Now for a game that's releasing soon, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch. Last week saw an overview trailer of the game, and now this week it's a character-themed trailer being posted. Check out the party of memorable characters that will join Shulk's cause with this trailer, and play Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition when it launches on May 29th!
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PS4, XB1, PC) Announce Trailer
The legendary skateboarding series returns, but hopefully this time around this remake will be more worthy of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater name than the previous few attempts! Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 features both classic extreme sports skateboarding games, updated to 4K, with all the additional graphical bells and whistles fans of the franchise and new players alike will enjoy. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 4th.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Double-Dipped: Games I've Purchased More Than Once Over the Years
Welcome to the beginning of a brand new series of articles on SuperPhillip Central. Can you believe that after nearly 12 years of this blog being online that I can still come up with new ideas for article series? If you do, then you have more faith in me than I do!
This is Double-Dipped, an article series that talks about games that I enjoyed so much that I couldn't help but take a second or sometimes third plunge on purchasing. These games fill me with such unadulterated joy that I like to play them on any new platform I can--but at the same time, some of these games were bought again for the same exact console. Those stories and more will be shared in this regularly reoccurring series. Let's dive in with the first of six games for this inaugural edition of Double-Dipped!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NSW)
I was talking about buying a game twice on the same system, and speak of the devil (and no, I'm not alluding to Tom Nook--he's cool in my book), here we are! With Animal Crossing: New Horizons, recently revealed to be the best selling entry in the Animal Crossing series yet, we decided to buy the same game two times: one for myself and one for my brother. This way both of us could maintain our own islands and not at all become limited in our mutual enjoyment of the game. Otherwise, I'd be the one in charge of the main island development while my brother would take a much undesired backseat role, very much ruining the experience for him like it has for others with only one Switch and one copy of the game. Hmm... I'm starting to partly see how New Horizons became the best-selling entry in the series if more siblings or family members were placed in the same precarious situation! Partly, though, mind you, as between the two of us, my brother and I nearly 300 hours of playtime. I'd say the addicting gameplay brings forth a good argument as to why Animal Crossing: New Horizons is selling so well, too!
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii, N3DS)
Do you remember Project Rainfall? Of course not. Because it was called Operation Rainfall. (I originally had this written as "Project Rainfall" in my first draft, so I'm glad I caught it before I hit "Publish".) For North Americans, getting Xenoblade Chronicles released on this side of the world was like fighting a level 60 unique encounter with a level 1 Reyn--it was a difficult battle. Perhaps that isn't the greatest of analogies, as unlike an underleveled Reyn and his fight, we actually won our battle as Xenoblade Chronicles released in North America--though not without some stipulations. Today, Xenoblade Chronicles is a fantastic selling series for Nintendo, and quite an important one. The game saw two sequels with the Wii U's Xenoblade Chronicles X and the Switch's Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The latter received its own successful DLC side story as well.
I originally picked up Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii, like many hungry Wii owners in search of a meaty role-playing game to enjoy during the Wii's leaner years of top-notch releases. I made it rather far, but unfortunately, other games got in the way that I, who was a much younger, more inexperienced blogger at the time, covered. Picking up Xenoblade Chronicles 3D on the New Nintendo 3DS seemed like a great choice, as I could enjoy a mammoth-sized JRPG from the luxury of anywhere, courtesy of handheld gaming. However, I never even put it in my New Nintendo 3DS for a second, as the thought of starting a 100-hour RPG at the time was a daunting one. Now, they say the third time is the charm, and you can bet I'll be picking up the Definitive Edition's release on the Switch at the end of this month. Here's hoping with quarantine that I'll have a reason to not get so distracted this time around!
