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.

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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. 

Rank Up! - Excite series

The Rank Up! train chugs along, and this time we are checking out the blistering fast Excite series. Rank Up! is no stranger to the SPC faithful, but for those unaware, this segment is where I rank several items in a series from least favorite to most favorite. It's as simple of a concept as you can get! Still don't understand? Why not read on? You're sure to get the gist of it. But first, what games will I be ranking up this go around? Note: The arcade version of Excitebike is not listed as machines are hard to find.

Excitebike (NES)
Excitebike 64 (N64)
Excite Truck (Wii)
Excitebots: Trick Racing (Wii)
Excitebike: World Rally (WiiWare)

Originally released in 1985, Excitebike roared and revved its way onto the Nintendo Entertainment System with motocross-styled gameplay, side-scrolling intensity, and plenty of crashes and spills for the masochist to adore. It would be over a decade for a sequel to happen, and it would bring the series into three dimensions with Excitebike 64. Two generations later, Nintendo would swap out the bikes for trucks in Excite Truck. Then, several years later, swap out trucks for bots. For a series that will get your pulse pounding, the Excite franchise is the ticket.

5) Excitebike (NES)

The originator, Excitebike on the Nintendo Entertainment System is a racer unlike many others. You can choose to play in two ways: 1) by your lonesome against the clock, or 2) against several CPU racers. Either way, there are only so many times you can do either of this tasks before boredom sets in. There is a track creator, but this suffers from two problems (two seems to be a popular number here): 1) the amount of pieces available is limited, and 2) you cannot save your creations on the NES version. (This changed with the 3D Classics iteration on the 3DS.) What you are left with is a title that may have been exciting back when it released in 1985, but it is now an ancient relic and a reminder of how far the series has really come.

4) Excitebike 64 (N64)

The nineties were rad and all, but the 00's brought us a new 3D Excitebike in Excitebike 64. Racing against five other opponents through one of twenty indoor or outdoor motocross racetracks, jockeying for position, and pulling off mad tricks were but some of the activities you could do in the game. Who didn't love a rousing game of soccer while riding aboard motorbikes, or climbing up an increasingly steep mountain as you aim to reach the top? Sure, crashing was easy to accomplish (especially for the timid), but that doesn't stop Excitebike 64 from being a stellar entry in the Excite legacy.

3) Excitebike: World Rally (WiiWare)

Taking the idea of the original NES Excitebike and giving the game an isometric view, Excitebike: World Rally (for this month only is available for North American Club Nintendo members for a small coin fee) gave players a letter grade depending on their time on each race, set across the world. Places like Canada, London, Japan, and Mexico were just some of the exotic locales players could virtually visit. By tilting the Wii remote, you tilted your motorbike to land correctly off of slopes to keep your speed high. How else will you get those record times? I greatly enjoyed my time with World Rally with the Wii points it cost me, so getting the game (up until April 30) with Club Nintendo coins should be a no-brainer! Download your copy of this game today!

2) Excite Truck (Wii)

Excite Truck launched with the Wii back in 2006. Seems so long ago, doesn't it? And while most of the spotlight shined down on a little known series called The Legend of Zelda, I had just as much pleasure playing through the insane racing experience known as Excite Truck. These trucks certainly packed a wallop as they were heavy suckers, able to slam into other opponents and send them flying. Introduced to this game was the concept of earning stars for your driving performance. Of course, winning netted you an abundant amount of stars, but doing tree runs (driving through narrow paths lined by dangerous tree hazards), doing incredible aerial acrobatics, and other sensational stunts earned you great accolades as well. The terrain deformation which changed the ground when you passed over a certain icon could send your adversaries soaring if they were unfortunate enough to be racing in front of you. Excite Truck keeps on truckin', and for that I award it with the number two spot.

1) Excitebots: Trick Racing (Wii)

Those of you who know me could smell this game coming from miles away as number one, couldn't you? I gush over this game at every opportunity I get, so why not gush over it now? Excitebots: Trick Racing is an absolutely manic experience. And I mean that in a positive way. It released to no fanfare, but I will forever be trumpeting its stellar gameplay and entertaining online. Where else can you win a race overall by kicking field goals, scoring soccer goals, flipping ten times around a vertical bar, collecting the ingredients to make the fabled Super Sandwich, gathering a handful of butterflies, and creating colossal crashes? I am drawing a blank, and you are probably too. Then there's gambling stars online in races. You can bet up to 5,000 per race, and if you win, you can earn up to five times your bet. You can even play a game of poker as you race. The zany nature of the game is unmatched in the arcade racing genre, and I can only hope Monster Games is working on the next installment despite the low sales (good idea letting no one know about the game, Nintendo).

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Okay now, be honest. Who saw number one coming? How would you personally order the Excite games? I almost forgot all about the WiiWare game. How embarrassing would that have been? Anyhow, please express your opinion on this edition of Rank Up! in the comments section!

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (PSN, XBLA, WiiWare) Review

We're counting down the days to the Classic Sonic meets Modern Sonic face-off in Sonic Generations with some reviews of recent hog titles. Did you know that yesterday was the one year anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (at least on WiiWare. Today is the anniversary of the PSN edition, and tomorrow is the XBLA version's birthday)? It just so happens that this game is the subject of today's review. Could Dimps defy all odds and make a good Sonic side-scroller? Check out my review for the answer.

An Honorable Attempt to Cash In On Nostalgia

SEGA went all in when they announced they were making a sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Many assumed that Sonic & Knuckles served as Sonic the Hedgehog 4, but they were apparently mistaken. Going for an episodic approach, Sonic Team turned to developer Dimps to concoct a 2D side-scrolling adventure featuring everyone's favorite blue hedgehog. Now Dimps have had experience designing games featuring the azure blue blur such as the Sonic Advance trilogy and the pair of Sonic Rush games on the Nintendo DS. Now they truly get their chance to shine with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I. With being a main entry in the franchise, you know that fans expect nothing but the utmost quality and shine. Does Dimps deliver?

