Just uploaded to the Wii's Nintendo Channel are three new trailers for three launch window titles for the hotly-anticipated Nintendo 3DS. The games are Nintendogs + Cats, Pilotwings Resort, and Steel Diver. Out of those three, the one I'm most interested in getting my hands on is Pilotwings Resort followed by Steel Diver. I hold some interest in messing about with my portable animal friends as well.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
RE: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
RE: is a series of features that revisits a game reviewed on SuperPhillip Central and talks about its highs and lows. It's important to note that these are not revisionist reviews. With this feature we've already looked back at New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario Kart Wii, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Now it's time to take a look back at Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a game that couldn't compare to the massive hype it received. All screenshots were taken by me using the in-game camera tool and an SD card.
I remember it as if it were yesterday. People would stay up late for something they called "JAPAN TIME" to see the latest update to the Smash Bros. Dojo website, prowling for any new information they could get on the newest Smash Bros. game. As gamers, of course, they'd bitch and moan like the little manchildren they are when the update was poor, and yell "the hype is incredible" and other unfunny memes when the update was impressive. (If you haven't guessed yet, I really hate the gaming subculture.)
Nonetheless, Super Smash Bros. Brawl hit store shelves in March of 2008 in North America, and with it battles were raged online and off. There were multiple components in the game from the story-heavy Subspace Emissary to the rich multiplayer modes to the rich roster of Nintendo all-stars... and Wolf O'Donnell.
The Subspace Emissary was a story-based affair where players tried to stop a being known as the Ancient Minister from turning Nintendo's stars into trophies. To do battle with the incoming threat, the characters of Smash Bros. Brawl must work together, playing through bland side-scrolling levels based on various locales from jungles to castles to mines. In-between the somewhat mediocre gameplay of the SSE, sometimes humorous, sometimes just plain awesome cutscenes would show Nintendo's all-stars mingling with one another like never before. Adding to the burden of the SSE, to be fair, this mode could be played cooperatively for a funner time, was the ending Great Maze-- a place where players needed to run through a labyrinth of doorways, passages, and boss battles to take down the evil Tabuu once and for all. While the mode was more enjoyable with a buddy to play along, the SSE still was a tad disappointing. The lack of memorable enemies, tedious levels, and uneventful battles led to a drawl experience overall. However, it still outperforms many a-game's sole story modes. I'm looking at you, Street Fighter 4. Additionally, there were a multitude of modes in Brawl from 100 men brawls to Classic mode which plays like your traditional Arcade mode in any other fighter to All-Star and Mission modes.
Multiplayer is seriously where it's at, and unfortunately online was something of broken when wanting to search randomly for an opponent. This was never fixed, by the way. However, Wi-Fi with friends worked perfectly. I never found a reason to fight with someone I didn't know, so that did not bother me. Regardless of that, local multiplayer is where it's at with all the trash-talking, laughter, and enjoyment. The game was stocked to the brim with characters, and this time when they knocked open a Smash Ball, they could perform a Final Smash attack, new to the series. These Final Smashes were ultra-powerful attacks that could K.O. an opponent or group of assailants in one shot. For instance, Mario would unleash a flurry of fireballs from his fists to take out anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. Meanwhile, some Final Smashes were less than stellar. In fact, three characters shared one Final Smash, the Landmaster, which reeked of laziness. Would have hurt to have an Arwing Final Smash, Sakurai? Other than that minor problem, Final Smashes were an awesome addition to the series.
For those of you unaware of how the Smash Bros. series works, it is unlike most fighting games. Instead of having a health bar that goes down, your character has a percentage that goes up each time he or she takes damage. The higher the damage, the more your character gets tossed around and can go off the screen. If your character gets knocked off the screen either above, below, or far to the left or right, that counts as a K.O. Smash is unlike other fighters as battles can be with up to four contenders, and items can be used from motion-sensor bombs to home run bats. Anything and everything can be used as a weapon.
