Category: Nintendo

Amish Otaku, Nintendo, Video Games, Wii

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Wait is Over!

After nearly two years of waiting, the most anticipated Wii title to date has finally hit store shelves across America. Now that almost two weeks have gone by since it launched, everyone who wants to be playing it is.

For some people (myself included) the chance to play Super Smash Bros: Brawl came a little over a week after its initial release due to what Nintendo claims is a dirty lens. However, their top-notch repair team had my Wii back in my hands exactly seven days after it left and everything is running smoothly.

The first thing to mention about the newest member of the Super Smash Bros. franchise is that nothing of the general game mechanic has changed from Melee. In fact, the mechanics are so similar that you can play the game using your standard Game Cube controller with the same button set as the previous game. Continue reading “Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Wait is Over!”

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Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Drawn To Life: DS Side-Scrollers Get Creative

Guest Post

It’s been crazy here in Oxford, Mississippi, with football season going full tilt. In fact, for three weeks straight the restaurant has been slammed with hungry game fans waiting to get their eat on.

Unfortunately, this means I’ve had little time to get my game on. What with all that cooking… Still, I’ve had some time to play some games, especially with my trusty DS always nearby. In fact, lately I’ve been able to play something that allows me to be creative while still going to town on an old-school side-scrolling platformer. Well, old-school at heart anyway. Continue reading “Drawn To Life: DS Side-Scrollers Get Creative”

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Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Touch the Dead: Camp Attack on the DS

Eidos’s Touch the Dead is the best shooter on rails for the DS. It’s also the only one I can think of. In concept, the game is as brilliant as Snakes on a Plane, but much like the movie, Touch the Dead doesn’t live up to its hype.

Putting the game on rails – that is, not allowing the player the freedom of movement – was a good first step as it keeps the DS from working too hard on the 3D environments. It also doesn’t allow you to get lost; you’re simply dragged along until the zombies get you or you escape.

Of course, being locked into your movements also means you’re locked into your view as well. This is especially frustrating when you’re trying to shoot a box or a crate for health or ammo and you’re only offered a brief glimpse of your target. Typically, bonuses and power-ups like these are only shown once and if you miss it, that’s just too bad – you’ll have to do without it. Continue reading “Touch the Dead: Camp Attack on the DS”

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Amish Otaku, Gamecube, Nintendo, Video Games

Ikaruga: One Shooter to Rule Them All

Freaky boss of Level 2
Atari

Ikaruga has a reputation as the best shooter on the market and for increasing the “frothing demand” of IGN editors. The game’s reputation is well deserved, and as we speak many gamers are frothing in their demand for the Xbox Live release of this title first revealed by CVG on Valentine’s Day.

At its core the game is a vertical shooter that has you facing waves of enemy aircraft and fire in beautifully rendered levels. There’s an oversized boss for you to fight at the end of each level.

What sets Ikaruga apart from its competitors is the gameplay. Continue reading “Ikaruga: One Shooter to Rule Them All”

Daniel Allen
Amish Otaku, Gamecube, Nintendo, Video Games

Donkey Konga 2: More Music, More Monkeys, More Mayhem

 

I can’t easily explain why I like Donkey Konga 2. I enjoy banging along to songs I know and like, but I certainly don’t feel cool doing it like I do with Guitar Hero. The game was developed by Namco post-Katamari Damacy so it’s got a goofy, irreverent appeal as well. But I think it’s mostly my addictive personality as there are plenty of songs to complete and coins to earn, which let you unlock a large amount of other content.

The main game mode is street performance. This is where you collect coins and get rated on how well you perform the song. There are six levels of difficulty to choose from, but half of those difficulties are actually alternate pattern sets for the songs (which can only be unlocked when you’ve ranked high enough for that song in the corresponding difficulty level). Further, the hardest level of play requires that you unlock the songs individually with the coins you earn by playing the songs. Continue reading “Donkey Konga 2: More Music, More Monkeys, More Mayhem”

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Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

 

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for the DS is a game everyone’s been waiting for but no one knew they were waiting. It’s a blend of traditional RPG elements and Bejeweled. Wait, huh?

The RPG aspects of this game aren’t what’s making it so popular, nor is it entirely the Bejeweled-like puzzle gameplay of the combat. Rather, the seamless integration of the two and the new gameplay that emerges from it are the true reasons behind this game’s sleeper success.

As I said, combat takes the form of a game of Bejeweled on an 8×8 “Battle Grid” with each combatant alternating turns. Damage is inflicted by matching a row of three to five skulls. You can also attack your enemies with various spells, which can be cast by using mana collected by clearing like-colored mana gems. Experience and gold are collected the same way and are represented by a purple star and a stack of coins, respectively.

The combat is fun, though the alternating turns take some getting used to. Continue reading “Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords”

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Amish Otaku, Nintendo, Video Games, Wii

Super Paper Mario: From Mushroom Kindgom to the Multiverse

 

Somehow I’ve managed to miss all the previous Paper Mario and Mario RPG games released so far. It’s always been the wrong time or I didn’t have enough money at that moment, but with Super Paper Mario I think I’ve redeemed myself.

On the surface it plays like a traditional side-scrolling Mario game, albeit with cell-shaded graphics and a few new enemies, but behind this first impression lies a 3-D world that’s been hidden from us until now.
By pushing the A button on the Wii remote, you rotate the on-screen view 90 degrees horizontally and reveal the more dynamic 3-D world behind the relatively mundane 2-D platformer. Continue reading “Super Paper Mario: From Mushroom Kindgom to the Multiverse”

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Amish Otaku, Nintendo, Video Games, Wii

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

 

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves continues in the short but noble tradition of micro-games on the Nintendo Wii. Aside from the Wii remote, it plays nearly identical to the other titles in the Wario Ware series.

For those of you unfamiliar, you are given a series of micro-games to play through. If you complete enough of them more games open up for you to play. You have four lives to get through each level leading up to a boss stage, which is typically a micro-game of a longer nature. Continue reading “Wario Ware: Smooth Moves”

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Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Final Fantasy III: Final What?

 

Very rarely does a newly released game—or anything for that matter—come out and remind me of my childhood. Final Fantasy III D.S. does, however, meet my requirements for a full-on extravaganza of nostalgic delight. I know this is a much older title in its development in storyline and game style, but it was completely remade with the options of today and still retained its classic approach with more polished outcome. I am reminded of “the old days,” when I sat for hours, glued to a fantasy world brought to life with brilliant display.

Keeping it real with such aspects as crystals, airships, black-robed black mages and white mages, extremely hard to find elixirs and an overabundance of weapons that are lesser in point value than the one you acquired hours ago during game play. But I like these things and have grown biased to a classic rpg style that the original Final Fantasy’s revolutionized. Continue reading “Final Fantasy III: Final What?”

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Amish Otaku, Features, Kosher Kuts, Nintendo, SNES, Video Games

Kosher Kuts: Super Mario RPG

When I was eleven, I really did not like RPGs. Chrono Trigger’s plotline was too confusing and Final Fantasy seemed too complicated. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the genre. A glimmer of hope resurfaced when I heard about a new RPG starring Mario. Not only Mario, but also a few new characters were present … and Bowser was a playable character? I read about it in Nintendo Power, rented it at Blockbuster, and brought it home soon after returning the rental. Long after I have sold many other Super Nintendo games and moved on to other systems, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars has remained ingrained in my memory. With the recent introduction of the Wii and its Virtual Console line-up, this game is now available to a whole new generation of RPG fans. Does this eleven-year-old RPG withstand the test of time? Continue reading “Kosher Kuts: Super Mario RPG”

Joshua Goldberg