Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered Coming Later this Year!

     #JoinTheGhostbusters!

     It looks like Ghostbusters fans are in for quite a treat.  This year marks both the 35th anniversary of the franchise and the 10th anniversary of The Video Game itself.
     In recent years there's been a plethora of Ghostbusters mobile games and a few console games, but none of them have truly captured the spirit of the franchise so special in the first place, and this fact is made so much more obvious as when playing Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

     According to the official Saber Interactive announcement:

     Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered delivers a unique story from Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis that captures the supernatural comedic fun and fright fans love from the franchise, which celebrates the 35th anniversary of Ghostbusters this year. 

     As the new rookie on the Ghostbusters crew, you’ll team up with your favorite characters from the films, reunited by the voices of Aykroyd, Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson as Stantz, Spengler, Venkman and Zeddemore, alongside Annie Potts, Brian Doyle-Murray, William Atherton, and Max von Sydow. Manhattan is overrun once more by ghosts, demons, and other paranormal creatures unleashed by a mysterious force, and only the Ghostbusters can drive this evil back to whatever dimension it crawled from and save the Big Apple. 

     Hunt, fight and trap a variety of new and familiar ghouls and phantasms, all remastered in HD resolution. Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered equips you with cool gadgets and upgradeable weapons to play with in huge boss fights and destructible environments. Scan and analyze targets with the P.K.E. Meter and Paragoggles, then strap on your Proton Pack to wear ghosts down with the blast stream before wrangling them with the capture stream.

     There's a reason many fans consider The Video Game as third film despite it being removed from official canon.  It plays well, it's got a great story, and it was made by the original crew.
     The 2016 Ghostbusters game was a mere reskin of 2011's Sanctum of Slime, the Ghostbusters: Lego Dimensions game is the standard LEGO game kind of fun, there's a generic puzzle game Ghostbusters: Puzzle Fighter, for a time the small side-scrolling, gem of a platformer titled Little Ghostbusters was available, and a low key kids game PLAYMOBIL Ghostbusters, then there was the mediocre Ghostbusters: Slime City, as well as the strange augmented reality game Ghostbusters: Paranormal Blast which was essentially remade by a better company into Ghostbusters World.  There's even an augmented reality VR game by Sony Interactive called Ghostbusters: Now Hiring, which is yet another mundane game for mobile devices.  In addition there was a bunch of content added to the Respawnables from the Ghostbusters franchise that was surprisingly well done.

     Sadly, the best game the franchise has ever produced was Ghostbusters: The Video Game, and now we get it as a wonderful remaster by Saber Interactive.  We can only hope that as we close in on Jason Reitman's new Ghostbusters film (slated to release on July 10th, 2020) we might see some new games, mobile or otherwise, that are up to the high quality of The Video Game.

Good news Ray, the Remaster is staring right at me.

     Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered is coming to PS4, XBox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via the Epic Game Store later this year.

     The official site [ Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered ]

     Related Posts [ Ghostbusters ]

Who Can Eat More: Yoshi vs Kirby (Guest Post by @EricVBailey )

THE QUANDRY

Yoshi and Kirby are two Nintendo characters who have a lot in common: They both have a reputation for being more “cute” than combative, they star in their own series of games, they have a limited vocabulary, and they are known for eating their opponents or other items.

But who can eat more?


YOSHI

Mario's faithful steed has to be near the top of the list of competitive eaters in gaming lore. The green dinosaur does little else besides eat and be sacrificed for longer jumps. With a flick of his tongue and a lay of his egg, he rapidly disposes of any meal placed in front of him.

In Super Mario World, the larval form of Yoshi doesn't even need the classic tonguing action. You just kinda shove his face into any enemy and Baby Yoshi will eat it. We take it for granted, just how impressive this feat is. Have you ever tried to eat something larger than yourself in less than a second?

This is the truly impressive facet of Yoshi's consumptive power – not just the size of his conquests, but the raw efficiency of the process. From the gulping swallow to the egg-to-ammo transformation, Yoshi seems to have optimized his guts for maximum capacity. You can parade an endless stream of feed-fodder straight toward his mouth, and he will just keep swallowing. Look at this .gif, illustrating the point. You could leave this thing running for decades, only to come back and still find Yoshi wolfing down Shy Guy after Shy Guy for all eternity.

So beware the tongue of Yoshi, lest he get you next. He may yet tempt you, or even impress you, with the skillful application of his long, thick, and moist appendage. He is quite capable of giving you a good tongue-lashing. Yes, he'll tongue you good. He'll tongue you hard, and deep. His skin glistens with sweat, his sinews drawn taut, his shoulders rising and falling with excited breath as he bites his lip and proceeds to-- *stares off into the middle distance*


KIRBY

In the circle of Nintendo's competitive eaters, Kirby has to be in the mix as well.

This lovable pink puffball seems to have an insatiable appetite. Whereas Yoshi converts his foes into weapon-projectiles through arcane digestive means, Kirby himself is the end of his means, the final destination for those unlucky enough to cross him. His mouth is like a black hole, his stomach the period that the story of life.

