Anonymous asked: I just read through your latest Zelda timeline posts, which is great btw, but there is one thing I do not see... The team behind MARVEL's Ultimate Alliance video game were going to have Samus and Link in the game as Nintendo exclusive characters, BUT the team demo'd the characters in gameplay to Nintendo ON the PS2, which pissed Nintendo off, so they scrapped it. Seeing that you have other unused content in your timeline, this might be something you want to add, at least over around Smash
Good point anonymous! I have heard this story before but thanks for reminding me. I’ve made a few little adjustments to my timeline project recently around new/upcoming releases Tri Force Heroes and Hyrule Warriors Legends, but I was waiting for a little something else before releasing it as an update… something like this! Now to read up on how this game is supposed to work in its series’s canon… Soul Calibur 2 integrated quite well, but this…
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, low-res pixel style!
FF5 is one of my favourites, so having a sequel in anime form is a fun novelty. Although the characters are a bit stock anime, this miniseries executes well on the blend of magic and technology that the series is known for, and includes some impressive imagery and setpieces.
Prettz, Linaly, Mid, Valkus, Rouge
My original Hyrule Warriors pixel art was one of my very early ones. Since then I’ve refined my style and colour selection somewhat, so I’ve updated it and added the new characters for the 3DS version. I can’t wait for this game, very excited!
Link, Impa, Sheik, Lana, Zelda, Ganondorf, Darunia, Ruto, Agitha, Midna, Zant, Fi, Ghirahim, Cia, Volga, Wizzro, Twili Midna, Young Link, Tingle, Cucco, Toon Link, Tetra, King of Red Lions, Skull Kid, Linkle
Here’s my quick tribute to the seminal indie game Cave Story. It’s just so impressive that a game of such fun and artistry was made by just one talented guy. To be honest though my introduction to these characters was through the 2D Team Fortress 2 demake “Gang Garrison 2”, in which they appear as secret characters.
I’ve just read the tie-in comics for this classic Rare game. They’re pretty darn cheesy but worth checking out… maybe…? Anyway it’s a cool cast, mostly designed by Kev Bayliss as I understand. I’m not a fighting game guy but certainly a Rare guy. Ultra pixels??
Jago, T.J. Combo, Spinal, Chief Thunder, Glacius, Fulgore, Cinder, Sabrewulf, B. Orchid, Riptor
This game just oozes atmosphere. I find that few pixels are slightly unsuited to rounded objects, but I did my best. Bendy the odd silhouette represents the player in the user-created level portion of the game. I don’t really know what it is in the canon, but it’s a legitimate player character. Kind of.
Portal was a surprising classic. Does the sequel justify its existence? Yeah, probably.
Portal’s appeal was its innovative first-person puzzling, as well as the atmospheric setting and the humour of being tormented throughout the game (although Gruntilda did that in Banjo-Kazooie years before). Portal 2 ramps up the plot elements with more characters and twists, as well as delving into the history of Aperture in some very impressive dilapidated settings. I feel that the puzzles don’t quite have the same feeling of build-up or the difficulty of the first game’s later test chambers, partially due to being somewhat overloaded with new gimmicks, with the gels and whatnot.
Still, it’s nice to have those fresh elements as well as the very well-executed feeling of progression with the frequent plot events. You’ve got Wheatley, his takeover of the facility, going underground to abandoned facilities, the joining up with potato GLaDOS, the progressive Cave Johnson time capsules, and the re-establishment of GLaDOS and Chell’s escape. Sorry, did I spoil it? Why are you reading this?
Anyway all that stuff is great, and the voiceover characters with their distinct personalities spice it up with different kinds of humour (even if GLaDOS is a bit neutered in potato form). I couldn’t figure out how to find the Cave Johnson plot stuff in the Perpetual Testing Initiative, but never mind.
Basically the game builds on Portal in most ways to deliver a very satisfying sequel. The puzzles are quite good, the atmosphere is top-notch. There’s nifty sound design touches (despite some audio glitches on the Mac version… grump), and a sweet new song at the end. Plus I don’t think they mention cake even once, they just introduce new memes that got overused. Yay!
