An awesome game and a great review to boot. Just a little point - I'm fairly sure you can't unlock achievements at the slowest speed (there is an option to change the speed of the game in the options screen which is independent of the difficulty of the factions) but the game defaults to normal speed so unless you like tinkering with the options it probably won't matter.
It's just a shame there's no online multiplayer but there's no reason why Ronimo couldn't add it as an update later. Not that I expect they will if they're working on other WiiWare projects.
In that case - I apologise Sean. Here's a smile to go with it
Sorry, I've been working on a website and I merely glanced at you comment whilst I had a five minute break. I've also recently just become a dad so I've had quite a few rough nights which is making me grumpier than usual (if that's possible)
If I could I'd take it all back fella - except my opinion of WiiWare
@Sean - if you actually bothered to read most of my comments you'd realise I do. I'm guessing you can't cope with difference of opinion though. I just don't like it when people don't put the effort in and just base games on ancient content of which there's an ample amount of on the VC.
Is it really that wrong to want a service that's not full of Flash remakes, half-arsed puzzle games and crap that only people on XBLA want because they don't have a dedicated retro console service? I'm tired of the Wii being the breeding ground for niche concepts that rob decent indie titles like Swords and Soldiers, World of Goo and Toki Tori of sales. Every time someone says "Wouldn't it be great to see a Sonic remake in 2D?", two things spring to mind: if done well and looks like it, yes - otherwise it's just another nail in the coffin for a game from someone who's made a real effort because the money goes to the slacker.
I look at remakes on XBLA and in some cases a lot their panache could be recreated on WiiWare, so why let companies simply put out stuff that looks like it's been produced in three to six months by a kid who can copy pixel art?
In all honesty I've been quite kind about games like Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble Plus and Adventure Island and I've been critical of original content like Plattchen, StrongBad and even some good games that I thought could have been better with a little extra effort. In fact I read everyone's opinion and some have even changed my perceptions, so why attack me directly for my opinion? I don't attack your opinions directly. If you don't like what I have to say then don't write any more articles and bugger off - that way you won't have to put up with me. I ain't shifting unless NIntendo Life ban me which is fine but just because you can write something and put it up for the world to read doesn't mean your opinion is final or authoritative.
Damn, I can't believe we've got PItfall as well. I need another 300 points but I limit myself to 3000 points per month so I guess I'll just have to wait until June. Got Swords and Soldiers though which seems pretty good so far.
Meh. Sounds like another half-arsed remake - think I'll stick to Alien Rebels for my retro Contra fix.
I was looking forward to this but when a developer can't even be bothered to put in a proper leaderboard or support for widescreen display I just say no. Then again I think the idea of sticking retro remakes on the service sucks anyway, despite Bubble Bobble PLus and Rainbow Islands being reasonable games.
Goldeneye was the first N64 game I had and I loved every second. Perfect Dark was superior technically but in terms of what made the game special I'd say Goldeneye has a very slight edge in single player but Perfect Dark wipes the floor with Goldeneye in terms of multiplayer.
I used to love playing chasm (I think that's what it was called) in Perfect Dark, where there was a set of platforms connecting two areas over a giant pit. I used to love dropping down onto the pipes and taking out people from below.
Both great games and it's such a shame that neither of them are likely to ever grace the VC.
It still looks as dull a ditch water. But I'm sure by 'potential' that must mean 7/10 for no good reason other than it looks pretty and has the remote reference to yet another archaic console game.
Nice screen though. I love how they're in colour and everything.
@Prosody: Lostwinds is a terrible example of a platformer once you look past the visuals and control scheme. It's incredibly short and shallow, presents little challenge and is seriously expensive for what you get. Sure it's one way of getting into platformers if you're new to gaming with its quirky controls but that doesn't make it good by any means.
As for Mega Man 9 - yes it's a good platformer if you're a masochist. Most people play games to have fun not be feel constantly frustrated though. Whilst it could be argued that a sense of real achievement and a virtual badge of honor would be awarded to the player who completes it, 90% of most players who dare to download it won't even get as far as completing two or three bosses before frustration overcomes the expense and it's cast aside as a bad purchase.
Some might even argue that Niki: Rock and Ball is decent. I say that's a load of balls (no pun intended). It's probably the worst example of platforming on the service from the seriously awful user interface to the touchy controls and ugly visuals - the only good thing about the game is that most people have forgotten about it already.
Bubble Bobble Plus is fine as a platformer but in terms of innovation does it really do that much more than its predecessor that it sets a precedent for imposing such a negative rating factor on Rainbow Islands because it doesn't improve on the original in great ways either?
Quite frankly, the only 'decent' available platformer outside of Rainbow Islands and Bubble Bobble is Cotoco Platform Jumper or whatever its called. In other words, those three are about as good as most can expect in terms of lengthy, fun platforming entertainment.
I actually quite like this game - it's tough but not unfair. You forgot to mention that you can recoup some of your time by defeating the boss as it releases loads of time gems. If you're not quick enough to collect them then that's just tough.
It's a shame that you made it sound like there's no way to restore the time meter as it gives your review of this game an unfair bent. Plus, as Prosody mentioned, the game saves your progress at each level so if you die you can go back with a reset timer so there's no real loss at the end of the day. The boss battles are hard but again not unfair - yes the required platforming is a little uncomfortable but as with all games it just takes practice.
Certainly there's less visual variety in the levels but to be honest I found the game that frenetic I didn't have time to worry too much about the aesthetics. I think some of you guys are too set in wanting everything to look retro. If you want retro why not just wait for the original to come out? Not everyone remembers Rainbow Islands as 'that all-time-classic' and not everyone wants to play or even develop games with horribly blocky 2D graphics.