Yoshi's gift for rapid-fire snacking is nothing short of miraculous, but Kirby has him beat in a few specific ways. For one, Kirby can eat more than one thing at once. Yoshi has this certain physical limitation about him, this constraint whereby the tip of his tongue must physically connect with his target. Kirby shows no concern for paltry ideas like “physics,” instead electing to consume, consume everything.

Yoshi's backstory has something to do with living on an island and playing a part in the rise of the Super Mario Bros. Kirby's story always seems to essentially boil down to “One day, Kirby was having a picnic or taking a nap or otherwise being perfectly innocent and adorable, until his idyllic peace was interrupted by a paradimensional entity bent on the violent destruction of all life. So Kirby ate him. Peace was restored, the end.”

You don't mess with Kirby.

Kirby will eat everything, instantly, forever.

At this point, some Yoshi apologist will say “b-b-but what about Mega Yarn Yoshi, and those giant metal eggs from New Island?!” Get that garbage argument out of here. Look, Yoshi's a dinosaur, he has to adhere to certain physical limits. Kirby, on the other hand, laughs at every attempt of the cosmos to contain him.

We can look to one title in particular for the most compelling persuasion: In Kirby Triple Deluxe, Kirby does this thing where he goes “hypernova” and his suction rips entire dang trees out of the ground, among other objects. There is video evidence. But if you're going to watch one video to summarize Kirby's nigh-apocalyptic prowess, check out his final boss battle from that game, in which he swallows... a streaming blast of supernatural energy? And then fires it back out of his face to annihilate all in his path? Ridiculous. That kind of eating can't be quantified.

Perhaps there was a time when this article began with a good-faith intent at debate but, no, let's be honest, Kirby wins this battle of bites and it's not even close. Even if Yoshi forked his tongue, and stretched it out, and massacred his mouth into an inescapable maw of unfathomable tentacle-tongues, Kirby would just suck 'im up like the infinite vacuum he is and swallow it all whole.


THE WINNER

Kirby wins.

Easily.

Decisively.


     …


          Although...


               Now I do have to wonder:


                       Could he eat a ghost?

Special thanks to internet pal and Kirby expert Jonathan for his input on this piece. You can follow him on Twitter @radicaldefect.

Eric Bailey likes Nintendo games and writing about Nintendo games. You can follow him on Twitter @EricVBailey, check out his minimalist YouTube series, support him on Patreon, or ignore him altogether.

     Previous Guest Posts by Eric Bailey:

     [ Tribute: Link's Awakening ]

     [ You’re All Idiots, Everything's On Fire, and Nothing Ever Changes: Yet Another Critique of Gaming Culture ] 


     [ Easy-Mode Players Are The Real Gamers ]

Tribute: Link's Awakening (Guest Post by @EricVBailey )

People enjoy stories about likeable protagonists who overcome adversity.

In the face of overwhelming odds our hero manages to triumph, and our sympathetic tension achieves a victorious payoff. One popular framework toward this end is the shipwreck. You have a happy character, on top of the world, enjoying some maritime travel, who is suddenly thrust into harsh conditions. This is quite a dramatic turn, bolstered by historical examples, and works to unfold our fears of an uncertain future.

Castaway is a generally well-received film, with Tom Hanks continuing to stretch his acting range in a challenging role. Robinson Crusoe is regarded as a literary classic. The television series Arrow leaned heavily on a “stranded on a remote island in the Pacific” backstory. Even the Bible heightens its drama with the account of a shipwreck in the book of Acts. And tucked back in the late 20th century, on a humble handheld machine, gaming also has its premiere shipwreck story --

Survival Kids.

… no, wait, sorry, not Survival Kids.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

On a dark and stormy night...

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a video game that originally released in 1993 for Nintendo’s portable Game Boy system. It is one of my personal favorites, and I believe it is great.

This topdown adventure oozes classic Nintendo appeal and, in my view, sports some brilliant design strokes that perfectly complement a delightful original world. The setting often straddles the line between charming and unnerving, and I found the overall effect intoxicating when I first played the game as a child. Just as a good book is described as something you cannot put down, Link’s Awakening was truly an experience that I was reluctant to let leave my hands; notably, I do not often feel this way about games.

Franchise Legacy

In some ways, Link’s Awakening is a radical departure for the Legend of Zelda franchise: It is the only game to take place on Koholint Island, the first portable Zelda title, and plays extensively with references to other games and media altogether. In other ways, it poses more subtle subversions.

In Ocarina of Time, a girl named Malon teaches Link Epona’s Song for his ocarina. In Link’s Awakening, a girl named Marin teaches Link the Ballad of the Wind Fish for his ocarina. Both of these characters show an affinity for animals.

In Link’s Awakening, using the Bow and a Bomb at the same time results in firing an arrow attached a bomb that explodes on impact. Curiously, this has never been confirmed or denied by the developers as an unintentional glitch. Arrows and bombs could be combined in Twilight Princess, but it was not until Breath of the Wild in 2017 that Bomb Arrows were finally their own full-fledged item.

