Sometimes, you can't think of anything interesting to write as a lead for an article. This is one of those times.
I've been trying to put together this edition of Bit by Bit for a couple weeks now, but I blank every time I sit down to write an introduction. A lot happened during October; sadly I can't seem to find a way to put it into a cohesive thought. Maybe that's how the working life goes: everything just blurs together.
Well, enough of my introspective look at introductions. Let's get to what you read Bit by Bit for: the video games!
Game of the Month
If a game's quality was solely based on its graphics, Yoshi's Woolly World would easily be one of the best titles of 2015. Good thing it plays just as well as it looks. Yoshi's Woolly World is the closest Mario's dinosaur companion has come to reaching the quality of its first solo outing in Super Mario World 2.
Although Yoshi games have never been known for their challenging gameplay, Woolly World challenges the player in different way. Each level has tons of collectibles for you to find and the process of tracking down everything in one run can be very difficult. The great thing about the collectibles are the rewards. Collecting all the wonder wool in a level gives you a brand new Yoshi to play with. Also collecting all the flowers in a world opens up a secret level, which are easily the most difficult levels in the game.
Speaking of Woolly World's levels, the level design in the game is superb. From directing a Monty Mole through a maze of traps to transforming into various vehicles, each level in Woolly World has a different hook to keep you engaged. It also helps that the controls feel spot-on. They are easy enough to learn for beginners, but offer enough depth and nuance that seasoned players can pull off some great feats of platforming.
In all honesty, Yoshi's Woolly World is one of the best platformers of the year and yet another great title for the Wii U. Don't let the cute exterior fool you, Woolly World isn't a game just for children. It offers entertainment and challenge for all ages.
Most Anticipated Movie of the Month
I may be the only person on the planet that isn't excited for any of the huge AAA titles coming out this holiday season. I will admit that Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront look phenomenal, but I don't need to pick them up for myself right away. That's what siblings are for, right?
But when it comes to movies, I am stuck on the Star Wars Episode VII hype train with no way of getting off. Everything Disney and Lucasfilm has shown for The Force Awakens looks absolutely incredible without giving away too many plot details. I haven't been this excited for a movie in a long time.
Just watch the final trailer! It was worth enduring a few painful minutes of Monday Night Football to see live.
Video of the Month
Kids born in the '90s may remember the slew of cartoon shows based on your favourite video game characters. Mario, Sonic, Earthworm Jim and Mega Man are just a few of the video game cartoons that people may have watched during the '90s. One cartoon I remember was Donkey Kong Country, a CG-animated show based off of Nintendo's tie-wearing gorilla, which aired on Teletoon here in Canada. All I can remember about the show is its catchy theme song, but a show with a catchy theme must be good. Right? Right?!
No, Donkey Kong Country is, for lack of a better term, bat-shit crazy and not in a good way. While I may not be able to remember the finer details of the show's insanity, ProJared's newest video does a great job of capturing Donkey Kong Country in all its glory. Watch the video to see DK at his worst.
Showing posts with label Donkey Kong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donkey Kong. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Year in Review 2014: The Games
Some of the best experiences of 2014 came from independent developers, free-to-play games and Nintendo's Wii U. In fact, three quarters of the games I played during 2014 were on either Wii U or 3DS and it definitely shows in this list. While I personally like to play a diversity of games throughout the year, nothing really sunk its claws into me like the offerings on Nintendo's systems during the last calendar year. Before we dive into the games I consider the best of 2014, there are some great games that just missed the cut: Azure Striker Gunvolt, Bravely Default, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition and Infamous: Second Son.
While the games on this list are the best games I played in 2014, there is still on more article in this Year in Review—the Game of the Year. Stay tuned for that article in the coming week and enjoy my favourite games of 2014.
The initial response to the reveal of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was not favourable. During a dire time for Nintendo and the Wii U, fans were hoping for Retro Studios to reveal an epic new title like a new Metroid or whole new IP to turn around the bad situation. Despite their pedigree, nobody wanted Retro to make another Donkey Kong and resentment towards Tropical Freeze ensued. Nintendo and Retro would make the haters eat their words upon the game's release this past February.
