Final Fantasy VII Revelation (Multi) "The Planet's Crisis" Trailer

As promised, a new look at Final Fantasy VII Revelation was revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live, and this particular trailer for the final in the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy features the fabled Weapons, mega-sized monstrosities wreaking havoc on the planet. Final Fantasy VII Revelation is due for an early 2027 release on all current platforms.

LEGO Skylines (Multi) Announcement Trailer

Announced during Gamescom Opening Night Live, LEGO meets SimCity/Cities: Skylines with LEGO Skylines, a city-builder featuring the enduring LEGO brand. As a fan of the genre and LEGO games, it'll be nice to have a combo of building metropolises all the while enjoying the charm LEGO games possesses. LEGO Skylines is set to arrive on all current platforms. Wishlist now at the official website for the game.

Mega Man: Dual Override (Multi) Gameplay Trailer

Arriving fresh from Gamescom, Mega Man: Dual Override receives a new trailer, this time focusing on some gameplay. We see a look at an all-new Robot Master in the form of Twinkle Girl, our second ever female Robot Master in the series, and even spot an old haunt from Mega Man 8 and Mega Man & Bass thrown in, speaking of Robot Masters! Mega Man: Dual Override is playable on the Gamescom show floor and releases next year.

Gravity Circuit (Multi) Review

A new review for an older indie game is here on the site, and at this review's conclusion, we're officially one review away from SuperPhillip Central's 1,100th! A massive number of reviews on the site, for sure, and some might even be called "quality" at that! Your mileage will vary, of course! Regardless, let's take a look at a game that recently received a sequel announcement: Gravity Circuit. As a massive Mega Man fan, I'm kicking myself for not having played this sooner. Better late than never, though! 

Time to break some circuits

Gravity Circuit recently celebrated its third anniversary in July and an announcement of a sequel arriving next year. Of course, with a third anniversary celebration, I'm a little late to the party on covering the game. That said, as a rather large Mega Man fan and nerd, I felt I was lacking by not playing this game yet. In the end, Gravity Circuit is not just one of the best indie Mega Man-likes available, but it also manages to outdo many of the Blue Bomber's own entries.

After some time of peace and after having been defeated long ago, the Virus Army unexpectedly returns, laying siege to the planet in a bid for total world domination. The resistance known as the Guardian Corps have been weakened and spread too thin with no alternative than to call an old hero into the fold: Kai. This robot mercenary wields the fabled Gravity Circuit, giving him the power to take the fight to the Virus Army and hopefully vanquish them once and for all. 

Gravity Circuit's story is one that doesn't meander or mess around too much, but it does throw some surprises and twists here and there. Ideally, it'd be possible to fully skip all cutscenes, if only for the repeated plays the game encourages you to perform, but this isn't always possible. Still, what's here doesn't get in the way too often. The gameplay is the star of the show, and it makes a darn good first impression.

Said first impression puts players into the role of Kai in an opening city stage, sort of reminiscent of Mega Man X's opening highway stage. Here, the basics of Gravity Circuit are taught to the player. Whereas Mega Man X utilizes his X-Buster to shoot foes from far away, Kai prefers a more up, close, and personal approach. 

Eat robot foot, Virus Army!

Kai's Gravity Circuit gives him the ability to punch and kick foes into submission, turning their bodies gray. Upon this, Kai can pick up and chuck the robotic corpse of his opposition into other enemies and faraway objects. He also has a hookshot to utilize, allowing him to attack foes from afar with its much weaker, but somewhat safer penetrating point. Weakened enemies can be grabbed by the hookshot, and then, you guessed it, tossed to oblivion.

The hookshot isn't just a weapon; it's also a means for traversal. Whether to swing across otherwise impossible to cross chasms, lift himself up to higher areas, or allow him to perform some acrobatic maneuvers, Kai's hookshot is an invaluable tool to progress through levels and get through the game. This is alongside is standard dash and optional but super useful burst techniques.

Kai gets into the swing of things, and players will, too, for that matter, 
eventually moving through stages with surgeon-like precision!

These burst techniques give Kai an extra edge in combat. Through using up some energy from a gauge, Kai is able to perform special moves and abilities in turn. These can range from powerful, move-interrupting uppercuts to bosses, lengthy power beams that give Kai knockback upon using them, and even piledrivers, as if he were preparing for a WWE wrestling match against C.M. Punk. Either way, these bursts definitely even the odds, or if you're proficient enough a player, make things even more favorable for Kai in the war against the Virus Army.

After the initial stage is complete, Kai has access to the Guardian Corps base. It's the hub that features various NPCs, though at the beginning of the game it's awfully lonely inside. Like any traditional-style Mega Man game, eight stages become available to play in any order. Each houses a Robot Master--or rather, Circuit, that must be taken down, one that is causing havoc in its particular area of the world.

The Circuits' stages in the game give plenty of variety, offering different platforming obstacles, environmental hazards, and contextual challenges to overcome. From the junkyard's dripping purple goo, that slows Kai's movement down to a total stop if he gets covered in it, to the snowy mountain's propensity to freeze our protagonist in ice at a moment's notice due to its plethora of enemies and hazards, Gravity Circuit presents players plenty of trials and tribulations.

Each stage features unique hazards, such as the boilerworks's penchant for lava, fire, and lasers!

Fortunately, and also unlike its inspiration, Gravity Circuit does not punish players severely in its gameplay. Yes, the game is a challenge, for sure, but players won't be facing instant deaths upon slamming into a bed of spikes, falling into a bottomless pit, or getting crushed like a robotic pancake, either. Instead, Kai is placed back at the safest determined spot (i.e. one without enemies or hazards) in the stage to try the section again, simply with less health than he had previously to work with.

Checkpoints are little repair stations similar to Shovel Knight. There, players pay a fee of the energy chips earned through exploration and defeating foes, to recover Kai's health and energy immediately. Each time the station is used, the cost goes slightly up for the next visit, at least in the same level on the current run of that stage. The developers weren't overly generous with the checkpoints, but they weren't miserly with them either. Folks will have to fight through and endure some grueling and occasionally lengthy sections of stages to reach one checkpoint to another.

