DS

Metal Slug 7

December 22, 2008

DS / Reviews / by Michael Walbridge Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The vast majority of people interested in Metal Slug 7 have already played a Metal Slug title and are wondering if it technically transitions well to the DS. It does, especially in the audio department. The characters, animations, screams and tunes are so close to the typical Metal Slug experience that anyone playing it will immediately feel they have been given a legitimate Metal Slug experience. The hokey horde of goblin-nosed soldiers and their nose-picking, donkey-laughing, “oh-my-God-a-chick-in-cargo-pants-with-a-pistol-run-billy-run” antics have been copied and pasted into the DS in full essence. The look and sound of Metal Slug is here.

The Metal Slug standard is followed and it does try to be a sequel—there are new slugs (vehicles), and new quirky challenges oblige us again; examples include pumping a pump so you can outrun an orange ball of flame in Indiana-Jones-style, and a level where you float down a long passage in a parachute. A couple of bosses are unoriginal, but most of them retain the distinct Metal Slug challenge. The enemies are mostly pasted from other slug games, especially the soldiers and vehicles. The DS’s small screen may be the reason why the creativity and difference factor is not as high as it could be, but it’s still solid and true-to-form as you play it.

An important thing to note is that somewhere in the development process, Metal Slug 7 lost its soul. Unlike the rest of the family, this Metal Slug is a tricky fellow who shows up at a family reunion and has convinced everyone he is a relative when he is in fact merely showing up for the free food and alcohol. The exact moment that 7 lost its birthright is when it was determined that it would have no multiplayer capabilities at all, which is one of the stupidest decisions I’ve ever witnessed. For why do people play Metal Slug? Do they play it so they can get the highest score? Is there pure joy in its action? Is it like Donkey Kong, Pac Man, or Geometry Wars? 

If you’re not convinced Metal Slug 7 could possibly go the Geometry Wars route by trying to pass itself off for its sheer joy of unsocialized, brainwashing play, check out this list of features:

—You can start the game at any level that you reach. If you make it to level 3 and die, you will be able to start a new game at level 3. It is not actually challenging to get to the end of this game. It will take you not hours of mastery, but 90 minutes of perseverance; fewer if you’re highly-skilled.

—It asks for your initials to keep track of scores, just like in an arcade game. Only Metal Slug 7 has no online or multiplayer capabilities, so the score stays inside just the cartridge. It can’t even get the score system part of Geometry Wars right!

—There is a training mode comprised of two parts; one involves tons of dialogue where a cute (by anime conventions) officer pretends to have a conversation with you and then tells you to train. The training involves playing points of the levels, made available as you beat them; they have different objectives, sometimes. If you beat them all, she’ll open up more to your implied come ons! I did not beat every single challenge, so no word on what she actually does if you fully impress her. The master and servant or leader and soldier ways in which she talks are covertly sexual. Maybe you find interaction with cute anime characters interesting, and you’ll buy Metal Slug 7 just to see this, which would ironically be a more justifiable reason since it’s the kind of feature you will most definitely want to work toward alone, unlike the rest of the actual game.

So there it is: Metal Slug 7 is supposed to make the player think “sure it takes an hour to beat it, but I’ll play it a lot, again and again.” But this is not why people play Metal Slug!

It pains me to spell this out: Metal Slug is played for the challenging uphill climb on the way to the thrill of victory, especially when it is the thrill of victory with a friend who didn’t use up all the continues. But hey, if you want to play the same Metal Slug over and over again just to best your own score without showing it off to the world, or if you want to win over some drill sergeant by beating timed challenges, you can be pleased with the drastic differences all you want, by your lonesome self. 

 

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

November 21, 2008

DS / Reviews / by Peter Skerritt Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is the third game of the popular vampire-hunting series for the Nintendo DS platform. After arguably taking a step backwards with last year’s Portrait of Ruin, Koji Igarashi and company have made a few changes to the formula that has been prevalent in the first two DS games. There is a pretty interesting story, gameplay that takes place over multiple locations on a world map instead of in one castle, a new Glyph system which allows players to arm two weapons at once, and a difficulty level that Castlevania players have not seen in quite some time.

