Nintendo also announced some key voices for its characters.
Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi,Jack Black as Bowser,Keegan Michael Key as Toad,Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong,Charles Martinet who has played the voice of Mario for years will be involved with some special cameos.
Nintendo announced a new direct is coming for Animal Crossing New Horizons.
The Roost was teased and is coming in a November update.
More details about the update will be shared during the direct. A fifth wave of Animal Crossing Amiibo cards was announced in the Japanese presentation: the Western Animal Crossing social media has acknowledged the cards and indicated more details are forthcoming.
The newest installment in the Mario Golf series is coming to the Switch on June 25th. Mario Golf: Super Rush will have multiple modes including story, multiplayer and a new mode called Speed Golf, which puts all players playing in a golf scramble. Players will tee off at the same time and race towards their ball as fast as they can. The first to get sink their ball wins while avoiding obstacles and using power-ups along the way. Motion controls can also be used to play the game, by swinging the Joy-Con like a golf club.
The game also features a single player story mode, in which you traverse several golf courses as a Mii character. You can improve your golfing skills by using experience points you gain in golfing matches. The game seems to take cues from an RPG experience where you can allocate points to stats like power, stamina, speed, control and Spin.
The world of Thra is in danger and it is up to you and your team of Gelfling to save it. That is the narrative elevator pitch for En Masse Entertainment’s riff on Final Fantasy Tactics, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics, but it goes way deeper than your standard save-the-planet-from-evil story. Based on the Netflix original TV series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Tactics puts you head on with the evil Skeksis in their attempt to become immortal by draining the life essence of the Gelfling.
When I was a kid I was obsessed with anything muppet related. Anything that Jim Henson produced I was on board with and my parents were A-okay with me watching the adventures of Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang, but with The Dark Crystal, I vaguely remember that this film was not on my radar. For good reason of course, since it was a stark change from Henson’s other films. It was dark and gritty, featuring storylines of death and peril. Not really something a child should be watching. Later in life when I did finally get to see it (sadly the film was removed from Netflix last December) I had way more appreciation for it. The world, characters, and production were fascinating. Fast forward 37 years and Netflix’s new series takes the world, expands upon it, and journeys onto even more fascinating directions. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics on the other hand is just the show in an interactive form, which honestly is disappointing.
Taking a page from games like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics plays out in a similar way. Characters are arranged in a certain area on a grid-based map. Each character has a set of spaces they can move in a certain direction. Map terrain, obstacles, and enemies affect the movement of a character as well. If one of your troops can get close enough to an enemy, they can perform a variety of actions ranging from standard attacks to special abilities that are specific to character class.
As you progress, new Gelfling join your party, but instead of being able to go up to the character and try to talk or convince them to join your cause, they just join as long as you complete the mission. It seems like you are just going through the motions. If you have seen the first season of the show then you will be very familiar with each mission. The main story beats are presented in battle form, such as the escape from the Skeksis castle and the fight scene with the Hunter. I feel like this was a missed opportunity to flesh out each character’s backstory, such as the journey of Hup before he meets up with Deet.
Gameplay is similar to other grid-based strategy games and is solidly enjoyable, but it just feels slow. All the actions are presented on a wheel that is controlled by the left stick, but instead of being prompted to do certain action after making a move, it closes the wheel and then you have to select the character again to prompt the wheel to open so that you can choose to either attack, choose an ability, or end your turn. The pacing seems to slow down, adding additional steps to execute pedestrian tasks. This really hampers the flow when you don’t like where you placed your character, as you have to open the action wheel up again and click “undo-move,” which then brings you back to where you came from. After learning and getting used to it, the interface is ultimately not terrible, but it is an inconvenience.
The maps themselves are beautifully designed as a 3D diorama, but are small, making the levels feel too constricted. I do like how the maps add some depth to them by adding elevation in some spots. Female Gelfling, for example, can fly so they can go up higher to a certain spot and then if they have a long distance magic attack can be very useful to start chipping away at some enemies far away. Male Gelfling can not fly and can still go up to these higher spots, but it will just take them longer as their movement is limited. Being on the higher ground also gives you an advantage on enemies that are next to you, so you get a bonus on the damage when you attack.
Your team levels up roughly the same at the end of each mission, so you don’t have to worry about trying to use a specific character a lot to get them more experience. Just don’t let any of your characters die; they won’t be gone forever, but they are lost for the mission and they don’t get as much experience at the end. There are abilities that the mender class can use that does revive allies, but those don’t get unlocked until they get to a higher level. New classes can be obtained as well as you level up, which allows you to customize your characters. I like the fact that they have cross-classes, which if you get to a high enough level on two advanced classes, you can move to a mix class that grants you access to more abilities from two different trees and can make the character more well rounded. It is really not that deep but it works for this game. The main missions can’t be replayed, but there are some extra missions that can be played as many times as you like so you can work on gaining more orbs (game currency) and experience. These won’t change from what I can tell so they do get boring after you have gone through them a few times. New weapons and armory become available as you complete missions as well, so there is some customization available.
A bright spot is the aesthetics and music. Each mission has a unique feel and all of them are designed in what looks like a dollhouse. The right stick on your Switch can be used to spin around the entire map and zoom in and out. It does look really good especially when you have it docked. The music is also very catchy; most of the tunes are pulled from the show, but it does seem like there are some new ones in there.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics is a solid game, especially if you like the source material. If you aren’t interested in the show or strategy games, then this won’t convince you to like them in any meaningful way. While it was nice to replay the first season of Netflix’s show, this was a missed opportunity to capitalize on the success of this new era of puppet mastery.
Let me get this off my chest first. I absolutely adore the Ghostbusters. Everything about it is so fun, inviting, and comical. The original movies are some of my favorite films of all time. Back in 2009 when Ghostbusters: The Video Game originally came out, I could not wait to dive into a new entry in the series. Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered is a great albeit stripped down blast from the recent past that is worth a playthrough for its story alone.
