jump, presto! in maestro! jump in music

nintendolife.com has been a great resource since i first came across it, esp. for downloadable games that tend to get short shrift in other publications. i’ve been giving more attention to DSiware games lately, and nintendolife had given maestro! green groove an unusually high score so i thought i’d check it out. rather than download the truncated DSiware version, though, i opted for importing a copy of the original, only-released-in-europe DS version, entitled maestro! jump in music, since it looked like a rhythm game that i would enjoy spending some time with (FYI, i snagged a cart-only copy for less than $10 on ebay but i may have just gotten lucky).

the game is part of a growing sub-genre of rhythm games that match auto-scrolling platforming actions such as jumping and attacking enemies to a musical accompaniment. the game’s main control is novel: you steer the pink bird presto by plucking the string he’s running along up or down; stroking downwards moves him down a string, and stroking upwards makes him jump. the retail game is still fairly short: each of the 6 worlds is divided into three standard levels and a boss level. each world introduces a new mechanic (many of which, such as the circular spinning motions and tapping when circles overlap, will be familiar to fans of the elite beat agents (aka ouendan) games). the majority of the tracks are classical tunes in fairly decent and pleasant-enough MIDI arrangements, and similarly the graphics are cartoony and serviceable despite being fairly simple. the game requires you to beat all of the levels on easy before unlocking the normal and hard difficulties, but the levels are shorter than on the harder difficulties so the easy mode goes by quickly and gives you a chance to master the game’s mechanics. (the harder modes also let you sing along to jump instead of swiping, which is a mildly entertaining if not particularly practical gimmick.) the game’s biggest weakness is the boss battles. in these levels the game switches to a very basic “simon says”-type of gameplay that drag on and don’t add anything new to the genre let alone this experience.

although i enjoyed the game enough to play through the easy and normal levels, i hesitate to recommend the DSiware version since for $5 it only includes the first world (three levels + a boss fight) and replaces one of the best songs of the game, “our house”, with another classical tune (by chopin). if you’re not able to get a copy of the original or if you want to try a bite-sized chunk before committing to the full release this should be a good alternative, but i’m glad that i made the investment and went with the full release. not one of the standout games i’ve played this year, but an enjoyable rhythm game and probably the best use of classical music in a game that i’ve seen yet.

jump through these maestro! jump in music links:
- review of the DSiware release at nintendolife.com
- apparently there was/is an iphone version, but i haven’t been able to find it in the itunes store nor find much info about it online. here’s a link that has some info about that version.

hyrule sports resort in the legend of zelda: skyward sword

i continue to make progress on playing through the zelda series, and recently i finished the latest entry, skyward sword. the game has been a long time coming and the developers were promising that the game would take the series in some new directions, but although there are some notable diversions from the series the majority of these new game elements just feel borrowed from other series.

of the reviews i’ve come across, the one at 1up.com hits most of the same criticisms that i have of the game. my topmost complaint is that the use of wii motion plus throughout the game just feels too similar to wii sports resort, specifically the bomb mechanics (previously seen as basketball tossing and bowling), the bow and arrow (archery), and the beetle piloting (skydiving). only the latter offers something new to the wii library’s gameplay mechanics as a whole, not just the zelda series. the swordfighting is better than it was in wii sports resort, but although it requires some fast reflexes the novelty wears off quickly and it didn’t end up keeping my interest throughout the game. by the end i was mostly just back to waggling and spin attacking except for the times i absolutely had to slice in the right direction. the combination of sword and shield could have led to some more interesting gameplay, but i pretty much completely ignored the shield mechanics since shields break easily. also, the harp is probably the least-integral instrument in all the zelda games, and the few times you do have to play it the interaction is as mindless as playing instruments in wii music. the biggest new mechanic is also the least exciting, which is dowsing, where you point the sword in different directions in order to locate items. this works pretty well and offers some novelty, but it’s used throughout the game and overstays its welcome.