There's no exposition to speak of in Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and that's quite alright. We're going retro here where games spoke for themselves and didn't need no stinking story to get in the way of the fun. The goal is to take down the evil Eggman who is once again plotting to take over the world, imprisoning animals in machine pods, and just making life miserable for the inhabitants of Sonic's world. Sonic, being the always fighting for good type that he is, springs into action and closely follows the nefarious doctor through five zones of fast and frenetic gameplay.

Originality isn't Dimps' strong suit. Every of the five zones in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is an archetype of a zone from either the original 1991 classic or Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Splash Hill Zone is Green Hill Zone, Casino Palace Zone is Casino Night Zone, Lost Labyrinth Zone is the Labyrinth Zone, and Mad Gear Zone is the Metropolis Zone. The zones even feature similar enemies and gimmicks throughout each of the zones' three acts. Each zone is divided up between four acts. Three of which are your standard "race through to win and carefully traverse through the levels" while the latter act is a boss battle. Again, these boss battles are ripped straight from their O.G. source. Splash Hill's boss uses the familiar ball and chain to try to slam into Sonic. However, those expecting the exact same game plan from Dr. Eggman will quickly be tripped up as when the diabolical doctor is low on health, he initiates desperation moves. For instance, the first fight with Sonic he'll spin 360 degrees and smash his ball and chain directly into the ground in an attempt to crush the chili dog eating hedgehog.

The zones offer up a fine feeling of familiarity.

Each act in the game introduces a new gameplay gimmick that is usually one-off and never again seen after that act is completed. Act 2 of Splash Hill features vines that Sonic can gain momentum on and swing off of while Act 3 not only is displayed in sunset but it's full of ziplines for Sonic to ride. Casino Palace is full of card platforms that switch from being able to stand on to dropping the player into a bottomless pit below as well as a roller coaster made up of poker cards. Lost Labyrinth has an act that is completely pitch black. Sonic carries a torch throughout the act, lighting the way through the level and setting off fuses to blow away walls obstructing his path. Meanwhile, Mad Gear shows off with a crusher wall that relentlessly pursues the fastest thing alive who must jet through the act 'less he wishes to be smashed like a pancake. The zone also has gears which the blue hedgehog can ride on while avoiding the thrown pincers of those obnoxious praying mantis and starfish enemies Sonic 2 veterans dread from the Metropolis Zone.

Me Sonic. You Jane.

In the realm of Sonic the Hedgehog, rings are his livelihood. As long as Sonic has at least one ring when he gets hit, he'll stay alive. If he takes damage while not having a single golden ring in his possession, the player loses a life and must start back at the beginning of the act or at the last passed checkpoint. Gathering one-hundred of these rings will net Sonic an extra life. Having at least fifty rings at the end of an act (save for the boss act, of course) will enable the hedgehog to enter the Special Stage. These are designed just like Sonic 1's bonus stages except the player actually controls the rotation of the stage as they navigate through a maze of multicolored orbs, all the while avoiding the dreaded goal signs which will immediately end his run for the Chaos Emerald. Collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds, of which there are seven, transforms Sonic into Super Sonic. This omnipotent being can fly through acts, completely invincible save for bottomless pits. Completionists will definitely want to grab them all to say they truly finished off Episode I.

Despite having the past 2D Sonic games to reference on, Dimps did not exactly nail the execution of playing as the speed demon hog. If you're not constantly holding forward, your momentum will die off faster than the lifespan of a fly. This is frustrating when trying to play the game and not having enough oomph to run up a hill or go through a loop-de-loop. Another problem I noticed is that Sonic can somehow slowly walk upside down on curved ceilings. Did the entire developer team at Dimps flunk out on their high school physics class or what? Regardless, a new addition to the game from the 3D Sonic titles is the homing attack. Unlike some purists out there, I welcome this added gameplay perk with open arms. It makes bashing badniks all the more easy, and using it to air dash makes speeding through levels a breeze. In some cases utilizing the air dash is a necessity as without it, players can find themselves falling into pits because they didn't move swiftly enough across falling platforms.

Don't get those quills waterlogged, Sonic!

Compared to what we've seen from fan hacks and fan projects, Sonic the Hedgehog 4's visuals aren't truly as ambitious as they could have been. Don't get me wrong, the game still looks rather swell, and the backgrounds are gorgeous, but there was potential to knock this one out of the park. Dimps failed at doing this. The sound by longtime Sonic Team composer Jun Senoue attempts to go retro, but it comes off as feverishly forced. The music attempts to hark back to the glory Genesis days, but it sounds off. The melodies are nice, but it's the instrumentation that made me go back and wonder what Senoue was smoking when he chose the type of MIDI he did over the capable soundcard of the actual Genesis. Nonetheless and all-in-all, these are minor complaints presentation-wise, and they shouldn't put you off in trying this title out.

Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'.

Perhaps if Sonic the Hedgehog 4 dropped the number four from its title I would be more lenient towards the mistakes made by the development team. As is, however, these problems make Sonic the Hedgehog 4 a bad example of a game that tries to capture the legacy of the original Genesis (or Mega Drive for all my non-North American pals) games and falls woefully short. The game is still fun, but the physics are off, the sound and music aren't up to snuff completely, and the zones are just poor imitations of zones from past Sonic ventures. Wait till you can find this title on sale before plopping down your hard-earned cash for this downloadable game. Sonic 4 deserved better. Much better.

