NYCC 2013: Shovel Knight

For four days, people came to the Javits Center in New York City to experience one of the largest conventions on the east coast: New York Comic Con 2013!  Fans of comics, movies, television shows, and toys came together to revel in their hobbies, and with them came video game companies to show off their wares for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.  We here at 3RM attended a few of those days, and we have impressions and video to provide from our experience!

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Tony:

Among Nintendo’s eShop demos at Comic Con I found a demo for Yacht Club Games' 8-bit inspired platformer, Shovel Knight.   Shovel Knight stars the blue-armored knight of shovelry on a quest to save his partner and save the world from the evil Enchantress and her Order of No Quarter.  Inspired by games such as Zelda II and Mega Man, this game caught people's attention when it appeared on Kickstarter earlier this year as well as from YCG's presence at PAX East.  Now nearing its release, I got to try it again in NYCC.

At PAX East earlier this year, I was able to get a hands-on with Shovel Knight before, and this appeared to be the same demo except now on Wii U hardware. The demo took place in Pridemoore Castle, which was populated with helicopter rats, jousting horses, and large gryphon bosses that could breath fire. Each of these enemies could be defeated by shoveling away at them or by plunging the shovel from above similar to Scrooge McDuck’s cane in Ducktales. However, other enemies such as wizards and armored knights required more strategy to properly get an attack through their defenses, such as deflecting magic back at them or mixing up attack patterns to get an opening. 

Much like in other 8-bit platformers, the stage was filled with platform gimmicks such as falling chandeliers and magic platforms that only exists as long as a spell book is open. Navigating these hazards amid flying rats and attacking wizards created a enjoyable challenge that was both tough but satisfying to try over an over again. At the end of the stage, I once again dueled with King Knight and his gallant stroll. He called forth trumpets to rain down dangerous confetti on me and dashed towards me at alarming speeds. He felt a tad tougher than before, but thankfully I had the magic wand I found earlier in the level to help take him down.

The demo felt more or less as it did back at PAX East, but that isn’t a bad thing. The game’s graphics were colorful and fluid, the music (that I could actually hear this time) was action packed and made me reminisce about games of old, and the controls were tight and responsive, which is very important in a platformer of this genre. The only major update from this demo was that it was playable on the Wii U GamePad. The off-screen play felt just as fluid as it was on the television in front of me, bright and colorful as ever.

Shovel Knight was once again a joy to play, and I cannot wait to dig into this when I releases sometime this year.  Shovel Knight is expected to release later this year on Wii U, 3DS, and PC platforms.

 

NYCC 2013: Q.U.B.E. Director's Cut

For four days, people came to the Javits Center in New York City to experience one of the largest conventions on the east coast: New York Comic Con 2013!  Fans of comics, movies, television shows, and toys came together to revel in their hobbies, and with them came video game companies to show off their wares for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.  We here at 3RM attended a few of those days, and we have impressions and video to provide from our experience!

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Nintendo had a whole room dedicated to both tournament games and games on the Nintendo eShop, and among the Wii U games to come, Q.U.B.E. Director's Cut was playable, at least on the later days of the convention.  Unfortunately, we were unable to get our hands on directly with this game, but we do have a short gameplay clip that we can share of someone who was playing through the demo.

Q.U.B.E. is currently available on PC, while Director's Cut is expected for release sometime this year or early next year for Wii U and PlayStation Network.

NYCC 2013: Retro City Rampage 3DS

For four days, people came to the Javits Center in New York City to experience one of the largest conventions on the east coast: New York Comic Con 2013!  Fans of comics, movies, television shows, and toys came together to revel in their hobbies, and with them came video game companies to show off their wares for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.  We here at 3RM attended a few of those days, and we have impressions and video to provide from our experience!

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Alex:
Nintendo had a whole room dedicated to current and upcoming games on the Nintendo eShop, and among them was a new portable version of one of WiiWare's biggest final releases, VBlank Entertainment's Retro City Rampage.  I got to play a little bit of the demo, and it feels very much akin to its other versions, fit for the 3DS experience.

