Darksiders was a game that came out of nowhere and became a sleeper hit. The new Death Comes to Us All trailer for the upcoming sequel shows off a lot of the antagonists of the game as well as some high octane action. Darksiders II rages war next month, with the Wii U version coming out later alongside the console's launch.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Top Ten Nintendo Wii Games You May Not Have Heard Of
The Nintendo Wii is a system that I believe will be thought of more fondly in the future. As of right now it is a popular lightning rod for hatred from a certain sect of gamer. The main argument is that the console has a limited amount of compelling games. Well, that couldn't be further from the truth. It's almost as if these gamers only consider big blockbusters to be worthy of their attention and not the smaller, more niche software. This list focuses on the latter. These are titles that not only received little to no publicity (except maybe outside of the occasional one page magazine advertisement), but these are ones that you may not even know exist! It's important to note that I obviously have not played every Wii game in existence, so if your favorite game that you believe no one outside of a small percentage of people have heard of isn't represented on this list, don't be offended. These are the games that I am most familiar with.
10) Go Vacation
Welcome to Kawawii Island, your virtual getaway destination with four specific resorts to explore and play around in: Marine, City, Snow, and Mountain. Go Vacation is essentially a mini-game collection that strives to be much more. For instance, the various resorts you visit act like a sandbox. You can find and participate in unique activities like ATV races, jetski competitions, tennis, equestrian games, scuba diving, skydiving, skateboarding, mini golf, and many more. Some activities control better than others, but the majority of them exude plenty of entertainment.
Journeying across the four resorts offers plenty of opportunities for exploration including uncovering hidden treasure chests that contain gear for your avatar character, photo ops, missions to complete, and other optional tasks. The game focuses heavily on customization as well. You can earn silver keys from finishing off all challenges for a specific activity to unlock different types of furniture for your villa. From getting your interior decorator on with villa creation to personalizing the look of your in-game avatar, there's plenty of room to show off your creativity. Then there's the clean presentation of the game and the absolutely infectious music. Sometimes soothing, sometimes something from 80s pop, it all sounds terrific. Go Vacation sold relatively well in Japan - it even received an Iwata Asks segment. Unfortunately, the sales didn't carry over to North America.
9) The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
From the team behind the Ace Combat series, Project Aces made a companion game to The Sky Crawlers anime movie. As you can probably guess since Project Aces is aboard, the high flying dogfight-ing turmoil of Innocent Aces is quite high. Whether your mission is to obliterate all enemies from the sky, take out specific targets, or defend a supply freighter or friendly base, you have a heap of aerial action to satiate your thirst for high octane heroics. There are several plane types that you are assigned to using on special missions that add some artificial difficulty to the game, such as having to use a horrible to maneuver aircraft in Senryu to save your squadmates with a panic-inducing strict time limit to boot.
The difficulty is uneven throughout the game, but overcoming it yields great rewards as the gameplay is just so brilliant. Taking down enemy fighters with TMC moves or Tactical Maneuver Commands allow you to shoot down foes effortlessly and while doing so in style. Primary and secondary weapons for each aircraft offer alternative methods to achieve your quota for destruction. Apart from the flying, you might find yourself just soaring around the skies freely just to marvel at the magnificent music and surrounding locales. The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces released at the price point of $30 USD, so it is bound to be even less now.
8) Kororinpa: Marble Mania
Following the lead of Sega's Super Monkey Ball series, Hudson Soft's Kororinpa: Marble Mania has players tilting and rotating the Wii remote to maneuver the simple-at-the-start, complicated-later-on levels of the game. It sounds like child's play, but things become much more challenging later on down the line when a player has to deal with moving platforms, narrow pathways, and an abundance of rail-free sections of levels. The object of each Kororinpa level is to collect all of the colored crystals to unlock the goal which the player must then reach. There are over 50 unique levels in the game to become victorious on as well as to master. Players earn trophies based on their time besting a level, either gold, silver, or bronze.
After a round of levels has been completed, players are whisked away to new level types with different environments. From tranquil gardens to sickening sweet confectionery delights to roll your marble on, there's no shortage of locales to be had. Unlockable marbles each with their own stats and secret, much more arduous levels add to the replay value of the game. A sequel would be made called Marble Saga: Kororinpa, which would allow players to devise and create their own levels. The reason I chose the original Kororinpa is because that of the two games, Marble Mania is considered the rarer of the two, thus giving it more of chance that many haven't heard of it.
7) Dewy's Adventure
After a near launch title for the Wii in Elebits (which one could argue deserves to be on this list as well) was completed, the development team began work on a totally different project and new intellectual property starring a dew droplet appropriately named Dewy. Dewy's Adventure follows the cutesy water droplet as he tries to abolish the threat of Black Water from the land. The game uses the Wii remote held horizontally and has players tilting it to move Dewy around. Sometimes it can feel like you're sliding him around like butter on a hot skillet, but more often than not this works.