Stages themselves are linear in true Mega Man-style fashion, but they're also brimming with secrets and side paths. From health and energy upgrades, to innocent civilians needing to be rescued, there is a lot to find and collect within the initial eight Circuit stages. 

Some civilians are easily spotted but hard to reach. Others are equally hard to find and reach, 
requiring some proficient platforming and destroying certain walls to reach!

Saving civilians helps in not only making the Guardian Corps base feel less empty, but it also enables Kai and the player by extension to purchase new passive parts and chips that can be equipped to our protagonist. Three of these can be equipped at once, ranging from extra energy recovery and less health consumed by falling into hazards, to more accessible assists, like a double jump. 

Gravity Circuit isn't too lengthy of a game, which shouldn't surprise any fan of classic Mega Man style games, but that isn't to say the game isn't one players can't enjoy for a long time. My first playthrough took about five hours to complete, but then there is a New Game+ mode that transfers everything over from a player's previous playthrough. There's also Circuit Mode, which is like the standard story, but allows Kai to tap into his health to use burst techniques when his energy is empty. Then, throw in the just over 50 unique achievements to tackle (some requiring playthroughs without collecting health and energy upgrades or buying extra techniques or parts), boss rushes, and more, and this is a game that all in all took me about 12 hours to earn everything within.

On the subject of play control, Gravity Circuit mostly sticks its landing. The platforming is top-notch, and the impact of punching and kicking enemies into submission--it really gave me the feel of being a badass, powerful rock'em, sock'em robot. Badass and powerful, yes, but invincible and faultless, no. Sometimes I found that using the hookshot, especially on diagonals--something needed quite often to do to swing across gaps and such--was hard to successfully do. Many times I saw Kai helplessly fall into the pit because I couldn't get diagonal to register, either on the D-Pad or control stick, properly 100% of the time. As one can imagine, this was quite the frustration, especially on playthroughs without the double jump ability afforded to me. 

The Virus Army comes in all shapes and sizes, and Kai's foot is currently meeting 
the faces of each and every one of them.

Further, I found dashing and jumping in conjunction to be a bit inconsistent. Holding the back left trigger on the controller initiates Kai's dash, but when I started to dash, I couldn't always just at the same time. This, like the diagonals of the hookshot before it, led to more failures in platforming than I would have liked. Still, overall, Kai handles, controls, and plays otherwise well.

Gravity Circuit contains an 8-bit-inspired graphical style to it. The amount of pixelated details in the stages, environments, and backgrounds are truly something to behold. A lot can happen on screen at once, and unlike the NES inspiration that the game takes after, Gravity Circuit does not feature the same sprite flickering or flashing the plagued the original NES hardware for games of this type of that era. On the sound side, the music is incredibly catchy and feels like something out of Mega Man. No notes--besides the obvious and catchy musical ones. 

While Gravity Circuit isn't a perfect encapsulation of everything I love about Mega Man, the devs and designers clearly did their research, or at the very least grew up with Mega Man like I did and know what makes these classics so enduring and endearing. Gravity Circuit is a wonderfully paced, action-packed romp that doesn't outwear its welcome, delivers delightful run and jump gameplay, insanely smart level design, and plenty of platforming, boss battles, and other combat scenarios that will test every player's mettle. A superb effort all-around.

[SPC Says: A-] 

This game was played via the Steam Deck version. Gravity Circuit is also available on PC, Nintendo Switch, as well as the PlayStation 4 and 5.

Mario Kart World (NS2) Main Theme and Crown City Studio Performances

What was lovingly called by the community "Mario Kart Mondays", due to the fact that Nintendo would release the much-enjoyed free roam tracks of Mario Kart World each week on its Nintendo Music service, has come to a conclusion with the arrival of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's music. As a pleasant surprise, the over-an-hour of tracks from the game was not split up into two weeks. 

As an even greater pleasant surprise--arguably--Nintendo's primary YouTube channel uploaded two looks at the in-studio recording process of Mario Kart World, featuring the main title theme of the game and the Crown City track. The overall soundtrack certainly is one of Nintendo's very best ever put together, which if you are familiar with its catalog of musical compositions, is nothing to throw a blue shell at. It's darn impressive!

Enjoy these pair of YouTube videos showing the musicians performing the duo of themes, and if you'd like some more Mario Kart World goodness, check out the SuperPhillip Central review.

Teeto (NS2, NSW, PS5, PC) Review

After this past week's LIFTED review, we take a look at another indie platformer from the month of July. Whereas LIFTED took on a 2.5D approach, we're going full three-dimensions with the cute, charming, and colorful Teeto, available on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2 (the latter is the version of the game this review is based off).

Saving the world from sinister shadows? It Takes Teeto, baby!

Teeto is a 3D platformer built off the same vibes as exploration-based platformers such as Spyro the Dragon and Banjo-Kazooie. The latter is highly reminiscent of Teeto, as both star a pair of protagonists that work together to run, jump, and otherwise platform their way through levels. Whereas Banjo-Kazooie has a more complicated move-set to it, Teeto utilizes a simpler control setup. Teeto can jump, double jump, glide with the help of Nory, a pink bunny companion, roll, attack, and ground pound. 

A brief pause, a momentary respite to breathe and take in the scenery.

It's with Teeto's special transformative abilities that make what otherwise might be a standard fare platformer into something more intriguing. Teeto can interact with various objects in the levels of the game and take on their properties. For instance, a flower can transform Teeto into a vine form, allowing him to grapple specific faraway points with his vine arms and swing across them. There's also big boulders that Teeto can assume the abilities of, allowing him to ground pound with more force, breaking open floor and ground that otherwise would be impenetrable. 

Teeto looks ready for spring with all of that flower power!

Teeto features four acts within its 5-8 hour runtime, and each act consists of six levels. The first five levels are exploration, platforming-based with different side and main objectives to complete. The sixth is always a boss level of some form. 

There are three types of collectibles to be found within Teeto's levels: powerful purple polygonal vessels of energy known as Vionite, which serves as the game's Power Star equivalent to Super Mario 64, or to bring Banjo-Kazooie back up, that game's Jiggy equivalent. Collecting these is paramount as a certain amount is required to open up future acts in the game. 