[SuperPhillip Says: 6.75/10]

Fluidity (WiiWare) Review

This review is two months late, yes, but I only recently acquired this game through the WiiWare service. It was 1200 Nintendo points, and I read and heard a lot of warm praise for this game. It's none other than Fluidity, and it's about time we had another digital download game to review here at SuperPhillip Central! Here's the review.

Have you had your suggested servings of water today?

Like nearly all downloadable services, there are gems that define that downloadable service. One could say that UNO cemented Xbox Live as a place for pedos and socially-awkward losers whereas WipEout HD took PSN to a whole 'nother level. With WiiWare there have been some solid gems from indie developers, and that's really the case with most downloadable services. It's the independent developers that really make a service shine due to low cost and the ability to make a game without needing one-hundred employees to do so. Nintendo's presence on WiiWare hasn't been the strongest. They're more known for giving third parties a shot on WiiWare. When they do develop or in this case publish a WiiWare game, Nintendo Wii owners take note as is the case with Fluidity. Developed by Curve Studios, does Fluidity make for a good game, or will it make you wonder "water" these guys thinking in making this game?

When some nasty ink penetrates a sacred book, the Aquaticus, trouble brews. The pages are covered with this icky black goop, and it's up to your powers to save the day. In Fluidity you tilt the Wii remote to move water through the labyrinthine pages of the Aquaticus, much like how PSP owners played LocoRoco by tilting the playing field to move the little LocoRoco. You flick the Wii remote upward (the game is played solely with the Wii remote in a horizontal fashion) to jump. When in liquid form, you can hold the A button down to gather your pool of water into a nice blob. Hold the button down for too long, however, and your ball of water will explode and splash all over the place. By collecting bubbles of water, you gain more extra lives for when an enemy dries up your amalgamation of aqua or your puddle of H2O is destroyed by a pool of lava. You're then placed at the beginning of the area with most of your work still intact.

Tilt the Wii remote to move your collection
of water through the many mazes of the Aquaticus.

The goal of Fluidity is to prowl the pages of the Aquaticus, searching for rainbow-colored magical drops. These are collected through solving short, medium, or long-length puzzles using the powers of water. One puzzle has you entering hoses as you shoot yourself to a higher platform, nimbly dodging rising and falling fireballs. The premise here is to carry two goldfish from their current bubble prison to a fishbowl through a fiery maze of fire hoses and fireballs. Taking the goldfish back to their home rewards you with a magical drop. Collecting several of these opens up a final area where you enter the heart of darkness, defeating all enemies in the area to unlock the way to the machine that is spewing all of the black goop over the pages of the Aquaticus. By destroying the machine, you open up the next chapter of which there are five.

Magical drops are plentiful throughout the pages of the mystical Aquaticus, and arrows inside the comic panel-like presentation of the book show areas you have and have not completed yet. Each chapter houses a multitude of magical drops that are just waiting for you to collect them, given you have the required skills and know-how. In addition to magical drops, there are also hidden puzzle pieces to collect. These open up mini-games to play. The very first is bringing a series of goldfish to their fishbowls before time runs out and they suffocate.

As I mentioned before, you must possess the required skills to pass a given trial. As you progress through the pages and chapters of the Aquaticus, you earn new abilities and forms. For instance, certain stations can turn your fluid into a solid block of ice or a steady stream of steam. Both have their own abilities to them. Ice can stick to walls, push down hard-to-budge buttons, and be shoved around by catapults whereas steam can fly around levels by tilting the Wii remote on the Z-axis, can suck up items, and electrocute enemies by charging them with solid volts of lightning. Several in-game puzzles require you to alternate between forms to attain magical drops. Fluidity in some ways feels like a Metroid game. As you earn new abilities, you can reach new areas. As you earn more magical drops, you can enter new pages of the Aquaticus. Despite the lack of space pirates and a purple dragon named Ridley, the similarities really end there.

You can change the form of matter by entering one of these vessels.

The platforming and puzzles get particularly more involved and challenging as you go deeper into the game and hit the later chapters. There's spinning platforms, hoses that shoot your liquid out over long distances and dangers, pools of deadly lava, harmful enemies that need to be taken down when vulnerable, pinball tables, pulley systems, and so much more. There's easily over ten hours of content in this 1200 point game-- well worth the money.

Presentation-wise, each world has its own colorful theme from an Aztec-inspired temple grounds to a bustling cityscape. Chapters are divided up into pages just like panels of a comic book to create a really cool effect. The art style uses colorful and cartoony hand-drawn backgrounds along with convincing special effects for the three forms of matter you can become: liquid, solid, and gas. The music doesn't jump out at you. I mean, the game won't earn any scores of the year awards, but it fits nicely for the type of gameplay involved.

The comic book panel presentation is something to marvel at.

Fluidity isn't a perfect downloadable game, however. Sometimes the controls can feel too loose, and there's little in the way of control customization to fix that. Later challenges can simply feel too cheap, requiring precision platforming and jumps. Additionally, it can just be difficult to know how to solve a puzzle without looking at a FAQ or walkthrough (cheater). Other than those problems, Fluidity is a challenging game that oozes with charm and personality. Yes, there are a lot of duds on WiiWare, but make no mistake that Fluidity is not one of such titles. It shows that Curve Studios put a lot of love and care into this game. For 1200 Nintendo points, I think it's time for a water break.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.75/10]

Max and the Magic Marker (WiiWare) Review

Let's do a WiiWare review. The first review this month was a downloadable game, so let's continue that trend. It's Max and the Magic Marker for the WiiWare service as well as PC and Mac.

The Game Where You Draw Your Own Conclusions.

The WiiWare service, like the Wii retail game library, is filled with a lot of garbage. Fortunately, there's a lot of expertly-designed, high-quality games as well. We've seen games that utilize the Wii remote well like NyxQuest, fun puzzlers like Toki Tori, and great arcade titles like the Bit.Trip series of games. Add one more excellent game to the list with Max and the Magic Marker. While not the best WiiWare has to offer, this game is one to write, draw, and doodle home about.

