Fire Emblem Awakening

Overview:
Whether you are a new comer to the series or a veteran, this is a great game to jump into. The world in Fire Emblem is under attack by the Risen, a horde of zombie like fallen warriors. It’s up to your team to stop them. Your main team revolves around Prince Chrom, his royal sisters, other members of his realm, and various characters you can recruit. One day, they happen to meet Robin, who is essentially your avatar character. You have the choice to make the avatar male or female, and you can even choose how he or she looks and sounds. It’s a nice feature. The game shows a dark flashback involving Robin and Chrom and a dark figure where some not-so-nice stuff happens. This sets up the entire plot of the game. Trust, friendship, and family are the main undertones. That, and total world annihilation. Eventually you will meet a mysteriously effeminate knight named Marth, who seems to have traveled to your time from the future. This is where the story really gets going.

Choose your destiny.

Can I call you, maybe?

Gameplay:
Fire Emblem Awakening is pretty straight forward when it comes to being a turn-based strategy game. There are some really awesome elements that make playing this game fun. There are also some that might make you want to throw your system out the window. While you are in battle you have the ability to team up with other characters. This can make getting through some tough battles much easier. Teaming up the same characters often will increase their relationship status. Some characters can even get married. I’ll get into that more later. Now the frustrating part. Depending on what game-mode you choose, characters can be killed in battle. When they die in battle they do not come back. Luckily the game allows you to choose whether this feature is on or off. Leveling up you characters and grinding is crucial to keeping them alive in battle. Another way to level up and get stronger is by street-passing fellow 3DS owners and battling their teams. This will also increase you renown points, which can be exchanged for special items or weapons. On a separate note, the music for the game is also wonderful. It’s among some of the best an RPG has to offer. A large portion of battles even feature fully orchestrated scores. The over world map music always got me pumped.

RPG: Now with more "Talk"!

"Yall don't want to see my hand where my hilt be at!"

Graphics:
This game looks great. Character designs are gorgeously illustrated. The 3D character models are also fantastic. Battle maps are a 3D top-down grid map with 2D sprites for the characters. When you enter an enemy encounter though you will switch to a 3D polygonal world. The fights look amazing and the animation of the characters is really well done. You can also switch the camera angle between a free moving camera, a fixed side angle, or even a first person mode. All of these options look even better when you have the 3D effect turned on. The game’s story mode also features some beautiful CG cut-scenes for main story sequences.

Obligatory 3D hand reach toward the camera.

Characters:
As I mentioned, characters can get married or die. These two factors can effect the total number and variety of characters you can recruit throughout the game. Some characters have the potential to reach an “S-rank” relationship status with certain other characters. When this happens they can get married. After a certain point in the game you will be able to recruit the couple’s children from the future. This means to get all the characters you have to carefully plan your relationships. Now, here is the catch. If you happened (ahem) to have left your useless magic caster to accidentally die close to the end of a very difficult battle like I did, than you will never get their children later on in the game. This element of the game play often feels more like a dating-sim than an RPG. But it’s very fun.

Their lives are in you hands. I hope you don't have butter-fingers.

DLC:
Fire Emblem has some of the most robust downloadable content I have ever seen. Offering free content once a week for anybody with a wi-fi signal to download. You can also purchase map-packs after a certain point in the game. Some focus on classic character recruitment while others focus on gaining experience or money. Prices are reasonable too. But there are a lot available, so things could add up

But, it may hurt your wallet.

Final thoughts:
I’ve had a lot of positive things to say about this game. It is an absolutely fun TBS game. I found myself spending an extra 20 hours just leveling my characters up and building more relationships before tackling the final boss. But there were a few things that bothered me. The game is heavily focused on character relationship building. This means there are a lot of characters to manage and dialogue sequences to go through. The problem is that after you meet and recruit characters then go through their various chains of dialogue they essentially have no more use to the main plot. Which may not bother many, but it seemed to detract from the overall enjoyment of the story for me. A large majority of the character relationship chats are humorous and very well written, but they go nowhere in terms of the main plot. The game Valkyrie Chronicles 2 for the PSP has a similar character recruitment premise. The thing is, characters can’t permanently die in that game. This allows the writers to work every character into and out of the main plot more believably and easily. So, what is one of the most interesting and fun parts of Fire Emblem Awakening ends up keeping it from being an ultimately stronger story where all the characters feel like they have a bigger impact on it.

My second gripe is how leveling up and grinding without the use of the DLC maps (which make this almost laughably easy) can be tiresome. Especially on harder difficulties. I’ve never been a proponent of the idea of making something intentionally difficult, but then saying it’s okay because you can buy maps that make it easier or exploit some item over and over again to grind. I feel like it should be a little bit more balanced from the start. Neither of these two problems make this game anything but amazing though. Don’t misunderstand me. These were just personal issues. I put over 50 completely enjoyable hours into this amazing game and so should you. I highly recommend this game to any 3DS owner out there. Whether you have played a turn-based strategy game, or any other Fire Emblem game, before or not.

Final Call:

GET IT!
+ Great Turn-based Strategy game for new comers and veterans alike.
+ Beautifully designed game world and characters.
+ Lengthy and full of character recruitment challenges that will keep you busy.
- Not getting some of the DLC maps might leave you at a disadvantage on harder settings.
- Character deaths are annoying and keep the game’s story from feeling fuller and more involved.

Thanks for reading!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill
Like us on Facebook/iceblockfilms

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance  

"Hey guys! Mind if I cut in? I promise not to be lame."

Story
This brand new spin-off to the Metal Gear series begins a few years after the events that took place in Metal Gear Solid 4. Putting you (literally) in the sword wielding capable shoes of Raiden. He is now working with a group called “Maverick” who can be hired to provide protection for VIPs and train military groups around the world. But things go bad one mission. Villains are met. Eyes are lost. Egos are bruised. New suits are formed to allow Raiden to basically cut through anything.