The game’s story introduces players to the Order of Ecclesia, a group that is dedicated to ridding the world of Dracula once and for all. Shanoa is the game’s protagonist, and she has been chosen to defeat Dracula by utilizing the Dominus Glyph, a weapon of ultimate power. Standing in Shanoa’s way is Albus, her fellow Ecclesia member and brother figure, who goes rogue after discovering that he has not been chosen to carry Dominus and steals it before it can be given to Shanoa. Shanoa is charged with finding Albus, taking back the Dominus Glyph, and destroying Dracula. Dominus has a dark secret that allows for some interesting plot twists as the game progresses.

Ecclesia’s progression takes place in several different locations, which is a departure from the castle-centric setting seen in the previous portable Castlevania games. The locations vary between indoor, outdoor, and underwater stages of play. There are caves, caverns, forests, swamps, and monasteries represented here. Unfortunately, many of these stages are basic travels from one point to another and don’t allow for the explorative aspects that castle travel afforded players. There are secrets hidden in breakable walls, underground passages, and in other areas, but each stage feels like a mission instead of an area to investigate. Some players may not mind the change, while others may balk at it. In fact, these stages feel more like enhanced versions of the worlds in the paintings within Portrait of Ruin. This new progression doesn’t hurt the game, however, as long as the player is open-minded.

As you might expect, Shanoa will have to deal with a variety of enemies during her quest, and this is where the Glyph system comes into play. Players arm Shanoa with Glyphs, rather than conventional weapons. Glyphs can be found and absorbed from treasure chests, fallen enemies, and secret locations. Once absorbed, Shanoa can equip two offensive Glyphs for the X and Y buttons and a support Glyph, which is activated by using the R button. Offensive Glyph types include swords, hammers, axes, scythes, rapiers, and offensive magic. Support Glyphs include temporary stat increases, drawing more money from hacking candles and torches, and a special Glyph called Magnes, which functions similarly to a grappling hook and is vital to accessing hard-to-reach areas or traversing spike pits.

Unlike recent games in the Castlevania series, Order of Ecclesia stands as a formidable challenge. Players will find that enemies deal a lot more damage than in the past, and boss encounters can be downright punishing. Adding to the game’s challenge is that initial healing items are pretty weak and money isn’t as plentiful, leading to either exhibiting skill or setting out on replays of earlier stages for farming money and items in order to have enough potions and perishables to survive onslaughts of damage from bosses. One particularly tough boss battle occurs pretty early on in Ecclesia’s progression, against a crab boss, likely to cause more deaths during this one encounter than some veteran Castlevania players experienced in Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin combined. This battle is a cruel reminder that a bit of trial and error is required when using Glyphs as certain Glyphs deal more damage to certain enemies than others.

In addition to dispatching enemies and bosses, Shanoa also becomes tasked with rescuing villagers who have been taken by Albus and sealed away in the various stages that Shanoa visits. These villagers are important to advancing the story and they also have subquests that can be completed by Shanoa which lead to various monetary and item bonuses, similar to Wind’s role in Portrait of Ruin. The subquests range from item collection to defeating certain enemies to games of hide and seek. Completing all of these subquests is not vital to beating the game, but completists will revel in the chance to finish every last task before meeting up with Albus in the final battle for Dominus.

The visuals contained within Order of Ecclesia are quite impressive. The character designs have moved away from the anime-influenced style that has been prevalent in the handheld games and towards a more gothic style once again. There is a nice mix of new enemies and familiar foes here, as well. The boss characters are generally huge, ranging from the crab mentioned earlier to a large militant zombie and a creature comprised entirely of shadow. The only nitpick here is that infrequent periods of slowdown can disrupt an otherwise smooth gameplay experience. It’s a bit surprising that slowdown can still be such an issue, especially at this stage of the Nintendo DS’ development cycle, but the problem does still exist, apparently. These bouts are infrequent, though, and don’t serve to further inflate the game’s difficulty.