Retro City Rampage is a retro-style overhead action game akin to the older Grand Theft Auto games.  Players control The Player as he ends up sucked into the past and now must find a way to get himself back to the correct time.  Much like Grand Theft Auto, The Player can wander throughout the town and do oddjobs with a multitude of people, as well as complete a number of challenges in order to get money or medals and other achievements in the game.  Searching through the city might even give you new special weaponry or abilities that can be helpful in completing the game's Story Missions.  Once a mission or challenge is encountered and completed, players can choose to replay them from the game menu if they desire.  Other than the main and side missions, the game also has mini-games to play, starring other indie game heroes such as Commander Video and Meat Boy.

Whereas the previous games have all displayed the game with a zoomed-out look using the retro-style graphics, the 3DS iteration defaults the option to zoom-in, accounting for the system's smaller resolution screens.  Extraneous information such as money count, map, and weapon selection is stored on the bottom screen, although developer Brian Provinciano has noted on the game's site that he intends to check out possibilities of using the touch screen for more than just a display.  In the demo, there was no noticeable element to the bottom screen, and it was actually difficult with the zoomed-in view to glance at the map to see where I should have been going.  I was not exactly looking for anywhere specific anyways, so getting lost was expected, but I think some guides on the top screen would be beneficial, at least giving a general direction where a marked area might be.

The demo offered a free-roaming mode and a challenge mission to cause as much damage as possible in a short time.  The gameplay was as smooth as the original version, though I had to figure out how turning worked on the Circle Pad.  In my brief moments of gameplay, I found myself occasionally using the Circle Pad to point where the car should have gone, but the controls were set for steering instead.  That was probably more a fault of mine over the game's, though.  What I did notice, however, was that the graphics seemed to flicker on the menu screens.  I thought it was a style choice, but there was inconsistency with how the flicker appeared.  I suspect this would be fixed in the final release, and I hope other graphical glitches like that are ironed out in the completed game.

Overall, Retro City Rampage on 3DS played much like what you would expect on the other versions, with some adjustments to be put on the device.  Those who enjoyed the game in the previous releases or have been curious about playing the game on the go (and not on PSVita), then this is shaping up to fit the bill.

Retro City Rampage on 3DS is expected to release this holiday.  The game is currently available on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, PC, and on WiiWare (also via Wii U).

NYCC 2013: Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

For four days, people came to the Javits Center in New York City to experience one of the largest conventions on the east coast: New York Comic Con 2013!  Fans of comics, movies, television shows, and toys came together to revel in their hobbies, and with them came video game companies to show off their wares for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.  We here at 3RM attended a few of those days, and we have impressions and video to provide from our experience!

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Alex:
Nintendo held a particularly large booth at New York Comic Con this year, but they also set up a room dedicated to games current on and coming soon to the Nintendo eShop.  Among those games was Wayforward's next game, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse.  From my experience, I can say that Shantae on 3DS is off to a good start to be a great continuation of the series.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is the third iteration in the Shantae franchise.  The game's predecessors starred Shantae as a half-genie, both on GameBoy Color and on DSiWare (and both currently accessible through the 3DS eShop).  However, after the events of Shantae: Risky's Revenge, our dancing heroine has lost her genie powers, and she has been trying to adjust ever since.  It is not long before she is encountered by her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots, but she is there to ask for some help instead of a battle.  It turns out Shantae's genie powers have split into shards and made Risky's minions more powerful than she.  What is worse is that they plan to resurrect Risky's mentor, the Pirate Master, which would spell disaster for Sequin Land.  Forced into a truce, Risky and Shantae must work together (with whatever skills a pirate can use) to save the land and get Shantae her powers back.

