New computer means I can finally add the Steam games I've been gathering over the last 2+ years! (Albeit only the ones that work on Mac...)

One problem with that: that means over 50 new

Ah, okay, cool! Forgot to add you back before, so I did now.

Hello there! Just a random add, or do I know you from somewhere? No worries either way - just curious, since people have different usernames on different sites.

Oh wow, I actually wish I was in the same boat as you! I wish I could experience those Spyro, Crash, and Jak games again for the first time!

Oh yeah, I remember! I saw your page note, but it didn't mention your old username so I wasn't sure, hehe.

Right?! I remember going through the first one 100% no problem, but there's really just too much padding and making the levels bigger for no reason. I don't think the levels being huge is inherently bad or anything, but there's a lot of open space where there doesn't need to be. I think the main issue is that there's just too much backtracking, and since the levels are so big now it gets tedious fast.

I think as far as collect-o-thon 3D platformers go, the Spyro trilogy on PSX was superior. It didn't ALWAYS have everything self-contained within a world, but nine times out of ten it did, and it seems like challenges were presented in more manageable chunks. That being said, I actually enjoyed Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts a lot, though it is a HUGE departure for the series (and definitely does NOT solve the "levels are too big" problem).

I think the real problem with Banjo-Tooie isn't the size of the worlds per se, but the fact that the game forces you to do everything in a haphazard manner. Do half of this world to get this ability to go back to the previous world to get the 3 Jiggies you missed there to get something you need unlocked that effects another completely different world...sigh. It makes more sense from a gameplay standpoint when things are more self-contained. So while I enjoyed them both and didn't mind the SIZE of the levels, I did mind having to backtrack a lot to fully explore them all.

Hey, you added me so I thought I'd say... what's up?

Playing Banjo-Tooie, eh? I definitely agree with the too expansive thing. I've tried to get into it maybe three times now and the worlds are just too overwhelming to get into as much as the first one, unfortunately.