Topics

[A stunning achievement on WiiWare.]

26

TalkBack / REVIEWS: NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits

« on: March 11, 2010, 04:42:08 PM »

A stunning achievement on WiiWare.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=22751

 I bought NyxQuest on a whim after thoroughly enjoying the (now defunct) WiiWare demo. It turned out to be one of the best DLC decisions I’ve ever made. NyxQuest is an incredibly inventive, engaging game that combines platforming and puzzles to create a unique, satisfying WiiWare title that every Wii owner should play.    

The story takes place in the ruins of ancient Greece. Icarus has flown too close to the sun and, in doing so, met Nyx, an Olympian angel. They fall in love, but the minions of Hades steal Icarus away. Nyx flies down from the clouds of Olympus in an attempt to save him, but in doing so loses her immortality. She is vulnerable on the ground, both to environmental hazards and the black henchmen of the underworld. You control Nyx in her quest to find her lost love.    

The story is rather silly and disjointed but does give some, albeit minor, context to your journey. Nyx travels through the ruins of Greece, which are being swallowed up by burning sands. Nyx will get burned if she touches the ground, so traversing the game’s many stone pillars and statues becomes your only hope for survival. When a jump appears too high, fear not—Nyx has angel wings that can briefly keep her aloft. Her flapping is analogous to Kirby’s flight, but Nyx has limited number of flaps her jump. After reaching the apex of her jump, you can hold the Z button to glide, though even that has a timer. It becomes useful to glide between flaps, and certain environmental objects can recharge your glide meter later in the game.    

Sometimes, even flying isn’t enough. The   Gods quickly grant Nyx amazing abilities that the player controls with the Wii Remote pointer. Most often, you will use the pointer and the B button to “click and drag” blocks around the landscape. This is most often useful when traversing a large sand trap: just drag a block into the sand pit, have Nyx jump aboard, and drag the block to where you want to go. This may seem simple enough, but early puzzles have you negotiating the environment with essentially two characters: guiding the block through one area with the pointer while simultaneously moving Nyx through her own path with traditional controls.    

Nyx’s actions are largely confined to the Nunchuck, though you do press A to jump. Later in the game, you’ll find yourself dragging a block with Nyx will avoiding oncoming fireballs and/or using those fireballs to wipe out enemies. Since you can also use the pointer to stop pillars and rocks from falling and squishing the poor girl, NyxQuest sets up some really tricky but enjoyable puzzles very late in the game that use all of your gained pointer abilities.    

If a second player wants to join in, one player can control Nyx while the other player uses the pointer abilities. It’s a fun way to engage both players and spurs the kind of helpful back-and-forth that makes local cooperative co-op so fun.    

The graphics are stunningly beautiful. While the entire game takes place among the ruins of Greece, it is an eye-popping aesthetic that I did not grow tired of. As you progress, day turns to evening, which eventually turns to night, giving the familiar tileset new atmosphere. The music is haunting and gorgeous. You can download the soundtrack at the game’s website and I heartily recommend it. The themes are similar but offer subtle differences based on context. They invoke ancient Greece wonderfully.    

I have few complaints, though. I do wish Nyx had some kind of physical attack, because she comes off as pretty wimpy. She also lacks any sort of character—she merely functions as an avatar. Because of the pointer powers, you almost feel like you’re helping her, not playing AS her. It’s an important distinction. There are also some frustrating levels, such as a level in which a giant eye-ball follows you. If it sees you, you have to restart from the earliest checkpoint. While the checkpoints are evenly placed in this level they make things harder than they really are. Finallty, the game’s ending is rather anti-climactic. You just stumble over your goal and the credits roll. A boss or something would have been appreciated.    

But for 1000 Wii Points ($10), games don’t get much better than this. If you like platformers that tickle your grey matter, you shouldn’t miss NyxQuest. The sights, the sounds, and the interesting puzzles really set the game apart from anything else on WiiWare right now.

Pros:
       

Wonderful platformer with a puzzle twist

 

Beautiful art direction

 

Incredible soundtrack

       Cons:
       

Some overly frustrating sections

 

Nyx feels helpless as a character

 

The game lacks a satisfying conclusion

               Graphics:  8.0
       NyxQuest looks great.  The use of environmental effects, such as heat displacement, add to the atmosphere of the game. My only complaint is that the tileset lacks variety.

               Sound: 10.0
       The soundtrack is beautiful, evoking Ancient Greece very well. The sound effects ain’t bad, either, with the cries of your enemies being the best.

               Control:  7.0
       There are times, especially when using the wind power, that the game delves too far into the “pat your head and rub your belly” aspect, where you’re struggling to keep Nyx afloat while manipulating objects around her. Wing-flapping is also rather inconsistent due to response and timing issues. Nyx will sometimes make an attempt one time but totally miss another, even though you’re flapping the same number of times.

                      Gameplay:  8.0
       While not an overly difficult game, it does have some challenging puzzles.  I do wish that Nyx had the ability to defend herself.

 

       Lastability:  8.0
       Surprisingly, there’s plenty. Each stage holds several collectible relics. Find them all to unlock a bonus level. Also, try playing NyxQuest with a friend. It’s a surprisingly engaging experience.

 

       Final:  8.0
       This is probably my favorite original WiiWare game and I still find myself going back and finding new things about it. I can’t recommend it highly enough for platforming and puzzle fans.      

[Relive the good, the bad, and the downright awful with this nostalgic collection.]

27

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Retro Game Challenge

« on: March 10, 2010, 05:47:59 PM »

Relive the good, the bad, and the downright awful with this nostalgic collection.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=22741

 So many gamers today long for the simpler, more hardcore times of the NES. I used to be one of those gamers, and I still find myself longing for the days of yore now and again. Certainly, there’s been a retro revival as of late, what with Dark Void Zero and Mega Man 10 makin’ me all nostalgic. Retro Game Challenge invites you back to the 80’s for a wakeup call. And while you may revel in a few of the retro offerings, I imagine you’ll walk away happy that the industry has since moved in a different direction.    

You, playing the role of the gamer, are given challenges by a giant crown-wearing head named Arino, who looks like a cross between Jobe from “The Lawnmower Man” and the Doctor Kawashima in “Brain Age.” Arino sends you back in time to the early 80’s to relive his gaming memories and complete  challenges he sets out for you: four in each game. Between challenges, you’ll listen to Arino’s younger self talk endlessly. You’ll also be able to read instruction manuals for the games and certain issues of the fictional “Game Fan” magazine. There are eight separate games, which I’ll briefly describe below:    

1) Cosmic Gate: This is essentially Galaga with some twists, like the ability to create warp gates and zip ahead several stages. It is very fun, and there’s some modicum of strategy to the bug-blasting.    

2) Robot Ninja Haggle Man: A bizarre cross between Bubble Bobble and Boomer’s Adventure in ASMIK World, your character flips hidden doors to defeat enemies and uncover power-ups. The game is short and can be frustrating, but the concept is solid, and the character sprites are quirky.    

3) Star Prince: The sequel to Cosmic Gate, this game is clearly based on Xevious, Solar Striker, and other top-down bullet-hell shooters of the day. It is insanely fun and  full of strategy.    

4) Rally King: Essentially a Micro Machines top-down racer with power sliding. I really hated this game, as drifting is unreliable and the track designs are full of cheap spin-out areas.    

5) Robot Ninja Haggle Man 2: The same as the first game, but harder. The levels are larger, and Haggle Man can activate power-ups at his leisure now instead of upon collecting them.    

6) Rally King SP: This lazy double-dip is Rally King with more difficult course designs and color swaps. This game made me curse a lot.    

7) Guadia Quest: This is an old-school RPG in the tradition of Dragon Warrior. It is the longest and most impressive game of the collection. Lots of grinding is required, and random battles are never all that fun, but Guadia Quest makes you work for victory, and there seems to be an actual storyline in the background. If you’re an old-school RPG fan, this is a great game.    

Robot Ninja Haggle Man 3: Almost completely different from its predecessors, RNHM3 is comparable to Ninja Gaiden and, bizarrely, Metroid. The level design is great, and Haggle Man suddenly has access to lots of new attacks and powers. The bosses are huge and impressive, and the graphics are right up there with the best on the NES.    

Arino gives you four challenges per game, though you cannot attempt them in any order, and they do not stack. Once you complete one challenge, you are forced out of the game and must restart it for subsequent challenges. During games you dislike (like Rally King in my case), this is can be torturous, especially when one challenge asks you to, say, successfully pull off two power slides, and the second challenge requires you to beat the first course. These challenges could have been done in one playthrough, showing the game's poor challenge design. Guadia Quest and RNHM3 actually let you save your progress, though, so beating challenges isn’t a chore in those.    

Despite the challenges, however, most of the games in the collection, regardless of which ones you find yourself fond of, are all wonderfully done. Each one feels like it could be a real, scrapped NES title, except for the games that act like expansions to other games, like Rally King SP.    

Young Arino is likely to become a thorn on the player's side. He’s constantly yelling during gameplay, and between challenges he embarks on stream of consciousness diatribes. I understand what they’re going for here—actual gamer conversation—but there’s too much of it. On the other hand, the fake “Game Fan” magazines are great, offering tips and codes for the games in your collection, previews of upcoming games, and funny articles written by real people in gaming journalism.    

The manuals are also helpful in figuring out the finer points of each game. I was stuck in Guadia Quest until I actually read the instruction manual (oh, there are six menu selections, not three). Ironically, it’s Demon Arino (head-dude) who’s not in the game enough. He exists only to give you challenges, and his speeches are short and to-the-point. If only his younger self was so succinct!    

 The real fun begins once you complete all four challenges in each game (which is never difficult), which opens it up in “freeplay” mode. This is the ideal way to play every game in the collection, where you can experiment with codes and generally move at your own pace. Unfortunately, young Arino is still omnipresent, cheering you on, and incurring your wrath.    

If you’re a fan of retro gaming and can manage to wade through the filler, Retro Game Challenge provides ample challenge and enjoyment. Marred somewhat by its execution, though, I cannot recommend the game for everyone. It appeals to a niche audience, but that audience will find it to be very rewarding.

Pros:
       

Each game feels genuine

 

In-game magazines are fun to read and offer tips 'n' tricks for each game

 

Star Prince, Guadia Quest, and RNHM3 are the best

       Cons:
       

Young Arino is the bane of my existence

 

Challenges are doled out poorly

 

Rally King SP and, to a lesser extent, RNHM2 are the worst

               Graphics:  8.0
       Hard to complain about the graphics in the fake NES games, which look amazingly genuine. Oddly enough, it’s the “umbrella game” that looks bad. Your avatar and his idiot friend look awful, but Demon Arino looks okay.

               Sound:  7.0
       Rally King is the worst game in the collection in terms of sound. Young Arino's constant and repetitive yells quickly become an annoyance. All of the other retro games sound fine, though. I really like the music in Guadia Quest.

               Control:  9.0
       Great control overall. The use of the L and R buttons, however, is weird since none of the NES games use the L, R, X, or Y buttons.

                      Gameplay:  6.0
       Varies greatly here. Depending on your genre preference, you will either love or hate a lot of these games. You’ve got your pick of shooters, platformers, racers, an RPG, and an action platformer. Unfortunately, you cannot just pick  and choose. You have to play through the bad to get to good. The game’s strict structure hurts it in this category.

 

       Lastability:  9.0
       Once you unlock the individual games in freeplay mode, the fun factor skyrockets. Guadia Quest, Star Prince, and RNHM3 will last you the longest and are the most fun games included.

 

       Final:  7.0
       Some truly lackluster games, young Arino’s babbling, and the botched overarching structure of Retro Game Challenge lower this game's overall value. However, if you can rush through the bad, this collection has some retro fun to be had.      

[How can you not love a game starring a character named “Rusty?”]

28

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Dark Void Zero

« on: February 21, 2010, 11:46:23 AM »

How can you not love a game starring a character named “Rusty?”
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=22599

 You might have noticed that we’re in the midst of a retro gaming renaissance. It’s given us wonderful titles like Mega Man 9 (and soon, Mega Man 10), Retro Game Challenge, the ReBirth series, a new Blaster Master game, and now Dark Void Zero.    Dark Void Zero has the best fictional backstory of the lot, however.  According to "legend", the game was developed for the NES late in that system’s life, but the project was ultimately scrapped so that funded could be shifted towards development for the up-and-coming SNES. As a result, all but one copy of Dark Void Zero was lost.    

When Capcom was looking for old properties to remake, Dark Void was at the top of the list, and some plucky employee found that old NES cartridge. They copied the game and released it on DSiWare while Dark Void itself launched on the HD systems. While this history might be a humorous fable, Dark Void Zero is anything but.  This is a true blue NES-era sidescroller, and if loving pixilated chiptune platformers is wrong, I don’t want to be right.    

