Even the Big "N" Has Some Big Duds: The Worst Games from Nintendo

Even the greatest of titans in the gaming industry let loose the occasional stinkers. Perhaps there was a more elegant way of putting that, but at any rate, for the next few weeks, SuperPhillip Central is eyeing the big three first parties of gaming and taking a look at their (very much subjectively speaking) "worst" games.

We begin on this Sunday evening by examining a handful of the blemishes on Nintendo's record, whether it be as a developer, co-developer, or publisher. For the longest-running player in the industry that still makes consoles and games, you can bet we'll be revisiting Nintendo someday. However, for now, let's take a glimpse at some less than favorably viewed games from the Big "N" and its partners.

Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (Wii U)

Nintendo was in a very bad way with the Wii U. Not only did the system fail to capitalize on its predecessor's massive success, but most of Nintendo's developers realized something that most developers had realized many years prior: HD development is tough! The sluggish, drought-heavy release schedule that the Wii U saw brought back memories of the Nintendo 64, but it was somehow even worse than those days! The holiday season of 2015 was a time of heavy thirst for Wii U owners, and in Nintendo's desperate struggle to have a decent series of releases for the Nintendo faithful, it served this dud as well as the next game on this list to Wii U owners.

Amiibo (technically, amiibo in all lowercase for proper brand marketing) was extremely popular for Nintendo with its launch of these figures that were made of various Nintendo-related characters. For some, the ability to have data on a figure be read by the Wii U, 3DS, and now Switch, made for some clever unlocks and implementations. For others, amiibo is merely a form of physical DLC that locks content behind figures.

Nowhere did the usage of amiibo leave more of a bad taste in people's mouths than with Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, which takes the wholesome and highly adorable world of Animal Crossing and turns it into a board game. Incidentally, you could spell the "board" in "board game" B-O-R-E-D, because that's what Amiibo Festival was--an incredibly boring game meant to squeeze more money out of consumers to purchase amiibo figures. The level of interactivity in Amiibo Festival was the complete opposite of something like Mario Party. There's plenty of sitting around, waiting for something interesting to happen. Perhaps the most interesting part of Amiibo Festival is that it is a great cure for insomnia.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (Wii U)

For a while now, the duo of Nintendo and Camelot has struggled to create a stirring and riveting Mario Tennis together. Mario Tennis Open was an enjoyable romp, but its use of Chance Shots (which many argued made matches play out more like games of Simon Says) annoyed a good portion of players. The first HD entry in the Mario Tennis series excited lots of potential players... until information began trickling out about the depth (or lack thereof) regarding the game.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has the mechanics of an excellent tennis game. The oft-criticized Chance Shots were placed in an optional mode, replaced with the standard tennis that fans of the Mario Tennis franchise came to love throughout the years. So, while the gameplay was almost better than ever, what stopped Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash from being a--pardon me for this lazy pun--smashing success?

Quite simply, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash had the content of a $15-$20 game but was a full priced $60 entry in the franchise. The amount of modes was lackluster at best (and even that is being charitable), and the most prominent example of the lack of content in Ultra Smash was that there was but one stadium total in the game. Every tennis match took place here, and the only changeable option was the court type. A desperate Nintendo is not necessarily a great one, as evidenced by many of the Wii U games on this list.

Mario Party Advance (GBA)

Back in 2005, the Game Boy Advance was a successful portable for Nintendo, bringing with it Super Nintendo-esque visuals (and enough SNES ports to make it a second coming of Nintendo's 16-bit system at the very least). However, aside from the copious amounts of Super Nintendo classics making a repeat appearance but this time in portable form, Nintendo also brought with it new franchises and fresh takes on familiar franchises. Mario Party was one of those.

However, Mario Party Advance was far from the best transposition of Mario Party to a portable. It wouldn't be until the Nintendo DS's Mario Party DS that the familiar formula would be implemented well. Still, with Mario Party Advance, Nintendo and developer Hudson attempted to provide a Mario Party for the solitary player with its single-player campaign. Unfortunately, a party for one is as much fun as it sounds, as Mario Party Advance featured a bland story mode, showcased by one board, NPCs that loved to chit and chat endlessly, non-inventive mini-games, and quick tedium setting in. While points are given for originality, as we've seen with Mario Party 9 and 10, originality only goes so far if the actual Mario Party game isn't really entertaining.

Hey You, Pikachu! (N64)

As we've seen, not even Mario is immune to having some stinkers in his catalog of games. While we move on from the portly plumber, we look towards another behemoth gaming and multimedia franchise--Pokemon! With such a sprawling series of diverse characters and creatures, it's no wonder why The Pokemon Company decided to stretch out from the traditional Pokemon RPGs and try out other genres. Some have been great successes, but as we'll see with these next three entries on this list: plenty are just plain Poke-bombs.

Hey You, Pikachu! was one of the first home console Pokemon spin-offs. While Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Snap successfully spun off the franchise in stellar directions, Hey You, Pikachu! decidedly did not. While the concept of earning Pikachu's trust, playing with the series mascot, and giving voice commands seemed clever at first, Hey You, Pikachu! isn't the deepest game. Most players found themselves getting bored with the shallowness of the game, including a middle school me.

Pokemon Dash (DS)

Racing games are generally one of the first genres that mascot-driven game franchises spin off towards, so it was a long time coming for Pokemon to get its need for speed. Unfortunately, Pokemon Dash gave less the need for speed and more the need for pain medication for the throbbing hand cramps and eventual arthritis you'd get from playing the game.

