New 3DS – New Review

After my descriptive hands on at the EB Expo, you want more? Well alright. I got a New 3DS for myself at the end of last year, so I’m in a slightly better position to talk about it now. Living in Australia, I had the privilege of picking a regular sized New 3DS model on a regular Monday in 2014, in a regular Target store. XL was an option, but it’s just a personal choice for me to not have a gigantic screen on a handheld. This is my second 3DS since my launch model in 2011 so the upgrade was a big deal. Since I’ve had it for about a month now I feel I can give a fair assessment on how it handles and how my gaming experience has changed. Let’s start with the very first moments, as I invite you into my New 3DS journey.

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Super Smash Bro – Single Player Madness

I love the new Smash Bros on both 3DS and Wii U, let’s get that out of the way. The new characters and stages are great, movement and overall balance is fantastic and the gameplay is satisfying and refined. However, there’s one thing I need to get off my chest that has made much of the game unpleasant for me.

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All. This. Bullshit. In the way.

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F-Zero: GP Legend – FALCON REVIEW!

It’s been 10 long years since Captain Falcon had a drive. Since then he’s been lurking in people’s homes, starting fights in different universes, and meeting people with strange haircuts. He’s kept himself busy but all these activities pale in comparison to the thrill of racing at 1200kph. He just hasn’t been himself lately, never truly comfortable when he’s out of the cockpit. Now in 2015 we’ve been given the chance to experience the last F-Zero game released outside Japan, as F-Zero: GP Legend debuts on Wii U’s Virtual Console. Still fresh from 2004, when nobody bought it and the franchise died in plain sight on retail shelves. Captain Falcon remains stuck there in the form of an Amiibo, but at least now we can pick up his machine and rediscover the thrill ourselves.

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Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Perfection

Retro Studios received a bit of grief when the world found out they were making this instead of another Metroid Prime. By the world, I mean 3 angry nerds on a videogame forum with Samus avatars. Despite Donkey Kong Country Returns being a huge hit and selling over 5 million, gamers were surprised when Nintendo green-lit a sequel. To be honest I liked DKCR but not nearly as much as the Metroid Prime games, so I had one foot in the entitled playground myself. At the end of the day we found out Retro gets to make whatever they want which is a good thing. DKCR was a refreshing change for Retro and they did an amazing job, but it didn’t hit that special spot for me and the level design felt a bit tame. Tropical Freeze however, is an entirely different beast. A beast that was frozen and injected with tropical goodness, then unleashed on unsuspecting Wii U owners with tropical fury. I bought the game about a month ago and I’ve already gone through all the levels, then back through them again on Hard Mode. It was a brutal challenge and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but perfect level design kept me going and I’ve loved every second of the struggle. In my mind it is (without a doubt, far and away) the best 2D platformer ever made and one of the greatest games ever. Retro Studios completely blew my expectations apart and if you’re having trouble getting excited I’m here to sell you some Tropical Freeze. It’ll enhance your performance and keep you going all night for weeks on end.

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Cubemen 2 – GamePad Warfare

Cubemen 2 is an ambitious title just released on the Wii U eShop that hosts 3D strategic battles over multiple platforms and game modes. Developers 3 Sprockets and Nnooo have got together to make sure PC and Wii U gamers can do the same. This means PC and Wii U owners can not just create and share levels with each other, but also play directly online whether you’re sitting at your desk or on the couch, or even the toilet thanks to the Wii U GamePad. Just like your dinner, this game is extremely open and customisable; and while it does boast a solid campaign and single player elements, the focus is on the player and what kind of experience you want to create. There is soooooo much to say about each game mode I could flood you with a few paragraphs on each one, but I’ll just talk about my own experience so far and explain the core gameplay and features in detail.

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Siesta Fiesta – Everyone’s Invited, Paddles Provided (BYO Drinks & Tunes)

Siesta Fiesta is a game I bought without having a clue of its quality or how it would play, I read some reviews but gaming journalism has approached the point where I can’t tell the difference between a 4 and a 9 anymore when Splash or Crash gets good reviews. Everything is good or bad just because you should trust us. Anyway I had 2 motivations for diving into this mysterious fiesta. Firstly the price is great ($5.85AU) for an original 3DS game, and second is the fact that it was released here at all. Due to an inexcusably bad classifications system, a lot of small games skip Australia because developers simply can’t make the money back and I don’t blame them. I want to commend the effort of developer Mojo Bones for including Australia in their definition of “worldwide” when we perhaps don’t deserve it at the moment. OK that’s rubbish, everybody deserves videogames.

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Game & Wario – Wario’s Identity Crisis

Game & Wario is a game I’ve had for about a year and I still can’t figure out how to describe it, nor have I ever wanted to. The art style feels forced, the presentation is a mess, and half the games just aren’t very fun to play. I’ve had some fun with it and unlocked all the games but it still gives me an odd unfinished feeling after 20 hours playtime. With this being one of the free games in the new Mario Kart 8 promotion, many people have been asking about it, and for good reason because it’s a difficult game to gauge. Is it simple addictive fun like previous Wario Ware games? Are the games more fleshed out? Is it a platformer? Is it an FPS? Is there more content or less? What is content?

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Shadows of the Damned – Upgrade Your Boner

Combine the creative mind of Suda 51, the structured work ethic of Shinji Mikami, the haunting melodies of Akira Yamaoka and a big hot boner, and what do you get? A pile of steaming hot poo on the floor.