Ecclesia’s music is very good, although it’s not quite as consistently good as in other games in the series. There are certainly some tracks that stand out, including the piece that accompanies the opening cinematic, but there are also several repeats and a couple of less-than-stellar tracks. Fans of Symphony of the Night will notice some interesting parallels between that game’s soundtrack and several of the tracks within Ecclesia. The game’s sound effects are clean, and there is a decent amount of voice work included; unfortunately, the game’s dialogue is still limited to text.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is worth the $30 price of admission. It has its imperfections, and the difficulty may be off-putting to some, but persistence and skill do eventually pay off in the end. Few games in this series—or on the DS itself, for that matter—give such a feeling of accomplishment and achievement once the game ends. There are several options that become available once players complete Ecclesia that provide a fair amount of replay value, as well. Ecclesia may be a no-brainer to Castlevania fans, but it’s recommended even for gamers who haven’t yet faced off against Dracula or his minions.

ESRB: T (Blood, Fantasy Violence)
Plays like: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Pros: Glyph system, new level progression, unlockables
Cons: Difficulty may frustrate some, some quests require lengthy item farming

Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir

November 17, 2008

DS / Reviews / by Graham Russell Make a comment! / Tweet it!

At first glance, Nintendo’s Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir looks like it may be fun for the type of people that like Phoenix Wright or Hotel Dusk. Don’t be mistaken: this game is not really about mysteries. Rather, this game is a series of simple challenges, like finding items in drawings and putting together 12-piece jigsaw puzzles. While this is the series’ first appearance on a Nintendo system, developer Big Fish Games has been releasing installments for years on computers.

The plot is thin indeed; players are technically solving the mystery of the disappearance of a rich man, creatively named Phil T. Rich. The other characters’ names are equally groan-worthy. There is no interrogation in the game, because somehow finding crowbars and outlines of elephants is just what people need to open up to you.

The controls for the base game are fine. The game allows for right- or left-handed control, and uses a simple tap-and-drag interface. Unfortunately, Big Fish Games has added in a few gimmicky controls, like blowing into the microphone. Also among the more tedious tasks is having to clean your detective’s badge. Thoroughly.

To add variety, Mystery Case Files lets players use flashlights and x-ray devices to find more items, but all this manages to do is make players take one more pass trying to find things without adding any more fun or challenge.

MillionHeir is repetitive, and you’re going to have to like the object-spotting core gameplay to enjoy it at all. That said, it’s polished. Acknowledging what is here, there’s a lot of it. Just don’t expect the traditional Nintendo level of enjoyment.

Plays like: An issue of Highlights.
ESRB: E– This isn’t just okay for kids…it’s for kids
Pros: Polished, relatively intuitive controls
Cons: These puzzles are only for children

Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2

November 14, 2008

DS / Reviews / by Michael Walbridge Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The Legend of Kage is an ’80s ninja hack-and-slash platformer that few remember. The Legend of Kage 2, inspired by the modern retro movement, will likely meet the same fate.

This edition is similar, but not entirely identical: you are still a high-flying ninja, running and jumping non-stop while hacking through hordes of lesser ninjas with ease. But there are a couple modern little frills thrown in. For starters, you can play as either Kage or Chihiro, which gives you two sets of move to go by.  There are cutscenes between levels (though these are hardly affected by which character you pick), and you have the option to experiment with colored orbs you collect, organizing them into different combinations so that you can discover and select different special moves.

Still, it’s a budget title, and for good reason. The gameplay is as simple as it ever was, and the style of challenge is so worn and pasty that the action wears out its welcome by the halfway mark–and the game is short. There are letter grades assigned upon level completion and you can go back and replay any of the levels to be able to earn the right to look at 40 pieces of concept art, but that’s hardly motivation.

Kage and Chihiro have numerous moves, but it means little when the enemies are so easy. Many levels can be cleared simply by holding down the right button and pressing the attack button non-stop. The only exceptions are mini-bosses and levels that require jumps and a sense of direction, as a few walls can’t be climbed but must be conquered through multiple jumps onto multiple platforms. This is the only mechanic which makes you think, and it’s a frustrating one because the immensity of the level combined with using both screens can leave the player simply lost. It does the game no favors when it’s not compatible with normal human perception. Fortunately, there are infinite continues, so you can retry bosses as often as you wish without having to replay the levels.

