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.

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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.

Top Ten Greatest Gaming Spinoffs

Earlier in the week I posted a list of five of my favorite Final Fantasy spinoffs. Now that the dust has settled, and you have let that list bounce around in your head for awhile, you can check out my list today of my thoughts on the best gaming has to offer in the spinoff category. From Mario to Wario, a wide range of characters and properties will be represented for your consideration.

10) Portal 

A loose spinoff of the Half-Life series, Portal is a first-person puzzle game where players use the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device to transport themselves through the various test chambers of the game. How this is done is by using the Portal Gun to open portals (only two can be shot out at a time) that are linked and utilizing gravity to solve some brain-busting and highly hazardous puzzles. Portal isn't higher on the list because - as I said - it is a loose spinoff of Half-Life. There are subtle mentions to the games written on walls throughout Portal, and even the antagonist GLaDOS speaks of references towards the series, however vague they may be.

9) Pokemon Snap 

Bar-none, this is my favorite spinoff of the many games set in the Pokemon universe. You play through six levels set across a beach, a mine, a volcano, a river, a cave, and a mountain valley taking photos of the various Pokemon that make their habitat in these areas. Your photos are given point values based on how well framed the Pokemon is (i.e. if the Pokemon is facing you, if it fits inside the frame, etc.), how many Pokemon of the same type are present in one shot, and if the Pokemon is/are doing a special pose in the photo. Back in the day, you could take your Pokemon Snap cartridge to your local Blockbuster Video (remember when they were relevant?), and print off a series of stickers of a small selection of your photos - for a price, of course. I think the Wii U or Nintendo 3DS would be a perfect platform to bring back this terrific Pokemon spinoff.

8) Wario Land 

Wario first premiered in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, an atypical Mario game where players could visit any world in any order they so desired. Wario had taken up residence in Mario's castle while he was away. Well, having been defeated and kick out of Mario's castle, Wario decided that if he couldn't keep the castle, he'd just steal Mario's game series right out from under him. And so he did with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. The game had all-new enemies, gameplay, and an element regarding finding loads of valuable treasure for the money-lusting piggy plumber. Later games in the series would experiment with a no-death mechanic, offering the ability to turn Wario into different forms. One of my favorite Wario Land titles is Shake It!/The Shake Dimension on the Wii. Not only was the presentation of the utmost quality, it was an enjoyable 2D platformer on a home console.

7) Crash Team Racing

Following the success of Rare's Diddy Kong Racing, Naughty Dog developed their Mario Kart-killer in Crash Team Racing. The game was much more Diddy Kong Racing-like than Mario Kart as it featured its own story mode. I didn't mind playing as characters that I had no emotional attachment to or didn't find much personality in because the track design had enough charm and personality to exude throughout the entire game. I enjoyed how power sliding worked - you couldn't perform a slid for too long, or else you'd wipe out. You had to do just enough to get a boost, but not overdo it. I feel that Crash Team Racing, unlike Crash Bash, a game that was meant to cash in on Mario Party's success, was a well deserved spinoff for Crash Bandicoot, at that time, Sony's main mascot.

6) Kingdom Hearts

I was not on the internet when word came that Disney all-stars and Final Fantasy characters would be appearing in one game together. As someone who liked Disney, owned a PlayStation 2, and enjoyed the classic Final Fantasy games on the NES and SNES, I was open to the idea. It didn't blow my mind, however. I just wondered how a crossover between the two would actually work. Well, any fears or doubts I had on the combination were removed when Kingdom Hearts came out. Actually, the fear and doubts I had were replaced by, "what the hell is up with this story?" That aside, seeing Cloud Strife alongside Goofy and Donald and battling familiar Disney villains in memorable locales like Tarzan's jungle, Alice in Wonderland's garden, and Hercules' Olympus Coliseum made for an excellent game. Future titles would continue having the story take players down the rabbit hole, but for the most part, the quality of the series remained the same. Now if only Kingdom Hearts III would finally be announced...