Much like Donkey Kong Country Returns, Tropical Freeze brings back pixel perfect 2.5D platforming to the fore front. It is one of the most difficult games available on the Wii U as each level will test the limits of one's reflexes. In being difficult, Tropical Freeze isn't cheap or punishing. With each death, you learn about the intricacies of the gameplay and controls which will help in overcoming the obstacles ahead. In addition to the platforming and difficult, Tropical Freeze adds more Kongs outside of Diddy to accompany DK on his adventure. Each Kong, Diddy, Dixie and Cranky, has their own moves and special abilities to help DK avoid death, collect items and reach secret areas. The option of which Kong to use adds for more experimentation and replayability to Tropical Freeze over its predecessors.
After the slew of great releases for the Wii U in 2014, do not lose Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in the shuffle. It may have come out very early in 2014, but Tropical Freeze is worth it no matter what.
After such a strong 2013, the 3DS had nowhere to go but plateau in 2014. There were a good number of great titles released for the system during the past year, but nothing could compete with the frequency of the releases in 2013. Despite a lighter year for the 3DS, Nintendo and Camelot produced one of the finest titles in the system's history and the Mario sports game period.
Mario Golf: World Tour perfectly blends the superbly tuned gameplay and mechanics from console Mario Golfs with the popular RPG systems of the portable entries in the series. Speaking of the gameplay, World Tour has made the controls more approachable than in past installments. I was adding top spin and back spin to shots with ease, something I found unnecessarily difficult in previous games. In blending styles, World Tour brings the single and multiplayer modes closer than ever before. Everything you do in the single player Castle Club mode prepares your Mii avatar for competition in local and online multiplayer. In particular, the online multiplayer is where World Tour truly shines the brightest as the connection is incredibly smooth and allows players to post scores at their own pace.
Everything in Mario Golf: World Tour comes together to create a cartridge that will stay in your 3DS for months on end.
As great of a game Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was, it didn't turn around the Wii U's struggling sales. That honour goes to Mario's return to kart racing. Mario Kart 8's huge sales were not the result of name alone as the newest Mario Kart is easily the best entry since Mario Kart DS less than a decade ago.
Mario Kart 8 quite literally flipped Nintendo's kart racing franchise on its head with the addition of anti-gravity sections pulled from F-Zero. The use of anti-gravity injects new life into Mario Kart's track design as they twist and turn in intricate ways, contain a plethora of shortcuts and offer plenty of opportunities to gain race-changing speed boosts. Another addition to the Mario Kart formula comes in the form of new items, which improve the game's balance especially the Super Horn. Using the Super Horn to stop a Blue Shell at the last minute is one of the most exhilarating experiences in video games this past year. As great of a game Mario Kart 8 is, the lacking Battle Mode and inclusion of too many clone characters hold it back from being the best Mario Kart ever.
Despite Mario Kart 8's shortcomings, Mario Kart 8 is a ball to play. Along with being loads of fun. the game is the first step in Mario Kart's next major evolution.
Insanity is the best word to use in describing Bayonetta 2. Everything from the story to the characters to the combat will have you laughing hysterically due to the game's over-the-top nature.
With Bayonetta 2, Platinum Games improves on every facet of the original title. The controls are streamlined, combat feels smoother, combos are easier to pull off, levels are better paced, action sequences are more varied and quick-time events are better utilized. On top of all the improvements, Platinum has included a plethora of Nintendo costumes which actually change aspects of the game—even adding an Arwing from Star Fox to one of the vehicle sections—and an online multiplayer mode to tackle waves of enemies with others.
All in all, Bayonetta 2 is one of the finest action games on the market today and a major reason to own a Wii U.
You can't include one of the new Smash Bros. games without the other. While the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game share certain modes, features and the character roster, both offer different experiences.
