Gaia's Moon for DSiWare is a neverending storyPosted on Friday February 3rd, 2012 at 2:02am by Destructoid
Here is a sugary-sweet game that quietly slid under the door. Released on January 19 in the States and arriving on February 9 in Europe, Gaia's Moon is an auto-scrolling fight game for DSiWare. That's right! I can't believe DSiWare content is still trickling in! You play a young magician named Atreyu who soars through the skies on a flying cane -- sorry, no Falcor here -- while dodging strange baddies and flying dolphin thingies. It's very simple, requiring only a single button to keep Atreyu aloft, and there seems to be plenty of variety in the obstacles you'll encounter. In addition to the endless adventure mode, there's a multiplayer mode in which two people can play on the same machine at once. I love it when DS games do that! If you don't mind the absence of Luck Dragons, you can grab Gaia's Moon for 200 points ($1.99 on eShop). 100-year-old lady rocks the Nintendo DSPosted on Thursday February 2nd, 2012 at 9:09pm by Destructoid
You go, granny! Kit Connell is 100 years old -- at that age, it's fairly likely that your mind will start to fade. Kit isn't having any of that, so she stays sharp by playing on a Nintendo DS that her daughter bought for her. And boy, does she get in the mood! She gets nice and cozy, has a nice cup of tea, and hops right into a game. Her catalog consists of the brain training / board game fare that you'd expect a sweet old lady to be into, with a little bit of Art Academy thrown in for good measure. Still, how often do you see a friggin' 100-year-old women making time each day for some Nintendo? She ends her interview by saying all children should be using the DS in school. I know she intends for the more educational software to be used, but I heard "videogames in the classroom"! She's alright by me! Atlus testing the waters for Radiant Historia reprintPosted on Thursday February 2nd, 2012 at 2:02pm by Destructoid
Radiant Historia may be a great game, but is it worth a hundred dollars? The market seems to think so. After going out of print the price of a used copy has ballooned to upwards of $75, with new ones going for at least twice that amount. One of Amazon's more opportunistic highwaymen has the gall to charge a thousand bones for a sealed copy, if you can believe it. If you missed out on the time-traveling JRPG and aren't bursting at the seems with cash, you might just be in luck. Atlus asked fans via Facebook and Twitter if they'd be willing to purchase the game should it ever receive a second printing. Can I just say, as someone who doesn't have an orchard of money trees growing in the backyard, yes please! Take our money and rescue us from those evil supply and demand curves. Anyone Want To Buy Radiant Historia For Under $100? [Siliconera] Nintendo DLC: Sakura Samurai, Undead Storm, morePosted on Thursday February 2nd, 2012 at 1:01pm by Destructoid
The eShop is keeping up its momentum with another very promising game, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword ($6.99). You might know it by a slightly different name, but it should look familiar. I'll be blind buying it the second I can break away from Zen Pinball 3D. Also out today is GO Series: Undead Storm ($1.99) for DSiWare and the eShop. WiiWare has another Carmen Sandiego game with a humorously long title, Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math: The Great Gateway Grab (600 Wii Points), and 3DS owners can download a video for "Drown in the Now" by The Crystal Method beginning tomorrow. Huh? Your new February Club Nintendo games are herePosted on Wednesday February 1st, 2012 at 5:05pm by Destructoid
As you may have heard, Club Nintendo has raised their excitement level to eleven this year, and started offering actual games in exchange for play-coins. Step right up to Club Nintendo and pick up your two new digital offerings: Mario Party 2 for the Wii's Virtual Console and Art Academy: First Semester for DSiWare (though you oddly need a 3DS to redeem it). I always thought Mario Party 2 was the best in the series -- I can't tell you how many wacky evenings I've spent with friends playing that game. Everything was kind of a blur, but I distinctly remember obscenities being flung casually into the wind every time someone would find a hidden star, use a magic lamp, use a Boo to steal coins, or win by the "Happening Star" -- that game can end friendships, man. So we all know Mario Party has its niche, but can anyone out there vouch for Art Academy? The biggest plus I can find for it is that it's a "pleasant diversion." Club Nintendo's 3DS Card Case 18 is nice, customizablePosted on Wednesday February 1st, 2012 at 3:03pm by Destructoid
New Club Nintendo item Nintendo 3DS Game Card Case is shaped just like a 3DS game case, but it holds 18 games instead of one. Nintendo was nice enough to send this one along for us to check out, so now I can stop sticking my games in an old Altoids case when I go out. It holds 18 3DS or DS games and looks great doing it. You'll see in our gallery that this case comes with four double-sided case covers, each blanketed with Nintendo characters and graphics. I really like the minimalist graphics/buttons one, but the Luigi with attitude pose on another comes in a close second. If you dig this, the Club Nintendo site has them ready to ship for only 250 points.
