SPC's Favorite VGMs - Memorial Day 2013 Edition

The unofficial start of summer has arrived in the United States, where SuperPhillip Central originates from. We wish all a happy and safe Memorial Day. Those who don't live in the States, however, don't need to feel left out. The five VGMs that we have selected for today are meant for you, too, so please join us as we listen to music from F-Zero, Sonic Colors, and Breath of Fire! After you do that, join us for some more VGMs next Monday and peruse our VGM Database.

v381. F-Zero (SNES) - Silence

We start with some jazz fusion of the fast and frenzied kind with this song from the original F-Zero, a Super Nintendo launch title. Silence is set on top of a sea of purple, intimidating players with its crazy curves and dangerous hazards.

v382. Sonic Colors (Wii) - Planet Wisp - Act 1

One of our favorite Sonic Colors songs comes from the first act of Planet Wisp, a gorgeous area full of lush vegetation. The song that goes alongside it stars the piano and is accompanied by a groovy bass track. Planet Wisp would return in Sonic Generations, another game that broke the dreaded so-called "Sonic Cycle."

v383. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (PS2) - Going to Lunatea

Going to Lunatea is the world map theme of Klonoa's second adventure, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. While Pac-Man has always been Namco's mascot at center stage, we can't help but prefer the company's floppy-eared cat-like creature instead.

v384. Breath of Fire (SNES, GBA) - Fate

A song that plays during the most heart-wrenching moments of the original Breath of Fire, Fate tugs at one's heartstrings with its forlorn and somber theme. Even game music from way back in the early 90's could evoke such emotion from the player.

v385. Wario World (GCN) - Greenhorn Forest

For the longest time Wario had his own land to conquer. Later he moved onto having his own world. Wario World was a hidden gem in the GameCube lineup that was developed by Treasure, the minds behind such great games like Gunstar Heroes and Ikaruga. Greenhorn Forest is a jazzy theme for the very first level in the game. Perhaps SuperPhillip Central will review Wario World just in time for Game & Wario's Wii U debut...

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES, Wii U VC) Retro Review

SuperPhillip Central is working overtime to provide you with another new review, but this time it's a new review of an old game that recently entered back into the spotlight on the Wii U's Virtual Console service. It's Super Mario Bros. 2, and you can read all about our opinion of the game below.

Proof That Vegetables Can Be Bad For You

If you are a gamer, especially a classic gamer, you probably know the tale of the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2. If not, then no worries-- let me drop some knowledge on your pretty little head. The original Super Mario Bros. 2 released in Japan, and it looked just like its predecessor, albeit with new levels and a high difficulty. That difficult was deemed so high by Nintendo of America, that they didn't feel American NES owners could stand the challenge. Thus, Nintendo reworked a Japanese game known as Doki Doki Panic and instead of the new characters introduced in that game, they were replaced by Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad. Therefore America's version of Super Mario Bros. 2 is quite different from the Japanese version. The Japanese version would later be released in America as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Phew! That took some writing to get that story across!

Regardless, Super Mario Bros. 2 recently released on Nintendo's digital drip-feeding service called the Wii U Virtual Console. For a game that originally released in 1988 (and then later in Japan as Super Mario USA), Super Mario Bros. 2 is still a delightful platforming adventure.

Immediately when you play Super Mario Bros. 2 after coming off any other 2D Mario platformer game in existence, you will notice an obvious change in the mechanics. Instead of jumping on Goombas and crushing them with your mighty mass, you leap on enemies, pick them up, and chuck them at other foes. The picking up of objects doesn't end with enemies either. No, you can pick up sprouts that house vegetables, bombs, and even a magic potion that opens a door into subspace, where you can earn coins and even a health-boosting magic mushroom.

Remember kids, to give Shy Guys their 

daily recommended serving of vegetables!

