I love Megaman Battle Network 5: Double Team DS. The concept is clever, and the robots tickle my nostalgia factor. Developing a custom deck and upgrade table are interesting and fun ways to change up an RPG. Combat is a bit obtuse, but because it's action-based, it never seems to bog down. I also appreciate that the game has finally integrated a map.
I hate Megaman Battle Network 5: Double Team DS. The name is ridiculously long, it's using the exact same art as the first game in the series (back near GBA launch), and there's still an awful lot of random encounters. Figuring out what makes a great custom deck and finding the cards for it is needlessly difficult compared to, say, Pokemon, and it feels like the DS element was just taped on.
I love this game as a twenty dollar title. There's an awful lot of fun to be had, the positives outweigh the negatives, and if you're having a hard time, you can abuse Gamefaqs for the lottery codes before you're too far into the game.
I hate this game as a full priced title. There's so many things that just don't work together well that I feel almost unsettled at times while playing.
I wonder what happened to the town of ACDC that caused the school to disappear, but admit if I were Lan I wouldn't be too worried about it either.
Everything you've heard is true; the DS.lite is so much better it's almost a wonder I ever used the old model in the first place. The real difference comes from just holding it. The whole system looks "cleaner". Every button, every line, every label seems to be there only if absolutely necessary, and yet it never seems cheap in the same way that previous Nintendo devices sometimes feel when it comes to aesthetics. It's the kind of look that is approachable by almost anybody.
The system size is also worth mentioning, because I think the previous system has been justly knocked for its size. Holding the system is no longer awkward for Brain Age sessions or Animal Crossing penmanship, because it just doesn't have the girth to stress out your wrist anymore. The bottom obviously still weighs more than the top but it's no longer an awkward balancing act - I think book-orientation games are far more plausible now as a result.
Though the screens are basically the same thing (and same size) as in the previous system, they've been changed a bit. The bottom screen is far clearer than it used to be; so much so that the two screens only seem to differ in color temperature (the bottom screen is a bit more "red".) Because of the three new screen brightness levels (original DS brightness is #2 of 4), you can no longer turn off the backlight at all, which to be honest makes more sense anyway.
Okay, the system isn't 100% perfect. It uses a new power connector, so you won't be able to rely on those older DS and GBA SP chargers anymore. GBA users will be a bit puzzled by how games stick out of the bottom somewhat. And I guess Nintendo gave up on the thumb strap idea, because those don't come with the system anymore.
But those all seem like trifles. Nintendo may not have the most powerful handheld console on the market but they clearly seem to have the BEST one. It's approachable, it's better, and I don't feel like my 130 dollars were wasted.
When there's a big delay in posts for this blog, it's usually put down to one of three reasons: illness (it happens more than I'd like out here in the midwest), work (crunch destroys any desire to write outside of work, sometimes), or travel (very, very distracting). My latest excuse is the latter of those choices.
By travel I don't mean in a car, by the way. I mean Singapore, which means roughly 10,000 miles and 24 hours in a plane. The jetlag is brutal: sleeping every few hours, losing track of the time of day, and while on the plane I tend to have having this unsettling, dehydrated feeling that pretty much ruins any concentration that might otherwise go to blistering commentary on Tetris remakes.
Singapore is a surprisingly cool place for gamers, if not a particularily active one for development (Koei being the only significant player I know of). With no particular official region to rely on, game stores tend to stock both US and Japanese games, with the occasional smattering of european titles for the handhelds. You could pick up a DS.lite day-and-date with the US launch, or Valkyrie Profile 2 within a day of the japanese launch, provided you have the money to go around. Not that it's particularily more expensive (most of the cost difference is explained through exchange rates), but Square-Enix titles go for an unusually high price in the land of the rising sun. Otherwise, game stock varies wildly, with a mix of new, old, and rare with none of the by-the-numbers stocking you might expect from an EBGames or Gamestop.
Case in point: Racing Gears Advance is in stock at one particular store I visited. Can't say I've ever experienced that before, on either side of the ocean.
Let's make one thing clear: I'm not a game collector. Medical science may one day declare me to be a game enthusiast. Junkie may be a fair term if I end up owning all three next-gen consoles. But neither is like a collector, for they gather their belongings based on a list. Like, say, the complete Virtual Boy title lineup , or every used cartridge they can get their hands on .
