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Tag: 3DS

Weekly Gaming: Pokemon Moon (3DS)

Deary me has it been a while since I started playing Pokemon Moon. Having preordered the game last November, I proceeded to play the game straight for 20 hours, loving every moment of it. But for some reason, I fell off the Pokemon bandwagon and never actually got around to completing it – until now that is.

First up, you already know how Pokemon games go: As a 10 year old boy or girl, you proceed to meet the new professor of the place you’ve moved to, attaining your first pokemon, making you a newly qualified trainer. You make your way to the first gym, and proceed to take on the gym owner to gain a badge.

Except!

Not so this time round. The start’s the same in that you gain a starter pokemon, but everything from there changes. Gone are the gym’s from every other game in the series, which are instead replaced by trials across each of the 4 hawaiian islands. Once each trial has successfully been completed on a given island, you’re then able to take on that island’s “Kahuna” – the island protector so to speak. Whilst this has the same kind of layout as previous games, it changes immensely when actually partaking in the trails themselves.

You see, each trial will not only have you doing certain puzzles or taking on certain pokemon, but each trial will also conclude with a battle against a huge pokemon – one that’s stronger and bigger than the rest of it’s kind. For example, one of the first you take on within a cave ends with a battle against a Raticate; a simple enough battle you would think. Except, the battle ended up taking quite a while, not only because the Raticate was stronger than average, but also because it was able to summon other pokemon to fight at it’s side.

These trials were certainly a great mix-up to the age old pokemon formula, and even gave me quite a few challenges I didn’t think I’d be able to get out of alive thanks to the way it’s mixed things up.

The new trials aren’t the only way Pokemon has been mixed up. Now you can also ride Pokemon themselves on the overworld, allowing them to get you around a lot faster than running traditionally would. Getting around faster isn’t their only use though, as different pokemon’s abilities enable you to find new secret locations on the world map, giving you better TM’s or even better equipment.

Another fantastic new addition to the series is the Z ultra moves; moves so powerful they can kill most pokemon in one hit. Z moves can be given to any pokemon you have in your party as long as they’re holding a Z stone which matches the elemental type of one of their moves. Once activated, a brilliant cutscene of their attack unfolds, usually causing the opposing pokemon to faint. These powerful moves can only be used once per battle, so should you be taking on a team of opponents, it’s best not to use the move asap.

Aside from the new gameplay changes, there’s the age old tradition of New Pokemon adorning the land. These new pokemon range from trivial items in the environment like a ghost sandcastle pokemon, all the way up to new legendary’s that control the sun and moon. My favourite addition in all of this was the brand new “alolan” variants of some of the original 150 pokemon. These variants now only changed their features, like Raichu looking browner for example, but also changed their types. Exeggutor for example goes from being a grass type in previous games, to suddenly becoming a dragon type, able to learn amazing new moves like Hyper beam in the process. It’s a weird touch, but actually changes up the game quite a bit, making you excited to find/discover new pokemon and old.

Story-wise, the game is much the same as previous entries in the series. The biggest change is in the fact for the first time in Pokemon’s history, the main game has cutscenes. Yep, it’s strange at first, but you soon start to love the fact that it’s not all staticky talking characters anymore, with amazingly animated scenes lighting up your 3DS with all manners of joy. If anything, this addition makes the story all the more interesting, giving Pokemon a whole new layer to work with in producing new stories for people of all ages.

Additionally, Pokemon Moon had me surprised at the amount of mini-games available on the pause screen and how fun they were to keep coming back to. One of them, a bean collecting island, allowed you to place down berries to attract Pokemon, all whilst picking berries and planting them. I was surprised at how much fun I actually had with this mini-game, even going so far as to keep returning every now and then. This definitely contributed to my 30 hour play time total, but I felt it was worth it, especially when you can use the berries to make your pokemon love you, giving you extra headroom in fights when pokemon successfully dodge attacks for your love.

Section on Graphics:

Section on Disadvantages:

So all in all, I’m bloody glad I came back to Pokemon Moon. It’s formula may be similar to those games that came before it, but I cannot help but feel it’s a fantastic addition to the series, and sets up brand new precedent’s for future Pokemon titles, especially with the region variances in play. Should you own a 3DS (or 2DS!), you owe it to yourself to own Pokemon Moon – it’s guaranteed to give you dozens of hours of pleasure, and keep you coming back for more time and time again.

5/5

18/08/2017
Weekly Gaming: Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS)

I’m sure that when I say that I haven’t played a Dynasty Warriors game since I was a kid there’s going to be many of you who relate. It’s not that we didn’t enjoy the games when they were released, and god only knows there are still people out there buying the games (otherwise they wouldn’t continue to be made), it’s just that the formula is stale and the gameplay repetitive. Suffice to say that after 15-odd years, I finally felt in the mood for a hack-and-slash-defeat-thousands-of-enemies title, and what better game to play than Nintendo’s Hyrule Warriors for the 3DS.