When Ghostbusters: The Video Game was announced over ten years ago, it was met with some criticism. Could the original cast and writers (Dan Aykroyd, the late Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson) team up again nearly twenty years after the second movie and make a game that could act as a Ghostbusters 3? In my opinion, yes they can. This was not just some movie tie in to cash out on the popularity of the brand; it was a built-from-the-ground-up game that the cast took seriously.
It has been about 10 years since I played this game and booting it back up immediately brought back memories. The first thing that came to mind was the fact that this is the first time the flagship title is on a Nintendo system. Back when Ghostbusters was first released there were actually two versions of the game: one for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC and one for the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 2. The version that was released on the Wii and PS2 had a similar story but used a more kid friendly aesthetic due to the limited graphics capabilities of those consoles. The Wii version looked okay, but it is nice to see the more realistic version come to Switch.
In terms of remastered visuals, it does look like it got a decent update from the original release. Character models look clean, ghosts have a nice shine to them as they float and fly around, and the environments have a larger than life feel to them. The one issue I have with this, however, is that while the gameplay got an overhaul, it appears the cutscenes did not. At least compared to the rest of the game, it looks as if the scenes were just plucked from the original game and placed in the same spots. It is not that big a deal when playing in handheld mode due to the smaller screen, but it’s really noticeable when you have the Switch docked and are looking at a large TV. Fortunately, this isn’t a deal breaker as the rest of the game looks great. I especially like the way the ghosts appear and disappear through the areas.
The gameplay feels just like it did 10 years ago. You play as a new recruit on the team and control them in the third person. As you progress through the store you get new abilities on your proton pack that can be upgraded as well. You can change the button configurations around as you like, but the default works the best in my opinion. The controls are not very complicated to begin with as you really only use a few buttons. Most of the time, you are walking or running from area to area to fire at ghosts or use your PKE meter to scan objects for clues. The PKE meter does shift your view into the first person and while you are scanning you can’t use your proton pack. In the instances that you do use the PKE meter, it is usually when you are not in active combat, so it's not a hindrance.
The story starts two years after the events of the second film and follows the team through the city of New York as the Gozer exhibit from the Museum of Natural History is emitting a high source of paranormal activity. You’ll be going from location to location as you track down the reason for why all these ghosts are appearing. Throughout the story, you’ll be seeing recognizable areas from the films such as the Sedgewick Hotel and the New York Public Library. You’ll also get to battle some pretty massive bosses including the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. The entire game is voiced by the original cast, and the music and sound effects fit right in. It really is like playing Ghostbusters 3 in video game form.
As much as I loved running through the campaign, I am disappointed that all the multiplayer has been removed. The original game had online coop multiplayer where you could play with up to three others to capture ghosts in levels that were outside the main campaign. Even the Wii version had split-screen multiplayer that was offline, where you could play the entire story line with another person.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered has some good things going for it. A fun story, excellent voice work from the original cast, and a nice new shine to the visuals, all making the campaign feel solid. The removal of multiplayer and a lack of polish on the cutscenes make this feel a little rushed, though. If you are a fan of the brand, you will enjoy this game, but if you never really cared for the Ghostbusters, then this won’t change your mind.
I have been playing virtual pinball games for years now, and for the most part, they have been pretty good. Star Wars Pinball for the Nintendo Switch takes everything that is great from past titles and puts together an excellent package that is absolutely made for the system.
Pinball is a unique type of game that is harder to replicate in a virtual world than one may think. The physics of how the ball moves, how it hits off the flippers, and the way that you can actually “tilt” the machine to alter the path of the ball all need to be taken into account to make it feel like the real thing. Zen Studios does this in strides, not just on the button and touch control, but in the flow of the tables. Each one has its own unique features and design and it takes playing a table a few times to get a good handle on how to use all those aspects to your advantage.
Star Wars Pinball comes with 19 tables, and each one is stunning to look at. Each time you start up a new game, there's a camera fly-over that scans the entire table. It zooms in and out at various points to give you a nice overview of how the table looks. You can always hit A to skip right to the action, but more often than not I would get distracted by the art. Zen Studios goes a step further on the visuals by putting in a whole bunch of different view options that you can change on the fly. Pressing X will change your camera angle in a variety of ways, either by fixing it higher as if you are looking straight down, or by making it zoom in and out depending on where the ball is. Each view is different and it's surprisingly fun to play around with these angles to find the best one for each table.
Star Wars Pinball has a vast array of modes and content. Classic play, local multiplayer, League Play, and online tournaments are all here, but what really kept me going for a while is the career mode. The career is broken down into five operations. Each operation has a set number of missions and each mission has three tiers. Most of these tiers are based on increasing scores. The missions themselves have specific objectives and are short and sweet. Some give you unlimited balls but have you on a five-minute timer, while others give you only a limited number of flipper taps. The difficulty is balanced very well and you can replay missions as many times as you like. While playing in career mode, you earn Holocron Shards which are used to unlock and upgrade Force Powers and Talents. These special powers can be used (or not used for that matter) during any part of the game. They range from being able to slow down time, to increasing the multiplier on your combo. These powers are fun to play around with and add an interesting twist on your classic pinball game but are subtle enough to not take away from what makes pinball great.
Gameplay wise, the controls are simple but engaging. You can use the L and R or ZL and RL buttons to activate the flippers and push down on the right stick to launch the ball. These can be changed in the settings as well, so if you like using face buttons more than triggers then you'll be covered. Star Wars Pinball can be played fully with touch controls as well, and if you are playing in handheld mode you can even flip the screen vertical. Funny enough, you can still do this in docked mode, but I dare say flipping my 50” Vizio vertically may not end well.
Zen Studios has a knack for making great games; Star Wars Pinball is no different. They have taken all the great aspects of seemingly every pinball game and put together a package that is by far the best in its class. Even if you are not a fan of the Star Wars brand, the simple but engaging gameplay, the amount of content and modes, and the fast pick up and play sessions make this pinball game a must own on the Nintendo Switch.