Developer Open Ocean has taken every step to ensure that the game retains an old-school feel. When you launch it from your DSi home screen, the first thing you see is a fake NES cartridge. It’s been sitting in Capcom’s closet for awhile, and as any longtime gamer will tell you, dust has collected on those gold contact points.  The game instructs you to “blow!” into the DSi's microphone to clear the dust out. It’s a hilarious, appreciated touch. You are then treated to a classic NES plot-revealing slideshow: the nefarious “Watchers,” an evil alien race, seek to take over the Earth. You are Rusty, a “void-born” soldier trained in the art of alien-shooting. With Nikolai Tesla as your wingman, you head valiantly into the alien dimension to shut down their portal generator! Excelsior!    

The game itself is reminiscent of such Capcom classics as Bionic Commando and Mega Man, and the gunplay reminds one of Contra to a certain extent. Rusty can pick up five different weapons in each large stage, each with specific strengths and weaknesses.  The Hypercoil is insanely powerful but overheats quickly, while the Pulverizor has a slow rate of fire but can destroy certain walls. In rare instances, Rusty can equip himself with a deadly tri-shot accessory and different kinds of short-lasting shields. Through three stages, Rusty’s goals remain largely the same. His main task is to find keycards to open new doors, and eventually the stage’s exit. Each stage has its own secondary goal as well; in the first stage, you’re looking for journal entries of a previous human squad. In the second stage, you are actively hunting down and killing alien scientists (who are, of course, wearing white lab coats).    

Enemies are everywhere, and Dark Void Zero has plenty of alien variety to keep you busy. There aren't just alien soldiers, but also giant flying beetles, Metroid-like creatures that explode if they hit you, and wall-mounted turrets that block your progress while shooting at you. Luckily, health pickups are easy to come by, and the game’s trademark feature—the rocket pack—helps enormously.    

Controlling the rocket pack is simple.  You double-tap the A button to hover and move in any direction, or hold down A to rocket upwards. The controls are generally excellent, but the buttons could have been assigned more naturally.  The game uses A for jumping and B for shooting, with the likely intent being to recreate the NES's control scheme.  Unfortunately, a more comfortable assignment would have been B to jump, and Y to shoot.    

While you don’t always have the rocket pack on, it’s fun to use and critical for exploring every inch of each stage. The game’s level design does a wonderful job of negotiating between hovering, rocketing, and running-and-gunning scenarios. Each has its place, and none of them feel short-changed. The only disappointment is that the boss of each stage is the same, aside from variations on its particular arsenal. As expected, the game looks and sounds just like a late-era NES game. The music is catchy and typically energetic, bringing to mind classic NES Capcom games. The character sprite variety is wonderful, with the few instances of palette-switching feeling authentic instead of cheap. The backgrounds are wonderfully colorful and interesting.    

Dark Void Zero is very short, clocking in at just over an hour. However, there are three difficulties to choose from, and the Hard mode is surprisingly challenging. The game is also essentially a score attack: there are no unlockables, but it’s mighty satisfying to enter your initials on th High Score list.   You can’t save your game, but your progress is saved automatically every time you start a new stage. Checkpoints litter each stage as well, softening the blow of inevitable death.    

Dark Void Zero is so perfect in its execution that I want to play it on my TV, Wii Remote held NES-style, chiptunes resonating from my TV’s speakers. Any unwitting passerby would correctly mistake it for exactly what it’s supposed to be: an old-school NES game. It succeeds in virtually every aspect of its execution, and if you own a DSi this fantastic piece of software is an absolute must-own.

Pros:
       

Recreates 1989-era game atmosphere with stunning accuracy

 

Catchy music, sharp control, and NES-accurate  graphics

 

Rocket pack is fun to use

       Cons:
       

Boss repeats three times in three stages

 

Inconsistent enemy respawns

               Graphics: 10.0
       It’s supposed to look like a lost NES game, and it does in every possible way.

               Sound:  8.0
       The 8-bit tracks are catchy and peppy, but they seem short and cycle quickly.

               Control:  8.0
       The controls are very responsive, but the button assignments are problematic.

                      Gameplay:  8.0
       Although Dark Void Zero boils down to finding keys to unlock doors, the weapons and enemy variety hide that fact well. It’s also very fun to scour every stage for the secondary items. More levels and more variety in bosses would have been appreciated.

 

       Lastability:  7.0
       Blast through the three difficulties, find all the secondary items, and post high scores.It won’t take very long, but the game is so fun that you’ll find yourself going back time and time again, extending its play life. The game may be short and there are no  unlockables, but most 1989 NES games from didn't have any unlockables, either.

 

       Final:  9.0
       Capcom’s got a winner here. The old-school charm and universal appeal of a rocket pack makes Dark Void Zero a game everyone can enjoy. It is one of the best DS games, period, and if you have a DSi this is required playing.      

29

TalkBack / Club Nintendo DS Card Case Unboxing

« on: February 19, 2010, 10:38:14 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=22594

  I guess it's not an unboxing, because the thing was just in plastic wrap when I opened the envelope it was in today. This reward was a bit of a surprise, because I ordered it on Monday or Tuesday, and I live in freaking Alaska. Less than a week, NoA? Gotta admit, I'm impressed. So what is this DS Card Case that you advertise at the Club Nintendo rewards site? Supposedly, it can hold nine DS games and comes with a veritable rainbow of styluses (styli?). Let's fine out, reader readers, and in the meantime discover whether it's worth your hard-earned 600 coins or not.    

   

At least it's stylish. The cover art is fine, though made of thick cardboard. The case' structure is somewhat like a hardcover book, which is nice. Unfortunately, that aspect bites it in the ass pretty quickly...    

   

There's no locking mechanism anywhere on the case, so you can't actually keep it closed. This honestly sucks. At least give me a button snap or something.    

   

It's about the size of a DS case, though a hair taller. It doesn't look all that great sitting in the same row as the DS cases, either:    

   

When you open the thing up, you notice that the styli and DS game cards are secured by thick grey foam. This actually works really well, although it can be difficult to get the styli out, as the finger "holes" are very small. I had to pop the red stylus out with a pen.    

   

   

I apologize, by the way, for the fuzziness of some of these images. My camera is old, and doesn't like taking close-ups. At any rate, the case is actually good at what it promises--it securely holds the styli (now, I will never run out) and nine DS game cards. The cards fit in very snuggly, and are easier to remove than the styli, since you can just wedge your fingernail into the "hole" and pop out the card. On a related subject, remember when you first saw a DS game card? Blew my mind, personally. It was so tiny!    

   

So that's the DS Game Card Case, folks. I think it's a better product than the Wii Remote Holder, but not by much. It's certainly not worth twice the price. Of course, the Wii Remote Holder wasn't worth 300 points, either. My only real complaint is that it lacks a closing mechanism. Otherwise, as a travel case, it's perfect. I can take my whole DS library with me instead of one or two games. Verdict? Thumbs....up.

30

TalkBack / Game of the Decade Illustration

« on: February 19, 2010, 04:38:42 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=22589

  Even though my choices for Game of the Decade were ultimately hacked from the list (Beyond Good & Evil and Wind Waker), I did feel that such an occasion demanded more than a simple poll, so I whipped up this illustration to mark the event. I tried to incorporate aspects of all six games, though some were harder than others. Read on, dear friends, and learn how this nefarious task was achieved!    

I knew from the get-go that trying to wedge six different characters onto a single page (and keep the image interesting) would be daunting, so I came up with an interesting solution: invoke Metroid Prime by duplicating its viewpoint—perhaps that game’s essential innovation. I knew that Deku Link would be involved to stand in for Majora’s Mask, as he is probably the most iconic aspect of that game. I wanted Deku Link to be interacting with a Resident Evil 4 character: the dichotomy between small and large if often effective and funny. But what would they be doing?    

Early drafts of the picture have Deku Link scrambling to get away from an RE4 monster. At one point it was U-3, a boss from the caverns. However, U-3 is so large and complex that every other character would be glossed over! So I began simplifying, first to the Alien-creature from the sewers, then to a general Ganado with a “centipede” Plaga for a head. But it just felt like too much, and getting the detail right on the Plaga was killing me, so I took that aspect of the picture in a totally different direction: Ashley Graham being followed by a love-struck Deku Link. He looked too short on the ground, so I popped him into the air using his pinwheels. I like the look on Ashley’s face—she’s more annoyed than anything else.    

Mario and the Mii were the easiest part of the whole picture. I wanted them to be chatting away, as they are (currently) the most iconic Nintendo characters. Earlier drafts did not include Mario’s little star buddy, but I needed something to invoke Super Mario Galaxy over any other Mario game, so I tossed him in at the last minute. You might recognize the Mii—it’s me, after all.    

Finally, Super Smash Bros. Melee. I couldn’t come up with anything that was distinctly a part of that game. I tried lots of things: Mario holding a Beam Sword (it didn’t read well), everyone standing on one of the Melee stages (made the viewpoint wrong), and even the brief inclusion of Mr. Game & Watch. However, all of these things could also mean Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which also came out in the last decade, and which is basically Melee but better. When you think about it, there isn’t much that’s really distinct about Melee that you could insert into a stylized image that would disassociate it from the original N64 game or Brawl. I eventually just accepted that fact and tossed the Smash Bros. trophy base in the center of the ground. I’m not super-happy about it, but I couldn’t think of anything else.    

Now that I had the concept and sketches done, the real work began. As my colleagues know, I am technologically inept. While I have a basic knowledge of Photoshop Elements 8.0 (and a bitchin’ Wacom tablet), it takes me twice as long to do anything with it because I wade through menus and don’t use hotkeys. I’m also still adjusting to the concept of layers. So I did this drawing with traditional media. First, I sketched every character separately on a single piece of paper without any thought to how they would eventually be arranged. When I was satisfied with their poses, I inked them with Micron Pigma (Dengar) pens. On a separate piece of paper, I sketched and inked Samus’ visor and arm cannon. Once I was happy with it (I used a screenshot as a guide), I cut out my inked characters and arranged them on the Samus piece, then taped them down.    

Unfortunately, I noticed that I had originally drawn (and inked) Ashley with a ponytail. I had to actually cut off the back of her head, redraw a new hairstyle, and paste it onto the Samus + Ashley cutout. Boy, I’m better with layers than I thought! That was a painful process, because I’m always worried that the scissors will gouge too far into the page and leave a dent, which then shows up as a shadow on my scanner. Luckily, that didn’t happen.    

So next, I took this B&W paper-doll piece to my copier/scanner and copied it. It came out nice enough, but there were some very noticeable shadows along the edges of the cutouts. So I took some whiteout to the shadows and tried to hide them. I let the whiteout dry and tried copying the copy, and it came out much better. There’s still a bit of a streak behind Ashley though, but…eh. At that point, I didn’t care anymore. Now that I had a working B&W base, it’s time to add color!    

Now, if I had the time, I could have easily edited and colored this with my Wacom, but my schedule has been horrible lately, and my bedtime was coming up. I whipped out my trusty colored pencils and, during an episode of Next Generation (the one where we discover that warp drive damages the fabric of space-time or whatever), colored the whole thing. The purple glow in the background exists solely to put contrast between the white background and the character outlines. I think it works well.    

I wish I'd spent more time on Samus' arm cannon, but hey, maybe next time, right? Hope you folks like it.

31

TalkBack / Wii Remote Holder Unboxing

« on: February 11, 2010, 04:21:58 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=21151

  Another day, another unboxing photo essay. I was sick of seeing my Club Nintendo coins pile up without being put to any sort of use. As we're all aware, though, Club Nintendo's North American rewards are pretty worthless, on the whole. Oh wait, they did just add all those folders and greeting cards. Where was I? Right, the shittiness. There are only two things I actually want from Club Nintendo, but the photos on Nintendo's site don't speak well of their quality. But hey, I took the plunge and ordered a Wii Remote Holder. Join me in my unboxing adventure, folks. Let's see how worth it 300 coins is.    

The thing came in a relatively flat bag. Tearing open said bag revealed a small rectangular item wrapped in paper.    

   

My mission was clear: rip the paper off my promised prize and bask in the glory that is the Wii Remote Holder. It will be EPIC!    

   

Okay, "epic" might be the wrong word. "Sort of cool" might suffice. Notice that the sides fold in. The holder is made of white plastic on the front and back, and split plastic on the sides, and thick blue fabric inside. The white plastic exterior is stitched to what I imagine is a thick plastic panel between the outer covering and the blue fabric. To transform the folded holder, you just...    

   

You unfold it, and the bottom folds down to form a solid platform inside, kind of like a banker's box (but much smaller). Notice the stitching along the outer frame. It rather muddies the appearance, to my mind.    

   

You can put your weed in there.    