Vionite are housed in hidden locations, but other times they're rewarded for completing objectives and tasks for NPCs in levels. Some may have you finding and fetching a lost bone for a dog, destroying a set number of shadow flags in a level, or even reaching the top of a small summit in a literal ode to the popular co-op multiplayer game PEAK. The objectives are varied enough to keep the game from growing stale, if the platforming and creative level design don't do that already.

Give a dog a bone, and you'll be rewarded with some much wanted Vionite!

Other collectibles include tiny, cute, blue, gooey creatures called Michaels. These are small in stature, but have a late-game purpose. While difficult to discover since they are tiny, the telltale sound of their giggling makes sure you won't miss them hanging around. Michaels humorously come in unique styles, such as "Chronically Online Michael" or "Michael Who Just Bought a Drone". 

The other type of collectible fills up a gauge, and that is of stars. Different sized and colored stars bestow more energy in the gauge, and a side goal is to fill the gauge in each level. The stars are also Teeto's form of currency, which is used to purchase new costumes and outfits for Teeto to adorn--from a Lucahdor wrestling costume to a superhero outfit.

I like a game where the collectibles are shown in order. That is, if you're near the level's exit and you pick up a Vionite, it won't be listed as the first Vionite collectible in the level in the UI. This is insanely helpful and welcomed for knowing if you've missed a collectible in a level. Usually you have time and the opportunity to backtrack, but sometimes you're stuck having to replay a level to pick up a missed goodie. Because the objectives and platforming are so enjoyable with tasks being fun and movement feeling great in general, I found myself actively seeking out every collectible and thus, 100% completion.

Teeto is positively energized, ready to [literally] charge into battle.

The levels themselves are full of interesting challenges and locales. While you start in traditional mascot platforming fare, such as caves, forests, and mountains, Teeto quite quickly picks up the pace on originality, having our two heroes enter subway stations, grocery stores, and through electrified backyards of suburbia. Some levels are more open-ended, while others have a more linear design to them. Either way, there is plenty of ways to go off the beaten path, discover a cleverly hidden collectible and find something of value.

Speaking of electricity, an electrified lawn certainly is one way to keep unwanted guests off of the grass!

Teeto is designed not just for solo play, but you can even bring a friend locally to play the game with you via split-screen play. Both players have a surprising amount of freedom, able to move far away from one another and pretty much can split up tasks between them or opt to work together on an objective simultaneously. The only times players are forced together are between areas/rooms or certain story triggers in levels. I was amazed by how well the co-op worked, and really, Teeto truly shines in its co-op and how it executes it.

Platforming is pretty breezy, as is the game itself. Checkpoints are fair, and falling to Teeto's demise is seldom a huge punishment. You don't lose progress or collectibles nabbed; you simply start at a nearby point in the level. Really, the only sticking point in the level of challenge is that of boss battles. Teeto and Nory only have three hearts between themselves to work with, and while bosses do drop hearts of restorative health when they're attacked, these battles are more challenging than anything else within the game. A certain 2D plane battle in the third act I found more frustrating and difficult than anything else by far in Teeto's adventure, other than the final boss battle itself.

Bosses serve as a modest but noticeable jump in difficulty compared to everything else within Teeto.

If there are any huge gripes other than the difficult jumps that come from the boss battles, it's that the enemy variety is woefully lacking. There's probably just four or five generic enemy types of Shadows to contend with. 

More worrisome and annoying were the crashes, at least on the Nintendo Switch 2 version that I played. These crashes happened twice upon falling into two separate pits in the final act of the game. Further, there were moments where the game completely locked Teeto out of certain actions, like aiming and attacking with his blob blasts, or worse yet in the snowy mountain level, being completely unable to jump after being shot out of a cannon. I either had to return to the hub or better yet, just plummet from the summit to my doom to get the controls and actions working properly again.

Nevertheless, what always worked for me was the presentation of the game. Teeto is a charming and cute game graphically, offering nothing truly amazing visually, but what style it has works and works well. The draw distance is rather lovely, and certain vistas and vantage points, like the top of the aforementioned snowy mountain level, shows off a gorgeous sunset. 

Absolutely breathtaking. Just be sure not to slide off the side, Teeto and Nory!

On the sound side, Teeto doesn't disappoint, but also doesn't overly delight either. The voice acting has a charm to it, but the music I would struggle to say is excellent. It's certain serviceable, but there's nothing truly memorable outside of perhaps the level clear theme. Certain typos in the game, especially during one of the more important scenes in Teeto, made for a less than fantastic impression, as well.

Teeto shines in its simplicity, whether that's its platforming gameplay or its graphical style. Its transforming mechanic, used to solve environmental puzzles and perform platforming, lends itself naturally to the gameplay without feeling shoehorned in. Glitches and bugs aside that will no doubt be cleaned up as time and patches roll on, between the co-op, fun objectives, craftily hidden collectibles, and level of charm, Teeto was a game I enjoyed hitting 100% completion on. While it isn't a title that hits the same highs of Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon, or any other 3D platforming titan Teeto might have inspiration from, it's a wonderful game all the same. 

[SPC Says: B-] 

A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review. 

Orbitals (NS2) "Creator's Voice" Video

Nintendo returns with a new entry in its series of videos called "Creator's Voice" with interviews from the designers and creators behind Orbitals, a co-op only action-adventure game which resembles something out of an 1980s era anime. There's good reason for it being co-op only as well as having that '80s anime resemblance, as you'll find out with this video. Orbitals releases exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2 on September 3rd.

LIFTED (PC) Review

A pair of indie games is what awaits on the agenda next for SuperPhillip Central. The first is a short romp, but one packed with adventure: LIFTED. Let's check it out with a full, in-depth review!

A game clock-ful of adventure

LIFTED is a 2.5D cinematic action-platformer which follows the tale of high school student Ari and his teacher, mentor, and friend, the Professor. The latter is in love with Ari's history teacher, and thinking that he has no shot with her otherwise, he opts to take Ari on a time-traveling trip (courtesy of his invention, the Anytime Elevator) to acquire a specific tiara. Extra credit for Ari and a potential way for the Professor to successfully woo his crush. A win-win and a "two birds with one stone" situation!

