Metroid Prime Review For GCN. Viewpoint #2 – A Modern Classic

The amazing black Samus Phazon suit from Metroid Prime 1 wallpaper!

Metroid Prime for Nintendo GameCube was released in 2002 and marked Samus Aran’s first foray into the world of polygonal 3D. This is my second review of Metroid Prime originally posted on Epinions, check out my 2009 Retro Review: Metroid Prime article to see my first viewpoint on the game and compare it with this one written in 2012.

Samus (the female armored bounty hunter protagonist of the sci-fi series) had never before graced the third dimension, with Metroid Prime’s predecessor being the side-scrolling, 2D, Super Nintendo masterpiece Super Metroid; released for the SNES way back in 1994. And all Metroid games preceeding it also being in only two dimensions.

Samus skipped the Nintendo 64 entirely, as Nintendo’s designers wrestled with how to bring their most “mature” action heroine into the space beyond two dimensions; thus she only made a single appearance on the console, with Nintendo’s multiplayer brawler Super Smash Bros., a game that proved to be a huge smash hit (pardon the pun).

Yet it was not enough to satisfy fans of the long-running Metroid series, who craved a polygonal 3D entry in their favorite sci-fi platformer series. Which made it’s debut with the NES title Metroid, a game that set the bar for open-ended action games way back in 1987.

Previous to the debut of Metroid Prime, fans waited with baited breath for the highly anticipated first modern Metroid game… while growing ever worried as news broke that Nintendo had outsourced the development to an American(!) second party company in Texas called Retro Studios. The first footage of the game didn’t much ease the nervousness as fans discovered that Nintendo had switched the game from what was presumed to be a third-person platformer into a… first-person shooter!

Metroid as an “FPS”, or “doom-clone” as games were sometimes known in those days, seemed like the worst idea of all time, and led players to scratching their heads; then folding their hands and praying that somehow Nintendo would come to their senses and not butcher their favorite series.

Thank the gods! All that worrying was for not, as Metroid Prime was, and remains, one of Nintendo’s absolute modern masterpieces that will satisfy virtually every fan of the series.

Metroid Prime deftly combines all of the aspects of the series that fans know and love while layering it with interesting new aspects that the first-person viewpoint brings to the table.

Arguably the most interesting is the way the game allows you to literally step into the shoes of Samus. For the first time, you can truly see through the eyes of the Space Pirate bounty hunter, who is sent to the planet Tallon IV after engaging an old foe on an orbiting satellite.

Thanks to the first-person perspective, you can now get “up-close-and-personal” with the games huge plethora of animal-like enemies, lethal Space Pirates, dangerous insect-like creatures and titanic bosses.

Metroid Prime was the first videogame to truly make you feel like you were strapped inside of an armored suit. This is conveyed by the way the glass you see through contours and wraps around the screen (visibly) in the shape of Samus’ helmet, and by the way the game’s various environmental effects, enemies and machines effect your visor.

The visor Samus sees her world through is almost like a character in itself! And this first Metroid Prime conveys this arguably even better than its sequels and better than any game up to this point (and even today, it stands out). And it was a striking sight to behold and still is, the first time your visor is interracted with in a fun (and back then, entirely unique and new) way.

How so? Fog and condensation will build up on your screen if you pass through some steam, rain pelts the visor as it hits if you look up at the cloudy sky above, acid or bug guts will splatter across your face when they attack or you obliterate them with fire, if light hits your visor at just the right angle you can actually see Samus’ human face reflected on the glass from inside the suit, and certain electricic machines and enemies will interfere with your display, causing it to static out like a television!

All of this contributes to Metroid Prime’s expertly crafted sense of “life”, the world around you and Samus herself feel like much more than the cardboard cutouts of a lot of games, here the world is living and breathing and even the world you see and how you see it, play an integral part in the experience; and it all comes together so smoothly that you’ll be amazed at how incredibly cohesive it feels. It all feels natural and every part of the game resonates as if was all built to go together from the get-go (It wasn’t, in fact the game was originally a third-person platformer until Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario and Nintendo mastermind, demanded the switch to first-person).