The difference in my level of discerning is that I am looking for games of particular merit. That merit may not even stay. Games sprout and are shed like rosepetals lining the bookshelf. But eventually, a melody of gaming tastes line those shelves and form a framework of what my taste might look like.
Why I'm bringing this up is because we're slowly entering that much anticipated phase in the gaming cycle. The market is so busy winding up for the new consoles and their fresh new game lineups that years of overlooked titles are forced to tread the razor's edge between "discount" and "out-of-stock". Games that - given a sharp middle of the year release date - would have been relative successes instead of also-rans to the big hits of the year. They're hitting pricetags so low you could buy 2-5 games to equal the price of one new release.
Evidence offered:
- ($25) Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
- ($25) Advance Wars: Dual Strike
- ($25) Suikoden Tactics
- ($20) Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
- ($20) ICO
- ($20) Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition
- ($18) Tales of Symphonia
- ($18) Baten Kaitos
- ($18) Phantom Brave
- ($18) RPG Maker 2
- ($15) Dynasty Tactics 2
- ($13) Killer 7
- ($13) Onimusha 3: Demon Siege
- ($10) Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
- ($10) Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies
- ($10) Kessen 2
- ($10) Fighter Maker 2
- ($10) Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
- ($10) Victorious Boxers
- ($8) Shadow of Destiny
- ($8) Legaia 2: Duel Saga
- ($8) Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
- ($6) Kessen
- ($5) Metroid Prime
…and this is just a partial list. I'm not saying it's all good. It's hard to say how good a particular game might turn out even after looking at all the dated reviews, and some games are going to take a lot of effort to track down from any given store. But until the home console market opens up disc based games to online downloads, this may be your best chance to try a lot of cheap games before they go off the market for years (sometimes never to return).
Any bargain games that you guys/gals would like to suggest?
(And yes, I'm fully aware of the irony in pointing towards the used game marketplace…but sometimes it's the only way to track some of these games down.)
To be honest, I didn't even mean to buy this game; Best Buy had a twenty dollar sale on Capcom PSP titles and I was hoping for Megaman Powered Up. I'm still not convinced I should have bought this game, but I must admit there are some pretty interesting things about it. Though, before I go any further, if you are a big fan of any of the following arcade games, please disregard what I have to say, because this UMD provides arcade-perfect, multiplayer ports:
- 1941
- Avengers (not the marvel game)
- Bionic Commando (not the NES game)
- Black Tiger (similar to Ghouls n Ghosts)
- Block Block (arkanoid ripoff)
- Captain Commando (Final Fight engine)
- Final Fight
- Forgotten Worlds (awkward controls)
- Last Duel (Bump'n'Jump meets Life Force)
- Legendary Wings
- Magic Sword
- Mega Twins
- Quiz & Dragons (Trivial Pursuit RPG..)
- Section Z
- Side Arms
- The Speed Rumbler
- Street Fighter (oh god it's bad)
- Strider
- Three Wonders
- Varth
I'd be generous to say the game selection is a mixed bag. 1941, Final Fight, and Captain Commando are exactly what you remember them to be, and Magic Sword can be fun for some people. Hell, I think Quiz & Dragons deserves some recognition for the sheer audacity of the design. But the rest seem beyond my bar of enjoyment given that this is a PSP title, and you need multiple UMDs for multiplayer.
To be honest, I'm not happy about the presentation either. They did a great job in terms of options - every game lets you set rapid fire, number of credits, screen orientation and scaling - but it just looks like a big clunky rush job. There's cool artwork and music to unlock, but sadly all you can do is look, because there's no way to save any of it to memory stick.
All in all I can't recommend this to the generally curious considering the clearly superior sequel is on the way this fall, complete with better games (SF2, Knights of the Round) and single-UMD multiplayer for some titles.
The first thing I always do once the E3 smoke has cleared is plot out a buying schedule for the rest of the year. It won't be perfect - release dates get traded around like pokemon cards - and delays are inevitable, but it gives a really good idea of what should be on the radar so you're not completely surprised every time you go to the video game store.
