On the Download: July 8-14

There are sales galore this weekend.  Thousands of games are being discounted on Steam while you can grab Mighty Switch Force for the discounted of price of 3 dollars this weekend on the Nintendo eShop.  Along with the sales, a couple of big downloadable games are coming to different platforms.  The every popular Tiny Wings is getting an HD port for the iPad, which you can find on sale for 3 dollars on the App Store and Airtight Game's first big downloadable project has been released for XBLA and PSN this week for 1200 Microsoft Points or 15 dollars respectively.  Re-releases were not the only thing this week as we got a few notable games to download.

While Nintendo's 8-Bit Summer continued with the release of Kirby's Pinball Land and Sword of Hope II for the 3DS Virtual Console, there is a 3DS download that should get a little more attention than it already has.  The game is called Johnny Kung Fu and comes to us by the talented people at UFO Interactive Games.  The local crime gang run by the notorious Mr. Wang has kidnapped Johnny's girlfriend.  Knowing what needs to be done, Johnny dons his Kung Fu grab in order to save his girlfriend, who is being held at the top of Mr. Wang's tower.  Johnny Kung Fu is a unique 3DS download that mixes old and new.  The game jumps between side-scrolling brawling segments to Donkey Kong-esqe platforming levels reminiscent of the games found on Nintendo's old Game and Watch handhelds.  Things start to ramp up as Johnny only has a hour or two to save his girlfriend.  If you like to pick up a game that bridges the old and new in the way Johnny Kung Fu does, you can pick this game up for 6 dollars on the Nintendo eShop.

Made by small indie developer SideQuest Studios, Rainbow Moon is a strategy RPG exclusive to the PS3 which has a strong emphasis on exploration, character development and turn-based combat.  In Rainbow Moon, you start out playing as Baldren, who has been warped to the world of Rainbow Moon by his arch-rival.  Trapped in this unknown realm, Baldren has accidentally opened up a dimensional gate which has freed a full army of monsters.  These monsters overwhelm Rainbow Moon thus turning the once peaceful realm into a living hell.  Now it is up to Baldren to seal the dimensional gate and find a way back to his home world.  Rainbow Moon is packed to the brim with content.  There are six playable characters including Baldren that can be customized with upgradable weapons, armour and other accessories.  There are over 100 special skills that you can teach one of the six playable characters, more than 20 dungeons to explore and a compelling story that will last you over 40 hours.  If you are interested, you can download Rainbow Moon off of the PSN Store for 15 dollars.

Konami has tried many times to bring Frogger into the modern age of gaming, but every time they failed.  Taking a page from what Namco did with Pac Man, Konami has released the classic Frogger gamers know and love with modern graphics and new game modes with Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition, available on XBLA, PSN and WiiWare.  Along with the classic Frogger game mode, there are a brand new game modes such as Tile Capture, Battle Royal and Freak Out for gamers to play through.      In the Hyper Arcade Edition of Frogger, you can customize the graphics through different skins.  Some of the skins you can use are the modern neon skin of Hyper Arcade or classic 8-bit skins and sprites from Frogger, Castlevania and Contra.  Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition also includes 4 player competitive multi-player so friends can compete to see who is the best at Frogger.  Looking to relive the glory days of Frogger, Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition is available for 10 dollars on PSN, 800 Microsoft Points on XBLA and 700 Wii Points on the Wii Shop Channel.

On the Download: July 1-7

It has been one busy Thursday for the video game industry.  I turned on the computer today and was bombarded with at least four big news stories.  Two of these stories relate to my weekly post on the newest downloadable games.  First, Capcom and Marvel are joining forces again to bring both Marvel Super Heroes and the original Marvel vs. Capcom to XBLA and PSN this coming September in the Marvel vs. Capcom Origins.  Next story is Sega's announcement that their iconic flying platformer from the Sega Saturn, Nights into Dreams will be getting a HD remake for XBLA and PSN releasing this Fall.  Two big games you will definitely see me covering here in On the Download come their release.

July 5th marked the start of Nintendo's 8-Bit Summer initiative  on the Nintendo eShop.  Throughout the month of July, there will be two new 3DS Virtual Console games released on the eShop each week. The first two games released for the 8-Bit Summer are The Legend of Zelda and NES Open Tournament Golf.  Both games were released to the 3DS Ambassadors just under a year ago for the NES wave of free games.  For those who already own these games for the 3DS, you are able to update them, which adds the restore points feature found in all other Virtual Console games among a few other upgrades.  If you are not a 3DS Ambassador, you are able to pick up these NES games for 5 dollars each.

