A good day for Wii owners.
Hell, it’s a good day to be a console owner in general, with Mass Effect 2 on the Xbox 360 and M.A.G on the Playstation 3! Anyway I’m already having fun with both games and I’ll say expect a Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All Stars as my first fighter review by Sunday/Monday! Have fun this week everybody!
Kinda tired, so I’ll just drop these off here for your pleasure and get a write up on the blog tomorrow.
More can be found at my Youtube account: Hyperfludd Media
Hyperfludd Media will be covering the Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All Stars pre-launch event this Saturday at the Nintendo World Store! Expect pictures, videos and the usual coverage! It’s been a good while since the last NWS event I covered, so I can’t wait to dive headfirst into the first event of the 2010!
Dark Void Zero
DSiWare
Developer/Publisher: Other Ocean/Capcom
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Price: 500 Nintendo Points on the Nintendo DSiWare Shop
You’ve got to hand it to Capcom. They sure know how handle retro games, be it remakes (Bionic Commando Rearmed) or brand new affairs (Megaman 9), It’ll be high quality stuff. Their newest retro based game, Dark Void Zero does not disrupt that fact.
You can tell Capcom spent alot of time on this game simply on all the backstory they created for the game. From dual screened arcade cabinets to Jimmy Fallon (Seriously!), the “history” of Dark Void Zero is definitely something fun to read up on. You can start off here at Capcom Unity.
However, is all this marketing hype simply hiding a lame attempt at promoting the release of Dark Void on the 360 and PS3? After a great game session, I’m going to have to say no!
Oh, Capcom!
As soon as you boot it up, Dark Void Zero tosses retro charm in your face. As seen above, you actually have to blow into the DSi’s microphone to get to the game’s main menu. (Of course if you’re in public and prefer not to do so, you can simply press A) You are greeted with fantastic bitmusic from Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica) and a simple menu. Select your difficulty and start up the game by learning about the backstory of Earth’s struggle with the Watchers, an alien race trying to create a stable portal to invade Earth fullforce.
Hover & Kill
Teaming up with the brilliant scientist Nikolai Tesla, you take control of Rusty and jet pack your way into facilities, stealing keycards and shooting badguys. The top screen gives you a metriodvania-type map, while the touch screen houses all of the gameplay. Using the map, you must run, gun and hover towards objectives that Nikolai sets out for you. Simple controls and clear settings make for great handling in this plataformer/shooter.
Decent enemy and weapon/item variety ensures that things don’t get stale and secondary objectives such as finding old captain’s logs and eliminating enemy scientists give you reason to explore every nook and cranny of the map. Doing this all while fantastic bitmusic plays proves to be one of the most fun and polished experiences on DSiWare. However, it’s because of all this that it’s one flaw becomes incredibly apparent. It ends too soon.
Dark Void Zero only has 3 levels. Why must something so fun, end so quickly? Sure, you can replay the game on higher difficulty settings (Easy, Normal & Hard) and try to best your highscore, but I still would have liked to see some more of Rusty’s adventures in the void.
Overall, I would recommend Dark Void Zero to those who want a good quick (maybe too quick) action game during commute or to those already crazy with the Dark Void universe. (That was early!) Capcom, I hope you continue working on projects like this, making retro styled games in line with your big console releases. Make Lost Planet Zero happen!
+Incredibly fun & polished
+GREAT MUSIC
=You fight the same boss over the 3 levels, albeit with improvements.
-It’s short.
-Did I mention it’s short?
(Edit – Winner has been picked! Please check the email you used to comment to see if you have won!)
Already at the middle of January, I hope time keep this speedy pace. I want this month to be done already, it’s always the most dull (for me anyway!) and nothing fantastic happens. But enough of that, let’s talk video games!
Darksiders (360/PS3) "Think God of War meets The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" - IGN.com
This month starts with heavy hitters (Bayonetta, Darksiders), a little DS rpg flavor in the middle (Sands of Destruction, Glory of Heracles), and ends with a Wii flavored bang (Tatsunoko VS Capcom, No More Heroes 2) as well as some potentially great downloads (Matt Hazard, VVVVVV).
VVVVVV (PC/Mac) "VVVVVV is a fantastic little indie game that's worth experiencing." - Kotaku.com
So what new games are you planning on picking up for the rest of this month? Share it with everyone else, and your comment may be randomly picked to receive a Star Trek Online PC Beta Code! (Include “STO” at the end of your comment to be eligible. This is only up to Sunday @ 11:59 pm, then I’ll just give it away on Twitter.) Only one winner will be selected. Please make sure your computer can run it so the code doesn’t go to waste!
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii) "TvC should prove to be a must-buy for fighting fans that own a Wii" - G4TV.com
As for me, I was planning to pick up Bayonetta on the PS3, but after seeing first hand the sloppy port job SEGA gave it, I decided to avoid it. (At least until it’s patched?) Darksiders will take it’s place, as it looks attractive and fun. Nothing this month for the DS, saving that for Edgeworth next month! Tatsunoko vs Capcom & No More Heroes 2 are definitely on my Day-1 list, been waiting for these games for what feels like forever!
I loved the demos for VVVVVV & Matt Hazard: Blood, Bath & Beyond, but they both suffer a small problem. Both titles are priced at $15, which feels like a tad too much. VVVVVV is a game everyone should try, it’s simply fantastic. I would love it to be ported to DSiWare for 1000 Nintendo Points. You must simply try the demo. Matt Hazard continues his saga, parodying games and such, this time in a side scroller ala Metal Slug. Co-op is fun, but again feels $5 too much.
I’ll try to write whatever I can about these games as I get them, otherwise until next month!