Speaking of bosses, The Legend of Kage 2’s bosses don’t all fully succumb to Mega Man-style pattern memorization the way the levels do; some of them have elements of randomization to them, requiring full engagement. Boss attacks are obviously influenced by 2D conventions, but many are unique enough to require different approaches that other platformers have never required.

Despite these charms, though, The Legend of Kage 2 is a bit of a yawn. Those desperate for some retro or platforming action on the DS may not mind frittering away a few hours, but for everyone else, it will be flavorless compared to other DS platform exercises.

ESRB: E for ninjas hitting each other with swords. No blood, very cartoony.

Plays like: The Legend of Kage; a watery Shinobi

Pros: solid mechanics, some interesting boss fights, save function

Cons: levels are either boring or stupidly difficult to navigate or both, only bosses are interesting

 

Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs

November 14, 2008

DS / Reviews / by Michael Walbridge Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs is one of those few DS games that feels like it should be available as part of a Flash site to market a show on Animal Planet, yet it costs thirty (not even twenty) dollars. Clueless grandparents and extended relatives will look at this game and a few might think, “Boys love dinosaurs, don’t they?” Unfortunately, the child who receives this game as a gift will bemoan his fate. You get a boy this game, you may as well be getting him dinosaur underwear.

The single player adventure mode requires you to move a dinosaur around a map to collect fossils and eggs so that you can unlock other skins and upgrade your dinosaur. You get the fossils by visiting points around the map and the eggs mostly from fighting other dinosaurs. There are dinosaurs that do not drop eggs, and do not reward you for anything. There is a fossil on each level that has an enemy attached to it, such as a phone booth or a tractor. The only reason I can think of for putting modern objects as opponents in a dinosaur game that has only six dinosaur skins and three scenery skins is that the developers must have known what a joke Battle of Giants would be. Impressively, the door of the booth and the hood of the tractor had some smooth animation as they thwapped my triceratops across and upside the face (respectively). They were, of course, no match for the horns, which tore them to shreds. Okay, okay, it just made them unconscious whilst stars swirled in a clockwise halo. 

The other modes are versus modes; “quick match”, where you can face another dinosaur in a best of 1-5 rounds, is basically a testing scenario. One interesting feature Battle of Giants boasts is “6-player action.” Wow! All six of you can get together and…have a tournament, where everyone plays each other in a one-on-one scenario.

Battle of Giants features dinosaur fights that use rock-paper-scissors, rock-paper-scissors, and tracing an outline as the gameplay mechanics. Battles are influenced by dino stats and picking which moves the dinosaur will do for a moment, and then it’s a battle of skill as you trace the outline of part of a dinosaur.  Difficulty is based on how many and which kinds of moves you use. The triceratops face is an easier one, but the dinosaur foot, complete with little U’s for toes, can be beastly. You then watch some somewhat impressive animations as you watch the dinosaurs fight like insects you threw in a jar.

So adventure mode is just for leveling up your dinosaur and versus mode is for throwing your dinosaur in a jar. Both involve stylus-tracing. There is a lot of leeway given so that it’s easy to beat the computer, but the tracing on some of the figures for the little children are difficult. Even on the easy ones, it’s impossible to get a 100%, and even if you were, I’m still persuaded that the fire-station alarm that sets off at the end of every trace as time runs out would not shut up.

It’s quite an achievement: it takes literally one minute of playing this game without reading anything about it to figure out what the entire game will play like. The attempts to keep it appealing and easy enough for kids in the midst of taking away their candy is noble, but Battle of Giants remains one-hundredth the game of any edition of Pokemon it imitates.

ESRB: E for dinosaurs hitting each other

Plays like: A really bad Pokemon-imitator with races to trace influencing the results of moves

Pros: Some highly professional animation and sound

Cons: Too many to list. Seriously, the game is a mini self-evident game-design doc on how not to imitate a game and sell it to kids

 

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