Nintendo Updates - Page 3 - Video Games Forum

codePhoenix · #21 (**permalink**) 05-14-2003, 03:53 PM

From GamerFeed: Mario Kart Impressions:

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Written by Aldo Merino, GamerFeed:
The lines are long on this one, but there are few things better than to jump in with 3 other players; that is, after all, the big draw to the series. One of the first things we noticed was a brand new Nintendo character, Baby Luigi, alongside Sega's Aiai from the Monkey Ball series.

Along with the exposed cast of the series (which is akin to the Mario Tennis cast), the game also allows to choose your vehicle so you can mix and match -- in my case, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, with Wario's studly car from Warioland 4 on the GBA. This certainly affects handling a bit, so players should be careful to choose the proper combination for their tastes.

A few fundamental changes have been made to the series, the obvious two-character combination aside. Item boxes now aren't limited to being stationary or even being one box; some now come stacked in two or three, allowing players to hold multiple objects. You can, as always, shoot items ahead or backwards, and the powersliding style introduced in the N64 version returns, although it, from our initial playtime, simply allows players to make wider turns without losing speed; there's no wiggling necessary to accelerate the process from what we can see.

The new characters and tracks aside, the game itself still feels wildly Mario Kart with broader horizons. Track design feels a lot more open and expansive, with plenty of shortcuts and alternate routes. We'll simply have to get more time to feel out the nooks and crannies of the gameplay, but judging by the crowd, it seems safe to say that Nintendo has a winner with this one.

Aiai is in the game? Is that what I just heard from these impressions?

codePhoenix · #22 (**permalink**) 05-15-2003, 04:34 AM

From GamerFeed: Custom Robo Impressions:

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Written by John Benyamine, GamerFeed:
The third installment in the Custom Robo series and the first one to come stateside was playable at the show. For the unfamiliar, the game plays a bit like Virtual On. Players choose their robot and customize it a bit, with the ability to swap out its primary and secondary weapons, boots, air boost, and a few other options from a pre-selected assortment. Each type has different attributes, so some weapons may be more powerful and close range, while some boosts may have a high peak but low endurance in the air.

Like the original, the game is a bit crude on the visuals, with simple models, textures, and colors. And, unfortunately, the controls are a bit sloppy as well. They just don't react quite as well as they feel like they should, so the mechs come off feeling a bit sluggish and unresponsive, miring the overall game's feel a bit.

However, that aside, the game plays pretty decently; it even allows four players to battle it out in the arenas. Players can pretty much shoot and dash their opponent's health down to zero (from a starting point of 1000), with the winner being the one left standing. Hopefully Nintendo will clean the game up as they did with 1080 Snowboarding before they decide to release it stateside, as it has the promise of a great multiplayer game.

codePhoenix · #23 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:13 AM

Nintendo to Bundle GB Player with GameCube

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From GamerFeed:
Nintendo announced today that they will be bundling the new Game Boy Player along with units of the Nintendo GameCube. The Game Boy Player plugs into the high speed port on the bottom of the GameCube and allows gamers to play Game Boy games on the GameCube console.

The combination of the two units immediately adds 1,200 Game Boy titles to the impressive 300 GameCube titles already available. That's 1,500 games offered to the system, right out of the box!

Nintendo plans to offer the bundle for a limited time starting June 23,2003. The bundle will retail for $149.99, the current cost for a Nintendo GameCube console. No word on if the stand-alone GameCube price will decrease when the bundle comes out. The bundle will also be sold in Europe for 199.99(Euro).

"This offer builds on the incredible momentum generated by our Game Boy Advance line, which has already sold 35 million systems worldwide," says Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America. "Once we saw the enthusiastic reception given to the debut of Game Boy Player here on the show floor at the E3 trade show, it was an easy decision to move ahead with our plans to combine these two products."

codePhoenix · #24 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:29 AM

Viewtiful Joe Impressions

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Written by Justin Davis, GamerFeed:
Love it, for sure. I don't know why, but before E3 I had written off Viewtiful Joe and it sat at the bottom on my own personal ranking of the Capcom 5. Now, not only has it become the top game of that group for me, but also one of my most anticipated titles period.

Viewtiful Joe is basically a 2D beat 'em up, but I dislike describing it that way because there's a lot of depth. X, Y, and A might be your standard kick, punch, and jump, but it's the combo system and the L and R buttons that really raise this title above the pack. Holding down L zooms the camera in on Joe and everything moves in super slow motion. Besides looking really damn cool, the effect causes the amount of damage you deal to go way up. The R button has the opposite effect, speeding up gameplay for a short time to incredible speeds. Enemies still react at their old pace, giving you a huge edge over them.

The game's graphical style and gameplay make it look like you're truly playing a comic book. Everything really does look hand drawn. I don't know how Capcom did it, but the game is very impressive graphically, and has a unique art style unlike anything I've ever seen. Other games before have attempted to recreate that "comic book" feeling, but Viewtiful Joe takes it to a whole new level.

