New Smash Bros – Hopes and predictions

As you’ve probably guessed from many of our previous posts here at SirMime we’re all big Smash Bros fans. The hours of beating each other senseless throughout the series have only wet our appetites for what is in store in the next instalments. There’s been no real information from Nintendo yet. They say that there’ll be some screenshots and information during this year’s E3, but for now let me share with you my hopes for the 3DS/WiiU version.

Characters

Rumours have been circulating that brawl’s character list was about as large as they’re planning to go with the series. This suggests that there won’t be many new characters or even that they may replace certain members of the roster. Obviously (for me) I hope Wolf doesn’t get taken out of the mix as I loved his Fox/Falco move set with the added power/weight to take on virtually anyone. Every member of the team has their own favourite that they wouldn’t want taken out either, so hopefully (for all our sakes) there won’t be too many previous character gutted for the list.

Mewtwo was always my favourite of the playable Pokemon

The mighty Wolf Squaring off against his rival Fox

From previous changes to characters in the series I would like to see a return of Mewtwo over Lucario. I don’t really have anything against Lucario, I just preferred Mewtwo weight/movement and his ‘evil laugh’ taunt. He had more character about him, although Lucario did have the amazing power increase to current damage taken ratio.

The Fire Emblem characters seem to change around in each title. From Melee to Brawl there was Marth and Roy to Marth and Ike. Marth plays pretty much the same in both versions and Roy/Ike both fill a heavy/powerful character although they handle slightly differently (Ike is much more sluggish). I would love for the next title to see Lady Lyndis or Eirika from one of the GBA games. Lyndis did appear as an assist trophy character in Brawl so it would be nice to see her become a fully-fledged character. I’d imagine her (them) to a lighter, faster fire emblem character than Marth making using your counter move a very risky strategy (with big rewards for pulling it off).

Lyndis was an assist trophy last time, now it is her chance to become a character

As for Lucas and Ness I would like to see Lucas taken out if they needed to remove characters from the bill. I think they are too similar to both be in the new games especially if they are going to make cut backs. Maybe a more unique character from the Mother series would a nice change with a different move set to Ness (also it’d be nice to have a Mother game released over here on the virtual console so us Europeans can actually experience one).

For me first entirely new character prediction I’m going to go with (drum roll) Miis. Miis have featured as characters in quite a number of games now. They had only been introduced at the Wii’s launch so there probably wasn’t the opportunity to incorporate them into the previous game, but now it’s their time to shine. There’s quite a wealth of games to choose their moves list from now including Mario kart/Tennis, Wii sports/sports resort, Pilot wings and streetpass quest. I can easily imagine you will be able to select your own Mii to fight in game and use moves like sword swings, magic, tennis racket beatings and maybe even boxing glove punches. With the amount of multiplayer games they’ve appeared in now and the fact WiiU and 3DS both use Miis I would be very surprised if they didn’t appear as characters.

I think I’ve got it… Layton as a character!!

Another character that seems highly likely to join the cast is the gentleman detective himself Layton. The sheer popularity of his series and the fans’ love for him as character puts him firmly in line for a new comer (plus again Layton games had only really started appearing in the west at the time of the last game). I’m unsure as to how Layton would attack his enemies. Maybe he could throw hint coins for a mild projectile as well as maybe using Luke in a similar way to Peach using Toad (as a counter).

At any rate I’m sure he would have quite an interested move set to fit in with his puzzle solving ways.

Well these are some of my character predictions. I would love to know if you like the sound of any of them as well as who you’d like to see appear/return for the next game.

Originality vs Tried & tested

There seems to be a lot of buzz at the moment with the build up of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. A buzz of both positive and negative flavour. As you may (or may not) know PASBR is SONY’s Smash Bros style game for both the PS3 and Vita (with cross play). It basically takes everything that Nintendo console owners have enjoyed for years and puts into the realms/reach of those with SONY consoles… Spreading the joy with the world.

Some people though are condemning the title for being ‘too similar’ and lacking originality. I do agree with these statements to some degree, but when you think about it will that actually stop you from buying/playing the game when it comes out? For some this may well be the first time they’ve ever been able to play a Smash Bros style game. We’re not all able to own a selection of consoles and as personal experience has shown me over the years many people ‘chose their sides’ with manufacturers years ago.

However, where do we draw the line with gaming similarities?  To say fully that I don’t care if this game draws from Smash Bros, am I saying I wouldn’t care if all genres borrowed from their star titles? It truely is a strong battle of what is original, fresh and different against what we know we’ll already enjoy. It’s not exactly a great sign of the times that developers often won’t step out from the formulated shadows of the genre giants, but everyone and no-one are really to blame for that. Sales figures, publishers and a majority of ‘gamers’ push developers towards creating/releasing games influenced (not carbon copied) from the biggest name franchises in order to get their sales. It’s not always about a lack of originality in creation stages, just what we all want/expect that often moulds games towards what they are today.

