Earthbound : Probably the most requested title for a VC re-release (well Mario RPG was about even, but that has since been released), Earthbound is quite possibly the biggest cult classic in video game history. I’m guessing that, due to how wanted this game is, that Nintendo is waiting to release this as one the the Virtual Console’s “landmark games” like how Zelda II was the 100th or how Mario RPG was 250th. The game’s deep story and brilliant sense of humor made it a very beloved game for not enough people, and a Virtual Console release may help it gain more popularity (one can only dream). Speaking of Earthbound….

Mother : Earthbound’s predecessor, Mother, has never been released outside of Japan. For nearly two decades people have wanted it, and with recent Japanese-only games being imported to the Virtual Console, this could be the perfect opportunity for Mother to see it’s way to the rest of the world.

Super Mario Kart : Seriously…..Why isn’t this on the Virtual Console yet?! Really, it’s Super Mario Kart, it should be an absolute given. It was the first game to incorporate the whole Mario gang into a new genre. It was the first go-kart party game and, to many, still the best. Really, where’s my Super Mario Kart funny car madness?

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask : There is something I feel guilty about when it comes to video games, and that’s that I kind of missed out on Majora’s Mask. I mean, I owned it and I played it a little and I really liked it, but for no particular reason I didn’t give it the attention it deserved. A re-release on the Virtual Console would be a perfect opportunity for me to re-experience it.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island : Considered by many to be the best platformer ever made, Yoshi’s Island is a truly masterful game. Yoshi’s Island is made of the kind of awesomely fun gameplay that made Mario so famous, and its cute, crayon-like atmosphere gave it an identity all its own. This HAS to come to the Virtual Console!

Sonic & Knuckles : One of Sonic the Hedgehog’s most beloved adventures also saw Knuckles join the spotlight. It’s only a matter of time before this game makes it to the Virtual Console, but the question is, will Sonic and Knuckles’ iconic “lock-on technology” come with it? And if so, how would that work? I suppose it doesn’t matter so long as I can play Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (or as I called it, Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 jammed in it) again. Man the SNES/Genesis era…Pure magic.

Seriously Pom Pom, why aren’t these games on the Virtual Console yet? I can’t wait to revisited these gems again, they simply can’t come soon enough.

The story isn’t anything new, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, and Mario has to rescue her. The difference , however, is that things are brought up to a more epic scale. The opening cinematic even shows a slightly more dramatic version of this classic tale, as Bowser’s invading forces barrage the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom with canon fire and falling meteors, The Koopa King has Peach’s castle ripped from it’s foundations and taken up to outer space, and just as Mario makes his way to save the princess, he is hurled to an unknown satellite by a magical blast (courtesy of a Magikoopa…Probably Kamek). Mario then awakens and finds himself in the presence of a trio of Lumas, an adorable species of star people that live in the Comet Observatory with the enigmatic Princess Rosalina that teach Mario the basics of outer space gameplay. It turns out Bowser stole the magic power stars from Rosalina’s space traveling observatory, thus rendering it motionless. So Mario must set out to the various reaches of the universe to recover the power stars in order for Rosalina to take him to rescue Peach.

But of course, story isn’t the reason you’d be playing a Mario game. Mario Galaxy’s greatest strength is in the gameplay, just as it is with every other truly great game in history. You still run around collecting stars, you still jump on the heads of Goombas, but now you also have new forms of gameplay thanks to the magical powers of the Wii remote. A quick shake of the Wiimote will activate Mario’s all-purpose spin attack. You can collect star bits and shoot them at enemies (somewhat reminiscent of the egg shooting of Yoshi’s Island) using the Wii’s motion controls. Various mini-games are also performed using the Wii remote’s many functions. But the best part is, unlike some Wii games that abuse the motion sensing Wiimote to the point that it becomes nothing more than a gimmick, Super Mario Galaxy uses the remote to its advantage and never once over uses it. The Wiimote’s functions compliment Mario’s actions (which are controlled through the nun-chuck) in a way that almost feels like controlling two games at once, but two games that blend together perfectly.