I feel Link’s Awakening forged new ground for the Zelda series in ways that have been overshadowed by the contributions of other titles, like later games get credit for feats Awakening already achieved, and much of its greatness has been lost in the mix of fondness for some of Link’s other adventures.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask has received lots of praise over the years for its melancholy mood and a darker theme. Rightly so! It remains my favorite Zelda game, largely because it is so unusual. However, some may forget that Link’s Awakening has its share of dark imagery as well, as noted by a Twitter friend of mine on a playthrough in 2017.

Link’s Awakening was already exploring the idea of an oncoming world-ending cataclysm in a world entirely separate from Hyrule years before Majora’s Mask would, complete with the necessary epic songs and ventures into added layers of the not-quite-real.

How about cameos? In the 64-bit Zelda titles, you can find little winks to the Super Mario canon, like the Bowser jewelry in Ocarina and the Mario mask in Majora. In Twilight Princess, keen observers may spot a Bullet Bill image. But did you know that in Link’s Awakening you can find Yoshi, Goomba, Pirahna Plants, Cheep Cheep, Bloobers, and a Chain Chomp! Never again would so many Mario characters manage to squeeze into one of Link’s adventures. It’s so strange!

Breath of the Wild is infamous for hiding 900 Korok seeds throughout its world, rewarding completists who will search every blade of grass for hidden treasure. Ocarina had its Skulltulas. But y’know which Zelda game started the trend of having a big fetch quest throughout? Link’s Awakening, with its 26 Secret Seashells, 20 of them standing in the way between Link and his sword upgrade.

It’s A Good Game, Brent

Consider the worst parts of popular Zelda titles.

What’s the one design element you hate from each one? Is it the rain in Breath of the Wild, or how poorly the polygons have aged in the N64 games? Do you despise the endless sailing in Wind Waker, or was it the Triforce shards that drove you to despair? Did you abhor the motion controls of Skyward Sword, or the barren overworld of Twilight Princess?

Link’s Awakening doesn’t have any of these issues.

It’s just a solid, well-rounded game. Like any high-caliber Nintendo fare it has charm, humor, a memorable soundtrack, tight gameplay, and some gorgeous visuals. Your mileage may vary as to its difficulty, but I always thought it hit a great spot between ease and challenge.

Words can hardly encapsulate the experience. Maybe some games can be summarized in a reflection like this, but I think Link’s Awakening truly rewards those who dig into it. I recommend you try it, and I’d love to hear what you think. I have a feeling it’ll be one of my sentimental favorites for as long as I live.

Eric Bailey likes Nintendo games and writing about Nintendo games. You can follow him on Twitter @EricVBailey, check out his new minimalist YouTube series, support him on Patreon, or ignore him altogether.

     Previous Guest Posts by Eric Bailey:

[ You’re All Idiots, Everything's On Fire, and Nothing Ever Changes: Yet Another Critique of Gaming Culture ] 

[ Easy-Mode Players Are The Real Gamers ]

Dark Souls Remaster: Officially Announced!!!

     The original Dark Souls has been a game fans have enjoyed in and out since its arrival in late 2011, and after years of asking and rumors culminating in an insider leak last month of a Remaster on the way, we finally have the first official teaser trailer and announcement.
     Series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki previously stated that his Dark Souls saga was complete with part 3's DLC The Ringed City, but left some potential openings for remasters and even new installments long down the line.

     Praise the Sun fellow travelers.  According to the official site:

     DARK SOULS: REMASTERED allows players to explore the twisted ancient land of Lordran in the first title of the critically acclaimed action role-playing series like never before. Experience the rich world of DARK SOULS in upscaled 4K resolution with 60FPS when playing on a PlayStation 4 Pro system, Xbox One X, and PC.  Also, 1080p resolution with 30FPS is available when playing the game on Nintendo Switch with its TV mode. 

     We've also been promised a much-needed multiplayer experience, with the move from Player-to-player connectivity to dedicated servers, as well as the change from 4 players to 6.  Now, many of us are waiting to see if we'll also receive the ability to play with friends that Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne had with the password system.
     Personally, I'm curious to see if they'll clean up the combat a bit (NOT sped up, just not as clunky)- with things like better hit boxes, omni-directional rolling, and the like.  Fextralife claims to have been working with Fromsoft on fixing a lot of these issues and the multitude of bugs in the game since 2016.  Perhaps we may even see some changes to Lost Izalith, as Miyazaki has voiced his displeasure many times about how it wasn't up to standards.

     This return to Lordran is going to be great.

     Dark Souls Remastered is slated to arrive May 5th, 2018.

     Related posts [ Dark Souls ]

     Dark Souls official [ Website ] [ Twitter ] [ Facebook ]

Dark Souls Remastered: Might Actually be Happening (Confirmed by Original Reporter)

[ UPDATE ] Apparently there's been some more confirmations to Original Tweet (& Deleted link), and Sellers also noted that two games were specifically the Dark Souls Remaster and Soul Calibur 6- as well as the fact they are NOT exclusives to the Switch.