aside from the addition of wii motion plus, the biggest changes to the game were due to changes in pacing. these took many different forms, none of which seemed like much of an improvement. first off, in the three main land areas of the game there’s no distinction between dungeons and the overworld, so that getting to the dungeon requires as much puzzle-solving as there is actually inside the dungeon. this has happened in varying degrees in the other games, but not nearly so extensively as in this one. on the one hand this lack of break in the action does make these outside environments feel more necessary, but on the other hand it makes the game’s pace feel somewhat relentless and actually becomes monotonous. to provide a break there’s skyloft, the central town located in the sky, which has a large cast of characters each with their own problems. much like majora’s mask solving the townspeople’s problems draws you back to that area (as well as earning you optional items that provide some small aid to link on his quest), but the town itself is not always as much of a hub as it should be, since most of the time you can skip past it and go directly from one land area to the next. there’s also a series of small, unconnected islands in the sky that much like wind waker‘s great sea allows you to stop and explore, but most of the islands contain treasures that can only be retrieved after finding “goddess cubes”, which removes the sense of discovery and exploration. goddess cubes, introduced in this game, are scattered around the land areas and provide a mostly enjoyable sidequest centered on solving even more puzzles to gain even more, only somewhat-useful, treasures.

this “density” of content has been much touted and no doubt many zelda fans will revel in it, but i found myself wishing that the developers had edited the game more instead of keeping every idea they had. the other departure to the series is that the game is structured so that you visit many areas multiple times with different objectives. this feels directly taken from the concept pioneered by super mario 64 and carried through its successors, but unlike those games here it just feels like extra, unnecessary padding especially since the repetitions are mostly fairly rote (for example, on one revisit you’re tasked with an escort mission, which is about as tedious as all escort missions are, and in another one you’re given a collectathon task, which easily ranks among my least favorite gameplay mechanics ever). this emphasis on revisiting previous areas was an effort to provide the game with an epic scale without the large (and thus less dense) world of twilight princess, but the game already has enough content without having to tack on these extra tasks.

the game has a few other, relatively minor, new features, including a nice watercolor aesthetic, a stamina meter that provides link with a more prince of persia-like spryness, and a new limit on the number of items you can hold in your “adventure pouch”, requiring some minor strategy in resource management. it also has a system whereby you can collect bugs and treasures in order to upgrade your special items and potions. the game’s secondary weapons feel fairly substandard in general as it is, but as all of the upgrades are optional they don’t feel integral to the game in any way. the game’s most notable addition to the series is the expansion of the zelda mythology and the introduction of a host of new character types that no doubt will be riffed on in many future games. none of them match midna from twilight princess, however, and fi, link’s companion in this game, particularly suffers from the comparison. the new races, unfortunately, also feel completely interchangeable with any of the more-familiar races of the series, but the new villain, ghirahim, is a memorable, albeit melodramatic, antagonist. also, this is the most plotted zelda title yet, and although that’s not saying much there is a host of cinema scenes that help bring the world of the game alive. as a nice bonus, the deluxe version of the game features a snazzy gold wii remote and a CD of symphonic recordings of some of the music from the series (including a nice medley that opens with the great overworld theme from spirit tracks).

i’m continually hoping that nintendo reworks their core franchises more, and although there is the sense that the developers were trying to break new ground, by borrowing so heavily from themselves the team has missed out in exploring something that’s really new. as it is skyward sword lands pretty much smack in the middle of my ranking of the zelda series, and although it’s a high-quality game that beats out the majority of games by other developers, for me it just doesn’t match the high bar the zelda series sets.

raise your sword skyward to these skyward sword links:
- zeldadungeon.net provides the best site on the game
- nintendojo’s review is also worth a read
- official site: includes a spoiler-filled run-down of all the items and loads of videos
- iwata asks feature
- if you’re wondering what happens if you choose the other option for what to do with cawlin’s letter, check out this video on youtube
- in case you don’t already know about the game-breaking glitch check out this link. you can find the info on the fix here.
- observant fans quickly discovered that the game’s main theme, “the ballad of the goddess”, was actually “zelda’s lullaby” backwards. sweeet.
- entry at metacritic
- entry at zelda.wikia.com
- entry at wikipedia

flash focus on sakura samurai

the second of nintendo’s weekly discounted games in the 3DS’s eshop was sakura samurai: the art of the sword. the game was one of the first first-party downloads in the 3DS eshop and has been most readily compared to the punch-out!! series. the comparison is apt since there aren’t many other games that also feature one-on-one bouts that rely on reading your opponents’ signals, but there are significant differences that make this game completely distinct.

