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Loads Of Rare Zelda Amiibo Are Available Right Now From Amazon Japan

It’s the holiday season, so if course it’s time to indulge your own needs while you should really be buying those last few gifts for your friends and family. And what better way to ‘treat yo’self’ than filling in the gaps in your amiibo collection? And oh look, Amazon Japan has just restocked its supplies of some of the rarest models in the series. What a coincidence!

Loads of models from The Legend Of Zelda line – which pretty much sells out everywhere else – have returned to the Japanese wing of the online retailer, including Majora’s Mask Link, Twilight Princess Link, Skyward Sword Link, The Legend Of Zelda (8 Bit) Link and the Wind Waker Link/Zelda from the 30th Anniversary series.

The retailer also has all five models from the Breath Of The Wild line, and the two Zelda-related models (Link and Ganon) from Super Smash Bros. So if you’re missing any of these, you know where to go. The international shipping rates are actually pretty reasonable, so get on it while stocks last.

Have you completed you amiibo collection yet? Which ones are you still chasing down? Let us know in the comments below…

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Review: One More Dungeon (Switch eShop)

One More Dungeon may look like an old school RPG from screenshots, but really it harks back to id Software’s early first person shooters in its focus and pacing. Wolfenstein 3D and Doom were tense, claustrophobic affairs that encouraged you to creep around their blocky environments, expecting an ambush at any time. So it is with Stately Snail’s fantasy action game.

You may find yourself crawling through randomised dungeons, steadily developing your character and collecting restorative potions. But the main button you should be interested in is ‘L,’ which serves to send a magical bolt towards whatever creepy crawly falls under your crosshair. There’s a secondary melee attack bound to ‘R,’ but it swiftly becomes apparent that this is more of a desperate last resort and a tool for smashing open crates. At least, it is until you can do something about your critically low health and puny starter weapon.

Given the games we referenced at the outset, it perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that there’s no free-look aiming in One More Dungeon. The left stick steps you forward, back and to the sides, while the right stick serves to rotate your orientation. Aiming is actually One More Dungeon’s weakest point. We can get on board with the focus on a single plane of movement, but modifying your view with the right stick operates in frustratingly imprecise increments. We found that we would constantly overshoot our targets, and would often have to aim at distant targets by literally side-stepping into position.

Fortunately, those targets are pretty dumb. The game’s menagerie of bats, spiders, zombies and shamans are extremely short sighted, so if you spot them early you can always get the first shot in. When they do notice your presence, your enemies generally resort to running straight at you – though the likes of the bat can execute a nifty side-flap to evade your shots. Combined with that ineffectual melee attack, it means that one of the most powerful skills you can master here is shooting and navigating whilst running backwards. 

One More Dungeon initially feels quite clunky, then. That’s a feeling that’s only heightened by the blocky random level design, which is prone to throwing up dead ends. Meanwhile the crude, pixellated textures might be a deliberate stylistic choice, but they don’t help the game feel any more modern – though a fluid frame rate certainly helps. 

Yet persisting with One More Dungeon reveals an exploratory action game that’s easy to get sucked into and quite difficult to put down. It practically begs you to find out what’s in the next room. Could it be a chest with a new weapon, a restorative vial, or the key-carrying boss creature that will let you move to the next level? You’ll gradually find yourself inching further into the game’s dungeons as your skills develop alongside your armoury. There are a whole bunch of additional weapons, items and secrets to uncover, including a whole alternative dark world accessed through faintly icky portal rooms. 

Another thing that will aid your progress is One More Dungeon’s Mutators system. These Mutators serve as perks that alter the starting state of your next game. The first few will extend your run significantly, whether by extending your life, halving that of your enemies, or by bolstering your potion or crystal (essentially ammo) supplies. Interestingly, the rest of these Mutators serve to make your next run more difficult or just plain interesting. One limits your sight range, making those sneaky sniping tactics trickier. Another increases the size of the levels, while another ramps up the number of exploding barrels. Actually navigating and selecting these Mutators has been poorly optimised for console, though, betraying the game’s PC roots.

Still, it’s all reflective of a game that seeks to capture the DIY spirit of the early home computer age. One More Dungeon would perhaps have benefitted from a little more deference to modern conventions and a good deal more honing for its new platform, but for the most part it’s a murky trudge down memory lane that’s worth taking.

Conclusion

One More Dungeon is a loving tribute to the first person shooters and dungeon crawlers of the early ’90s, but with the kind of longevity-boosting roguelike touches that will be familiar to modern gamers. Whether deliberate or not, some of its retro touches feel a little too clunky for their own good, particularly when it comes to the controls and interface. Still, there’s no denying how absorbing an extended run through its randomised environments can be.