5) Donkey Kong Country

Then known as Rareware, the developers based in the U.K. reinvented the Donkey Kong character with Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo. Players were treated with visuals that looked like they were on an entirely different console. In fact, when the game was shown to some Nintendo execs during development, they were certain that the game was running on something else! Regardless of the graphical prowess the original SNES trilogy is known for, the level design takes center stage for me. Each level in the trilogy showcases a new element such as entering a dark cavern with only a bird holding a flashlight to help you see, or running up the insides of trees to escape a wild hacksaw. And the secrets. You almost get a sixth sense playing the game, and you just somehow know which holes house hidden bonus game barrels. The latest in the DKC line was Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii, and that game managed to far surpass my expectations.

4) Final Fantasy Tactics

Listed as the number one Final Fantasy spinoff, Final Fantasy Tactics is a turn-based tactical affair which puts players into the war-torn world of Ivalice (Ivalice would return on the PS1 in the classic Vagrant Story). Many elements from the Final Fantasy universe carried over into Tactics such as items, summons, and job classes. Time could easily slip away as you level up characters and master new abilities. And the frantic panic of trying to revive a fallen party member before the counter reaches zero and they are gone for good is something that haunts players of the original to this day. Of course, most of us simply hit the reset button when that happens. Oh, and that soundtrack is, in my view, one of the best in gaming's illustrious history. The only negative regarding the presentation of the original FFT is that the translation of the game was and is not up to snuff. However, the PSP port, The War of the Lions, fixed this and added some nifty bonus content as well. The Nintendo Final Fantasy Tactics games (Advance and Grimiore of the Rift) introduced their own spins on the classic tactics formula, and they are noteworthy games in the series, too.

3) Mega Man X

I consider Mega Man X a spinoff of the Classic Mega Man franchise, much like Battle Network, Mega Man Zero, Legends, and ZX are spinoffs of the Classic Mega Man series, too. Mega Man X just happens to not only be my favorite of the Mega Man spinoffs, but for me it beats the classic series. I love the enhancements made to this version of Mega Man, being able to climb walls, charge special weapons and unleash them on foes, being able to return to levels to collect hidden items that were previously impossible to grab, and animal-style Robot Masters. Even though there are two obvious stinkers in the eight Mega Man X series, X6 and X7, I prefer the quality of the X titles that I DO enjoy over the quality of my favorite Classic Mega Man games. Plus, I would nine times out of ten prefer the assistance of a cool-headed Zero over a dopey-looking dog in Rush any day. Though Rush is indeed cute and helpful in his own way.

2) Mario Kart

What can you say about a spinoff whose most recent home console entry is one of the best-selling games of the current generation? And this was almost before it was even bundled with Wiis! You can honestly say a whole lot. While the more recent Mario Kart games have forgone skill for luck (have to keep all players interested, I guess), the Mario Kart series continues its dominance as the most successful purely Mario-related spinoff. One of the best parts about the series is that is a hallamrk of consistent quality in arcade racing. The actual racing part is seldom loose and regularly a tight experience. Each game tries to introduce a new concept to players. Mario Kart 64 was 3D, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was two players per kart, Mario Kart DS was retro cups and online, Mario Kart Wii was bikes and motion controls, and Mario Kart 7 was air and water travel as well as a more refined online experience. The Mario Kart franchise has been a part of some of my most cherished racing memories, and that along with its impact (and many imitators) make it number two on this list.

1) Super Smash Bros.

This choice is the ultimate spinoff as it takes a wide assortment of Nintendo universes and combines them into a series of nontraditional fighting games. The original Smash Bros. was a hit out of seemingly nowhere. It wasn't impossible to see it would be a success in hindsight, but not even Nintendo of America's own publication, Nintendo Power, put the game as one of their cover stories, opting to choose a game I don't even remember instead. Then came the GameCube's Melee which some consider the best in the series. It showcased trophies, an adventure mode, new characters like the Ice Climbers, Mewtwo, Roy, Marth, Young Link, and more, and finely honed the gameplay of the original Smash Bros. Finally, a Brawl broke out on Wii, one that I consider to be my favorite. It had loads of fan service in its level design, roster choices, unlockables, music selection, and a myriad of other trinkets. And all of the gameplay follows one simple rule: hit your opponent out of the arena once their damage percentage is at a high enough number. This rule makes the fighting game community a tad - who am I kidding? - a LOT flustered over people calling Super Smash Bros. a fighter. Regardless of this trivial argument, I deem the series to be the best spinoff in gaming history.

