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Read-a-long with Nintendo Power (#228, May 2008)
By Joe Fourhman | April 19, 2008
Another month, another last gasp of print media. Join Aeropause for this regular dissection of this twenty-year-old gaming staple… and read-a-long!
Issue #228, May 2008
featured games: Final Fantasy IV DS, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Time/Darkness, Boom Blox, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Summon Night: Twin Age, LEGO Indiana Jones, Bangai-O Spirits
Let’s get the shocker out of the way: Nintendo Power gave the long-awaited Okami port a mere 7.5. Some choice lines from the review… “The controls didn’t make the jump to Wii as well as they should have.” “…the game [has a tough] time recognizing your brush strokes.” “…if you swing too fast you won’t be able to attack at all.”
And the kicker: “Okami is a work of genius, but you should play the original game instead of the Wii version if you can.” Nintendo Power just recommended a PS2 game.
So what the heck is that dude on the cover? Is Dark Cecil really the best FFIV cover art they could come up with? The dramatic FF anime splash page for the 10-page feature article is better than that. I actually thought the cover image was from Soulcalibur or something… which is probably exactly what NP hoped.
Anyway, the article runs a long road towards convincing you that it’s worth buying FFIV again, this time on DS. Since the original North American SNES release (as FFII, you’ll recall), FFIV has been tweaked and jimmied for PlayStation, GBA… even WonderSwan. Interviews with creator Takashi Tokita and director Takashi Tokita comprise the bulk of the information, with both alluding that FFIV DS is designed to be more challenging than the previous incarnations of the game.
So anyone worried about FFIV being another rehash can look forward to new moves (specifically when it comes to improving the weaker moves of the original, as in anything associated with Edward the spoony bard), an augment system that allows characters to transfer their signature abilities to others, and a boosted overall difficulty level with altered boss patterns. Clearly, Square Enix is catering to an audience of diehards, but it is nice to hear that this isn’t another phoned-in port. I haven’t even brought up the complete graphical overhaul.
Perhaps the most surprising new addition is the Whyt, a summon creature that looks a lot like Blanca from Animal Crossing without the dress.
Whyt seems to be the obligatory DS-featureset-packhorse. Your Whyt’s abilities are determined by playing mini-games of your choosing. Select the Cecil mini-game (”which involve[s] stabbing enemies with your stylus) and you’ll boost his attack stats. Go for Rydia’s mini-game and you improve Whyt’s intellect by way of a Brain Age-style math quiz. I’m sure somebody’s mini-game requires you to blow into the mic, per Nintendo’s DS Code of Conduct circa 2004. And if you get bored of all that, you can redraw Whyt’s face.
In vocab news, the FFIV article uses the word “efficacy” twice.
Steven Spielberg “checks in nearly every week to review the latest version of the game,” according to the Boom Blox article. I don’t get the gaming press adoration of Spielberg. We have enough of our own rock stars, we don’t need to appropriate the giants of other media. In the immortal words of Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights, “He’s very important to the process. He’s paying for it.”
That said, I’m really intrigued by Boom Blox. You stack up blocks; you knock them down. This could be the Katamari of 2008, except that Katamari 2004 got by on weirdness and word-of-mouth, whereas Boom Blox keeps overplaying the Spielberg connection.
Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai probably doesn’t say much in his NP interview that didn’t come up at some point on his Smash Bros Dojo website, but he does talk a little about the initial concept for Smash Bros. Guess what, it was originally mascot-free until unnamed parties at Nintendo suggested putting in all the Nintendo characters. Unlike the similarly-spawned Starfox Adventures, we can safely state that this advice worked out for the better with Smash Bros.
Sakurai brings up the prickly idea that Nintendo hasn’t “had a lot of new characters … since Captain Olimar” (of Pikmin fame, 2001). This kind of thing always lights up message boards, but I think he unfairly discounts a lot of newer Nintendo franchises that could have donated Smash challengers. The Boy/Girl from Animal Crossing could have worked like the Ice Climbers. Paper Mario could have been a very intriguing addition. Custom Robo, the cheer squad from Ouendan, Chibi-Robo, the gang from Golden Sun… there’s plenty of games he could have mined. And how did Nintendo overlook the incredibly obvious Mii fighter?
The interview with PaRappa creator Masaya Matsuura does not gloss over his decidedly non-Nintendo history, particularly the inspiration for PaRappa and the advent of the rhythm genre. He doesn’t even mention his upcoming Wii game, Major Minor’s Majestic March. Awkwardness abounds, though. The interviewer asks if he prefers Guitar Hero or Rock Band, and Matsuura points out that neither has been released in Japan. Then NP asks about his dog. Well, his dog’s dead.
Lightning Round
Virtual Console Staff Picks: only one this issue, Phantasy Star II (Genesis)
Top scoring Wii review: Mario Kart Wii, 9.0 (all scores out of 10)
Top scoring DS review: The World Ends With You, 9.0
Lowest rated Wii review: Summer Sports: Paradise Island, 3.5
Lowest rated DS review: Rondo of Swords, 6.5; MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars, 6.5
Best advertising slogan: “All the fun of an RC helicopter, without the fear of losing an eye!” - MiniCopter Adventure Flight (Wii)
Biggest fanboy tease: Square Enix’s Takashi Tokita on the topic of revisiting Chrono Trigger… “If the demand is great enough, it’s certainly possible.” To the internet, Chrono fans!
Best use of Kirby: Chris New’s hilarious sculpture of the pink puff after sucking up No More Heroes’ Travis Touchdown.
Next month in Nintendo Power… Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2! Join Aeropause next month as we surgically alter issue #229. We read NP so you don’t have to!
Tags: Nintendo, nintendo power, read-a-long
Topics: Nintendo, read-a-long |
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Comment by Shane — April 19, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
“In vocab news, the FFIV article uses the word “efficacy” twice.”
LOL.
I didn’t know Spielberg is a gamer?
Nice article!
Comment by paintball745 — April 19, 2008 @ 11:24 pm
well i must say that that kirby loks mighty pissed.
Comment by Paul Munn — April 20, 2008 @ 8:11 am
I think the IGN review also recommended the PS2 version except when it came to the new higher resolution visuals on the Wii. It’s nice to see both versions of the game are worth playing.
Comment by Sifer2400 — April 21, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
that one funny looking kirby
Comment by UberDuder75 — April 21, 2008 @ 7:37 pm
I’ve got issue #1-#10 of Nintendo Power. I should see how much they’re worth.
Comment by UberDuder75 — April 21, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
Ok it’s worth a lot :-0
Comment by Shane — April 21, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
Sell them dude! Sell them before they get moldy.