An atypical racing game, Pokemon Dash required players to vigorously swipe the DS stylus across the touch screen to speed your Pokemon up as they crossed different relay points on the open race course. Yes, you'd get those aforementioned hand cramps, but you'd also have insult added to injury by seeing that Nintendo DS touch screen of yours scratched to heck and back from merely playing Pokemon Dash as instructed!

Pokemon Rumble U (Wii U)

One last Pokemon entry to skewer over an open flame! Before amiibo, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company put out GameStop-exclusive NFC (near-field communication) figures based off of Pokemon. These were very rudimentary in their designs, and meant to look just like the basic toy models seen in the Pokemon Rumble franchise. While I enjoyed the WiiWare dungeon-crawling and button-mashing real-time battles of Pokemon Rumble, the Wii U entry basically simplified a game that was already simple enough.

The succinctly named Pokemon Rumble U took out the simplistic dungeon-crawling and just had arena-based battles, where your toy Pokemon of choice took on a parade of Pokemon. That was about the extent of the game's depth. The insult to injury was essentially being required to spend money on these physical pre-amiibo prototypes to enjoy--and enjoying the game wasn't a certainty due to how basic the gameplay was--seeing your toy "come to life" in the game. Pokemon Rumble U failed to entice many players, and for the rather crooked money system it incorporated, that's a good thing.

Steel Diver (3DS)

Steel Diver?! More like... Sleep Diver! Ha! ...Okay, I'll stick to analyzing and talking about games and not so much worrying about a stand-up comic career. At any rate, Steel Diver was a brand-new franchise from Nintendo that brought with it slow-paced submarine gameplay where players used the touch screen to spin a knob to guide their piloted submarine around 2D levels. The sluggish pace of Steel Diver combined with the need for precision with not-so-precise controls made for a frustrating at some times, and just plain yawn-inducing other times, experience.

Steel Diver would release in North America as part of Nintendo's anemic launch lineup for the Nintendo 3DS, and the game would reach bargain bins relatively quickly--and that's something first-party Nintendo titles seldom do in the first place--reach bargain bins in the first place. Fortunately, the Steel Diver franchise would get a chance at redemption with the much more enjoyable first-person perspective online multiplayer combat game, Steel Diver: Sub Wars, also for the Nintendo 3DS.

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir (3DS)

Nintendo is a game company that enjoys trying out new ideas and innovating. Some of these ideas work out well and advance the medium, or at least make for a great deal of fun. Other times, the ideas come off as ones that had the best of intentions, but not quite the tech or the execution to back them up. Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir is one of these games, co-developed by Koei Tecmo.

Using the augmented reality feature of the Nintendo 3DS seemed like a cool enough idea, using it to point the camera at a "book" that came packaged with the game to reveal ghosts to battle in real time. However, this was definitely an instance where that aforementioned notion that the tech and execution weren't quite there rears its ugly head. The Nintendo 3DS's camera was one of low quality, and even in the best of lighting conditions, the experience of tracking down and battling AR ghosts made for a severely frustrating experience with constant interruptions and the loss of tracking. Even as someone who got Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir for free, the time I invested into this failed experiment of a game will never be refunded to me.

Devil's Third (Wii U)

It's always a good sign (see: it's never a good sign) for a game to be in development hell for years before finding a publisher, and then that publisher essentially releasing the game out of obligation with no fanfare whatsoever. At least instead, Nintendo of America pretty much buried the release of Devil's Third by sending out no review copies and shipping out an extremely (heavy emphasis on that word) limited amount of physical copies to store shelves.

Technical issues were abundant in the final Wii U version, as was the amount of absolutely clumsy and clunky gameplay. From a game directed by the creator of Dead or Alive and the man who brought Ninja Gaiden back from the grave, Tomonobu Itagaki, Devil's Third is a story of abject failure in every sense of the word. It's a game that was better off not existing, at least not with the help of Nintendo, and serves as blight on the big N's publishing record.

Urban Champion (NES)

We're going back in time with a blast from the past. Urban Champion is an atypical fighting game where two players duke it out with the goal of hitting the other into a sewer manhole. Really, the only fascinating things about Urban Champion are: 1) Its historic value as Nintendo's first one-on-one competitive fighting game, and 2) How many times Nintendo has found value in re-releasing it, despite how poor and shallow it is. Games on the NES aren't exactly the deepest games around, especially in the genre of fighting games, so when you consider that Urban Champion is considered too shallow for even the NES, then you can get an idea of just how poor the game truly is. There are plenty of NES classics from Nintendo's illustrious history to look back fondly on; Urban Champion is not one of those.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC, Wii U, Vita) Review

Most recently released on the Nintendo Switch, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero seemed like a perfect game to review on SuperPhillip Central due to the announcement of Shantae 5. I like to pretend I'm always this clever, but longtime readers have had to withstand some of my truly terrible review taglines for a while now. Regardless, here's the SPC review of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.

I dream of half-genie.

With the announcement of Shantae 5 (sure, it's just a teaser logo and nothing more, but don't kill my buzz, people!), I felt compelled to try out a game that lingered on the shelf of my family's PlayStation 4 collection for a while now--Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. After taking some time to fully complete the game, I feel ashamed for not giving it my attention sooner. I was looking for an engaging 2D platformer, and it seems my wish for one has been granted with WayForward's latest.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is structured differently from a Metroid-style game. Rather than having an interconnected world to it, Half-Genie Hero has a world map that you select various levels from. As you advance in the story, new areas are unlocked to visit and revisit. Revisiting areas with new abilities that Shantae didn't have before opens up the levels to reach new locations inside them to acquire methods of progressions and various collectibles.

