Perfect Dark (XBLA) - Achievements and Screens

We have some goods for you this evening! It's some brand-new screens and an achievement list for the upcoming Perfect Dark for Xbox Live Arcade. This is probably one of most wanted games, and if I had known it was coming out next year it would have been in my most desired game list. Check them out as they were taken down from the source which makes them seem all the more real.

HOW'S THAT FOR STARTERS? : Complete dataDyne Central - Defection

BOTH BARRELS : Shoot an enemy when dual wielding

ACT YOUR AGE, JOANNA : Destroy Carrington's wine collection

DOUBLE 64 : Kill 128 enemies using secondary fire mode

CAMERA SHY : Destroy 10 security cameras

DEADLY LAPTOP : Kill 50 enemies using the laptop gun in sentry mode

PACI-FIST : Complete any Solo Mission on Special Agent or harder using only your fists

TOOLS OF THE TRADE : Get a Bronze rating or better with all 32 weapons in the Firing Range

VERSATILE : Complete a Combat Simulator game using each of the six preset Scenarios

GOLDEN DAYS : Complete a Combat Simulator game on Felicity, Complex or Temple using Classic Weapons

PRIME TARGET : Complete every Challenge up to and including 29, the tenth Prime Number

A FRIEND INDEED : Complete any mission in Co-operative Mode

...WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? : Complete any mission in Counter-Operative Mode

DATADYNE SPECIALIST : Kill at least one enemy with each of the dataDyne weapons

CARRINGTON INSTITUTE SPECIALIST : Kill at least one enemy with each of the Carrington Institute weapons

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GCN) Retro Review

We've been busy this Monday. We've already seen and heard my favorite VGMs, looked at some new pics of SuperPhillip: The Game, and now we're taking a gander at a Zelda review in anticipation for Spirit Tracks. Here we are with a retro review of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures.

Are Four Links Better Than One?

The Zelda franchise is the most celebrated in gaming. For the longest time, the series has been known solely for its single-player excursions. No longer with the Game Boy Advance Four Swords game and this multi-player focused Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for the Nintendo Gamecube. With four Links to control and solve brain busters and smash massive monsters alike, are four Links really better than one?

Long ago, an evil wind sorcerer named Vaati began capturing and imprisoning several young maidens into his dastardly clutches. The people of Hyrule needed a hero, and they got one in a young man who claimed the mystical four sword, split into four of himself, and did away with Vaati. Several centuries later, Vaati escaped once again from his imprisonment. He captured the Princess Zelda, and locked her away inside a crystal chamber. Zelda's childhood friend, Link, opted to pick up the four sword, split himself into four, and take down the sinister Vaati once and for all. But in doing so, he awakened a flurry of evil shadow versions of himself. Now Link must do away with Vaati, and take care of the evil shadow engulfing the land of Hyrule before it is too late. The story is told with in-game cut-scenes with written text. It's nothing fans of the series haven't seen before. By the midpoint of the game, the plot turns on its head with an even more formidable foe being the focus of the adventure...

Somewhere over the rainbow...

There's two games in Four Swords Adventures. There's the standard Hyrulean Adventure mode which is main mode of the game, and Shadow Battle which is purely a competitive multi-player affair. Hyrulean Adventure can be played solo or with up to four players. In order to play multi-player, each player needs a Game Boy Advance. This makes trying to find friends with Game Boy Advances a hassle indeed. Regardless, if you play alone, you control all four Links. You can split them up and control each Link separately with the X button, you can call your Links into one of four formations from a cross, to a vertical or horizontal line, or in a box. In two player, each player controls two Links, in three player, two players control one Link and the third controls two, and in four player, everyone controls one Link. What makes multi-player fascinating is that you'll have to work together in order to proceed through the levels. Also, certain puzzles are altered compared to single-player to create a brand-new experience with more than one player.

Four Swords Adventures takes place across eight areas with three levels to each area. Unlike traditional Zeldas, these levels are stand-alone from one another. This means that nothing carries over between levels-- items, heart containers, stat-boosters-- nothing. Another twist is that you can only carry one item at a time. These include Roc's Feather, the Pegasus Boots, the fire rod, bombs, bo and arrows, boomerangs, and many more. These items can be leveled up by a great fairy. To use the Pegasus Boots as an example, when they're leveled up, that means you can run across chasms and holes with ease. Most levels have an overhead perspective while a select few are side-scrolling like Link's Awakening. You'll go to familiar locations such as the Eastern Palace, Lake Hylia, Death Mountain, Kakariko Village, the Lost Woods, and the Desert of Doubt. The levels themselves all feel like dungeons, even the outdoor ones, with puzzles thrown in here and there. Occasionally you'll encounter ambush rooms where your four Links will have to come out fighting against twenty or more enemies. It's very hectic and crazy.

