July 13, 2017
[Review] Metroid Prime: Federation Force

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I regret not giving this game a chance when it first came out. No, I didn’t sign the petition for Nintendo to scrap it and make a real Metroid game (which was a real, and very stupid petition). I didn’t lament the art style or Samus not being the focus. In fact I was in favour of Tanabe’s justification that it would expand the universe of the series. My issue was more that with Splatoon still on everyone’s lips, and Tri Force Heroes being around the same time, that Nintendo was just releasing too dang many multiplayer games.

I do feel guiltily like an entitled fan that it took this E3’s announcement of two new Metroid games to prompt me to reevaluate this maligned title. But I’m glad I did. More than the other two multiplayer games I mentioned, a solo player can have a perfectly good time with this, and as far as I’m concerned Next Level games have done a spot-on job making this feel right; it feels Prime. Even with chibified characters and working as part of a Federation team and having a locked-down mission format, it fits.

More than the previous Prime handheld game, Hunters, they’ve also made the game fit the portable format. Breaking it up into missions with briefings and loadout customisation in between works for the 3DS and it works for multiplayer. The missions’ objectives and setpieces have pleasing variety. As you progress you learn more about the three planets in the Bermuda system, and become more powerful not through acquiring upgrades and abilities but by collecting and improving randomised perks, and becoming more familiar with the limited sub-weapons that are provided. The scoring system is also addictive, although to get the best results there’s only one right answer for each mission; I wished for more leeway or options. Some exploration is encouraged but at odds with this, speed is demanded for good scores.

Every part of the game works in single player, but obviously it was designed for teams of up to four. I was fortunate to have a play session with one and then two friends (thanks Gibbon and Sun-Wukong), and had a blast. Playing with friends really does improve the experience, with plenty of opportunities to work together… as long as you have some external voice chat client like Discord!

As a way to revisit the Prime universe, the game acts as a refreshing antidote to Other M’s brazen, sour, profligate boondoggle. I would have appreciated more fleshing out of the faceless characters involved or a central villain, but the pirates were a credible threat and having Samus flitting around being awesome was an amusing and welcome addition—especially when *spoilers* (she gets brainwashed, although the fight with her is disappointing as she’s in morph ball the whole time). The idea of the Space Pirates embiggening themselves and you fighting back with big ol’ mechs is a jolly novelty, but you don’t always get this sense of scale in the levels so it was occasionally jarring.

Federation Force is absolutely a worthy Metroid game… as a spin-off. I hope it can be accepted as such, seeing as the franchise has been promoted to “not actually dead”. The planets you explore are well themed and have interesting backstories and designs. The core gameplay is very different to other Metroid games, yes, but the way the game world is constructed and the attention to detail make it feel very much like a Metroid Prime game. The control scheme is also decent, and even the small amount of motion control is well-implemented. As for Blast Ball, I didn’t really enjoy it at all, but it’s a neat little extra I suppose. Give Federation Force a chance!

12:00pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu2NkwmBi
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: metroid metroid prime metroid prime federation force next level games 3ds review 
October 30, 2015
[DNF] Mario Strikers Charged Football (Wii)

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Now that I’ve played Ubisoft’s semi-crossover cartoony casual soccer game, let’s see how Nintendo’s equivalent of the era stacks up. Mario Strikers Charged (Football) is a Western-developed Mario Sports game, the sequel to Mario Smash Football/Super Mario Strikers on the Gamecube. Next Level Games, the Canadian developer, has since worked on other titles for Nintendo, but for an early effort of theirs this is very well made.

The thing that most stands out about this title is the visual design. The official artwork is totally radical and extreme, dudes. All the usual Mario cast members have been given an overhaul and an attitude. We’re playing street soccer, with padded armour uniforms and no rules. The courses are grungy and dangerous, the menus are futuristic with glowing lights everywhere and holograms. It’s a tremendously refreshing take on the Mario universe.

Matches are dynamic, with a robust set of tricks to keep the pace up. You’ve got two types of tackles, super moves for scoring multiple goals at once(!) or wiping out opponents, and even Mario Kart-style items to throw. It’s faster and more exciting than Academy of Champions, that’s for sure. And despite the unskippable animations each time a captain performs a Megastrike, it’s worth it to see Peach grow wings, Mario’s eyes glowing as he’s wreathed in fire, or Donkey Kong charging electricity before slapping 6 balls at the goal. The awesome excess of it is quite pleasing.

I also like the way it handles teams. Your team captain is your “main character” type, and has the flashy moves and a unique item that sometimes comes up. You supplement the team with 3 mooks, like a Boo or a Hammer Bro, which is good for inclusion without being such a “waste” of a character slot as seen in many other Mario spin-offs. These sidekicks have their own attributes and special shots which makes it customisable and a varied play experience. Finally, the goalie is always a Kritter, a rarely seen but appreciated use of a Donkey Kong character to flesh out the game.

So there’s a lot to like about the game. Unfortunately I did not finish it, simply because of the difficulty curve. I wanted to at least unlock Diddy, but although the first cup of three was almost laughably easy, the second one stopped me in my tracks completely. I backed out to change up my team, only to learn that I had to start over with the first cup again, playing about 10 matches I’d already done. I’m sorry, Mario Strikers Charged (Football), but you’re asking too much of me.

With only three cups, it also seems that content has been reduced from the previous title, at least on paper. The online multiplayer seems to be a big back-of-box feature, but of course that’s gone now with the WFC. The Challenges mode was a nice addition but also becomes brutally hard and there’s only a dozen of them. So that was it. I really love what they’ve done with the presentation and the feel but I would like a “reduce difficulty” switch, please. And I wish Nintendo would allow experimentation like this a bit more often. It’s wild and fun.

12:00pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1x6e4Fg
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: mario mario strikers charged mario strikers charged football next level games wii review dnf 
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