Among the various press releases that Aksys Games’ representative showed us at E3 this year, an interesting looking combination appeared at the bottom of the pile. An anime-styled bowling game will be released sometime later this year under the name Crazy Strike Bowling.
Unfortunately the team didn’t have much to say about the title so far and in our brief meeting we admittedly forgot to take an image of the game’s boxart itself, though it seems that Siliconera was more than capable of providing it. Interestingly enough, Crazy Strike Bowling will feature PlayStation Move support so this may be an interesting title for anime fans eager to get some use out of their Move controller.
Junk Jack Developer: Pixbits Platform: iOS Release Date: Nov 7, 2011 Price: $2.99 BUY NOW!
Overview
During the past two years or so, Minecraft has become an utter phenomenon. Yeah, it’s so simple it hurts when it comes to the dig-in-dirt concept, but no one can deny that the game taps into one’s imagination and if you are creative enough, the possibilities are truly endless. Like many successful products, clones have begun to come in droves for Minecraft, with the latest being Junk Jack for the iOS. Junk Jack takes a lot of elements from the popular formula, and throws a 2D spin into the mix with a great deal of options offered to the player. Does Junk Jack dig up enough of it’s own charm to make a name for itself, or is it just a lackluster clone that is just wanting a piece of the pie? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
When Junk Jack’s pixelated world begins, you are out in the middle of nowhere and can do just one thing. Dig. Yes, there is no hand holding or sense of direction, but for those who have played Minecraft or this title’s closer kin known as Terraria, you should feel right at home. All of the basics are available right from the get-go, with our little miner ready to bash through the world and find every bit of loot possible to dress up your own creations. During the day, the player can spend time on the top of the world, simply exploring the many side-scrolling biomes of the 2D environment. Each of these landscapes are rich of mineral, building materials, artifacts, and other toys, which makes exploration the backbone of this game’s genuine charms. At night, things are more about survival, as blob-like enemies come out to stick a fork into your plans and test out your own defensive techniques. It’s nothing new from any other clone of the sandbox genre, but Junk Jack has a ton of offerings to keep itself interesting, and if the player can get over the limited space, the game can get quite addictive.
As far as control goes, nearly everything is done by tapping or swiping. Need to dig into a wall? TAP! TAP! TAP! Want to hit an enemy? Swipe! Both methods of control are effective for the most part and make digging up the gems of this crust a simple yet satisfying duty. Moving Jack is a bit more troublesome however, as the player must drag and swipe to move their character from side to side or up and down. It’s really not a bad method of control for the most part, but there were a few times I found myself digging holes and struggling to jump out. The inventory system is also a bit of a chore to navigate, as even though dragging and dropping is all that’s required to equip an element, it can be a bit tough to do so precisely. This is partly due to the fact that I have large fingers and have always been a bit impatient when it comes to touchscreens, but if anyone expects to just flick their way through Junk Jack on the fly, they might need to learn a bit of patience and precision when it comes to grabbing up the goods.
Concept and controls are nice to talk about, but do they truly matter? Junk Jack is all about building and luckily, Pixbits have given enough tools and options for crafting (where you can combine multiple items to make something better) that it is almost impossible to go bored based on choice alone. I started out doing the usual, and building a little house. Soon, my little underground retreat turned into tunnels that all featured paintings, furniture, and even a Nintendo room with some homemade sculptures of gaming’s famous faces. These are just a few examples of what one can do while they create, and the handy inventory can travel to other save files as well, meaning alternate maps can be specifically used for living and mining. Due to how accessible everything is as a whole, it only takes a few minutes for everything to click within Junk Jack and once that happens, it can be nearly impossible to put the game down.
Visuals/Audio
Even though Junk Jack works as a creative playground well, the most enjoyable feature are the colorful and oh so lovable worlds and sprites. Jack himself looks like he was pulled straight off the NES, and is hard for anyone to hate due to his oversized hard-hat and beady little eyes. The blobs and other enemies are a bit generic, but this is more than made up for by the lighting and gorgeous textures that make up the world both under – and above ground. Sunsets are a stunning sight to watch, and discovering a new biome or area makes exploration a true treat and prolongs the length one would spend with the game by miles.
