FAST RMX (NS) Review

It's time for SuperPhillip Central's first Nintendo Switch-exclusive review! FAST RMX is based off of a Wii U exclusive. With more tracks, vehicles, and improvements, is this a must-have racer for new Switch owners? 

There are F-zero chances that the developers wiped out on this futuristic racer.

When it comes to fast, futuristic racers, many gamers probably first think of Nintendo's F-Zero or PlayStation's WipEout. The focus here is more on the former, as Nintendo console owners have been clamoring for a new F-Zero from the big N for over a decade now. Since Nintendo isn't in the market for a new blazing fast, futuristic racer as of yet, other developers have taken to the cause. A little over a year ago saw the launch of Shin'en Multimedia's FAST Racing Neo for the Wii U. It was an exquisite but insanely challenging racer made more impressive by the small size of the team working on it. Now, with Nintendo's new console, the Switch, Shin'en is back with an improved version of FAST released digitally right at launch. Despite being familiar for Wii U players, FAST RMX offers enough newness and improvements to be more than worth downloading.

FAST RMX sports several modes, though mostly due to rushing to launch the game with the Switch's release, a time trial mode is noticeably absent from the game. Regardless, the primary single-player mode is Championship. This is a series of unlockable cups, ten in all, set across three different speed types. Set up for more bite-sized play sessions, as well as a nice way of making losing a cup at the last race not as much of a pain as it was in the original, the cups include three races each instead of the original's four. The total amount of tracks is a series high of 30. 

Look out below! I'm landing on the track wherever anyone's there or not!

The structure of Championship mode is interesting, as one would think that the difficulty would only increase when changing speed classes. For instance, Subsonic is the slowest of the classes, and it is also the easiest. But the level of challenge actually changes as you play through a speed class' series of cups. The beginning cups, even on the fastest speed class, are relatively easy to get first place in and stay with the front of the pack, but by the final three cups, I found myself seriously struggling to keep up with first place. I basically needed to run a perfect race just to stand a chance. Thankfully, the placement of rivals in FAST RMX aren't set in stone, meaning that your rival in first in overall points can sometimes slip up and get sixth in a race, giving you the overall points needed to win. Even still, you just need to get at least third overall after three races to pass a given cup.

Collect boost orbs to increase the amount of expendable energy in your boost meter.

Another fortunate aspect of FAST RMX is that when compared to the original, FAST RMX offers a much more forgiving difficulty. In the Wii U game, if you crashed even once (maybe twice if you were lucky or good enough), you pretty much surrendered your chance for decent placing in a race. That is no longer the case in FAST RMX. 

FAST has some similarities to games like F-Zero and WipEout, but it's also possesses originality to the futuristic racing genre and concept. The main thing that distinguishes FAST from the competition and its inspirations is the color switching gameplay system that has you pressing one button to shift your vehicle's aura from blue to orange and back again. This is of importance because there are multiple stretches of track that are covered in one of these colors. If you cross over a blue patch of track while possessing a blue aura, that patch serves as a means to give you a great boost. Likewise, if you accidentally have an orange aura on a blue patch, then you're slowed down. It's with smart switching and shifting of your vehicle's aura that makes the difference between keeping up with the pack as well as potentially winning the race and falling behind while ending up with a poor finishing place. 

Go fast through jungles, deserts, arctic lands, and more in FAST RMX.

There are also energy orbs strewn along parts of each of FAST RMX's tracks, giving your vehicle boost energy that can be used at any time during a race. Generally, it's smart to stock up on these and use them in portions of the track where the blue and orange boost patches don't exist. Smart boosting is particularly needed (even flat out required) to keep up with the AI in harder difficulty cups and speed classes. Boosting into a slower moving vehicle causes them to spin out, costing them a precious second or two of time, and when you're competing in a race where going as fast as possible is necessary, then that can ruin a race for them.

The 30 tracks in FAST RMX are mostly taken from the original Wii U game's vanilla version and its later included downloadable content. There are also completely new tracks. Because the tracks are full of twists and turns as well as patches of blue and orange that can come unexpectedly out of nowhere, learning each track is of extra importance in doing well. A map in single player is available to at least know what turns are coming up, but this isn't wholly helpful due to the speed of which your vehicle is going. It's sort of hard to take a glance at a map when you're pretty much always needing to pay attention to upcoming turns, boost patches, and the placement of boost orbs.

FAST RMX's tracks run the gamut of locales and tests of controlling your blistering fast vehicle. This speed is absolutely amazing, but this can result in one issue with the track design: crashing into obstacles that suddenly appear before you. With learning the tracks, this doesn't become as big of an issue, but there is one track, Iceland, that has everyone racing along a pipe. This structure has various gates, pillars, and even mechanical creatures that can come from out of nowhere, resulting in crashes. Memorization isn't really helpful since the vehicles can slip and slide all over, and it can be hard to make heads or tails of where you are while spinning around the pipe.

Don't worry, my AI friend, those pink lasers are totally not harmful. (Secret: They are harmful.)

Regardless, the various vistas in the tracks are truly stunning, and some even support secondary paths, many of which are excellent shortcuts. Some tracks have insane jumps that require careful control to land safely, others have swaying sections of track, a corridor with three giant fan blades, sections where purple lasers intermittently fire onto the track, and another where a giant mechanical spider mech slams its legs into the ground, hoping to cause havoc to any vehicle that unluckily slams into it. 

Outside of Championship mode for solo players, there is a mode more familiar to F-Zero fans, Hero mode. This mode features you choosing from one of the 30 races, and trying to get first place on a mirrored version of that track. The biggest caveat is that your boost meter is also your life meter, so carelessly using energy to boost will most likely result in destruction once your meter is empty and you brush up against a wall or another vehicle. Fortunately, your meter can replenish with the collection of boost orbs and being the right colored aura on a boost patch. 

