Nano Assault, the shoot-'em-up for 3DS made by Nanostray developer Shin'en, is available now for the Nintendo 3DS.
The game's release comes nearly two weeks after its original date of November 22. Majesco stated that day that the game had been "pushed back", but no official replacement date was set. Nano Assault is one of seven 3DS games Majesco is publishing this holiday season, and retails for $29.99.
Sega released four new videos for its upcoming 3DS game, Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure (also known as Rhythm Thief R). Three of the videos focus on the game's animation and story component, with the fourth highlighting the game's rhythm-based gameplay.
The only thing better than the original music of the Legend of Zelda series is the multitude of ways each and every beloved track has been reinterpreted, remixed, or broken down into something completely new. Dedicated fans have gone about this practice for years, churning out dozens of genre-spanning versions of classics, and now, in the lauded twenty-fifth year of one of Nintendo's flagship series, two more noteworthy albums look to capture the familiar spirit of the adventures of a boy named Link.
The first, Flyrule, is a beat-centric take on the music of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The intended sound of each song is preserved in its track, though often the rhythm is cut to a beat and layered with in-game sounds (heard in Song of Storms, accenting the smooth melancholy, and in the sprinkling of menu noises over the Title Theme). This approach gives each track, and the album as a whole, a natural, understated quality.
Notable:
—The hazy sounds of Forest Temple, bound into a tripping, stumbling march of a beat.
—The extraction of workable beats from even the most mundane (and annoying) of sounds in the Bonus Track.
The second, 25YEAR LEGEND, comes from independent VGM institution OverClocked ReMix and a host of indie composers, including Laura Shigihara (Plants vs. Zombies) and C418 (Minecraft). Spanning the length of the series, from The Legend of Zelda to Skyward Sword, the album (OCR's 29th) was created to promote the recent anniversary, and thoroughly does so through a variety of high-quality arrangements.
Notable:
—The tightly tracked drums and electronic pulses of Hey, Listen.
—The smooth, ebbing version of a lesser-known song in To Everything There Is a Temple of Seasons.
—The advance of Thunderstruck from a light drizzle to an all-out maelstrom.
In the midst of what's purportedly the largest entertainment launch in history yet again—the Call of Duty series has set and shattered the climbing record for three consecutive years—Activision and Treyarch have quietly released a Wii version of the modern military juggernaut for those who, ostensibly, have no other system to play the game on. And yet again, this joke-butt of a port is deceptively great.
Wii games of this kind carry a certain amount of stigma, and in the interest of talking about Modern Warfare 3 in a way that doesn't hinge its appeal entirely upon the system, these issues will be addressed now. Graphically, Modern Warfare 3 on Wii is not what you'll find on any other console. In fact, it looks a like what probably pops into your mind when you hear "Modern Warfare 3 on Wii." Textures are blurrier, the frame rate is noticeably dodgier, and the level of detail is several notches below what you'll see on PS3, Xbox 360, or even the most modest of PCs.
Fortunately, none of that carries a great deal of significance when it comes down to what Modern Warfare 3 is at the core. If you're an unflinching stickler for graphical fidelity, MW3 will likely get under your skin. If you come to a game like this for the mechanics, the moments, and the multiplayer, however, then you'll be in great shape.
The other prominent area of complaint with first-person shooters on the Wii lies with the controls. Like Black Ops last year, Treyarch implemented support for the system's Classic Controller and Zapper peripheral in addition to the default Wii Remote and Nunchuk configuration. Though I half expected to end up cruising through with the Classic Controller, using the motion controls was equally as effective. Shooters that end up working well on the system have taken care to make customization a priority; Modern Warfare 3 follows this trend well.
In addition to five different controller presets (varying in terms of speed and sensitivity) and six tweakable button layouts, the menu sports myriad sensitivity and adjustment items to facilitate the best point-and-shoot experience. After I upped the sensitivity a bit, I was able to pull in on enemies for quick bursts or pinpoint headshots, even on moving targets and in hairy situations. The default Wii Remote and Nunchuk configuration smartly relegates a few of the lesser-used functions (jumping, melee, the switching of gun sight attachments, and the basic two-slot gun swapping) to the D-Pad, which is a little less hand-friendly in hot situations than the rest of the controller. The Classic Controller provided a bit more stability during basic movement, but it comes down to personal choice; the two options are equally effective in combat.
Combat, obviously, is still the most important part of the game, and the structure of it has not altered much from the template set down by the first Modern Warfare four years ago. The staples of the series charge on into the final part of the trilogy, which is both a good and bad thing. The all-action global conflict escalates its what-ifs to create a peak-chaos situation in a handful of the world's major cities, which makes for some thoroughly impressive large-scale firefights and trademark moments. Battles are intense, explosions are frequent, and the experience is never without a certain level of excitement. That said, MW3's campaign hits the noted beats of the series pretty directly (even going as far as to poorly recycle first-person snapshots and cheap character deaths for depth it hardly reaches), and though the conditioned stimulus of mowing through entire platoons more or less on your lonesome is still fairly strong, it's a grinder players have been run through many times before. It's the kind of perfunctory presentation that's easy to go along with, even if it's telegraphed a bit and much of the time whatever character you posses at the moment is still being led by the nose by a comrade with a large white icon atop his head. It's blockbuster dumb and blockbuster fun, deafening with explosions and dense with military jargon, but nothing we've not seen before.
The same can be said of the multiplayer component, though as the extremely popular constant of the series this shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The new individual weapon leveling system makes it easy to get attached to and improve a certain gun at any one time, and the system of pointstreaks and strike packages streamlines player progression in a new, though not entirely innovative, way.
A recent patch to the multiplayer aimed to fix a pair of problems: difficulty with properly recording hits associated with network lag, and the corruption of player data. I downloaded the patch before entering multiplayer for the first time, and have had none of the problems listed. Matches started quickly and ran smoothly, and scant few instances of lag appeared.
While the base multiplayer experience is as solid as any iteration, a few unfortunate exclusions and quirks mar package as a whole. The new private match modes (Infection, Drop Zone, Team Juggernaut) are absent, as are the Gun Game and One in the Chamber modes from Black Ops.
The Spec Ops mode lacks the structured missions of the other versions, providing only the new Survival component. While the wave-based game is playable alone, cooperation is frankly a necessity for making meaningful progress. A majority of the dozen or so online matches I was placed into were rendered nearly unplayable by lag, however, even though the standard multiplayer performed swimmingly in game after game. Considering that Spec Ops exists more or less as a third of the game's content, the dismal state it's in is a shame.
Modern Warfare 3 on Wii won't ever astound with its graphics or win over anyone already intent on playing it on another console. It is by no means the definitive version. Despite its various limitations, however, it is a solid approximation of the kind of content that continues to deliver year after year, even if the ride is getting a little predictable.
As is the case with each generation of consoles, the GameCube had a full library of games with exemplary music. In our ongoing celebration of its tenth anniversary, we're taking a good, hard look at—and a listen to—some of the best soundtracks on the system.
Amazing Island
Well-known composer Yuzo Koshiro’s score for this hybrid monster creator/mini-game collection complements with a host of breezy yet punctual tracks. The layered melodies are short and sweet, but often come on the back of a driving, semi-electronic beat that gives the whole thing an appropriately mishmash-y composure.