The game’s villain group “Desparado” are part cowboys and part samurai. Each is named after different types of windy weather. “Sundowner”, “Monsoon”, and “Mistral”. Then there is “Sam”, The drifter swordsman who just goes where the wind takes him. Get it? They are a good cast of baddies . Each one is scripted to scold and belittle Raiden at every turn. Eventually leading to Raiden’s acceptance of his violent past self. The localization, handled by the crew over at 8-4, is top-notch. Bringing a believable English dialogue to the table. With some odd yet nostalgic retro references sprinkled here and there with love.

"My favorite parts are the CUT-scenes."

Game play
They doesn’t waste anytime at all throwing you into the sword-play madness that is the game play. What seems like an impossibly difficult system is actually relatively easy once you get the hang of it. You can do basic sword attacks, strong attacks (or secondary weapons as the game progresses), and use a variety of sub-weapons. Once you have pummeled your enemy enough you can enter blade-mode.

This is where the true strength of the game lies. Once in this mode, you have the ability to aim your swing and change the angle to your preferred killing position. Then you can go nuts in slow-mo on your po’ foe. It’s something that is extremely fun but difficult to master. You will get better with it as the game progresses whether you like it or not. Most regular enemies and bosses will require the skilled use of blade-mode.

"Let me get a slice of that sweet spinal pie."

Bosses
This game has some great boss fights. All unique, challenging, and cinematic. Each one requiring a different approach to beating them. I don’t want to go into specifics or spoil anything but I will say this. You must master the ability to parry and block attacks. Something the game does not really spell out or tell you when you absolutely need to use it. The “Desperado” team of bad guys is no joke and blocking certain attacks can easily turn the tides of the battle in your favor.

Characters sure use a lot of S WORDS in the boss battles.

Music
Not your normal Metal Gear triumphant Harry Gregson-Williams themes blaring here. No sir. New guy Jamie Christopherson brings in an orchestra of whaling guitars mixed with more subtle sneaking electronic snippets. They both go together very well. Most of the heavy-metal music is saved for the epic boss fights. But it fits perfectly.

Too bad they cut the epic Metal Gear theme from the game.

My Final Thoughts
The game is great. I’ve always been a proud supporter of Raiden. This game didn’t turn me off at all. But it was far from perfect. It lacked the polish of KP’s normal Metal Gear titles and PG’s as well. It definitely felt like two separate teams worked on this title. There were a lot of missed opportunities to tie things together better. Cut-scenes into game play sometimes felt off. Parts of the story often felt intentionally skipped to save time or for no reason at all. Most of the true story of the game is buried within the numerous codec conversations you can initiate at any time. Some of the dialogue exchanges are truly great. Especially the ones you can have with your robotic AI dog “Wolf”.  The problem is, the game gives you no reason to check the codec. In fact, it doesn’t instruct you to do so at all really.

It’s also a pretty short game. I clocked in at about 6 hours until I was done. I’ve got no problem with short games, but why not give the audience a bit more fan service? I know it’s a spin-off, but fans have been with MG through dozens of games. No reason to leave them hanging. Unless there is a plan to fill in the blanks with DLC. There are plenty of VR missions and reasons to play through again. But things do feel a bit slim. Regardless, this game is very much worth a play. The cutting mechanics are simply amazing and need to be played to believe. It’s also great to see Raiden in the spot light again. Let’s hope the game has good enough reception to garner making a sequel with a little more depth and polish. Congrats to another great Metal Gear game!

GET IT!
+ Fantastic game play mechanics.
+ A Raiden spin-off that brings some new stuff to the Metal Gear series.
+ Great group of villains to guide the story along.
- Lacks the polish of other games by both developers.
- Short and feels like some corners were cut to save time (or for DLC).

Thanks for reading!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill
Like us on Facebook/iceblockfilms

If you like the music you can download it here.

Thanks for reading and watching!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill
Like us on Facebook/iceblockfilms

Paper Mario: Sticker Star  

Holy wow! This game is fantastic. I had never really given the Paper Mario series a serious chance until this game. Boy, was it worth the wait. This game is just oozing awesome. Right off the bat this game will get it’s sticky paper hooks into you. It’s minimalistic story (even for a Mario game), and amazing art style will draw you in then the gameplay and world exploration will keep you playing for hours (over 30 last time I counted). Mario is set to save the princess again with the help of Kersti and pieces of the Sticker Star. It’s set up like a normal RPG on the surface, but instead of weapons and leveling up you collect stickers of different attributes and strength. You earn money in battles by winning and more if you perform excellent timing of your attacks. The enemies have some great animations. The system makes good use of the 3D to help you solve puzzles and find secret paths. The bosses are well designed and require some deep thinking to figure out which stickers will beat them. My favorite part of the game is the music. The soundtrack is mostly a real band playing jazz and big band style Mario themes. There were many times while playing I was bobbing my head and tapping my feet to the rhythm as I bashed goombas to a pulp. So what is the final word, will it stick with you like it did me?

GET IT! DUH!
+ Amazing visual style.
+ Fantastic soundtrack.
+ Great 30+ hour RPG.
+ Good use of 3D to help solve puzzles.
- It had to end eventually.

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d you steal our garbage?!!!  