Preview: Devil Survivor 2 is great, has high-set boobsPosted on Monday January 30th, 2012 at 7:07pm by Destructoid
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor was like a dream come true for me. One of my most-loved game makers took my favorite genre (strategy role-playing) and fused it with the demon collecting fun and turn-based battles of other Shin Megami Tensei games to make what ended up being one of my favorite games of 2009. Now they're back with a sequel, Devil Survivor 2, and you'll run around Japan again trying to save the world (again) through the power of a demon summoning app on your cellphone. Yes, there's an app for that. My face has been in my DS for the past week digging into Atlus' latest SRPG. If you don't have time to read a full preview, know that after about 7 hours of play I'm already liking this one more than its predecessor. If you do have time, hit the jump to hear about heroic teenagers, cellphone apps, and impossible boobs.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 (Nintendo DS) Death and disaster is back for this second game. Something like an earthquake strikes Tokyo right about when a group of high school teens find a crazy video website called Nicaea. This online site lets its users watch movies that depict their friends' deaths. They quickly find that these "death clips" are more like predictions for the future, so they set out to prevent their deaths as well as the deaths of others, armed with the newfound ability to summon demons from an application on their cellphones. It turns out that the Tokyo earthquake was not the only disaster in Japan, and while investigating this the teens run into a strange government organization that seems to know all about the demons, phone apps and other disasters. The group reluctantly joins forces with this organization while trying to make sense of it all.
DS2 brings a new story and some small gameplay improvements to the original forumla. The battle system is almost exactly the same as that of Devil Survivor, so fans of that neat mix of strategy and turn-based action are going to eat this one up. You'll control four teams throughout the game, each consisting of one human and two summoned demons. As in the first game you're free to trade these demons out and participate in an auction to acquire new ones. You can also fuse demons to create new ones, and you're open to pick from your favorite abilities from the two for your new creation. Fans of deep customization and endless tinkering are going to be in heaven while hell goes on all around them. There's a new focus on characters and relationships with the game's Fate system. As the story progresses, the main character and his friends, Io, Daichi and Joe, will have conversations that put you in the driver's seat, guiding their interactions. As you get to know your friends and others, you form this Fate with them, and from there your interactions can eventually open up different abilities and effects. This will remind Persona fans of the Social Link system, and much like in those games, creating strong relationships will benefit the player in the long run. This new system certainly makes dialogue time more interesting.
Devil Survivor 2 is a great looking game, even on the aging DS. I hope they redo this game with an Overclocked version for the 3DS, like they did with Devil Survivor, but as it stands now, it's still looks and sounds great, even on the small screens. The game's art style is attractive by any measure, but fans of ridiculous breasts will enjoy DS2's character design. One of the main characters, Io Nitta, has boobs that seem to defy gravity. As the game progresses and more characters are introduced, each female seems to up the ante. These girls and Atlus' character designer make no apologies about the chests in this game. Look for our full review of Devil Survivor 2 next month, and get your DS charged up for its release on February 28.
