May 22, 2014
[Review] BS The Legend of Zelda (SNES)

I knew I was going to play A Link Between Worlds, despite my initial hesitation. So I wanted to go back to a game I never bothered to complete: the very first Zelda game. We have it on the Wii’s Virtual Console, but I’m buggered if I’m going to put up with the limitations of the NES if there’s a better version available. And it turns out there is. At the BS Zelda Homepage, you can get reproductions and patches that let you play one of the most rare Zelda games: the satellite broadcast remake of Zelda 1 for the SNES. Only sent out at certain times in the 90s, the game was split into parts with timers. Hackers have stitched them together and made a few teaks, to make it the best version of the original game.

The version I played, Third Quest, uses the dungeons from the broadcast version, which are different to the original game. So it’s not 100% authentic, but close enough and the overworld is the same. They also made a few choices that probably meddle too much, like putting in the Hylian shield, but they also add other things to make it a bit more dynamic (I think, not totally sure). Also you can play as Zelda, which of course I did.

Essentially it’s a graphical and sound upgrade for Zelda 1, all the mechanics are the same. It’s not like a LttP romhack, all the sprites are brand new and look great, and are actually parseable unlike the NES version’s muddy, ugly graphics.

Of course, the graphics and sounds aren’t the only limitation of this NES era game. Movement and combat is stiff, and there’s little interaction with characters or the environment. Like a lot of SNES games, A Link to the Past is doing the same thing as the NES game it’s following, but doing it better and fleshing it out. That’s what I found with this, and I’d much rather play LttP than Zelda 1. But I did find myself having fun with this, enjoying the simplicity and the ramp up of my power, without plot distractions. I feel bad saying so, but I now feel I can give Zelda 1 a niche of its own.

I would recommend BS Zelda over the NES original any day of the week. In my mind, while it exists there’s no reason to look to the NES (apart from blind nostalgia). If you’re an impatient modern gamer like me though, have a guide handy for when you get stuck, because we’re not kids anymore and wandering the overworld endlessly can get tedious. I’m very glad for the BS version, because although I’m a completionist I just didn’t feel I could face the NES one. Similarly, I’m not sure if I’ll ever do Zelda 2. So in the end Zelda 1 was ok. Pretty forgettable in this day and age but I had some fun.

12:01pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1GXbUYi
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: review nintendo nes zelda zelda 1 snes 
May 7, 2014
[Review] Star Fox Adventures (GCN)

I tracked down a copy of this for a similar reason to Viva Pinata DS, as it is held in high esteem in the DKVine community. It’s the final game that Rareware made for a Nintendo home console, the final one while before they were sadly bought out by Microsoft. Like many Rare games, especially later ones, it had something of a troubled development. It started as a new IP that, while a spinoff of Diddy Kong Racing through Tricky the Triceratops, was much more loosely connected than Banjo or Conker. The tone is very different, a more serious adventure story. After finishing the game I had a great time looking through an archive of prerelease material relating to the original story and game of Dinosaur Planet. You can check some of that out here.

But Miyamoto intervened, as he so often does, and suggested changing one of the protagonists to Fox McCloud, as they bore a resemblance. Now hardcore Rare fans and Star Fox fans both will see this as a mistake, the Rare fans because it caused delays and cuts to the N64 game, resulting in a more content-light Gamecube final product, as well as undermining Rare’s original vision. Star Fox fans see it as a big anomaly in the series and a disappointing change of pace compared to the SNES original and N64 classic. Me, well, I don’t mind so much. I like seeing a different kind of adventure in the Star Fox universe, and what we got is what we got. You can’t complain too much, it’s not too different to what DP was intended to be and it sure looks nicer.

I knew not to expect a Star Fox game proper, but what I didn’t expect were segments of Lylat Wars-style scrolling shooter gameplay shoehorned in between areas of the 3D adventure action platformer. The comparison is not nice: the structure, design, sound effects, control, all are pale shadows of what the N64 game accomplished.

