As gaming moves forward, the perpetual improvement of technology naturally leads to the Gears of War 2 creed: "Bigger, Better, and More Badass." Unfortunately, the trend of increasingly film-like 3D games leads to fewer and fewer 2D titles finding their way to home consoles. Many series, such as Zelda and Mario, have successfully transitioned to 3D. But others never quite recovered after the jump, and were always in their prime in the 2D era.
Take Contra, for example. This weekend, upon curling up with my DS -- a handy shield against things such as responsibility and obligation -- and spending a few hours being brutalized by Contra 4, I realized two things. The first was that I suck at Contra. But the second was that, in spite of suffering several emasculating deaths every minute 10 seconds, I was still having a blast. The game perfectly captures the feel of the series and is a worthy successor to the incredible Contra III, which is now 16 years old (so I guess it's about time, eh?). But the experience isn't quite perfect -- the DS's tiny screens only makes a difficult game harder, and the divide between them compounds the problem. It's been six years since the last sidescrolling Contra made an appearance on a console, and if Capcom's Mega Man 9 is any indication, a classic series like Contra has a home on the Wii. This week Born for Wii attacks aggressively with Bill and Lance.
Every week, Born for Wii digs into gaming's sordid past to unearth a new treasure fit for revival on the Nintendo Wii. Be sure to check out last week's entry in the series, Grim Fandango, and for more great titles that deserve your attention, take a look at Virtually Overlooked.
This week marks the release of the highly anticipated Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Poised to be more than the usual Metroidvania-romp, Ecclesia's glyph system coupled with great diversity in environments and level layout (we're apparently not stuck inside the castle anymore) has all of us whip-enthusiasts drooling with anticipation. To be honest, Konami could slap the word "Castlevania" on a box of assorted animal feces and we'd still pre-order. Here's the part where I'm supposed take a cheap shot at Castlevania Judgment, but admit it: no matter how many times we all spit on the brawler, we never seem to stop checking out movies or screenshots. Castlevania has us whipped; pardon the hideous pun.
Assuming I haven't lost all credibility after the Mega Man list, here's another stab at ranking the best of a legendary franchise. Unlike most other Top 5's, this list is not necessarily Nintendo-specific. Take a gander, and try to pretend that you don't know what number one is.
The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Ugh, I'm so sick with the obsession over Mega Man 9. WE GET IT, IT'S A RETRO GAME. WHOOPEE. No, seriously, I'm sick of my own obsession with it. I still haven't picked up Wario Land: Shake It!, de Blob, or NHL 2K9. That's mainly because I've spent every waking moment enjoying the blue bomber's latest outing. My Wii Fit board is scolding me for its lack of use, my girlfriend is feeling neglected, and apparently my judgment is slipping. But there's something about the game that just won't let go of me. The thing should be illegal for its extremely addictive nature, right next to heroin and Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips.
I usually fall behind on discussing recent games, as I like to take awhile to fully absorb and process the arts and entertainment before I comment on it. But I think my Wii's play log will testify that I've made myself quite familiar with the title. The main quest is conquered, the event challenges are being slowly but steadily checked off the list, and I'm trying my best to climb the leaderboards of the time attack levels. Without any further ego-stroking, here's the top five things we love about Mega Man 9. Then we won't talk about it for a few weeks. Promise! ... maybe.
The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
As the release of Mega Man 9 looms closer, the so-called "old school gamers" are about 17 pixels away from exploding out of their skin with anticipation. This is the retro gamer equivalent of a "Phan" witnessing a Phish reunion. The kid inside all of us, having been smothered behind flabby beer guts for years, is beginning to crawl towards the surface. I imagine there's quite a few younger gamers who scratch their heads at all of the love for comparatively prehistoric graphics and gameplay. However, if one were to wipe off the thick coat of nostalgia emblazoned onto the games of long ago, they'd often find enjoyable and satisfying titles. They're not definitively better or worse; just different from much of what is released today. Some prefer that, and they're hungry for more.
The biggest hurdle for those folks is commercial success. Not too long ago, retro revivals were rarely considered serious. After all, it would be silly to have Mega Man 9 released on a retail DVD disc. Yet with the success of downloadable services, the floodgates are now blown wide open. The slightly less hyped but similarly retro-themed Gradius: Rebirth was just released in Japan, and cowboy hat-clad developer Igarashi has stated that he's "very much looking into [WiiWare]." Perhaps the style of retro gaming is seeping into the bloodstream of major retail releases. Despite the beautiful hand-drawn graphics and cutscenes of Wario Land: Shake It!, the gameplay is heavily grounded in 2D. Perhaps we're experiencing a retro-renaissance, if I may quote Mr. Greenhough.