Another major aspect of the game is how the Visor ties into the gameplay. One of the newest elements introduced first in Metroid Prime is the introduction of different wearable Visors that the player can switch between at will. Samus starts out with her standard Combat Visor, which is your default view. In this view you can see how much Energy you have, how many Missiles you’re carrying, what Beam Weapon you have selected, what Visor you have selected; and more importantly to combat, a radar in the upper-right that shows incoming enemies and a threat detector on the left that tells you when you are close to incoming danger. You can then use the targeting ridicule to get a bead on enemies before blasting them.

Then you have the Scan Visor, this Visor is avaiable from the start and allows you to take the time (if you so desire) to scan objects, enemies, machines, bosses and any other pertinant information within a room. Scanning will tell you about the object and enter it into your Logbook for safekeeping (you can check the Logbook for TONS of information at anytime by pressing Start).

In addition to scanning enemies and objects (which can be viewed later under your menu, as mentioned above), you can also find stories and journals hidden deviously on walls and in plain site on computer terminals throughout the various lands you will visit. These provide the user with in-depth backstory from the view of both the Space Pirates and the ancient Chozo people’s of Tallon IV (those that build Samus’ spacesuit and provide her with new weapons scattered throughout the game’s worlds).

Important items that can be scanned appear in Red, and scanning important items and logs counts towards your percentage of completion when you beat the game (along with your time). A higher scan count also unlocks additional art galleries upon completing the game.

Scanning however is entirely optional, and some players will find it boring. These players can simply scan just the Red highlighted areas to quickly progress in the game; while those who love more story will enjoy reading the in-depth logs that shed new light on the world and forces of Metroid Prime and will want to scan everything they can get their hands… er, visor focused on.

The controls in Metroid Prime take a bit of getting used to, and will feel really strange to those weaned on Halo and most other modern first-person shooters, with their dual-control-stick navigation. To that end, Metroid Prime is dubbed by Nintendo a first-person ADVENTURE (not “shooter”) and features a unique setup where you cannot move while aiming (an aspect that was “fixed” with the Wii version of the game, where you can move and aim at the same time, by simply pointing the Wii Remote at the screen).

To aim, you must press in and hold the R Button, which causes Samus’ to hold up her arm cannon while standing in place. You can then press the A Button to fire (and rapid fire the quicker you press it, depending on the Beam equipped) and look around with the Control Stick (while R is being held). The B Button is used to make Samus jump and leap from platform to platform (done really well in this game), while the Y Button shoots Missiles and the X Button rolls Samus into her infamous Morph Ball. Since you can’t aim while moving, it gives the game a much slower pace and a completely different feel than most first-person games. Although it works REALLY well once you get used to it.

The Morph Ball is Samus’ trademark ability, the one that (arguably), made Metroid famous. By using the Morph Ball, Samus curls up into a perfect, metallic sphere; which allows her to enter small spaces that are unaccessable any other way.

Like with all of the Metroid games, you start out this Metroid game with only the bare minimum of abilities, and as you progress through the various environments you will pick up all kinds of new items, Weapons, Abilities and Power-Ups. These add to the number of things Samus can do.

The Morph Ball is one such ability and was one of the main concerns players had before Metroid Prime’s release. How would the game utilize the Morph Ball in a polygonal, fully 3D world? In previous Metroid games, the Morph Ball was used to enter small cracks that were previously unexcessable. Additionally, you could lay Morph Ball Bombs to blast holes into walls, floors, ceilings, etc. and enter those crevices to reveal new locations.

Amazingly, this was maintained in Metroid Prime and done FLAWLESSLY. Pressing the X Button enters Samus into Morph Ball mode, and the camera pans out into a third-person perspective (then seamlessly zooming back into first-person when you press X again to roll back out of your ball).

Throughout the game, you will discover certain areas (which when scanned, are revealed to be made of specific allows, which gives you a hint on how the barrier can be destroyed) which can only be accessed by bombing with the Morph Ball, these usually lead to new paths that take you to different areas, or along an unseen track into one of the game’s many hidden Power-Ups and secrets. Be them Missile Packs, which increase your max Missile-carrying capacity by 5 or Energy Tanks, which give you an additional 99 units of health, for example.

