Game Review: Momodora

I’ve had my eye on a particular game series for some time now. It's called Momodora, and it's a series of action platformer games that just released its fourth installment. While Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight looks to be a highly sophisticated and polished game, the original Momodora was released in 2010 with a far more amateur look and feel to it. For me, however, this was a very nostalgic period for indie games, especially those created with Mark Overmars' Game Maker, as Momodora was.

Momodora is an intentionally, and sometimes frustratingly, difficult game. The creator even suggests that players skip this game and move on to its sequels, as it was inspired by the difficulty of early arcade games. I, being the gamer that I am, and knowing that I’ve probably played much more frustrating games from the same era of the industry, promptly ignored this warning and played the game anyway.

Throughout Momodora you get access to a number of different weapons that you can cycle through, although you'll probably just end up alternating between a couple of them. Players are also given two secondary items you can cycle between that you’ll find yourself using quite frequently. One creates an easily-breakable shield around the character offering more defense, and the other is a boomerang that basically works as a secondary weapon, which comes in handy a lot.

The story... is almost entirely in a text document. It's not actually addressed in the game until the end. This, as well, may have been inspired by early titles in the game industry, whose stories would be almost entirely restricted to the games' manuals. The graphics well fit the era and style of game, as sort of a medium between Cave Story and Theseus and the Maze. The music is good, and fitting. The entire soundtrack (and all of the other sound effects) are included in the game's zip folder as .OGG files.

While I was able to get through the game and I very much enjoyed it, it's most certainly not for everybody. If you're looking for a more sophisticated experience that's not so much of a frustrating challenge, perhaps you should just jump ahead to a later game in the series as the developer suggested. I might be a little more sympathetic towards this game if it weren't for the fact that it uses one of my least favorite tropes, which is to have a very difficult boss battle after the final level of the game, with no save in-between.

If you want to try your hand at the game, you can check it out for free here. Look for my reviews of Momodora II, Momodora III, and Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight in the coming months.

Celeste

Celeste is a 2D platformer video game by Matt Thorson and Noel Berry. It's about scaling a mountain, and was made in four days.

While Thorson has hit it big in recent years for developing TowerFall and its various versions, he's always been known in the indie gaming community as one of the masters of difficult 2D platformers. Even with TowerFall he created goals and achievements that only a handful of people could ever even think to attain. When Matt Makes a Game, you know to fear it.

You're an unnamed figure scaling a great mountain, level by level. You can move and jump, and also use a dash move that can serve as a double-jump. Partway through the game you find an upgrade that gives you a second dash, and thus a second double-jump. The levels are designed around these mechanics and others, such as wall-jumping and balloons that restore your ability to dash mid-air.

It's reminiscent of the tight, "get from point A to point B" platformers Thorson used to make. The difficulty is there, and the intelligent design is there. Unfortunately, the gameplay is somewhat flawed. Your character doesn't always dash in the direction you're pressing the keys, which can cause a good many deaths as the fault of the game and not the player. Berry coded the game, so I'm laying the fault on him. (Realistically, it was probably the program they used to code the game.)

I entered the game and was immediately reminded how much I suck at video games. I spent an embarrassing amount of time on just the first level because I couldn't entirely figure out how the mechanics worked. I beat the game in a solid half hour, but not before getting an ungodly death count of 333. (Seriously, though, a good number of them really weren't my fault. I swear!)

Celeste is a fun, tight platfromer that will challenge those good at the genre and infuriate those who aren't. I really enjoyed it. If you think it sounds like interesting, give it a shot. It's free on PC.

Playing this game made want to go back and play Matt Thorson's older games, such as MoneySeize and the Jumper series. Or perhaps I'll finally beat An Untitled Story on "Masterful" difficulty and then review it on my blog for the third time.

Play Celeste here.

Game Review: The Next Penelope

The Next Penelope: Race to Odysseus is the classic tale of Homer's Odyssey... set in a cyberpunk world with futuristic racing.

It's been ten years since Odysseus departed from the kingdom of Ithaca, leaving his reign to the anarchy of an absent leader. Desperate to save the land she loves, and sick of her suitors' unwavering advances in the absence of her husband, Queen Penelope sets out on a journey to find Odysseus—by exploring planets, racing her suitors, and fighting epic bosses.

