It has been a long time since Launch Station has graced the pages of Silver Bit. Formerly part of regular scheduled programming, Launch Station is Silver Bit's preview article where yours truly conveniently summarizes all the information on a selected new release or possibly multiple releases for your reading pleasure. Speaking of multiple releases, Nintendo is looking to jumpstart the summer months with a slew of new games for the 3DS this Friday. The games in question are Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Mario Golf: World Tour. For 3DS owners looking for games to play after getting their fill from Bravely Default, Yoshi's New Island or Disney Magical World, there will definitely be something for them this Friday as these two games fall under two opposite ends of the gaming spectrum. They will easily be great appetizers for the main course that comes later this month in Mario Kart 8.
Due to the series more casual audience, Kirby has always been a character that Nintendo can test out new ideas and concepts. For a character all about transformations, Nintendo's pink puffball embraces new directions and experiments as Kirby has been turned into various types of balls from a pinball to a golf ball and even being made entirely out of yarn for the sake of new ideas and concepts. Aside from new transformations and more powerful inhaling abilities, Kirby's platformers have stuck to the same formula since the original Dream Land series on Game Boy. Kirby: Triple Deluxe looks to add a few new ideas to the Kirby platforming formula in order to take advantage of the 3DS's power and stereoscopic 3D. Levels involve more than just movement from left to right. Thanks to the Warp Star, Kirby can move between multiple layers of the level in a way much similar to moving between the foreground and background in Mutant Mudds. With the multiple layers, Kirby now needs to worry about threats from the standard Waddle Dees to massive life-ending mallets that move between the layers to attack. More so than past entires, Kirby's inhale move has been super powered with the help of the Miracle Fruit's Hypernova Kirby transformation. As Hypernova Kirby, the pink puffball can inhale extreme amounts of items, enemies and large obstacles in order to solve puzzles. Along with the new transformation, Kirby's copy abilities have seen a drastic overhaul as the developers have worked tirelessly on creating unique move sets for every single ability in the game. As a bonus to the main game, Triple Deluxe includes two extra subgames in Kirby Fighters, a fighting game similar in gameplay to Super Smash Bros. where you pit Kirby's different copy abilities against one another to see which one is the best, and Dedede's Drum Dash, a rhythm game that has you controlling King Dedede as he bounces on large drums to the tune of classic Kirby songs.
It has been just under a decade since Mario and friends last hit the links. Considering Nintendo's focus on motion controls during the later half of the 2000s, it is very surprising that Nintendo did not bring Mario out with new entries in his two most iconic sports roles, golf and tennis, to champion a new motion-controlled generation of gaming. Well the wait for a brand new Mario Golf game is almost over. With the portability of the 3DS, Mario Golf: World Tour's main focus is on multiplayer. There is a large suite of multiplayer options for players to choose from with the first choice being whether to play locally or online. Local play allows for quick and easy competition amongst friends and colleagues in the same vicinity. Online play allows for a few more options as players can compete in regional or worldwide tournaments to see where they rank in Mario Golf. Since you only have to post your scores for online tournaments, there is no need to have players log on at the exact same time. You can post a score anytime during the tournaments scheduled start and end date. Players can even set-up their own online tournaments and communities to compete with their friends and rivals in a more personal online setting. While it may be the main focus of World Tour, multiplayer is not the only way to play this Mario Golf. Castle Club is World Tour's single-player mode which allows players to learn the basics of the game through lessons from Toad, compete in club tournaments to increase stats and earn new gear for your golfer and explore the club grounds in order to meet familiar Mario characters and find special challenges. The fun does not stop there as Mario Golf: World Tour offers players with a lot more downloadable content to buy. You can either pick up the Season Pass for 15 dollars which includes all three packs for download upon release or buy the packs individually for 6 dollars each.
No matter what game you choose to pick up this Friday, there is no way you will end up disappointed. Nintendo has put out two great 3DS titles to eat up gamer's time until the next large 3DS release or Mario Kart 8 later this month for Wii U owners. Personally, I am picking up both titles for different reasons. While I am not the Kirby fan in my family as that title belongs to my youngest brother, I have heard nothing but good things about Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Even though Kirby's notorious easy difficulty, I am looking forward to playing Triple Deluxe. On the other hand, I am a huge fan for Mario Golf. Considering my father is a golf professional and I have been around the sport all my life, blending Mario with such a key part of my identity has always made me identify with the series more than your typical simulation golf game. With the incredible online additions to Mario Golf, I am excited to play the online tournaments and compete on world Mario Golf stage to see where my skills stand. With two great titles released on the same day, there is nothing that will not keep a Nintendo system owners smiling this Friday.
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