Thankfully, the original Dinosaur Planet-style stages are more well-developed. While the world is a little small, it’s populated by fun characters, mostly dinosaurs, with outrageous British accents of all stripes. This is fun and I dare say part of the “Rare charm”. I had flashbacks to their previous fully-voiced game, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, in a good way. The more affected accents of the principal Star Fox team are more grating, though. David Wise’s soundtrack on the other hand, fantastic as always.

Oh I was talking about the gameplay. It’s a bit like Zelda, a bit like Beyond Good and Evil. You get lots of consumable items mostly, as well as magic staff powers. The C-stick menu is a great way of sifting through all these actions and objects while still running around. Lumping some actions onto your sidekick Tricky is also cool because you develop a bond with the little guy. He’s so cute following you around, and he’s so integral that it’s only natural he feel a part of the team. It’s good to see Rare finally deliver on the partner gameplay they’ve been toying with since Conker’s Quest 64. Just a shame that the proposed Krystal half of the game was cut or reworked, in the end she’s a very underwhelming character.

Knowing about what was cut does undermine my retrospective view of the game, although you can tell while playing it that it’s a little lacking some areas. Parts of the world and gameplay feel bolted together and there’s not always a consistent feeling of progression. The plot is a little barebones too. It’s all about what goes on in your head though, so if possible I’d recommend reading a bit of Dinosaur Planet info and supplementing your experience of this game with that, to build it up a little more. That’s helped my view of the DP-SFA thing as a whole.

I’ve heard lots of criticisms of SFA: disappointing final chapter, tedious backtracking, dumb minigame-type sections, mediocre combat. I’d agree with all of them. However, I still look back on my playing of it fondly, and had a good time. It has got the Rare spirit, despite what some people may think. It also adds a lot to the Star Fox universe, especially in terms of Krystal who is very important to the next two games. I’m just playing Assault now and going back to Sauria briefly is just so joyous. I guess you could say it’s not easy to enjoy, but I’m glad to like some controversial games if they have some redeeming elements, and I think this does.

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(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: review star fox star fox adventures rareware gcn 
May 5, 2014

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(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: comic 
May 1, 2014
[Review] Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (DS)

Being a fan of the DKU (as described by dkvine.com), and Rare games in general, I was interested in the Viva Pinata games. It’s the last successful new IP they’ve made since Banjo, really, and has done well for them. It’s also one of the last things they did before being totally creatively lobotomised by Microsoft. This is the only VP game on a non-Microsoft platform and hence the only one I have access to.

In a situation similar to Viewtiful Joe, I feel very underwhelmed by what the DS version is presenting and feel that while the control scheme could be good for the format, the other limitations fo the platform make it suffer compared to its console counterpart. I’m also not fond of the Rare handheld team’s latter work, which is characterised by ugly menus, messy graphics, and a general lack of polish.

My problems with this one aren’t just aesthetic, though. I’m not great on open-ended sims at the best of times, but the goals in this game confused me and while I learnt how to perform a few functions, I couldn’t figure out how to progress. There didn’t seem much point. I bred a few pinatas but then I had too many milling around, so I had to sell them or feed them to others. I couldn’t build an attachment to them. I dunno, the whole thing just didn’t grab me.

I basically picked up the game because of Rare, it was their very last game on a Nintendo platform. But apart from the lackluster presentation, I don’t think this style of game is really for me. It doesn’t happen often but I didn’t play it much and I don’t see myself going back. Sorry Pinatas!

12:01pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1EbTD61
Filed under: review viva pinata viva pinata: pocket paradise rareware ds 
April 24, 2014
[Review] WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii)

Hi there. I really like the wackiness of the Warioware series. It’s got a really distinct sense of fun, and the way they’re presented make them feel like a labour of love. I only ever owned DIY, and I knew I was missing out a little because that was so heavily built around the creative aspect. Other games such as Touched and Smooth Moves are allowed to be more expressive: they’re not limited by graphics you would be able to draw in the game itself, or such simplistic control schemes, and microgames are allowed more variation. They also have more modes and so on.

