I had to make lots of compromises for this picture. The scale is way off; the Prince should be vastly smaller than the King, who is slightly larger than the Queen. Due to the shape of their heads I also drew them all front-on. Plus the non-standard body shapes. And I couldn’t fit the Kings’ facial hair in a way that looked good. Anyway it’s the best I could do with the royalty of the Katamari series!
The King of All Cosmos, The Queen, RoboKing, The Prince, a Katamari, The Princess
Katamari’s concept is so elemental and fun that any game that uses it is bound to provide a good time, to me at least. This was no different but it seems held back by the limitations of the platform. The controls aren’t perfect and there’s not a whole heap of variety, but it maintains the core mechanics and delivers a charming package.
I’ve previously played just the PS3′s Katamari Forever, which has lots of content and many wild types of levels. Unfortunately its default puts an irritating visual filter over gameplay. That’s not a problem here, but you have other issues due to the PSP hardware. For one, you don’t get two thumbsticks for movement. In the Japanese and PAL versions you apparently don’t even get one, using the D-pad and the face buttons as a second D-pad, which is awkward at best. I was fortunate enough to pick up the American release which enables you to use the PSP’s thumbstick in place of the D-pad. It helps, but then you lose symmetry…
Compared to Forever, there’s also a lot more same-y levels. Sure each one asks you to prioritise certain types of objects, but I didn’t feel motivated to change my strategy around that, or even able to work it into my play most of the time. A lot of them are also in the same environments and the same methods work each time. The 5 optional special levels change it up nicely, but I wish there were more of them. You also have more loading times and breaks during gameplay, but that might be unfair for comparison since Forever seems to be the first game in the series to iron that out, on a much more powerful machine.
Basically I think playing Forever earlier has ruined me for the older games. It’s too bad because this is otherwise pretty solid. It’s as charming as any Katamari game can be; the conceit this time is not the King ruining the cosmos but just one group of islands. Animals then turn up to request different kinds of katamaris to replace them. Running around the home base island is fun, as each animal you help starts populating it. The music is a very strong set, with quirky hits from the first game (whose soundtrack I have partaken in many times) and others I hadn’t heard.
Hang on. Do I need to explain Katamari? You can absorb things smaller than you to get bigger, with the scale going from the tabletop to continental. You roll a ball around with a complicated control scheme; moving around is your only real action. The world is a delightfully Japanese low-poly wonderland set to an eclectic mix of tunes. It’s all capped off by a sense of wackiness that is a real joy to experience. These components are the Katamari formula that this game shares, and why I loved it. It’s just a shame the content seems lacking, at least after playing Forever (not to mention the multiplayer mode I couldn’t access on my e-1000).
I really do like this movie. The main Mario games do little for me, but I feel the concepts were well developed and delivered in this film, and the characters are a lot of fun. I highly recommend the site Super Mario Bros. The Movie Archive as a haven of fandom and analysis, with information on the production, merchandise, and cut content gleaned from the script, novelisation, production stills, etc. I know the movie is considered a “flop” but its combination of cheesiness and interesting design makes it very enjoyable for me. Also check out the aborted semi-official sequel comic.
Mario Mario, Luigi Mario, Daisy, Yoshi, Iggy, Spike, Toad (Goomba form), Koopa, Lena
Loosely inspired by me playing Lego Batman recently, here’s what I think of as the Justice League, ie. the version from the animated series that I watched as a young’n. There are two GBA games based on the animated series, but I haven’t played them… yet.
I broke in my new PSP with one of the old tried and tested Lego games. The PSP is an odd beast, like a mini PS3 with a small viewing angle, strange (for a handheld) disc access noises, and, for this game at least, annoying loading times on startup. For nobody’s interest, I chose the e-1000 model, the newest “budget” model with supposedly the best screen but no Internet and mono-only speaker, and the same faster processor of the other slim models. The tradeoffs are worthwhile for the price, I feel. The shape of the thing did cause me hand cramps in extended play sessions.
I spent much of my time with this game wondering if this was an upscaled port of the DS version, or a downscaled port of the console version. Since it’s a very early instalment in the Lego series, the lines are more blurred than they are these days. I still don’t have a definitive answer (because I didn’t do any research)! But whichever, it was still a nice bit of fluff.
Despite a limited character roster, there’s a fairly robust lineup of villains, rotating for each chapter. I liked the mirrored structure, where the heroes (only Batman and Robin in their different suits in story mode) have a Batcave hub, and the villains roam Arkham Asylum; the villain levels also take place in approximately the same locations, showing their setup and mayhem previous to being taken down by the good guys. It’s a fun story conceit.