     Dark Souls as a series might be over, but many fans (including myself) have been begging for a remastered version of the original (as well as one for Demon's Souls) for a very long time over on Reddit and elsewhere.
     Over the last few months there have been rumors circulating that one indeed may be on the way, and recently we got news of the Demon's Souls servers finally closing down after almost a decade.  Then yesterday Nintendo Switch Network writer Marcus Sellers accidentally revealed some juicy news.

     In a tweet he posted, he let it slip that at a December 15th Bandai-Namco event that "5 unannounced games would be shown off." In addition Nintendo would be featured heavily.
     What makes this even better is he replied to another person's tweet revealing the news of the Dark Souls Remaster- which has since been deleted, but thanks to the ever vigilant internet dwellers, it was screen-capped and saved.

     The tweet mentioned the fact that the 2011 game re-released in Remastered form would be coming to not only the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, but the Nintendo Switch as well.  If Seller's tweet is true, then all of us Souls fans can once again return to Lordran in all of its glory and splendor with a completely new and beautiful journey into darkness.*

     I'm sure many are hoping to also hear an official announcement of a Bloodborne sequel (personally if they do, I hope it's in a far futuristic setting like a Dead Space game), some Armored Core news, and the like, but for me- a Dark Souls Remaster is exactly the news I've been waiting for.  Improved graphics, a more balanced PvP connectivity, and better controls would be a godsend for the game.  When I say better controls- I do NOT mean the infinite rolling of the 3rd game, just a smoother flow and slightly less clunky as the methodical combat of the first game is still unmatched in its perfection.  This remaster could revitalize the entire Souls community.

     Related posts [ Dark Souls ]

     Source [ Seasoned Gaming ] via [ ComicBook ] & [ Reddit ]

*My Ps3 trophies from when DS1 first arrived. Such great memories.

Morphite: A Second Trailer Arrives and a Release Date Announced

     I've been following Morphite for over a year.  It's one of the best looking games that is heading to mobile, and it is slated to arrive in about a month and a half.  Developers Crescent Moon Games and We're Five Games had originally planned a late spring release, but announced a delay so they could port the game to other systems, and now we have a release date for all but Android devices.

     Morphite is a gorgeous sci fi action-exploration game described as:

     "Myrah Kale will voyage to the furthest corners of space and explore uncharted procedurally- generated planets, each with diverse landscapes and teeming with exotic flora and fauna. With the help of a scanner, Myrah will sell biological information for ship, suit and weapon upgrades. She will explore hand-crafted worlds as part of the main storyline.  

     Inside Myrah’s vessel, players will engage in random encounters with real-time space combat, trade with other travelers across the galaxy and navigate outer space with Morphite’s easy-to- use Starmap system."

     Morphite releases on September 7th for the Nintendo Switch, X Box One, PS4, iOS, and Srtam.
     Of course, Android is left behind, and will release "A little bit later."

     My previous Morphite coverage [ 1 & 2 ] and on Droidgamers [ 1 & 2 ]

Morphite: Upcoming Metroid Prime-like Mobile Game Gets Delayed

     With many mobile gamers anxiously awaiting the release of the amazing looking, Metroid-esque space adventure Morphite, we are in for a small bit of sad news today.  Morphite has been delayed again.

     Originally set to release in late spring, that won't be happening now, and we also don't have a set time period now.  Over on the Touch Arcade forums, one of the developers (from Crescent Moon Games and We're Five Games) have posted the news and the reason why.
     Apparently the delay is so the game can be ported to "other console platforms."  What's even better news is the core development team is not handling it, a completely different group, Blowfish Studios, will be tackling the porting duties- meaning the main team is still focused on making the best mobile game possible. [ Reference ]

     I've been following and covering Morphite for a long time, and I would gladly wait for the game to get a proper work over than a rushed, bug-filled mess.  I'm sure no one wants this game to pull a No Man's Sky, and wind up nothing like the promises the trailers made it out to be.  I trust the developers to get this done, and get it done well at that.

     My previous Morphite coverage [ Here ] and a couple on [ DroidGamers 1 & 2 ]

RiME: Finally Arrives in May 2017!

     I've had my eye on Tequila Work's gorgeous game RIME since 2014.  Through the last couple years, RiME has gone through some changes behind the scenes and now the game will be coming to more than just the PS4, it'll also be arriving on Xbox One, Steam, and the upcoming Nintendo Switch.  Which is great, a wider audience to share the experience.  RiME looks to be a wonderful amalgam of the games Journey, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Ico all placed on a strange and mysterious island like Myst.

     The 3rd person puzzle-platforming will help the shipwrecked boy unravel the mystery of this island he finds himself stranded on.  You are an interloper on this island, and it will react to your presence- the island IS a character in that way.  To find meaning, you'll need to delve in and try to solve the questions of who built this place, where is everyone else, and how the island changes.