Retro collections have been around for a while, including a previous version of the Sega Genesis Classics under the title Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, but what sets this new one apart is that it's the first major Sega one to hit a Nintendo console. I’m sure I am not alone is saying this but it’s about time! This collection is one of the most comprehensive packages of classic games and is an absolute dream on the Nintendo Switch.
Most, if not all of these games have been reviewed many times before so I am going to look into this as more of an overview of this collection as a whole. Let’s take a look at this in three sections: The games, the presentation and the extras.
The Games
First and foremost in an any collection is the amount and types of games that are included. With the Sega Genesis Classics, it includes exactly what the title says: Classics. It does not lie either, as there are some absolute gems on this, such as Phantasy Star IV, any of the Sonic games, any of the Streets of Rage games, Toejam and Earl, any of the Golden Axe and you get the picture. More than 50 games are included and while there are some that are questionable, most are some of the best games to ever come out of the early ‘90s. One puzzling thing I noticed however is that the Switch version did not get the Wonder Boy games, which are included in the Xbox One and PS4 versions. It is not a deal breaker, but just a strange omission. Comparing the original Sega collection from last gen, there are some games that got swapped in and out. I would say that in many regards the swaps were good, but some games like Sonic the Hedgehog 3 were not included in this new one and were in the old one. Games like Ecco the Dolphin also was left out. Personally I was not a big fan of Ecco anyway, but it was a very recognizable Sega exclusive at the time. Overall, there are countless hours of fun and a wide variety of titles that would cover anyone’s interests.
The Presentation
As soon as your boot up the game, you get a nice little intro video that highlights some of the big names on the collection. Once that finishes, you jump right into what looks like a typical gamer’s bedroom of the era. An old CRT TV is front and center with the Sega Genesis right underneath. Scrolling through the menus takes you around the room, to the right you see the full collection of games all in there boxed glory. Navigate to the left of the TV and the options for multiplayer and challenges are available (more on these later in the extras section). When you start up a game, the cartridge is placed in the console and you can start playing.
Many options are available to adjust the screen. If you want to play the game in full screen so it plays on the Switch screen with borders you can do that, but if you want to put the game and show it being played on the TV you can do that as well. More adjustments can be made to the boarders, filters and control to any game. You can also take advantage of the full Switch screen without borders by stretching the graphics to fit the screen.. I wouldn't recommend that for too long as most games just look odd all stretched out. This collection also has the modern items that players expect now such as save states, which are implemented very nicey. If you are mid-game, you can hold down on the right stick to do a quick save and hold it up to do quick load, it's pretty slick and may come in handy in case you need to stop the game quick but don’t want to lose any progress. All said and done, the presentation is cool, a little more immersive than just the menus of the old collection.
The Extras
The Sega Genesis Classics collection has a bunch of extras. Let's start with what I feel is the most important: Multiplayer plays a huge role in some of these games. Not only do you have local multiplayer, but online multiplayer has been added as well. As much as I love to be able to play Streets of Rage with somebody right next to me, it very nice to know I can hop online and see if anybody is up for a few levels. As of this writing, nobody was online to test, but if it ends up being an issue I'll update the review. Local multiplayer can even be played on one Switch by separating the Joy-Con. Some other extras in the collection are feats similar to trophies or achievements. Also included are game-specific challenges with rules and restrictions. A list of these challenges are in the menu and once you select the one you want to do, the game will start up under those specific rules. It’s a nice addition that allows to play the game in a different way than before. All of these extras are great, though I wish there were some developer interviews like there was in the last collection.
The Sega Genesis Classics is a must own on your Switch. I would recommend buying it digitally so you can have all of these games available at any time without having to swap out a cartridge. Knowing that anytime I have my Switch out of the house, I can easily pop off the Joy-Con and jump in a quick match of Virtua Fighter 2 with my friends is a game changer.
We may be seven years removed from the original series, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is still fresh in people's minds with the upcoming release of the second installment in the Fantastic Beasts series. What better way to get caught up on the adventures of Harry and his friends than with the LEGO Harry Potter Collection. Traveller’s Tales has crafted a well-paced, fun game that all ages can enjoy.
As the name suggests, this is the collection of both LEGO Harry Potter games, which back in the day were split up between years 1-4 and then years 5-7, and also the previously released DLC. Once you boot up the game you can choose between either game to start with. To keep things in order I started right from the beginning. It has been a while since I have seen the first few films so seeing the events play out in LEGO form is just hilarious. Hagrid absolutely steals the show. If you have played this game or any of the many other LEGO games before then you should be pretty familiar with how it plays out.
These games typically follow the storyline of the source material and build up from there. In this case, you start with Harry and Hagrid and as you play through the game, you unlock more characters to play as. Some characters have different abilities or attributes that need to be used to solve puzzles or to push past obstacles. Hagrid, for instance is a “heavy” style character, which allows him to use his strength to pull on chains and other objects. The first thing to notice in LEGO games is that almost everything can be interacted with. This is very important as well, since there are so many collectibles and surprises around every corner.
LEGO Harry Potter looks quite impressive on the Switch. It is not pushing the limits very high, mind you, but the world and characters are bright and colorful when they need to be, and dreary and dark if the situation calls for it. No matter if I played docked or in handheld it ran well. I personally played a lot in hand held mode as it just feels like it should be a portable game. The levels are just long enough to play in small bursts, but if you really want to dig in, you can spend a lot of time interacting with the environment. Sound design is also strong, with familiar tunes and pleasant sound effects..
One minor complaint is that it is a breeze to go through. I understand that it's geared towards kids and younger gamers, but I wish there was a way to bump the challenge up. An easy way to bump up the challenge is to play in co-op. It doesn't increase the difficulty, but when you have to work together with another person, it adds another layer to the game. An odd thing that came up with the two player co-op is that everything plays out initially on the same screen, however when you start going to some larger levels and if your characters start moving farther away from each other, it starts to go into a split screen mode. It wouldn't bother me that much, but the split screen does not stay vertical or horizontal, it spins around like it doesn't know which to do.