Why the 3DS version? I hear you ask when the HD version is so much prettier on Wii U:

Portability.

I wanted to play this game wherever I was, including but not limited to when I was on my lunch at work, or out and about travelling to site installs during my day job. I also feel that in getting the game for 3DS, I justified my purchase in the NEW 3DS XL even more (as reports suggest the fidelity of the non-new 3DS’ is atrocious and barely playable).

Speaking of presentation, you can definitely tell the game’s been scaled back massively, both in terms of gameplay (how many enemies on screen at any one time) and graphical fidelity. In order to make the game playable at all on portable consoles the graphics has been scaled back to a presentation that reminds me of the N64. Yes, the polygonal enemies and low resolution textures are seriously that limited. Due to the lack of processing power, this has also affected the gameplay, as the limited amount of units that can be rendered on-screen at any one time is hugely limited.

Whilst I haven’t played the original Wii U version to compare the difference, the game certainly feels lacking when it comes to combat due to the consoles restraints. There would be many times where my mini-map would be fairly red from the amount of enemies surrounding me, yet on screen there were barely 50. Activating a special ability would only kill at maximum 44 enemies, with more suddenly appearing on screen the second their comrades are defeated (in the very same place you just annihilated I might add!). It detracted from the enjoyability of the game at times; here you are, a seemingly powerful Hyrulian who is able to defeat Gods, yet not able to kill everything on screen because said enemies haven’t even appeared.

Regardless of the nuisances the lack of processing power brings with it, the rest of Hyrule Warriors Legends holds up extremely well. The story brings together multiple familiar faces from across all the Zelda franchise, tying them together through a witch who is able to observe and manipulate all of time. In loving Link too much, and knowing she will never get close to him (since he is destined for Zelda) Cia (the main protagonist) succumbs to Gannondorf’s evil, starting the end of the world, and with it, the merging of different timelines and characters.

This fantastic way of both bringing in new characters into the fray, whilst also narratively keeping the world consistent helps to keep Hyrule Warriors campaign hugely engaging, even when you constantly have to change characters and play as someone new. In fact, in making you constantly switch up and play as new characters, Hyrule Warriors pushes you to learn more attacks, and more information about each of the characters, ensuring you get as much from the game and it’s hugely expanded lore as possible. Whilst the campaign ends in a relatively predictable manner, the story as a whole was enjoyable, and explored both new and old characters in ways I wouldn’t have thought before.

As per all hack and slash games, Hyrule Warriors requires little strategy, but a lot of repetitive enemy slaying. Things constantly change of the battlefield, with new enemies appearing at a drop of the hat, and in doing so, partially changing the tide of the battle, but overall the whole game makes you feel “reactionary” rather than a strategist who plans out who to attack and when. You may have an idea of what you want to do throughout a playthrough, but until boss drop happen or new objectives are thrown at you, you cannot possibly hope to properly plan out a level.

Not that the hacking and slashing is a bad thing, not by any stretch of the imagination, you just best know what you’re getting into before delving into Hyrule Warriors 10-12 hour campaign. Most enemies are easy to kill and so generic you can go about ignoring them; they aren’t going to have any effect on the tide of the battle, and if anything, they’re merely cannon fodder for you to build up your special attacks. It’s once you get used to the mechanics of how the stages play out that you realise that you can indeed ignore most of these enemies and concentrate on the true challenge of the game: the mini-bosses and enemy captains.

You see, these enemies change things up on the battlefield, and actually require skill rather than button mashing to conquer. They’ll ignore some of your attacks, and will proceed to leave themselves with openings should you evade their attacks for long enough. I especially found the final few bosses nice to take on, as in doing so you feel a real sense on accomplishment when an boss is downed.

Outside of the main game you also have a weirdly addictive meta game of upgrading allies skills using rupees and materials picked up in levels, and also managing and creating weapons. All of this adds an extra layer of complexity to an otherwise simplistic game that kept me coming back to levels time and time again just to ensure I unlocked more. It’s weird, but hey, if it kept me hooked, it’s sure to make many fans happy.

Am I glad I came back to a genre I had all but forgotten about? Yes. The simplistic rhythm of bashing out combos and barely thinking, only reacting, on a battlefield was enjoyable and weirdly relaxing, so much so that I was able to watch videos or listen to music in the background whilst still enjoying my time. Hyrule Warriors Legends isn’t a taxing affair, but is certainly enjoyable to take out and about should you own a 3DS. Weirdly enough, on completing the game I’m kind of eager to buy the Wii U version, just to compare the differences and maybe get a better playtime. Regardless, I think Hyrule Warriors Legends is a good buy, and a good match for 3DS – should you own the NEW 3DS and are looking for software to play on it, look no further.