Right off the bat for each level you receive a choice. You can select one of four characters, each of which controls different than the others. For instance, Mario is the balanced character, while Luigi is a little harder to control, but his higher jumps (and very jiggly legs) make him a suitable selection. Meanwhile, Toad is a smaller target, and Princess Toadstool can hover in the air temporarily after a jump. While you can play through the game as one character and one character only, there's a lot of fun in mixing and matching to suit the particular level. Playing as Luigi for the entire game is much more challenging than say, playing through the game with Princess Toadstool. While the controls for all characters are competent enough, I would have liked to see them not be as loose as they are. This makes some precision jumps incredibly frustrating to pull off.

Leapin' lizards, can Luigi jump!

There are seven worlds in Super Mario Bros. 2, and all but the last contain three levels each. Super Mario Bros. 2 is a relatively short game, allowing players to reach its final boss in approximately three hours. Regardless, the platforming challenge is quite high, especially when you consider all the precision necessary to overcome each level's hardships. One you'll be jumping across logs which are tumbling over a waterfall, another you'll be climbing from beanstalk to beanstalk, avoiding enemies that shoot bullets and enemies that blast flames at you. Perhaps the one criticism of how the levels are set up is that the difficult curve is not a steady one. One early level might trip you up severely while the next is pretty much a breeze.

Moby Dick these whales are not.

A common element in levels is picking up keys to unlock faraway doors. It's not as simple as it sounds when you factor in that as long as you carry a key, a hovering mask named Phanto will ruthlessly chase after you. It's a game of cat and mouse, where you need to pick up the key, toss it when Phanto appears, and make baby steps (i.e. little-by-little making progress).

While levels conclude with a battle with Birdo (picking up the eggs it shoots from its snout and chucking them back into the creature), worlds conclude with a more inspired boss battle. Mouser requires you to quickly pick up the bombs he tosses, throw them onto his platform, and hope he gets caught in the explosion. Meanwhile, Fryguy will be extinguished by tossing little mushroom platforms at him. This is all the while avoiding is stream of flames that he showers on the battlefield. The boss battles aren't just fun, they're routinely challenging and much more complex than one might expect.

Show Mouser who really is "da bomb."

Super Mario Bros. 2 is a definite upgrade over its predecessor's graphics. Sprites are much more detailed, and the worlds have much more architecture and environmental ambiance to them. The classic tunes of Super Mario Bros. 2 still sound fantastic and as catchy as ever, something I definitely noticed when I was happily humming them throughout my play-through.

There's much more detail in the environments

of Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario Bros. 2 might not be the best 2D platformer around, nor is it one that platforming fans dream about. However, it has all the correct elements to make it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Though it is a short game, challenging yourself to beat the game as each of the four characters adds some replay value to the game. While Super Mario Bros. 2 is just Doki Doki Panic in Mario clothing, the game is a worthwhile entry in the Mario series, and one that has provided the universe and canon with a lot of memorable characters and elements. It's a game that might get so engraved in your mind that you might start chucking cabbage and radishes at your real life enemies. SuperPhillip Central by no means condones this behavior.

[SPC Says: 8.0/10]

Announcing a Super Special SuperPhillip Central Event!

In a mere ten days, SuperPhillip Central will be celebrating its five-year anniversary. Starting June 5, SuperPhillip Central will be doing something very special to celebrate. You've taken a look at my personal top ten games of all time, but now the SuperPhillip Central staff is collaborating for a ten-week event where we list our top 100 games ever released. These don't necessarily have to be the best or genre-defining, but they're ones that we here have enjoyed playing through the most. We hope you're excited for our fifth anniversary June 5 and the beginning of our Top 100 Games list!

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DSWare) Review

It's not so common for SuperPhillip Central to be working on the weekend, but that's our privilege when we have such great readers and commenters to push us onward. Today we have a new review to share with you for a Nintendo 3DS eShop game, Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move.

Toy Story

For the longest time, Mario and Donkey Kong have been rivals, ever since Mario was known as Jumpman and was a carpenter instead of a plumber. Since then, the two have faced off in a variety of games, especially those with the moniker of Mario vs. Donkey Kong, the first of which releasing on the Game Boy Advance. While that game was more akin to the gameplay of the original Donkey Kong, the DS iterations have been Lemmings-style games, 2D and all. It seems now the portly plumber and the big ape have set aside their differences to make the first 3D entry in their series of games, Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move, a 3DS eShop exclusive. Should you move on over to the Nintendo 3DS eShop post-haste to pick this game up?

In Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move, there are an abundance of modes and mini-games to play, but at first you are limited to Mario's Main Event. However, once you've completed the first ten tutorial levels, new options open up. As more levels are completed, even more content is unlocked.

Mario's Main Event has the main objective of using the falling tiles (coming in straight and curved varieties) that drop into the green pipe on the touch screen to create a path for your Mini Mario to reach the goal. You have to work quickly as up until it exits from its starting position, a green pipe, Mini Mario is constantly moving forward, and if there is no path for it to follow, it will teeter over the edge. You also have to work quickly because the pipe that holds all of the falling tiles can only hold so many before it overfills, also resulting in a level failure.

For such a simple premise, there is a

lot of complexity to this game.

Meanwhile, Puzzle Palace follows the same concept of Mario's Main Event, but instead of using falling tiles to create a path for your miniature toy to follow, you use a preset amount of provided titles to accomplish this task. This is probably my favorite of the four main modes of Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move. It flexes your mental muscle, especially in later levels as you try to ponder and surmise where to place the invaluable and limited supply of tiles.

Getting to the goal is easy enough, but 

can you collect all of the M-tokens too?

The third mode in the game is Many Mini Mayhem, where you need not worry about placing new tiles in a level, you simply slide around tiles and rotate special pivot tiles to create a path so that all Mini toys make it the goal. You get bonus points for having the Minis reach the goal together. It's quite chaotic as you frantically slide tiles to make a safe journey for the Minis.

Moving two Minis around a given level can

feel like rubbing your head and patting your stomach.

The final mode that unlocks is called Giant Jungle. This is different from the other modes as there are but three levels to play. Don't think this is some quick play, however, as each level demands you play it over and over again. You see, each level contains ten stars that need to be collected, though you need not gather them all in one go. There is a maze of obstacles, enemies, and tiles to deal with, and placing tiles to move your Mini and make a path that gets it through as many stars as possible (as well as timer icons to give you more seconds to work with). Just remember that you don't earn any stars unless your Mini makes it to the goal. Easier said than done, as you not only have to be fast with tile placement, but you need to plan your moves accordingly and think ahead.

Feeling overwhelmed? It's common

with the Giant Jungle mode.

Stars are what unlocks new toys in the Mini Toy Collection. In the first three modes, stars are earned by collecting all three M-tokens in a given level. Generally just beating a level is pretty easy to do, but when you try to gather all three M-tokens, that is where the true challenge rears its head.

Outside of the direction tiles that serve as your Minis' path to the goal, there are a myriad of other objects that appear in the game such as pivot tiles; trash cans that allow you to throw away up to three falling tiles to create one new special tile; hazardous spikes; enemies like Shy Guys; miniature Donkey Kongs that toss your Mini three tiles ahead; keys that unlock special goals; conveyor belts; warp pipes; roadblocks; and so many more. Levels constantly introduce new concepts to the player so you're seldom bored.

To also help players not get bored are a collection of entertaining mini-games. These come in four varieties, having you shoot Mini Marios on a slingshot into targets, where the furthest away targets net the most points. There's Fly Guy Grab, where you nab Fly Guys and reel them in for points. There's my favorite of the bunch, Cube Crash, where you unload a mess of Mini Marios at a shape made up of cubes. If you destroy the object by using only one Mini Mario, you get double the points. The final mini-game has you spinning a lever to raise and lower a Mini Mario standing on a platform to dodge Bullet Bills and to collect coins. These mini-games are fun diversions, but the majority of them won't keep players coming back for more.

You, Mini Mario, and the cubes--

a time to remember!

If you have a passion for designing your own levels, Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move also has that option available. In the game you can not only build your own levels using all of the tiles and object types the game throws at you in the regular game, but you can also put your designs on Nintendo's servers, allowing friends and total strangers to enjoy your creative concoctions. The only drawback here is that it can be rather difficult becoming one of the most played levels, given how the system is set up.