aside from the historical japanese setting, multi-man battles (as opposed to the boss battle only MO of punch-out!!), and the ability to move around the stage’s area instead of only being restricted to dodging left and right (not to mention items, villages with NPCs, mini-games, an upgradable sword, and fairly useless special attacks), sakura samurai‘s biggest difference from punch-out!! is that it focuses more on quick reflexes than learning patterns (although the latter comes more into play during the game’s three boss battles). the game’s combat system relies on soulcalibur-esque reactions: when an enemy attacks vertically, you dodge to the side to avoid it, and when he attacks horizontally you should dodge to the back and then quickly move forward and attack. the core mechanics are limited, but there’s a satisfying progression. in the beginning enemies are fairly slow and only present one attack move at a time, but as you progress they get faster, require more hits to defeat, and chain attacks, requiring you to dodge successfully multiple times in quick succession. there’s a relatively small amount of variety in the enemies and it’s not difficult to recognize the differences between them, but the game’s appeal is centered on the fact that being able to recognize an enemy’s attacks and being able to react quickly enough to avoid getting hit are two very different things.

the concept is simple, but developing your reaction speed does take some time (in terms of reacting to visual cues i suppose this isn’t unlike the DS training game flash focus). the game is on the short side, but its difficulty is relatively high. stages are simply collections of different combinations of enemies with little else to distinguish them, and you can replay any of the ones you’ve unlocked. if you fail a stage you’re given the option to replay a previous stage for more health and money than usual which helps remove the sting of losing, but since you keep all your loot and items, a “game over” doesn’t set you back at all. the game keeps track of your “precision points”, which are gained by dodging attacks with the right timing, and your current streak is highlighted at all times (although extending your streak is pretty trivial since you can just replay the easy stages over and over again).

the game’s final boss is more difficult than anything else, mostly because he has some attacks that can’t be dodged, but refining your reactions becomes strangely addictive. there are a few slicing melons mini-games, some timed “marathon” modes, and a hard mode that limits your overall health which means basically requiring you to focus on earning and spending a lot more money for its equivalent, the invincibility item, as well as a “rock garden” mode in which you can donate steps taken with your 3Ds to make sakura trees bloom. these extras help round out the package, so although the game is a bit on the short side all in all this is a pretty worthwhile purchase, especially for fans of the punch-out!! series. i wouldn’t mind if the developers find ways to expand the gameplay and make this into a retail release.

flash focus on these sakura samurai links:
- official site: includes tips on how to play
- it’s interesting to compare reviews. the review at 1up complains about the high difficulty, whereas the review at nintendolife.com is more similar to my take on the game and says “Sakura Samurai’s balance feels fun and never cheap; messing up tends to encourage doing better next time”.
- theme music, on youtube
- entry at wikipedia

vvvvvv one time

nintendo’s recent debut of a weekly discounted game in the 3DS’s eshop has definitely had an effect on my wallet. only in its third week, i’m already 3 for 3, and i’ve been pretty happy with my purchases so far.

the first game they featured was vvvvvv (aka the letter v six times, aka v’s, a platformer with a distinctly retro (specificially atari) aesthetic but a modern gameplay core. the game’s main hook is that in lieu of a jump button the default action is to flip gravity so that, for example, in order to cross a pit of spikes you move from floor to ceiling and back again. the game, like some other notable modern platformers such as super meat boy, offers a stiff challenge but offsets it by providing unlimited lives, i.e. attempts. even though most of the challenges are contained within a single screen, the game is grouped into levels and includes a metroidvania-esque traversal of a map that keeps a nice sense of momentum as you navigate from room to room. the game also offers up occasional respites from the single-screen challenges, often in the form of “escort mission”-like sections where you have to also take into account the movements of your rescuee. as with most escort missions these sections account for the more tedious parts of the game, but they fulfill their purpose of varying the pacing.

the game has gotten a lot of good press, and it’s certainly polished and very well put together, especially considering it’s an indie release (although i agree that the general platforming physics are a tad on the slippery/loose side). personally, though, i’ve found that i’m not a big fan of this type of modern platformer, where, by providing an unlimited number of attempts, the creators feel they have free license to ratchet up the difficulty to absurd levels of try-and-die gameplay that require pixel-perfect levels of precision. as i’ve mentioned in the past, try-and-die gameplay is my absolute least favorite type of gameplay, and there’s a palpable difference between gradually increasing your skills over the course of a game vs. simply memorizing how to get through a particular area. the game does keep a count of the number of lives used overall when you finish it, but in that case memorization just becomes even more emphasized since you end up building up a lot of long-term memorization rather than just short-term.

