Author: sick skills

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Feature: 20 Games That Aren’t On The SNES Classic Mini, But Really Should Be

There’s a lot to like about the SNES Classic Mini, with the compact box offering plenty of plug-and-play 16-bit goodness. Save states and the new rewind feature are good additions, and the inclusion of a second controller (unlike with the NES mini) is welcome. It has an impressive line up of games too, with classics such as Super Metroid, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy III, Contra III, Super Mario World and more available alongside the previously unreleased Star Fox 2. Most would agree that the 20 (+1) games on the Mini are an impressive selection, but most also have a number of titles they would have liked to see included.

So let’s suppose that the SNES mini had come loaded with an additional 20 games. Let’s also pretend that pesky things like licensing wouldn’t have had an impact. Obviously this still doesn’t include every great SNES game (there were a lot of them), but here are the top 20 games that we personally think would have been great additions. They are arranged in order of release, although dates varied between regions and in some cases regions missed out on a title. 

Read on and let us know what classics we missed out in the comments section.

ActRaiser (Square Enix / Quintet, 1990)

An early release for the system (arriving the month after the Super Famicom launch) ActRaiser really shouldn’t work. It mixes together side-scrolling platform action with God-sim moments. Rather than being a jumbled mess of ideas however, the two styles compliment each other well as you jump around slashing at monsters one moment, then turn your attention to building up towns the next. Good visual design in the platforming sections and some cracking music from Streets of Rage’s Yuzo Koshiro compliment the package. Square Enix is in control of publishing and with the company already having a couple of titles on the SNES Mini, this might well have been included, had more spots been available.

U.N. Squadron (Capcom, 1991)

Capcom is another company with titles on the Mini, but sadly U.N. Squadron wasn’t included. That’s unfortunate as it provides fantastic shmup action as you battle waves of aircraft and large, memorable bosses. Unlike the 1989 coin-op, this is a single-player affair but Capcom added in a wider range of weapons and let you purchase different aircraft too; optional attacks on supply convoys being a good way to build up your funds.  Backed by some brilliant music, U.N. Squadron is hugely enjoyable – be sure to check out the original Area 88 manga / anime on which it is based, too.

Super Tennis (Nintendo / Tokyo Shoseki, 1991)

You could maybe count Super Punch-Out!!, but one thing strange about the SNES Mini lineup is the lack of any sports titles. Super Tennis would have been an excellent addition, featuring simple pick-up-and-play mechanics, but with a wide variety of shots available courtesy of the controller’s face buttons. Three different court surfaces feature and there’s a Circuit mode and exhibition matches for the single player to indulge in. It’s in two-player mode that the game really shines, however. Single or doubles matches (against each other or the CPU) make the game suitable for quick bouts of play, although it soon becomes addictive, meaning it could end up being a much longer gaming session. Published by Nintendo but developed by Tonkin House, it’s possible the latter are the reason the game has not seen a re-release (it hasn’t turned up on the Virtual Console either), with the company these days focussed on textbooks and educational software via its parent firm, Tokyo Shoseki.

Parodius: Non-Sense Fantasy (Konami, 1992)

Beginning against the black of space, Parodius could at a glance pass for a regular shmup. It’s not long before the colour appears however, and a wonderfully bonkers adventure begins. Playing like Gradius, the game offers a similar type of challenge, but with a brighter cartoony style and a wacky array of cute foes (and hypodermic needles) to blast. Larger characters include a dancing girl and a pig, and there are plenty of other weird moments such as the bullhorn you can pick up to unleash bizarre text phrases at your enemies such as “Toaster Overheated!”.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (Konami, 1992)

A hit in the arcades, this port only allows two-player action (as opposed to the coin-op’s four), but it added an extra stage, enemies and an (admittedly basic) one-on-one VS mode. Matching the look of the then current TV show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time is bright and fun as you smash your way through waves of Foot Soldiers, with the memorable ability to throw them into the screen (which comes into play in an early boss battle). Classic arcade fun, but classic arcade fun that would be unlikely to appear on the SNES Mini due it being a licensed title. Shame.

Axelay (Konami, 1992)

A Konami title that could have been included on the SNES Mini (it has turned up on Virtual Console, at least) is Axelay, a cracking shmup that has a mix of vertical and horizontal levels. Challenging but fair, there’s a number of weapons to unlock and some memorable boss battles. Atmospheric music and impressive visuals (particularly the rolling effect on the vertical stages) help immerse you in the action and makes each playthrough a joy. The best shooter on the SNES? Quite possibly.

Pop’n Twinbee (Konami, 1993)

Konami? Again? Perhaps they should put out a “Konami Box”, filled with their classics. Or a maybe a pachinko machine themed around them, who knows. Never released in North America, Pop’n Twinbee is another colourful fun (this time vertical) shmup. Fairly easy by default, a visit to the options menu can make things quite challenging, leading to you weaving about avoiding a variety of attacks. Nod along to the catchy music and generally have a good time shooting away at enemies heading your way, or sending a bomb to those below. The choice is yours.