Speaking of characters, the selection was quite good, too. Perhaps if we hadn't been spoiled by the SSB Dojo website of coming characters, it would have been more surprising to see characters like Pit from Kid Icarus, Captain Olimar from Pikmin, Diddy Kong, and King Dedede, Kirby's sworn nemesis. Each character had a multitude of attacks that were as simple as holding up a direction on the analog stick or d-pad and pressing a button to perform said attack. It was an easy to learn, hard to master scenario seen in many Nintendo games and even some other recent fighters. (Yep, I called Smash a fighter, why don't you cry about it on another blog?)
More alive than the characters themselves were the arenas players could fight in. There were a handful of past stages from Melee such as Pokemon Stadium 1, Onett, and Big Blue, plus there were a plethora of new arenas to do battle in from knocking Luigi's Mansion down to rubble to dishing out punishment on a Mario Kart track. Each stage was brimming with personality and obstacles to get in players' way like a hungry and menacing pillbug in Captain Olimar's stage to fast and lethal vehicles in Captain Falcon's Port Town stage. There were a couple of duds here and there such as Flat Zone 2 and Hannebow, but other than those, the stage creation and selection were top-notch. Even if you didn't like a single stage in Brawl, you could create your own, albeit simple arenas with Smash Bros. Brawl's level creation tool. If you're not doing that, you can always collect the 500+ trophies and stickers that showcase the history of Nintendo through figurines.
The soundtrack of Brawl was unlike any other in the history of the industry. Never before had so many composers and arrangers leaped into one project to compose, arrange, and remix new versions of old themes from Mario to Zelda, Pokemon to Pikmin, and Kirby to F-Zero. All-in-all, there were over 100 new remixes and themes made by over fifty composers of the likes of Nobuo Uematsu, Motoi Sakuraba, and Yoko Shimomura. While not orchestrated, which is a shame, the music all the same sounded great with the high-quality synthesized music used.
Brawl is a megaton higher in graphical quality than Melee. Yes, it's slower. Yes, there's tripping involved (which in my playthroughs happens less than 10% of the time). Yes, it's not Melee. If you want Melee, play Melee. The character models themselves are just gorgeous as are the sensational stages. There's little touches everywhere in backgrounds and foregrounds to make arenas feel extra special. Special effects like explosions and Final Smash attacks look incredible as well. There's something here for everyone, and it's all without much slowdown (only shows up when things get REALLY crazy).
Overall, Super Smash Bros. Brawl may not have lived up to many fans' insane hype, but for me, it certainly did. The character roster is awesome with the inclusion of third party characters like Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. (Mario VS. Sonic? My inner child is brimming from ear-to-ear.). The arenas are well-crafted and full of fun, there's many modes to choose from, many collectibles to gather, and many hours of sitting in front of the television with your friends or relatives that you won't have time to breathe! Perhaps that's hyperbole, but you get my drift!
I remember it as if it were yesterday. People would stay up late for something they called "JAPAN TIME" to see the latest update to the Smash Bros. Dojo website, prowling for any new information they could get on the newest Smash Bros. game. As gamers, of course, they'd bitch and moan like the little manchildren they are when the update was poor, and yell "the hype is incredible" and other unfunny memes when the update was impressive. (If you haven't guessed yet, I really hate the gaming subculture.)
Nonetheless, Super Smash Bros. Brawl hit store shelves in March of 2008 in North America, and with it battles were raged online and off. There were multiple components in the game from the story-heavy Subspace Emissary to the rich multiplayer modes to the rich roster of Nintendo all-stars... and Wolf O'Donnell.
