Club Nintendo Game and Watch Collection Review

Club Nintendo is Nintendo's system to promote registration of video games. You get points for each game you register and additional points for filling out surveys related to each game. For collecting 800 points, you can get a copy of a Game & Watch Collection for the Nintendo DS. Those who follow me on Twitter know that I recently did that.

For those of you who don't know, Game & Watch were a series of individually packaged games that Nintendo made in handheld format. Each game was its own unit. This included such classics as Mario Bros and Donkey Kong. This DS collection includes three of those classic games - Oil Panic, Donkey Kong, and Green House.

Yesterday, the game arrived. What followed was about an hour of me sitting while watching TV playing games much older than most of my siblings. The gameplay has withstood the test of time - very simple gamplay for each game composed of using the directional pad and, at most, the A button. It is this simple gameplay that makes it so magical. It provides all manner of fun with just a few buttons.

Now, many people are familiar with Donkey Kong. I personally have played Donkey Kong many a time on many a console. But, before getting this collection I had never played Oil Panic or Green House. Let me tell you a little about each game.

Oil Panic is comprised of a main character on the top screen trying to collect dripping oil which falls at a set time period from random locations. Once his container is filled - he then dumps it out to a person below who must be directly below him to catch it. If you let the oil spill above - a small fire starts and you lose one chance. If you spill oil below, it falls on your gas station customers. The controls are simple to learn, but difficult to master. It is frantic fun trying to collect the oil and drop it so that your gas station patrons are kept content filling their vehicles.

Green House is a game where you protect your flowers from bugs. You have a can of bug spray and need to kill the bugs as they approach your flowers. If your flowers get attacked three times, the game is over and you have lost. It seems simple, but jumping between screens on the DS to catch insects before they take out your flowers can become fastly challenging.

All in all, for the price of free because I had registered my games - this was well worth the price. I would suggest registering products with Club Nintendo - because you never know what promotion they will come up with next.

Video Game Idea

Welcome to my 100th post on Newman's Narratives. For my 100th post - I'm going to post a video game idea that I've had for years...but just now figured out how to make it work.

The game would be entitled Mario and Sonic. It would be an adventure platformer akin to Super Mario Galaxy in gameplay with some intermixed high speed levels. The plot is as follows -

An FMV opens with Mario and Luigi walking with Princess Peach in the Mushroom Kingdom. The Kingdom is at peace and the people are having a celebration akin to the beginning of Super Mario Galaxy. An envoy from the neighboring Robo-Kingdom has come offering a peace treaty to the Princess. The envoy is Metal Sonic and he hands the Princess a letter which, when opened, causes smoke to fill the room. Metal Sonic grabs the Princess and flees the scene at high speed while the Mario Brothers cough and wheeze in the smoke filled room.

Sonic and Tails are racing in the Green Hill Zone. The two are just zipping along frantically with Amy following the two of them yelling, "Wait up, Sonic." That's when Sonic trips over what appears to be a small, brown mushroom. The Mushroom then stands up, it's a Goomba. The Goomba whistles and a small army of Goomba's surround Sonic. He goes on the attack (similar to the intro to Sonic Unleashed), taking out a number of Goombas. All the while, a Hammer Brother sneaks from behind and grabs Amy.

We then pan to room with a large, round metallic table. Two shadowy figures enter the room and shake hands - it's then revealed to be Dr. Eggman and Bowser. Eggman then says, "This plan is foolproof and when completed, we will easily capture our respective worlds." The two then laugh as they fade to the intro screen.

The idea for the game would be that Bowser would be going after Sonic and Eggman after the Mario Brothers. Gameplay would go back and forth between Mario and Sonic levels. Starting with Mario (or Luigi allowing the player to pick from the start and freely switch), the levels would be akin to Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy levels. Sonic levels will be like Mario levels, but faster. Sonic levels will have more straightaways. Halfway through the game - the two meet up and, simultaneously, Eggman betrays Bowser - implanting him with a robotic chip which makes Bowser his drone. The remainder of the game involves Mario, Luigi, Tails, and Sonic fighting Eggman's minions, Bowser's minions (controlled by Eggman), and eventually the two of them. It would make sense to allow the player to switch freely between the four characters - and it would be awesome to allow Co-Op mode where one player is Mario and the other Luigi - or, when the point is reached - allowing one player to be Sonic and the other Mario or Luigi or Tails.