Adventure time! Come on grab your friends! Adventure Time makes it’s first entrance into the Nintendo handheld gaming market with this cool little title. Making throw backs to the retro games of yore, AT does a great job of squeezing the entire world of the series into one game. You will see familiar characters and the music is spot on with the music from the show. The game plays a lot like Zelda II for the original NES (Famicom). The world map is top down and enemies will randomly encounter you. When you go into battle mode or towns the game is set up like a side scroller with platform elements. Things can get a little difficult from time to time though trying to figure out where to go next. You will find yourself traversing across the many mystical lands of AT looking for clues to unlock the next door or cross the next ocean. If you have never watched the AT TV series it might be a bit strange but this game is a good introduction to the characters and the world.  All in all not a bad title.

GET IT!
+ Great retro style game presentation.
+ Good music and fun game play.
+ Stays very true to the series.
- Often difficult to figure out where to go next.
- Might be hard to get into if not a fan of the TV series.

Crimson Shroud
3DS eshop (In Japan part of the “Guild 01″ cartridge) 

Yasumi Matsuno, director of Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, and my personal favorite Vagrant Story is back! This time he teams up with Level-5 for the “Guild 01″ project for his new title Crimson Shroud. This short adventure is set in the style of old school table-top RPGs. Complete with rolling dice for attacks and rolling for initiative. Now, I’ve never been a big fan of those kinds of games. But I have always been a fan of Matsuno’s gaming vision. CS is intentionally short and simple, yet it is surprisingly addictive. I have found myself pouring a lot of time into it. The visuals are simple, using traditionally looking gaming pieces for the characters instead of fully animated models. The story is told in a story book fashion. But despite that, it is a really deep and engrossing story and will keep you wanting to play as you follow “Chasers” named Giauque, Frea, and Lippi as they search for the legendary “Crimson Shroud”. Hitoshi Sakimoto also returns to Matsuno’s side to give us another wonderful soundtrack as well as character designer Hideo Minaba to impress us with his whimsical water color styling for the illustrations. This game is short but sweet. It even offers multiple play-throughs with more maps and story. So is lady luck on Crimson Shroud’s side?

GET IT!
+ Great tabletop style game play.
+ Simple yet addictive.
+ Fantastic music and character design.
- May be too simple and short for some.
- If you don’t like “rolling for initiative” than steer clear.

Aero Porter
3DS eshop (In Japan part of the “Guild 01″ cartridge) 

Here is one more of the Guild 01 titles to make it to Europe and America. Brought to you by the famed Dreamcast hit “Seaman” creator Yoot Saito. This one will not take to long to explain because the premise is insanely simple. But that is part of it’s charm. You are in charge of an airport. Your job is to sort luggage quickly and place them into the right planes according to color. It sounds simple enough. But as the game progresses it tosses more challenges into the mix like bombs, fuel management, and making sure the President’s bags get on Air Force 01. It’s a fun game that will have you both excited and frustrated at the same time. But good puzzle games always do that. Is it worth sorting this one out?

GET IT!
+ Great puzzler
+ Simple yet challenging.
+ Progresses and builds up the difficultly nicely.
- Might be a bit sparse for some gamers.
- If you hate the idea of sorting luggage it’s not for you.

Transformers: Prime 3DS  

The Transformers Prime series is amazing. It’ like if you combined Transformers with the way Game of Thrones kills off people left and right, you get that show. Characters come and go. Sometimes with great consequence to the whole season. It’s awesome. That’s why I was excited to play this new game. And it didn’t let me down. This is probably the best portable Transformers game to date. The game is just like playing an episode of the TV show, locked somewhere in Season 1 and 2. This time Megatron has awakened a sleeping decepticon trapped inside of an asteroid who owes his allegiance to Unicron. It’s up to the Autobots to stop them. The game allows you to play as a variety of different  Autobot characters from mission to mission as the story jumps around the world. You will be battling third person blasters-a-blazing then hit the ground rolling in vehicle form to take chase. The controls are tight and fun and the visuals are spot on with the TV show. Unfortunately the 3D is not much to brag about. It’s a little bit flat and the game feels a bit short. The game does also offer multi-player in which you can play as both Autobots and Decepticons, either with your friends or solo.

GET IT or DON’T
+ Probably the best portable Transformers game.
+ Tight game play and visuals.
+/- Feels like an episode of the show. (If you don’t like the show you won’t like this.)
- A little bit short.
- 3D visuals are flat.

Gunman Clive
3DS eshop 

Whoa. For $1.99 on the eshop you have absolutely no reason to play this game. If you like westerns and Megaman (Rockman) then you will absolutely love this game. It’s a hand drawn western where you are either a cowboy who has to save the princess, or a princess who has to save the cowboy depending on your choice. It’s a pretty classic side scrolling plat former. Moving from map to map where you can collect different guns with different effects. Each map ends with an epic boss battle. Ranging from giant dudes with a giant Gatling gun to a *SPOILER* transforming train. It’s only a 1 hour or so game unfortunately but the art style is amazing , the 3D visuals look great, and the action is fun. It can also be super challenging just like the retro side scrollers it’s throwing back to. So what’s my thought?

GET IT!
+ Awesome art style and 3D graphics.
+ Classic side scrolling plat former.
+ Cheap as free!
- Super short.
- Challenging just like a real retro side scroller.

Thanks for reading!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill
Like us on Facebook/iceblockfilms

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance

I’ve been a longtime follower of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Since it’s inception with KH1 and pretty much every iteration following. I mean the series has spanned almost 6 different systems (if you count mobile phones as well). But I have stuck with it. And, to be quite honest I have never been disappointed. I thought it would be hard to follow up the last game in the series on the PSP “KH: Birth By Sleep”, but this game somehow managed to soldier on and be my next favorite in the series. It may be a little hard to jump into the series with this game, but it does a good job of bringing you up to speed.