Standalone Pearl Pink 3DS coming February 10Posted on Monday January 30th, 2012 at 11:11am by Destructoid
The Pearl Pink 3DS that was previously available in a bundle with nintendogs + cats will soon go on sale as a standalone product. As of February 10, you'll be able to grab the system for the standard $169.99. Let this serve as your official Destructoid reminder to prepare for Valentine's Day while the going is still good. Don't become the person who lives out the movie cliché. Pre-order Kid Icarus: Uprising, get 3D Classics originalPosted on Saturday January 28th, 2012 at 1:01pm by Destructoid
Still on the fence on whether or not you'll be getting Kid Icarus: Uprising for 3DS when it's released this March? The fact that it comes with a stand not enough for you? How about a free download of the original NES classic, all gussied up in three dimensions? Gamers who pre-order at GameStop, Best Buy, or Amazon will receive a bonus download code for the 3D Classics Kid Icarus. The download code will be delivered with the purchase of Kid Icarus: Uprising, and the offer is only good in the US only. It's nice to see another NES title getting the 3D Classics treatment (and one that's actually worthy of the title "classic"). Will this sway you to pre-order the title? What other NES games are you hoping will eventually hit the 3DS eShop? SPECULATE! Nintendo Unveils Kid Icarus: Uprising Pre-Order Details [Nintendo World Report] Nintendo Network: DLC, digital distribution, morePosted on Friday January 27th, 2012 at 11:11am by Destructoid
Speaking to investors, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata gave insight into the company's new network service, which is separate from the familiar old "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection." Nintendo Network, as it's called, will be supported by both the 3DS and Wii U. The name should sound familiar. Through this online platform, we'll see "competitions and communication among users, as well as the sales of digital content." Nintendo is also considering digitally distributing packaged games across 3DS and Wii U, though they have yet to decide on when to start such an initiative. At launch would be nice! Iwata also briefly brought up a "personal account system" for Nintendo Network users on Wii U which would let multiple people game on the same console without having to share a single user profile. They're starting to get this stuff, guys. Wii U getting user accounts as part of 'Nintendo Network' [Joystiq] Money printing ahoy: New 2D Mario game coming to 3DSPosted on Thursday January 26th, 2012 at 9:09pm by Destructoid
[Painting by Poltergeraldr] Nintendo posted just posted some series financial losses, but it looks like they're right on track towards getting back in the black. At a recent online conference, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced that thanks to the 3DS's record breaking Q4 2011 sales, the consoles is looking much better in the eyes of 3rd parties, hinting that there are plenty of unannounced big name titles coming to the console. He didn't get into any more detail than that regarding what 3rd parties are up to, because if he did, that would be a dick move. What would 3rd parties do at E3 this year if Iwata let the cat out of the bag now? Look silly, that's what! Still, this part of the conference needed a climax, so Iwata took one for the team and announced a new first-party 3DS title: an unnamed 2D Mario game set to release within the next fiscal year (April 2012- March 2013). Seeing as New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii were both two of the best-selling, hardware-moving titles of the past console generation, I think it's safe to say that the 3DS's chance of having a record breaking 2012 just got a whole lot better. Iwata - Big-name 3DS titles coming, multiple unannounced third party projects [GoNintendo] Theatrhythm Final Fantasy still looks terrificPosted on Thursday January 26th, 2012 at 8:08am by Destructoid
Here's a new trailer for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. There's some old footage from previous videos, but plenty of new content to gawp at. You'll enjoy it, it's nice. I am incredibly excited to play this saucy little number. I reckon it's gonna be quite great. Enjoy old-school delights with the Mutant Mudds OSTPosted on Wednesday January 25th, 2012 at 2:02pm by Destructoid
You read my Mutant Mudds review, right? It's a pretty good game. You might want to get your money ready for when it goes up on the eShop tomorrow. In the meantime, anybody up for grabbing the soundtrack? I only lightly touched upon the music in the review's closing paragraphs, but rest assured that it is every bit as tight and pleasant as the game itself. You have musician Troupe Gammage to thank for this collection of retro-flavored soda pop. It carries an open price tag, so grab it in preparation for the full game's release. After the jump, I've embedded one of the themes heard in the sky world. Light and airy, it's my favorite song on the album. Mutant Mudds OST [Bandcamp] Review: Mutant MuddsPosted on Wednesday January 25th, 2012 at 12:12pm by Destructoid
Renegade Kid does not give up easily. The developer's latest title, Mutant Mudds, had a long, rough journey, first as a polygonal third-person shooter for the DS that never found a publisher and then as a DSiWare hopeful that likewise never garnered enough support. Only when Renegade Kid returned to the drawing board and remade Mutant Mudds as a basic 2D platformer for the eShop did the game get greenlit. When I say "basic," I mean basic. It is not innovative at all. The hero is not gaming's next major icon. His weapon couldn't be any more utilitarian. The platforming couldn't be any more straightforward. There are no sudden play style departures. It is, in every sense of the word, archaic. Why should you play Mutant Mudds? Because it's a damn fine game.
