Vektor is a strange little guy. Last year he got himself trapped inside a CPU in escapeVektor Chapter 1 and he’s been stuck there ever since. Realising that WiiWare has no more exits or answers, he’s made his way to the eShop on 3DS to get people’s attention. He’s brought with him some new abilities, online leaderboards and tons of new levels. Will you answer Vektor’s cry?
Continue reading “escapeVektor (3DS) – Brilliant, Simple, Addictive”
It’s been an interesting week on the 3DS eShop, and for the first time in almost a month I’ve played another system more than Wii U. 3DS has reminded me how amazing it is, with escapeVektor, Gunman Clive and New SMB 2 DLC assaulting the eShop this week. Americans can also finally stop bitching about not having Wario Land II. I’m going to write about Gunman Clive first because I’ve already finished it (I’ll probably never finish The Impossible Pack in New SMB 2). Basically it’s a 2d platformer with short levels, a solid physics engine, and a good western vibe. Jumping, running and shooting are all simple and responsive, the music is catchy and the 3D effect is amazing.
It’s an iOS port as you can see (*groan*), but thankfully 3DS has real buttons so the screen isn’t obscured like this picture. It has its fair share of glitches, once I had a sound loop go forever; even quitting back to the menu left bullet sounds repeating through the speakers. Bizarrely my 3DS completely shut off during one of the boss fights too. One other thing that annoys me is that enemies re-spawn about 5 seconds after you kill them, I’m not sure if this is intentional but it’s annoying if you just want to take your time. It’s a decent game with some problems, but is it worth it? It’s worth it just for the boss battles, but there’s 16 levels of platforming thrown in-between. Levels are short (30 to 90 seconds without dying), but it uses a lot of different physics and objects (by a lot I mean as much as any other game) and doesn’t dwell on a new idea for very long. Boss Battles give you a few simple patterns to learn and they look pretty awesome. Gunman Clive is very short but good fun and has a few surprises. If you have an awkward amount of money left on your eShop account like $3.10 then it’s worth buying.
ZombiU opens with uncertainty. Just what the hell are we getting into? Is the game good, bad, scary, ugly, beautiful? Music plays with a scattered melody as a man stands alone. Sweat drips from his face as the hopelessness of his situation sinks in, he’s surrounded. He threatens to give the scene a 4 out of 10, but the zombies pay no mind. They walk the streets with lopsided confidence. They know how dangerous they are, and soon everyone will.
Wii U has certainly had a big impact on my gaming world, and getting my first real fix of Just Dance (bundled with the console) is one reason why. I’ve tried to play this game a number of times and always failed, dismissing it as something that didn’t even work. I’m moving the Wii Remote up… the girl on the screen is moving the Wii Remote up… why aren’t I winning?
Wii U isn’t bombing hard enough for some journalists to feel secure, and another desperate doom article has surfaced. This “sports expert” on Kotaku has decided Wii U’s fate rests on Madden. Only 42 people were playing Madden on Wii U at some random point on Sunday, while Xbox 360 had 194236 billion people online! What do you have to say about THAT, Nintendo?
“Sonic and friends are back!” is usually a saying that would make me pull out a gun, but Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed welcomes every franchise Sega can pull out of their arse and organises them into unique vehicles and tracks. Easily mistaken for a kart racer, this game stands on its own and can’t really be compared to anything. If you have to pigeon-hole it, just imagine Mario Kart meets F-Zero at a furry convention and they have a baby with a missing leg. What it really is; an extremely fun arcade racer that uses SEGA’s franchises to create some amazing tracks and a solid experience on Wii U.
Continue reading “Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed – Faster Than U”
When Shin’en announced they were making a Wii U game, there was a small eruption in my pants. Technical wizards of DS and WiiWare, these guys know how to maximize hardware like nobody else in the business. They could probably port F-Zero to a pocket calculator if you dared them too, at 60 FPS. While I knew they were up to the task of a launch game, I did not think it would be this good.
Did you see that? Something bouncing around your peripheral vision… probably nothing. Wait, what was that sound? A faint cry… probably a bird. At night time? Hmm. Those unexplained little specs and sounds don’t mean you’re crazy, there’s actually a logical explanation. Spirits have entered the world and they’ve taken residence in your house, at your local park and everywhere you take your 3DS. How convenient! They are invisible to our human eyes, but now there’s a software app on DSiWare that exposes their presence in the world and lets us play with them!
It has been a few weeks since the WiiU launched, and I am loving it. Miiverse is amazing, ZombiU is amazing and New Super Mario Bros U is pretty close to topping Super Mario Bros. 3 is terms of being my favourite side-scrolling Mario game. While the game journalism side has already been torn apart by Grubdog, its time for me to tear apart the other BS part: the third parties. Continue reading ““I like my new WiiU, but I won’t make games for it!””
Wii U has come out and has caused an interesting reaction with the gaming community. It’s exploded onto the scene like a bird shitting on a park bench. Wii U isn’t selling as well as Wii did at this very early stage, and after skeptical claims of “artificial shortages” people are now falling over themselves to prove that Wii U is “in stock”. Yes, you can buy it. So why don’t you?
The Pietriots Man of the Year is our annual award honouring individuals for their contribution to gaming drama during the calender year. Everyday gaming news tragics like me devour the latest corruption and sex scandals that engulf the gaming industry. It’s easy to get so caught up in the melodramatics that you lose the time to play games! Not that it matters though as many of this year’s nominees were more entertaining than the games they were invovled with. So without further ado, here are the nominees for the 2012 Pietriots Man of the Year.
This is a quick post, because I’m playing the shit out of my Wii U right now and don’t have any spare energy to write. There’s an overwhelming amount of fun stuff to do and Nano Assault Neo blew half my face off. Anyway, paid journalists were also overwhelmed and fucked up a lot of things in a sweaty panic, causing mass confusion in the Miiverse. Here’s a few things to set straight!
Well, it’s official – I am a filthy casual kiddy grandma gimmick gamer, intent on ruining the secret underground club of hardcore. Thanks to the 3DS’ heavenly OCD ability to keep track of absolutely everything you play, it turns out I’ve put just a bit of time into Hudson’s humble little DSiWare title Tetris Party Live.
Continue reading “Tetris sure knows how to throw the loneliest parties”
Ladies and gentlemen, I have or had a problem. I kept thinking to myself, “What game should I review for Pietriots since I want to be my unprofessional self rather then an in-depth reviewer?” Well SEGA decided to give me an answer in the form of an extremely fun Saturn classic given an HD re-release… actually, scratch that; an extremely fun Saturn classic given what was originally a PS2 make-over, never released outside of Japan for almost six years but then deciding since they have no money left to fund anything just upscale the damn game. Continue reading “NiGHTS into dreams HD: Simple game, stupid analog mess up, short review”
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