The 3DS version is naturally focused on shorter, fast-paced sessions of play. In turn, all the modes in the game are balanced for the shorter sessions as rounds of Classic, All Star and the new Smash Run modes can each be completed within 10 minutes. Speaking of Smash Run, this 3DS exclusive mode is just incredible. Smash Run mixes the best parts of the Subspace Emissary and Adventure modes from past Smash game with the core of this series—the fighting. You have five minutes to collect as many power-ups, trophies and other secrets strewn across a ginormous map populated with grunts from different Nintendo franchises. When the five minutes are up, you and your three opponents compete in a Smash Battle or Race to the Finish with enhanced stats.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Wii U version is made for longer play sessions as it is packed to the brim with content. In addition to including all the modes in the 3DS version except Smash Run, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has 8-Player Smash, Event Mode, Master and Crazy Orders, Stage Builder, Amiibo support, Gamecube controller support and Masterpieces. While Smash for 3DS is the appetizer, Smash for Wii U is the full course.
I can go on for hours about all the finer details of these two titles, but we don't have the time or space. Both Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are among the top tier for their respective systems. Due to both games offering different experiences, I encourage everybody to pick them both up. If you can only choose one, you're getting a stellar game either way.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Bit by Bit: April 2014
With school coming to an end for another year, April serves as the start of more free time to relax and do things that were pushed aside during the school year like video games. While I did get some time playing games between studying and working, it seems like the floodgates have just opened in these last couple of weeks. Funny enough, the end of the school year coincided with finally completing Bravely Default after spending the last two and a half months working on beating the game. Spending so much time with one game felt very limiting that now this feeling of freedom and choice is almost overwhelming. The spring and summer months should be fun as I will be bouncing between games from my ever-growing backlog and brand new releases. It should be a fun journey that will be chronicled right here on Silver Bit. So stay tuned.
Game of the Month
Ever since I beat Bravely Default, I have been able to spend more time playing a wide variety of games. In the few weeks since I beat Bravely Default, I have been playing Golden Sun, Resident Evil 6 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and have completed shorter games like Rhythm Thief, SteamWorld Dig and Donkey Kong 1994. As great of an achievement beating a long, gruelling RPG is, playing a game for over 100 hours can be exhausting. The change of pace has been refreshing especially with one game in particular pulling me in more and more. That game is Infamous: Second Son and it is the one game that has got me to play the PS4 on a rather consistent basis. I have dabbled with the previous entries in Sucker Punch's superhero playground, but never for any considerable amount of time. Compared to other open world sandboxes, Second Son's setting of Seattle may seem a little lifeless, bland and full of hilarious glitches. Even with those drawbacks, I have had lots of fun just running around, completing side missions, collecting blast shards and beating up waves of DUP officers and drug dealers. The most fun to be had with Second Son comes from the new powers you get to play around with. While the smoke and video powers are cool, the best power in the game is neon. Zipping around Seattle at supersonic speeds, slowing down time to aim and sniping enemies with precise neon shots make for a power players will stick to throughout their entire playthrough. Infamous: Second Son may not be the best open-world superhero game as Batman still holds that honour in my opinion, but it is definitely the best game on PS4 right now. Second Son deserves to be in every PS4 owner's library.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are easily the two most anticipated games of 2014. A new entry in the Smash Bros. series only happens every four years or more so any news or announcement about the newest entry is an event in itself. Aside from Masahiro Sakurai's daily screenshots on Miiverse, there has not been a major dump of information about Super Smash Bros. since E3 2013. Early this April, Nintendo and Sakurai took some time away from developing Super Smash Bros. to deliver a Nintendo Direct focused solely on the two games. During the nearly 40 minute presentation, Sakurai touched on the release dates, included stages, online play, differences between the two versions, items, assist trophies and returning and new inclusions to the roster among a plethora of additional information. It is impossible to capture the greatness of this Nintendo Direct in mere words. It is incredibly produced, filled with tons of goodies that will make any gamer smile ear to ear and easily sold hundreds to buy a Wii U, 3DS or possibly both. Personally, my excitement for Super Smash Bros. is at unimaginable levels. Even thinking about the games makes me giddy with excitement. Summer and Winter 2014 cannot come any sooner.