I think there's a lot that can be done in a crossover game, that could be much more exciting than the two sets of characters meeting at the Olympics. Don't get me wrong - I love Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games, but I think that a richer gaming experience could be created with a teamup game. Thoughts area always welcome.

Puzzle Farter

Click the link. Try playing the game. Then answer me this...how is a game with a fish headed critter than flies around with his farts be this much fun?

HT to Rob

3 Wii Games

If I knew a person who was just getting a Wii, I'd have to go out of my way and tell them to get the following games. Stat.

• Sonic and the Secret Rings - I gave a brief review of the game before, read that first. Basically, here's the deal with SSR -- it's fun, fast paced platforming action that gives you a great tutorial section to learn the ropes of the game AND has the equivalent to Mario Party with Sonic characters for a great multi-player mode. Not only that, the party mode is really easy to pick up and has proven to provide hours upon hours of fun for my 4 and 5 year old siblings...in addition to myself, my wife, and my 23 year old sister from time to time.
• Wii Play - I get it, it's not the greatest game in the world, but hear me out. First, you get a new controller. Second, you get a fun, albeit too brief, shooting gallery game. Next, it's got a great 9-ball (billiards) game. Add on an awesome little tank game and it's already worth the 10 dollars more than buying a new controller alone. I haven't played it in a while, but I don't feel like I wasted any money on this game. Worth the price.
• Super Paper Mario - Of all the games I list, not Super Mario Galaxy (which is amazing and perhaps one of the greatest games of all time) and not Super Smash Bros Brawl (which is incredibly fun, especially with groups), why did I pick Super Paper Mario? Super Paper Mario has some stuff that most other games don't -- an engrossing plot, amazing gameplay, replay value, and a ton of interesting stuff to explore. It's got exciting characters, humorous adventures, and great gameplay! It's shift from 2D to 3D and the different character powers/Pixls...including a few hidden ones, make the game awesome. I still go back to this game constantly trying to see if I can best the two Pits of 100 Trials. Why else did I include this game? It's cheaper than SMG or SMBB and is equally as much fun.

So, for the most bang for your buck -- these are the first three games I'd suggest picking up for any new Wii owner. Each one well worth the price of admission. If you want some more quick picks -- here're two that are bargain priced --

• Link's Crossbow Training -- Fun, cheap, shooting game with better than you'd expect gameplay.
  
• Balloon Pop -- Fun, puzzle game.

Brief Sonic & the Secret Rings Review

A lot of people have downplayed Sonic and the Secret Rings, and with it recently being $10.99 at Costco and on sale constantly elsewhere for $19.99, I want to point out that if you have a Wii and have any mild liking of Sonic the Hedgehog, you should get this game. Here’s a great review from The Tanooki for the game.

I’d also like to note that the party game mode is more in depth than I ever expected it to be – rivaling some of the older Mario Party games. I’ve seen my 4 and 5 year old sisters play this mode for hours at a time…and my 13 and 14 year old sister and brother (respectively) entranced by this mode for a few hours without even thinking of trying another game. It’s fun and the fact that the main game unlocks all manner of multiplayer stuff (including bonus characters and extra mini-games) makes it even more fun. Once more, if you own a Wii…and even mildly like Sonic, get this game now – it’s worth the rapidly lowering price of admission.

Random Smash Bros Brawl Post

Well, I love the new Smash Brothers game. Brawl is amazing and more than worth full retail price. It’s fun and easy to pick up with the four different control schemes…three of which I love and the fourth (just the Wii-mote) my sister has picked up and destroyed all manner of people with so don’t knock it. Here’s a random list of opinions on the game, based on a thread from Cheap Ass Gamer --

Favorite new character/Why?
Pit. He can fly, he's from an awesomely underappreciated game, and has a new, revamped feel while still being balanced when compared to the classic Smash Bros characters. Sonic’s a close second mostly because…I love Sonic the Hedgehog in an excessive sort of way.