Learn a lesson from my AI opponent here, keep calm and race on,
or else you might end up crashing, costing you precious seconds!

A speedy racer is impressive, but it's not so much if the handling of the vehicles isn't there. Fortunately, in FAST RMX, it definitely is. Controlling each vehicle is a little looser than in F-Zero, but it works overall. Boosting and switching between auras is as simple as pressing a button for each, and the back shoulder buttons help in correcting one's course. Perhaps the only thing I don't like with FAST RMX is how on some turns (usually ones at a right angle to the ground) your vehicle will be on the left or right side of the screen with no change to the camera angle (like having it behind your vehicle and turned with the track). This makes some turns more difficult to achieve than they would otherwise be, especially when there's a boost pad you'd like to run over.

Multiplayer is a necessary function of any kind of racing game, and for FAST RMX what multiplayer it has is nice and serviceable. It's great to have up to four players sharing a TV screen through local play (though I wouldn't recommend it doing four players in handheld mode due to the limited screen space of the Switch), and it all runs at a steady frame-rate. Online is less of a good thing, as there is no current way of guaranteeing you'll play with friends like in private lobbies. (That should also be coming with the patch that includes the omitted Time Attack mode.) Additionally, there's some pretty noticeable lag, such as seeing on your screen that you crossed the line in a different place than you're actually awarded. Then there's occasionally having to watch an entire race unfold before you can join in the next race. These issues add up for a less than stellar online multiplayer experience.

FAST RMX is a beauty of a game that somehow manages to stay at an amazing frame-rate. The game is absolutely stunning in screenshots and only more astounding to the eye in motion. This is not-so-secretly one of the best looking Switch games so far. The music is a nice combination of rock and electronica, though you probably won't be humming any of the songs after you've stopped playing, as they aren't particularly memorable. (Though I do like the track intro theme, as well as Shin'en's use of F-Zero GX's announcer for them.) Overall, FAST RMX is a truly impressive visual package that doesn't feel or look undercooked at all.

In still screenshots, FAST RMX looks amazing. In motion, FAST RMX looks phenomenal.

Despite some online issues and the current lack of a time trial mode, FAST RMX is a formidable racer that is packed with content. Whether played by your lonesome online or off, or with a group of friends, FAST RMX is a must-have for anyone looking for a game to complement their most likely Zelda: Breath of the Wild purchase. Race on, speed freaks. Race on.

[SPC Says: B+]

FAST Racing Neo (Wii U eShop) Review

Christmas is this Friday, and if you're looking for a gift for yourself (and you own a Wii U), why not treat yourself to the gift of gaming? In particular, how about a blazing fast racer with plenty of challenge to it? Then, you'll want to look into FAST Racing Neo for the Wii U eShop. Here's my review.

If speed is your thing, then go FAST.

If you're going to release a futuristic racer on a Nintendo system, then you probably already know that you're going to be compared to Nintendo's own F-Zero franchise. There is just no getting around that. While Shin'en Multimedia's FAST Racing Neo does have similarities to Nintendo's fantastic futuristic racing franchise, it does enough to distinguish itself from the competition, letting itself be favorably compared to F-Zero in the process.

FAST Racing Neo has multiple modes to keep players racing for a long time, far more than you'd expect for the $15 price tag. The main mode, Championship, pits players in four different cups consisting of four different circuits. When one cup has been completed, the next one unlocks. When all four cups are finished off, the next difficulty opens up, giving a major increase of speed in comparison. Completing cups not only unlocks new races, but it also unlocks one of ten vehicles with its own set of stats in acceleration and top speed, as well as weight type.

Papa's got a brand-new bag with this new, unlocked vehicle.

Alongside Championship Mode are time trials to beat the developer's times on all sixteen circuits in all three speed classes, as well as a Hero Mode that is more akin to F-Zero, where you have a set amount of health and crashing means failure. Local multiplayer for up to four players is available, as is online play for up to eight players, allowing friends to join one another's games or just play against randoms.

Outrace your friends and family members locally,
or hop online and race against the world.

If you're looking for a difficult game, you'll find one with FAST Racing Neo. Making a mistake while racing usually has you ending up crashing. However, unlike an F-Zero game, you don't lose a life. Instead, you're put back on the track with precious seconds lost. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because there are plenty of obstacles and methods to crash and burn, which would otherwise end a race. However, it's also a curse because you can race perfectly for the first two laps, only to crash at the final lap. This will most likely result in you coming in a low finishing place, something that can completely cost you a cup. Seeing as cups take around ten minutes to finish, losing the cup because of one unfortunate mistake can be a real pain. 

Two rivals jockey for position in this space station-themed track.

That said, practice makes perfect. Crashing is something that will happen a lot to racers on their first go-around on FAST Racing Neo's sixteen tracks. Whether it's because you fall off the track, crash into a wall, or slam into an obstacle like the rotating blade of a fan or smash into a hole spewing fire, you will watch your piloted vehicle burst into flames and get obliterated on multiple occasions. Thus, on higher speeds you'll need to learn the tracks themselves instead of just reacting to curves, turns, and obstacles when you see them. Initiating a turn long before you hit it is recommended in later speeds and difficulties.

Not to make things easy, the creator of this course
made these upcoming strips of track swing from side to side.

FAST Racing Neo separates itself further from F-Zero in its gameplay and how machines handle. Each vehicle has two phases to it, an orange and a blue. Through passing over stretches of colored panels on each track while the same phase, you get an increase in speed. For straightaways and sections without colored portions of track, you can collect shining orbs that add energy to your boost gauge. With a press of the R button you can then power through straightaways and break through certain environmental objects that would otherwise slow you down. 

If you're approaching an orange sliver of track, switch to
your orange phase with a press of a button to take advantage.

