Review Round-Up - February 2014

The Kong crew is on top of the review
mountain this month with Tropical Freeze.

Even though there were only 28 days for February, SuperPhillip Central managed to put together a fair amount of reviews in such a limited period of time. We kicked off our eight review month with a retro review of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, whose caravan was worthy of an 8.0. How we dream of a return to the dungeon crawling gameplay of the series... Following that was a look at two different Nintendo 3DS titles, Shinobi (7.5) and Cave Story 3D (7.0). We let the good times roll with Pac n' Roll, which bowled us over for a 7.0. Then, we continued with Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. While not their greatest adventure together, Ratchet and Clank's latest scored a great 8.0. Kung Fu Rabbit stealthily slipped into this month of reviews, hopping and wall climbing to a 7.0. Finally, we capped off the month with two Wii U games, Wii Party U (8.0) and our game of the month, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (9.5).

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GCN) - 8.0
Shinobi (3DS) - 7.5
Cave Story 3D (3DS) - 7.0
Pac 'n Roll (DS) - 7.0
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus (PS3) - 8.0
Kung Fu Rabbit (Wii U, 3DS, Vita) - 7.0
Wii Party U (Wii U) - 8.0
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U) - 9.5

Another platforming icon traveled far
and wide to earn a really nice score.

Better Late Than Never Reviews: Cave Story 3D (3DS) Review

Cave Story is a wonderful indie game that released in 2004 on PC. That version was and still is free, so how does one explain recreating the graphics of the game into polygon form and charging $40 for the new creation, Cave Story 3D? Let's see if we can't find out with this Better Late Than Never review.

Should You Cave In and Buy This Game?

Released a decade ago on PC, Cave Story is a game that many indie developers owe a lot to. Its developer showed that with enough skill and drive anyone can create a deep, compelling, worthwhile game. Six years later in 2010, Cave Story was ported to both Nintendo's current platforms in digital form on WiiWare and DSiWare. While the original PC release was freeware, these ported version held a double digit price tag. A year later and the first retail release of Cave Story ended up on the Nintendo 3DS. This version, Cave Story 3D, is the one we're focusing on today, a game that at launch carried a $40 price tag. With multiple cheaper alternatives for those with a hankering for Cave Story, is this 3DS remake worth it?

The story in Cave Story 3D revolves around an amnesiac who awakens inside of a cavernous complex. Wandering through this cave, the main character eventually meets up with rabbit-like residents who claim that a sinister man simply known as the Doctor is plotting to coerce the cave's residents into serving as his army to take over the world. While the tale certainly has a wide variety of somewhat intriguing characters, I found myself not becoming attached to any of them. I quickly forgot their names, which meant that if another character told me that an item I needed was held by *insert name here*, I'd either have to aimlessly wander around the game's world or consult a guide (an absolute last resort, mind you) to find them.

One big issue I have with how many events in Cave Story 3D progress is that are an abundant number of tedious fetch quests. It seems in each new area of the cave you enter, there is an incessant amount of backtracking just to fetch this, find that, bring this back to that character, etc. It just seems like unnecessary padding, and quite frankly, it's just not that much fun.

Now, while that may seem like a sour way to introduce my thoughts about Cave Story 3D, there's a lot to love about the game. Let's start with how the game plays. Cave Story was based of the creator's love of franchises like Metroid, and Cave Story is loosely modeled on that Nintendo classic's structure. While you don't gain as many new abilities to access new areas, various transporters open the way to totally different sections of the game as the story progresses. Following the Metroid structure, there are multiple hidden heart containers that bestow increased health to our hero (he can now reach 100 health as his max), as well as plenty of boss battles that can pop up when you least expect them, usually foreshadowed by a save point in the room before it. These break up the exploration of Cave Story 3D rather well.

Cave Story 3D's unnamed protagonist will have to deal with plenty of challenges, both platforming and combat-related. For combat, he comes across new weapons, such as a machine gun, missiles, a blaster that sprays out bubbles, a flamethrower, among others. Defeating enemies with these weapons results in them dropping health, missile ammo, or yellow triangular shapes. These yellow triangles allow your currently equipped weapon to gain experience. Gain enough experience with a weapon and it levels up, giving it greater firepower and capabilities. As easy as it is to level up a given weapon to its maximum, it's also just as easy to lose a level, performed by taking enough damage by either enemies or cave hazards.

Depending on whether or not you satisfy certain conditions within Cave Story 3D (some more obvious than others), you will either get a normal ending after facing off against the supposed last boss, or the special ending, which has you entering a super secret level that is full of deathtraps and other obstacles. It is without a doubt the hardest challenge that Cave Story 3D will throw at you, but the satisfaction of completing it is quite high.

