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Issue #67: Sidescrolling Showdown – September/October 2023
🕑 Added 2023-08-21 20:01:03 +0000 UTC2D, or not 2D? That is the question.
It's been over 30 years now since Nintendo began to transition away from two-dimensional game worlds and started to put more of a spotlight on 3D environments instead. (I look at the original Star Fox, released in 1993, as the game that began that movement.) For a while there -- especially in the back half of the '90s during the age of the N64 -- 2D gaming was really looked at as "behind the times." 3D was the wave of the future! Why would anyone still want to play the old style of games?
Sidescrollers suffered most severely. I still recall when Castlevania: Symphony of the Night went on sale in late 1997, and the collective response from gamers was pointing and laughing at it, since it dared to still be a 2D sidescroller! Haughty N64 fans turned their noses up at it, confident that the 3D Castlevania sequel that was due to be launched soon after would be far superior. (It wasn't.)
Enough time has passed now, though, that the early years of pure anti-2D negativity have faded away, and the game industry now fully embraces both sidescrolling adventures and look-anywhere 3D camera quests as well . . . for the most part. The shadow of that late '90s era does still linger in gamers' general assessment of the value of 2D titles when compared to 3D ones -- people will play them, but probably not without a complaint or two about how they shouldn't be sold for "full price" if they're only going to offer two dimensions' worth of game worlds to explore.
Well, I for one think 2D sidescrollers are more than worthy of a full investment of both cash and time, and I'm thrilled that two major new releases will be shoring up that argument soon! Both Sonic and Mario -- the titans who carried the industry in the years before the 3D transition began -- are bringing us back in time to pre-1993 2D worlds of wonder. This issue of NF highlights both of their new efforts, along with several other sidescrollers that we think also deserve your support! So please enjoy this magazine -- with each page prepared in full 2D.
Digital subscribers, the email to download your PDF copy of this issue will be going out later this week. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Print subscribers, your physical copies are in production now and will be mailed to you later this week. We've gotten back to a more normal shipping timeline for this issue – I know the last one arrived later than normal for a lot of you, since we pushed it back a week to be able to include late-breaking Nintendo Direct news. This one should be speedier!
Alongside this new issue going out, I'm also getting ready to launch the "Late Pledges" pre-order store for our new book, The Impact of Iwata, in partnership with BackerKit. That should be going live later this week as well, for anyone who missed the Kickstarter campaign! I'll post another notice when it's gone live.
Thanks as always, NF faithful! This issue has been a fun one, and I hope you all enjoy the custom-commissioned cover art (made by uJidow) that brings the Sonic and Mario casts together in one image!
~ Lucas M. Thomas
Comments
Triston Atilano
New subscriber here and was wondering if there was a way to order back issues? Sorry if this is not the proper forum to ask this, I couldn’t find a way to message directly.
Andre Rook
I just received a private message from the NF team saying that will finally be sending the issue out.
Patrick Mitchell
Yeah their customer service is awful, I haven't received the last 4 issues and I've still been charged for them, which is super annoying
Logan Hornung
I've tried messaging them through here and sending emails to them on their Nintendo Force site, and have gotten no response. Terrible customer service. I made a paypal claim for this issue.
Andre Rook
I also just received issue #68, but never received issue #67
Logan Hornung
I received Issue #68 but still didn't get issue #67.
Nova Alamak
Was this issue supposed to include a poster? Mine didn't have one.
Lux Anatis
That Pikmin 4 review was pretty shocking.
I still haven’t received issue #67… how do I properly report this?
Jason Zuzio
Can you please update on the status of the digital issue? I haven't heard anything since the "coming soon" email on (I think) Aug 21. Thanks!
Ali Al-Rajhi
Great issue! I’m sharing this one with my local retro game store. They appreciate the poster!
Andy Mackie
I’m still waiting for my issue! I’m in the UK
Scorpio 2
I got my first issue and it lived up to the hype!
Michael Kunerth
In case anyone else was wondering the answer is yes it does come separate and can come a day apart. I received my second copy today.
Michael Kunerth
I received my issue 67 today but only received 1 copy. if you subscribe as a 2 physical copy subscription do they sometimes come separately and not on the same day?
Andrew Athridge
That's good to hear. I haven't received my issue yet and was slightly worried.
Josh Loebs
Thank you!
The Nintendo Force
Hey everybody! Deliveries of print issues have begun, and if yours hasn't arrived yet, it will likely show up soon after the holiday weekend. We try to time our print issues in such a way that they show up in most subscribers' mailboxes in the first week or so of the first month they're covering: So this being the September/October issue, print deliveries still being in progress here on September 3 is entirely normal. Please have patience.
The Nintendo Force
Sometimes the sorting machines used by our printing company miss inserting a poster. I'll get a replacement sent for you.
Shayn Alm
I didn’t get mine either and no response.
Josh Loebs
I noticed that this issue didn't come with a poster? Was that on purpose or was mine just missing?
Drake
The Nintendo Force
The digital version will be going out later today or tomorrow.
Samuel Bachman
I still didn't get this issue in my email inbox. How could that be?
Stephen Cheney
I could see the next theme being about Princess Peach if there's a September Direct and if it shows us more about her new game. Of course she'll be a playable character in Super Mario RPG, and then it will be interesting to see how her personality is in this new game relative to her quite dramatic shift in the Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The Nintendo Force
The mailing list was already locked for this issue, but if you set up mail forwarding at your post office, your copy should get redirected to you at your new place. You should also update your address on Patreon following these steps: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002832686-How-do-I-update-my-shipping-address-
This Guy!
question - i forgot to update my address!!!! where can i get this changed before they ship later this week?
Andrew Wolan
I know Mario and Sonic had their "20xx Olympics" games, and perhaps I'm that old school, but it's just unthinkable to see Sonic and Mario playing a Mario level on the cover of a Nintendo Power / Nintendo Force magazine.
The Nintendo Force
Later this week. Friday at the latest, maybe Thursday if production runs extra smooth.
Shayn Alm
When will these ship?
Phillip Alleva-Cox
2D all the way I would be perfectly happy to play only two dimensional video games for the rest of my life.
Scorpio 2
I'm that guy who still has a pre-order for Intellivision Amico! So, you know where I stand. Anyway, I love all eras of video games, but I will probably always have a special fondness for *old school 2D games* because that was the time of my life when Mario, Zelda, and Pac-Man were shattering the norms of how to spend time with your television. In contrast, video games today just seem like a shared heritage spanning several generations.
Jeremy Strzynski
Quick comment on the cover art: Daisy as the focal point is the correct design choice. Well done.