It is mind-blowing the technical prowess that the small team at Shin'en has with its games, and this is no better shown than with FAST Racing Neo. The game is simply gorgeous, offering a blisteringly fast package, highly detailed tracks, and glorious visual effects like water running down along the screen when you drive through a waterfall. My only real gripe with the presentation of FAST is how lacking the game's personality feels. There isn't much character to the game outside of some token track environments. The vehicles and track names don't do much to mitigate this. 

FAST Racing NEO is beautiful in still screenshots,
but it's absolutely stunning in motion.

A hole that was missing in the Wii U lineup has been filled with Shin'en's answer to F-Zero, FAST Racing Neo. While its game doesn't have the same amount of character or personality compared to Nintendo's hallmark futuristic racer, FAST Racing Neo does deliver plenty of skillful, turbo-charged, lightning fast, challenging, and magnificent racing action. For $15, FAST Racing Neo is more than worth it for anyone hankering for a deviously difficult but fair futuristic racer.

[SPC Says: A-]

Review copy provided by Shin'en Multimedia.

Art of Balance (Wii U eShop) Review

If you're looking for a game to rock your block off and you're a Nintendo enthusiast, you've no doubt come across or at least have heard of Shin'en Multimedia's Art of Balance series. If not, are you ever lucky because I have just the review for you! It's Art of Balance of the Wii U eShop.

Easy does it, now... Easy does it..!

Shin'en Multimedia is a German independent developer that is no stranger to Nintendo platforms, having worked on several Game Boy Color, Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, and Wii U titles. With Nano Assault Neo X having just released on the PlayStation 4 and with FAST Racing Neo releasing soon on Wii U, Shin'en is as busy as ever. Despite this, that hasn't stopped the studio from releasing a peaceful, almost zen-like experience on the Wii U eShop with Art of Balance, which had games in the series on WiiWare and the 3DS eShop in the past. If you've yet to see what Art of Balance as a series offers players, now is as good a time as any to open your eyes!

The gang at Shin'en is known for their expertise with getting the most out of the systems the studio works with. This holds true with the Wii U and Art of Balance, whether it's in the amazing backgrounds, brilliant water and accompanying water effects, and the physics system in place. It's pretty much nice design all over.

That review tagline wasn't any joke.
Easy does it, now, indeed!

The nice design oozes into the game's menus, which are sleek, stylish, and user-friendly. You can select options with the touch screen of the Wii U GamePad or opt to use the analog stick and buttons, if that is what floats your boat.

The design pours over to the world and level selection menus, showing off the levels available to play in each of Art of Balance's eight worlds. Levels are selected among a series of blocks. As one block or level is completed, the ones surrounding it open up. This means that if one level's balancing act has got you frizzled, you can sidestep it and take an alternate path to the final level.

This level select system is in the other Art of
Balance games, but stick with what works, y'know?

Each level has a ring amount that is added to your total as you complete it, from 1-3. The harder the level, the more rings it has attached to it, with the three ring levels generally saved as the final challenge of each world. Rings unlock new worlds to challenge your brain, concentration, and coordination, so if you're at a roadblock level-wise, you usually have enough rings to skip ahead if need be. Nonetheless, you'll have hundreds of balancing challenges to tackle in the arcade mode alone.

Worlds are constantly throwing in new challenges for you to take on. The general aim of Art of Balance is to use up all of the blocks given to you and somehow balance the tower made of the blocks for at least three whole seconds, else they'll fall into the tub of water surrounding it. A key point here is that you need not keep the tower of blocks standing for three seconds; you just need to keep it from touching the water for three seconds once all of the blocks have been placed. It definitely feels like a long three seconds when your tower is about to capsize into that pool of water! It's an awesome feeling when you successfully complete a level, seeing your tower just barely stay afloat in the process. My point is that each level gives you a great deal of satisfaction once a proper solution has been discovered (and many levels have multiple means to solve them, which is also fantastic).

No! No! Stay put for just one more second!

At first, the challenge of balancing wooden blocks is child's play, much like it generally is in real life (I won't judge if you're an adult who still plays with blocks). However, as you progress into later worlds, you get different block shapes and types to contend with, as well as different rules. Some blocks disappear when something touches them, while others are made of glass and break when enough weight has been distributed on top of them. Some levels require you to make your tower of blocks reach a certain height, while others deal with placing blocks on a balance beam to keep the biggest portion of weight centralized.

Balancing blocks on a balancing beam.
Could we possibly meta this up any more?

Art of Balance on Wii U allows for at least two players on every mode, including the one just detailed. It's a terrific deal of fun chastising one another, mocking one another, and just having fun trying to perfectly balance a series of blocks.

The other modes include a Jenga-like tower-building game where each player takes turns putting one block onto a foundation. The tower continues to build as players take turns placing blocks, and the player who makes the tower fall with his or her contribution doesn't earn any points while the other players do.

Kersploosh, player one!

Additionally, there's an endurance mode, where you are given few opportunities to mess up, trying to complete as many levels as possible, as well as a competitive mode where players race to complete a given level with the blocks given to them. The latter mode is available locally and online, but in the case of the latter, good luck finding anyone to play with you unless you use Miiverse or some non-random search feature.

Art of Balance for the Wii U eShop is without question the definitive version of the game out there, so one could say that the third time was indeed the charm here. Though that certainly isn't to say that the previous two times were lousy! If you're looking for more features and content, you got 'em with the Wii U iteration of Art of Balance. If you're looking for a game in the series to reinvent the wheel or bring big changes to the already established formula, look elsewhere.

[SPC Says: 8.25/10]

Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai (3DSWare) Review

We'll have an edition of the SPC Soapbox later this evening. For now, coming off the heels of our Sonic: Lost World review, we have another platformer to put under the microscope. This time the game comes from Shin'en Multimedia, creators of many exciting and very good looking retail and downloadable games for Nintendo hardware. Their next offering is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai.

I'm a rocket man...