No doubt Ari and the Professor's friendship is meant to draw familiar parallels to the relationship found in Back to the Future's Marty McFly and Doc Brown. After all, it's a time traveling story, and that's not even going into how Ari's voice actor even sounds like he's doing a Michael J. Fox impression. You'll certainly hear a lot of it, as characters within LIFTED are exceptionally chatty. Some players might find this obnoxious, and perhaps I would have, too, if not for the fact that the dialogue throughout the game is abundantly charming and humorous often, as well.

Oh, and let's not forget that the spirited, little chinchilla Julius joins the adventure, as well.

LIFTED is an adventure that takes players through a handful of unique locations throughout time. By the conclusion of the game's short, initial three-hour runtime, Ari and the Professor will pass through Egyptian canyons and temples, a pirate island and caves within Tortuga, swing on vines and infiltrate a temple in the deep jungle, and spend some time on the snowy and incredibly gusty mountaintops, as well.

Starting off in Egypt, you get a sense for the controls and how the game plays. As a 2.5D platformer, you're seldom moving along a strict side-scrolling perspective. Instead, the camera tends to be at different perspectives, sometimes at an angle, sometimes panning into position to create a cinematic flair. 

This can be challenging to contend with at times, because while the camera can move around in a three-dimensional orientation, your character is stuck on a strict, 2D path. This means that you can be holding right to move in that direction, and then the camera changes position, altering the direction you're supposed to hold. This never resulted in cheap deaths or anything like that, just some very occasional befuddlement with knowing which way to move the stick to, in turn, move Ari.

Ari must have misunderstood and taken it literally when he read about "cliff notes".

Through the initial Egyptian chapter of LIFTED, you learn how to move, jump, double jump, climb cliff faces a la Nathan Drake in Uncharted (Ari certainly did not skip gym class with the amazing acrobatics and miraculous-level of mobility he affords and offers to players), and also the ability to use a grappling hook to latch onto specific points in levels, swing across chasms, and pull himself up to reach new heights. 

There's seldom any enemies to concern yourself with in LIFTED. The only real danger is missing jumps and having Ari plummet to his doom. The Professor would definitely take some points off his extra credit for doing that. There is no "live" system or health to worry about in LIFTED. You fail, you simply retry from a nearby checkpoint, which are generally generous in location. 

In Tortuga, Ari learns how to leap between and slide down walls.

Though I do have a minor issue with the checkpoint system in LIFTED. That issue being that checkpoints are not marked, nor does the game give an indication when you're reached one. Not only does this make you not know if an unintended death might make you have to redo a potentially frustrating potion of a level, but LIFTED also contains plenty of collectibles. It can be quite easy to miss them, as a lot of them are located in crafty and clever areas. There are lots of "points of no return" in levels, where if you pass a certain section, you're locked out of backtracking. This means that you have to back out to the main menu and redo the entire level all over again just to get another chance at a given collectible. 

Levels aren't too terribly long, but it can feel obnoxious, especially when going for certain achievements where you have to do a flawless run, for instance, through a section of level. Most of these are deep within levels, meaning that it's not just annoying to have to reach these sections, but if you fail the achievement's requirement, you have to redo the level and make it back to that section. Frustrating. 

Regardless, it's not just all about platforming in LIFTED, either. Various environmental puzzles are thrown in for good measure, as well, to keep the gameplay feeling fresh. One early puzzle in the Tortuga Island chapter features block-pushing onto specially colored pressure plates. When a certain plate is held down, the complimentary colored gate or door opens. The puzzle is essentially figuring out which plates to hold down in a specific order to access new areas which house new blocks to utilize. 

Mirror, mirror on the slate, can Ari help the Professor with his desire for a date?

A lot of the puzzles are simply trial and error or aren't too tricky to solve, but some of them did actually cause me to need to step back and ponder over them some. I definitely appreciated that they weren't all thoughtless brain teasers, and instead were quite smartly thought out in execution.

LIFTED is a quick romp. The beautiful and well made cut-scenes, although entertaining and often humorous, take up about a third of the initial playtime. Everything else is split up between running, jumping, and puzzle solving. However, there is an appropriate amount of extra content to sink your adventuring teeth into, from the previously mentioned collectibles which unlock various unique outfits for Ari to wear, to nearly 70 different achievements. These achievements range from perfect runs through sections of levels, interacting with the environments in specific, not-always-obvious ways, and collectible hunting. 

Some of the vistas seen in LIFTED are just jaw-dropping spectacles.

Gorgeous and impressive are two words that come to mind when I think of LIFTED's presentation. The game offers an abundance of eye candy through its expansive vistas, cinematic camera angles, and visual splendor. I particularly like the Rayman-esque character designs, where each character in the game lacks appendages like arms and legs, but possesses disconnected hands and feet. It's a cute and charming art style that works, and I imagine helped to make animating the given characters less of a workload. 

"Snow" time to hang around, Ari--adventure awaits!

Meanwhile, the sound design is stellar, too. The voice work is exceptionally well done with great comedic timing and delivery by the actors, and the music especially packs a powerful punch, particularly in more dramatic and action-oriented sections of the game.

LIFTED is indeed a short adventure that some may balk at the $20 asking price, but I find there's plenty to like and even love about this charming cinematic journey that Ari and the Professor set on. Some checkpoint-ing quirks do annoy, and some camera angle issues do less than delight. However, in the end, the overall package is one that I am glad I had the opportunity to check out. I might even go back and complete the final six achievements that I'm missing, which is something I seldom have the motivation to do nowadays, so that certainly speaks to LIFTED's quality. 

Like an action-packed epic you'd watch in a movie theater, LIFTED is a game you can finish in an afternoon and feel like your time was spent well. The only difference is that with LIFTED, you need not worry about stepping around on some nasty, sticky floor to do so.

[SPC Says: B-] 

A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review. 

Super Mario 64 DS (DS) Retro Review

I've been playing a lot of retro games over the summer, but rest assured, some new stuff has my gaming attention as well. In the meantime, though, let's focus on another retro title, but a much more well-known one than what we've covered previously. The original Super Mario 64 celebrated its 30th anniversary this past June, so since we've reviewed the original game already, let's take a look at the enhanced Nintendo DS port with Super Mario 64 DS!