There are two noticeable omissions, though. Nintendo's virtual console lineup has yet to be announced beyond the 5 E3 placeholder games, so going crazy with predictions about what will be in the first release list would be futile (yes, they're staggering things. There likely won't be a hundred day games for download at launch.) The second is Sony's PlayStation 3, which, is so ridiculously expensive as to require at least a peek at the launch lineup before considering a preorder. And since they've told us even less than Nintendo on that score, they're omitted from my list for the time being.
June
- Nintendo DS.lite: The revision that improves on the original in every way. It makes even the GBA SP and Micro look tired by comparison.
- Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation (GBA): Anime robot crossover in Strategy RPG form. I'm hesitant but interested.
July
- Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (PSP): A port for the most part of the PS1 game. Hopefully the NTSC version fixes image clarity.
- Contact (DS): Action RPG, Wifi mode. Sounds cool and Atlus is behind it, but we know basically nothing else about the game.
August
- Dead Rising (360): Way of the Samurai meets GTA meets Resident Evil. It's almost enough to make me buy an Xbox 360.
- Disgaea 2 (PS2): I tried hard to like the first one, and failed to get past the grind. If that's fixed, this is a sure purchase.
September
- Okami (PS2): Looks like Zelda. Possibly plays better. The video on 1-up was so convincing I could hardly believe it.
- Yakuza (PS2) Final Fight meets RPG free roaming, with a story from a famous japanese novelist. The hype is massive.
- Loco Roco (PSP): It's very similar to a PC game already released, but the infectious cuteness will win anyone over.
- Final Fantasy III (DS): Fans of FF1 and FF5 will love this. It's FF3 NES, remade with FF9 graphics.
- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (DS): Slime Action RPG. The localized form of Slime Mori-Mori 2.
- Star Fox DS (DS): Recent entries have been less than worthy, but this one seems to go back to the basics.
- Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2): Looks great. Hopefully more friendly to newcomers this time.
- Rogue Galaxy (PS2): Full blown action RPG from the team behind Dragon Quest 8. Looks amazing.
- Sid Meier's Railroads! (PC): The hope being its as addictive as Railroad Tycoon. That's not unreasonable.
- Traxion (PSP): Turns music games via 24 minigames. Sort of like a more expansive Vib Ribbon…if it works?
- Touch Detective (DS): Looks like Detective Conan. How does it play? Hopefully like Phoenix Wright.
October
- Final Fantasy XII (PS2): Even Oblivion doesn't hold my interest like this will. This game is immune to my backlog.
- Lumines 2 (PSP): Do I really even need to explain this?
- Capcom Classics Reloaded (PSP): Much better game list this time. SF2, Knights of the Round…even game sharing.
- Phantasy Star Universe (360): Hopefully more RPG than PSO this time; I'm interested in SP games, not MMOs.
- Children of Mana (DS): Is this the one to finally become enough like Secret of Mana?
- Gears of War (360): How repetitive? Will it make it out this year? It seems great, but could be shallow over time.
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (PS2): Action RPG..not much else known.
November
Doomsday month. Every major console launch happens here. Every major game release happens here. There's so much stuff shipping to stores that even A grade games may be ignored or forgotten.
- Gitaroo Man Lives! (PSP): PS2 port, but with new modes and a few new songs. Consider me sold.
- Nintendo Wii: Backwards compatible, Virtual Console, great launch lineup. Even the price will be good.
- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii): Zelda, but rivalling FF in scope. Now if the story works out…
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii): This game seems made for the Wii remote. Retro hasn't steered me wrong yet.
- Super Paper Mario (GCN): Part RPG, Part platformer. Old School meets new school.
- Lunar Knights (DS): The reinventing of Boktai. Dropping the sensor makes me more likely to buy it.
- Guitar Hero 2 (PS2): More music. Rinse and repeat. I'm a fan of the concept, not the music.
- Dragon Quest Swords (Wii): Will it launch in the USA too? Nobody has seen this game in action yet.
- Red Steel (Wii): Controls likely fine..but is this just another FPS? New controls aren't enough to sell me.
- Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii): Ratchet down the difficulty. Please. I'll buy it day one if they do!
December
This is usually "placeholder" month, because very rarely do so many titles ship around this time of year without moving up to September or moving back to January/February.
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Final Fantasy VI (GBA): AKA: FF3 on the Super NES. If you like RPGs, you'll want this one, regardless of what's new.
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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS): Metroidvania with character switching. If only Megaman was this fresh every sequel.