   

The Wii Remote with condom fits nicely within its sturdy confines. However, and this is the ultimate test: will it fit both a Wii Remote and a Nunchuck, as advertised at Club Nintendo?    

   

Well...yes. The cord kind of billows out, though. This is certainly better than the alternative (laying on the entertainment center).    

   

Maybe THIS is the ultimate test. Will it hold a Wii Remote with Wii Motion Plus attached? Yeah, no problems there, either.    

The product certainly does as advertised, but it's not the prettiest way to store your Wii Remote. It's not like you have tons of options, and for 300 points it's not bad. I'm tempted to get a second one, seeing as I have two Wii Remotes, and doing so would free up room in my accessories drawer (which is very full). We'll see. I'll probably try one of those DS game card cases next. What say you, dear readers?

[A blissful return to the days of yore.]

32

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Castlevania the Adventure ReBirth

« on: January 10, 2010, 08:27:31 AM »

A blissful return to the days of yore.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20750

 Castlevania: The Adventure was a Game Boy launch title back in 1989. It was one of the first games I ever owned, and it took me a year to beat. These days it is generally hated by most Castlevania fans, and that's an attitude I can sympathize with. The game features unbelievable slowdown, a lot of cheap deaths, and an entire level featuring the combination of forced scrolling and obnoxiously unforgiving jumping sequences. With these facts in mind, you can see why I’d question Konami’s desire to remake the game as a ReBirth title, a series that already includes Gradius ReBirth and Contra ReBirth. Howeer, after playing the hell out of it for a few days, I can safely say it’s one of my favorite Castlevania games.    

The game's title is extremely misleading. Adventure ReBirth resembles Rondo of Blood more so than Adventure, both in terms of level progression (there are  alternate paths to the boss, and key sub-weapons unlock doors) and play control (control is looser, with less precision required). You’ll also find breakable walls and mini-bosses. This is an old-school Castlevania title, so there is no Metroidvania exploration here. The action is broken up into six levels with the final one  consisting of your final confrontation.    

ReBirth is relatively easy compared to other old-school Castlevania games, although things start getting hairy around the latter half of the fourth level. Thankfully, you can set the number of lives and difficulty before starting the game, and you have unlimited continues. Despite all of this, you cannot save your game. This isn’t much of a problem considering that Castlevania ReBirth clocks in at barely over an hour long, but you'll definitely have to set aside some time to play through it. The inability to save isn’t as punitive as in, say, Bubble Bobble Plus, but it's a throwback game mechanic that hard to appreciate in this day and age. The overall difficulty is probably on par with Super Castlevania IV, though ReBirth obviously isn’t as long as the SNES classic.    

The game itself is a colorful mishmash of previous Castlevania titles, with only a few references to its namesake. It looks like a Super Nintendo-era game with a brighter color palette. Some frustrating series trademarks remain intact, such as accidentally jumping through staircases, ill-placed enemies in precarious platforming situations, and knock-back. These throwbacks are all painfully omnipresent in the clock tower level (a series tradition!), but fans of the series will begrudgingly accept them and power through. Some of the bosses are a little cheap in their attack patterns, especially Dracula’s final form. Once you beat the game, you’ll unlock Classic mode, which makes the jumping stricter and  the game harder overall. Otherwise, replayability comes from finding all of the alternate paths, netting a higher score, and dying less. Were you expecting a New Game Plus option? Remember, this ain’t Symphony of the Night!    

I would be remiss in failing to mention the excellent soundtrack. In a series known for its musical scores, this entry trends high, remixing classic tracks in new and enthralling ways to produce memorable music that holds your attention throughout.    

Definitely one of the best WiiWare titles yet, Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth is well worth your time and money. Even those who don’t particularly like older Castlevania games (like our own TYP) will find this particular game much more approachable than others of its ilk. Konami’s got a real good thing going, and let’s hope they keep this Rebirth series alive.

Pros:
       

A nearly perfect old-school Castlevania experience

 

Looser controls and shorter playtime means it's more accessible

 

Beautiful graphics and wonderful sound

 

Fantastic level design

       Cons:
       

Some bosses have cheap attack patterns

 

Inability to save your progress in any way

 

               Graphics: 10.0
       Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is the best-looking old-school Castlevania game ever made, even managing to outclass the newer handheld games. This is how all Castlevania games should look—colorful, vibrant, and full of detail.

               Sound:  9.0
       The music that accompanies the inevitable battle with Dracula is disappointing (they really needed to use “Simon’s Theme” from Super Castlevania IV here to deliver sheer epicness). Otherwise, I can’t complain one iota about the musical score.

               Control:  9.0
       ReBirth supports all possible controller options, but the best (and most fitting) is holding the Wii Remote NES style (for those of you who prefer the Classic Controller’s larger D-pad, there’s certainly no shame in using that instead). The play control leaves nothing to be desired and plays looser than Rondo of Blood, which is great.

                      Gameplay:  9.0
       The game itself is a little short, but it's a great ride from start to finish. Just finding all the alternate paths is a game in itself!

 

       Lastability:  6.0
       You have to be the kind of player who likes a challenge to keep going back. There are no meaningful unlockables (no concept art? Come on!), which provides little motivation to return. IReBirth is also a very short game.

 

       Final:  9.0
       The best old-school Castlevania ever? It’s very possible.      

[Get your 3D fighting fill with this impressive DS game.]

33

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight

« on: January 09, 2010, 03:10:56 PM »

Get your 3D fighting fill with this impressive DS game.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20748

 Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight is like Power Rangers meets Yu-Gi-Oh, complete with using cards to summon Zords. The main rider summons a Red Dragon, a toy I once owned back when Power Rangers were cool (shut up!). I found myself quite engaged in the game itself, and if you want a graphically impressive DS fighter with lots of content, Kamen Rider may surprise you.    

This is basically a 3D fighter with simplistic controls. X and Y are your attack buttons, B is jump, and A is special attack. You can cycle through your special attacks with the L and R buttons, and when your power gauge has filled (either naturally or by holding down L + R), you can unleash a stat boost, new weapon, or summon. This sounds incredibly simple, and it is, but there are little touches that keep things fresh. For one, you will often be holed up in a room with three other guys, and they will attack from all sides. You can tap them to change your target (which is awkward), or you can just press down and X to perform a breakdance-style kick move, knocking down everyone around you. You can also double tap in any direction to dodge in that direction, which is very useful for avoiding powerful attacks from the front and taking advantage of any lag that follows the attack.    

Kamen Rider is broken into variations on this theme: mission mode, one-on-one, and what appears to be a survival run. Nothing is explained, so you’ll have to figure a lot out on your own. The instruction manual, gives you the button layout and bids you good night. Thankfully, Kamen Rider is easy to learn. You’ll unlock the majority of new content in mission mode, where you select a fighter and then start pummeling fools. Experience, new specials, and additional characters are unlocked here.    

While most mission goals are as simple as “kill everybody before the timer runs out,” you’ll start getting more complex goals in no time, such as defeating your opponent with a summon or other special attack. Mission mode sort of resembles the same mode in the Soulcalibur series, but without the dumb story. In fact, Kamen Rider seems to lack any sort of plot, which is probably a positive.    

The game looks incredible; better than most N64 fighters, in fact. The character models are large and impressively detailed, and are animated smoothly. Despite having four or five characters onscreen at once, I never experienced slowdown. Backgrounds are static images, but they rotate to give the illusion of depth. Happily, both the Kamen Riders and their enemies are quite different.  Although a few pallette swaps are present, for the most part they are quite distinct (you will end up fighting way too many “Red Minions,” though). The sound, however, is noticeably obnoxious. The same faux-metal tune plays throughout most of the game, and your character’s phrases are terrible. One guy, who doesn’t even have a sword, says “I’ll cut you!” all the time. Sure, you can use a special attack to give him a sword, but it's still a cringeworthy oversight.    

The game is surprisingly goal-oriented, doling out new special attacks and characters at a steady clip.  You can play through the mission mode with every character, although no differences are apparent in the layout—you do this for the special unlockables. What’s really unfortunate is that Kamen Rider features no multiplayer of any kind, whether local or online. You’d think that the appeal of mixing and matching special attacks to fit your own play style would be a natural fit for multiplayer, but unfortunately that isn't the case.    

Kamen Rider is an excellent solo fighter.  While it lacks a multiplayer component, it's technically impressive and full of content.  It’s definitely worth checking out.

Pros:
       

Graphically mind-blowing

 

Lots of special attacks to customize, once you start unlocking them

 

Tons of content

       Cons:
       

Noticeable lack of multiplayer

 

Game modes don't differ significantly

 

"I'll cut you!"

               Graphics:  9.0
       Kamen Rider looks insanely good on the DS.

               Sound:  5.0
       Not nearly up to par. The music is repetitious and the voicework is hilariously bad.

               Control:  8.0
       Switching targets is awkward (just drop-kick ‘em instead), and I would have liked to see actual special attacks with button combinations. But for what it is, it’s hard to complain.

                      Gameplay:  6.0
       Kamen Rider is great, but it only takes you so far before it starts to get tedious. Boss battles are challenging, though. It really needed multiplayer to give it legs, but unfortunately there is none.

 

       Lastability:  6.0
       How long this game will last entirely depends on how much you want to unlock, or how many fights you are willing to put up with.

 

       Final:  7.0
       The repetitious solo modes and complete lack of multiplayer hurt what is otherwise a fun and great-looking game. If you’re in the mood for a 3D fighter on the DS, Kamen Rider may be the ticket.      

34

TalkBack / Shantae Meets the Mario Bros.

« on: January 07, 2010, 10:10:35 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=20733

  I don't know if any of you readers have heard of Pixelblocks, but they're pretty awesome. Imagine 1x1 Lego blocks that can slide against each other OR stack. They're awesome not just because you can make 3D versions of your favorite video game characters (NES and GBC), but also because these figures will be to scale. I've already whipped up a bunch of pixelblock characters, including several Mega Man bosses, Super Mario characters, and NES-era Samus. I'm currently on a Shantae kick, so I thought I'd sculpt everyone's favorite half-genie heroine.    

What would happen if Shantae met the Mario Brothers?    

   

"Hello, boys!"  (Lady GaGa's "Just Dance" comes on)    

   

"Holy a-moley! Princess Peach never a-danced like this!"    

   

And now Shantae is back at the computer.    

So, in summary, Pixelblocks are awesome and you should check them out. Second, Shantae is awesome, and I can't wait for the DSi sequel. You can see more of my Pixelblock creations on my Facebook page.

[Even seeing my beloved Jade again isn't really worth the trouble.]

35

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Academy of Champions: Soccer

« on: January 05, 2010, 01:17:36 PM »

Even seeing my beloved Jade again isn't really worth the trouble.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20718

 Our own Neal Ronaghan was incredibly psyched about Ubisoft's Academy of Champions at E3 2009, but was crushed and heartbroken when the game released. So disappointed was our hero that he relegated the review copy to yours truly, lamenting that he was too crestfallen to review it with an open mind. After playing it on and off for the last few weeks, I can safely say that Academy of Champions is not horrible, but it's not that great, either.    

While it's tempting to immediately think of Academy as Harry Potter with soccer, that's an overly simplistic comparison. There's actually not much Hogwarts to be found here. Instead, it's more like a Tiger Woods game. Because the game takes place at a soccer school, you'll spend an inordinate amount of time talking with your fellow students (literally reading scrolling text) and, bizarrely, taking tests (what does the A button do?). You will also buy useless inside information from the "Shady Kid" and accessorize your players with stat-boosting equipment. What this amounts to is an incredible amount of menu navigation.    

Luckily, when you're not listening to irritating Simlish-esque sounds while you read text, you're usually playing experience-boosting minigames. These are usually simple exercises like goal-kicking or tackling. Despite the controls, the mini-games are usually pretty fun. They teach you the finer points of the game and your skills on game days improve based on the experience you get during the mini-games, which. often involve Rabbids. The tackling one is especially fun because you can take out your frustration toward Ubisoft's Rabbid over-saturation on the critters themselves — cathartic!    

Sometimes you'll get to actually play soccer. The field takes place on a rotating globe, similarly to Animal Crossing games. Why the developers would choose this perspective over a more traditional Sega Soccer Slam or Mario Super Strikers horizontal perspective is beyond me, but as it stands, you'll be frustrated by unseen opponents stealing the ball out of nowhere and kicking the ball to teammates you can't really see. The perspective is the single most annoying thing during games. Almost as annoying is the single energy bar that's used for all strategic moves on the field. This bar is depleted when you run, dodge, and use special moves. Since it's all dictated by one bar, you'll rarely use special moves because running and dodging are integral to controlling the ball.    