Made by two people, Spelunky was originally released free for the PC in 2008.  Spelunky is a 2D platformer where you journey through ever-randomizing levels on your way to the end of the game.  This week an HD version of Spelunky has been released exclusively for XBLA.  While Spelunky HD does have more polished animated graphics than the PC original, it is not a mere port.  Spelunky HD has new graphics, music, weapons, items, monsters, traps, zones and secrets for gamers to experience.  Spelunky HD has also been tailor-made for the 360 controller as the controls are much smoother and easier to get use to than in the original.  Even though the levels are completely randomized, you are able to navigate the levels any way you want.  Also each level is fully-destructible.  You can compete with gamers across the world with online leaderboards or through Spelunky HD's Deathmatch multi-player mode.  Spelunky HD's Deathmatch plays a lot like a platformer version of Bomberman as you use weapons and other items, possibly even bombs, to take out your opponents in small little arenas.  If you want to play Deathmatch alone, you can play against AI bots.  Also you are able to play through the entire game with co-operatively with three other players.  Spelunky HD can be picked up on XBLA for 1200 Microsoft Points for those interested in picking it up.

Nintendo Direct 6.21.12 Impressions

Nintendo Direct is a mini-conference where Nintendo announces new and exclusive Nintendo announcements and showcases their upcoming games.  Nintendo Direct serves as a way for Nintendo to keep Nintendo fans up-to-date on the newest happenings in the Big N directly from them instead of through video game websites or magazines.  It is a very cool idea and personally these videos have always been fun to watch.  Last night, Nintendo hosted another Nintendo Direct that focused mainly on Nintendo 3DS, but had a little section to showcase a game or two for the Wii.

First and foremost, I really did enjoy this Nintendo Direct as it did wrapped all the information about 3DS and Wii into one concise 20 minute video that flowed perfectly.  My one big grip is that a lot of the big announcements that Nintendo shared with us should have been at E3, not this 20 minute mini-conference.  The major announcements of the Nintendo 3DS XL and Namco Bandai helping develop the new Smash Bros. games along with the reveals of Fire Emblem and Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask should have been showed E3 because it would have definitely improved Nintendo's okay showing at the event and it would gotten out to more people than just this little mini-conference that usually is only viewed by Nintendo fans and video game journalists.  While I can criticize Nintendo's decision to omit a lot of this huge announcements, the Nintendo Direct did what it was suppose to do.  It got Nintendo fans excited for the next wave of 3DS games and the Kirby Dream Collection for Wii.  I would have liked if Nintendo gave a concrete release date for The Last Story, but that is just minor.  We got a price and date for the 3DS XL, a rundown of all the third-party 3DS games, looks at New Super Mario Bros. 2, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, Kirby's Dream Collection, Fire Emblem, Pokemon Dream Radar, Pokedex 3D Pro and Pokemon Black 2 and White 2.  One of the other big announcements for me at least was the 8-Bit Summer initiative for the Nintendo eShop.  If any of you have read some of my On the Download posts, I have been crying to the heavens about the lack of Virtual Console games on the eShop.  It seems somebody at Nintendo of America has heard my prayers.  There will be two Virtual Console games released each week in July starting July 5th including Kid Icarus: Of Myths & Monsters, which should of come out alongside Kid Icarus: Uprising in my opinion.

All-in-all, this Nintendo Direct mini-conference was very good.  It was packed to the brim with great content and announcements.  While some of this stuff should have been at E3, I cannot fault this mini-conference for Nintendo's obvious gaff.  If you want to check it out, I have provided the video for you to watch below.  Enjoy and have a nice day.

On the Download: Quantum Conumdrum

For the last few weeks there has been a little drought of noteworthy downloadable games to justify doing a new edition of On the Download.  With retail releases slowing down for the summer, gamers look to downloadable initiatives like the Summer of Arcade for XBLA and the just announced 8-Bit Summer for the Nintendo eShop to keep them entertained during the summer gaming drought.  To officially start the summer is Airtight Games' Quantum Conundrum just released yesterday for download on Steam.

From the mind of Kim Swift, the lead designer of popular puzzle game Portal, and her team at Airtight Games, Quantum Conundrum is a first-person physics-based puzzle game in the vein of Portal.  Instead of thinking with portals, you manipulate objects and the environment by switching dimensions on the fly in order to solve puzzles.  In Quantum Conundrum, you play as the 12 year old nephew of eccentric scientist and inventor Profesor Quadwrangle.  You are dropped off at Professor Quadwragle's mansion to spend some time with your uncle.  Shortly after arriving at the mansion, an explosion occurs, which causes the Professor to go missing.  Trying to figure out what is going on, you stumble upon a glove that turns out to be the Interdimensional Shift Device (ISD for short), which must be used to navigate Professor Quadwrangle's mansion in order to find your missing uncle.  Throughout Quantum Conundrum, you use the Interdimensional Shift Device (ISD) to shift between four dimensions (fluffy, heavy, anti-gravity and slow-mo) each with their own attributes to solve puzzles in each room of Professor Quadwrangle's mansion.

There is no doubt.  Quantum Conundrum is very similar to Portal, but they were designed by the same person.  You can see why there are big similarities between the two.  While I do not think Qunatum Conundrum will reach the popularity or universal acclaim of Portal, it is a unique downloadable puzzle game that looks to test your brain in new and creative ways.  From what I saw at E3, I was very impressed with Quantum Conundrum and it is a game that looking to download in the near future.  At the moment, Quantum Conundrum is only available on Steam for 15 dollars.  For console owners, do not fret as Qunatum Conundrum is coming to XBLA and PSN on July 11th.