Shadowrun (Beam Software, 1993)

Based on the tabletop game of the same name, Shadowrun is cyberpunk RPG that puts you in the role of amnesiac Jake Armitage as you wander the streets of 2050’s Seattle, battling (or hiring) orcs, elves and other mercenaries. Gunfights and magic battles occur alongside computer hacking as you assemble a team to see you through the dangers and try and find out what is going on. Again, licensing rights would make the inclusion of this game unlikely, but Shadowrun is an engrossing experience from start to finish.

Super Mario All-Stars (Nintendo, 1993)

Super Mario Bros. 3 is the highlight of this NES re-release compilation, often considered (alongside Mario World) the greatest of the 2D Mario platformers. The package includes the three other Super Mario Bros. titles (including the Japan only “Lost Levels”) and gives them a 16-bit audio-visual makeover. Though offering lots of top-notch platforming action, Nintendo probably consider the inclusion of All-Stars unnecessary, having previously stuck the original versions of Mario 1-3 on the NES mini.

Märchen Adventure Cotton 100% (Success, 1994)

Of all the brightly coloured shooters on this list, Märchen Adventure Cotton 100% would be the least likely to feature on the SNES Mini, had an extra spot been available. The series has appeared on a number of different systems over the years including the PC Engine, Dreamcast and Neo Geo Pocket Color, but only on occasion have games seen a Western release. This was not one of those occasions, though knowledge of Japanese isn’t needed to enjoy this fun title. You’re a witch on a broomstick and must fly through wonderfully designed fairytale-like levels blasting away at an assortment of creatures (regular shots, bombs and special attacks are available). Cheery whimsical music works well with the aesthetic and although your adventure starts relaxed, the game can provide a good challenge, particularly on the harder difficulty settings.

The Firemen (Human Entertainment, 1994)

Another little-known gem is The Firemen, although this one did see a Western release, albeit only in the PAL regions. Due to its obscurity, inclusion on an expanded SNES Mini roster would be unlikely, but those who have played it know how enjoyable it is. A huge building is ablaze and you must work your way through, putting out the flames that are either heading towards you or just blocking your path. Out of control robots also cause you trouble and the different ways the fire can move and spread keeps the action interesting. Unfortunately it’s single player only, but you have a CPU-controlled sidekick who has a handy fire axe and will carry any people you find to safety.

Unirally (DMA Design, 1994)

Known as Uniracers in North America, this unique and speedy racing title from DMA Design (later Rockstar North – whatever happened to them?) puts you in control of a unicycle that you throw around a series of tracks that feature a number of jumps, twists, loops and hazards. You can perform tricks which, when landed correctly, will speed you up: a must if you want to be successful. Seemingly simple, the game quickly becomes engrossing as you try to perfect your run. The game also has a two-player VS mode and allows you to setup leagues for up to eight players.

Chrono Trigger (Square, 1995)

Chrono Trigger is perhaps the title with the most “I wish they could have included it” comments with regards to the SNES Mini lineup. It’s easy to understand why, with a gripping tale playing out across different time zones, an improved version of the Final Fantasy Active Time Battle system, detailed graphics and a fantastic (and varied) soundtrack. Maybe it would have featured had Nintendo given Square Enix an extra slot on the Mini, or maybe they would have left it off anyway, considering the DS version a more definitive release.

Super Bomberman 3 (Hudson Soft, 1995)

With careful placement of bombs and tactical use of abilities Bomberman would provide fun multiplayer battles. Super Bomberman 3 is one was the last of the SNES titles to get a western release (two more followed in Japan) and while there is a single player mode, it’s the multiplayer portion of the game that provides constant entertainment. With support for up to five players this would be a great title to boot up when you have a lot of people visiting your house/flat/underwater lair. Of course, if it was on the SNES Mini there would need to be a Mini Multitap and another three controllers to get the full benefit. This would turn your dinky box of retro delights into an unsightly mass of cables that would inevitably strangle at least one of your guests. Perhaps best to leave it off on safety grounds, then.

Killer Instinct (Rare, 1995)

After Donkey Kong Country, Rare turned their attention (and SGI workstations) to Killer Instinct, a one-on-one brawler that hit arcades in 1994 and was intended to give an idea of what the (then named) Ultra 64 would be capable of. This SNES port arrived the following year and despite the obvious visual downgrade captured the feel of the game well. Blood and fatal “danger moves” bring to mind Mortal Kombat, but it handles more like the Street Fighter series. It is its own beast however, with a focus on combos that are satisfying to perform, particularly if you manage a ridiculously over the top Ultra combo. As enjoyable as it is however, Microsoft’s 2002 acquisition of the studio ensured that a SNES Mini inclusion was never on the cards.

International Superstar Soccer Deluxe (Konami, 1995)

The SNES had a number of football games released, but ISS Deluxe is the best of the bunch, with 36 teams to pick from, different weather conditions, different formations and a range of moves available as you attempt to put the ball in the back of the net. It supports four players, but this would of course be limited to two on the SNES Mini. It’s still a lot of fun however, and you can choose to play against each other or co-operate to take on the CPU opposition. Also, the announcer in the game is hilarious: “He Shoots! Past the post”, “It’s a BIG kick!”. Ah, those really were the days.