4/5

22/07/2016
Weekly Gaming: Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

Weirdly enough, in all my years of owning Nintendo consoles; from the very first 3DS that I saved up my own money to buy at the age of 13, to the Gamecube I bought a few years later, I’ve never owned or played a Paper Mario game. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always admired them from a distance; their fantastically stunning presentation always had me attracted to them, and from what I always heard, their RPG mechanics also tempted me time and time again. Alas, years later and at the grand old age of 28, I decided to pop my Paper Mario cherry. Suffice to say, I’m glad I did.

There’s more to the game then just the visuals; Paper Mario Sticker Stars takes place in a book/land where the world is not only made of paper, but knows about stickers and their incredible abilities they hold. Once a year a sticker comet comes down to the land during the sticker festival, for all to marvel at how much power it holds. Unfortunately, with Bowser being Bowser, he decides to try and steal the Comet Stickers power, and thus begins Mario’s adventure through this gorgeous and crazy world.

The sticker/paper motive is really taken to the extremes throughout the course of Paper Mario Sticker Star, both to it’s advantage visually, but also to it’s deterrent mechanically.

From a visual standpoint the sticker/paper combo really helps to bring a visually stunning world to life, with every character fitting nicely into two dimensions. Mario for example can be crumpled up like a piece of paper, and due to all the characters two dimensions, see them on their side and they’re basically invisible. Stickers are commonly found throughout the world; on walls or under bushes, it’s fantastic peeling them off whenever you find them to see them fall with grace like a piece of paper in the wind. It’s all a wonder to behold, and truly is a stunning feat for nintendo to achieve; Paper Mario Sticker Star is one of the most visually pleasing games I’ve played in a long time.

Whilst the stickers and world are really a delight to be seen in action, the mechanics of them are not great. Battles take place with enemies like a traditional turn-based RPG, meaning you’ll select an attack and proceed to block oncoming offences. The problem is, the stickers you find throughout the world (and can buy) are the very stickers you need in order to attack and defend against enemies. It’s a cool idea in theory, but left me stuck many-a-time when I didn’t have the correct sticker to take on a specific enemy; an annoyance no gamer wants to come across after putting hours into a game.

Another problem with the stickers is the very core of the gameplay loop; there’s no XP for gain in Paper Mario Sticker Stars, meaning your progression through the game is on the stickers alone. Nintendo have done good to provide stronger and stronger stickers as your proceed through the story, but in focusing the whole game around this stickers, it never felt like I was progressing. Typically in RPG’s I enjoy fighting as many enemies as possible at the stat of the game so I can become strong enough to kill hard enemies with relative ease, helping me to feel empowered in an otherwise atypical game. The problem with a system like Paper Mario Stick Star is that in giving you no reason to fight enemies for a gain at the end of the combat, and instead giving you a net loss of losing your hard earned stickers from damaging goomba’s, you’re under no incentive to actually fight any enemies at all unless absolutely necessary (e.g. They’re blocking an exit). I spent the first few hours fighting everything I came across until I made that realisation; I wasn’t gaining anything at all, so what was the point?

It’s just a shame about the combat system, as I actually really enjoyed the fighting. Timing jumps is always enjoyable and keeps a user engaged with turn-based RPG’s, and the ability to block against enemy attacks is always a bonus and incentive for keeping you engaged with the game at all times. I still had fun with the game overall, but as said previously, I genuinely let like there were no progression. I just went on a linear path the developers wanted me to go on gaining stickers strong (or weak) enough for the current enemies.

Another annoyance about the sticker system is the ability to go into a fight with the wrong stickers in the first place. There are certain “things” that can be found around the world. These 3D household objects can be turned into rare and powerful stickers, that, during combat, can have huge effects on your foes. The problem is, some of the bosses in the game (and levels!) are absolutely essential on you having one of these stickers in your possession.

Case in point; I wasted dozens of minutes fighting a fish that would simply jump into the water and heal itself once you first damaged it. Not knowing what to do I would constantly try and hurt it, all to no avail. After getting so annoyed of getting the game over screen time and time again, I decided to check out a guide online. Turns out in one of the levels you can find a fish hook; this fish hook should be used only when the fish goes into the water, and that allows you to continue fighting him.

It’s genuine annoyances like the example above which really made the mechanics of Paper Mario grate on me after a while. If it wasn’t for the charming graphics and gorgeous presentation, I may not have made it to the end.