Shantae's long purple locks aren't just for show--they're also good for whipping up on enemies.

It could have been extraordinarily tedious and repetitive to constantly return to past levels to collect this and that when new abilities are earned, but thankfully, Half-Genie Hero has a fast travel option that can be purchased in the in-game shop. This allows Shantae to warp to the next section of level without the need to run through it yourself. That said, it still would have been nice for levels with multiple sections to allow players to simply warp to the section they wanted instead of having to warp to one section after the other.

Half-Genie Hero has Shantae discovering animal transformations to turn into, granting her different powers and abilities, as well as extra mobility to reach areas otherwise inaccessible. For instance, the monkey transformation allows Shantae to climb quickly up walls and fit through narrow passages, whereas the crab transformation grants her the power to explore the underwater depths. There are just under a dozen unique transformations in the game, and of this number, eight of them are required to reach the end of the game.

Monkey see, monkey climb.

The animal transformations have numerous abilities that can be added to their arsenals, allowing even more uses for each. Whether it's the crab's claw that can snip through grass blocks underwater, the elephant's ability to pound the ground to break blocks and uncover buried treasure, or the harpy's ability to fling her talons at enemies as a means to defend herself, the added abilities make already awesome transformations even more interesting and fun to use. Some abilities are more useful than others--for instance, the bat's sonar ability is only used for one room in the game--but most have multiple uses.

Half-Genie Hero possesses a plethora of collectibles to uncover and collect, as well as goods to purchase in the game's shop located in the town. From collectibles that increase Shantae's maximum health and keys that unlock concept art in the gallery, to goods for sale like unique magic moves and equipment that boosts attack, defense, and magic, getting 100% completion in Half-Genie Hero takes some commitment. However, at the same token, even performing this task doesn't take too terribly long. My first run through the game with everything in the game collected took just over five hours.

That's not to say Half-Genie Hero isn't worth the price of admission. Quite the opposite, in fact. Shantae's latest is a game that begs for repeated play-throughs, and is a speed runner's dream. It's a game that doesn't overstay its welcome, and when I was finished with a run through the game, I eagerly yearned for more. I'll take that over a game that lingers too long and I shelve it forever after beating it once.

Shantae's monkey form can also leap incredibly high.

Wayforward took the presentation approach of a previous title in its catalog, DuckTales Remastered, and pepped it up for Half-Genie Hero. There's the same 3D environments with gorgeous 2D spritework, and it looks absolutely sensational. The most astonishing visuals come from sections of the game that wraparound in a tower-like setting and feature bosses that take up the entire screen.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a visual treat and delight.

Meanwhile, Jake Kaufman delivers yet another fantastic soundtrack that is mix of modern instrumentation with an infectiousness that harks back to the NES classics he's been noted to be inspired by. Voice clips by characters are occasionally uttered by characters both during gameplay and during various scenes, which is a nice touch, though I'd be lying if I didn't wish every line of dialog in cutscenes was fully voiced. Then again, for Kickstarted project, that's probably not overly realistic of me.

"IT'S A GIANT WORM!" ...Sorry. I was having Gears of War 2 flashbacks for a moment there.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is without a doubt my favorite Shantae game yet. It contains a platforming adventure that is just long enough to be satisfying without feeling cheated out of more, and when I did want more, I could sit down and play through the game again due to its relatively short length. Half-Genie Hero is a game many fans wished for, and like a genie, WayForward happily granted their wish. I'm happy the development team did, too, because Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is another terrific entry in a vastly underrated series.

[SPC Says: B+]

The Girl and the Robot (Wii U) Review

From one indie game covered yesterday to another! Today we look at The Girl and the Robot from Flying Carpet Games. It originally released on the PC last year, but this review takes a look at the recently released Wii U port. Let's check it out, together!

This fairy tale doesn't quite have a happy ending.

The Wii U started out with some promise, but as we all know, the system fizzled out rather quickly. The big third-party developers quickly passed on the system, but indie devs who crowdfunded their projects on Kickstarter for Nintendo's platform didn't really get much of a choice to disappoint those who funded their works. Many indies who planned their games on the Wii U were fortunate to release their titles before the Nintendo Switch caught on with the public like Beanie Babies in the '90s, therefore having an audience still on the Wii U for them.

Other developers weren't so fortunate -- and through no fault of their own. The Girl and the Robot is one of these games, and this indie game just missed the Wii U audience that mostly has moved on to the Switch or left the Wii U in general. Should those that moved on take out their dusty Wii U GamePad or Pro Controller and play The Girl and the Robot?

Seeing the girl and the robot together is really heartwarming. 

The Girl and the Robot is a dual protagonist game, having players take the role of none other than the eponymous girl and robot. The girl can do things like climb up certain walls and crawl through tiny spaces, but she has no means to defend herself. If an enemy marches up to her, they will automatically capture her, resulting in an automatic game over. Meanwhile, the robot can attack enemies with his sword as well as fire arrows to attack both mechanical creature and switches alike. Thus, where the girl has the mobility, the robot has the offense, and the two need one another to progress through the castle in the sky where the girl was once imprisoned.

