Category Archives: Video Games

The New Zelda For DS

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The GDC was a big conference event, partly because rumors had circulated that Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata would announce a new Legend of Zelda game during his address. Representatives from sites like Gamespot, 1Up, and IGN gathered around, listening to Iwata’s every word and updating so as to keep their online readers informed every couple minutes on their laptops. Perhaps Joystiq’s is the most forthcoming account of what finally happened; “10:10AM: Remember when they said there wouldn’t be a new Zelda game announced today? THEY LIED!” Priceless.

So just what is the new Zelda? It’s a new DS title currently being called, “The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks”. It’s the sequel to Phantom Hourglass, which was in turn the sequel to Windwaker, making Spirit Tracks the first third game in a sequence of games in Zelda history, for what it’s worth. But while both Windwaker and Phantom Hourglass were spent the majority of the time sailing the seas, Spirit Tracks solely takes place on land. And while in most Zelda games the main character, Link, would walk or ride a horse in order to traverse the landscape, the Link in Spirit Tracks takes a different approach by conducting a train.

Yes, you heard that right. Just know that it fits the visual style much better than you may imagine, even if Link has taken it upon himself to wear a conductor’s outfit and hat. It’s actually a very interesting idea that many fans had believed would be implemented in the next Zelda for Wii, though they didn’t imagine it would be a main focus. And actually, from what I can see of the game, it’s not exactly the main focus in Spirit Tracks, but rather just a fascinating new idea. It’s not like Link wears the conductor outfit all the time, and there are some other interesting concepts that appear to have been incorperated as well, one of which being a soldier’s statue that Link can manipulate and tell to attack enemies and press switches. Also, there is a bizarre fan-like item Link used in the trailer to produce wind and manipulate objects, rather in the manner of the wind boomerang in Twilight Princess. There are plenty of complex dungeons and epic boss fights in which these objects can be used, just like in any other Zelda game.

More information on Spirit Tracks should be available in the coming months. My guess is that Nintendo has planned to try and please us with this new DS game long enough to get to where they can properly announce their next Zelda game for Wii. Fine by me if they will take as much time as they need.

3 Wii Games To Look Forward To This Spring

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It’s been the voice of many gamers that 2009 is the year of the Wii. While I have yet to find sufficient reason to believe it, I do agree that there are now more promising games being released on Nintendo’s white console than almost ever before. There are a pretty good stream of them being released just this Spring, and while there certainly many honorable mentions such as Boom Blox Party, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Virtua Tennis 2009, Puzzle Kingdom(sequel to the highly successful Puzzle Quest), and others, but here are three in particular that people have are very much looking forward to.

Excitebots: Trick Racing is the first in my list of no particular order. Excite Truck was one of the most popular launch games on the Wii. The new follow-up Excitebots is not only faster, but far more diverse and intense. Instead of racing a mere truck, players take control of mechanical bots that mimic both the abilities and attributes of specific animals and insects. While the turtle is slow, it’s also heavy and steady, in contrast to the bat, who is extremely fast and can jump far, but lacks weight, and can be easily knocked aside. There are also many bizarre objects that be used in the race to outsmart enemies, as well as mini-no, micro games that are played on the fly to give you an edge on the competition. It has to be seen to be believed.

Klonoa, the second game here, is a remake of a much beloved Playstation platformer called Door To Phantomile. For a while it was believed that the remake might not be released in America, but now we have a release date:

Punch-Out! is also a remake, and the first installment in the series in about 20 years. It’s a style of boxing gameplay that has been revisioned in 3D by many developers, in games such as Ready 2 Rumble and Wii Sports Boxing, but after so many the series will finally see a real resurrection. Nintendo’s work with the game has been impressive thus far, and if the final product is anything like what people have come to expect from the series it will be a must-buy.

3 Great Family-Friendly PSP Games

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The Playstation Portable is probably the least kid-friendly of any handheld. But while adults with young kids should look out for games like Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, there are plenty of kids games on the PSP that are just as good as those. Here are three, though there are many others.

Wipeout Pure: is possibly the best racing game available on the PSP. The Wipeout franchise first debuted on the Playstation in 1995 and all it’s sequels since have received critical acclaim. What makes it so good? It’s sense of pure speed, probably. In this game dozens of futuristic hovering race cars rocket through obstacle courses in an attempt to reach first place. Along with an extensive singleplayer mode Wipeout Pure features online multiplayer support for up to eight players. Anyone who owns a PSP should play this game, even if you aren’t usually into racing games.