Actually maneuvering the ball downfield is an activity fraught with danger from unseen opponents (and you can't pass back, only forward), but when you actually do get the goal in sight, aiming your shot is surprisingly tough. Ideally, this is where the pointer would come in, but no. Instead, you aim with the analog stick—the same analog stick you're using to move your character toward the goal – which is not ideal. You can charge up a shot by holding down the B button, but during the brief period of charge-up, you'll often have the ball stolen from you. Special moves are actually pretty cool, but aren't very practical. For example, one dude turns into a whirlwind and spends about five seconds knocking dudes over. Sadly, the ball doesn't go anywhere, so while flashy, the whirlwind doesn't help move the ball downfield or into the goal.    

Thankfully, your opponents are often complete morons who can't make a successful goal to save their lives unless you sit back and let it happen. Because games don't last very long (five minutes is common), it's easy to score a single goal and spend the rest of the game playing keep-away, then come out the winner. Sometimes you'll be treated to an appearance by an Ubisoft all-star, such as the Prince of Persia or Altair, and if you force yourself to play long enough, you'll unlock them for your team.    

The graphics aren't poor – in fact, they look quite good.  They're vibrant and colorful, with good animation and particle effects. However, the characters are hyper-stylized in a manner that looks vaguely creepy. The only character models that look believable are the Ubisoft all-stars because we're all familiar with them. The music is upbeat, and the sound effects are convincing, but what's with the bizarre Simish-like jibber-jabber that the people are speaking?    

Academy of Champions is heavy on Wii accessorizing, but light on delivery. It supports the Wii MotionPlus as a way to deliver high or low shots (tilt the Remote up or down) and the Balance Board to perform a mini-game that's reminiscent of the soccer ball dodging balance game in Wii Fit. For all intents and purposes, though, the game is perfectly functional with a normal Wii Remote and Nunchuck.    

So while I don't hate Academy of Champions to the extent that our man Neal did, I sure don't like it. Overly simplistic and surprisingly light on soccer itself, the game never manages to capture my attention or motivate me to keep playing. There are better soccer games out there, including that old GameCube favorite, Sega Soccer Slam.

Pros:
       

Lots of peripheral support

 

Looks good from a technical perspective

 

Lengthy game

       Cons:
       

Peripheral support not well-implemented

 

Heavily stylized characters make me wince

 

Too much menu navigation, not enough soccer

 

The simplistic controls hurt the soccer itself

               Graphics:  8.0
       They look great, with good animations and a colorful presentation. The soccer fields and backgrounds remind me of Yoshi's Island for some reason. However, the hyper-stylized character designs run the gamut from bland to atrocious—the only characters that look normal are the Ubisoft all-stars.

               Sound:  6.0
       Since you spend so much time navigating menus in the school, you'll often be hearing the same background music. The music on the soccer field is different, but forgettable. Characters speak in jibber-jabber that's reminiscent of Banjo-Kazooie or The Sims.

               Control:  5.0
       It's far too simple. I can list about a dozen ways they could improve the way the game plays on the field. Otherwise, you're scrolling through choices with the pointer and the A button, which is functional, but pretty boring.

                      Gameplay:  6.0
       The mini-games are fun, but the soccer games are not as much fun. I am very turned off by the single power bar that controls all of your nonessential actions. The perspective is also botched — it really should be a horizontal, isometric view.

 

       Lastability:  8.0
       The game is fairly lengthy, involving four terms of 30 days each. Rewards do come pretty regularly, mostly in the form of new special attacks, stat upgrades, or accessories. However, the game itself is dull and at times frustrating, so you may tire of it before the trophy cup is awarded.

 

       Final:  6.0
       Academy of Champions fails to rise above most of gaming's soccer benchmarks, and so does not justify its existence. There are better, cheaper, often older soccer games out there.      

[Arcade racers weren’t as fun as you remember.]

36

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Stunt Cars

« on: December 30, 2009, 06:48:43 AM »

Arcade racers weren’t as fun as you remember.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20663

 Stunt Cars is an arcade racing game for WiiWare from Icon Games. Playing it takes me back to the arcade days spent in front of San Francisco Rush and Cruisin’ USA. A certain nostalgic part of me likes that feeling—all I need now is a physical wheel and accelerator and brake pedals—but the critic in me, the gamer who’s watched games evolve for more than twenty years now, realizes that arcade racing games can be frustrating. So for all its gooey nostalgia, Stunt Cars is well behind the times and ends up falling well short of greatness for it.    

The biggest problem is that the game’s sense of speed is never consistent. This is due mainly to how the game indicates speed. Without a MPH indicator (which Stunt Cars could really use), the only reference as to your speed is watching the road texture fly by. There will be times where it seems like you’re suddenly going a whole lot faster than you were a second ago—very suddenly—and it’s not clear why you suddenly sped up. This causes the player to panic, which leads to braking or overcorrecting, inevitably leading you to fly off the game’s raised racetrack. Your car will be hauled back onto the road, but by the time you get there, the competition has left you in the dust, and it’s very difficult to catch back up to a lead position.    

Stunt Cars also suffers from very basic controls that get in the way of an enjoyable racing experience. Your only options are brake, boost, and accelerate. Complex skills such as power-sliding and drifting are not present. Negotiating turns becomes a tedious, very carefully-wrought affair. Meanwhile, CPU-controlled cars negotiate turns without a noticeable drop in speed, so while you’re finding your line, they’re zipping past you. The game can be played with either the Wii Remote or with the Nunchuk attached. If you have one, you can plug the Remote into the Wii Wheel and use motion steering. The Wii Remote by itself doesn’t provide the best turning sensitivity given the small D-pad. The Wii Wheel’s biggest problem is consistency. Your best option is the Nunchuk for steering, which isn’t ideal, but gives the most peace of mind.    

The single-player options are pretty standard: time trial, single race, and tournament. Each tournament cup consists of four races, and completing them unlocks new car types. The game is certainly more fun with more people, offering robust local split screen games, including a point-based tournament mode. Since everybody has to worry about the awkward controls, however, it feels like multiplayer games are on firmer ground than solo play, since everyone is struggling with the turning and speed, not just you.    

The graphics are alright. Aside from the texture hiccups, there are some sporadic framerate problems. The cars look pretty nice, but most seem like palate swaps of each other. Some half-hearted particle effects occur when two cars hit each other. Backgrounds are colorful but feel generic. The sound suffers equally: there are a handful of catchy tunes, but they cycle far too quickly.    

I suppose the final verdict is that Stunt Cars is fun if you have a room full of people who want to play a racing game that’s not called Mario Kart. Its single-player flaws are crippling and ensure that Stunt Cars remains a strictly multiplayer experience.

Pros:
       

Lots of solo and multiplayer options

 

Plenty of control scheme options

       Cons:
       

Very basic controls hurt the gameplay

 

Vanilla presentation

 

Inconsistent sense of speed

               Graphics:  5.0
       Stunt Cars looks like a generic arcade racer that lacks personality

               Sound:  5.0
       Catchy tunes, but there aren’t many of them, and individual samples cycle quickly

               Control:  6.0
       Stunt Cars offers various control schemes, including Wii Wheel and Wii Remote option, but only one does a decent job.

                      Gameplay:  8.0
       There’s actually a lot of meat on these bones, but in order to get the best experience, you need more than one person playing. Solo play is frustrating, but multiplayer is pretty fun.

 

       Lastability:  7.0
       Again, there’s a lot to do in this game. Unlocking new cars is the highlight of any racing game, and there are plenty here. It’s just a shame that you have to win single-player tournaments to unlock those cars.

 

       Final:  6.0
       I’d be wrong to call the game a flop, as there are good ideas here and some fun to be had. However, unless you have a dedicated group of gaming buddies, I can’t recommend Stunt Cars to the lonesome gamer.      

37

Nintendo Gaming / Shantae GBC

« on: December 23, 2009, 05:49:30 PM »

Looooooong shot here. Neal and I are prepping a feature about Shantae, a beloved but short-lived GBC game from like 2002. Apparently nobody bought it because it's stupendously rare, typically going for $200 on eBay.
 
So before I resort to a ROM, I just figured I'd ask if any of you cats have Shantae. And if so, can I borrow it? I'll send it right back after I'm done with it. I just need to play through the thing.
 
Thanks, guys.

[Come and experience Astro Boy's massive identity crisis.]

38

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Astro Boy

« on: December 18, 2009, 12:51:34 PM »

Come and experience Astro Boy's massive identity crisis.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20584

 I've always liked to think of Astro Boy as being the proto-Mega Man. The little dude's got an arm canon and rocket boots, so he's basically the Blue Bomber with a Rush adaptor. You may also remember that Treasure made a wonderful Astro Boy game for the Game Boy Advance several years ago that pegged the original anime superhero in a bullet-hell horizontal shoot-'em-up. Astro Boy: The Video Game, adapted from the recent poorly received CG film, can't decide what it wants to be. It tries on all sorts of hats, including traditional platforming, beat-'em-up, horizontal shooter, and Gunstar Heroes-like boss fights, but manages to mangle them all. Astro Boy: The Video Game is an abomination that you should avoid.    

The story is unessential. A scientist creates a robotic version of his dead son. The robot realizes he's a robot, runs away, and hijinks ensue. Most often, these hijinks take place on a side-scrolling battlefield. Every five feet, a little stop hand flashes on-screen and Astro Boy is forced to battle a million robots before the go hand flashes. Astro Boy has an arm canon, but seems to prefer fisticuffs. Imagine any other arm-canon hero doing this: Samus Aran, Mega Man, Ash from the Evil Dead series. It's absolutely asinine, and doesn't work in practice. For one thing, it's dreadfully boring. You just pound on the punch and kick buttons until everything's dead. Some enemies shoot bullets at you that you simply can't avoid because you can't duck or block.    

Oh, wait, there's also the ability meter. Each enemy you kill drops an orb. Collect enough orbs and a series of icons on the touch screen light up. The more orbs you collect, the more icons light up. These are single-use powers that include, but are not limited to, a defense boost, an offense boost, completely healing yourself, and using your arm canon (once). You can either double-tap an icon to use the corresponding power or tap the icon, then press A. Either way, it's time-consuming and awkward. Aside from that, using a power drains all or most of your orb meter, so you have to start from scratch to power up another ability. The only ability you can use at all times is your rocket boots, which function as a double-jump. Given their single-use attributes, you'd think that the arm canon and machine gun (which comes out of Astro Boy's ass—and he looks surprised) would be insta-kill weapons that clear the screen. They do not, thus blunting their effectiveness. The only power you'll be using consistently is the one that takes the longest to charge—the heal ability.    

After fighting endless waves of robots, you'll come to infuriating platforming sections with moving floors and lots of spikes. You will die often in these areas, because the jumping and rocket-jumping are so imprecise that you will usually land on the spikes. This is as much a consequence of the jumping as the constantly zoomed-in camera, which denies any view of nearby dangers. Sometimes, the spikes merely damage you. Other times, they kill you outright. I especially love the rising and falling platforms that pass by turrets. Because you cannot duck or block, you just get shot outright for the entire ride.    

After reaching an entirely arbitrary end point, you come to a horizontal shooter section. Astro Boy himself takes up an extraordinarily large portion of the screen. Enemies shoot his gigantic frame with wild abandon, and there's often very little you can do to avoid their shots. Imagine a bullet-hell game with Optimus Prime in vehicle form! It is here, and only here, that Astro Boy uses his arm canon as his default weapon.    

There are some boss fights, too, and there's just something wrong about the idea of punching and kicking a giant mechanical threat instead of standing back and shooting your arm canon from a safe distance. I think you can see where things go wrong pretty quickly.    

Do yourself a favor and hunt down the GBA game if you have an Astro Boy craving. Just ignore this pile, which is 100 percent pure, uncut shovelware.

Pros:
       

Hey, what's this machine gun sticking out of my ass?

       Cons:
       

Awful combat

 

Horrible platforming

 

Borderline useless abilities

 

Terrible shooter sequences

               Graphics:  4.0
       Sprite-based graphics with endlessly repeating enemies and palette swaps to indicate power. Backgrounds are devoid of detail or ambience., and Astro Boy looks wimpy.

               Sound:  5.0
       Music and sound effects are present, but they are very generic.

               Control:  4.0
       Astro Boy has terrible controls, with especially horrible ability activation and combat.

                      Gameplay:  3.0
       You get shot a lot because your big-ass character can't block or dodge in any way. Then, you repeat the same level sequence a million times, and eventually punch and kick the giant mechanical bosses.

 

       Lastability:  1.0
       The game lasts a few hours, but the gameplay is so messed up that you won't want to endure it. There are no unlockables, either.

 

       Final:  3.0
       Astro Boy: The Video Game is one of the worst games I've played all year. If you lust for Astro Boy-related gaming, track down a copy of Treasure's excellent Astro Boy: The Omega Factor for GBA instead.      