Even with all these things the game has going for it, beat 'em up games can still very easily wallow in mediocrity. Thankfully, Viewtiful Joe avoids all of the pitfalls of the genre. Thanks to lots of varied enemies and traps, gameplay almost never gets repetitive. Simple puzzles mix up the action here and there, giving you a breather. The combo system keeps the game fun, without it becoming too easy. Even in its incomplete state, I feel confident saying that Capcom has a winner on their hands with Viewtiful Joe.

codePhoenix · #25 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:30 AM

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords Impressions

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Written by Justin Davis, GamerFeed
had the joy of playing through one round of Four Swords for the GameCube, and I had a blast even though the three guys I was playing with were French and I didn't understand a word they were saying.

If you're reading this I'm going to assume you know the concept behind Four Swords, so I'll spare you that 411 and skip to what's new in this version. Instead of just interacting with other players on the GBA, using the GBA/GCN link cable you play the game together on the TV screen. Let's say everyone is busy running around an outdoor area on the TV. One player uncovers a cave and jumps in. He then looks at his GBA screen to keep playing, while the other three players still look at the TV. As you move in and out of caves, houses, and other buildings, the gameplay changes from TV screen to GBA to TV screen.

Just like the original Four Swords gameplay is both cooperative and competitive. While your overriding goal is to collect more rupees than the other three players, you need to work together to defeat enemies and solve puzzles.

Thanks to the increased graphical prowess of the GameCube, LttP fanatics will be seeing things that will make their jaw hit the floor. Imagine literally hundreds and hundreds of rupees raining down from the sky after defeating a boss. Even cooler is the new effect when an enemy is defeated. They now blow up in several poofs of cartoonish purple smoke, just like The Wind Waker. One last example of the enhancements is a wave distortion that spreads outward from a player that uses the megaton hammer. It's all very very cool, and more importantly, fun.

With this, the Mario Party series, Pac Man, FF Chrystal Chronicles, and Mario Kart LAN, Nintendo is making up for their lack of online play with the best multiplayer games around. Out of all the games I've played The GameCube version of Four Swords is hands down one of the most enjoyable.

codePhoenix · #26 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:31 AM

Pikmin 2 Impressions

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Written by Justin Davis, GamerFeed:
spent more time with Pikmin 2 than almost any title on the show floor today, and I'm still not quite sure if it's the same game done again, or if there really is a lot of innovation in there.

Those of you who have played the first game will feel right at home with the sequel. L still centers the camera behind Olimar, you can use the C-stick to manipulate the Pikmin en masse, etc. This time around, rather than gathering the parts of his spaceship, Olimar must find and return items which translate into cold, hard cash. The money is needed to save the business that he works for, you see.

What was playable on the show floor was a one day challenge mode, but I opted to go at it alone so I wouldn't feel pressured to beat someone else. After gathering my intitial Pikmin I got a couple of the now-familiar '10' pellets to raise the number of Pikmin under my control, and also defeated a few enemies that were loitering about.

After a bit more exploration I found an area of the ground that looked like it was covered in cobwebs, with four or so pulsing bags in the middle. I C-sticked my Pikmin over to the bags and they went to work. Before long, they were beaten into submission and a flower took each of their places.

The Pikmin were able to climb up to the top of the flower and knock down a new seed. Once I had collected 10 of them the game informed me that I could now press down on the D-Pad to manually power up my Pikmin; this was something that you had to find nectar to do in the original.

All in all, Pikmin 2 felt very familiar. Perhaps even a little bit too familiar. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see any purple Pikmin or anything radically different than what we saw in the first game. What is shown at E3 is a very, very small portion of the game, however. Whether this title will be a must buy or not depends on how much Nintendo decided to add. We all know how amazingly fun the series is to play.

codePhoenix · #27 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:32 AM

Sonic Adventure DX Impressions

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Written by Andy Cheng, GamerFeed:
Back in 1999 when I first got my Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure, I was blown away by the very first level, Emerald Coast. The crisp details of the tropical island, crystal clear ocean, and bright sky showed everybody that the 128-bit generation had arrived, and with authority. That experience playing that level for the first time all those years ago remains to this day one of the most amazing moments in my gaming career.

But today on the show floor of E3 as I held the GameCube controller and was led down memory lane, I can't help but feel disappointed. Sonic Adventure DX is a perfect port of the Dreamcast launch title, which is a double-edged sword. The same feeling of speed is there as I ran along the beach and was chased by the killer whale along the wooden platform. But the once spectacular visuals are now outdated by today's standards, and it's a shame that the power of the GameCube hardware is not taken advantage of. In fact, SA DX even looks worse than the Dreamcast version at times, with slightly blurry textures and backgrounds that lack the sharp clarity.