If there is a name that is synonymous with technical proficiency with Nintendo hardware that isn't Nintendo, that name would have to be Shin'en. At the very least with every game that comes from the German developer you are sure to be blown away by how much Shin'en can get out of the system they're creating games for. We've seen this with the Game Boy Advance's Iridion, the Nintendo DS' Nanostray, the Wii's FAST Racing League, and the 3DS' Nano Assault. Now, for their new game, Shin'en has returned the world of Jett Rocket, a beautiful 3D platformer on WiiWare. This time around, however, the main character isn't just limited to 3D areas. Is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai a game that launches into the atmosphere or simply makes a crash landing?

As is typical of a platformer, the plot of Jett Rocket II is just a means to play the game's fifteen levels. Kaiser Taikai has bot-napped Jett's robotic friends, and now our hero must venture through said levels to break each shanghaied bot from captivity.

There are three worlds in total in Jett Rocket II, and each world houses five levels. The variety of levels is rather high, with some levels being completely 2D, some 3D levels with a fixed camera angle, and fully realized 3D levels. All of these levels bring a steady challenge that presents the player with a fair and balanced difficulty curve. Checkpoints are placed at smart locations, meaning that you seldom have to do large portions of levels all over again.

So much for seeing the
indigenous life of this jungle.

To say there are plenty of obstacles and enemies to get in the way of Jett's objective to free his robotic companions is an understatement. There are turrets that fire laser balls, barrels that let loose flames, moving platforms, shifting spikes, objects that when grabbed float up in the air like helicopters, and much more.

Each level is a fun obstacle course
of fluid platforming action.

Each level is also brimming with secrets to uncover. There are approximately 25 different photos of characters, objects, and enemies within the game to collect. These are hidden throughout every level, and usually in some truly tricky spots, either requiring sublime exploration or tough jumps to collect. Nabbing all of the photos unlocks a bonus mini-game on the main menu. In addition to photos, each level records how many secrets, capsules full of Solarcells, the currency of the game, Jett uncovers as well.

Regardless, Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai can deceitfully lead players to believe the game is rather on the short side. After all, the 15 levels, 3 bosses, and side games don't take too long to complete. However, once the main game is beaten, a new unlockable mode opens up. This new Mirror Mode tasks players with entering remixed versions of the main game's levels, only this time Jett needs to collect five Golden Solarcells to unlock the captive robotic creature held up in its cage at the end of the level. This no doubt extends the replay value considerably, and it simultaneously alleviated any worries I had of consumers not getting their money's worth by picking the game. The fact of the matter is that the content in Jett Rocket II justifies the cost easily.

The bosses might look the same,
but each have their own tactics.

Jett has an arsenal of moves and technology to assist him on his adventure. For one, he can jump once and then curl up to jump again, using this move as an attack on enemies. He can also make like Mario and perform wall jumps. In certain levels there are Jettpack upgrades (Jettpack-- get it? har-har) that allow Jett to have more functionality, such as blasting off into the air with the rocket attachment, summoning platforms that move in the direction Jett is looking, and a helmet that allows Jett to swim underwater for a limited time. While Jett's move set isn't filled with a great variety, it does allow for an accessible control scheme for beginners and experts alike. Perhaps my only complaint with how Jett feels when controlling him is that his speed is just a few notches too slow for my liking. I would have preferred him to run a little bit faster.

Jett frees the robot from its
incarceration, finishing the level.

Speaking of speed, Jett Rocket II runs really well on the Nintendo 3DS, as you would expect out of Shin'en. The game is locked at a steady 60 frames per second, even with the 3D slider turned up. However, the 3D effect isn't as pronounced as other games on the system. I wanted to see more depth within the screen. As for the aesthetics, Jett himself looks a little too plastic doll-like and a bit generic as a character. Bosses sadly simply appear to be palette swaps, despite their attacking tactics and patterns being entirely unalike. Backgrounds are detailed well, and things like lighting and textures are tremendous for a 3DSWare game.

A mini-game like this
breaks up each world.

Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai is a recommended game for Nintendo 3DS owners to add to their digital collection. It has plenty of variety and challenge in its levels, well placed secrets, and impressive tech behind it. While it has its problems (e.g. slow character movement, only one save slot, occasional camera annoyances), Jett Rocket II is a must for platforming fans of all ages. Godspeed, Jett. Godspeed.

[SPC Says: 8.5/10]

Review copy provided by Shin'en Multimedia

SPC Interviews: Manfred Linzner (Shin'en Multimedia)

If you recall, it was July of last year where SuperPhillip Central had the chance to interview Mr. Manfred Linzner of Shin'en Multimedia, makers of such technological impressive games such as Iridion 3D (Game Boy Advance), Nanostray and its sequel Nanostray 2 (DS), FAST Racing League (WiiWare), and Nano Assault Neo (Wii U eShop), for starters.

The studio's next project is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Takai, a 3DS eShop sequel to the WiiWare original, Jett Rocket. I talk with Manfred about the developer's transition between SD to HD, future Wii U projects, working with Nintendo since 1999, and so much more.

Phil Stortzum (PS): First of all, thank you for this interview opportunity.

Shin’en is known for being technological geniuses when it comes to Nintendo hardware. Now that you have an HD platform to work on in the Wii U, what challenges have you faced moving onto development for HD games, if any?

Manfred Linzner (ML): Thanks for your kind word. We really try hard to create something remarkable with every game. Going from 3DS to Wii U was very easy. The Wii U has so much power to offer that you can simply do what you want without having to worry about performance. The only challenge left is how to create something truly unique with so much power. So I think Nano Assault Neo was a step in the right direction for us.

PS: How do you think the Wii U GamePad brings innovation and a more enjoyable experience to gaming?

