April GBA releases on Wii U bring retro joy

April is set to be packed with GameBoy Advance releases...for the Wii U virtual console. We've known about GBA games heading to Wii U for a while, but now we have some solid games, release dates, and prices. They are as follows:

April 3
Advance Wars ($7.99)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga ($7.99)
Metroid Fusion ($7.99)

April 10
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror ($6.99)
Warioware, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! ($6.99)

April 17
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity ($6.99)
Golden Sun ($7.99)

April 24
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island ($7.99)

If you still have an Ambassador 3DS system, you likely already own many of these games (Metroid Fusion, Kirby, Warioware, F-Zero, and Yoshi's Island, to be exact), but there are a couple to keep your eyes on: Advance Wars is a great turn-based strategy game (supposedly: I never played it, but I would love to), Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is one of the best RPGs to grace the GBA, and Golden Sun (which I have played) is a beautiful throwback to SNES RPGs.

Considering used GBA games go anywhere from $10 to $20, the pricing on these games is not half bad. What are your thoughts?

Nintendo Wishlist Vol. 1 - Simian Dreams

Welcome to the first edition of Nintendo Wishlist!

As big a Nintendo fan as I am, I still wish for certain things from the company, particularly at this controversial time. This is not your typical wishlist: most wishlists are filled with things that are already available and desired by the wishlist's creator. This is a wishlist of things I wish Nintendo would do, games I wish it would announce, and so on.

In my first Nintendo Wishlist, I feel I'm asking for a few things that should be well within Nintendo's ability to deliver. Let's take a look, shall we:

• Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, and 3 announced, and then released as soon as possible, for the Wii U virtual console

When I transferred data from my Wii to my Wii U, I had to redownload all of my numerous virtual console and WiiWare games. It wasn't too much of a hassle: virtual console games in particular took very little time to redownload. However, probably a week later, I went to play Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, only to find that it wasn't there. I thought maybe I missed it as I went through the list of games to redownload. Regrettably, that was not the case. The Donkey Kong Country games are no longer available on the Wii Shop Channel. Therefore, the games (which I did pay for, Nintendo, thank you very much) are no longer available for me to play.

Releasing the Donkey Kong Country games on the Wii U eShop would allow me to purchase them at a discount ($1.50) and make them playable in GamePad-only mode. It might also just make me want to forgive Nintendo for this grievous error. But the likelihood of that happening dwindles by the day. This will probably be a sore spot in my relationship with Nintendo for the rest of my life. 

Now Playing: Week of March 31-April 6

Weekly "Now Playing" posts will begin appearing on the Nintendo Lifeline every Saturday, letting you know what Mary and I are planning to play (and possibly review *winks*) in the coming week. So, without further introduction, let's jump right in:

Holly
Me? I could sure tell you what I want to play, but that list would take up a massive amount of post. What I need to play is Okami. My chemistry lab is over for the semester, which will surely free up time in my schedule. On the handheld front, I'm ecstatic to let you all know that I recently picked up the Gameboy Advance game Golden Sun, to which I'm officially hooked. And I'll most likely finish up Kid Icarus: Uprising this week as well. Excitebots: Trick Racing is my current Gamefly rental, so, in the words of Fi, I calculate a 99.99% chance that I will finish it during the week. In addition to all of that, I hope to play some of my Virtual Console games: Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 64, Final Fantasy III, Actraiser, and Donkey Kong Country to name a few.

Mary
Mary being even busier than me, she has made a single video game goal for the week: to reach a different ending in Chrono Trigger. You all know how high school is! Sports, friends, family, homework, musical instruments, etc. It's sheer chaos!

And you?
The final question, though, is what are you playing this week?

Metroid II: Return of Samus and the way to bring a franchise to the handheld realm

It was many months ago when it occurred to me that the missing link in my Metroid journey could possibly come to the Nintendo 3DS in the form of a virtual console release. The game, of course, is Metroid II: Return of Samus. I would have discussed this one a lot earlier if I had been given the chance. It's not like I could wait for it, so I went from Metroid to Super Metroid.

So here we have Metroid II: Return of Samus, released for GameBoy in 1991 and for Nintendo 3DS virtual console in 2011. Not all game franchises have such a smooth transition to a handheld as this one. And I think Metroid II serves as a great example of how that transition should be made. Simplifying the original so the gameplay remains the highlight, making the objective easy to remember, and maybe adding something the original didn't have to make it worth playing. Metroid II only had one problem: save points were far and few between, and that can be the undoing of a handheld experience. However, the virtual console remedies this problem in one fell swoop.