Animal Crossing
It’s always a beautiful day in the Animal Crossing neighborhood, and even with so many activities to partake in, there’s an appropriate tune for just about everything. The folksy charm it embodies so well comes through in the diversity of its sometimes jazzy, sometimes pop-y, always relaxing soundtrack, as well as the cross-genre talents of local musician K.K. Slider—an animal personification of composer Kazumi Totaka.
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
While it’s often too easy to write off a lot of RPG music for its banality and lack of musical depth, Baten Kaitos—through composer Motoi Sakuraba—achieves quite the opposite. Each track is embodied with the same depth of feeling and musical detail, regardless of inherent intensity or style, and the result is a consistently rich flow of aural enjoyment.
Beyond Good & Evil
Beyond Good & Evil’s soundtrack is home to a bracingly eclectic grouping of genres and tones, which somehow come together in a Legend of Zelda/world percussion/ hybrid. It’s soft and introspective when it needs to be, but also brings the rhythm and bombast when the moment is just right.
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
A game based around rolling and manipulating giant eggs just screams for a soundtrack dripping with whimsy, a requisite Billy Hatcher’s fills thoroughly. Though most tracks bounce along with kinetic glee, the music as a whole refrains from slipping into the realm of overwhelming, unapproachable cuteness.
Chibi-Robo
For such a relatively simplistic and innocent game, Chibi-Robo! has a surprisingly deep, layered aural component. Ranging in tone and style, the music can slide from bouncy and carefree to melancholy, funky, or relaxing in the space of just a few tracks.
Cubivore
The soundtrack to this esoteric curiosity is anything but. Featuring a heavy emphasis on top-notch piano, string, and horn arrangements, it provides a pleasant contrast of sorts to the quirky goings on of the game.
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
Mario Mix is certainly one the plumber’s more eccentric departures, but there’s no debating the effective and reverent injection of the many of the series’ classic songs—including more than a few lesser known tunes—into the traditional formula of this dance game.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
A deep, dark drone acts as the undercurrent to much of Eternal Darkness’s ominous score. It might be crisp and eloquent at times, but in the proper context it’s downright chilling.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
There’s a gypsy-like simplicity in Crystal Chronicles’ soundtrack that distinguishes it from typical RPG fare. Its echoing percussion beats and wispy woodwind melodies evoke a unique closeness, and added innumerably to the overall composition.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Fire Emblem’s hard-edged strategic gameplay is matched by the striking nobility of its music. The powerful orchestral composition, while certainly grandiose, is hardly devoid of emotion.
F-Zero GX
The music of the F-Zero series has seen a gradual increase in, among other things, ridiculousness and awesomeness. While GX eschews the butt rock of F-Zero X for a smattering of more hard-edged pop metal, the over-the-top soul of the soundtrack is still safely intact.
While 3DS owners wait for the Metroid II: Return of Samus to hit the system’s Virtual Console marketplace, they (and everyone else) can and should play the recently released demo for Project AM2R (Another Metroid II Remake), the extremely promising fan update of the oft-overlooked 1991 Game Boy game
The project, which has been in independent development for nearly four years, uses the GameMaker programming platform and takes graphical and gameplay cues from more recent Metroid titles like Zero Mission and Fusion. The large sprites and cramped view of the original are eschewed for a significantly pulled out view. This, along with the new active and pause screen maps, facilitates exploration, something of an unruly task in the original and a necessity for any Metroid game.
The demo, which reportedly approximates the first section of the finished game, starts Samus off with only a healthy supply of missiles. As it progresses, the demo runs through a taste of the game’s weapons in fairly quick succession, including the Morph Ball and bombs, Charge and Ice beams, and the Spider Ball. The relatively large demo area is also littered with Missile Expansions and Energy Tanks, both of which come in handy during the half-dozen or so particularly trying Alpha Metroid encounters.
Though the remake will retain the original’s linearity—which required the player to eliminate Metroids before progressing—it supplements the experience by implementing a number of techniques native to to other parts of the series, including ledge grabbing and wall jumping. Other additions range from aesthetic (a unique trailing effect is applied to the movements of a rolling Morph Ball, a la Metroid Prime) to mechanic (the animation of Samus’ movements and jumps is spot on) to complementary (a Prime-esque log system; an equipment screen). Additionally, the game’s soundtrack is an updated set of tracks that, in the parts shown, leans toward the more recent choral-style of the Metroid games in its adaptation of the II themes. A number of music files are included with the demo download.
It took me roughly half an hour to finish the demo, though individual times will vary depending on familiarity and experience. Regardless, it is a remarkably solid Metroid experience. The 2D exploration feels as natural and intuitive as it ever has in a Metroid game, as does the sense of atmosphere. People have been clamoring for a Zero Mission-quality remake of Metroid II for a long time, and unless Nintendo springs a killer surprise on us, I would wager AM2R can be just that.
For a wealth of development insight, including videos and screens, visit the project's page.
…but we’re stronger now, and we know it’s not true, and we can take it. We can reject the ideals and the fear and the manipulation, stop the process, and set everything straight again.
Us.
Together.
New Pork City, to borrow the phrasing of Ned Flanders, is designed to “inflame the senses.”
It’s a bustling social playground, drawing in the refugees of the old towns and the simple ways. With a host of attractions and amenities, it has everything, but none of it is for you. It’s the one-way trap of a powerful and borderline-nihilistic man-child, a sardonic puppet master hell-bent on feeding his strings through the lives of everything and everyone he can, if only for another temporary helping of amusement.
It’s naturally repulsive, his urge to control and manipulate, but is it unique? The words of Leder’s story—a tell-all tale of a people, sailing away from the end of all things, deciding to wipe their own memories and act out a predetermined structure of existence in the hopes of creating a better life—posit that it might not be. In a situation where everyone’s role is already specifically fabricated to ensure stability, how many degrees of separation are there between that and a total dictatorship?
Irrespective of semantics and intent, action must still be taken. The transition from the close, personal sorrow of a group of individuals to their subsequent abstraction into pawns on a board game of possible catastrophe and potential absolution—the weak boy now tasked with carrying all, most specifically—is nearly complete at this point. The collective fear and uncertainty shared by the close group of friends is replaced by a sense of imminent duty, or at least closure. The childish games and plain-faced taunting of Porky can’t go on.
And they don’t, if all goes well. A sequence of revelations, battles, and tear-stained moments of finality ultimately concludes in a breathless instance of pause—
—before settling, as it would, into a final chorus of the purest of goodbyes.
Activision’s subdued announcement that the latest in its preeminently popular Call of Duty franchise would make its way to the Wii came several months after the highly anticipated sequel from developer Infinity Ward was properly unveiled. Though precious little attention or information for this less-prominent version has surfaced since then, interested Wii owners should still have something to look forward to when the game releases.
Modern Warfare 3 picks up immediately following the chaotic finale of its predecessor, and sees that game’s pair of iconic characters, Captains “Soap” MacTavish and John Price, on the run after a string particularly nasty events. In step with typical Call of Duty fashion, Modern Warfare 3 also ropes in a host of other playable characters, each involved in different parts of the now-worldwide military conflict.
The Wii version of Modern Warfare comes courtesy of Treyarch, developer behind the Wii ports of the third and fourth Call of Duty games, as well as the well-received Black Ops and 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War. Aside from the lower-resolution nature of the platform, Modern Warfare 3 on Wii is expected to maintain relative content parity with the more powerful systems. Notable additions include Survival Mode (a wave-based combat challenge for 1-2 players) and an expanded version of Modern Warfare 2’s Spec Ops mode.