Spyro: Reignited Trilogy (PS4, NSW)
So many developers pull this trick on Nintendo fans: release a game a year or more after the original launch date on other consoles so foolish gamers will double dip and purchase it a second time around. Well, as you can tell by the name of this article series, you're looking at such a gamer! Spyro: Reignited Trilogy is a collection of the first three Spyro the Dragon games from the original PlayStation that have been completely remade for a new generation of consoles (and a new generation of fans, perhaps, too, at that). As someone who only played parts of the first Spyro the Dragon (and got a major headache from the game in motion), being able to finally enjoy the entire trilogy in such a glorious and gorgeous way gave me the desire to get the Platinum trophy on the entire trilogy of games. When the Switch version was announced and released, it gave me a second lease on the life of this trilogy, and just like my first go 'round, playing the games in both docked and undocked mode was an experience to remember.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U, NSW)
Nintendo is not gun-shy about porting over its catalog of games from the Wii U to the Nintendo Switch. In fact, a good half or so (an approximate figure) of Nintendo's first-party output comes from the Wii U. While this might stink for Wii U fans (all 100 of us), an entirely new audience gets to play these games for the very first time with these Switch ports. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is but one of these games, and you can imagine that future installments of Double-Dipped with touch on other Wii U-to-Switch ports. Tropical Freeze is an absolute delight and near-platforming perfection. The addition of Funky Kong serves as a nice "easy mode" to a game notorious for its challenge and difficulty. Sure, Funky Mode tends to push the game's challenge the opposite way into "too easy" territory, but for beginning players who wish to enjoy Tropical Freeze their way, who are we to thumb our noses down? Despite originally releasing in 2014, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze remains Retro Studios' latest all-new release, which begs the question: What the banana-loving heck is going on at Retro Studios?
Rayman Legends (Wii U, Vita, NSW)
Like Rayman 2, Rayman Legends was a game that felt like it was ported to every current gen platform under the sun. It sure feels like I've played the game on every platform under the sun as I've gotten the game three times now, each feeling like a different experience. The original Wii U version's use of the Wii U GamePad for the Murfy sections, where you maneuver objects, slide platforms, and the like to guide a smartly-controlled AI character through a gauntlet of enemies and dangers, was a blast and quite unique and innovative. Unlike the PlayStation Vita version that used similar touch-based controls for these sections, with the Wii U version, multiplayer was possible here. The Nintendo Switch version saw somewhat of a "best of both worlds" approach. While the original Wii U version remains my favorite of the bunch, the need to use archaic hardware to play it makes it less than attractive for me, so my preferred way to play is on the Nintendo Switch. Regardless, whichever platform you play Rayman Legends on, you're going to get a tremendous-looking, stellar-playing 2D platformer.
LEGO City Undercover (Wii U, NSW, PS4)
Oh, goodness. Another three-peat here for yours truly. LEGO City Undercover wasn't my first LEGO game from Tt Games, but it is my absolute favorite. I guess that's obvious when you see how many times I've purchased and played through the game. The Wii U original saw smart GamePad usages, such as a helpful mini-map on the second screen, a communicator that NPCs used to contact our hero Chase McCain, and a means to scan the environment for subjects and various points of interest. Like many games on the Wii U, LEGO City Undercover thankfully made the trip to the Nintendo Switch, where it kept all of the Mario references but lost the unique GamePad functionality. This version isn't optimized to the best of the developer's ability, resulting in some nasty frame-rate drops, particularly in undocked mode. Still, playing the game on a system with a better controller and on just a better designed system made for a--forgive me for using this word a third time in the same sentence--better experience. I then moved on to the PlayStation 4 version due to a sale price and because I wanted an easy enough Platinum. Yes, that is sad, but I loved playing through LEGO City Undercover for a third time despite that fact.
I hope you enjoyed this inaugural installment of Double-Dipped! What games have you bought more than once? Why did you do it? Let the SPC community know in the comments below!
This is Double-Dipped, an article series that talks about games that I enjoyed so much that I couldn't help but take a second or sometimes third plunge on purchasing. These games fill me with such unadulterated joy that I like to play them on any new platform I can--but at the same time, some of these games were bought again for the same exact console. Those stories and more will be shared in this regularly reoccurring series. Let's dive in with the first of six games for this inaugural edition of Double-Dipped!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NSW)
I was talking about buying a game twice on the same system, and speak of the devil (and no, I'm not alluding to Tom Nook--he's cool in my book), here we are! With Animal Crossing: New Horizons, recently revealed to be the best selling entry in the Animal Crossing series yet, we decided to buy the same game two times: one for myself and one for my brother. This way both of us could maintain our own islands and not at all become limited in our mutual enjoyment of the game. Otherwise, I'd be the one in charge of the main island development while my brother would take a much undesired backseat role, very much ruining the experience for him like it has for others with only one Switch and one copy of the game. Hmm... I'm starting to partly see how New Horizons became the best-selling entry in the series if more siblings or family members were placed in the same precarious situation! Partly, though, mind you, as between the two of us, my brother and I nearly 300 hours of playtime. I'd say the addicting gameplay brings forth a good argument as to why Animal Crossing: New Horizons is selling so well, too!