I look forward to playing some more Metroid in the near future!

By the way, I beat Super Mario Bros.: A Review

Is there a video game more iconic than the original Super Mario Bros.? The NES classic gave form and character to gaming's most prolific mascot, Mario. It showed us that even the simplest of tunes can stick with us for an eternity. It taught us how to search for secrets and hidden paths. Really, it defined much of what video games could and would be in years to come.

But after 26+ years, does this game still hold up? With the help of simple, yet fun, gameplay, the answer is a resounding yes. As Mario, you traverse eight worlds that are each split into four levels, the last of which is a castle of sorts that ends in a boss fight with the Koopa King (Bowser). Sounds simple enough, right? The gameplay revolves around using Mario's incredible jumping ability to stomp foes and clear gaps. Sure, it's a little rough around the edges and you'll most likely experience a handful of cheap deaths before your journey's through, but there is a surprising amount of depth to be found along the way.

After playing this game for weeks and weeks and weeks, I felt like I gained some actual skill at it. It's a great experience in general. If you haven't already, I suggest you put down the meager $5 to download this game onto your Wii console. You won't regret it.

Nintendo Music: Wind Scene

I love music because, like many other forms of art, it has the ability to produce feelings in the human being. Oftentimes, these feelings cannot be described in words, so music is its own beautiful kind of language.

Today's music selection comes from the SNES game Chrono Trigger. It is a great example of a piece of music that creates a feeling that is hard to nail down. Not to mention it augments the feeling that the actual game is portraying at the time it's played.

By the way, in addition to having awesome music, this game is just an overall amazing experience. Enjoy the tune!

A weekend guide for Nintendo fans

Wednesday was a big day in many ways for Nintendo fans. So maybe this is old news, but if you have gotten lost in all of the Nintendo goodness that happened, let the Nintendo Lifeline help you find your way through it this weekend!

First, a special Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword bundle was announced. The first shipment of the game will include a bonus 25th Anniversary Symphony CD, all for $50. Upgrade to $70 and the game comes with a special limited edition gold Wii remote Plus. Pre-order your preferred package on Amazon today!

Next, 3DS Ambassadors are now able to download the ten free NES games promised a few months back. Here follows a list of the games and my impressions so far:

Super Mario Bros.: How can you go wrong with the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES? Okay, the gameplay might have aged a bit, but this classic can still be fun today. It feels pretty good on the 3DS, but it is admittedly not as comfortable as the sideways Wii remote set-up.

The Legend of Zelda: I've never understood why the original Legend of Zelda was so innovative back in its time. Perhaps that's because it is anything but innovative at this point in time. But, in celebration of the series' silver anniversary, I'm willing to give it more of a shot than I ever have before. Stay tuned!

Yoshi: Puzzle games never seem to make it into my gaming libraries, but they probably should, because I have enjoyed the heck out of Yoshi, a simplistic NES puzzle game. This game is definitely the hidden gem in this group of NES freebies. When this game is released for the general public, the $5 should be worth it.

Donkey Kong Jr.: I haven't had much time with this game, but I don't like what I've played so far. The action is slow, the gameplay is boring, and the controls are iffy.

Metroid: I've talked about this game before, so you should just check out this post to get the full picture. In short, this is a great game. Go for it if it's free, and consider it even if you have to pay the $5.

Other free games for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors include Wrecking Crew, The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and NES Open Tournament Golf. I'll play those a little more in order to provide more coverage on them in the future.

Finally, I want to include instructions on how Ambassadors are to download these games, because it's a fairly complicated process: 1) Go into the Nintendo eShop from your Nintendo 3DS menu screen. 2) Scroll all the way to the left in order to find the Settings/Other icon and select it. 3) Scroll down to the Your Downloads button and select it. 4) Scroll down until you find the ten free games and select Redownload on the first one. You'll have to repeat steps 2-4 multiple times in order to download all of the games.

Have an amazing Labor Day weekend!

 

Are you a Nintendo 3DS Ambassador?

I'm sure you've heard the news by now, so I'm not going to be repeating anything unless it needs to be repeated. If you haven't heard the news by now, here's the link to all the info you need.

