E3 2010: Nintendo Impressions

Wow...that's all I really can say about Nintendo's press conference. It truly feels like this year was an apology for the last two years of so-so and just terrible E3 showings. Nintendo rocketed back into what they do best, showing off great games. The best thing about the conference was that long dormant home console franchises are getting Wii games this year and almost every game they presented seemed worth checking out.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: So the first official Zelda game made specifically for the Wii was finally unveiled and it looked great. The graphical style seemed to combine the cel shading of Wind Waker and the more detailed Twilight Princess. The Wii Motion Plus is required to play the game and apart from a new beetle item, what they showed here was just generic Zelda gameplay, though there is a twist to typical story that has yet to revealed. The game is slated for release sometime next year.

Mario Sports Mix: Mario's sole game for the time being. After going on two proper adventures, the plumber finally takes a break and goes back to all the sports plaaying we usually have to put up with inbetween those big adventures. The difference this time is that instead of the whole game focusing on one sport, there are at least 3 sports on display: hockey, volleyball, and a second go round with basketball. The game will also release sometime next year.

Wii Party and Just Dance 2: Nintendo showed how fair they've moved from casual gamers as these were the only two games aimed directly at them during the show. From what was shown, Wii Party is just Mario Party with the Miis and Just Dance 2 is...well Just Dance 2. Neither of them were interesting but neither of them looked horrible either.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: The Golden Sun DS title that they showed off last year and haven't given any info on since has finally gotten a trailer, the subtitle of "Dark Dawn" and vague release date of this holiday season. If there's one thing that really bugged me about Nintendo's conference its was their failure to set a concrete release date for anything. Anyway, the trailer looks cool and I can't wait to try it.

Goldeneye 007: A semi remake of that popular N64 game. The only thing I know has been changed for sure is that James Bond's Pierce Brosnan appearance had been updated to that of the current James Bond: Daniel Craig. Never played the original game so this should be a treat.

Epic Mickey: This one kinda disappointed me, mainly because the pre-release screen shots and character models looked really dark and steampunk like, while the material shown to us here didn't reflect any of this. I guess that just wasn't in this portion of the game. What was shown was very straight forward platforming material and that is enough to get me a little interested in it.

Kirby's Epic Yarn: I was so happy for this game's announcement. Kirby hasn't stared in a home console platformer for over a decade (Kirby 64 was the last one). The game's art style is incredibly unique what with everything looking like strands of yarn. It also looks like Kirby's traditional vacuum ability has been altered in some fashion. I can wait to get my hands on this one this holiday.

Metroid: Other M: Some actually gameplay footage was shown in the new trailer and it still looks cool, but they didn't say anything new about the game Nintendo had had already been releasing info about the game throughout the past year. In one of the few release dates given, the game will launch August 31st.

Donkey Kong Country Returns: Retro Studios, the people behind the excellent Metroid Prime series are working a revival of the original Donkey Kong Country series. The classic team-up of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong returns and lots of elements of the previous country titles as will as Donkey Kong 64 show here. I'm looking forward to its release this holiday (so tired of that vague release date)

Nintendo 3DS: So, this is it. Nintendo's successor to the DS. its capable of 3d images without the need of those dumbass glasses. I can't really say anything about this because the problem of the showing of a device like this is I can't talk about it without playing it myself. It looks cool and the analog stick is an interesting addition (maybe Super Mario 64 DS will actually play well now) and the graphics shown off were amazing for a handheld. I want to try it out.

Kid Icarus: Uprising: Everyone's really excited for this 3DS launch title as the first title in the franchise since some game boy game released in like 1991 or something. I'm not terribly excited in it since I never played either Kid Icarus game and what I saw of the original wasn't that great. I did notice a lot of voice acting (for a handheld Nintendo game) and It the games premise seems interesting enough to give the game a shot.

So yeah, Nintendo really stepped up their game this year.

