Most Overlooked Wii U Games - Part Three

SuperPhillip Central continues its look at the wondrous world of overlooked games with Part Three of the Most Overlooked Wii U Games. Despite being a poor seller in the grand scheme of things, the Wii U library is full of plenty of variety. Some titles do well, while some do not. This series of articles talks about the latter. If you missed the previous two parts of Most Overlooked Wii U Games, you can check them out here and here.

Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate - Deluxe Edition 

Someone got Batman in our Metroid! Or is it Metroid in our Batman? Regardless, the original Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate was a fun enough Metroid-style Batman game from former Retro Studios developers, the minds behind Metroid Prime. However, the key opponent from making the game truly great was its incredibly confusing map system. With the Deluxe Edition's release on the Wii U eShop, among other platforms, the map was made 3D-- great since the entire game's areas feature different heights, lengths, and depths that the vanilla version's 2D map just didn't help in navigating. In addition to the big mapping improvement were new areas of the game, new Batsuits, difficulty levels, and improved visuals, really putting the console's horsepower to good use.

Wind-up Knight 2

Taking the success that was the mobile version of Wind-up Knight 2 and putting it on a home console, developer Robot Invader could have simply phoned in its collective effort on the Wii U port. Fortunately, that wasn't the case with the Wii U's version of Wind-up Knight 2. Instead, the game supports off-TV play, much more satisfying button controls, and the same collection of over 30 auto-running levels to make a game that will go Medieval on anyone bold enough to try out the game. The idea that mobile games cannot be worth the price of admission or are inferior products is one that permeates in the minds of many gamers, sadly. However, giving Wind-up Knight 2 a chance, they will find addicting gameplay, marvelously crafted levels, and lots of content for the relatively small price.

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2

The original Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures was an inoffensive game, but at the same time, that's pretty much all it had going for it. Sure, there were nice ideas here and there, but it was overall a pretty rote 3D platformer. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 takes the foundation of what its predecessor had, and adds a wealth of improvements, notably much more well crafted and well made levels. The fact that there's reason to explore each level for one of three special fruits is also a wonderful aspect of this highly underrated and overlooked sequel. Don't write off Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 as just another licensed game based off of a cartoon. It has plenty to like, whether it is its humor, its well done level design, its variety, its ideas, and much more.

Legend of Kay Anniversary

An overlooked remastering of a game that was overlooked already the first time around when it released on the PlayStation 2, Legend of Kay Anniversary takes players on a journey across a Far Eastern world as the precocious warrior cat, Kay, as he goes on an adventure to oust the nefarious rats and gorillas that threaten his village and people. Along the way he encounters characters, enemies, and bosses of all shapes and sizes, solves environmental puzzles, completes tasks and objectives, and explores mysterious areas. While Legend of Kay Anniversary very much feels like a product of its time, the PS2 era of game consoles, its modest price for a retail release means that even if you don't fall in love with the game, you don't have to regret buying it that much.

Kung Fu Rabbit

Also available on smartphones, tablets, the Nintendo 3DS, and the PlayStation Vita, Kung Fu Rabbit casts players in the role of the eponymous rabbit as they collect carrots, defeat enemies, wall jump, avoid hazards, and rescue the baby bunny at the end of the game's 50+ levels. Heavily inspired by Super Meat Boy, Kung Fun Rabbit's gameplay is more accessible and less frustrating, but still offers a nice challenge. In each level, you can go through it normally and rescue the rabbit awaiting you at the end of the level, but there is also a side task of collecting all of the carrots to further expand the replay value and longevity of this already level-packed game. The best part about Kung Fu Rabbit is its price-- a modest five bucks or so. Throw in off-TV play to enjoy the game as you drown out the repetitive music with your own sounds, and you have a fun platformer deserving of praise.

Review Round-Up - August 2015

Although not SPC's Game of the Month, Dragon Ball:
Xenoverse's power level was pretty extraordinary regardless.

August started out with a steady stream of reviews before slowing down a little. Six reviews were posted last month, offering looks at games like Dragon Fantasy: Volumes of Westeria, which earned a B, Badland: Game of the Year Edition, which netted itself a B-, and Legend of Kay Anniversary, which got itself a C-. What followed was two weeks without a review until Wind-Up Knight 2 stepped up and surprised the heck out of me with its quality, getting a well deserved A-. Following that was Gunman Clive HD Collection the very next day, earning a B+. Finally, Goku's friends and foes had some climactic, breathtaking battles with Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, asking Shenron for a good score, which it received with a B-.

Next month is going to be packed with reviews. I just hope my schedule will allow it! We'll see reviews of Super Mario Maker, Grand Theft Auto V, and much more! I hope you'll find yourself excited to see what else is coming!