Cave Story veterans and longtime fans know that the original freeware version paid homage to classic games with its graphical style. Cave Story 3D offers an entirely updated look, full of polygons, more interesting backgrounds, and a highly detailed world. It doesn't just linger on the plane our hero runs, jumps, and shoots on. No, it permeates into the background and foreground, creating a substantially more immersive world than its predecessors. Of course, there are some drawbacks to the new 3D graphics. For one, being in a cave and all, one would expect it to be dark. Well, in this 3DS remake, it is certainly dark in many areas, perhaps too dark, as the color palette of Cave Story 3D is less than bright and cheery. This makes knowing where you can and can't jump a little difficult in some places. However, the lower screen map does alleviate some of this trouble.

Also updated in this version of Cave Story is the music. The updated themes sound great, but to those who have known the 8-bit sounds of past Cave Story iterations might find it hard to get accustomed to, and there is no way to play the game with the classic soundtrack.

Cave Story 3D is a game that when it launched, it cost $40. The asking price now is higher, even for copies that aren't even new. This makes recommending Cave Story 3D a tough proposition, especially since now there's a downloadable version with the classic sprites, visuals, and music available on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. If you must have a physical copy of Cave Story, then you probably already have this title in your collection from when it released. If not and you deem the minor additions of content and all-new polygonal graphical style to be worth the cost, then prepare to pay a fine penny for this game. I don't think it's worth it, but then I've never been one to cave in on costly purchases.

[SPC Says: 7.0/10]

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Small Systems, Big Games Edition

It might just be "another week" for many, but at SuperPhillip Central it's never just "another week." That's because we have new music to share with you-- songs that we deem some of the best that this industry currently offers. On this week's edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs, we have themes from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster, and Ys Seven. It's a nice lineup we have, so we hope you'll enjoy this edition's offerings!

v546. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) - Maiamai Cave

Our first game for this edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, was awarded Game of the Year 2013 here at the site with Super Mario 3D World being the runner-up. Ryo Nagamatsu arranged new versions of a myriad of A Link to the Past themes. Those are without a doubt the best musical parts of the game, but the new music composed by Nagamatsu-san doesn't fall flat whatsoever. This calming, mellow theme that plays in Mother Maiamai's chamber is very lovely to listen to. (Gotta enjoy that angelic harp.) When the choir begins to sing, it gets even lovelier...

v547. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy (3DS) - Shining Glory

Go Shinra has done a lot of fantastic work for Namco Bandai. His compositions on the God Eater soundtracks are phenomenal, and so is his work on the Ace Combat series. Shining Glory from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy is a triumphant theme featuring a chorus, proudly singing together as one as horns blare beside them. It really gets you into the dogfighting action-- that's for sure!

v548. Cave Story 3D (3DS) - On to Badlands

Cave Story has been around a long time, and it has seen many iterations on many different systems. So why would anyone think that people would want to shell out $40 for a game they can download on their computers for free? Well, because it's a darn awesome way to experience the game! Cave Story 3D features awesome new visuals and an improved soundtrack. We can't get the Badlands theme out of our heads!

v549. Ys Seven (PSP) - Vacant Interference

Ys Seven is one of our favorite entries in this overlooked and long-running RPG series. While its music doesn't quite live up to the standards of Oath in Felghana, Ys Seven's music holds up quite well regardless. The series is known for its excellent soundtracks, and Ys Seven is no exception. Vacant Interference is a song played during many boss battles. There are few themes that can get you heavily invested in battle, but Vacant Interference is one of them. Rock on with guitars and strings, a match made in musical heaven!

v550. Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster (PS3, Vita) - Besaid Island

For those of us on the staff that don't have much nostalgia or a liking to the original Final Fantasy X, we don't hear the original version of Besaid Island and tie it to a specific place or moment within the game. That said, exactly 100 volumes ago we had the original version of Final Fantasy X's Besaid Island. We enjoy both versions, the original and this remastered one, so don't ask any of us which one we prefer. We just can't choose! When the violin comes in, playing the main melody, we can't help but have our breaths taken away.

Most Overlooked Nintendo 3DS Games - Part Two

With hundreds of games released yearly and with the advent of digital games, there are now more games than ever, and it is so incredibly easy to have your game slip through the cracks and fade into obscurity. The latest edition of the popular Most Overlooked series of articles on SuperPhillip Central delves into five more underrated and overlooked gems on the Nintendo 3DS that failed to generate a high amount of attention, buzz, and/or sales (for Part One, click here). Will this list inspire you to check out a title you might not have been interested in? Let's find out!