The gameplay of Max and the Magic Marker by design is your typical run and jump side-scrolling platformer except with a twist. That comes from the titular magic marker Max acquires. When there's a dangerous villain up ahead that will harm Max, you can draw a weight to fall on top of the skull of said baddie to defeat them. The marker is also used in a wide variety of ways from simple bridges over deadly chasms for Max to cross to drawing a set of steps for Max to reach a higher platform. The ingenuity of this mechanic is very impressive.

Argh! A pirate's life for me!

At certain times, Max and the Magic Marker is more of a puzzle game than a platformer with puzzling predicaments for Max to overcome. See a row of wheels leading to another platform? Draw a line and have Max balance on the drawn line to cross the chasm. See a treadmill without a lift? Draw one! There's usually more than one solution to every problem Max comes across be it death-inducing rain clouds that need Max to hide out under a drawn fortress of impenetrable protection or see-saws that require Max to drop something on the other end in order for him to be propelled into the air.

You can draw some crazy contraptions in Magic Marker.

Of course, you can't just doodle things willy-nilly and expect an outcome. For one, you'll quickly run of ink. Secondly, the game requires precision. Unfortunately, unlike a mouse that is grounded to a desk or table for added precision, the Wii remote is held in the air with no force feedback meaning less precision. It makes portions of the game where you have to draw something delicately extremely frustrating. Add into this one reviewer whose arms shake uncontrollably due to medication side effects, and you have one troublesome game at certain stages.

Other than that not-so-little caveat, Max and the Magic Marker plays wonderfully. Max controls like a dream with tight, responsive platforming. You can freeze time so you can draw any object you want. You can also connect doodles together to form one standing unit. In each stage there's a number of collectibles from bubbles giving Max more marker ink to special black blobs that unlock content into the options menu like developer interviews. All of this is optional, but makes a three hour game play much longer than it actually is. Who doesn't love getting the most out of their hard-earned Wii points? Not I, for one.

It's not the heat, it's the hot bonfire!

Max and the Magic Marker is a very nice-looking game. The colors are bright, the characters and backgrounds are well-animated, and everything is just a pleasure to look at. Sound-wise, the music is infectious in that it's not very good when you start to listen to it, but as it continues and incessantly plays, it gets into your mind. Soon enough, you're humming along with it for whatever sick, sadistic reason. Overall, the package is presented in a great manner.

Ultimately, Max and the Magic Marker suffers from not-as-always accurate drawing that a game like this needs. The Wii remote itself is competent, but something about not being able to hold the Wii remote against a hard surface hurts this game overall. If you can get past the minor moments where aggravation occurs, Max and the Magic Marker is a good game with plenty of replay value, constant discovery, and a specific charm that is hard to find in games these days.

[SuperPhillip Says: 7.0/10]

Mega Man 10 (WiiWare, PSN, XBLA) Review

March 2nd will forever be known as the first review of March 2010 for SuperPhillip Central. I wore a diamond sequin dress for the occasion. I'll leave that to your imagination, boys. In all seriousness, our first review for the month of March is none other than Mega Man 10. Get your busters charged because we're going in!

A Mega Milestone

It was a long while since gamers got to play a brand-new Mega Man game under the classic moniker-- a decade and then some. Then Mega Man 9 came out and kicked the butt of many-a-gamer including yours truly, with its oftentimes cheap level design and hardcore sensibilities. Now a year-and-a-half later, Capcom and developer Inticreates (Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX) have once again partnered up for an all-new entry in the classic Mega Man franchise, Mega Man 10. Has the difficulty been toned down enough to let the rest of us enjoy the game?

The story of Mega Man 10 is as simple as the run, jump, and gun gameplay. A mysterious virus has spread out among robots, causing them to grow deathly sick including Mega Man's sister, Roll. It's gotten so bad that even Dr. Wily's robots have turned on him. Seemingly forgetting all the times Wily's tried to take over the world, Mega Man and company agree to work with him to help develop a cure to the roboenza virus. How did the virus break out, and who is behind it? The answers aren't as difficult to solve as one might think with a twist even Sarah Palin could see from her front porch.

Easy mode has these red and white items
that refill Mega Man's health and weapon energy.

Mega Man 10 plays just the same as past entries with little innovation. That's all right because the tried and true gameplay still works wonders. You select from one of eight robot master stages with names like Blade Man, Nitro Man, Chill Man, Strike Man, and even Sheep Man. Each stage has its own tricks and traps to watch out for. For instance, Commando Man's stage has devastating sandstorms that cover up the screen and can push Mega Man into shrouded spikes and bottomless pits. Meanwhile, Chill Man's stage is covered in ice, making for some slippery platforming action. It also has ice cubes that break apart after being jumped on twice. Each stage is about five minutes long if you're taking it easy, and they're all pretty much linear excursions, some with split paths to beef up the game's longevity along with online leaderboards, challenges, and bonus stages.

It's not the heat; it's the sandstorms!

Levels are much more fair this time around. That isn't to say the game isn't difficult as it definitely is. It's just difficult in a different way from Mega Man 9. Where Mega Man 9 had its share of cheap deaths, Mega Man 10's levels are deviously constructed that you know how you have to proceed through the level, it's just that knowing and doing are two completely opposite things.

Between levels, Mega Man can use bolts collected from dropped enemies and assorted in specific locations in levels to purchase new gear. These range from tanks that restore Mega Man's life and/or weapon energy, extra lives, one-time use items such as those that allow Mega Man to be hit by one spike trap without dying, and even the ability to play without the blue bomber's helmet.