I’m also glad to have this on hand as a party game. I played it with a friend last week and it was fun, albeit with a bit of a learning curve. I now appreciate more the simplicity of the original GBA/GCN one. Still, Smooth Moves is totally great. From the relaxed narrator of new forms, to the silly poses, to the absurd minigames, to the quite challenging gauntlet modes, it’s all fun to see. You want to keep playing just to see what it’s going to do next, what crazy action you’ll have to perform or what the characters are going to do.

It’s obviously an early Wii game, trying out everything you can do with the remote and showing off what it’s capable of. This does come up against its limitations at times unfortunately, where the gyroscope sticks or you point too far away from the screen and lose contact. And I just couldn’t figure out why the multiplayer modes have to be pass-and-play, why they can’t support multiple remotes.

As a Nintendo fanboy, I love that 9-volt’s stage here adapted many more modern games to microgame form, as until this point they were mostly stuck in a retro 8-bit (boring) mode. It’s great to see obscure stuff being trotted out, as well as seeing Link pull the Master Sword and turn into an old man.

While I was in the Warioware mood and having blitzed through Smooth Moves’s campaign, I got the WiiWare DIY Showcase, which links to the DIY on DS which I have. It’s completely compatible with DIY but on the big screen, with a few new stories and a multiplayer mode. A small thing but worth it just for the Donkey Kong Country microgame. ;)

Smooth Moves though is a very nice package, that variety of styles is always surprising and there’s so much to do. It’s always nice to play a game that is so disarming and genuine, and yeah just fun. Relax and don’t be afraid to get silly.

12:01pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1DxZBAO
Filed under: review warioware warioware: smooth moves wii intelligent systems 
April 23, 2014
[Review] Super Metroid (SNES)

I finally got around to playing this. I got it back in the Famicom anniversary sale. Having played almost every Metroid game before this one (only Metroid 2 left now), I was kind of looking forward to it as the commonly-held “best” in the series.

I actually played them in a weird order. My first two were Fusion and Zero Mission, chronologically the last and first. I also played ZM’s included NES version of Metroid 1, with my own hand-drawn maps and everything! So while I’ve seen how low the series could go, it felt like I still had a glorious high to go through. To make a long story short: I prefer Zero Mission in a lot of ways.

I played the GBA ones a lot, and they have a distinct feel. I don’t have Fusion to go back and check, but I played ZM to confirm after finishing Super and it felt so right. In comparison Super feels slow and floaty, and the controls are much clunkier. ZM streamlines everything: no run button, no toggling between 5(!) different abilities, no need to deactivate or switch your powerups, no cumbersome X-ray scope. It’s also quicker and smoother, and with trickier puzzles and more impressive set pieces.

So my general impression is that I don’t quite see how Super is the be-all end-all that it’s made out to be. I’m just a dabbler in game design theory, so maybe a lot of the clever things went over my head. I think nostalgia must play a part too—in terms of growing up with it, ZM was my Super. However, Super has a lot of good stuff.

You can go anywhere to see why people think SM is great. It’s the subtle environmental storytelling. It’s the open-ended structure, where you choose what you do next, and many powerups are missable for a long time. The exploration, and the exciting combat.

There’s a dark side to open-ended exploration in a game with obvious goals, though. In Maridia especially I wandered around for ages, falling down holes and having to go the long way around. I don’t like that area. It brought to mind another comparison: the map, while immensely useful after my scribbled pencil scrawl for the first game, is simply not as helpful as its counterparts on the GBA. I relied on a separate map from the good folks at Metroid Recon, especially during the item collection phase.

Enough comparisons though. The endless secrets in this game were very rewarding: the animals who teach you new techniques (never could get the hang of the bloody walljump though), the beam combos, and of course all the missile tanks and so on. And sometimes it felt like you stumbled upon a boss, although most were well set-up. You get to know these areas you’re exploring, and then suddenly you find a hole in the wall that opens it up, that you never knew was there.