Seiken Densetsu 3 (Square, 1995)

A much hoped for title in the West, this third entry in the Mana series features six playable characters and a lengthy story to experience. Playing similarly to (the also awesome) Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 adds a calendar system. This can come into play with magic being more effective on certain days, events occurring at set times and it will also effect the enemies encountered. Of course, were this to be included on the SNES Mini, the Japan-only release would require translating. That’s a lot of effort for something Nintendo is producing in limited quantities. Hopefully Square Enix is saving it for a localised release of the Seiken Densetsu Collection instead.

Terranigma (Quintet, 1995)

Though not a prolific developer, Quintet produced some cracking games in its time (see also: ActRaiser). Terranigma (another title that didn’t make it to North America) is an action RPG that visually looks great. More impressive is the soundtrack, featuring a good mix of mysterious and adventurous tracks often with a haunting element to them. There’s a gripping story that plays out through the game, dealing with light and dark forces and rebirth that kicks off when you open a forbidden door. It’s not on the SNES Mini, but worth tracking down to experience. Go in as blind as possible and you’ll discover one of the best RPGs on any console.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong-Quest (Rare, 1995)

Improving a little on the already impressive visuals of the first game, Diddy’s Kong’s Quest more importantly provides additional fun monkey platforming action. Donkey Kong is out, replaced by Dixie Kong, who has a useful floating move to avoid dangers. Animal buddies provide additional ways to play and there’s lots of secrets to find and things to collect if looking for full completion. If not, there’s still lots of high quality platforming to enjoy.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble! (Rare, 1996)

This time Diddy’s gone as well, so Kiddie Kong joins Dixie for the banana collecting and secret finding. Offering a less linear progression through the game than its predecessors, Donkey Kong Country 3 still provides well-designed levels that feature a number of different hazards and enemies to contend with. Impressive music features throughout the trilogy and makes each of these an aural delight as well as being a lot of fun to play through.

Do you agree with our list? Which classic games do you wish could have been included on the SNES Classic Mini?

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Random: Move Over N64 Kid, We’ve Got Nintendo Switch Kid Now

The legendary video of Brandon Kuzma tearing open his N64 on Christmas Day 1998 has gone down as one of the most famous Nintendo-related YouTube videos of all time, to the point where Brandon himself – now all grown up and less excitable around wrapped items – continues to milk it. And why not?

However, time waits for no man and it would seem that Brandon and his beloved N64 have some serious competition in the form of Erick Garcia’s 7-year-old son. 

The youngster was surprised (via Skynet forerunner Google Home – you can tell this is 2017 and not 1998) by the arrival of a Nintendo Switch on his birthday, at which point he falls over and actually rotates on the ground due to sheer, pent-up excitement. What’s interesting is that in both of these cases, siblings are close by to share the joy.

So who wore it best? You decide.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Review: Tower of Babel (Switch eShop)

Not a great deal has been said about Tower of Babel; the game seems to have found its way onto the Switch’s eShop without anyone noticing where it came from. There isn’t even the slightest mention of the game on the official website or Twitter feed of its publisher, EnjoyUp Games, which is very odd indeed. EnjoyUp published multiple games across the Wii U and 3DS platforms (which, for the most part, happened to be rather average affairs), so it is strange that they wouldn’t be kicking up a fuss about their first Switch release.

Tower of Babel is an auto-runner that sees the protagonist (a knight in shining armour) tasked with collecting gems that can return light to the top of various towers, effectively saving the world. The plot isn’t important here, though; it is all about the gameplay itself. To collect these gems, you will have to survive dangerous trips to the top of spiral towers – by pulling or pushing the control stick you are able to speed up or slow down, and you also have the ability to jump or crouch with ‘A’ and ‘B’ respectively. These are used to dodge various obstacles that stand in your way, as well as jump over any perilous gaps between platforms.

Your first goal is to reach the top of a tower, collecting the required amount of gems, and surviving its traps. Once you get there, though, you then have to run back down the tower to escape as it crumbles to the ground. This effectively means that each tower actually contains two levels – one concerned with grabbing a set amount of collectables, and the other focusing on pure speed. For each duo you can view an online leaderboard of the fastest times achieved so your speed is important on both sections. Later on in the game you will face levels that provide you with a jet-pack and, thanks to this item’s double-jump ability, the speed-running aspect of the game intensifies slightly as you attempt to completely hurdle platforms rather than slowly jumping across each one.

Overall there are five sets of three towers (depending on the skill of the player, you’ll likely find yourself completing the main game in a couple of hours, give-or-take). Each of these five sets is made up of its own theme meaning that your surroundings and obstacles change to match the environment. These new obstacles are introduced at a pleasing rate and many behave in different ways to the ones you are used to from previous stages. The game’s most interesting feature comes from the layout of the three towers in each set – the first tower has just a single lane for you to run in, the second has two, and the third has three. Each tower becomes slightly more complex as a result of this, resulting in a rather satisfying growth in difficulty as you progress.