Dewy isn't your ordinary living droplet of water either. He has the power to affect the weather. Many times these powers allow him to advance in the various worlds and levels in the game by solving puzzles and taking down large groups of baddies. He can create strong winds that put some foes to sleep. He can summon disastrous earthquakes to destroy boulders in his way, and he can turn to ice to freeze bodies of water, allowing Dewy to cross them without worry. Experimenting with Dewy's various forms is always recommended for when players reach a dead end. I proudly have my Dewy pre-order plushie presented on one of my shelves. I know the game did not receive its fair share of fanfare - and Konami is much less willing to risk money in unsure ideas - but I would love to see Dewy return to the gaming landscape.
6) We Love Golf!
At its outward appearance, We Love Golf! is a standard fare Japanese-centric golf game containing an abundance of colorful anime-esque characters and bright and cheery courses. Delving more inside the core of the game, you realize that We Love Golf! is a remarkably deeper and more rewarding game than you first realized. Tournament mode puts players against a field of 29 names who all vie for the spot of number one as they play 18 holes of a given golf course. The player with the best score at the conclusion of 18 holes is deemed the champion. There are three difficulties with regards to Tournament: the regular Tournament, the more sloped greens and tougher conditions of the Pro Tournament, and the agonizingly challenging Mirror Tournament.
At the start of the game, your choices of courses and golfers are limited, but by the end of the game you have eight courses (not including the three short courses) and a dozen or so bland golfing personalities (though the personality problem is lessened when you unlock Capcom-themed costumes for your characters such as Apollo Justice, Arthur from Ghost 'n' Goblins, and Chun-Li of Street Fighter fame). Unfortunately, I can only imagine that the publisher of the game, Capcom, was banking on Nintendo fans buying the game solely because Camelot developed it. This did not happen. Even with its addicting and rewarding gameplay, bounty of unlockables, online play, and clever course design, We Love Golf! was mightily overlooked and uncelebrated by Wii owners. In fact, I surmise that more Wii owners know of Super Swing Golf than Camelot's wonderful golfing game.
5) Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
I hesitated to put this game on the list because it has been the subject of a metric ton of sales, usually putting the game around the extraordinarily-worth-it five dollar price point to pick up. The original Sin and Punishment released on the Nintendo 64, but it was only available in Japan up until the game came out on the Wii's Virtual Console service in late 2007. The game was 100% true to the original game. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is the first sequel of that Nintendo 64 classic and the first to get a retail release in the west. Players take on the role of either a boy or a girl in this 3D shoot 'em up. Players zoom in and out of areas, bombarding baddies with blasts and melee attacks to send their shots back at them, and battle big bosses with most levels consisting of multiple encounters with more powerful creatures.
This Treasure-developed game rewards players with not getting hit by increasing their score multiplier. Some serious scoring can be done if one doesn't lose their multiplier by taking damage. Scores can even be compared online on the leaderboards, so it's great to literally shoot for number one. If you don't like aiming by pointing at the screen with the Wii remote (why you wouldn't is beyond me), you can opt to use a GameCube controller or use the Classic Controller. From discovering a boss's weak point to the adrenaline rush of carefully dodging a flurry of fiery shots, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is a terrific title. It's just a shame that Nintendo of America let it slip through the cracks instead of letting people know more about the game. That notwithstanding, I guess we should be glad they even decided to localize the game, judging by their recent history.
4) Fishing Resort
Fishing Resort was developed by Prope, a studio founded by Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka.While his games after leaving Sonic Team and Sega have not been significant sellers, the originality and quality of each game has been pretty much all top-of-the-line. Speaking of lines (at least in regards to fishing lines), Fishing Resort puts players on a vacation-like island full of different locales. Fish in the steamy jungle, go ice fishing on the island's tall glacier mountains, or just relax by the beach for some good ol' fishin' fun. The actual fishing has players casting the line with the Wii remote and reeling fish in by performing circular motions with the nunchuk. It can feel like an exercise when one is trying to nab something as ferocious as a ten-foot barracuda!
Also, there are twenty or so fishing-related mini-games such as casting one's line to fall within a target with varying scores based on how close they reach the bull's eye. In addition to the mini-games, players can also strive to catch the hundreds of fish types to add to their collection or give to the local aquarium. There's even online leaderboards as well as local play for up to four anglers to try to determine who is the top fisherman. The customization is also very nice, allowing players to dress up, equip themselves with the best bait and rod for the right occasion, and personalize themselves as they see fit. Fishing Resort released late last year (with or without a special peripheral), and it sort of got away from most gamers like a tough-to-catch fish.
3) Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy
Based off the game by Kenta Cho, Tuniki Fighters, Blast Works' gameplay is a 2D shoot 'em up with a twist. Destroyed enemies can attach themselves to the player's ship, allowing them to act as either extra protection or even extra offense. For example, if a defeated enemy with a cannon falls onto the player's ship, it will intermittently fire at foes as long as it is in commission. This gameplay element serves as something refreshing for a game that might be considered stale without it. But then these people who might consider it stale otherwise haven't met the exhaustive editing tools Blast Works possesses. Players can build their own fighters, enemies, buildings and other architecture for backgrounds, and design their own levels. Or, if one lacks the creative touch to design something wholly original, they can edit already created assets and add a personalized touch to them. These creations could be shared on the official Blast Works site and be shared via the seldom used WiiConnect24 function. Blast Works is like the LittleBigPlanet of shoot 'em up games with a ton of customization and the gameplay to back it up. For twenty dollars (USD) at release, the game was a brilliant bargain. It still is today.