Being an early Lego game, it keeps things simple with menus rather than large open worlds, straightforward tasks, and grunts-and-gestures cutscenes rather than a fully voiced script. Having played so many Lego games now, this was almost a nostalgic throwback in a way. Refreshing. And I only had one crash my whole time.
The Avatar games are an interesting example of a developer iterating their design over the course of a series. I discovered that Halfbrick, in going from their first Avatar game on GBA to their second, streamlined their game and made it more action-focused, trimming RPG elements. Turns out THQ Australia did a similar thing for their second console entry.
The game is now shifted in a co-operative action-platformer direction. There’s still an experience bar but levelling up is simpler, and there are no persistent items besides collectible health potions. They seem to have strived to make the game more accessible and child-friendly, and as a result it can come across as simplistic at times. Fortunately there are improvements, such as much nicer looking and better animated cutscene models, and a slightly deeper combat system with button combos for different moves; fights still amount to mashing though.
A concern with this game is it simply rehashing the plot of Book 2 instead of telling its own story. This is somewhat mollified by having unique dialogue and a rearranged story; for example, the Fire Nation drill attack is foreshadowed heavily and serves as a motivation and the climax of the game (this is the same as the DS game). This adjustment at least added interest to how they would tell the story. Plus there were weird additions like the Omashu governor being an expert firebender, or having Jet, Iroh, and even Momo as playable characters on certain stages (Momo has the ability to throw cabbages at will!). There’s also plot added to the swamp with the Fire Nation dumping waste there, and Jet helping you clean it up (revealing in the process that after the Freedom Fighters disbanded they started helping Earth Kingdom refugees, much like the Kyoshi Warriors).
The real problem with the game, and my co-op buddy’s main complaint, was the motion controls. Characters’ ranged attacks would trigger accidentally, and “focus move” spots required specific fiddly motions that were a pain to get right. The PS2 and Xbox360 versions would obviously avoid this problem.
Being always on the lookout for anything adaptations can add to the universe, I can report that enemies in the game included some kind of warty beaver-rat in various sizes, found in the swamp and Omashu sewer, as well as giant spiders. The Library of Wan Shi Tong also had to include fights, so now there are statues that come to life and can bend fire and earth.
This game has potential but it’s hampered by being overly easy and by its frustrating motion controls. There’s still interest for Avatar fans but in this case the contest between the console version and the DS version is closer, and the GBA one loses out. The console one is a little shorter and probably a better overall package, though (but not having played the DS one for a long time, my memory’s a little hazy).
Animal Crossing has so many truckloads of characters, they have multiple waves of trading cards to cover them all. Which ones have been amiibo-ised is a good way to boil down some of the important characters of the series. Plus they fit in a nice grid. I replaced the second Isabelle variant with the “default” female villager design from Wild World & Smash, which I saw speculation was supposed to be based on Ai from the movie, or the other way round. I can see it. Anyways they should have made her the Smash amiibo instead of number 1 guy. They should also make a game that uses all these amiibo. You know, a good one.
I was watching a speedrun of this game and it made me nostalgic for SNES-era Square. Even though their releases in my country were very sporadic, I caught up with them later and they’re consistently good quality, with great music. I found out that ideas from Seiken Densetsu 2 were split off into Chrono Trigger, and it shows through some of the designs and such. I’m not sure I did the best job with these sprites but hopefully someone will enjoy them.
I’ve encountered a roadblock in terms of Avatar games. When I opened the case for The Burning Earth on Wii that I bought ages ago, I found a disc for the first game had been sold to me by mistake. And it was too scratched up to work! So while a new copy wings its way to me, I played the GBA version.
It was a bit of a letdown. I completed it in only a couple of hours—it’s the shortest game on the list so far. Like the other Halfbrick games, you use bending and other abilities for both puzzles and combat. And like the Into the Inferno game in particular, the characters are paired up in different combinations (or sometimes solo) in different levels. In this case, the puzzles, combat, and action-y segments are pretty segmented; you’re either doing one or the other, and moving on linearly, a quite plain structure.
This time, the game is built around a scoring system. Presumably this is to encourage replays of its short length. The upper left number is your score, which also acts as health and is restored by defeating enemies. Beating a string of bad guys (only ever the same three types of Fire Nation soldiers, besides the boss fights) also gives a combo bonus, to encourage proper use of your bending abilities. It’s a fairly complex and neat little system. The upper right is a bonus, which ticks down over time and is filled up by collecting jars in the levels, providing the occasional reward for doing something extra or risky.
The sprites, following the previous game, are adorable, and the environments are drawn beautifully. The weakness of the game is that it’s simply retelling the story of Book 2, but severely cut down. It doesn’t have the novelty of the first game’s new plot, and it’s so fast-paced that you have to be familiar with the show to really get it. It does have the advantage of showing Zuko’s side of the story as well, which the DS version was unable to do. What I look for in adaptations are things they’re able to add to the story or world, but the only thing I noticed that wasn’t an adaptation from the show was a reuse of the armadillo wolves from the previous game; they’re used for puzzles rather than combat, which is amusing.
