Good Game Get! Kirby Mass Attack

I’m going to keep this short and sweet… because that’s Kirby. Not since I played through Bowser’s Inside Story have I experienced the extraordinary perfection of craft that is Nintendo game design… until now. Kirby may not be hard core, or even hard, but it is the epitome of a well made game.

If you’re not a fan of the series, or of Nintendo-style gameplay, then there’s nothing new here to bring you on board. If, however, the very mention of the word Nintendo makes part of your heart flutter and grow warm and tingly, then set aside an afternoon with your DS and a copy of Kirby Mass Attack. Like all the Kirby games I’ve played, making it to the end is pretty straight-forward with the challenge found in ramping up your high scores, earning all the gold stars and finding every last medal.

Along with the story mode, finding medals unlock extras (here’s a video) in the form of mini-games (and my favorite video game extra, the music player!) These mini-games are almost worth the price of admission alone, encouraging you to hunt down every single medal (all 186 of them, ack).

In short, it’s Kirby. I mean, it’s Kirby… what else is there to say?

- Andy

Good Game Get! Solatorobo: Red the Hunter

CyberConnect2 is mostly known for the popular PS2 dot Hack series and various Naruto titles. A little known title they made was called Tail Concerto,(for the PS1) which featured very similarly styled art and characters to Solatorobo. It’s fantastic to see the company still intact, and still making games that are their own.

Solatorobo aesthetics are some of the most whimsical and intelligently designed on the DS. The hardware limitations gives us beautifully crafted 2D/3D backgrounds with polygons and sprites blending seamlessly together. It feels like a Playstation One game, and not just technically - It really feels like an adventure that could’ve loved as a ten year old, and still love today; even though I’m more than a decade older than that.

The game is mostly comprised of a quest/rank system, but has a truly magical battle system that I think accomplishes with smart finese what every action RPG title wants to have.

The magic in the battle gameplay is brought to life through a cleverly designed and simple combat system. The system really only involves one mechanic and develops it through combo systems and an enjoyable upgrade system.

Throwing.

That’s right! You throw things, and enemies to damage them. With your robot of course! It’s really fun and makes combat a bit more endearing than your typical adventure RPG combat of button mashing, and/or developing spell strategies or what not. It has a simple, but endearing combo system that involves jumping and throwing in different combinations to effectively keep enemies toppled long enough to do big damage.

It’s an adventure, and not only does it feel grand - it feels manageable, which is very important to me when it comes to games these days. On top of that, as a dog lover, It’s really cool to see a world mostly comprised of dog-people. It’s kind of silly, but it works, and I love it.

Solatorobo is not ground-breaking, but it does have something that most games lack, and it isn’t vision or creativity. It’s pure love and polish. Solatorobo has both. No one was trying to be impressive with this game, but they were trying to be perfect, and they’ve accomplished that quite well.

The bottom line here, is that just like Andy was saying’, the DS is far from dead and in fact is getting some of its best content right now.

Solatorobo is one of the best titles of the year. It’s delightful.

- Kyle

“The Reports of my Death are Greatly Exaggerated”

As quoted from Mark Twain & the Nintendo DS…

I’m getting a little tired of stories referencing the death of the Nintendo DS. I’ve been seeing features on its demise since the 3DS was announced last year and, even now, with Nintendo’s latest handheld floundering under the weight of a dozen bad decisions, every article that mentions the DS points to the fact that “it’s on its way out.”

And yet, if you compare DS releases to 3DS releases for the next six weeks, you’ll find it’s the DS with the incredible line-up.

This is not a rant against the 3DS. Nintendo may have dropped the ball, but they don’t deserve the ire the noisy fanboys are drowning the company in right now. I have no doubt that 3DS version 2 will be a fantastic piece of hardware I’ll certainly add to my collection. Buying version 1 of any tech is always a crapshoot, has always been a crapshoot. No one should be surprised, or angry, especially with a company that has provided so much joy to so many of us. Not every Nintendo product is going to be a beam of light from heaven.

The real problem here is the “Cult of the New” that permeates all technology. Sadly, I believe the game industry suffers from it worst of all. It’s enthusiast press can only exist with the cooperation of the industry, so they have no choice but to propagate the notion of new is better — “go play the latest” and “crave the upcoming” is the message du jour. They even coined a term for the games you buy new but never play, the “pile of shame”. Why should I be ashamed of not playing a video game?