My Sackboy: "Hero"
“A Holiday Mission 2! Santa VS Pirates!” was supposed to release, well during the holidays! Unfortunally, a surprise trip away home came up and I had to delay it’s release. I see this as a good thing, as now I have some time to polish up the stage.
I’m going to admit it right now, the title is a bit misleading. You won’t actually see Santa in combat with pirates. Instead, like last year’s stage, you will fight the pirates in his place! Oh that Santa, why didn’t he store his power in his socks or something!
You'll never see Santa frown!
The story starts out similar to the first “Holiday Mission!”, Santa lost his hat (which grants him most of his power) and he summons you with the little power he has left to aid him. Where did he drop the hat this time? Over the small town Port Alanta, the starting point for all pirates on LittleBigPlanet! All kinds of Pirates come and go here for various purposes like restocking or having a good time. Santa summons you just outside a small port close to the Islands (Yep, I like continuity in my stages!) and lucky for you, a friendly pirate named Pauro tells you about some red floating over to Port Alanta and offers you his paddle boats to make the long trip over there!
Once you make it to the port, you wander around town until a pirate steps out of the shadows, offering you the location of the hat if you just do one thing for him: get a golden coin out of the town’s linked wells. Sounds pretty easy right? As soon as you dive in, the well closes off and now you’re stuck underwater! So much for nice first time.
Is this some kind of advanced well filtering system!?
With the way out shut off, you dive down deep into the well, lucky enough to find a supply of air bubbles and a large puzzle regarding colored key pieces. Once you figure out the which key goes where, the coin will escape from it’s prison and you swim out of the second linked well with it. You meet the pirate from the shadows again, and he has Santa’s hat! As you move closer to grab the hat, it’s revealed that the pirate is actually the captain of the infamous Big Spider Crew! He informs you the coin is actually something powerful and proceeds to knock you out and take you to his small base outside of Port Alanta. Tossed into a guarded jail with no hope of escape, how the heck will you get out of this mess and save the holidays for LittleBigPlanet? You’ll have to play the stage to find out~! But here’s a little peek..
Can anyone say Jolly Torpedos?
You can expect the stage to hit LBP servers sometime this Thursday! And about a week after that I’ll write up a aftermath of the stage, filled with commentary and the such!
PS: To those who are waiting for more levels in my story driven series “LBP: Invasion” (not final title), I would suggest periodically checking out the blog this month 
Hey folks, hows the new year treating you? Made any of those new year resolutions yet? I know I have! I’m going to make sure I follow them too, starting with this blog. The main word here for me is FINISH. I will FINISH my reviews, especially if I’m considering taking a career where that is important. I will FINISH my LBP stages, and without a doubt flesh out on the little story I have for them. I will FINISH up all I have to do to get into a college. As for Minimods…I really want to continue that. Ideas for it and whatnot still fly around my head, and it kills me I don’t share it. So if I can’t continue Minimods, I will at the very least give it closure.
Am I missing anything else? Hmm..doesn’t seem like it. Expect more out of this blog this year! =P
NOBY NOBY BOY
Playsation 3
Developer/Publisher: Namco Bandai
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Price: $4.99 on the Playstation Store & Amazon.com
You play as BOY, a worm like creature who eats and stretches for GIRL, a larger female world creature who stretches around the galaxy. The more BOY stretches, the more GIRL can and wrap herself around other planets. This process in whole is a community metagame where every single BOY’s (Players) stretch count is added to GIRL. The more people play, the more planets GIRL can get to, and the more places GIRL can get to, the more weird levels BOY can play around in.
The controls are very easy, mainly using the dual analog sticks to control each end of BOY and the shoulder buttons to hop and eat almost anything in the crazy levels, which are filled with insane things. If you played any of the Katamari Damacy games, you might be used to this sort of thing! The game also includes an offline multiplayer mode where up to 4 BOYS can stretch around to their heart’s content on one screen. (Player 1 controls the incredible but hard to master camera.)
Overall, NOBY NOBY BOY is a very weird, but oddly charming game, and worth the 5 dollars just to experience the weirdness yourself. The game includes leaderboards as well as a screenshot taking tool and a direct Youtube upload feature where you can share your stretching techniques or something incredibly odd with others on Youtube easily.
+ Odd & charming
+ Awesome community features (Youtube & Leaderboard support, screenshot tool)
= Getting more levels to play around in is a community process, and may take a while
- The charm may not be for everyone.
- Camera may take some getting used to.
What time is it?
Algebraic! During the season finale of Total Drama Action, small teasers for Adventure Time with Finn & Jake were sprinkled over the TDA airwaves. Short but sweet, each teaser ended with a 2010 date, meaning we will finally be able to see Finn & Jake in new adventures soon! If you don’t know what Adventure Time is, I suggest you check out the video below.
One of the teasers for the show can be seen on CartoonNetwork.com. (It will be the first video that plays.)
The awesome cartoon news doesn’t end there, Cartoon Network recently put out a press release that not only mentions Adventure Time, but also mentions another season/more episodes for The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. But wait! There’s more! CN also mentions in the PR the greenlighting of 2 new cartoons: Regular Show and Horrorbots! I’ve seen the pilot of Regular Show during the whole Cartoonstitute YouTube Vote a few months ago, and I loved it! As for Horrorbots, I look forward to checking it out as the premise sounds funny.
What would make this better? If Danger Planet got greenlit. But for now, I’m very happy with how 2010 will start, videogame and cartoon wise!
How I feel!
I do believe I aced the interview at Toys ‘R’ Us! Sure it’s a holiday position, but money is money no? As a result, I picked up 2 games to celebrate this occasion. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Metal Slug 7, both for the Nintendo DS. I played a bit of Spirit Tracks and I have to say, it’s great! Having Zelda travel around with you is really a great concept. In other news, I picked up Rayman on DSiWare and plan to review it later this week, so watch out for that!