ML: The GamePad is great, because it gives the user so much freedom how to play the games. Many games need hardware controls to be fun, some games also work great with touch input. We also think it's vital to let the user enjoy the game his way. No matter on TV or GamePad or even with a mixed setup. And i think the best uses of the GamePad are still ahead of us.

PS: Do you have any unique ideas to implement with the Wii U GamePad for future Shin’en Wii U projects?

ML: I don't think there will be the one novel idea for GamePad use. It's just another tool in your arsenal to deliver great gameplay in different ways. For all of our Wii U games we take a lot of time to determine the best possible usage of the GamePad.

PS: Speaking of future projects, Nano Assault Neo is a glorious looking game. Do you have any more Wii U projects already underway? 

ML: We are working on two new Wii U games currently. One of them is our first game with network play.

PS: Your next upcoming 3DS project is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai. How are you making the game a different experience from the WiiWare original?

ML: There is so much diversion and fun packed into this title that it's hard to believe it's 'just' an eShop game. On Wii you had a 3rd person jump'n'run but on 3DS we give the player different game play styles for every level.

PS: What new features for Jett Rocket II can you confirm? How will the game be structured?

ML: We will reveal more information in the next months. 

PS: How close are we to the release of Jett Rocket II? Gamers can never have enough platformers, after all.

ML: The game is planned to be released in Q3/213.

PS: Shin’en seems to be coming into its own on yet another Nintendo platform with the 3DS. How has your mastery of the 3DS changed since your first titles on the system? Is your studio more comfortable with the 3DS? Is there more for you to learn on how to handle the power of the 3DS?

ML: We learned a lot since our first game "Nano Assault (Ex)*". While developing JR2 we also improved our engine a lot to make the game possible in 60fps.

*You can see SuperPhillip Central's review of Nano Assault EX here.

PS: How has the stereoscopic 3D of the system benefited your games, if at all?

ML: I think Nano Assault shows how much 3D can add to the visuals of a game. Also for JR2 the 3D adds a lot of immersion to the game. I think 3D is like HD. You don't want to go back to SD when you played a game in HD.

PS: How has working with Nintendo been? Since last generation they have been more relaxed on their policies. Have you noticed this, and how has it benefitted your studio?

ML: We are already a Nintendo developer since 1999. We never felt really restricted by their policies because they made always sense for their systems. I think the changes at Nintendo in the last years are most beneficial to new developers. In the past it was really very difficult to become a Nintendo developer. Today this is much easier.

PS: Shin’en has come a long way since the Iridion series on the Game Boy Advance. Are there any games in your studio’s past that you would have wanted to do differently? Would you have tackled the development in a different way?

ML: Of course. I think we would do every game a bit differently, well, maybe beside Art of Balance. This is a title where everything came together quite perfectly in our view.

PS: Do you have a personal favorite game that you enjoyed working on the most? Can you elaborate on why?

ML: Personally I had the most fun working on Jett Rocket for Wii. That was because I never made a 3rd person jump'n'run before and there were really tons of challenges to solve. I like challenges.

PS: Conversely, what game that Shin’en has developed gave your team the most headaches during its development? Can you explain why?

ML: I think "FAST - Racing League" was tough. We tested so many different ideas that didn't convince us. Then one day we tried the "Phase Switching" gameplay and all problems were gone. It was simply perfect. The game gave us also headaches allowing two players on splitscreen while still achieving 60 fps. To solve that problem we created a software occlusion culling module for our engine. I believe FAST is the only Wii game that uses such an approach. 

PS: What is in the future for Shin’en? Have you ever thought about developing for other platforms besides those of Nintendo’s?

ML: We are pretty happy with the performance of our titles on the eShop. We still feel that releasing our games on Nintendo consoles is something special. And most important is that Nintendo players do really care about gaming and honor what we do. What more can you ask for?

PS: Is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers of SuperPhillip Central?

ML: Thank you for your support!

===

I once again thank Manfred Linzner for his time with answering these questions for this interview. It was very much appreciated, and it answered a lot of questions I had with the studio. As stated, Shin'en's next game is Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Takai, and as Manfred answered, the game is planned for a release in the third quarter of this year. No doubt we'll be seeing more of the game as its release date approaches. Stick with SuperPhillip Central for when the game comes out we'll have an in-depth review.

Nano Assault EX (3DSWare) Review

We're doing double duty here at SuperPhillip Central on this Thursday. We posted an editorial earlier, but now we have a brand-new review. It's a shame that more sites didn't officially review this title, a graphical stunner from Shin'en. It's Nano Assault EX, and here's our review.

Shin'en Blinded Me With Science

Shin'en has a stellar track record on Nintendo platforms. You might remember their earliest work with Iridion on the Game Boy Advance, the pair of Nanostray games on the Nintendo DS, and Jett Rocket and F.A.S.T. Racing League on the Wii. Released last year as a retail release, Nano Assault took the world of Nanostray and shrunk it down to microscopic levels. Now, the game has a second chance to shine, and this time it's a much more affordable and enhanced experience on the Nintendo eShop. Dubbed Nano Assault EX, do the extra features make for a game that's worth purchasing if you've played the original?

The basic goal of Nano Assault EX is to save the world from the Nano virus, and the only means to do that is to shrink your ship to microscopic size to root out the virus from each individual cell cluster, of which there are seven. The story mode possesses over thirty unique missions spread across three types of play.

The first you will come across are cellular levels. This is where you traverse a fully 3D cell body's surface, eliminating all enemy threats and collecting a handful of healthy DNA strands. This is probably not an original observation, but it's almost a shoot-em-up version of Super Mario Galaxy, and how that game had planetoids very similar to how these cellular levels are in Nano Assault EX.

Explore cell bodies and eliminate all hostile threats.

The second type of level is that of air combat. These are on-rails levels no doubt inspired by Star Fox and games of that nature. However, instead of hearing the banter between animal comrades, the only sounds you will hear are the whirring of your ship, the laser shots flying past your ship, and the music of the game. I enjoyed both the cellular levels and the on-rails levels, and found they both added nice variety to Nano Assault EX.