New abilities have also been added to the Morph Ball which take advantage of the environments in unique and fun ways. One in particular sounds and seems really goofy (and LAME) but once you do it in the game it just…. works.

The environments in the game run the gamet and cover all of the videogame stereotypes you would HOPE to see, from the jungle-like area full of plant-life and fauna (as you will find throughout) to the lava environment meant to remind fans of Norfair, to the atypical Ice World. One area where Metroid Prime REALLY excels though is in world DESIGN.

Amazingly, similar to Resident Evil Remake (also a GameCube exclusive), each and every room in Metroid Prime is unique. There are no repetitive environments in Metroid Prime and the intricate design is second to none. And unlike the sequel (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, released for GameCube in 2004), the levels (er, areas) do not suffer from the curse of feeling complex just to be complex. In fact, it is quite the opposite, the levels are intricate and crafted with grace; in such a way that the layouts are easy to learn. This is how you do masterful design.

Driving the “master of designing” home is an amazing, fully 3D wireframe map which you can bring up at anytime by pressing the Z Button on the GameCube controller. This map can be fully rotated in any direction and is broken up by room, with a layout that is easily readable, scannable, and extremely helpful. Labels are available that show you locked rooms, what Beam weapons are required to enter certain doors, and where important Save Rooms, Map Rooms, etc. are located. You can also press the A Button to zoom the Area Map out to go into the World Map, which allows you to zoom into a completely different place in the world and enter that land’s map by pressing A again. The C Stick meanwhile allows you to scan from room to room. Metroid Prime really primiered the amazing, intricate, wireframe map idea and it is one of the game’s shining achievements. Which is equally fitting, as Super Metroid also featured a great map, a map system so great that many other games, like the Castlevania series, used the same kind of map design.

Musically, Metroid Prime offers great tunes that will satisfy fans of previous Metroid games, even if it doesn’t feature many of the same famous pieces that fans know and love (There’s also a few annoying pieces, like the Space Pirate theme). The intro music in particular is INCREDIBLE and serves to give you chills from the moment you press the power button. Especially since the menu design is impeccable, with the Main Menu set INSIDE of a Metroid…. it’s very stylized and very, VERY cool. In fact, if you go and play Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii, you’ll notice that they cut out this intro in favor of a new uniform menu for each game… a BIG mistake. It’s worth playing this GameCube version or keeping your GameCube copy just for the awesome intro menu alone!

Metroid Prime also features a few cool extras. You can play a free version of the original Metroid if you own a Game Boy Advance GameCube link cable and a Game Boy Advance or GBA SP system, along with a copy of Metroid Fusion, which released day and date with Metroid Prime. Link them up after you’ve beat Fusion and you will unlock the original Metroid in your Metroid Prime to play at any time. You can even save your game in this version! (without having to write down the password!).

Additionally, you can play Metroid Prime using Samus’ Metroid Fusion Suit by linking the two game’s together.

Beating the game will also unlock a harder difficulty setting along with art galleries based on the amount of important items, enemies, bosses, machines, etc. that you’ve scanned. Beating the game with a quicker time meanwhile will give you a better ending… and allow you to see behind the mask!

Overall, Metroid Prime is game that is NOT TO BE MISSED! While it is easy to forget about the game in this day and age, Metroid Prime still holds up extremely well; even though the graphics are not high definition, the attention to detail shines through, as does the impeccable level design, the intricate world, the fantastic enemies, the awesome bosses (the end boss is one of my favorites of ALL time), the great music, the cool weapons, the interesting story and, most of all, the incredibly fun gameplay.

Metroid Prime is packed to the gills with secrets as well, and you’ll be hard pressed to find each and every Missile Pack, Energy Tank, Missile Combo, et al on your first play through. Much less Scan everything and unlock all of the Art Galleries. So Metroid Prime gives you plenty of replay value.

There is a reason why Metroid Prime recieved the coveted Platinum Award from EGM, garnering a PERFECT score of three 10’s… Putting the game right up there with Halo: Combat Evolved, Super Mario 64, the Grand Theft Auto series and the Zelda series as a game that set precedants and stamped out new territory; while delivering proof that Nintendo could still hang with the best of them. Only masterpieces recieve scores so high.