Working together does wonders in this game.

Usually a level ends with a small boss battle, with every third level ending with a big boss battle to save one of the seven maidens. You'll face off against the likes of Phantom Ganon, bomb-hating Dodongos, and gigantic worms. Many times you'll take on Shadow Link-- nearly every level. Sometimes he'll toss giant exploding bombs that will kill your quartet of Links in one blow unless they hide inside a cave while others he'll just be causing havoc inside a level. Then there's the encounters against him. Each has a different hook to it from fighting on icy platforms to a fiery wonderland. Oftentimes he'll change color which means whatever color Link he is is the one you attack him with.

Phantom Ganon's back, and he's not here to chat.

It's not all action in Four Swords Adventures, however. The use of four Links brings about a whole new variety of perplexing puzzles to solve. Some are relatively simple such as stepping on four buttons to unlock a door while others are much more complicated. As an individual Link, you can pick up another Link and toss him across short chasms. There's also traditional block-pushing puzzles, torch-lighting affairs, switch-puzzling puzzles, and tons of other brain twisters that will feel home to many Zelda veterans.

What won't feel home to many Zelda veterans is the use of the Game Boy Advance. Like Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, all players must have one-- except when playing solo-style. The reason each player needs a Game Boy Advance is that when you enter a house, cave, or a Dark World portal, the game switches from the television screen to your Game Boy Advance. In solo mode, the GBA screen pops up over the television action, and it can be removed with the Z button. It's cool in practice, but the actual finding someone-- much more four players with GBAs-- is a lofty aspiration for sure.

The game switches to a GBA screen
on the TV in single-player.

Something odd in Four Swords Adventures are the force gems. They replaced rupees in this journey. In order to complete a level and smash through the magical gate blocking exit into the next level, you need to collect 2,000 of these gems. If you don't have the gems by the conclusion of the level, you're warped back to the start. Once you collect 2,000, you're warped back to the end of the level. What's the point of this really? It's great in multi-player as it's both cooperative and competitive in nature to see who can collect the most force gems. In single-player, it's pretty much worthless.

Speaking of competition, the other mode in Four Swords Adventures is Shadow Battle. It's pretty much every Link for himself to see who can finish off the other three Links before they're taken out themselves. There's five or six arenas to compete on, and that's pretty much all there is to say about this mode. It's an interesting distraction, but at the end of the day that's all it is.

The visuals are reminiscent of A Link to the Past.

Any fan of A Link to the Past will fall in love with Four Swords Adventures' presentation. The art style utilizes familiar graphical assets from the game. Meanwhile, the Link's themselves, explosions and enemy destruction animations use a Wind Waker approach to them. The game zooms in and out depending how far each Link is from one another. Additionally, the soundtrack borrows heavily from A Link to the Past with remastered and remixed versions of various LttP tracks. The Game Boy Advance sections are in comparison have much less going-on in them. There's no smoke effects, Wind Waker effects, or anything of that matter. It's fairly tame in comparison.

Four swords might definitely be better than one in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. The levels are expertly-crafted with little in the way of back-tracking, the aesthetics are wholeheartedly pleasing, and the puzzles created by having four Links instead of one are truly maniacal. An often overlooked entry in the Zelda franchise, Four Swords Adventures get a hearty recommendation with or without friends to play it with.

[SuperPhillip Says: 9.25/10]

SuperPhillip: The Game - 2-2 The Treetops Screens

Here's a sneak-peek at my newest level I have ready to share with the LittleBigPlanet masses. It's a level entitled 2-2 The Treetops. The second of the Fiercesome Five's base rests on the other side of this monstrous forest. It may be beautiful, but looks are deceiving. SuperPhillip will have to swing across deadly chasms, watch out for burning rock, and avoid venomous spiders and snakes. Check out some exclusive screens of my new level. Expect a video sometime within the week.