2) The Munchables
Alluding to another one of Namco Bandai's games, Katamari Damacy, the goal of each level in The Munchables is to try to grow your hungry mascot as large as possible. The main attraction to The Munchables is to gobble up enemies. Each level, you start fresh. A predetermined size is given to you at the beginning of a level. Your size is indicated by a level number. You can easily eat up smaller enemies, but if an enemy has a higher level than you, your Munchable won't be able to fit its jaws around it. In this case, you have to attack the enemy so it will divide itself into smaller, lower level enemies. For each enemy you digest, you earn a meal point. These are totaled up at the end of the level to reward you a letter ranking based on your performance, up to an "S" ranking. In order to maximize your meal counter, you'll want to go to town on several space pirates in a row. The more you eat in a continuous manner without taking much of a breather, the higher the meal bonus you'll acquire. You can hold down the chow down button to charge at enemies with your mouth open for a relatively swift way to digest a myriad of adversaries.
There's eight worlds to complete, each with three stages. The third of which is always a boss battle against a food-related foe like a bad piece of broccoli or a sour attitude vine of grapes. Even after the game is completed, a mirror mode unlocks. Then there's unlockable costumes and secrets in each level to discover. The Munchables will no doubt satisfy your craving for something colorful and fresh. Additionally, The Munchables was so overlooked by gamers that SuperPhillip Central was actually the first place to review the game. That's saying something.
1) Excitebots: Trick Racing
In the world of Excitebots: Trick Racing, obtaining first place is not good enough to win. No, no. You have to win in style. By choosing one of many already unlocked or secret bot vehicles which range from a rat to a lobster, players speed through tracks strewn across the world and even in space. Through each of a given race's three laps, players must earn stars through doing a bevy of cool tricks and stunts such as spinning multiple times in midair, smashing into another vehicle, kicking a field goal through the uprights, scoring a soccer goal, knocking down ten bowling pins to achieve a strike, collecting a group of butterflies, playing the role of a daredevil and flirting with danger by passing through a narrow path surrounded by trees, and other incredible feats of amazement. For every successful trick or stunt a racer pulls off, they earn stars (a bonus of stars is rewarded to first place). The racer with the most stars at the conclusion of a race is determined the victor.
Excitebots is a tremendous arcade racer that will certainly get the adrenaline going. One might think that using the Wii remote to steer and perform tricks would be - for lack of a better word - tricky, but that honestly couldn't be more of a folly to believe. The racing feels absolutely sensational, and I couldn't imagine playing the game with a regular controller. The level of fun would be lessened. Excitebots: Trick Racing was released with no applause or recognition on its release - not even by Nintendo. It never even made it to Europe, sadly, so Europeans missed out on a stellar racer, though they did get to experience the launch game, Excite Truck, which Excitebots is a spiritual sequel of. Excitebots: Trick Racing is definitely worth a look as it has a remarkable sense of speed, action, entertainment, great online, and loads to unlock.
The Wii library is so robust that there are plenty of other titles that I would have liked to have listed here but could not because of the ten game limit. I am referring to titles like A Boy and His Blob, Endless Ocean and its sequel, MySims Racing, Opoona, Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros' Treasure, MLB Power Pros, and a wide assortment of others. The Wii truly has a tremendous library, given you take the opportunity to banish the preconceived notions of the system you might have and actually attempt to give the library a chance.
10) Go Vacation
Welcome to Kawawii Island, your virtual getaway destination with four specific resorts to explore and play around in: Marine, City, Snow, and Mountain. Go Vacation is essentially a mini-game collection that strives to be much more. For instance, the various resorts you visit act like a sandbox. You can find and participate in unique activities like ATV races, jetski competitions, tennis, equestrian games, scuba diving, skydiving, skateboarding, mini golf, and many more. Some activities control better than others, but the majority of them exude plenty of entertainment.
Journeying across the four resorts offers plenty of opportunities for exploration including uncovering hidden treasure chests that contain gear for your avatar character, photo ops, missions to complete, and other optional tasks. The game focuses heavily on customization as well. You can earn silver keys from finishing off all challenges for a specific activity to unlock different types of furniture for your villa. From getting your interior decorator on with villa creation to personalizing the look of your in-game avatar, there's plenty of room to show off your creativity. Then there's the clean presentation of the game and the absolutely infectious music. Sometimes soothing, sometimes something from 80s pop, it all sounds terrific. Go Vacation sold relatively well in Japan - it even received an Iwata Asks segment. Unfortunately, the sales didn't carry over to North America.