And Metroid Prime is, without a doubt, one of the greatest games of all time. Play it!

Note:
The easiest way to get your hands on Metroid Prime is for the Wii via Metroid Prime Trilogy. The Trilogy version however has a few alterations that detract from the overall experience (like the cutting of the intro) while also significantly changing the gameplay by allowing you to aim instantly anywhere on the screen by simply pointing your Wii Remote where you want to shoot.

This also allows you to walk while shooting… While some people will always prefer the GameCube version and consider it superior, if you never played the GameCube version you will not notice these differences.

In which case I’d tell you to not hesitate in picking up Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii and giving the game a go. Just like with Zelda: Twilight Princess (which also has a GameCube and Wii Version, the latter with motion controls), it will really come down to personal preference and whether playing the game in its original incarnation or in an “updated” form is more important to you. But that intro…. You gotta have the intro!

Either way, you really can’t go wrong, as the core game remains the same on both the GameCube and Wii platforms, and it’s greatness shines through however you choose to play it.

Pros: Impeccable design.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: A masterpiece not to be missed.

More Videogame Reviews:
5. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (N64) [Posted: January 31 2013]
4. Resident Evil: Code Veronica Review (Dreamcast) [Posted: October 5 2012]
3. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PS1, GameCube) [Posted: September 18th 2012]
2. Resident Evil 2 (GameCube) [Posted: September 3rd 2012]
1. Resident Evil Remake (GameCube) [Posted: August 14 2012]

Music Album Reviews
9. Between Here & Lost By Love And Death (helmed by Brian “Head” Welch Former Korn Lead Guitarist) [Posted: January 25 2013]
8. I AM By Becoming the Archetype (Posted: September 14th 2012)
7. Find Your Worth Come Home By To Speak of Wolves (Posted: May 25, 2012)
6. Celestial Progression (Remix Album) By Becoming the Archetype (Posted: May 21, 2012)
5 Return to Life By War of Ages (Posted: April 28, 2012)
4. Thousand Foot Krutch – The End Is Where We Begin (Posted: April 20, 2012)
3. KJ-52 – Dangerous (Posted: April 16, 2012)
2. Manafest – Fighter (Posted: April 15, 2012)
1. Demon Hunter – True Defiance (Posted: April 10, 2012)

Gilmore Girls Reviews
4. Gilmore Girls Season One Episode 4 – The Deer Hunters
3. Gilmore Girls Season One Episode 3 – Kill Me Now
2. Gilmore Girls Season One Episode 2 – The Lorelais’ First Day At Chilton Review
1. Gilmore Girls Season One Episode 1 – Pilot Review

Movie Reviews
3. The Amazing Spider-Man [Posted: December 1 2012]
2. Prometheus (Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel) [Posted On: November 25 2012]
1. Warhorse (By Steven Spielberg) [Posted On: November 11 2012]

LISTENTOMEPLAY podcasts:
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* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 0 Part 5
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 0 Part 4
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil Zero Podcast Part 3
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil Zero Podcast Part 2
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil Zero Podcast. RE0 Intro (Part 1)
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil: Code Veronica Finale (Part 7)
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil: Code Veronica Parts 5 and 6
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil: Code Veronica Part 4
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil: Code Veronica Part 3
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil: Code Veronica Part 2
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil: Code Veronica Podcast Part 1
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 3 Podcast Finale (Part 5)
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 3 Podcast Part 4
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 3 Podcast Parts 2 And 3
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 3 Podcast Part 1
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 2 Podcast Final Master Run (Claire Redfield)
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil 2 Podcast (Leon Scenario A On Normal)
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil Remake Real Survival Mode Chris
* ListenToMePlay Super Metroid Podcast
* ListenToMePlay Super Metroid Podcast Part 2
* ListenToMePlay Oblivion “Through A Virgin’s Eyes” Podcast Part 1 – Guest Mr. Z
* ListenToMePlay Oblivion Podcast Part 2
* ListenToMePlay The Witcher 2 Podcast Part 1 – Guest: RedWinged Angel
* ListenToMePlay The Witcher 2 Podcast Part 2
* ListenToMePlay Resident Evil Remake Podcast – Guest: MyDad

WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Let’s Play Videos
* WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Part 7 – Empty Bottle GET! Deku Palace And Magic Beans
* WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Part 6 – Granny Robbin For Blast Mask And Kamaro Dance
* WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Part 5 – The Thief And the Curiosity Shop Dealer
* WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Part 4 – Bomb Bag, Bremen Mask, Scarecrow’s Song
* WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Part 3 – Bomber’s Notebook
* WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Part 2 – Repeating Yesterday
* WatchMePlay Zelda: Majora’s Mask Part 1 – Intro and Opening

Other WatchMePlay Series
* WatchMePlay Perfect Dark Xbox 360
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Photo of the Day – Real Life Mario And Sonic At the London Olympic Games Party Bus

Sonic and Mario in the real!

Real Mario and Sonic, hanging out and chillin on a party bus like the bestest of friends. This was taken during the launch of Mario & Sonic At the London Olympic Games videogame from last year (the third game in the series). Fun photo. :)

 

Happy Valentine’s Day 2013! Metroid Love and Videogame Valentine Cards And Videos!

Soooo awesome!

Have a very Happy Metroid Valentine’s Day! Or is it Happy Jill Valentine’s Day? :D

Enjoy all of the this cool Metroid Valentine Day 2013 Card, and I hope you and your’s had a great day! If you’re single like me, don’t worry, treat yourself to something special and remember that some people would kill to be single, just like we would to have someone. It goes both ways, and it’s all what you make of it anyway. God bless!

 

Nintendo Direct Valentine’s Day Full Video Presentations (America, Europe, Japan)

Nintendo Direct Valentine’s Day was a hit as Nintendo revealed lots of new information and release dates for upcoming games for WiiU, 3DS, and their digital services.

Although there were no megaton announcements, there is a lot to get excited about from Nintendo. And we have a very exciting E3 2013 to look forward too, where hopefully Nintendo will make waves with the first footage of the new WiiU Zelda, WiiU Metroid, WiiU and 3DS Smash Bros., and whatever else they have under their sleeves!

For now enjoy these Nintendo Direct full video presentations!

NINTENDO DIRECT VALENTINE’S DAY AMERICAN PRESENTATION FULL VIDEO

NINTENDO DIRECT VALENTINE’S DAY EUROPE PRESENTATION FULL VIDEO

NINTENDO DIRECT VALENTINE’S DAY JAPAN PRESENTATION FULL VIDEO

 

Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS Release Date Is June 9 2013. SteetPass Lets You View Other People’s House Customizations Via Happy Home Showcase Mode of People You’ve Walked By In Real Life

Customize the outside of your house for the first time in Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS will be released on June 9th 2013 in America and June 14th in Europe, surely other territories will follow soon after! This is another one of Nintendo’s big titles for the year, and is the highly anticipated 4th entry in the beloved series.

Here is the American Nintendo Direct Valentine’s Day Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS video with new footage of the game in action; and new details! All narrated by Shigeru Miyamoto’s translator, Bill Trinen of the Tree House Nintendo Translation studio.

Previous games in the Animal Crossing series include the debut Animal Crossing for GameCube in 2002 (released for N64 in Japan as “Animal Forest” in 2001), Animal Crossing: Wild World was the 2nd installment released for DS in 2005. And Animal Crossing: City Folk was the third game, released for Wii in 2008. The original game allowed you to unlock hidden NES games that you could play, although this feature was removed in all future installments. The DS version was the first to feature online support, allowing you to exchange items with friends online and even visit their towns online (instead of using Passwords like the GCN version), meanwhile the Wii City Folk version expanded on that by allowing multiple players to visit each other’s towns at once, and the ability to speak to each other via Voice Chat using the Wii Speak Accessory when playing online with friends.

Here is the European Nintendo Direct Valentine’s Day Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS video. Narrated by Animal Crossing: New Leaf producer and series creator Katsuya Eguchi.

Watch both videos to learn as much as possible about Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS, both videos feature completely different presentations and gameplay footage.

