Onelargeprawn
Hello, fellow Mario Kart 8 lovers! We’re back with an exciting review of the new DLC tracks that launched yesterday. We already reviewed Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U when it first came out over here, and we reviewed the first set of extra tracks, Zelda x Mario Kart, over here. Now we have the last lot of tracks and karts and characters—two more cups and eight new track, plus some more new characters and vehicles, all being reviewed right here, right now, by me. Let’s race!
In 2005, the Nintendo DS saw the release of Kirby: Canvas Curse, a Kirby game that used an unusual mechanic to control the pink puffball: drawing on the touch screen. The game was well received by critics, and this, I imagine, is what prompted Nintendo to release a sequel for the Wii U, and with a new aesthetic: clay. Or “plasticine” as it’s sometimes known as. When my son was younger, he called it “lunch”. Let’s see how well-moulded this game is.
Kirby is one of the stalwarts that has been a part of the Nintendo family for almost 25 years. In 2010, we saw the release of Kirby’s Adventure Wii, and it was fairly well received. I get a chance to review the Virtual Console version of the game for the Wii U and test the Wii Virtual Console in the process.
Circa 1920, Russian artist El Lissitzky coined the term Proun (proun-ouned as “pro-oon”) to describe his abstract, geometric art style. He personally described it as “the station where one changes from painting to architecture”, which could mean many things, or nothing, but in any event was seen as a branch of the suprematism art movement. It all sounds terribly pretentious, so I bet you’re currently asking “what in the blazes does any of this have to do with video games,” and I’d respond with a witty, “Ah, but that’s what YOU think.” Or maybe I’d actually get around to telling you that all this knowledge forms the basis of today’s review for a racing game called Proun+. Let’s roll.
The original Xenoblade Chronicles, released in 2011, was one of the last great games of the Nintendo Wii’s life, and because it came so late, it was played by far fewer people than would have been hoped. It was a huge achievement of an RPG, too, with a deep mythology, a widely-acclaimed battle system, huge sprawling maps, and vibrant characters. Developers Monolith Soft and Monster Games have ported the game as a New Nintendo 3DS exclusive, allowing more people to play this masterpiece. I take up my Vorpal Sword Monado Blade and head into the wild yonder to see how well this port stacks up against the original.
The Mario vs Donkey Kong series of puzzle games, now over ten years old and six games in the bag, sees its newest addition return to the 2D platform style that it originally started with. Like many of the prior games, your mission is simply to get the Mario-themed clockwork toys to the door by manipulating various elements on the game screen. I gather up my clockwork toys and try not to throw them from the cot as I bring you this review.
OlliOlli is a 2D sidescrolling skateboarding game where you have to perform skateboard tricks for sick and gnarly scores. The name of the game, obviously, comes from the name of the skateboarding trick, the Ollie, and you have to make your way across various bits of urban jungle in search of the best scores and the grooviest moves. I don my helmet and kneepads, grab my board, and prepare to gleam the cube.
The Mario Party series of games—originally developed by Hudson Soft but now developed by Nd Cube—has been around since its inception in 1998 on the Nintendo 64. Every Nintendo console since then has received one or more Mario Party games. Some of you may remember that we reviewed Mario Party 9 for the Wii a while back. The newest addition to the series is called, in a surprise twist, Mario Party 10. Surprise twist because it’s actually the fourteenth iteration in the game series. I grab my dice in hand and head down to the game boards to see just how much fun the new game is.
Space Invaders was released in video arcades to an unsuspecting world in 1978, and remains to this day one of the most iconic symbols of video gaming. It was followed shortly thereafter by Galaxian and Galaga, and these games set the mould for the “aliens attacking in formation” style of shoot-em-up (or shmup for short). Titan Attacks is a game in that vein, but with a slightly more modern spin on it. I take on the alien hordes in my tank, and risk certain death by incoming alien.
Monster Hunter is one of those series that has been around for about…oh, three hundred million years (Ed: 11 years) and has spawned over a thousand sequels (Ed: Once again, closer to 10. Your concept of scale—it worries me), with the first game being available on the PlayStation 2 in 2004. At current, the series has over 30 million in sales (Ed: Actually, this one is correct. For once) and I guess you can say it’s one extraordinarily popular video game series. I grab my sword, my bow, and MY AXE and wander around in search of dangerous prey to review this game.