[Review] Sayonara Umihara Kawase
Posted on 10 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in 3DS, 3DS eShop, Features, Reviews | 3 Comments
System: Nintendo 3DS eShop
Release Date: April 24, 2014 (EU)
Developer: Agatsuma Entertainment
Publisher: Agatsuma Entertainment/Natsume
Author: Patrick
Sayonara Umihara Kawase’s title might suggest a farewell to this series, but for most players it’s more like a welcome to this bizarre world full of freakish fish and perilous platforming. While the first two Umihara Kawase games never left Japan, they managed to become cult classics thanks to their mix of unforgiving but addictive gameplay and some good old-fashioned weirdness. As a return to the series’ distinctive tone and action, Sayonara Umihara Kawase initially seems geared to hardcore fans, but it also manages to serve as a more gentle introduction to its unique style of platforming —before throwing players into the deep end of a pool full of acid.
As far as I’m aware there aren’t any major differences between the European version, which I played, and the Natsume-published North American version. Well aside from the fact that it was re-titled to “Umi’s Odd Odyssey”, because Natsume just have to alter the name of everything they localize. Just be glad they didn’t call it Legend of the River King Gaiden or Spanky’s Quest.
[Review] Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails
Posted on 10 years ago by Jack Johnson(@tupachologram96) in Features, Reviews, Wii U, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment
System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: May 15th, 2013 (NA, EU)
Developer: Dakko Dakko
Publisher: Dakko Dakko
Author: Jack
I hate it when people label things incorrectly. It makes me very sad and upset. I can’t tell you how much compound irritation I’ve had to repress when, say, someone would write the wrong name down on an online order at work and offer me the duty of rectifying the situation over the phone with Mrs. Jihnson and her missing mail-order appliance, or when a past roommate not-to-be-named would intentionally label the cat food ‘dog food’ just to try to make me sick the next day.
This is why I possess such a vitriol for relatively new Welsh developer Dakko Dakko and their latest attempt at capturing the burgeoning Wii U indie scene (think Mutant Mudds, Cloudberry Kingdom, and all of the other titles I’ve referenced way too much in writing and on the podcast), Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails, a 2D shooter with strong open-world platforming elements. The ‘On Rails’ signifier at the end there implies imprison-y, limited bounds and pointed, one-dimensional gameplay design, whereas Scram Kitty, in its comparative sense of freedom to the recent litany of top-notch platformers we’ve seen reach the eShop, feels anything but. Scram Kitty, though confusing in name, scratches an itch not satiated fully by its contemporaries on the platform. By not being as singularly masterful in its level design elements as, say, VVVVVV or Mighty Switch Force!, Scram Kitty feels a little less uptight and neo-retro, yet crucially still achieves the same level of “old-school hardcore” as those luminaries do. I will not use any cat puns in this review.
[Review] Squids Odyssey (Wii U eShop)
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, 3DS eShop, Features, Reviews | 2 Comments
System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: May 22nd, 2014 (NA/EU)
Developer: The Game Bakers
Author: Austin
Almost three thousand years ago, a shy fellow (I don’t know if he was shy) named Homer lived in Greece, and he wrote two really famous epic poems: The first– The Illiad— is thought to be the oldest surviving piece of western literature ever. The second– The Odyssey— is just as famous, and this week, nearly three millennia after its initial writing, The Game Bakers have created a work directly inspired by the work of Homer for the Wii U eShop. It’s called Squids Odyssey.
Most of what is written in the paragraph above isn’t true. Squids Odyssey does exist, but it’s not a game based around Homer’s Odyssey— no, it’s a creative and unique turn-based strategy game set far beneath the surface of the ocean that’s unfortunately marred by a lack of technical polish and attention. Still, it may be worth your time; read on for details.
More: 3DS, eshop, highlight, review, Squids Odyssey
[Review] Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS)
Posted on 10 years ago by Spencer(@spencerstevens) in 3DS, Features, Reviews | 8 Comments
System: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: May 2nd, 2014 (NA), May 16th, 2014 (EU)
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Author: Spencer
Everyone’s favorite pink puff has finally returned in his first adventure on the Nintendo 3DS, Kirby: Triple Deluxe.