Pirate's Curse is much like its predecessors in that it is a side-scrolling action adventure title.  Players control Shantae, attacking enemies using her hair whip or whatever abilities she acquires throughout the adventure.  With her genie powers gone, she lacks the ability to transform into animals or use magic attacks against her enemies, but she replaces these skills with pirate abilities and other weaponry she obtains over the course of the game.  She also has an inventory of many items to use at her discretion; the demo particularly only had potions, though there are probably plenty more items from where those came.

The demo only had two areas to check out - a boss battle and a dungeon stage.  In my playthrough, I explored the dungeon exclusively.  Graphically, the game resembles its DSiWare prequel, but the graphics are much smoother and look much crisper and detailed, thanks to the 3DS's higher resolution screen.  The 3D depth is particularly sharp, and the game takes no performance hit when shifting between 2D and 3D.  It does appear that the game takes assets from Risky's Revenge, at least in the demo dungeon, but not only are these graphics improved, a number of additional, more detailed characters join them.  During cutscenes, the character art is completely redrawn with the help of Inti-Creates, which fits right into the franchise's general artstyle.

The dungeon was fairly straightforward, although it was probably designed to be among the earlier areas of the game.  There were a few locked doors, requiring Shantae to venture off the path and into darker sections of the dungeon to find a key.  In searching for the key, I encountered a mini-boss crustacean, and the battle was fast-paced but not too fast for me to get close for a few quick whips of hair.  New in this game is the display of damage counts when hitting an enemy (or getting hit yourself); I suspect the final game will show off more numerical stats for Shantae and a bestiary to reflect the need for a damage counter.  All the while, between the new effects, smooth animations, and crisp visuals, the gameplay was as fun as Shantae as ever been.

Deeper into the dungeon, I encountered switches which shifted cage platforms when activated, but there were some switches too far to reach.  Thankfully, Shantae would find a pistol in the dungeon, adding a projectile to her arsenal.  I do not know whether there will be any cost to using the pistol in the final game, but I did not see anything resembling a limit to its use in the demo itself.  Besides this new weapon, the game demonstrated a new charge attack that Shantae potentially learns earlier in the game.  While running forward, she starts to glow, and if you press the right button at that time, she dashes forward, ShineSpark-style, and destroys everything in her path with a sharp pirate's blade.

While I did have a good time with the game, there are some concerns I would like to address.  For one, with the game's reuse of assets or similarity to those in Risky's Revenge, I wonder how large the game will be when it is completed or how different the world will be compared to that of its predecessor.  Also, the inventory at the bottom screen remained fairly inactive throughout the demo, almost feeling like an empty placeholder above all else.  I suspect the bottom screen will allow a map display at some point, but the demo felt a touch too basic regardless.  Outside of these concerns, the game felt as good if not better than the previous Shantae games, especially with higher-resolution graphics and a widescreen display through which to admire the experience.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse releases some time this year for the 3DS Nintendo eShop.  Meanwhile, the series' next big game, Half-Genie Hero, is slated for PC, PS3, PS4, PSVita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U sometime in 2014.

Tony:

Located in Nintendo’s separate eShop room, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse was playable, and I got to get some brief moments with the game. The demo took place within a stone dungeon filled with a variety of enemies and hazards. The game’s controls were similar to that of the other Shantae games, full of jumping and hair swatting at baddies. During my playthrough, I not only had Shantae hair smacking shadowy pirates but also a crab mini-boss that I could only hit when its defenses were down, which was only when it was preparing to attack. There were also these flying bats that found pleasure in knocking me into pits constantly. Besides defeating the usually enemy, using the hair I was also able to find hidden areas filled with money-laden urns and activate switches that moved cages suspended from the ceiling. By standing in a cage when I hit the switches, Shantae would be carried with the cage around walls and over pits. However, further into the demo, these switches were too far away for Shantae’s hair to reach and required a new ability: Risky’s Gun. This not only worked as a projectile weapon but also as a puzzle-solving too; it could activate faraway switches allowing me access to parts deeper into the dungeon. It will be interesting to see what other pirate abilities you can acquire throughout her journey.