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move features a colorful art style, though I do notice that it has a bit of a washed-out look to the game at some parts. The 3D that the game uses is really impressive and makes everything look all the more better. The music is a mix of new tracks and various remixed Mario songs, such as the castle theme from Super Mario 64 and the jazzy jungle track of the original Donkey Kong Country.

Keep your nerves about you as you

move Mini Mario in Elevation Station.

Overall, Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move offers a myriad of modes, options, and variety that makes it one of the top titles on the Nintendo 3DS's eShop. There's a fine mix of puzzles that make you work fast while needing to carefully plot your moves, ones that force you to think outside the box, and ones that will inspire you to create your own level designs and share them with the world. Mario and Donkey Kong is a welcome addition to the 3DS eShop, and it's a game that I hope gets the recognition and sales it so very much deserves.

[SPC Says: 9.0/10]

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3, PSV) Review

We might be closing out the work week with a new review, but that doesn't mean we're closing out the regular old week in general. No, tomorrow SuperPhillip Central will also have a new review to share with you. For now, take this glimpse at our thoughts of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita.

Thieves in Time Save Nine... 

and the Cooper Legacy!

The PlayStation 2 was an embarrassment of riches for 3D platforming fans. Sony debuted and published not one, not two, but three unique platforming franchises on the system. The first was Naughty Dog's Jak & Daxter, then there was Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank, and the final in this all-star trio was Sucker Punch's Sly Cooper. Each series possessed its own strengths and charms, and while Ratchet has appeared in multiple games on the PlayStation 3, Sly Cooper has been waiting in the wings for his own brand-new title. That day has finally come, but this time around, Sanzaru Games (the folks who developed The Sly Collection) are the folks behind Sly's latest caper, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, available on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Does Sanzaru Games do Sucker Punch's series justice, or does the latest Sly Cooper need a time out?

The Thievius Raccoonus is a book containing all of the family secrets of the Cooper clan. One day, however, while perusing the book, Bentley the Turtle notices that right before his eyes the words on the pages seem to be vanishing. It turns out someone is trying to erase the Cooper legacy by going back in time, causing trouble, and doing his or her best to stamp out the Sly Cooper and his ancestors for good. Packed with a new time machine, the Cooper gang and their van hightail it into the past to attempt to right the wrongs of this vicious villain. Thieves in Time tells its tale through a number of means: traditional in-game cutscenes as well as marvelously done hand-drawn cartoon animations. Perhaps the only quip one could make about the story is that most scenes can be skipped through the pause menu, but it isn't consistent. Not every scene can be skipped, meaning that replaying jobs can be quite annoying when you have to sit through a 45 second scene.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time consists of five episodes taking place from Feudal Japan to the sunset-soaked Arabia, sandwiched between a prologue and an epilogue. Like past games in the Sly Cooper series, each episode is a fairly contained but fully explore-able area where Sly and one of many other playable characters can venture around, smashing 30 clue bottles strewn across each episode, collecting treasure, and just having the pure, unadulterated freedom to explore.

The hub worlds offer a grand 

opportunity for exploration.

Jobs are the missions that move the story of Thieves in Time forward. Each one begins by selecting the appropriate character sitting in the Cooper hideout. There is generally 5-7 jobs per episode, and each must be played in order. The first is usually a reconnaissance mission, requiring Sly to take photos of the new area for Bentley to devise a plan of attack, and the last is where everything comes together to take down the villain leading the crime spree of that place and time period.

So this is what thieves do on their downtime...

The platforming in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is remarkably pleasant. You seldom, if ever, feel like you're not in control of whichever character you're using. Sly Cooper has the most moves and mobility to work with, allowing him to climb on pipes and trees, tiptoe along high wires, and sidestep across narrow ledges. When you see a blue sparkle above an object, that is your indication that it is something that Sly Cooper can cling to. This is performed by tapping the Circle button near such an object. Thieves in Time will certainly put your platforming prowess into action with ingenious obstacle course-like design. Even if you fail in a job, there are plenty of continue points so you are never having to redo large portions of a level.