The multiplayer slice of Modern Warfare 3 has its own share of tweaks and updates. The well-known concept of the killstreak is eschewed in favor of pointstreaks, equatable levels of achievement that can be reached not only by eliminating opposing players but by completing objectives during a match. Reaching a certain pointstreak unlocks access to a trio of strike packages—Assault, Support, and Specialist—each with unique in-game benefits.
Similarly, weapons now level up as the player does, unlocking Proficiency perks in the process. Several new game modes also appear in multiplayer: Kill Confirmed (a variation on traditional deathmatch that requires the collection of dog tags from a corpse in order to record a kill), Team Defender (a point capping game), Infection (where the “infected” team adds to their numbers by killing the opposition), Drop Zone (where the player holds down a specific point, with a supply of care packages), and Team Juggernaut (where each team fights alongside their own AI-controlled Juggernaut character). The Gun Game and One in the Chamber modes from Black Ops also return.
While Modern Warfare 3 employs the standard Wii Remote and Nunchuk control set, it is likely that it will also support use of a Classic controller as Black Ops did last year. It is unknown if the Wii Zapper (which Black Ops also allowed use of) will receive support.
…but such moments of existential peace and beauty are rare and fleeting, and usually capped by the harsh and unfair juxtaposition of reality against the pleasant dream. Like a punctual alarm clock rousing the body from sleep and fighting against a groggy inertia to throw it into motion, though, something inside flips the switch. Focuses the sights. Readies the spirit.
Pulls the needle.
The pertinent question doesn’t concern the size of the dragon slumbering beneath the island, nor how it got there, nor how exactly it’ll desecrate all life it touches, should it come to that.
The question that nags and tugs at the corners of the mind the most is all about the heart within the chest of the one relinquishing needles from their designated insertions; light or dark is easy enough to qualify, but what can—should—be thought of one with a neutral heart? It doesn’t jell—this supposed lack of soul disposition, to put it—with the scenarios of the extreme being bandied about by participants on both sides; it would hardly make sense for one with that kind of composition to enter the fracas at all. But the case is what it is, and this emotionless individual—this adroit, malleable tool of those with a twisted agenda—is the enemy, even if the fact hits home.
The village’s gone to hell in the swiftest of handbaskets. The few who haven’t already expedited themselves bemoan their decisions, and the even fewer who’ve chosen to stay carry on with a pitiful, somber resilience. Flint buries his grief—a quantity to rival all others—by sending himself on expeditions into the mountains, searching doggedly for his long-absent child, before settling at his wife’s grave. Time after time. As a man of great respect and constitution, it’s difficult to see this behavior as anything other than part of a slow drudge into an inescapable depression. It’s enough to wonder: how far behind him could Lucas be?
Arriving at the horrific, clinical, abomination-making reconstruction machine that is the Chimera Lab further cements the profile of insanity being draped over the land, and incites a puzzling disgust for the legions of Pigmask forces—along with a select few other individuals—running and feeding it. The cognitive dissonance between walking through a room of monstrosities, displayed proudly as a series of whimsically pointless scientific victories, and chatting with any one of the soldiers in question—each swaddled in a wishy-washy, shrug-shouldered complicity—is staggering.
After the conclusion of a particularly laborious task—consisting of literally moving water from one hole in the ground to another—and yet another moment of saying goodbye to Salsa the monkey—graced in the end with his true source of happiness, which is more than can be said for many in this story thus far—the real work begins.
The task of going from Magypsy to Magypsy brings about some interesting scenarios. Chief among them is the preparation before and attitude going into death, which each of the whimsical creatures must face as their respective needles are claimed.
Each confronts the situation with admirable good cheer (knowing it’s “that time”) and aplomb, an outlook surprisingly common among many others. It’s really remarkable, even invigorating, how everyone in this world seems to take his or her fate—be it good, mediocre, or life-altering at either extreme—with a contemplative bemusement and an emotionally articulate response, often in the form of humor and good grace.
And then there’s the sober honesty of a momentary encounter with an ordinary man. An enemy, yes, but…a man.
After coursing through the belly of a volcano—and conversing with a hovering robot, interpreting the smooth-jazz rantings of a modified mad man—and an encouraging trip through the appropriately named Saturn Valley, the game rounds a strange, profound bend.
A bed of harmless-looking remote-island mushrooms paves the way for what can only be described as a chemically facilitated odyssey down into the deepest, darkest regresses of the psyche. It starts in a quasi-humourous fashion, with mailboxes containing a series of sardonic comments and concepts, but over the course of a few minutes segues into a stream of character encounters. These faux familiars are dark specters, channeling the negative thoughts and fears and unspoken emotions of aggression and worry and anguish of the main characters, tearing at the weaknesses and scars of the heart in some extremely disturbing, thought provoking ways…
…a threat rising dozens upon dozens of feet high, towering over what remains of the tree line. Innocuous enough, apart from a skeletal structure of steel beams skirting its base. A bulbous dome of fluorescent yellow adorning the tip. An intensely conspicuous, comically oversized gun spitting death and destruction down upon the noncompliant.
A behemoth of a misnomer.
As far as the known segments of Mother 3 go, this chapter would sit cleanly along the graph of a generic RPG, clinging to the basic peaks and valleys normally associated with that kind of game. Fresh off a flamboyant combination of characters and environments, a full party (a significant first) makes its way through a series of grind-heavy courses, on a fetch quest for a powerful item and en route to combat a powerful evil.
As training course-like as it may be, there’s a freeing catharsis that goes hand-in-hand with tackling enemy after enemy with a host of reunited characters. Duster himself, finally bereft of his amnesia and filled with a mutually shared joy, might’ve encapsulated it best. Nothing can be expected to last, perhaps, but to journey again as this odd and lovable family of misfits, grievers, princesses, and dogs is deeply comforting.
When the moment finally comes to enter the body of the beast, as it does in the form of a foreboding ascent through the spinal cylinder of the tower’s elevator shaft, the energy in the air is literally audible, if not fully palpable. All of the supposed accidents, atrocities, and convenient acts of a higher power seen thus far sprang from the robot-filled heart of the monstrosity, and it’s an unnerving place to be.
After a satisfying, if predictable encounter atop the tower, and after hints as to the whereabouts of a certain missing brother are disclosed, a shift is made into what is likely my personal favorite moment in a video game, or any other medium, which I’ll gladly leave…
From his prolific origins in the VGM remix community to his work on higher-profile titles (including Contra 4, Mighty Milky Way and Mighty Flip Champs, Red Faction Guerrilla, the recent BloodRayne: Betrayal, and the Shantae games), Jake Kaufman has been involved in the creation of video game music for a number of years. Nintendo World Report recently had an opportunity to speak with Jake about some of the factors behind his process as a musician.
Nintendo World Report (NWR): You have a pretty rich history of involvement in both the remix and independent composition scenes. For those unfamiliar, what was your path from that level to where you are now? What is it about the smaller, independent side of music creation that still resonates with you?