This time we follow two protagonists, Sora and Riku, as they attempt to complete their Keyblade mastery exam as they traverse a collection of sleeping dream worlds. Some new and some old. Some new ones being some of my favorites in the series. (Like Tron: Legacy and The World Ends With You). The game brings in a few new game play elements. One being your new little animal style teammates: Dream Eaters. Think pokemon meets nintendogs. You battle and earn your abilities through them, but you can also interact with them using AR cards. They have also added the flow motion system. This new ability allows you to jump off walls and zip around the stage. You can even attack out of this speed. In fact, if used correctly you can bring down almost every game boss with relative ease. Although the game doesn’t really tell you can do this. The game also does a great job of cleaning up the long and complicated story of the series. Answering many of the questions that personally always bothered me. It’s another strong 3DS title. Great graphics and story and music make it a solid title to get into.

Final Call: GET IT
+ Great graphics
+ Fun new game play mechanics
+ Cleans up confusion of previous game story issues, but allows new users to ease in a little.
- You might wish it was on a console and a bit longer.
- Not playing previous games might leave you asking a few questions.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy finally takes the plunge onto the 3DS system as a music and rhythm game. The game gathers a collection of music tracks from 13 of the games in the long running franchise. Fans of the series and composer Nobuo Uematsu’s musical genius will surely love this game. The game allows you to choose music from any of the titles ranging from FFI all the way to FFXIII. You then will go through 5 songs from each entry. With a variety of presentations visually. Like battle stages, field music stages, and cinema stages. Each is presented differently, but the core game play mechanic is the same. You use the stylus to either tap, hold, slide, or drag on beat to the music by following directions on the top screen. Although it doesn’t make use of the 3D capabilities that much, and it may make you desire for more game play it’s a fun experience. They have even introduced a download shop where you can download more music tracks through the Nintendo eshop.

Final Call: GET IT
+ Fun music rhythm game play.
+ Great piece of nostalgia for fans of the franchise.
+ Good use of the downloadable eshop features.
- Can get a little old rather quickly.
- Since the game is all music, it is rather short.

The Amazing Spiderman

It’s the 3DS version of the game for the summer blockbuster “The Amazing Spiderman”. Overall this game follows the same story and mission structure of every other console version of the game minus the always fun web-swinging around the city. The story takes place shortly after the movie plot. You team up with The Lizard to help stop a new threat to New York city. The game is broken down into a series of missions. There are sub missions where you race against a clock or stay stealthy, and then there are main story missions of which there aren’t to many. The game play is fun. Simple beat-em-up controls allow spidey to pummel punks and robots. But the web-swinging mechanics aren’t so great. They basically only allow you to quickly retreat away from foes. Although the graphics and game play are good and the voice acting is solid, the game has a lot of bugs. There were times when I fell through floors. There was also times when the last enemy I had to beat to move on would get stuck in the floor or wall. The only way to rectify these would be to restart the system. So what’s the final word?

Final Cut: DON’T GET IT
+ Fun spiderman gameplay in your pocket
+ Solid graphics and voice acting.
- No city web-swinging.
- Story mode is short.
- To many glitches and bugs.

Code of Princess

Atlus brings us a cute little side-scrolling beat-em-up action RPG. You follow a half naked princess of a kingdom wielding a giant sword who after  the devastation of her kingdom has to flee and pick up a crew of warriors to help her set things straight. The voices and humor that drive the story are top notch. The side-scrolling battle system is unique and fun at first. But can get very repetitive. Being as there is only battles and no world map or anything it’s just the same thing over and over. That being said, in small spurts this game is great. Play a few missions which average to around 5 minutes a piece, then move on. The game also allows you to collect over 50 characters. Each with unique fighting styles and personalities. The problem is when you get them they all start at level 1, which means you must grind to them up to snuff with the rest of the party. The animation of the characters is great. Although the over presentation of the sprites with both characters and backgrounds lacks polish and can look rather low resolution up close. The verdict?

Final Call: GET IT OR DON’T (Draw)
+ Great voice acting.
+ Fun pick up and play game play
+/- Battle system is fun and simple…But maybe too simple, and fun wears off quickly.
- Graphics could be more polished.
-Too many characters to manage easily.

Liberation Maiden
(US 3DS eshop / JP “Guild 01″ cartridge)

Liberation Maiden is a short little game made exclusively for the 3DS by Grasshopper’s Suda-51 and Level-5. In Japan it’s part of a collection of games called “Guild 01″. In the US it’s available for download as a solo title. In short, Liberation Maiden is a top-down style shooter where you control the president of Japan, a young and sexy pilot of a massive flying mecha. The game play is controlled with the stylus and the action happens on the top screen. Aiming and shooting are down with the stylus while strafe and movement with the L-trigger and Analog pad. It’s a short game, clocking in a bout 2 1/2 hours. But it is a fast and furious blitzkrieg of time which will leave you wanting more. Almost as if you know there is a sequel coming. The English version has some top notch voice acting. For such a cheap price on the US shop it’s definitely worth picking up. I washaving so much fun playing it on the train I missed my transfer and ended up being about 45 minutes from home.

Final Call: GET IT
+ Fast. Fun. Furious 2 hour game.
+ Nice graphics and voice acting.
+ Cheap (On the US store) Part of a good collection (For the JP only Guild 01)
- It may be too short for some.
- Makes you wish it was a full longer game.

Thanks for reading!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill
Like us on Facebook/iceblockfilms

Say hello to Party Wave, famed video game creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s first outing into the smartphone gaming world. Instead of an epic RPG with a massive story and huge world to explore he kept it pleasingly simple with a beautiful action surfing game. And let’s just say I love it. It’s simplicity is what makes it great.

The object of the game is to venture into the ocean with your friends, catch a wave, and keep the surfing action going as long as you can until the stage ends. This is done by breaking the game play into two different sections. First is paddling out to where the wave will break. This is represented by a shiny gathering of light. You proceed to swipe the various surfers to this point while avoiding obstacles like turtles, bottles, and dolphins. You must gather your surfers before the wave breaks.