Out of the box, Triple Deluxe consists of three gameplay modes: Story Mode, Kirby Fighters, and Dedede’s Drum Dash. The Story Mode is straightforward: Dreamland is in danger, and it’s up to Kirby to save the day. This time, a mysterious new villain has uprooted Kirby’s home with massive magical vines and sent everything sky-high! Players navigate Kirby through many levels in seven worlds as he makes his ascent to the top of the menacing entanglement.
More: 3DS, highlight, Kirby Triple Deluxe, review
[Review] Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition (Wii U)
Posted on 10 years ago by Jack Johnson(@tupachologram96) in Features, Reviews, Wii U, Wii U eShop | 4 Comments
System: Wii U
Release Date: April 3rd, 2014
Developer: Armature Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Author: Jack
Think prison life’s bad? Having been there twice already, let me tell you, it’s worse than what the movies and books would have you think. Imagine having to shape your masticatory and gastrovascular secretionary actions around predetermined intervals of time throughout the day, with no exceptions. Imagine a life devoid of privacy in being forced to share a toilet bowl in a confined space with a burly ex-construction worker named Red. Now, with that gruesome reality in mind, picture being in a prison taken over by three maniacal super-convicts bent on causing mayhem and destruction upon their escape. Seems like just enough to drive you over the deep end, right? Well, in Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate — Deluxe Edition for Wii U, you, the player, as the eponymous Batman, find yourself in that very peculiar predicament.
[Review] Pure Chess (Wii U eShop)
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Reviews, Videos, Wii U eShop | 2 Comments
Hi everybody, I’m back with another video review for you! This time, we’re talking about this Wii U eShop game about the lovely age old game of King’s and Queens: Chess. Check it out if you have a minute.
More: highlight, Pure Chess, Ripstone, top, VooFoo Studios
[Review] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Reviews, Wii U | 22 Comments
System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: February 21st, 2014
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Review transcript after the break:
[Review] Sonic Lost World
Posted on 10 years ago by Jack Johnson(@tupachologram96) in Features, Reviews, Wii U | 20 Comments
System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: October 29, 2013 (NA) – October 18, 2013 (EU)
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Nintendo/SEGA
Author: Jack
In a normative sense, Sonic as a platforming archetype ultimately aims to achieve one goal: create a constant chain of ephemeral pleasure via the utilization of perceived velocity the controllable gameplay object reaches in gameplay. While such a vision, an expanded AudioSurf if you will, perennially begets hedonistic intrigue, that seemingly one-dimensional objective for some dang reason hasn’t really ever come to fruition for Sonic Team over the past few console lifespans. A definite, tangible goal as such seems easy enough to reach, right?
Unfortunately, a granular obstacle to that simple speedy sentiment exists prohibiting fulfillment of that thought: the more the design team over at Sonic Team’s vision rides off in all directions (Sonic Unleashed’s Werehog levels being a prime example) as opposed to finding one meaning around which Sonic should revolve, the more plodding and forgetful each subsequent entry in the series gets. How can one ever hope to solve that ever-nagging dilemma?
More: highlight, review, Sonic Lost World, top, wii u
[Video Review] Unepic (Wii U eShop)
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Reviews, Wii U eShop | 5 Comments
More: EnjoyUp Games, highlight, top, Unepic
[Review] Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Reviews, Wii U | 15 Comments
System: Nintendo Wii U
Release Date: November 22nd, 2013
Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Publisher: Nintendo
Author: Austin
“If it ain’t broke, make it dramatically better.”
To say that Nintendo has released too many platforming Mario games in the last two years would not be particularly hyperbolic if you concern yourself with only the raw numbers. 2011 saw the release of Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS, 2012 had New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) and New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U), and now 2013 has slid soundly to a spectacular finish with Super Mario 3D World. At first glance it may seem like an annualization of gaming’s finest platforming franchise, but it would be erroneous to criticize Nintendo’s strategy when they manage to make every one of these games at the very least first-rate in fundamental design, and it would be downright dishonest to suggest that we would be better off if they hadn’t created something as lustrous and enjoyable as Super Mario 3D World.