The Next Penelope is a top-down racing game that appears to have been heavily influenced by F-Zero. It reminds me a little of Super Laser Racer, another such game that was focused on translating the gameplay from F-Zero into a 2D top-down format. That game, while extremely fun, was little more than a bare-bones F-Zero clone. The Next Penelope adds story, bosses, an upgrade system, a somewhat unique weapons system, and a lot of interesting and fun challenges.

This adventure is not particularly long. If you know what you're doing you can certainly beat the game in under a couple hours. However, the strong difficulty curve your first time through and the endgame bonus levels are sure to keep you occupied for a good many hours. If you strive to complete all of the achievements, as I did, you're sure to have your work cut out for you for a while. The nice part? You'll have fun the entire time.

I've always had a love-hate relationship with Greek mythology. I love it for the lore and the mythos, but I hate it for the arrogance, narcissism and stupidity of a great many of the prominent characters. With that being said, I've had a strictly love relationship with this game since the moment the concept was introduced to me. It's Greek mythology... plus futuristic racing! Add that to the insanely fun gameplay, and you've got yourself a beautiful piece of art.

The game was developed by one man, Aurelien Regard. He created the story, artwork and music all himself, and programmed the entire game. It's always a treat when a game this well-polished and well-designed is developed by a single person or a small team. Such a man is more than worthy of my respect.

Overall, The Next Penelope is a great concept, complemented by great gameplay. The artwork is beautiful, and the sweet elrectonic soundtrack is sure to get stuck in your head. I certainly got my money's worth from it, and I can't wait to see what other great projects the developer comes up with in the future.

Check out The Next Penelope: Race to Odysseus on Steam.
It's also in development for Wii U, and may be released on other consoles as well.

Game Review: Pokémon X

I recently acquired a game from one of the most recent generations of Pokémon. Pokémon X is a sixth-generation Pokémon game, and has a counterpart titled Pokémon Y. I played it for a while, and then mustered all of my focus into typing up an incredible review for the game.

It's Pokémon, again.

...What, did you expect something more? That's literally what it is: The same game with a few updated knick-knacks. Heck, it feels like an HD remake of the only other Pokémon game I've ever played, Pokémon Sapphire. That's rather funny, because they recently released an official HD remake of Sapphire. They didn't even need to do that, because that's literally every game they've made since the original! At least the music in X is pretty awesome.

Now, don't get me wrong, the Pokémon games are and will always be a lot of fun. It's just, there aren't many new elements to each new game. Beyond that, they release two almost identical games for each generation. I don't even get why they do that, aside from monetary and marketing purposes. It just seems like a way for the developers to grab more money.

To tell the truth, I've only played about six and a half hours of Pokémon X, and I just don't feel drawn to continue. I have to endure over seven hours of car travel each week, so you'd think that the game would be a great way to pass the time, but why would I play Pokémon X for an hour or two when I could play Bird & Beans for an hour or two?

The sad thing about that question is that I was absolutely serious.

Disclaimer: This article was abnormally negative for the purpose of satire.
It's really a pretty good game.

Game Review: Sinister

"And then I died."

The other day I came across a little game called Sinister. It was made in 48 hours as part of the Ludum Dare competition. When I say a little game, I mean a game that you can literally beat in two minutes. That little. Yet, for some reason I keep playing it. I wonder why that is.

Sinister is as mysterious as it is short. You are a man, and you have died. Yet, somehow, a world is able to come back together around you, bred from your memories. Where are you? What is this world? You explore this world of memory, and after a short time you come across a girl standing over a grave. As she turns to look at you, the words appear.

"I said that you would never be alone."

And then the game ends, bringing you back to the title screen, leaving you to wonder what the heck just happened. However, the "ending" is not where the game ends, because the game actually works as an endless loop. The opening and ending lines go together, hand-in-hand. The girl is standing over your grave, because you have died.

"I said that you would never be alone...
...And then I died."

Could it be that your character is stuck in some sort of purgatory? The same dream of a partial world of memories playing itself over and over again? Or is there something more going on here? I played the game numerous times, trying everything I could think to try, just trying to find some answers. But no matter how much I've looked, I've found nothing more than what I already know.