Least favorite new character/Why?
Lucario. I never liked the way Mew-Two played in Melee and Lucario is no different. Lucas is a close second since, like Lucario, he plays like an old character (Ness) who’s control scheme I never liked.

Favorite new stage/Why?
WarioWare. It adds a whole new element of awesome to the gameplay. Plus, it emphasizes the new Wario from the WarioWare series as opposed to "Oooh, I'm evil looking Mario" Wario. The WarioWare games, to me, finally gave Wario a new identity as a character that I really enjoyed. This was a welcome addition for me. The Mario Kart stage was a close second, just because it's so much fun.

Least favorite new stage/Why?
Rumble Falls. An entire level where fighting is almost thrown out the window with how fast you just have to keep jumping up and up and up.

Favorite Final Smash?
Link. For pure looks -- when he pulls it off, it looks amazing and destroys your opponent.

Least favorite final smash?
Donkey Kong. The bongos? Come on.

Fav Assist Trophy?
Little Mac. Because I wish he was a playable character and this is as close as it gets. Little Mac made the most sense to revamp and bring into the game as a playable character – he’s a boxer! But, this is still a lot of fun to see him running around punching out my enemies.

Least favorite Assist Trophy?
Mr. Resetti. He's just as irritating as he is in Animal Crossing and it doesn't add enough to the game to seem worth it, to me.

The Tanooki

Here's a link to The Tanooki. I'm adding it to the very small list of links I have here. It's filled with awesome Nintendo specific news and randomness. Check it out.

Zelda Legos!

Ocarina of Time Lego Style. Watch it and be amused.

Bomberman

I just picked up Bomberman for the DS. If you haven't played some iteration of Bomberman, I suggest doing so immediately. It's a simple game and the fun extras for the Bomberman for the DS are worth the price of admission. I know this is a pretty weak review...but I started writing this about a month ago and just decided to finish it up...kind of.

Why People Still Care about Duke Nukem

With Duke Nukem Forever being on hold…almost indefinitely and the new teaser that came out, God knows how many of them they’ve made, people are still excited about Duke Nukem. Why is that? Let me tell you.

Duke Nukem is the traditional badass character. He’s witty…kind of, stealing most of his witticisms from Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness, but that’s wherein a lot of the humor rises. Throughout Duke Nukem 3D, (DN3D), the first FPS installment of the series, Duke will randomly just spit out phrases from Army of Darkness or the creator’s own mind – which were all off-the-wall ridiculous in their humor. Tack that onto him running through the mid-nineties after pig-like space aliens invaded, and it makes it even more amusing.

That’s part one. Part two was the fact that DN3D was modded like crazy. As Tycho points out, you could run onto the internet and download a ton of mods or new levels with the click of the mouse and gain hours upon hours new gameplay. This just added to the replay value of this game which was already high enough as it had more than one level of difficulty, like most of the old-school FPS games. It added to the fun and allowed you an opportunity to, much more readily than most modern games, to modify and change the way you played. The sheer number of modified DN3D levels out there was amazing and added to the game in so many different ways.

Next, which is a very sad reason, is strippers. Throughout the game, and really for gratuity’s sake alone, there were half-naked strippers strewn about the levels. They were also…damageable, you could blow them up with enough ammo being popped into them. Also, as Duke got close to them he threw cash at them. It added to the ridiculousness of this game and also appealed to the lowest common denominator in many male gamers. It was stupid, but altogether comical how the strippers were just added to the game. They almost felt like they were added last minute to make the game not rated as more mature than it really was, hence the almost random layout of some of the strippers (ex. dancing on rooftops, or on space ships).