If you’ve played Metroid games before you know all the items you’ll get, although I had a few surprises such as the X-ray scope. Switching beams is also not something I’m used to outside of Prime, and I’m not sure I liked it. Sub Tanks are also unique to SM, taken straight out of Mega Man X, although given its open nature I wasn’t sure of the point. I also found so many things that I now recognise were being called back to in later games, especially Prime, ZM, and Other M. This really was an influential game for the series.

I dunno, I feel weird about this game. To me it’s not so special, just another Metroid game. It’s a good one though, probably better than Fusion if I really think about it. Fairly glitchy but full of ideas and atmosphere. Treating it as a game I didn’t like how it played compared to ZM, but it’s a well-crafted experience. My recommendation (if you somehow haven’t played any Metroid games) is to take this one fairly early. The bosses can be hard, but the puzzles are easier. Search thoroughly for items, it really helps. And find the Metroid larva!

12:01pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1DraYie
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: review super metroid metroid snes nintendo 
April 22, 2014

everbloom:

Pokémon (X &) Y

If you have been living in some kind of Faraday cage, then Pokémon Y is a game where you trap a variety of creatures and use them to fight other people, making them stronger so you can fight better trainers. That might sound kind of cruel, but Pokémon Y is rated PG for “mild themes and violence”. This is a lot cuter than Virtual Cock Fighting 3D.

I haven’t played every Pokémon game. I’ve played bits of the first and second generation (Red/Blue, Gold/Silver) and most of Pokémon HeartGold. I rage quit Pokémon Black 2 about half way through and never went back. I was sick of the grind, rubbish menus, and stupid story.

Thankfully, Pokémon Y is not Pokémon Black 2. Many of the criticisms of Generation V have been taken into account in this latest iteration of the franchise. Some of the most notable changes include:

  • Improved menus
  • Less grind
  • Diagonal movement
  • More ‘old’ Pokémon early on
  • Streamlined, always-available, online battle and trading features
  • Rejigging the Pokémon types and type effectiveness for better balance
  • Character customisation
  • XP Share doesn’t reduce active Pokémon XP and gives all other party Pokémon XP too
  • No Rattata

Of course, Pokémon Y also introduces, or attempts to introduce, some new features too. There are two mini-game collections that can live on the bottom screen, as an alternative to the online feature buttons. The first is a puzzle collection focused on raising Pokémon’s ‘friendliness’ (not to be confused with happiness), and a sports-game collection for sub-stat training.

There’s also a new Pokémon type, the Fairy type, which is super effective against Dragon. Another really welcome change, is that you now get XP when you catch a Pokémon, not just knock it out.

Having been burnt by Pokémon Black 2, I was very cautious of Pokémon Y. I loved Pokémon HeartGold, and I wanted so much to love another Pokémon game, but I did not want to shell out $60 for more poo. Thankfully Pokémon Y is not a pile of poo.

I’ll be honest: there’s still room for improvement. The central city, Lumiose, is impossible to navigate without a map (I recommend this map), and even with a map it’s confusing. You can’t post screenshots to Miiverse, and you can only take ‘camera’ shots at specific locations.

The story doesn’t make much sense. I think there was some guy who did something bad a long time ago, and now there is some other guy wanting to “cleanse the world” or something. Point is, it doesn’t matter, really, what the plot is, and the game kinda gets that. The minions are silly, and they know it.

The difficulty curve in this game is much better. Not once did I faint, and I never had to spend hours grinding against wild Pokémon either.

I’ve heard some complaints about how the stereoscopic 3D is only available in battle, and select 3D environments, and drops frames madly. My advice is turn off the 3D. There is no reason in any game I’ve played on the 3DS to have the 3D on. It drains battery, looks wonky, is lower resolution, is darker, gives you a headache, possibly makes you nauseous, and never adds to gameplay.