I'd like to start with a little bit of math! Don't worry, I'll try to keep it clean. So the price of the Nintendo 3DS system dropped from 250 bucks to 170 bucks. That's a difference of 80 bucks (an unprecedented drop in just four months time). What are Nintendo's plans to appease early adopters (or what they have deemed Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors)? Well, you start with 10 free downloadable NES virtual console games worth five bucks apiece. Okay, that's $50. But I'd like to tie in the value of receiving them earlier than the general public: priceless. Next, early N3DS buyers will have the opportunity to download 10 more free games later this year. These will be Gameboy Advance (GBA) game downloads that Nintendo has no plans to release to the general public at all. I bought a used copy of Metroid Fusion for about $15. Even if we choose to value each GBA game at 10 bucks apiece, the value is a whopping $100. A $150 value altogether? Not bad.

I was quite upset after hearing about the price drop of the N3DS, but Ambassadors will be well-compensated, make no mistake. Have a sensational weekend!

Super Mario RGP: Legend of the Seven Stars

I got to say I love this game! It's very exciting! Well if you haven't heard about it then you must be thinking, "Oh okay it's just another Super Mario game where you go through the levels. Than you get to each ending guy and blah blah blah same thing!" Now I'm not saying that doing the same old thing is bad, I mean it's Super Mario for petes sake! Although doing the same thing can be fun, sometimes doing something different is even better. This game, my friend, is definitely something different!

You see instead of having level after level of pure awesomeness, this game is in fact a true RPG. There are more than three boxes of dialog, (that mind you, in the original games only come after you've defeated an ending guy, and usually ended with "But the princess is in another castle!"), and instead of killing people by jumping on them, you actually get in a battle with them! I'm talking the kind of battles where you can strategize and such wonderful things! Now I have your attention don't I?

So this game starts off with such an 'original' beginning. Peach gets kidnapped. Wow, didn't see that one coming. Of course I'm just joking around. I mean it wouldn't be a real Mario game unless Peach did get kidnapped! The one who does the deed is, of course, Bowser! Personally he's always been my favorite in all the games! He's just too helpless! I mean even in this game he isn't the all mighty and powerful ending guy! That title goes to . . . well let us not spoil that little tid bit of information shall we?

Anyways! Well Mario goes off to save Peach, and guess what? He does! Not too far into the game you save Peach! She joins your party along with a certain bad guy. Bowser shows his sensitive side, which to us is a really hilarious side, to Mario. Turns out he got kicked out of his castle! The one who did was - wait, what? A giant sword? With eyes and a mouth? Now it gets interesting!

Mario goes off on a quest to get Bowser back his castle. Though this isn't the intention of the game. What you really are meant to do is repair Star Road! A place that was broken when the giant sword split right through it! Without Star Road no dreams will ever come true! Now we can't let that happen! So the seven stars that make up Star Road have to be found! 

Of course I won't spoil anything for you but I will give you a hint as to who appears in this little RPG of ours! The cast includes: Geno, a doll possessed by a celestial spirit from the Star Road. Peach/Princess Toadstool, who refused to just sit back! Bowser, a sensitive bad guy gone good. Mallow, a . . . tadpole? These are our main characters! Really quite an interesting bunch! Of course there are side characters! Yoshi for instance! I mean it really wouldn't be Super Mario without him am I right? What else do you need to complete the super awesome Super Mario stew? Mario's jump!

This does make an appearance of course! Through out the game people are constantly trying to prove that he is the one and only Mario. So how does he do it? He jumps! That along with in battle; this is where you can use a special technique where if you time tapping the X button along with his jumps you take off more HP!

One ending you guy face is one that may spark some interest. I can't give you full details since doing that would ruin the story for you. All I have to say is: Axem Rangers. They're like the power rangers except EVIL! MUAHAHAHAHA!!! Anyways, if you have the time, pick up the game and go on an adventure! Of course you'll have to own a Super NES or an internet-ready Wii if you want to play it! Trust me it's completely worth it! For more information on this game here's a website! I've read through most of it and deem it correct! Just don't read too far into it or else you'll know the whole story!!

Metroid and the Thrill of the New

The adventure begins!

I admit it. I'm a modern gamer. I am acutely aware that video games have become easier with time, thanks in part to the improvement in technology. Sometimes I am discouraged by this. Am I not a true gamer because the original Legend of Zelda on NES bores me?!

In a deeply personal and eye-opening way, the game Metroid for the NES has answered this question and more. Have I beaten it? No. Will I ever? Maybe not. I just couldn't resist expressing my excitement about it here on my blog.

In a comparison of controls between Metroid and Super Mario Bros. (NES), Metroid wins. In a comparison of the drive to keep exploring between Metroid and The Legend of Zelda, Metroid wins. And this is coming from a huge fan of both the Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series. The original Metroid seamlessly combined the great aspects of both series into one polished game. It's a shame my older siblings didn't see the value of Metroid back in the NES era! I can see where I'd be now...I'd have gotten all the entries in the Metroid Prime series and then some.