I'm sorry, but there's just no way this game deserves a 5/10 score. It's well above Equilibrio (which was a pointless waste of space that made no real use of its mechanics yet managed to score 7/10) in terms of game play and entertainment. If anything, my only major gripe about this game is the developer's insistence on using the Wiimote as the sole method of control: sometimes things just don't feel responsive enough. If the classic controller was in there I reckon this game could stand with its held high.
Double HELL YES! I'd take this over Gradius anyday. I love Alien Rebels - I can only hope they don't make it too easy to cater for the casual crowd.
I'm getting more and more impressed with the difficulty of games on WiiWare, although outside of Mega Man 9 none of theme scream 'hardcore'. Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands are both fun and challenging titles which I guess is a good thing.
Alien Rebels was tough enough for me so I reckon if Konami take the difficulty down a notch at first then ramp it up quickly they'll be on to a winner.
@maka: I, like Gizmo, enjoyed Starfox Adventures very much.
As for the debate - you guys seem to be missing one very important point. Nintendo's 'core' gamers rely on Nintendo too much to provide the goods. Maybe if we (I also also consider myself as a core gamer but also enjoy casual games too) were a bit more open minded and realized that Nintendo's shift does not define the Wii's gamer base but has simply expanded it and also that it's not Nintendo's place to make us all happy but to make money where a market is most promising.
Nintendo are one company and have limited resources - if they're finding success in what they're doing then I wish them all the best. I harbor no resentment toward their decision. Yes, the whole casual market WILL collapse eventually but that will be a long time coming, certainly well past the lifetime of this generation. Guitar Hero if nothing else has proven how frivolous and easy to please the casual market really is.
Why not look to third parties and criticize them for not focusing effort to fill the gaps you so long for? After all, there are huge gaps to fill in from racing games to fighters and even platformers - all common staples of Nintendo's 'core' requirements. Maybe we should ask ourselves if it's because they're too comfortable doing the same damn thing and hence have no need to bring games to the Wii because they're already on the 360/PS3. Simply looking to Nintendo to provide us with 'core' games is the direct route to disappointment, sadly looking to third party developers isn't giong to be any better.
It's a sad fact that the Wii is where it is, caught between so many different ideals and requirements and so is failing to attract a solid, consistent user base because of it.
Gaming isn't what it used to be five years ago and nor are the consoles - it's an interesting but frightening time for 'core' gamers. On the one hand you have familiarity and on the other the unknown - no-one can say which route is the best route because at the moment, both rely on acceptance. When will core gamers get fed up of playing the same thing? When will casual gamers find the next-best-thing to purchase? I say accept the Wii for what it is and enjoy what you can of it - there's not much, I know but that's just tough luck. If you don't like it, move on.
Even if the percentage connected online was 0.1% that'd be a potential audience of what, 50000 potential users of the WiiWare service. Now let's say 80% of them are idiots or ignorant and don't care about WiiWare - that means we're left with 10,000 purchasers - sure that's pretty close to the bone but they're sufficient to meet the criteria even though they are pretty extreme figures. I reckon the connected percentage is much higher and I doubt those connected are that dumb or ignorant enough to not know about WiiWare if they view websites like IGN or NIntendo Life so I think most of these devs have a good chance of meeting the criteria.
Also, what the hell are you guys on about when you mention developers not reaching target? According to Nintendo the target end is 2 years - WiiWare is far from 2 years old. Even in a worst case scenario, I doubt Nintendo are going to leave anyone high and dry - they'll probably offer a smaller potion of the proceeds though. Carelessly throwing potential business away is not Nintendo's practice.
To be honest I can guess who your WiiWare dev contacts are and I don't care a damn about them because they're already shown how shallow they are. If their game is failing to see it's potential it's NOT just because of Nintendo. In fact probably the worst culprit for a game's culture is spawned by sites just like this: word of mouth. Lots of negative or ignorant commentary tends to destroy and prospects of success and neither your site nor any other method of advertising will overcome a barrage of negative opinion about a game. It's not your fault but unfortunately it's a by-product of opening up the floor to end-users by letting them comment on your forums and articles.
Might I also suggest you put a bit more effort into pushing your site as a medium to promote WiiWare? Your site - which fails to appear on the first page of Google when I search of Nintendo WiiWare - fails to inform people about the product then the purpose of your site is moot. Knowledge after all is power and the more power to the people the more sales to the developer.
Pushing this sort of negative press out is incredibly damaging and basically you're contradicting everything that others are trying to put right. If you're not interested in WiiWare then don't cover it, otherwise stop skewing the facts.
I'm not holding up much hope for E3 and I don't care the slightest aout what Reggie has to say. If F-Zero Wii does appear I hope it's more like the Gamecube version in terms of difficulty rather than the usual toned-down rubbish that appears on Wii (i.e. where anyone who can turn a doorknob can complete the game in under eight hours.)
The one thing I could hope for is physical evidence that Nintendo are actually approaching online properly with demonstration of a game that allows for 16+ individual connections without lag and that makes finding friends easy. I can't fathom how Nintendo can't implement a system that would generate a friend code for a purchased game behind the scenes and allow it to be picked up by other users registered on a console's Wii friends list - after all - information is being gathered locally for game play times, etc for use on the pointless Nintendo Channel. Maybe Nintendo could make use of this service to do some good?
Other than that I have no interest in Kid Icarus and I don't see that game as a big system seller. If anything I'd say the games Reggie's on about would likely be Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit+ and LoZ: Spirit Tracks and nothing more.