Mutant Mudds (Nintendo eShop) A quick glance at Mutant Mudds and you instantly think "retro." It would be easy to dismiss the game as trying to capitalize on nostalgia, but that isn't its goal. It doesn't just look retro, it is retro. This isn't a bad thing, because it allows the game to stand on its own merits without relying on gaudy presentation or cheap gimmicks. You play as a young boy named Max as he tries to save the world from the titular aliens with nothing but a water cannon and a jet pack. You enter a stage, jump over pits of spikes, pick off a few baddies, collect some diamonds, reach the goal, then move on to the next stage. This is the routine; it never changes. How can a game with rarely threatening enemies and an entry-level assortment of floating platforms and lava pits possibly succeed? By ensuring that those barest of platforming challenges are as tight as they can possibly be. It literally cannot rely on anything else, so its success hinges entirely on how well Renegade Kid has mastered base platforming mechanics. Mutant Mudds nails them big time. The challenge curve is spot on -- the pattern of platforms and hazards is mixed up just enough from level to level that you never feel mentally unprepared. It's plain ol' satisfying -- there is no way else to describe it.
Though the adventure can be challenging, it is never frustrating. Mutant Mudds is a fair game. With the exception of a single stage, there are no instances of blind jumps, near-unavoidable obstacles, or demands of pixel-perfect accuracy. Every hurdle lies in plain sight, allowing you to devise a strategy that best suits you. When you die, it will be because you were less than careful. The "retro" ideal is demonstrated not by cheap deaths or game-length padding but by pure platforming goodness. The one allowance that Mutant Mudds makes in regards to gimmicky tomfoolery is the oft-touted plane traversal. When Max jumps off special pads, he is launched either into the distance or towards the screen. By populating the fore, middle, and backgrounds, the game is able to pack more action per level than it would if you were merely running from left to right. Because of how basic the sprites and environment appear, it can sometimes be difficult in 2D mode to determine on what plane an object sits. With the 3D effect activated, the confusion is erased. And because the art is so basic, the game is especially easy on the eyes for any length of time. I had previously complained that art of Mighty Switch Force was so complex that the 3D had the adverse effect of actually breaking the illusion of depth. Here, there is no such issue. Within each of the 20 main stages is a door that you typically can't access until you collect enough diamonds to unlock gun and jet pack upgrades. These doors take you to secret challenge levels sporting color schemes reminiscent of Game Boy and Virtual Boy software. Yes, I said Virtual Boy. Though we may try to suppress the memory of Gunpei Yokoi's failed "portable," it's nonetheless an important milestone in Nintendo's 3D gaming development. At least it gave us the stellar VB Wario Land, which obviously served as an inspiration for Mutant Mudds.
There really isn't anything to hate about this game. Even the chiptune soundtrack is delightfully peppy and infectious from beginning to end, though I wish there was slightly more thematic variety from one world to the next. I guess that's not much of a complaint, is it? If I had to mark Mutant Mudds down for anything, it would be because of the same simplicity that makes it so refreshing. Had this game appeared over two decades, I guarantee it wouldn't have made any waves. It would have been viewed as another bare-bones platformer in a sea of me-too software. But it wasn't released over two decades ago. It's out now, during an era when developers regularly invest so much time and effort into flash and presentation that the core mechanics often suffer due to negligence. It's a game that came out at the right time and said, "I don't care about being the best dressed dude at the party! I just want to dance!" You have to respect that attitude. Mutant Mudds is platforming distilled to its essence. It cuts the fat in order to deliver a pure, satisfying experience. More than anything, it demonstrates that "retro" should not just be pixel graphics and chiptunes but rather a thorough understanding of the basics that made a genre popular in the first place.
Review: Shinobi (3DS)Posted on Tuesday January 24th, 2012 at 4:04pm by Destructoid
It has been nearly 10 years since we were last put into the sandals of an Oboro Clan shinobi, the last game of which was well received despite (or perhaps because of) its high difficulty. Though it brought the series into the third dimension, its gameplay hearkened back to a simpler time when health didn't regenerate and levels had to be obsessively studied in order to be conquered. On the 3DS, Shinobi returns to the 2D sidescrolling roots that popularized the series more than 20 years ago. Staying true to its legacy, this latest entry maintains a lot of the old-school game philosophy, though developer Griptonite Games has added a lot of the new-school fluff that gamers today appreciate. Whether anybody gets to experience the bonus content depends on how much pain they are willing to endure.