You’re probably thinking that everything is sounding pretty positive, right? Well you’d be correct, which is why it is so frustrating the game lets itself down with some unforgivable problems. The worst of these problems is an issue with the frame rate; at times it can drop so drastically that any kind of auto-running precision is impossible. As well as this, every now and then we would notice our character narrowly miss the edge of a platform, only to find that pressing the jump button allowed us to carry on as if we had made it. Another time, we paused the game and were presented with a different screen to the usual pause menu which showed a different button layout for the “quit” and “resume” options. We pressed the new button for “resume”, which used to be for “quit”, and were thrown out of the game, losing our progress on that level. Great!

The overall presentation of the game is quite weak too, and has some odd design decisions. The art style has a quirky quality to it that could have been successful but eventually starts to feel bland and, unfortunately, there are times when it just looks plain ugly. The soundtrack is made up entirely of electronic dance tracks which could have been fine – in fact, some of the songs that crop up are great – but when you’re playing as a knight, running up and down medieval towers with a sword in hand, futuristic beeps and chirps aren’t exactly the kind of sounds that come to mind. The music is good; it just feels so entirely out of place.

Tower of Babel could have been a great little game; there are moments of brilliance in its auto-running, especially in its later levels where you’ll find yourself whizzing from lane to lane, avoiding obstacles at almost blinding speed. There are just too many issues plaguing the game, though – leaving us in a position where we simply cannot justify a full recommendation. If a particularly nasty stutter in the frame rate happens just as you are about to land on a tiny platform you will inevitably fall to your death and, if we’re being brutally honest, that is unforgivable.

Conclusion

At its best, Tower of Babel has some great auto-running action that will have you flying around the screen at breakneck pace, firing yourself to the top of the speed-running leaderboards. Unfortunately, though, the whole thing is let down by some game-breaking issues and a rather lacklustre aesthetic that maybe answers the question of why there has been so little mention of the game prior to release. A frustrating case of a game that could have been excellent but shoots itself in the foot with its many problems, Tower of Babel is best left for another day. 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Game Design Deep Dive: Randomization and frustration in Everspace

Deep Dive is an ongoing Gamasutra series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game, in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all.

Check out earlier installments, including maintaining player tension levels in Nex Machina, achieving seamless branching in Watch Dogs 2’s Invasion of Privacy missions, and creating the intricate level design of Dishonored 2‘s Clockwork Mansion.

My name is Hans-Christian Kühl, and I am a senior game designer and programmer at Rockfish Games in Hamburg, Germany. Together with about a dozen talented colleagues, I have been working on Everspace for over two and half years. It’s the studio’s debut title and was released on PC as Early Access and on Xbox One as a Game Preview in September 2016, followed by the full release on May 26, 2017.

I’ve been developing games for 13 years now. It all started at Fishlabs Entertainment (now Deep Silver Fishlabs) with 3D mobile games on Sony Ericsson and Nokia feature phones, where I was mainly responsible for Galaxy on Fire I and II, as well as Deep 3D: Submarine Odyssey. I then ported the Galaxy on Fire series to iOS, worked on the two add-ons, and helped with porting the games to MacOS and Windows.

In 2014, Michael Schade and Christian Lohr, the former founders and managing partners of Fishlabs Entertainment, started Rockfish Games as a new indie studio to create high-quality PC and console games with a premium business model. Some co-workers and I took the opportunity to join them and work on a space game which has now become Everspace.

Because of our love of space and sci-fi, and our previous personal track record with the Galaxy on Fire series, it soon became clear that we wanted to create another space game. We knew we couldn‘t afford to create the epic sandbox space opera like Freelancer that everyone dreams of (we still do), so we had to come up with something new. Something smaller and more focused.

Because challenging, rather unforgiving games have recently enjoyed a renaissance, we came up with the idea of creating an action-focused space game where the player dies a lot, set in a randomly created environment to offer a different experience each time they start anew.

We play a lot of games, and some of them offered inspiration for aspects of the game design, most prominently:

  • Freelancer: Every one of us loved the easy mouse and keyboard controls and absolutely wanted Everspace to have similar controls.
  • FTL: This game’s basic framework was something we wanted to have as well.  Press start, choose a ship, upgrade during the run, and reach the last sector.
  • Rogue Legacy: Collect money, die, then spend the money on permanent upgrades that will make all following runs easier. This is a brilliant way to make up for the disappointment of dying during a run.

We combined these features with fast-paced 6-DOF (6 degrees of freedom) combat mechanics and a personal sci-fi story which slowly unfolds as the player advances through the sectors. Finding and crafting new equipment and resources is done on-the-fly, so the further the player gets in a run, the more powerful they will become.  At least until they die and lose everything except found blueprints and credits. The main loop is: Select a ship – Try to reach sector 7 – Die or succeed – Upgrade and unlock new ships and perks – Start again.

When designing Everspace, we had to be careful not to get carried away with trying to add too many features and instead focused on just a few aspects and then put more depth into them. I picked two aspects that I think are worth mentioning because we put a lot of thought into them. So this is not an overview of everything that makes up Everspace, but a couple of its key game design elements and how we implemented them.