Video of the Month
Usually I never have a problem picking the Video of the Month, but this April has been the exception. There has been so many great videos this month from the wacky Tomodachi Life Direct to Screwattack's epic interviews with the creator of Videoball Tim Rogers to Mega64's collaboration with Nintendo on the recent Nintendo E3 announcements. While they are all incredible videos and deserve to your viewing, I have to give the Video of the Month to a video that got me thinking. The Completionist's Final Fantasy VII Retrospective has been a month-long event where Jirard and a crew of Youtubers take an in-depth look at the impact that Final Fantasy VII has had on RPGs and video games in general. This in-depth analysis of Final Fantasy VII really made me see the game in a new light and truly understand why people hold the game on such a high pedestal. While the first two videos were released in March, the majority of this series has come out throughout April and deserves the recognition for how great it is. I will share the first part here, but I highly recommend watching this series in its entirety. It will give you a new appreciation of Final Fantasy VII as it has done for me.
Game of the Month
Ever since I beat Bravely Default, I have been able to spend more time playing a wide variety of games. In the few weeks since I beat Bravely Default, I have been playing Golden Sun, Resident Evil 6 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and have completed shorter games like Rhythm Thief, SteamWorld Dig and Donkey Kong 1994. As great of an achievement beating a long, gruelling RPG is, playing a game for over 100 hours can be exhausting. The change of pace has been refreshing especially with one game in particular pulling me in more and more. That game is Infamous: Second Son and it is the one game that has got me to play the PS4 on a rather consistent basis. I have dabbled with the previous entries in Sucker Punch's superhero playground, but never for any considerable amount of time. Compared to other open world sandboxes, Second Son's setting of Seattle may seem a little lifeless, bland and full of hilarious glitches. Even with those drawbacks, I have had lots of fun just running around, completing side missions, collecting blast shards and beating up waves of DUP officers and drug dealers. The most fun to be had with Second Son comes from the new powers you get to play around with. While the smoke and video powers are cool, the best power in the game is neon. Zipping around Seattle at supersonic speeds, slowing down time to aim and sniping enemies with precise neon shots make for a power players will stick to throughout their entire playthrough. Infamous: Second Son may not be the best open-world superhero game as Batman still holds that honour in my opinion, but it is definitely the best game on PS4 right now. Second Son deserves to be in every PS4 owner's library.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are easily the two most anticipated games of 2014. A new entry in the Smash Bros. series only happens every four years or more so any news or announcement about the newest entry is an event in itself. Aside from Masahiro Sakurai's daily screenshots on Miiverse, there has not been a major dump of information about Super Smash Bros. since E3 2013. Early this April, Nintendo and Sakurai took some time away from developing Super Smash Bros. to deliver a Nintendo Direct focused solely on the two games. During the nearly 40 minute presentation, Sakurai touched on the release dates, included stages, online play, differences between the two versions, items, assist trophies and returning and new inclusions to the roster among a plethora of additional information. It is impossible to capture the greatness of this Nintendo Direct in mere words. It is incredibly produced, filled with tons of goodies that will make any gamer smile ear to ear and easily sold hundreds to buy a Wii U, 3DS or possibly both. Personally, my excitement for Super Smash Bros. is at unimaginable levels. Even thinking about the games makes me giddy with excitement. Summer and Winter 2014 cannot come any sooner.
