Category: Nintendo News

Franchises like Gran Turismo and Forza may rule the roost these day but whisper the name Out Run or Top Gear into the ear of a seasoned player and they’ll gladly forget all of those hyper-real visuals and authentic physics engines and reminisce instead about the good old days when blue skies and sprite-scaled cars were the pinnacle of the racing genre.

Those nostalgic individuals are the target audience for 80’s Overdrive, a 2D love-letter to the arcade driving simulations of yesteryear. The objective is simple – finish each race ahead of 9 other opponents – but there are some welcome wrinkles in the template which allow this seemingly straightforward speed-fest to draw you in for much longer than you might expect.

80’s Overdrive will certainly strike a chord with fans of coin-op racers from the 16-bit era; the pixel-rich visuals look amazing and the autostereoscopic 3D effect works brilliantly, giving real depth to the fast-moving cars, gloriously undulating hills and plethora of trackside objects. Sprite scaling is smooth and convincing, while the cars which populate each circuit are packed with detail. The controls are precise and responsive – even if it’s not true analogue control we’re talking about here (you’re just as well off using the D-pad) – and even novice drivers will be expertly dodging and weaving in and out of traffic after a few races.

The game’s Career Mode is where you will undoubtedly be spending the majority of your time. You purchase a car and then take it out to compete in a range of ranked road races. Each one carries an entry fee, but the cash prize for winning is more than worth the initial outlay, and from time you time you’ll get the chance to earn bonus money by collecting items, causing a certain amount of damage to a rival or – most usually of all – finishing dead last. These variables add a little spice to the racing action.

Finishing in the points boosts your global ranking which not only pushes you up the leaderboard but also unlocks other races around the world. The cash you earn can be used to enhance your current vehicle, giving it a faster top speed, better steering and more stability – the last one being especially important as it reduces your recovery time should you get into a bump. It’s also possible to equip nitro boost which can be deployed a limited number of times per each race, provided you’re hitting your top speed.

A range of cars are available which are based on real-world vehicles. With names like the Testosterando and De Loan you’re left in no doubt exactly which famous four-wheeled steeds these are supposed to be imitating, and even those with more ambiguous names are clearly modelled on famous rides from the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini. Buying every car in the game costs a lot of cash and upgrading them all to the maximum is similarly expensive; for a long time we stuck with the cheapest car and simply boosted its performance in every possible area, but the allure of owning a Countach-lookalike proved to be too much and we eventually caved. In-between races you’ll also have to replenish your fuel and repair any damage you may have sustained during your previous races.

Progression through the early stages of the Career Mode is relatively easy; should you find yourself in a position where you don’t have enough cash to enter a race then you’ll endure the ignominy of having to clean your rival’s cars using the touch screen, but this doesn’t happen often. The easier tracks can be conquered without too much trouble, but later circuits introduce tighter bends and faster opponents, as well as police cars which attempt to ram you off the road when you overtake them. It’s here that 80’s Overdrive begins to reveal its rather cheap side; rather than give the other racers (some of which are hilariously based on famous ’80s icons, it should be noted) smarter AI, the developer simply turns the tables against you. 

Police cars ignore the other drivers and dart in front of you in an attempt to slow you down, which of course means you fall way behind the rest of the group – which is almost always tightly packed together, so you can find yourself going from first to dead last in the blink of an eye, with no chance of regaining the lead. Colliding with trackside scenery often means the contest is effectively over (thankfully you can restart the entire race without any penalty so you don’t lose money) and it’s not uncommon to see other racers drive clean through traffic – however, for the most part, it should be said that your rivals do slow down and react to oncoming cars, giving you the opportunity to dart ahead. However, to counter this, it’s also abundantly clear that they’re capable of taking even extreme corners at full speed while you have to either take your foot off the gas or tap the brakes.

Unfair AI is hardly new in this genre – Mario Kart has been pulling this trick for decades – but here it feels especially unfair, particularly on the later races. Upgrading your car is essential for success in the latter stages of the Career Mode, and there are strategies you can employ to ensure you keep ahead of the pack and out of trouble. But even then, all it takes is one chance encounter with the police to send you to the back of the grid and totally ruin what was an otherwise fine driving performance, and while this doesn’t break the game as such, it does become moderately annoying over time.

In addition to the Career Mode there’s also a Time Attack feature which takes inspiration from the branching pathways seen in Out Run, as well as a Level Editor. You’re able to select the “theme” of the circuit, its length, the number of straights, bends and hills included, as well other aspects. You can share these tracks with other racers using a code, all of which adds a welcome degree of longevity to the game once you’ve finished all of its other modes.