Dragon Fantasy: Volumes of Westeria (Wii U eShop, 3DS eShop) - B
Badland: Game of the Year Edition (Wii U eShop) - B-
Legend of Kay Anniversary (Wii U, PS4, PS3, 360) - C-
Wind-Up Knight 2 (Wii U eShop) - A-
Gunman Clive HD Collection (Wii U eShop) - B+
Dragon Ball: Xenoverse (PS4, XONE, PS3, 360) - B-

Two titans butt heads in battle! Just one of many
battle scenarios within Dragon Ball: Xenoverse!

Wind-up Knight 2 (Wii U eShop) Review

An elusive Sunday evening review has been spotted at SuperPhillip Central! This game is a port of a mobile title. It's Wind-up Knight 2, and if you're into temple runner-like games, then get ready to get Medieval on this one! Here's my review.

This knight has might!

For the mobile gaming illiterate, Wind-up Knight 2 originally released on smartphone devices, offering accessible gameplay that suited the touch controls of the hardware just fine. Now, this mobile game has made the move to the Wii U, granting players much more reliable analog controls, off TV play, and the same humor and polish that made the original release on mobile so celebrated. Developer Robot Invader did not just push out an non-optimized, uninspired, unimaginative port onto the Wii U. Instead, it's a fantastic game that should be played by anyone looking for an engaging auto-runner.

In this auto-runner, you have the ability to jump, wall jump, slash your sword, raise your shield to counter falling debris and shots from catapults, and roll along your way through each of the game's 30+ uniquely designed levels. The caveat is that your knight has a gauge on the top left corner of the screen that constantly depletes. If it empties, the knight explodes, resulting in you either restarting the level or beginning from the last checkpoint. Thankfully, you can collect wind-up keys that replenishes lost energy from the gauge.

Every knight's journey starts with one jump.

Each level has four goals to complete to earn crests. Having enough crests means you can open later levels. However, only about a third of the side quests need to be completed to see the ending level of the game. The initial goal of each level is to simply complete it. Here, you can try to go for an "S" ranking by collecting all of the coins in a given level as well as finding a usually well hidden gnome hat. Thankfully, retrying levels from a checkpoint or dying do not ruin your chance of getting an "S" rank. Getting all "S" ranks in the game unlocks a brutal difficulty called Nightmare Mode.

As usual with any beanstalk, I certainly hope there's no giant at the top.

Once a level has been initially completed, three side goals open up. These range from getting through the level without defeating any enemies, avoiding deadly purple coins, and collecting all of the diamonds to dodging acid rain, capturing faeries with your net, and rolling into assorted pins to earn strikes like you were the best Medieval bowler ever born. These side missions are enjoyable to play, as they make you tackle the levels in ways different from how you normally complete them.

Being chased by a giant boulder?
Who do I look like-- Indiana Jones!?

Levels constantly throw new surprises at you, such as ceilings that drop barrels, requiring you to raise your shield to block their run-ruining advances, spikes, trap doors, grass that slows your knight's movements to almost a crawl, ice that is slippery and speeds up movement, mushrooms that bounce your knight high into the air, and switches that open doors. While new surprises are great, sometimes these can feel a bit cheap, as there are some sudden deaths that occur which anyone except someone with perfectly proficient timing wouldn't be able to avoid. However, there are so many checkpoints that most of the time the-- for lack of a better term-- "cheap deaths" don't punish the player too much. 

Heads up, Wind-Up Knight!

There is some honor as a knight for not dying or requiring a checkpoint in a given level. There are also some nice rewards for doing so, outside of particular achievements. You earn coins for completing levels, getting "S' ranks, and other skilled honors. These coins can be spent on new armor combinations for your knight, granting such benefits as making you a coin magnet, being able to get hit one time without dying, and a slew of other bonuses. It's not just for your benefit either, as you can deck out your knight in some truly fashionable duds.

I'm too sexy for my armor. So sexy it hurts!

Each level introduces tips and tricks in the form of a Medieval Twitter-like interface, as well as humorous quips and comments from various users like the oblivious king, the strong-willed princess, and the hamster-loving black knight. These are written so well, and you can tell that like a lot of other aspects of the game, a lot of love was put into these "tweets."

I'm RTing this for Danzig.

Wind-up Knight 2 performs rather admirably in the presentation department, too. Although the visuals are a little bland and sterile, the backgrounds and environments have a fair amount of detail to them, which is quite impressive. The frame-rate of the game stutters a bit at the start of levels, but otherwise it isn't a problem. On the audio front, the music is suitably Medieval, using Renaissance era instruments to great effect. However, I did encounter an audio glitch once during my play-through where an endless grinding noise played over everything, forcing me to exit out of the game to the Wii U home menu and enter back into the game. Fortunately, as stated, this only happened once in my six hours of playing.

A mobile game arriving to a home console could have been an unmitigated disaster, but Robot Invader definitely did a wonderful job bringing Wind-up Knight 2 over to the Wii U. With a wide array of challenging levels, plenty of side missions to stab one's sword into, a surplus of unique armor choices, and a mode where players can compete for the best score via Tournament Mode, Wind-up Knight 2 shows that this knight indeed has might.

[SPC Says: A-]

Review copy provided by Unity Games.