Another one of Super Mario Galaxy’s innovations are its various gravity effects. Some (more Mario 64-esque) levels have Mario running around freely, while others will have Mario jumping from one satellite to another in a low gravity environment that is simply fun just to mess around with. Many levels will even have Mario going upside down.  Other stages will even have Mario going back to his side-scrolling roots.

Super Mario Galaxy’s second biggest strength (after the gameplay) would have to be its musical score, which is brilliantly composed by Mahito Yokota and the famed Koji Kondo. All of the main themes of the game are fully orchestrated, and I have to say, hearing the airship them from Super Mario Bros. 3 performed by an orchestra is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. Super Mario Galaxy has one of, if not THE best soundtrack I have heard in a video game. The music is so good that Noubu Uematsu would be green with envy. Yes, the classical catchy music that Mario is famous for is still present, but when you also include such beautifully orchestrated music, it creates something truly epic. Some tunes will be familiar ( like the overworld them from Super Mario Bros. 3 or the theme from the Bowser levels of Super Mario 64, which really give you a warm sense of nostalgia), but they are joined by many fantastic new pieces like the epic themes of the Gusty Garden Galaxy and the Bayou Base Galaxy or the villainous music that accompanies the different battles with Bowser, which sounds more like something you would expect to hear as a theme for Count Dracula than King Koopa. Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo set out to create a musical score that could express the grandness of Mario’s universe, and to that I have two words: mission accomplished.

There is also something about Super Mario Galaxy that really makes it feel like a space opera. The Mario RPGs may have shown some deeper sides to a lot of the Mario characters, but Super Mario Galaxy probably better defines their roles more than any Mario game before. Mario is the definitive silent hero, Peach the damsel in distress, and Bowser is a more definitive villain, who doesn’t just want to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, now he wants to rule the entire universe under a galactic empire (yes, Bowser really uses the words “galactic empire” which makes it just that much cooler). Rosalina plays the role of the enigmatic sage type  with a melancholy back-story. Even Luigi makes a triumphant return!

As you would expect, Super Mario Galaxy has plenty of nostalgic moments of Mario’s past, Fire Mario is back (for the first time in 3D!), or new super suits (like Bee Mario, Boo Mario and Spring Mario) which are reminiscent of the suits of Super Mario Bros. 3 fame, and familiar foes like Goombas and Thwomps return after being absent from Super Mario Sunshine. But Mario Galaxy doesn’t rely of nostalgia to be the great game that it is, it just merely makes it better.

The level design in Mario Galaxy is second to none. The game is completely bursting with imagination, some levels you will be traveling  across the cosmos, then you’ll be walking across the back of a giant worm from one space apple to another (yes, space apples), and then you’ll be surfing on a manta ray through a river in the sky! The levels all vary in atmosphere, just because it’s called Super Mario Galaxy doesn’t mean it’s all in space (whereas pretty much every environment had a tropical setting in Super Mario Sunshine). They even thought to make a fire/ice hybrid stage which is somewhat akin to the Hailfire Peaks stage in Banjo-Tooie.

Super Mario Galaxy really is the spiritual sequel to Super Mario 64. Super Mario Sunshine attempted to achieve this honor, and while I still feel that Sunshine was a fantastic game, many people found that it didn’t quite live up to Mario’s exceedingly high standards and felt somewhat alienated by the game’s different pace and setting. No one should have this problem with Mario Galaxy, however, as it is every bit a classic as you would expect from the plumber.

Super Mario Galaxy is more than a game you play, it’s a game you experience, much in the same manner as Mario 64 was, and it will go down in history as one of the greatest games of all time. It is sure to have its spot among the likes of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World as a Mario fan favorite. It’s the type of game that holds true to its traditions, but at the same time is something completely fresh and original. It’s a blast to play the whole way through, and once you get all 120 power stars you’ll unlock a special secret character to play through the game again, and once your done with that, you’ll want to play again.

I know I sound like I’m gushing about this game, but it’s hard not to gush about a game like Super Mario Galaxy, it’s a prime example of a perfect game, and a more than worthy addition to the Super Mario name. Super Mario Galaxy is a gaming masterpiece.

Star get!