Jake Kaufman (JK): When I started out, everyone was into MIDI files and tracker MODs, compact music formats that could be transferred over a 14.4[K] modem in less than 3 days. They also didn't require any expensive music equipment to make—just your computer and a sound card. In the hobbyist "scene" I was part of (and still am), plenty of us were obsessed with video game music, and made all kinds of covers, recreations, and arrangements of our favorite songs. In the late '90s, computer music gear started to become far more powerful and affordable, and everyone built up virtual studios with insane synthesizer plugins and virtual orchestras. I eventually learned how to produce music using mixers and EQs and the like, but I never lost my fondness for programming songs in a hexadecimal spreadsheet. As luck would have it, there was a demand in handheld and mobile game development for musicians with my exact skill set...and next thing you know, I'm getting paid to do something I was already doing just for fun. Still am.
NWR: With something like Kwakfest [a one-hour social composition exercise native to the VGM remix scene], the emphasis is on focusing and refining the composition process in a fun and creative way. What has that kind of experience taught you about the way you work?
JK: It taught me to fear the day my clients find out I can write a fully realized song in one frenzied, sweat-marinated hour, and start expecting 20 songs in 20 hours. Uh-oh, hospital time!
NWR: In some of your independent work, you often add a vocal layer of your own, either by singing or even using your voice as an instrument. How do you view the addition of vocals, of any kind, to the creation of a piece?
JK: I don't know any decent singers who are willing to record vocals for free at four in the morning, and sometimes I just sort of KNOW something needs lyrics; I hear them in my head. If I have to suffer, everyone else gets to suffer as well, so out comes the mic. For obvious reasons, I prefer writing lyrics for other people to sing, whether they're in hilariously broken Japanese or are about vampires.
NWR: Your work for games encompasses a fairly broad stylistic range. Is there one genre, or platform, even, that feels best to work with, or provides the richest return for you as a musician and composer?
JK: It's impossible for me to pin down a single style that I really prefer above all others, between Neoclassical Wank Metal, Mario Kart Supersaw Cocaine Orgy, BroStep, Sugoi Kawaii J-House, Prog Waltz, and Farmcore...so when people ask me, I just scream, "I DO WHAT I WANT!" and run away.
NWR: When it comes to evaluating your own work (independent and higher profile) do you personally regard anything as “the best” or even just your favorite?
JK: Tornado Man: Integer Spin, from the Chiptuned Rockman album. I don't even understand what the hell I was doing, I just woke up at my desk one day with sore shoulders and a metallic taste in my mouth, and it was there. But, generally, anything I'm working on now, I tend to enjoy better than anything before it; I am constantly learning new hacks and tricks, even though the more I learn, the more I realize how very little I know (gong sound, moment of quiet reflection).
NWR: There’s a sense of fun and eager playfulness that often comes through in your work. Is this a quality that you strive for or feel aptly represents your style?
JK: I'm happy that you notice that. Life is short, and I want to spend as much time as possible laughing like an idiot, and making others laugh like idiots and headbang like they mean it. That's what drives me.
NWR: When composing for BloodRayne: Betrayal, was there anything you drew musically from the two previous entries, or the series’ transition to a 2D presentation?
JK: Nope. Just went for a clean break. I have played the previous games and even watched ALL THREE movies, but my goal was to have an amazing time with Sean Velasco, the director. His aesthetic was a combination of super-classy gothic elegance, and raptors jet-skiing through lava while shredding on guitars. Most of what I do isn't born of some grandiose artistic vision, it starts as "Dude, you know what would be F-ING AWESOME?"
NWR: Is there a difference of mindset when approaching a larger-profile project compared to games like Mighty Milky Way and Mighty Flip Champs?
JK: Nope. Though when Cave hired me for Daifukkatsu, there was a difference of pants, because I peed the ones I was wearing. And when [WayForward] called me about Contra 4, I had to punch myself in the groin about 80 times to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
NWR: Are there any game soundtracks, individual pieces, or composers that you see as inspirations?
JK: Soyo Oka (Super Mario Kart, Pilotwings); Yuzo Koshiro (ActRaiser, Streets of Rage); Hitoshi Sakimoto (FF Tactics, FFXII); Tim Follin (Silver Surfer NES); Peter McConnell (Psychonauts); Kazuo Sawa (Kunio-Kun games such as River City Ransom); Gerard Marino (and the rest of the composers on the God of War series); Jun Ishikawa (Kirby); Junya Nakano (FF X + XIII); and Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid series, Bayonetta).
Game soundtracks I admire (there are hundreds, but here are a few): ActRaiser 1+2 (SNES); LandStalker (Genesis); anything Nintendo (Thousand Year Door? Wind Waker? Mario Galaxy 2? Wii Shop Channel? Uggghhhh, genius, all of it); Suikoden series; Rock n' Roll Racing (SNES); anything LucasArts; Final Fantasy 6; the Castlevania series; the entire Kirby series; and TMNT I-IV. Recently I've loved some of the stuff being done for indie games, like Super Meat Boy (Danny Baranowsky) and Bastion (Darren Korb). A lot of dudes and dudettes are coming up in the "indie scene" with an incredible amount of talent.
Individual pieces: Trust me, this is a bad idea. I'm going to just take a pass, and say "Any birthday song performed in a restaurant which begins with forced employee clapping."
NWR: Much of the Shantae: Risky's Revenge soundtrack was derived from music in the first game. What are the biggest challenges when revamping a piece of retro game music for the new generation?
JK: As far as arranging my own stuff, like going from Shantae to Risky: It's hard not to "fix" all the naive song structure and melodic sins I committed as a young lad. It's like looking back at old pictures of yourself: "Oh, that's cute...I guess..." When arranging other people's stuff, I just try to remain faithful to what I think they were thinking, treating their music with respect, rather than just showing off my own style. I know game music fans have high standards, because I'm one myself, and we can tell when an arranger "gets it".
NWR: Is Matt Bozon working on a new game in the series, and are you composing for it?
JK: I'm trying to decide whether I want to interpret "NDA" as "Non-Disclosure Agreement" or "No Dishing Allowed"; either way, if I tell you what WayForward is or isn't working on, they'll hang me up by my toes.
Personally, though, I'd totally love to work on at least 100-150 more sequels to Shantae. I love Shantae a lot.
NWR: If someone was looking to get into game music composition, what advice might you give to him?
JK: Email me, and if I'm not totally slammed, I'll try to give you some advice specific to your own situation, which will differ depending on your musical training and life experience. It's way too insane a subject to cover in a couple pithy sentences, and I don't want to just toss off the usual platitudes, such as "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT'S WHO YOU KNOW!" or "IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY TR---HNNGHHH HNNNGHHH HNNNNGGHHH HNNNGGHHHH HNNNGHHHH HNNNGHHH!" Anyone who has read this far, I figure you deserve better than that, for putting up with me.
NWR: If you were to describe your music in three words, what would they be?
It's another brand new episode of Connectivity, who would have thought! This week, we've got three segments for your enjoyment. There's the news with Scott and Zach, a discussion of how Mother 3 brought Scott and Nate together as friends, and a short closing segment about Frogger 3D. Don't forget that we love hearing from you, and that you can send us your questions or comments by clicking on this little link right here
…but paths change, and this one…this one sure has.The malformed state it’s in can’t even hold the definition of “path” any longer; there’s more dirt under a fingernail than these is here, and more genuine humanity in the face of a porcelain doll.
So what’s with the holdout, the lone exception to the slick new rules of this suburbia on the grow, this bustling epicenter of newfound truths? Only a crybaby, eyes choked with tears that never seem to dry or fade, would quietly discount this progress.
Only a crybaby.