What is it about this game that keeps drawing me back? Is it the mystery of it all? Is it the brilliantly haunting music? Is it the fact that no matter how many times I play it, I can't find the closure I'm searching for? It's probably all of these things combined.

The developer has in fact stated that he intends to expand on the story sometime in the future, and has stated on Twitter, "This is not the end of Sinister." This makes me both excited and cautious. Someday I may finally find the closure I need, but at the same time the game is brilliant as it is, because of the unanswered mystery of it all.

Regardless, you should consider spending two minutes of your time to play the game. Be warned, it may keep drawing you back, as it did me. That will probably not be the case—I'm just an oddball—but who knows.

Play the game online here.

Game Review: Sneaky Sneaky

Here's a little game I came across recently. It's called Sneaky Sneaky, and in it you do a lot of sneaking.

A while ago I was going through my old Thursday Impressions posts on this blog and I realized that I kind of missed doing it. However, I don't have nearly enough time to write up a first impressions piece every week anymore, so I decided to compromise and do one every month. So then I played the first game on my list, wrote up an impressions piece, and then went and beat the rest of the game long before the post was scheduled to be published. So, screw impressions pieces. Here's a review.

Sneaky Sneaky is a grid-based strategy game controlled only by the mouse, in which you sneakily defeat your enemies and grab treasure on your way to completing each level. When an enemy discovers you (or when you sneakily get the first strike) the game switches into a turn-based mode until you or your enemy has been defeated, or until they've lost track of you (because you like to sneak away).

The gameplay is fairly unique. If at any time an enemy sees you before you attack them, they are able to move before you, and you're not allowed to move out of the way (or attack back) until it's your turn. Additionally, if you're able to sneak up behind your enemy without them seeing you, you can deal a much more powerful blow, which may take them out completely. Thus, stealth is a heavily encouraged strategy. Hiding in bushes for the right time to strike is a technique that works very well, along with sniping your enemy with arrows while you're out of their sight range.

The game isn't very long, and can be completed in just a few hours, but it's most definitely worth the low price. Not only is the art style really cool (and rather adorable), with great music that fits well, but also the game is pretty flipping fun. The difficulty curve is somewhat sharp if you're not prepared, and you might have to replay some already-completed levels in order to get enough money to buy an upgrade or two, but overall it's a brilliant gem of a game.

Sneaky Sneaky is awesome, and I'd love for the developers to make a sequel someday. I'd play the heck out of it.

The game is available on Steam and iOS.

TONE

Every once in a while I review some small, casual, freeware game, just because that's what I feel like doing at the moment. TONE is a game that was created for Ludum Dare 24. I found it because the creator submitted it for the Steam Greenlight, in which I feel it didn't really belong.

The point of the game is to protect your square, which is in the center of the screen, from the other approaching squares around it. You destroy the oncoming squares by running them through with your mouse cursor. It's a simple concept, and quite fun.

I, personally, suck at this type of game, and I constantly found myself dying far sooner than I thought I should. There are multiple kinds of squares, adding variety (and yes, difficulty) to the game. The music track is really cool, and it adds a new tone to the atmosphere. (See what I did there?)

In the end, it's a fun game that you should give at least a couple shots. It's definitely not Steam material as it is, but the developer is working on a major upgrade to the game, so we'll see how it turns out.

Play TONE online here
(download links here)

Trine 2

Trine 2 is, as implied by its title, the second installment of the acclaimed Trine series by Finnish independent developer Frozenbyte. It once again follows the three memorable characters from the first game, but it takes place many years later.

The Trine, an artifact of great power that binds our three heroes together, as it has since the first game, seeks out each hero—Pontius the Knight, Amadeus the Wizard, and Zoya the Thief—and takes them to a strange enchanted forest. Unsure of what the Trine wants them to do, they traverse the mystical wood and discover that once, long ago, it had been a vast kingdom led by a noble queen. Now it was only ruled by savage goblins and strange beasts of the wild.

Eventually, the three come across a strange woman named Rosabel, who reveals that she had once been the queen of this land. She begs the trio to find and depose of the Goblin King, who currently resided on the throne of what had once been the kingdom. And so the three characters set out to dethrone the unrightful ruler, unaware of the true dangers that lay ahead.