Metroid Fusion

Released alongside Metroid Prime, it was expected that more people would prefer this game over the 3D FPS style instalment, but for the most part, more people preferred that while the more linear gameplay of this attracted disapproval. While I love Metroid Prime and its my favorite of the series, Fusion just might be my favorite of the 2D Metroid titles. Metroid Fusion was the fourth game released but currently the most recent game in the series timeline. The story goes that Space bounty hunter Samus Aran contracted an infection from a parasite while exploring the home planet of the metroids, SR388. Pushed to the brink of death, the only way scientists could save her was through metroid tissue recovered from her previous adventures. The procedure worked, although she lost most of her abilities and several pieces of her suit had to be removed. Later on, Samus is dispatched to investigate a disturbance at a space station were the parasite, now known as “X”, is being studied. Upon arriving at the outpost, Samus sees that the parasite has infected and taken control of many of the creatures aboard the station. Her previous exposure to ‘X’ not only allows her to take on the creatures, but absorb the remnants of ‘X’ into her own suit and now she must work to contain the threat.

Despite being eight years since a Metroid game was made and using the aforementioned linear gameplay, I feel that this captures the essence of the older games pretty well. Besides the linearity, obviously. The fact you're told where to go bonds better with me, as although being stuck for days and then finding the solution without anyone's help feels like a great triumph, having no idea what to do or where to even go for weeks or months is just a little too much, so having a computer tell you your objective at least gives you a hint as to what you should do, even if it doesn't tell you that you can roll through some walls that look solid. Everything that makes the other games a joy to work through are on display here: endless power-ups, great boss fights, and great controls. Sure, the linearity doesn't make the game quite as satisfying as completing Super Metroid as it didn't quite bring as much joy as having that "Oh so that's where I was meant to go" feeling. Still an awesome game, though!

Best Games of 2009

2009 was a relatively decent year in games or at least it was in terms of what I played. My lack of job meant I couldn't try out many new titles and my lack of a PS3 until just last week ensured I was unable to play the system that seemed to have the best year as far as exclusives were concerned. The Wii and 360 had almost nothing to offer in terms of big titles...well the 360 actually had two Halo games, but I have no interest in that series. There was a pretty strong showing for multi-platform releases and I guess any year that gives me a proper Mario game and a Ratchet and Clank title couldn't be all bad. Now that I've got a job and PS3 maybe I can go back and play some of the year's big releases.

Best Games of 2009

5. [Prototype] (Multi-Platform)

Though the missions get repetitive and the difficulty somewhat spirals out of control in the last few missions, this is a pretty fun open world game. The sheer variety of moves that you can unlock and preform is staggering and something as simple as traversing the city is a blast. This game is often compared to PS3 game Infamous, but since I haven't played that yet I can't really say which is the better anti-hero game, but Prototype is a solid action game.

4. Metroid Prime Trilogy (Nintendo Wii)

I wasn't sure at first whether to count this, as it sort of seems like cheating. I haven't reviewed it yet, and I'm not going to cover it as a single package. After all, it's not one game, it's three, All of which I've already played before. But even with the old content, I still got more fun out of it than most of what I played this year. Metroid Prime is still one of my favorite games of all time,. A fun shooter with a wonderful atmosphere. Metroid Prime 2 is still kind of a letdown with it overuse of backtracking, and Metroid Prime 3 makes up for the second game and is fun closure to great trilogy. Sure I'm kind of cheating, but The Metroid Prime Trilogy is the best gaming value you can get for your money this year.

3. New Super Mario Bros Wii (Nintendo Wii)

This is a pretty personal choice, as New Super Mario Bros Wii didn't do anything to push the franchise forward, it's just another solid entry in one of my favorite series. The game is kind of lazy in the sense that it doesn't have any new ideas of own, it just reuses old standbys from the series's past. The new items are fun and the co-op mode, while annoying at times is fun in a screw around with your friends way. It's not the best Mario game, but its certainly a fun one.

2. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (PS3)

Ratchet & Clank is right up there with Mario as one of my favorite franchises, so luckily I had a friend with a PS3 who bought the game and though I didn't complete it, I was still able to play enough of it to gather my opinion of it. A Crack in Time doesn't alter the gameplay formula of the series, it just continues the run of gaming goodness that the series excels at. It had been some time since I played a new Ratchet game (2005's Deadlocked was the last for me), but I settled right into the groove as soon as the game started, blowing up everything in sight, collecting experience, and just having a fun time. I've got a PS3 now and I'm working through the earlier PS3 Ratchet entries and I must say this series is still a treat.

1. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Nintendo DS)

And the best game of year is actually a handheld title. The Mario & Luigi series has always been a strong series and this third outing may easily be the best. The Mario RPGs have always allowed the writers to throw the Mario cast into bizarre scenarios and Bowser's Inside Story may be the most bizarre. The narrative goes in so many strange and wonderful directions and its all surprisingly funny. The combat is more involved than most RPGs on the market and getting to actually fight as King Bowser is more fun than it has any right to be. It's a very enjoyable experience I think that there should more games as unique as this.

Super Metroid (Review)

Super Metroid was the third game released in the Metroid series, but is the seventh game in the series's timeline. The game's story ties together elements from the original game and the Game Boy sequel. The game sees Samus returning to planet Zebes and entering the Space Pirate's base. She finds a lone Metroid in a room which is instantly captured and is taken somewhere deep within Zebes, with Samus in pursuit to find out where the Metroid has been taken and why. The story isn't that interesting, as is the case with most Nintendo games, but the story does take place on the same planet as the first game so I got to see some familiars enemies and places. The game not only uses the worlds from the original game but expands on them. Many of the repeated rooms have also been re-designed, providing the right balance of nostalgia and new challenges, which was something I enjoyed.

Not much has changed since the first game, you're still exploring the depths of the planet, killing alien enemies, finding new power-ups to help you progress. As with most sequels there are new power-ups like the speed booster which lets you crash through certain walls, the power bomb, which destroys extremely hard surfaces and the very helpful X-ray visor, which lets you finds hidden paths and power-ups. A lot of people have often referred to Super Metroid as the best game in the Metroid franchise and one of the best games of all time and maybe because that's the only thing I ever hear when someone talks about the game, I find it rather easy to disagree. While exploration is the main hook of the series, it's still way too easy to get stuck/lost with no clue where to go. While this did help me feel fustration in the same way Samus was probably feeling, it's not fun to be at a complete loss of what to do for long periods of time. Also some of Samus's abilities control like crap, I'm mostly referring to the untrustworthy grapple beam and the dreadful to use wall jump. Despite those complaints, Super Metroid is still a wonderful game filled with top-notched gameplay and an haunting atmosphere. Definitely one of the Super Nintendo's best titles and one of the better games on the Wii's virtual console.

Metroid: Zero Mission (Review)

My friend replaying the first Metroid Prime along with the Prime Trilogy’s recent release on the Wii has got me in the mood to play through some of the games in the franchise. Metroid: Zero Mission is a retelling of the first Metroid game for the NES. It adds some of the conveniences of the later games like save stations and a much needed map system, which pretty much eliminates the big problems I had with the original game. The game follows intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran as she ventures through Planet Zebes to destroy the evil Mother Brain and the space pirates armada. This version of the game tacks on a new final area and final boss that feel a little too disconnected from the rest of the main story, although it does help tie in some bits of Super Metroid.

Throughout the game, you explore the many areas of the planet, acquire different upgrades; such as morph ball, missiles, and the varia suit. The basic formula of the game (and every other game in the series) has you progress through the game until you reach an obstacle you can't overcome, so you have to backtrack (a lot) to get the item to overcome the obstacle. All of the weapons and upgrades will help in the mission and have their own interesting uses. The morph ball can let you roll up into a ball and reach tiny spaces, The missiles destroy certain blocks (and kills enemies faster) so blocked areas can be accessed, while the varia suit allows Samus to enter areas with high radiation and heat. After you get an upgrade, you immediately use it's core purpose, allowing you to practice with it. But you still find uses for all of the abilities long after you find them. All of the abilities are easy to handle and easy to control. The game has a very impressive gameplay control scheme, which helps create an atmosphere that puts you in Samus’ suit. The level designs are very good. Almost every room is unique, each with it's own set of puzzles and obstacles.