Nonetheless, there is still one more type of level that is unaccounted for, and that is the boss levels. Bigger is most certainly better, and Shin'en has packed Nano Assault EX with colossal confrontations (well, as colossal and big as a microscopic creature can be) that will test your bullet evasion and precision flying.

This boss seriously bugs me.

Nano Assault EX isn't the most difficult shoot-em-up on the market, but it is still rather difficult. You get but three ships to work with on each mission, and some levels, most notably the on-rails ones, are particularly long. Factor in the idea that you can't skip the short introductory cutscenes, and you have a minor annoyance. Regardless, the difficulty of the game may put off certain players, so know what you're getting into before you pay the $14.99 price tag (this review should be a big help).

It's just a shame that you have to go through the Story Mode of Nano Assault EX to get to most of the other content within the game. It makes sense that Arcade Mode levels unlock as you beat their Story Mode counterparts. However, you need to invest a fair amount of time into the game to try out the Boss Rush Mode (pretty self-explanatory) and the Survival Mode, where you have but one ship to spare. Additionally, your high scores can be posted to Nano Assault EX's online leaderboards. Here your friends and total strangers alike can compete for top times and best honors as they vie for first place.

The controls of Nano Assault proper were quite satisfactory to begin with, but Shin'en went the extra mile with the controls of Nano Assault EX. While you can still use the face buttons to direct your fire (X shoots forward, B shoots backward, A shoots right, and Y shoots left), the addition of Circle Pad Pro support allows you to simply use the second Circle Pad to control the direction of your shots. The two control methods can be cycled through at any time through the pause menu.

Just think-- your insides have this going on.

Nano Assault EX is a gorgeous game, but that is simply to be expected from the brilliant tech-heads at Shin'en. They know Nintendo hardware well, and they constantly show they are masters at their craft. The 3D effect in Nano Assault EX is positively divine, and helps with knowing when and where to dodge oncoming bullets. Not all is well with the technical presentation of the game, though. Dark areas have some ghosting issues when the 3D is turned on, and the frame-rate can have a few hiccups of sorts as you play. It's nothing of a deal-breaker, but something to note.

Dealing with sound, the voice acting that is present (a female computer voice) is done well and fits the mood of the game well. The music is also superb, with some ambient tracks and some dramatic space opera-sounding themes to bust some viruses to.

Nano Assault EX is another fine offering from the folks at Shin'en. This is an updated, enhanced game that is well worth the $14.99 price tag for those who haven't played the retail original. For those that have, there's not too much of a reason to return to the microscopic world that this game contains. Still, the additions included with Nano Assault EX make for a game that is packed with content, glorious to look at, and most importantly, fun to play.

[SPC Says: 8.5/10]

Art of Balance TOUCH! (3DSWare) Review

A new banner is here, but I don't care for the construction kit-esque logo. As always, if you think you can do better, I'm open for new designs. With that out of the way, we venture outside the realm of Retro Review Month and look towards Shin'en's Art of Balance TOUCH! for the Nintendo 3DS's eShop. (You can read my interview with Manfred Linzner of Shine'n here.) As for the review, you need not go far or to another link. You can scope it out right here, right now.

An Enjoyable Balancing Act

Shin'en is a company known for its technical prowess when it comes to the games it develops for the platforms it commits to. We have seen this in the past with the Game Boy Advance's Iridion and its sequel, the Nintendo DS's two Nanostray games, and the WiiWare service's Jett Rocket, FAST Racing League, and Art of Balance, the latter of which's 3DSWare sequel is the subject of this review. If the popular party game Jenga has shown us anything, it is that trying to balance a tower of blocks and the end result of them all toppling over can certainly hold some entertainment value. Art of Balance TOUCH! is a game where this principle holds true.

The main aim of Art of Balance TOUCH! with regards to gameplay is to build a steady tower using the blocks provided. When you start each level, you have a starting pedestal (usually shaped differently for every level) on which to place the blocks you are given. When there's more than three blocks to work with, you have to use some strategy as you can only pick from the starting three blocks available to you, and not the ones awaiting you in the queue. The blocks themselves have all sorts of dissimilar shapes like L blocks, rectangular blocks, round blocks, barbell-shaped blocks, and more. 

Three seconds can seem like an eternity.

Art of Balance TOUCH! doesn't just rely on the same old, same old vanilla block types. No, there are several unique types that are slowly introduced to the player throughout the game. For instance, glass blocks can only hold the weight of two blocks. Put any more on them and they shatter. World C showcases timed blocks. Once they are set, they disintegrate after a short period of time. Even owners of the original Art of Balance of WiiWare will experience new gameplay elements and concepts showing up to their delighted surprise. One example appears in a later world where there are gravity blocks that when used literally flip the level on its head. There are two starting pedestals in these levels, and achieving the proper balance for your tower of blocks is an even greater challenge posed by this constantly clever game.

Those timer blocks really have a short fuse.

Once you have placed the final block onto your personal assortment, you hold your breath and hope for the best so your tower doesn't tumble over into the pool of water below as the timer counts to three. If no blocks hit or go below the water level, you have successfully completed the stage. At some points, Art of Balance TOUCH! is an almost zen-like experience while at others it is an effort of anger as you once again fail to satisfy the conditions of the level.

The terrific part about how Art of Balance TOUCH! is structured is that each world has its own map, a series of blocks connected in a nonlinear fashion. There's multiple paths to choose from, so if you are finding one level impossible to solve - constantly seeing your hard work fall to the wayside and go crashing down into a pool of your own failure, you can opt to go around it and try to solve an easier path of puzzles. Special orange blocks are unique levels where the approach you must take differs greatly from the normal pace of the game. For these, you might have to clear a level within a strict time limit, balance a series of blocks on a balancing beam, or have a block tower that reaches a certain height. These orange block levels give you more rings than a normal level as they are harder to complete. The rings you earn from them are used to unlock new worlds - each of which is set in a distinctive environment, from World A's pink flowers to World B's bamboo background.