The execution of how the two play off of and require one another to progress through the sky prison is handled well. You can easily switch between the two characters with a press of a button, and the robot can even pick up the girl, having her riding on his shoulder to transport both around at once for convenience's sake. The puzzles that the game unleashes onto players aren't anything too wild or out of the ordinary. You have switch puzzles, box-pushing puzzles, pressure plate puzzles -- the list goes on. While those wouldn't normally turn heads or impress by themselves, how they're done by switching between the two playable characters effectively is what had me taken aback at times in wonder.

An example of one of many puzzles in the game where working together is the only way to move forward.

Where The Girl and the Robot succeeds in its puzzles and exploration, the game ultimately fails with its combat. What you're dealing with when playing as the robot is much like trying to play the game as The Wizard of Oz's Tin Man, who wasn't much of a flexible character at all, if you remember. Sword combat is unsatisfying at best, having the robot's weapon sloppily swing around at enemies with no hint of substantial impact with the foe it's fighting. Movement is also a problem, feeling supremely stiff and sluggish. Turning feels like our robot friend needs a severe oil change, as it's also quite slow. Bow aiming became my preferred method for engaging enemies, when possible. Some might have an issue with needing to stand still when aiming and shooting, but as a fierce fan of Resident Evil 4 (one of my favorite games of all time, as many longtime followers of me know) it didn't bother me in the slightest.

Please stay back! I prefer to use my bow because the sword combat and robot movement aren't very good!

The major problem with the combat is that it's something I struggled with even early on in the game, and as it progressed, the combat scenarios only got more challenging, and thus, more frustrating to contend with. In a game I'm otherwise enjoying, it certainly stunk to go through The Girl and the Robot playing a fun part of the game while constantly, absolutely dreading that the next section would be a combat-intensive one. Thankfully, after engagements where your robot WILL take lots of damage, the girl can always heal it to full health. Otherwise this game might have been wholly impossible for me.

The Girl and the Robot uses a fairy tale style with its art and presentation. What would be very unimpressive with just its basic textures, its visuals are made better with the game's use of water-color coated visuals. However, despite its empty and barren areas, the game still manages to suffer from frame-rate problems. Some more time in the oven to slick up the game with some more polish would have been greatly preferred. On the sound side, sound effects are lacking in either sounding poorly or just being missing altogether. That said, the music flourishes that come in every now and then and the soundtrack itself leaves less to be desired and is quite good.

While no doubt the developer wanted the Wii U port of The Girl and the Robot out as quickly as possible to not languish with limited sales on a system most have already moved on from (if they were ever there), some more polish would have been beneficial to the port. The lack of off-TV play (unless it's really hidden in there on how to activate it) was a severe bummer, and simply controlling the robot was a less thrilling prospect -- especially in combat -- than I would have liked. Overall, The Girl and the Robot is an interesting game with a heartfelt tale to tell, but it's tough to want to see it to the end when the obstacles are some gameplay and performance frustrations.

[SPC Says: C-]

Review copy provided by Flying Carpet Games.

Top Ten Wii U Games That Deserve A Second Chance on the Switch

The formerly Wii U exclusive LEGO City Undercover hits store shelves today. Not only is it available on Nintendo's new console, the Switch, but also the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. This made me wonder about what other games from the Wii U's lineup would be deserving of a second (or in some cases third) chance on the Nintendo Switch, as Mario Kart 8 is also one such title that was locked to the system but is getting an updated version on Nintendo's newest system. So let's take a look at ten Wii U titles (and yes, there are ten worthy Wii U titles to make a top ten list like this) that deserve a second shot at popularity with a Nintendo Switch version. (Note: Many of these games actually sold well on the Wii U, so the second chance I want them to receive would give them even more popularity for a much wider audience.)

10) Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

We begin with a game with a glorious clay art style that is the successor to the early Nintendo DS hit, Kirby: Canvas Curse. It's the Wii U's Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Unlike most of the games on this list, Rainbow Curse used the Wii U GamePad exclusively for its touch-based, drawing gameplay. You drew lines to guide Kirby around and poked the pink puffball to increase his speed as you maneuvered him through obstacle courses filled with enemies to beat and puzzles to solve. Kirby's sole Wii U outing would have to use the Nintendo Switch in handheld form only due to being touch-centric, but this time around the screen would display the game in much more gorgeous higher fidelity, making for a game that would be great on the eyes on both the TV screen and tablet screen.

9) Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Taking the specific Captain Toad-centered levels of Super Mario 3D World and making an entire game out of them, you moved Captain Toad (and later Toadette) through a series of puzzle levels, interacting with the environment of each to reach the Power Star in it. Along the way, you could pick up three diamonds as well as try to beat the level with a specific requirement in order to go for 100% completion, a really fun goal. Like many Wii U games from Nintendo, the art style and characters were abundantly charming, and the gameplay kept players thinking and reacting fast to solve all of the challenges Treasure Tracker posed to them. Some of the Wii U GamePad-based segments, such as the first-person mine cart targeting, would need to be altered to work with the Switch, but all in all, Captain Toad and Toadette deserve another chance to shine as brightly as the Power Stars they both coveted.

8) Xenoblade Chronicles X

With Xenoblade Chronicles 2 supposedly releasing at the end of the year (but I wouldn't be surprised to see a Western release slip into 2018), what better time to release this marvelous open world RPG to the masses while they wait? The one positive thing about the Wii U is that Nintendo built up an arsenal of games that many consumers didn't get to play because they never owned the system. If Sony can get away with releasing their last gen offerings on the PS4, why can't Nintendo? That's where I think Xenoblade Chronicles X would fit in as an offering for those who never got to become engrossed in the massive world that X delivers and does so very well.