Perhaps the most telling thing about this game, is that I am still playing it. It’s got me, hook, line and sinker. I’ve long since beaten the Champion, and now I’m just cruising around town on my skates, looking for trouble. Unlike previous games, I’m actually interested in catching all the available wild Pokémon, and even breeding and evolving Pokémon I’m not going to use, just to fill the Pokédex.

Guest review time! I’m all too happy to repost this great review of Pokemon Y by my favourite person and wife, Everbloom! She wanted to have a go at what I do and tried to avoid the pitfalls I regularly fall into. Good job!

5:32pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1DmsR_D
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: guest review pokemon pokemon x&y game freak 3ds 
April 21, 2014
I am reposting this edited Zelda timeline I made because reasons. Thanks to Glitterberri and x7razorback7x. EDIT: check the tag for the updated version with more edits and more silliness.

I am reposting this edited Zelda timeline I made because reasons. Thanks to Glitterberri and x7razorback7x.

EDIT: check the tag for the updated version with more edits and more silliness.

8:36pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1Dg-WoQ
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: zelda timeline 
April 20, 2014

1:04pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1DYx-7e
April 17, 2014
[Review] Tiny Thief (iOS)

This was an interesting little 2D point and click adventure game. I found it through Rovio’s publishing program, since I’m such a big Angry Birds geek. It’s fun enough, but I just want to cover two overly complainy points in this review, that don’t really have anything to do with the game.

I liked going through each chapter, which had their own themes. But a recent update adding a new chapter came at just the wrong time. I was going to buy it, at $2 for a few levels it was reasonable-ish. But Apple changed the iTunes policy for Australia, jacking up the price of apps significantly due to “fluctuating exchange rates”. Those fluctuate all the time. It irrationally ticked me off, and I have not spent anything since. I feel sore just thinking about it, overly entitled consumer that I am. Hopefully I can get over it soon and support this developer.

The main character in this game is a cute little androgynous cartoon thief. I thought it was a female for some reason, and it seemed cool. But then there’s a chapter where the thief falls for a princess. At first I thought it was a prince in an amusing reversal of cliche, but then my fancies were subverted when I found it simply was cliche. Le sigh. I couldn’t hold onto my interpretation. I don’t want to make any big statements about video game feminism, but those were just my not-premeditated feelings as I played.

It’s a nice game though, finding all the little secrets is fun, if sometimes obscure. The art and animations are very cute and endearing, and the design is strong. Rovio picked a good one to endorse.

12:01pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1DGKxus
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: tiny thief review ios indie 
April 16, 2014
siphersaysstuff: “ The color version of Centaur Woman, for awdplace ‘s Mega Man genderswap collab! I wanted to do a little redesigning on her. bring out a little more “Greek armor” to her. ” But, remember that time Centaur Man was already a woman?

siphersaysstuff:

The color version of Centaur Woman, for awdplace ‘s Mega Man genderswap collab!

I wanted to do a little redesigning on her. bring out a little more “Greek armor” to her.

But, remember that time Centaur Man was already a woman?

(via themmnetwork)

7:19pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1DB_URI
(Notes: 35)
  
April 16, 2014
[Review] Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! (DS)

I was curious about some of Clover/Platinum’s games, because Okami is so great and a lot fo people have nice things to say about Viewtiful Joe. I should have gone with the Gamecube one, but I just felt the DS one would be more accessible and cheaper. Turns out it’s not very good, so either it’s too watered down or the fundamentals of the series are not for me.

The first thing is, it’s confusing. I did’t know what I was doing or how I was doing it, both in plot and mechanics. They keep introducing new moves for you to execute using the touchscreen, but they’re universally awful, hard to activate with the tetchy controls and of dubious usefulness except when forced into a puzzle-type situation. I didn’t know any of the characters nor was I properly introduced to them in the game.

It seems to be favouring presentation over substance, with a silly slideshow feature in cutscenes, and a persistent camera UI overlay on the action screen which is pointless. The heavily cel-shaded style doesn’t really work and the graphics end up muddy.