Whilst this article makes it sound like I’ve shitted on Paper Mario Sticker Stars more than sang it’s praises, I should say here that I genuinely still enjoyed the game from start to finish; but only in a presentation and story way. The mechanics let me down because they (in theory) should have complimented the art-style, but instead they detracted from the games’ mechanics as a whole. As I said at the start of the article, I’m glad I finally popped my Paper Mario Cherry, but man oh man was it a bittersweet time.

3/5

22/01/2016
Weekly Gaming: Super Smash Bros for 3DS

I’ve always loved Super Smash Bros, ever since me and my brothers got it one christmas as children and played it non-stop, it’s always had a special place in my heart. The game took a while to get used to, but being a kid didn’t stop me and my siblings, as we soldiered on until we smashed the hell out of each other. It wasn’t until many years later, when Smash Bros Brawl came out on the gamecube that I realised how fond I was of the series, with myself playing it with friends and family during my teenage years, and easily into university with some of my best friends on their Wii. It’s a fantastic series, one that brings people together, no matter what their skill range may be. So with all this in mind, what do I think of Nintendo’s latest brawler? It’s bloody fantastic.

The character models on the 3DS version have a cel-shaded look with the reason being the small size of the 3DS’ screen. Despite this new style, Smash Bros still manages to look fantastic.

The first thing I done when I received the game was took it around my families house and proceeded to battle for hours on end. Having not played Smash Bros in years, I lost, time and time again, but this didn’t deter me, as I continuing honing my skill with bowser and dr mario and continued to smash people out of the stage. It’s one of the fantastic things about smash bros that hasn’t been lost with all these years: the games fun no matter what your skill level may be. Items on the stage help to even the playing field, with my youngest sister easily smashing us off the stage when a lucky hammer would come her way. Suffice to say, the multiplayer is just as fun as ever, and reason enough to get Super Smash Bros Brawl on either 3DS or Wii U.

So what of the single player? Well there’s plenty to do, with myself spending most of my time in the classic mode, where you must go from one stage to another fighting variations of characters as you go. The difference with Smash Bros for 3DS is the fact that you can choose your path, with some paths being harder than others but netting higher rewards. Next up is the Smash run: a mode where you run across a stage as fast as possible all whilst killing as many enemies to collect their stat bonuses. Once the timer is over, you then proceed to battle it out with CPU controlled enemies on a normal brawl level but with different abilities from the stats you collected. it’s a fun mode to play in short bursts, and one that certainly helps in unlocking all the characters available this time round.

Whilst there’s a great deal of characters on display here, most players will end up going back to their favourite before long.

Whilst on the subject of characters, how do the new additions hold up I hear you ask? Well for the most part, pretty well. The Villager from Animal crossing is overpowered to hell, but otherwise additions like Pacman and little mac are a standard affair of learning what abilities they have on the B button, and proceeding to master when to use said abilities. As much as I just dismissed little Mac, he’s actually got one of the best line up of moves compared to the whole roster. He’s fast and light, and whilst he can’t jump, he’s bloody powerful, making for a very worth opponent. Despite all these new additions though, I couldn’t help but fall back to tried and tested characters like Bowser and Doctor Mario; my favourite characters because one is fast and all around great (Dr Mario), with the other being just massively strong and an outright monster to budge.

For all of my positives about the game, I only have one glaring negative: Smash Bros for 3DS doesn’t innovate on the smash bros formula in any noticeable way. Don’t get me wrong, the game is extremely polished, to the point I don’t think I could find a sharp edge on it even if I tried, but in playing it safe, Nintendo also made the game boring for me far faster than it typically should. The rise of DLC characters has kept my interest peaking back here and there, but I can’t help but feel Nintendo played it far too safely, and could have come up with some new modes that really mixed the formula up in new and interesting ways.

Whilst the top screen is where all the action happens, it feels like Nintendo could have made better use of the bottom screen.

So should you own Super Smash Bros for 3DS (or Wii U)? Well, it depends how many friends you have or how much you like fighting. Playing with my family like good old times was great, but I got bored quickly when I wasn’t playing with others. If you’re a loner for most of the time like me, you may not find great value in the game, despite how great and polished it is. If your answer is that yes, you’re a social butterfly, then seriously, you cannot find a better party game than Smash Bros right now.

4/5

31/12/2015
Weekly Gaming: Mario Party: Island Tour (3DS)

I have fond memories of Mario Party; me and my family would play it loads as a child. I remember the painful blisters we would all get after stupid mini games forced us to out-do each other on the N64, and I also remember finding that an electric toothbrush was the best way to press A as fast as possible on the controllers. So with Nintendo doing a Nintendo Classics line on the 3DS, I thought, what better way to spend the last of the year then renewing this love for the game with my partner? Well, my presumptions were far from true, which was annoying considering I had mistakenly purchased two copies in the hopes we could play together.