It would be remiss of us to conclude this review without also mentioning the excellent soundtrack, which contains suitably atmospheric tracks from the likes of Angst78, Aceman, Karolis, Vectorwolf and Vocoderion. Some of the songs featured here even come dangerously close to matching Sega’s MIDI-based masterpieces from its coin-op days, which is high praise indeed. Elsewhere, sound effects are workmanlike rather than striking, but the engine sounds are decent, conveying a good sense of the power contained within these fictional beasts.

Conclusion

80’s Overdrive really nails the presentation side of things with its eye-catching 2D visuals, superb 3D effect and pumping soundtrack. It also controls well and the Career Mode is challenging enough to keep you glued to your 3DS for quite some time. The Out Run-style Time Attack mode and the Level Editor extend the lifespan of this title further, but the occasionally cheap difficulty level has an annoying habit of ruining your race as well as your mood. This is a relatively minor complaint in the grand scheme of things however, and fans of old-school arcade racers will almost certainly forgive this issue in order to play a true tribute to the classics of old.

The Mutant Mudds series has seen its fair share of love from critics and players alike over the last few years; the wonderful Mutant Mudds won us all over when it originally released on 3DS (and then again in a deluxe version for Wii U), and then Mutant Mudds Super Challenge came along, taking everything we already knew and loved and turning every aspect up to eleven. Now we have Mutant Mudds Collection on Switch – a package which includes both of these games in their entirety and throws in a brand new puzzle game for good measure. Lovely stuff!

From the main menu you’ll have the option to jump into any of the two previously released titles as you see fit; there are online leaderboards for each game and you can have up to three save files on them, too. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, the Mutant Mudds games are retro-inspired platformers that are essentially moulded around a very simple set of controls and rules. You work your way through a number of levels with only a hover jump, three lives and a water gun to see you through, jumping back and forth between sections at different levels of depth from the screen.

The general layout of each level is fairly similar; with a limited set of actions you’ll never be left wondering what to do and even the enemy types don’t vary all that much. Despite this, things get fiendishly tricky rather quickly and reaching the end of each level with all 100 golden diamonds in your possession can be a huge challenge. The difficulty comes in the precision that you must achieve and the need to master your hover jump and water gun skills to absolute perfection.

The first game, Mutant Mudds Deluxe, is made up of an initial twenty levels – each containing hidden exits that make you play through harder sections to reach a second end-goal – as well as a kind of alternate universe which sees you play through much harder versions of the original twenty levels. The game starts with a tutorial to help you to learn the basics (you’ll definitely want to start with this game if you’ve never played any entries to the series before), and then you’re away – running and gunning your way through various muddy monsters.

Mutant Mudds Super Challenge is a completely different beast entirely; the basic idea, controls, look, and feel are identical to the first game in many ways, but the overall difficulty is increased to a rather staggering degree. This game also introduces boss fights (which add a nice – but challenging – change to the usual gameplay), more collectables to find in each level, and twenty unlockable characters for you to find within the game’s courses. We should point out that we’re not exaggerating the difficulty level here in any way; the first game was already tough in its later stages, but Super Challenge is really designed for the hardcore platforming fans out there – you should expect to die a lot.

There is also a third option to select on the main menu: Mudd Blocks. This is a puzzle game that has been newly released for this collection and features several ways to play. The basic idea is to create chains of coloured blocks that will all explode and clear from the screen when a bomb is thrown down towards them and, if you love your old school-styled vertical monitor displays, there is also support for a TATE mode layout. There is an ‘endless mode’, where you simply aim for a high score, two-player versus and co-op offerings which see the game be played in split-screen, and several different other ways to play which are easily the best of the bunch.

‘Rescue’ has you trying to break someone out of a cage in what turns out to be a rather stressful back and forth of making sure to damage the cage when possible, but also keeping the surrounding blocks safe from reaching the top of the screen and ending the game. Another of our favourites, ‘Numbers’, sees you having to blow up particular blocks in a set order – the moment you destroy a block that isn’t next numerically, you lose. If you already own both of the main games Mudd Blocks might not be quite enough to warrant another purchase to those inclined not to double / triple dip, and we would say that more detailed in-game instructions showing how the game actually works wouldn’t go amiss. It is, however, a very welcome addition that makes this collection just that little bit more special.

The overall aesthetic of this package is as wonderful as the games have always been; the retro feel has been captured perfectly with bright, vibrant, sprite-based visuals and a cracking chiptune soundtrack. The game feels particularly good in handheld mode, although it does also work absolutely fine on the TV; it’s just a shame that the 3D display features can’t be realised on Switch. It is evidently clear that the levels were made for the 3DS – the changes in depth worked wonders with the stereoscopic display of that console – but, of course, this just isn’t possible on Switch.