The trouble is with dependency on long term sales is that they're diluted by second-hand trade. The reason why most publishers like to see big sales on Wii games is because once the initial interest has died down - and unless it's a Nintendo title - they're practically dead in the water.
I'd expect to see sales for both Mad World and HotD to level out between 150k-200k a piece which isn't bad, but not great either.
I would do but it just isn't my type of game: i.e. really repetitive and over hyped. It just looks like it could get real boring real quick and I'm just not interested in throwing money at disc-based retail software on Wii any more. The Conduit and maybe Silent Hill will probably be my last big purchases - ok, maybe Ghostbusters too.
Considering the current situation with Wii development, I'd say this tool Hollenshead is full of it just like every other third party developer who avoids the Wii for the the same dumb-ass excuses.
I'm sorry, but Nintendo's input for this generation's blockbuster titles has been fairly minimal, with the usual entries - Galaxy, Kart, Brawl and Zelda - heading the front line. That's four games! If you honestly think that there's no room for your dev. studio to compete with four game over two years then you're an idiot.
Yes, you could factor in 'casual' titles like Wii Fit but that's not the target demographic for most of these whiners. I think the main issue for these guys is that they're lazy bastards who make a crap load of money and have got complacent living off a franchise that gets milked to death. They've lost focus on what's important - taking a risk because they're too afraid to loose image rather than money.
To people like Todd Hollenshead, I say "Bugger off and stop clogging our ears with stuff that doesn't change a damn thing."
I love this game - the only fault I have is that getting your high score up and checking your ranking is a little more convoluted than most WiiWare games that offer an online ranking feature.
Essentially, you have to play ranked versions of either classic or arrange mode (not the first two entires on the main menu) When you're done you need to drop out to the main menu, go to Rankings which connects to WiiConnect24 and manually upload your score, drop back to the previous menu (which disconnects from WiiConnect24) and go to the High Scores (which reconnects to WiiConnect24 - I know - lame) and then you have to manually update the scores to see your ranking. I can't see this feature used too often unless people make big strides between new and old personal bests and the whole process gets rather laborious if you do it to often.
It's still a solid game though. The graphics are a bit jaggy (maybe they'll fix that with an update) but the new modes and music mixed with great game play does make this a solid 8/10 game. Once again, a very good review.
@Sean (22): I was the same - got stuck on a level with loops and warps until I figured out to flip the wiimote around once I was just about above a platform I needed to land on.
I made it to level 30 before resting but it was a bit of a bumpy ride after level 20, with some levels scoring me zero for taking too long and others scoring me 8000+ points. Suffice to say my difficulty level has lessened somewhat since level 20.
I'm actually quite impressed with this game - the difficulty curve is good and for the money I don't mind playing something that doesn't look too great (in all honesty I barely noticed the music issues Corbie bought up as I was too engrossed in finishing the challenges quickly) The controls can be a bit sticky or over-sensitive but like any motion based Wii game it's just a matter of familiarising yourself with the nuances.
Looking forward to this one coming out tonight. It's been a long time since I bought two WiiWare games in a row but I'll be getting this and Bubble Bobble Plus if we do indeed get them both tonight.
It looks ok from the trailer - fairly shallow actually - but with all those obstacles in the way I'm still going on the Plattchen vibe. Having been burnt by Plattchen I wont be buying this and I can only pray that this game's zoom in/out function isn't performed by moving the Wiimote forward/backward.
As for the visuals - sure they're pretty, but pretty graphics do not a good game make (as is so evident from High Voltage's WiiWare efforts)
Looks like another Plattchen to me - which mightl be a good thing to some people. Not me though.
Also, if the shapes are 'impossible' how the hell would you create them? The more I read this article the more I think 'Plattchen' and fear for the worst.
Trust Damien to post this flame-bait. Burn him. Buuurrrnnnn HIM!
I was going to write something disparaging about John Koller but I think that photo does the work for me. He loves his PSP so much he doesn't even need to switch it on to show how awesome it is - either that or the battery ran out whilst he was waiting for the photographer.
I rate this game as possibly THE worst purchase I've ever made from the WiiWare service. Let's run through the problems:
1) The motion controls are awful - worse than Wii Sports Golf. In fact, they're that bad I actually appreciated the rather pointless direction modifying 'feature'. 2) The holes are boring, dull and repetitive. 3) Why have the choice of four different characters if they have no handicaps? Is this feature in place for political correctness or what? 4) The courses are TRULY unbalanced. I played the USA and Asia courses once and got a better score over the first six holes in Asia. Not that I can prove it because I have no proof thanks to the lack of records. 5) Did I mention the holes are boring, dull and repetitive? 6) The audio is grating. That includes the commentator. 7) No scoreboard/achievement record = no reason to play again 8) It's incredibly short for the asking price.
Ok. Now the good stuff:
1) The menu is easy to navigate despite the pointless task of choosing a character. 2) The presentation of the menus is good if a little clinical. 3) The graphics are good for WiiWare even if they are largely the same damned thing over and over again. The stone pavement texture is the highlight of the game whilst the shadows suck ass. 4) What obstacles are on the holes are placed sensibly if not particularly creatively.
Summing up: I actually felt like I'd been abused after playing this game - in fact I felt like I had paid to be abused. Whilst I expected that with Mega Man 9, that game does it for all the RIGHT reasons.
Graphics: 7/10 Presentation: 5/10 Audio: 2/10 (includes 1 for the ball sound) Control: 2/10 (2 for the d-pad controls) Playability: 4/10 Value for money: 5/10 (i.e. it's worth half what you pay) Desire to delete: 12/10
@Fleeman: That's downloadable games - in which case the statistic isn't surpising at all considering how few first party downloadable games there are on the VC/WiiWare services.