Looks like a board game from yesteryear, but beneath it all Mario Party is just a race to the finish, and a frustrating one at that.

So first things first, why was I mistaken? Well Mario Party’s of yesteryear was a board game affair. Players would take turns rolling a dice, landing on special places, and playing mini-games to help them progress around the board. Whoever had the most stars at the end of the game won, with everything in the game helping you progress towards getting as many stars as possible. It was fun and addictive, down right competitive even.

Not so anymore with Mario Party Island tour. Whilst the “boards” still exist, they’re a one way street, with no repeating or challenge involved in collecting the most of something. This is a purely racing affair, with the player reaching the finish line first taking all, leaving everybody else in last place. whilst this may be to some peoples taste, it left a bad taste in my mouth when I was unlucky with my dice roles and ended up finishing a game at space 20 when everyone else was at space 50. It didn’t matter how well I played the mini-games (I won all of them), I still lost.

I’m not delusional; previous Mario Party games also had a lick of luck involved in winning a game, but at least there was skill involved too. You could nick players coins, preventing them from buying the game winning stars, or even outrightly turns the tables on someones fortunes should you win a mini game. Not so with Mario Party Island Tour, which has taken the most frustrating parts of any Mario Party formula and put them all into this one product.

Whilst I’m annoyed at the “board game” aspect of Mario Party, the mini games are just as addictive as always

Why was I annoyed I purchased the game twice? Well 3DS games usually contain download play; a way for up to 4 people to play one game with one cartridge. These titles usually also have the added benefit that should the other players own the same game, more options will be made available. Not so for Mario Party Island Tour, where doing download play allows you to access the full game. I sound annoyed, mainly because I waster money, but this is actually a fantastic addition to the game, and one Nintendo should advertise more.

So what good is there about the game? Well for one, the mini-games are just as addictive and fun as they always were. There’s a huge variety on display here, with them all taking advantage of the 3DS’ unique feature set, such as it’s gyroscope, touch screen, or even the microphone. In the 5 hours I’ve put into the game, I’ve rarely come across the same mini-games twice in a row, a brilliant play on Nintendo’s part calling to the amount of content available.

Along with the traditional “board” games, Nintendo has actually filled the game out plenty. You can choose to play the mini-games by themselves should you wish to practice and improve yourself, or play against the CPU on a hot air balloon mode where you must win as many mini games as possible. There’s also time trial mode, and another mode titled “Bowsers Tower”, which is more like the games actual campaign/story mode, with bosses and mini-games you wouldn’t find in the main game.

So for £13, Mario Party: Island tour is actually a bargain for the amount of content it squeezes in, it’s just a shame that the main thing that got me interested in the games in the first place (the board game) is gone, with it’s replacement being a mere shadow to the brilliantness that came before it. By all means buy Mario Party: Island Tour since it’s now on offer; it’s great fun with friends, and is cheap; just be prepared to get very annoyed very fast when the games decides to give you shit for no reason.

3/5

31/12/2015
Weekly Gaming: NES Ultimate Remix (3DS) Review

Hi all,

So on the day of my games release (which you can buy below here: http://www.twixelgame.com), I still have writing left in me, so this week I bring you NES Ultimate Remix by Nintendo. You can read my review below:

http://www.gamrreview.com/review/92217/ultimate-nes-remix-3ds

I hope you enjoy it, and keep tuned, I’ll be doing a write up on my game soon.

-Dan

19/12/2014
Weekly Gaming: Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)

Set hundreds of years after the events of a link to the past, A Link Between Worlds gives you the gorgeous world of Hyrule in stunning 3D.

A Link Between Worlds was announced rather unexpectedly last summer, as Nintendo showed of a line up of 3DS title after 3DS title. As much as it was a surprise, it was certainly welcome, with Skyward Sword not getting the same scores or sales numbers of Zelda titles of the past Nintendo needed a hit to ensure that Zelda was still known and remembered for being one of the best action/adventure games of all time.

You start A Link Between Worlds in Links house, just the same as the original A Link To the Past. Having slept in and late for work, a friend comes in and wakes you up, setting you on course to get to the blacksmiths house as you (Link) are his apprentice. From here, you are set with delivering a new sword to a knight at the sanctuary, where your true adventure will start. It’s at the sanctuary that a new villain is found, someone who is imprisoning seemingly ordinary people in the world in paintings, making them 2D and not able to move. It’s here that you are able to use the sword you were tasked with delivering, and its here that the adventure truly starts.

