posted by Mike on December 20, 2007 10:20 AM in Video Game Review
Fire Emblem, Japan's darling 17 year old RPG/RTS series (finally sailing to North America on the GBA in 2003), has stepped into the next-gen with an appearance on the Wii: Fire Emblem - Radiant Dawn. My first 10 minutes with this title were impressive - a gorgeously designed menu system lead me into the first chapter of the story - an incredible cut-scene offering some of the best visuals I've seen on the Wii. I was introduced to the game's central character, Micaiah, "the silver-haired maiden" and her pet bird. But before you go thinking I fell in love with an RTS that isn't Age of Empires or Final Fantasy Tactics, hit the jump.
continue reading "Review: Fire Emblem - Radiant Dawn (Wii)"
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posted by Chris on July 28, 2006 12:10 PM in Video Game Review
Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo was a charming, insanely fun cult farming game which consumed approximately 2 full years of my life. Even with its strange play controls, Engrish speaking townsfolk and repetitive chore-based gameplay, it was one of the most treasured games in my collection. Ever since then I have been a fan of this quirky series, which as of late has been lackluster. Conversion to 3rd person 3D perspectives on the Playstation and Gamecube consoles have been shaky at best, and seemed to really lack the personality that made the original so special. Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town (and the female version, More Friends of Mineral Town) was, in my opinion, the definitive game in the Harvest Moon franchise. It was expansive, held true to the original, and had huge amounts of replay value. Harvest Moon Magical Melody, a Gamecube exclusive, may just wrestle the title of best Harvest Moon game ever away from its GBA counterpart.
continue reading "Video Game Review: Harvest Moon Magical Melody (Gamecube)"
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posted by Chris on October 30, 2005 2:04 PM in Podcast
This past week, I was lucky enough to be flown up to Vancouver BC by our friends at Nintendo to meet the guys at Next Level Games, creators of Super Mario Strikers for the Nintendo Gamecube.
Now, I am from the Seattle area anyway, so it wasn't too tough for them to fly me out to Canada, but it is still amazing to be able to fly to one country in the morning and be back from said country in the evening. Whirlwind trip, woo! I felt like a little kid who just won a contest in Nintendo Power by sending in the best crayon drawing of Mario eating a mushroom or something. Next Level Games has some pretty nice studios, all in a loft in old town Vancouver. The studios are set up in a very open format, with the producers, programmers, artists, and even testers sharing a big open area. This actually makes a lot of sense, considering it would therefore be easy for an artist to yell over their shoulder if something needs to be tweaked, or for a producer to throw heavy objects at a tester who isn't doing his job properly. Well, maybe in that situation it wouldn't be so good for the tester. After a fancy tour and breakfast, we sat down in Next Level's awesome break room with their GIGANTIC HDTV and got to play the game.
Note to self: avoid playing games against developers of said games. They will most likely school you. Hard.
The game itself is very good, certainly more polished than the version we got to play at E3. The gameplay is also very different from other Mario Sports titles. Nintendo specifically came to Next Level to create a unique experience, and they got a team that seems very passionate about playing games and making them. In Super Mario Strikers, you see Toad with a scowl, angry-face Mario and sassy ass-slapping Peach. Yes, that's right. Peach slaps her own ass. There is an electrified fence all the way around the soccer field, which you can body check other players into, giving them a jolt and causing them to scream horribly. The developers mentioned that they surprised the voice actors they had to work with, because they had never had to make Peach scream horribly, or Toad grunt as if he were exerting himself kicking a ball. And it's true, the visceral sound effects make for a more emotional experience, which is something they really pressed at the meeting. They wanted you to know that they really focused on making Super Mario Strikers more mature, more emotional, more passionate than other Mario sports titles. That may sound silly at first, but when you actually play the game, you notice that attention to detail.
The thing that really sold me on the game, however, was knowing that these guys have been playing this game non-stop for over a year, and they are still playing it every single day, cheering and trash talking like they just picked it up. A game with that kind of replayability, especially when you are looking at people who's job it is to play the game, is worth checking out. I had the opportunity to interview Game Designer Mike Inglehart and Producer Ken Yeeloy, which you can download here. They were very eager to discuss their game, and I think I asked them some fairly unique questions. Download it and enjoy it!
Overall, my impressions of Super Mario Strikers are positive. I think that Nintendo was wise to bring in new blood for a new Mario Sports title, and as long as they market the game correctly and try to seperate it from the other Mario Sports titles, I think that it could be a big hit. There are tons of modes to play through, and Next Level even got to design their own original playable character for the game. Now that is trust.
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