Graphically, the game was made up entirely of sprites, which is the norm for most WayForward titles. Whenever Shantae whipped her hair or an enemy moved in for the attack, the animations where both crisp and fluid. The game also looked good in 3d although it was not necessary to have on in order to enjoy the game. One neat 3D effect was whenever the cages moved, they would slide into the background with Shantae and then move back forward again into the new spot. Little things like that are neat touches that I hope fill this title.

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse played smoothly just like the other titles in the series. Even though it was just a small taste, I already enjoy the subtle 3D effects as they come into play as well as the new pirate power-ups. Due out later this year on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, this well animated title is one to look out for.

PAX East 2013: Tengami (Nyamyam)

Interview:

Gameplay:

Alex:

In the midst of all the insanity of PAX East's Indie Megabooth, we caught sight of a much calmer but equally enticing title on the floor: Nyamyam's Tengami.  We got to speak with Jennifer Schneidereit about the game and developing as a smaller developer.  We also have some footage of the game from the showfloor for those curious about the gameplay.

Tengami is a stylistic adventure in the world of a pop-up book.  You take control of a Japanese warrior who comes to life with the power of a cherry blossom, and from there you venture through the wilderness to learn more about the world and the mysterious happenings around you.  Nyamyam made sure to display the story in a more subtle way, fitting to the more casual, relaxed experience of the game.  As relaxed as the music and game might feel, the artstyle is striking and bold, designed in a mix of papercraft and Japanese traditional artwork.

Players do not control the character directly but instead select the point for him to approach.  Throughout the world, certain items or the side of the world will glow faintly, hinting that movement with them is possible.  By grabbing those glowing parts and pulling over the screen, the object reacts as though you are manipulating a real pop-up book.  In the demo, I encountered a few short puzzles involving a broken bridge or a fallen staircase, and all it took was a flick of the finger to pull things back into place.  There were times, however, where things were not as simple as a single pull across the screen.  In one instance, a wolf continued to undo my handy work, so I had to find a way to get it to fall asleep with its pack in order to venture quietly around it.  World manipulation and item collection were key to solving puzzles, and all the while, the game maintained its pop-up style consistently.

I really took to the game's slower pace, as it greatly contrasted with some of the other games I had experienced at PAX.  If the game keeps the pace throughout its adventure, I think this game will definitely fit into a more casual, chilled yet rewarding experience on mobile devices, as well as other platforms, too.

Tengami releases on the iOS App Store this Summer, followed by PC and Mac releases later this year.  A Wii U version is planned afterward at this time.

PAX East 2013: DuckTales Remastered

Perhaps the biggest surprise coming into PAX East 2013 was the announcement of DuckTales Remastered, a full graphical remake of the original NES classic DuckTales.  Developed by the famed Wayfoward Technologies and published by Capcom, this adventure is expected to bring back the old school gameplay that the game was known for while also providing a greatly improved presentation.

DuckTales Remastered is a full remake of the original NES title developed by Capcom.  Of course, the game has plenty of additional elements to it that is expected of games this generation.  The world environments have been fully modeled in 3D, and the sprites themselves have become fully cel-animated, a style that fits Wayforward's pedigree (see A Boy and His Blob, BloodRayne: Betrayal, and Mighty Switch Force for examples on their sprite animations).  Furthermore, the game features additional story elements to better explain the situations in the full game, and the audio has been completely redone, complete with the original voicecast of the series!

Unfortunately, we did not get to play the game at the showfloor, thanks to the continually capped line to the game, but we did get some footage for us all to enjoy.

DuckTales Remastered is expected to release this year for XBLA, PSN, Wii U eShop, and possibly PC.

PAX East 2013: Cult County

Alex:

Renegade Kid was showing off their already-released and soon-to-be released titles at PAX East 2013, but they were also showing off another project, the newly announced Cult County.  While the demo was only an atmospheric one, we still have a footage of us wandering it and listening to direct game audio, too!