In the case of PASBR, I believe they’re creating a game to cater for SONY’s fan-base. A nod to Nintendo’s brilliant idea. I also don’t believe they’ve hidden this fact (as to do so would be pretty much impossible at this point). They’ve taken the inspiration, created something that looks truely fun and I’m sure it’ll sell in droves (I for one will probably buy a PS3 and a Vita version). I’m pretty sure ‘down the line’ Microsoft will probably look into something like this, after-all it would be madness not to. My only hope is that we’re not bombarded with imitations in the future as to over-do such a beautiful thing would be blasphemy.

Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL – Review

What happens when you take a bunch of classic characters and pit them against each other in a beat’em up style game set on simple platformed levels? Yes Super Smash Brothers! It’s very clear to see when you start playing CNPTEXL (yes it’s a very long name) that they’ve borrowed/taken/copied heavily from Nintendo’s own all-star brawler, but I think that’s what actually attracted me to buy the game. The question is, how does is shape up compared to Smash Bros?

The gameplay is exactly what you’d expect of such a similar style game. Buttons commands are simple with a direction + the X button (On the Xbox 360) determining what special attack your character does and direction + A button for standard attacks (holding A to charge for Smash attack style power hit). You can jump/double jump and even block/roll in exactly the same manner as SSB. The only problem I can find is that it doesn’t feel quite as fluid and sometimes you’ll be left standing still when you want to make an attack. This doesn’t happen all the time though or even ruin the experience of the fight, it’s just a minor issue that would’ve been nice to patch over.

The game contains a fairly decent length story mode. In which you taking control of various Cartoon Network characters must fight your way through various themed worlds. The game ends with quite an easy boss fight and rewards you with a host of characters that cannot be purchased in the game’s store. Speaking of the store, there’s a hole heap of extras you can purchase with your in-game earnt currency. Video clips (from classic shows), extra costumes/levels and characters all await a player who is willing to put in the play time. I only wish there were more Videos available, as the ones on offer are really good and leave you wanting more.

Once you’ve got hold of the characters you (and your friends) want it’s time to hit the local multiplayer modes. There’s no online option available, but with SSBB I learnt that’s not always a bad thing (what with the Wii’s awful connectivity). Basically this mode is where you’ll probably spend the most time (just like in SSB). You can set various rules (mainly how the winner is decided) and use the levels/characters you’ve unlocked/purchased from the store to once again settle age old arguments of ‘who would win in a fight between….’. You’ll probably latch onto a favorite character quite quickly, but even then trying out the others is still an interesting reward for your time. I noticed certain characters have been created around SSB’s character move-sets. The most noticeable being Samurai Jack. He’s basically a complete copy of the Fire Emblem characters right down to the counter attack special move.

CNPTE:XL is certainly a fun title. Probably more worth the budget price that is was launched at (in the UK) then a full priced title, but fun all the same. There’s the same great concept as SSB at it’s core, but with just a bit more polish it could’ve stood out as an excellent title. ‘The bottom line’ so to speak is you’ll probably give this game a try if you love the SSB series, but don’t currently own a Nintendo console (or are waiting for a SSB game to be released on a certain handheld….). I loved the ‘all-star’ cast of Cartoon Network characters (although DeeDee as a playable character would’ve been nice) and enjoyed my time playing against others on the multiplayer mode. If you’ve got a love for CN characters or SSB style beat’em ups you’ll probably enjoy this game.

My score: 3.5/5 – not without it’s flaws, but an enjoyable title to play with your friends and think about how sweet the next Smash Bros will be.

F-zer-Oh?

A topic that has been on my mind for the last few months and therefore plastered over any Nintendo fan gathering site/forum is whatever happened to the F-zero series?

For those of you who don’t know F-zero is Nintendo’s future set high space racer, although high speed doesn’t really do it justice most of the time. It is also the series of games where the Super Smash bros character Captain Falcon comes from. If you haven’t heard of it before I can’t really blame you since the last F-zero games released where the downloadable version of the N64’s F-zero X on the Wii and before that F-zero GX on the Gamecube.

Those of you who played the Gamecube version I hope feel the same as me in that you were treated to one of the most addictive fast paced racers ever made. With a huge number of unlockable courses and drivers/ships as well as some frantic split screen multiplayer action. It was certainly one of the gems of the Gamecube’s roster and upon transition over to the Nintendo Wii was still one of my favourite games to play when friends came over. So this brings me back to the question of why such a classic franchise has not seen the light of day since the Gamecube? Knowing that this week marks the five year anniversary of the Wii’s launch I’d estimate that F-Zero GX is at least eight years old by now.

Is it a question of popularity? My opinion on the matter may be bias, but from feedback I’ve had asking other Nintendo fans it seems I’m not alone in the thirst for more eye ball melting action. Looking back though Nintendo do seem to have generation gaps on some of their biggest name franchises such the Metroid series that completely missed the N64 and then led into a trilogy across the Gamecube and Wii. I’m hoping this isn’t the case as the 3DS is crying out for another great title on the horizon after the recent spell of releases to keep the owners happy and what better then some more handheld racing? Mario Kart 7 is a brilliant game with charm and fun, but that’s not to say there isn’t room for a faster paced racer where speed and skill always win the race.

Come on Nintendo what do you say?