After all is said and done, the LEGO Harry Potter Collection really is a fun game and with this being the definitive collection, it is the best way to play. Of course, you can get this on Xbox One or PS4, but you can only take the Switch version with you when you go see the next Fantastic Beasts film.
Nintendo announced that Final Fantasy is coming to the Nintendo Switch in many ways
Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition HD is out now. This is a port of the mobile game.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remaster is coming in 2019. This is a remaster of the GameCube title and includes new areas and online multiplayer.
World of Final Fantasy is coming November 6. New feature called avatar change has been added, which allows you change your character to another character from the series.
Chocobo Mystery Dundeon: Everybody! is coming this winter
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is coming in 2019. Remaster comes with a speed mode that allows you to fast forward the adventure
Final Fantasy 7, 9, 10 and 10-2 HD are coming in 2019
Katamari Damacy Reroll has been announced for the Switch and is slated for release in winter 2018. Bandai Namco later sent a press statement confirming a December 7 launch date.
It will include enhanced gyro controls, HD rumble, and multiplayer battles.
Nintendo World Report: How did you get into game development and did you ever see yourself being a part of a team that designed an engine that’s been downloaded millions of times?
James Cox: My route into game development was a passion for coding that turned into an interest in games programming, tools, and even compilers.
NWR: Was GameMaker Studio always planned to be solely a 2D development tool?
JC: Yes, it was originally conceived as a learning tool by Professor Mark Overmars back in 1999. Over time GameMaker has evolved into the best way to get into making games, as it’s very easy to learn without knowing code and it can support you through to making great games in a successful studio.
NWR: Since the announcement that GameMaker Studio 2 will launch for the Switch, did any developers reach out to you to request certain features, or was the engine built based on your own development experiences?
JC: Since the announcement, we have lots of developers contacting us for early access, rather than specific features! Our starting point has always been that we want to make all the features available, and we worked with some of our most successful developers at the outset to make sure games like Hyper Light Drifter, Undertale and Nidhogg 2 would pass lot check and work well on the Nintendo Switch.
NWR: Have you run into any obstacles with developing GameMaker Studio 2 for use on the Switch?
JC: In all honesty, there haven’t been obstacles. Like any platform, you have to understand the proprietary approaches it takes, but we’ve worked very closely with Nintendo throughout, so we haven’t had any difficult moments.
NWR: The original GameMaker studio was released back in 2012, have you notice a major shift in how game developers create games and if so, did that influence the creation of GameMaker Studio 2?
JC: GameMaker Studio in 2012 was all about bringing the exports and runners for multiple platforms all into one place and lifting the skill ceiling. Since then hardware has certainly moved on, however the challenges of efficient creativity and design remain. GameMaker Studio 2 gave us the opportunity to completely redesign the IDE and extend functionality to reflect modern game design requirements. All the time while continuing to be an education tool as well.
NWR: GameMaker Studio 2 has been out since March of 2017 with support of other platforms; which is also when the Switch was released; was there always a desire to make it work for Nintendo’s console, or was there more of a “wait and see” approach on if the demand warranted being licensed.
JC: The Nintendo Switch was a big hit from day one. Its success was widely anticipated and the demand from our community to make games for it was instant. We didn’t have to wait and see, it was clear straightaway that we should have a Switch export for GMS2!
NWR: Have you been surprised by any game that used a feature or part of the engine that you didn’t know was possible?
JC: Developers have been pushing GMS2 further and harder on Switch. We encourage you to wait and see what they are creating.
NWR: Does your team get any time to create any of your own games or are they hard at work on the up keep or the engine.
JC: In our own time, lots of us create games, we have also been known to have our own in-office game jams from time to time, where we all make games in a compressed timespan. We also work hard at continuing to develop the GameMaker Studio 2 platform and its new features.
NWR: This maybe a bit too soon to discuss, but, do you have any exciting ideas for GameMaker Studio 3?
JC: All our efforts are focused on the enhancement of GameMaker 2 at the moment.
Nicalis has a deep library of games that are being remade for the Switch and the next one up is former 3DS hack-and-slash exclusive Code of Princess. This title is absolutely made for mobile gaming and the fresh HD look, rebalanced gameplay, and ample amounts of content make this the definitive edition of the game.
Code of Princess EX is a beat-’em-up-style action game. Every mission starts with a brief piece of the story and then you are placed in a small environment where you are tasked with completing certain objectives. Each level is presented on a three-level plane where you can move left and right and also jump to the foreground and background. Gameplay wise, each button maps to a corresponding attack, which if the timing is correct can be connected to a combo. The quests themselves are short and sweet, as most can be completed in less than three minutes. You start with Princess Solange, who is at the center of the story. She is a balanced character but some attacks tend to be slow, which make sense since she has one massive sword. As your progress, over 50 characters are unlockable and useable during the adventure and can be switched up after each mission is complete. Each character is unique and has their own strengths and weaknesses, plus they all have great designs. It’s nice to have the ample amount of characters to play around with as the combat can get a bit stale.
The story takes place in the Kingdom of DeLuxia as they are under attack by the evil queen. In the midst of protecting the royal sword Deluxcalibur, Princess Solange gets thrown into the battle. She is the last heir to the throne and it's up to her to protect her people. One thing I wished that had been included in this remake is an option for an English voice over; it is not a deal breaker, but would have been a nice addition.
The fresh coat of paint and the ability to play this on a TV screen really helps this game out. As it gets harder, and the enemies become more numerous, the additional real estate is appreciable. Most of the story is played out in single-scene discussions where one or more characters talk about what to do next. These look nice, however I did notice some odd jagged edges when looking at the characters in the background of these set pieces. It kind of looks like they were plucked right from the 3DS and did not get a touch up. This was a minor inconvenience as all the environments, characters, and anime cutscenes have been beautifully crafted. Once the action kicks in, the animations are smooth and crisp.