     That last part is what really peaks my curiosity as the game's creator, Raúl Rubio Munárriz, mentioned something that immediately caught my eye in an old interview with Polygon, "Every time you explore this island or islands you are going to experience it differently."  It makes me think there will be an element of procedural generation, and then further question exactly how reactive will the world be.  Will every decision you make really change how the entire world around you functions?  Can you alter how animals populating the island react by changing what you do to them?  Will the island actively try to assist you in doing good, and try to thwart you from harming stuff?  Can the island fight against your goal?  I look forward to seeing if this is truly how the game is built.  A real reactionary world.

     Experience the subtle beauty of RiME in May 2017.

Shakedown Hawaii: A 16-Bit Upgrade from Retro City Rampage: PSX 2016 Trailer

     It's been an entire year since the last bit of news about indie game developer Brian Provinciano's homage-fueled follow-up to the tremendous Retro City Rampage, called Shakedown: Hawaii, but low- yesterday we received the gloriously pixelated PSX 2016 trailer.

     This game evolves it mayhem from the 8-Bit world to that of the 16-Bit, moving from the era of NES to that of the Super NES.  The story follows "The Player," the same protagonist from Retro City Rampage, and moves him 30 years into his future.  He's become older, fatter, and balder as he steps out of his corporate empire's boardroom and on to the streets in an effort to destroy the rising competition.

     Shakedown: Hawaii will be coming to Nintendo, Steam, and Playstation in 2017.

Pokemon Go + Boondock Saints: Where You Going Eevee? NOWHERE!!!

     As many people have already experienced, there's an overabundance of bugs and problems with Pokemon Go.  Servers crashing, loss of game data, among other things.  It's still fun, but alas- I couldn't help making this meme combining Pokemon Go with one of the best moments from The Boondock Saints.  Maybe I'll call it the Pokemon Saints?  I'll keep it in mind if I can think of better memes for this combination.

   This is how I feel the game is going right now.  It comes to a grinding halt consistently, crashing almost exclusively when a rare pokemon appears.  I've grown quite irritated by the inexplicable loss of pokeballs after a crash with the rare pokemons as well.  Sure, Niantic will definitely fix many of the issues, but it just feels like they rushed the game to an early release for the summer months.

     When this game gets back on the right track, it'll crush it for a very long time to come.

     Good lord, I looked back for old Pokemon meme's I made, and it's been nearly 5 years.  FIVE YEARS!  Here's the link if you're curious and want to see them- [ Pokememes ]

Moonlighter: 3 Days Left for the Zelda-Like Rogue-lite Kickstarter Game

     It isn't often I toss money towards Kickstarter projects, an even less often for crowd funded games that are tied to larger companies like the Square-Enix Collective, but today I spotted Moonlighter and was genuinely intrigued.  Sure, it already has well over twice the budget goal it initially asked for, but I threw some money their way anyhow, as this project looks amazing.

     As many might be able to tell, Digital Sun has drawn inspiration from the likes of Rogue Legacy, The Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and the tremendous works of Studio Ghibli to create this game.  It's got some beautiful top-down adventuring and wonderful art, alongside what appears to be some great worldbuilding.

Moonlighter is an action RPG game with rogue-lite elements about Will, an adventurous shopkeeper, that secretly dreams of becoming a hero. 

To earn the daily bread, he needs to venture into the dungeons near his town, defeat strange enemies, and obtain loot to be sold at his shop. 

Wisely managing the gold from those sales is the only way he’ll get strong enough to risk into deeper gates and, maybe, open the sealed one. 

Moonlighter has endless randomly generated dungeons, a myriad of cool and expensive items, many weapons, dozens of weird enemies, five incredibly tough bosses, and gold... tons of gold! 

You start with 100 gold coins. 

Some cheap equipment. 

And a shop.

     I like the idea that Moonlighter presents and it answers the question that's always bothered me in RPG's through time, where do the shopkeepers get all their wares?  I have a feeling I won't feel so bad about spending so much gold on a sword after learning the shopkeep had to defeat a boss to obtain it.

     Moonlighter has an estimated delivery of March 2017.

     [ Digital Sun Games on Twitter ]

     Source [ Moonlighter on Kickstarter ]

Nintendo: E3, Wii U, and Zelda vs The Players

YOUR GAME IS ON ANOTHER SYSTEM

     It's been two years since the original announcement for The Legend of Zelda for Wii U and we now get some more disappointing news for it.  Nintendo has let it be known today that it will be delayed another whole year, until March 2017, to coincide with the release of their new system code named NX.

     This has been rumored for a while now that this would probably be happening, and honestly it feels like Nintendo just screwed over the Wii U supporters as a whole.  Because their new system is supposed to be "The next generation of Nintendo" we can assume the new system to be superior in every way to the current Wii U, which would make us then ask, "Why even bother playing The Legend of Zelda on the old system?"  It would make much more sense to play it on the newer system, with the newer and better hardware, and presumably a much better all-around experience to go along with it.

     The Wii U hasn't been great at anything, and is quite a huge disappointment overall.  Where's all the 3rd party support?  Even when it comes to their first-party games the system has been a massive letdown.  All the once great Nintendo franchises have been relatively lackluster or missing completely.  And now that the one game that could revitalize interest in the system and boost sales comes along, it'll be used instead as a flagship launch title for another system entirely.