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii, N3DS)
Do you remember Project Rainfall? Of course not. Because it was called Operation Rainfall. (I originally had this written as "Project Rainfall" in my first draft, so I'm glad I caught it before I hit "Publish".) For North Americans, getting Xenoblade Chronicles released on this side of the world was like fighting a level 60 unique encounter with a level 1 Reyn--it was a difficult battle. Perhaps that isn't the greatest of analogies, as unlike an underleveled Reyn and his fight, we actually won our battle as Xenoblade Chronicles released in North America--though not without some stipulations. Today, Xenoblade Chronicles is a fantastic selling series for Nintendo, and quite an important one. The game saw two sequels with the Wii U's Xenoblade Chronicles X and the Switch's Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The latter received its own successful DLC side story as well.
I originally picked up Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii, like many hungry Wii owners in search of a meaty role-playing game to enjoy during the Wii's leaner years of top-notch releases. I made it rather far, but unfortunately, other games got in the way that I, who was a much younger, more inexperienced blogger at the time, covered. Picking up Xenoblade Chronicles 3D on the New Nintendo 3DS seemed like a great choice, as I could enjoy a mammoth-sized JRPG from the luxury of anywhere, courtesy of handheld gaming. However, I never even put it in my New Nintendo 3DS for a second, as the thought of starting a 100-hour RPG at the time was a daunting one. Now, they say the third time is the charm, and you can bet I'll be picking up the Definitive Edition's release on the Switch at the end of this month. Here's hoping with quarantine that I'll have a reason to not get so distracted this time around!
Spyro: Reignited Trilogy (PS4, NSW)
So many developers pull this trick on Nintendo fans: release a game a year or more after the original launch date on other consoles so foolish gamers will double dip and purchase it a second time around. Well, as you can tell by the name of this article series, you're looking at such a gamer! Spyro: Reignited Trilogy is a collection of the first three Spyro the Dragon games from the original PlayStation that have been completely remade for a new generation of consoles (and a new generation of fans, perhaps, too, at that). As someone who only played parts of the first Spyro the Dragon (and got a major headache from the game in motion), being able to finally enjoy the entire trilogy in such a glorious and gorgeous way gave me the desire to get the Platinum trophy on the entire trilogy of games. When the Switch version was announced and released, it gave me a second lease on the life of this trilogy, and just like my first go 'round, playing the games in both docked and undocked mode was an experience to remember.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U, NSW)
Nintendo is not gun-shy about porting over its catalog of games from the Wii U to the Nintendo Switch. In fact, a good half or so (an approximate figure) of Nintendo's first-party output comes from the Wii U. While this might stink for Wii U fans (all 100 of us), an entirely new audience gets to play these games for the very first time with these Switch ports. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is but one of these games, and you can imagine that future installments of Double-Dipped with touch on other Wii U-to-Switch ports. Tropical Freeze is an absolute delight and near-platforming perfection. The addition of Funky Kong serves as a nice "easy mode" to a game notorious for its challenge and difficulty. Sure, Funky Mode tends to push the game's challenge the opposite way into "too easy" territory, but for beginning players who wish to enjoy Tropical Freeze their way, who are we to thumb our noses down? Despite originally releasing in 2014, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze remains Retro Studios' latest all-new release, which begs the question: What the banana-loving heck is going on at Retro Studios?
Rayman Legends (Wii U, Vita, NSW)
Like Rayman 2, Rayman Legends was a game that felt like it was ported to every current gen platform under the sun. It sure feels like I've played the game on every platform under the sun as I've gotten the game three times now, each feeling like a different experience. The original Wii U version's use of the Wii U GamePad for the Murfy sections, where you maneuver objects, slide platforms, and the like to guide a smartly-controlled AI character through a gauntlet of enemies and dangers, was a blast and quite unique and innovative. Unlike the PlayStation Vita version that used similar touch-based controls for these sections, with the Wii U version, multiplayer was possible here. The Nintendo Switch version saw somewhat of a "best of both worlds" approach. While the original Wii U version remains my favorite of the bunch, the need to use archaic hardware to play it makes it less than attractive for me, so my preferred way to play is on the Nintendo Switch. Regardless, whichever platform you play Rayman Legends on, you're going to get a tremendous-looking, stellar-playing 2D platformer.
