Third Rate Game Play: Sled Shred

Game: Sled Shred System: Wii Developer: Just for Fun Studios Publisher: SouthPeak Interactive Player: Alex Experience: Played briefly to test mechanics

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 8 FINALE)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 7)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 6)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 5)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 4)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 3)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 2)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (World 1)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii System: Wii Developer: Nintendo EAD Group 4 Publisher: Nintendo Players: Mark, Brian, Tony, and Alex Experience: All but Brian have played the game before, Alex and Tony have beaten it.

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: Pirates Plund-Arrr!

Game: Pirates Plund-Arrr System: Wii Developer: BoomZap Entertainment Publisher: Majesco Players: Alex and Tony Experience: Tony played briefly beforehand

Check out the article after the jump!

Kirby's Retrospective Part III

Presenting our latest multi-segment retrospective video series - a look through 20 years of Kirby!

We are presenting this in association with Nintendo World Report.  They are cool guys, and you should all check them out (and if you were sent here by them, great to see you!)

In our final part, Kirby garners gamer attention on the Nintendo DS and reemerges onto consoles in full force.  From the innovative adventure Kirby Canvas Curse to the fabric fable of Kirby's Epic Yarn to the four-player cooperative sojourn Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Kirby has really resurfaced among Nintendo's best these last few years.  Where will he go now?  If these past two decades have told us anything, it should be quite an experience either way.

Hope you enjoyed it!  Give us comments on the series and what you want to see in the future! :D

 

The Unboxening: Kirby's Dream Collection

It has been a while since we did an unboxing video, so what better way to do another unboxing video than with a collection commemorating one of gaming's cutest heroes ever?

In this video we get ourselves into Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition, a six-game collection of Kirby, starting with Kirby's Dream Land and going through Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.  Not only does it have six old games, but it also has new challenge stages using the Kirby's Return to Dream Land engine and an in-depth history of Kirby's game lineup.  The collection also has a CD packed with songs throughout the series and a booklet showing artwork and facts spanning throughout Kirby's duo-decade existence!

If you want to see us unbox the collection, check the video below!  Meanwhile, stay tuned, because we have some big Kirby stuff on the horizon!

Third Rate Game Play: Dragon's Lair Trilogy

Game: Dragon's Lair Trilogy System: Wii Developer: Digital Leisure (The Incredible Maze) Publisher: Destineer Player: Alex Experience: Watched playthroughs of Space Ace and Dragon’s Lair

Part I: Dragon's Lair

Part II: Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp

Part III: Space Ace (Watch)

Check after the break for the full article!

Third Rate Game Play: Flip's Twisted World

Game: Flip’s Twisted World System: Wii Developer: Frozen North Productions Publisher: Majesco Entertainment Player: Tony Experience: Blind

Check after the jump for the article!

Third Rate Game Play: Swords

Game: Swords System: Wii Developer: Panic Button Games      (Attack of the Movies 3D) Publisher: Majesco Entertainment Player: Alex Experience: Blind

Check out the article after the jump!

Game On: Let's Play 3.10 - Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll

Game: Super Monkey Ball:      Step and Roll System: Wii Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Player: Alex

Okay, so I expect the first thought regarding this episode to be typo-related.  This is not actually the case.  There exists an episode of Game On: Let's Play which will not be released online, as of this post.  The player requested that we do not release it, and we are honoring that request.  So, let's not talk about that episode and talk about the next one: Super Monkey Ball: Step and Roll!

Third Rate Game Play: Freddi Fish in Kelp Seed Mystery

Game: Freddi Fish in Kelp Seed Mystery System: Wii Developer: Mistic Software/ Humongous Entertainment Publisher: Majesco Entertainment Player: Alex Experience: Played demo in childhood

Many of us remember the days of old, spending our afternoons sitting at the computer and playing adventure games, from Hero’s Quest to Sam and Max. One of the biggest names in adventure game development was Ron Gilbert, known for bringing out the worlds of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. However, in 1992, Gilbert and LucasArts producer Shelley Day left the company to form a new, child-focused adventure game company, Humungous Entertainment. It is from this company that Freddi Fish and her games emerged, as well as a number of other franchise characters such as Putt-Putt and Spy Fox.