As far as the soundtrack goes, expect some nice chiptune beats that blend well into the background and fit perfectly into this 8-bit world. The true star of audio in my opinion however is the sound effects. Much like Minecraft, each little block has it’s own little “digging” sound that makes each tap feel effective, and the times of deafening silence bring out an intense feeling of doom as you hear enemies gather around you. Subtle touches can work wonders in little titles like this, such as hearing Jack scuffle across the landscape, but it’s obvious a lot of effort went into creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere for the overall game with the mellow tunes and soft effects, and all of this adds up to yet another reason why Junk Jack is so soothing and addictive to play.
Overall
Junk Jack is technically a clone of Minecraft or Terraria, and it really never tries to hide that it’s concept is unoriginal. That doesn’t really matter though at the end of the day, as Pixbits have learned well from the frontrunners of the genre and were able to put their own charms and unique stylings into the game to make it feel distinct. Junk Jack isn’t going to change any minds of those who don’t care for the sandbox genre, but if you are looking for a cheap – yet satisfying experience where you can build and survive on the go, it’s offerings are certainly worthy of a purchase as with all of the continuous updates, Jack is one little mascot who seems to be ready to carve out a name for himself.
Most of us know that Aksys’ Record of Agarest War 2 will be released later this month on June 26th and out of those many, at least a few of them have likely heard information about the game’s limited edition which contained a compressed hand towel in the shape of a heart and a “Heroic Trials from the Lands of Agarest” art book. Until recently however the limited edition’s final content, a blow-up doll, was censored out.
At E3 this year, Aksys may not have had a booth but they did meet with us beforehand to reveal a few pieces of information, including the full form of their Felenne Doll which can be seen above. As one may expect the doll is in chibi-form and is a bit of a joke reward, as Aksys Games’ wanted to try and find a balance between simple limited edition and risque.
While I was trying my hand at NIS America’s upcoming, and very unique looking, JRPG Mugen Souls to write up our preview which can be seen here, the bald wonder and JRPG newbie Philip Federico was trying his hand at interviewing a number of NIS America’s team. We were able to meet with Ryan Phillips who handles most of their PR as well as Nick Doerr, editor for Mugen Souls and Alan Costa who is handling the translation for the game. Below you can see the interview as well as a bit of gameplay footage including some of the gameplay features mentioned in the preview, including the crazy combo attacks, cute point system as Chou-Chou tries to sway her enemies and plenty of off-the-wall dialogue, especially right there at the end of the video.
Ben 10: Samurai Warrior Publisher: Cartoon Network Price: FREE – Play Game Online Here
Overview:
Ben 10 is one of the mainstays of Cartoon Network for quite some time now. With plenty of sequel series and movies, it’s certainly come a long way from the series that started it all. Ben 10 is the first series, which introduced the world to Ben Tennyson, I see what they did there, a 10 year old, or did they do it there, who finds a device known as the Omnitrix, which allows him to transform into 10 different aliens, they really went all the way with this. Later in the series, Ben was able to unlock more aliens, while later series showed Ben at older ages.
The first series is still pretty popular and the series spawned plenty of flash games for the younger fans of the show to enjoy online. One such game is Ben 10: Samurai Warrior, but the real question of the matter though is if the game is worth the time to put into playing it.
Story:
Ben 10: Samurai Warrior is based off one of the episodes of the original series, called “Game Over”. The general premise is that Ben gets trapped within a video game and has to collect his alien forms to be able to get out. Unfortunately, the antagonist of the game is trying to get out into the real-world too, so he’s trying to stop Ben from collecting the alien forms.
Much of the story is glossed over in the flash game however, so it is really helpful to have seen the episode it is based on to fully understand just what’s going on. It would be extra confusing for anyone who only knows the very basics of the show as the character designs are based around the game they are in, so everyone looks very different than in the show.
Gameplay:
The game plays as a very standard retro platformer, where players can move Ben about with the arrow keys, slash with a sword, throw ninja stars, and transform, after Ben finds some alien forms as tokens. The game is broken down into 3 world with a few levels each, the last of each world being a boss battle to earn a token. Even though Ben does have a sword to slash with, it’s generally pretty easy to just spam the stars to kill everything since there doesn’t seem to be any limit to them. This makes the combat kind of trivial, but combat is mostly only to clear the path of enemies and to rack up a higher score for the board. The main focus of the game then is actually platforming, which is in some places pretty difficult requiring the player to actually make jumps precisely or fall to their death below. Luckily, there is a fair number of extra lives floating around for players to pick up to make it somewhat easier. But, even if the player does run out of lives, players don’t have to start completely over from world 1, so it does make it easier for the younger players albeit with a reset score.
