Four Swords in single player feels like being the only kid on the playground.

A playground full of different types of see saws. It makes you wish you had others to enjoy it with. I suppose that's where it succeeds. I wouldn't have been motivated to go through the hassle of finding someone to play it with otherwise. Having no wires or cartridges to deal with makes things easier too.

Now I know myself from playing Four Swords Adventures on the Gamecube that it can be lots of fun playing in single player mode. This remake of the original Four Swords is nowhere near as good as it. That's kind of to be expected really as Four Swords gameplaywise is really just a big bonus mode whereas Four Swords Adventures has a more satisfying single player campaign. The latter came out later as well so the formula got improved.

If Nintendo does something like this again they should strive to make it better than these two games put together. I was always a little curious of the GBA game that eluded me for years and now my curiosity is satisfied. Time to move on.

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 32

This episode is all about characters going to the dentist and it's like one of those cartoons that have an implied educational message about personal dental care.

It's also the first time I've seen King Dedede being a truly reprehensible dickhead instead of just being a likeable buffoon.

No really I'm shocked! This episode starts out with Escargoon needing to go to the dentist and King Dedede getting great sport out of seeing him in pain in the dentist's chair. After that, when they go grocery shopping, the king doesn't even let Escargoon buy any dental care products because he had such a fun time seeing him in pain that he wants to see it happen again! What a dick!

Karma catches up with him though because soon afterwards he starts getting a pain in his tooth. A similar thing happens to Tuff following his pompous attitude about not needing to brush his teeth. Escargoon gets some well deserved last laughs and it is funny seeing King Dedede freak out about having to go see the dentist.

The NME monster this time is one with a cold blooded desire.... for dentistry! Kirby's battle with it is entertainingly farcical and fresh!

No game references but I do recall a part in Super Mario Sunshine where FLUDD pops up a message about making sure you look after your teeth.

Zelda Four Swords Anniversary Edition (whew) is out now on DSiWare in Ireland & Europe!

Wow what a mouthful! Anyway it was made available today! I made sure to download it earlier. I haven't tried it properly yet but remember there's two things you should know:

-It's free to download for all DSi and 3DS owners for a few months.
-It's an enhanced remake of the original GBA game, now allowing for a single player option for the first time.

Trying out Star Fox and F-Zero for the first time (first serious go anyway)

There are a good few Nintendo games and series I don't really think of playing and these two are prime examples of that. I'm sure that goes for most people, however I know several people who won't shut up about these two series.

I tried a few tracks of F-Zero and all I can say really is that it's ok. It's well made of course and I love the theme of Mute City. It all comes down to me not being big into racing games though but it's good enough to be enjoyable to me. Starfox is nicely cinematic but just doesn't hold my attention for very long. The second level is mostly shooting at rocks in space with a cursor. I'm not sure otherwise why it doesn't hold my attention for very long. I do know back then I just wanted to play platformers though.

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 31

Yeesh this episode stuttered badly on the service when I watched it today.

King Dedede lures everyone in Cappytown to his castle by opening up an amusement park there. He also holds a karaoke contest and makes that a plan to get Kirby uploaded to NME.

The monster this time is the microphone we see in many Kirby games and Kirby also gets the mike ability from it.

Retro Gamer Issue 93

This was last month's issue but I'm playing catch up! This month the staff were asked what was the first arcade game they played. I'm struggling to remember what mine was. Was it New Zealand Story? Was it Tumblepop? Was it Snow Bros? Whatever it was it was probably some kind of cute platformer.

Nice article on Buster Busts Loose and an amazing collector's guide to the Super Nintendo. Learned about a couple of nice curiosities like Majyuuou(it's like Castlevania on crack), Magical Pop'n and Whirlo. I like the Parodius article as well.

One of the featured homebrew reviews I like was NES Virus Cleaner. I tried it for myself and it's quite addictive but tough, avoiding things like you would in say, Frogger and collecting all the bits to complete a level.