Video of the Month
Usually I never have a problem picking the Video of the Month, but this April has been the exception. There has been so many great videos this month from the wacky Tomodachi Life Direct to Screwattack's epic interviews with the creator of Videoball Tim Rogers to Mega64's collaboration with Nintendo on the recent Nintendo E3 announcements. While they are all incredible videos and deserve to your viewing, I have to give the Video of the Month to a video that got me thinking. The Completionist's Final Fantasy VII Retrospective has been a month-long event where Jirard and a crew of Youtubers take an in-depth look at the impact that Final Fantasy VII has had on RPGs and video games in general. This in-depth analysis of Final Fantasy VII really made me see the game in a new light and truly understand why people hold the game on such a high pedestal. While the first two videos were released in March, the majority of this series has come out throughout April and deserves the recognition for how great it is. I will share the first part here, but I highly recommend watching this series in its entirety. It will give you a new appreciation of Final Fantasy VII as it has done for me.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
E3 2013: Nintendo E3 Direct Impressions
It has taken a couple days to fully process what Nintendo did Tuesday morning with their Nintendo Direct. All the games showed off at this Direct looked phenomenal, but we all were expecting more. Yes, Nintendo delivered on Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. along with the reveal of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. It just felt too safe. They kept to their regular line-up of popular Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda , Pokemon, Smash Bros. and Donkey Kong. Gamers wanted to see franchises that have laid dormant for awhile now such as Metroid, Star Fox and F-Zero or new intellectual properties. Personally, I believe mentioning a new 3D Mario, Mario Kart and Smash Bros. would all be at E3 severely hurt this Direct. If Nintendo just kept their mouth shut, these three announcements could have easily made this Direct an instant classic. By revealing their hand back in January, it caused speculation to spin out of control to the point where expectations were too high. The fault of those unrealistic expectations is solely on Nintendo. Another situation that is entirely Nintendo's fault was the unbearable buffering issues the Nintendo Direct livestream suffered from. The livestream kept buffering every 20 seconds or so until at least halfway through the Direct. Maybe Nintendo did not anticipate the volume of people that would tune into the stream, but that does not excuse them from not preparing for these technical problems. While Nintendo wants to control the message, they need to open up the Directs for other media outlets such as IGN or Gametrailers to broadcast in order to avoid these buffering problems in the future.
This Nintendo Direct from E3 failed to convince gamers that the hard times this system is currently in will end anytime soon. The third party support just is not there to really convince people to go out of their way to buy a Wii U over the PS4 or Xbox One. A lot of games shown off at E3 like Watch Dogs and Battlefield 4 had those second screen experiences that would be at home on the Wii U Gamepad. Nintendo needs to find a way to court the publishers that are making these games to port them to the Wii U. There is a solid line-up of first party support from August on and 2014 looks to be a killer year for Wii U, but there are still some problems Nintendo needs to work out before they get out of their current predicament. I believe a price cut will definitely help, but it cannot be the only solution. Overall, this Nintendo Direct may have been lacking in surprises, but it was still a solid show. While the unacceptable technical difficulties did lower the grade significantly, this Nintendo Direct was one of the better showings at this year's E3.
Grade: C+
Saturday, June 8, 2013
What I Want From E3 2013
Games
Funny enough, the latest trend sweeping the biggest video game trade show in the world is not to show any video games at all. Sounds ridiculous, but it is a sad reality. Bigger companies such as Microsoft seem to be more interested in shoving their entertainment ventures down our collective throats rather than showing what the gamers actually want. Yes, shareholders take a huge interest in E3, but the largest audience for this show is gamers. As gamers, we do not want to see how the 360 can substitute as a television. This concept might be bewildering to some, but gamers watch E3 to see the latest and greatest upcoming games nothing more, nothing less. It would be nice for these game publishers to spend time on actual video games rather than bore us with features that do not concern gamers in the least.
Surprises
In this day and age, genuine surprises are hard to come by. They are usually leaked somewhere on the World Wide Web well before the reveal actually happens. These leaks do stir up speculation and provide excellent stories for websites. The adverse effect is that gamers do not get surprised anymore since everything is spoiled for them on the Internet. That feeling of astonishment when a game reveal catches you completely by surprise is unlike no other feeling. Last year, the only real surprise was Watch Dogs and it blew our collective socks off. Not every surprise is good one, but it is nice to get something unexpected over something we are already familiar with.
Retro’s New Game
Speaking of surprises, there has been one secret that Nintendo has been holding close to their chest for a year now. That secret being Retro Studios' unannounced game project for the Wii U. In the past decade, Retro Studios has quickly earned a high position in Nintendo's stable of developers. Retro easily filled the void that Rare left when Microsoft bought them. Consistently creating excellent games for Nintendo systems such as the Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong Country Returns, it is easy to see the extraordinary amount of anticipation there is for this unannounced project. It could be anything from the return of an established Nintendo franchise like Metroid, Star Fox or F-Zero or even a whole new IP. The possibilities are endless. No matter what this game is, Nintendo has this surprise in their back pocket ready just to blow us all away. Nintendo fans, myself included, have been impatiently waiting for a year so hopefully Nintendo reveals their trump card this E3 when they definitely need it.