In a way, Mutant Mudds shouldn’t be as great as it is. The levels are arguably quite repetitive (particularly in the first game), and the lack of new enemy types or changes in the actions that you must perform is something that we’d usually consider for criticism. However, everything about how this game plays is marvellous; the tightness of your character’s controls and the satisfaction you feel from jumping around each level give it that quality it needs to be considered a truly great platformer. The games are super tough, and many players will struggle to see them through to 100% completion, but they are pure, addictive fun.

Conclusion

Mutant Mudds Collection gives Nintendo Switch owners the chance to own two fantastic platforming games in one handy, portable package, as well as a nice extra in the new puzzle game, Mudd Blocks. The difficulty of these games may well put a reasonable amount of players off – Mutant Mudds Super Challenge in particular is one nasty fiend – but the overall quality of the two original titles places this collection amongst the best within its genre that the eShop can offer. If you love platformers, and you don’t mind a hefty challenge, do yourself a favour and buy this game.

Gardening is said to be good for your health. It can relieve stress, help combat anxiety and depression, and improve your overall mental wellbeing. Studies conducted in the past have proven caring for a plant or garden is therapeutic and can better a person’s quality of life. So how does a video game about a virtual garden sound? In Plantera Deluxe you’ll start out with some carrots and eventually have an entire orchard filled with fruit trees, berry shrubs, vegetable patches and even animals populating the space.  

It’s a relatively basic concept and one that doesn’t require too much input from the player as it is an incremental game. Depending on your own play style, you’ll either be doing a lot of button pressing or finger tapping when you visit your garden. When you aren’t about, light blue creatures referred to as “helpers” will continue to care for your garden while you’re away from the game. This means, when you return, you’ll receive a large sum of money based on your garden’s earnings.

Despite its simple premise, Plantera is still a very addictive game that can be hard to put down. If you’re a bit lost to begin with you can always refer to the game’s extensive help menu. Here you’ll be informed about the basics as well as the finer points of the game. To start out, you only have a single patch of veggies. From here onwards, you earn money every time you grow and pick the fruit and vegetables from your garden. This is tied to a levelling system, so as you plant more trees and grow more fruit and vegetables you’ll unlock more vegetation, animals and helpful items such as manure to speed up the growth of plants and the overall cycle enabling you to earn more money at an even faster rate.

Although you can play this title at a relaxed pace, it’s hard not to get caught in the moment. Before you know, you’ll likely be repeatedly tapping buttons to assist your helpers as they pick the fruit and vegetables in your garden. Animals and insects that inhabit your garden provide additional coin. Chickens will lay eggs and cows will drop bottles of milk while tapping on a butterfly will award you with even more cash. Friendly horses are included in the deluxe version of the game as well. There are also predators that put your garden and animals that reside within it at risk. These include rogue moles, rabbits that eat most of the plants, wolves and foxes that scare your animals and pesky magpies that steal the fruit from the trees. Fortunately, you can hire the services of dogs to scare away certain predators and also erect scarecrows to deal with the threats from above. It’s this part of the game that can be slightly stressful at times, as it definitely works against the idea that gardens are a place of relaxation.

You’ll quickly get to a point in the game where you realise your garden has become too crowded. This is when it’s time for an expansion. By clicking on one of the signposts on either side of the garden, you can expand the boundaries for a hefty sum of money. Once you’ve done this, you continue expanding with more trees, bushes and vegetable patches. Within a few casual sessions you should have a reasonably sized garden, and be earning a lot more coin than you were when you originally started out. You can also have a bigger garden in the deluxe edition of the game, and even decorate your garden in a special Christmas theme.

Star shards are what add longevity to the game, which is an added bonus considering how few unlocks there actually are. Once you have unlocked every item, you’ll receive a yellow star shard, making it worth more when sold. When five star shards have been gathered you then unlock a green star shard, making it worth even more again. If you can obtain five green shards you’ll earn the ultimate super star upgrade, further increasing the value of items. This entire process adds an extra sense of purpose to your progression. The 21 achievements also add extra life to the game, with standard objectives included such as expanding the garden multiple times, planting a total of 100 plants, buying hundreds of animals, collecting 500 butterflies or bashing 50 moles.

Plantera has already had countless releases, including on the 3DS and Wii U eShop. The deluxe addition on the Switch doesn’t really change the game, but at least looks fantastic on the big screen and in the handheld mode. Aesthetically, the vivid and colourful sprites work well with the ambiance provided by the game’s soundtrack. The ability to use buttons or the touchscreen controls is also a thoughtful inclusion; however both of these options have issues. The analogue control is not as smooth as it could be, and the touch controls lack precision. Ideally, if you have a compatible stylus on hand, that’s an option to consider. Else you’ll just have to stick it out with the default controls.