Video Games Live isn’t so much a concert dedicated to video games and those who have grown-up enjoying them so much as it is a commercial for new games. Sure, they do perform music from the Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear and Sonic the Hedgehog series, but the latter three are all bumped out of the way before the intermission, and Mario doesn’t even get the main event slot to make up for it, it gets upstaged by Halo. What’s even worse is that only the basic themes from those classic series are played, it almost seems like they tried to make them as short as possible.

I also forgot to mention that they do play a few themes to some arcade classics, but they all get crammed together in one medley and are the very first performance of the show. I guess they had to make more room for Age of Conan.

Don’t get me wrong it’s not all bad, the performances of said classics are very enjoyable, and even some of the other pieces are nice to listen to, but when the show’s primary focus is on the likes of God of War, Bioshock, Halo, Kingdom Hearts, the Harry Potter video games ( ? ) and the aforementioned Age of Conan, while true video game classics (with totally awesome music) like Mega Man, Donkey Kong Country and Chrono Trigger don’t even appear on the show whatsoever, it’s shameful. Not that I have anything against most of these newer games, but classics should never be pushed to the side for the newest thing on the block.

Oh and whenever Halo doesn’t get top-billing in the event, Final Fantasy 7’s “One-Winged Angel” holds the “honor”. I know a lot of people would pelt me with tomatoes for saying this, but I don’t feel that it deserves that position, despite the fact that it is part of one of the oldest and most respected franchises in the history of gaming, I just don’t feel that Final Fantasy 7 is quite deserving of the top spot in the same way Mario or Zelda are.

So in closing, I don’t feel like Video Games Live is horrible, but it certainly left a lot (a whole lot) to be desired, and it could really, really improve on its line-up. I hope I’ll be able to attend a performance of Play: a Video Game Symphony sometime, since from what I’ve heard, is more up my alley. Though I do hope that Video Games Live can become the concert it should be.

One small note: Last time I attended Video Games Live I the only person I saw give a standing ovation for Halo was some 12-years-old boy. Which I feel kinda proved my point.

The story begins when a magical fairyesque creature (called a Merfle) from the world of Yuretopia (which exists inside of an ancient globe inside of a museum), seeks help after his people and queen are imprisoned by the evil Shake King (that’s his name, Shake King!), who also stole Yuretopia’s greatest treasure, the bottomless coin sack. The only “hero” the little merfle can find, however, is Wario. Of course, Wario doesn’t care too much about saving Yuretopia from the Shake King so much as he just wants to get his hands on the bottomless coin sack. That Wario!

The Gameplay in Wario Land: Shake It! works similar to previous Wario Lands, you still run, jump and charge your way through your obstacles and foes. Only now you also use the Wii remote to perform various tasks like throwing your enemies into each other, pilot submarines and, of course, shaking every bit of money you can out of giant sacks of money. In may seem simple at first, but thankfully the game has an added depth to it thanks to the different missions that are found on each level, some of them can be simple like getting a certain amount of money, while others can get difficult like getting through a stage without taking any damage or without defeating any enemies. It adds plenty of replay value to most of the levels but sometimes you just don’t feel like redoing a stage to get every mission done (at least not at first) and can sometimes feel a bit tedious.

Special mention has to go to the beautiful art style of the game. Every character is entirely hand-drawn, all of the animations move fluidly and nothing looks choppy, it all looks amazing in motion. The music can be fun, but unfortunately it’s not all that memorable.

All in all I would say that Wario Land: Shake It! is a very solid and entertaining game, although as I said, it can get a bit tedious at times and it can get somewhat repetitive. But I still think it is a very fun game with beautiful animations. This game now has me wondering if a Mischief Makers sequel could be possible on the Wii. One can only hope.

I’ma Wario, I’ma gonna win!

Spore is set in five different phases: the cell phase, the creature phase, the tribal phase, the civilization phase and the space phase. With each progressing phase the player created creature evolves and advances more and more, starting as a single cell and eventually becoming a space traveling empire.

The cell phase is pretty fun (though extremely short). It feels somewhat like a classic game along the lines of Pac-man, you just swim around and eat other cells to get stronger and gather new parts to you creature.

The creature phase is interesting. Creating your creature and giving it different abilities is cool, and it’s interesting to think of the possibilities (should my creature be some kind of lizard man or a gorilla/walrus hybrid? Maybe I should make a wing-a-ling dragon. ect.), but the gameplay itself isn’t really that fun at all in the creature phase. You just kind of run around attacking some creatures and befriending others for a couple of hours and then your done.