@Corbie: Really? The video is hi-def. I really do want this game and I hope the graphics do look that good but how often do on-screen WiiWare titles look that good in high-def video (unless it's on the Dolphin emulator )
Man I am really hyped for this game! I'd say it's the PSN version but it's difficult to say - the graphics do look a little blurred like they've been scaled up but then again, the octopus-alien-thing looked really sharp so it's probably just compression artifacts. Even so, if the WiiWare game looks anything like this we should be on to a winner.
I see this entry to the WiiWare catalogue as half-baked yet oh-so-likely-to-get-7/10-because-its-a-puzzle 'game'
Next week: Cauldron Capers - "Use your nunchuck to stir the cauldron whilst using the wiimote grab and throw ingredients in. Can you create a potion that makes French developers take the English language seriously - or is the world doomed to put up with their arrogance because they think it's cute?'
I really don't care this week. I'm too busy gloating over the 70 good VC/WiiWare titles now in my SD channel and I've still got to download another 15. Gave me a perfect opportunity to revisit some of my favourites.
Currently replaying FFCC:MLaaK, Snowboard Riot and Secret of Mana.
Oh well. I never played the original and decided I didn't want to buy it because this version sounded much more appealing with the additional features - now I won't get either. Back to Super Monkey Ball and hope that Hudson will get it right next time.
I hope there's an option to replace the crappy looking bots with trucks. Whilst I love Excite Truck (I've had it in my collection since the Wii launched in the UK and still rate it and MK as the best racers on Wii so far) this game looks to have taken a step further into gimmick-land which imo is a step too far.
Don't get me wrong - I loved the stars system in Excite Truck - but all I really wanted was a decent online mode, new courses, new trucks (and bikes) and a little more refinement in the controls and graphics. Instead we've got stupid bar swinging and pie throwing features which make a game whose predecessor stood up quite well against the original Motor Storm look entirely kiddy.
Maybe time will tell and undoubtedly I'll be proven wrong but I think the visual style and game play are going to lump Excite Bots into the younger casual camp whereas it's latter difficulty stages will require a more mature audience. Once again we'll end up with another game with an identity crisis and low sales because of it.
Oh, and I do hope you can stream music from SD card because if the trailer music is anything like what we're going to expect from the game we'll need it.
I've played both the PSP and DS and prefer the DS over the PSP any day. The PSP is full of ports of old games and suffers from a really crap battery life. I also prefer the cartridge over mini-disc any day both in terms of load time and sturdiness.
In fact, apart from the over-rated graphics, the only real benefit the PSP has is larger storage - neither of which necessarily make a better game.
Comments 377
Re: Review: Swords & Soldiers (WiiWare)
An awesome game and a great review to boot. Just a little point - I'm fairly sure you can't unlock achievements at the slowest speed (there is an option to change the speed of the game in the options screen which is independent of the difficulty of the factions) but the game defaults to normal speed so unless you like tinkering with the options it probably won't matter.
It's just a shame there's no online multiplayer but there's no reason why Ronimo couldn't add it as an update later. Not that I expect they will if they're working on other WiiWare projects.
Re: First Impressions: Contra ReBirth
In that case - I apologise Sean. Here's a smile to go with it
Sorry, I've been working on a website and I merely glanced at you comment whilst I had a five minute break. I've also recently just become a dad so I've had quite a few rough nights which is making me grumpier than usual (if that's possible)
If I could I'd take it all back fella - except my opinion of WiiWare
Re: First Impressions: Contra ReBirth
@Sean - if you actually bothered to read most of my comments you'd realise I do. I'm guessing you can't cope with difference of opinion though. I just don't like it when people don't put the effort in and just base games on ancient content of which there's an ample amount of on the VC.
Is it really that wrong to want a service that's not full of Flash remakes, half-arsed puzzle games and crap that only people on XBLA want because they don't have a dedicated retro console service? I'm tired of the Wii being the breeding ground for niche concepts that rob decent indie titles like Swords and Soldiers, World of Goo and Toki Tori of sales. Every time someone says "Wouldn't it be great to see a Sonic remake in 2D?", two things spring to mind: if done well and looks like it, yes - otherwise it's just another nail in the coffin for a game from someone who's made a real effort because the money goes to the slacker.
I look at remakes on XBLA and in some cases a lot their panache could be recreated on WiiWare, so why let companies simply put out stuff that looks like it's been produced in three to six months by a kid who can copy pixel art?
In all honesty I've been quite kind about games like Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble Plus and Adventure Island and I've been critical of original content like Plattchen, StrongBad and even some good games that I thought could have been better with a little extra effort. In fact I read everyone's opinion and some have even changed my perceptions, so why attack me directly for my opinion? I don't attack your opinions directly. If you don't like what I have to say then don't write any more articles and bugger off - that way you won't have to put up with me. I ain't shifting unless NIntendo Life ban me which is fine but just because you can write something and put it up for the world to read doesn't mean your opinion is final or authoritative.
Re: Nintendo Download: Swords & Soldiers and Even More Magic Tricks
Damn, I can't believe we've got PItfall as well. I need another 300 points but I limit myself to 3000 points per month so I guess I'll just have to wait until June. Got Swords and Soldiers though which seems pretty good so far.
Re: Fugazo Announces Frobot for WiiWare
Looks good. Will be keeping an eye on this one.