     And to top it off, this new Legend of Zelda will be the sole focus of Nintendo at E3.  What a wonderful way to place your one EGG in a singular basket and simultaneously shit on your customers in the mean time.

     Sources [ Nintendo Twitter ] [ NintendoLife ]

The Legend of Zelda: The 30-Year Tribute: A 3D Browser Game!

     Two fans, Scott Lininger and Mike Magee, have made a very cool update to the classic The Legend of Zelda Nintendo game.  The Legend of Zelda: The 30-Year Tribute is made with voxels to create a stunning 3D version of the game and it is currently playable in browsers on either computer or mobile devices.*  

     With Nintendo's history of shutting down any sort of fan created work using their IPs, no matter how awesome, this may be shut down soon- so play it while you can.  Note- Nintendo is listed in the credits as being responsible for creating memories and magic!

     I always wonder why Nintendo doesn't start hiring these people to create the things we fans want.  It usually comes down to Nintendo wanting to make money from every damn thing they've done, and never sharing it with anyone else.  This tribute being based on one of its most beloved franchises will probably wind up being a huge red flag for it to be shut down.  Honestly, I think Nintendo should leave it, because it really wouldn't hurt their sales, and might generate more fan discussion while we wait for the new Legend of Zelda game to arrive on the Wii U later this year.

     TO PLAY [ The Legend of Zelda: The 30-Year Tribute ]

          Twitter [ @Zelda30Tribute ]
          Facebook [ Zelda30Tribute ]

*I've been playing this on my phone all morning and it is great. 
-I also forgot how much the river creatures look like Gyarados from Pokemon.

Metroid: The Sky Calls: A Rainfall Short Film

     Considering Nintendo is doing next to nothing with this series, it's great to see a nice work by some semi-professional fans in Rainfall, who a couple years ago gave us an interesting Wonder Woman short film.  We can see they were heavily influenced by Alien, and they've put in a great effort.  It has some average acting and clunky directing, but it's very much worth a watch for the small bits of fan service they threw in.

     I think the actress here, The Nerdist's Jessica Chobot, was not the best choice.  She looks the part, but she's is a stiff actress with poor voice quality, coming off sounding more like Tara Reid than the badass Samas Aran.  I don't know if she's had acting lessons, but they would definitely help and I do believe she could get much better- becoming a Samas worthy of the name.

     Sure, these are limited complaints, but for a fan video it is pretty damn good.  Rainfall makes some quality fan films, and I wonder what they could do with a bigger budget, a better director, and better actors.  Granted, they are sure to improve over time regardless.

     So Nintendo, you are up now, are you going to give fans some of this made by you?  I recall a decent actress from the Metroid: Other M trailer, so you already have someone more than capable.

Farewell Satoru Iwata

     There's not much else I can say that hasn't been said by much bigger names, in much better ways than I could ever hope to say.  Satoru Iwata had a huge influence on my gaming history, as many gamers can relate- his influence reached far beyond what many might think.  His contributions were vast.

"On my business card, I am a corporate president. 

     In my mind, I am a game developer. 

          But in my heart, I am a gamer." 

-Satoru Iwata

     He helped make 2 of the most memorable games that helped shape my gaming history- Earthbound and Kirby.  Then to simply think of the impact he made with his work on various Pokemon games, good lord, he affected billions with just that, not to mention his work on both The Legend of Zelda and Mario series'.  Iwata undeniably changed a multitude of lives with his work, and we have lost a giant of video gaming history.
     I mean, just think about the simple fact he voluntarily cut his salary in half to save jobs when Nintendo was floundering.  He was a rare man, whose shoes can never truly be filled.

     May his passion and talent be an inspiration to us all.

     Farewell Iwata, you've left a legacy that will forever be impossible to match.

Penguins of Madagascar: Little Orbit's New Game Announced

     The best part of the Madagascar films, our flippered friends the Penguins, have broke out on their own for previous games and a television series.  With their very own feature film set to arrive November 26th, Dreamworks Animation and Little Orbit Games have announced a new video game.

     Here's the official announcement description:

     The four web-footed operatives, Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private, uncover a nefarious plot by the evil octopus, Dave (Dr. Octavious Brine) to destroy the penguin world as we know it. Players will travel to top-secret locales and embark on covert missions to thwart Dave’s evil plans. 

     Players will be able to play as the four penguins and instantly swap between them depending on the situation encountered.  For example, Rico, a demolitions expert, loves to blow things to smithereens while Skipper can dish out his stun slap to give enemy octopi high-powered smackdowns!  Players can solve puzzles by choosing the penguin whose natural skills are best suited for the task.

     The Penguins of Madagascar will be available November 25th exclusively for Nintendo systems (Wii, Wii U, and the 3DS).  For more information the game will be featured at the Gamestop Expo on Sept. 10th.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze: Announced

     The TMNT have had some questionable games in the last few years, never quite reattaining the heights of the traditional brawler/beat-em-ups of yesteryear.  However, Activision has been putting out some mediocre ones over the last year.  There was the Nickelodeon cartoon based Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the Nintendo 3DS, and just a month ago saw the release of the Bay & Liebesman film's tie-in game (also on the 3DS), but neither were as good as the iOS and Android movie tie-in, but hey- they weren't too awful either.