7) Paper Mario: Color Splash

Releasing late in the Wii U's life as most of the gaming world's attention turned to the hype train that was the Nintendo Switch, Paper Mario: Color Splash may not have been the classic turn-based RPG experience that were in the origins of the Paper Mario franchise, but the game still brought a tremendous amount of charm, incredibly well crafted worlds to explore, smartly done puzzles instead of the obtuse ones from Sticker Star, and one of the funniest, well-written games I've played in a long time. Even the lesser parts of Color Splash were worth playing through just to keep enjoying the seemingly endless charm and humor of the game. Plus, battles were finally worthwhile.

6) Pokken Tournament

A Pokemon fighter?! What took so long, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company (specifically the latter)?! Pokken Tournament combined the familiarity of the Pokemon series with the 3D fighting gameplay of the Tekken series, and this explosive combination was a great deal of fun. The arcade version continues to go strong with the inclusion of three new Pokemon fighters not seen in the Wii U version (at least not yet). It seems like it would breathe new life into the console front of Pokken Tournament with a Nintendo Switch port with the new characters and even more DLC included. After all, Pokken Tournament is a really well done fighter, and it deserves more time in the eSports arena.

5) Star Fox Zero

This was a controversial review on SuperPhillip Central, as I didn't agree with folks lamenting about the controls of the Wii U original. I found it really playable once the admittedly high barrier of entry was leaped over. That said, if retooling the controls to make a more enjoyable Star Fox experience with an improved Nintendo Switch version of Star Fox Zero would give the game and the series more popularity and fanfare, then I'm all for it. I wonder how certain parts of the game would work, what with not being able to fly one direction while targeting at a foe by looking at another direction, but I'm sure Nintendo could find some kind of balance. They are pretty good at developing solutions for gaming problems, as their history shows.

4) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

I never thought Donkey Kong Country 2 would be usurped as the top DKC game in the series for me. Nintendo and Retro Studios somehow did just that by not only creating my favorite Donkey Kong Country game with Tropical Freeze, but also by creating one of the best 2D platformers of all time. This is a shared opinion with a fair portion of the gaming community. That's why Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze with all of its ingenious level design, action platforming set pieces, challenging difficulty, and lovely David Wise-composed soundtrack deserves to be played by as many gamers as possible. It'd be a shame if Tropical Freeze was stuck on the Wii U.

3) Super Mario Maker

This game, a creation tool for making 2D Mario levels, actually already had a second chance to shine with Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, but it was gimped in functionality (such as no online level sharing, a big part of what made the Wii U original so successful). Despite this, the 3DS version sold well. Regardless, I'd love to see Super Mario Maker's full Wii U version given a port to the Switch as a series of tools that are constantly updated-- sort of like its own service that continues to see updates on the Switch instead of multiple iterative sequels. The online level sharing would be included, of course, unlike the 3DS version, granting new life to Super Mario Maker with a Nintendo Switch version.

2) Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

There are rumors of Super Smash Bros' Wii U outing getting a Nintendo Switch release, especially in the early dats of Nintendo Switch news and rumor-mongering. That supposed enhanced port would receive all of the Wii U content as well as the Nintendo 3DS stages updated. We all know how well the Smash Bros. series does, and it did well on even the Wii U, so it seems like a given for there to be a Switch port while we wait for an all-new entry in the series. Heck, even with a Switch port with the Nintendo 3DS stages, that would be more than worthy of being the only Smash Bros. release for the system. Regardless, just imagine the multiplayer with the portability of the Switch. You could smash your bros from anywhere!

1) Bayonetta 2 

SEGA seems to be hinting at a Steam Bayonetta release with a timer, but it seems because of Nintendo's involvement with the sequel (published and provided funding) that Bayonetta 2 will remain a Nintendo system exclusive. Most people didn't buy the Wii U, a fact that has been made clear earlier in this article. It would make sense for Nintendo's investment to get another shot with what I would think (but I really don't want to assume) would be a quick and easy Nintendo Switch port of Bayonetta 2. It's one of the most fantastic character action games around, and Platinum Games did a magnificent job with it. Like many games on this list that didn't do so hot sales-wise, it'd be a shame if a game of this magnitude and quality was stuck on the Wii U.

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Speaking of which, which Wii U games stuck on the system would you like to see put on Nintendo Switch the most?

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (NS, Wii U) Review

We conclude the month of March with a game that I think will define this generation and even the genre its a part of. It's a game that fixes so many things wrong with the open world genre, making a final game that is just fantastic. It has its problems, but the latest Legend of Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is an astonishing game through and through. Here's SuperPhillip Central's review.

A game that breathes new life into The Legend of Zelda franchise

A new Nintendo home console is here, and with it is one of the biggest games to ever come out for a Nintendo system launch: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Yes, it's also on the Wii U, but as that system has had its life support pulled out, most gamers have moved on to the Switch. A new Zelda hasn't really been a gaming event for a long time. Now, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, not only is a gaming event, but the game is one of the best Zelda games in the series 30+ year history and one of the most amazing open world games of all time. Am I spewing hyperbole here? Read on and see why I think I'm not.

Breath of the Wild begins with Link waking up in a dank and dark chamber from a deep slumber. A familiar voice calls to him, urging him to wake up and move forward through the chamber. There, Link acquires the Sheikah Slate, a tool that will allow him a vast number of different abilities as the beginning of the game progresses.