And there’s the dirty little secret. When we gamer’s buy into the hype and excitement, drool like rabid dogs on our laptop screens scrolling through each bit of news hand fed to us by the industry through the keyboards of the “independent” game press, that pile of shame begins to represent not a lack of time, but a lack of common sense. Why buy games we have no intention of playing immediately? Why not wait six months when the price has been cut by 50% or just wait and buy it when you know you’re going to play it? The “Cult of the New” is responsible for the backlash against Nintendo right now. The “Cult of the New” drove the 3DS hype right up to the front door of every Nintendo fan. It’s still laying there — go ahead and look — right there on your welcome mat like a dead bird dropped by your neighbor’s cat.

The truth is we didn’t need a new DS. It was already a mature, reliable technology, with a fan base that spanned multiple generations and, arguably, the best back catalogue of any game console and enough content to keep any gamer entertained for a lifetime. It’s hard to look at the DS and not say, “hey, that’s enough for me!” The DS’s “keep it simple” design philosophy made it a charming and extremely accessible platform (not to mention financially lucrative).

Then Nintendo broke their own rules, filled up their device with every bell & whistle they were comfortable with, took aim at a market they have no business jousting… and promptly fell on their face. I’m well aware of the arguments — “always move forward”, “plan for trends”, “adopt to the ever changing marketplace or die”, blah, blah, blah. All I know is there are 100 million six to eight year olds worldwide that don’t own smartphones, don’t need 3D or accelerometers, but do need something cool to carry around in their backpacks. A bit more polish, better screens, better online functionality, maybe a little social media sprinkled in there, that’s all a new DS needed and we, one and all, would have lined up on day one.

In the next eight weeks we get several amazing DS titles, any one of which deserves to be a bestseller. From Kirby Mass Attack, Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 for those who love the classics to Solatorobo: Red the Hunter and Aliens: Infestation for those looking for something new and even Professor Layton and the Last Specter & Bejeweled 3 for the broader audience. That’s an insanely great line-up. Can someone please explain, in the light of that list, why the DS is “on its way out”?

- Andy

It’s Official! Fourth Layton Includes “London Life”

Nintendo dropped a few bits of North American news over the weekend, including an October 17th release date for Professor Layton and the Last Specter (and something about a gold wiimote). But the big news in the press release was the announcement that the 100 hour Layton RPG “London Life” from Mother 3 creator Brownie Brown will be included. Yay! Here’s a snippet…

Professor Layton and the Last Specter for the Nintendo DS family of systems is the fourth installment in the Professor Layton puzzle adventure series. It begins a new trilogy that is a prequel to the original games, set three years before the events in Professor Layton and the Curious Village(TM). The game contains more puzzles than any in the series to date. As a North American exclusive to the overall Professor Layton and the Last Specter package, a bonus role-playing game called Professor Layton’s London Life(TM) containing more than 100 hours of additional content will be available to players from the start of the game.

Note the last sentence. Love those guys! Pre-ordered in less than 30 seconds!

- Andy

Good Game Get!: Rune Factory 3

I haven’t finished the game yet, but you need to know about the absolute magic of the third entry into Natsume’s incredible fantasy Harvest Moon series, Rune Factory.

It’s a shame that it hasn’t received any critical reception yet. I don’t usually give out numerical scores but if Jason Dietz and co. wants Good Game Get! to put in our two cents then let ‘em.

If you’re unfamiliar with the series then let me lay it out simply:

You farm.
You slay monsters.
You tame them.
You level up.
You make food.
You court lovely ladies, including a hottie mermaid with pink hair.

That’s just a small list of the broad spectrum of things the game allows you to do, and it allows you to do it all very seamlessly and quickly. Natsume has really pushed the series into an incredibly polished state.

The main character may be a little too shōjo oriented for my tastes, but it works, and helps make him a gentler character aesthetically, but he’s already a pretty nice guy.

And I apologize for the lack of screen-shots but a Google image search ended up a bust because this game is criminally unrecognized. Ideally I guess November wasn’t the best time to release the game.

I’ve been pretty jaded about games in general, but my girl and I have been playing this game intensely we just love talking about it and sharing tips, and stories with one another as we play the game differently and take on different requests from characters.

While the world Rune Factory 3 takes place in can be cheesy, it’s very centralized, realized, and satisfyingly fun to explore as it has beautifully illustrated backgrounds. The whole game graphically pops on a DSi screen and would probably be really rad on a DSiXL.

It feels so good to write so positively about a game that just pulls at me and really provides me with reason to play it. That kind of drive to play a game this intently is in short supply for me these days, and while I can’t possibly write on exactly every reason the game works for me - I will say that it has that certain quality and touch of magic that even professional critics unlike me can’t even pinpoint.

Well - if they can, let me know. I’d like to be able to write more like them.

Play this game, please.

- Kyle