It’s easy to become bitter when you’re submerged in the world of video games. Media scandals, studio closings, and juvenile shenanigans have a tendency to capture a bulk of our attention on a daily basis. So yeah, sometimes sourness creeps up.

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That’s why I was so damn happy to spend an hour at Nintendo’s Comic-Con lounge and remember why I love games in the first place. The two in particular that helped melt away any of that black ice away from my heart were Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country check out what the other IGN folks thought back in June ), so I was excited to finally get a crack at the two of them.In fitting Nintendo fashion, I started with Mario. As I settled up to a Wii U alongside three complete strangers (a young boy, and a couple about my age), I assumed I knew what to expect -- mutiplayer Mario 3D Land with kitties. And while that was exactly what I got, I didn’t realize how just 10 minutes with the game would make me feel young again.The four of us obviously varied in experience, but that honestly didn’t matter. From the start of our demo all the way to the end, we were having an impossible amount of fun in Nintendo’s new world. Running around an early stage, we quickly found the immediately-iconic cat suits and let out a collective “aww” the moment our characters donned their feline costumes. It’s tough not to smile as you see Toad claw his way up the side of a wall, Peach swat at Goombas with her paws, and Luigi scurry up a flagpole.I didn’t mind that we weren’t completing the level with surgical precision. The fact that I had to slow my pace down to keep up with folks who haven’t been playing games for the past two and a half decades didn’t really bother me. The important thing was that I could feel how much fun they were having, and as a product of that, my fun was only amplified.The multiplayer gives Mario 3D World a wonderfully nostalgic element. I felt like I was back in my bedroom, laying down on shag carpet and passing a SNES controller back and forth with my brother. Failure didn’t elicit anger, but rather laughter. The act of playing was more than enough to satiate us – completing a stage was just a bonus perk.Multiplayer in Donkey Kong had a similar effect, but my experience with the game was much more focused than Mario. The stranger I saddled up with had obviously played the original, so we immediately clicked, which was fortunate because Tropical Freeze is every bit as tough as the original. As someone who considers Donkey Kong Country to be one of the best games on the SNES (which also happens to be my favorite console of all time), recapturing that original sense of wonder is something that I’ll never grow tired of.While the mechanics are certainly familiar to anyone who played the original, the thing that really stood out to me was just how gorgeous DKCR:TF (yep, not using that acronym ever again) is. The impeccable sense of depth, lighting, and movement that Retro displayed in the original is only enhanced on the Wii U. Everything in the world feels alive, but the game has an amazing skill of using the camera to focus your eye on the right element of the level. I wasn’t 100% sold on Tropical Freeze when I saw the trailer at E3, but now that I’ve played it, I’m completely on board.This sort of multiplayer magic obviously won’t be experienced by everyone. I was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time with the right people and the right games -- lots of rights. And like most Nintendo fans, I’m still anxiously waiting for the next evolution in Mario and for Retro to work on something new. But until that happens, these two games will more than suffice.Long story short, I’m grateful that Nintendo helped me remember why I love doing what I do.

Marty Sliva is an Associate Editor at IGN. Seeing all of the amazing Wii U games that should be out this year makes him excited to dust the sucker off. Follow him on Twitter @McBiggitty and on IGN.