The Subspace Emissary was a story-based affair where players tried to stop a being known as the Ancient Minister from turning Nintendo's stars into trophies. To do battle with the incoming threat, the characters of Smash Bros. Brawl must work together, playing through bland side-scrolling levels based on various locales from jungles to castles to mines. In-between the somewhat mediocre gameplay of the SSE, sometimes humorous, sometimes just plain awesome cutscenes would show Nintendo's all-stars mingling with one another like never before. Adding to the burden of the SSE, to be fair, this mode could be played cooperatively for a funner time, was the ending Great Maze-- a place where players needed to run through a labyrinth of doorways, passages, and boss battles to take down the evil Tabuu once and for all. While the mode was more enjoyable with a buddy to play along, the SSE still was a tad disappointing. The lack of memorable enemies, tedious levels, and uneventful battles led to a drawl experience overall. However, it still outperforms many a-game's sole story modes. I'm looking at you, Street Fighter 4. Additionally, there were a multitude of modes in Brawl from 100 men brawls to Classic mode which plays like your traditional Arcade mode in any other fighter to All-Star and Mission modes.
Multiplayer is seriously where it's at, and unfortunately online was something of broken when wanting to search randomly for an opponent. This was never fixed, by the way. However, Wi-Fi with friends worked perfectly. I never found a reason to fight with someone I didn't know, so that did not bother me. Regardless of that, local multiplayer is where it's at with all the trash-talking, laughter, and enjoyment. The game was stocked to the brim with characters, and this time when they knocked open a Smash Ball, they could perform a Final Smash attack, new to the series. These Final Smashes were ultra-powerful attacks that could K.O. an opponent or group of assailants in one shot. For instance, Mario would unleash a flurry of fireballs from his fists to take out anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. Meanwhile, some Final Smashes were less than stellar. In fact, three characters shared one Final Smash, the Landmaster, which reeked of laziness. Would have hurt to have an Arwing Final Smash, Sakurai? Other than that minor problem, Final Smashes were an awesome addition to the series.
For those of you unaware of how the Smash Bros. series works, it is unlike most fighting games. Instead of having a health bar that goes down, your character has a percentage that goes up each time he or she takes damage. The higher the damage, the more your character gets tossed around and can go off the screen. If your character gets knocked off the screen either above, below, or far to the left or right, that counts as a K.O. Smash is unlike other fighters as battles can be with up to four contenders, and items can be used from motion-sensor bombs to home run bats. Anything and everything can be used as a weapon.
Speaking of characters, the selection was quite good, too. Perhaps if we hadn't been spoiled by the SSB Dojo website of coming characters, it would have been more surprising to see characters like Pit from Kid Icarus, Captain Olimar from Pikmin, Diddy Kong, and King Dedede, Kirby's sworn nemesis. Each character had a multitude of attacks that were as simple as holding up a direction on the analog stick or d-pad and pressing a button to perform said attack. It was an easy to learn, hard to master scenario seen in many Nintendo games and even some other recent fighters. (Yep, I called Smash a fighter, why don't you cry about it on another blog?)
More alive than the characters themselves were the arenas players could fight in. There were a handful of past stages from Melee such as Pokemon Stadium 1, Onett, and Big Blue, plus there were a plethora of new arenas to do battle in from knocking Luigi's Mansion down to rubble to dishing out punishment on a Mario Kart track. Each stage was brimming with personality and obstacles to get in players' way like a hungry and menacing pillbug in Captain Olimar's stage to fast and lethal vehicles in Captain Falcon's Port Town stage. There were a couple of duds here and there such as Flat Zone 2 and Hannebow, but other than those, the stage creation and selection were top-notch. Even if you didn't like a single stage in Brawl, you could create your own, albeit simple arenas with Smash Bros. Brawl's level creation tool. If you're not doing that, you can always collect the 500+ trophies and stickers that showcase the history of Nintendo through figurines.
The soundtrack of Brawl was unlike any other in the history of the industry. Never before had so many composers and arrangers leaped into one project to compose, arrange, and remix new versions of old themes from Mario to Zelda, Pokemon to Pikmin, and Kirby to F-Zero. All-in-all, there were over 100 new remixes and themes made by over fifty composers of the likes of Nobuo Uematsu, Motoi Sakuraba, and Yoko Shimomura. While not orchestrated, which is a shame, the music all the same sounded great with the high-quality synthesized music used.