Re: First Impressions: Contra ReBirth
Meh. Sounds like another half-arsed remake - think I'll stick to Alien Rebels for my retro Contra fix.
I was looking forward to this but when a developer can't even be bothered to put in a proper leaderboard or support for widescreen display I just say no. Then again I think the idea of sticking retro remakes on the service sucks anyway, despite Bubble Bobble PLus and Rainbow Islands being reasonable games.
Re: GoldenEye Designer Backs Virtual Console Release
Goldeneye was the first N64 game I had and I loved every second. Perfect Dark was superior technically but in terms of what made the game special I'd say Goldeneye has a very slight edge in single player but Perfect Dark wipes the floor with Goldeneye in terms of multiplayer.
I used to love playing chasm (I think that's what it was called) in Perfect Dark, where there was a set of platforms connecting two areas over a giant pit. I used to love dropping down onto the pipes and taking out people from below.
Both great games and it's such a shame that neither of them are likely to ever grace the VC.
Re: All new Icarian: Kindred Spirits screenshots
It still looks as dull a ditch water. But I'm sure by 'potential' that must mean 7/10 for no good reason other than it looks pretty and has the remote reference to yet another archaic console game.
Nice screen though. I love how they're in colour and everything.
Re: Wii To Finally Line Up At The Crease
If it's Codemasters you just know it's going to be another PSP back port. Ugh. I remember when the Codies had a soul.
Re: Nintendo Download: Soccer, Pirates and Galaxies (US)
Ouch. Mind you at least there's something decent on DSIWare for a change. Bad luck on the WiiWare/VC front though guys.
Re: Review: Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! (WiiWare)
@Prosody: Lostwinds is a terrible example of a platformer once you look past the visuals and control scheme. It's incredibly short and shallow, presents little challenge and is seriously expensive for what you get. Sure it's one way of getting into platformers if you're new to gaming with its quirky controls but that doesn't make it good by any means.
As for Mega Man 9 - yes it's a good platformer if you're a masochist. Most people play games to have fun not be feel constantly frustrated though. Whilst it could be argued that a sense of real achievement and a virtual badge of honor would be awarded to the player who completes it, 90% of most players who dare to download it won't even get as far as completing two or three bosses before frustration overcomes the expense and it's cast aside as a bad purchase.
Some might even argue that Niki: Rock and Ball is decent. I say that's a load of balls (no pun intended). It's probably the worst example of platforming on the service from the seriously awful user interface to the touchy controls and ugly visuals - the only good thing about the game is that most people have forgotten about it already.
Bubble Bobble Plus is fine as a platformer but in terms of innovation does it really do that much more than its predecessor that it sets a precedent for imposing such a negative rating factor on Rainbow Islands because it doesn't improve on the original in great ways either?
Quite frankly, the only 'decent' available platformer outside of Rainbow Islands and Bubble Bobble is Cotoco Platform Jumper or whatever its called. In other words, those three are about as good as most can expect in terms of lengthy, fun platforming entertainment.
Re: Review: Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! (WiiWare)
I actually quite like this game - it's tough but not unfair. You forgot to mention that you can recoup some of your time by defeating the boss as it releases loads of time gems. If you're not quick enough to collect them then that's just tough.
It's a shame that you made it sound like there's no way to restore the time meter as it gives your review of this game an unfair bent. Plus, as Prosody mentioned, the game saves your progress at each level so if you die you can go back with a reset timer so there's no real loss at the end of the day. The boss battles are hard but again not unfair - yes the required platforming is a little uncomfortable but as with all games it just takes practice.
Certainly there's less visual variety in the levels but to be honest I found the game that frenetic I didn't have time to worry too much about the aesthetics. I think some of you guys are too set in wanting everything to look retro. If you want retro why not just wait for the original to come out? Not everyone remembers Rainbow Islands as 'that all-time-classic' and not everyone wants to play or even develop games with horribly blocky 2D graphics.
I'm sorry, but there's just no way this game deserves a 5/10 score. It's well above Equilibrio (which was a pointless waste of space that made no real use of its mechanics yet managed to score 7/10) in terms of game play and entertainment. If anything, my only major gripe about this game is the developer's insistence on using the Wiimote as the sole method of control: sometimes things just don't feel responsive enough. If the classic controller was in there I reckon this game could stand with its held high.
Overall I'd rate this game 7/10.
Re: Contra ReBirth Announced, Approaching
Double HELL YES! I'd take this over Gradius anyday. I love Alien Rebels - I can only hope they don't make it too easy to cater for the casual crowd.
I'm getting more and more impressed with the difficulty of games on WiiWare, although outside of Mega Man 9 none of theme scream 'hardcore'. Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands are both fun and challenging titles which I guess is a good thing.
Alien Rebels was tough enough for me so I reckon if Konami take the difficulty down a notch at first then ramp it up quickly they'll be on to a winner.
Re: Round Table: Is Nintendo Neglecting the 'Hardcore Gamer'?
@maka: I, like Gizmo, enjoyed Starfox Adventures very much.
As for the debate - you guys seem to be missing one very important point. Nintendo's 'core' gamers rely on Nintendo too much to provide the goods. Maybe if we (I also also consider myself as a core gamer but also enjoy casual games too) were a bit more open minded and realized that Nintendo's shift does not define the Wii's gamer base but has simply expanded it and also that it's not Nintendo's place to make us all happy but to make money where a market is most promising.
Nintendo are one company and have limited resources - if they're finding success in what they're doing then I wish them all the best. I harbor no resentment toward their decision. Yes, the whole casual market WILL collapse eventually but that will be a long time coming, certainly well past the lifetime of this generation. Guitar Hero if nothing else has proven how frivolous and easy to please the casual market really is.