The cherry on top is the multiplayer. You can play the entire campaign in co-op locally and online (At the time of this writing the online portion was up but nobody was in the lobby, so I will add in some additional thoughts when more users are connected). I was able to test out the local co-op and it is quite fun. Each person can pick a character that was unlocked and use them for the full game or can jump to another character after each quest. As you progress in the main story, bonus quests become available that you can attempt to get more gold and to help level up your characters. All quests can also be replayed again as well using any character that you had unlocked. Along with the co-op, another competitive mode is available where you can pit your leveled up characters against other players. This mode is fine, but it ends up being more of a basic fighting game when it all is said and done.
Code of Princess EX is a wonderful remaster of an already great game. The rebalancing of enemies and heros makes it easier to pick up and play and the ability to play on a TV makes the HD graphics really pop. If you had missed this on the 3DS, and are a fan of anime, do yourself a favor and pick this title up.
The Nintendo Switch has been getting a steady stream of releases every week, however traditional tower defense games are a bit in short supply. Samurai Defender: Ninja Warfare answers that call.
In standard tower defense, you control a character or characters who are usually in a static position while waves of enemies come towards you. Samurai Defender is no different. One ninja archer is available at the start to protect your castle. As enemies approach, you move the arrow cursor around the battlefield to aim at the enemy and then once you hit the B button the archer will automatically continue to shoot until the level is finished. Seven lanes cover the battlefield so you need to be ready to change the cursor to match the path of the enemies. This is easy to pick up and play, but does get more interesting as you go through the missions.
Each level plays out the same way. Waves of enemies show up and your goal is to take them out before they destroy your castle. At the end of each level you are rewarded with copper and gold coins. Copper is used to upgrade your archer as well as unlock more colleagues to add to your main defense. The gold is used to purchase and upgrade secondary abilities that will be available as you level up. The downside to this is that the level cap is 30, which is pretty obtainable in a few hours. After that, there is very little replay value other than trying to get a higher score on missions.
I was disappointed with the lack of variety in missions and level designs. Every level uses the same back drop and even though the visual style is wonderful to look at, seeing the same battlefield for the 100th time becomes stagnant. The characters have a fun chibi style to them which does make things a little better, especially when you get to see a new enemy come out. My favorite is the ninjas that literally roll themselves out in what looks like a turtle car.
Samurai Defenders: Ninja Warfare is a simple but serviceable tower defense game. The gameplay is solid and easy to grasp but the lack of mission variety and level design make this one just as easy to put down. All in all, it was the chibi archers that kept me battling to the end.
The debut game from an independent developer is typically a “play it safe” type of project, but with newly formed Solar Sail Games, they threw the “play it safe” model out with their first title. Smoke and Sacrifice is a bold, beautiful and challenging survival RPG.
To set the stage of this sad but engaging story, we follow Sachi, a young woman who just gave birth to her first child. Unfortunately for her, she knows that to keep the blessing of the Sun Tree, her son must be sacrificed. The Sun Tree is what has replaced the actual sun within this land. It provides light for this small farming community since the actual sun has failed. As the priests of the village proceed with the ritual, Sachi feels that something is not right but has not choice but to continue with giving up her son. The story skips ahead seven years, Sachi has gotten used to her new life, but still feels a sense of belief that her son is still alive. All of the sudden the Sun Tree generators fail and darkness overcomes the village. In the chaos, Sachi searches for the priests, however none can be found. She heads to the temple where the sacrifices take place and finds herself transported to a whole new world that she never knew existed. This is where Smoke and Sacrifice really opens up.
In this new area, you freely move around but start to run into obstacles. The first person you see is a villager wearing a gas mask. This is crucial as there is a smoke covering the entire land. The smoke is one of the main hooks. As you navigate the world, instead of a traditional day and night cycle, there is a smoke and no smoke cycle. You must have a lantern that fends away the darkness or your health will get depleted the longer you stay in the smoke. The challenge is ramped up during this time as well, as monsters are more aggressive, it is harder to see where you're going and you have to keep track of that lantern as it, among most other tools and weapons, has a usage timer.
The bread and butter is the games' crafting system. Hundreds of items can be made to help you along. New recipes are obtained through main quests, side quests, and also just littered around the world in the form of stone tablets or hidden messages. When it comes to revealing the recipes on those last two, you need to have special items that of course can be crafted. At first, it is a bit overwhelming, but gets easier as you progress. Crafting goes hand- in -hand with the survival portion in this game. Health regeneration items are everywhere, however, there are two caveats: they offer only a little bump in restoring your HP and you can’t stock up on hundreds of them as since most are plant based and they basically die in your item pouch after so long. So don’t do what I did, and get 30 pieces of sour fruit and then have them all die since I didn’t use them. As you find new recipes, more food items become make able, which will remove the limit of how long they last in your pouch.
Navigating Sachi through the world is an absolute delight. Despite the dark and dreary aesthetic, the visuals are stunning. The lighting and attention to detail is impressive, especially when it comes to the vegetation of the lands. Monsters roam around and completely are acting on free will. They don’t just go in a normal pattern but will stray off the path if they notice you or another monster. A particular monster is a giant boar and his size sometimes will get the best of him when he runs into trees, stunning him for a moment.
Quests are sprinkled throughout the areas by an exclamation point over a person's’ head. The main story is guided in the same way and the difference between the quests is not really apparent, however once you get the flow of what to do, you learn which ones will move the story along and which are optional. In my experience, all quests that I ran into were worth it, as it gave me access to new items, money, recipes, and other useful items. Plus you get to hear the interesting stories of the locals who are as confused as you are on being there. The currency is quite important as well. Instead of just accessing a new area and a warp point is given to you, you have to pay to unlock a warp tunnel. They are scattered all over the place, but knowing which ones to unlock is key as money is scarce in the world. I noticed that it was best to unlock ones next to a save point. Made dying a lot more manageable. Let’s face it, this is a survival game and dying will happen a lot. In every turn, danger is in sight, whether it's the smoke, or monsters or even the terrain, you need to be on your guard at all times.