Freddi Fish in Kelp Seed Mystery is actually a Wii port of the character’s debut title, Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, which launched for PC in 1994. While Humungous was still active, Freddi Fish starred in four more adventure titles: Freddi Fish and the Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse (1996), Freddi Fish and the Case of the Stolen Conch Shell (1998), Freddi Fish: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch (1999), and Freddi Fish: The Case of the Creature of Coral Cove (2001). Amid the PC adventures, two Junior Arcade titles starring Freddi and her friend Luther were released in 1996: Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness, and Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries.

Humungous would ultimately undergo a myriad of purchases in the late 1990s. GT Interactive purchased Humungous Entertainment in 1996, and GT itself was purchased by Infogrames Entertainment SA shortly thereafter. After acquiring Hasboro Interactive, Infogrames would rename its publishing title to Atari. The original founders of Humongous would try to purchase back Humungous, but as the tech crash hit, the deal fell through. Instead, the founders and a number of ex-Humungous staff created Hulabee Interactive, producing five titles in the early 2000s, including Disney Interactive’s Piglet’s Big Game and Plaid Banana’s Moop and Dreadly in the Treasure on Bing Bong Island (oddly enough, Plaid Banana was founded by ex-Humungous members and would later become part of Disney).

However, the life of Hulabee Interactive would also be short, this time in the face of fraud. According to reports, in 2005 co-founder Shelley Day had been found to be forging Letters of Intent and other documents in order to obtain loans from multiple foreign banks. The funding was thought to be going into a potential acquisition from Activision or Disney, but when the loans were due and neither corporation knew of any deal, the banks called Day out on fraud, leading her to 30 months jailtime with five years probation. Her arrest would lead to the end of Hulabee.

Meanwhile, the original Humungous would undergo layoffs and eventually close in 2001. A few years later, however, Humungous, Inc. was formed by a small number of ex-employees, and it was acquired by Infogrames in 2005. The new Humungous mostly licenses out its IPs to other developers, as in this case. Besides its older adventure titles, Humungous, Inc. works on developing its Backyard Sports franchise.

The actual developer behind the three Wii ports is Mistic Software. Formed in 1997, this Montreal-based company started with game development for airplanes, and it became a part of Atari in 2000, where it worked on interactive television products. It would shift back to handheld and console development in 2002. Its first Wii products, which included the three Humungous ports, emerged in 2008. The company’s products up to Freddi Fish include Dual Masters, Duel Quest: Expeditions, Kid Paddle, and The Price is Right for DS.

Publisher Majesco Entertainment was formed in 1986, acting as a reissuer of old, abandoned titles for Nintendo and Sega systems. Majesco would later rerelease the Sega Genesis, dubbed the Genesis 3, while Sega worked on the Sega Saturn; the company also rereleased the Game Gear as the Game Gear Core System. In the following generation, Majesco would begin game development under Pipe-Dream Interactive, producing such titles as a Dreamcast port of Q*bert and a number of Game Boy Advance titles. More recently, Majesco has been known to work on a number of franchises with smaller developers. It worked with Terminal Reality on BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2, both of which were met with some success. However, in 2003, the company was met with great financial difficulty; Double Fine Production’s Psychonauts had failed despite a large marketing campaign, while GlyphX Games’s Advent Rising was panned critically and, ultimately, failed to do well in sales, too. Another unique IP in development, Taldren, Inc.’s Black9, was cancelled in the final stages of development, also hurting the company’s finances. Further large cancellations occurred in 2006: Terminal Reality’s Demonik and Taxi Driver (a sequel to the movie). The company was able to pull through the hard times, thankfully, when it began publishing casual games, specifically the DS hit Cooking Mama (developed by Office Create, now titled Cooking Mama Limited). Prior to its collaboration with Atari and Mistic Software, Majesco’s most recent unique project would be Major Minor’s Majestic March, developed by Parappa the Rapper creator NanaOn-Sha.

NYCC 2011: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Our adventure into this year's New York Comic Con was not exactly as peachy as we would have liked, but when is a convention not stressful? We were only able to attend the Thursday and Friday events for both economical and physical reasons, but we got a handful of videos and impressions to make for you all.

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This year, Nintendo gets to end its 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda with a bang. Using Wii Motion+ and a slew of new design elements, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword could be the last massive game on Nintendo's current gaming system. At this year's New York Comic Con, we got to check out some of the demos, which were taking up a large chunk of Nintendo's booth on the showfloor, and it was difficult to control at first, albeit rewarding once done right.