9) The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
From the team behind the Ace Combat series, Project Aces made a companion game to The Sky Crawlers anime movie. As you can probably guess since Project Aces is aboard, the high flying dogfight-ing turmoil of Innocent Aces is quite high. Whether your mission is to obliterate all enemies from the sky, take out specific targets, or defend a supply freighter or friendly base, you have a heap of aerial action to satiate your thirst for high octane heroics. There are several plane types that you are assigned to using on special missions that add some artificial difficulty to the game, such as having to use a horrible to maneuver aircraft in Senryu to save your squadmates with a panic-inducing strict time limit to boot.
The difficulty is uneven throughout the game, but overcoming it yields great rewards as the gameplay is just so brilliant. Taking down enemy fighters with TMC moves or Tactical Maneuver Commands allow you to shoot down foes effortlessly and while doing so in style. Primary and secondary weapons for each aircraft offer alternative methods to achieve your quota for destruction. Apart from the flying, you might find yourself just soaring around the skies freely just to marvel at the magnificent music and surrounding locales. The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces released at the price point of $30 USD, so it is bound to be even less now.
8) Kororinpa: Marble Mania
Following the lead of Sega's Super Monkey Ball series, Hudson Soft's Kororinpa: Marble Mania has players tilting and rotating the Wii remote to maneuver the simple-at-the-start, complicated-later-on levels of the game. It sounds like child's play, but things become much more challenging later on down the line when a player has to deal with moving platforms, narrow pathways, and an abundance of rail-free sections of levels. The object of each Kororinpa level is to collect all of the colored crystals to unlock the goal which the player must then reach. There are over 50 unique levels in the game to become victorious on as well as to master. Players earn trophies based on their time besting a level, either gold, silver, or bronze.
After a round of levels has been completed, players are whisked away to new level types with different environments. From tranquil gardens to sickening sweet confectionery delights to roll your marble on, there's no shortage of locales to be had. Unlockable marbles each with their own stats and secret, much more arduous levels add to the replay value of the game. A sequel would be made called Marble Saga: Kororinpa, which would allow players to devise and create their own levels. The reason I chose the original Kororinpa is because that of the two games, Marble Mania is considered the rarer of the two, thus giving it more of chance that many haven't heard of it.
7) Dewy's Adventure
After a near launch title for the Wii in Elebits (which one could argue deserves to be on this list as well) was completed, the development team began work on a totally different project and new intellectual property starring a dew droplet appropriately named Dewy. Dewy's Adventure follows the cutesy water droplet as he tries to abolish the threat of Black Water from the land. The game uses the Wii remote held horizontally and has players tilting it to move Dewy around. Sometimes it can feel like you're sliding him around like butter on a hot skillet, but more often than not this works.
Dewy isn't your ordinary living droplet of water either. He has the power to affect the weather. Many times these powers allow him to advance in the various worlds and levels in the game by solving puzzles and taking down large groups of baddies. He can create strong winds that put some foes to sleep. He can summon disastrous earthquakes to destroy boulders in his way, and he can turn to ice to freeze bodies of water, allowing Dewy to cross them without worry. Experimenting with Dewy's various forms is always recommended for when players reach a dead end. I proudly have my Dewy pre-order plushie presented on one of my shelves. I know the game did not receive its fair share of fanfare - and Konami is much less willing to risk money in unsure ideas - but I would love to see Dewy return to the gaming landscape.
6) We Love Golf!
At its outward appearance, We Love Golf! is a standard fare Japanese-centric golf game containing an abundance of colorful anime-esque characters and bright and cheery courses. Delving more inside the core of the game, you realize that We Love Golf! is a remarkably deeper and more rewarding game than you first realized. Tournament mode puts players against a field of 29 names who all vie for the spot of number one as they play 18 holes of a given golf course. The player with the best score at the conclusion of 18 holes is deemed the champion. There are three difficulties with regards to Tournament: the regular Tournament, the more sloped greens and tougher conditions of the Pro Tournament, and the agonizingly challenging Mirror Tournament.
At the start of the game, your choices of courses and golfers are limited, but by the end of the game you have eight courses (not including the three short courses) and a dozen or so bland golfing personalities (though the personality problem is lessened when you unlock Capcom-themed costumes for your characters such as Apollo Justice, Arthur from Ghost 'n' Goblins, and Chun-Li of Street Fighter fame). Unfortunately, I can only imagine that the publisher of the game, Capcom, was banking on Nintendo fans buying the game solely because Camelot developed it. This did not happen. Even with its addicting and rewarding gameplay, bounty of unlockables, online play, and clever course design, We Love Golf! was mightily overlooked and uncelebrated by Wii owners. In fact, I surmise that more Wii owners know of Super Swing Golf than Camelot's wonderful golfing game.
5) Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
I hesitated to put this game on the list because it has been the subject of a metric ton of sales, usually putting the game around the extraordinarily-worth-it five dollar price point to pick up. The original Sin and Punishment released on the Nintendo 64, but it was only available in Japan up until the game came out on the Wii's Virtual Console service in late 2007. The game was 100% true to the original game. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is the first sequel of that Nintendo 64 classic and the first to get a retail release in the west. Players take on the role of either a boy or a girl in this 3D shoot 'em up. Players zoom in and out of areas, bombarding baddies with blasts and melee attacks to send their shots back at them, and battle big bosses with most levels consisting of multiple encounters with more powerful creatures.