[Cabella meets Turok in this flawed first-person shooter.]

39

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Jurassic: The Hunted

« on: December 18, 2009, 08:37:23 PM »

Cabella meets Turok in this flawed first-person shooter.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20583

 It’s not secret 'round these parts that I have a fascination with all things prehistoric. I loved Ice Age 3 primarily on its merits, but also because it featured sequences wherein you could ride a Pachycephalosaurus. With that in mind, you would think that Jurassic: The Hunted would be something of a Holy Grail for me, in the same way that the original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was. And it's pretty clear, right from the get-go, that Jurassic is going for the Turok vibe: a lone man lost in the jungle, surviving on his wits and a healthy amount of firepower. And even though it's initially a lot of fun, Jurassic: The Hunted gets bogged down by technical problems, and repetitious missions and dinosaur types.    

The control scheme itself presents some awkward moments. For one thing, you reload with the + button, shoot things with B, and use A to interact with objects, which really means "trigger cut-scenes or load screens." The game is compatible with both the Wii Zapper and the ridiculous Top Shot in case you want an air of realism to your Jurassic safari. Jumping, a useless and imprecise motion, is mapped to the C button, and you can hold the Z button to look down the sight. The game's most interesting aspect is the Adrenaline meter, which activates with the - button. It briefly slows time and highlights the dinosaur's internal organs. The game utilizes a Call of Duty-like health system as there is no energy bar, and the more you're damaged, the more tunnel vision you develop until you die. The lack of a heads-up display apart from ammo and grenade indicators is refreshing and adds to the immersion.    

Unfortunately, the game's technical shortcomings pull you right back out of the experience. The graphics are pretty terrible, featuring slapped-together textures and a color palette made up entirely of browns and greens. There are some impressive areas featuring glowing lava, but for the most part, everything looks very muddy all the time, even the dinosaurs. Speaking of dinosaurs, there are entirely too many raptors interspersed by the occasional badly-rendered Jurassic Park-style dilophosaur. Big bossasaurs are few and far in between, and when they do appear, they're so overpowered that it's hard to enjoy the battle. Your main mode of attack is to spam adrenaline and pray that you aren't bitten in half while it's recharging. Enemy motion tends to be jerky, as if key frames of animation are missing. Worse, your character moves will all the speed and grace of a musk ox. Walking straight forward is bad enough (there is no run button), but once you start strafing, your speed plummets.    

While most of the game is pretty straight-forward in the shooter sense, a few stop-gap missions try to mix things up to varying success. There are some turret sections, which are entertaining as you must shoot down waves of raptors and pterosaurs while watching your overheat meter. In another “missions,” you must guard an empty, rickety base for no reason while raptors try to break in. The base has several windows that are being broken down, and you can run over and hold the A button to repair them. However, because the windows are quite far apart, you'll eventually be overrun, at which point you just stay alive until the arbitrary time limit ends. Finally, the game tosses tightrope mini-games in that have you walking across a narrow surface and balancing by twisting the Wii Remote. These sections are incredibly slow and it's way too easy to overcorrect.    

Thankfully, the gunplay itself is pretty fun. The game features a ton of different weapons, each of which handles differently, so you'll switch your weapon based on the situation. Unfortunately, you must manually cycle through your available guns with the D-pad; there isn't any Turok-esque “weapon wheel” for quick selection. Like in The Conduit, grenades are tossed with the Nunchuk. It's the most organic part of the game, but because it's tough to accurately throw a grenade at a charging pack of raptors, you'll find few opportunities to actually use them.    

As for the dinosaurs themselves, they lack character. Generic in design, it's virtually impossible to positively identify particular animals at the genus level. The developers did their best to differentiate Utahraptor from Deinonychus fromVelociraptor, but the little Asian dromaeosaur ends up looking like a compsognathid, and Utah’s giant raptor looks like a scaled-up Deinonychus. Interestingly, that genus comes in two distinct colors (red and green) for no apparent reason. You'll catch glimpses of other Mesozoic saurians—brachiosaurs, pterosaurs, and Jurassic Park-style dilophosaurs. 90 percent of your foes, however, end up being raptors. This gets pretty boring. To make matters worse, none of them have feathers. Also, many dinosaurs bizarrely teleport into the environment right in front of you.    

I never thought I'd say this, but Jurassic: The Hunted is a dinosaur game I didn't really enjoy. I've certainly played better shooters, and the mere addition of dinosaurs doesn't amount to much when the vast majority of your opponents are raptors. Add poor production values and some technical shortcomings, and this ends up being one time travel trip to avoid.

Pros:
       

You get to shoot dinosaurs

 

Competent control scheme

       Cons:
       

Graphics are pretty horrible

 

Very slow-moving character

 

How many raptors do I have to kill

 

Inconvenient checkpoints

               Graphics:  5.0
       This might pass as a mid-era PlayStation 2 game, but even then, Jurassic: The Hunted features pop-up, frame-skipping problems, a complete absence of particle effects, and a host of other graphical shortcomings.

               Sound:  5.0
       Your character sounds like a Gears of War reject. The ambient sounds of the jungle are interesting, but all the dinosaurs sound the same, and there's not really any music to speak of.

               Control:  7.0
       The control scheme is fine, but your character walks way too slowly, it's easy to spam the Adrenaline meter, and turning is a hassle. The tightrope segments are beyond awful, and they are far too common.

                      Gameplay:  7.0
       An incredibly linear (follow the on-screen indicator!) and repetitious game that wears out its welcome quickly. What, they couldn’t afford to model a decent mid-sized carnosaur as a regular enemy?

 

       Lastability:  5.0
       No multiplayer means that you are left to your own devices for as long as you can stand the game.

 

       Final:  5.0
       Jurassic: The Hunted seems like a can't-miss idea, but so did the last few Turok games, and we all know how they turned out. Skip this one and go play Dinosaur King.      

[A fun game that's also incredibly short.]

40

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks

« on: December 12, 2009, 03:06:39 PM »

A fun game that's also incredibly short.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20543

 Some of you may remember my recent review of the Wii version of Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks. The DS version retains  the core concept of switching alien forms to move through the environment, but does so as a 2D side-scroller. The fighting isn’t much better, but the game sure looks beautiful.  Unfortunately, it’s also ridiculously short.  The graphics are done in the style of an SNES Donkey Kong Country game, with pixelized versions of rendered character models and pre-rendered backgrounds. It looks great, and every character features unique animations and attack sequences. The worlds you visit are nicely divergent, too, and look significantly different from their Wii counterparts.    

The control scheme is, for the most part, simplistic but effective. Switching forms is handled far better on the DS: rather than having to cycle through available forms, you can just tap whatever form you want on the touch screen to transform into it. You still can’t switch from one alien to another on the fly, though; you must transform back into Ben before going to a new alien form. This is still annoying, but it’s certainly a smoother transition than on the Wii. Another nicety is that your character upgrades himself in a very noticeable way. Life bars extend, offensive power increases, and attack combos increase as you collect experience orbs. Finally, while they were completely throwaway in the Wii game, the interplanetary ship sections are very fun here, bringing to mind “bullet hell” shoot-‘em-ups. It’s too bad they’re over so quickly, and there are no epic boss fights in these interplanetary shooter areas.    

But it’s not all wine and roses. You’ll hear the same few sound effects for the entire game, and the music isn’t exciting enough to be particularly memorable. Combat, while serviceable, is incredibly simple, asking you only to bash out the same two or three button combinations during brawls (of which there are many). The character Spidermonkey has the ability to “web-swing” and climb up walls, but his web-swinging is severely hampered by the fact that you have to press X extremely quickly after jumping with B in order to successfully attach the line to the ceiling. It’s an awkward move that effectively requires you to press B with your thumb and X with your index finger. The web-swinging and wall-crawling are also bizarrely inconsistent—you can’t do either one everywhere. You can walk up to left wall, but not the right one. Go figure.    

Without a doubt, the most frustrating part of the game is its boss fights. They are often interesting and challenging until you figure out how to beat them, at which point you simply repeat the same sequence of events incessantly until they die. Bosses only take about one hit point of damage every time you land a hit, and later bosses are invincible while attacking.  This means that your window to attack them is very small, thus the fight goes on…and on…and on. Finally, because you have to upgrade each character separately, you will doubtlessly be left with a few characters who are borderline useless towards the end of the game.    

Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks is an extremely short experience, clocking in at under three hours of playtime.  There are no unlockables except for character profiles (which are simply text), so there’s little reason to go back when you're finished. Ben Tennyson's DS excursion is more enjoyable than its Wii counterpart, but only for a very short amount of time.

Pros:
       

Great graphics

 

Switching forms is easy thanks to the touch screen

 

Meaningful character upgrades

       Cons:
       

It's less than three hours long

 

Boss fights are annoyingly long

 

No meaningful unlockables

               Graphics:  8.0
       There are times where the pre-rendered backgrounds makes it tough to figure out where you can and can’t land, but they’re beautiful overall.

               Sound:  5.0
       The music is mostly forgettable, and the sound effects don't offer much variety.

               Control:  8.0
       Spidermonkey’s inconsistent controls frustrate, but the game has smooth controls by and large. Switching forms is quick and easy.

                      Gameplay:  7.0
       Character switching doesn’t have a puzzle function here; there are only environmental hazards to avoid. However, the platforming is great while it lasts and the fighting is solid, but more ship battles would have been appreciated.

 

       Lastability:  3.0
       It’s a very short game, with not a lot to unlock or come back to once you're finished.

 

       Final:  7.0
       Ben 10 on the DS is good but not great, mainly due to the annoying boss fights and short play time.      

[The latest issue of Nintendo Power reveals that the game will include three playable characters, and a robot master named Sheep Man.]

41

TalkBack / Capcom Announces Mega Man 10 for WiiWare

« on: December 09, 2009, 08:41:26 PM »

The latest issue of Nintendo Power reveals that the game will include three playable characters, and a robot master named Sheep Man.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=20517

 Following the success of Mega Man 9, Capcom has announced a sequel , the aptly named Mega Man 10.    

Nintendo Power announced that Mega Man 10 is well on its way, and features significant changes to the traditional Blue Bomber formula. Among them is a bizarre story — the world's robots have been infected with a virus called Robotena, which causes them to overheat and go haywire. This could be an homage to the actual Mega Man X series, in which the Sigma virus causes robots to turn evil.    

At any rate, Mega Man's posse aims to find components for a cure. More interestingly, it  's not just Mega Man this time. His brother, Proto Man, and an as-of-yet unnamed hero will be along for the ride, selectable from the very beginning and, hopefully, at any other time. A likely suitor for this third character could be Bass, an anti-hero character from Mega Man 7 and 8.    

The game will also offer an Easy mode, perhaps to counteract the notoriously high difficulty of the series. As for the Robot Masters, only one has been revealed: Sheep Man. Yes, you read that right. Sheep Man looks like a cartoon sheep with robot arms and legs. He charges electricity, floating into the air and raining lighting over the battlefield. Once you defeat him, you acquire his weapon: Thunder Wool.    

There is no release date for Mega Man 10 yet, and there is also no word on whether or not this will be a WiiWare exclusive.

[The Spore brand is not a mark of quality in this case.]

42

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Spore Hero Arena

« on: December 05, 2009, 08:01:44 AM »

The Spore brand is not a mark of quality in this case.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20483

 Spore Heroes Arena may call to you, like a mythological Siren, as you wander through Best Buy. “Look,” it says, “I’m a Spore game, developed by Maxis. Come feast on my Creature Creator and gooey nougat center.” Like that cursed temptress, Spore Heroes Arena will only pull your ship to a rocky doom. Save yourself, dear readers! Heed my tale of woe, ignore the Siren’s song, and move on to better games.    

Spore Heroes Arena is roughly divided into two parts: fighting creatures and exploring .  The battle system never gets more complicated than “mash the attack buttons to knock your opponent off the ledge,” although when special circumstances are involved (you have one life, your opponent has three, etc.), the battling becomes not only boring, but frustrating.   The control scheme is somewhat flawed during fights. Movement is handled by the stylus, and attacks are assigned to the face buttons. Your alien has three special attacks (Bio-Powers) that are activated by first holding down L or R, then tapping one of the icons that pop up. During this time, your creature is not attacking, but instead being beaten down by the opposition. Fortunately, it’s much easier to win fights by getting up in your opponent’s face and spamming the punch/bite buttons.When you’re not fighting, you’re wandering through bland 3D isometric landscapes populated by abstract rocks and plants, looking for aliens to either fight with or do chores for (tasks  like races, herding, and escort missions). Your prize is either a new creature part or a blue crystal. After you collect four blue crystals, you move on to that particular planet’s boss (read: another fight).    