From there, the cave door opens and the world of Breath of the Wild reveals itself in all of its splendor. Despite being an open world game, you as the player are limited to where you can go at the start. The game begins at the Great Plateau, and without a means to get down from there safely, you're temporarily stuck there. Nonetheless, the plateau is large and is bigger than many overworlds of past Zelda games such as the openness of Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field or the large but segmented overworld of Twilight Princess, so there is plenty to explore.

Link faces a brave new Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

However, the main goal at the start of the game is to talk with a mysterious old man, which has a direct feel to the very first Zelda game. This is a common theme throughout Breath of the Wild, a feeling of familiarity with a tremendous feeling of newness. The hooded old man eventually tells you about climbing a tower and activating it with Link's Sheikah Slate. In doing so, towers all around the world, far beyond the reach of the Great Plateau rise up from the ground, as do many shrines, the first four (the only ones in the Great Plateau), the old man asks you to recover treasure from in exchange for a paraglider. This paraglider will allow Link to travel to areas beyond the plateau.

While there are four similarly-themed dungeons, the over 100 shrines
make up the most of the puzzle-solving in Breath of the Wild.

My best description of a shrine is a miniature dungeon that has the same blue aesthetic as every other shrine in the game (of which there are over 100) that you must solve one large puzzle or a series of puzzles in order to reach the end. At the end, you're rewarded with a Spirit Orb that, when four have been collected, can be traded at various spots in Breath of the Wild for additions to Link's health or stamina gauge.

The first four shrines in Breath of the Wild not only give Link the requirements needed to trade the old man for his paraglider, but they also give Link all of the necessary functions of the Sheikah Slate to solve the puzzles and challenges of other shrines. From remote bombs in both round and cubed form to the ability to use Magnesis to move steel objects around, the Sheikah Slate is Link's one stop shop for useful abilities instead of having different abilities associated with different items like past Zelda games. The other abilities of the Sheikah Slate that Link earns include the ability Cryonis, used to make frozen pillars rise from liquids like water and oil as a means to cross rivers, and Stasis, used to temporarily freeze objects in place. Many of the abilities have multiple uses, too. You can use Stasis to freeze a platform to have a ball roll down it instead of having the ball weigh the platform down so much that the ball falls. Likewise, you can freeze a barrel and then attack it multiple times with your sword. Each strike will make the barrel fly farther when the stasis period ends.

Magnesis is one of a handful of insanely useful abilities the Sheikah Slate bestows Link.
It's needed to solve this particular shrine.

It's absolutely amazing how many different ways each power from Link's Sheikah Stone can be utilized, and it's with great applause I give to the developers for coming up with so many puzzles built off a handful of powers (though the gyro-based tilt puzzles do more harm than good). Many of the shrine puzzles have multiple ways of solving them as well. A particular electric-based shrine had me moving metallic barrels and boxes to serve as a conduit, creating a charge from one central location to various other locations with each one opening up a different door. However, instead of just using the available barrels and boxes, I was also able to just drop metallic weapons in a line to create a flow of electrical energy from the central conduit to another location, opening a doorway that way. Experimentation is very much encouraged in the world of Breath of the Wild.

Speaking of which, I haven't even gotten into speaking about the world itself. It's immense and massive in scope, but that wouldn't mean diddly squat if it wasn't interesting enough to explore. Not only does it not suffer from being uninteresting, the world of Breath of the Wild is a delight and pleasure to explore. It's also extremely open ended. Once you get the paraglider and are told what your major mission is, you can either opt to head straight to the final boss and beat the game, or you can go the recommended way of following the story. The former is nigh impossible with Link's current amount of hearts, weaponry, and armor, but it IS possible (if you can even make it there alive). Doing the latter allows Link to accumulate and amass a collection of stronger armor, weapons, and build both his health and stamina. Even if you follow the story, you can decide to face the final boss at any time, and after the initial trip to a certain village, your mission story-wise opens up to have you go to anyone of four locations. Through completing the major objective at one of the four given locations, the final boss's power weakens. Doing all four weakens the final boss considerably to take him on and give Link a fighting chance.

With the world in Breath of the Wild, producer Eiji Aonuma stated that if you see a mountain, you can go there. That is most definitely true in the final product. In most open world games, when you are pitted against a mountain, you're stuck with either going around it or looking like a fool trying to jump up it (usually futilely as well). In Breath of the Wild, Link can climb basically anything, as long as the wall, whether a mountain, cliff, building, etc. isn't too steep and isn't too wet and slippery from rainfall. Of course, not only does the topography matter, but so does Link's stamina. Like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Link has a stamina gauge that depletes when he runs or climbs. When climbing, if the gauge empties, Link loses his grip and falls. When running and it empties, Link slows down to a saunter and needs time to recover his gauge. Finally, when swimming and the gauge depletes, Link drowns, losing a bit of health when he's transported to a nearby shore.

Make sure you find some ledges to rest on when climbing towers like these.

