– Classic visual style
– Wii controls supposed to mimic the moves of players in real life
– Dribble moves, shot fakes, blocks executed with Wiimote movements
– Gesture system more in-depth than last year, system has been tweaked
– Recognition rate, response time improved for controls
– Classic mode: Hold Wii controller sideways
– Mii characters will inform you about a double team, tell you when you’re close to a dunk, tell you when it’s best to take a jump shot
– Visual characteristics slightly exaggerated to determine who is who on court
– 2-on-2 mode: “Oversized players and absurd backboard-shattering jams”
– Minigames with Miis to be included
– Online functions streamlined
– 24 international teams
– Goal: Prevent Wee Devils from reaching town gate
– Main defense are ninja huts that you construct
– Many varieties of huts which produce ninjas
– Wee Devils come in different forms
– Usually you must pit one of your ninjas against a Wee Devil for the best results
– Anti-Ninja: Breaks through defenses but are slow
– White Ninja: Freezes enemies
– Baker Ninja: Bakes ninja-star cookies (the currency of the game)
– Progress through the game to unlock more ninjas
– Cookies can upgrade huts or build modifier buildings(ex: dojo, temple)
– Dojo increases power of ninjas in adjacent huts
– Temple speeds up time that you can call on Master Ninja for great powers (Hickory Lunge – inflict heavy damage, Get Off My Lawn – blow into mic to send enemies flying)
– Activities similar to Xbox 360 version, but with touch screen controls
– Ex: Draw grass with grass-seed packet, whack something with shovel
– Tickle piñatas to make them happier
– Use shovel to remove litter/rubble to make garden more open to others
– First visitor is Whirlm – If you build a house and there are two Whirlm characters, they will “romance each other”
– Hire Willy Builder to construct houses
– Tap on one Whirlm, drag to other to initiate mating – dancing cut-scene ensues, another Whirlm becomes available at Storkos, the egg-deliverer
– Whirlms bring in the Sparrowmints
– Dead piñatas turn into candy
– Grow vegetables or purchase them – growing is cheaper but longer
– Seedos comes occasionally and offers free seeds
– Can sell excess crops for chocolate points to buy new objects to attract other piñatas, improve garden
– Playground mode: Garden created for you, build anything, attract piñatas without chocolate coins
– Jeli piñata hinted to be in the game
– Can send piñatas and other things to friends (local Wi-Fi)
– No downloadable content
The blurb at the bottom says, “Join us as we celebrate 20 years of Nintendo Power and Nintendo gaming in our special anniversary extravaganza! We’ve got loads of great games lined up, plus a few surprises. This is the issue you can’t miss!”
More surprises, eh Nintendo Power? Well, I hope the surprises in the next issues are actually surprising!
– Over 65 mingames
– Rabbids are now invading T.V.
– Story mode: Play through a week of television
– New minigames presented each day
– Many of the minigames to use the Wii balance board
– Can play the minigames with up to four people simultaneously, 8 on turn-by-turn basis
– Players can aid or harm person using balance board
– One of the minigames: Ride “a live wildbeest down an Olympic ski slope.” You sit on the balance board and guide the animal, jump off slopes
– Developers focusing more on single player experience this time around
– First-person shooting games return, but it’s not FMV
– Music a big part of RRR3 – you will find out who has no rhythm. Not ready to reveal tracklist.
– Weather channel, music channel, movie channel, and “trash TV”
– Interactive commercial breaks: Call up TV ad to make up for poor performance in a minigame
– In multiplayer, winning player can control TV remote: Challenge the winner through brief TV program
– Shaking, precision, dexterity, balance, rhythm, combos, acting, stepping all elements in the game
– Rayman not too involved: Mainly makes a cameo
– Online leaderboards, send photos
– Mr. T involved?!
– Game takes place in mid 1800s when Belmont went missing
– All people unsuccessful at combating Dracula until Ecclesia formed
– Shanoa is the main character – first time a female stars
– Shanoa can use Glyphs (have many abilities) – source of Shanoa’s power
– “No real weapons in this game” – Glyphs used for every attack with MP
– Glyphs can change form: Ex – turn into a sword
– Glyphs located in environments, found when enemies dropped them, and other ways
– New layer of strategy due to glyph MP consumption with glyphs
– MP refills quickly when not attacking
– Can create combos
– Glyph Union special attack: Huge sword travels across the screen, constant barrage of knife hits -requires hearts
– Glyphs can be used in other ways: Ex – Produce magnetic field and cling to metal rods
– Barlowe part of Order of Ecclesia – gives tips and teaches you about your abilities at the beginning
– Albus also part of the Ecclesia group – Takes Dominus at the start of the game(the best Glyph weapon against the Dracula) – Shanoa loses her memory + power)
– World map utilized
– More than 20 locales in the game, Shanoa travels to find Dominus
– Save statues, teleport rooms return
– Side quests given by rescued villagers – villager data available in menui
– Game looks more mature, somber, painted than other games on the DS
– Michiru Yamane handling sound again
– No returning characters except for Dracula
– Returning from previous versions: Leveling-up, dodging (L/R buttons), select button to switch between map and stats, hard difficulty setting, multiple endings, Wi-Fi support
– Wi-Fi: New item interface: you can have your own shop, vs. competition considers items used and damaged received to determine winner
– Other features NP can’t talk about
Final Fantasy A2: Grimoire of the Rift (DS) – 7.0
Mega Man Star Force 2 (DS) – 7.0
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii) – 7.5
GRID (DS) – 8.5
Death Jr.: Root of Evil (Wii) – 7.0
Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard (DS) – 8.5
Mister Slime (DS) – 6.0
Arkanoid DS (DS) – 6.5
Cake Mania 2 (DS) – 6.5
Soul Bubbles (DS) – 6.5
Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor (DS) – 6.5
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii) – 7.5
Space Invaders Extreme (DS) – 8.0
The moon hinted in the last issue of Nintendo Power caused a huge stir among the gaming community. Theories were formed and the guesses were numerous based on DS and Wii titles. Unfortunately, the revelation of the mystery may disappoint some. The Nintendo Power moon is none other than Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS. In the letters section, it was explained, “Well, see, the moon itself was a clue about this month’s Castlevania cover game! Um…get it? (Gulp.) Okay, so we stretched things by hinting that clues could be fond “in” the moon – it was all Steve’s fault…!”
Even though World of Goo will be releasing on four different platforms, the Wii will be the only version with two player co-op. The game suits two player co-op perfectly, as players manipulate goo balls to pass through terrain and gravity. Expect World of Goo to launch in the coming months.
Capcom, a gaming company that is well known for the development of a wide array of titles, seems to be shifting its focus slightly. CVG reports that Haruhiro Tsujimoto, President of Capcom, has expressed interest in creating movies out of its exisiting video game franchises. “We are in the process of working out contracts for several offers we received at the Cannes Film Festival last week and hope to make an announcement soon. If realized, the projects will have a big impact on the game and movie industries. We want to do with games what Marvel did with comics.” Capcom certainly has large ambitions, but video game to movie transitions have varied in quality. Everyone remembers the endearing, although abysmal Super Mario Bros. movie and countless other poor movie productions.