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure

In Rhythm Thief, you play as a young man who by day is Raphael, but by night he is the smooth criminal known as Phantom R (well, technically he can also be Phantom R during the day, but yeah...). Unlike most rhythm games, Rhythm Thief has a full-fledged story mode with an intriguing plot following Raphael's search for his missing father. The quest sends him all over Paris, clamoring for clues, solving puzzles, conversing with NPCs, and yes, participating in some rhythmic affairs. Such games include using the bottom screen to touch one four multicolored sections to have Phantom R strike the correct pose behind a statue, using gyro controls to dodge thrown objects heading your way with the beat of the music, or playing two odes to classic Sega rhythm games, Samba de Amigo and Space Channel 5. Rhythm Thief had the unfortunate luck of releasing in North America to only a select few retail stores, being caught shortly after Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, a much more hyped rhythm game, and being sent out with next to no fanfare by its publisher Sega. In Japan it was the top new title on the week of release which was encouraging, selling over 30,000 units. In Europe, the game completely bombed.

Tales of the Abyss 

This game is anything by abyss-mal, Tales of the Abyss is a port of a late generation PlayStation 2 RPG. However, this version of the game adds 3DS functionality like stereoscopic 3D (though the effect leaves a lot to be desired) and helpful information on the bottom screen. The greatest change to the PS2 version that the 3DS version contains is the reduction of the lengthy loading times the PS2 original possessed. Sure, the story isn't anything exceptional, and the characters -- especially at the start of the game -- can be downright obnoxious, such as the bratty main character Luke, but if you give the gameplay a chance, you will find that the battle system is fast-paced, frenetic, and fun, the world is teeming with interesting places to explore, and the challenge of the game is quite balanced. On a platform that is starving for traditional RPG games, Tales of the Abyss might not be a game tailor made for the 3DS, but it is one that I would like to see even more players warm up to outside of the 70,000+ at launch in Japan, because outside hardcore JRPG fans, Abyss received little buzz. Namco Europe stated it was satisfied with sales, but when it regards JRPGs in the West, having immensely lowered expectations is generally what the M.O. of a lot of publishers really is, especially with how few copies were initially produced of the game.

Crush 3D

Having the ill-conceived idea of making this PSP remake a GameStop exclusive cemented Crush 3D to sales mediocrity. Regardless, this twenty dollar game is certainly worth playing. Crush 3D's main claim to fame is revolving a third-person camera around four views -- north, south, east, and west -- as well as a top-down perspective. While the viewpoint is in one of these five directions, players can perform the namesake maneuver of the game and crush the level. All 3D parts of the level turn into 2D, giving off a 2D platformer-type feeling. Crushing helps in allowing faraway platforms in 3D to be reachable in 2D. Each level requires the player to gather as many marbles as possible in order to open the goal. New variables get added to the gameplay on a consistent basis such as timers, enemies, and obstacles. Thankfully, there are a plethora of checkpoints on harder, longer levels. If you are in the mood for a puzzle-platformer that has a more inviting art style than its PSP counterpart, Crush 3D is a "crush" course on fun.

Cave Story 3D

The original Cave Story was a freeware platforming game similar to Metroid and Castlevania in structure. The game was such a huge success for the developer Nicalis that the company put the game on Nintendo's WiiWare service with a price tag but with more content. With the Nintendo 3DS, Nicalis partnered with Nippon Ichi Software to remake the game with 3D assets on the system. The updated game brought with it new, upgraded visuals, a camera that would zoom in at certain points of the action, and an entirely new level. The problem with Cave Story 3D, despite it being a remarkable rendition of the classic Cave Story game, is that the original could still be downloaded for free while the 3DS remake cost a full retail price of $40 USD. Throw in that a most retailers didn't sell the game in their stores (only online), and you have a game that languished in sales. Whether it deserved to with that price tag is an argument for another day.

Tetris: Axis

Tetris: Axis was one of the final Hudson Soft-developed games created by the company before they were swallowed up by Konami. The game was published by Namco Bandai in Japan, but Nintendo published the game in North America. However, even with Nintendo's backing, the game failed to light up the charts. Tetris: Axis had a relatively basic but slick presentation, but it's not good to judge a book by its cover. The game contained 20 unique modes including Marathon, Computer Battle, Survival, Fit, Stage Racer Plus, as well as two augmented reality modes; 8-player multiplayer both off and online; and the ability to use a Mii. (Seeing your Mii encourage you as you clear lines is always a good time. Perhaps consumers were Tetris'd out. Perhaps consumers were satisfied with the Virtual Console's Game Boy Tetris. All that can be surmised is that Tetris: Axis did not light sales chart ablaze, which is disappointing as there was a lot of entertainment to be had from the game.

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Any 3DS games that you have enjoyed that you recall didn't receive much buzz, attention, or sales? If you are interested in other platforms which had overlooked titles on them, click on the SPC Feature Catalog, scroll down a bit to Most Overlooked, and go hog wild!