Cult County, says Director Jools Watsham, takes place in a small county in Texas, and the story involves a cult with an affinity for the occult.  He would not give in-depth explanations regarding the plot, and it seems likely the case because, as opposed to Renegade Kid's previous games, Cult County will be an episodic one.  Providing much of the plot now might spoil the experience later on.  Provided the games sell well, new episodes will be released in "seasons" over time.  So far, Watsham says we should be expecting as many as two seasons right now, three episodes a piece.  The first episode will run about four hours in length, but the length of other episodes will have to remain a mystery for now.

In the demo, I controlled someone wielding a wrench, which I could swing in front of me at my discretion.  Using the Circle Pad Pro, I was able to look around the landscape and the demo area with minimal effort.  The distant landmarks were distorted in a sandstorm, and what I could see looked worn and unkempt.  The building I walked around was boarded up and written upon, and when I attacked it with my wrench, it made an audible thump and recoiled the item back.  No clipping through the house, here!  Considering the size of the team, the graphics are certainly looking good so far, and we were told they were going to take this game slowly, so I expect plenty of polish from the team by the time it releases.  One thing is certain: the demo left me with plenty of questions I hope to see answered as we get closer to its release.

Cult County will be releasing on the 3DS eShop starting 2014.

PAX East 2013: Mutant Mudds Deluxe

Alex:

At Renegade Kid's booth, Mutant Mudds Deluxe was one of two games on display that featured completed gameplay mechanics (the other being the already-released ATV Wild Ride 3D).  For those of you who have not heard of Mutant Mudds, the game is a retro-style platformer in which players control a young boy Max who is trying to rid the world of Mutant Mudds, evil comet-borne creatures which have taken over the land.  Using a water gun and jetpack with the help of his Grannie, Max must collect the Water Sprites in order to remove them from the world before it is too late.


Deluxe is the fourth iteration of Mutant Mudds, the first having been released on 3DS and then subsequently on the App Store and PC.  While this might seem like a bit too many ports, Deluxe has added a number of new features this time around.  For one, on the Wii U, the game is displayed in widescreen HD and will allow for play on the Wii U GamePad, but the biggest addition in Deluxe is a portal to access 20 new Ghost Levels.

In the Ghost Levels, the Mudds have become ghostly beings, and new monsters appear throughout twisted versions of the normal levels.  Platforms shift and move around from poltergeists unseen, and what is worse, the Ghost Mudds cannot be harmed by the water gun whatsoever!  Instead, Max has to avoid the monsters at all costs, which can be made even more difficult when players want to collect all of the diamonds in a level.  Thankfully, there is one power up, a dirt gun, that allows Max to harm Ghost Mudds in these levels, but the gun has limited ammo, so players better be conservative if they want to survive.

From what I played at PAX East, Mutant Mudds Deluxe felt very similar to that of the 3DS original.  Max moves at a decent pace across the screen, although with the widescreen image it might feel a little slower to some.  The graphics pop out quite effectively in its retro style, and the subtle blurring of each layer of the world helps make distinguishing which level is which easier, especially when there is no 3D display to use.  As for the ghost world, I found the challenge to be a notch higher than most of the game's original stages, and considering I was only in the first stages, they are going to be quite the challenge.  In other stages, even the Grannie stages, I could move gingerly across each area and attack each Mudd one at a time, but being slow in the Ghost Levels would do me minimal good, especially since I could not defeat a vast majority of the enemies in them.  Even the moving landscape itself was an obstacle that got the best of me, crushing me on a mad dash to the other side.  These stages will definitely require some retries to get through without a scratch!

The game felt very effective with the GamePad, and the additional stages look to change the gameplay in a significant enough way so as to keep the whole game fresh, and as a plus, the new stages do not require the whole game's completion to start access.  Mutant Mudds Deluxe looks like the definitive version of the game, and those who already have the 3DS version might find these additions good enough to warrant a double-dip.  I know I'm ready for it.