The demo was split into three parts, consisting of a flight section, a dungeon section, and a boss fight against Ghirahim, the game's main villain (or at least original villain). On my time, I only got to play the battle agianst Ghirahim, and from my short experience, I found the game more challenging than its predecessor, Twilight Princess. The battle takes place at the end of the Skyview Temple, in which Link encounters the dark being in his attempt to capture Zelda. While explaining his hatred toward those in the sky, Ghirahim eventually decides to bring Link to the brink of death, and the battle begins.

You know when you encounter a guy with purple eyeliner and a menacing smile, a fight will begin.

Swinging the Remote is vastly important, which can be confusing for some after playing several games using "waggle." In the battle, Ghirahim approaches link and tries to grab the sword from his hands, so it is imperative to slash where his hands are not. After doing enough damage, he will make his sword appear, bringing in a real sword fight. If you slash at his sword, he will counter with a powerful slash attack. The boss also creates a number of darts to shoot at you, but if you slash at them just right, they launch right back to the creepy villain. In the end, as with the rest of the game, where the sword goes is very tantamount to the success of a battle.

Forget Epona, this animal can FLY!

The other two sections, covered by the video below, were played by people other than us, but we were able to gauge the experiences in a mixed fashion. In particular, we noticed two differing reactions from the dungeon section of the demo. Sometimes the player would swish the sword in a swift, waggle motion, but that resulted in the Stalfos killing off Link fairly quickly. However, once a user actually used the Remote like a sword, the battle became a lot easier. From the experience, the game will be difficult for many gamers, particularly as it brings emphasis to direction of a slash rather than the timing of it. Hopefully people will not take this difficulty in a terribly negative way.

Wagglers will soon become strugglers, even early on.

The graphics and music are altogether charming. The music is mostly orchestrated, which adds to the emotional subtext to the areas around Link. From the adventurous sounds of the sky to the dark and ominous violin solo in the dungeon, the soundtrack has a lot of benefits from the use of real instruments this time around. Graphically, the game looks top notch; bloom is not overly used and is instead used sparingly amid the well-modeled environments. Animations were smooth, and the colors give the game an impressionist style.

While the demo was very minimal in content, it was still a good window to look through and see what will come to us this November 20th.

NYCC 2011: Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL

Our adventure into this year's New York Comic Con was not exactly as peachy as we would have liked, but when is a convention not stressful? We were only able to attend the Thursday and Friday events for both economical and physical reasons, but we got a handful of videos and impressions to make for you all.

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There is no denying that Cartoon Network has become one of the biggest child and adolescent programming channels on cable today, and it has a lot of characters new and old to thank for that. From the eco-friendly Captain Planet to the chef-in-training Chowder, the variety of characters is so large that it eventually spawns the question: who would win in a battle, Samurai Jack or Ben 10? Or Flapjack? Or the Powerpuff Girls?

Enter Papaya Studio's Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion, a CN-themed fighting and action game. Originally released on the Nintendo 3DS this past summer, Punch Time Explosion is getting a special XL edition for home consoles this holiday season, and from what we saw at Comic Con, it is certainly improving on what the original game had established. For one, the new adventure consists of as many as eight brand-new characters, including Him from Powerpuff Girls and Kevin Eleven from the Ben 10 series. Also, a large number of new battle maps have been added, expanding the locales of the many worlds, including Mandark's Lab and Candied Island. So for those who liked the 3DS version and wanted more of everything, there is nothing to worry about here.

Toiletnator is about to get beat down.

Of course, an XL version is not just more characters and levels. The console version's graphics have been improved, and the framerate has been stabilized, which is certainly helpful for keeping up with the action. Players can play the Story Mode cooperatively, and there are a number of new battle modes for multiplayer. There is even a Practice Mode so you can learn each new character's abilities before you jump into the fray. Even older characters have new abilities, particularly the Synergy Attacks, in which an assisting character and the playable character join together to perform a special destructive attack on unsuspecting opponents.

In this lab, it is all fun and no work.