This Treasure-developed game rewards players with not getting hit by increasing their score multiplier. Some serious scoring can be done if one doesn't lose their multiplier by taking damage. Scores can even be compared online on the leaderboards, so it's great to literally shoot for number one. If you don't like aiming by pointing at the screen with the Wii remote (why you wouldn't is beyond me), you can opt to use a GameCube controller or use the Classic Controller. From discovering a boss's weak point to the adrenaline rush of carefully dodging a flurry of fiery shots, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is a terrific title. It's just a shame that Nintendo of America let it slip through the cracks instead of letting people know more about the game. That notwithstanding, I guess we should be glad they even decided to localize the game, judging by their recent history.
4) Fishing Resort
Fishing Resort was developed by Prope, a studio founded by Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka.While his games after leaving Sonic Team and Sega have not been significant sellers, the originality and quality of each game has been pretty much all top-of-the-line. Speaking of lines (at least in regards to fishing lines), Fishing Resort puts players on a vacation-like island full of different locales. Fish in the steamy jungle, go ice fishing on the island's tall glacier mountains, or just relax by the beach for some good ol' fishin' fun. The actual fishing has players casting the line with the Wii remote and reeling fish in by performing circular motions with the nunchuk. It can feel like an exercise when one is trying to nab something as ferocious as a ten-foot barracuda!
Also, there are twenty or so fishing-related mini-games such as casting one's line to fall within a target with varying scores based on how close they reach the bull's eye. In addition to the mini-games, players can also strive to catch the hundreds of fish types to add to their collection or give to the local aquarium. There's even online leaderboards as well as local play for up to four anglers to try to determine who is the top fisherman. The customization is also very nice, allowing players to dress up, equip themselves with the best bait and rod for the right occasion, and personalize themselves as they see fit. Fishing Resort released late last year (with or without a special peripheral), and it sort of got away from most gamers like a tough-to-catch fish.
3) Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy
Based off the game by Kenta Cho, Tuniki Fighters, Blast Works' gameplay is a 2D shoot 'em up with a twist. Destroyed enemies can attach themselves to the player's ship, allowing them to act as either extra protection or even extra offense. For example, if a defeated enemy with a cannon falls onto the player's ship, it will intermittently fire at foes as long as it is in commission. This gameplay element serves as something refreshing for a game that might be considered stale without it. But then these people who might consider it stale otherwise haven't met the exhaustive editing tools Blast Works possesses. Players can build their own fighters, enemies, buildings and other architecture for backgrounds, and design their own levels. Or, if one lacks the creative touch to design something wholly original, they can edit already created assets and add a personalized touch to them. These creations could be shared on the official Blast Works site and be shared via the seldom used WiiConnect24 function. Blast Works is like the LittleBigPlanet of shoot 'em up games with a ton of customization and the gameplay to back it up. For twenty dollars (USD) at release, the game was a brilliant bargain. It still is today.
2) The Munchables
Alluding to another one of Namco Bandai's games, Katamari Damacy, the goal of each level in The Munchables is to try to grow your hungry mascot as large as possible. The main attraction to The Munchables is to gobble up enemies. Each level, you start fresh. A predetermined size is given to you at the beginning of a level. Your size is indicated by a level number. You can easily eat up smaller enemies, but if an enemy has a higher level than you, your Munchable won't be able to fit its jaws around it. In this case, you have to attack the enemy so it will divide itself into smaller, lower level enemies. For each enemy you digest, you earn a meal point. These are totaled up at the end of the level to reward you a letter ranking based on your performance, up to an "S" ranking. In order to maximize your meal counter, you'll want to go to town on several space pirates in a row. The more you eat in a continuous manner without taking much of a breather, the higher the meal bonus you'll acquire. You can hold down the chow down button to charge at enemies with your mouth open for a relatively swift way to digest a myriad of adversaries.
There's eight worlds to complete, each with three stages. The third of which is always a boss battle against a food-related foe like a bad piece of broccoli or a sour attitude vine of grapes. Even after the game is completed, a mirror mode unlocks. Then there's unlockable costumes and secrets in each level to discover. The Munchables will no doubt satisfy your craving for something colorful and fresh. Additionally, The Munchables was so overlooked by gamers that SuperPhillip Central was actually the first place to review the game. That's saying something.
1) Excitebots: Trick Racing
In the world of Excitebots: Trick Racing, obtaining first place is not good enough to win. No, no. You have to win in style. By choosing one of many already unlocked or secret bot vehicles which range from a rat to a lobster, players speed through tracks strewn across the world and even in space. Through each of a given race's three laps, players must earn stars through doing a bevy of cool tricks and stunts such as spinning multiple times in midair, smashing into another vehicle, kicking a field goal through the uprights, scoring a soccer goal, knocking down ten bowling pins to achieve a strike, collecting a group of butterflies, playing the role of a daredevil and flirting with danger by passing through a narrow path surrounded by trees, and other incredible feats of amazement. For every successful trick or stunt a racer pulls off, they earn stars (a bonus of stars is rewarded to first place). The racer with the most stars at the conclusion of a race is determined the victor.