Smoke and Sacrifice is like a fine cigar, a slow burn from start to finish. It can be very challenging at times, but the reward is worth it once you complete a quest that seems impossible. The intricate crafting and compelling story only compliments the beautiful art direction. Smoke and Sacrifice is a single game that beckons to becomes a series.
If you are unaware of Skies of Fury DX, it started out as a mobile game. What seemed like a serviceable cartoony flight simulator on iOS and Android is soaring high in its transition to the Nintendo Switch.
Skies of Fury is set in the year 1917 during a time also known as Bloody April. You take to the skies as both British and German forces in one of the most prolific air battles in World War I. The story is presented in a comic book format with more pages added as your complete each chapter. 100 missions are in the game, evenly split between the British and German sides, across five chapters. To complete each chapter, you must complete all mission on both sides, which is a slight gripe as I would like to be able to go through one side entirely first, but honestly it’s a minor inconvenience.
The gameplay is a high point in Skies of Fury DX. Controlling your aircraft feels smooth and responsive, complete with some quick maneuver buttons mapped to the D-pad that allow you to pull off some cool moves while in battle. As you complete each mission, you gain experience that helps your pilot level up. As the pilot levels up, skill points get earned to enhance your skills. These skills help boost your ammo reload speed, decrease damage taken on your plan, as well as lot of other modifiers and boosts. Leveling up is fast and frequent so gaining skill points is a blast. Along with the skill points, you also unlock loot crates which, when opened, give a random customizable option to your aircraft like a new skin. A bunch of plane styles from the World War I era are present as well, and more get unlocked as your level up.
Each mission is easy to pick up and usually only lasts a few minutes. The missions are split into three main types: time trial, deathmatch, and escort. Regardless of which side you are playing on, the missions stay close to those types. The difficulty ramps up at a nice pace, however if you feel any level is too easy, you can enable up to five different challenges. These additions range from increasing the enemy difficulty to reducing the health regeneration on your plane. It’s worth enabling these challenges as the more you have at each level boosts the experience you get. This gives a nice risk and reward system to help offset the mission variety.
One of the most impressive aspects of Skies of Fury DX is its stunning art style and animations. The look and feel is that of a moving and brightly colored painting. The environments are done so well and I am particularly enamored by the sunset level. Everything from the planes to the clouds is distinguishable and it’s never tough to see where you need to go.
Multiplayer was absent from the mobile title so I am glad to see it get a big addition to the Switch version. Survival and deathmatch are available for up to four players. The split-screen action is frantic and fun at the same time. This is easily something that can be brought out as a party game.
Skies of Fury DX is a beautiful and fun flight simulator. With its historic story and stunning visuals style, this is a must play on the Switch. After seeing the word “victory” across the screen once you finish a mission, it’s hard not to play just one more.
Pitting a late 1800s inventor against an early 1900s horror author doesn’t seem like a good backdrop for a video game, but in this case, 10Tons nails it with the rocking shoot-‘em-up Tesla vs Lovecraft.
The game starts off simple enough: Nikola Tesla is about to show off a new invention when something goes horribly wrong. H.P. Lovecraft just so happens to be behind the disaster and now it is up to Tesla to go to battle with the Lovecraftian monstrosities. At its core, Tesla vs Lovecraft is a twin-stick arena shooter. After a tutorial-laden intro, the game opens up with a plethora of new weapons, abilities, and perks. The main goal of each level is to mow down waves of enemies with a variety of weapons. Tesla gains access to standard weapons like revolvers, shotguns, and machine guns, but also unlocks many different beam-style firearms.
Each level plays out in a similar way. Tesla gets a few seconds at the start of each level to unleash an onslaught with his super-powered mech. Once this time is up, your mech explodes and you need to scour the map to find the parts. It’s not hard as directional arrows point in the general direction on where they are located. It is worth it to find these parts, but not required. I like the way that the developers did this as it adds a layer of depth that adds to the conundrum: should I worry about the mech or just try to beat the level without it? As you fight your way through each level, Tesla levels up and in doing so gains access to special perks unlocked as your get further. These buffs are all very good and helpful. Some examples are normal, like increased damage of your guns or faster movement speed, but some are more tactical such as the ability to have your bullets ricochet off walls and buildings. One minor gripe on the gameplay, however, is that the mission variety is very limited. In fact almost every level feels the same.
Tesla vs Lovecraft looks and feels great, especially when you start unleashing some secondary abilities and find random item drops littered through the map. The visual effects when explosions are happening are implemented so well. Tons of enemies populate the screen at one time and at no time did I witness any slowdown. The framerate is rock solid in both docked and handheld mode. The control scheme is handled well and playing on the Pro controller just felt right.
A few extra modes round out the package as well. Four-player local co-op is present along with a survival mode that has online leaderboards. Both are fun to dabble with and seeing where you stack up against with your connected friends and others around the world is really cool. I really hoped for an online co-op mode as it would have been nice to just jump into a four player game at any time.
Tesla vs Lovecraft is a solid and fun twin-stick shooter. A wide variety of weapons, gadgets, and perks keep things fresh and interesting. Other than a lack of mission variety and no online co-op, this is a game that will keep me wreaking havoc on Lovecraft’s monsters for a while.
Retro style games are becoming quite common, almost to the point of being as common as first person shooters. Superola and the Lost Burgers is one of those games, and in typical retro fashion it pulls inspiration from games of the past. The problem with Superola, however, is that the inspiration turns more into a cruel joke than anything.
At its core Superola is an endless runner. This initially took me off guard because as soon as you boot it up the game reminds you of Super Mario World. The world map looks like a direct copy, and even the background imagery of the starting levels is very reminiscent of the start of Mario World. You play as Superola, a hamburger loving llama, who is trying to save all the burgers in the land from a hot dog alien.