Reasons to Care About Next Gen
The next generation of gaming consoles has been laid out before us gamers in the months leading up to E3. As much anticipation people have for these new systems, there is just as much or even more skepticism. Personally, Sony and Microsoft have shown nothing to make gamers care about the next generation consoles. All the games that have been shown so far have just been sequels with shinier graphics. There has been nothing shown that could not run on the current generation Xbox 360 or PS3 with proper optimization. There is no purpose in spending about 600 to 700 dollars on a new game system that can play the same games already coming out on the Xbox 360 and PS3. The industry has reached the peak of gaming technology as we currently know it. The strides made in this current console generation were so vast that the jump between this current gen and next gen is barely even noticable. Game companies can put as many particles and polygons on a screeen as they want, nothing will ever compare to the incredible jump between blocky standard definition graphics and smooth high definition graphics. Due to that huge graphical jump, the industry could get away with touting visuals over gameplay this past generation. This time around it will not be so easy as most gamers want to see actual gameplay over a superficial CG trailers that have nothing to do with the actual game. E3 is the last big chance for Sony and Microsoft to sway consumers to buy their consoles at launch. Shiny graphics alone will not be able to get the job done. Sony and Microsoft need to provide consumers with tangible evidence on why we should care about these new machines if they want success this coming holiday season.
Friday, December 30, 2011
On the Download: Top 5 Downloads of 2011
Seeing as we are closing out 2011 and the next time I will be writing the next edition of On the Download it will be 2012, let us look back at the best downloadable of 2011. From iOS games to PC downloads to 3DS or Wii Virtual Console games, anything that you was released this year for anybody to download is up for my Top 5 list. In the past few years, the downloadable space has exploded. Digital sale numbers now rival physical sale numbers. People still want physical copies of big console games, but are open to buying smaller downloadable games for a reasonable price. As long as new downloadable games continue releasing each and every week, there will always be a new edition of On the Download for you guys to look forward to. So let us get rolling with this list.
5. Super Stickman Golf
Who would have ever thought a golf game on iOS would be so good? Super Stickman Golf pulls you in with its' simplistic controls, outstanding course design, crazy power-ups and fun multi-player and never lets go. Just like the Lays commercial that bet you can't eat just one Lays potato chip, I bet you can't play just one round of Super Stickman Golf.
4. Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery EP
From the beautiful music to the charming 8-bit style graphics, Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery EP is one of the most engrossing games on the App Store. You play as the Scythian on a journey to discover the secrets of the Megatome, a book of powerful sworcery. On your quest, you will never experience the exact same thing twice as this adventure game offer many ways to use your iDevice to the fullest. Superbrothers flew under the radar back when it released last March, but this engrossing adventure is not to be missed for iOS owners.
3. Donkey Kong
At first Donkey Kong felt like an exact copy of the original arcade game, but once you get past the first stage and into the original stages made just for this Game Boy game, you will not be able to put this puzzle game down. Even I continue to play a few levels in between racing in Mario Kart 7 and collecting Star Coins in Super Mario 3D Land. With 100 levels and only a 3 dollar price point, Donkey Kong is a Game Boy classic and the best download on the Nintendo eShop that nobody that owns a 3DS should miss.
2. Jetpack Joyride
There is no other iOS game I have put more time into this year other than Jetpack Joyride. This dollar game captured my heart and time back when it released in late August and continues to this day. The simple premise, one button gameplay, online leaderboards, endless amounts of upgrades and missions to complete makes Jetpack Joyride one of the best games you can get on the iOS this year.
1. Bastion
One of the few downloadable games I highly anticipated this year, Bastion lived up to the hype and more. Beautiful art, great music, compelling story and deep gameplay that even works with a mouse and keyboard, this Action-RPG stand out above all the other downloadable games. Bastion literally looks like watching art in motion, it is so beautiful. Also having the ominous ever-present narrator tell the story is one great touch that has not been done before in games. If you own a Xbox 360 or a PC, Bastion is the best downloadable game you can play this year bar none.
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