I chose the easy mode because I didn’t want to struggle through combat on top of struggling with the mechanics, and things came together for me more as I went through. I should say it’s a 2D beat-em-up, with upgrades to your fighting moves purchaseable between stages and light puzzle-platforming elements. I found a technique to get through battles and didn’t vary much all the way through, which probably wouldn’t work in hard mode, but I didn’t want to put in the effort to master it. I just wasn’t invested enough. The combat system seems robust enough though.

So there’s a lot of weird design stuff to this game that didn’t gel with me. The touchscreen stuff was implemented pretty incompetently, and the characters, after my initial bafflement, were just kinda bland and cliche. It was a little amusing to fight bosses based on Robocop and Edward Scissorhands. But is it a movie? Or real life in a movie theme park? Or what? There’s a film MacGuffin, or something… I’m glad I played on easy though, it would have been too frustrating otherwise and I did want to keep going. Can’t really recommend it though, it didn’t win me over.

12:00pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1DAKVeO
Filed under: review clover studio ds viewtiful joe viewtiful joe: double trouble! 
April 15, 2014
[Review] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U)

Ah, my most anticipated game of the last six months. I think that was a problem, actually, as it turned out I’d hyped the thing beyond all reality. The game is fantastic, but little details disappointed me, which I think reflects poorly on my own attitude.

Being a hardcore member of the DKVine forums, home to the Internet’s biggest Donkey Kong Universe fans, we of course had been overanalysing every scrap we could find since the announcement at last E3. I eventually disengaged from watching every gameplay preview, because going so far in really would spoil it for me.

Reception has been overwhelmingly positive (I agree with it), and I’ve seen more than a few comments indicating that this game was toppling previously-held beliefs on which is the best, or second-best, DKC game. For me personally, among others, my list is now DKC2>DKCTF>DKC3>DKCR>DKC1.

Let me get the niggles out of the way first. The lag on the loading screens disproportionately annoyed me. The swimming controls are not as smooth as Rayman Legends (which they are based on). Bonus rooms are boring. The final boss was a little underwhelming and a little too reminiscent of a certain reptilian monarch, who once again is conspicuous by his absence. Aquatic Ambiance is remixed far too much. The setup and payoff generally aren’t as impactful as they should have been, although progression feels very good. Still too many rocket barrels. And finally, dramatic underuse of Animal Buddies (partially offset by multiple partner Kongs).

So Retro seemingly took on many of the complaints from DKCR, and attempted to address them. They whiffed a few points, but gave us more charismatic antagonists, ways to change up the gameplay with the partners and swimming, and really just ramped up the execution on graphics, presentation, environments, and music.

Let’s give music its own paragraph because it’s a big thing. David Wise is back in glorious form, with excellent tunes. Not always totally appropriate, but nicely varied. Also not enough DKC2 remixes, but the remixes and references to DKC3 GBA were very cool to my relatively recently educated ears. The guy is just great, and the unqueness of the styles he brings makes for a soundtrack like no other game. Getting jazz flute and heavy metal just a few levels apart is totally cool.

Apart from the new features I mentioned and the coup of securing Wise’s involvement, this is really heavily built off the foundation of Returns. All the mechanics are the same, with Miyamoto’s boneheaded blowing mechanic replaced with the more intuitive pulling, piggybacking on another button which also is used for the more extensively implemented throwing of objects, and of course swimming added. The physics, the collectibles, the feel are all the same and that’s fine, really. It’s just been toned up and polished. Maybe they should have shaken it up a little more, plus I wasn’t used to the heaviness and finality to your actions of this engine, as opposed to Rayman and Mairo Galaxy which I thought of as I was starting as they allowed you some recovery wiggle room. I got into the groove though.