I'll get to that point some day, but for now, I only have the original (thanks to the Wii system's Virtual Console Feature, of course!). Before I move on, I must say that before I bought Metroid, the extent of my exposure to the series stretched only to screenshots. I had never played a single entry before. That said, my perspective was quite fresh. Also, it was a new experience, which is always a beautiful thing.

Anyway, Metroid is truly great, even by today's standards! The controls are spot-on; I can adjust every jump to perfection. There's no need to open menus repeatedly in order to equip items, yet Samus can obtain and utilize a surprising variety of abilities and equipment. The idea of exploring to my heart's content keeps me coming back for more, even though I haven't reached any sort of benchmark to indicate that I've actually accomplished something (i.e. a boss). I can wander from room to room to corridor to room and so on and not find a single thing! But I know that if I keep searching, I'll find something worthwhile. For example, today I randomly happened across a whole new area with new music and new enemies...the thrill of discovery! Maybe it's just me, but Metroid is an incredible game!

The Nintendo Way (continued)

5.       Nintendo Power magazine has been my constant companion since March 2006. There’s not a source I trust more for Nintendo news, previews, and reviews. NP has broadened my horizons, letting me in on games that are a perfect match for me, but that I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. A great example is the rhythm game Samba de Amigo for Wii. At a mere $20, this easily makes my list of the top five best values. The game-play revolves around the idea that Wii remotes can be used much like maracas. I can’t go into detail, but I love this game. It also opened my eyes to the fact that the rhythm genre of video games extends beyond Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Imagine that!

4.      Nintendo’s vast history is more accessible now than ever before through Wii. That’s right; number four is all about old-school! Thanks to the Wii system’s Virtual Console, I own games like Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Mario Party 2, Donkey Kong Country (numbers one, two, and three), Star Fox 64, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Metroid. I put Metroid at the end for a reason: this is how the Virtual Console feature has really impacted me as a gamer. The Metroid series is one of the big Nintendo juggernauts. It was only a few months ago that I decided I wanted to be a part of this series. I spent a whopping five bucks on the NES original. Boy was I impressed! I never thought I could enjoy NES classics like I enjoy Metroid.

3.       The Super Smash Bros. series highlights another great Nintendo feat: that is, the gargantuan roster of characters and all the fantastic worlds they inhabit. It just so happens that each Super Smash Bros. game thus far has managed what seemed impossible: to bring this enormous number of characters together in a most perfect way. The Nintendo “family” includes such figures as sweet, innocent Kirby, charismatic Captain Falcon, determined Pokemon Trainer, sweet-but-sassy Princess Peach, and slightly dorky Ness, to name a few.

2.      Creativity and originality are indispensible traits in video games. (Or at least they should be.) Nintendo titles and systems have them in spades. Take the most basic series in Nintendo history: Super Mario Bros. Let’s see, there is a Mushroom Kingdom, pipes that warp the player to different locations, enemies with names like Goomba, Koopa, and Shy Guy, a plumber as a protagonist, a dinosaur/turtle…thing as a villain, and a kidnapped princess. Do you see where I’m going with this? How do all these wacky elements combine to create the best-known, most widely-played video game series of all time? Who knows? But it’s great, isn’t it? Nintendo has demonstrated again and again the willingness to try new things.

1.      From casual to hard core, from age 7 to 77, Nintendo games cater to every player’s needs. Do video games get more casual than Wii Sports? I’ve got friends, who had never touched a video game before, to play Wii Sports back in the day (or back in 2007 anyway). It seems it’s becoming the fashion now-a-days to consider an M-rated, explosion-littered, kill-everything-in-sight game to be “hard core”. Well here’s my idea of a hard core game: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. A plot with depth, characters with motives, music with thought, a spot-on control scheme that includes the perfect balance of motion-controls to button presses, and cleverly-designed dungeons…the story is driven by emotionally-charged cut scenes; the characters bring the player to wonder who the true enemies and allies are (*cough*Midna*cough*). It easily takes 30-50 hours to complete this game, depending on the time spent pursuing optional, but extensive side quests. Wii Sports and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are just two examples of the variety offered by Nintendo.

That concludes my list of the top ten reasons to love Nintendo. So join me as I offer my opinions on Nintendo games, embark on the journey of the Metroid series, and ponder on all the joys and hardships that come with being a gamer.