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After my misadventures with Resident Evil 6 I decided to do a bit of soul searching and got a craving to play some similar shooting games, simply because I spent so much time adapting to the style. Shadows of the Damned is a game I’ve beaten before and already loved, but after playing so many games in-between I’ve found a whole new level of appreciation for it. This game is exploding with charm, quality and more significantly; identity. Grasshopper’s games are always known for that but Suda 51 has been a bit hit-or-miss since No More Heroes in my opinion, and this game’s style might have more to do with director Massimo Guarini. With all these big names and ideas it could easily be a trainwreck but it all combines beautifully and consistently. Playing this game again awakened a part inside me I had forgotten about, an appreciation for bizarre worlds.

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5 Easy Steps – How To Fix Resident Evil

I’ve just finished playing Resident Evil 6 and after some very bad first impressions, the full game turned out pretty decent. Leon’s campaign was extremely enjoyable and the game does a lot of things right as well as wrong. The game has some interesting scenarios, amazing bosses, great dialogue (by cheesy RE standards), and even good music. One thing I really love are the environments, they are unbelievable to walk around in. The streets of China have ridiculous detail as does almost every area in the game, and there’s some nice unique scenes to enjoy and bask in. I had a lot of joyous moments simply moving the camera around and looking at all the unnecessary detail in every corner. Furthermore the gameplay is extremely robust, and the controls are a good refinement of Resident Evil 4 and 5’s strengths. I think in terms of game mechanics, this is the best Resident Evil to date.

However the the more detail you have, the bigger the mess when it all falls apart, and the things the game does wrong are big enough to kill the mood. While the shooting mechanics are good, they are abused far too much. I simply don’t like shooting games. As a Resident Evil fan, I shouldn’t have to know how to play Battlefield. I’m tired of shooting and after Chris’s campaign I need a break from the sound of gunfire and explosions for a good month. The pacing is relentless and ridiculous, if you can even call it pacing. People troll the game a lot and it’s very easy to criticise, but the significant thing about all these bad changes to the series is they are simply design choices. Resident Evil 6 could have been AMAZING if somebody stepped in and said “this is a bad idea”. In this hypothetical article, I am that guy.

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Capcom has invited me to their development offices to flip tea tables over, but I can only destroy 5 of them. These are the tables I would flip.

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Gran Turismo 6

After all the buzz about micro-transactions and the absolutely filthy excuse for a game that was Forza 5, I was hesitant to support Gran Turismo 6 after hearing that same word, “micro-transaction”. I took the plunge and bought the game last month because the allure of racing at Bathurst was too strong and I was keen to check out the new car handling physics. I’ve been playing it since it came out and I owe the developers at Polyphony Digital a giant apology for my assumptions. Gran Turismo 6 is not the devil’s next DLC scheme and the experience has been surprisingly fun and refreshing.

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The Wonderful 101 – Can You Handle It?

UNITE UP, gamers! No, not for a fan campaign. Not for a region-locking protest. To SAVE THE WORLD from the forces of evil! Wait.. come back! I can see you all running away from the screen. The Wonderful 101 is that kind of game, it elicits of strong response whether it’s excitement or discouragement. You just have to tell people how uninterested you are because the concept slaps you in the face and demands an answer. You have a choice here, to buckle up and save the world OR keep walking and hope someone else does it. This review will find out what kind of person you are.

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SwapNote Tribute – The World Wasn’t Ready

1 / 11 / Year of Luigi,

The Nintendo Postman delivered his final SwapNote.

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It was a Friday, the air was warm and relaxed as the weekend drifted into view. Nobody was ready for shocking news, and nobody wanted any. It was going to be a simple weekend of videogames and funny drawings until a shocking announcement changed everything. Nintendo announced the SpotPass feature of Nintendo Letter Box / SwapNote on 3DS had been discontinued.

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DuckTales Remastered – An In-Depth Guest Review

While I have a DuckTales Remastered review in the wings (haha pun) for PixlBit. I decided to let a Let’s Play buddy of mine, FreezingInferno, give you his two cents on DuckTales Remastered. The entire text in plain font after the break is his doing and its amazing, so give him some props on his YouTube channel, ok? Just a warning; if you don’t like in-depth reviews with WORDS explaining things, you may suffer a brain malfunction. Continue reading “DuckTales Remastered – An In-Depth Guest Review” →

Cloudberry Kingdom – No Randomly Generated Pain, No Gain

Welcome to Cloudberry Kingdom, the game that abuses you with unfathomably difficult levels and then cheers you up by letting you die as many times as you want. This is a 2D platformer with an ambitious premise of randomly generated levels, but does that mean level design is thrown out the window? Luckily the other main feature of the game balances this out – customisation. I enjoyed my brief time with it at PAX and it made me curious enough to spend $15AU on the full game, which has just been released on Wii U, PS3, 360 and PC. I’ve spent some solid time with the game now and I’m happy to say Cloudberry Kingdom is the real deal.

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Mighty Switch Force! 2 – 60 Second Review

OK, LET’S DO THIS, I’m going for a PAR TIME here! I just got through every level of this game and man oh man it’s really GOOD! OK, the first game was good right? But this takes it to a whole new level. Level 2, because it’s the 2 game. 2 comes after 1 and that means this is a sequel. A really good sequel that doesn’t really add much but adds a lot. ARE YOU FOLLOWING?

NO TIME TO READ THIS