The characters’ abilities are translated to game mechanics in interesting ways, but the score-chasing structure is just something that doesn’t grab me. Despite the aesthetic strengths of the game, I find myself preferring the DS version in this case. Of course, both cover different content, with the desert and Ba Sing Se omitted here but present on DS, and Zuko and Iroh levels here. It’s just so short though, only 7 levels and one of those is more like a minigame. After playing all of Halfbrick’s other games in the series, this was underwhelming to me.
A while ago I chose between this game and Spirit Tracks, its sequel. I reasoned that they would have refined any niggles in their experimental control system for the sequel. Having now finally played both, the main difference is they changed how the roll works; it is annoying to pull off in this game, but barely ever used so it’s not a big deal. On the whole I enjoyed this first game a lot more.
Phantom Hourglass is an early first-party DS game, so it goes all-out with mandatory touch screen controls, using the microphone, etc. It works fairly smoothly, and apart from some overlap between moving, interacting, and attacking (not to mention forgetting that blowing the microphone was a valid input from time to time) I had no problem controlling Link; this time I knew from the beginning that the shoulder buttons were used for items, which I discovered halfway through Spirit Tracks. Oh, I just remembered the final battle which dumps a symbol-drawing thing out of nowhere. Had to watch a video for how to do that. Apart from the gimmicks, the double screens are used excellently, with gameplay and maps, the ability to make notes on your maps, and both being used during certain boss battles for an epic feel.
The story is a direct continuation of Wind Waker, but the cast is all new apart from Link and Tetra. It’s this generation’s Link’s Awakening really, with an existing Link entering a sort of alternate world governed by a whale deity (although you only find this out at the end). Having it carry on the story from another game is nice, and the new characters are ace, especially Linebeck. His bickering with fairy companion Ciela are a great source of humour and personality, and travelling with them in the ship has a great adventurous feel. This is helped by the ability to upgrade and customise the ship, although it gets tedious to be “rewarded” with duplicate ship parts as the game progresses.
Speaking of rewards, the Spirit Gems are a good idea; your fairy companions can be upgraded, affecting your abilities, by finding these collectibles. Unlike Spirit Tracks, I was motivated enough to obtain them all, and all the Heart Containers. But why, what’s the difference? It might be as simple as the ship being more fun to control than the train. It’s freeing to be able to sail anywhere at any time: open seas adventure to uncharted islands. ST has Zelda as a main companion character, which is a huge plus; but the party of Link, the earnest Ciela, and the loveable scoundrel Linebeck made for a better dynamic.
PH has a fishing minigame, which earns it points from me. This was strangely missing from Wind Waker. Treasure salvaging returns, but there’s a minigame attached to that as well. Overall the game feels like a mini Wind Waker, with a smaller world and streamlined mechanics for the control scheme and format, but with additions and expansions in some areas. I think the ending undermines it slightly but the game is well executed, there’s lots to do, and it’s very endearing. If you’re going to pick only one of the DS entries as I did long ago, choose this one.
It’s another Picross game. The distribution method for it is the main story, with it being made available with the launch of Nintendo’s new loyalty program and costing not money but points gained through engagement with Nintendo’s services and apps. But that’s big time news fodder, let’s talk about the game.
The presentation is like a traditional “e-series” Picross game as opposed to Pokemon Picross, but with fantasy-ish themed UI, and backgrounds and music ripped from Twilight Princess. The puzzles represent characters, items, or scenes from the game, and it’s quite nice to see Oocoo or Midna as a solution; it’s been so long since franchise themed Picross puzzles have been a thing.
Perhaps because it doesn’t cost any real money, this is a much smaller offering than any of the “e” games. It has only 3 pages of puzzles compared to, say, e6’s 10. This is much like Japan’s Club Nintendo Picross. Like e6 though (and indeed Pokemon Picross) the pixel images are recycled for normal and Mega modes, which is a bit of a letdown with so few images. There’s also 1 Micross image, and the scene it presents isn’t super impressive.
There’s been one minor change to the controls that had a significant impact on my ability to play and enjoy the game. In all previous Picross iterations, the stylus controls primarily involve you holding up or down on the D-pad (or X and B) to engage the fill or erase function respectively while the button is held. In this one, the buttons instead toggle the fill or erase mode when they’re pressed once. This makes it much harder to slip into a groove, as you have to constantly check or remind yourself what mode you’re in (null mode is also useful for pondering your next move or counting). Having the stylus state tied directly to the current action or inaction of my off hand made for a much smoother and more intuitive experience, and I’m very disappointed by this change. I hope it doesn’t continue to future instalments or can at least be changed as a setting.