The gameplay is pretty standard for an endless runner. Superola automatically runs to the right and your job is to jump over enemies and obstacles or blast them out of the way with your “kill all” face laser. This power kills anything it comes in contact with, however lasts only a few seconds. It is not unlimited either, as burgers are strewn throughout the level that act as ammunition. The flip side to the burgers is that if you don’t use the laser, those burgers turn into coins at the end of the level which gives you a chance to buy additional power ups at the store. Power ups also can be obtained at the end of each level by jumping into a spinning icon akin to Super Mario 3. Some give you extra time on the laser, and some give you a double jump. They do help a little, but aren't really a game changer.
The story is really unnecessary, and playing through the levels can sometimes be a chore as the designs don’t change much. Most levels are above ground and play the same just with slightly different heights on the platforms that you may have to jump to. Sometimes you go under water and instead of a regular jump; you need to stay afloat so you don’t hit the spikes at the bottom. Undercoders definitely had some fun with this title. The game and pop culture references are around every corner. On top of Mario, tributes to Street Fighter 2, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog and the Big Bang Theory all make an appearance. After a few stages you can get a bonus stage which is just destroying a car just like in Street Fighter. The end level point screen is a direct pull from Sonic’s, and finally when you fight a mini boss, you don’t actually fight but play a honest-to-goodness game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock. It seems like fun at first but it seems to be random, so if you happen to lose in the battle, you need to play the level all over again.
The levels are short and sweet, but the random difficulty spikes in some early levels were frustrating. It doesn’t help that the art style is painful to look at. It reminded me of a cheap web browser game. The music unfortunately is repetitive and uninspired as well. There is a bright spot, however and that is the controls. Jumps and laser blasts are very responsive and if I made a mistake and hit an obstacle it was more of my timing or lack of ammo. The game does have a few extra modes, which are Endless Mode and a two-player vs. mode, but the two player mode is just endless mode for two people. Neither is really worth playing for more than a few minutes.
Superola and the Lost Burgers is disappointing. It has and initial appeal based on its inspiration but fails in the execution. I would run away from this game as fast as you can.
When NORTH starts up, it intrigued me that instead of a menu, only a message was on the screen. It offered two simple requests: Play the game in one sitting and read everything. Easy enough, seeing as it also mentioned that the game is quite short. So short in fact, that I saw the ending in about 45 minutes. Those 45 minutes were engrossing, depressing, and a bit trippy all at the same time, and I loved it.
Once you are past the initial message, NORTH begins with some bright and colorful imagery. Enjoy this while it last as you won’t see much of that until the end. This isn’t a bad thing, as the game’s atmosphere is about being alone in a new area. You can move freely in a first-person view around the dark and barren world, and knowing that very little is around adds to the mystery.
No spoken works fill the sounds. Instead the narrative is moved along with letters that you write to your sister. These letters, which pop up as you interact with certain objects, need to be mailed so you can learn about why you are here and what to do next. As you see the letter icon pop on your screen, it’s crucial to go to one of the post boxes. Not only does this push the story along, it tells you exactly what you need to do next. Once sent, the letters can’t be viewed again.
The story is both sad and hopeful. You play as a man who left the South in search of a better place. The Asylum is that place, but you need to earn your way in by participating in various tasks. These tasks include going to “work” or being “seen” at a church. It seems random and happenstance initially, but as the story dives deeper, it all clicks into place. The pacing throughout the brief tale is spot on. Certain areas are blocked off until you meet a specific requirement, so you can only go so far before having to go back and finish the tasks at hand.
NORTH was a breath of fresh air for me. Too many games now require fast reflexes and have tons of gun play, but NORTH begs to be played slowly. Take your time, read the letters carefully, and follow the path that is outlined. Some actions can get trippy at times but it all concludes in an unexpected ending. I am happy that I took the journey to the NORTH, I just hope my character is, too.
Supercross is normally a high octane, fast paced and exciting type of racing where a maximum of 22 participates zoom around a man-made dirt course filled with jumps, straightaways and sharp turns. Unfortunately for Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Video Game for Nintendo Switch, it stalls right of the gate.
No time is wasted with lengthy cutscenes or drawn out tutorials, just racing right off the bat. The controls will feel natural if you’ve played any modern racer. The ZR button will accelerate and the brake is handled by the ZL button. Of course, it gets more complex than that, but that’s the basics. The nice thing about the controls is that everything can be customized to your liking. This is not only for the controls but the way the bike feels as well. I was impressed at how much you can tweak aspects of the bike, such as the preload and compression damping. These attributes can really help out if you feel that your bike is too sensitive on turns.
To continue with the customization, this game has a lot of it. Not only can you select your bike and the rider, but you can even choose your brand. Supercross enthusiasts will recognize all of the big names like Fox Racing, Thor MX and Alpinestars. As you play through the game you earn credits that can be used to unlock new bikes, gear and equipment. There are hundreds of options to deck out your custom rider, which is nice as the character creator is pretty limited on the Switch. Even if you don’t create a character, you can still play through most of the game using any of the 60 plus top stars in the sport.
Customization aside, the racing is the meat and potatoes and luckily the experience is solid. Racing feels smooth and the controls handle well. The frame rate was pretty consistent playing either in handheld mode or docked. All of the standard events are present, such as Single Race, Time Attack, and Career Mode. These events can also be tweaked in a variety of ways. If you just wanted to play one race to win the championship, you can, or if you want to go through the full season of racing you can do that too. It’s quite flexible in its play style. The one thing I immediately noticed, however, is that in my first race, only 12 racers were in the gate.
That, unfortunately, is one of the many sacrifices that the Switch version is saddled with. On top of the field being whittled down nearly in half, the track editor from other versions is missing and the graphics look dated. Maybe the most egregious issue is that there is absolutely no multiplayer. I understand that the online system is not as robust, but at least there should be some local play options. With the ability to customize controls, there should be no reason why the Joy-Cons can’t be split for a few quick races with another person.
At the end of the day, Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Video Game for the Nintendo Switch is a serviceable motocross game, albeit if you only like racing alone. It’s disappointing how much was cut from the Switch version, but despite all that was removed, this is in fact the only version you can take to an actual Supercross event.