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Can't get enough exclusive articles? Then travel to the SPC Feature Catalog for loads more!

Art of Balance TOUCH! (3DSWare) Review

A new banner is here, but I don't care for the construction kit-esque logo. As always, if you think you can do better, I'm open for new designs. With that out of the way, we venture outside the realm of Retro Review Month and look towards Shin'en's Art of Balance TOUCH! for the Nintendo 3DS's eShop. (You can read my interview with Manfred Linzner of Shine'n here.) As for the review, you need not go far or to another link. You can scope it out right here, right now.

An Enjoyable Balancing Act

Shin'en is a company known for its technical prowess when it comes to the games it develops for the platforms it commits to. We have seen this in the past with the Game Boy Advance's Iridion and its sequel, the Nintendo DS's two Nanostray games, and the WiiWare service's Jett Rocket, FAST Racing League, and Art of Balance, the latter of which's 3DSWare sequel is the subject of this review. If the popular party game Jenga has shown us anything, it is that trying to balance a tower of blocks and the end result of them all toppling over can certainly hold some entertainment value. Art of Balance TOUCH! is a game where this principle holds true.

The main aim of Art of Balance TOUCH! with regards to gameplay is to build a steady tower using the blocks provided. When you start each level, you have a starting pedestal (usually shaped differently for every level) on which to place the blocks you are given. When there's more than three blocks to work with, you have to use some strategy as you can only pick from the starting three blocks available to you, and not the ones awaiting you in the queue. The blocks themselves have all sorts of dissimilar shapes like L blocks, rectangular blocks, round blocks, barbell-shaped blocks, and more. 

Three seconds can seem like an eternity.

Art of Balance TOUCH! doesn't just rely on the same old, same old vanilla block types. No, there are several unique types that are slowly introduced to the player throughout the game. For instance, glass blocks can only hold the weight of two blocks. Put any more on them and they shatter. World C showcases timed blocks. Once they are set, they disintegrate after a short period of time. Even owners of the original Art of Balance of WiiWare will experience new gameplay elements and concepts showing up to their delighted surprise. One example appears in a later world where there are gravity blocks that when used literally flip the level on its head. There are two starting pedestals in these levels, and achieving the proper balance for your tower of blocks is an even greater challenge posed by this constantly clever game.

Those timer blocks really have a short fuse.

Once you have placed the final block onto your personal assortment, you hold your breath and hope for the best so your tower doesn't tumble over into the pool of water below as the timer counts to three. If no blocks hit or go below the water level, you have successfully completed the stage. At some points, Art of Balance TOUCH! is an almost zen-like experience while at others it is an effort of anger as you once again fail to satisfy the conditions of the level.

The terrific part about how Art of Balance TOUCH! is structured is that each world has its own map, a series of blocks connected in a nonlinear fashion. There's multiple paths to choose from, so if you are finding one level impossible to solve - constantly seeing your hard work fall to the wayside and go crashing down into a pool of your own failure, you can opt to go around it and try to solve an easier path of puzzles. Special orange blocks are unique levels where the approach you must take differs greatly from the normal pace of the game. For these, you might have to clear a level within a strict time limit, balance a series of blocks on a balancing beam, or have a block tower that reaches a certain height. These orange block levels give you more rings than a normal level as they are harder to complete. The rings you earn from them are used to unlock new worlds - each of which is set in a distinctive environment, from World A's pink flowers to World B's bamboo background.

Having trouble with one particular level?
Go around it and try another path.