The tribal phase can be entertaining, but it’s really nothing outside of an average real time strategy game. You (once again) can choose to befriend or battle the other tribes of creatures and find enough resources to advance your creatures. Even worse is that your creature becomes nothing more than a basic grunt unit found in other RTSs, so all the cool moves and abilities you gave him in the creature phase are no more, which makes it seem really pointless that you did it to begin with.

The civilization phase is really just a slightly more advanced version of the tribal phase, only now you also get to design buildings, air-crafts, boats, ect. I do like this phase a bit more than the previous two because of all the customization for you cities and vehicles, but once again everything you did previously seems borderline pointless, and the gameplay is nothing particularly special either.

The space phase is probably the best phase. You now travel across the cosmos, terraforming planets and discovering new species all across the universe, it’s a lot more fun than the other phases, and changing planets to your liking is fun, but it still just isn’t what it could have been. The good thing is now you can at least see your creature properly again…Because I really started to miss those little guys…

And that’s Spore in a nutshell really…

Spore’s ambition was what made people so excited for Spore, unfortunately, the game itself just couldn’t quite live up to it. I knew from the start that the space phase was going to be the main priority of the game, but I was expecting the other stages to seem important in their own way, but they all become pretty insignificant the further you progress and none of them are quite as fun as they could have been given how long the game was in development.

Is Spore a bad game? Not at all. But when the creation tools outshine the gameplay as much as they do, it isn’t anything to brage about. I would recomend Spore for the creation aspects of it, but the fun factor isn’t anything special.

Squablo!

The Game begins when Strong Bad’s video game console, the Fun Machine, breaks while playing a game of Limozeen’s Hot Babelien Odysey, so he sets off to get it repaired. Unfortunately, Strong Bad doesn’t have enough money to pay Bubs for the repairs, and he can’t just work for Bubs, that’s not convoluted enough, so he does what Limozeen would do, host a battle royal of the bands! But first he has to find enough bands to qualify for the event, and eventually Strong Bad has to enter the contest himself to win his own prize money!

The story is everything it should be, and it equals (if not surpasses) Strong Badia the Free’s plot. The plot-line could have easily been used for one of the Homestarrunner cartoons, which is very much a complement.

The gameplay, while still similar to the previous two episodes, is made even better by more difficult puzzles. I spent a lot more time scratching my head this time around than with the first two games. But thankfully they aren’t so hard that you just want to throw your controller at the your television set and call it a day. Those brief problems with the graphics also seem less frequent.

All in all I find SBCG4AP to be a very enjoyable Strong Bad experience (that sounds like a good band name right there). It’s especially fun to see/hear the different bands perform their songs, like the number one hit single from the Two-O-Duo (Bubs and Coach Z), Stealing Stuff From my own Dang Store. Or the R&B single, Food Related Love, by Pomstar (Pom Pom and Homestar).

Baddest of the Bands is a very funny, very entertaining video game, and I have really high hopes for the next installment, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People - Episode 4: Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective (which quite possibly has the longest title in video game history).

Because It’s Midnight!

A recent Japanese poll asked both men and women who their favorite video game heroes were and here’s how it all went down:

Men’s top 3 favorites:

3: Solid Snake (Metal Gear series)

2: Cloud (Final Fantasy VII)

1: Mario (Super Mario series)

Women’s top 3 favorites:

3: Cloud (Final Fantasy VII)

2: Yoshi (Super Mario series)

1: Mario (Super Mario series)

There was also a top 10 from both men and women that looked something like this:

10: Squall (Final Fantasy VIII)

9: Yuna (Final Fantasy X)

8: Professor Layten (from the more recent Professor Layten series)

7: Toad (Super Mario series)

6: Chocobo (Final Fantasy series)

5: Solid Snake (Metal Gear series)

4: Pikachu (Pokemon series)

3: Yoshi (Super Mario series)

2: Cloud (Final Fantasy VII)

1:Mario (Super Mario series)

The moral of this story? Everyone loves Mario and Final Fantasy!

Anyway, it’s a pretty good list, I mean the lack of Luigi and Megaman is slightly depressing, but it’s still better than any list you’ll see on Gamefaqs.