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Review: Black The Fall (Switch eShop)

Inspired by Romanian communism and ’90s sci-fi universes, Black The Fall is an atmospheric puzzle-platformer developed by Sand Sailor Studio – a Bucharest-based independent game company that was originally founded in 2014. The concept came about as a way to express rebellion against the mechanisms of a heavily corrupted system, rooted within decades of communism. As the team behind the title realised how much there was to show about a communist mentality – including themes of distrust, dehumanisation of the work environment and uniformity – a platform game featuring puzzle elements was decided upon, as it would be able to best illustrate what it is like to survive under such a restrictive regime.

Drawing from real life cases where there was no freedom of speech, intellectuals were being jailed and tortured, food was rationed, access to western culture was minimal and contraception was not available, Black The Fall may sound like George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. According to the developers, however, sadly this is the harsh reality of most communist countries. As the studio explored this path further during development it became apparent the oppressive themes could also be applied to the modern state of the western world – where conformity is apparently alive and well and people feel trapped within a system they have no faith in. The aim of Black The Fall is to offer an alternative course of action, providing the player with a chance to outsmart the system and be free of it once and for all.

Starting off in an overcrowded and dimly-lit cell, the character you control is essentially just another number in the system. Black The Fall is very much a visually-driven narrative from the beginning. With no explanation about the character or the bleak surrounding environment, you must assess the situation at hand in an attempt to escape.

This rather short title is divided up into chapters, with each one made-up of a series of screens featuring puzzles that must be solved. The platform elements add a sense of thrill to certain moments. There is a lot of trial and error, much like Playdead’s releases LIMBO and INSIDE. However, failure is not that great of a concern, as you are simply reset back to the start of the puzzle every time you do not succeed. Death is commonly delivered by robot or by falling off a ledge into the darkness below.  

When you are not sneaking past guards or evading robots on patrol, most of your time is spent solving puzzles. These can be as simple as locating a valve to turn off a gas pipe halting your progress, to using several gear mechanisms in order to activate a device. Observation and experimentation are key parts of solving puzzles and progressing. Despite working within the restrictions of what is essentially a linear platform game, Black The Fall does a satisfactory job at providing a series of puzzles that require you to actively think about how to approach each and every situation. Early on in the game there is a guard you must pass without being sighted. Provided you are patient, eventually there is a bit of a mishap processing the workers, and this gives your character a window of opportunity to run past without being caught. It is sequences like this that encourage you to stop and process what exactly is going on. Admittedly, though, this is a much slower-paced game compared to your average platform title because of its incorporation of puzzles.

Not far into the game your character acquires a designator tool that can be used to manipulate both man and machine. This gives a lot of the puzzles an extra layer of depth as you find yourself commanding workers in order to help the main character progress. This is not your only tool of assistance. About halfway into the game you’ll befriend a lonely lost robot and earn its companionship. Much like the designator tool, this robot will help the character progress in certain situations. He can give you a boost, or jump up on objects to activate mechanisms. The introductions of the special device and robot friend ensure the puzzling stays fresh from start to finish. Both also manage to keep the platforming aspects of the game relevant.

As enjoyable as a lot of the puzzles are to solve, the downside to Black The Fall on the Switch is its sluggish pace. This is particularly apparent during platform sequences, but even the puzzling suffers. When performing actions like activating a device, running and jumping there is a bit of a delay between the button input and on-screen action. A lot of these problems are tied to the framerate – requiring you to be timelier as well as more precise when executing certain actions. On other platforms this appears to be a much smoother experience. The mapping of the controls is also less than adequate and can occasionally result in confusion when trying to perform actions at a speedier pace.

The only other problem with Black The Fall are the visuals. The oppressive atmosphere perfectly captures an Orwellian society, as does the industrial presentation of each environment and the communist regime on display throughout. The issue is how inferior the visuals appear to be on the Switch. As appropriate as the design is, there are too many bland and jagged models on display along with poor lighting effects. What’s worse is that the performance is for most parts no better for it. The handheld mode seems to manage the game slightly better, but it is still not exactly easy on the eyes. 

Conclusion

The inspiration behind Black The Fall should be enough to draw an audience. The problem is, if you were judging the game with no prior knowledge or understanding of communism, you may not enjoy it as much as someone who is informed about the themes dealt with – as obscure as the interpretation may be at times.