You can change up your creature’s parts with bits and pieces that you find in the environments or parts that are given to you as rewards, changing its stats in the process.  Unfortunately, it’s not clear when or how you should do this, given a strange DNA “point” system. As you progress, you’ll accrue DNA points through undefined means, and once you have a certain amount, you can go back into the Creature Creator and swap a part that costs that many DNA points. Experimenting with parts is a slow, tedious process.    

These tasks comprise the entire Spore Heroes Arena experience. Interestingly, the game supports multi-card four-player multiplayer for arena battles with friends. Also, you can hop onto Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for one-on-one battles. It’s appreciated, but the one game I played involved basically getting up in each-others’ grills and pounding the attack buttons. Strategy has no meaning.    

Spore Heroes Arena is a very uninspiring title that has a repetitive fighting engine and tedious exploration.  It definitely does not live up to the Spore brand.

Pros:
       

Creature Creator

 

Supports Nintendo WFC

       Cons:
       

Creature Creator is limited

 

The game is often boring

 

Graphics are poor

               Graphics:  4.0
       The 3D graphics are low resolution, which means you get lots of ambiguous-looking environmental objects and bad-looking creatures.

               Sound:  4.0
       The music is extremely uninteresting.  Background tunes bleed together, and when aliens speak, they use funky Banjo-Kazooie-style jibber-jabber sounds.

               Control:  6.0
       The game’s control scheme does the job, but given the focus on arena battles, the lengthy process of activating special attacks is damning.

                      Gameplay:  3.0
       In short, you wander around small maps looking to do chores or pick a fight until you lose interest.

 

       Lastability:  2.0
       If you get past the instruction booklet, pat yourself on the back.  Seriously, you will tire of the tedium quickly, although the online connectivity does extend the life somewhat.

 

       Final:  3.0
       Spore Heroes Arena DS is repetitive, bland, simplistic, boring, and best avoided.      

[Yes...let the T-Virus flow through you!]

43

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

« on: November 29, 2009, 04:18:52 PM »

Yes...let the T-Virus flow through you!
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20431

 The light-gun genre is alive and well on the Wii. Some would say it’s never been done better than 2007’s Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, though I would counter that this year’s excellent Dead Space: Extraction raised the bar significantly in key areas. Darkside Chronicles, which covers plot points left out of Umbrella Chronicles, manages to take a few steps back from its predecessor, but remains a fun jaunt through the series backlog.    

While Umbrella Chronicles condensed the storylines of Resident Evil 0, REmake, and Resident Evil 3 (as well as bonus Resident Evil 2 missions starring Ada Wong and H.U.N.K.), Darkside Chronicles covers RE2, Code Veronica, and a brand-new mission with Leon Kennedy and Jack Krauser, which was hinted at during the events of Resident Evil 4. While the plots of RE2 and Code Veronica are well-known in the pantheon of the mythos, the new South American mission is a welcome addition and ties the Veronica Virus into the series canon in a satisfying way. Their mission also resembles that of RE5 somewhat (at least, aesthetically); perhaps a nod to Wii gamers who cried foul at the absence of a version of that game for their console of choice.    

Darkside's gameplay is similar to Umbrella Chronicles in that you select a range of weapons and shoot things as your character walks on a rail. Bits and pieces of the environment can be shot to reveal archive snippets and money, which you can use to upgrade your guns between missions. However, the control scheme itself has changed somewhat. In the default control scheme (Wii Remote only), different buttons are mapped to the D-pad, and grenades are now treated as a weapon rather than being a special button combo. You fire the gun with B and pick up items with A. Co-op makes a valiant return, accompanied by the ability to add or drop a buddy between missions. This is all pretty standard shooter fare, but the rail itself has changed significantly.  While Umbrella Chronicles, for the most part, presented you with a room full of zombies and gave you ample time to shoot their heads off, Darkside Chronicles employs a "more realistic" shaky-cam and more frantic movement. There will be plenty of times when your character will simply turn and run from what looks like a big juicy shooting gallery. If Umbrella Chronicles was a series of connect-the-dots shooting sequences, Darkside feels more like a continuous line. The shaky-cam does you absolutely no favors when it comes to accurate shots—headshots are tougher to chain together because of it, and certain boss battles are artificially harder because your character’s head is having a seizure through most of it. It’s also much costlier to upgrade your weaponry: I averaged one stat upgrade for one gun per chapter, which was frustrating. It doesn’t help that the environments aren’t as destructible as they were in Umbrella Chronicles, thus netting you significantly less cash; also, some of the new guns are borderline worthless (Bowgun, I’m looking at you).    

One more negative: boss fights are made significantly more difficult by the fact that they will not flinch (or, in at least one case, die) unless you shoot them during a certain animation sequence. This may be a reaction to the fact that, in Umbrella Chronicles, you could basically shoot a boss’ weak point continuously and it would never be able to attack, and would die in less than a minute (when using good weapons). Here, the boss will always start his attack sequence, and you are given an unbelievably short time to shoot their (often small) weak point. Factor in the shaky-cam, and you’re in for a world of hurt until you significantly upgrade your armory. Personally, it’s a change I don’t like. Co-op alleviates this problem somewhat, but it doesn't solve it.    

If you can power through, though, Darkside Chronicles does get a lot right. For starters, it’s beautiful. It compares favorably to both Umbrella Chronicles and Dead Space: Extraction, though the EA game looks a hair better. Darkside features more cutscenes than Umbrella did, and these do look better, more resembling the aesthetic of the CG movie Resident Evil: Degeneration than the REmake. From what I can tell, all of the voice actors from the modern games are back, even Krauser. The sound effects are what you'd expect, and all of the creatures and zombies have distinct noises. I especially like the bat-variant Hunters in the Operation Javier mission—you can tell when they’re coming! One bizarre consequence of the Havok engine is that female zombies now have jiggling breasts—I’m not sure whether to be turned on or horrified by this. You can also upload your mission scores to leaderboards, if you feel so inclined.    

What I like about the RE Chronicles games is that they are almost 100% fanservice, almost to where they would  of alienate non-RE fans. While the plot is condensed to the point where those unfamiliar with the series mythos can easily catch on, a lot of the details are lost—kind of like turning a 500-page Harry Potter book into a 2-hour movie. Things get lost in translation, and in some cases, events are simply re-imagined to save time. For example: in one of the more frustrating missions, you fight three versions of William Birkin in a row. My memory may betray me, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how it went down in the PSOne version. Still, it’s great to relive some of the great moments and battles of those old games. I especially enjoyed the Code Veronica levels, as that’s a game I never played. RE fans will find lots to love in Darkside Chronicles, but if you’re a newbie to the series, I’d recommend Umbrella Chronicles since it’s more user-friendly.

Pros:
       

Fills in the story blanks left by Umbrella Chronicles, adding another new chapter to the saga

 

Beautiful, technically impressive game

 

Co-op is fun and eases the challenge

 

Bouncing zombie boobs?

       Cons:
       

Much harder than Umbrella due to the shaky-cam and strict boss fights

 

Not as much environmental mayhem

 

Upgrading your guns takes forever

 

Bouncing zombie boobs?

               Graphics:  8.0
       Darkside is a great-looking game. It’s pretty dark in a few places, and there are some anti-aliasing issues with the environments, but I can’t fault it much beyond that.

               Sound:  9.0
       I love the back-and-forth between the characters, although Steve Burnside is kind of whiny. Music and sound effects are great and atmospheric.

               Control:  9.0
       Plenty of options (Zapper, Wii Remote, Wii Remote and Nunchuk), though I don’t care for the grenade change.

                      Gameplay:  7.0
       The shaky-cam and restrictive attack opportunities for boss flinching really hurts the gameplay, but it is otherwise a very fun and engaging game.

 

       Lastability:  9.0
       While there are no bonus missions this time, there are many more core missions. You’ll have to replay several chapters to upgrade your guns all the way, and there’s always motivation to get better scores for the leaderboards.

 

       Final:  7.0
       Light-gun rail-shooters require consistency to be really great, and sadly, Darkside Chronicles introduces some bizarre elements that take away from that. On the other hand, this is classic Resident Evil zombie-shootin’ action with great co-op action and…bouncing zombie boobs.      

[War is...irritating.]

44

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Modern Warfare 2: Mobilized

« on: November 29, 2009, 04:12:59 PM »

War is...irritating.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20430

 I was a big fan of n-Space’s 2007 Call of Duty 4 effort on the DS. Impressively, they had managed to pack almost everything that made the HD console version so fun into a tiny little DS game card. Now that a DS version of Modern Warfare 2 has hit store shelves, I was excited to see if lightning could strike twice. Sadly, it cannot, and Modern Warfare: Mobilized limps behind its impressive predecessor at a considerable distance.    

The game’s most playable sections are the first-person shooting missions, which thankfully make up the bulk of the game. It plays similarly to every other FPS on the system—you aim with the stylus, move with the face buttons, and shoot with the L/R buttons. By and large, it feels a lot like the 2007 game. However, there are a couple of minor differences that become major problems fairly quickly.    

In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, you needed only to double-tap the touch screen to enter "ironsight" mode, wherein you would look down the sight of your gun—a necessary tactic for shooting with any accuracy. Here, double-tapping has been replaced by a distinct icon on the touch screen, which I always had to look down at to tap correctly. And you have to tap it again to leave "ironsight" mode, so you end up looking at the touch screen as much as the top screen during firefights. It takes you out of the game and becomes tiresome.   Picking up guns or interacting with computer terminals is also more finicky this time around; you have to be in the exact right spot for the "hand" icon to appear. I found myself sticking with my default guns for entire missions, bothering to pick up enemy firearms only when I had run out of bullets. It’s also not always clear where, exactly, your checkpoint is. Looking at the touch screen, which does NOT display a map (only a radar) is no help at all, as it doesn’t take verticality into account. There were many times where I wandered right past a checkpoint because I wasn’t on the right floor.    

Alternate missions break up the action, but they are generally boring and/or aggravating. You have not experienced frustration until you try to drive a tank in first-person. Switching between the cannon and machine gun is incredibly disorienting, and the tank itself gets stuck on the environment constantly; meanwhile, enemies are slamming you with RPGs. In one FPS mission, you are asked to guide an unmanned droid around an enemy base to find a nuclear device. The droid moves at the speed of a glacier and cannot defend itself; if it’s seen by enemies it is immediately shot, and you have to restart (there are no checkpoints for the droid). This is incredibly boring and frustrating. Another mission has you piloting a UAV, shooting missiles at hostiles and scanning buildings; it’s okay, but it lasts much too long.  The one fun alternate mission is a repeat from the first game—blowing stuff up from on high while protecting your ground troops.  The game’s "puzzles" have you sliding objects around on the touch screen, and there are also simplistic codebreaker guessing games.. These are often painfully simple and feel wedged-in.    

The game features online multiplayer, but have fun sitting through the search process. You will generally sit and watch a progress bar for five minutes, only to have it say that there’s nobody online. Local multiplayer is more dependable, but it requires a separate game card for each DS. If you’re starved for some FPS love on your DS, you might want to give this game a shot. However, even its predecessor provides a more engaging experience, not to mention a few other notable DS titles, specifically Moon.

Pros:
       

Single-player campaign mixes things up

 

Offers local and Nintendo WFC multiplayer

 

       Cons:
       

FPS control changes are for the worse

 

Finding online opponents is a long and often fruitless process

 

Most of the alternate missions are not fun

               Graphics:  7.0
       Not the most impressive FPS on the DS. Textures are poor in quality, and enemy characters look like cardboard cutouts. The environments are sometimes quite large and detailed, though, and all of the guns have different ironsights.

               Sound:  7.0
       Nice vocal work from your in-game teammates, and the music occasionally rises to fit the mood.

               Control:  6.0
       The tank's controls are borderline unplayable, and the FPS sections would be better had they not been tinkered with.

                      Gameplay:  5.0
       Because you’re constantly switching gears, the game never sucks you in. This is a case of a game doing too many things, and none of them particularly well.

 

       Lastability:  7.0
       Variations on the campaign are unlocked upon completing it, but the game itself is fairly short. Multiplayer has legs, but you need friends who own their own copy of the game.

 

       Final:  6.0
       n-Space’s 2007 effort bests Mobilized in almost every way.      

[This one goes up to eleven.]

45

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Space Invaders Extreme 2

« on: November 17, 2009, 06:15:18 AM »

This one goes up to eleven.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20350

 For those new to the Space Invaders Extreme franchise, I urge you to read Nick DiMola’s review of the original game. The goal of this review is to detail what’s been modified from these core concepts, as the games are otherwise very similar.    