Having trouble with one particular level?
Go around it and try another path.

After World B has been cleared, the Endurance mode opens up. This essential score attack mode takes levels you have cleared within the main game and assigns them to you in a random order. You get three retries to finish off as many puzzles as you can. After this you are ranked on a leaderboard to see how your overall score (determined by time and how many levels you completed) compares.
Regardless of the bevy of block-placing fun that Art of Balance TOUCH! bestows on the player, there are two glaring omissions that I would have liked to see the game possess. The first of which is some kind of local play for two friends with their own 3DS systems to play either competitively or cooperatively: trying to solve a level before the other can, or working together to deduce the solution to a given level. The other omission is some form of a level creator. Imagine the replay value of designing your own creative concoctions and sending them to friends Pushmo-style.

All we need now for this pool of water
is a rubber ducky to make things even more fun.

That's not to say the content you're getting with the game is too sparse. Nothing could be further from the truth. You have over 200 levels of honing your balancing act with as well as awards from satisfying certain in-game conditions like reaching a specific point total in Endurance mode or beating a given number of total levels. This is one meaty game, and it is so perfect for pick-up-and-play sessions. You might want to sit down with the game with the intention of playing for five minutes yet wind up unknowingly playing for over an hour.

Art of Balance TOUCH! can be played with touch controls (my preferred method) or with the Circle Pad (this is much slower as you must drag the cursor to each block you wish to place down). The shoulder buttons of the 3DS are used to rotate each shape to the left or to the right, though the degrees you can actually rotate each shape are predetermined to make the process simpler on the mind and less agonizing to place each block. I did have some trouble with the camera zooming in and out at times. When I was trying to have a steady hand to place a block delicately, the camera zoomed out and messed up my subtle approach, causing the tower to be imbalanced and - you guessed it - fall over. This only seems to happen when your tower is exceptionally high. It's a small problem, but one that can annoy just slightly.

Gravity can be your greatest friend or your worst enemy.

The presentation of Art of Balance's 3DS debut is overall quite good. The music is soothing and not distracting whatsoever. Sound effects come off as apt to every situation such as when your tower of blocks topples into the water. After playing the game for so long, the "plop" sound of blocks falling into the water taunts me at night as I lay awake in bed. Seriously though, speaking of the water, this is the one of the worst visual portions of the game. It looks more like shimmering tin foil than a liquid with any amount of depth. And speaking of depth, the 3D effect works decently, however, when the timer shows up to count for three seconds after you've assembled all of the blocks, it appears 2D while the wooden base of the pool it is set against is 3D. This looks unsightly and off. Regardless of my two aforementioned visual beefs with the game, Art of Balance TOUCH! continues Shin'en's impeccable record with technical artistry and quality in its games.

While Art of Balance TOUCH! obviously isn't a game that will get 3DS owners to run to get their handhelds online and to the eShop to download the game, it is one that will pick their brains, is extremely capable, is mostly relaxing, and is definitely worthy of some of their hard-earned dough. For those who already own the WiiWare original, this 3DS version adds virtually double the amount of levels, has phenomenal physics, and has much more precise controls thanks to the use of the stylus (though camera problems do arise as do some visual errors). For those who haven't experienced the WiiWare game and enjoy a lovely puzzler, Art of Balance TOUCH! is delightful and worth checking out.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.5/10]

SuperPhillip Interviews: Manfred Linzner (Shin'en Multimedia)

Shin'en Multimedia is an incredibly impressive developer for Nintendo platforms. Such titles in their arsenal include Iridion 3D (GBA), Iridion II (GBA), Nanostray 1 and 2 (DS), Jett Rocket (WiiWare), FAST Racing League (WiiWare), and Art of Balance TOUCH (3DS eShop). I recently had the chance to speak with Manfred Linzner of Shin'en Multimedia. My relatively short discussion with Manfred delves into the game design process of the company, types of games Shin'en would love to take a stab at, and insight into Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console.

SuperPhillip (SP): Shin'en is known for its high production values in its games. What processes allow you to push those boundaries? How do you continue to shatter expectations of what can be done on the platforms you work on?

Manfred Linzner (ML): We don't start our games with a story or a design document. We always start our games with something visual or a gameplay idea that makes a strong impact. Much later we finally go for story and background. We also don't use design documents for our own games. We use a whiteboard and some simple text sheets that are not bigger then a few lines. Everyone working on a game here will have a clear vision what needs to be done without the exact way how to achieve it. This way we don't get hindered at the start to come up with fresh looks and ideas and often we start with a game that takes later a very different path then we planned at first. This process works for us pretty well since more then a decade.

SP: How easy or challenging was it to transition from developing games on the Nintendo DS to developing games on the Nintendo 3DS?

ML: That was pretty easy. You just got more of everything. Better CPU, better GPU more RAM and more ROM. The essence of the games, the controls, kept more or less the same.

SP: What genres of video games or ideas have you not yet developed that you would love to take a shot at making?

ML: Well, I think we really visited a lot of genres already. We had action games, racing games, jump'n'runs, sport games, puzzle games and even games especially for women and kids. Personally I would love to do again a game like "Jett Rocket", but with non linear progression and a huge and fantastic world.

Shot of the WiiWare game, Jett Rocket.

SP: How is development of the eShop entry of Jett Rocket, Super Surf, coming? Any new details you can reveal?

ML: The game is coming along nicely though it had a few sharp turns while in development. We still hope to be able to finish the game this year.

SP: Do you currently have any plans of resurrecting past franchises of yours like Iridion and FAST Racing League?

Shot of the WiiWare service's FAST Racing League.