After World B has been cleared, the Endurance mode opens up. This essential score attack mode takes levels you have cleared within the main game and assigns them to you in a random order. You get three retries to finish off as many puzzles as you can. After this you are ranked on a leaderboard to see how your overall score (determined by time and how many levels you completed) compares.
Regardless of the bevy of block-placing fun that Art of Balance TOUCH! bestows on the player, there are two glaring omissions that I would have liked to see the game possess. The first of which is some kind of local play for two friends with their own 3DS systems to play either competitively or cooperatively: trying to solve a level before the other can, or working together to deduce the solution to a given level. The other omission is some form of a level creator. Imagine the replay value of designing your own creative concoctions and sending them to friends Pushmo-style.

All we need now for this pool of water
is a rubber ducky to make things even more fun.

That's not to say the content you're getting with the game is too sparse. Nothing could be further from the truth. You have over 200 levels of honing your balancing act with as well as awards from satisfying certain in-game conditions like reaching a specific point total in Endurance mode or beating a given number of total levels. This is one meaty game, and it is so perfect for pick-up-and-play sessions. You might want to sit down with the game with the intention of playing for five minutes yet wind up unknowingly playing for over an hour.

Art of Balance TOUCH! can be played with touch controls (my preferred method) or with the Circle Pad (this is much slower as you must drag the cursor to each block you wish to place down). The shoulder buttons of the 3DS are used to rotate each shape to the left or to the right, though the degrees you can actually rotate each shape are predetermined to make the process simpler on the mind and less agonizing to place each block. I did have some trouble with the camera zooming in and out at times. When I was trying to have a steady hand to place a block delicately, the camera zoomed out and messed up my subtle approach, causing the tower to be imbalanced and - you guessed it - fall over. This only seems to happen when your tower is exceptionally high. It's a small problem, but one that can annoy just slightly.

Gravity can be your greatest friend or your worst enemy.

The presentation of Art of Balance's 3DS debut is overall quite good. The music is soothing and not distracting whatsoever. Sound effects come off as apt to every situation such as when your tower of blocks topples into the water. After playing the game for so long, the "plop" sound of blocks falling into the water taunts me at night as I lay awake in bed. Seriously though, speaking of the water, this is the one of the worst visual portions of the game. It looks more like shimmering tin foil than a liquid with any amount of depth. And speaking of depth, the 3D effect works decently, however, when the timer shows up to count for three seconds after you've assembled all of the blocks, it appears 2D while the wooden base of the pool it is set against is 3D. This looks unsightly and off. Regardless of my two aforementioned visual beefs with the game, Art of Balance TOUCH! continues Shin'en's impeccable record with technical artistry and quality in its games.

While Art of Balance TOUCH! obviously isn't a game that will get 3DS owners to run to get their handhelds online and to the eShop to download the game, it is one that will pick their brains, is extremely capable, is mostly relaxing, and is definitely worthy of some of their hard-earned dough. For those who already own the WiiWare original, this 3DS version adds virtually double the amount of levels, has phenomenal physics, and has much more precise controls thanks to the use of the stylus (though camera problems do arise as do some visual errors). For those who haven't experienced the WiiWare game and enjoy a lovely puzzler, Art of Balance TOUCH! is delightful and worth checking out.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.5/10]

Fantasy Life (3DS) New Screens

Fantasy Life is a Level-5 Animal Crossing-like game with music by Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy fame. The game, developed by Brownie Brown, will have SpotPass, StreetPass, and local play functionality when it releases some time within the 2012 release window. Compare these new screens with the old ones. I think it's a step backwards.

New:

Old:

What do you think about the change in art style? Do you prefer the new look over the old, or vice versa?

Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (PSN) First Screens

Full Frontal Assault is a downloadable title only, and it is the newest chapter of the Ratchet & Clank series. This game features five levels spread across three planets, tower defense elements, and cooperatively play akin to All 4 One. Hopefully the entire package will be better than that game, however. Full Frontal Assault shows us its stuff this Fall.