although the game only takes a couple of hours to beat, it offers more gameplay in the form of “shiny tokens” to collect, time attacks, achievements, as well as quite a lot of user-created stages. by the time i finished the game (all in one sitting, incidentally), i’d had enough gravity-flipping action and was happy to put this aside indefinitely. it will be interesting to see how this compares to other similarly “challenging” platformers, but from this experience it’s a design aesthetic that i’m going to be highly wary of in the future.

vvvvvview these vvvvvv links:
- official site
- page at steam
- review at nintendolife.com
- FAQ for the PC version, at gamefaqs: includes all the dialogue
- the totally retro soundtrack to the game is pretty catchy. you can find out more about it at the artist, souleye’s, website here
- entry at wikipedia

catch the rhythm heaven fever

although i’m a pretty big nintendo fanboy, i only occasionally feel compelled to get a game the day it’s released. however, i’ve been a fan of the rhythm heaven series ever since i played the original japanese-only GBA release. i found the controls in the DS follow-up to be less immediately satisfying, so i was looking forward to the return to buttons only in the latest release in the series, rhythm heaven fever for wii.

the game is structured exactly the same as the DS version, even down to the number of songs and remixes (50). the formula is solid, though, and the addition of a multiplayer mode (albeit a fairly barebones one) helps change things up a bit. although the games are technically all new, quite a few reuse setups from previous games (such as the wandering samurai, the robot factory, and the widget factory to name a few), and others are variations of previous mechanics (e.g. a game of badminton in planes as opposed to table tennis from the last game). this makes the game feel more familiar overall than a completely new entry in the series should. another thing i had really enjoyed about the previous game was the cameos of characters from its predecessor; such cameos are notably underemphasized here, although the game does feature four songs from the original GBA game as a bonus for obtaining perfect medals. re: the emphasis on perfection, i’m still not completely sold on that as a mechanic, but i’ve grown to accept it since its 3-strikes-and-you’re-out premise does give you more tension and thus reward than unlimited tries. my other main complaint is that the final song, remix 10, is notably more stringent in its requirements for getting a medal than the rest of the game, which was rather annoying.

despite the familiarity, there’s certainly a range of new, oftentimes fairly sophisticated, rhythms to master. one of the big draws for me in the games is the warioware series-like wackiness and whimsy, and despite some occasional dullness there’s a good amount on display here, with the clear favorite being the back-stage interview with a wrestler (which may be on its way to becoming an internet meme, as evidenced by a few parody videos such as this one). i wouldn’t say it reaches the heights of the original which had clapping lions with afros and tap-dancing monkeys (with a giraffe providing support), but the advantage of having the experience on a TV screen instead of a handheld means that this will make for a great party game and i’ll get the chance to show this great series off to others. it’s also great to see that even this late in the wii’s lifecycle it still has some high-quality games to offer, with even more on the way.

whoa! you go, big guy! check out these rhythm heaven fever links:
- the official site has a load of wallpapers. the japanese site has some different ones as well.
- iwata asks entry
- review at gonintendo.com, and some comments from famitsu’s review (apparently the series is a big hit in japan)
- interview with tsunku at wired.com. apparently one of the songs from the last game has been performed live, haha.
- the differences in the localized songs is always interesting. the comparison of the english and japanese “cheer readers” song is particularly entertaining.
- list of unlockables at gamefaqs

movin’ to just dance 2

i picked up just dance 2 awhile back for several reasons. one was to see how well it would go over as a holiday game with my family and the other was just general curiosity about a game that has sold millions. the first game got mediocre reviews, with common complaints being the movement recognition, but the second game seemed better received, and watching the videos on youtube of people of all kinds playing its predecessor intrigued me in a similar way as when i first saw videos of people playing wii sports. this game in turn has had more than its fair share of youtube videos, including everyone from twin toddlers, dad, grandma, and everyone in between.

on the family front the game succeeded pretty well in keeping us all entertained, although my personal experience with the game was slightly more varied. although you have to learn the choreography as you go along, the stick-figure prompts certainly help and the moves repeat enough so that even on your first playthrough of a song you can still score fairly high. the game’s scoring was initially a bit frustrating until i realized that moving your hand to mimic the on-screen dancer will only cost you points. once i got past that the recognition actually did feel quite accurate and i was scoring within the 4-star range (out of 5). getting 5 stars feels attainable (i.e. it doesn’t require absurd levels of perfection), although by the time i had 4-star ranked the majority of the songs i wasn’t too eager to continue.

