So it has come to this. Sonic and Knuckles, both kitted out in body armor (including some truly laughable headwear on Knuckles), and having it out with swords. Just kill us now.
Mind you, one possible explanation for this trend cropped up in the latest IGN 'Three Red Lights' podcast, where Sonic Unleashed developer David Clayman argued that a Sonic game featuring only running stages would last around three hours, such is the hedgehog's speed (full transcript here). In which case, may we politely suggest a WiiWare Sonic game, David?
You may or may not like the changes that are coming for the Play on Wii release of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, but we're willing to bet that you'll like at least one thing -- the game's updated look. While the changes aren't particularly obvious at a glance, when they're side-by-side with the originals, you can easily see the refinements and additions, which is why we've got a few comparisons here, just for you. You can even see some of the refinements in the tiny image above, like the scales, but if you want the full effect, you're going to want to step into our gallery below.
Nintendo's logo isn't the only thing that seems to be missing a little color lately; the latest batch of screenshots from Sonic and the Black Knight are noticeably washed out in comparison to the last set we peeped. Those last screens were lush, bold, and beautiful, and while these look good, they just don't look as bright. There's something gritty in this new batch, though, something that's a little dark and a little dirty and very appealing. Go forth, young knight, and see for yourself.
How do you draw a more detailed sprite of a guy who's basically a bunch of rectangles anyway? That's the dilemma Pixel faced with this Cave Story character, Malco the friendly, explosives-loving robot. Pixel has done an outstanding job of adding definition -- and a mandible -- to a character who seemed impossible to detail. With that new jaw of his, he could destroy some gum base.
According to the blog entry accompanying this sprite, IGN will have new direct-feed videos of Cave Story tomorrow. Presumably, this will be our first look at the new artwork in motion!
Thanks to the return of the item crafting system from previous Crystal Chronicles, you'll have plenty of cool junk to show off to your friends in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. You'll be able to buy power-boosting jewels from shops and add them to slots in your weapons, permanently changing the weapon into a more powerful one. You can also have your own custom armor and other items made out of materials found while adventuring.
Since the game seems to change your character model to reflect your equipment, that means that you can customize your appearance, and look as good as it is possible to look in a DS game played on your TV.
Before your crew gets to work, pretty much every item that arrives in Pit Crew Panic is in a shocking state of disrepair. Covered in a thick layer of dirt, dented, cracked, and in some cases marred by unfortunate cartoon-face graffiti, they inspire the Panic suggested in the title. In their filthiest states, the objects look like they use Alien Crush Returns textures.
In the bizarre WiiWare title, you'll be cleaning and repairing not just cars and motorcycles, but newly-revealed things like train cars, satellites (how do satellites get so muddy?), castles, and battleships. We can't forget about the ones we'd seen before, like flowers and giant toilets, either.
We think we're going to have to start reading or watching Bleach so we know what's going on in Bleach Versus Crusade and the DS fighting games. Our interest in the DS games has been motivated mostly by love of developer Treasure, and that is certainly driving our desire to play the Wii game as well. But we can't help but think that it would be nice to know who all these people are and why they're fighting.
Even as a context-free fighting game, however, we think Versus Crusade looks pretty nice. You can see for yourself in the latest batch of screens, originally posted on the official site, but visible in a much less annoying Flash interface on Wiiz.
Namco Bandai is determined to spoil Klonoa: Door to Phantomile's "Extra Vision", the "Balue's Tower" level in which Klonoa is tasked with picking up all 150 gems to unlock more special content. Now Dengeki is posting those screens along with the reverse stage and alternate costume information found a few days ago. Normally, revealing total spoilarz would be worth complaining about, but the statute of limitations has long past expired on Klonoa spoilers.
But the real draw to this particular article isn't the repetition of top secret info. It's the fact that there are tons of new screens of the remake's third and fourth "visions," and they are as colorful and brilliant as every other Klonoa Wii screen. At this point, it doesn't matter if you've seen everything there is to see from the original, because you'll probably want to see it again.