In addition to the platforming and combat, each alien form adds a little bit to getting through each level, in that Four Arms and Cannonbolt are used to get past specific obstacles. This however doesn’t add much to the gameplay, but instead slows it down as Ben has to switch into the alien form to get past the obstacles, but can’t use them for general gameplay as neither of the alien forms can jump. This is only really adds to gameplay on the final boss which requires the use of an alien form to actual defeat.
Audio and Visuals:
The audio is general is unfortunately very repetitive, there are at most 3 songs that play throughout the game and loop continuously, which will mean either tuning it out or turning it off completely. There was also no attempt at all to try and get any sort of dialogue for the game, not even sound bites of Ben saying anything to give the game more than just the face and cartoon feel of Ben 10. You could take the same audios and plop them into another game and never notice they were from a Ben 10 game.
As stated before the character designs are different than the vast majority of the show, as it is based on a video game in the show, but it does look pretty neat and even has different looks for the two alien forms as well. The character designs are pretty interesting to match the feudal setting, with each looking like samurai, and while they are different character designs the game maintains the same kind cartoon look and style of the show. The locations in the game are a bit different though as there are a lot of cyber-like elements, such as the varying platforms. Ultimately, all the visuals definitely fit the uniqueness of the settings of the game that Ben has entered and brings something new players may not often see.
Overall:
At the end of the day this only really feels like a retro platformer with Ben 10 slapped on the title. They do use one of the more interesting premises from one of the episodes, but it is a little lackluster. The combat can be done almost flawlessly if taking the time to defeat everyone and in terms of score there is an actual top score which players could get by collecting everything and killing everything, so the highest can only be a perfect score. The game does look pretty nice though, but that isn’t much to save it. I give Ben 10: Samurai Warrior
Film buffs be excited! The great people behind ‘TIFF’, the Tokyo Internation Film Festival, have confirmed details for this years event. This year is the 25th anniversary of the staple film festival of Japan and as such big things are planned.
The event will be held over 9 days from the 20th of October to the 28th of October, 2012, at a new venue in the Tokyo Bay area. The films on show will be shown under a variety of different categories, some competitive, some not.
You can see all the fine details of the Tokyo International Film Festival at the official website of the event here. What do you think of the 25th anniversary of ‘TIFF’? Let us know in the comments section below.
After sitting down and taking a good look at some of the new features that Dead or Alive 5 will contain, the details of which can be seen here, we had a chance to sit down and speak with Yosuke Hayashi and Yohei Shimbori from Team Ninja. While we may not have any actual gameplay footage of the game shown below, we do have the answers to some of your most pertinent questions, including why the team chose to switch to a four-point hold system as well as how Team Ninja thought of including such action packed stages for players to battle it out on.
Of course, we couldn’t help but asking if we may see some brand new characters entering the roster and the games overall “fan service” element as well. Don’t take my word for it however, see how these two have answered our questions in the full interview below.
My mum doesn’t really play video games, but we managed to get her into Words With Friends. A large part of the appeal for her was the ability to play a word, go do something else, and check back later to see if the opponent has had their turn. Gaming didn’t take up a big part of her day, and this system fit itself nicely into her schedule.
This is asynchronous play, as developers have termed it, and it allows games to be played in increments. Team 17 have now adapted Worms, their flagship turn-based game, to include the system.
In the latest free update to Worms 2: Armageddon on iOS, asynchronous play means you no longer need to wait for your slow opponents to have a turn. Simply make your move, put it away and check back when you have time. And why play only one game at once? The update allows you to be slaughtering enemy worms in up to sixteen games simultaneously. This is in addition to playing in the regular Worms fashion, via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or passing around a single device.
It might not sound like much, but asynchronous play is a fundamental shift in the flow of the game, and is apparently one of the most requested features among fans.
Japanese Role-Playing Games are, despite the name, not solely the product of Japan. It’s a style, and one that New Zealand indie studio Ivatrix Games have tried their hand at.