     With that being said, Activision and Wayforward Games have announced a new Turtles game with a new style.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze is a "side-scrolling action-adventure" that bridges the gap between seasons 2 and 3 of Nickelodeon's currently airing animated series.

     Here's a segment from the press release:

     Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze brings together new locations, allies and threats!  The game quickly heats up as Shredder, Tiger Claw and a new army of mutants threaten the streets of New York, forcing Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo to take action into their own hands. The game’s distinguishing feature is its vast, interconnected, non-linear game world, which rewards exploration and creative thinking. Powers, upgrades and equipment scattered across New York and Dimension X opens up new environments to traverse, secrets to discover and bosses to battle.

     All four Turtles can be swapped between freely throughout the adventure and each has its own unique rhythm, with specialised stats, strengths and skills. Combat is fast-paced, emphasising the gang’s martial arts prowess through attack and item combos, counters and finishers but also provides tools for stealth-based approaches to avoid or tackle enemies.

     So it sounds like well be getting a Metroidvania game featuring the TMNT, this could be very interesting if it works out well.  At least Activision is starting to branch out and take some chances with the TMNT franchise concerning the types of games they are making, so who knows, this could be a very good thing for the future of TMNT games.  It sounds like an intriguing new take on a Turtles game, and I'm more than willing to give it a shot.

     Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze is set "to emerge in Autumn 2014" for PS3, Xbox 360, and the Nintendo 3DS.

     Source [ Gamasutra ]

     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Bay & Liebesman Movie Tie-in Game) Review for Nintendo 3DS

     Publisher Activision and developer Magic Pockets teamed up once again to give us yet another mundane Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.  That isn't to say it's all bad- this new Nintendo 3DS Bay & Liebesman movie tie-in has quite a few merits, and a fair amount of enjoyability for any TMNT enthusiasts out there.
     I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that this wasn't a Triple A title because there wasn't any marketing campaign for it- hell, the Gamestop staff didn't even know it was available when I went in to pick up my preorder.

     Spoiler Warning!

     The story has little to do with the film, apparently taking place after the film and The Shredder is alive.  April sends the Turtles on a slew of small missions in very linear levels.  It begins with Master Splinter missing and grows from there.  The plot is sparse and spread over the game's 15 story missions and 10 side missions.  Its brevity could've been easier to swallow if there was more action to be had.  The battles become tiresome swiftly and by the 3/4ths completion time I was hoping the end would come much sooner than it did.  What makes the story irritating is the fact there is often repeated phrases by the Turtles that doesn't come close to what the dialogue boxes say and it is super distracting.
     On a good note, they've included some nice takes on a few other familiar faces from TMNT history.  Baxter Stockman, the Rat King, and Slash all make appearances.

     The good part of the game are the near-button-mashing combat.  It isn't as awesome as it sounds, because in later stages combat becomes a slog- you have to be familiar with each individual Turtle's specialties and use each of them to best effect the circumstances at hand.  Then the most annoying aspect of the game is the slowing mechanic employed by many enemies that slow you to a crawl.  It is downright maddening when you are surrounded by enemies and can't move faster than a slug.  To make that effect worse- it is used constantly in the last quarter of the game.  It is a poor decision to use this effect to prolong the late game.  You might think I'm kidding but towards the end you get bombarded with huge amounts of extremely damaging enemies that can eat away your life bar in seconds if you get caught in a "slow" status while being swarmed.

     The skills and leveling systems are quite nice.  Each level gains some skill points to disperse among whatever Turtle(s) you favor and the weapons can either be found or made in a crafting section in the sewer lair area.  Weapons have various attributes and some come with added elemental status effects like poison or electricity, but it really doesn't change much.  (A note about the lair- one really overlooked problem in the game is an inability to change which Turtle you are in the lair itself.  Anywhere else in the game it is possible, so how did they miss it in the lair?!?)
     Each Turtle has unique abilities and it really does change how they are played and how they feel and it adds a nice element of strategy to the game.  Both active and passive skills may be chosen, and it really comes down to your chosen playstyle which is really nice.  Raphael becomes a near-invulnerable tank, Leonardo can cut through swathes of shielded enemies, Donatello is good for horde control, and Michelangelo is perfect for long range attacks.  This gradually increases the ways you can use each character as the game progresses.  Sadly though, each Turtle has a unique way to access "special areas" like Donatello hacking his way through or Michelangelo using chains to go down a manhole- but there are so few of these included that it seems tacked on at the last minute.
     Honestly, once I leveled Mike up, he makes the end levels and the absurdly lengthy last boss fight (and last challenge extra battle being a repeat of this) far shorter than it would've been with any of the other three.  This may sound terrible, but trust me- it is a very, very drawn out battle where you have to fight not only The Shredder, but all the previous bosses (one at a time) and repeated shadowy versions of all the Turtles.  Using Mike's multi-hit shuriken with all its boosts and the boomerang and saved me on tons of boring play time with that lazy end boss structure.