I played this a little out of order. By which I mean the co-op segment, which is a fantastic addition, should come after you’ve done the single player, but I did it a few years ago with my brother. Great times. But don’t neglect it, if you can. The puzzles there really do test you, the teamwork element twisting your brain in all new exciting ways. From what I remember.
What Portal 2 proves is that Valve has still got it (as of 4 years ago, anyway). They really do know how to make a killer game. It’s just too bad they’re stuck on marketplaces, gimmicky tech vaporware, and DOTA 2, of all things. Yeesh. Still, very positive feelings for this game. Accessible, fun, and funny.
It’s easy to see that this game is trading on nostalgia, but the question of course is how much does it constitute a betrayal of that nostalgia? I fell for it; Rare’s seminal Goldeneye game on the N64 was a staple in our household, as in many others. Well, actually, I mostly got this game because it came with a Wii Classic Controller Pro; the choice was this or Monster Hunter Tri, and I don’t regret my choice.
This is one of the earlier games in my collection since the Wii got me back into gaming, so that I had the controller option. I did actually have a good number of multiplayer matches with my brother when we still lived in the same town, but it’s taken me until now to see what the campaign is like.
I enjoyed it more when I dropped the difficulty down a few missions in. Missing some side objectives forced me to replay missions, and that was no fun. What was fun was seeing how the story reimagined the Goldeneye game, reinterpreting it into modern times with Daniel Craig instead of Pierce Brosnan with the requisite upgrade in computer technology and changing political landscape, while also adding a few elements from the movie that Rare missed out. Unfortunately missing is Sean Bean’s likeness and the character of Boris.
Speaking of changes, of course they’ve overhauled the gameplay to suit modern games, for better or worse: ironsights, regenerating health, quicktime events, a limit on guns carried, and so on. I don’t play these kinds of games so I had to get used to these conventions, not to mention the inherent gross violence in murdering countless mans. As with the original, stealth is encouraged with silenced weapons, but now there are melee takedowns. It may be necessary on higher difficulties but I got frustrated with the whole “all guards are magically alerted if one sees you” thing.
There’s a variety of weapons. Too many maybe? I liked to see which were equivalents to Rare’s selection, which are based on real guns but given fake names. Sadly missing (at least from the campaign) were throwing knives, grenades, and mines. I used the Classic Controller Pro that was included at first, but found the Gamecube controller which they kindly made compatible suited much better with its unique button layout, chunky triggers, and more responsive thumbsticks. The CCP’s sticks are just so loose!
Let’s make a few more comparisons, shall we? Of course this doesn’t have the all-pervasive fog of the N64 game, but there are other graphical limitations. There seemed to be this interlaced filter over everything that was distracting; coupled with the blurring they add when running or reloading made it quite a mess at times. Apart from that it looked quite nice, apart from the animations and faces in cutscenes. Still a step up though, except for the nostalgia for charming low-fi blockiness. The music had nothing on Norgate, Kirkhope, and Beanland’s excellent Midi tunes. Utterly forgettable, but I suppose the stealth/action transition served its purpose, if boringly.
My favourite part of this remake/reboot/reimagining/whatever is still how it takes the original game, the movie, and the “new Bond” stuff, puts it in a blender, and comes out with a different way to tell this story. That aspect of the game works. Apart from that, it’s a competent modern shooter. Its mistake was positioning itself in marketing too closely to the fondly remembered game from 1997. But I looked past that, and had a decent time with it. Plus the Classic Controller Pro is useful, if not a great controller.
Originally I wanted to try the Wii version of this as a co-op experience. Unfortunately the disc was scratched up badly and refused to work after the tutorial. I found the DS version as a consolation. Interestingly, it was made by TT Fusion, the team that creates the handheld Lego games. I can see similarities—I swear they reused some interface noises—but this is more action-focused than the Lego games.
