fruit Ninja and Crossy Road.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Fruit Ninja is a worldwide phenomenon.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Half break, still around, still making games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam, if you ever find yourself in a Charles Entertainment Cheese, you will still find that Fruit Ninja and Crossy Road are both still beloved by kids today.

[Sam Claiborne]

All those place I was at there was like a giant, giant fruit and Ja thing still.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. And Doodle Jump.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's right.

[Damon Hatfield]

All these games are at my local Chuck E. Cheese.

[Sam Claiborne]

Could have been Flappy Bird, but nope. Timeline diverged.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe that was the start of everything going wrong. We're in the. We're in the. No Flappy Bird time we scared the.

[Sam Claiborne]

Developer of Flappy Bird away from making games ever again. Look, what happened, happened.

[Justin Davis]

Well then it started the divergence.

[Sam Claiborne]

Started spelling Bernstein Bears all differently.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

I. Because of kids birthdays, I occasionally find myself at a Chuck E. Cheese. The there's not a single traditional arcade video game in there that you'd actually play. Not a single one. Everything is a ticket redemption machine.

[Justin Davis]

And you would think so. Everything, whatever, they know what they're doing at Chuck E. Cheese. But like you would think so. Every single kid is there with a miserable parent. Right. It's like put a bank of like old school games in the corner. Yeah. Galaga would make so much money.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Look, this is my own fault, but I only have seven minutes to lose 20 questions now.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, well let's jump into it then. Oh wait. And that brings us to video game 20 questions. Our suggestion also comes from Jesse from Hamilton, Ontario.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

And with that, let the questioning begin.

[Justin Davis]

Is that the same person or is it just a crazy coincidence?

[Damon Hatfield]

Same person.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. I thought maybe it was a different Jesse in Hamilton, Ontario. Okay. Did this game come out in the 70s, 80s or 90s?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Was it designed in the Americas?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Was it designed in Japan?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it a console exclusive?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Did it come out in the last, I don't know, 10 years?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. That's five.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this part of a decade spanning series?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Decades.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is there a movie or TV show associated with this long running series?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Whoa, what a long shot. That's so good. That's like getting a Glass.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think it's an Assassin's Creed game, and we're talking about Jake Gyllenhaal again.

[Justin Davis]

But this was made in Japan.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, yes.

[Justin Davis]

That's why.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's.

[Justin Davis]

That's why the television show or movie is a long shot. So Sonic Monster Hunter.

[Damon Hatfield]

Also, Jake Gyllenhaal was not in an Assassin's Creed movie.

[Sam Claiborne]

He wasn't? Who was in an Assassin's Creed movie?

[Justin Davis]

It was that other guy.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, Jake Gyllenhaal was in Prince of Persia.

[Sam Claiborne]

Prince of Persia movie. I even remember that existed. I'm just making Jake Gyllenhaal jokes over here.

[Justin Davis]

It's fine. We were all picking up what you were putting down.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wait, was there an Assassin's Creed movie?

[Justin Davis]

Michael Faskind starred Michael Fassbender.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wow. How was it?

[Damon Hatfield]

I didn't see it. I'm sure it's great.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, so this wasn't a console exclusive, was it? Right.

[Justin Davis]

But made. Made in Japan and has a TV or movie.

[Sam Claiborne]

Resident Evil. Silent Hill.

[Justin Davis]

Was this Resident Evil Aurora game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Horror game? Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Is it in the Silent Hill franchise?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it an evil.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. That's 10.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Is this game a remake?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it a mainline Resident Evil game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Was this game regarded as, you know, a good, great, or even better than that game when it came out?

[Damon Hatfield]

What? What?

[Sam Claiborne]

A good, great, or better than that game when it came out?

[Damon Hatfield]

Better than what game?

[Sam Claiborne]

Better than just anything.

[Justin Davis]

Better than good or great, Better than good or great, good, great or higher?

[Sam Claiborne]

Was this game better than good when it came out?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

So I'm just trying to eliminate six here.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Can you play this game in the first person?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Can you make a funny, funny joke with the Roman numeral version of this game's name and make a word. A word puzzle out of it?

[Damon Hatfield]

No. That's 15.

[Sam Claiborne]

Resident Evil 7.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. Resident Evil 7. I don't know how you rolled out 8.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I was gonna say, I thought that's village.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Resident Evil.