Trine 2 is a brilliant game. It took the good points of the original Trine and improved all the rest. One of the biggest differences is replacing the main enemies—skeletons in the first game—with goblins. The entire theme went from being about a world where everything is dead, to being about a world—a strange and beautiful forest—where everything is alive.

And the visuals are no laughing matter. Trine 2 possibly has the greatest graphics of any platformer game that has ever existed to date. The level of detail is spectacular, from the gorgeous background scenery to the many different creatures you encounter along the way. You can see a sheep pasture in the background of the first level, and even that looks real.

Where I feel the game felt bland, and somewhat annoying, is the puzzles. They were confusing as heck, and often I felt that they were really made for multiplayer co-op mode and didn't really have a good solution in single-player mode. That being said, it felt like the only way to get past certain puzzles was to use slightly broken gameplay mechanics to glitch your way past.

And don't get me wrong there—the gameplay mechanics work great; they just have their minuscule flaws that can be taken advantage of.

In addition, I felt that the soundtrack didn't meet par with that of the first game. It was still beautiful and fitting, but it didn't stand out as Trine's soundtrack did. It didn't make me want to instantly go and purchase the soundtrack with my very own money. However, Ari Pulkkinen is a great composer, and you should buy his scores anyway.

Something that played a major role in why I loved this game was the hidden backstory. All throughout the game you find poems and letters that hint at what may have happened to the great kingdom. This adds a feeling of mystery to the entire experience, and it makes you want to continue and figure out each piece of the puzzle.

In the end, Trine 2 is a game you don't want to miss. The graphics are amazing, the soundtrack is great, the story is deep and intriguing, and it felt so refreshing to be able to return as the three heroes from Trine—I actually missed them after I completed the first game. However, as much as I loved this game, I felt as though it couldn't surpass the classic experience of its predecessor.

Trine 2 certainly has its flaws, but those are so far outweighed by the good things that you really shouldn't worry at all. This game receives a very high recommendation from me.

As a side note, this is one of the only games I've ever played (or sequel in any form of media) where you don't necessarily need to experience the predecessor first. You can start with either Trine or Trine 2. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

Trine

Trine is an adventure puzzle-platformer developed by the independent developer Frozenbyte. It is currently available on PC/Steam, along with the PlayStation Network.

The story takes place in a medieval fantasy universe. A great kingdom lies in ruins, ravaged by an undead army. Three survivors—a thief, a wizard and a knight—are linked together by an ancient, mysterious artifact known as the Trine. Not knowing what to do, they embark on a quest together to set things right in their broken world.

You switch between the three characters as you play—unless you play the recommended multiplayer co-op mode—and they each have their own essential attributes. The wizard can create and move objects such as platforms and planks, the thief has a bow and grappling hook, and the knight has a trusty sword and shield. Alternating between these characters is easy and quite useful.

The story is intriguing. When assisted by the games visuals and music, it makes for a unique setting that you could only find in a video game. The voice acting—both for the characters and the narrator—is done extremely well, and it adds personality to the game, along with some humor.

The thief was my favorite character to play as. Not only is her bow a very efficient weapon, but her grappling hook allows her to get to many high places that the other characters can't get to. In addition to that, the grappling hook is just a fun way to move around. Don't feel like walking? If the ceiling is made of wood, just grapple and swing past the entire area in a third the amount of time.

Something I really want to touch on is the music. Trine's soundtrack creates the perfect atmosphere for the setting, and it makes you want to keep playing. As soon as you start the game, the music welcomes you and almost makes a promise that the game you're about to play is going to be brilliant. The composer deserves a medal. The soundtrack reminded me a lot of the soundtrack of the Elder Scrolls games, and that there's some mighty fine music.

To conclude, this is an amazing game. The replay value is very high, as there are collectibles to find in every level, and you can come back to any level you've beaten to find what you missed your previous time through it. There's a leveling-up system where your characters can upgrade their abilities, and also many various stat-boosting items to find in treasure chests.

I recommend you pick up this game. It just might be worth your time.

Game Recommendations of May

Sometimes you just can't write a whole review of a game, but it's good enough that it deserves some mention. Here are some games I've played in the previous few months that didn't get their own full reviews, but I definitely recommend them anyway.