From my experiences, the game has quite a bit of activity happening, and at first, the controls might be a little daunting, but even less experienced players should do rather well, what with the Punch Time Explosions and assist attacks. Considering all the characters, crazy level selection, and new Synergy Attacks, this game will certainly compare well against Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and considering there are not many games like this on HD platforms, this could be a good contender for children's wish lists this holiday.

Check the pecks, then check this punch!

We had an interview with Senior Producer Richard Robledo regarding the game and its new features, not to mention the controversial question: which Cartoon Network character is his favorite?

Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion is available now for 3DS and the console XL version will be available this holiday season under a budget price. For more information, head to the official website.

Third Rate Game Play: Ivy the Kiwi?

Game: Ivy the Kiwi? System: Wii Developer: PROPE (Let's Catch, Let's Tap) Publisher: XSEED Games Player: Alex (and together for MP) Experience: Played up to 4-1

Over the last few years, a number of development heads, best known for creating and building up some of the biggest franchises of yesteryear, are leaving their respective big-time publishers in favor of creating new, smaller development companies. One example is that, over time, Sonic the Hedgehog’s three “fathers” eventually left Sonic Team and Sega, with Yuji Naka being the last, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Yuji Naka joined Sega around 1983, when the company was hiring programming assistants. His first game would be Girl’s Garden for the Sega SG-1000, and from there, his programming skills helped build Sega classics such as Phantasy Star and its first two sequels. However, what really pushed Yuji Naka upward in Sega was the programming behind Sonic the Hedgehog; the other two leads for Sonic were Naoto Ōshima, who designed the characters, and Hirokazu Yasuhara, who created the stages. Naka continued his work with the Sonic franchise, moving to work with Sega Technical Institute on collaborated projects Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. As development moved onto the Sega Saturn, it is believed that the Producer-promoted Naka and his development of NiGHTS into Dreams caused friction between STI and Sonic Team, eventually resulting in Sonic X-treme’s cancellation.

While in the Producer seat for Sonic Team, Yuji Naka helped produce Burning Rangers, Phantasy Star Online, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, and every Sonic Team project until 2006. His only listed directorial role since the promotion was for Chu Chu Rocket! During this time, the other two core creators of Sonic left, with Yasuhara leaving to Naughty Dog and Ōshima creating his own company Artoon.

While Sonic Team was producing Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) for PS3 and Xbox 360, Naka announced his departure from Sega and the creation of his own development studio, PROPE. Since its inception, PROPE has developed a number of games for both Nintendo platforms and other handheld devices. The company’s first major releases were Let’s Catch and Let’s Tap for Wii, the latter of which was split up into multiple games on the App Store a year later. Under the iPROPE sub-label, PROPE had released 10 Count Boxer and Fluffy Bear onto the App Store before Ivy the Kiwi? was released. Ivy began as a Windows Phone game, but the main version happens to be on the Wii.

Publisher XSEED Games was founded in late 2004 by ex-members of Square Enix USA. XSEED’s main goal is to provide unique gaming experiences to American audiences, including a number of games from Japanese developers who are looking for budget publishers. Before Ivy the Kiwi?, XSEED Games had begun working alongside Marvelous Interactive, and the publisher had brought over such games as Little King’s Story, Flower, Sun and Rain, and Half-Minute Hero. The company also published a number of games in the Wild Arms franchise beforehand.



“Play the latest game from the creator of Sonic!

Pillowed on a pile of leaves in the middle of a dark forest, a baby bird is breaking out of a curious egg. Her bright orange head and beak poke out the top of a polka dot shell and she cries for her mother. The forest animals watch her curiously, but apart from them there is no one to claim her. Still trapped in the shell except for her head and feet, Ivy begins walking through the forest calling out for her mother. She meets many other kinds of birds but none are like her and she wanders searchingly for traces of her kind until she finds a glowing orange feather. With a clue now in beak Ivy sets out to follow the trail that will lead her to her mother.”

“One of the ideas was to have consumers be curious about the game. It also plays a role in the game's story, on what Ivy really is. We wanted to have a bit of a deeper meaning… The perfect scenario is to have the customer wonder why there is a question mark, and then after playing the game and seeing the ending, figure it out and say 'oh, that's why there's a question mark.' You'll understand the meaning of this when you see the whole story. We tried our best to put a lot of meaning in a small detail. If you finish the game and find that you have more emotional feelings toward the game, I'll be really happy.”