On dampening frustration: Looking at the Game Over screen is a frustrating part of playing any game, especially if the game is so hard that you die a lot. We added several things that work against that feeling of frustration so players will say “Bad luck, my mistake. Let’s try this again!” instead of “This is unfair, and I’ve lost everything. I’ve wasted an hour of my life for nothing!”

Reward for dying: The moment the player dies, they see a screen listing the gains of the last run, including credits and permanent unlocks like colors, enhancements, or blueprints.  Then they can spend the collected credits on upgrades that make them stronger by improving their stats and unlocking new gameplay possibilities.

This is the most important feature to reduce frustration, and in the best case leads immediately to the next run. During production, the title said “Congratulations, you are dead!”  We shortened it to “KIA” for release, but we really do mean the former.

Don’t take your time: The longer you play, the more frustrated you’ll be if you die, so we wanted to keep the runs short. We initially targeted one hour for a completed run, which we overshot by 30 minutes for an average run, but it still feels pretty good (and experienced late-game players can finish a run in under ten minutes). 

The most visible method of minimizing a run’s duration is the arrival of alien forces to drive the player out of the location if they linger for too long. If the player continues to dawdle, a colossal warship will eventually arrive as the final bit of persuasion. Some players have complained because they want to explore everything, rather than being hunted. But we really have done it for their own good. Also, players can now earn in-game ways to delay or even prevent the arrival of reinforcements.

We also wanted to ensure that players don’t have to spend too much time in menus. That’s why Everspace does not have a traditional inventory. Equipment items must be placed in a slot, salvaged, or used immediately. When players find equipment, it takes only a few seconds to swap, use, or salvage it, and then continue their flight.

Play fair: When watching streamers playing the game, we often see that there is a certain degree of understanding when their ship gets destroyed. Sometimes they’ve pressed the wrong button and turbo-boosted into an asteroid, or forgotten to repair their ship or regenerate energy before engaging in a fight, and often they’ve just risked too much. So no one really complains about the game being unfair, and that’s a good thing! Though there can be times when the RNG (random number generator) will give you a very hard time by spawning the hardest enemies and situations all in one location. In almost all cases, however, the problem can be overcome with skill, strategy, and patience.

On randomization: Like any classic rogue-like game, players will start a new run numerous times, so we had to make sure they do not get bored by presenting something fresh every time. I want to note that “fresh” does not necessarily mean “new,” but rather “different.” We are a small team and can only create so many new assets and features before players start to encounter the same things again. We had to come up with a plan to utilize our assets in the best way possible to achieve the best effect.

Creating the sectors: Everspace enables players to progress a little further on each run because both their skill and their ship’s stats improve every time they play. This correlates directly with how we designed the sectors, and with how we generate each new run. The higher the sector number, the more the difficulty increases in several ways:

  • Locations (the actual gameplay areas) have a risk rating.  The higher the sector number, the more locations or jump points it has and the greater the chance that a location will be more difficult and yield more credits and resources.  Variations in the number and position of locations results in different intersecting paths, some potentially longer or more difficult than others.
  • The player will encounter more diverse and more difficult enemies as they move forward, requiring the player to become stronger both between runs and during the run itself by finding or crafting better equipment.
  • Natural hazards occur more often in later sectors, with increasingly challenging hazard types possible.
  • With each new sector reached, the list of structures that can be encountered (Outlaw outposts, derelict stations, wrecks, asteroids, etc.) grows.

Creating the locations: A location is an area where the actual gameplay takes place. Though it’s a 3D space, it’s not a perfect sphere, but rather a cylinder with a diameter of 10 kilometers and height of about 3 kilometers.  So it’s basically a flat plane with some room for objects to spawn slightly above and below it. Because we do not have a mini-map, this helps tremendously in finding one’s way.

Each location has a certain number of points it can spend on the POIs (Points of Interest) it can spawn, depending on the selected difficulty level and the current sector number. A POI can be an alien patrol, a freighter wreck, an Outlaw station, a huge hollow asteroid, a mining outpost, etc. Each POI has a score that represents its difficulty and its probability of appearing in a given sector, so many location scenarios are possible: a balanced location with a little bit of everything, or maybe just a few large Outlaw outposts, or perhaps a relatively quiet mining facility with resource freighters and some surprise attacks. Combine that with the randomized appearance and placement of planets, stars, asteroids, plasma fields, black holes, mini-missions, and loot containers, and you get a fresh location each time you play.

This all sounds like a good way to create a virtually unlimited number of exciting playgrounds, and it is, but there are also downsides:

  • If you don’t work with a lot of restrictions, strange things will happen. We had asteroids blocking doorways or stationary warships spawning inside of jump gates, making it impossible to get away. We had two of the same type of Outlaw station spawn right next to each other. We had black holes spawn right next to a mining outpost, dragging all NPCs into it immediately. We also had (and sometimes still have) missile turrets that pose no threat because they will always hit an asteroid which spawned directly in front of them. 
  • If you work with a lot of restrictions, strange things won’t happen.  With all the restrictions in place, we still have a lot of variance between locations, but we rarely see any real surprises. There are no locations with just two freighters in it, no locations which are full of asteroids and nothing else, and no locations with a dozen black holes or a battle between fifty NPCs.