With this in mind, here's a few more dusty franchises we're nominating to be reborn through the birth canal of Nintendo's online service (wow, gross). These range from the unexpected to painfully obscure, so don't be offended if your favorite was not included. A small note: I excluded some IPs due to either a retro-esque presence on the GBA/DS or because they are likely destined for WiiWare. These include Mario, Castlevania, Contra and Metroid.
The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
This week sees the commencement of E3, the Super Bowl for gamers. On Tuesday, Nintendo will announce all of its big plans for the rest of the year, sending fanboys and fangirls alike into a frenzy. And while others choose to give us predictions of what we will see, here is the much more important information: things that we won't be seeing.
5. The Game Boy Ultra - Around the time that the DS was first announced, Nintendo made a point to clarify that the new dual-screened portable was more of a "third pillar" than the next installment in the Game Boy line. But then the DS started printing money ... lots and lots of it. Regardless, in an effort to stay true to their word (as they always do), Nintendo will unveil the Game Boy Ultra. The sleek handheld will feature a small but crisp widescreen display showcasing wonderful GameCube-esque graphics. In fact, it will be backwards-compatible with all GameCube games, using the same 8cm discs as Nintendo's last-gen console. Also, similar to the PSP's remote play, the Game Boy Ultra will connect to the Wii and allow data transfers to an SD card. This will allow Virtual Console and select WiiWare games to be played on the go. And since Nintendo plans to keep DS owners in agony by not announcing New Super Mario Bros. 2, they will reveal that the Game Boy Ultra will ship packaged with a free copy of Super Mario Bros. Ultra.
Survey Says: Not necessary; Contra 4 removes the need for any other portable game or system.
Every Monday, Wii Fanboy brings you the Top 5. Inspired by sages such as David Letterman and John Cusack, the Top 5 will give us a chance to share our opinions on the numerous facets of a vast video game culture. And after all, who doesn't like reading these kinds of lists (and then bitching about them afterwards)? So jump right in, agree or disagree, and maybe leave a comment with your own personal Top 5.
The first batch of WiiWare was released awhile ago, and there have been high-profilereleases, as well as a few futurecult-classics. Despite the plentiful start, there are still many more titles on the horizon. Here's a look at what we are anticipating the most.
5. Bomberman - Since 1983, not much has changed in the Bomberman universe. This has its pros and cons. It's good because the basic Bomberman formula is not one that needs tinkering with. It's bad because, well, it's a little ridiculous to shell out full retail price for the same game generation after generation. Then along comes Bomberman for WiiWare. Nintendo's downloadable service is the perfect platform for a game such as this. With online multiplayer for 2 - 8 players, this release should be everything we need out of Bomberman: simple, classic gameplay for a reasonable price. The reduced cost should be wonderful news for wallets that were unfortunate enough to weather Bomberman, Super Bomberman, Bomberman 64, and Bomberman Generation.
For more than 20 years, gamers have been taking whip in hand to navigate Dracula's dark castle and defeat the villain and his minions again and again. Castlevania has evolved considerably over the past two decades, with recent games in the series largely adopting the incredibly popular Metroidvania style of gameplay that first showed up in 1997's Symphony of the Night. The older games typically offer a more classic platforming experience, although RPG elements such as a leveling system worked their way into the series even as early as Castlevania II: Simon's Quest in 1987.
Castlevania has also braved the world of (gasp!) three dimensions with mixed results over the years, but in general Konami has managed to retain the feel of the classic 2D Castlevania adventures on an expanded scale. Rumors of a Wii game titled Castlevania Judgment have been floating around the intertubes for quite awhile, but when the news finally broke -- a Wii Castlevania really was coming! -- it wasn't quite in the form people expected. The terms "3D fighting game" and "Castlevania" don't really go hand-in-hand. Even if the fighter is a success, Wii gamers deserve a true Castlevania experience, and that's why the series is this week's entry into the library of games that are Born for Wii.
Gameloft's first WiiWare entry, TV Show King, might turn away most gamers with its casual premise and 1000 Wii Points tag, but the publisher has made an effort to pack value in the trivia title -- 3,000 questions, Mii integration, and a game show atmosphere complete with a smarmy host and a busty blonde. Is all that enough to warrant its $10 price? Read our review to find out!
So, WiiWare launched yesterday! We were all excited to see what we'd be getting, and we even found the time to check outa pair of the more casual titles on offer. But, who cares what we think, we're just a bunch of dumb jerks on a gaming blog.