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - Jingle Bells Edition

Another week to our Christmas countdown! Coming this week right at you is New Super Mario Bros. Wii, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, and Henry Hatsworth to name a few. But enough talk! Have at you, VGMs!

v446. New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Athletic Theme

So now that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is out, how are you guys liking it? I think it's a near-perfect Mario experience with new and familiar rolled up into one fantastic package. This theme plays during the many acrobatic levels of the game. It's the traditional Athletic Theme. Here we go!



v447, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams - Eloquent Echo

NiGHTs: Journey of Dreams... what can you say about it? I personally hate capitalizing every letter in the name besides the "I". Regardless, I couldn't sit through this game despite its fabulous soundtrack. Here's another entry from the game, the very first level, Eloquent Echo.



v448. Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure - Banson's Zeppelins

Cheerio! G'day! All those other stereotypes, too! It's Henry Hatsworth from Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure for Nintendo DS. What other game can let you solve puzzles Tetris Attack style as well as jump, shoot, and run? No worries, kids, it's rhetorical. This theme plays during the second of five worlds.



v449. Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2- Nakagawa Public G.C.

While the weather here may too cold to play golf, at least you can do it from your couch, your chair, your office, your bathroom-- wherever! This theme is one of the first new golf courses from Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 for the PSP gaming system. If you get the time, check this overlooked beauty out and start gripping and ripping!



v450. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil - Volkies Song (Volk City [Outside])

We started off with a song from a platforming game, so let's end these five with one. Volkies Song (Volk City [Outside]) takes place inside a factory level in Klonoa 2. It's such an underrated and overlooked gem. Probably not so much nowadays which is always good. Keep the platforming genre alive and kicking, guys!



Next week we continue the jams with tracks from Pikmin, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. Until next week, adieu, my VGMs!

Rank Up! - The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks releases tomorrow, and it will be the fourteenth entry in the franchise. The Zelda series has been around for over two-dozen years now, so why not celebrate both the arrival of Spirit Tracks and this occasion with another edition of Rank Up!? We'll be listing everything save for the CD-i games which don't fall under anything besides embarrassing.


Here are the games we'll be ranking:

The Legend of Zelda (NES)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GCN)
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN, Wii)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

It was the year 1987, and unbeknownst to the gaming world, a legendary series was about to be born. It was called The Legend of Zelda. It was about a young boy who was tasked with rescuing a princess and collecting all of the shards of the triforce. The game was based on creator Shigeru Miyamoto's childhood. No, he didn't save princesses as a boy, but he did explore caves and forest areas. Since then, there have been more than a dozen entries in this fabled franchise. It is one of the most celebrated franchises in gaming. Let's take a look at the following games and discover why.

13) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)

We start off the list with the only bad mainline Zelda in existence. It's Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Doing away with what made the original Zelda great, Zelda II brought with it a side-scrolling approach as well as a balls-to-the-wall difficulty. Three deaths, and you start the game back from the beginning. And it was very easy to die. For those that could tolerate the cheap difficulty, Zelda II was an enjoyable adventure. For everyone else, maybe you should pass on it.


12) The Legend of Zelda (NES)

The game that started it all, The Legend of Zelda. One could say that this game was the first popular sandbox title as you were placed into a world with no direction-- just save the princess. The goal was to infiltrate eight dungeons spread around the world map, collect the mystical item in each lair, beat down the boss, and gather a shard of the triforce. The only real flaw I could surmise from this title is the lack of direction and sometimes having to know things that only a FAQ could tell you. Play the whistle by a lake to drain it? Really now.


11) The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

The first installment of the Zelda franchise on the DS brought with it stylus only controls. These worked surprisingly well. Point a spot on the screen to have Link to move to it. The game possesses the same look and feel of The Wind Waker with cartoon Link and other visuals. The real problem here is that players had to return to the same dungeon repeatedly after more sand in the Phantom Hourglass was filled. This made for some tedious dungeon crawling after every boss dungeon. Other than that, Phantom Hourglass is a great game to get ready for Spirit Tracks.


10) The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GCN)

A game great for single-players and multi-player gamers, Four Swords Adventures took place through eight worlds of three levels each. The game had a fractured structure to it as after each level ended, you were taken to the next without any items or heart containers picked up in the previous level. I think I love this game so much because it took the audio and visuals from one of my favorite Zeldas, A Link to the Past. This time around there were four Links to contend with-- stepping on switches at the same time, deflect shots from Phantom Ganon back at him, and carry one another across chasms. A great, overlooked entry in the Zelda franchise.


9) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)

When the art style of The Wind Waker was revealed, the fanbase was split. Some loved it, some hated it, but by the time the game came out and people played it, these squabbles quickly went away. The game looked beautiful in motion, and really, it still does. The gimmick this time around was the wind waker, a conductor's baton that changed the direction the wind flowed. This allowed for easier travel on the high seas. Mix in some clever puzzles, a charming cast of characters, and a stellar soundtrack, and you have a great Zelda on your hands.


8) The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC)

I was going to put Oracles of Ages and Seasons together, but they're really two different games. Oracle of Ages focuses on time travel from past to present Labyrnna. It was much more puzzle-oriented compared to Seasons action-based setup. Really, the only reason why Oracle of Seasons is higher is because I enjoyed that overworld much more. Otherwise, both games are top-notch and can link together to share items and take down the true final boss.


7) The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC)

Oracle of Ages and Seasons were the first duo of titles made by Capcom's now defunct Flagship studio. A special rod allowed Link to travel through the seasons. Water blocking the way in summer? Switch to winter where it will be frozen. Leaves in the way in autumn? Switch to spring where they will be gone. The world of Holodrum was much more enjoyable to visit than that of Labyrnna, and that's why Oracle of Seasons has placed higher on this list.


6) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN, Wii)

Labeled as the second coming of Ocarina of Time for some, Twilight Princess is currently suffering the Zelda Cycle. This is where the newest game comes out, and people say the last game was better. Then the newest one comes out, and then Twilight Princess will be seen as better. Regardless, the Zelda franchise went back to a more darker, mature style. Not only that, but Link could transform into a wolf, collecting spirits, taking out enemies, and having a mysterious girl named Midna riding on his back. These wolf sections could get boring to trudge through, and the lack of direction sometimes could be maddening. Otherwise, Twilight Princess is a terrific Zelda in its own right.


5) The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

The first and only new Zelda to hit the Game Boy Advance, The Minish Cap's gimmick comes from the titular item that Link could don on his head. It would shrink him to miniscule proportions allowing him to enter small holes and talk to the Minish people. Again, there were only five main dungeons in the Minish Cap, but these were so cleverly designed. The main sidequest was kinstones that you'd collect and reunite with various townspeople, usually opening hidden doors or unveiling secret treasure chests. While not my favorite handheld Zelda, it surely comes close.


4) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)

Masks were the main focus of this game, surprisingly so. Different from the other collection of powerless masks were transformation masks which would turn Link into a Deku scrub, a Goron, or a Zora, each with different abilities and powers. Then there was the time limit. Three game days and then the crazed moon would crash into Clock Town, incinerating it and everyone to ash. Link could turn the hands of time back with his ocarina thankfully. While there were only four main dungeons on each direction from Clock Town, there were plenty of mini-dungeons to keep things fresh and interesting. Majora's Mask is the game that altered the traditional formula of Zelda games, and I love it for that.


3) The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)

The very first portable Zelda, Link's Awakening had no real gimmicks. It was just a traditional Zelda to its core. As Link you journeyed around Koholint Island after being washed up in a torrential storm. The Game Boy Color remake, Link's Awakening DX, brought the adventure into color. It also added a ninth dungeon into the mix that was based on the properties of color. This was the first Zelda since Zelda II that brought back side-scrolling sections and introduced the ability to jump when using Roc's Feather. A memorable Zelda if there ever was one.


2) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

A Link to the Past is known as Zelda III in the land of the rising sun. It went back to the overhead perspective offering a host of new weapons such as the incredible hookshot, foe-crushing hammer, and fire and ice rods. The main draw of this Zelda was the ability to transport between the Light World and the Dark World using a magical mirror. This brought the level of overworld puzzles to a whole new meaning. The ability to drop down floors in dungeons also made these areas of impending doom another dimension of coolness. Add in superb visuals, one of the best soundtracks in series history, and nearly a dozen dungeons to march through, and A Link to the Past remains one of my favorite Zeldas of all time.


1) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

If you read my favorite games of all time list, this choice should be no shocker at all. Ocarina of Time is the eponymous item that allows Link to do a number of things-- call his trusty steed, travel to destinations, open special doors, travel through time, and much more. This was the game that brought 3-D to Zelda, Z-targeting, and a host of other game mechanics that are copied to this day. Ocarina of Time also features the most memorable version of Ganondorf to grace a Zelda game, an arsenal of impressive weapons, and enough exotic locations to call off your family vacation. Ocarina of Time is legendary.

That does it for another installment of Rank Up! Rank Up's going to take the rest of the year off, so it'll see you in 2010!