Then there’s always this – the anticipation. They’ve been working on this game for nearly a decade. It’s changed engines, consoles, etc multiple times since. It’s changed staff. It’s changed…well, everything at least a half dozen times. And because of this – it builds and builds the anticipation for this game, making people more and more interested in what will happen when it’s actually completed. If it’s either awesome or awful, it’ll still make people happy – only the mediocre will turn people away…because they expect either the worst game ever after all this time…or something so ridiculously fantastic that it appeals to every single person who games.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, people like DN3D…because it was stupidly mindless shooting. The plot was weak at best, at worst it was atrocious. Yet, the game was fun because you just ran around and shot at everything that moved. There were no people specifically to save, except for the strippers…which you weren’t penalized for shooting. It was simple running around and killing monsters. That didn’t mean it was a simple game, it’s merely to point out that there didn’t need to be much to it. It was fun, plain and simple. Whether it appeals to everyone or not – it’s just a fun game where you run around and kill monsters with no need to worry about consequences, plot, or anything else for that matter.

DN3D was not the best game in the world, by far, but it was liked and really, that’s all that mattered. Other thoughts on the Duke Nukem phenomenon are more than welcomed…they’re encouraged.

Puzzle Quest

Welcome young lads and lasses to a world unlike our own. Where the dead walk the earth and attempt to attack our kingdom! You are of noble blood and must help defend the kingdom from these undead attacks and help to find out the source of these attacks. Welcome to the world of Puzzle Quest.

Puzzle Quest's story is ridiculously simple -- but its not the story that's the most fun, it's the fact that it's a puzzle game with some RPG elements that make it incredibly fun. In many ways, this is a modified version of Bejeweled. Instead of merely playing by yourself -- on the same board, you are taking turns against an opponent. The Wikipedia article explains the gameplay a little better -- but imagine competitive Bejeweled with you gaining power as you continue to play the game allowing for interesting "attacks" which can change up the course of gameplay. It's a lot of fun and worth checking out...especially for the Nintendo DS, where the controls shine. Using the stylus to click and point to where you want to move the blocks is beyond natural. This is a wonderful game and I'd suggest it to puzzle and RPG fans...as well as fans of good video games.

Chuck Norris and Sonic...

This is an awesome little comic strip. Hearing Robotnik discuss the Chuckster is priceless.

I Love Elite Beat Agents, But...

I love the game Elite Beat Agents. It's a clever, silly, and fun beat game that can entertain a man for hours and shows that beat games can be played with a touch pad on the DS...and done very well.

But...Three Panel Soul pegged it best with this comic. Sometimes the story just makes a person a little confused by its ridiculousness.

Sonic 2 FMV Ending

Going back through my primary blog, I came across one of the most sparse posts I've made. What was on it? The link to follow -- an FMV version of the ending of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. So, without further ado -- I present the link again, in all its amazing glory.

Sonic-holic Anonymous

Hello, my name is Matty N and I'm a Sonic-holic. I admit that I still cling to the long dead gaming empire that was Sonic the Hedgehog. I still play my Sega Genesis, merely to attempt to defeat Sonic 3 & Knuckles with all the Chaos Emeralds. I bough all the Sonic Collections for the Cube and each of the revamped versions of the Sonic Adventure games. I admit that I purchased Sonic Heroes and still wear the free t-shirt I got for pre-ordering it as an undershirt, despite hating the game and gameplay. I admit that I played Shadow the Hedgehog, and enjoyed it. I admit that I purchased on the day it came out the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series, SatAM. I admit that I'm really excited about Sonic and the Secret Rings despite reviewers that I trust panning it.

I am Matty N and I am a Sonic-holic.

Fondest Video Game Memory

I was recently asked on a forum what my favorite video game memory was...so, I thought about it. Of course, there's the creation of characters such as the Dad from Family Matters and some very homo-erotic wrestler who liked to slap his opponents with JB and Kirby in Wrestlemania 2000 for the N64.

But, I've got to say...the best one was merely hanging out with my younger brother, Alex; dividing up the fighters in Super Street Fighter II on the Genesis and having our own tournaments, our own "belts" to fight for, and our own elaborate WWE-esque story arcs involving the characters. It was ridiculous and fun...and it begs the question, who said video games can't breed creativity?