In the original game, there were only three bosses. But this one added a couple of new mini-bosses which, sadly, they only exist for the purpose of testing out new skills and weapons. The game isn’t that difficult as long you seek out the health and ammo upgrades. There is a rather sudden and bizarre increase and then decrease in difficulty at latter end of the game. Mother Brian is a horribly cheap bastard of a boss with attacks coming in at you from every angle at every second, while the new final boss hardly puts up a fight. Metroid Zero Mission mostly stayed true to the original game and the improvements to the game's formula have simply reduced frustrating and unnecessary difficulty found in the original due to the technical limitations. I enjoyed it and believe it’s a must play for fans of the series.

E3 09: Best Games

Okay, this is my last E3 09 post. I decided to end this by listing my ten favorite games that appeared at E3 this year. This includes any game announced or mentioned during the press conferences or games that were said to be on display on the show floor.

These are the 10 games I'm most excited for and the list is in no real order.

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. New Super Mario Bros Wii
3. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
4. No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle
5. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
6. Metroid: Other M
7. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
8. God of War III
9. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
10. Crackdown 2

And that's most of what I want that I found out at E3 this year.

E3 09: Nintendo Impressions

Well...This was a pretty good improvement over last year. Sure Nintendo still had those dull, annoying as hell bragging speeches to bore us with. But Nintendo was a bit more on point to the business of telling us about the games they had coming. Nintendo had a tad more games than Microsoft that I was interested in, but I really wish they would have said a little more about some these games.

New Super Mario Bros Wii: This appears to the major triple A title for the holidays that was long rumored for past couple of months. Co-op Super Mario Bros is something that I feel was long overdue. I'm not super excited for it since this appears to be mostly the same as the Ds game and we've already seen that (plus New Super Mario Bros wasn't my favorite iteration of the series). Also why are the 3rd and 4th players both Toads? Why not Wario or Waluigi? Oh well, its Mario...I'm gonna buy it...and the co-op better be online.

Wii Sports Resorts: Really...they showed us all this game really had to offer last year, but at least it looks a bit more like full game now....Still not gonna buy it though.

Kingdom Hearts Ds: We've known about this game for a while and the press conference didn't tell us anything more than a release date (Sept. 29). I love the Kingdom Hearts series but Chain of Memories for the GBA kinda tainted my feelings for Handheld iterations of the series. But at this one isn't card based so I'll probably buy this when it releases in Sept.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: Another Ds game that we've known about for quite some time as the game has been out in Japan since February. I love the Mario & Luigi rpg games but I don't really have anything to say about this game other than it's release date which was an unannounced date in the fall...why? All they really had to do with the game was localization and Nintendo doesn't really have anything for the summer...so why wait til the fall?

Golden Sun Ds: A nice surprise announcement. The Golden Sun games on the GBA were wonderful and it was a little confusing as to why the series was absent from the DS. Well it's here now and although we were not given a date, it looks nice.

Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again: Wow more Mario stuff...I didn't care for Mario vs Donkey Kong 2. It's lemmings-like gameplay was too much of a departure for me. The one thing was cool about that game was the custom level builder which Minis March Again basically is. It's a downloadable game for the DSI which I don't have and even if I did I probably wouldn't buy it.

The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: They didn't say anything about this game other than "it's good" which wasn't enough for me. I didn't care too much for Phantom Hourglass, the last DS Zelda game, and this looks pretty similar, just with trains instead of a boat. I'm sure it will be good and it will sell well. I'll check it out...but most likely not at launch.

Super Mario Galaxy 2: Wow..just wow. It was pretty much confirmed beforehand that would be a new 3d Mario title on the Wii and here it is. I was hoping that it wouldn't be another Galaxy...but who cares, the first Mario Galaxy is in my opinion one of the best games of this console generation and this seems to just be an extension of that which is fine by me. It also appears to harder than the first one which would address my only real complain against the original. Oh...and Yoshi is the game...which makes things 10 times better. The game will release in 2010...hopefully in the summer.

Metroid Other M: A new Metroid game developed by Team Ninja of all people. It's a nice change of pace from the Prime series and it'll be nice to see this as a sort of what could have been if Metroid Prime had been taken in another direction. It won't come out till next year along with Galaxy 2 so at least there are 2 big games to look forward to next year..finally.

So all in all, Nintendo did pretty well. At least they have actual games coming out this year.