The price of control is uniformity here. Apply more restrictions, and you will get more reliable, but also less interesting outcomes. Custom scenarios with special rules that come up now and then would have been a nice addition, but this idea did not make it into the game.

Creating the NPCs: We intentionally excluded all non-player characters from any randomization except for the loot they drop and the length of freighters. So you can be sure that Outlaw Scouts will spot you at a 2.8km range, shoot at you with Gatling guns, and have more hull than shield hit points. This is important because it allows memorization of each unit’s behavior. The first encounter may be surprisingly hard, but the more players observe their enemies, develop their skills, and learn how to best use their equipment, the more seasoned and capable they will become. Randomized enemies would only dilute this “Git Gud” experience.

Everspace is a game that combines old-school skill-based dogfighting with modern rogue-like (or more fittingly “rogue-lite”) elements. Not going for the all-embracing epic space opera and being limited to a small team helped us focus on the most important features: Live-Die-Repeat game loop, easy controls, and impressive graphics (because I heard they were pretty good).

Exploring the power of randomization has taught me a lot, and I can see its usefulness for multiple upcoming projects. Also, keeping players happy after the Game Over screen and motivating them to try again worked surprisingly well. I’m curious to see how other games will handle this and which combinations of established game design aspects we will see in the future.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Inevitable SNES Classic Mini Hack Is Well Underway

Given the ease of hacking the NES Mini to add additional games, due to the efforts of Russian hacker Alexey ‘Cluster’ Avdyukhin with his hakchi2 software, it was only going to be a matter of time until the SNES Classic Mini got the same treatment given that it uses basically the same hardware under the hood.

Of course Cluster got to work right away uncovering the secrets of the SNES Mini, and the hacker has already managed to get Chrono Trigger running on the micro console:

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Dark Horse Reveals Zelda Encyclopedia as Final Instalment in Its Goddess Collection Book Series

Dark Horse Comics has revealed its third hefty Zelda book instalment: The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, due for publication on April 24th, 2018. It’s available for pre-order for $39.99 on the Dark Horse Comics website, though is notably cheaper across other outlets such as Amazon. The book is the third and final volume in the company’s trilogy of Zelda books (the “Goddess Collection”), following Hyrule Historia in 2013 and more recently Art & Artifacts last February. 

While the former contains a historical overview on the legendary franchise and all its games (including the infamous Zelda timeline that tore many Zelda enthusiasts apart), the latter focuses more on the series’ artwork throughout its three-decade existence. The Encyclopedia, however, aims to expand on Hyrule Historia, including further information on the seemingly controversial Zelda timeline (for those who care). Here’s an extract from Dark Horse Comics’ official site:

This 320-page book is an exhaustive guide to The Legend of Zelda from the original The Legend of Zelda to Twilight Princess HD.

A comprehensive collection of enemies and items, potions to poes, an expansion of the lore touched upon in Hyrule Historia, concept art, screencaps, maps, main characters and how they relate, languages, and much, much more, including an exclusive interview with Series Producer, Eiji Aonuma! This, the last of The Goddess Collection trilogy, which includes Hyrule Historia and Art & Artifacts, is a treasure trove of explanations and information about every aspect of The Legend of Zelda universe!

* An exhaustive compendium of everything from the first 30 years of The Legend of Zelda.
* An expansion of information from The Legend of Zelda timeline.
* Rare development sketches of your favourite characters.
* An extensive database of items and enemies.”

For collectors it should be noted that both Hyrule Historia and Art & Artifacts also had limited edition versions available to pre-order alongside their regular copies (which are basically the same books but with flashier covers), so it can be assumed that Encyclopedia will receive this same treatment too. Having said that, the regular editions of each all share the same themed covers, with HH being green, A&A being red, and Encyclopedia being blue, so possessing all three together is arguably a more visually appealing collection.

What are your thoughts? Will you be picking up this book? Let us know below.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Review: Burning Fight (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)

Scrolling beat ‘em ups are simple games that provide a lot of fun as you (sometimes with the help of a friend) wander through a number of stages giving gangs of reprobates a good kicking, before facing off against a more powerful end of stage thug; rinse and repeat. Burning Fight comes courtesy of SNK and whilst Sengoku (another effort from the company) arrived in the same year and would attempt to shake up the formula a little, Burning Fight is a more straightforward affair.

Due to the basic nature of the genre and with no gameplay twist to speak of, the game has similarities to a number of titles. One game that obviously had an influence was Final Fight, not just with the similar name but with the choice of playable characters. Duke plays similarly to Cody from the Capcom title and has some visual similarities. Ryu (no, not that one) is a lot like Guy, costume and all. Billy is less Haggar-like but provides the slower, more powerful option. Burning Fight also differs from the Capcom classic in one big way: it’s not very good.

