Bit by Bit: December 18-24

Merry Christmas to all!  I hope everybody has had a wonderful week leading up to the big holiday.  Also hope you have a great time opening presents, spending time with friends and family and spreading the peace and joy this holiday.  That will before everybody changes their tune and become rabid mobs for all the Boxing Day deals.  I know, I am working Boxing Day.  With Christmas here, I am going to have a condensed version of Bit by Bit this week.  There will be no Most Anticipated Game of the Week due to the lack of huge announcements this week.  Now let us roll with the Game of the Week and Video of the Week.

Game of the Week
No matter the crazy hours that I worked this week, I made time to play a good selection of games.  With all the sales on Steam and the App Store, I picked up Torchlight for my Mac and Groove Coaster and Sonic 4: Episode 1 HD for my iPad.  Also found Dragon Quest IX at my local EB Games for a mere 10 dollars used and made sure that I was the only one walking out of that store with Dragon Quest.  Even with those quality games, I got to give my Game of the Week to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which I completed last Sunday night.  The last few hours were just phenomenal as I completed the Triforce, vanquished the evil locked in the Sealed Grounds and fought one of my favourite boss fights of this year.  You will know why when you play it.  It is truly epic.  I am not going to go in full excruciating detail right here and now as I put up my review of Skyward Sword yesterday here on Silver Bit.  So click on the link in the Blog Archive just on the right side of the blog and I hope you enjoy.

Video of the Week
As gamers and game media get to the end of the year, we all like to reflect on the year that was.  We like to look back on the good and the bad.  All video game websites and magazines have their Top 10 Games of the Year, the Year End Awards to hand out.  In the plethora of gaming websites giving their opinions on what was the best of 2011 in video games, ScrewAttack has left it up to us gamers.  For the past few weeks, ScrewAttack allowed their fans to give their suggestions for the Top 10 Games of 2011 in the form of comments on a previous Top 10 or in their forums.  They then would tally up what the fans listed as their Top 10 Games of the Year and made the video that I leave you with today.  Personally, I thought this list was very well done, you might think differently, but everyone has their opinion.  Just respect that.  And with that I will bid you all ado and a very merry Christmas.

Get More: GameTrailers.com, ScrewAttack - Top 10 Games of 2011, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review

A masterpiece is defined as an outstanding work, achievement or performance, a consummate example of skill or excellence of any kind.  As the Wii enters its final days, Nintendo has released the newest edition of The Legend of Zelda series, Skyward Sword for their ailing console.  Much unlike Twilight Princess, which launched with the Wii, Skyward Sword is built from the ground up for the Big N’s motion-based console.  In short, Skyward Sword stands as the pinnacle of the Wii’s library, an example why high definition graphics do not make games better and why motion controls are not just a gimmick.  In the truest sense, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a masterpiece of this generation of consoles, the best game of 2011 and if I may be so bold, the greatest Zelda and one of the greatest video games of all-time.

Skyward Sword serves as the origin story of the legend that is now known as The Legend of Zelda.  You play as Link, a young teenage boy who lives in a world above the clouds called Skyloft.  During a little flight with his childhood friend, Zelda is swept to the world below the clouds by a demonic force.  In order to save his friend, Link claims the Skyward Sword and journeys to surface below the clouds.  Link’s adventure takes him from lush forests to scorching volcanoes to dry deserts fighting monsters and the “Demon Lord” Ghirahim to fulfill his quest to find Zelda.  Even though there is no voice acting, Skyward Sword is the most cinematic Zelda in the series as it strings together a phenomenal story, incredibly deep characters and subtle yet wonderful allusions to other games in The Legend of Zelda.  It might bother some gamers, but Zelda does not need voice acting to make a great story.  Reading text gives players the freedom to imagine how these characters would sound like what you do when you read a book.

Skyward Sword still offers the same Zelda formula that we all know and love, but with a good amount of changes to keep things fresh and exciting.  The biggest change is in the environments leading up to the dungeons instead of a series of little quests; these environments are constructed like dungeons themselves.  They introduce new unique mechanics and challenges that are both brain-racking and extremely satisfying.  One of these new mechanics that completely blew me away was the Timeshift Crystals found only in the Lanayru Desert.  Shifting between the desolate desert to the lush beautiful grasslands is one outstanding effect and offers a great amount of puzzles that have never been touched in a Zelda game or any game I can honestly think of.  To top it off, these environments complement the phenomenal and I mean damn phenomenal dungeons and boss battles that are the best in the series.  The final boss battle is not as epic as the four part battle with Ganondorf at the end of Twilight Princess, but it sure as hell is epic in its own right.