Shinobi (3DS) I like difficult games -- I finished Super Meat Boy's Dark Cotton Alley, I've completed Bionic Commando Rearmed's Super Hard mode, and I reveled in Contra 4's punishing requirement of both memorization and reflexes. I say this not to brag but to provide a point of reference when discussing the difficulty of Shinobi. I almost gave up on this review entirely, because after wasting a few hours trying to complete the first level on the "Normal," I thought there would be no hope. I had to suck up my pride and drop down to the insultingly titled "Beginner" difficulty, and it was still a tough journey to reach the end credits. I don't know that Shinobi is necessarily more difficult than any of the aforementioned titles, but it definitely hangs onto a few obsolete ideas that today's difficult games tend to eschew. In contrast to the bite-sized levels seen in many modern challenging games, Shinobi presents fewer levels that can each take more than half an hour to complete. I tend to spend more time playing games with short levels, as there is no "just one more try" desire after being set back by 30 minutes. Again, a lot of the problem was solved by lowering the difficulty, as the Beginner mode affords the player infinite lives, offers more generous checkpoints, and decreases damage taken from attacks. The higher difficulty levels resemble old-school gaming at its worst, with finite lives and continues, after which a player is forced to start over from the beginning.
The general gameplay in Shinobi is not far removed from its ancestors on the old 8-bit and 16-bit systems. At its heart, it's a 2D sidescroller with a focus on combat finesse and precision platforming. Your hero, Jiro Musashi, has at his disposal the standard double jump and wall jump as well as a small repertoire of melee and ranged attacks. Of the two main gameplay elements, combat is the more satisfying. Shinobi rewards the player for patience and timing rather than mindless button mashing. Going into battle with a wildly swinging sword will almost always result in an enemy counterattack. Instead, the player must predict the enemy's attack, parry it, and launch a counterattack when the enemy's defenses drop. While that sounds simple on paper, it takes quite a bit of getting used to. That said, once it clicks and the player can build up a high combo by emerging from several fights untouched, it really does instill the feeling of being a ninja. Boss fights follow a similar philosophy as fights with standard enemies. Attacks are telegraphed a split second before they are launched, and they can generally be parried and countered. While the bosses seemed difficult at first, none are cheap; with some practice, it is not unreasonable to finish a boss fight without taking damage.
In contrast to the combat, the platforming is weak. The controls are fine, and there is a lot of nuance involved in jumping to exactly the location intended, but the main problem is that it just doesn't come up often enough. Platforming sections that really test the player's skill take a back seat to combat sections, so the player doesn't get nearly as much practice. In addition, there are some unfortunate level design choices, like sudden pitfalls and spikes that are just out of sight before making a jump. A more zoomed-out camera during platforming sections could have maintained the necessity for skillful jumping while eliminating the cheap deaths that aren't really the fault of the player. In keeping with the old-school design, the story in Shinobi ranges from nonsensical to nonexistent. From the anime cutscenes between levels, I gather that it is about a ninja from the 13th century who gets transported forward through time 800 years to fight things. Over the course of the game, the player finds himself riding on top of speeding cars, exploring an undersea laboratory, ad navigating the inside of a volcano, all with little to no explanation of how or why he is doing it.
So while story is unimportant, gameplay is king. Knowing this, the developers added in a substantial amount of bonus content. There are Achievements, each with their own rewards that can be as little as cosmetic bonuses, such as alternate costumes or weapons, or as big as a full boss rush or other challenge levels that really put the player's skills to the test. It's impressive how much extra content there is to find in Shinobi, though how much the player actually sees depends heavily on how much time and effort he is willing to invest. Shinobi is a great game with tons to do. Some of the old-school elements are sure to turn many players off, but if you can surmount the steep difficulty curve, there is a substantial amount of satisfying gameplay to be found. Those who want a cohesive narrative or who can't afford to endure a few hours of frustration should look elsewhere, but those who can make it past the hump can wring out a lot of fun.
- Kid Icarus: Uprising screens are full of monsters - A bone has been thrown: Code of Princess has online play - Cooperate or betray? Check these Good People Die vids - Theatrhythm Final Fantasy getting paid DLC - Fatal Frame 3DS spin-off to spook America on April 13 - Tecmo Koei wanted to make Pokemon Warriors - 3DS gets Resident Evil Revelations demo, more on the way - Sony believes 3DS success is a good sign for PS Vita - Preview: Two hours of flight with Kid Icarus: Uprising - The return of Mr. Angry Eyes, Kid Icarus edition - New deets and screens for Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition - San Francisco: Play the new Resident Evil games this week - Meet the fantastic cast of Code of Princess - Standageddon: Kid Icarus: Uprising comes with a stand - Destructoid's most wanted DS / 3DS games of 2012 |
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