LocoRoco: is a game best played in short bursts, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. LocoRoco is a charming two-dimensional puzzle game, the objective of which is to control small round creatures called LocoRocos as they roll across the planet. As the LocoRoco’s roll continuously, the planet can be tilted using the right and left shoulder buttons to manipulate the creatures’ movements. As any great puzzle game is, LocoRoco is more than the sum of it’s parts, and it’s sequel is even better.

Tokobot: is a unique and revitalizing platformer in which the main character makes use of a squad of ancient robots called Tokobots in combat and the solving of many puzzles. This is accomplished by ordering the Tokobots to execute certain formations, depending on the situation at hand. For example, executing “circle formation” cause the bots to surround you, making it possible for you to, together, stomp on enemies and activate large triggers. It’s the formations and the proper use of them that allow you to progress from area to area, and eventually defeat the game’s bosses. Tokobot is in many ways a throwback to the 3D, kid friendly platformers of the 1990′s, and would be especially enjoyable for those who got a kick out of Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Spyro. However, it’s the kind of game any newcomer to the genre will likely enjoy as well, and kids especially.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings: What We Know

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A couple years ago at an E3 conference, LucasArts announced an Indiana Jones on next-gen systems. While they have yet to live up to that promise, for a while now they have been working on Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, which they plan to release on the Wii, PS2, DS, and PSP this June. The thing is, for game that is to be released so soon, there is very little information available concering just what the game is like. But here is what we do know.

We know that Staff of Kings is an original Indy storyline that LucasArts themselves constructed. It features a variety of environmental settings and locations, which happen to be: Sudan, Istanbul, Panama, San Francisco, and Nepal. The developers have taken the films into account, and been sure to not only be true to the overall classic feel of Jones’ adventures, but have also inserted a number of homages to Indy’s past journies that fans of the movies will certainly get a kick out of.

We know that every version of the game is not a simple port, but rather designed specifically to suit it’s system. In fact, each version was built entirely from the ground up to suit it’s strength: the PSP’s being that of physics engine capabilities for puzzles, the DS being the touch-screen for combat, the Wii it’s motion sense for innovative whip control, and the PS2 for it’s Hot Set destructible environments.

The storyline itself received creative input from both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It concerns the search for what is essentially the Staff of Moses, in which Indiana Jones and a new nemesis called Magnus Voller are opposed. The game features both singleplayer and co-op, each having seperate storyline elements. While the singleplayer storyline boasts a whole cast of entirely new characters, there is one character in the co-op mode that Jones fans have certainly seen before.

We know that the Wii version features many areas in which motion control is utilized, as well as unlockables such as a two to four-player versus mode and even the entire original PC game “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis”. There’s actually quite alot of difference in content between versions, but the Wii’s appears to be the most significant.

We know that every single version of the game will be released simultaneously on June 9th.

Final Fantasy: Echoes of Time For Wii

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You may have already heard that in an interesting turn of events, Square Enix, famed roleplaying game developer of the Final Fantasy franchise, has made a Wii port of the DS game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time available. Owners of the Wii version will be able to play online with those that are playing the DS version, which is a pretty neat feature. However, the catch is that the Wii version’s graphics are nearly identical to that of the DS version.

Echoes of Time plays vastly similar to Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. It is an action RPG in which the player travels from place on his journey, completing quests, defeating monsters, getting stronger and acquiring better and rarer items. I guess you could say it’s Final Fantasy meets Diablo: which is actually a pretty good thing.

As I mentioned before, one of the big selling points has been it’s online, but in addition to the online multiplayer mode there is a singleplayer option, which may be more convenient if you just wish to play through and enjoy the game’s storyline. Either options are appealing and insure some good replay value.

But one thing you may be curious about is how they solved the problem of the two screens that are required to play the DS version. Simple: there are still two screens in the Wii version, side by side. You can customize each screen’s size, and use magic and switch characters and use items etc, by using the pointer on the extra screen where in the DS version players would use the stylus. You can also use the d-pad to switch characters and use magic; it’s your choice. This is one of the few notable differences gameplay-wise between the DS and Wii versions, one of which is that in the Wii version load times are pretty much nonexistent.

While it may have seemed a bit of a weird decision to port a handheld game to the Wii, it may be one that really pays off, at least commercially. Square Enix knows what they are doing. And anyways, if you are willing to forgive some lacking graphics for the sake of engaging gameplay and some features the DS version happens to be without, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time may be for you.