The classic Mega Man series has always had a rock-paper-scissors quality with its bosses, and Mega Man 10 is no exception. When Mega Man defeats a given robot master he acquires their weapon. That weapon is weakness of one of the remaining seven robot masters. The trick is to carefully choose the robot master that the weapon is useful against. Otherwise, you'll be stuck using the good old mega buster to take them down. Nearly every enemy in the game is weak against one of the weapons. Through experimentation will players find what weapon or weapons takes out certain enemies. It's just one of the many fun things about the series. The weapons range from a water shield that sprouts a ring of bubbles around Mega Man, a giant cluster bomb that can blast through certain walls holding cool power-ups like extra lives and energy tanks, and a storm cloud that rains down a bolt of lightning from above.

This time around, a Mega Man game has three difficulties: easy, normal, and hard. Hard is exactly what it sounds-- hard. There's more enemies, more traps, and enemies take and give more damage. Normal is the standard difficulty, but it's still quite troublesome. It's more fair this time around with less cheap "how I was supposed to know that was coming" instances. Easy is great for newcomers to the series (actually Mega Man 1-8 is great for newcomers) featuring more helpful items dropped by enemies and placed in levels, platforms covering up most spiked floors and bottomless pits, more places to save your game, and less damage given to Mega when he is attacked. Regardless of your skill level, there's a mode for you in Mega Man 10. There's even a character for you depending on your playing style as now Proto Man is available to be chosen right from the get-go. He can charge his buster and utilize his shield, but he takes double the damage of Mega Man.

Spikes one way, bottomless pits the other.
Just another day on the job for Mega Man.

Mega Man 10 can be played either with the Wii remote held sideways or the Classic Controller. I preferred the Classic Controller as you can cycle through weapons with the shoulder buttons, something that can't be done with the shoulder button-less Wii remote. The controls are as simple as the game itself. You run with the d-pad, jump with one button, shoot with the other, and use the pause button to switch weapons and use items. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3 controller feels optimal for this type of game whereas the 360's d-pad makes playing with an analog stick the only solution. In addition, the Xbox Live Arcade version comes out late this month a full 3-4 weeks after the Wii and PS3 versions. Really, unless you can't wait to share your achievements with friends over Xbox Live, the WiiWare or PSN version is the way to go.

Capcom and Inticreates opted to keep the retro theme with classic 8-bit visuals and audio. It's certainly plenty nostalgic to play a new game with old graphics, but one could argue that this approach is simply laziness. I couldn't argue against that, but I do find the 8-bit graphics charming all the same. The music has some catchy themes here and there like Solar Man's stage, for instance, but most of the music pales in comparison to Mega Man 9. Overall, what we are left with is a finely-crafted package of presentation that most fans with go gaga over.

Challenge mode is, well, challenging.

Ultimately, Mega Man 10 is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's an 8-bit game with no innovation that is balls-to-the-wall difficult. One the other hand, it's an 8-bit game with no innovation that is balls-to-the-wall difficult. It really depends on your perspective whether or not that's a good thing. For someone who grew up playing 8-bit and 16-bit Mega Man games, this is a welcomed bit of nostalgia, like a long, lost friend. Mega Man 10 gets a hearty recommendation for any download service you desire. Now get to work on Mega Man X9, guys!

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.5/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (PSN, XBLA, Wiiware) Announced

This news may be old to most of you internet-savvy folks, but I just woke up to it! The biggest surprise for me was seeing that it was on Wiiware, too. That's great for you Wii-only owners out there and all fans of Sonic the Hedgehog. Other news is that the game will be episodic. What follows is yet another teaser trailer and the first screenshot of the game!

Ivy the Kiwi (Wii, DS, Wiiware, DSiware) First Trailer

Ivy the Kiwi is the newest mascot from the mind of Yuji Naka, creator of such iconic mascots as Sonic the Hedgehog and Billy Hatcher. Ivy the Kiwi plays almost like Kirby Canvas Curse where you draw lines to interact with the titular character, slingshotting the hero through weakened blocks, using lines as defense against hazards, and more. Here's the DS trailer of the game.

Direct Link Here

Mega Man 10 (Wiiware, PSN, XBLA) Official Trailer

Yep. Mega Man 10's on its way to Wiiware, PSN, and XBLA in March joining an already jam-packed 2010 lineup.

So far, Sheep and Commando Man are the only two robot masters we know of, although this video shows off the silhouettes of all eight as well as a glimpse of the levels we'll be trying to get Mega or Proto Man through.

On a side note, when asked about Mega Man Powered Up 2, Keiji Infaune stated that there was a very high probability that we'll be seeing that one in the future. Works for me!

- Bean1227

Direct Link Here

Excitebike: World Rally (Wiiware) Review

We have a second Wiiware review in line for this week. This time around we're taking a somewhat in-depth look at Excitebike: World Rally from Monster Games, who also developed Excite Truck and Excitebots: Trick Racing (tremendously fun racer). Let's get on-board and see how she handles.

Get Excited Like It's 1984.

Bikes. Death machines for some, a ride to freedom for others. The Excitebike series originated in 1984 where it appeared in arcades and later on the Famicom game console. Since then, there was a lengthy delay between the first Excitebike and its spiritual successors, Excite Truck and Excitebots: Trick Racing. Both of which were fantastic games on their own. But now Nintendo has decided to go back to basics with the Excitebike series-- back to its revving roots with Excitebike: World Rally for Wiiware. Is this one ride you'll want to hop up on?

The riders take their marks.