Brawl is a megaton higher in graphical quality than Melee. Yes, it's slower. Yes, there's tripping involved (which in my playthroughs happens less than 10% of the time). Yes, it's not Melee. If you want Melee, play Melee. The character models themselves are just gorgeous as are the sensational stages. There's little touches everywhere in backgrounds and foregrounds to make arenas feel extra special. Special effects like explosions and Final Smash attacks look incredible as well. There's something here for everyone, and it's all without much slowdown (only shows up when things get REALLY crazy).
Overall, Super Smash Bros. Brawl may not have lived up to many fans' insane hype, but for me, it certainly did. The character roster is awesome with the inclusion of third party characters like Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. (Mario VS. Sonic? My inner child is brimming from ear-to-ear.). The arenas are well-crafted and full of fun, there's many modes to choose from, many collectibles to gather, and many hours of sitting in front of the television with your friends or relatives that you won't have time to breathe! Perhaps that's hyperbole, but you get my drift!
===
Have a game that you'd love to see get the RE: treatment? Let me know in the comments section!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
January 2011 NPD Results
Getting numbers from the NPD is like pulling teeth. It's difficult to do when the NPD won't open their collective mouth. Since now little in the way of numbers are revealed, and all SKUs are now bundled into one amalgamation, it's hard to be interested in sales results. The NPD group is just throwing scraps now. Well, we'll work with what we get. Numbers courtesy of NeoGAF.
4-week reporting period: 1/2/11 through 1/29/2011
Software (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)
01. Call of Duty: Black Ops* (360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard
02. Just Dance 2 (WII) Ubisoft
03. Dead Space 2* (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts - 452K
04. Little Big Planet 2* (PS3) Sony - 353K
05. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (WII, 360, PS3) Majesco
06. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC) Take 2 Interactive
07. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood* (360, PS3) Ubisoft
08. Dance Central (360) MTV Games
09. Michael Jackson The Experience* (WII, DS, PSP) Ubisoft
10. DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You* (PS3, PC) Sony - 195K
*NPD's monthly point-of-sale data reports on U.S. Games Industry Sales occurring from new physical purchases at retail which is the largest channel for games sales, but it does not represent 100% of industry sales; it does not account for consumer purchases made via digital distribution, used game sales, subscriptions, mobile game apps, rentals, or social network games.
Hardware:
Xbox 360 - 381,000 (+15%) [Only console platform to see year over year growth]
Wii - 319,000 (-32%)
PS3 - 267,000 (-3.6%)
The Xbox 360 wins another month. In my jaded opinion, it's a combination of new Kinect users and people rebuying a 360 for the third time thanks to shoddy hardware production. The Wii sold 319,000 (all numbers are obviously rounded) which is a year-to-year drop of -32%. Meanwhile, the PS3 still struggles to get a footing in North America even with two exclusives making it on the top ten chart for the month (LittleBigPlanet 2 and DC Universe Online).
Call of Duty: Black Ops reigns supreme (it only has, like, eighty different SKUs, so that's no surprise). Just Dance 2 grooves its way into second place which is impressive seeing as it is an exclusive game. Dance Central proves Kinect buyers are buying at least something in the wasteland known as Kinect software, and Michael Jackson lives on through gaming with his experience hitting the number eight spot. Perhaps overweight housewives are buying dance games to shrug some pounds off from the holidays? What is surprising this month to me is that no first-party Nintendo games are to be seen on this list. I would have thought Disney Epic Mickey or Donkey Kong Country Returns would have made the bottom half of the top ten sales chart. With that, there goes a ho-hum month of sales.