So this is a retelling of the Lord of the Rings trilogy from the perspective of Aragorn. There’s a framing device with Sam telling his children the story, which is nice for newly recorded Sean Astin dialogue and showing some measure of the peace of the Fourth Age, but these cutscenes can get tedious. You do also miss big parts of the story; at one point Sam essentially goes “and then me and Mister Frodo went and destroyed the Ring”, but it’s also humorous because his kids interrupt him: “We’ve heard that part hundreds of times!”
The game’s fairly simple action fare. You move through the levels, whacking bad guys. There’s some backtracking, items to find and chests to open, minor environmental puzzles. You also level up, unlock skills, and find different equipment (with cool lore names). But the main thing is using the two different sword attacks to make different simple combos, sometimes blocking or pulling out the bow.
Of course the levels span Aragorn’s journey through the War of the Ring, so there’s some amount of variety. But you’re doing basically the same thing in most levels. Luckily it doesn’t outstay its welcome; it’s over in several hours, a bit more if you want to collect all the things and clear the bonus battle arenas.
So it’s a fairly basic licensed game. The journals and equipment customisation are a nice touch, and the occasional touch of levity from an orc tripping and falling off a ledge was appreciated; I wish there was more of this sort of thing, although the Lego game, released later, does cover that angle. I would also add more characters. The Fellowship’s talking heads often popped up, but apart from the very occasional friendly NPC Aragorn feels alone. Maybe it’s symbolic. On that point, since Sam is narrating you don’t really see what Aragorn is thinking or feeling—he seems like a mere avatar, which doesn’t feel right for a game which is strictly about him. But anyway, it’s an acceptable job. Perfectly adequate.
Kirby’s never been my favourite, but this game has two big selling points: the innovative Pikmin-like gameplay, and the robust unlockable subgames. Both delivered right around my expectations. The end.
Seriously though, this is pretty different to most Kirby games. It likes to think that there’s a strategy element to guiding 10 Kirbys around, but the Pikmin comparison I’ve heard is overstated. It is sometimes beneficial to split up the Kirbys but opportunities are limited with the small screen size. More often than not you just throw every Kirby you have at a problem before moving on to the next one. It is adorable to see them swarming over each other while running, but your wrist will be tested by the frequent required flicking motion.
The levels frequently introduce new gimmicks to keep it interesting, especially the Dedede Resort, but some levels can drag. I went for all medals, and the game requires multiple replays of some levels to cover branching paths. This is a little tedious. Overall though they had a lot of ideas for this core gameplay of indirectly controlling a bunch of little blobs, and it was explored thoroughly and for the most part entertainingly, with gradually increasing difficulty.
I’m no expert, but the main game doesn’t seem to have too many returning faces, aside from the obligatory Wispy Woods, Waddle Dees, and Dedede. No, they saved all the fan service for the subgames, which deliver in spades—even the anime is referenced. The three most fleshed out are the RPG-style timing-based battle one Kirby Quest, the fun scrolling shooter Strato Patrol EOS with its snaking line of shooting Kirbys, and Kirby Brawlball, probably the best virtual pinball game since Pokemon Pinball for GBC. And I LOVE Pokemon Pinball for GBC.
I wouldn’t say these subgames are worth the price of admission alone since they’re still a bit short (and finding a copy of this game was taxing for me… literally), but they definitely add value to the package. Experimenting with different genres as a break from the core game was a neat idea, and well realised.
So, yeah. It’s a good game. It didn’t blow me away but it does feel overlooked, coming so late on the DS and not even having its manual on Nintendo’s designated page for manual downloads!! …Ahem. It’s cute, it’s satisfying, it’s got plenty to keep you playing, and the pinball is excellent. Recommended.
Hello video game comic fans, I’ve been talking to another scanlator recently and we might be doing a collaboration soon. So look forward to that. To share with them, I uploaded all the comics I’d translated to one place for easier access. Why I didn’t do this sooner I don’t know. Oh right, laziness.
Anyway if you too want to download all the stuff I’ve done at once, just go here. I’ll update it whenever I do new stuff too, as long as I remember. It’s not in order of when I did it so expect some inconsistency in quality.