Excitebots is a tremendous arcade racer that will certainly get the adrenaline going. One might think that using the Wii remote to steer and perform tricks would be - for lack of a better word - tricky, but that honestly couldn't be more of a folly to believe. The racing feels absolutely sensational, and I couldn't imagine playing the game with a regular controller. The level of fun would be lessened. Excitebots: Trick Racing was released with no applause or recognition on its release - not even by Nintendo. It never even made it to Europe, sadly, so Europeans missed out on a stellar racer, though they did get to experience the launch game, Excite Truck, which Excitebots is a spiritual sequel of. Excitebots: Trick Racing is definitely worth a look as it has a remarkable sense of speed, action, entertainment, great online, and loads to unlock.
===
The Wii library is so robust that there are plenty of other titles that I would have liked to have listed here but could not because of the ten game limit. I am referring to titles like A Boy and His Blob, Endless Ocean and its sequel, MySims Racing, Opoona, Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros' Treasure, MLB Power Pros, and a wide assortment of others. The Wii truly has a tremendous library, given you take the opportunity to banish the preconceived notions of the system you might have and actually attempt to give the library a chance.
Ys - Foliage Ocean in Celceta (PSV) New Trailer
This year I have found a new franchise that I am in love with - Ys. Its pure action-RPG gameplay made me enamored with Oath in Felghana and Ys Seven. Now, the tradition continues with the PlayStation Vita exclusive, Ys - Foliage Ocean in Celceta. Instead of having a camera locked overhead, it now follows behind the player, similar to something like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Final Fantasy XII. Watch this action-packed trailer below.
Monday, July 23, 2012
SuperPhillip Interviews: The Team at n-Space
SuperPhillip (SP): What inspired you to
create Heroes of Ruin for the 3DS?
n-Space (NS): Heroes of Ruin is our contribution to a genre that we love
and respect: action adventure games that are heavy on leveling and looting. Titles
like Diablo, Dungeon Siege and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance were among our key
sources of inspiration. Our base concept, though, was to bring to the Nintendo
3DS the most robustly featured game in this genre that’s ever been developed
for a portable system. That concept not only excited the development team — it
excited Nintendo 3DS owners across the globe.
SP: The Heroes of Ruin
demo was impressive. I can only imagine how the full game will be. Were there
any problems in development with fitting the whole game (graphics, content,
amount of loot, characters, dungeons, online functionality) onto a 3DS game
card, much more pushing the 3DS system itself to run the game?
NS: Your readers might not know that Nintendo 3DS game cards
come in different sizes to accommodate games of varying scope. The game card
for Kingdom Hearts 3D, for example, is much heftier than the game card for Bust-A-Move
Universe.
We worked diligently to keep Heroes of Ruin as lean as
possible so that it could fit onto the smallest 3DS game card. In some ways, it
was a struggle to meet those limitations, but this process helped us learn
quite a bit about maximizing our resources. And it was good for us to challenge
ourselves in this regard because that ultimately meant we had all the more
reason to be proud of the game!
SP: Did having the
stereoscopic 3D of the Nintendo 3DS necessitate a change in approach to
development similar to how, with the shift to 3D, filmmakers had to change
their approach to how they shot scenes? Did the 3D effect make some things
possible to do which would have been impossible otherwise?
NS: Our experience might not have been as radical a shift as
what 3D filmmakers faced, but the new capabilities allowed us to enhance Heroes
of Ruin in ways more subtle and sublime. For example, you might see an
environmental object momentarily come between you and your character. This kind
of overlap is possible with any system that accommodates layered displays, but it
yields an enhanced sense of depth when done correctly on the Nintendo 3DS. That’s
why we regard stereoscopic 3D as the next step along the path of fully
captivating and involving players.
SP: Is it possible for
Heroes of Ruin to get patch support for things like glitches, bugs, exploits,
higher-level caps, oversights, etc? And if so, are there any plans to do so?
NS: Glitches? What are you talking about? Heroes of Ruin is flawless
— just like every other video game that’s ever been released! In all
seriousness, though, Nintendo has greatly empowered developers and publishers
with the Nintendo 3DS eShop. It was encouraging to see Nintendo release the
Mario Kart 7 update eliminating the Maka Wuhu shortcut, partly because we’re
huge Mario Kart 7 fans and partly because that demonstrated how such updates
could be delivered. So the possibility is there. As far as what updates might
be done for Heroes of Ruin, if any, that’s an ongoing discussion.
SP: I know at the latest
Nintendo Direct for Europe that it was revealed that Heroes of Ruin would have
free daily challenges for a year. Could you go into more detail on what kinds
of challenges will be available and how deep/complex they are?