Trying out 3D Classics: Twinbee for 3DS

God I loved Bells & Whistles in the arcade. I also loved Pop n' Twinbee on the SNES. I even bought the inferior PC Engine version of B&W, Detana Twinbee on the Wii Virtual Console. Now on 3DS I bought the recently released 3D Classics version of the original Twinbee. I suppose it's some kind of urge I have to support the Twinbee series even though it's only getting rereleases in recent times. A new one for the Wii would be lovely Konami. (along with new Parodius, Gradius, Mystical Ninja, etc etc)

Anyway, this game is as fun as it ever was and I like it more than Xevious(although Xevious has nice 3D clouds on the sides whereas this only has a plain curtain on the sides, but you could be super positive and say it's a nice nod to the opening of Gokujou Parodius). This version of course has the 3D effect — if you can imagine a sheet of paper with a drawing of an aeriel view laid out on a table and then put buttons on it or something, that's what it's like to look at. You can see a clip of it on the eShop anyway.

A nice thing this version has is fully customisable controls along with an option for rapid fire. P-p-pew!

Rocket Slime 3 D's new trailer

I haven't been keeping up with the screenshot releases and videos for this new game which is something that'll have to change. Here's a trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-tenYMK22Hw

Square-Enix, please release this in Ireland and the rest of Europe! We really want it!

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 30

Kirby wakes up one morning with an egg underneath him. When it hatches it becomes one of those episodes where Kirby makes a new friend only to have it turn out to be something to do with the bad guys later. I hope Kirby doesn't get traumatised from all the times this happens!

Chef Kawasaki appears briefly sometimes and it's becoming more apparent that he cares little for the quality of his food! After all the sympathy he got from us in previous episodes too! Ah well he's still a very likeable character.

The NME monster this time is Galbo, a pudgy little dinosaur thing that also appears in Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Kirby gets his fire ability.

#8 of 10: The Legend of Zelda (3DS NES Ambassador)

The great thing about having this on the 3DS is that you can switch between the first and second player controls by holding the L & R buttons and pressing Y. You can then save the game while the equipment screen is up by pressing up and A at the same time. Well, it's great to be able to get around that awkwardness the original version had anyway.

Other than that it's still the classic Zelda 1 in full 60Hz speed. It controls fine with the circle pad and if you're not used to it you will quickly. That's what I found myself on my own experience of course.

You can do that L & R trick to swap players with every other NES VC game on the 3DS also.

#7 of 10: Super Mario Bros. (3DS NES Ambassador)

The best of the bunch! I don't need to go into that very much though.

First of all you must know that this isn't the original PAL version which ran faster than the other ones. Rather, this is just like those other versions in terms of speed.

Playing the game is perfectly fine with the circle pad. No major issues at all.

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 29

King Dedede is fed up of eating the same food so he orders a monster from NME that can cook really well. He then opens a restaurant really close to Kawasaki's and goes into direct competition with him. The rest of the episode centres around trying to get the crowds to either restaurant and very hot food becomes a big craze.

I'm used to Kawasaki's voice now but I still love the way he talks!

The NME monster isn't from any of the games. Kirby gets his cook ability again and he also eats very spicy curry. You could say maybe that's a power he gets from Kirby's Dream Land 1? Why not! :)

#6 of 10: NES Open Tournament Golf (3DS NES Ambassador)

I naturally shy away from golf games but I have played a couple of the ones Nintendo published like Mario Golf 64. When I saw this on the ambassador list I actually mistook it for another older game on the NES which was just titled "Golf". This newer one has nicer graphics, sound and you get to have the Princess as your caddy!

Due to a game about golf having such an easy going nature it suits a handheld very well. Circle pad concerns aren't applicable here at all and the only quick reflexes you need are the two timed button presses for your swing.

There are a nice amount of stats and menu options you can mess around with and I'm sure it'll all be easy to understand if you're into these kinds of games. Also, due to it being an NES game you're never waiting for a loading screen and the pacing is generally nice and quick but still has that feeling of suspense.

As for how it looks I always think if a golf course looks like it would be a nice interesting place to have a walk around in and explore it looks really good. This game pulls it off very well.

#5 of 10: Metroid (3DS NES Ambassador)

I've never beaten this game or have gotten very far in it. It's also the game Nintendo is most generous about giving away in promotions and the like. I have it 4 times over now(not joking).

It's still hard as hell. Runs at a good 60Hz speed of course and as for controlling with the circle pad, I rolled into a ball by accident a couple of times so that might be reason for concern. It didn't happen anymore after that though.