But apart from the inexplicable change to the controls and “dearth of content” as they say, it’s easy to recommend this game. It’s not terribly hard to get the necessary points through My Nintendo, but WarioWare Touched may present better value all the same. However, the exclusive nature of this game and the quite well-done Twilight Princess theming make it a pleasing bonus for Nintendo loyalists. Plus it has Midna as a tutorial guide, which is fun and makes this totally canon to the Zelda series. Trust me.
Remember when Smash Bros. was good? Well, one game before that we had Melee. trollololol Seriously though, there’s some solid additions in this game, rounding out the cast and only bloating it slightly. Having drawn some of these characters multiple times now, I have to decide between lazily porting the sprite, tweaking it, reworking it… it’s fun. Popo is supposed to be jumping or something, and Game & Watch’s nose doesn’t translate too well. Eh, enjoy.
Mario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, Link, Young Link, Zelda, Sheik, Ganondorf, Samus, Donkey Kong, Fox, Falco, Kirby, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Ness, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, Marth, Roy
A new release, Hyrule Warriors DLC, and an overlooked cameo in part 8 of the increasingly crowded unofficial Zelda Timeline project.
Firstly, the game with a crowded title, My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Now Zelda characters have been in a Picross game before: Japan-exclusive Picross NP Vol. 5. Drawing from Ocarina of Time, the pictures became animated when finished, but I didn’t judge it substantial enough to include as a separate entry on the timeline; like a manga that’s a straight adaptation, or the panels in Streetpass Plaza, it’s pretty much just another view of the game’s events and characters without any extra event happening to them. This new title, on the other hand, has Midna talking to you as the tutorial. So it’s a new event for Midna in her imp form… somehow. The puzzles are not animated as NP 5’s were, but a new Midna appearance with new dialogue puts this release up a notch to Timeline territory.
The reveal of additional DLC packs for Hyrule Warriors (Legends) adds a few logos to the Timeline. New eras are being accessed: Link’s Awakening and A Link Between Worlds in the Link to the Past-ish era, and Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks in the Wind Waker-ish era. While we don’t have all the answers yet, only knowing that Marin will appear, that’s really all I need to know for the Timeline. The only question is which game in particular the character in the PH/ST pack will come from, and what the Adventure map portrays (I’m guessing New Hyrule for the latter). But I’ve just put the logo next to both games, so it shouldn’t need any more changes.
Finally, while browsing Mario games, I stumbled on a little cameo that I hadn’t seen mentioned elsewhere. Super Mario Bros. and Friends: When I Grow Up was one of many edutainment titles for DOS in the 90s. In this case “and Friends” is not just the usual Luigis, Princesses, and Toads; Link has an appearance in two… scenes? It’s a digital colouring book basically. He’s a patron at Mario’s restaurant in one, and working as a travel agent(!) in another. The latter clearly shows locations in our world; there’s a lot of Mario characters present but it seems to take place here.
But which Link is it? Sometimes it’s difficult to tell between his portrayal in Link to the Past and Adventure of Link. But, we do have a Moblin and Daira in a third scene from the game (in a classroom being taught by Luigi), drawn after Zelda II’s look, so it seems intended to be the Link from that game. He’s been to our world before, in Tetris and F-1 Race at least, so it fits.
This image I’m progressively doctoring is getting super cluttered. At some point I do intend to suck it up and create a new timeline image from scratch… maybe. Until then, until then. Please check the tag on this blog for past Timeline ramblings and future updates.
The enthusiasm of I.M.Gibbon of DKGirder inspired me to do a cast portrait of “Mario’s Brooklyn Years”, or “Mario’s Blue-Collar Period”. In the time before Super Mario Bros. and the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario had many jobs, and a set of friends and foes in our world. You can see them in Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3, Mario Bros., Wrecking Crew, and many of the Game & Watch games (such as Bombs Away and Cement Factory). The colours were chosen based on official art from the pre-SMB period, except for Stanley who uses his NES sprite to stand out more, and Spike who is a combination of his Wrecking Crew ‘98 and Mobile Golf looks for the same reason.
Mario (Jumpman), Luigi, Pauline (Lady/Louise), Stanley the Bugman, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong (Senior), Foreman Spike (Blacky)
Team Avatar (The Last Airbender), low-res pixel style!
I love this group of characters. I’m playing through the games now so I wanted to draw the “full” team, including Haru who adventures with them for most of the first game (which I view as the equivalent of a miniseries or TV movie between Books 1 and 2). I really love how Appa turned out.