The solo single-player mode in the revamped Excitebike is the World Tour. This has you playing four cups with four races each. These range from Mexico, Canada, and Fiji to London, New York, and Paris. The one thing Excite Truck and Excitebots veterans will notice is that many of the backgrounds are taken directly from those two games. By achieving S ranks in the various cups, you'll be rewarded new color skins for your bike. A whole assortment of the rainbow is available by the end of the game. You get S ranks by beating a certain time on each track. However, all you need to pass a certain course is a B rank. There are other racers on the track racing with you, but they're not your opponent. Sure, they can get in your way and make you crash, but your real opponent is the clock. As stated before, achieving a given time will allow you access to the next course or cup.

Each track is a linear affair as per usual with the Excitebike-style games. You're constantly going forward, competing laps as you leap off hills, ramps, and even other racers' heads as you dodge patches of dirt that will slow you down, stretches of grass, and concrete barriers that can either be avoided, hopped over via a wheelie, or crashed into. Your pick. Each race last two laps, and I found that shorter races were more difficult as you have to run them to near perfection in order to obtain those coveted S ranks.

This time around players are given the choice between classic and default (or motion) controls. Either way works well, but old-school gamers will most likely want to stick to classic. Regardless, with enough practice you'll be wheelie-ing off ramps to jump off them for increased distance, landing with your wheels parallel to the ground for increased speed, and moving through the four available lanes in order to dodge hazards, obstacles, and other drivers.

Air mail!

If single-player wears you out after awhile (and it most likely will since it's only sixteen races), you can hop online and race "With Anyone" or "With Friends". Either way, you'll be racing against human opponents with no really severe lag. Opponents will appear as transparent ghosts which for some reason or another will change from ghosts to opponents that you can crash into. No rhyme, no reason. It's just there. Anyway, the "With Anyone" and "With Friends" options give you different types of points that can be earned to purchase new skins for your bike. The biggest disappointment in this, however, is that there is no local split-screen multi-player. It's seems the proverbial ball was dropped. Apparently Monster Games is following the "next-gen" HD rule where online reigns supreme and local multi-player can lie in a gutter somewhere.

Additionally, there's a track creator option in World Rally. Unlike the first Excitebike, you can actually save your hours of work honing and fine-tuning each of your up-to-eight tracks. The building process is rather archaic as you must select a place to build and then cycle through a list of letters, each representing a track part. Couldn't there have been an easier way to make tracks? When you're finished, you can take your track on yourself or share them with friends. Not a bad feature, but the whole thing could be better.

Build, race, and share your custom tracks.

From an aesthetic standpoint, Excitebike: World Rally perfectly takes the 2-D style of the original Excitebike and puts into a suitable 3-D realm. The game is color, the models are nice to look at, and the backgrounds are quite impressive. Meanwhile, the soundtrack is mostly there with retro-sounding guitars and music. It's pleasant, it's not grating, but most of it is unmemorable.

Overall, for 1000 Wii points (ten dollars) Excitebike: World Rally is a very capable racer on Wiiware. Those looking to play with nearby friends will be in for a disappointment with the lack of local multi-player, something that seemed perfect and a shoo-in for this type of game. Regardless, online will fill part of the void, and the single-player World Tour mode will last you a few sittings at the very least. For racing excitement, Excitebike: World Rally is a definite winner.

[SuperPhillip Says: 7.75/10]

Pokemon Rumble (Wiiware) Review

It's the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so let's have a Pokemon feast! No, we're not going to eat the tender little creatures. We're going to be playing a game chock full of them with Pokemon Rumble for Wiiware. This is our third Wiiware review ever on SPC! What a celebration we will pretend to have!

Are you ready to rumble?
Screenshots by SuperPhillip

Pokemon is a series where the goal is just like the series' motto: "You gotta catch 'em all". This greed mentality has run through normal Pokemon games and specialized games alike. The very first Wiiware Pokemon release was a simulator where you got to store and play with the various Pokemon you collected in the DS Pokemon games. Those who had been expecting something with more action were left disappointed and confused. Now it's two years later, and Pokemon Rumble is here to bring the goods in the action department, but is this rumble one you'll want to pay the price of admission for?

The story is a simple one in Pokemon Rumble. Apparently, every Pokemon in the region wishes to be declared as number one. In order to do this, they must complete in various battle royals where the winner advances to the next rank. The winner of this competition goes onto become the champion. No endorsement deal, no face on the cover of Rolling Stone, just the title of champion. Oh, and of course, the fun that goes along to achieving the rank.

It might not be all Gloom and doom after all!

The game structure is as follows. Your Pokemon begins at Rank C. Your Pokemon team cannot enter the battle royale until your party has at least one Pokemon stronger than a set level. Since you can't gain experience levels (or any type of levels for that matter), you have to befriend new Pokemon to join your team. Befriending Pokemon is a completely random process with rarer Pokemon taking a lot of patience to collect. Once befriended, that Pokemon can be switched in to do battle, replacing the previous Pokemon on the screen. There are ways to better insure the collection of a Pokemon such as hitting them with a critical strike, invoking a status ailment on them, or just by pure persistence. After you have a powerful enough Pokemon for the Battle Royale, you can enter it. Win, and move onto the next rank. Rinse and repeat until you're champion.

Nothing like a bash at the beach!

There are six areas to explore in each rank. No matter the rank, the level and level structure remain the same which is a bummer. It can make an already repetitive game feel even more so. The six areas house different type of Pokemon. For instance, the Silent Forest level houses grass, bug, and normal type Pokemon. Other levels include a furnace for fire Pokemon, a rocky cavern which houses rock and ground Pokemon, and a large ominous tower home to dark, ghost, and psychic Pokemon. Each level is completely linear. You just go marching through each area, destroying any Pokemon that gets in your way. There's no form of exploration whatsoever which may or may not appeal to many players.