Why not look to third parties and criticize them for not focusing effort to fill the gaps you so long for? After all, there are huge gaps to fill in from racing games to fighters and even platformers - all common staples of Nintendo's 'core' requirements. Maybe we should ask ourselves if it's because they're too comfortable doing the same damn thing and hence have no need to bring games to the Wii because they're already on the 360/PS3. Simply looking to Nintendo to provide us with 'core' games is the direct route to disappointment, sadly looking to third party developers isn't giong to be any better.
It's a sad fact that the Wii is where it is, caught between so many different ideals and requirements and so is failing to attract a solid, consistent user base because of it.
Gaming isn't what it used to be five years ago and nor are the consoles - it's an interesting but frightening time for 'core' gamers. On the one hand you have familiarity and on the other the unknown - no-one can say which route is the best route because at the moment, both rely on acceptance. When will core gamers get fed up of playing the same thing? When will casual gamers find the next-best-thing to purchase? I say accept the Wii for what it is and enjoy what you can of it - there's not much, I know but that's just tough luck. If you don't like it, move on.
Re: WiiWare Threshold Is Really About Quality Control
@The admins:
Even if the percentage connected online was 0.1% that'd be a potential audience of what, 50000 potential users of the WiiWare service. Now let's say 80% of them are idiots or ignorant and don't care about WiiWare - that means we're left with 10,000 purchasers - sure that's pretty close to the bone but they're sufficient to meet the criteria even though they are pretty extreme figures. I reckon the connected percentage is much higher and I doubt those connected are that dumb or ignorant enough to not know about WiiWare if they view websites like IGN or NIntendo Life so I think most of these devs have a good chance of meeting the criteria.
Also, what the hell are you guys on about when you mention developers not reaching target? According to Nintendo the target end is 2 years - WiiWare is far from 2 years old. Even in a worst case scenario, I doubt Nintendo are going to leave anyone high and dry - they'll probably offer a smaller potion of the proceeds though. Carelessly throwing potential business away is not Nintendo's practice.
To be honest I can guess who your WiiWare dev contacts are and I don't care a damn about them because they're already shown how shallow they are. If their game is failing to see it's potential it's NOT just because of Nintendo. In fact probably the worst culprit for a game's culture is spawned by sites just like this: word of mouth. Lots of negative or ignorant commentary tends to destroy and prospects of success and neither your site nor any other method of advertising will overcome a barrage of negative opinion about a game. It's not your fault but unfortunately it's a by-product of opening up the floor to end-users by letting them comment on your forums and articles.
Might I also suggest you put a bit more effort into pushing your site as a medium to promote WiiWare? Your site - which fails to appear on the first page of Google when I search of Nintendo WiiWare - fails to inform people about the product then the purpose of your site is moot. Knowledge after all is power and the more power to the people the more sales to the developer.
Pushing this sort of negative press out is incredibly damaging and basically you're contradicting everything that others are trying to put right. If you're not interested in WiiWare then don't cover it, otherwise stop skewing the facts.
Re: Reggie says "important" Wii titles coming
I'm not holding up much hope for E3 and I don't care the slightest aout what Reggie has to say. If F-Zero Wii does appear I hope it's more like the Gamecube version in terms of difficulty rather than the usual toned-down rubbish that appears on Wii (i.e. where anyone who can turn a doorknob can complete the game in under eight hours.)
The one thing I could hope for is physical evidence that Nintendo are actually approaching online properly with demonstration of a game that allows for 16+ individual connections without lag and that makes finding friends easy. I can't fathom how Nintendo can't implement a system that would generate a friend code for a purchased game behind the scenes and allow it to be picked up by other users registered on a console's Wii friends list - after all - information is being gathered locally for game play times, etc for use on the pointless Nintendo Channel. Maybe Nintendo could make use of this service to do some good?
Other than that I have no interest in Kid Icarus and I don't see that game as a big system seller. If anything I'd say the games Reggie's on about would likely be Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit+ and LoZ: Spirit Tracks and nothing more.
Re: March NPD - MadWorld Debuts With Sales of 66,000
The trouble is with dependency on long term sales is that they're diluted by second-hand trade. The reason why most publishers like to see big sales on Wii games is because once the initial interest has died down - and unless it's a Nintendo title - they're practically dead in the water.
I'd expect to see sales for both Mad World and HotD to level out between 150k-200k a piece which isn't bad, but not great either.
Re: March NPD - MadWorld Debuts With Sales of 66,000
I would do but it just isn't my type of game: i.e. really repetitive and over hyped. It just looks like it could get real boring real quick and I'm just not interested in throwing money at disc-based retail software on Wii any more. The Conduit and maybe Silent Hill will probably be my last big purchases - ok, maybe Ghostbusters too.
Re: Konami Announces Driift for WiiWare
Without online multi-player this game sounds pretty pointless to me.
Plus the visuals don't appeal in the slightest. Oh well...
Re: id Chief: "Show Me Why I Should Develop For Wii"
Considering the current situation with Wii development, I'd say this tool Hollenshead is full of it just like every other third party developer who avoids the Wii for the the same dumb-ass excuses.
I'm sorry, but Nintendo's input for this generation's blockbuster titles has been fairly minimal, with the usual entries - Galaxy, Kart, Brawl and Zelda - heading the front line. That's four games! If you honestly think that there's no room for your dev. studio to compete with four game over two years then you're an idiot.