If platforming is your passion, Thieves

in Time definitely has you covered.

Variety is the spice of life, and in the job market that is exactly what you get with Thieves in Time. The developers have gone a long way in ensuring that players don't get bored doing the same tasks over and over again. While there are job archetypes that do repeat themselves (if I don't have to stealthily follow someone again, it will be too soon), most jobs differ from one another.

Outside of the traditional platforming that makes a platformer a platformer, there are parts of jobs where you participate in mini-games. One you'll be serving sarsaparilla to some very thirsty saloon patrons, another you'll be shaking Carmelita's booty, timing your button presses in beat with the music to distract the guards. There's multiple hacking mini-games like Alter Ego, a side-scrolling 2D shooter; a tank game using both sticks, one to move and one to aim; and Spark Runner, where you tilt the Sixaxis controller to move a spark through a maze. The latter type of hacking mini-game can be frustrating, as the tilt controls are not the best.

During Sly Cooper and the gang's trip through the past, they will comes across Sly's ancestors, of which there is one in each episode to rescue and have join your merry crew of thieving animals. Each ancestor has abilities that make them indisposable, as they can reach areas that other characters simply cannot. For one, Tennessee Kid Cooper can fire his guns at both faraway foes and faraway targets to activate nearby contraptions. Meanwhile, the oldest Cooper ancestor, known lovingly as Bob, has the ability to scale icy walls to reach higher areas.

Riochi can use his Focus Jump to cross 

over larger-than-normal distances.

In addition to the ancestors and their powers, there are costumes that Sly Cooper collects throughout his adventure that grants him new abilities, exclusive to each costume. For instance, the Jailbird costume comes with a huge ball and chain, great for smashing breakable walls and to walk on to cross over hazardous and deadly floors. Meanwhile, the Archer costume grants the ability to fire arrows at targets. These arrows have ropes attached to them so when they hit their target, Sly can walk on them like a tightrope. The costumes are a welcome feature that only adds to the variety filled package that Thieves in Time is.

Ready... aim... fire!

There is a LOT to do in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, so even after you complete the 10-15 hour campaign, there's plenty still to do. Collecting all of the clue bottles in a given episode's hub world will open a safe, giving Sly and the gang a useful treasure to work with. Such a treasure includes one that makes falling into the water something that no longer causes damage while another increases the chance of pick-pocketing loot from an unaware enemy. Then there are 60 masks that are hidden through the hub worlds and jobs of the game. Collecting them gives you options in the extras menu, including replacing Sly Cooper's cane with a certain other PlayStation platforming all-star's wrench.

"The Murray" can handle any physical job.

Thieves in Time is not without its issues, however. We already went over Spark Runner being a bit unwieldy, but the in-game camera can also be a bit unwieldy as well. It can occasionally get caught on walls, make it so its impossible to turn, and other annoyances that can frustrate. These aren't common, though.

While I was playing the game, I had a coworker ask me which game of the PlayStation 2 trilogy I was playing. He honestly couldn't tell that I was playing a PlayStation 3 game. That said, Thieves in Time is a gorgeous game, using a timeless art style with its cel-shaded. It gives its areas more pizzazz, and it makes the characters come to life wonderfully. The voice acting is also well done with clever dialogue thrown in to keep even the oldest of players entertained. Lastly, the music is a dynamic mix of styles that accentuate the platforming action well.

Forsooth, my fine ring-tailed friend!

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is one of the better platformers to have come out this generation. While it stays true to the formula to a degree that some might consider too "safe", it certainly relieved my itch for a new 3D platformer beautifully. It is a humorous and entertaining game, through and through, contains plenty of content outside of the main campaign, and the platforming itself is nothing short of pure fun. The addition of buying the PlayStation 3 version and getting a digital version of the Vita game only increases the value of Thieves in Time. If you're a PlayStation 3 owner who is looking for a platformer with a lot of heart and clever design, take up a job with Sly Cooper and the gang.

[SPC Says: 9.0/10]