To put it simple, Sparkle Unleashed is a spin off to Sparkle 2, which is also on the Nintendo Switch. If you are familiar with the Zuma style of marble shooters then you will be right at home with the Sparkle series. Sparkle Unleashed does a lot of things right, however the lack of features and modes really make this feel like a simple add on than a full title. Sparkle Unleashed gameplay is spot on with moving your marble shooter around, right down to the aiming, everything works perfectly. If I missed putting a specific color marble next to its friend, in all occasions, it was my timing that was at fault. I was pretty impressed at how well everything flowed so well. The pacing of the marble chain is also excellent. It never felt like it was scrolling too fast for you to make a decision.
In terms of the gameplay mechanics, as you progress through the 100 plus levels, you gain access to new power-ups that range from changing a string of marbles the same color, to just exploding them outright. Most of the power-ups are fun and help out, however once you unlock a bunch of them, the ones that you really need in a situation don’t seem to appear when you need it. It’s just a minor grip as it is really fun to string together a combo when you use these powers.
One of the most surprising things in this game is the music. It has a very engaging soundtrack that makes sense during gameplay. It will start out calming but if your marble chain gets too close to the drop off it speeds up and has more of a “Danger Danger” sound. It gives you the perfect hint that you need to act fast or end up losing the level.
The most disappointing part of this game, is that outside the main game and a survival mode, there really is not much else to keep you busy. Some game specific achievements are added in but not something that will keep you occupied that long. In fact, Sparkle 2, which came out a few months prior, has more modes than this. It seems like this is just more of level expansion to that game. Sparkle Unleashed does a lot right. Its gameplay is solid, the music is great, and it does have a lot of levels, but the lack of different modes and extras hampers the experience a bit, especially since it’s the same price as Sparkle 2.
It’s dark, but in the distance you see a buck. The chance is too perfect, so you get into position, line yoursights up and take aim. Steady as you look down the scope, and at the right moment a wolf attacks asyou pull the trigger. You awake by the voice of the Deer God, see you did not kill the buck, but a babydeer that ended up walking in front. The Deer God gives you a second chance at life but due to yourhorrible act, you are reincarnated as a baby deer and must live like one to prove your worth.
The opening scene of the Deer God sets the stage well, but the execution of what you need to dounfortunately halts any excitement and progress to the game. You start as a baby deer and as youcomplete quests and kill enemies you gain experience that eventually helps you grow into a mightybuck. The main issue is that there is no direction in the game so finding what you need to do is veryfrustrating.
In all honesty, I started the game over a few times to see if maybe I had missed something at thebeginning that would help me find my way. It was not until I found a control bug that I realized thatthere is more I could have done in some areas. On the Switch, at least, you can control your deer eitherwith the D-Pad or the left control stick. For platformers, I usually tend to go with the D-Pad as for me itfeels tighter than control sticks. This ended up being a mistake as you do have access to go inside housesand other buildings in the game, and the way to do it is by pressing the down button, which is fine,however it does not work on the D-Pad. I just happened to accidentally hit the control stick next to abuilding and found that it will only work on that input. This is a pretty blaring issue as the first questrequires you to go inside a house.
Despite the lack of direction and control bugs, The Deer God does have some bright spots. The visualshave a beautiful pixel art style. Even though it is a 2-D platformer, it has three planes to it, so seeing thebackground and foreground mix as you race across the game world is stunning. The weather and lightingeffects also add to the view. As you continue on to the right, you will see the sun come up and go downand the scenery changes as you traverse through the various areas.
The music and sound are also spot on based on the game world. It has a relaxing and zen vibe in mostareas but pumps up the energy a bit when you enter a cave or area with more dangers. It mixes verywell and I noticed myself just stopping in areas just to listen for a while.
The Deer God is a tough sell, its visuals and music can’t help make this game any less frustrating. If youhave a lot of time and more importantly a lot of patience maybe this game is good for you, but as itstands, I would stay clear.
Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds Overdrive can be summed up in a single phrase: Organized Chaos. Brawling your way through wave after wave of enemies looks and feels great but the button mashing of it all brings the game down.
If you’ve never played a Phantom Breaker game, that’s okay, as this is more of a spin off to the original fighting games. As the game starts you can choose between a few game modes; Story, Arcade, Co-Op, and Battlegrounds. The first three are basically the same thing, which is a side scrolling beat’em up, and the Battlegrounds mode is more of the traditional fighter the series is known for. In story mode, you can choose between eight different characters, all play slightly different as they all have different weapons, but ultimately end up feeling the same as the combat is all about how fast you can hit Y and X.
At first the combat felt okay, using the different buttons as each one has a different effect, but as you progress it quickly becomes easier to just spam one or two buttons. There are some special moves and different abilities that can be unlocked, however they don’t seem to help much.
One bright spot on the combat however is the silky smooth animations on everything in the game. From the main characters, to the enemies, all the way down to the item drops. Everything runs so well together. The art style is quite wonderful to look at as well, despite seeing 10 of the same enemy on screen, there is a good change up on who you actually are fighting. In most cases enemy characters are fun to fight, but a few of them are just plain cheap, as in they just do their own spamming of a long range attack that typically knocks you back for a brief moment.
The story is pretty standard for a beat’em up. You need to find a friend while plowing your way through each level. It’s presented in all Japanese voice work with English (or seven other languages) as subtitles. It was okay at first but the ongoing sound effects by the character you play as got old very quick. The music, however, is great. Very reminiscent of 90s arcade games.The game itself is very short, I would say two hours tops. But having local multiplayer for up to four people is a nice addition. Unfortunately the replay value is pretty low. Even with a bunch of difficulty levels it doesn’t help much.
When all is said and done, Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds Overdrive is an okay game. One that, if you have a few minutes to spare, you can easily crank out a level or two, but not one of those games that will bring you back that often. Beautiful art, animation and music can’t seem to pump up the repetitive nature of the whole package.
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