This month’s ONM review scores are as follows:
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (3DS) – 95%
Disney Magical World (3DS) – 63%
Mega Man Xtreme (Wii U) – 45%
Mega Man Xtreme 2 (Wii U) – 59%
Stealth Inc 2 (Wii U) – 90%
Teslagrad (Wii U) – 70%
Bayonetta 2 (Wii U) – 93%
Bayonetta (Wii U) – 93%
Zen Pinball 2: Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Wii U) – 70%
Zen Pinball 2: The Walking Dead (Wii U) – 83%
Kickbeat Special Edition (Wii U) – 60%
Cubemen 2 (Wii U) – 50%
Monster Combine TD is coming to the 3DS eShop, courtesy of Collavier Corporation.
The game is a tower defense title that has players heading on an adventure to a parallel universe with other students. Each student can perform powerful attacks and healing as they attempt to reverse the tragic fate of a prestigious school of wizardry and witchcraft.
In terms of gameplay, you’ll be defending the school’s gates by summoning mythic creatures and monsters. This can be done through a summoning book containing a board to place monster cards on. Monsters stem from different mythologies and can be either evolved or fused with elements and ability cards. You can expect variations like short and long range, and include goblins, vampires, unicorns, trolls and flying beasts. Monster Combine TD also includes drop & drag touch controls, deck customisation,, and experience points to level-up.
During the latest Nintendo Voice Chat episode, IGN spoke with Julian Eggebrecht, who was the president of the now-defunct development studio Factor 5. Eggebrecht revealed details about a cancelled Star Wars trilogy compilation for Wii – titled Rogue Leaders – that was actually finished.
Here’s what was shared:
– Factor 5 was originally working on a trilogy compilation for the first Xbox
– This would have contained Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
– Factor 5 was interested in Wii given the advances of motion tech thanks to Wii MotionPlus
– The team tried resurrecting its cancelled Star Wars trilogy from the first Xbox
– Making the game work on a modern console was only a matter of tweaking the already-existing systems in the half-finished game
“…we had our old trilogy project, which we had fifty percent done, which was basically putting Rogue Leader and Rebel Strike with new content, [along] with fixing some of the mistakes, redoing completely the cameras, and everything.”
– Factor 5 wanted the game to work with the GameCube controller and a few Wii peripherals
– The team “wanted to support every single control that you could imagine.”
– During flight sequences, you could have the Mario Kart wheel control your X-Wing together with the balance board to control the pedals
– There was space combat, speeder bike racing levels, third-person action sequences, and even lightsaber battles making the most of the Wii Motion Plus’ 1:1 controls
– New graphics engine allowed for 60 FPS with a high visual fidelity
“Believe me, if you ever saw it running on the Wii at 60 [fps], it is by far – and I think I’m not overstating that – the technically most impressive thing you would ever see on [Wii].”
– Wii trilogy was finished, but the project was shut down
– The cancellation was because of the financial crisis of 2008 and the fact that the team had taken it upon themselves to self-fund the project in order to claim a larger “piece of the pie” once it was distributed
– Two potential publishers also went bankrupt and LucasArts was having “their own financial woes”
– IGN says multiple companies stepped in to help out with publishing, but financial hardship, legal snafus, and budgetary restrictions ultimately led to the project’s final cancellation.
– Eggebrecht loves the Wii U, but its unpredictable trajectory and licensing troubles make it unlikely
“Maybe sooner or later a hardware spot will be hit again, and we certainly would love to talk to Disney about it. And of course, with J.J.’s [Abrams] comeback to kind of the traditional trilogy feel, I think there’s going to be a lot of commotion around that. I just don’t know if we will be a part of it or not.”
Yet another 3DS firmware update is out now in Japan. Version 9.1.0-20 has specific uses for both the New 3DS and original 3DS models.
Once the update is installed, New 3DS owners will be able to purchase themes, visit the eShop, use the Internet browser, and move software between systems. Themes are also available for original 3DS owners. System stability has been improved as well.
This month’s issue of CoroCoro reveals that a new version of Youkai Watch 2 is in the works. Level-5 will release Youkai Watch 2: Star Performer in Japan on December 13. Pricing is set at 4,968 yen.
The new version of Youkai Watch 2 will new Youkai and quests as well as an anime episode that connects to the upcoming movie. Players will be able to transfer data from the original games (Ganso/Honke). Additionally, extras are planned like medals for the retail launch.