Nintendo’s hyping up the difficulty of this game but I don’t see it. In Returns I used many more lives in co-op though, and this has been solo only for me, so similarly I quickly reached 99 lives and stayed there. I used more coins on the new items this time, though, which is good, but they’re not very good. Especially the one-use only items which are gone after use, but then you have to carry on as long as you have lives. Makes them feel less useful. The long loading times also discourage exiting and entering levels often.

Basically the game is just a much better version of Returns, with more imagination and ambition. It’s not perfectly tuned though. For example, it seems to me that Dixie is the most powerful partner and I used her heaps more than the others, but maybe that’s a choice thing—how much of a crutch do you want? Oh and of course the motion controls are no longer compulsory, as the button layout from Returns 3D is now an option on Gamepad or Pro Controller. I found it much better that way.

I feel a little conflicted about this game, because in certain ways Rayman Legends stole its thunder, being an excellently produced 2D platformer that was very fun and had it all together. But despite borrowing a couple of mechanics, they do go in different directions, and it very much has its own identity. Definitely an essential Wii U game, one of if not the best so far. And I’ve already expressed how wonderful it is compared to other DKC games (I really do love DKC3). If you like platformers and have a Wii U, you need this game.

Oh, one more thing. I wish the collectible counters would increment after they appear on screen, not before. See what I mean about my attitude?

12:01pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1D4CfOH
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: review donkey kong donkey kong country donkey kong country: tropical freeze retro studios wii u 
April 5, 2014
[Comic] Yoshi’s Island update

So remember that Yoshi double feature from a month ago? Well the scans I mentioned in the N-Gang release also included better versions of some scans I already had. To my surprise, the Yoshi’s Island Special had almost a dozen extra pages compared to the version that had been hosted on nintendo-power.de. They were very quick to translate, although there was also word art-type stuff that my wife very kindly helped me recreate in English. I updated the download and added the new pages to my gallery (at the same time, I deleted the old ones because I renamed them, so sorry Leona I lost your favs). So if you already checked out the Island comic or downloaded it, go back and do it again, there’s extra content this time. It’s like DLC for your comics!

2:28pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1C8DxaU
Filed under: comic scanlation 
April 5, 2014
[Comic] N-Gang part 8 - The Easter Egg Situation (German Club Nintendo comic scanlation)

Like manna from heaven, we were recently blessed with an abundance of new scans. On the German Boerse forum, user hatehagen and others have been working together to upload the remaining scans of Club Nintendo (Germany’s official Nintendo magazine) that were not yet on the Internet. Thanks to their diligent efforts, I now have access to excellent scans of almost every comic they ever printed, including a few I’d never seen before.

N-Gang doesn’t get a lot of attention, it’s not as well-liked as the earlier CN comics. It’s the result of the new management that took over production of the magazine in 1999. Art was no longer outsourced to Japan and the format changed to the serialised adventures of gamer teens, solving problems in their lives with the help of characters or concepts from Nintendo games. It’s like, symbolic, or something. The comic lasted for 2 years (12 issues).

This marks the return of my collaboration with Caramelman, who found the scans for me. We went with this one because it’s previously been unseen, and is very topical for Easter. Otherwise we’ll try to keep them in order, because they seem to build off previous installments, with characters, relationships, and concepts being assumed knowledge. To help you out in this case, I’ll explain that the armadillo was introduced in the last issue, being shipped from South America. He thinks in Spanish sometimes. The bully who is encountered in this issue is part of a nasty rival group of teens that the N-Gang clashes with. The Reproducer is a machine that VIP invented to bring game characters to life. The idea is that later, when all issues have been translated, it will be natural to read through them in order.

This issue is about Easter, a time of celebration. Easter is about Jesus dying for our sins and his resurrection, showing his power over death. Apparently it’s also about eggs. In order to make nice eggs for school, the gang enlist the help of Yoshi and Cranky Kong. Everything turns out fine in the end. So enjoy the comic this Easter, whether you’re painting eggs or at church or whatever (although it’s hard to read comics while doing those things).

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11:24am  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1C7JoOw
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Filed under: comic scanlation club nintendo n-gang 
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