It’s mostly the German Club Nintendo magazine comics, plus some fan comics from the Spanish Hobby Consolas, the recent Castlevania official 4koma, and some old Super Mario-kun bits.
I planned out my team in the last game to ensure I had a good spread of types, as well as a mon from each generation. It worked pretty well for me; in fact, I found the game quite easy so maybe too well?
I enjoyed the hectic action of the first Force Unleashed. Being able to throw around crates and Stormtroopers alike had a fun sandbox-like feel, combined with collectibles, unlocks, and a mix of traversal and combat. It was a good game. The sequel seems to have been streamlined a lot, but also feels very rushed: shorter and with less variety.
The first thing I noticed was how pretty the game looks. They’ve done a fantastic job gussying up them graphics. The cutscenes aren’t full of hideous creepy doll faces anymore! The levels also look much cleaner, and that applies to the UI as well. So in terms of looks it’s a real step forward. Unfortunately the game really only has three distinct environments (Kamino, Cato Nemoidia, and the Rebel ship), compared to the six or so of its predecessor.
With fewer locations comes fewer enemy types. You don’t get the scavengers and junk constructs of Raxus Prime, the Felucian natives and Rancors, Wookiees, nor do you have climactic Jedi battles with Force struggles. In comparison, the final fight with Vader is quite boring. There are a few new robots and things, but the combat isn’t as varied. Another contributing factor is that it feels like different enemies must be tackled in specific ways, unlike the freedom of the first game; I also feel like there’s less big open rooms to play around in.
I mentioned the streamlining. The upgrade system is much simpler, without separate categories and lots of unlocks. There’s a bit more customisation available for lightsaber crystals since you have two of them now, which is nice. The menus are also a bit easier to navigate. These are all pretty much improvements, which is why I’m so disappointed they fumbled the whole “content” side of the game.
To draw another unfavourable comparison, this game either removes characters or reduces them down to bit parts. Kota is present but quite one-note, Proxy is basically a cameo, any other Rebels are nowhere to be seen, nor is the Emperor. There’s only one new secondary character introduced. Boba Fett and Yoda appear briefly in cutscenes, have a couple of lines, and have no bearing on the plot. As for Juno, *sigh*, well she’s gone from being a character to someone whose name the male protagonist can shout lots of times while she’s been kidnapped or being threatened, or being apparently killed. It’s very distressing and shallow. Starkiller himself has some struggle over whether he’s a clone or not, when it’s obvious that he is, and there are no real twists or progression. Two steps back on the story front.
I don’t know what else I can say. That paragraph really depressed me. There’s a challenge mode now, so you can try to do ten specific things quickly. You can now use Jedi mind tricks, to turn your enemies against each other or make them jump off a bridge. That’s a very neat addition. But the game is such a whiff; if it only combined its advancements to the engine and presentation with the scope of the previous game, and advanced the story, it could have been really great. Instead I’m not even sure it’s worth your time; just play the first one and be done with it. It feels like half a game, especially because the ending leaves threads dangling on purpose as a sequel hook that was never picked up. And Starkiller is just so angsty white boy. Get over yourself, dude.
Mario Strikers Charged Football, low-res pixel style!
I was impressed by the look of this game, everyone with a new costume; armour chestplates, Bowser’s claws, Luigi wearing shorts. I wanted to try and capture that but the low-detail nature of my sprites don’t quite do it justice. Oh well, I’m posting it anyway! Here’s all the captains, followed by the sidekicks with Kritter as the goalie in the middle.
Mario Hoops 3 on 3/Mario Slam Basketball, low-res pixel style!
This game already has adorable pixel art, but here it is even more pixelly. Or less pixelly I guess, because there’s less overall pixels? Anyway I thought it had a pretty great roster. Some generic drone filler, but also Dixie Kong, and White and Black Mage (who are apparently Shiroma and Kuroma from the Chocobo games maybe?). I drew them grouped into kinda-appropriate teams of 3. I’ve done some of these characters before but for this one I tried to make the Mario Bros, Bowser, and Yoshi fit better into my humanoid template. I think it turned out pretty well!