#4 of 10: Mario & Yoshi (3DS NES Ambassador)

Looks perfectly fine on the small screen. This is one of those many Tetris style gradually dropping block games that follow completely different rules. You take one look at them, decide it looks too boring to play but once you give it a quick go you can't stop playing whether you like it or not. In Tetris' case it actually makes me somewhat annoyed when I can't stop playing but in this case it's nice enough.

Instead of controlling the dropping blocks you swap the columns of blocks that have built up on the bottom in the hopes of of the falling ones landing on the top one that has the same picture. There's also a strategic element to it with the opening and closing halves of Yoshi eggs. If you stack a bunch of rubbish blocks between the opening and closing parts, the egg will close around them and they'll all disappear. I notice doing bigger ones will give you a bigger Yoshi.

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 28

An episode with an environmental message! You could say there's also some kind of commentary on the life of a factory worker.

King Dedede orders a monster that requires assembly so he has a factory built in order to make this happen. He then offers the residents of Cappytown various home appliances if they'll work on the assembly line but doesn't tell them what it's for.

Seeing them all work with a glazed look in their eyes is quite interesting. The environmental stuff is as interesting as it is in any other cartoon that has such a message but hey it has some educational value.

The monster this time is a robot that's like the Ice Dragon and Kirby gets his ice ability.

Skyward Sword is looking really nice, upgrading equipment hm...

Another trailer was shown for Skyward Sword. The new stuff like collecting stuff for upgrading equipment seems a bit complicated for a Zelda game, kind of like customising your train or your ship in the last two games.

But the rest of it with the gameplay features and everything looks great. I want to see bomb bowling! I do love the idea of descending upon a new area from the sky though. If you notice Link's swimming controls you can see that you use the Wii Remote pointer to control your direction. That's really good. Was it in Twilight Princess for the Wii? I can barely remember...

The free Zelda Four Swords on DSiWare will have a one player mode!

Here's the exciting trailer which shows new stuff that's being added:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKWYzJ7rdCg

Yes yes yes yesss! It's a really stupid idea to make a game multiplayer exclusive. Finally this wrong will be righted in the original Four Swords with this remake which they're calling the Anniversary Edition. It'll be released near the end of this month and will be available for a limited time. I can't wait!

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 27

Kirby and his buddies decide to go visit Wispy Woods. Little do they know that King Dedede is spying on them and is still looking to turn the forest into a golf course. They find Wispy doting on a lovely little flower that has just blossomed right in front of him. They even name the flower itself "Lovely". Daww!

The NME monster this time is the flower turned into an alluring femme fatale succubus kind of flower. In her innocent form she's a lot like the flowers with cute faces that try to gobble Kirby up in Kirby's Fun Pak. Kirby gets the cutter ability from the razor leaves she throws.

It's interesting when Kirby sucks in a cannonball that Dedede shot at him and then spits it back. I don't see him doing that very often in the cartoon!

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 26

This episode focuses on the NME monster WolfWrath, a red wolf like monster that we always see in the opening credits. It also focuses on the backstory of the characters Sword & Blade before they became Meta Knight's followers. They had all met WolfWrath before and throughout the whole episode they struggle to fight with it.

Lots of combat here including a pretty deep footstab and the enemy being cut in half again before exploding like it was a robot enemy or something. No blood but it is quite gory!

Kirby gets the sword ability but this time it's Meta Knight's sword he gets.

(This episode came out last Thursday by the way)

NGamer Issue 66

This is most of the cover. At the very bottom there's a red bar listing some other features. But I prefer when the magazine just shows one game and its description.

This issue came with three free gifts: Starfox skins for 3DS, Starfox posters and a Nintendo quiz book in the shape those tips books normally come in. Bleh.


There's some interesting reviews including an import review of Rhythm Heaven which got 88 and Xenoblade Chronicles which got a big fat 93.

Some previews of games too including Skyward Sword and Rocket Slime 3D.

There's a big feature about the Wii U which talks about the type of games I have absolutely no interest in.

There's a Harvest Moon 15th anniversary special interview with the developers.

Kirby's Dream Land is the VC essential this time.

The absolute best feature in this issue however, is Kokopolo developer Keith Webb outlining the steps from creating a game from scratch to getting it published. It's in the form of a board game with each space showing a step in the process. I found it really interesting!