Battles take place in real-time, and at many locations you'll be facing anywhere from 1-15 wild Pokemon at a time. Each of your Pokemon can have up to two moves learned. These can range from short range to long range attacks, healing moves, confusion, paralysis, and poison moves, and stat boosting abilities. Enemies telegraph their attacks, giving you a short window of time to dodge their attacks, but when there's fifteen Pokemon aiming for you, it gets a bit tricky. At the end of each area (areas last five rooms each essentially), you take on a giant version of a Pokemon along with a bunch of smaller chronies in a circular room. Not only does this behemoth Pokemon take more damage, but it also causes more damage, too, and has a larger reach in attacks. After the battle is won, the boss drops a plethora of Rumble Points, the currency of Pokemon Rumble. If you're lucky, you might even be able to befriend boss after battle.

The bigger they are...

With your points you can use them in a pair of ways. You can use them to purchase new Pokemon at random and buy new moves at random for said Pokemon. You can also release up to five Pokemon in a row to perhaps earn a new Pokemon in the process. You can also gain new friends by inputting an eight digit code for new, rare Pokemon-- ones that would otherwise be unavailable to you. You can also choose to play with up to four friends together in the multi-player mode. Very cool indeed. Perhaps online would have been nice to see, but local multi-player is better than online any day. Though a choice would be even better.

Pokemon Rumble controls as fine as any other dungeon hack-n-slash game. You hold the Wii remote horizontally as if you were playing Excite Truck or Super Paper Mario. The d-pad moves your Pokemon, and the A button is used to move Pokemon in and out of battle. When you pause to select a new Pokemon, the actual game world around you still goes on, so if there's Pokemon around you, perhaps it's not the best to exchange Pokemon now. Meanwhile, the 1 and 2 buttons unleash your Pokemon's individual special abilities. Alternatively, you can choose to play with a Gamecube controller if the above set-up doesn't appeal to you.

After each area your new befriended Pokemon are shown.

Pokemon Rumble is a fun if not mindless dungeon crawler. As you play through the game, there's three different difficulties total each with Pokemon from different generations. There's over 200 individual Pokemon to collect in all, multiple capture attempts, and plenty to complete and accomplish. If collecting Pokemon doesn't seem like your thing, Pokemon Rumble definitely isn't for you. For all the millions of Pokemon fanatics out there, however, Pokemon Rumble just might be a rumble worth joining.

[SuperPhillip Says: 7.5/10]

Driift Mania (WiiWare) Review

We continue our streak of WiiWare games with a look at something that came out this past Monday on the Wii Shop Channel. It's Driift Mania from Konami. With this and Contra Rebirth, Konami's really doing well with WiiWare.

Shiift into Driift

If you were conscious during the late eighties and early nineties, you might remember two arcade games that featured racing in a top-down perspective: Super Sprint and Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road. Get ready for a blast from the past as Konami is taking the tried and true gameplay of these two games and mixing them together for a brand new release on Wiiware. It's Driift Mania, an 800 point downloadable title where you can achieve your need for speed against 5-7 other racers. Does Driift Mania cross the finish line in first place, or does it crash and burn?

Driift Mania is a top-down racer where the entire track is shown on the screen. You control your vehicle as if you're in the driver's seat. Left goes left, right goes right, and you can also go in reverse-- although this can be problematic as it's quite disorienting to do so. The driift in Driift Mania comes from your vehicle automatically drifting on each and every turn. The game feels great, and that's important for a game all about precision and quick reflexes. Many times cars can pile up on one another when the track gets tight. If two cars smash into one another, an oil slick appears on the track where the collision took place. If driven over, your vehicle can spin out of control in quick fashion.

Championship mode can be played with another player.

The main single-player mode is called Championship. It features five cups spread out across five unique areas: City, Hills, Oasis, Snow, and World. Each area has three tracks for a total of fifteen tracks. Three of these tracks are unlocked through getting golds in Championship mode and playing the multi-player modes. Tracks are relatively short spanning from 4-8 laps depending on a track's size. Tracks feature plenty of twists and turns, hazards like mud and ice, as well as ramps and boost pads to get an extra shot of speed. The goal is to drive through all the checkpoints as you complete laps, otherwise your lap won't count. In Championship mode, after each race you earn points. First place gets ten points, second gets eight, and so forth. The player with the most points at the end of three races gets the gold medal. Like Mario Kart, there's different vehicle classes offering the different difficulties of Championship mode. Small cars are light and handle well, medium cars are faster, and heavy cars take turns the best. Think of small, medium, heavy, and special as easy, normal, hard, and super hard in difficulty terms.

Driift Mania can be very unforgiving in its challenge level. Other cars can knock you off your path, and turn you around, and when the CPU gets a lead, and can be hard to overcome. Of course, you can knock the CPU back just as hard as they attack you. Furthermore, Championship mode allows you and another player to play through the various difficulties and tracks a la Super Mario Kart which is a bonus.

Twists, turns, mud, ramps-- it's all in a day's work.

Multi-player is where this title truly shines with multiple modes and the ability to play with up to eight individual players. This is accomplished by connecting peripherals on up to four Wii remotes either the nunchuk or the classic controller. And while there is no online play to speak of, settling around a room talking trash and racing together is infinitely more enjoyable-- though the feature would have been welcomed. Unlike Championship which has you competing with five CPU opponents, multi-player has up to seven other AI foes to battle it out against. You can set up your own grand prix, selecting 1-15 tracks to race on, shuffle the order, add or remove CPU, and race to your heart's content. There's team races where two teams battle to accumulate the most points by placing high enough. Then there's the awesome meteorite mode where racers try to complete as many laps as possible all the while avoiding falling meteorites which will destroy their vehicle if caught in the blast radius. The more laps you complete, the more points you receive. Another game has one player infecting others through ramming into them. The player who survives scores points, but if all players are infected, the infected player wins. Cold potato has players grabbing the titular item and holding onto it as long as possible. The player who racks up the longest time with the potato is victorious. A good half of these modes must be unlocked through multi-player play, and they're just as fun and rewarding with computer players than without.