Everyday I’m paddling.

Once they have gathered the wave breaks and the surfing begins. Here you must keep your surfers on the wave by tapping them.  This can be done at anytime but waiting until they reach the bottom of the wave and flash results in a better catch as they soar higher into the air. The action doesn’t necessarily recreate what surfing actually feels like, but makes it more like juggling where you must keep all of you players on the waves and in the air at the same time with out letting them wipe out or hit obstacles. All of this is done with beautifully simple graphics, relaxing music, and appropriate beach sounds.

Stay on the wave!

Play with your friends!

Wicked air dog!

Final Decision
GET IT!

This little gem is cheap, fun, and easy to pick-up and play. You might even find it more surprising and challenging than you would expect from it’s simple design. It’s nice to see a smaller project coming from a legendary director doing things on his own. I highly recommend you pick it up from the app store and enjoy relaxing and playing during the last few weeks of summer.

Thanks for reading!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill
Like us on Facebook/iceblockfilms

Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

Yahoo! Here we go again! Again!

The first on the list is a new iteration of the classic Mario Kart franchise which found it’s inception on the SNES (Super Famicon) way back in the day. I’ve been a Mario Kart fan since that time as well. I played the SNES version to death one summer with a neighborhood friend Josh. We shot red shells at each other for hours on end until we had to take a break and go outside just so we wouldn’t kill each other. This spread to the Nintendo 64 version of the game as I went into my high school years. This time adding 2 more players. There have been many MKs since then. Some good and some more forgettable than others.

Make no mistake Mario Kart 7 is a great game and a true successor. It plays just as well as it’s other handheld and console brethren. The graphics look great and the collection of both new and retro tracks spanning previous Mario Karts make this a welcome new game to the franchise. The 3DS again offers fun 3D options for those who like it. I have mentioned before I love it. They have added some new features like the glider and underwater form to your karts. MK7 also features an online multi-player community where you can play anybody from around the world at anytime. With the recent update patch which fixes some bugs, the online mode is a solid and fun way to enjoy the game with other players if you don’t have physical friends who have the game too. Despite the upgrades Mario Kart still suffers from balance issues. When you are in last you get the best weapons. When in first you get the worst. So the Question is ” To get or not to get” this game to help you through the hot summer?

Final Call: GET IT
+ Great graphics
+ Good collection of tracks from the past games.
+ New features and online multi-player are great.
- Classic balance issues still plague the racing.
- You might want to get into a fist fight with friends when playing multi-player.

Tales of the Abyss 3DS

“This town is so boring yet beautifully rendered!”

I’ve never played any of the games in this series,that includes the original version of this game for the PS2. I had an urge to really want to play a good RPG on the 3DS so I happened to pick this one up. When it comes to JRPGs this game basically fits the mold. That’s not necessarily a bad thing…or good thing. It just is what it is. First things first this game has created a beautiful world. the design team spent a lot of time making sure that every town and village and city you visit looks amazing. The story on the other hand is very common place and suffers from an issue where they make of terms and words that really make no sense and take way to long to explain to the player what they mean. this means sitting through 20 long dialogue scenes where nothing they say makes any sense and basically sounds like a bunch of kids pretending to talk about something they think they know about. The so-so voice acting doesn’t help in these situations either.

The game play is pretty solid. It was a pretty decent PS2 game. But it feels like a pretty average port of an average game. It has an action based battle system. Your party clutters on the screen attacking enemies in a system where you basically pick their patterns based on individual skill. Your player character attacks on a single plain where you move left and right using attacks, skills, and magic. You can run around the field in 3D but you attack on a 2D plain. It’s interesting, but not overly imaginative. It’s also not a super challenging system, but it can be difficult with characters all over the place. The world map looks great, like a classic style RPG should. The towns and villages are gorgeous as I mentioned but can be a little boring to explore. So what do I think, Get it or Forget it?

Final Call: FORGET IT
+ The game design is great.
+ Battle system is fun.
- The story is forgettable. Voice acting is not the greatest.
- Battle screens can feel cluttered and confusing.
- It’s an OK port of an OK game.

Mario Tennis Open (3DS)

“This mini-game is fun! But I hope I don’t have to do it 800 more times!”

Hey, it’sa Mario Tennis! I never played the N64 version of Mario Tennis. In fact the only version I can recall playing was Mario Tennis for the Virtual Boy, which I recall being a lot of fun. One thing that needs to be remembered is it’s a tennis game. If you don’t like tennis then you probably won’t like this game. That being said, it’s a actually a solid tennis game despite being called “Mario Tennis”. Remove the Nintendo characters and you still have a decent tennis experience….whether you like it or not. Let me just say. This game is hard. Your thumbs will hurt after some of the higher tier rounds. This brings me to the first problem I have with the game. Easy characters are easy. Too easy. But the hard characters are UNGODLY hard. So hard that matches can last upwards of 25 minutes as you desperately dash from side to side trying to score the winning point. One could say then it’s like real tennis. But I say it’s a 3DS game I want to enjoy, not throw across the room.

The second thing is the currency system. You don’t earn money (coins) from winning matches. You unlock clothing you can buy with currency. Coins can only be obtained through the mini-games included with the game. So you spend hours getting coins in mini-games to upgrade your character. Then spend 1 hour playing the tournament mode. After you win there is no sense of accomplishment. It unlocks something that you then have to buy. It’s like saying that after you win a trophy in a real tennis match they say “Congratulations! Here is a voucher for your trophy. It will cost you $5000 that you have to earn playing something that is not tennis.” I say bull poo to that. Give me my trophy. I just spent 30 minutes playing against that fat turd Wario as he somersaulted across the screen returning every shot I could possibly lob at his stupid face. Now I know I have only talked about bad things in this game. It’s not all bad. The game looks great and is really well programmed. The mini-games included are indeed fun. But they lose their luster when you grind for hours just to earn money to buy stuff. So what is the final verdict on this game?