-Yuji Naka, Producer (Destructoid)

“This project initially started among some of my young employees; they were just doing experiments, and I saw the game, and thought it was a real interesting concept, so we decided to make it into a company-wide project. As someone that's been involved in games, at first I didn't think it would work using a pointer in an action-type game, but just by making two points [in creating the vines used to guide Ivy along], you can control the character somewhat freely, so that was a big discovery for me.”

-Yuji Naka, Producer (1UP)

Ivy the Kiwi? is an arcade title in which players help guide the newborn bird Ivy through multiple worlds in search to find her mother. As stated in the Official Word, she has no idea where her mother is, and being mostly in an egg, she cannot fly. So, she continues to walk onward in hopes to reach her destination, with or without your help.

Players do not control Ivy, who walks continually until she hits a wall and turns back around. Instead, players have to guide Ivy by drawing vines across the world which she can use to climb or be thrown onto higher ground. As the game progresses, players can use the ivy as a slingshot and send the chick bolting across the sky like a rocket. The vines can not only control Ivy but can also protect her from enemies and obstacles which populate the rest of the storybook-designed worlds. While the goal of each level is to land Ivy onto a pedestal at the end of the path, there are also ten feathers located around each level which can boost scores and potentially unlock extra content down the road.

Outside of the main game, there is a multiplayer option in which up to four players are tasked to guide their own Ivy to the exit. Unlike the main mode, however, players can draw their vines on other players’ screens, causing progress problems and potential sabotaging for increased competitiveness.

The game in this episode is the Wii version, although the game is also available on DS.



PROPE has continued its game development on the iOS platform as well as Nintendo-based platforms. Since Ivy the Kiwi?, PROPE released a number of unique games on the App Store, including Just Half (in which you must cut the screen as close to 50% as possible) and PD –prope discover-, a short first-person adventure game in a large floating castle. Outside of iOS, PROPE is developing Family Fishing for Wii via Namco Bandai; XSEED will also be publishing this game in the US this holiday, albeit without the fishing-pole accessory. PROPE is also producing an action title Rodea the Sky Soldier via Kadokawa Games for both Wii and 3DS; while no US publisher has been named, XSEED’s relationship with PROPE appears to be healthy enough for a publishing deal in the future.

Just before Ivy’s release, XSEED Games announced a collaboration with Nihon Falcom to bring over a number of games in the Ys series (Ys Seven, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, and Ys I & II Chronicles) and The Legend of Heroes: Trails to the Skies for the Playstation Portable. Along with that, XSEED has been announcing smaller projects over time, including CyberConnect2’s adventure title Solatarobo: Red the Hunter, expected for release September 2011 for the Nintendo DS.

Ivy the Kiwi? does not appear to have a sequel planned, but shortly after the retail releases of Ivy the Kiwi?, XSEED and PROPE published Ivy the Kiwi? mini for DSiWare. This version lacks the multiplayer modes and extra content in the main game, but it is available for a cheap 500 DSi Points.



After playing a bit of the game for himself, Alex decides to show off the adventure for about a half hour or so before he and Tony take multiplayer for an impromptu spin. While at the beginning, he hunts a little for the feathers, Alex decides to go off and just try to get further into the game with the time he is given, which does not get him too much further.



Ivy the Kiwi? is a nice little title with a unique game mechanic, but its length and more passive gameplay might work against it. The original Japanese version of the game lacked as much color as this version, and I feel it benefited with that extra tweak. The game’s music and sound effects were not of the quality one should expect from a game at this day and age, which is a shame. Furthermore, those not willing to take the time to collect the feathers or get the best time will likely find the game to be short.

Thankfully the multiplayer mode was great, and it made me see how hectic the 4-player modes would be with three people constantly trying to sabotage your adventure while you try to do the same to them. As you find in the video, even with two players the humor and intensity grows quickly as the games progress.

The episode was pretty good in light of this, but there are moments of inactivity from the both of us, so it starts slow but accelerates perhaps a little later than I would have preferred. Still, it was a nice game with a quiet, modest atmosphere around it.

This episode was filmed last year, and it was originally in SD resolution, thus the black bars upon uploading.

3RM Says: Is Ivy a bird? Or is she a fruit? Why am I even asking these silly questions?
Why can't I stop asking questions? Can someone help me?