The demo allowed me to play as each of the six characters, from Sonic and Tails to Amy and E-102. Each of the characters had a level open to them, but they were all the same as the Dreamcast game. Maybe I'm just a bit more jaded now, but overall it was a let-down. The port would give an opportunity to play through the game for those who missed it on Dreamcast (shame on you!), but for everybody else, we can pass.

codePhoenix · #28 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:33 AM

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Impressions

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Written by Aldo Merino, GamerFeed:
We got a chance to try out some four-player Crystal Chronicles late yesterday afternoon via four GBA SPs. The game itself looks great, although some of the colors seemed a little washed out, and keeping track of your character on-screen wasn't a problem thanks to the drastically different, color-coded characters.

The SP is, again, required to play multiplayer and a Nintendo representative only confirmed that further. The reason is largely due to simply navigating your own character item and spell menus, which, when you push Select, appear on your GBA screen and allow you to quickly cycle through and select the appropiate item and/or spells. Pushing Select again returns you to the on-screen action on the TV. At this point the GBA screen simply displays location information.

The portion of the game we got to play had one character holding a silver urn that cast a protective circular area around the characters, as the level had intensive fog that was harmful if players wandered out of the circular area. In this way, players simply explored the level, encountering a few enemies and engaging in completely real-time combat, which ultimately led to a boss batle against some self-assembled guardian machine. This particular boss didn't prove to be terribly difficult thanks to some knowledgable players on-hand, but the entire experience of fighting enemies altogether was a rewarding one and a fresh change of pace for the series. The SP itself proved to be a good enough controller for the on-screen gameplay, although we're a bit disappointed by the necessary use of it, as the connectivity cord simply doesn't compensate for complete, radio frequency Wavebird freedom.

codePhoenix · #29 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:34 AM

Advance Wars 2 Impressions

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Written by Justin Davis, GamerFeed
I actually didn't get to experience as much actual Advance Wars 2 gameplay as I wanted to, because the version of the game was so complete. To get to any of the actual campaign you had to go through the entire tutorial teaching you about every aspect of the game.

What I did see though, I liked. The gameplay remains remarkably unchanged from the original, and that's definitely a good thing. All the menu selections were the same, all the same units were included, etc. If the graphics weren't modified from the original AW you'd swear you were playing a new mission from the first game.

In the "Design" menu there is now an option for "Design CO" that got me all excited, but it was just the color edit feature we'd already seen in screenshots. As for the Design Maps feature itself, you still can't edit the length or height of your map (boo Nintendo). I did fiddle with the War Room a bit, and all 20 maps from the orignal game were available right from the start, with 10 more to be unlocked, it appeared.

Advance Wars 2 will feature two complete campaigns, one for the good guys, and one for the evil Black Hole army. I know a lot of you AW fanatics out there are going to want to know about the new units, but unfortunately they weren't in the E3 build of the game. The game is set to be released on June 23rd. The wait is almost over...

codePhoenix · #30 (**permalink**) 05-16-2003, 04:34 AM

Mario and Luigi Impressions

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Written by Jeff Downs, GamerFeed:
Just recently announced, Mario & Luigi was a game that few had information on prior to E3. By simply looking at the screenshots, it's extremely difficult to tell what type of game it is, let alone how it plays. Fortunately enough, I was able to go hands-on with a brief one level E3 demo, which provided me with much insight regarding the game's overall concept.

In the game you control both Mario & Luigi at once, with the A button controlling Mario's jump and the B button controlling Luigi's. When you move the directional pad, you move both characters at the same time and it'll require some decent timing skills to maneuver on the various platforms in the top-down playfield. As you navigate the playfield collecting coins and such, you'll encounter creatures that'll spawn an RPG-esque battle sequence when you come into contact with them. The battles are all turned-based, and you can take turns with both Mario & Luigi to unleash different attacks on your foes. Reminiscent of Super Mario RPG for the SNES, if you time button presses during your attacks you can inflict higher damage on your opponents. The button presses are indicated on screen, and flash for a period of time indicating when to press them. If you run low on HP during the battles, you can use Super Mushrooms to regain points, and 1-UP Mushrooms to recover a downed comrade.

Once you reach the end of a level, you'll encounter a boss battle that must be defeated to progress. In the E3 demo, Mario & Luigi duke it out with the Hammer Bros...but not in a fashion that you're probably thinking. Instead of utilizing Mario's famous head stomp and fire-flower abilities, the Hammer Bros. bust out a jump rope. In this boss battle you're forced to complete various passes of the jump rope in which the infamous duo will fake different directions, and basically do anything to throw off your timing. Sounds easy, right? Not exactly. See, this is where your coordination and skills are put to the test, meaning you must time your jumps and movement of Mario & Luigi perfectly to avoid being hit by the rope. The gameplay mechanics are simple but I guarantee that it'll put a smile on anyone's face who appreciates Nintendo's ambition to create games that are fun to play. Classic Miyamoto.

Graphically, Mario and Luigi features a toned-down visual style similar to Paper Mario on the N64. Unfortunately, I was unable to hear the sound due to crowd noise. I'm sure we'll have more impressions and news on this title as the release date draws near.