Final Call: FORGET IT
+ Looks great and is a solid tennis experience.
+ Mini-games are fun.
- It’s way too difficult.
- Terribly unbalanced AI from easy to hard players.
- Coin reward system feels like it is punishing players more that rewarding them.

Sonic Generations (3DS)

The “Blue Blur” is back baby!

What can I say about Sonic. He is awesome. But, some of the more recent iterations have been “Not so good Al”. Classic Sonic will always be the best Sonic in my book. So in walks “Sonic Generations” to remind you how cool the old and new Sonic are/were. Or something? Anyway. The game is pretty decent. It throws back to the Sega Genesis (Mega-drive) era and beyond. Allowing you to play as both classic Sonic and modern day talking Sonic as you rip through stages from both versions of the speedy blue mammal.

For the most part the game is pretty straight forward. One stage as classic. One stage as modern. Boss stage. Then a bonus stage. The pattern is nice because the graphics looks good and the stages are all different enough that it doesn’t feel repetitive. My only complaint is their aren’t enough stages which makes the game feel very short. And then come the boss stages. This is where the game falls flat on it’s face. They change the game play for sonic putting you in situations that are way different than the normal stages. They do this without any explanation to help you with the differences in game play. They are also way more difficult than they need to be. The final boss is the worst of them all. Good luck with that is all I will say. So final call time? I’ve got things to do y’all.

Final Call: DRAW
+ Great throw back to Sonic games of the olden days.
+ Fun switching between modern and classic sonic from stage to stage.
+/-  Play as classic Sonic. Play as modern Sonic.
- Game is too short.
- Boss stages are too difficult and not very fun.

Starfox 64 3DS

Do a barrel Ro-…oh I think you get it.

Say hello to one of the greatest games the N64 had to offer. I remember playing this game and thinking “Wow, why can’t most games be this fun?” It was the perfect balance of good console gaming with an arcade feeling to it. Mix into that the fact that it had multiple paths and endings made this game one you really wanted to just play many many times through. Luckily the 3DS version features everything the N64 version had to offer. They have added some new features like the gyro-sensor play (never ever use this. Unless you like things that are terrible) Much like the 3DS version of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, this is a retooling kind of remake. The core game is the same, but the graphics have been given a slight upgrade while still keeping the original N64 feeling and look.

The game still holds up strong. It works well on the 3DS. The stages aren’t too long, so picking up and playing on the go feels good. 3D graphics look great for these retro space adventures too. Some downsides are the lack of online multi-player. They only feature ad-hoc. So no real-life friends equals no real-life fun and more real-life tears running down your real-life face. Come on Nintendo. You did it just fine with Mario Kart. Oh well. The thing is, if you really like Starfox games you would probably like Kid Icarus better. It has bigger rail shooter style levels. And it’s basically the same concept plus 3rd person plat-forming. Which makes me wonder why they didn’t just start fresh and make a new Starfox. Obviously the system has the power to do more that just remake N64 games. Just my opinion though. Anyway. Final thoughts?

Final call: GET IT
+ Fantastic remake of an amazing classic.
+ Great pick-up and play style game play.
+ 3D works great with the classic levels.
- No new features added like online game play.
- Makes you wish they would make a bigger better new Starfox and not just a remake.

Well I hope this list was helpful. Stay cool and I hope you have time to play some great games this summer.

Thanks for reading!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill
Like us on Facebook/iceblockfilms

“It’s magic” says a hand-written sign while a cardboard clown with weighted feet seems to dances freely, jumping and frolicking about. Then, the vendor (the woman with the fanny pack in this run of the hustle) points at the thing, says ‘bang’ and the clown drops dead. Suddenly, it revives again and somebody buys their own fabulous toy to take home.

This is not magic. Magic is the art of entertaining people with well-practiced psychological puzzles. This is a con. Conning is a way to make money by lying to people. So, let’s break down exactly what’s going on to avoid the proverbial parting of a fool and his/her money.

First of all, the con is being run by 2 people. The vendor is the only half the operation. Can you tell who her partner is?

Give up? It’s the lady in the dark blue dress with the hat on. 90% of the time, the second person will be wearing a hat to cover the eyes. This makes them stand out less to others.

So, why do you need two people to run this con? Because, the second person is the one controlling the dancing clown. There is a thin thread tied between Person 2 and a foreign anchor, with the clown in the middle. Tug the string and the clown dances. In this case, the anchor is their luggage.

Person 2 has her hand covered by a cloth. This is to avoid drawing attention to her hand movements as she controls the clown.

The average person interested in purchase will stay about 90 seconds before making a decision. Groups might stay longer, but nobody stays long enough to notice Person 2. Person 2 will always be there, staring slack-jawed and fascinated at the amazing little clown.

I’ve had it out for this con for a couple years, but have been waiting to publish this blog post until I got my money shot. I always catch these artists mid-con. However, today I finally arrived before set-up and got a shot of the two artists pre-performance.

So, there it is – the commonest con in Tokyo broken down. I’ve found that if you stand uncomfortably close to Person 2, they will pack up and be gone quickly. However, you should feel free to try something more explicit. If you have an umbrella, swing it at the string absent-mindedly and see how quick the illusion falls apart.