the game’s aesthetics have personality, although it feels limited. part of the problem is that restricted to a neon palette, everything looks a little bit too much the same, and it’s sometimes hard to see what the movement is supposed to be since so much of the on-screen dancers’ bodies are white. i would’ve hoped that they had done something different with the presentation for the series’ third outing, but it doesn’t seem that they have.

the variety in the songs is admirable and includes latin dances, a charleston, a bollywood track, duets, and in an especially amusing surprise an african dance track. as with altered beast, i love the idea of people all over the world unwittingly being exposed to something completely foreign through a “mere” video game. this compilation video of random people stumbling their way through that song is highly entertaining. and even though the game’s choreography is by necessity focused on arm movements, there’s not too much repetition between songs (although there’s a fair amount of “miming”-type movements) and the foot movements, which aren’t specifically tracked by the game, help keep replays from getting boring.

overall this was a surprisingly fun foray into the world of massively popular video games. ubisoft (specifically ubisoft paris) deserves credit for redefining the dance video game, and although i’m still somewhat annoyed that my free download that comes with the game didn’t work after numerous attempts, i enjoyed the game enough to plan to seek out its expansion pack and sequel (and possibly prequel) at some unspecified point in the future. i don’t doubt that some people have used this game to shed a few pounds, and it’s nice to see that wii’s initial promise (and premise) of getting people off of their couches has been fulfilled in such a notable way.

sweat to these just dance 2 links:
- E3 trailer from 2010
- entry at wikipedia
- official website for the series

wario party

i’ve developed into quite a fan of the warioware series, and despite having no video game buddies i decided to go back and give wario ware, inc.: mega party game$! a quick run-through. the game is a bit odd in that it’s an expansion of the original warioware game for GBA (my review of that game is here) with a focus on multiplayer rather than a true sequel.

the single-player mode is somewhat tedious since you have to play through every character’s games (usually 25) to progress rather than a subset as in the original. this mode doesn’t feature the fun cartoon intros and unlockable toys and games of the original either, or any new microgames, so it’s all pretty barebones. still, it was nice to revisit all the microgames, although playing through all of them did highlight the ones that are anomalously difficult and/or obtuse. there are a couple of new unlockables in the form of a “master” (i.e. marathon) mode in which you play through all 204 of the microgames (it doesn’t include the 9 boss battles) and see how many you can get, and two random minimalistic music videos (which can be seen here and here, lyrics at the bottom of this page). the most worthwhile single-player addition is a time attack mode where you try to complete 20, 40, or 60 microgames in the least amount of time (for every one you win the speed goes up and for every one you lose the speed goes down).

despite not having anyone to play with i also sampled all the multiplayer options. they’re pretty much all variations of “who can win the most microgames”, but there’s an entertaining 1-controller survival mode featuring a rainbow of tingle-esque suited characters, and an othello-based board game that requires a bit of strategy beyond just winning microgames. the entry at mariowiki.com has a good run-down of all the modes.

not having been able to play much of the multiplayer games leaves me not being too qualified to comment any further, but at some point i may come back to this. i’m not quite sure how much “pick up and play” gameplay this offers, however, since people who have played through the original or the single-player mode will be at a distinct advantage, but it was fun to see the games on the big screen and it’s whetted my appetite for the handful of warioware games left that i haven’t played yet.

wario’s mega party links!
- good FAQ at gamefaqs.com
- review at nintendojo.com
- the entry at mariowiki.com for the original GBA game has listings for every microgame. is it just me or does this guy look like jeff buckley??
- for a comparison of the various entries in the series, you can check out the listings at gamerankings.com
- entry at wikipedia

readvancing upon the original advance wars

i finally finished the long game i’ve been playing, which was a replay of what has become a classic, the original GBA advance wars. i had first played the original almost three years ago, and although it was a little slow in coming i eventually grew to love the series almost as much as i love the fire emblem series. [most of this review is going to get into minutiae, but if you're interested in info on the original game mechanics check out this review at edge.]