The visual narrative throughout is all that’s offered to help understand the game’s universe; fortunately it does a satisfactory job shaping the world. The puzzle elements are not groundbreaking, but when mixed with the platforming provide a rewarding experience that is similar to the likes of LIMBO. The major blemish is the performance and reduced visuals. The sluggish performance ultimately makes this a far less enjoyable game to play on the Switch, and the below average visuals can make it tricky to distinguish what is going on at times. If you think you can tolerate this, what is on offer is a relatively short-lived title that will make you think in more ways than one. 

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Out Today: Monday Releases Are a Thing on the Switch eShop – Good Times

As your humble scribe was checking the European and North American eShop in preparation for the now-traditional ‘Out Now’ early mini Nintendo Download article on Tuesday, it emerged that three games are out in Europe today, a Monday. With the Switch eShop throwing so many delicious games at us on a weekly basis it makes sense that it’s another day on which we can gawk at new releases.

It’s a bit of a catch-up day in Europe with three new arrivals, though one of them is also making its way to North America. So, without further ado let’s get to it.

Enter the Gungeon (Devolver Digital) – £10.99 / €14.99 / $14.99USD 

Out in Europe today (four days after the NA release), this is a smartly designed roguelike in which you go into a run with the hope that a mix of skill, luck and perfect drops will see you make it all the way through. It has some smart twists to keep you going, too; we bloomin’ loved it in our Enter the Gungeon review.

Floor Kids (Merj Media) – £15.99 / $19.90USD

Released in North America earlier in the month, this rather unique and charming rhythm / dancing game has finally arrived. With just sticks and buttons at your disposal you have to find the flow and pull off funky dance moves across various tournaments. We loved it in our Floor Kids review and were lucky enough to speak to JonJon and Kid Koala about the game.

60 Seconds! (Robot Gentleman) – £8.50 / €9.99 / $9.99USD

Released on PC a little while ago, this has the premise of trying to gather supplies in 60 seconds before surviving for a long time in the fallout shelter. It seems to have some rather dark humour (unsurprisingly) and could certainly be a rather intriguing title on the system. 


Are any of these getting downloaded to your Switch today?

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Gallery: Cracking Open Retro-Bit’s “New” Old NES And SNES Games

Remember those terrible cardboard boxes that Nintendo games used to come in, way back when? The company thankfully moved onto more civilised plastic cases in the GameCube era, but NES, SNES, N64, Virtual Boy, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles all came in easily-crushed cardboard packaging which, for modern collectors, means keeping a pricy title in pristine condition is hard work indeed.

If you somehow get a twisted sense of nostalgia from cardboard then you’ll be pleased to learn that Retro-Bit’s selection of “new” old games uses that very same material in its packaging. It has just launched four new compilation carts which showcase games from Data East and Jaleco, all for very reasonable prices.

The Data East All-Star collection for the NES contains Ring King, Bad Dudes, Side Pocket, BurgerTime and Buggy Popper, along with a set of BurgerTime stickers and two pin badges. The cartridge comes with a plastic sleeve which will keep it dust-free when it’s not in use.

The three 16-bit carts are shaped so they will fit into any SNES console, regardless of where you happen to be in the world, and come with a full colour instruction sheet. Each one showcases a selection of vintage games; the Data East Classic Collection, for example, has Fighter’s History, Fighter’s History Mizoguchi, Magical Drop, Magical Drop 2 and Super Side Pocket, and comes with a Magical Drop sticker and some badges (there’s a theme here – see if you can spot it).

The Joe & Mac Collection has just three games: Joe and Mac, Congo’s Caper and Joe and Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics. It also comes with a sticker and some badges. Finally, we have the Jaleco Brawler’s Pack, which boasts four SNES fighters in the form of Rival Turf, Brawl Brothers, The Peace Keepers (all part of the Rushing Beat series in Japan) and the Street Fighter-style Tuff E Nuff (AKA: Dead Dance). Also included in the box are (you guessed it!) some stickers and badges.

Aside from the rather worrying health disclaimer on the back of the box which states that the carts contains materials known (in the state of California, at least) to cause cancer and reproductive problems, there’s little way to find fault with these collections. True, the games featured may not be the very best in the NES and SNES libraries, but we had a blast reacquainting ourselves with the underrated Joe & Mac series, as well as discovering some other games that passed us by back in the day.

Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale which helps support the site. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

The bonus extras are perhaps a little random, but they’re cool all the same – and they certainly add value to what could have been bare-bones releases. We even felt like we were being transported back to the ’90s as we tore the cellophane wrapping from those flimsy cardboard boxes; in Retro-Bit’s eyes, that’s perhaps mission accomplished.

Just heed the warning, OK?