4-week reporting period: 1/2/11 through 1/29/2011
Software (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)
01. Call of Duty: Black Ops* (360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard
02. Just Dance 2 (WII) Ubisoft
03. Dead Space 2* (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts - 452K
04. Little Big Planet 2* (PS3) Sony - 353K
05. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (WII, 360, PS3) Majesco
06. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC) Take 2 Interactive
07. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood* (360, PS3) Ubisoft
08. Dance Central (360) MTV Games
09. Michael Jackson The Experience* (WII, DS, PSP) Ubisoft
10. DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You* (PS3, PC) Sony - 195K
*NPD's monthly point-of-sale data reports on U.S. Games Industry Sales occurring from new physical purchases at retail which is the largest channel for games sales, but it does not represent 100% of industry sales; it does not account for consumer purchases made via digital distribution, used game sales, subscriptions, mobile game apps, rentals, or social network games.
Hardware:
Xbox 360 - 381,000 (+15%) [Only console platform to see year over year growth]
Wii - 319,000 (-32%)
PS3 - 267,000 (-3.6%)
The Xbox 360 wins another month. In my jaded opinion, it's a combination of new Kinect users and people rebuying a 360 for the third time thanks to shoddy hardware production. The Wii sold 319,000 (all numbers are obviously rounded) which is a year-to-year drop of -32%. Meanwhile, the PS3 still struggles to get a footing in North America even with two exclusives making it on the top ten chart for the month (LittleBigPlanet 2 and DC Universe Online).
Call of Duty: Black Ops reigns supreme (it only has, like, eighty different SKUs, so that's no surprise). Just Dance 2 grooves its way into second place which is impressive seeing as it is an exclusive game. Dance Central proves Kinect buyers are buying at least something in the wasteland known as Kinect software, and Michael Jackson lives on through gaming with his experience hitting the number eight spot. Perhaps overweight housewives are buying dance games to shrug some pounds off from the holidays? What is surprising this month to me is that no first-party Nintendo games are to be seen on this list. I would have thought Disney Epic Mickey or Donkey Kong Country Returns would have made the bottom half of the top ten sales chart. With that, there goes a ho-hum month of sales.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Top Five Spider-Man Games
Marvel VS. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds released yesterday for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It features one of my favorite superheroes (besides SuperPhillip, of course), Spider-Man. Not only does he have cool superpowers such as web-slinging, web-shooting, and superhuman strength. He also has my favorite cast of supervillains from the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin to the Sandman and Rhino. This list features my top five favorite Spider-Man games of all time.
5) Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro (PS1)
Kicking off this abbreviated countdown is Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro for the original PlayStation. It featured the same level by level gameplay of the original albeit with less star power. When your biggest villain is Electro, you know you have a problem. The game featured such supervillains as the Sandman and Hammerhead as well. The web-slinging was kept to indoor areas and small city arenas. All-in-all, an adequate Spider-Man game, but nothing spectacular.
4) Spider-Man: The Movie (PS2, GCN, XBX)
Loosely following the storyline from the original Spider-Man movie starring the dreadful Tobey Maguire (to be fair, he sucked in the role of Spider-Man, not so much other roles). The cast of villains included the Shocker, the Vulture, the Scorpion, and of course, the Green Goblin himself. With high production values and the original voice actors playing their given parts, Spider-Man: The Movie is my second favorite Spider-Man game based off the less-than-stellar Sam Raimi trilogy of films.
3) Spider-Man (PS1, N64, DC)
On the Nintendo 64, instead of cut-scenes, you received comic book style panels to advance the story. Regardless of that and graphical differences, Spider-Man for the three main consoles of the year 2000. Seems so long ago, doesn't it? Regardless, Spider-Man was the first 3D video to get web-swinging and slinging right in the three dimensions. With an all-new storyline, a cast of supervillains like no other such as a symbiote-controlled Doc Ock final boss. What makes this Spider-Man game special was that you felt, for the first time, you felt like you were actually Spider-Man in 3D!
2) Spider-Man 2 (PS2, GCN, XBX)
This was the first open-world sandbox Spider-Man game, and it was awesome. Featuring unique side-missions, hidden tokens to discover throughout New York along with a decent story to go with it. Mysterio, Shocker, Doctor Octopus, and the Rhino were the cavalcade of combatants for Spider-Man to take down in various venues. With an open-world setting allowing Spidey to swing like never before with impressive freedom, Spider-Man 2 is not just a fantastic superhero game, but it's a fantastic game in general.