when i had first played the game i had just finished playing all four (up to then) US-released fire emblem games and one of the japan-only titles, so i was a bit disappointed in AW‘s lack of plot and the focus on battle tactics over levelling up a set of characters. coming back to this after having played the rest of the AW series was a pleasurable rush of familiarity and appreciation for how perfect this game truly is. the characters are lovable and their CO powers distinguish them well; the battle mechanics are absolutely top notch; the graphics and music are excellent; and there’s an enormous number of maps with a fully satisfying level of variety among them. although i adore dual strike and in many ways consider it to be the pinnacle of the series (well, the US series at least, as i haven’t yet dipped into the japan-only titles), the original makes a strong case for not injecting the core game with steroids and in some ways overloading the game with a glut of extra features.

a lot to love, so it seems churlish to have any complaints. this time through i did an S-rank run of the normal campaign mode, and chose my route in order to unlock the rest of the COs. it didn’t end up being too difficult, although i chose sami the whole way through and her missions are probably harder than andy’s or max’s. i also S-ranked the first war room maps and tried out the hard campaign mode, and here’s where things started to get dicey. a large part of the reason i like the fire emblem and advance wars series is that, unlike a game like chess, the emphasis isn’t on planning far ahead and instead a general strategy will suffice. but when trying to S-rank maps and in what i’ve experienced so far of the hard campaign this isn’t always the case, and although i enjoyed the “puzzle” aspect of some of the maps, at times it feels like there’s too much “try and die” gameplay. the game feels less cheap overall than other games with more-egregious cases of such gameplay, because as this article at edge puts it: “It’s not so much trial and error as trial and education, each mistake teaching you a little more about the impeccable clockwork that powers the game’s simple, stunning mechanics.” although oftentimes the lessons learned from a particular map do feel like they’d be applicable to others, the amount of memorization that can get to be involved and working out the timing of where your units can be on what day compared to the enemy’s can really make the game feel like a chore. also, although in the war room you can choose from all the available COs, because of the strict speed requirements if you’re trying to S-rank you more often than not have to rely on sami or max, which makes that section of the game feel more repetitive than it could have if it had had more varied objectives and conditions (as another example, sonja is completely useless in this mode since none of these maps feature fog of war). the fact that the war room maps also don’t include any pre-deployed units also make them feel too same-y.

despite my mild complaints, the game is clearly still a grade-A (or should i say “grade-S” ?) classic, and although i don’t think i’ll be tackling the hard mode any time soon i’m definitely looking forward to returning to this at some point in the future, as well as replaying the others in the US series. although since playing this i’ve had an overwhelming desire to play a fire emblem game again …

roll, tanks, roll! readvancing some advance wars links:
- this is still the best FAQ overall for the game’s campaign modes, although it misstates the requirements to unlock nell, which is that you have to beat the advance campaign
- advancewarsnet.com has some great info including a guide to the war room, guides to the campaign modes, the soundtrack, and sprite sheets and animated GIFs
- the similar-sounding site advancewars.net also has some great content, including CO sprites and a damage chart
- text of the entire script
- war room guide at gamefaqs
- this look back at the making of the original advance wars at edge from a year ago doesn’t have any great insights, but it’s one of the few interviews with the creators that i’ve seen

wii speakin’ ’bout animal crossing: city folk

despite having thoroughly enjoyed the first two (US) entries in the animal crossing series i was a bit wary about starting in on the wii version, animal crossing: city folk, since by all accounts it sounded like it was going to be extremely similar to the previous versions. having spent an inordinate amount of time on this installment (mostly in the quest of getting the golden watering can, which i finally achieved), overall i’d say that the game included just enough new features to be worthwhile, although my perspective is a bit skewed: although i had played the first two versions a lot i hadn’t played them the obscene amounts that apparently a lot of people have. so i was still entertained with a lot of the core gameplay, including completing fossils, collecting fish and bugs and furniture sets, and decorating my house. i hadn’t spent much time on designs or multiplayer before, so those were areas that were also more novel to me than they would be for others.

in terms of the new features, the aspect i enjoyed the most was the use of wii speak, a microphone that sits on top of your TV that you can get bundled with the game and allows you to voice chat over wi-fi, either within the wii speak channel or within the game. the voice chat works reasonably well, and it was the feature that motivated me to get the game so that i could play it with my nephew. the wi-fi multiplayer’s limitations are often mildly annoying, though, e.g. visitors won’t appear if you have a guest over, and you can’t do certain special activities such as build a snowman or find the money rock. also, it seems that people who live in the same town on one wii get different interactions than playing with friends over wi-fi, e.g. villagers only show letters to and auctions are only shared among people living in the same town. i also enjoyed taking screenshots and being able to send them to an email address or someone’s wii message board. the other notable new feature is the DLC (downloadable content, i.e. new items) you receive periodically from nintendo via wiiconnect24, either monthly or for special events.