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Panic Not, Panic Button Is Handling The Switch Port Of Wolfenstein II

Panic Button is the studio behind the excellent Switch versions of DOOM and Rocket League – two amazing ports which prove that the company is becoming something of an expert when it comes to getting the most out of Nintendo’s hybrid system.

There’s more good news to report, as it has been confirmed that Panic Button is handling the Switch version of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.

Speaking at the Fun & Serious Game Festival in Bilbao, Machine Games’ narrative designer Tommy Tordsson Bjork and senior game designer Andreas Öjerfors confirmed the news. “That’s a collaboration with a different studio that we’re working together with,” said Öjerfors. “It’s the same as the Doom studio,” added Bjork.

Öjerfors then said: “They’re experts at the Switch and now they’re experts with the [id Tech 6] engine so we work with them, and the Doom version turned out to be really kick-ass on the Switch so I think Wolfenstein will be the same.” Bjork then stated that “it’s going to be as good”.

It would seem that Wolfenstein II’s creators are more than happy with Panic Button being involved, which bodes well for Switch players.

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Dragon Quest Builders launches for Nintendo Switch on Feb. 9

Dragon Quest Builders launches for Nintendo Switch on Feb. 9

Adding another great third-party game to its ever-growing library, Dragon Quest Builders from Square Enix will launch for Nintendo Switch on Feb. 9. This charming game offers a new experience in the classic Dragon Quest series, allowing players to reconstruct towns using gathered building materials, fight monsters in real-time battles and meet memorable characters throughout a sprawling RPG. And just like every game on Nintendo Switch, this constructive adventure can be played at home or on the go.

Dragon Quest Builders features a large world to explore, including hidden treasures to discover and epic structures to build. Players can use their creativity to fulfill characters’ requests and build incredible towns using not only fun materials, but also their imaginations. In Terra Incognita – the game’s free-build mode – players can even upload their creations online, or download buildings made by other players.

Playing Dragon Quest Builders on Nintendo Switch will offer players experiences and items exclusive to this version of the game. This includes the ability to gather rare crafting materials and battle enemies while riding the powerful (and adorable) Great Sabrecub, as well as additional crafting options for more robust building customization options.

For more information about Dragon Quest Builders, visit https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/dragon-quest-builders-switch.

Game Rated:

Alcohol Reference
Fantasy Violence
Mild Blood
Mild Language
Mild Suggestive Themes

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Video: The First 30 Years of Mega Man

17th December is a big day for Capcom, as one of its top series and characters – Mega Man – celebrates its 30th birthday! The company started the party a bit early by announcing Mega Man 11, coming next year! But, it all began thirty years ago, when Capcom put forth a plan to create its first non-arcade port for the NES.

Back then Capcom had solely been converting its arcade hits, like 1942 and Commando. Bringing out a wholly original product started its shift as a top game company, as arcades – though still important – were fading out as the home market took over.

When the first Mega Man hit the streets of Japan as Rockman this week in 1987, Capcom wasn’t confident enough in the game to grant a sequel, though it was later re-issued in Japan in 1988 and brought to the West as well. That surge allowed the Mega Man 1 team to work on a sequel – though only in their free time. After the popularity of Mega Man 2 the series was here to stay and the rest was history.

Since then there have been ten, soon to be eleven, games in the mainline series. The X series was spun off from the original games in 1993, followed by the Legends and Zero series and many, many more. Remakes and re-issues were also part and parcel of the Mega Man franchise. The first Mega Man has appeared on every generation of hardware since the NES in one way or another. If you counted each release and each variant, such as the Virtual Console games and endless collections, Mega Man has the most amount of playable games of any series ever!

With 30 years and literally hundreds of games to look back on, the story of The Blue Bomber is pretty impressive. The lengthy in-depth video below highlights the early years of Mega Man from his humble beginnings as an unknown new character, to his solidification as a cornerstone of gaming. Along the way you’ll learn some little known facts, such as the missing event Robot Master, Bond Man, and strange coincidences between Mega Man and other existing properties. 

If you liked this video be sure to check out GTV for more things retro, Nintendo and Japan.

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5 Things To Do With Your Master Cycle Zero In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

It’s still quite shocking to think that Link can now ride a bike in a Legend of Zelda game. Just in case you missed the announcement from The Game Awards 2017, the Master Cycle Zero is now available to unlock in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a reward for completing the story segment of the game’s second DLC pack, The Champions’ Ballad. Some say that the bike feels completely out of place in a game of such a series, while others argue that if we’re accustomed to mechanical octopuses roaming the vast lands of Hyrule, then this ancient-looking, motorised unicorn isn’t too far of a stretch.