The original Space Invaders Extreme   was a very appropriately-titled game. It took the classic arcade game Space Invaders and added graphical and musical flourishes, a more complicated scoring system, bonus rounds, online play, and new weapons. Space Invaders Extreme 2 doesn’t actually change a whole lot, but every aspect of the gameplay has been pumped full of steroids in the best possible way.    

For starters, bonus stages now occur on the top screen during the main stage progression. That is, shooting a “rainbow” UFO will activate a bonus round on the top screen, but you still have to watch what’s happening on the lower screen. Defeating all the enemies on the top screen within 30 seconds activates Fever Time, which causes all of the lower-screen invaders to turn yellow while large UFOs fly by on the top screen. Shooting lower-screen enemies results in a literal raining down of points, while UFOs increase the round’s multiplier bonus.    

During normal play, the top screen will also display a Bingo card. Shooting aliens of specific colors in sequence will “fill in” squares on the Bingo card. Once three are linked, you enter a special round. If completed, Bingo Fever begins, which is fundamentally similar to Fever Mode, but with the addition of large pink UFOs on the top screen that are worth a gigantic number of points. But that’s not all, folks; you can fill in the entire Bingo card to really get the party started.    

Other, more minor changes include a male voiceover instead of the original's female, more variations on Roulette, and the ease with which you can level up your ship compared to the last game. While still based on accrued points, Space Invaders Extreme 2 basically throws points at you throughout the entire game. It is also much easier than the original Extreme, especially the latter stages (which, for me, is a major plus).  Multiplayer has received a few much-needed tweaks as well; there is far more back-and-forth in the trading of invaders between the two players, and interesting UFOs crop up from time to time, including some rather large ones.  Only one new mode has been added to this sequel: Time Attack, which asks players to complete a sequence of stages as fast as possible without worrying about a high score.    

The graphics and sound remain the same, although   the backgrounds are much busier and mesmerizing than they were in the first game.  Luckily, you are never so distracted as to ignore the action in front of your nose. The music is new but largely similar, and the sound effects are, as far as I can tell, the same.    

Sadly, Space Invaders Extreme 2 suffers from the same short lifespan of its predecessor. Once you’ve had your fill of Time Attack and Score Attack, you can show off your skills in Ranking Mode and Multiplayer, but all modes are relatively short affairs. It’s not difficult to play through an entire Score Attack game in thirty minutes. Space Invaders Extreme 2 is at its best in short bursts. Certainly not good for plane rides, but excellent for waiting rooms and lunch breaks.    

Overall, Space Invaders Extreme 2 is a very worthy sequel to the original. If you liked the first game, you should run out right now and buy this one. If you haven’t tried either one, this sequel is a better package overall.

Pros:
       

Scoring is more forgiving than in the original

 

The Bingo card adds an interesting layer of strategy

 

More chaotic, but in a good way

 

More robust multiplayer

       Cons:
       

Quite short

 

No paddle option for DSi

               Graphics:  9.0
       No joke: Space Invaders Extreme 2 is one of the best-looking titles on the DS. The backgrounds are better-looking than in the first game, and the explosions are more complex. Sadly, boss fights lack moving backgrounds.

               Sound:  8.0
       Interesting techno tunes, just like in the first game. Your actions also influence the chimes and dings of the soundtrack, which never gets old.

               Control: 10.0
       You press left, right, and A or B. There are no touch screen controls.

                      Gameplay:  8.0
       Space Invaders Extreme 2 is a little short, but during your time with it, it’s incredibly fun.

 

       Lastability:  6.0
       You can unlock a (very hard) new difficulty by completing all of the stages in Score Attack on Normal. Beyond that - and your hunger for high scores - there’s not a lot to keep you playing.

 

       Final:  9.0
       Space Invaders Extreme 2 bests its predecessor in every way, managing to become the definitive version of this game concept.      

[It's not quite a 10, but it's certainly not bad.]

46

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks

« on: November 15, 2009, 04:59:04 PM »

It's not quite a 10, but it's certainly not bad.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20325

 Confession time: I have several Ben 10 action figures. I like the character design of many of them — they seem inspired by Wind Waker's simplistic outlines. In my mind's eye, I see Link fighting Wildmutt in some dredged-up temple. However, I have never actually seen the successful Cartoon Network show, which stars Ben Tennyson and his friends, who save the world on a weekly basis. Ben obtained an alien watch at the show's outset that lets him transform into an assortment of aliens, which is basically his superpower. In this Wii game, Ben traverses a host of planets in pursuit of the evil squid-faced Vilgax, who has taken over the Earth in the future. The game provides ample challenge and interesting concepts, but fails somewhat in execution.    

Ben and his horde of shape-shifting alter-egos travel to many 3D platforming levels. The game is heavily leveraged on the shape-shifting mechanic, and many environmental puzzles require the use of many alien forms to progress. These are the most fun sections of the game, and the set pieces involved are often impressive and vast. Switching between aliens is a rather convoluted affair, however. Let's assume you're starting out as Ben, which is normal. Ben, by the way, is absolutely useless on his own — he can't even crack open breakable jars and boxes. Anyway, you cycle between forms with left and right on the D-pad, and then press up to transform. What's unfortunate is that you can't simply switch to another alien on the fly; You first have to press up again to switch back to Ben, at which point you can cycle to another form. It's a bit cumbersome, especially when you're in the middle of a puzzle that's dependant on form-switching.    

The platforming is generally fun, but a few problems hold it back. Those forms with the ability to double-jump must do so with very specific timing. If you hit jump again at the wrong second, the double-jump will not activate and you will often fall to your death. Spidermonkey has the most problems in this regard, especially since his special ability is to chain jumps together with zipline targets. The awkward double-jump is met with an equally irritating zipline that doesn't always activate when you want it to.    

The camera is the game's most glaring shortfall. It follows behind your character, but it is slow to catch up around corners. You can remedy this by moving the camera however you want, but to do so, you must hold down the minus button and rotate the camera manually with the control stick. Ben stays still while this is happening, so it's a death wish during combat.    

Oh yes, the combat. It's shallow and frustrating, relying on button mashing and the abuse of special attacks to get the job done. Interestingly, Ben gains experience with every enemy he destroys, and leveling up allows you to choose a new special attack for one of the aliens. However, the enemies don't take any knockback or react in any way when you hit them, but you take knockback, which is a little ridiculous. If I'm a gigantic hulking dinosaur and I pound a dude into the pavement, you would think he'd stumble a little. The combat is so laughable that the game's bosses fall to environmental hazards rather than fisticuffs. That's certainly appreciated, but it's also a strike against the reliability of the combat.    

Ben 10 also throws you into frustrating spaceship battles between levels. The shooting is so inconsistent, and the collision detection so wacky, that you will happily press the minus button to skip right to the next level, which is sadly an option.    

Happily, Vilgax Attacks is a pretty good-looking game. The various environments you move through are colorful and rich, and a few offer peeks at the ambient life. The enemy characters all look pretty similar, but Ben's alien forms are vibrant and detailed. Each one is its own character, with a unique walk cycle, attacks, and various other animations that help bring each one to life. The game's soundtrack is another surprising hit, with catchy melodies that fit each world.    

Fans of the Ben 10 television show will probably get the most out of this game, but those seeking more in-depth platforming action should probably look elsewhere. While certainly enjoyable, Vilgax Attacks provides a shallow, though well-done, experience.

Pros:
       

Looks good

 

Environmental puzzles are awesome

       Cons:
       

Combat is more frustrating than fun

 

Rampant camera issues

 

Inconsistent jumping

 

Just skip the spaceship bits

               Graphics:  7.0
       Nice character designs, though the enemy models repeat far too often with palate swaps. The environments are the real stars of the show.

               Sound:  7.0
       Every time you turn into an alien, he yells his name like a Pokemon. That gets really old. The music, however, more than makes up for it.

               Control:  5.0
       Why some developers map jump to a button that's not the A button is a mystery. There is no lock-on in combat, and switching aliens takes too many steps. The platforming and environmental puzzles sort of make up for all that, but not really.

                      Gameplay:  7.0
       Skip the spaceship parts and go right to the platforming. It's just too bad that everything except environment traversal and puzzle solving is so disappointing.

 

       Lastability:  5.0
       There are health and special attack boosters hidden in each level, but that's about it.

 

       Final:  7.0
       Ben 10: Vilgax Attacks is a very vanilla effort overall, but it might provide some fodder for the younger set.      

47

General Gaming / Oh, GameStop. You do make me laugh.

« on: November 13, 2009, 02:34:15 PM »

http://kotaku.com/5403736/gamestop-to-sell-dlcin-their-stores

BRILLIANT. Let's ADD a step to the process of getting DLC. Do I sense an air of desperation?

48

TalkBack / I Love You, Primal Rage

« on: November 10, 2009, 06:01:02 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=20294

  Do you remember the days, fondly perhaps, when arcades were a staple of the American landscape? They are a sad rarity now, existing almost exclusively as dust collectors in movie theaters and old pizza parlors. They are still prevalent in Japan, and I even saw one large arcade in London's Picadilly Circus area. That particular arcade had coin-op versions of Mario Kart and House of the Dead 4. I didn't dare go in. With so many newer American arcade machines costing a full dollar for a single play, I couldn't imagine dropping a whole pound into a machine (American value: $267.84). At any rate, American arcades were at one point quite popular. We had a few here in Anchorage, none more perused than the Space Station on Spenard Road, which was within walking (or biking) (or driving, really) distance from my parent's house. I discovered many wonderful games there in my youth, including the superior original version of Bust-a-Move, NFL Blitz, and the awesome coin-op version of Aliens. There were so many games there that I have fond memories of: House of the Dead 2, Turtles in Time, Bubble Bobble, etc. Whenever I had spare change to unload, it would be done at the Space Station.    

Unfortunately, the Space Station became the victim of encroaching shadiness in the surrounding community. The late 90's saw plenty of gang violence in that particular neighborhood, and wouldn't you know it, somebody was shot in the parking lot of the Space Station. The clientele, dwindling ever since the gang stuff started going down in the first place, abandoned it entirely, and the arcade shut down.    

This was a shame for two reasons. First, the arcade was gone. Second, there was a great pool hall downstairs called Hawaiian Brian's, which had cheap rates and plenty of tables. My friends and I often frequented it.    

Before it collapsed, though, the Space Station brought in a cabinet that absolutely took my breath away. We're talking about a video game that will forever hold a high seat in my personal Gaming Olympus: Primal Rage. Atari had somehow managed to combine dinosaurs, 2D fighting in the vein of Street Fighter, and stop-motion animation to create the Ultimate Video Game for Zach Miller. It featured seven characters: two tyrannosaurs, two giant apes, a dromaeosaur, a cobra-like creature, and — get this — a single saurian that combined features of Centrosaurus, Kentrosaurus, and Euoplocephalus. Oh, the brilliance! The characters all animated smoothly, and why shouldn't they? The developers actually built stop-motion models with articulated skeletons, then animated every single movement the creatures made. The game came out during the Mortal Kombat era, combining the blood and fatalities of that brand with prehistoric behemoths and pre-rendered, 2D backgrounds.    

The game was ported to basically every home console available at the time, though the most widely circulated versions were for the SNES, Genesis, and PSOne. The SNES version in particular was the recipient of a great deal of neutering by pressure from parent groups and Nintendo's own squeamishness about blood and guts. Blood and guts aside, the SNES and Genesis carts were crippled by hardware restrictions, and both looked significantly worse than the arcade original. The PSOne port is supposedly the console version closest to its coin-op ancestor, but no consumer-grade hardware was powerful enough to display Primal Rage in its full glory. Until now. And by "now", I mean like six years ago.    

During the early 2000's, Midway released a series of arcade compilations under the title Midway Arcade Treasures. The second disk contains an arcade-perfect port of Primal Rage. I scoured the city, calling every possible store except the cursed GameStop, begging proprietors to see if they had a spare copy.    

I was repeatedly met with disappointing answers, and so I turned to my friends and colleagues here at NWR. A few offers were given, to my eternal gratitude, but the unheeding pull of prehistoric carnage beckoned, and I found myself on the phone with GameStop, who actually did have a copy of the game for PS2 for a mere ten dollars. Zounds! That hateful establishment proved its worth that day! After leaving work for the day, I headed to the mall, fighting rush hour traffic. Frustrating, yes, but the promise of fire-breathing tyrannosaurs roused my resolve! Well, that and the 150th episode of RFN, which is a laugh-riot.    

At any rate, my copy of the game secured, I headed home and plugged that disk into my dust-covered PS2. The game proper, Midway Arcade Treasures 2, boasts an impressive array of twenty-odd arcade classics, including Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and…um…Rampage World Tour. However, in my mind, the only game on the disk is Primal Rage. With bated breath and quivering fingers, I pressed Start once the 1994 classic had been selected. Instantly, I was transported back 15 years. Colors were brighter, food tasted better, and my overall health had not been quite so affected by Cystic Fibrosis. Good times.    