Mutant Mudds Deluxe is expected for release around May/June of this year for the Wii U eShop.

PAX East 2013: Renegade Kid Interview

Last year, we got to speak with Jools Watsham, the Co-Creator and Director at developer Renegade Kid.  He was not there to show off any game specifically at the floor, but we did get to have a lengthy interview about his games and origins in game design, not to mention a preview of Bomb Monkey, his latest project at the time.

But this year, his company Renegade Kid took part in the Indie Megabooth, and we got to speak with him again, this time surrounding the games at his booth and those to come in the future!  Check our other articles for more footage and impressions.

ATV Wild Ride 3D is out now on the Nintendo 3DS eShop.  Mutant Mudds Deluxe is expected for May/June release this year on the Wii U eShop.  Cult County will begin to emerge on 3DS eShop in 2014.  We will have to wait on their other projects, but one will be seen sooner rather than later for 3DS.

3RM @ NYCC 2012: Crashmo Impressions and Video

Tony:

In December 2011, Nintendo released the downloadable title Pushmo on the 3DS eShop. Critically praised for both its ingenuity and challenge, the game revolved around pushing and pulling colored blocks to create platforms needed to climb up the puzzle to reach the ending. Less than a year later, Nintendo has announced a sequel to Pushmo, Crashmo, which was playable at its New York Comic Con booth. Deep down I felt I was prepared for anything Nintendo would throw at me in Crashmo given the hours I had spent with Pushmo. However, within moments of getting my hands on the game, I quickly learned that the rules of the game had changed, making what would be a simple puzzle in Pushmo into a far more elaborate challenge in Crashmo.

Continuing the Pushmo franchise, Crashmo retains Pushmo’s colorful visuals and simplified characters. This playful exterior hides the game’s more challenging nature.  The same goes for the game’s soundtrack, which again is claming and fun while not being too intrusive. This is important since a more intrusive song would have tested my patience while I tried to complete a puzzle for the fifth time in a row.

Much like the visuals, the game’s controls were nearly identical to Pushmo. Mallo, the game’s lovable sumo protagonist, walks, jumps, pulls and pushes just like he did in Pushmo, but there is now the added feature to rotate the camera 360 degrees. Although I did not have to do that with the puzzles I played, it was a sign of things to come.

Like Pushmo, the point of the game is to reach the goal usually located at the top of the puzzle. However, how Mallo gets there has changed considerably.  Unlike the blocks in Pushmo that can be stretched or squished to make platforms, all the blocks in Crashmo are solid and cannot change shape. This meant I had to create stairs and platforms using the blocks provided. Besides being solid, these blocks are also affected by gravity, falling straight down until they hit another block, the floor, or Mallo, who can hold the blocks up but cannot not do anything else while under them. Since Moe couldn’t pick the blocks up if I made a mistake, the rewind function became even more useful here than in Pushmo.

One factor that does not affect the blocks is fiction. No matter how many blocks are on top of or next to the block Moe pushes, he will push the block and move any blocks in its way. However, any block that is not in the way such as the blocks on top remain in place and fall down with gravity. This adds new frustrations and strategies to the puzzles. In one puzzle, I needed a certain block to remain on top of another block while at the same time getting another block from the top. In order to do that, I had to push another block in front so when I pushed the bottom block, the block I wanted to stay remained because it was blocked (no pun intended).

After playing a number of puzzles I can conclude that Crashmo is the prefect sequel to Pushmo. Crashmo retains the same push-pull game play of Pushmo but also changes the rules to the point where it requires a brand new approach to solving the puzzles. I look forward to screaming at my 3DS when this comes out this November.

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Alex:

I was not prepared for Crashmo.  I thought I was, having played through the vast majority of its predecessor, but I was still unprepared for the insanity Crashmo presented at Nintendo’s New York Comic Con booth this year.