Will I still need you, will I still indeed enjoy you, when you're not on the Nintendo 64? 

It might not seem like much now, but when Nintendo DS launch title Super Mario 64 DS and the DS itself were originally in my hands, that Christmas of 2004, I was absolutely amazed and astounded. There was something mind-blowing to me about having a console-quality game from the Nintendo 64, retooled into a game that could fit on a device in the palms of my hands. 

I'm sure even at the time there were folks more into tech and the possibilities of handheld tech that weren't too impressed by Nintendo's offering. However, for someone who wasn't too deep into the world of technology and also grew up on playing handheld games that were all 2D and mostly monochrome, the Nintendo DS and especially Super Mario 64 was a revelation. It made me excited at the potential of the DS as a device, and as the years would go on, that novelty of early 3D on a handheld would wane, but the potential, I believe, would be realized.

The Nintendo DS launch itself wasn't too much to boast about for Nintendo. Sure, it featured two handfuls of games, but really, the main selling points were Metroid Prime: First Hunt, a demo that came prepackaged with systems, and of course, Super Mario 64 DS itself. Now, having the latter as just a strict port of the Nintendo 64 game would have been incredible in my eyes, because as previously mentioned, having a handheld that could play a console-quality game was a source of amazement in my young, albeit naive eyes.

Fortunately, for everyone else, Super Mario 64 DS stood as more than just a straight port. In many ways, Super Mario 64 DS is an upgraded remake of the Nintendo 64 original, but it simultaneously takes one step backward for every two steps forward, making it a bit of an enigma.

Super Mario 64 DS starts similarly to the Nintendo 64 original, featuring a note written by Princess Peach which invites Mario to her castle. Mario accepts this invitation, but this time he's joined by Luigi and, for some reason, his rival Wario, as attendees. From there, we see Lakitu waking up Yoshi who rests on the nearby roof and exclaiming that Mario and friends have, too, been kidnapped by Bowser. Thus, Yoshi, our new protagonist, sets off to enter into Peach's castle to do his very best to rescue Mario and pals.

Super Mario 64 DS does a lot of tilting and defying of expectations. Yes, you still have 15 main courses set across the front foyer, basement, and top floors of the castle, but since you're starting and playing as Yoshi, things are understandably and considerably change course here and there.

For instance, Yoshi himself plays differently, of course, to the portly plumber veterans of the N64 game are so used to controlling. Yoshi can do pretty much all of the platforming tricks Mario can muster, save for punching (meaning Yoshi cannot break open blocks like the other characters are able to do), but he can also use his trademark flutter jump, use his tongue to gobble up enemies, and even turn them into eggs that can bounce off foes in a ping-pong-like fashion when thrown. 

A familiar Super Mario 64 stomping ground with an unfamiliar-to-64 playable protagonist! It's Yoshi!

Meanwhile, another decidedly different aspect of Super Mario 64 DS is how there simply other characters to play as. Through finding the portraits that each character is trapped in, beating the brand-new level and boss that guards their respective keys to unlock their respective doors in a revamped section of Peach's castle, new character become available to switch between. 

It's not quite like Donkey Kong 64 in how you switch characters either. There aren't universal points in the courses where you can switch between characters easily at specific spots in the levels themselves. Instead, the main act of switching characters is in the room of locked doors where Princess Peach's Secret Slide is located, within Peach's Castle, the main hub and overworld of Super Mario 64 DS.

As new characters are unlocked, their caps appear at unique points in each level, usually worn by an enemy like a Goomba or simply laying around the level somewhere specifically. When you pick up a cap and wear it, your currently controlled character transforms into that character whose cap they adorn. Or at least, they take on their appearance and abilities. Their voice intentionally stays the same, and this is, I assume, to not confuse the player on which character is the one they originally selected to play as. Plus, upon taking damage, your character transforms back into their standard self. 

Yoshi is unique in that when he enters into a course and prepares to select the Star to go after, players can utilize the second screen on the DS to also select what character's cap he wants to wear to enter into the level, if any. This makes Yoshi a fantastic character to usually choose for convenience and versatility of being able to transform into any character upon level entry.

Mario jumps with intent as he nabs his first Red Coin at Whomp's Fortress.

Each character, of course, plays differently and has their own unique set of abilities to utilize. Luigi is nimble and a back flip causes him to spin perpetually in the air, slowly floating back to the ground, while Wario can punch boulders and ground pound with his hefty weight to break certain obstacles that the other characters can't. The other form of each characters' "unique set of abilities to utilize" comes chiefly in the form of which power-up pops out of red boxes. Mario still has the Wing Cap to fly and soar around levels with, but there also brand-new Flowers that have exclusive uses for each character. 

Certain objectives are brand-new in Super Mario 64 DS, 
while others are slightly altered like this Hazy Maze Cave Power Star.

Mario's flower will puff him up into a balloon where he'll awkwardly float around with player's presses of the jump button to reach new heights. Luigi will turn practically invisible and transparent, able to pass through gates, fences, and other obstacles with ease. Meanwhile, Wario will turn into a metal form that allows him to sink deep down into water, bypass air vents, and otherwise be a big, heavy bastard. Finally, Yoshi earns the ability to breathe and blow out flames with his flower. Each of these abilities are temporary, and thus, as Super Mario 64 veterans can see, the Metal and Vanish Caps that Mario could equip himself with, have now been replaced by the new playable characters' flower abilities. 

Someone give Mario his Maalox moment. Our boy's all bloated!

As you can probably imagine, the playable characters are their abilities make for a different experience in Super Mario 64 DS compared to the original N64 game. That's obviously not all that's new in the adventure, especially since you start the game out as Yoshi, as stated earlier. Yes, the goal of the game is to collect the stolen Power Stars that rest in and out of Peach's Castle's various paintings that contain the game's main courses, but instead of 120 Power Stars total, there are 150 in this version of the game.