A crybaby. Still in a crybaby’s room—a sparsely furnished room of wood in a sparsely furnished house of the same—but compelled and willing to venture back out. It’s a bracingly bright reentry into Tazmily. Three years have passed, and the village is…paved. Modern. Built up with concrete and stone and the happiness peddled by a false ideologue behind a trustworthy mustache. It’s a bracing contrast, as well: Lucas’s room is a bastion of comfort and immortalized normalcy, as the town used to be. Even it is not untouched by palpable change, though, however subtle. It’s a deep, unspoken wrenching of the heart through a memory, in this case, facilitated by a length of reflective glass and a moment of remembrance.
Regardless of the subconscious contradistinguishing going on in my own mind as Lucas makes his way about the town, this is a bit of a mournfully monumental occasion.
I am finally—though expectedly—this character, and I’m nearly overburdened by an awkward feeling of knowing more than I should. I’ve watched this boy—going on hours, now—watched his life be ripped and rent asunder, watched him spill tears in his most darkest, most vulnerable moments as a human being—and now, now I’m supposed to move in beside him, take the yoke, and shoulder on, on his behalf. What right do I have?
In town, everyone treats Lucas as a relic of sorts, an outsider unaccustomed to the changes of time and the benefits of technology, currency, and status. Flint receives the same billing; his expeditions in the mountains, searching ceaselessly for his missing boy, Claus, are met with the equivalent of a shaken head, a clucked tongue, and a semi-sincere “That’s too bad.” The simple folks must exist on the outskirts of society, and, once they’re of age, the damp, moldy husk of the retirement home on the hill. It’s a sad and off-putting state of affairs, especially when placed in contrast with the homely, tight-knit fabric the town used to be. Now, it’s a cheap designer rag, formed to be expended and re-bought ad nauseam. Keep the people “happy.” Keep them weak-minded. Keep them docile.
The Happy Boxes, which have clearly succeeded in their intended purpose, have blossomed into antennas, picket fences, and little mass-manufactured suburban homes, filled with commercial furniture and appliances and people. They keep their homes laden with the superficial, not knowing why and not wondering. The consumerist veneer is dense. The new mood is laced with a lining of misanthropy for the stupid few who question or defy; the jail, which was never an active facility, if it even existed prior, bustles with guards. People work in factories. Children work in factories. The simple, winding paths have warped into twisting veins of concrete, buffered by more.
Wess might be the only one left convinced of the evil creeping in. He’s been alone for three years, bereft the the moron he loved dearly.
The case of tracking down Duster seems simple enough, what with the unconcealed specificity of the information on his whereabouts. The twisty issue arrives when it turns out Duster doesn’t exist anymore, at least in his own mind. Thanks to a water-induced bought of amnesia, a confused Duster is now Lucky, bewigged bassist for Club Titiboo-favorite DCMC.
Tearing him away from this life—a life where he’s not a moron to anyone, just a valued friend and a capable musician—is an action as unfair and unenjoyable as any in the game, even if he walks through it with nobility and grace, moving toward what appears to be a higher purpose.
The tearful song of goodbye bestowed upon him by the forlorn bandmates is pleasant and well-deserved, but doesn’t make it any easier to force him to turn his back on them, and it doesn’t cushion the march toward the increasingly apparent threat...
…like a body, careening through the air after slipping on a banana peel. A banana peel separated from its contents and tossed carelessly over the shoulder of a man not who he claims to be. A man buffoonish in his appearance, slick in his speech, and subtly menacing in his tone.
What’s in a name?
Salsa the monkey’s communication repertoire consists of forlorn looks and longing gazes; sometimes, it’s hard to distinguish between the two. He’ll often wind up facing out, through the screen—usually after receiving a jolt of electric oppression through the slave collar sitting tight around his neck—wearing a mask of empty emotion.
He takes the pain and the abuse and the threats quietly—being a monkey certainly has something to do with that, but it’s almost more of a silent decision of non-action on his part, a willing of his own being to unenthusiastically drudge through the blunt absurdness of his role in the scheme of an unfortunately capable dimwit.
Capability—seen here in the form of shock collars and monkey extortion—is all it takes, it seems, and Fassad manages to wield it well enough as a blunt object to conceive and set in motion a sequence of first-rate bastardry.
Salsa plays the subordinate in turn, forced to obey Fassad’s commands, act the counterpart to his subterfuge, and silently suffer lest his primate friend face whatever true wrath the thug actually possesses. It’s a wonder the control to lead, collect, interact, or fight is given at all—most attempts at individual actions are quickly squashed by Fassad, whose powerful presence in battle actually forces a distinct amount of dependence upon him for survival; even Salsa’s special attacks are mere demeaning performer actions.
As Fassad makes his politician-esque appeal to the simplicities of the people to accept a purchased sense of happiness into their lives—rousing and working the crowd like a snake oil salesman, selling his wares as he shouts out what will amount to self-fulfilling prophecies—Salsa pantomimes the actions set out before him, following with false diligence and allegiance the only path he can follow for the time being…
In just its third appearance on the Wii, the latest incarnation of 2K Sports’ NBA 2K series places a particular emphasis on the league’s most venerated teams, players, and matchups, in addition to the expected yearly update of rosters, statistics, commentary, and other minor tweaks to the already established hoops structure.
As directly touted on the game’s multiple covers (which are adorned with either Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, or Earvin “Magic” Johnson), the bulk of NBA 2K12’s new features revolve directly around a cadre of league legends. Considering the success of last year's Jordan-emphasis as well as the uncertainty of this year's basketball season, the focus on the past is a smart, calculated move. In NBA’s Greatest mode, players are able to take control of 15 past greats, including Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Jerry West. Each former player is recreated to accurately represent his own unique play style—including signature moves for use during games—as is the uniform style of his specific era. Each legendary player and accompanying team has a unique set of throwback matchups with other past teams (including the 1965 Boston Celtics, 1991 Los Angeles Lakers, and 1996 Chicago Bulls), which are unlocked upon victory.
2K12 also boasts new control mechanics for post play as well as ball control. The game defaults to Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls, but a Classic controller can also be used. A new, redesigned tutorial mode takes time to guide players through the Wii-specific control set, and offers three levels of control complexity to choose from.
The My Player mode from the previous two iterations returns—which allows the player to control numerous facets of a NBA rookie’s rise through the league—as does Creating a Legend mode, in which the player takes a current NBA player through the remaining years of his career.
Welcome to this week's episode of NWR Connectivity! We decided there wasn't very much news to talk about after last week's TGS-palooza, so instead we have two segments for you today.
In the first, Neal, Scott, James, and Nate get together and talk about the recently-released Kirby Mass Attack for the Nintendo DS. If you have allergic reactions to cute things, stay clear of this game.
After that, James and and Nate stick around to play the very first game of NWR Jeopardy, hosted by Zach and Andy. Wait until you see who takes home all that imaginary money. This segment was a lot of fun, and we will be looking to do another game with listeners playing in the future, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
We'll be reading a whole lot listener mail next week, so if you have any questions for us, send 'em to connectivity@nintendoworldreport.com. Thanks, and enjoy!
…which was done absolutely no favors by the abrupt shift in tone emanating breezily from Chapter 2. What was it I was intended to draw out of this seemingly incongruous portrait of a crusty thief and his quiet, supposed dolt of a son, fresh out of the innocence-obscuring blows of the preceding chapter?
Another look at a family, it turned out—layered in levity, and nearly undone just the same.