Avoid falling meteors in this mode as you complete laps.

For an 800 point Wiiware game, that's tons to unlock through scoring gold trophies on Championship mode and through plowing through the multi-player modes. There's approximately forty different types of vehicles in all from police cars, tanks, fire trucks, sports cars, rubber duckies, farm tractors, futuristic F-Zero-like vehicles, golf carts, hovercrafts, and much more. At the beginning of the game, only twelve of the fifteen races are unlocked for play. The unlocked three races take place in an arena-type setting with some of the more interesting track design to behold.

Speaking of things to behold, Driift Mania isn't a bad looker either. The tracks are colorful, the framerate is stable, and small visual touches such as skidmarks from your vehicles' drifts are quite nice. The music sounds like something from a coin-op classic arcade game which suits the arcade nature of Driift accordingly. It might get grating to some, but it does its job as being background noise behind the roar and humming of your vehicles.

The cel-shading is a nice touch visually.

All-in-all, Driift Mania is a heck of a steal at 800 points. It's a game filled to the brim with nostalgic gameplay. Sure, online would have been nice, but there's enough content for single-player and local multi-player matches that you might not even notice. There's plenty of new vehicles, tracks, and modes to unlock that hours can go by before you've seen everything Driift has to offer. Those into challenging racing will adore Driift Mania. It's a fantastic pick-up-and-play game well worth the asking price.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.0/10]

Max and the Magic Marker (Wiiware) Trailer

Digital distribution methods have seen a host of creative games made specifically for it, and it's a great way for indie developers to get their product out to the masses. One such creative game is coming to Wiiware very soon, and it's entitled Max and the Magic Marker. It's a game that couldn't be produced on any other game console save for the DS. To get an idea on the gameplay in the Magic Marker, check out this new trailer for the game.

Watch it in a higher resolution here.

Spaceball Revolution (Wiiware) Contest

Affiliate Nintendo-Okie is having a special contest in celebration of Spaceball Revolution coming to Wiiware. The winner of the contest will receive their own digital copy of the game gifted to them. Here are the rules as posted on Nintendo-Okie:

All you have to do is comment on this post, or watch for the review on Monday and make a comment there. Everyone who has commented will be entered for a chance to be given the game. If you comment on both posts you will receive a chance for both comments.

On Friday, October 2nd I will announce the winner. You have until 12:00 CST on that day to enter the contest. The winner will be contacted and once we have exchanged Friend Codes I will gift the game to you. It's that simple. Just read the site and post a comment.

SuperPhillip Central users can enter, too, if they desire. Just head to Nintendo-Okie, post in the comments section, and bam! There it is.

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (Wii) Review

This is a historic moment for SuperPhillip Central. This is the very first WiiWare review on the site. Here's to many more, but first let's take a look at the recently-released NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits.

Spirited Away

Since its inception WiiWare has been the place for a lot of intriguing games that wouldn't have otherwise seen a release: Lostwinds, World of Goo, Bit.Trip.Beat, the Art Style series, Dr. Mario, Toki Tori, the list goes on, and now Over the Top Games' NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits, but is it worth your cold hard Wii Points?

The story of Kindred Spirits revolves around a woman named Nyx and her quest to find her beloved, Icarus. He journey takes her all across the parched desert sands as well as around a giant active volcano. Still-frame cut-scenes tell the tale with silent text as the dialogue. These scenes bookend the game with little in the way of narrative throughout the actual gameplay.

Frequent checkpoints mean less frustration.

Nyx is a versatile woman. She can jump up in the air a set number of times before needing to rest as well as hover across sandy stretches of desert which is so hot that touching it will take off health. The Wii remote is used in an innovative way in conjunction with the platforming gameplay much like an early WiiWare game, Lostwinds. The pointer functionality is used for a multitude of things such as pulling blocks and setting them up as platforms for Nyx to cross or reach higher platforms, holding columns up for Nyx to pass under them without worry of being crushed, catching fireballs and using them to attack enemies as well as break down wooden blocks, and pulling objects and using them as a way to cross hazards. You learn new powers as you progress through the game with a later one giving you the ability to point the Wii remote at any enemy to take them out.

A lot of times you'll be multitasking-- that is, using the Wii remote to clear obstacles and enemies while making performing careful acrobatics. Sometimes you'll be cycling between slowly crossing under falling columns while guiding a flame to a torch to open the way while others you'll be batting down oncoming projectiles while trying to proceed in the level. Needless to say, things can get hectic but in a good way. Levels are of decent length and pose a great challenge from beginning to end. The difficulty curve is superb with each level being slightly more difficult than the last.

Use the Wii remote to slide the block across the desert abyss.

NyxQuest takes but three hours to complete, but there's twenty relics hidden in oftentimes devious locations to find. There's at least one in each of the game's levels. Collecting all of the relics will give you a brand-new level, one that is of the ultimate challenge. Thankfully, there's a nifty level select feature that displays how many relics you have collected in case you forget.

Visually, the game is impressive both technologically and design-wise. My only problem is that so many of the level save for two look exactly the same with the same backgrounds, objects, and platform types. It can make the game seem a little "samey". Other than that, the game runs at a solid speed and looks beautiful with impressive lighting.

This boss requires you to direct its fireballs back at it.

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits may just be the next "must-have" WiiWare game. It incorporates very clever uses for the Wii remote's pointer functionality. it's a decent-sized adventure for the price of 1000 points, and it's a journey that you will want to take more than once. It's pure platforming bliss with a Wii twist, and it's an easy recommendation for those hankering for a great WiiWare game.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.5/10]