You’re able to explore most of the world of Hyrule from the offset as soon as you get the sword, with only a few areas being locked until you receive the appropriate item to bypass the obstacles in your path. Link doesn’t level up, but you can find rupees and items in the world before progressing through the story and going to hyrule castle to meet Princess Zelda.

The Land of Hyrule is fantastically detailed, with Nintendo easily toying with your nostalgia of the original by making most things the same, but others tweaked for better replayability and interaction. Dungeons are similar, whilst also taking advantage of your new unique abilities and items to give a interesting puzzle to pass. The world feels alive at the start of the game, but as it progresses you’ll start to get the same conversations happening time and time again. It feels fantastic when you find a new secret or person to talk to after accidentally wondering down a new path that you haven’t seen before.

Like the previous Zelda for the Snes, you’re able to travel between two worlds, one which is lovely and normal (Hyrule), and another that is destroyed and the opposite of Hyrule: Lorule. You travel to this new location by using one of Link’s new control mechanics, which turns Link 2D against any flat walls or surfaces as a drawing/painting. This allows you to navigate pass boulders or enemies without getting hurt, or allows or very clever puzzles.

Lorule is like the dark parts of a Link to the Past, and takes all the enemies that were easy to kill, making them stronger and harder to beat. Lorule is also hard to navigate, with huge swaths of land missing so you have to teleport between worlds in order to get the the correct location. It makes navigating a puzzle in itself, which certainly adds extra hours of gameplay to your experience.

One of the biggest talking points of A Link Between Worlds was the way you got your new equipment. Traditionally, you’d have to navigate dungeons and defeat bosses in a set pattern, always giving you new equipment which helps you unlock the next dungeon along your quest. (E.g. in one dungeon you’ll unlock the ability to throw bombs, then the next dungeon will require this to enter the dungeon itself, allowing nintendo to set you down a one way path through completing the game). In a Link Between Worlds though, you have access to almost all of the equipment throughout the whole game from the offset, for a small fee of renting the items. You keep these items until the next time you die or fall, meaning you could potentially never have to buy out the items throughout the whole campaign. It’s certainly a nice feature, and makes the game more accessible to those who haven’t played Zelda games before, but not a feature I’d recommend for hardcore players, as items that are bought can then be upgraded to become more powerful and devastating to enemies. To also buck trends in this long running franchise, Nintendo have also allowed you to upgrade the master sword, something that has never been done before. By the end of the game, I was killing most enemies in one hit, and felt truly over-powered.

A Link Between Worlds is one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had in recent memory. Nintendo managed to take my nostalgia for the original, put it into a machine, mess around with it, and spit it back out shinier than ever. Everything in the game feels refreshingly original, whilst you know it’s all based on a template so tried and tested. I played the game to completion, collecting every collectible in the game and upgrading everything I possibly could, just to treasure every moment I could. Nintendo has made yet another classic, and you owe it to yourself to play it. I look forward to the next time I start this adventure again.

5/5

04/04/2014
Weekly Gaming: Donkey Kong Country Returns (3DS)

Being a 2D platformer, Donkey Kong Country is pretty solid and graphically rich, taking the series back to what I hear were its glory days on the SNES.

N.B. The following review will have no screenshots due to the 3DS’ lack of screenshot capabilities.

I’ve never played a Donkey Kong game before, they’ve always been on my radar, but I’ve never felt inclined to give them a go. I never even played the much revered N64 versions, as my family never bought it when I was young. So having a lovely 3DS XL, I felt it was time to jump straight in to what is known as a timeless classic when it comes to precision platforming.

The game starts out with a simple premise: Donkey Kong and Diddy are sleeping at home, when some Tiki’s come to their island, brainwash all it’s inhabitants, and use these brainwashed slaves to steal all the banana’s. The tiki’s come across DK and Diddy, and try to brainwash them too, but are unsuccessful in doing so. The reason for DK and Diddy not being brainwashed is never explained, but I believe we’re to deduce it’s because of how stupid they are. DK punches the Tiki in question, which then starts your journey across the island to put a stop to these evil creatures and take back what’s naturally theirs (because, you know, they’re monkeys, and all banana’s belong to them, right?).

The game features traditional 2D platforming, meaning you move from left to right, jumping on enemies heads, or rolling into them to kill them. Levels are made more varied for DK as he can bang the floor whilst stationary to smash plant pots, or cactuses, revealing hidden treasure or bananas. Levels start off fairly easy as the game gets you used to it’s mechanics, and the “floatiness” of DK’s jumps, but soon start getting quite difficult in how precise you have to be to land specific sections and come through unscathed.