The designs of the levels are not all that has been changed or added.  New items such as the Beetle and Gust Bellows and additions like the crafting system, which is addictive and fun, and parkour-lite stamina system just add to the great experience.  Other than the dungeons, two other aspects of Skyward Sword steal the show.  They are the graphics and the music.  The graphics might not be in high-definition, but they are artistically stunning and beautiful.  They perfectly blend the adult look of Twilight Princess with the cel-shaded cartoony style of Wind Waker to make a game that looks like you are playing an impressionist painting.  Being that the Wii is not a graphics powerhouse, some textures do not look as impressive, but that is too few and far between.  Skyward Sword marks the first time that Zelda has been graced by a fully orchestrated soundtrack.  It feels so alive and natural that it will be very hard and going back to the midi music of previous games.

All-in-all, masterpiece is not a word I throw around lightly.  It goes to the games that I feel in my heart define my love for this form of entertainment.  Games like Skyward Sword are testaments to why video games should be considered an art form.  As the swan song for the Nintendo Wii, every Wii owner should go out and buy this game.  It is the Game of the Year.  It is the greatest game in The Legend of Zelda series (yes, in my opinion better than Ocarina of Time).  Finally it is a masterpiece of this console generation and the entire history of video games.

On the Download: December 18-24

As Christmas draws ever-so closer, the sales on your favourite downloadable game service keep ramping up.  With sales on Steam, the App Store, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network Store, there is definitely a deal for every gamer out there.  You just have to look.  Even with all these sales, developers still have a few new games for us before we enter the New Year.  So let us dive right into the games released this week.

Developer WayForward, creator of Shantae and the Mighty Milky Way and Mighty Flip Champ games, made their name on the Nintendo DS creating quality games reminiscent of some classic games from the NES and SNES eras.  With the 3DS released this year, WayForward moved development from Nintendo's older handheld to its new portable beauty.  As the spiritual successor to Mighty Milky Way and Mighty Flip Champ, Mighty Switch Force shares the same charm, humour and excellent 2D aesthetic as those two games with a little more emphasis on the action than puzzles.  In Mighty Switch Force, you play as Officer Patricia Wagon.  Your goal is to recapture a group of escaped inmates known as the Hooligan Sisters in order to restore peace to Planet Land.  You will have to use Wagon's various pieces of equipment to interact with the environment and enemies in order to solve puzzles and complete your mission.  Originally expected for a release early next year, WayForward dropped Mighty Switch Force earlier than expected.  For 6 dollars, Mighty Switch Force would be a great Christmas present for any 3DS owner starving for exclusive downloadable games.

If you had to pick the greatest puzzle game of all-time, what would you pick?  What one puzzle game sticks into the mind of whoever plays it?  From the music to the gameplay, what puzzle game is engrained into the minds of gamers young or old, male or female?  If you guessed Tetris, you are correct.  From the brillant mind of Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris has become one of the most iconic games of all-time as it is on everything from the computer to your iPhone.  In the hearts of many gamers, there stands one definitive version of Tetris and that is Tetris for the original Game Boy.  So for many of you including myself who logged into the Nintendo eShop today, it was a pleasant surprise to see Nintendo release the title for the 3DS Virtual Console.  If you do not know anything about Tetris, please open another tab in your browser and google it and fall in love with a masterpiece because I am not going to explain this game to you.  Tetris is only 4 dollars on the Nintendo eShop, so it is a perfect game to download.  One exception being that if you already own Tetris.  Even if the Game Boy version is the definitive form of Tetris, it is essentially the same game you love on whatever device you own it for.

LostWinds, a game from Frontier Developments, was originally released for WiiWare back in 2008 has now made its way to iOS.  In LostWinds, you play as a young boy by the name of Toku.  You must wield the unique powers of Enril, a wind elemental, to maneuver the lustrous environments, stun and even dispatch enemies and solve puzzles on your way to release the world of Mistralis from the evil Balasar's curse.  LostWinds got a lot of critical praise back in 2008, but did not make much of a splash as gamers never really took to WiiWare as they did to XBLA and PSN games.  Now on the iDevices and at the appealing price of only 4 dollars, LostWinds should reach a much broader audience of core and casual gamers who own these devices.  If you have a few extra dollars after all these great sales, pick up an innovative game that deserves a lot more love than it got back in 2008.

Launch Station: Star Wars: The Old Republic

After I finished On the Download, I realized that I forgot one big game that came out yesterday.  It was the biggest massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG for short) since World of Warcraft released in 2004, Star Wars:  The Old Republic.  I am deeply sorry to all the Star Wars and BioWare fans who might have been anticipating my preview.  So let us take a closer look at the newest Star Wars RPG from BioWare.