NightSky

NightSky has beautiful visuals, touching music, and it's one of those things that prove that games don't need to be extremely hard—or hard at all—in order to be fun. It does also include an alternative mode with much harder puzzles for those looking for a challenge. The only downside to the game is the price, but $10 isn't much at all. I very highly recommend this game.
Systems: PC, Wii, 3DS
Official Website


PiCTOBiTS

It amazes me how people can still think up new Tetris-style concepts that are still fun. PiCTOBiTS is an addicting arcade game for DSiWare with fun chiptune music and a lot of different levels. In each level you try to clear different colors of blocks in order to create various different characters from oldschool NES games. If you have a lot of time to kill, check it out.
Systems: DSi, 3DS
Official Webpage


Galcon Fusion

Galcon Fusion is a real-time strategy game in space, with a ton of game modes, difficulty levels and achievements. It's addicting, in a good way, and can spawn numerous hours of game time to take up... time. Oh, it's also colorful and pretty. Highly recommended if you like strategy games or multiplayer games in general.
System: PC
Official Website

3D Classics: Kid Icarus

This is the original NES Kid Icarus game remade in 3D, with some other revamped features as well. One worth mentioning is that the game now has cool level backgrounds, so it's not always black. Basically, it makes for a super fun platformer and a worthy remake of the old game. My biggest problem with it is the fact that half the game is far too hard and the other half is far too easy. It seems to alternate between extreme difficulties. Regardless, this game is certainly recommended.

System: 3DS

Official Webpage

Pushmo

Pushmo is a highly-acclaimed puzzle platformer game for the Nintendo 3DS, featuring 198 unique puzzles and a level editor that allows for virtually endless possibilities. With five difficulty levels, both novice players and masters can enjoy the game. Pushmo is fun and colorful, and it really offers you a good time. It costs $6.99 on the Nintendo eShop, and it's worth every cent of it.

Click Here for More Information

Here are the QR codes for two of my custom levels, for those who already own the game:

• Modern Art Piece
• The Ten Switches

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

After being in development for five years by over a hundred full-time developers, the chronologically first Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, was released to the world this past November. Though I'd had my eye on it for most of that half decade, I did not obtain it myself until late December.

This was the game I had been waiting for longer than most people knew it existed. Critics and developers alike had been saying that it may be the greatest Zelda game of all time, and the hype for the game before its release had grown so large that my expectations were extremely high. When I started the game, I thought to myself, If this game doesn't live up to the hype, I'm going to be pretty dang mad. Within three hours of playing . . . those oh-so-high expectations were already exceeded.

The setting in Skyward Sword is unique. It starts in a world far up in the clouds, specifically the town of Skyloft. Throughout the millenia this strange sky world existed, there have been legends of a vast surface world far beneath the clouds. I would give a short synopsis of the story, but instead of typing one up myself, since I can't find a good one online, you should just play the game yourself. The story, in itself, is probably one of the best video game stories I have ever played through, and I found myself falling in love, once again, with the magnificent world Nintendo created.

One really cool aspect of the game is its use of Wii MotionPlus technology. You wield the Wii remote as you would a sword, so to speak, and the accuracy is truly great. It makes for a fun new way to play through a game, being able to actually slice through obstacles with your saber. Just be sure you don't accidentally break anything in your house from swinging that remote too wildly.

At the first public release of what the game would look like, many were disappointed. It looked like a mixture between Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker, and it just looked horrible. The visuals were eventually changed ever slightly, and regardless, they are actually quite beautiful once you get used to them. As one of the lead developers mentioned years ago, it's meant  to look a little bit as if it could be in a painting. This is especially true when looking off into the distance. I am quite satisfied with the final graphics, and they fit the game better than any other style could have.

I usually give a game's soundtrack a good rating if it fits the game well, regardless of if it's a good score on its own. For Skyward Sword, however, the music was not only fitting, but it was one of the best game soundtracks I have ever heard. Though it has never happened for any other game, I've found myself wanting to buy the OST. Unfortunately, it is not currently available.