The main hook of Animal Crossing has always been the fact that it syncs with the system’s clock, making it so that time passes in the game corresponding exactly with the real world (from Seasons to Holidays to day and night) and certain events only happen on certain days, be them Holiday Celebrations or new Animal neighbors and characters for you to meet (for example a guitarist dog named KK Slider who only plays songs on Saturday Evenings). All future Animal Crossing games kept these time elements.

Take over duties as mayor of your town in Animal Crossing 3DS!

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, players will finally get to be Mayor of their own town. This means that the debt you have to pay off is low, the ability to start collecting items to decorate your house comes fast, and all of the residents are subservient to YOU! Additionally, player’s will finally be able to customize the actual look of the outside of their homes!

What a beautiful house!

Animal Crossing: New Leaf introduces all-new features and greatly expands on the amount of things you can do in your town, thanks to being mayor. You can now pass laws to customize the town to your liking, for example making it so that everyone wakes up early (Early Bird Town), everyone stays up all night (Night Owl Town), everyone focuses on making the town look good (Beautiful Town), or everyone is rich (Wealthy Town). You can even change the actual painting and patterns on furniture yourself, making for way more customization than before.

Now you can customize the actual look and pattern of furniture!

Another really cool feature is Animal Crossing: New Leaf’s StreetPass Happy Home Showcase play. By walking by someone who has the game, you’re 3DS systems will exchange data, and their House will be added to a special lot where you can view their house along with the homes of all the other people you’ve met! You’ll even get their custom Animal Crossing character added to your lot so you can compare what they look like, what they are wearing, what accessories and clothing they have, to what your character looks like!

See the houses of people you’ve walked by in real life and their character. AWESOME!

This Happy Home Showcase mode will even allow you to check out the exterior design they’ve used to customize their house, and go inside to check out what unique items the have that you may not have! This is an extremely welcome and VERY cool feature.

Seasons change like autumn here. You can also see a beanie hate accessory on this girl.

Customization of your character has also been expanded, allowing you to collect not just new shirts, but other pieces of clothing including new shoes, hats, and accessories (like the token Umbrella’s) as well as hang certain pieces of furniture on the Walls! This further expands on the indoor customization that includes the ability to place and move around different pieces of furniture available to collect, and the ability to change or create different patterns of floor tile, carpet and wallpaper to give your house a unique look inside.

This time you need to pay Tom Nook to buy the land for your town that you’ll mayor over.

As you are the Mayor, you’ll be able to customize the look of other Houses and Buildings around town, as well as place Lamp Posts, Benches, Fences, Bridges, Hedges and other decorations around the actual town, a first for the series. That’s in addition to planting trees, collecting fruit, bugs, fossils, artwork, fishing and all the other things you’ve done in previous Animal Crossing games that you can still do in this one. You can even swim in the ocean bordering the town! That’s new!

Build wells, bridges, lamp posts and more and place them around town!

By leaving across the train tracks of the town, you can access Main Street, which is where you will find all the familiar locations from previous games. This time they are all in one area, making it very easy and very simple to accomplish a lot without having to walk a long distance to various spots in town. This addresses one of the critisms of Animal Crossing: City Folk and Animal Crossing: Wild World, where locations for you to visit, purchase new items, customize clothing and more, were spread out and player’s spent a lot of time simply running from one location to the next. This time things will be much more seamless and easier to accomplish with all the locations in one place, which when combined with the new touchscreen interface, makes playing the game much more painless!

All shops and locations are now in one area at Main Street for easy access.

Nintendo also revealed that Animal Crossing: New Leaf inspired clothing, accessories, etc. will be available in the 3DS eShop title “Style Savvy: Trendsetters”, where you can start downloading them and customizing your girl’s fashion sense with Animal Crossing love right now for the casual female-centric, Nintendo-developed fashion, lifestyle game (the first title of which was released for DS in 2008 as “Style Savvy”. It’s called the “Nintendo presents: Style Boutique” series in Europe).

All in all, the Life Simulation gameplay of Animal Crossing: New Leaf will definitely excite fans of the series, and people who’ve never played it before are in for a world of fun, casual, and expansive content that they are sure to enjoy! Definitely looking forward to this game!

