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Posts with tag story

Wario Land Shake sees an old favorite return



Scans of Famitsu's Wario Land Shake preview just hit the 'net, and although we've already seen most of the screens and art they contain (in various dimensions), there is the odd new screenshot to squint at, not to mention a synopsis of the story, which has been handily translated by a Something Awful forum member.

Usually, we wouldn't even glance twice at a storyline from a Wario game, but Shake's narrative deserves a mention simply because it features the extremely welcome return of Captain Syrup, last seen pinching Wario's loot in Wario Land II for the Game Boy Color (over a decade ago, and yes, that makes us feel old).

She's not the villain this time, however; instead, that role has been left to another pirate, Shay King (har), who invades the world of Yuretopia to nab its legendary "Deldel Purse" treasure. It's up to our dungaree-sporting anti-hero to take on Shay King and grab a slice of coin for himself.

[Thanks, creamsugar! Story translation via NeoGAF]

The hidden emotional depths of Super Mario Galaxy

Cory Barlog may have sneered at what he deemed to be Super Mario Galaxy's "vapid story," but game researcher and designer Douglas Wilson couldn't feel more differently. Writing for GameSetWatch, Wilson argues that Galaxy is not only the first Mario title to produce an engaging story, but that it addresses human tragedy more expertly than most other games.

To illustrate his point, Wilson draws on the story told by Princess Rosalina, whose life story is recounted throughout Galaxy. Although this narrative thread starts life as the kind of standard fare you'd expect from a Mario title, Rosalina's tale quickly becomes tragic, as she recalls how she realized her mother had passed away -- or, as she touchingly puts it, is "sleeping under the tree on the hill." Sad face.

As Wilson points out, this surprisingly poignant turn of events creates a pretty weird dichotomy. After all, Galaxy is a game where you fight a giant piranha plant in a diaper.

Wii Warm Up: A good yarn



Cory Barlog's recent remarks on Super Mario Galaxy's "vapid story" riled quite a few of our readers, with many arguing that Mario games simply don't need much of a narrative hook to be hella fun.

That argument certainly has some weight, but we don't want to open that particular debate again today. Instead, we'd like to know how important a good story is to you when it comes to choosing games. Are you more a fan of epic tales (Final Fantasy), do you prefer something a little more subtle (Ico), or couldn't you care less about having a story to wade through? Finally, if you do appreciate a strong narrative like the Beatrix Potter fan above, which Wii games have kept you glued?

Virtually Overlooked: Cave Story

Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.

Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story) is a free-roaming side-scrolling action adventure game developed over five years by a Japanese designer who goes by Pixel. You can download Cave Story right now and play it on the computer on which you're reading this article, PC or Mac. It's completely free. We have a copy on our own computer that we've played through many times. So why do we want to pay money to play it on the Wii? Because it's that good.

Continue reading Virtually Overlooked: Cave Story

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