Wess and Duster hardly represent an archetypal family unit. There’s a family of five’s worth of bickering and contention between them, but most of it rockets from the elder’s mouth before coming to a condescending smack on the shoulders of his son. The dynamic between them is built less from moments of recognizing any sort father-son kinship they might share than it is from Wess’s casual, open-handed beratement of Duster as his pupil in the art of thievery.
Wess’s callous demeanor comes in the name of his trade, the skills of which he attempts to force into his son through a regimen of item retrieval and teasingly dismissive moments of attention. As the chapter progresses, however, there’s noticeable tenderness, relenting, and senile silliness in the minutiae of his words and actions as they pertain to Duster; his caricature slumps from antagonistic loudmouth to grouchy well-wisher with questionable parenting methods.
The stretch encompassing the opening fifteen or so minutes of the chapter cements its status as a side view of the thundering events previously witnessed, though not without its own consequential moments. Duster’s fetch quest in Osohe Castle is as much a training exercise—introducing the momentum-shifting rhythmic element of battles—as it is an opportunity to impart perspective on a number of issues, both present and oncoming. In an indelible sequence of moments, there’s a glimpse of a certain corruption being introduced by an outside party, as well as its blossoming perversion of an idyllic society. At the same time, characters who quietly suffered through the brunt of the previous tragedies get the chance to speak, at least for a moment, honestly and poignantly.
Seeing them on their own, at least temporarily bereft of their protagonist puppet strings, is liberating in its own simple way. For one character, my involvement in his present arch seems to have done some good, and I’m happy to see him off into his independent role. For the other, it’s the only glimpse I’ll likely get before things spiral into event…
Mother 3 occupies a warm, precedential place in both my gaming and personal lives. We found each other under circumstances that, peculiar as they seemed at the time, could not have been better in retrospect, and it was an igniting force for new experiences and discoveries during what was kind of a turning point in my life.
It was also—and still is—a game I could feel comfortable in. I find more authenticity and genuine resonance in Mother 3 than in any other role-playing game I’ve ever delved into. Part of this, I’ll posit, comes from the interplay between the dichotomous tones of the Mother series: On one hand, it presents a figuratively colorful world, full of vibrant characters and inviting eccentricities. Charming, easy on the eyes, and memorably playful. However, it also addresses the various issues contained within its narrative with a maturity I’ve yet to see matched by its peers. When something bracingly saddening happens, it isn’t glossed over by a veneer of banal RPG expository dialogue, and, just as importantly, it isn’t overly dramatized.
Chapter 1 presents a series of events that exemplify this sentiment. Tragedy strikes—several times, in fact, each one eclipsing the last—and, lo and behold, the characters don’t address one another as if they’re preset cogs in a machine of template emotions. What’s said among them amounts to a retraction from the overblown hysterics of typical game conversations—self-aware, for sure, but constantly insightful and poignant, and often accompanied by scenes of contemplative silence.
The two tones work not in spite of each other, but because of. The heavier content is meaningful because of the lighter side the game displays, and vice versa—a trend which holds fast through the entirety of the game.
Chapter 1, though straightforward and introductory, sets the game’s tonal groundwork in a quiet, minimalist manner I inherently appreciate. Two contributing qualities in this regard: the soundtrack—which may be my favorite of any game—and the magnificent fan translation. The former is an eclectic array of tracks crafted to complement every mood presented, and the latter…well, I wouldn’t be here without the latter.
Subsequently, the events of Chapter 1 are among the heaviest of the game. Love, fear, death, anger, and sorrow—in that order—come into play in measured succession. Each emotion is given room to linger and breath in its respective scene, to be taken in with the intended intensity and thought, and to do more than just exist to move the story forward. Flint, the chapter’s main character and a respected father figure, is thoroughly and visibly broken down over the course of the game’s first hour. Watching this strong, stoic man—someone I found myself relating to on some personal levels—fall to his knees, beat the ground in a black, mournful fury and lash out at others upon learning his wife is dead tore me up inside, and injected a new perspective into my still-forming opinion…
The Pinball Hall of Fame series has seen a fairly consistent string of releases across multiple platforms in the past handful of years, so it’s of little surprise that a 3DS version of the collection is slated for release. While Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection for 3DS won’t comprise a drastic departure from previous iterations, there are several system-specific changes that could potentially set it apart from the console releases.
A multitude of recreated Williams-manufactured tables return in the 3DS version from the lot present in previous releases, including classics like “Black Knight”, “Sorcerer”, and “Funhouse.” Each table bustles with unique tricks, strategies, and objectives to supplement standard high-score attempts.
Notable changes coming in the 3DS version of The Williams Collection are mainly cosmetic. A tighter camera angle is present to accommodate the proportions of the 3DS’s screens, as part of five views players can cycle through while on a table.
In addition, a feature taking advantage of the system’s gyroscope allows for the game to be played while the 3DS is inverted—a perspective that pushes the score display to the top screen while the table occupies the bottom screen, ostensibly to further foster a more authentic pinball experience.
Mama’s already burgeoning list of hobbies, activities and teachable skills will be receiving a significant addendum with her latest batch of lighthearted mini-games in Camping Mama: Outdoor Adventures.
As the title suggests, the successful series, known for its simulation-through-mini-game recipe and myriad spin-offs, is expanding Mama’s inexhaustible zest for activities into the previously untapped nature market for this umpteenth iteration. As with many of the previous Mama games, Outdoor Adventures relies heavily on the DS’s stylus and touchscreen as a means of completing the various activities and games it dishes out in the wilderness setting. In an expansion of the series’ gameplay, however, the island and camp site occupied by Mama and her family—Papa, son Ringo, and daughter Ichigo—serve as hubs for further points of exploration.
While the game’s large assortment of mini-games—over 100 in all—is still presented in a traditional, non-contextual format from the menu screen, the new focus present in Camping Mama is its quasi-adventure mode. After choosing one of Mama’s children to play as, the player is able to visit the previously mentioned hubs to play through the thirty-eight available levels.
Once an area is chosen, Mama doles out sundry tasks and chores to the player, which can be completed within the confines of the respective environment. This swath of land is presented in an overhead view reminiscent of Pokemon or the 2D Legend of Zelda games. Exploring and interacting with each area, as well as completing Mama’s requests, is incorporated into opening up opportunities for new activities and mini-games, such as chopping wood, crafting, rock climbing, spelunking, and even cooking, as well as collecting insects, fossils, treasure and other items, many of which are funneled into the in-game scrap book.
While it is almost an universal agreement that the games post Star Fox 64 were mediocre to decent at best, there are constant discussions about which Star Fox game is the best title in the series: The FX chip enhanced Star Fox for the Super Nintendo or the Rumble Pak charged Star Fox 64. The 3DS remake of said title is available in stores now. The Nintendo World Report Staff sat down and expressed which game they thought was the best.
Pedro Hernandez, Staff Writer:
"This is a very easy choice for me: Star Fox 64. I have played the original Star Fox on the SNES and while it was a fine game on its own, I wasn't that captivated by it. When Star Fox 64 was announced, I couldn't have cared less about it. I was all about Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. But then after reading all about it on Nintendo Power, then receiving the infamous Star Fox 64 promo video, I was excited. It looked a lot of fun. I borrowed a friend's copy alongside the Rumble Pak, and I was sold. I loved, loved, LOVED the cinematic presentation, the use of voices and the smooth as butter gameplay. That's when I figured out why I had loved Star Fox 64 when I was disenchanted a bit by Star Fox on the SNES.