     When the game was over I felt it was a half-hearted cash grab timed to coincide with the theatrical release, but for the $29.99 price tag, I'd say it was worth it.  There's enough here to please long time Ninja Turtle fans, and plenty for the young audiences.  (Although the difficulty seems a tad on the high side for children players.)
     It isn't awful by any means.  And actually I think this is a great improvement over Magic Pockets' Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.  Many small improvements, but at least they are in the right direction- this one is almost a dungeon crawler/beat-em-up/RPG.  Almost.
     Really, I think they need to make a game like the Marvel Lego Superheroes- a massive open-world 4 player action-adventure RPG loaded with little stuff to do (think of a combination of Skyrim and Grand Theft Auto) and designed solely for endless fun.


     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review (NES) The Original Nintendo Game

Bebop and Rocksteady.

     The first foray of the TMNT into the video game world isn't one of the brawler beat-em-ups that defined the series right after this installment.  It's actually this top down view with deadly tanks, and side scrolling platformer levels upon entering sewers or buildings game on the original Nintendo.
     This game was more unforgiving and imbalanced than it rightly should've been- creating play that is far from fun and it punishes players for failing to adapt to the horrendous control scheme.  The problem with the difficulty here is that is due to arbitrary problems and poor level design you are forced to fight through wave after wave of enemies that should be menial but aren't.  Dark Souls feels like a lackadaisical stroll in comparison- at least it is fair and the controls are tight.

You get to drive the Party Wagon!!!

     Perhaps if the controls for TMNT were better the tediousness might have been simply a fun challenge, but instead it devolves into pure frustration.  If a player moves a single screen over in the level, every enemy respawns.  An infinitely respawning group of enemies that do massive damage if you even touch one gets to be really irritating while you also have to struggle with the awful controls.  Even worse is the fact that there are plenty of filler stages and places that don't contain anything necessary for progress and serve mostly to deplete what little resources you have.
     The platforming is also a problem as a result of terrible jumping mechanics.  If you bump a ceiling you drop straight down- often right into the line of fire you jumped to avoid.
     Compounding this problem is the fact that while you may choose which of the 4 Turtles you want to play as at any time, Michelangelo and Raphael are nearly useless because their weapons have nothing for range.  Many players just resort to using them in heavy damage taking areas so they can prolong the use of the only two Turtles worth using, Leonardo and Donatello, as they give you much more range.  

Diffuse the bombs.

     Somehow this is an extremely flawed game that I loved as a kid, but not as much as the drastically better TMNT: The Arcade Game, which was released in the same year.  Any fondness I once had was drown in the infamous underwater "Dam Level" that will no doubt go down in history as one of the biggest torments to any children that suffered beneath the waves.

This was a nightmare for many, many children.

     Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES is a mediocre game at best, and the difficulty curve proves to be its greatest undoing, most notably because the TMNT should really be aimed at kids.  If they hadn't included a never-ending stream of respawning minions or even a level select option the game might've left young players with better memories, but as it is, nostalgia won't cover its abundance of faults.


     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

TMNT Nintendo DS Review (2007 Game)

     With the CG animated film being released there were a slew of movie tie-in games.  For some reason the Nintendo DS version got the shaft, even worse than the Sony PSP version which had far superior graphics if I remember correctly.

     Whoever thought this game should be the precursor to all the "Such-and-such RUN!" games should've been fired.  There is the only the most minimal combat in this game and ignoring the TMNT's staple game mechanic throughout the years was this games first and biggest mistake.  In those few moments the controls are garbage- they contain the most pitiful combos I've ever seen.  Since each normal attack pushes you forward quite far, sending you far beyond Foot soldiers if you are even slightly off target, it leaves you wide open to get cut down.  Really, it comes down to spamming the attack button and hoping for the best.

     What comprises a majority of the game is running through the city and dashing back and forth responding to button prompts to jump or swing in the most clunky and sloppy way possible.
     It is a considerable part of the game, to an absurd extent- all you do is push one of three buttons- left, right, or center- ad nauseum.  This costs the game a lot because it eliminates any real exploration they might've had and sapped any enjoyment they could've had in this game.

     To make matters even worse there are corners that cameras aren't fast enough to follow you around, moving jump points that can lead directly to death if the landing point moved, and areas where you have to "charge" a jump by holding the button down for no real reason I could discern.

     The one thing that was kind of redeeming is a mini-game of sorts where one of your turtle brothers shows up and if you can race and catch them, they'll launch you far ahead for a boost in time to complete the level.  Unfortunately the boost only serves to help you retrieve the collectible token letters T, M, N, and - you guessed it - T.  But trying to collect them is a chore because the whole game is awful- so I didn't even bother attempting it, which would necessitate replaying levels to take different paths for the letters I hadn't found.

     TMNT may have begun with an original idea that was initially great, but somewhere along the line it became the befuddling mess we got.  I've played a LOT of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games over the years, and this one is easily the worst.  Even Out of the Shadows is a masterpiece in comparison.

     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]