Enemies are varied, from crabs that require you banging the floor to get them to flip over, to Tiki drums spitting fire and requiring DK to blow them out, every enemy is out to get you and ruin a perfect streak as you traverse through DK Country Returns beautiful landscapes. Boss encounters are some of the most fun sections in the game, taking it to new heights with runaway trains with a badger at the helm, to robot chickens that try to squash you under their feet.

The are 8 main worlds to explore in the campaign, with a bonus 9th world if the player collects 8 special pearls after completing the game. These pearls can be attained by collecting the KONG letters hidden throughout each level, which in turns opens up an additional level in each world. These additional levels are an acclamation of some of the most challenging set pieces DK Country Returns offers, with precision platforming causing many a headache for those that attempt them.

Each world brings with it a unique style and gameplay dynamic, from the lush trees at the start of the game, to a factory level, and even a volcano, everything shouts originality when compared to the previous section that came before it. Some levels will be big set pieces, with one early sea level having a octopus in the background constantly trying to stop DK and Diddy from reaching the end. These set pieces are rare, and few and far between, but when they do happen it’s invigorating to beat. Regions have unique sensibilities about them, for example, he jungle level later on will have nothing but ropes to swing across to make your way through the level, yet the caves have none and it’s mostly carts that will get you across the level. This makes the contrast between each world unique, allowing the developers to truly mess with your pre-sonceptions of what has to be in specific locations.

Items can be purchased to help you on your quest across the island, which are certainly needed later on in the game. These can be purchased with banana coins, which are hidden throughout levels or gained by successfully landing on three enemies or more. Items range from just buying extra lives (trust me, these are needed in later levels), to buying a balloon which prevents you from falling off a stage.

As was previously mentioned, some levels are special and require you to take control of either a flying rocket barrel, or a mine cart. These will take many revisits to successfully beat, as the mine carts are difficult to control compared to what you’ve been used to throughout the entirety of the game. Touch anything and you’re dead, so most of these levels can’t be done first time, and will need memorisation in order to conquer their challenges. The same can be said for the rocket barrel levels, whose control scheme is strange and doesn’t feel right, so most of the time it feels like luck if you manage to successful avoid a missile of rock.

Replayability is a big selling point of Donkey Kong Country Returns, with every level having multiple collectibles and even a time trial mode once a level is beaten once before. This all becomes so much more challenging once the secret 9th world is beaten, and the game receives a mirror mode to try and conquer, giving the player 1 less heart, no chance to use any items they have purchased, and no Diddy kong to help you out. It’s cynically evil of Retro Studios, but DK Country Returns isn’t for the faint of heart, and will push you to your limits in trying to conquer it’s precision platforming.

I enjoyed my time with Donkey Kong Country Returns, putting 14 hours into it before giving up on the mirror mode and collecting every puzzle piece. I feel Nintendo and Retro Studios have done a fantastic job of making a solid platformer, one which pushes players to their limit, something I feel more studios should strive to accomplish these days instead of holding the players hand. This extreme difficulty could be off-putting to some casual players, but Nintendo made this game to appeal to the hardcore fans, and in making it difficult, have succeeded in that regard. Give it a play if it comes down in price, but be warned, it will take a few hours to get into and a lot longer to master (if you ever manage to master it at all).

3/5

07/03/2014
Gaming Week 52: Pokémon Y (3DS)

Pokemon Y changes Nintendo’s traditional naming convention of colours and now gives us letters, but does Pokemon Y change the direction of the game like it’s name implies? Picture credit of Uxian.

People of the world, I have a confession to make.

I have never played a portable Pokemon game from start to finish.

Let that sink in for a moment, and be even more shocked when I say that I was raised in the perfect environment, perfect time, and given every opportunity to do so, but never did. Yes, I’m 26 and have talked about Pokemon with friends, colleagues and family, but I didn’t feel I needed to, since I knew enough about the lore and Pokedex that I deemed the games unnecessary. How wrong I was.

The game starts out with a Professor explaining what Pokemon are, and who you are. It’s here, where the story begins, that you get to create your own hero or heroine before embarking on your adventure. Your options are limited, from picking your name to what gender you are, but these options soon increase throughout the game, with myself donning different clothes and eye colour to my original inception. It’s the ability to be free to be who you want in this new and wonderful world that’s begging to be explored which makes Pokemon stand above the rest.

Gameplay entails guiding your character around the world from a birds eye perspective, whist talking to other Pokemon trainers you encounter and avoiding bushes. Once you encounter a battle with a trainer or wild Pokemon, you’re taken to a fight scene, where your Pokemon and the opponent take turns slicing each other until one faints. This hasn’t changed since the original, but certainly looks different thanks to the graphical prowess of the Nintendo 3DS/2DS to old generations. Being the first 3D polygonal Pokemon game, Nintendo have gone all out with the presentation of the world, with every scene looking as detailed and charming as their sprite based cousins.