日本語

東京のありふれた詐欺師
この未だに色々なところで見ることができる詐欺の種明かしをすこしずつしていきたいと思います。

「これは手品です」と手書きで書かれているダンボールの上で足におもりのついた紙のピエロが自由自在に踊ってはねて遊び回っています。そして売り子（この写真の場合はウェストボーチをつけている女性）がピエロに向かって”バン！”というと、ピエロは倒れて動かなくなります。そしてまた突然生き返って動き出すと、廻りにいた観客がこの面白いおもちゃを家に持って帰ろうと買っていくのです。

これは手品ではありません。手品というのは熟練された心理的な手法を使って人々を楽しませることができる芸術です。このピエロはただの詐欺。詐欺というのはひとをだましてお金を儲けることです。これからどうやったらこのよく知られている詐欺に人が引っかかってしまうのかというからくりを見ていくことにしましょう。

まずはじめにこの詐欺は2人の人間によって行われています。売り子はそのうちの一人でしかありません。誰がパートナーかわかりますか？

わからないですか？もう一人のパートナーは帽子をかぶった青いワンピースを来た女性です。だいたい90％くらいの確率で、売り子ではないもう一人のパートナーは目線を隠すために帽子をかぶっています。それによって他の観客から目立たないようにしているのです。

それではなぜこの詐欺をするのに2人の人間が必要なのでしょうか？それは2人目が踊っているピエロの動きをコントロールしているからです。この2人目とおもりの間には細い糸が張ってあり、その真ん中にピエロがついているのです。この細い糸を引くことによってピエロがダンスをします。この場合このおもりはバックの中に入っています。

2人目の手は布で覆われています。これはピエロを動かしている彼女の手の動きを観客に気づかれないようにするためです。

このおもちゃに興味を持って買おうとする人はだいたい90秒くらいで決断をします。それがグループだともう少しかかりますが、誰も2人目の協力者がいることに気づくほど長居はしません。この2人目はいつも現場にいて、口をぽかんと開けて小さなピエロに見とれている観客のうちの一人を演じているのです。

私は何年か前からこの詐欺に気づいていたのですが、決定的な瞬間の写真を撮ることができるまでこのブログポストを書くのを待っていました。なぜならいつも詐欺のパフォーマンスをしている途中に通りかかっていたからです。でも、やっと今日彼女たちが準備を始める前に通りかかって、2人が準備をしているところの写真を撮ることができました。

写真を見ていただいたら一目瞭然ですが、東京においてのありふれた詐欺のからくりをやっとお届けすることができました。観客の中にいる2人目の詐欺師のすぐ横にぴったりと立っていると、彼女たちはパフォーマンスを止めて立ち去ることがわかりました。でももっと露骨な方法を試してみてもいいと思います。もし傘を持っていたらピエロと2人目の詐欺師をつないでいる糸をめがけて何も知らないように動かしてみるといいと思います。そうすればこの錯覚がいとも簡単に崩れ去ることを目の当たりにすることができるでしょう。

As always, thanks for reading. And, thanks double for sharing.

... Superman ...

Richard Donner’s Superman is really two films. Mostly, it’s a bouncy comic book adventure, a silly jaunt that paints it’s drama and conflict with the same broad strokes and bold colors of the original comic. Unfortunately, it’s also a delivery vehicle for joyless sci-fi monologues. Fortunately, the rest of the film **ehem** flies by, carried mostly by Reeve’s goofy charisma and dopey do-gooding.

Opening with a 5-minute lazerific credit sequence, director Richard Donner makes clear his intent to A) assault the senses and B) do it very very slowly. The adventure begins on Krypton, a day-glo planet made of plastic and tin foil which is powered by hula-hoops. Donner keeps the audience on the edge of the back of their seats with a riveting look at the inside workings of the Kryptonian legal system, judicial and congressional branches both.

Ah, but these myriad learnings of governmental protocol are all for naught when the planet is blown up by its own inability to contain gooble energy with is yakkity blah blah hoops of power something something. For humanity’s benefit, the baby who will become Superman is launched off of Krypton and into a special effects montage where he flies through hundreds of thousands of miles of heavy metal record covers before landing in (the much cheaper to film) Smallville.

It’s here that Donner finds his legs, finally injecting the film with humanity and intrigue. His is a Norman Rockwell America, with a teen-filled jalopy in every garage and a microscope on every desk. And, it works in the films favor – it’s hard to resist the go-get-’em gumption with which he directs and simply impossible not to get swept away in the scope of the wide open mid-west.

It’s all quickly torn away as Clark finds himself short a family member and bound for Metropolis in hopes of finding his fortune. And, find it he does at The Daily Bugle. Sorry, The Gotham Gazette. Sorry. The Daily Planet. From there, it’s Super-by-the-numbers. Clark and Louis meet cute, court cute, fly cute, and recite internal poetic monologues in broken meter cute. All the while, Lex Luthor devises a plan to steal California. Because what else would a super villain do?

Having been made before Burton re-wrote what the superhero format could be, this iteration of Superman falls into all the campy trappings laid forth by the source material and decades of low-budget serials. As entertainment, the film mostly plods forward amicably. As an effects extravaganza, Superman is beyond dated. The once epic visual effects would embarrass even the most amateur video enthusiast playing around in his garage these days.

The film’s greatest special effect is Christopher Reeve himself – the very definition of a crowd pleaser. He’s sweet, silly, humble and handsome as hell. He somehow even manages to laugh off logistic absurdity that is the third act with such jovial confidence that the audience can’t help but give in, no matter how mind-bendingly stupid the plot really is.

Worth the pocket-change price of admission? Yes! Absolutely. Just skip forward until Clark gets to Smallville.

What the 13 year-old boy in all of us needs to know about this film: Marlon Brando is in this movie because of course he is.

“Check me out in all my polygonal glory!”