NS: There are actually two types of challenges offered in Heroes
of Ruin. Daily challenges, which are delivered by Square Enix, are unique to
any given calendar day to ensure players can constantly enjoy fresh
experiences. In addition to these offerings, Square Enix will coordinate weekly
challenges. These will afford players a bit more time to earn the Valor that
can be exchanged for more powerful weapons and armor. So how exactly do you
earn Valor? One challenge has you hunting down five wolves in the Elder Forest.
Another challenge tasks you with killing four enemies in four seconds. There’s
a wide variety that will keep players of all skill levels engaged.
SP: Do you currently have
any plans to add DLC in the form of new dungeons, character classes, etc?
NS: That’s a tricky question to answer. If you look on the
Heroes of Ruin box, you’ll notice an absence of the orange Nintendo Network
logo. This means the game in stores doesn’t offer the option to purchase paid
DLC. But that’s not necessarily the final word on the subject. We don’t have
anything to announce at this time, but if your readers would like to see paid
DLC, they can make their voices heard at the HeroesOfRuin.com message boards.
Square Enix keeps a pretty close eye on that dialogue.
SP: Is it true that
Nintendo assisted in development of Heroes of Ruin by unlocking more of the 3DS
system's power? If so, how did that help development?
NS: Nintendo did help us, but not exactly in the way that’s been
reported. There’s been a bit of confusion on this point, so thank you for
allowing us this opportunity to set the record straight.
At one point last year, Nintendo released an updated
software development kit for the Nintendo 3DS. This new kit granted us and
other developers new access to the system’s second processor, essentially
unlocking for us some power that Nintendo had previously held in reserve. In
our case, we applied these new resources toward some of multiplayer aspects
within Heroes of Ruin, such as Wi-Fi communications.
So while Heroes of Ruin benefited from the updated software
development kit that Nintendo released in 2011, that kit was not released
specifically for Heroes of Ruin or given exclusively to us. It’s easy to see
where the confusion could occur, but it’s a distinction worth making.
SP: Speaking of Nintendo,
what potential do you see in the 3DS's future and the company’s next console,
the Wii U?
NS: Consider how much the Nintendo 3DS has accomplished in its
first 18 months. It’s hosted games in the Resident Evil, Metal Gear and Dead or
Alive franchises; it’s delivered incredible experiences from smaller studios,
such as Mutant Mudds from Renegade Kid; and it’s helped redefine what we can
expect from a portable system with unique features like StreetPass. And again,
this is just the first 18 months. Can you imagine the incredible games and
experiences we’ll be discussing two years hence? The Nintendo 3DS offers an
amazing amount of potential and we’re very eager to see what we and other
developers can achieve.
Similarly, the Wii U also has us very excited. We saw at
this year’s E3 some very innovative and exciting uses of the GamePad controller.
Of course, that tech defines how many people perceive the Wii U, but there’s
much more Nintendo will achieve with the system. Miiverse could revolutionize how
we think about and experience online interactions with other players. And
because we’re developing the Nintendo 3DS release of Skylanders Giants, the Wii
U’s Near Field Communication capabilities have us very excited. Would you
collect a line of Super Smash Bros. figures to scan and unlock trophies in the
upcoming Wii U game? We sure would!
In short, whether you’re a portable game player, a console
game player or a little of both, it’s a great time to be a Nintendo fan. And
we’re very happy to add to the fun with games like Heroes of Ruin!
===
It was my pleasure to interview the minds behind Heroes of Ruin. In the process of receiving this interview, I was assisted by n-Space president and co-founder, Dan O'Leary, as well as n-Space's Joshua Lynsen who organized the team's answers into what you see before you. Heroes of Ruin is available now exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. As for this site, SuperPhillip Central will have even more interviews with industry insiders and developers in the near future. Stick around and stay tuned!
SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - Donkey Kong Edition
For no reason whatsoever we have an installment of the favorite VGMs dedicated solely to the main monkey, the great gorilla, the apt ape, Donkey Kong. We have Rare-composed music, spinoff music, and a medley based off of his arcade days. Grab a nutritious banana, sit down, sit back, and crank up the volume to these enticing tunes.
v156. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) - Fear Factory
One of many fantastic and tantalizing themes heard throughout the course of Rare's refreshing of Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country, Fear Factory plays in the penultimate world, an industrial area full of - as you can probably guess from the song's title - factories. One of the more difficult levels involved oil barrels that would have flames emerge from them intermittently. Players had to time their jumps carefully to avoid getting burned. The level's home stretch was full of these oil barrels suspended over a bottomless pit. Timing was everything. Fear Factory would be remixed in the Nintendo Wii classic, Donkey Kong Country Returns, set in some of the - you guessed it - factory levels.
v157. DK: King of Swing (GBA) - Necky's Canyon
DK: King of Swing is a game with similarities to a classic NES game, Clu Clu Land. The game is a drastic departure from the standard gameplay players experienced throughout the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land trilogies. Players use the shoulder buttons as DK's hands, grasping pegs to climb up mostly vertical levels, all the while avoiding or defeating familiar K. Rool enemies like Kremlings and Zingers. Necky's Canyon is my favorite of the themes heard in the game. In this level, the concept of grabbing and tossing rocks at enemies is introduced. It's a shame King of Swing was overlooked because of its dissimilarities to Donkey Kong Country. Most critics, including myself, enjoyed the game.