The amount of content is actually quite large, and you can literally spend hours playing minigames and completing side quests. However, I do have to say that with Skyward Sword's format I really do miss Hyrule Field. The game takes place long before the kingdom of Hyrule was ever established, so it would be impossible to implement it in, but there is so much more you would be able to do if you had a massive overworld field to explore. Most other games in the Zelda series have one, but the game that took the series to its highest peak didn't. It was a little disappointing, but the amount of content they fit into a game without such a place (without packing it in tightly at all) is outright inspiring.

Skyward Sword uses many elements from previous Zelda games, and improves them, ranging from returning enemies to items to even the treasure system. There are numerous subtle references to games that take place later in the chronology, such as finding a forest spring identical to a key location in a game that takes place thousands of years later, or occasionally finding Hyrule's sacred crest without the Triforce.

Of course, there is no such thing as a game without flaws. Skyward Sword has furthered the maturity of the Zelda series with its upgrade in quality level, full effort put into the soundtrack and story, and several other aspects that have made the game amazing, but there are still little things here and there that did not make the jump to higher maturity. The dialog of the game is all in text, so there isn't vocal speaking for the player to hear, yet still there are voice actors for groans, breathing, sighing, etc. In theory it's not a bad idea, but in Skyward Sword it's terrible. In addition, the poses and expressions Link still makes when he gets a new item are sickeningly childish.

The biggest downside of them all is actually your sidekick and companion, Fi. Fi is the intelligent being or artificial intelligence who lives in your sword, and who's duty it is to guide and assist you on your quest. She can project an image of herself, but can make no physical contact. The only good thing about her is the fact the that she looks cool, but that's about it. Of all the companions who have assisted the different incarnations of Link throughout the thousands of years that different Zelda games take place, many have been unbearably annoying. Navi, your ever-constantly-bugging-you fairy in Ocarina of Time, has often thought to be one of the most annoying companions in any video game. I would have to say Fi is even worse. She seems to have an obsession of telling you the completely obvious facts (and not the things you actually need to know), and making sure she elaborates in full, or more than full, often boring the player to the point where they feel like throwing their controller across the room. It doesn't help that she . . . always . . . talks . . . extremely . . . slowly. . . .

In conclusion, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword may be one of the best games I've ever played. At present it is dueling The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for being both my favorite Zelda game of all time, but also my favorite Wii game of all time. The story, setting, graphics, music, gameplay, variety, locations, and overall ingenuity of it all made for an amazing experience. Nintendo doesn't cease to amaze me, and I can't wait for the next home console Zelda release. No doubt that will be in another five years.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword gets a well-deserved 10/10.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (25th Anniversary Edition)

As a kid, Four Swords was like a hidden gold mine. I could almost reach out and touch it, but my inexperienced arms just weren't long enough to grab hold. The reason was simple: the game, for the Game Boy Advanced, required at least two people play the game. Not only did we not have two Game Boys, but we did not have two copies of the game. Alas, the best we could do was go to the title screen and listen to the amazing title music.

Recently, however, Nintendo did something that broke the bars to the mine. Just this September they re-released The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords for the Nintendo 3DS, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series. This version not only included a lot more content, but also included a single-player mode!

When I first started the grass level, the feeling of goodness was overwhelming. Here I was, playing the game I could never play. So many times I'd tried to find a way around that dumb screen that tells you to hook up another Game Boy. So many times I'd failed miserably! But here I was, years later, playing that very game.

The game is actually split into levels, as has been implied. Three basic levels, after which you unlock the last level, after which you unlock three more awesome levels, after which you unlock three horrifying levels. The game is very colorful, and music is decent, and everything about it screams quality. You can't say the same for just anything on a Nintendo system.

So after years of unknowingly waiting, I finally played, and one hundred percent-completed, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords. The levels were fun and imaginative, the unlockable levels were awesome, and overall I just had a great time playing. The Hero's Trials were impossibly hard, to the point where I almost screamed a couple times. The final set of keys you get in the game, the Hero's Keys, were also nearly impossible to get unless you spent half an hour or more killing enemies for their rupees. But with those few glaring faults aside, this was an awesome game. It in every way met my expectations.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords 25th Anniversary Edition will remain in the Nintendo 3DS eShop for free until about February, so if you have a 3DS or plan to get one, definitely download this game. It's worth your time.