 

Luigi’s Mansion 3DS: Dark Moon Release Date Is March 24 2013. Shigeru Miyamoto Shares Development Details In Nintendo Direct

Solve puzzles throughout the Mansion using Luigi’s vacuum in Luigi’s Mansion 3DS!

Luigi’s Mansion 3DS: Dark Moon’s release date is March 24th 2013. The game is a big one for Nintendo and will finally return Luigi to a starring videogame role, in this sequel to his first adventure, 2002’s original Luigi’s Mansion for GameCube.

This game has been in development for a while now, and was delayed into 2013 to give Nintendo and developer Shigeru Miyamoto and his team more time to put lasting polish and replay value into the game, to truly raise it from AA to AAA status, and the game definitely looks it in this all-new Luigi’s Mansion 2 footage from the newest Nintendo Direct presentation.

Get ready to stun lots of ghosts in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for 3DS! Releasing March 2013.

Luigi’s Mansion 3DS will kick off what Nintendo is calling “The Year of Luigi“, and is the major triple-threat attack with the lil’ bro in the limelight that will be released this year (alongside Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and New Super Luigi U), and the game marks one of Nintendo’s biggest titles for 2013.

Miyamoto himself makes his first Nintendo Direct appearance to discuss the game for fans and reveal all-new gameplay footage and details on the upcoming adventure. Watch the video above to hear all he has to say and see this great looking sequel in action.

Watch out, or the Ghost Dog will steal your gold!

Miyamoto talks about how they are able to use the glasses-free, stereoscopic 3D graphics of the 3DS to really make the levels pop, and add new depth to the same great gameplay from the first game. Players still explore a deep, dark mansion full of ghosts, using their flashlight to light up the environments and their Poltergust Vacuum to suck them up! Many unique ghost characters will be encountered in this game, including a Ghost Dog who loves gold! Each one is unique and will take unique strategies to get discover them and then suck them up.

Certain ghosts will block Luigi’s light to protect themselves, by wearing sunglasses (haha) or using umbrella’s and other items and weapons. Like the first game, Dark Moon is full of puzzles to be saved in the multiple mansion’s many rooms, and you will need to figure out how to make the ghosts appear. One new item is the DarkLight, which can be used to follow the footprints of certain ghosts, like the aforementioned Ghost Dog.

I can’t wait to play Luigi’s Mansion 3DS, as I never got to play the GameCube original, even though I always wanted too! This game looks vastly improved over the original announcement trailer, so I’m glad that Nintendo delayed it. Good move on their part.

 

Toki Tori 2 Release Date On WiiU And PC March 2013

Looks very similar to the first game but with HD graphics.

Toki Tori 2 will be released for the WiiU as well as PC this March 2013.

Absolutely no details on the game were released, but the game looks like it will feature similar gameplay to the original and is sure to satisfy fans of the Game Boy Color puzzler, which has since been ported to iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, PC, PSN, Mac, Steam, Mobile.

As such there are surely a lot of people who will be happy to see a sequel to this underrated gem, which was one of the last Game Boy Color games ever released, to widespread critical acclaim.

I remember when I first read the reviews for Toki Tori in EGM Magazine, I always wanted to play the game but never got around to it. It was developed by Two Tribes and published by Capcom (people often mistake it for a first-party Nintendo title known as The Legend of Starfi, another similar title that I was sad to see never got released in the US on it’s original Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance platforms. We did finally get the 5th DS game in 2008 however) and greatly overlooked by a lot of people, although it has gotten a bit more popular ever since the re-releases starting hitting.

 

HarmoKnight New 3DS eShop Game Freak Rhythm Action Title Releases March 28 2013. From Creators of Pokemon

A new music game from the creators of Pokemon? Sign me up!

HarmoKnight for 3DS eShop releases on March 28th 2013 and is an all-new Rhythm Action game by Game Freak, the developers behind Pokemon! This game marks their first original non-Pokemon game since Drill Dozer released for the Game Boy Advance in 2006 (I own a sealed copy :D). Very exciting!

HarmoKnight (as in “Harmony Knight”) is a easy to play but deeply rich, unique experience where the jumping and swatting actions of the main character create the very rhythms and harmonies of the background music! Timing is everything as the game is played with only two buttons, jumping and hitting.