LEGO City Undercover (Wii U, NSW, PS4)
Oh, goodness. Another three-peat here for yours truly. LEGO City Undercover wasn't my first LEGO game from Tt Games, but it is my absolute favorite. I guess that's obvious when you see how many times I've purchased and played through the game. The Wii U original saw smart GamePad usages, such as a helpful mini-map on the second screen, a communicator that NPCs used to contact our hero Chase McCain, and a means to scan the environment for subjects and various points of interest. Like many games on the Wii U, LEGO City Undercover thankfully made the trip to the Nintendo Switch, where it kept all of the Mario references but lost the unique GamePad functionality. This version isn't optimized to the best of the developer's ability, resulting in some nasty frame-rate drops, particularly in undocked mode. Still, playing the game on a system with a better controller and on just a better designed system made for a--forgive me for using this word a third time in the same sentence--better experience. I then moved on to the PlayStation 4 version due to a sale price and because I wanted an easy enough Platinum. Yes, that is sad, but I loved playing through LEGO City Undercover for a third time despite that fact.
===
I hope you enjoyed this inaugural installment of Double-Dipped! What games have you bought more than once? Why did you do it? Let the SPC community know in the comments below!
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (NSW) "All About Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition" Trailer
As one might rightfully assume from the name of this video, Nintendo has unveiled a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, showcasing a multitude of details regarding the game. That includes the world, characters, battle system, and new epilogue story. Despite being six minutes of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition goodness, I can't help but want more. Thankfully, the wait is just a little over three weeks to go for when the game launches on Nintendo Switch on May 29th.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Review Round-Up - April 2020
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| Take a tropical trip to an island paradise with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, SPC's Game of the Month. |
Starting off, we returned to the virtual simulation of Steelport to kick alien ass in Saints Row IV: Re-Elected for the Nintendo Switch. The game earned a C+. Following that was Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King, serving up an incredible collection bonus feature-wise, but not so much with games that have stood the test of time. The collection also received a C+.
While the first half of SPC's games reviewed didn't amaze with their quality, we kicked it into high gear with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a game that astounding me with how many hours its siphoned from my free time. It established itself as a daily play for me, and got a fantastic A grade. Last and certainly not least, Final Fantasy VII Remake delivered a stellar part one to what will most likely be a lengthy episodic series. If it keeps its current direction quality-wise, we're in for something truly special. The game received an A-.
I conclude this edition of the Review Round-Up with some excerpts from this past month's reviews, and a reminder to check out the SPC Review Archive for every past review published and posted on my blog.
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (NSW) - C+
...there's no denying that while some aspects of Saints Row IV are indeed dated, it remains a blast to speed through Steelport's streets, running up walls, leaping over tall buildings in a single bound like Superman, soaring through the sky, and unleashing your superpowers all over Zinyak's intergalactic army. It's some of the most fun I've had moving around an open-world setting.Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) - C+
As a collection, Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King is top shelf material with a lot of love poured into the bonus materials and added features, and is more than worthy of representing the beloved animated classics they're adapting in video game form. As games themselves? Well, it's a compilation of games that's half good and half not. I'll just say that The Lion King isn't the "mane" attraction here. At its current price of $20 for a physical release and cheaper for digital, if you have any semblance of love for either movie or fond memories or nostalgia of either game, you'll find something to appreciate with this well put-together package.Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NSW) - A
Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes the series and gives it some giant leaps forward in progress while sometimes also taking some steps backward in the process. The online being a major sticking point here. That notwithstanding, I can't think of a better game to play right now considering everything going on in the world, and I feel my New Horizons island really is a home away from home. I think in a few years I'll have the same level of nostalgia for New Horizons as I do with the original Animal Crossing. The only difference is that my nostalgia for the original Animal Crossing is rooted in the years I had growing up as a precocious teenager, while with New Horizons, my nostalgia will come from the unexpected and close connections I made to friends new and old through this game during these tremendously turbulent and uncertain times.Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) - A-
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a Final Fantasy game for a new era. Its battle system walks a fine balance between fast-paced finger-fu and tactical strategy, its story is engaging and excites in familiar and totally brand new ways with an abundance of increased and heartfelt character interactions, and it sets out to do almost everything it intended to do. While the pacing of the game can get bogged down at times, and some technical performance problems do hinder the experience a little, they don't slight the game that largely enough to be substantial burdens. Final Fantasy VII Remake has made a believer out of me for the development team's vision for the future of the franchise. I can't wait to see where Cloud and his party venture to next.
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| The first in a multi-part epic did not disappoint with Final Fantasy VII Remake's first arc. |
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