[Justin Davis]

You can make a word ever V, I, I. And. And 8.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, I thought the. Well, I thought the funny image was.

[Justin Davis]

With six, but that was the funny image of the journey. No, no, no. Seven. Seven is village. And. But it also has the Roman numerals.

[Sam Claiborne]

Eight is village.

[Damon Hatfield]

Eight is village. Yeah. Seven was biohazard.

[Sam Claiborne]

Seven. Seven has no jokes associated with it.

[Justin Davis]

So, wait, so all three in a row. So six has the. Has the giraffe.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Seven has the biohazard name. Switcheroo. And then eight has the hidden Roman.

[Sam Claiborne]

Numeral, which is What I was asking about, but still got it wrong. But still okay. Everything's fine.

[Justin Davis]

Great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, everything's fine. You got it. It's Resident Evil 7, which I felt that I mentioned that earlier in the episode and I caught my eyes. Well, I wish I hadn't said that.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't remember you mentioning it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Here's a look behind the curtain because of. Try not to mention the 20 questions game because I just don't want it to be there. Like, top of mind, ready to go.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, the power of suggestions. Too strong. But frequently. Not frequently. Occasionally. We've mentioned it in the episode.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

That would also never work on us. We're not paying. We're not.

[Sam Claiborne]

But now we know it's not a game we've mentioned in the episode. Or else Daimond will just run off.

[Justin Davis]

Camera if it's like. If you're wondering what I'm thinking about during 20 questions, it's like when you can see inside Homer Simpson's mind in the Simpsons. There's just nothing in there.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, we've done it so much now that the questions just come out automatically. Right?

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's true. Well, nicely Job. Thank you for the suggestion, Jesse from Hamilton, Ontario. And also let us know why you were under the assumption that factorio was made in Canada because that threw out the whole reason why I said we have a legitimate reason for Justin to.

[Sam Claiborne]

Talk about factorio and why you did.

[Justin Davis]

Which we ran out of time for. That's the. I said I would only do the show if I could talk about it. It and.

[Sam Claiborne]

And. And Canada's great contribution to the Nintendo development oeuvre. Which is punch up for Wii.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Which again, the punch up franchise was not represented on that list and there's been three of them. Anyway, viewers listening. If you have your own suggestions for video game 20 questions, email them to me at the email address gamescoop.com and that is all the scoops that we have for you this week. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Justin. Thank you to Jobert working behind the scenes to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is IGN gamescoop. And we're out. This episode of Game Scoop was produced by myself, Damon Hadfield and Gilbert Adienza. Technical direction is handled by Gilbert Atienza. Technical production is by Marianne Franzen and Amir Akib. Audio engineering is by Amir Akib. And post production editing is by yours truly, Damon Hatfield. Graphic design is by Nicole Kagempel. Gamescoop is an IGN production and part of the Geek Media Network.

[Justin Davis]

Well, next week.

[Damon Hatfield]

Damon in Person Scoop Next Gen Console Watch is the Igen show discussing the latest gaming hardware. Whether it's the PS5 Pro, Nintendo Switch 2, or something new from Xbox. It's all fair game on Next Gen Console Watch, hosted by me, Damon Hatfield, a 20 year IGN veteran. I'm joined by my co host Ryan McCaffrey, host of Unlocked, IGN's Xbox podcast, and Max Scoville, host of IGN's PlayStation podcast Beyond. I'll try to keep those console war discussions civil, but no promises. Listen to Next Gen Console Watch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Friday. Next Gen Console Watch is produced by IGN and is part of the Geek Media Podcast Network.

[Justin Davis]

Junior yes sir, CineFix Top 100 is back. It's time to pick up our quest to watch 100 of the greatest movies of all time. If that sounds good to you. No?

[Damon Hatfield]

Good. Fine. Good.

[Justin Davis]

And season four is taking some time to appreciate fans. This season we're diving into movies about all the crazy things we do for family, about reconnecting, about fighting, and about finding family in unexpected places. And what better place to start than with a movie that does a little bit of all of that, starring our favorite archaeologist who named himself after the family dog.

[Sam Claiborne]

You are named after the dog.

[Justin Davis]

And stay in touch with your Cinefix family every Sunday for more of our biggest list yet.

[Sam Claiborne]

See you little brother. Not a worry in the world.

[Justin Davis]

Tune in to the CineFix Top 100, part of the Geek Media Network on YouTube, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.