ML: We don't own the Iridion brand but for FAST we have plans for the future. I think especially on the Wii U we could do something that would blow peoples mind away.

SP: Do you currently have a Wii U devkit? If so, has the system exceeded your expectations?

ML: We have a few Wii U devkits since quite some time. We even almost finished our first Wii U game. The kits exceeded our expectations in every way and we still learn how to get the best performance out of it. A good thing about Wii U is that it's very easy to develop for. You don't have so many limitations like on the other current gen platforms. For us the Wii U is the perfect platform with enough horsepower for many years to come. I think we currently only tapped 20% of its potential and our first game already looks and plays brilliant.

SP: What kind of potential for new ideas, games, and developers/publishers do you see for Nintendo's digital platforms?

ML: Digital is of course the future. We love that Nintendo doesn't really put restrictions on the developers what they want to do in the eShop. For us as a small developer it's like a dream come true to be able to design whatever we want and to bring it quickly to the players.

SP: Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers at SuperPhillip Central?

ML: Don't miss our first Wii U game! To get the upcoming news first just join our Twitter Tweet at #ShinenGames.

===

I would like to thank Manfred for his time and giving me the opportunity to interview him. This is but the start of the SuperPhillip Interviews segment. I plan on having even more interviews with industry insiders, artists, and more right here at SuperPhillip Central. If you have a suggestion of someone you'd like to see interviewed (someone in the realm of possibility, of course), leave a comment below or send me an email at phil[at]superphillipcentral.com. 

Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! (3DSWare) Review

We are close to the 300th review of SuperPhillip Central! Let's do a new but short review. The game itself is short but at five dollars, you get what you pay for. It's Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! for 3DSWare. Let's see just how "Fun! Fun!" the game truly is.

Skunked It Over Par.

Back on the tail end of 2008, the small German team Shin'en developed and released Fun! Fun! Minigolf to mediocre reviews and middling sales despite the game's incredible visuals for a WiiWare title. Nearly four years later, Shin'en strikes back and returns to the tee with Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! on the 3DS system's eShop. Unfortunately, the team misfires their shot once again and hits it out-of-bounds.

Starting off with Shin'en's newest downloadable game, you choose from one of three save slots, create a custom golfer from a disappointingly small sample of shirts, pants, and shoes, and you are then whisked off to to main menu. Here you can enter Cup mode where you play through a 9-hole affair in America, the first and only cup unlocked at the beginning of the game. As you earn coins from sinking putts, you can go to the Shop which houses a profusion of products to purchase such as the ability to play as a Mii character (totally disturbing), the opportunity to try out the Asian and European 9-hole courses, the chance to try out the Trick Shot courses, and aesthetic changes like new putters and sound effects for the game.

Despite saying that the game has 81 holes, the majority of them are just the same starting 27 holes remixed with new and different obstacles and hazard placement. The American Cup is the easiest of the three main courses with the European Cup housing the hardest holes.

To say the avatar you play as is
creepy would be an understatement.

Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! can either be played with touch controls or with the Circle Pad and buttons. I found that trying to aim with the touch screen (performed by touching an outer circle to point your ball where you hope to shoot it) made for an effort in frustration. It is next to impossible to get the line of where the ball will be hit to a satisfactory place as the moving speed is so swift. The Circle Pad is your best bet, allowing greater precision and slower movement. Whether you use touch or a button, a strength gauge (as seen in most arcade golf games) measures how hard you plan on hitting the golf ball. A small white dot then sways from left to right over your ball with the goal being to press the button when the dot is directly on top to hit the golf ball perfectly straight. The analog controls work well enough for the game. I would advise against using the touch screen as it is not always 100% effective.

By far the most annoying feature of Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH!-- and one that plagued the original WiiWare game-- is the out-of-bounds rule. The game has an area on each hole that is designated as in-bounds, so if your ball winds up anywhere outside this zone, your ball is out-of-bounds and you must start again at the tee. This means that if your shot is not perfect, you will be forced to shoot from the tee over and over... and over... and over (and over). This is not how minigolf works. Maybe in Germany this is how people play it (I sincerely doubt that), but all it does is cause the game to be artificially more difficult than it should be. There is nothing more infuriating in this game than hitting the ball less than an inch out of the designated in-bounds area only for your shot to be disqualified as it is barely out of the zone. At least you are not penalized an extra stroke each time you are out-of-bounds. Regardless, you need putting perfection to clear each hole.

The backgrounds are characteristically wonderful--
a staple of Shin'en's technical prowess.

Further damning this otherwise fun! fun! game is that gaining every thing that is to be bought from the in-game store only takes but 3-5 hours of time. That's all. There is also no multiplayer so speak of-- no online, no local, no nothing. Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! is meant to be a single player experience, and it isn't even a very enticing one at that.

Even for the small studio that they are, the fine folks at Shin'en are masters of taking a platform and pushing all the polygons out of it that they can. Their sweat and know-how with Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! is no exception. The backgrounds are lively and full of interesting geometry, the lighting is very well done, and the game runs at a silky-smooth frame-rate. The music is appropriate for the game-- a light affair-- and the female voice that sports calls of par, birdie, eagle, bogey, and any other golf score you can muster is pleasant and almost soothing. At least Shin'en got the presentation right with their game.

Line up your shot and hope it stays in-bounds!

Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! is a game that does not realize its full potential. The lack of any form of multiplayer stings quite a bit, but the small playtime it takes to achieve every task, buy every item in the Shop, and ace every hole and the asinine out-of-bounds rule that makes for an irritating and short-lived experience. As the cheapest 3DSWare game on the eShop service currently, you won't get burned badly if you decide to download this game and dislike it. Perhaps you won't mind the bizarre rules and will have Fun! Fun! For everyone else, I actually recommend Let's Golf 3D. At least that title reminds me of a good game.

[SuperPhillip Says: 4.75/10]