Much Ado About Mario DLC

Defending the Pixel Pack Pre-Order Bonus

Lord have mercy on me. I am about to do the unthinkable. Something disgusting, virulent, repugnant, and other five dollar words that mean gross. I’m going to praise some pre-order DLC.

WAIT WAIT WAIT STOP. Okay, I know, “pre-order culture” is a problem and it’s dumb that in many cases companies abuse this system to chop off content that should have been included. But this time it’s different. You know why? Because it’s Nintendo. And Nintendo does what SEGA don’t (okay that doesn’t work at all when you reverse it). But anyway, Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is out, and it’s good! Review forthcoming but definitely a great experience. You wouldn’t expect it considering that the Rabbids are basically just the video game version of Minions. Yet somehow, this game makes it work.

But it also has some DLC that you get for pre-ordering it anywhere. This is called the PIXEL PACK. It contains 8 guns, one for every playable character in the game. Here’s the thing, these downloadable guns are actually pretty decent. I recall numerous times where games have had pre-order DLC that either gives you a modified gun, a new gun, or a gun skin. In these cases they are usually just a slightly better version of your starting weapon, but sooner than later you’ll chuck it when you need to upgrade.

The pixel pack guns are different. They have character to them for starters. The guns are all blocky and voxel-like so they have a retro look. They have very cool visual effects similar to that Adam Sandler film that no one should mention by name.  They also all make 8-bit sound effects when you fire them and hit enemies, which is fun, because the rest of the guns don’t do that. But the most important thing is that the guns are actually quite a significant upgrade to your starting gear. You’ll find that you actually have a pretty decent time with the first world because the guns are pretty damn good. And fun! It eases you into the game better by giving you a fair advantage for the beginning. By the time you finish World 1, you might be ready to move on. That boost you get, though? I was actually grateful. It still didn’t need to be DLC, but it could have been worse, they could have tried to charge you for the guns and thankfully Nintendo isn’t like that. Well, not yet anyway. Depends on how you feel about the Zelda: BotW season pass really.

I haven’t seen a DLC this useful since the Courier’s Stash from Fallout: New Vegas, with your trusty Vault 13 canteen! So there, I defended a pre-order content that’s useful. Please forward all death threats to hardmodegamerslol@gmail.com. And thanks for reading!




September 7th, 2017 by