For its age it’s not a bad looking game, but it doesn’t stand out from similar titles of the time with both Final Fight and Sega’s Streets of Rage series impressing more. There are some good touches such as the way some gang members start in the background then scale up as they move into the foreground to fight, and there’s an effective sunset later in the game. Sometimes there’s quite a bit of detail in the surroundings, but other times the game looks very plain. Likewise the animation is functional but in some instances is quite stiff-looking and limited.

You are given two attack buttons (one for punch, one for kick) and this doesn’t lead to a wide array of moves; press punch in midair and it’ll do the same as if you had pressed kick. Should you find yourself in a tight spot pressing punch at the same time as the jump button will perform a special attack that should help you out although (as is tradition) this depletes a little of your energy bar. Duke has a rising uppercut, Billy a shoulder barge and Ryu of course has Guy’s special attack.

There’s a range of differently designed hooligans for you to battle, but they are largely dispatched in the same way: walk up and attack before they strike you. A number of them carry weapons (which you can also wield) but this seemingly just provides a bit of visual variety. Thugs can throw knives, but often don’t and outside of the gun-firing gangster the weapons don’t have a big effect on combat, leading to much dull and repetitive gameplay.

There are some crooks that do provide a different challenge however, such as those that charge at you and those riding motorbikes. Bosses also have different means of attacks that you must learn how best to deal with. Though requiring many more hits than the regular goons, bosses are dispatched quicker than in other games. They are, however, encountered more frequently, appearing at the end of each area rather than each stage.

The first boss in the game has an impressive entrance, rolling onto screen and pushing away the truck you’ve just smashed up. Likewise the second, a Hulk Hogan-like fella, marches onto screen and demolishes a fountain. After that they just appear, almost as if SNK realised people would probably be bored of the game by this point, so why bother? Similarly the Hulkster provides the basis for two further characters, but the other bosses are simply reused.

There are five stages in the game, with these (outside of the opener) having a number of different areas to work through. The Nintendo Life stopwatch clocked one playthrough at around 45 minutes, although it felt significantly longer, with the repetitive music not helping the samey gameplay. The game gets tougher as you progress and the number of enemies increases. As an ACA release you can add a credit at anytime to continue should you fall, but this is not advisable as you’ll then have to keep playing.

For those interested in moving up online leaderboards there are the usual one-credit Hi Score and Caravan modes. The latter could be considered a “Mercy Mode” as it ends after five minutes.

Conclusion

It’s not the best looking or most original game, but this would be somewhat forgivable if it was at least fun to play. It isn’t. There’s very little variety in the way the gang members attack and in a scrolling beat ’em up that greatly reduces the enjoyment provided. Playthroughs can be tedious as a result and the biggest challenge becomes trying not to quit the game early. There’s very little replay value in the game but you could always get a friend to join you for some two-player co-operative fighting so you can at least share the suffering. Burning Fight is one to avoid.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Preview: Jumping for Joy With Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions

Nintendo is keen to prove that the 3DS has life in it yet, and it’s doing a bang-up job. First we got Metroid: Samus Returns, and now we have another reimagined classic in the form of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Does it hold a candle to Samus Aran’s latest outing? We’ve spent some quality time with the final game and have some impressions to share.

The Bros. are Back

It’s difficult to believe, but the original Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was released fourteen years ago, in 2003. The Game Boy Advance title was well loved and started a series of spiritual successors to the Super Nintendo Square-developed hit, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

If you played the original GBA version of this classic the first thing you’ll notice is the new art style, which eschews the more cartoony aesthetic in favour of something a bit more akin to the pseudo three-dimensional art of the IP’s 3DS predecessors. The change is bound to be a divisive topic among fans, but the more we’ve played of the game, the more we’ve come to enjoy it.

In this game Mario & Luigi are in search of Princess Peach’s stolen voice. A new villain, Cackletta, has taken it with plans to rule over the Mushroom Kingdom’s neighbour, the Beanbean Kingdom. Mario and his green-shirted bro set out on an adventure that sees them taking on familiar enemies in unfamiliar places.

Despite being an RPG, Mario & Luigi doesn’t adhere to genre norms, even in 2017. While the genre has begun to shift away from random encounters, with some games like Bravely Default even allowing the player to turn them off, Mario & Luigi follows in its cousin’s footsteps and displays bad guys in your surroundings.

Every part of Mario & Luigi is a joy, and the combat is the stuff we wish all turn-based RPGs were made of. Rather than leaving whether an attack hits or misses up to chance, as with most games of this type in the genre, a well-timed jump or swing of your hammer will help you evade or counter an enemy’s attack. It’s a simple idea, but one that works so, so well in practice; it’s surprising more games don’t take this approach.

The overworld is far from dull, either. Exploring environments throughout the Beanbean Kingdom is made enjoyable by the environment puzzles presented. Everywhere you turn there’s a chest in a seemingly impossible to reach spot or an enemy in a weird spot. Using the skills you unlock as you progress through the story you’re able to reach new areas on a regular basis.