What I’ve been saying to our development teams recently is that “Twilight Princess” was not a bad game, by any means. But, still, it felt like there was something missing. And while, personally, I feel like “Super Mario Galaxy” was able to do some things that were very new and were very unique, at the same time, from another perspective, certain elements of it do feel somewhat conservative in terms of how far we branched out with design. And so this is something I’ve been talking to both of those teams about.

Of course, as is customary with Nintendo, it’s very rare that we are able to announce any games until they’re ready for release, but I can say that these are themes that both of those teams are taking into account and the hope is that for both of those franchises, when we do release the next installments of the Zelda franchise or maybe the next Galaxy, hopefully they will feel newer and fresher than their most recent versions.

I would agree with what he said about Twilight Princess. To me, it just seemed like it was trying too hard to be darker and more like Ocarina of Time because a lot of (really annoying) people complained about the cuter, cartoonish look of The Wind Waker. Twilight Princess seemed to play it safe the whole way through, it was still a great game, but I didn’t find it as memorable or likable as The Wind Waker.

I (like many) was surprised at what Miyamoto had to say about Super Mario Galaxy, a game that quickly became one of the best reviewed titles of all time,  being too conservative in design. I suppose he may be referring to the fact that the quest of Mario Galaxy is to find 120 power stars, just as it was in Super Mario 64, and things along those lines, but the gameplay and atmosphere of the game were completely unique in and of themselves. But if anyone can make a game better than Super Mario Galaxy, it’s Shigeru Miyamoto, and if Shiggy (as I like to call him) thinks he can make Mario even better, than I would love to see what kind of awesome ideas he can come up with.

An interesting note, when Miyamoto referred to the “upcoming” sequels, he addressed them as “the next Zelda or Galaxy” as opposed to “the next Zelda or Mario.” Could this mean super Mario Galaxy will get a more direct sequel in the tradition of Yoshi’s Island (Mario World 2) and Majora’s Mask (Ocarina of Time 2)? One can only hope.

Oh yeah, Shiggy also said he loves Portal, and that is the biggest compliment a western game designer can get.

Mario for the win.

Its hard to believe that it has been eleven years since the last proper Megaman game. For too long we’ve had to settle for various spinoff games in the beloved series. Megaman 9 not only brings the blue bomber back to his roots, it also produces one of the best Megaman experiences. The old school, rock paper scissors formula is back, along with the newest (and one of the best) baches of Robot Masters: Galaxy Man, Hornet Man, Plug Man, Concrete Man, Jewel Man, Tornado Man, Magma Man and Splash Women (the first female Robot Master). All of the Robot Masters’ level designs are all wonderfully done, although some seem considerably shorter and less difficult than others.

Speaking of difficulty, Megaman 9 is one of Megaman’s hardest games ever, if not than THE hardest, and thats always something you look for in a Megaman title. Capcom knew just making the game look like an NES title wasn’t enough, they knew they had to recreate Megaman’s trademark throw-your-controller difficulty, and I love every minute of it. Anyone can potentially play Megaman 9, but it will take a lot of practice to master it. Megaman 9 has done something than no game has done for years, after every play session, my thumbs feel sore, I can’t remember the last time was that a game did that.

The gameplay feels just as it used to, and just as it should. Pure, platforming greatness. Throw in an awesome 8-bit soundtrack and you have a game worthy of the Megaman label. But that wasn’t enough, Capcom also included a new time attack mode that keeps the scores for each individual level ( I applaud anyone who makes it into the top ten on any level, I keep on trying but I always miss the mark). Still not satisfied, they threw in downloadable content like the ability to play as Protoman and additional levels to make sure people play this game over and over again.

Megaman 9 is a rare gem in this day and age. Megaman 9’s old school formula is far more enjoyable than most games today that rely so heavily on good graphics and controversy. I hope Megaman 9 can start a trend of more “new old-school games”, I would love to see a brand new Genesis style Sonic the Hedgehog or SNES RPG. Megaman 9 truly is something special, its a game that really shows what video games really are, and it is a work of art. Lets hope we don’t have to wait another eleven years for Megaman 10.

Long live the blue bomber!