Regardless, it’s awesomely fun once you get your grubby mitts on it, but it begs the question of what’s left to do in Breath of the Wild with your newly acquired treasure – at least to those who have completed most if not all of the game, which is likely to be the majority. With that in mind, here’s five ways to kill time with your trusty new mount.

1) Battle the final boss

As covered last week, you can use the Master Cycle Zero to tackle the very end of the battle with Calamity Ganon, after he transforms into… SPOILER! As you may know, this final portion of the fight is usually conducted on horseback, so if you need an excuse to replay this ending, now’s the perfect opportunity to do so.

2) Take on overworld beasts

If you’ve already taken down the final boss, or simply feel the need to get combative, challenging overworld bosses while on the Master Cycle Zero is a thrilling experience. This scribe has had a blast doing so, notably when facing Guardian Stalkers and Lynel (Hinox unfortunately can’t really keep up). Disappointingly, the vehicle doesn’t work on sand, so playing cat and mouse with a Molduga isn’t an option. However, if you want to up the ante with the overworld juggernauts you can use the vehicle with, then try defeating them without once hopping off your ride during each bout.

Just remember though, unlike horses, the Master Cycle Zero does run out of fuel. “Feeding” it materials does restore fuel, but things such as food and other random tidbits only fills its gauge slightly. Instead, if you can spare them, opt for Wood, Guts, Bokoblin Fangs, Lizalfos Talons, Chuchu Jelly, Monster Extract, and Ancient Materials (such as Ancient Springs, Ancient Screws, Ancient Shafts, Ancient Gears, and if you must, Ancient Cores and Giant Ancient Cores). These fill the cycle’s gauge up a helluva lot quicker individually or when mixed (depending on the material), with less quantity needed.

3) Taunt Guardians

This one’s a bit random, but has proven to be entertaining nonetheless. Approach any type of Guardian on the Master Cycle Zero and let it spot you. As it aims at you with its red laser, ride away as quickly as possible, but in a straight line. As you hear the laser being launched, try and dodge the bullet as late as possible, either by veering to the left or right, skidding away, or jumping off it. If you’re quick enough you could even attempt this challenge by riding towards an aiming Decayed Guardian or Guardian Turret (Guardians that are stationary). This is something this writer used to attempt on horseback, but due to the speed and overall nature of the game’s horses it’s nowhere near as fun or exciting (plus, horses can sadly die).

4) Perform stunts

We’re sure you don’t need us to tell you about this one – it’s probably the first thing you did when acquiring the bike – but just in case, the Master Cycle Zero is a great means for performing all sorts of motorised parkour across the varied lands that Hyrule has to offer. You can even use metallic objects to build your own ramps via the Magnesis Rune! Many great feats from players can already be found across the web, from jumps from extreme heights, to bashing Bokoblins with wheelies. Speaking of which, in case you didn’t know, you can tilt the left control stick back to perform a wheelie while moving, hold it left or right while stationary to perform doughnuts, push it forward during a doughnut to wheelspin in more of a frontal angle, and also jump off it using the Y button just like when riding a horse. Not sure if these’ll help, but who knows – they may just aid in making your rad stunts look that much cooler for your YouTube upload.

5) Break records

Okay, so this one’s tedious, but can prove to be somewhat enjoyable with a friend. Locate an area you’d like to use as a race course, and map out its route. Next, do your best to ride that route in as quick a time as possible, manually timing it with a smartphone device’s stopwatch/timer or something of the sort. Yeah we know, it’s not ideal, but competing for the fastest time with friends can prove to yield some incredible feats of control. You could even customise your course with the aforementioned Magnesis Rune, adding ramps, hurdles, jumps, barriers, and general obstacles into the mix!


And that just about does it! Of course, if you’ve still got things to do in the game, the Master Cycle Zero will no doubt play a great part in getting you from point A to point B effortlessly when fast travelling isn’t necessary. Personally speaking, I still have 899 Korok Seeds to find, so maybe this’ll motivate me in completing the only task that’s stopping my file from reaching that 100% mark.

Have you thought of any other fun ways to utilise the Master Cycle Zero post-game? If so, be sure to let us – and everyone else for that matter – know below!

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ARMS Version 5.0 Update is Coming This Year, With Another New Character

ARMS, very much mimicking the approach seen in Splatoon 2, is a game that keeps on giving. Frequent updates have not only improved mechanics and balancing but have also added fresh modes and characters. The roster’s grown rather nicely, as a result, and it seems that’ll be the case once again with version 5.0.

It’s due before the year is out (in the next two weeks, then).

It looks like an interesting addition to the roster – what are your theories on the new character?