Mario & Luigi is also full of nods to the Bros’ storied history. You’ll encounter enemies like Fighter Flies from the original arcade Mario Bros. to virii from Dr. Mario, as well as classics like Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Hammer Bros. and more. That isn’t to say everything is a throwback, however. Mario & Luigi boasts a whole host of new enemies and characters to fill out the foreign land the duo adventure in.

On your way to defeat Cackletta you’ll meet a colourful cast of new characters, all of whom need rescuing by the brothers Mario. You’ll encounter would-be heroes like the always-fancy Prince Peasley to some more over-the-top characters like Queen Bean and Lady Lima. They may not have the same star quality of series mainstays, but they make up a great supporting cast. The dialogue is always good for a chuckle too. We’re particularly fond of the running gag in which nobody can quite seem to remember who Luigi is.

What you gonna do, bad boys?

New to this version of Superstar Saga is Minion Quest, a side story that gives you an inside look at the life of those destined to be stomped by one of our mustachioed men of action. After reaching a certain point in the main campaign, Minion Quest will become available as an option you can hop into and out of with a tap of the touch screen.

Minion Quest starts out aboard Bowser’s airship; you’re a Goomba trapped in a barrel, unable to get even a modicum of respect from your peers. When Bowser’s ship is shot down, you and your fellow Goombas fall from the skies and are scattered. It’s up to you to reassemble Bowser’s minions and help locate and rescue your boss.

The gameplay itself is reminiscent of Miitopia, Nintendo’s other recent RPG; as you build a squad, you get into skirmishes with other groups of minions. You’ll move along a path and battle automatically, with the only inputs needed from you being a push of the A button at times to land a critical hit, or a small range of limited ‘captain’ moves on the D-Pad directions to disrupt the enemy’s attacks.

Beyond that, you’ll need to build your party based on what you’re up against. Minion Quest operates in a sort of rock-paper-scissors format. Goombas are weak to flying enemies, and flying enemies are weak to Hammer Bros, where Hammer Bros. are weak to Goombas. You’ll know what you’re up against in advance, so you have to carefully plan who you’re taking with you.

Minion Quest interweaves with the main campaign’s story and gives you insight into what Bowser’s forces are doing while their boss is gallivanting around the Beanbean Kingdom. The banter between the baddies is often funny and the tone is lighter than the already lighthearted main story. It feels a bit feature-light be we’ve enjoyed it thus far as a distraction.

The years have been kind to Superstar Saga. The gameplay is still ahead of its time and the new visuals look great on the small screen. We’ll have much more on Mario & Luigi in a few days right here on Nintendo Life, of course, including our full review. Are you keen to pick up this new take on one of Mario’s older adventures? Let us know with a comment.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

FIFA 18 on Nintendo Switch Accounts for a Tiny Percentage of UK Launch Sales

FIFA 18 has been a notable release on Nintendo hardware in the past week, a first for a number of years. Plenty of focus has been on assessing whether the Switch audience will back the game and, as a result, encourage EA to continue support. Based on initial UK launch results we’ll need to get used to the Switch iteration continuing as secondary to its ‘main’ releases, however – at least if EA follows the money with its investment.

The football title took number one in the UK, of course, but it’s the breakdown of sales that are most startling. 97% of sales units for the release were shared between Xbox One and PS4, leaving just 3% left over for Switch and ‘Legacy’ releases on Xbox 360 / PS3. In fact, in the single format results we can see that the hefty Xbox 360 userbase is still keen on the series; the 360 version finished 5th in the single-format chart with Switch in 7th place. 7th in the single-format results isn’t necessarily terrible for the Switch version, but it is very modest by FIFA standards.

Moving on to other Switch titles, a host of familiar names are still shifting units and appearing in the all-format top 40. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe climbed a place to grab 10th, while Pokkén Tournament DX drops nine places to 14th in its second week. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild finished the week in 17th, while some GAME hardware bundles may have helped Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition move up to 18th.

Moving outside the top 20 we have Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle in 23rd, Splatoon 2 in 32nd and 1-2-Switch in 37th; throw in a decent contribution of the Switch version of LEGO Worlds in that title’s overall top 10 placing and it was a decent week for games on Nintendo’s latest system.

It’s unsurprisingly quieter on the 3DS front, with Metroid: Samus Returns dropping out of the top 40 entirely. The only representatives for the portable are Pokemon Gold and Silver in 33rd (Silver) and 38th (Gold).

Let us know if you were among those to pick up FIFA on Switch; it’ll be interesting to see how it performs in other territories, too.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Random: Odd FIFA 18 Glitch Leaves Players With No Face on Nintendo Switch

FIFA 18 launched on Switch last week, and plenty of eyes will be on the performance of the ‘custom’ version on Nintendo’s portable powerhouse. We liked it in our review, with yer man Scullion awarding it 8/10.

However it appears that the game has a rather quirky glitch on some occasions, as you will see in the video above (via Snorth93) and shared around on social media. It causes players to have no face, which is mildly disturbing to say the least; poor old Huddersfield Town, they deserve better than this.

Hopefully this’ll get patched soon and won’t fully detract from what is a solid debut for the series on Switch. Let us know if you have experienced this unnerving bug with a comment below.