Cave Storyremake developer Nicalis has been spreading exclusive content around the web, turning our daily news crawling into a delightful Cave Story scavenger hunt. The latest release is this screenshot found on WiiWare World, featuring the updated, redrawn graphics.
We have feared that the increased definition in the sprites and environments would change too much of Cave Story's unique look, but Pixel knows what he is doing. The new look is more detailed, but still retro -- it just looks like somebody sharpened the focus.
If you haven't tried Cave Story yet, don't worry about waiting for the WiiWare version. Play the freeware game now. You'll be ready to start again when the Wii game comes out.
The first shots of Evasive Space invaded our inbox earlier today, and apparently things get quite ... trippy in the Yuke's/High Voltage collaboration. Not Jeff Minter levels of trippy, but still pretty out there in parts. The game itself, which will cost 1000 Wii Points, seems to be a mix of open play shmupping (as seen in Geometry Wars) and more linear, contained areas.
The screens in our gallery are drawn from the first two of the game's four acts, each of which will contain five scenarios to play through. In turn, these come in two types: either you'll be doing timed runs, or you'll be collecting stuff (spacemen, energy cells) while avoiding other stuff (asteroids, gas clouds). It's brave of Yuke's and High Voltage to release a shmup on a system overflowing with the things, but we like what we see so far! Hit up the gallery and tell us what you think.
Famitsu has revealed some of the extra hidden content in the gorgeous Wii remake of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile. The extra "vision," an especially difficult level set in Balue's Tower, was present in the PlayStation game and remains unlockable in this version. In addition, Klonoa will be able to earn secret costumes by beating bosses in Time Attack mode. Perhaps the "new look" Klonoa will be included in these unlockables?
Players will also have the ability to unlock reversed versions of levels in which Klonoa starts from the end. Either these stages will have redesigned enemy layouts or other new content, or Famitsu is employing a bit of hyperbole by describing them as a "new adventure."
You can watch a trailer for the game here, if you like, and make yourself queasy with the cloying cuteness of it all. Not only that, but nine new screens (sadly not wearing adorable hats) sneaked into our gallery!
There's not much we'd rather do on the weekend than stare for hours at the gorgeous MadWorld, but since we can't look at the real thing, we'll have to settle for a few new screenshots. Not everyone agrees (blasphemy!), but we can't find anything wrong with a little black and white violence. Study the new screens (located in our gallery below) and see if you agree.
The new followup to We Ski may improve on the reality of the snowboarding and/or skiing experience. Aside from the obviously reduced costs associated with playing a Wii game versus taking a vacation, and the sharply reduced likelihood of serious falling-off-a-mountain-related injury, Family Ski: World Ski and Snowboard allows you to play a game of snowboard tag under the supervision of a guy in a dinosaur suit. We're glad to see the silly suits return.
Speaking of silliness, the new course in World Ski and Snowboard also features a gigantic donut to jump through. Also there are normal races and half-pipes and such, if you're interested in stuff like that.
First off, there is a new video of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes at Famitsu, featuring Saki from Quiz Nanairo DREAMS and Viewtiful Joe vs. Ippatsuman and Doronjo. Joe's Mach Speed super combo is expected, but delightful.
In addition, screens reveal another set of character-specific minigames. For free extras included in our cool fighting game, they all look pretty excellent -- and there are now more minigames in Tatsunoko than in many dedicated minigame collections.
Saki has an enjoyable-looking asteroid shooting gallery game, Ippatsuman has a baseball pitching game, and Doronjo has some kind of bomb-throwing platformer in which her and her goons Boyacky and Tonzler ride through a valley on unicycles.
Viewtiful Joe's minigame is the standout of the group: a sort of "shooting" game in which you attempt to snap photographs of a running Joe, with the ability to take three photos in rapid succession.