Right from entering the first painting of the game to embark into the game's first course: Bob-Omb Battlefield, all seems like the usual Super Mario 64. You have the same task of reaching the summit where King Bob-Omb stands tall. However, since Yoshi can't pick up enemies, his strategy to rout the king of the booms is a bit different. King Bob-Omb throws smaller enemy Bob-Ombs that Yoshi must lick up and spit back out at the boss to deal damage. It's not until a later Power Star that players must bring the rescued Mario into the level to beat King Bob-Omb the standard way in the boss's rematch.

Super Mario 64 originally contained six stars or missions per stage. That doesn't count the bonus star for collecting 100 coins in a given course. In Super Mario 64 DS, there are seven main stars or missions to complete. Many of these introduce new challenges such as collecting and holding onto five Silver Stars that when all have been gathered, brings the Power Star's arrival at a set spot in the stage to nab. Another platforming challenge includes stepping on a star switch that summons the Power Star. It's then a race against time to grab the Power Star before it disappears and the star switch must be stepped on again to start the race anew. 

It's not Wednesday, but it's still time for Wiggler!

Even the courses themselves have altered designs. Whomp's Fortress, the second intended course of Super Mario 64 DS, features an entirely new back section on ground level, containing two flower gardens infested by Piranha Plants, a new location for one of the course's collectible red coins, and serves as the path to a star switch's Power Star. Later stages, too, have changed designs, such as Tick-Tock Clock no longer being a total bottomless pit at its bottom-most level Instead, there's some safety netting in the form of floor there, which makes it more difficult to fall into the abyss below.

Part of me believes that these additions have been made to make for a more inviting and accessible adventure to players. As Super Mario 64 veterans know, the original N64 game could be quite punishing and unwelcoming in some aspects. Super Mario 64 DS alleviates some of the burden with these new level design decisions, but some new burden is added because of the controls and how characters handle, bringing me to the other reason I believe the level and mission design in many levels were changed.

In the N64 original, the analog stick of the Nintendo 64 controller meant Mario could pretty much and practically turn on a dime. This isn't the case with the Nintendo DS and its D-Pad. Mario and friends make noticeably wider turns, which can often result in struggles with staying on platforms and frustrating falls to doom. What this amounts to is a lot of aggravation and movement set to eight directions as opposed to the full range of movement that the Nintendo 64 controller allowed. It feels quite limiting quite fast for someone like myself who grew up on the N64 game. Now, of course, with the advent of the Nintendo DS hardware, touch screen movement is indeed possible, though it's not ideal for my use case. Camera controls are also limited to the touch screen, save for one of the shoulder buttons snapping the camera in the direction your character currently faces. Also, not ideal.

While twirling around Bowser by his tail with the D-Pad isn't completely awful, 
the touch screen is probably the intended control method for this.

Super Mario 64 DS delivers a less colorful, less blocky, and much more pixelated look with its visuals. Texture work is not very wonderful here, and it sort of resembles more of an OG PlayStation game than that of the Nintendo 64, funnily enough. Still, aspects like the draw distance, details on characters and environments, and the mostly smooth frame-rate make for an enjoyable graphical experience overall. Musically and sound-wise, beyond the additions like voice-work for the new playable protagonists and new additional music tracks, namely a remix of Delfino Square for an all-new tropical island mini-level, all is the same and familiar within Super Mario 64 DS's adventure.

That said, there is an aspect of Super Mario 64 DS that I have not delved into, and it's tangentially related to the main adventure: the touch-screen-based mini-games. These are mostly unlocked through capturing rabbits within the halls, floors, and outskirts of Peach's Castle. Playing as each character reveals new rabbits in different locations. Nabbing the rabbits means earning keys that open up chests within Peach's Rec Room.

"Pick a card, any card, paisan!"

These mini-games are arranged in four types, and each characters' keys unlock specific types of mini-games. For example, Yoshi's mini-games are puzzle-based, while something like Luigi's mini-games are more casino and chance-oriented. True to the Mario, his mini-games possess a lot of action, whereas Wario brings up the rear with a little bit of this and that which doesn't necessarily fall into any one specific category. These mini-games are part time-wasters, sure, and part demo to show off the capabilities of the then-new DS hardware and its touch-based functionality. They do a great job, as the touch controls feel good, and the games themselves are fantastic time-stealers, at that. It's no wonder they'd return later on down the road in New Super Mario Bros., also on the Nintendo DS.

Super Mario 64 DS doesn't long jump past the original Nintendo 64 game. It more takes some jumps to the side in improvements as well as complaints. Is Super Mario 64 DS the definitive version of Mario's first full foray and adventure into three-dimensions? That's a difficult question to determine the answer to, because it's totally conditional. From a content point of view, there's no question. From a control perspective, not so much. That's why I surmise that Super Mario 64 DS is more of a side-grade to the original Super Mario 64 than a total upgrade or downgrade. Either way, you'll be jumping for joy and the occasional--but not insurmountable--frustrations, too with this Nintendo DS launch title. 

[SPC Says: B] 

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (PS2, GCN, XBX) Retro Review

It's time for another retro review of the extreme sports variety! With Toy Story 5 having been in theaters, something called upon me to try out a game featuring the lovable cast of toy pals. But why stop there? Why not throw in some Lion King and Tarzan, and on skateboards, too!? That's what we have with Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, a game I had on my backlog for quite some time! Here's the SPC review.

When you skate upon a board, 
doesn't matter how many points you've scored.

The era of the 2000s was a gold mine for extreme sports games. Of course, leading the pack was none other than the Birdman himself, Tony Hawk and his Pro Skater series of games. It's no wonder why Disney wanted a piece of the extreme sports pie and threw its hat--or mouse ears--into the arena with a licensed skateboarding game built off of the Tony Hawk engine. Developed by Toys for Bob for PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure is the end result. Does it manage to stay on its board till the very end, or does it suffer from a premature bail?

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure is a skateboarding game featuring characters and levels from Toy Story, Tarzan, and The Lion King. There are 10 levels total, three in each Disney or Disney/Pixar franchise (in the case of Toy Story), and a special Olliewood level that not only serves as a special customizable kid skater's skating grounds--based off of one of two winners of a contest that Disney and Toys for Bob ran to put their likenesses into the game--but also a level that takes on the role of a hub, using it as a portal to the other Disney levels for your kid skater to skate in.