Overview:
I’m going to be completely honest. I didn’t know much about Kid Icarus or Pit before he was featured in Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. Perhaps at one point in my youth my brother and I might have rented the first game from the local video rental shop Megavideo. But there was nothing there that made the game memorable to me whatsoever. I had a chance to play a demo of Uprising at a Nintendo event over a year ago and it piqued my interest. As the game grew nearer to completion and more media was released, my interest had grown so much that it had become a “pick up on launch day” kind of game for me.

Standard heaven military equipment.

Review:
The Goddess of Light Palutina has brought back Pit to fight off Medusa,  destroy the underworld, and battle a menagerie of other gods and creatures. You are tasked with flying and guiding Pit through an interesting take on an ancient war laden land inhabited by familiar and unfamiliar gods. This marks another beautifully designed and graphically amazing game on the 3DS. With some of the largest set pieces and level layouts I have seen yet. Even if you’ve had no interest in the Kid Icarus series before this point, you will definitely want to pick it up and give it try. I guarantee you have never played anything quite like it. Especially on a handheld system.

“Awww…Stop it. You’re making me blush.”

Gameplay/Story:
Uprising is essentially part rail shooter and part 3rd person action platformer. But it goes much deeper than that. Where some games work hard at separating the story and game modes. This game combines them. While you fly through the first part of each stage your characters will be conversing and essentially explaining the plot and things going on around you. It seems a little distracting at first but as you go on you realize it’s a truly genius way of doing it. It should also be noted that the dialogue is fantastic. At times I found myself even laughing out loud. Much to the dismay of fellow train riders who weren’t privy to the hilarity in front of mine eyes. The villains are great too. Each one has their own quirky personality. Sometimes you converse with them throughout the entire stage. You make fun of them and they make fun of you. You almost feel bad sometimes when you beat them because they were so gawsh-darn funny.

He was way funnier when he had 3 heads.

Controls:
The flight sequences are controlled by steering Pit with the analog nub, aiming with the stylus, and firing with the L-trigger. After you land at your designated landing points in each stage you continue on foot. From here you will beat up badies by running, dashing, jumping, and shooting the holy thunder out of them. The controls changes slightly on foot with moving with the analog nub, aiming and camera movement with the stylus, and again firing with the L-trigger. It may seem a little difficult at first to fine tune both aiming and moving the camera with the same action. But as time goes on you will be surprised other games don’t play as fluidly as Uprising. Though I have heard that it can be challenging for lefties. But I think it is possible to play with the circle pad pro attachment and use your stylus with your left hand.

Cutting with stylus.

Music:
This is one of my favorite things about the game. Every single track of music in the game is fully orchestrated. From the menu music to the boss fights. It doesn’t matter. It’s all live instruments. (With the exception of sometimes pulling classic snippets of the original game music for when a certain enemy appears.) It really gives the game, which is on a handheld system, a big feeling. It’s the kind of quality you would expect from a larger scale system game on the PS3 or XBOX 360.

*Bum bum ba ba BUMMM ba BUM* (use your imagination.)

3DS Features:
Of course the game can be played in either 3D of 2D. This option is always available. I recommend playing in 3D on the first play through at least. The sweeping landscapes for the flight sequences look great and play better in 3D. Though it can be a little tiring on the eyes for the on foot parts of the game. This is mainly because you are moving the camera a lot. It can also be tiring on your hands too. Luckily the game includes a free stand for you to rest the 3DS on to help alleviate any cramping or if you are playing at a table. I love it. I use it for any game now, if I am playing at my desk.

Handy dandy standy. Making cramped wrists a thing of the past.

-Together Mode:
One great feature for the game is the multi-player which is called Together Mode. The Online and local play features exclusive maps where you can battle it out in Light VS. Dark Mode, where you play 3 on 3. Each team must defend it’s designated Pit or Dark Pit character. There is also Free-For-All, which is a 6 person melee. Players go nuts and beat the heavens out of fellow angels with the weapons of their choice. This is a great feature because you can use any weapons you acquire during the story mode and use them in online play. This works in reverse as well because you can use weapons you earn online in the story mode. I recommend taking breaks during story mode to earn yourself some higher level weapons to help you through some of the later stages.

Dude on the left: “I’ve been practicing these moves all day.”

-Street Pass:
Street pass this time around lets players create gems of a weapon of their choice. Every street pass shares your gem with passerby’s, and theirs with you. You can then either convert them to a useable weapon using your hearts (in game currency) of combine them to a different weapon using hearts as well. As mentioned before you can use any weapons you gather in both the single player campaign and the multi-player mode.

Don’t worry. It’s synthetic wolf fire.

-AR madness
A truly unique feature with this game is the inclusion of a collectable card game to be used with the 3DS’s camera. Included with the game are a few AR cards featuring different characters from the game. These cards can be used to look at 3D models of the characters similar to the built in game on the 3DS. After scanning the cards it will unlock collectable idols within the game where you can view the character and look at a bio about them. The interesting part is the cards can only be obtained through special promotions. Whether it be through various magazines, the Nintendo online club store, or special Nintendo events.

Gotta scan ‘em all.

Final Thoughts:
It’s been a long time since I played a game that has been this refreshing. The story mode is a solid 24 chapters that you don’t want to end. Giving you plenty of hours of fun game play. There is so much content that even after beating it and playing the online multi-player mode, I feel like there is still so much to do. The game is constantly rewarding you for playing. With useful rewards too. Like more weapons to use in either game mode. The learning curve is hard at first. Taking a few rounds for you to really master the camera/aiming system (Especially for you lefties out there.). But in time it will feel as natural as writing or picking your nose. There is another game with this type of challenge as well. Nintendo has released a string of amazing games in the past few months and this is definitely one of them.

Score:
9.5/10

Thanks for reading!

-William Greenawalt
my web page
follow me on twitter: @iceblockwill