 Ubisoft has led a bad example with its open world design in many of its games. Usually when one thinks of the word "tower" in an open world title, the thoughts aren't usually positive. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's towers are handled well. Many of them are puzzles in themselves as to how to successfully climb them. Some require a good deal of stamina from Link to reach the top, others require some thought on how to reach them. I recall one such tower being surrounded by painful thorns. I then thought, "Okay. How do I reach this baby safely?" I had two options (at least in my mind at the time): 1) I could light the thorns ablaze with a fire arrow, or 2) I could find a higher elevation and use the paraglider to float down over the thorns and grab onto the tower. Since I lacked fire arrows since I was early in play-through, I did option #2. Finding a nearby hill that overlooked the tower was pretty easy due to the ability to press in the right stick to use the Sheikah Slate's scope. There, I could press the A button to set down a pillar of light as my destination (something that is extremely helpful whenever you see a suspicious or noteworthy place in Hyrule that you want to reach or want to go to later). I then headed to the hill, leaped from it, and glided my way to the tower.

Activating a tower reveals all of the geography in that given region, including all area names, such as nearby forests, rivers, lakes, and other points of interest. It helps you get a lay of the land. You still have to do the exploring for shrines, notable areas, and the like.

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Link uses the Sheikah Slate here to activate this tower.

In my tower anecdote I talked about using the Sheikah Slate as a scope and a means to mark interesting locations I saw with a point of light. You can do this while looking through the scope, or you can bring up the map and directly place markers on the map. Different icons like stars, skulls, treasure chests, and more can be placed to help you remember where they were for if you didn't have the necessary equipment at the time or just to want to investigate later.

Traversing Breath of the Wild is a lot of fun, and there are a multitude of ways in which to do so. Obviously there's on-foot through running, climbing, and such, but there are also other ways. A notable one is gliding across the world by using the paraglider from a tall height and then gliding along the sky, slowly to the ground.

Would this be a bad time for Link to realize that he hates heights?
Aw, who cares! Paragliding is loads of fun!

If Link's got a case of acrophobia, he can stick to the ground and sneak up slowly and stealthily (emphasis on slowly and stealthily) on various ride-able animals like horses, moose, or rams and jump on them. You'll need to calm them down as, you know, normally animals don't take it too calmly when someone out of the blue jumps on their backs and rides them. Trust me. By soothing them, you'll eventually get them to settle down, and with improvement in how you ride them, they'll learn to trust you more and more. At various stables sprinkled around Hyrule, you can register horses, so when Link whistles, you can call on your faithful, trusty steed instead of walking. Additionally, in hilly areas of Hyrule, Link can hang ten and jump on shield. Yes, you read that right. Link can shield surf down grassy hills and snowy slopes. Cowabunga, Link, you crazy mother...

Attagirl. Link soothes this wild and untamed horse.

Exploration is key in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Beyond simple pleasures like coming across ore that you can mine and sell or finding a treasure chest, there are many hidden shrines in the environment. You're given a shrine indicator early in Link's adventure that pulsates when you close in on a shrine. Many are in some rather tricky locations while others are in plain sight. Some require the discovery of an NPC to start a quest that eventually reveals the shrine after solving some form of environmental puzzle or simply fulfilling that NPC's needs. Other NPCs have desires as well, whether they sit in established towns, of which there are plenty in Breath of the Wild, or are out in the wilderness. These side quests have some nice rewards as well. Even if they didn't, so many of the characters you meet across Link's quest are a charming and endearing as any in past Zelda games. They provide a great deal of character to the game world.

Furthermore, there are glowing spots throughout Hyrule that when interacted with by Link will reveal some of his memories and encounters with characters from his past. Obviously there's the big one, which most series fans should know (and those who can read the title of the franchise), but there are also other characters that Link interacted with so many years ago. These story sequences bring some back story to Link's adventure, and they're quite welcome.

Warning: The only major story spoiler in this review (I think) is that Zelda is in this game.

Finally, the world of Hyrule sports 900 Koroks throughout its expanse and immense stretches. While it's totally unnecessary (or even worth it) to find them all, in finding some you'll get some very beneficial rewards. Many are found from interacting with suspicious elements in the environment, such as seeing a ring of rocks that is missing one, find a nearby rock, and putting it in the missing space to have a Korok appear and give you one of its seeds. Alternatively, you can pass over a twirling flower and have it spawn a flying target. Popping it with an arrow with have a Korok appear as well. There are many other ways Koroks appear in the world, and getting their seeds is massively helpful.

Although there are friendly faces like the various people of Hyrule and the Koroks around, the world in Breath of the Wild is a dangerous place. Enemies thrive in Hyrule and roam the land in both small and large forms. Enemy goblins often set up camps throughout the land, and if Link isn't careful, they'll take him out with a few swipes of their clubs or shots from their bows. (And some enemies will even take Link out in one shot. That's the world Link inhabits.) You can sneak up on enemy camps, taking a bow and attempting to pick off some foes from far away before the melee attackers get wind of you, or you can perform my early tactic of running from foes, dropping bombs behind you and detonating them as the enemy chases you.

With only four hearts and weak armor, perhaps it wasn't a smart idea to engage with this Bokoblin gang.

When all else fails, close quarters combat is an option, though a really silly one if you're just starting off. As I stated, many enemies can take Link out with one hit, especially with the paltry three hearts that Link starts the game with. Melee combat, whether with swords, clubs, spears, or whatnot, has been fine turned compared to past 3D Zelda games. There is still the ability to target a foe and try to circle around them, but this time, other enemies won't just stand there and let you take out their comrades. Enemies are smart in Breath of the Wild and will crowd around you if need be to take you out. Enemies you have a lock on will also move around you, too, as well as leap back to avoid your sword strikes, spear thrusts, club swings, and any other melee weapon you attempt to attack them with.

Bring it on! The more the merrier for Link's blade. (Just remember that it can break easily, Link!)