To me, Star Fox was a very well made proof of concept game. It was all about getting the 3D graphics to work on the SNES. They did work, but the game was too choppy and slow for me. Star Fox 64, on the other hand, had the right technology to pull everything off. It moved very fast, and thanks to the N64 joystick, controlling the Arwing was a dream. Not only that, the advanced graphics helped defined the game world MUCH better. In the SNES games, all you got were gray polygons. They were impressive to see running on SNES hardware, but they didn't attract me towards the game world. Star Fox 64 gave us very creative, cool and even haunting levels that showed off the designer's imaginations in a fantastic manner. The voice acting, while now cheesy and silly, really did add a dynamic sense of adventure to it all. Hearing the characters comment on your moves was really awesome, and created some unforgettable lines (DO A BARREL ROLL!).
I can respect how Star Fox is beloved by many, but for me my heart, soul and money is on Star Fox 64 as being the absolute best in the series. Star Fox definitely got the train rolling, but Star Fox 64 polished it to a near perfect sheen, and I can't wait to play the 3D remake one of these days."
Neal Ronaghan, Director:
"I've always been a Star Fox SNES kind of guy, but my recent extended play time with Star Fox 64 3D is opening my eyes up to the greatness of the 64 version. I'd say this debate is more about which game is more awesome, since both games are undeniably great on their own.
The cinematic presentation of Star Fox 64 is nice, but the music in the SNES game is sublime. It's one of those games that I sometimes want to play just because of the music. And it's not just the music, it is the sound design, too. The patented "good luck" is delightful, and I adore the Animal Crossing-esque gibberish.
The rhythm and flow to the SNES version feels, in my opinion, more focused. I feel like the levels in that game are more puzzle-like in nature, despite being scrolling levels. If you know what you're doing, you can wipe out every enemy on a level skillfully. You can kind of do the same in Star Fox 64, but the grand scale seems to distract from the precision."
Matthew Walker, Japan Correspondent:
"I won the Star Fox Weekend contest at my local Toys R Us. Played the hell out of the first two levels practicing to get perfects on them for it. Still have the bomber jacket I won somewhere. Also bought one of the carts from Nintendo Power, which I also still have."
Nate Andrews, Previews Editor:
"Like I mentioned recently, my history with the series began with Star Fox 64, and I'd almost go as far as to say it ends there, too. I'll fully and graciously acknowledge the importance and precedence of the first game -- and the second game, while I'm at it. Seeing that level of visual fidelity occupy the same system space as a host of traditional 2D games still registers as kind of amazing to me, even if look was a little rough around the edges, so to speak.
But it's Star Fox 64 that I found first, and so it's Star Fox 64 I stand by. It caught me at a time when even the simplest of games could wow me with its images and concepts, so it should come as no surprise that Star Fox 64 nearly blew my young mind. The lighthearted stream of adventure and space operatics, along with the visual depth and overall scope, drew me in like few other games had or would. By the time I traced my way back through the roots of the series to the starting point, there was really no way it could've eclipsed my experiences with 64. I could see the influential, unrefined concepts that eventually grew into the game I loved, and how impressive they must've been originally. There was plenty of room for respect, but no possibility for genuine attachment."
Josh Max, Staff Writer:
"Actually, the first video game I ever owned was Star Fox 64. When my father bought a Nintendo 64, he also bought Star Fox 64 and Goldeneye. Needless to say I latched on to Star Fox 64 like a koala to a eucalyptus tree. I was honestly overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the game. My brother and I beat the game so many time that we got to a point where we just wanted to see how many different ways there are to get to Venom.
I had played Star Fox on the SNES before, but nothing will compare to the first time when I played Star Fox 64. I realize this may make me slightly biased, but I don't care. The game made me laugh, feel awesome and scream all at the same time. And hell, I still quote Star Wolf off handedly sometimes. Why? Because "I can't let you do that, Star Fox," still sounds bad ass as hell, even after 14 years."
Zachary Miller, Features Editor:
"I love Star Fox on the SNES. It's really the best Star Fox game, bar none. I got hooked on it as a lad in Providence Hospital, back when they had a portable gaming tower. One of the games was Star Fox, and I played the EFF out of that game. Were there bad things about the game? Sure, the pop-up was pretty terrible, but it was so colorful, and the music is amazing. My favorite part, though, has to be the character noises when your wingmen talk, and the super-bass "Good luck" when you start a mission.
I never beat the game, just got to Venom and I don't remember why I wasn't able to beat it. I probably just left the hospital. I still look for the game used in comic shops, but it's actually kind of hard to find. Star Fox 64 is great and all, but in some ways it doesn't look as sharp, the music isn't as memorable, and I just don't have the attachment to it that I do for Star Fox SNES.
Do-do-dum-davin."
Danny Bivens, Japan Correspondent:
"Even though I never owned either game until recently, I borrowed the original Star Fox and Star Fox 64 from my friends more than enough times to become extremely familiar with each game. Both are excellent games and are some of the best titles on their respective hardware. For me, Star Fox on the SNES has always been something special. For a Super Nintendo game, it looked amazing and was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The levels were fun and challenging, the garbled speech had a lot of charm, and the game design as a whole was top notch. The soundtrack, however, was undoubtedly the best part of the game, pumping out some of the most memorable tunes on the SNES.
Star Fox 64 is definitely the more functional game of the two, featuring a better control set up, a more cinematic experience and a smoother frame rate. However, the charm, levels, and music in the original game are something that I will always cherish. Both are great games, but the SNES version is the clear cut winner for me."
And there you have it, folks. Both games are equally loved, and both games stand as both the best games for their respective consoles and perfect examples of innovation in game design. Now, tell us, which game do you like the best? Do you like Star Fox's garbled speech noises and simple graphics or Star Fox 64's more ambitious aesthetic and meme-worthy dialogue?
Star Fox is as varied and unstable a franchise as Nintendo has. The mutual nostalgia and goodwill directed towards the first handful of games in the series has been balanced out as of late by the tepid and occasionally apathetic responses to the myriad changes levied against the titular team's most recent outings.
The pertinent point of examination given this situation: just what drove the Star Fox games to be what they were, and how have these influences been passed on?
The first traceable influence to Star Fox as we know it today is X, a Japan-only Game Boy release from 1992 published by Nintendo and developed by Argonaut Games. Despite the relatively humble graphical capabilities and small screen real estate of the handheld, Argonaut (headed by chief programmer and designer Dylan Cuthbert, now of Q-Games, the developer of Star Fox Command and Star Fox 64 3D) managed to create an authentically immersive and effective pseudo-3D environment.
The premise of X deals with the conflict between humans and aliens on the surface of a foreign world known as Tetamus II. During gameplay, the eight areas of the planet area are accessible at any time. The movement of the player's vehicle (the Space Tank VIXIV), and the location of enemies and objectives are each displayed on a localized radar, as well as a more pulled-out four-by-four grid, a feature replicated in the multiplayer and boss battles of Star Fox 64. Combat in X is comparable to that of Battlezone, the vector-graphic tank-hunting game from 1980, with the player driving across the surface of the planet (as distinguished on the Game Boy as a dichotomous white-and-tan horizon) to blast structures and complete objectives.
The characteristic of note in X is its bafflingly competent implementation of three-dimensional graphics in gameplay, a feature that Nintendo took great interest in. The game was initially set to be published by Mindscape under a different name until Nintendo stepped in.