Balloon Fight

Balloon Fight is a classic Nintendo arcade-style platformer game originally for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was later ported to Virtual Console, which is how I got my hands on it.

Balloon Fight is one of those games that there just isn't much to, but for that reason is extremely addicting. There is a single-player classic mode where you control the Balloon Fighter and try to defeat all of the birds on each level by hovering around and popping their balloons before they pop yours.

Jett Rocket

I don't have many WiiWare games, but the first time I saw a trailer for Jett Rocket, I knew I had to get it. It's a cartoony 3D platformer from Shin'en, a game development company that is fast becoming one of my favorites.

The title character is a planetary defender, and he is asked by a... dolphin or something to save the planet Yoroppa from some sort of weird machines. Sound like an average cartoony 3D platformer to you? Well duh, it is! And that's what makes it so awesome! Well, there are other reasons as well.

Day 04 - The Egg

Indie Video Gaming Week, Day 04 - Game Review: An Untitled Story

Yes, I'm late again. Yes, I reviewed this game before. Is there any reason why I can't review something twice? Besides, this is Indie Video Gaming Week, I need to review something!



Welcome to the land of . . . well, I really don't know. The land doesn't have a name. It's untitled, just like the game. And yes . . . you are an egg.

An Untitled Story is a game about an untitled egg, journeying across an untitled land, looking for untitled adventure. The only thing wrong with that is a question. What is "untitled adventure"? Well, I would say this game is untitled adventure.

AUS, as it is called for short, is a 2D exploration platformer created in two years by Matt Thorson. I was not able to play through the entire game before writing this review, because the game is so dang huge. Beating the entire game wasn't necessary though, because I've beaten it many times before.

In An Untitled Story, the story is as subtle as the average Metroid game's story is, and it is filled with dozens of different locations (from inside a tree, to a volcanic passageway, to an icy castle floating in the sky), numerous bosses, and tons of collectibles.

Of the three games I've reviewed this week, this game is the longest and, in my opinion, the best (though I would recommend all of them to everyone). There are four main difficulty levels (and one you can unlock), each dramatically altering the game difficulty.

The first time I played the game, I thought I had almost beat the game after a while. What I didn't realize then, is that I was probably less than a tenth of the way through the game. And the bazillion power-ups and health upgrades hidden all around the game world didn't help in making it any shorter.

Like the last two games, I strongly recommend An Untitled Story. It is one of the best games I have ever played. Ever.

Download An Untitled Story for free from Matt Thorson's Website

Anyway, that ends the game reviews. The last three days of the week will consist of interviews. Talking with the men who made these wonders.

Until later,
Reuben Horst

Day 03 - Space Jellyfish

Indie Video Gaming Week, Day 03 - Game Review: Return to Sector 9

Welcome back! My apologies for this update being so late in the day, but I couldn't help it. Here are three reasons why this review is late:

1. Today I got to watch live streaming of Nintendo's event at E3 2011.
2. I got two awesome books in the mail that I wanted to read.
3. A lot of the afternoon was spent playing the game I am reviewing.

Anyway . . .



Return to Sector 9 is one of the first arcade shooters I've ever played on PC (it was around the time that I actually got around to playing PC games), but this is not including crappy Atari games such as Asteroids or Space Invaders.

R2S9, as many people call it, was created primarily by indie developer Chris Roper (a.k.a. Pug Fugly Games), though he had a lot of help. The game is a compilation of nine very addicting arcade-style shooters, first and foremost of which has the title of the entire compilation, "Return to Sector 9".

There can unlock a total of 15 alternate ships (including the one you start with), each of which have several unlockable color schemes and a special weapon.

The games range from an ordinary space shooter (just destroy all of the ships that are coming towards you in waves), to playing as a nearly-extinct jellyfish trying to survive (in space!), to searching the boarders of this section of space known as Sector 9 for none other than solid gold. (Why is there gold floating around in space?)

I have always considered Return to Sector 9 a classic and a favorite, ever since I first played it. My brothers have epic records in all of the games, and I've done fairly decent myself. The addictive gameplay is intriguing, and I could seriously play this game for hours at a time (but don't worry, I do discipline myself).

So would I recommend it? Heck yes.