Howdy, pardner! There's a snake in my boots and a board on them, too!

You're, of course, not limited to just playing as a kid skater in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure. Each spotlighted Disney franchise features a handful of playable characters to choose from, many of which need to be unlocked by completing in-level goals. You ARE, however, limited in what characters and skate where. For instance, only Toy Story characters like Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and Zurg can skate in Toy Story level locations, such as Andy's Room, Pizza Planet, and Zurg's World.

Buzz Lightyear looks particularly proud of himself for this grind.

The levels in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure are quite sizable, expansive, and pretty wide open as well, featuring plenty of well presented locales from the Disney worlds they're plucked from. From grinding on toy blocks, up cardboard halfpipes, and even discovering the way into the bathroom in Andy's Room from Toy Story, to skating along the hull, grinding along the high wires, and avoiding taking a plunge in Clayton's Ship from Tarzan, the levels are large, fully-featured, and full of housed secrets, great tricking opportunities, and fun skate lines to discover. 

Be careful as to not get seasick on this ultimate level of the Tarzan world of skating stages: Clayton's Ship.

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure plays a lot like a Disney-themed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, specifically the fourth entry. While you don't have as many moves and special abilities in a given skater's repertoire, it pretty much plays similarly. And it's not just the gameplay that is familiar--the entire structure of freely skating around open sandbox levels with no timer to worry about, while searching out characters that task you with performing and completing various skateboard-related challenges and goals is present in Disney's skateboarding title.

Chat it up with the locals to obtain different goals to take on.

These goals are relatively simple to perform and achieve, for the most part, but I was amazed by how varied they were. Sure, there are goals as basic as grinding, performing a lip trick, or jumping over a specific spot, but there are also more complex goals to take on, too. These can be traditional finding and collecting the S-K-A-T-E letters in a level before the timer runs out, successfully executing a series of tricks as they're called out to you, flushing a toilet to get Hamm the pig from Toy Story off from the lid's high heights, and so forth. 

Collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E is a customary THPS challenge, and it's of course present in this game, too.

Completing enough goals unlocks new levels within that Disney series of stages. You also unlock new characters, as well, and seeing as each character in the game has their own set of special collectibles to nab, 25 per level--these unlock new content in the form of new tricks and special cosmetics--there's a decent amount of replay value to be found within the game. This is especially so when there's over 150 goals to complete within Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, multiple characters, levels, cosmetics, tricks, and special movies to unlock, and over 150 gaps to nail, too.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's controls haven't necessarily been dumbed down compared in their transition into Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure: instead, they've been made more accessible for the younger audience the game was intended for. The default control setup puts players in a more manageable configuration, with the most notable change being how manuals are performed. Rather than flick up and down on the analog stick to initiate a manual, it's as simple as pressing a specific face button. 

That said, if you're craving the controls from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, there actually is a "Pro Controls" feature, that takes the traditional controls of the THPS series and allows players to utilize them. Manuals once more are performed by flicking the stick up and down, grab and flip tricks are assigned to their typical buttons as seen in THPS, and the tricks available to your character greatly increase. Now, you won't have the same amount of unique tricks when compared to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, but it's a stark contrast between "basic"--for lack of a better term--controls, and the Pro Controls featured in the game. Not to be misunderstood, you still have access to manuals, reverts, spine transfers, and all the standard moves regardless of which control scheme you choose.

Uh... I'll have to decline that offer, Tarzan.

One issue I do have with Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure that the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series doesn't have is because of the fantastical, oftentimes unconventional dimensions of the character skaters involved. When doing spin tricks, it can be hard to judge where the front or back of the board is, and if you're going to land straight or fumble, stumble, and bail. This is due to the aforementioned unique dimensions of characters like Timon & Pumbaa and young Tarzan. Whereas the skaters in THPS are traditional in appearance, the majority of characters in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure can block the view of the board or make it unclear if you're going to stick your landing while in the air. It can make for more bailing than I would have liked, but it's hardly a major frustration.

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure features a lovely and most importantly for this type of game, smooth graphical style. It runs and performs well with seldom if ever a hitch in frame-rate. One of the most impressive aspects for me with the game was seeing just how exponentially expressive the characters in the game animate. Seeing Woody bail on his skateboard, and pick himself up while adjusting his limp toy arm was an absolute delight, and each character comes complete with a wide range of animations and voice clips. 

Olliewood is the largest level within the game, and is your kid skater's stomping (or skating) grounds.

Continuing with the sound aspect of the game, Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure's soundtrack is less Disney fare (you won't hear "Hakuna Matata" on the set list or Phil Collins' Tarzan tracks) and more Radio Disney. This means lots of contemporary artists that you'd hear in the early 2000s as played on Disney's old radio service. Nothing awful and a lot of it is rather catchy and emblematic of the era.

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure is exactly what you'd expect from the cover--a super competent skateboarding game for the kid and tween market, and also those Disney adults who who can't get enough of Tony Hawk-style skateboarding gameplay. It's not anywhere near as complex as a THPS game--and that's to be expected for the audience it was trying to capture--but Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure manages to make for a marvelous skateboarding gaming experience that lands its tricks much more than it bails on them.

[SPC Says: B] 

Splashdown (PS2, XBX) Retro Review

It's Monday again, and tonight I have a retro review this time to dive into, both figuratively and literally, with Splashdown. Sure, there's a pile of unplayed recently released games on my desk as I type this review, but that's not stopping me from playing some retro fare. After all, some water racing action is rather perfect for the summer months! Here's the SPC retro review of Splashdown.

 I'm feeling up to splashing down!

We're approaching the dog days of summer in Central City, so while I'm scared to death of oceans and deep water in general (not being able to swim will do that to a person), it's with gaming I can do things I wouldn't ordinarily be able to accomplish. In this case, hopping on a Sea-Doo, jumping along the waves, and racing across an abundant number of interesting locales across a plethora of unique environments. Thank goodness for gaming, am I right, folks? Enter Splashdown for the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox. 