Yes, you could factor in 'casual' titles like Wii Fit but that's not the target demographic for most of these whiners. I think the main issue for these guys is that they're lazy bastards who make a crap load of money and have got complacent living off a franchise that gets milked to death. They've lost focus on what's important - taking a risk because they're too afraid to loose image rather than money.
To people like Todd Hollenshead, I say "Bugger off and stop clogging our ears with stuff that doesn't change a damn thing."
Re: Review: Bubble Bobble Plus! (WiiWare)
I love this game - the only fault I have is that getting your high score up and checking your ranking is a little more convoluted than most WiiWare games that offer an online ranking feature.
Essentially, you have to play ranked versions of either classic or arrange mode (not the first two entires on the main menu) When you're done you need to drop out to the main menu, go to Rankings which connects to WiiConnect24 and manually upload your score, drop back to the previous menu (which disconnects from WiiConnect24) and go to the High Scores (which reconnects to WiiConnect24 - I know - lame) and then you have to manually update the scores to see your ranking. I can't see this feature used too often unless people make big strides between new and old personal bests and the whole process gets rather laborious if you do it to often.
It's still a solid game though. The graphics are a bit jaggy (maybe they'll fix that with an update) but the new modes and music mixed with great game play does make this a solid 8/10 game. Once again, a very good review.
Re: Steel Penny Games Update
Sounds like someone's finally stopped sucking their thumb and by the sounds of thing really ought to put it back.
Honestly, I won't miss him one little bit. I bet your co-workers are really proud of you right now Jason. I'd fire your ass.
Re: Review: Equilibrio (WiiWare)
@Sean (22): I was the same - got stuck on a level with loops and warps until I figured out to flip the wiimote around once I was just about above a platform I needed to land on.
I made it to level 30 before resting but it was a bit of a bumpy ride after level 20, with some levels scoring me zero for taking too long and others scoring me 8000+ points. Suffice to say my difficulty level has lessened somewhat since level 20.
I'm actually quite impressed with this game - the difficulty curve is good and for the money I don't mind playing something that doesn't look too great (in all honesty I barely noticed the music issues Corbie bought up as I was too engrossed in finishing the challenges quickly) The controls can be a bit sticky or over-sensitive but like any motion based Wii game it's just a matter of familiarising yourself with the nuances.
Well worth the 7/10 score - nice review Corbie!
Re: Nintendo Download: Bubble Bobble Plus! & More WiiWare Goodies (EU)
Both Equilibrio and Bubble Bobble are well worth the download imho.
7/10 for Equilibrio, 8/10 for Bubble Bobble
Re: Nintendo Download: Bubble Bobble Plus! & More WiiWare Goodies (EU)
Looking forward to both Bubble Bobble and Equilibrio. I, also, am wondering where the hell Bit Trip BEAT and New Adventure Island are. Oh well.
Re: DK Games Interview - Equilibrio
Looking forward to this one coming out tonight. It's been a long time since I bought two WiiWare games in a row but I'll be getting this and Bubble Bobble Plus if we do indeed get them both tonight.
Re: Spaceball: Revolution - First Screenshots
It looks ok from the trailer - fairly shallow actually - but with all those obstacles in the way I'm still going on the Plattchen vibe. Having been burnt by Plattchen I wont be buying this and I can only pray that this game's zoom in/out function isn't performed by moving the Wiimote forward/backward.
As for the visuals - sure they're pretty, but pretty graphics do not a good game make (as is so evident from High Voltage's WiiWare efforts)
Re: Spaceball: Revolution - First Screenshots
Looks like another Plattchen to me - which mightl be a good thing to some people. Not me though.
Also, if the shapes are 'impossible' how the hell would you create them? The more I read this article the more I think 'Plattchen' and fear for the worst.
Re: Robocalypse - Beaver Defense Coming to WiiWare
Nice one. Another insta-buy for me by the sounds of things.
Re: Sony: PSP is Better Than The DSi
Trust Damien to post this flame-bait. Burn him. Buuurrrnnnn HIM!
I was going to write something disparaging about John Koller but I think that photo does the work for me. He loves his PSP so much he doesn't even need to switch it on to show how awesome it is - either that or the battery ran out whilst he was waiting for the photographer.
Re: Sony: PSP is Better Than The DSi
In one of those rare occasions I agree with Wiiloveit's comment (13) about the PSP - not Corbie obviously.
Re: Sony: PSP is Better Than The DSi
After I played with the PSP at my mate's house I wouldn't have one even if they were giving them away.
Re: Equilibrio Available on WiiWare Today in North America
Probably Google. I use it to translate talk from people in my village
At least we're getting Bubble Bobble Plus! which makes up for my last WiiWare purchase - Fun Fun Minigolf (shudders)
Re: Equilibrio Available on WiiWare Today in North America
Looks pretty good and for 500 points you can't complain - unless it sucks. but we'll have to wait for the review for that.
I'm hoping we get Crystal Defenders this Friday though as I'm quite addicted to a similar game on the web at the mo.
Re: Bplus Bringing Vektor Tank to Wii
I hope it's better than the last two games. If the movie above shows what they're planning on I doubt it. Yuck.
Re: New WiiWare Game: Fish'em All
@Walter: Welcome to the site. Like Atlantis said - it's good to see a dev. passing over more info on their game.
I think your game looks and sounds pretty good. Good luck with the game - I'm looking forward to seeing more of this one!
Re: Review: Fun! Fun! Minigolf (WiiWare)
I rate this game as possibly THE worst purchase I've ever made from the WiiWare service. Let's run through the problems:
1) The motion controls are awful - worse than Wii Sports Golf. In fact, they're that bad I actually appreciated the rather pointless direction modifying 'feature'.