#3 of 10: Ice Climber (3DS NES Ambassador)

A great thing about this game is that you can select any level you like from the title screen. It's another one of those arcadey titles and the sprites are distinctive so it displays fairly well on the 3DS.

It's pretty hard to get used to the jumping in this game. Since the jumping angle is so steep, more often than not you break one of the bricks above your head or you miss the edge by a tiny bit. This encourages the tendency to press the directional button harder so that makes the circle pad a godsend since it'll be easier on your thumb.

Handhelds and extra analogue sticks: For and Against

Against:

Playing third person 3d games with a free camera(like say, the likes of Mario 64) is disorienting and it harms the portability of a handheld. This type of mechanic is better on a bigger monitor that stands in one place. Unfortunately, this is more than likely what developers are going to do with a right analogue stick on a handheld. They'll probably do it backwards to the Mario 64 standard too.

For:

Games that are naturally twin stick controlled would benefit such as Katamari and Robotron: 2084. Unfortunately this isn't why they're being introduced on handhelds.

Keywords: 3DS, second analogue, attachment, reveal, vomit

*VOMITING SMILEY FACE*

Dragon Quest X's trailer revealed

I'm not going to dare link it. The only footage online at the moment is off camera. Have a look at the official website instead:

http://www.dqx.jp/

Will someone who's involved with the game please upload the actual trailer!

While you're at it have an ENGLISH press release and be perfectly frank about the game's online capabilities!

Last but not least, please provide a YES or NO answer to the following question:
"Can the game's main story be played from start to finish without having to connect to the fucking internet?".

WE CURRENTLY DO NOT HAVE A STRAIGHT ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION.

I am hoping for a YES answer!

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 25

Character spotlight on Escargoon this time!

You know it's funny, I could guess what the entire episode was going to be about the moment the postman said he had a love letter to deliver to Escargoon. First I thought "Aha! It's actually his mother!" and when that was confirmed and he read the news that she was coming to visit him I thought "Aha! She thinks he's king!" which too turned out to be the case!

Escargoon then begs Kirby and his buddies to put on the charade for his mother. It's another one of those plots we've seen in lots of shows; the one that comes to mind straight away is Top Cat with Benny the Ball and his mother. It goes like you'd expect and ends like you'd expect and it does manage to still be entertaining.

Just wait and see what King Dedede is like when he hears about the whole thing! That's what I was dying to see for the most of this episode and it is absolutely priceless!

The NME monsters this time are a bunch of Drifters whom Kirby gets his parasol ability from. They also appear in Kirby's Dream Land 2.

#2 of 10: Donkey Kong Jr. (3DS NES Ambassador)

Another great old arcade title with 4 levels that loops every time you beat the set. Lots of jumping and strategic vine climbing is involved.

Sizewise it doesn't feel oppressive at all, in fact it feels nice to be able to play it on a handheld on the go. The circle pad feels great to play as DK Jr with as well.

#1 of 10: Balloon Fight (3DS NES Ambassador)

I didn't think this would appear on the 3DS Virtual Console before its brilliant sequel for the Game Boy, Balloon Kid but hey it's a good game in its own right.

It's very arcadey and it's great for a quick go of which makes it suit handheld portable play very well. The sprites in this game have always been quite small so they'll look absolutely miniscule in the window, but they still look very distinctive so you won't ever confuse anything for something else.

Trying out the 3DS Ambassador NES titles

They were made available yesterday in Ireland & the rest of Europe so I downloaded them all. After playing them for a while there's a couple of things you need to know.

-Instructions for downloading these games are found in the news section of the eShop.
-All of the 3DS ambassador NES titles are in 60Hz! Full speed! The exact same speed as the NTSC versions of the games! Yes!

I might talk more about them soon but for now they're all to be enjoyed since they're free.

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 24

After someone attempts to steal Mr Curio's ninja scroll, everyone in Cappy Town becomes obsessed with ninjas, even King Dedede. It turns out that there's something special and hilarious about the ninja scroll.

The NME monster this time is a ninja that betrayed the star warriors in the past. None of the ninjas in this episode look like Biospark from the Kirby games. Kirby also gets his ninja ability and demonstrates most of the moves you can perform as him in Kirby's Fun Pak, which is pretty cool.

I also got a key from watching this episode. The first one in a long while.