in terms of the tweaks, i liked how holidays are more prominent than in WW. i didn’t really care for having to go to the city all the time and didn’t really see the point of it or the mii masks (which felt like an afterthought and looked a little creepy actually), and although there are a handful of new characters no one seems particularly notable. outfits, which are combinations of hats, shirts, and sometimes accessories that go together, are a nice new feature although underutilized. the feature that people complain about the most is the “desertification” where walking over the same path over and over results in the grass changing to dirt. i didn’t have a problem with this, and you can plant flowers and trees over it to speed up the regrowth process, although i can see how a group of avid players all running around one town would really make the town look like a wasteland. a side effect of desertification is that buried treasures are much harder to spot, which makes hunting for fossils and gyroids more interesting than in the previous games.

i was really hoping that city folk would be a step forward for the series, but as with many nintendo titles of late it really is very similar to its predecessor. in the end, though, i’d say because of the wi-fi features this is probably the best of the three, despite its small number of improvements. hopefully the upcoming 3DS version will have more new features. incidentally, the game was recently made available as a bestseller title, although, oddly enough a new copy of the original standalone game is cheaper on amazon.

wii speakin’ ’bout city folk links:
- of all the AC wikis i’ve come across, accf.wikispaces.com is definitely the best of the bunch, although they don’t have specific info about the two previous iterations. for that animalxing.com is a good alternative.
- iwata asks feature
- some interesting nintendo channel stats of the game at coffeewithgames.com: i just beat out the average player with my 80+ hours, although i’m sure there are many who easily double or triple that
- nice solo guitar version of the theme song. the page also includes a link to the TAB.
- interesting rundown of the N64 original (only released in japan)
- it impresses me that some people get really creative with games like AC:CF. this user-created multiplayer game is pretty entertaining.
- official site: nothing particularly interesting on it, though

samus returns in metroid II

i’ve been playing through boatloads of sequels lately, including metroid II: the return of samus for game boy. this was the last 2-D metroid game i hadn’t played (metroid prime 3 is the only other game in the series i hadn’t finished) and i wanted to try to get caught up on the series before the release of other M. i’d purposely avoided finding out too much about the game, so i wasn’t sure how it was going to bridge the stiffness of the NES original and the superlative pacing of its SNES sequel.

it turns out that in retrospect the game functions as an extremely good bridge to the SNES game, and in many ways holds up better than the original. samus is much more limber and has new abilities that have become standard, including crouching and shooting down while jumping, and the additions to her arsenal have also become core powerups in the series. in the interest of avoiding spoilers i won’t mention which ones in particular are included, but suffice to say they’re often among my favorites in the series.

as for the drawbacks, the main criticism of the game is that it’s very linear, and that instead of open exploration you’re often progressing from one area to the next. at the beginning of the game i wasted time wandering around because i didn’t know beforehand how the game was structured, but even after i was well into the game i didn’t find myself missing the backtracking much at all. i definitely wouldn’t want every metroid game to be so linear, but i don’t mind it occasionally. the game is pretty generous with the energy and missile recharge stations and save locations so the frustration factor is quite low, and the graphics are quite good for a game boy game. i agree with one of the other common complaints which is that the music definitely pales in comparison to the rest of the series.

overall this ranks somewhat low in terms of the whole metroid series, but as with nintendo’s other franchises that’s not so much because the game itself is subpar, but rather it’s due to the extremely high quality of the other titles. the now-famous ending was fun to see, and now that i’m caught up on the main story of the series i’m really looking forward to playing through other M, although i’m still debating about whether or not i’m going to finish up MP3 before then. depends on how much i get sucked into it. given the mixed reviews of other M i’m unsure of how much i’m going to like the new take on the beloved series, but i’m trying to avoid reading too much about it and trying to keep an open mind. we’ll see.

the return of metroid II links:
- entry at wikipedia
- review at nintendolife.com
- good page on the game at metroid recon including screenshots, a scan of the manual, and mp3s
- entry at metroid.wikia.com
- collection of maps
- PDF of the manual at replacementdocs.com
- screenshots of the endings at vgmuseum.com
- video of the best ending at gamespot.com