Combat is more than just wildly thrashing at foes with a weapon. In a move to make players use lots of weapons, weapons break in Breath of the Wild, something that can be annoying at times. You're encouraged to pick up weapons, and weapons are readily available so you'll never be needing to actively search for one when you're all out. That isn't really ever a worry. Instead it's the opposite. You'll usually have so many weapons that you won't have room to pick any more up. This is the major annoyance I have with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. So many times I'll be in the world or in a shrine or dungeon, come across a treasure chest, open it, find a sword or whatever, and have to put the weapon back in the chest because I have too many. Then, I go to the inventory screen (something many players will be seeing constantly) and have to decide which one of my weaker weapons to drop in order to open the chest again to pick up that new weapon. Thankfully, I talked about finding Koroks, which are the way to add new inventory slots for weapons, bows, and shields. However, playing with the inventory screen was a big part of my Breath of the Wild experience in the early going regardless.

Moblins are some of the toughest regular enemies for Link to take on.

Nevertheless, monsters are smart, so you and Link need to be smart, too. Like in Ocarina of Time and other games where you can lock on to enemies, you can jump to the side to avoid attacks. This is made more important in Breath of the Wild, as if you time your dodge or evasion (either to the side or by jumping back), you get the opportunity to unleash a flurry of attacks on your foe. This not only saves your weapon from degrading as much as by just button mashing, but it takes enemies down faster. You can also catch a foe while your shield is out so when an enemy attacks and you press the button right when the attack connects, you can stun the foe, also allowing for some time to attack them.

Foes for fightin', just how Link likes 'em!

As stated, Breath of the Wild's version of Hyrule isn't the friendliest place around. Not only can monsters take you out rather easily, but so can the elements. For the weather, storms can rage in an instant, meaning if you're wearing any metal equipment, you better take it off, 'else you'll find yourself shocked to death by a lightning bolt. Different regions of Hyrule have different temperatures as well. Areas to the north and high up in the sky are positively frigid while sun-soaked deserts and volcano areas are absolutely hot to a dangerous level. This requires Link to dress and drink for the occasion. Various armor have effects that assist in not only defense from enemies, but the elements as well. In addition to different armor, Link can eat and drink a variety of dishes and elixirs to provide him with cold or heat resistance.

There are some particularly fierce foes Link can discover while venturing through Hyrule.

Cooking is a big aspect of Breath of the Wild. Link can find ingredients all over Hyrule, whether it's apples from trees, flowers from the ground, meat from animals, objects from fallen enemies, bugs and insects, and more. At various cooking pots around the land, Link can combine up to five ingredients to create a smorgasbord of helpful dishes and elixirs. Many have a great variation of effects, such as restoring lost hearts (and adding temporary yellow ones to Link's health), raising his attack, defense, or stealth, as well as making him less vulnerable to heat or the cold, or even electricity.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a huge game, but it somehow manages to not be overwhelming. Sure, there's over 100 hours easily that you can get lost in the expanses of Hyrule, but the menus keep track of everything-- shrines, quests (story-related, shrine-related, and side-related), as well as main dungeons completed, regions filled out, Koroks found, et cetera, et cetera. If you forget where you need to go for a specific quest or its details, you can just go to the menu, hit the quest you're concerned about, and get everything you need to know, including the whereabouts about the quest-giver (as the time of day effects where NPCs are). So even when you have a place you want to go in mind and you get constantly side-tracked like me by going, "Ooh! That place looks interesting. I think I might go there for a few moments... [this turns into two hours getting distracted from that place to another place, to another, to another, etc.]" you won't lose your mind.

The art style makes The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild a treat for the eyes.

Breath of the Wild is a visually pleasing game, offering a style that is a mix that is part cartoon-y like The Wind Waker and something more realistic like Twilight Princess. The mix is an art style that is absolutely stunning most of the time, showcasing how even non-powerhouse hardware can deliver exhilarating beauty. Being able to stand atop an extraordinarily high mountain and see miles upon miles in the distance is nothing short of amazing to me. The postcard and picture perfect moments in Breath of the Wild are some of not just Nintendo's best, but gaming's best. Style over power indeed.

Even in Hyrule a dog is man's best friend.

Unfortunately, Breath of the Wild isn't perfect performance-wise. There are some frame-rate drops that can be slight in some cases while severe in others. For a brief second, Breath of the Wild offered moments where I thought the game had completely froze before returning to normal. This usually was brought about by a big enemy being felled into a ragdoll situation such as Moblins.

On the sound side of the game, the latest Zelda is much more subdued than the bombastic scores players of the series are most likely used to. Subtle piano harmonies are mostly heard throughout the game when exploring while battles, towns, and events in the game have specific melodies with much more to offer. The music isn't in-your-face as much as past Zelda games, but it's delightful all the same and a good approach for Breath of the Wild overall.

While certain things like weapon degradation, limited inventory, and tilt-centric shrines do more harm than good for the game, overall The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild successfully reinvents a series with amazing results. It doesn't just make The Legend of Zelda franchise noteworthy again; it makes The Legend of Zelda franchise important enough that game developers will be taking notes on and being inspired by this game much like they did with the original Zelda on the NES, A Link to the Past, and finally Ocarina of Time. Zelda is fresh again. Zelda is new again. And while Zelda as a series seldom failed to be awesome, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is what gamers and critics will look back on as one of the genre and industry-defining games of our time.

[SPC Says: A]