2) The holes are boring, dull and repetitive.
3) Why have the choice of four different characters if they have no handicaps? Is this feature in place for political correctness or what?
4) The courses are TRULY unbalanced. I played the USA and Asia courses once and got a better score over the first six holes in Asia. Not that I can prove it because I have no proof thanks to the lack of records.
5) Did I mention the holes are boring, dull and repetitive?
6) The audio is grating. That includes the commentator.
7) No scoreboard/achievement record = no reason to play again
8) It's incredibly short for the asking price.
Ok. Now the good stuff:
1) The menu is easy to navigate despite the pointless task of choosing a character.
2) The presentation of the menus is good if a little clinical.
3) The graphics are good for WiiWare even if they are largely the same damned thing over and over again. The stone pavement texture is the highlight of the game whilst the shadows suck ass.
4) What obstacles are on the holes are placed sensibly if not particularly creatively.
Summing up: I actually felt like I'd been abused after playing this game - in fact I felt like I had paid to be abused. Whilst I expected that with Mega Man 9, that game does it for all the RIGHT reasons.
Graphics: 7/10
Presentation: 5/10
Audio: 2/10 (includes 1 for the ball sound)
Control: 2/10 (2 for the d-pad controls)
Playability: 4/10
Value for money: 5/10 (i.e. it's worth half what you pay)
Desire to delete: 12/10
Re: News: NoA President Talks DSiWare
@Fleeman: That's downloadable games - in which case the statistic isn't surpising at all considering how few first party downloadable games there are on the VC/WiiWare services.
Re: Explodemon Coming to WiiWare
@Corbie: Really? The video is hi-def. I really do want this game and I hope the graphics do look that good but how often do on-screen WiiWare titles look that good in high-def video (unless it's on the Dolphin emulator )
Man I am really hyped for this game! I'd say it's the PSN version but it's difficult to say - the graphics do look a little blurred like they've been scaled up but then again, the octopus-alien-thing looked really sharp so it's probably just compression artifacts. Even so, if the WiiWare game looks anything like this we should be on to a winner.
Re: The End Of The World Starts In Europe
Now Bass X0 - be fair: It's worth 12/10
How many blocks is it by the way? Oh wait .. we have to wait until midnight to find that out I guess.
Re: Magnetis - New Magnetising Puzzler for WiiWare
I see this entry to the WiiWare catalogue as half-baked yet oh-so-likely-to-get-7/10-because-its-a-puzzle 'game'
Next week: Cauldron Capers - "Use your nunchuck to stir the cauldron whilst using the wiimote grab and throw ingredients in. Can you create a potion that makes French developers take the English language seriously - or is the world doomed to put up with their arrogance because they think it's cute?'
Re: EU WiiWare Update: Texas Hold'em Tournament
Meh. I decided to stop worrying about what comes out on WiiWare two weeks ago. Life's just too short people.
Re: EU WiiWare Update: Texas Hold'em Tournament
I really don't care this week. I'm too busy gloating over the 70 good VC/WiiWare titles now in my SD channel and I've still got to download another 15. Gave me a perfect opportunity to revisit some of my favourites.
Currently replaying FFCC:MLaaK, Snowboard Riot and Secret of Mana.
Re: Water Warfare
This game sounds awesome. GoNintendo has a bit more info on their website: http://gonintendo.com/?p=76759
Re: Review: Marble Saga: Kororinpa (Wii)
Oh well. I never played the original and decided I didn't want to buy it because this version sounded much more appealing with the additional features - now I won't get either. Back to Super Monkey Ball and hope that Hudson will get it right next time.
Re: USA WiiWare Update - Pop 'Em Drop 'Em SameGame
Wow, you guys really got shafted on the WiiWare front. At least you got Twinbee and Bomberman '94.
Despite my respect for Drake, Same Game is definitely NOT worth 8/10 - more like 3/10.
Re: Exciting Details For Excitebots: Trick Racing
I hope there's an option to replace the crappy looking bots with trucks. Whilst I love Excite Truck (I've had it in my collection since the Wii launched in the UK and still rate it and MK as the best racers on Wii so far) this game looks to have taken a step further into gimmick-land which imo is a step too far.
Don't get me wrong - I loved the stars system in Excite Truck - but all I really wanted was a decent online mode, new courses, new trucks (and bikes) and a little more refinement in the controls and graphics. Instead we've got stupid bar swinging and pie throwing features which make a game whose predecessor stood up quite well against the original Motor Storm look entirely kiddy.
Maybe time will tell and undoubtedly I'll be proven wrong but I think the visual style and game play are going to lump Excite Bots into the younger casual camp whereas it's latter difficulty stages will require a more mature audience. Once again we'll end up with another game with an identity crisis and low sales because of it.
Oh, and I do hope you can stream music from SD card because if the trailer music is anything like what we're going to expect from the game we'll need it.
Re: New Arc Rise Fantasia gameplay video
@Moai Head: I was just thinking how much the game looks like Tales, just with more cut-scenes. Should be good if it plays anything like ToS too.
Re: Review: Big Bang Mini (DS)
I agree with these guys. I love the game play of Big Bang Mini and never find it too hectic to the point of being frustrating.
Re: Indie Developers Enjoy Great Success in 2008
I've played both the PSP and DS and prefer the DS over the PSP any day.
The PSP is full of ports of old games and suffers from a really crap battery life. I also prefer the cartridge over mini-disc any day both in terms of load time and sturdiness.
In fact, apart from the over-rated graphics, the only real benefit the PSP has is larger storage - neither of which necessarily make a better game.