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Crysis (PC): Possibly the year's best FPS..if it can come out on time. Best looking game of E3 2006.
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Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS): From the makers of Trace Memory. Looks reminiscent of games like Deja-Vu.
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Elite Beat Agents (DS): Localized Ouendan that is complementary, not a replacement. May buy it out of sheer principle.
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Final Fantasy V (GBA): Another port+ addition fest. Not my favorite in the series, but this may finally drag me in.
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Tales of the Abyss (PS2): Apparently problematic, but the best of the Tales games. Sounds like enough for me.
Sort of a forebearer to the return of a genre using the Nintendo DS; Cing's Trace Memory (known in Japan as "Another Code") is a trip back to the days of Sierra's classic adventure puzzle games. You start off as a young girl looking for her father, and basically need to start figuring out inventive puzzles to make your way across the island in order to find him.
It should be noted the game isn't quite as vicious as Sierra's games of old. You can't really die. FF style bulky collision keeps your interaction limited as you move along the bottom screen, while the top screen displays Myst-like stills. On the other hand, the puzzles themselves can be even more brutal than before. Ashley won't pick up objects unless the game has presented a use for them, and Cing has made terrific use of the DS featureset to create unusual solutions for many of the puzzles; without spoiling anything I can definitely recommend blowing on the mic when all else fails.
If the game has a weakness, it's a matter of length. Trace Memory is a short game - a good thing, in my mind - but sometimes it does something really out of left field to keep it that way, like leaving the puzzle solution 5 rooms back, or teaching you gameplay methods that might only be used 2 or 3 times over the course of the game. I actually forgot how to do picture comparisons because it just wasn't necessary up to a certain point.
Still, this is a perfect game for kids, significant others, or puzzle gamers looking for a low intensity game and fresh off a tour as Phoenix Wright. Trace Memory is short, anyone can play, and the subject matter - fallibility of memory - is actually interesting to read. I look forward to their next game (Nintendo's "Hotel Dusk", announced at E3 2006.)
Minus the parentheses, that's the title of Nintendo's new platformer, which to most gamers is clearly ten years overdue. So one can't really argue with the title, per se. And in traditional form, the game is also a lot of fun. But in a grand act of verifying everything Jeremy said about the game, this isn't the sequel we were looking for.
NSMB plays more like what a traditional Super Mario Bros. 2 should have been. There's one new powerup item - the koopa shell - two new mushrooms - big and small - and the world map plays out like a simplified version of the one in Super Mario Bros. 3. There are little touches here and there that speak of experiences since; Mario can walljump, triplejump, and just generally do everything with a bit of 3D smoothness. But I honestly can't see how this game is not outclassed by that gem of NES engineering 15 years ago. Sometimes NSMB actually feels naked without having a racoon tale, cape, or other costume powerup.
I'm of mixed opinion about the 3D graphics, because they are so inconsistently used. Mario looks and reacts fine - and I'd argue the koopa's actually look better than they ever did in 2D - but for the most part I'd have a tough time arguing merit over some traditional pixel artwork. Perhaps there are some more obvious uses for geometry as the game progresses.The game also has two technical problems worth mentioning:
- You can only save by completing a tower/castle for the first time, it appears. The manual otherwise recommends sleep mode. >_<
- Unlike Super Mario World, if you quit out of an already completed level, all achievements are wiped. So you're essentially not allowed to load an easy level to grab powerups or star coins and then quickly bail. This is actually more annoying than in SMW due to the unique Star Coins placed in each level.
What this all boils down to is that New Super Mario Bros. is a grand gesture of simularity. We've been there before, but at the same time it's been so long that the return is much welcomed. For 35 bucks, it's pretty much a must-buy.
At E3 the Nintendo Wii was the buzz, but it was their other platform that was the real story. The DS.lite hardware revision looks cool enough, but it's the software lineup that's remarkable: something interesting is coming in almost every genre, and even ignoring that, the games just seem appear compared to the PS2 or PSP. Everyone-friendly genres (mystery, brain-training, and social construction) have been revitalized in a way we haven't seen since the late eighties, old favorites (like Mario and Star Fox) are on the way back, and there's just this feeling of gaming friendliness that consoles haven't seen in a long time. As usual, software is the answer; if you don't believe me, take a look at the line-up:
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All (Mystery)
The second GBA game gets a well deserved DS remake. Hopefully another DS bonus case is added.