The one-man team based in Hamilton, NZ, released Mortal Legacies onto Xbox Live Indie Games last week, and it’s looking like a nice little throwback to RPGs of old.
Its story reads like you’d expect: the semi-magical kingdom of Elisia is left vulnerable after a protective artifact is stolen, and a budding young adventurer sets out to retrieve it. Players will explore Elisia, recruit companions to the cause, and fight off the invading forces of the shadow world.
At 80 MS points, it’s almost offensively cheap, so check it out.
During E3 2012, I was able to get some hands-on time with the Nintendo Wii U along with fellow editors Travis Bruno and Philip Federico. We were able to try out about 3 games, including a Nintendoland minigame, Super Mario Bros U, and the multi-player portion of ZombiU. All three of these demos featured the heavily promoted asymmetric gameplay.
First up was a Nintendoland minigame: Animal Crossing – Sweet Tooth. The object of the minigame was for up to 3 players to collect as much candy as possible, while a fourth player tried to prevent this. The ‘candy collectors’ used Wiimotes, while the fourth player used a WiiPad. The player on the WiiPad uses both analog sticks independently to control two ‘guards’ simultaneously. Whether being a guard or a collector, the gameplay was frantic and fun.; it demonstrated the potential the Wii U has. Playing as the guard was quite tough, as you have move two guards with one screen, keep track of where everyone is and be able to move each analog stick independently of each other, in addition to using a tackle button. It was a little bit like rubbing your head and patting your belly at the same time, but in a competitive environment. In addition, playing as a collector was also an adrenaline rush, as I constantly felt like I was being hunted.
Next up is Super Mario Bros U. This game showcased the Wii U’s co-op opportunities. While Travis played as Mario using a WiiMote on the TV screen, I used the WiiPad’s touch screen to place blocks across gaps so that it would be easier to beat the level. Super Mario Bros U features support for up to 4 player co-op. However, if you want to play singleplayer, you can also do that, without even having the TV operational. Travis was able to use the WiiPad’s screen to play the entire first level, as if it were a mobile gaming system. There was no complicated wire switching or button presses to use this functionality. It just worked.
While the previous two games were great fun to play no matter which controller was used, ZombiU multiplayer demonstrated the weakness that asymmetric gameplay inevitably presents. Travis Bruno chose to play as a ‘survivor’ using the Pro Controller, while I chose to be the zombie horde, using the WiiPad. Travis was able to use the television, while I used the WiiPad’s screen. My objective was to capture as many flags as possible by placing zombies anywhere on the map using an overhead view. Travis’ goal was to stop me. After we finished the demo and Travis won the round, we compared notes. I found that I was quite bored because the graphics were quite dull and the gameplay simply revolved around me waiting on my attackers to recharge. However, Travis found his part to be exhilarating, as his gameplay revolved around shooting zombies in the face using an FPS camera view. While many Wii U games will undoubtedly support quality gameplay no matter which controller is chosen, there are some games that will invariably have more exciting gameplay modes for one player vs another during asymmetric gameplay. Thus, there will always be a fight over who gets to play as the “fun character” and who is stuck playing as the “tedious character.”
Hardware
Although the WiiPad controller does feel quite large, it is pretty light and I didn’t notice it being awkward once the game started. I imagine it might get a little tough after a few hours of gameplay, but that has yet to be tested. The hand grips on the side felt really comfortable and all the buttons were really accessible. Plus, the touch screen was extremely responsive. The WiiPad will really come in handy if you want to play videogames while someone else is watching TV. Hopefully, a ton of games support this feature, as this feature is extremely nice and was a joy to experience.
As far as graphics go, they are a huge, gigantic step up from Wii graphics, as they should be. While none of the games I played had Crysis-like visuals, they did look quite good on the Wii U gamepad, as well as on 40″ HDTVs. Undoubtedly, once developers get used to the Wii U, we can expect much better visuals than what was shown at E3.
Unfortunately, I was unable to try out any of the augmented reality, or the gyroscope.
What do you think of the Wii U so far? Let us know if you will be buying one by leaving a comment below.
Among the various press releases that Aksys Games’ representative showed us at E3 this year, an interesting looking combination appeared at the bottom of the pile. An anime-styled bowling game will be released sometime later this year under the name Crazy Strike Bowling.
