Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Rescuing Forgotten Nintendo Characters

Well so far in Captain Rainbow I have managed to send Mappo the Robot (from Giftpia) and Lip (from Panel de Pon) away from Mimin Island. Basically I had to do something to get their friendship bond, then collect enough stars to enable a big star to appear. Then I have to get the big star, find the character I want to send away from the island, and then have to take them to the Mimin shrine.

On the way up there I can pass the star between Nick and the other character, but I have to avoid the black Goo things, because they will try to steal the star. If they do then I have to chase them around and ram into them to start a fight. A Mimin with a gong will appear, and once the gong is hit you have to push the A button first and Nick will do a sideswipe. It's pretty easy to do but the Mimin will try to trick you into going too early, thus making you lose. If the black goo monster has the star too long it's power will be absorbed making it useless.

I'm really having trouble with Ossan the Golfer (from NES Golf), as well as Little Mac (from Punch-Out!!)'s minigames. In Ossan's game you have to swing your golf club and hit moving targets. The targets that give you more points are smaller and move faster, but if you even miss a target you always lose like 10 points. I keep missing too much, thus having to wait until the next day once again. -_-;

Little Mac is basically overweight in this game, and you have to play a Rhythm punching game (a la Wii Fit's minigame except super hard) to help him burn calories. The fact is that there are 3 difficulty modes, and you have to get between 18,000 and 19,000 something calories burned. If you burn too little he will remain fat, and if you burn too much he'll be skinny as a rail. I ended up turning him into nothing but a toothpick pretty much. Now I don't know how to initiate him into another minigame because he disappeared. Hopefully he turns up soon so I can get his Friendship Bond and send him away from Mimin Island.

What's annoying is that if you lose, you have to wait until the next day (which you can speed up by sleeping at Hikari's) to redo the event. I'm starting to get tired of having to do this! If the game had several areas where you could fast-forward time in I wouldn't be so annoyed in the first place. I guess this is what I get for playing a game with a language barrier, but it is still a great game nonetheless!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Top 5 Wii (Nintendo) Games I Hope To Play This Year


Disaster: Day of Crisis

Disaster was one of the games revealed before the Wii's launch that we were all expecting to be release along time ago. After the initial trailer back in E3 2006, the game dropped off the radar never to be heard about again for almost 2 years. Then back in 2008, it resurfaced, and has since been released everywhere else in the world except the US.

I am interested in this game because I always wanted to play a game where I have to survive a natural disaster. Fighting a terrorist organization is just icing on the cake for me though. I hope Nintendo of America sees fit to release this in the US!


Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
Another game I'm looking forward to is the latest entry in the Fatal Frame series. Nintendo and Tecmo partnered up for this game, with even famed creator Suda51 helming the project. I'm not sure if Nintendo is actually going to release this in the US, but we know it is coming to Europe soon.

I remember watching my friend play one of the original games on the Xbox several years ago, and the absorbing/killing of ghosts using a special camera sounded like an awesome concept to me. Also the thrilling affects that make me sweat make me wanna play the game really bad. I just hope if/when it comes to the US that all of the bugs are worked out, and that the voice acting isn't terrible.


Punch-Out!!
Punch-Out is finally making a return after a decade of no new entries in the series. I think Nintendo is having this game developed by Canadian developers Next Level Games (who made the Mario Soccer games) to appease the hardcore audience. Let's face it, Nintendo really doesn't cater to the West, though most of their games do appeal to us in the long run.

What actually got me interested in this was the new graphical interface, and I just liked boxing with the Wiimote & Nunchuck in Wii Sports Boxing. Also the look on Glass Joe's face when Lil' Mac gets a good punch in made me laugh. Only thing I don't entirely like is that they made Lil' Mac look more Japanese, I guess using his redesign from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Anyway, I'm sure this game will be great and hopefully Nintendo releases it soon!


Sin & Punishment 2
Sin & Punishment was originally a Japan-only game for the Nintendo 64, and one of the last titles released for the system. The game was made by famed developers Treasure, and they are now heading up the sequel. When Sin & Punishment was released on the Virtual Console in the US, the title was a hit, so Nintendo is having this game made to appease us fans. (Something they rarely do these days!)

I actually loved the control interface of the original game. I know it's a rail shooter, but the blocky graphics and voice acting from the first game made me an instant fan. I'm really looking forward to this and I hope we get it sometime soon!


Trace Memory R: Door of Memory
I absolutely loved the first Trace Memory game when it debuted on the DS. I remember just a few months ago the rumors that Trace Memory would be making it's way to the Wii. I am a big fan of point-and-click adventure games all because of the DS. Trace Memory's deep story and music got me into point-and-click games.

The graphic style is really great, and ofcourse adding in the Wiimote actions to the gameplay makes it more intuitive. I'm really looking forward to the story to learn more about Ashley's past and her mother. Hopefully Nintendo of America will bring this over to US shores soon as well.

Well, that's it for this article, maybe I'll write up my top 5 DS games from Nintendo coming this year that I'm looking forward to playing soon!

Captain Rainbow


So I haven't really been playing my Wii much lately. Mostly my DS here and there. I know I have a huge backlog to finish, but I decided to pick back up on Captain Rainbow which I got in October/November of last year. Anyway I really enjoy the game, just wish it was in English. Sadly, the game contains too much humor that is not meant for children (Ex. Birdo's a transexual)

Basically all you do is go around and help these characters and grant their wish instead of your own. It's pretty interesting, so far I only have a friendship bond for Birdo, as well as Mappo the Robot, but that's pretty much it.

Hopefully I finish it soon! I do recommend it to people who either know Japanese or can enjoy it using a guide, but if you can't do one of those, then you should probably stay away from this game.

Now all we can do is hope for a new Chibi-Robo game on the Wii!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Club Nintendo Hanafuda Cards


Well, Club Nintendo works now and recently I received the Hanafuda Cards I ordered from them. You can see a picture of all the cards by clicking here.

I think Hanafuda cards are really cool and are great for collecting. Did you know that Nintendo started out manufacturing Hanafuda cards in the year 1889? I think it's awesome they have been around for over 100 years now!

Hanafuda literally means "flower cards" and they are used in a number of different card games. One of the most popular is a game called Koi-Koi. You can read more about Hanafuda cards here!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Kirby Super Star Ultra Progress

Well, lately I started playing games again after the Christmas vacation. Anyway, I decided to pick up on Kirby Super Star Ultra. So far I've finished Spring Breeze, Dyna Blade, Gourmet Race, The Great Cave Offensive (I didn't collect all the treasures though), Revenge of Meta Knight, and just recently Milky Way Wishes.

Currently I'm playing Revenge of the King, which is just a tougher version of Spring Breeze with difficulty ramped up. It also has a few different bosses, as well as I get to fight a masked version of Dedede. I guess Nintendo thinks masks are still scary :p

Anyway I am enjoying this like any other Kirby game, but I didn't know how many different games in it. It is definitely worth the money. I've never played the original, but I like this. Kirby games are awesome, hopefully there will be a Kirby Wii game soon!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Welcome to 2009!

Yes well, Happy 2009 everyone! I know I'm 7 days late, but I've been busy with my family. I have really gotten into Animal Crossing: City Folk lately. And I've chatted online with a couple of online friends too, so the game is definitely more interesting. I hope I get to see all of the Japanese festivals in the Japanese version soon! It's more interesting then just the usual holidays :)

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I'm sure there is probably only like less than five readers. The truth hurts, doesn't it? :(