We want to know what you think. Did you download any of the games? Read some impressions? What did you think of the overall WiiWare launch line-up? And, to make it simple, just go ahead and assign WiiWare's launch a score, like we do with our reviews (keep it between 1-10, makes it easier).
The browser game that many of you have tried at one time or another has been revamped for Wii and launched alongside WiiWare earlier this morning. After spending a good bit of time with the game, we're confident that we can present a decent review of the title. With a price point of 500 Wii points, as well as a fairly addictive game just lurking beneath that small admission price, we're happy to report that Defend Your Castle is a good game and well worth your small sum of money.
Every other week, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.
If you're smitten with the Virtual Console, one thing we're sure you aren't in love with is having to swap games between an SD card and your Wii's internal memory, or even worse -- deleting games to be re-downloaded later. WiiWare is on its way and it's hard to imagine My Life as a King demeaning itself to share its estate with less noble games. And certainly not with it bringing microtransactions to the royal ball. And wouldn't it be dandy if some of our multiplatform ports had somewhere to store that downloadable content that everyone is raving about on other consoles?
We wantneed more storage, and some of you have gathered to plead with Nintendo to sell a Wii Hard Drive. It appears that your cries just fall on deaf ears because they seem hardly driven to provide one. In this edition of Revolutionary, we'll examine why Wii can't have a hard drive.
While most of us were sleeping -- like a bunch of chumps -- Nintendo launched its WiiWare service in Japan early this morning. As expected, the WiiWare servers are taking a beating from thousands of gamers hoping to try out the new downloadable releases, but Siliconera's Spencer Yip and Wired's Chris Kohler were still able to grab a few games and write up their impressions, all of which you can peruse below.
A few surprises revealed themselves with the service's launch:
My Life as a King is rife with microtransactions, offering additional costumes, dungeons, and races (Yukes, Selkies, and Lilties) for 100-300 Wii Points.
Star Soldier R features three light modes -- a two-minute mode in which you play through a quick stage for a high score, a similar 5-minute mode with two levels and boss encounters, and a "Fast Shot" mode for testing your button-tapping skills.
Saku Saku Animal Panic, the only WiiWare launch title from a US developer and a game we haven't paid any attention to at all, is apparently "pretty fun!" Judging by Chris Kohler's impressions, it sounds a lot like Jezzball, minus the balls ... And the Jezz.
Read - The WiiWare Shopping experience Read - WiiWare Impressions: Lonpos Read - WiiWare Impressions: Angel's Solitaire Read - WiiWare Impressions: Saku Saku Animal Panic Read - WiiWare Impressions: Star Soldier R Read - Extra content in My Life as a King explained Read - Lonpos has pay-to-play content too
Sydney-based studio Nnooo (pronounced "No!" as in, "No, our game doesn't really have much to it.") announced last night its plans to develop an all-ages Wii Ware project titled Pop. Playable by up to four people on the same console, Pop "challenges" you to quickly burst bubbles and rack up points with chains and multipliers. Judging from the trailer embedded past the break, the game's design and mechanics are about as simple as they sound. If you're looking for more depth, you might want to hold onto your Wii points and play with a sheet of bubble wrap instead.
The news that Nintendo will be releasing a remade Dr. Mario with online play is, to put it in one capitalized word and a bunch of random key presses, KJDFLIOUROIEJ(RJNFAWESOME. The updated graphics and Mii integration look okay, but the real deal is the ONLINE PLAY_# #$())_IJM sorry, we did it again.
This adds a new dimension to our Thursday evening pastime of wishing for old games on the VC. Now we can wish for online versions of old games on Wii Ware. What would be your choice for an old game with new multiplayer? And, for added difficulty, you can't say River City Ransom, because we just did.
Medaverse has anounced that it is bringing an original title to Nintendo's WiiWare service in Gravitronix. It's supposed to support up to eight different players, but aside from that, all we know is that it is an action game involving the shapes in the logo up above, where players must assault enemy territories.
So, for those of you counting at home, this makes the second game headed to WiiWare, joining Austrian developer Bplus' PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint.
As gaming moves forward, the perpetual improvement of technology naturally leads to the Gears of War 2 creed: "Bigger, Better, and More Badass." Unfortunately, the trend of increasingly film-like 3D games leads to fewer and fewer 2D titles finding their way to home consoles. Many series, such as Zelda and Mario, have successfully transitioned to 3D. But others never quite recovered after the jump, and were always in their prime in the 2D era.
For more than 20 years, gamers have been taking whip in hand to navigate Dracula's dark castle and defeat the villain and his minions again and again. 
