The Biggest Day on DSiware!
If all the hints and hopes and hullaballoo are true, then Monday, November 29th may end up being the most important release day in the roughly two year lifespan of the DSiware service.
Cave Story, arguably the most important, if not best, indie game of the last decade (and one of my personal favorites), should hit DSiware around noon in North America (and hopefully around the world too — not sure how that works). Created by one man, Daisuke Amaya, over a five year period, it is one of the most polished and balanced retro platformers out there. You can tell that every pixel was placed with care. If you haven’t played this game, you should. It’s free on PC and Mac, available on the Wii and is now portable thanks to game developer Nicalis.
Update: It’s available! Yay! Don’t let the 1000 pt. price dissuade you, it’s worth every penny. Nintendo has also added the frantic puzzler Frenzic for 200 pts. I have that on my Touch and it’s a really good, if nerve-wracking, puzzler.
- Andy
News Forthcoming on Cave Story DSi
This tweet went out over Cave Story developer Nicalis’ twitter feed on Friday. Will we finally get a release date (we don’t often get release dates for DSiware), or, could they be messing with us and perhaps we’re getting a special DSiware treat on Monday? Hmmm…
Update: No announcement yet, but the following appeared on their Twitter feed… @Samus2008 It’s coming. Save your points this month ;).
Update 2: Looks like it’ll be November 29th… Guess what’ll be available November 29th on DSiWare?!?
Source: @Nicalis
Good Game Get! Shantae: Risky’s Revenge
I’ve spent the week with Shantae: Risky’s Revenge and have enjoyed every minute of this charming and engaging DSiware gem. I won’t go into great detail, NintendoLife has already done a good job of that in their super enthusiastic 10-star review and follow-up interview with the lead designer. But, I too give it high marks for game play, art style and the delightful musical score, and agree it’s a must buy for DSi platformer fans.
It’s not the hardest platformer you’ve ever played — a little patience goes a long way in this game — though the difficulty does ramp up in a slow and satisfying way. Other nice touches, including the need to collect jars of “Magic Jam” scattered around Sequin Land before you can purchase the more powerful weapons, encourages exploration and prevents you from becoming too over-powered, too early. Shantae’s belly-dancing, animal-transformation powers are both cute and clever, and add a pleasant depth to the game.
I think what struck me the most is that Shantae: Risky’s Revenge could easily be packaged and sold retail and still be totally worth it — it is that good. The 1200 point price tag might be a little high for some, but the splurge will get you, as NintendoLife puts it “hands-down the best title available on DSiWare and quite possibly the best 12 bucks you’ll ever spend on a video game”. The best 12 bucks? Not sure about that one, but I can’t argue that the DSiware service has grown up a little with the release of this game.
-Andy
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Out Today!
Its no secret that games on DSiware have been, let’s say, a little underwhelming. Sure there’s been some bright spots along the way like Aura-Aura Climber, Maestro! Green Groove, AlphaBounce and the Art Style games, but for the most part the service, with the minimal publicity it receives from Nintendo (did you get their email?), has not struck the right chord with gamers.
But one of the best-looking platformers to be announced for DSiware is out today and hopefully it can catch the attention of Nintendo DSi owners. Shantae: Risky’s Revenge from WayForward Technologies (the developers behind the recent Batman: The Brave & The Bold on Wii & DS) hits the North American DSiware store this morning. A sequel to 2002’s popular Shantae for the Game Boy Color, Risky’s Revenge looks to have surprising depth for a downloadable and adds something special to the platform.
On top of that, fans of video game music will be happy to hear that the new Shantae soundtrack is available for free and worth the download!