As can be hopefully seen in this picture, the Kalos region takes Pokemon to France. With this change of scenery comes a new change in atmosphere and surroundings, with villages and sites looking cultured compared to previous Pokemon games. It leaves you with a very Noire feeling. (Image copyright of Nintendo)

The world is huge and begging to be explored, with the story alone taking 40+ hours to complete if you rush your way through, and longer if you do all of the side content and want to level your team up as much as possible. I finished the game at the 45 hour mark, with 6 Pokemon all at level 70+, with 2 of them 85+, but others may want to train new Pokemon from scratch, leading to a longer game.

Team Rocket have been replaced since I was a kid with Team Flare, a new organisation that wishes to destroy the world and recreate it using the new legendary Pokemon from the Kalos region (these new Pokemon can be found on the covers of both games). They’re a weird organisation that certainly mimic Team Rockets tactics in stealing items and being generally evil, and genuinely add to the story, with cutscenes and key moments tied to their ambitions.

Being a Pokemon game, your main characters ambition is to be the best Pokemon trainer around, collecting every Pokemon in the Kalos region (over 450 now!) whilst also defeating all 8 gym leaders to then take on the elite 4. This troupe hasn’t changed in years, but here it feels different and revitalised with each gym being unique and a puzzle in themselves to navigate and defeat. They’re certainly a great way to show off the graphics of the new games, with some scenes being mind-blowing in originality and creatively inspiring, a first for me when it comes to anything Pokemon.

Certain Pokemon can now Mega Evolve into a stronger version of their former self, as can be seen above with Mewtwo. This change is only temporary however, and only one Mega Evolution can be done per battle, meaning you really have to decide which Pokemon fits the situation best.

Pokemon battles are easily one of the most improved features of Pokemon Y, with a host of new features, from horde battles (where multiple Pokemon will attack you at once) to sky battles and Mega Evolutions, battling has certainly been revitalised. Mega Evolutions are temporary buffs to a certain few Pokemon in the game, and can only happen if they are fully evolved and are holding a piece of meteorite special to themselves. It adds an interesting mechanic to battles, and certainly came in handy when my mega Charizard would stop the battlefield from snowing purely from how hot he was. Sky battles are exactly as they say, where only flying Pokemon can partake, meaning you best make sure you have some flying Pokemon on you. Overall, the battle system is far more refined, and with every battle netting your whole team XP from the new XP sharer item, you can level up Pokemon in no time without even having to get them out in a battle.

All these new refinements can certainly make a die hard Pokemon enthusiast feel a little disheartened, making it easier to level up your team and faster to get around. But by changing the pacing of the game, and adding more content and story than before, Nintendo have made something that feels completely new and original, without really doing anything to the core mechanics.

In many ways, Pokemon at the base level isn’t any different to the original. The Core mechanics are the same, and haven’t changed since it’s inception, but the refinements around the edge, like making battle systems have more depth, or changing on how your team earns XP, makes it feel like a refreshing and new game. It could be said that Pokemon encapsulates where Nintendo is in it’s current life, remaking old franchises with just enough new trimmings that it feels original, but these new trimmings truly do give the games a new life, especially when their premise and core mechanics are just strong enough to stand the test of time, all that’s needed is a repackaging. It all seems to be a winning formula, and one that I hope continues from Nintendo for a few years to come.

4/5

27/12/2013
Just a quick update

Just thought I’d update the site about what’s currently being played, so here it goes:

Bought Modnation Racers for the Playstation Vita as it was on sale in the PSN Store for only £11.99, so I’ll be posting my first thoughts about it soon this week. So far I really don’t know how I feel about it, so time will tell.

Dragons Dogma was released on Friday (25^th of May) and initially whilst I was serving all day it seemed to outsell Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier, surprising and highly welcome. I can’t say sales will continue in this pattern, as knowing GAME they’ll stop stocking Dragons Dogma well before Ghost Recon, even when people still want it. (Exactly what happened with Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning) I bought it on day of release, and so far I know I’ll love the game, but I can’t seem to get hooked. It’s definitely epic, I can feel that, but because of all of the training I so far feel distant from the action. A first thoughts and review will be up soon.

Going to post a review for Pullblox soon, the lovable puzzle game for the Nintendo 3DS. I’m about half way through the game, and loving every minute.

On my PC I’ve started to play Saints Row the Third seriously, for the last 4 hours of gameplay I’ve just been messing around, but I hope to have it finished soon and review to follow shortly after.

This all might take me a while as I’ve got an interview for a management position, so time must be given to preparing.

Either way I’ll keep this site updated with content over the coming weeks.

28/05/2012