80 levels across 8 Worlds with themed music from Rock to Marching Band!

You’re task is to collect music notes strewn across the courses and defeat enemies with correct timing, which adds richness and depth to the harmony. Beating a level with the proper timing won’t be easy, and will provide lots of replay value to this already massive game, which contains 80 levels across 8 worlds as the player hunts for a symphony of instruments. These worlds will be themed, from Marching Band to Rock Music and everywhere in between. VERY COOL!

At least one Pokemon music level will be featured in the game!

Earn a high enough score in a level and you will unlock new advanced and more challenging modes, like Speed Runs! Additionally, neat Bonus Tracks will be included (and likely downloadable as DLC) that feature theme songs from Pokemon! And hopefully from other Nintendo games as well.

This game looks like a real winner! I love Rhythm Action games like Elite Beat Agents and Final Fantasy Theatrhythm, so this game looks awesome to me! Good to see Game Freak being able to work on something else besides Pokemon for a change!

 

Mario Golf 3DS: World Tour Releases Summer 2013. All-New Portable Mario Golf Sports Game

A giant Goomba serves as an obstacle course!

Mario Golf: World Tour for 3DS will be released this Summer 2013 announced Nintendo via their Nintendo Direct conference. The game will star Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Wario, Donkey Kong, Waluigi and all the Mario friends you know and love (Peach, Toad, Daisy, Shy Guy, Koopa, etc.). New friends are sure to pop up as well, as always, although that list is just conjecture by me.

A range of varying golf courses will be featured, including ones that feature Mario enemies on them (like a giant Goomba) and the like. Traditional courses will also be available as well as powerful and unique SuperShots for each character (you can see Mario grabbing Starman Power-Up for his Supershot). The game is once again being helmed by developer Camelot, who has created all of these games along with the Mario Tennis/Hot Shots Golf franchises.

From the press release:
“The Nintendo 3DS game includes both simple controls and a deeper experience for golf fans, plus courses that range from traditional to those inspired by the Mushroom Kingdom. The game launches this summer.”

It’s that classic Mario Golf gameplay you know and love, this time on 3DS!

It’s always great to see a new Mario sports game! These games never cease to entertain, and I’m glad that they are still being produced. Mario Golf was the originator of the Mario Sports line, and was followed up by Mario Tennis, which became more popular. People still love the Mario Golf series, so it’s great to see a new installment for the 3DS! Especially given that Camelot is developing it once again, just as they have with past titles; which included the original Mario Golf on N64 way back in 1999 alongside Mario Golf GB for Game Boy that same year. The sequel, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and the 2nd game in the series, was released for GameCube in 2003, alongside Mario Golf: Advance Tour for the Game Boy Advance in 2004.

And now, Mario Golf: World Tour for 3DS is the third game in the series. There were also two Golf Sports games made by Nintendo and starring Mario and friends for NES, including 1984’s “Golf” and 1991’s “NES Open Tournament Golf”, both released on the NES.

 

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3DS Releases This Summer (Retail & Download). Enhanced Update of the Wii Title

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is hitting the 3DS!

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D has been announced for 3DS with a Summer release date. The title is an enhanced update of the Wii game from 2010.

As you’d expect from a 3DS version of a last-gen console title, the game graphics have been upgraded to fully take advantage of the 3DS’ glasses-free, stereoscopic 3D effects, making the layers of background and foreground Jungle-filled levels pop off the screen!

Here is an actual 3DS screenshot of the game (the one below is a Wii screenshot, though they look identical).

Mine Cart action in 3D!

It is unknown if the game will include any other enhancements or additions over the Wii version, but I’d expect that the game will at least include StreetPass play and is likely to include new challenge areas and new levels. We’ll just have to wait and see for more info!

You can imagine how the scenery pops in glasses-free stereoscopic 3D on 3DS!

You can see how the game looks in stereoscopic 3D by checking out a Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D trailer available to view now on the 3DS eShop.

Exciting news! Even though a lot of people complain about ports, I don’t mind ports one bit. Especially when they are greatly enhanced, remastered and improved over previous versions. I didn’t get to play the original Wii game, so DKCR3D is right up my alley!