Blinding rays of nostalgia and a withered cerebral cortex recall a much more graphically impressive game. The characters here look a bit more digitized than I remember. My memories betray me once again! Curse you, aging neurons! Despite this, the arcade version of Primal Rage certainly looks worlds better than the SNES game I already have. The difference is vast, almost like comparing the SNES version of the game to its hideous Game Boy counterpart…which I also own. It plays differently, too: the special move inputs were changed for the consoles. It does feel good to finally activate Chaos' "Golden Shower" fatality, in which the big ape pees acidic urine on his fallen foe's corpse, melting the flesh and leaving a pile of bloody bones. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this fatality was pulled from the SNES game. To be fair, it is the most over-the-top fatality in the game. Others are notably tamer; another of Chaos' fatalities is to simply do a cannonball into the ocean.    

   

The port captures some of the more irritating glitches that plague the actual arcade game. Among the more amusing ones, Talon and Vertigo are simply unable to stock up on health during the bonus round preceding the "boss rush" final fight. With unlimited continues afforded by this console port, the problem is barely noticeable. In the arcade, it was maddening. Although I haven't experienced it firsthand, I've read that activating Vertigo's "Shrink & Eat" fatality results in a fatal error when used against Armadon, resulting in a continuous, game-crashing animation loop. The game otherwise performs admirably, though you should rarely, if ever, use the PS2's D-pad during play. It is too finicky, and you'd be wise to choose the analog stick over it. After all, you used a joystick in the arcades.    

Primal Rage features some interesting character designs. Armadon, the cross between Kentrosaurus, Centrosaurus, and Euoplocephus, is perhaps the most intriguing, partially because such a strange mixing manages to work so well. Were such an animal to come out of the ground, you'd hardly be surprised. Armadon's  moveset best represents his unique morphology: lots of spike and horn-based attacks, all very physical, whereas most of the other combatants are a bit more elemental. The other most notable character is Vertigo, a sort of snake-dinosaur. She is large and lithe, with a long snake-like tail and a neck sporting a cobra hood. Her long arms end in tong-like two-fingered hands. Her design makes me wonder if the developers wanted to include a sauropod, but couldn't make a giant, quadrupedal megaherbivore work in a fighting-game context (somehow not surprised). They probably scaled the design back until she started looking like a snake, at which point she just turned into one. Of all the prehistoric creatures in the game, Vertigo looks the least like one, but she's still pretty cool.    

The game's token dromaeosaur looks like it was designed by Ricardo Delgado and makes cat noises. His name is Talon, and is, in some ways, overpowered. Like Armadon, he has no elemental association and relies largely on physical hack-and-slashing to achieve victory. The game's big nasty tyrannosaurs are Sauron and Diablo. Aside from color and moveset differences, they are basically the same animal. Sauron uses more physical attacks whereas Diablo is a range-fighter, using various fire-breathing techniques to keep his opponent back.    

Unlike those giant coelurosaurs, the big apes, Blizzard and Chaos, look and animate very differently from one anther. Blizzard is Primal Rage's Sub-Zero and uses a few freezing attacks and some brutal punching moves. Chaos is a little obnoxious, sporting projectile vomit moves, a stun-inducing fart, and a "butt slam." What's not to love?    

   

Developer Atari had planned and actually began producing a sequel which got pretty far along in development. Primal Rage 2 was even advertised in one of the arcade San Francisco Rush games during the mid 90's on in-game billboards. Atari backed out, however, and the game never saw the light of day. In it, players would use human "avatars" instead of the dinosaur gods themselves who could transform into their respective deities. Two new prehistoric beasts were introduced: Slashfang, a large Smilodon, and Necrosan, a bone dragon. Both creatures eventually saw public release in the short-lived (but awesome) Primal Rage action figure line.    

If you like dinosaurs or 2D fighters, I can't recommend Primal Rage highly enough. It's derivative, sure, but you can’t fault the concept. It also provides a nice trip down memory lane, and all the good and bad that comes with it. It might be tough to track down a copy of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 nowadays, but I promise you, it's worth it.

[An aptly-named role-playing game]

49

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Nostalgia

« on: November 10, 2009, 01:46:56 PM »

An aptly-named role-playing game
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20288

 Nostalgia is an old-school turn-based role-playing game that is somewhat reminiscent of the Dragon Quest games. It concerns the exploits of a teenager named Eddie, who is searching for his missing father, and his friends, who each find their own significance in a larger, predictably world-saving plot. While suffering the same kinds of flaws that a game of this genre normally does, Nostalgia proves itself to be a fun and engaging role-playing romp with likable characters and lots to see and do. The battle system, while fairly standardized, has its own quirks that keep combat fresh.    

Exploration is divided between towns and dungeons, while overworld traversal takes place on a customizable dirigible. Since the game takes place on a steampunk version of Earth, you'll be flying from continent to continent, often touching down in familiar locales such as London and New York. Towns are littered with standard RPG locales, such as the local armor and weapon shops, inns, and pubs. New to the scene are airship docks, where you can buy and equip new components for your zeppelin, and Adventurer Association branches, where you can pick up side quests. The Adventures Association, centralizes all your side quests — you don't have to wander around looking for people. However, I will save you some trouble: whenever a quest summary includes talking to a person, be sure to talk to the person before going on the quest. The quest itself will not trigger until you make contact with the relevant NPC.    

Dungeons are laid out as mazes with multiple floors, lots of monsters, and treasure chests scattered around. Many side quests take you back into completed dungeons, which is useful for level-grinding. Leveling up is quite natural and occurs with surprising frequency. Battles are traditional menu-based affairs. Handily, your characters' stats are displayed on the lower screen, as is a turn order that displays who will go next during the fight. This is especially handy for setting up stat boosts, item usage, and healing spells. Magic attacks — "skills" here — take center stage as their use is encouraged in battles and honed outside of it. Whenever you level up, you gain a certain amount of skill points that are shared between all characters. These points can be allocated to magic attacks in order to level them up. In this way, you can tailor your character's attacks to your preferred fighting method.    

Airship battles are more interesting. Each character mans a specific weapon on the ship, and can cast their own airship-based magic attacks. Enemies can attack from three directions, but some weapons, such as the cannon, can only attack in certain directions. Enemies can also change which direction they attack from, but you cannot. In general, airship battles are more strategic than dungeon fights, and they are more enjoyable than the standard fare.    

The graphics are 3D, and they look very good. The aesthetic is similar to that of the DS remakes of Dragon Quest 3 and 4, which is not surprising considering they were developed by the same team (Matrix Software). The characters animate well, but there's a certain emotional void in their unchanging expressions. The environments are impressively large, but there's plenty of fog in the overworld to obscure pop-up, which still occurs. The music is good but not memorable, and it's jarring to read scrolling text without any sort of sound cue. If you're not paying attention, it's easy to lose track of who's talking during a scene of dialogue.    

Nostalgia is a classic RPG with enough tweaks to make it feel new, and it's very enjoyable because of that. It's a no-brainer if you like the genre, and even newcomers will find something to like.

Pros:
       

Engaging story and characters

 

Great graphics and good music

 

Side quests all come from one location

 

Fun combat system, especially on your airship

       Cons:
       

Dungeon battles are a bit bland by comparison

 

Super-deformed character models cannot love

               Graphics:  8.0
       The vistas are colorful and the character models are well animated. Sadly, they cannot express emotion due to technical constraints.

               Sound:  7.0
       The scrolling text lacks any sort of sound cue, but the music and sound effects are good.

               Control:  9.0
       It is almost entirely menu-based. All you do in the overworld is move and open treasure chests. Thankfully, there are no touch screen gimmicks.

                      Gameplay:  8.0
       The dungeon battles lack the strategy of the airship battles, but aside from that, the gameplay is like a modern Dragon Quest game with some skill tree customization.

 

       Lastability:  7.0
       This will keep you going for a week or more, especially if you habitually accept side quests.

 

       Final:  8.0
       A lovely game that's held back somewhat by its…ahem…nostalgic roots.      

[It virtually defines the phrase "middle of the road."]

50

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Spyborgs

« on: November 06, 2009, 07:12:53 AM »

It virtually defines the phrase "middle of the road."
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=20261

 Spyborgs, a game recently released  by Capcom, is not a great game. It is also not a terrible game. It is merely passable; a vanilla effort by developer Bionic Games. At its heart, Spyborgs is an old-school side-scrolling brawler in the vein of Double Dragon or Fight Street, but with cyborgs and robots. Our own Jon Lindemann even compared it to God of War. That game overcomes its repetitious nature with stunning visuals, palpable mythos, and strategic combat. Spyborgs does none of these things, so the game's shortcomings are right out in the open.    

The Kratos comparison is easy to make as the game flow asks you to defeat a large stable of enemies before moving on. Crates litter the environments and, when broken, spew out blue (health), orange (special attack), and red (upgrade) orbs that magnetically attract to your character. You can also destroy many parts of the environment to score more orbs. Combos are tallied, titled, and rewarded with more red orbs. At the end of every level, you can spend all the red orbs you’ve gathered on stat or attack upgrades. All that's missing from Spyborgs is Phoenix Feathers and Gorgon Eyes.    

The fighting engine offers no originality, and in fact mars the experience somewhat. There is no lock-on system, and when you're in a room surrounded by evil robots, it's tough to focus on just one baddie at a time. As you upgrade your character, new moves can be acquired, including a dodge and one move that simply doesn't work. Battles consist of mashing the B and C buttons, and pressing Z to block. The game lets you take two characters into any stage and switch between them with the + Button. That's cool, but if you've been pouring your red orb resources into one character, the other one will feel underwhelming. When both characters are alive, you can hold the Z button and shake the Wii Remote to activate a team-based attack, where your only job is to input simple command prompts (usuallymotions) to one-hit kill most enemies. This is a nice way of clearing out the toughest enemy in the room quickly, and with orange orbs being dropped by almost every enemy and  the crates, the special attack meter refills fast.    

The game's one real downgrade involves the Wii Remote pointer. It's always on, and whenever it passes over a nearly invisible box, you have to hold the A button and flick the Wii Remote upwards to reveal the box. This is also used on cloaked bridge consoles. The box-finding is asinine and time-consuming. The only worthwhile use of this mechanic is to find bonus content, such as Secret Tapes.    

The game is also punishingly difficult. When you start out, your characters are obviously underpowered, having not upgraded anything yet. Your opponents are so tough right off the bat that I died five times on the first stage and eventually had to lower the difficulty because I was being repeatedly gang-banged by a dozen on-screen robots. Happily, the game does offer two-player co-op, which I heartily recommend. In fact, I would argue that it is the best way to enjoy Spyborgs. Unfortunately, the game does not offer online co-op play.    

Spyborgs is a good-looking game, with slick character designs and interesting environments. It's just too bad you don’t interact with any of it. Bionic Games has said that the original concept for the game was to be cartoony, but that they changed the aesthetic to be more gritty and realistic, but I certainly don't see it. Spyborgs looks fine, but it’s caught somewhere between cartoony and gritty, so it ends up looking a little too generic. The concepts are there, they just need more fleshing out. The heavy metal soundtrack, though, is too loud and obtrusive. The voice acting is decent, even if it is sometimes poorly cast.    

Overall, Spyborgs is a good game. It's not terrible, it's not great, and it doesn't in any way stand out. But it is good and fun to play, especially if you lower the difficulty a bit and bring a friend along. If you're not into side-scrolling brawlers, there is nothing in Spyborgs to change your mind, but if you want some old-school spice, this is worth checking out.

Pros:
       

Old school brawler

 

Interesting art direction

 

Two-player co-op

       Cons:
       

Cloaked environmental objects

 

Difficulty is very high, even on normal

 

Old school brawlers are very repetitious

               Graphics:  8.0
       Clean character models and interesting environments keep Spyborgs looking fresh, though generic. There are good particle effects as well.

               Sound:  5.0
       The music may cause your ears to bleed. The voice acting and sound effects are passable.

               Control:  7.0
       The cloaked boxes thing rubs me the wrong way, and I wish the combat was a little smoother. As it stands, you block for awhile, then attack, then block, etc. Did I mention that Spyborgs is a straight-up scrolling brawler?

                      Gameplay:  7.0
       So very repetitious, but if you like brawlers (and I do), it's hard to fault the game's purpose. Enjoyment shoots up when you bring a friend over.

 

       Lastability:  7.0
       There are a lot of difficulties to complete, and finding all the Secret Tapes will take some time. Plus, the game offers a simplistic achievement system whereupon completing certain tasks will net you medals, some of which you can use to further upgrade the characters.

 

       Final:  7.0
       I enjoyed Spyborgs once I toned down the difficulty. If you like brawlers, you might too.