Splashdown decidedly takes aim at Wave Race 64 and less so its GameCube successor Blue Storm to become the watercraft racing champion and wear the wave racing crown. Whereas Wave Race 64 utilized Kawasaki watercrafts, Splashdown rides the waters with Sea-Doos. Either way, the goal is pretty much the same: race against your opponents in three-lap spectacles across a variety of wet and wild locations around the world, from the tropical ocean of the Caribbean, to the icy, frigid waters of the Bering Strait.

This Splashdown race is apparently brought to you by Certina Swiss Watches.

The main single-player mode within Splashdown is that of the career mode. Depending on the difficulty chosen (there are three total), the amount of events you play through grows. Easy contains the smallest amount of races to compete in (though still rather sizable) while Normal possesses around 20 events. There's always a requisite threshold of points to acquire from your position in races, and if you don't meet said threshold, your career is kaput. However, on Easy and Normal at the very least, it's not too challenging to reach the required number of points to progress, even if you don't always cross the finish line in contention. 

Each fictional rider in the game has their own personality and own career mode, and completing their career unlocks a special ending movie for them. Every handful of races in the career sees an opportunity to take on another character of your choosing. Win this race against them in a stadium race setting, and they'll join your team of racing riders. 

Cross the finish line before your opponent to have them join your team in these stadium-style races.

Controlling and handling your rider's Sea-Doo is rather easy. While each rider has their own stats, making handling feel different between characters, for the most part, riding one's Sea-Doo along the water feels and handles like one would imagine a watercraft to behave on the waves. Pulling back on the left analog stick is perfect for straightaways to decrease your Sea-Doo's resistance on the water, thus making your ride go faster. Of course, there's the risk of wrecking, especially in tight turns or if you brush up against other opponents or obstacles. 

Whether on a clear, sunny day or in a downpour, the race must go on.

For those who want to splish-splash and take a quick bath, your Sea-Doo can also enter underwater via the submarine technique. Not only is this great for ducking under hazards that hang out on the surface of the water, but you can also quickly dive under the water and come up for air, in more ways than one, to perform a jump. 

There are a multitude of jumping opportunities outside of smart submarine usage. Those come in the form of ramps that offer the chance to unleash some sick tricks in midair. There's a trick gauge that fills as you hold tricks in midair, though of course you'll want to let go of the trick before hitting the water, or else you'll discover yourself bailing and swimming with the fishes. Tricks build up your performance meter, and as this meter fills, your Sea-Doo's abilities noticeably increase. Chiefly, things like handling, acceleration, and max speed go on the rise.

This trick is seriously hurting my spine just looking at it.

Like the Wave Race series, being on the correct side of a buoy directs racers through the tracks and circuits of the game. Unlike Wave Race, however, missing buoys on the wrong side doesn't lead to eventual disqualification. Instead, your performance meter decreases for each buoy passed on the incorrect side. If you have less than an ideal amount of energy in the aforementioned meter, your Sea-Doo temporarily stalls. And like crashing and wiping out, it's not doubt that stalling isn't optimal if you want to win a race as it wastes precious seconds.

The tracks themselves feature plentiful places to go off the beaten path, multiple shortcuts, and routes that diverge and eventually converge from and to one another respectively. Though while Wave Race 64 utilized masterful wave tech for all of its tracks, Splashdown is mostly wild and wet racing along pristine waters. Only certain sections of track feature waves to negotiate instead of the entirety of tracks. That makes for a nicer go of things in navigating tracks, but it also doesn't necessarily make for an easy, breezy time in general. The CPU can be vicious at times, and races in later difficulties on harder tracks make for grueling match-ups on the water.

Ramps like this one provide plenty of trick-indulging potential.

When you're not contending with a given character's career--which unfortunately each play out the same save for their previously mentioned unlockable ending movies--you have some options otherwise for continuing the aquatic carnage. As the name suggests, Free Roam mode offers the ability to freely explore each of the stellar 20+ environments in the game. This has a twofold purpose: to become better acquainted with tracks before taking them on in the career mode, but also it allows you to stumble upon and collect special tokens hidden throughout each track. While some of these can be collected in the career mode, many of them are out of reach in a traditional race setting. These tokens unlock new color variants for your stable of riders in the game, adding some further longevity to Splashdown.

Don't crash too much, or your chances of victory might be in "ruins".

Multiplayer is also offered in Splashdown, though this does not hold much water or extend replay value in a meaningful way. Yes, you can customize races to your liking, setting up the amount of laps to your leisure on any track already unlocked, but it would have been nice to be able to play the career in multiplayer with a buddy. As is, multiplayer is a pretty limited mode, which won't carry you or a friend for that long.

Splashdown graphically is rather impressive. The reflective surface of the water on each track is amazing to look at (and sometimes it resulted in me crashing from being too distracted), especially considering the time of the game's release early in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox's respective lives. Yes, while the water might have your eyes and mouth... well... watering, at how good it looks, other effects can leave something to be desired. It would have been cooler to have some more prominent splashing happening, especially for a game named Splashdown, ironically. Meanwhile, track environments such as in the geometry of the land, weather effects, and particularly the lighting on some tracks do definitely delight. 

Pull up a seat and start surfing! Wheeeeeee!

If you're looking for a sign of the times to tie Splashdown to a specific era, well, look no further than the soundtrack full of licensed tunes. Really, it's as if I stepped back into the early 2000s and entered a teen rom-com of the era with the music going on here in the game. If Smash Mouth's All-Star doesn't tickle your fancy AND if you somehow have an original Xbox with the game, you can enjoy your own roster of songs via the custom soundtrack option. Either way, you'll be hearing more of the soundtrack than the sound effects, as the Sea-Doos' sounds are more whimpers than roars, though you do get a lot of banter between riders as they race.

Splashdown delivers fast and frenetic aquatic racing action, yes, but it also doesn't do much else. The amount of tracks and environments is immensely impressive, and the difficulty is tough but fair. Career mode essentially being the same for each racer means you'll race the same series of tracks against progressively more challenging opponents, which is about as repetitive as it sounds. Still, for a game you pick up on the used market for cheap nowadays, if you possess a PS2 or OG Xbox, Splashdown's small number of issues are a drop in the bucket compared the oceans of fun you can end up having with it.

[SPC Says: B-]