v158. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (GCN) - Sky Garden
Like DK King of Swing, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat was another departure from what players had known to be Donkey Kong-style gameplay. Instead of bashing Kremlings, DK entered various kingdoms, bashing bosses like rival Kongs, robotic elephants, and foul fowl. That wasn't the only unique part about the game. In the GameCube original, players utilized a bongo controller to move DK, attack, and grab bananas. By earning high combos and collecting loads of banana bunches, DK could earn medals to unlock more difficult kingdoms. The soundtrack was composed by Mahito Yakota, who would go on to receive full orchestral treatment to his music with a little known game called Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel.
v159. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (SNES) - Stilt Village
I sort of consider Donkey Kong Country 3 to be the black sheep of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy. It's a competent game, don't get me wrong, but the absence of Donkey Kong completely and Diddy Kong made something amiss for me. That plus the clear drop in quality of the soundtrack from DKC2: Diddy's Kong-Quest to this game also influenced by opinion of the game. It's my least favorite of the trilogy, but like I said, it's still a competent game.
v160. Donkey Kong (ARC) - Medley (Brawl Version)
I was born in a time where arcades were still around in the United States, and I remember playing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game and Turtles in Time at a mall that was on the way home from my grandma's (dad's side) house. I never got the chance to experience Donkey Kong in arcade form, but I did suffer greatly through having to play it just to be able to face the final boss in Donkey Kong 64. Stupid game design decision 101. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this medley of music from the Donkey Kong arcade game from this Super Smash Bros. Brawl rendition.
This kong-frontation with the music of several Donkey Kong titles is now over. If you missed a previous installment of the VGMs, check out the SuperPhillip's Favorite VGM Database. It has all the VGMs I have ever commented on in convenient clicking form. Until next week, these VGMs are going back on summer vacation.
v156. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) - Fear Factory
One of many fantastic and tantalizing themes heard throughout the course of Rare's refreshing of Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country, Fear Factory plays in the penultimate world, an industrial area full of - as you can probably guess from the song's title - factories. One of the more difficult levels involved oil barrels that would have flames emerge from them intermittently. Players had to time their jumps carefully to avoid getting burned. The level's home stretch was full of these oil barrels suspended over a bottomless pit. Timing was everything. Fear Factory would be remixed in the Nintendo Wii classic, Donkey Kong Country Returns, set in some of the - you guessed it - factory levels.
v157. DK: King of Swing (GBA) - Necky's Canyon
DK: King of Swing is a game with similarities to a classic NES game, Clu Clu Land. The game is a drastic departure from the standard gameplay players experienced throughout the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land trilogies. Players use the shoulder buttons as DK's hands, grasping pegs to climb up mostly vertical levels, all the while avoiding or defeating familiar K. Rool enemies like Kremlings and Zingers. Necky's Canyon is my favorite of the themes heard in the game. In this level, the concept of grabbing and tossing rocks at enemies is introduced. It's a shame King of Swing was overlooked because of its dissimilarities to Donkey Kong Country. Most critics, including myself, enjoyed the game.
v158. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (GCN) - Sky Garden
Like DK King of Swing, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat was another departure from what players had known to be Donkey Kong-style gameplay. Instead of bashing Kremlings, DK entered various kingdoms, bashing bosses like rival Kongs, robotic elephants, and foul fowl. That wasn't the only unique part about the game. In the GameCube original, players utilized a bongo controller to move DK, attack, and grab bananas. By earning high combos and collecting loads of banana bunches, DK could earn medals to unlock more difficult kingdoms. The soundtrack was composed by Mahito Yakota, who would go on to receive full orchestral treatment to his music with a little known game called Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel.
v159. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (SNES) - Stilt Village
I sort of consider Donkey Kong Country 3 to be the black sheep of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy. It's a competent game, don't get me wrong, but the absence of Donkey Kong completely and Diddy Kong made something amiss for me. That plus the clear drop in quality of the soundtrack from DKC2: Diddy's Kong-Quest to this game also influenced by opinion of the game. It's my least favorite of the trilogy, but like I said, it's still a competent game.
v160. Donkey Kong (ARC) - Medley (Brawl Version)
I was born in a time where arcades were still around in the United States, and I remember playing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game and Turtles in Time at a mall that was on the way home from my grandma's (dad's side) house. I never got the chance to experience Donkey Kong in arcade form, but I did suffer greatly through having to play it just to be able to face the final boss in Donkey Kong 64. Stupid game design decision 101. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this medley of music from the Donkey Kong arcade game from this Super Smash Bros. Brawl rendition.
===
This kong-frontation with the music of several Donkey Kong titles is now over. If you missed a previous installment of the VGMs, check out the SuperPhillip's Favorite VGM Database. It has all the VGMs I have ever commented on in convenient clicking form. Until next week, these VGMs are going back on summer vacation.
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