Download Return to Sector 9 for free from Chris Roper's Website

Farewell for now,
Reuben Horst

Day 02 - Invaded by the Tasen, Destroyed by the Komato

Indie Video Gaming Week, Day 02 - Game Review: Iji



I first played Iji probably a year ago, when I found out that not only was it the #1 freeware indie game of 2009, but it was also made by Daniel Remar, the chap who made Castle of Elite back in . . . some year I can't remember (I'm thinking 2004).

So what is it that makes this game so great? Well, Iji could have been any old unoriginal 2D platformer shooter (that was a long description), but it is indeed more than that. One thing that makes the game cool is that it took four years to make. How does that make something cool? Are you kidding me? Games that take a long time to make are always cool! Everyone knows that!

In the meantime, Iji is a very fun, complex game to play. The in-depth story is intriguing, and it also differs depending on choices that you make during the game. There are ten sectors, and that is enough, though the game is good enough that I wish there were more.

Iji is jam-packed with secrets, hidden collectibles, unlockables, et cetera, that add hours and hours of replay value. There are log-books everywhere in the game that add almost more backstory than necessary (though they are pretty darn cool). Upon that, fans have come up with dozens of storyline theories (warning, link contains spoilers) that are just plain cool.

I don't want to continue too much, in case I accidentally say something wrong, but I'll just go with this: play this game. You won't regret it.

Download Iji for free from Daniel Remar's Website

Until later,
Reuben Horst

Dungeon Runners

Click to enlarge image.

Dungeon Runners is an independent arcade PC game developed by somebody known as "Valandre". I found it from browsing IndieGames.com, and it perked my interest.

I found the game interesting because of its cheesy graphics, arcade personality, and casual gameplay style. Any cheesy, casual, arcade game has got to be extremely fun and addicting, right? Unfortunately, this was not so.

In the game you have five heroes. You control one at a time, and every time one dies, you control the next. You explore a maze-like dungeon (randomly generated every time you play), fight monsters, and search for treasure.

Unfortunately, the game is mostly based on chance, as you have no clue whether the direction you are going in the dungeon will lead to a locked gate, a key to open a door, or a monster that will easily kill you and force to use another hero.

Though the game can be mildly entertaining, the replay value is almost nonexistent, and you won't feel like trying again if all of your heroes are killed before the end (a.k.a. you fail).

If you're up to it, you can play the game online here, though there are much better games out there.

~Reuben/Arkatox~

Metroid Fusion

Somebody find me a game series that I would enjoy more than the Metroid series (especially the 2D games). I dare you.

Chronologically, Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance is the final game in the Metroid series so far. The galactic bounty hunter known as Samus Aran was attacked by a strange organism on the planet known as SR388. This organism was later revealed to be called the X parasite. After barely surviving, Samus was dispatched to an abandoned space station orbiting the planet to find out what happened to the crew on board and to the X parasites.

What Samus finds on this space station, the Biological Space Laboratories, is a completely abandoned facility, with the exception of plenty of monsters, and X parasites all over the place.

This is a game that I loved since almost before I ever bought it. The actual story of how I bought it is interesting enough. I had to go through at least 10 different GameStops before finally finding one that had the game—and the store that finally had it was actually the one that I looked in first.

But that was, say, six months ago. I got about 3/4 of the way into the game before, and then got stuck. Here I came back months later and restarted, and this time I got through the game.

Why do I love this game so much? So many times you get struck for hours and don't know what in the world you're supposed to do, and then once you figure it out, you gasp at the ingenuity of the developers. When you get to a place where you have no clue what do to, it feels so good when you figure it out. For this reason, I would recommend you not use a guide at all for this game, even if you can't figure out what to do for, say, ten hours. The reward feeling you get when you solve the problem is worth it.

I loved the story of this game, I loved the characters (however very few there were), and I loved the progression. Throughout the game there is creepy music in places where it ought to be, making the game actually creepy. The bosses are impossibly fun, and by the end you start to get happy when you die while fighting one (because it means you get to fight it again).

There are a few minor downsides, such as not being able to explore the ship more with all of your recovered abilities once you beat the game, but the awesome parts of this game outweigh the downsides so much, that this game deserves a solid 5/5.

~Reuben/Arkatox~