Conclusion

Plantera Deluxe is definitely a relaxing change of pace from the average video game experience. Often we’re encouraged by games to work hard for a reward, whereas in this game, you can to some extent step back and let nature take its course. Of course, if this isn’t your style, you can also actively participate in your garden’s development on a regular basis to accelerate the process and ultimately unlock new content or earn more coin at an increased rate. How you approach this title is up to yourself. Some might find it to be a shallow experience, or even resent this type of game because of its mobile and free-to-play heritage, but if you’re willing to give it a chance on the Switch, it’s a great game suitable for everyone and perfect for unwinding in between sessions of major releases. 

Following on from last year’s River City: Tokyo Rumble, Natsume is taking the rough ‘n’ tumble Kunio-Kun out for another spin in a follow up action game. River City: Rival Showdown largely follows the same beats as its predecessor, but refines many of its ideas down into a tighter and more enjoyable experience. Though it still isn’t perfect, particularly in terms of its difficulty curve, this is a worthy entry in the series and an excellent 3DS beat ’em up, to boot.

River City: Rival Showdown sees you take control of Kunio-Kun, the baddest kid on the streets, as you defend your turf against the encroaching threat of a pair of powerful twin brothers. After they wipe the floor with you in an initial encounter, you’re given three days to prep before they battle you again. In this time, you can explore around town beating up thugs, eating ramen noodles, and buying new outfits in your bid to be the toughest fighter out there.

Essentially, it’s a retro beat ‘em up, with open world and RPG elements sprinkled in for good measure. You’ll run around the city as Kunio-Kun and fight hordes of rival gang members from other neighborhoods and schools through a combination of punches, kicks, throws, and special moves. Chaining together combos and flooring groups of enemies can be immensely satisfying, and things get more interesting as you level up Kunio and unlock new abilities. It’s a simplistic form of combat to be sure, but it’s easy to pick up and still poses enough of a challenge that seasoned gamers won’t be turned off too early.

You have three days to train up Kunio as much as you can before the big confrontation, and what you do with that time is largely up to you. ‘Events’ will be taking place in various other parts of town – denoted by an exclamation point – and you can choose which ones to walk to. Usually these result in some story-based fight, the outcome of which will effect which of the multiple endings you’ll receive upon completing the game. Along the way, of course, you can pick fights with thugs you find in the streets, or they’ll pick fights with you. And when you’re not brawling it out, you can eat some stat boosting food at a restaurant or kit Kunio out in new clothes that raise stats and add other effects. All of this combines for a satisfying feedback loop that empowers the player at a decent rate while also keeping the pressure on to always be improving.

Issues do exist, however, with large difficulty spikes that persist throughout your adventure. The random fights you get into when traversing the world are just that, so you never know whether you’ll be fighting a squad you can take or one that will positively steamroll you. It’s not uncommon for you to get in a fight with a group of thugs that you knock out in about three hits each, only to be followed a few minutes later by a squad of iron-skinned superhumans that easily overcome your pathetic resistance. This can lead to uneven pacing, as you receive experience and money in stints that vary from you rapidly progressing in a short window of time to more or less halting progress altogether. A more smoothly judged difficulty curve would be appreciated here, and while the option to run away from fights is always there, it runs counter-intuitive to the point of the core mechanics.

There’s some multiplayer options here, too, which help pad out the package. If another friend has a copy of the game, you can choose to tackle the story mode in co-op, but the real meat comes in with the new Double Dragon Duo mode. This one can be played through download play, too, and it essentially crosses over beat ’em up gameplay with a fighting game. You pick from a roster of characters and duke it out in a 2D ring, punching and kicking your foe (or bludgeoning them with the crowbar that drops in the middle) while utilizing a range of character-specific moves to gain the edge. It’s great and provides a mostly distinct experience form the main mode, yet there’s enough similarities that it doesn’t feel out of place as an additional piece of the main package.

From a presentation perspective, River City: Rival Showdown is rather forgettable, but it nonetheless gets the job done. The story mode sees 2D sprites moving about on more or less photorealistic backdrops, making it feel a bit like a diorama in motion. The issue with this is that the environments lack significant detail and feel rather static and lifeless, like you’re moving in front of a picture instead of a place. Granted, the visuals aren’t all that important in a release like this, but it still feels like more could’ve been done on this front to make the game feel a little more animated. The soundtrack is similar; there’s a few catchy beats here or there, but the largely-synth based music is mostly just there to fill space. It manages to set a good pace and tone for the action, though, which is a nice plus.

Conclusion

All told, River City: Rival Showdown is a worthwhile beat ’em up game, certainly worth the price of admission. Though the oscillating difficulty curve and the ho-hum presentation hold it back from true greatness, this is a game that no beat ’em up fans will want to miss out on, and it also stands as a great entry point for those looking to try out the genre or this particular series. We’d give this one a strong recommendation; between the meaty campaign and the fun side mode, River City: Rival Showdown will likely hold your attention for some time.