Before working on X, Argonaut made the Starglider series, a first-person flight combat games with wireframe vector graphics for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST machines. The style and mechanics of these games are each apparent in both X and the first Star Fox, Argonaut's next project in conjunction with Nintendo. The disparate elements from games like X and Starglider came together as something wholly different in Star Fox: an on-rails, arcade-style shooter with a slick presentation and gameplay style that made use of the Argonaut-designed SuperFX chip for rendering polygonal objects (see the geometric obstacles on the Venom stage, or the chunks Andross spits).
In addition to the multitude of technological influences, Star Fox also received outside influence on its characters and narrative. The concept of having anthropomorphic animals fill the leads and various roles of the game was introduced by Shigeru Miyamoto later in the game's development. In a recent "Iwata Asks" column, Miyamoto discussed the unique inspiration that led to this idea:
"Star Fox has a lot of scenes in which the fighter goes through arches, which reminds one of the gates at Shinto shrines called torii. And torii made me think of the thousands of such gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha. In a prototype, there were lots of scenes like going through there. And when you think of Fushimi Inari, you think of foxes."
He continues in the interview to acknowledge the influence of "English puppet drama, like Thunderbirds" as the basis for the SNES game's box art, as well as the primitive mouth movements of the characters.
In its unreleased state, the planned sequel, Star Fox 2, served more as a bastion of influence for future titles in the series than it did as one that drew any. Though it was scrapped before release due to expense and timing, many of the ideas poured into Star Fox 2 eventually made their way into future Star Fox games. By Miyamoto's own estimate, 30 percent of Star Fox 64 came from the concepts introduced by Star Fox 2—including sweeping cinematic shots, instances of piloting different forms of craft, the multiplayer component, all-range dogfighting sequences, and Star Wolf scenarios—and even the ideas and technology behind the 3D environment in Super Mario 64 were largely derived from work done on the game. Over a decade later, elements from the unseen sequel would be made a core concept in Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS. The quasi-real-time strategy system of navigation and enemy encounter in Star Fox 2 was converted into a full-fledged, touch screen affair, with a greater central role.
Even while drawing so heavily on the scrapped conceits of Star Fox 2 and the previous game (as well as a famous, fleeting homage to a certain summer blockbuster), Star Fox 64 proved to be influential in its own right. It expanded upon the space opera theme of the previous games, employing a memorable combination of dialogue, music and feedback (via the precedent-setting Rumble "See How It Feels to Feel What You See" Pak) in what was arguably the purest incarnation of the Star Fox formula to date.
Five years after the lauded N64 entry, Star Fox Adventures—an unrelated Rare title co-opted by Nintendo into a Star Fox game—made its debut on the GameCube. Though it contained elements native to the series, they were few, and far between. Far more prevalent, in this case, was the undeniable presence of another Nintendo franchise—The Legend of Zelda. Though the noticeable influence of Ocarina of Time took Fox and company in a decidedly different direction, some thought the series had taken an awkward step in the wrong direction by nearly abandoning the gameplay style it had arguably perfected.
Though it's hard to discern just what has drawn inspiration from the Star Fox series specifically since its inception, many games succeeding the initial release of the SNES classic bear similar gameplay traits, like the on-rails navigation, lock-on shooting, space dogfighting, or even a little of each. Notable examples include Panzer Dragoon, Sin and Punishment, and Rogue Squadron.
By and large, the brunt of the inspiration that occurred in Star Fox came during the first two games, a point after which the series draw largely from within itself for revamped content and ideas.
While the series might not stand in the holy pantheon of its franchises (if it ever truly did), Nintendo has found ways to keep Star Fox at least somewhat relevant. The series has had, up to this point, a frequent release schedule, at least by the standards of Nintendo, and the characters, settings, and items have long enjoyed starring roles in the Smash Brothers series, along with a certain amount of continued goodwill from a faithful audience. Its greatest influences may be behind it, but if its history is any indication, Star Fox can, and probably will, (barrel) roll back to itself again.
To accompany the upcoming release of the latest installment in its Driver series -- Driver: San Francisco -- on console, Ubisoft is delivering this handheld-specific entry for the Nintendo 3DS.
Renegade will feature the series’ perennial protagonist and adroit wheelman, NYPD officer-turned undercover syndicate driver John Tanner. Renegade is set between the events of the first two Driver games, and will expand upon the early parts of the Driver fiction over the course of 20 story-based mission in which Tanner confronts a new set of criminals and allies in New York City. After parting ways with the force, Tanner finds himself positioned as a catalyst in a city-wide, off-the-record offensive against the five local crime kingpins.
As is custom in the Driver games, Renegade will feature a sandbox-style driving environment, replete with side-missions, challenges (including Time Attack, Elimination Mode, and Road War), and up to fifty unlockable vehicles, which can be tuned later in the game’s private garage.
Aside from the system-specific 3D implementation, the multitude of vehicle-based activities in Renegade will be supported by the 3DS’s accelerometer, which can be used to manipulate Tanner’s car of choice in both offensive and defensive ways. Successfully completing subsequent maneuvers and stopping crimes will fill the game’s Rage meter, a temporary boon that awards bonuses and provides upgraded attacks.
Exactly two years and two months after its North American release on the Nintendo DS, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor will see a remake on the 3DS. This version’s distinguishing tag is indicative of the host of new features and inclusions - for both aesthetic and content - being added for 3DS players.
The events of Devil Survivor, and subsequently Overclocked, revolve around a ragtag troupe of Tokyo teens caught up in a sequence of predestined tragedy and approaching-apocalypse significance. With the aid of the mysterious and powerful COMP devices entrusted to them, they go about combating the chaotic demon influence quickly spreading throughout the city, enlisting their own cavalcade of monsters to fight alongside them on the way.
Devil Survivor’s gameplay motif, which involves a thorough blending of demon summoning and managing with grid-and-turn-based strategy elements, offers a wealth of customization, and tactical experimentation is often a necessity to achieve a battle-specific objective. The human protagonists and their accompanying demon units - each with passive and active talents - make up individual squads, which can be tweaked and swapped to maximize the skills and abilities of each unit in battle. Unit progression can be achieved through a number of means, including leveling up a demon, defeating a certain number of enemies, or through the fusion of two demons, many of which can be acquired at auction with currency collected from won battles.
The depth of this battle-specific system is complemented by the separate, chess-like management of units in the battle environment before and after the actual combat takes place. Character-specific actions, including healing friendly units, buffing pertinent abilities, and summoning replacement demons, and placements are as much an ingredient of a successful outcome as a well-targeted skill in battle. While Overclocked will feature some retouched battle portraits and artwork to better suit the higher resolution of the 3DS, the base components of combat will remain unaltered from the DS version.
One particularly distinct change present in Overclocked is the inclusion of extensive voice acting for the entirety of the game’s narrative. Much of Devil Survivor’s narrative is conveyed outside of battle, in lengthy, often-optional stretches of dialogue between characters, and it appears as if Atlus intends to take advantage of the 3DS hardware to furnish this part of the game’s presentation.
Smaller content additions will also include a compendium where any of a party’s registered demons can be summoned from again for a fee, an assortment of point-bearing titles earned through in-game accomplishments, and, perhaps most intriguingly, a new eighth chapter to the Devil Survivor story acting as an epilogue to the game’s original seven-day narrative arc.
Devil Survivor Overclocked comes out Tuesday, August 23.
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