1) Ultimate Spider-Man (PS2, GCN, XBX)
Based on the comic book line of the same way, the cel-shaded Ultimate Spider-Man is my favorite game of the web-slinger. It boasts the same open-world sandbox gameplay of Spider-Man 2 (and Spider-Man 3, but we won't mention that game again), along with side-missions such as races against the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, battles with R.H.I.N.O., jobbers like the Shocker, fights with Venom (who you can also play as), Silver Sable, Beetle, Electro, and even the crazed Carnage. A beautiful game with plenty of bonus content even if the storyline itself is short, Ultimate Spider-Man is the ultimate wall-crawler experience in my book.
There goes my favorite Spidey games! Do you agree/disagree with my selection of web-crawler games? Let your opinion be known in our comments section.
5) Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro (PS1)
Kicking off this abbreviated countdown is Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro for the original PlayStation. It featured the same level by level gameplay of the original albeit with less star power. When your biggest villain is Electro, you know you have a problem. The game featured such supervillains as the Sandman and Hammerhead as well. The web-slinging was kept to indoor areas and small city arenas. All-in-all, an adequate Spider-Man game, but nothing spectacular.
4) Spider-Man: The Movie (PS2, GCN, XBX)
Loosely following the storyline from the original Spider-Man movie starring the dreadful Tobey Maguire (to be fair, he sucked in the role of Spider-Man, not so much other roles). The cast of villains included the Shocker, the Vulture, the Scorpion, and of course, the Green Goblin himself. With high production values and the original voice actors playing their given parts, Spider-Man: The Movie is my second favorite Spider-Man game based off the less-than-stellar Sam Raimi trilogy of films.
3) Spider-Man (PS1, N64, DC)
On the Nintendo 64, instead of cut-scenes, you received comic book style panels to advance the story. Regardless of that and graphical differences, Spider-Man for the three main consoles of the year 2000. Seems so long ago, doesn't it? Regardless, Spider-Man was the first 3D video to get web-swinging and slinging right in the three dimensions. With an all-new storyline, a cast of supervillains like no other such as a symbiote-controlled Doc Ock final boss. What makes this Spider-Man game special was that you felt, for the first time, you felt like you were actually Spider-Man in 3D!
2) Spider-Man 2 (PS2, GCN, XBX)
This was the first open-world sandbox Spider-Man game, and it was awesome. Featuring unique side-missions, hidden tokens to discover throughout New York along with a decent story to go with it. Mysterio, Shocker, Doctor Octopus, and the Rhino were the cavalcade of combatants for Spider-Man to take down in various venues. With an open-world setting allowing Spidey to swing like never before with impressive freedom, Spider-Man 2 is not just a fantastic superhero game, but it's a fantastic game in general.
1) Ultimate Spider-Man (PS2, GCN, XBX)
Based on the comic book line of the same way, the cel-shaded Ultimate Spider-Man is my favorite game of the web-slinger. It boasts the same open-world sandbox gameplay of Spider-Man 2 (and Spider-Man 3, but we won't mention that game again), along with side-missions such as races against the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, battles with R.H.I.N.O., jobbers like the Shocker, fights with Venom (who you can also play as), Silver Sable, Beetle, Electro, and even the crazed Carnage. A beautiful game with plenty of bonus content even if the storyline itself is short, Ultimate Spider-Man is the ultimate wall-crawler experience in my book.
===
There goes my favorite Spidey games! Do you agree/disagree with my selection of web-crawler games? Let your opinion be known in our comments section.
Nintendo 3DS Basic Features Trailer
For you early this Wednesday morning is a brief overview of the basic features of the Nintendo 3DS, aka the handheld that will rock the world in more ways than one. Hyperbole aside, the 3DS doesn't disappoint as you can see new footage of the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Nintendogs + Cats, and even more games. Marvel at Hyrule Field in all its remade glory.
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