Crashmo is the sequel to last year’s 3DS eShop hit, Pushmo.  Our sumo friend Mallo has returned again, but this time, the blocks he moves go in every direction possible.  The game begins with Mallo meeting up with Papa Blox who introduces him to his grandniece Poppy.  Mallo greets her with a sumo pose, but the force of his pose scares all of Poppy’s birds away, leaving Mallo to go find them for her!  Unlike Pushmo, however, the birds land on top of a very different type of block formation.

Crashmo’s goal may be similar, but the concepts behind the gameplay itself are quite different.  In Pushmo, Mallo had to pull out color segments from images so that he could reach the top and rescue the child trapped in the Pushmo.  In Crashmo, though, Mallo has to push and pull blocks which stack upon one another and obey the laws of gravity (for the most part).  This makes moving a single block much more complicated; one bad move could lead to the whole puzzle falling to pieces.  In Pushmo, puzzles could be taken one layer at a time, but with Crashmo, a bit more foresight must be used to correctly build the puzzle into a stairway to the bird.  It is this change that ultimately makes Crashmo even more puzzling than its predecessor.

Aesthetically, the game matches that if Pushmo very closely.  All of the characters and environments resemble that of Pushmo, and the music is just as cheerful and soothing as ever.  Building and sharing levels are still major elements of the game, but from the looks of it, the levels still need to be shared via QR codes.  Still, I cannot wait for the deluge of puzzles created from Pushmo puzzles and vice versa.  It just might be a little more difficult to produce these new puzzles initially.

I found myself having trouble grasping the fact that moving a block only moved that one block, regardless of whether other blocks were standing atop of the moved block.  I guess the blocks do not have any real friction in this world.  Either way, walking into Crashmo with Pushmo experience was partly ineffective.  I would say that anyone who thought Pushmo was too easy or too difficult might be singing a completely different tune with Crashmo.  It takes the idea of Pushmo and makes it unique again.

I just hope I will finally be prepared when Crashmo comes out November.  Or else I'll need to tape the 3DS to my hands so as not to throw it against the wall!

eShop Ratings-Sales: April 2012

Due to PAX East postings, I had been too busy to make these articles.  However, I will be posting March and April's Sales-Ratings articles now that PAX East coverage is just about complete.  Now, onto the disclaimer.

The Nintendo eShop is Nintendo's online shop through the 3DS where people can download games from old Nintendo hardware, DSiWare games, and new download software specific for the 3DS. Because Nintendo does not disclose sales numbers, and developers are most likely barred from revealing them, we do not know how games are doing on the service.

But we might have at least a small hint.

After playing a game on the 3DS for over a hour, players are capable of rating these games via the eShop, and the totals are shown on each game page, showing up to five stars based on what the population thinks. At the very least, we now have minimum sales figures for the games, but with a very large disclaimer: these numbers represent the users who have done the following:

1) Purchased the game
2) Played the game for over an hour on the 3DS, and
3) Chose to rate the game on the eShop.

People who play the games on their DSi systems cannot rate games, nor can people who have not played the games for less than one hour. Since rating cannot be done outside of the eShop, some might have forgotten to or chosen not to rate said games. Also note that a rating does not necessarily correspond with a sale in the month in which it appears, only emphasizing the number of additional people who completed the above steps.

With that disclaimer in mind, check after the jump to see how everything did.

eShop Sales-Ratings: March 2012

Due to PAX East postings, I had been too busy to make these articles.  However, I will be posting March and April's Sales-Ratings articles now that PAX East coverage is just about complete.  Now, onto the disclaimer.

The Nintendo eShop is Nintendo's online shop through the 3DS where people can download games from old Nintendo hardware, DSiWare games, and new download software specific for the 3DS. Because Nintendo does not disclose sales numbers, and developers are most likely barred from revealing them, we do not know how games are doing on the service.

But we might have at least a small hint.

After playing a game on the 3DS for over a hour, players are capable of rating these games via the eShop, and the totals are shown on each game page, showing up to five stars based on what the population thinks. At the very least, we now have minimum sales figures for the games, but with a very large disclaimer: these numbers represent the users who have done the following:

1) Purchased the game
2) Played the game for over an hour on the 3DS, and
3) Chose to rate the game on the eShop.