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Platformer RPG)
It's still "metroidvania", but now with multiple characters to switch between. Co-op multiplayer too.
- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (Action RPG)
Think Secret of Mana meets Dragon Quest…only you play as the slimes. Highly regarded sequel to Slime Mori-Mori on the GBA.
- Elite Beat Agents (Rhythm)
Nintendo's localization to import-favorite Ouendan, though with american music and brand new levels from the developer.
- Final Fantasy III (RPG)
The FFIX-esque remake of the only FF game never to make it over the pacific. My favorite in first third of the series.
- Star Fox DS (Arcade Flight)
There have been other recent Starfox games, but this one skips the lame on-foot elements.
- Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Mystery)
From the makers of Trace Memory, this is a murder mystery with elements akin to Deja Vu on the NES.
- Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Adventure)
Touchscreen-only E3 controls suck. If they fix that, we've got yet another must-buy Zelda title.
- Lunar Knights (Action RPG)
Kojima Productions reinvents the Boktai concept for the DS. You can use the Boktai sensor…if you want.
- New Super Mario Bros. (Platformer)
It's out today. It pretty much sells the DS.lite by itself. No additional praise required!
Other notable games:
- Contact (Action RPG with WiFi elements from Atlus)
- Custom Robo DS (Create your own robots, battle online)
- Diddy Kong Racing (SNES port with 8p multiplayer)
- Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (There goes my free time…)
- Jump Superstars 2 (Manga-crossover fighting returns)
- Children of Mana (Square makes another attempt at it)
- Touch Detective (Another mystery game!)
- Yoshi's Island 2 (Yes, a sequel to the SNES platformer)
- Harvest Moon DS (Sort of explains itself)
- Pokemon Ranger (Action RPG spin-off)
And of course, if you factor in the GBA compatibility, you could also add these games to the list:
- Megaman Battle Network 6 (the final sequel)
- Final Fantasy V (Remake + extra content)
- Final Fantasy VI (AKA FF3 on the Super NES)
- (Dare I hope for Mother 3 / Earthbound 2?)
If that doesn't look like a recipe for purchasing burnout, I don't know what is.
I'm of pretty mixed opinion about the Microsoft press conference. The script was there and they answered the questions they needed to. There was this feeling of competency that doesn't quite come across in the wild idea segments that Sony and Nintendo offered, but also a complete lack of excitement. "More of the Same" is a good tagline. Still, if you're already an Xbox or Xbox 360 fan, this was definitely a success, and you've got a lot of interesting games to look forward to this christmas and next.
Staying the Course. Microsoft got into the industry by watching carefully and mimicking what works, and that strategy hasn't changed yet. The Xbox 360 is clearly the most play-it-safe console of the new generation, which has resulted in a lot of success among gamers in their target market. Everybody knows the formula (New Halo, lots of action games, rinse and repeat), and it clearly works. If you're a driving fan, there's Forza, if you're a action fan there's GTA, if you're a shooter fan there's Gears of War, and, well, Halo 3 speaks for itself.
Cross-platform Live. With Vista coming out in January, Microsoft saw a clear chance to integrate, and I think it's a really cool move. Now your Xbox Live account works on Vista, and playing games on both platforms counts towards your profile. It's about time the PC had a more integrated online gaming service, and while I don't expect everything to use it, it's nice to simplify things a bit. They mention mobile support too but that didn't seem well thought out; WM6 is not really a gaming platform by any stretch of the imagination.
What's New? Here's the problem. Halo 3? Short cutscene trailer. Fable 2? Cutscene trailer. Forza 2, Alan Wake? Cutscene trailers. The amount of actual content shown was probably the least of the three conferences, and what was shown had some significant issues behind the graphics - as much as I liked the Gears of War demonstration, without any character inventory building it's likely to be a very boring game after the first hour. Don't get me wrong, I'm still hopeful. There are a fair number of "unknowns" that I can't weigh in on until there is more footage available, and even the games seen could turn out to be great. But as it stands, there is not a single game listed that I would want to buy the 360 for. The great FPS games are better on the PC, and just about every other genre gets better representation elsewhere. Case in point: the game I was impressed by the most - Crysis - isn't even scheduled for 360 release.