As mentioned a few days ago, this week’s issue of Famitsu revealed Taiko Drum Master: Dokodon! Mystery Adventure for 3DS.
One of the big hooks in this release is a RPG-esque mode called “Mystery Adventure Mode.” We now have more information about what to expect from this aspect of the game.
The story background/objective is to protect the world’s OOPArts. There are two main characters in Mystery Adventure Mode: Tia (the girl) and Popokaka (the monkey). Meanwhile, the antagonists are a mysterious group called Hexagria, who stole a Lion Fang Necklace OOPArt at the beginning of story.
Pokemon has been around for 20 years, which is a very long time. The series has plenty of longtime fans, but new players come into contact with the series each day as well.
So how does Game Freak – the maker of the Pokemon RPGs – appeal to both types of players? That’s something GamesMaster asked the studio’s Junichi Masuda in an interview this month.
He told the magazine in response:
“Today you will see ’90s kids who played the first Pokémon games, who are now parents playing with their children. But some of the core gameplay elements simply appeal as much now as they did in 1996. The collectable elements of the game still appeal to people’s sense of achievement, and it’s great for strategic thinking.
“You have to make accurate judgements about what to change and what not to change. It is also about not making things too difficult. After two or three generations, games have a tendency to become more difficult. In recent titles, catching Pokémon by throwing PokéBalls is explained in-game, but we also make a point of trying to get into the heads of children who have picked up a Pokémon game for the very first time in order to better understand how the games feel to a first-time audience.”
Another Star Fox Zero interview with Shigeru Miyamoto has popped up online. This time around, there’s a discussion published by TIME. Miyamoto talked about the switch in approach (now like a movie instead of a TV series), appealing to new players, his approach to difficulty, improvements that have been made, and building interest in dogfighting games.
We’ve posted some excerpts from the interview below. More comments from Miyamoto can be found on TIME here.
Splatoon’s latest Japanese Splatfest was once again game-themed. Dragon Quest was featured, with the topic being “Let’s keep going” (think being aggressive) as represented by She-slime versus “Cherish your life” (more along the lines of playing it safe), which was represented by Healslime.
This Splatfest has now drawn to a close, and the results are in. In the end, the Healslime side won thanks to an edge in both wins and popularity. The final score was 366 to 334.
Mario and Luigi were on hand at the 2016 Kids Choice Awards earlier tonight. The two famous brothers appeared in CGI form to help present the winner for “Favorite Voice From An Animated Movie”. There was more to it than that, however.
+10 EXP for the cast of @GameShakers for an excellent game performance–LEVEL UP! #KCA pic.twitter.com/9UaxN3stNx
— Nickelodeon (@NickelodeonTV) March 13, 2016
Before the winner was announced, the cast of Nickelodeon’s Game Shakers appeared for a live-action sequence that involved jumping over Goombas and hitting coin blocks. They ultimately needed to finish the level and grab the envelope from the flagpole.
Here’s a low-quality video of the segment:
In other news, viewers chose Just Dance 2016 as their favorite video game. It beat out Super Mario Maker, Disney Infinity 3.0, Minecraft: Story Mode, SpongeBob HeroPants, and Skylanders SuperChargers.
Let’s Talk #42: What are you playing? – March 2016
It’s been a little while since we last had a Let’s Talk topic dedicated to the games we’re actually playing. That’s what we want to hear from you guys about this week!
As for me, I’m not playing too much at the moment. I just finished Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure a couple of days ago, which I enjoyed quite a bit more than I anticipated I would. The rhythm games get quite challenging towards the end!
I’m also thinking about starting up Zelda: Twilight Princess HD soon – maybe next weekend. I do have a huge backlog that I’ve talked about plenty of times before… but I have such fond memories of Twilight Princess, and I’ve really felt like going through that one again as of late. We’ll see.
So how about you guys? Which games have your attention at the moment?
Highlights from last week’s topic: March 2016 Nintendo Direct thoughts
Mutant Mudds Super Challenge is finally coming to the eShop next week. On Wii U, the game takes up just 24MB of space. It’s also small on 3DS thanks to the download of just 109 blocks (13.6 MB).
“MyGamingBoulevard” posted a new video showing a close look at the Roy and Ryu amiibo, both of which are releasing very soon. You can get a look at both figures below.
Intelligent Systems wrapped up another Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) live stream earlier today. The company showed cards from the fourth and fifth series, as well as art for the sixth series. You can find all of these images (and more) below.
Amazon Italy has opened up pre-orders for several Nintendo products. You can now reserve the new Kirby amiibo, fourth wave of Animal Crossing amiibo cards (and album), and the Fire Emblem Fates New 3DS XL. For those in Europe, all of these products can be pre-ordered here.
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We’ll also mention that in terms of games, a bunch can now be reserved on Amazon Italy here. as well. This includes Pokemon Sun/Moon, Kirby: Planet Robobot, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and lots more.