People who play the games on their DSi systems cannot rate games, nor can people who have not played the games for less than one hour. Since rating cannot be done outside of the eShop, some might have forgotten to or chosen not to rate said games. Also note that a rating does not necessarily correspond with a sale in the month in which it appears, only emphasizing the number of additional people who completed the above steps.

With that disclaimer in mind, check after the jump to see how everything did.

PAX East 2012: Bomb Monkey

[This preview is also posted on NintendoWorldReport.com.]

When Renegade Kid first entered the digital distribution scene, it released the well-received platforming adventure Mutant Mudds on the Nintendo eShop.  Now, Renegade Kid is continuing its releases with a puzzle game starring a monkey with a tendency to throw bombs.  This game has been kept under wraps for the last month or so, but at PAX East 2012, I was able to get a brief but satisfying preview of the game’s early build with Renegade Kid’s Jools Watsham.

Bomb Monkey stands as a unique 3DS Download Software title because it does not make use of the 3D screen, at least in the form I played.  The 3DS is held on its side, with the D-Pad facing the player.  At the top of the rotated touch screen is our simian protagonist, and from the bottom of the screen, a tower of colored stone blocks rise.  If any part of this rising tower reaches the monkey, the game is over.  In order to prevent this, players move the monkey along the rail at the top of the screen with the D-Pad, and pressing down releases what he holds toward the rising blocks below.  The game also has touch-screen controls for those who find the D-Pad awkward, but for me the D-Pad was sufficient.

However, just dropping blocks will not diminish the others below, but that is where the Bomb part of Bomb Monkey comes into play.  Every few blocks, Bomb Monkey pulls out a large bomb, which upon colliding with a block explodes into a cross explosion, reminiscent of Bomberman’s weaponry.  Any block that is hit with the explosion will be destroyed, and any connected group of like-colored blocks, when ignited, will be destroyed at once.  To make things even more complex, there are a number of unique blocks which affect the bomb’s explosive path.  Blocks which are covered in chains must be hit twice by an explosion to be destroyed, and that can lead to some broken combos.  Amid the blocks are boxes with arrows pointing either left and right or up and down; igniting these boxes cause great explosions which cover an entire row or column, depending on the arrows’ directions.  Over the course of the game, bombs covered with the letters B O M and B again, when all collected, will cause Bomb Monkey to go into frenzy, throwing ten bombs in a row for complete block demolition!

The game’s early build seemed fairly complete, having at least three modes available to try out.  There is an Endless Mode, in which players play Bomb Monkey until they ultimately fail.  Once I had explored that mode, Jools sent me and my brother to 2-Player Battle Mode, using one handheld.  One player controls the D-Pad, while the other controls with the four face buttons.  Here, the game plays similarly to that of the normal mode, but as you blow up larger combos, more blocks randomly descend on the other player.  I will admit that I lost, but I was close, darn it!

The game also has a 2-Player Cooperative mode and a special Rescue Mode, where Bomb Monkey must help destroy cages to free his friends (hopefully they can stand explosions!).  When pressed about leaderboards, Jools said the game would not have online features of the sort.  Considering that, the game appears to be more of an offline affair, so those expecting online multiplayer or shared leaderboards should lower their expectations a little.  Bomb Monkey will not be as deep or as large of an experience as Mutant Mudds, and the game, without having an actual price announced, will be aiming a bit lower than Renegade Kid’s first eShop title.

Despite those missing features, the game stood out as an addictive experience.  The concept seems simple, but the added modes and different blocks make the game more puzzling than your basic falling block title, especially when you are the one dropping the blocks which can ultimately become your downfall.

Bomb Monkey is nearing its completion, and barring any major problems, it should be out in the coming months.  Be there or be square (and you know what happens to square things in Bomb Monkey!).