Back in 2003, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic set the gaming world on fire as it was the best Star Wars game to date.  After a straightforward sequel made by Obsidian, the developers behind Neverwinter Nights 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, BioWare has once again took the reins of the Knights of the Republic franchise.  Instead of making KOTOR 3, BioWare decided to make The Old Republic, which is said to have enough content to fill KOTOR 3, 4 and 5.  As BioWare's most ambitious project to date, The Old Republic's biggest selling point is its rich story, something that is rare in the MMO space.  Players can choose between eight classes separated by two main factions, The Galactic Republic and Sith Empire (each faction contains four classes).  Each class has a distinct backstory and branching storyline, which depends on the choices the player makes throughout the game.  In The Old Republic, faction does not determine if you are good or bad, your choices do.  So you can be a Republic trooper that likes to indulge in the Dark Side or a benevolent Sith Warrior.  It all depends on what you, the player, decide to take your character.  The world of The Old Republic is huge as it contains many planets such as Coruscant, Taris, Tatooine and Hoth for players to travel in their ships.  As The Old Republic is a massively-multiplayer game, you can group up with other players to take on Flashpoints, a special word BioWare is using for group-only missions.  If you rather play alone, BioWare offers AI-controlled companions to fill out your party for these missions or accompany you throughout the game.

For Star Wars, BioWare and even MMO fans, Star Wars: The Old Republic should be one great game to pick up this holiday season.  As a big Star Wars and BioWare fan myself, I am tempted to try The Old Republic out, but I am not a fan of MMOs.  I have never been a fan of paying a subscription to play any game.  Also as a huge fan of the original Knights of the Old Republic and single-player games, all I really want to play is KOTOR 3, not a MMO.  So for all you playing right now, hope you are enjoying it, but the game is not for me.  May the Force be with you.

On the Download: Steam Holiday Sale

Yesterday when I turned on my computer after work, I was greeted to nice surprise.  Steam launched and I saw that Valve started their huge Holiday Sale.  So for the a special edition of On the Download, I would like to talk about the Steam Holiday Sale, which goes until New Year's Day, January 1st.

If you are a regular user of Steam much like myself, you have become accustom to the humongous sales that take place in the summer, fall and winter.  So accustomed in fact that you hold off on buying certain games until those sales.  The Steam Holiday Sale started yesterday and the majority of the Steam catalog has been discounted with others added each day.  Each day there will also be a plethora of daily deals on a certain bunch of games.  Yesterday saw 75% off Fable III, Metro 2033, Amnesia and Portal 2 to just name a few.  Today, games like Duke Nukem Forever, Costume Quest, The Witcher and all the Half-Life games have been discounted 75% as part of the daily deals.  Along with those deals, there are deals on game packs and publisher catalogs.  So there should be a deal for you somewhere in this massive sale.

As a part of the sale, there is something called the Great Gift Pile.  It is special little game of sorts.  Each day, Valve will reveal a set of six objectives that you complete by playing certain games.  Once you complete an objective, you will receive either a game, a coupon to use after the sale or an entry for their Epic Holiday Giveaway, which will take place on January 2nd and features 1151 prizes including the Grand Prize being Every Single Game on Steam (crazy isn't it?).  The prizes you get from completing objectives can be traded with any of your friends on Steam though Steam's trading service.  So you got some great incentive to stay at home, buy and play some games this holiday season.  All thanks to our friends at Valve.

Super Mario 3D Land Review

To bring the 3DS out of its hard launch, Mario is here to save the day with Super Mario 3D Land, Nintendo’s newest platformer for the Nintendo 3DS.  Made by the team that made the two Super Mario Galaxy games for the Wii, Super Mario 3D Land looks to blend concepts and gameplay from both 2D and 3D Mario games. 

The story in Super Mario 3D Land is the same as every Mario game.  Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser yet again and needs Mario to save her.  This time around Bowser has stolen all the leaves off of the Tanooki Tree to help him in his conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom.  So in Super Mario 3D Land, the Super Leaves, the power-up which bestows the beloved Tanooki Suit, play a prominent role in the game’s minimalist story.  Throughout the game, you will run into iconic enemies such as Goombas, Bullet Bills and even Bowser himself donning a Tanooki tail.

The first thing you will notice when you pick up Super Mario 3D Land is the game is much slower than previous 3D Mario games.  The slower pace may be off-putting to some hardcore Mario fanatics, but it works incredibly well with the excellent level designs.  All the levels can be finished in a few minutes, which complements the on the go nature of the 3DS handheld.  You will be replaying these levels a lot in order to collect all the Star Coins and other goodies hidden throughout the levels.  After besting Bowser in one incredible boss battle and saving Princess Peach at the end of World 8, there is one phenomenal surprise that doubles the size of the game and offers a stiff challenge for seasoned Mario vets like yours truly.  Super Mario 3D Land makes great use of the Nintendo 3DS' 3D as it uses it to enhance the gameplay for certain moments such as making it easier to notice obstacles or objects when the 3D is on.

One of the few things to fault about Super Mario 3D Land is the game's difficulty.  Worlds 1-8 are a little too easy and you get so many lives that you will never see the Game Over screen.  The one other fault was the StreetPass functionality.  It works, but that is not that interesting.  You can exchange mystery boxes with the people you StreetPass, but it would have been much more interesting if you exchanged ghost data with others and race them through levels to see who gets the best time.  Just an idea.  

Overall, Super Mario 3D Land cohesively blends concepts from both 2D and 3D Mario game in one incredible game.  It may not be the masterpiece that the Super Mario Galaxy games were, but Super Mario 3D Land is definitely the best portable Mario game ever.  If you own a 3DS, there is no excuse not to have this game.  Super Mario 3D Land is a must-own for any Nintendo fan and 3DS owner alike.

Bit by Bit: December 11-17

Well it is that time of year again.  The most wonderful time of the year as I have been told.  It is Christmas. Considering that I work in retail, it has been one of the most hectic weeks I have had in a long while.  If you noticed most of my posts this week were put up at the wee hours of the morning.  The reason being I worked a good eight hour closing shifts from Tuesday to Thursday so I would not get home until 11 at night.  Hopefully this week, my shifts will be a little more spaced out time-wise.  Who am I kidding?  It is the week before Christmas, most likely stuck with closing each night this week.  So expect so late and I mean late posts this coming week.  Thank you to everybody who checked out all three parts of my rant on last Saturday's Spike VGAs.  If have not, go back and check them out as they were a lot of fun to write and hopefully a lot of fun to read.  Now let us get on with my awards of the week.

Game of the Week
If there is one game that will keep me from obsessively playing Skyward Sword like there is no tomorrow, it is a game based on my other passion and my Game of the Week, WWE '12.  The only reason I bought it was that it went on sale at EB Games and it was on great buy.  The one mode I have been playing obsessively like I did with Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 is the WWE Universe mode.  THQ and Yuke's have made some amazing new additions to last year's Universe mode such as the ability to have title matches on any show not just pay-per views and more new and very unpredictable events that have me playing it almost non-stop.  I have also played 30 minutes of The Road to WrestleMania and some far it is much better than last year's.  I like the fact that Yuke's keeps on experimenting with each mode rather than releasing the same game each and every year with just a roster update.  I cannot talk about WWE '12 without talking about the controls and match flow.  First thing you will notice when you start playing is that grapples are mapped to the face buttons rather than the right analog stick.  It will take a few matches to get us to the controls, but when you do they are much easier to use and fun to play with than last year's more convoluted controls.  Also the matches flow much faster pace with the return of stored finishers and the additions of wake-up taunts and dynamic comebacks.  I touched on this in the Hump Day Music post, but I want to reiterate that the sound design this year is off the chart.  The entrance music sounds great and the impact from each move sounds authentic.  The first time you hear the crack from connecting with a devastating kick, your face will light up.  All-in-all, I am loving WWE '12.  There are still places for Yuke's to improve, but it is one great step forward after the series took a big step back with SvR 2011.

Most Anticipated Game of the Week
Nintendo has been on fire these last few weeks.  Making some big announcements about the games we will be enjoying in the new year.  One of those games got a release date and a brand new trailer.  That game was Kid Icarus Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS.  When Nintendo first showed off the new Kid Icarus at E3 2010, my jaw dropped.  It became the one reason I wanted the 3DS so I can play this game.  So I was very excited when Nintendo announced that Kid Icarus Uprising will be coming March 23rd next year.  The trailer shows off the run and gun action in the air and on the ground while revealing story elements and a new villain in Dark Pit.  In short, I am very excited to get my hands on this game.  March 23rd cannot come soon enough.

Video of the Week
Along with the release date, Nintendo released a new trailer for Kid Icarus Uprising.  Considering that I summarized the trailer in the last paragraph, there is not much else to say, but this trailer is great.  It will sure excite those who have waited 20 years for another Kid Icarus game or bought the 3DS for this game like myself.  If you are skeptical, just watch and see the greatness for yourself.