Nintendo Direct 12/18

Neerb · December 18, 2013, 12:04:17 PM

HOLY CRAP this was a good one.

- Hyrule Warriors, a Dynasty Warriors game in the world of The Legend of Zelda. Big battles and over-the-top combat make this spin-off a dream-come-true for fans who want more action, although a REAL Zelda game is also still in the works by Nintendo. Plus, a ZELDA spin-off? How often does that even happen?
- Kirby Triple Deluxe!! The first 3DS Kirby game, it will feature a 4-player battle mode that looks like Smash Bros. Lite.
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is coming along nicely. New trailer shows off Cranky's skills.
- Bravely Default, which will be available in America this February, is getting a special Demo in January. This demo is actually a side-story not found in the main game, and is fully StreetPass-compatible with both other demos and the main game.
- Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder is coming to America! Help Chibi-Robo in various mini-games and a photo-hunting journey using the 3DS camera.
- Yoshi's New Island looks great, like a moving painting. Not a huge fan of the Yoshi games, but it's nice to see Nintendo giving older series some love.
- Nintendo-themed DLC is coming to Sonic Lost World. A Yoshi's Island-themed level is available for free TODAY, and another free level is coming out in the coming weeks (it's speculated to be Zelda-themed, of all things)
- A new game called NES Remix is available NOW on Wii U's eShop. The game features 12 NES games mixed together to offer WarioWare-esque challenges in bizzare ways, such as playing the first stage of Donkey Kong as Link, completing a slippery frozen version of a Super Mario Bros. level, or racing ExciteBikes in the dark.
- Dr. Luigi is finally in business! The Year of Luigi concludes with a Luigi add-on to Wii U's Dr. Mario Online game (I forgot that was even a thing).
- Mario Kart 8 gets a new trailer, showing off several new courses and the return of the four Baby characters (Mario Bros. and their two Princesses)
- New cinematic trailer similar to those from E3 reveals ROSALINA for Super Smash Bros. 4! She fights using her wand and a friendly Luma, with the duo acting like a cross between Pikmin & Olimar and the Ice Climbers. It's worth noting this is the first newcomer we've seen since E3.

I can't even describe how excited I am for Hyrule Warriors, and Rosalina looks terrific and unique in Smash. Also, I JUST added $20 to my eShop a couple days ago, so I'm going to go ahead and check out NES Remix and post a quick opinion on this thread when I'm done.

JrDude · December 18, 2013, 12:10:11 PM

Like.

Tupin · December 18, 2013, 03:06:41 PM

Hyrule Warriors looks awesome.

I would have liked a more traditional Chibi-Robo game.

Tell me how that NES Remix is, I'm intrigued.

Neerb · December 18, 2013, 07:28:28 PM

So NES Remix is pretty fun. It brings Wario Ware to mind, but it's far less frantic and more complicated. You do one to four minigames per set, and they vary in length or difficulty; sometimes it's "PRESS B NOW" four times in a row and sometimes it's "complete this entire level of Balloon Fighter."

The "remix" part applies to more than just taking scenes out of games, though; there's stuff made from scratch or altered to make it more interesting. On one game I had to complete a stage of Donkey Kong Jr, but the platforms were neon lights and they flicker out, blinding me to everything but my character and the enemies. Another game I played Super Mario Bros., only Mario automatically sprints and you just have to time your jumps. Yet another game featured the stage from original Mario Bros. game, but you control two Marios simultaneously and must collect 16 coins within a very short time, requiring careful use of both Marios.

The whole experience is bizarre, but fun, fast-paced, and addicting. It's also fairly rewarding; you unlock new microgames with stars (which you earn by doing well in games, 3 per game), and you also get "bits" every time you play a game, which unlock Miiverse stamps like those in Super Mario 3D World (could stamps be Nintendo's reinterpretation of Achievements?).

As for bang-for-your-buck, there seems to be plenty here. I was hesitant on the $15 price tag, but there's a lot to play. 12 different NES games, each game has its own personal category which features 7-14 minigames, each minigame is actually 1-4 microgames. PLUS, in addition to the regular 12 game categories, there's the "Remix" categories which feature content mixed from all the games and are extra hard; I'm not sure how many Remix categories there are, but the first one is called "Remix I," so there're at least 2.

It's nostalgic, it's fun, it's addicting. $15 might seem a bit steep, but it's definitely not a bad game.

Tupin · December 18, 2013, 11:00:46 PM

It just sucks that a lot of Nintendo's first party games early on during the NES library were so mediocre. Could they really not put in Kid Icarus or Metroid?

Zero · December 19, 2013, 04:13:59 AM

Hyrule Warriors? Why not. I've been playing One Piece Pirate Warriors 2 lately so sure I can look forward to that. I just hope that on top of different fighting styles depending on what you have equipped you also can play as some other Zelda characters, even if there aren't that many to choose from.

I'm cool with Rosalina, but I honestly wanted to see more on "X".

2014 might be a strong year for Nintendo. They certainly need it after looking at how the Wii U is doing. Its software attach rate is still better than Xbone's or PS4's, but its also been out a year so who knows if that can even last once M$ and Sony gets momentum.

Nintendo says they understand how a machine is basically the games you play on it and it always comes down to the games, but this time around I think they really relied too much on New Super Mario Bros., the popularity of tablets, and Ubisoft's promises and it really burned them.

I mean, everywhere you go right now online it seems like people just want Nintendo to go third party when they have no current incentive to do so. They want the games just not the console they are on and this is just flat out backward from what things were like back in the day.

Neerb · December 19, 2013, 11:35:37 AM

Quote from: Tupin on December 18, 2013, 11:00:46 PM
It just sucks that a lot of Nintendo's first party games early on during the NES library were so mediocre. Could they really not put in Kid Icarus or Metroid?

That was pretty much what I was thinking at first.

"Wow, so nostalgic!.. too bad the only NES game I like is Punch-Out."

Still, it's a fun game in-of-itself.

Tupin · December 19, 2013, 03:35:35 PM

I actually saw a Wii U commercial where a kid responded to their parent saying "A Wii U? But we already have a Wii."

Zero · December 19, 2013, 06:46:39 PM

Quote from: Tupin on December 19, 2013, 03:35:35 PM
I actually saw a Wii U commercial where a kid responded to their parent saying "A Wii U? But we already have a Wii."

Is...Nintendo trying to be ironic?

Tupin · December 19, 2013, 07:00:56 PM

Quote from: Zero on December 19, 2013, 06:46:39 PM
Is...Nintendo trying to be ironic?

It's actually a legitimate complaint that many people had and they're trying to fix it.

Guarantee they're not going to go with such a similar name next time.

Zero · December 19, 2013, 09:51:00 PM

Quote from: Tupin on December 19, 2013, 07:00:56 PM
It's actually a legitimate complaint that many people had and they're trying to fix it.

Guarantee they're not going to go with such a similar name next time.

To this day I still can't believe they ditched the name "Revolution"

I mean come on. At this point its perfect too. As mentioned in another thread, it really is kind of like the big shots of the late 80's and early 90's are teaming up to face more modern competition and stay alive.

Tupin · December 19, 2013, 10:14:49 PM

Quote from: Zero on December 19, 2013, 09:51:00 PM
To this day I still can't believe they ditched the name "Revolution"

I mean come on. At this point its perfect too. As mentioned in another thread, it really is kind of like the big shots of the late 80's and early 90's are teaming up to face more modern competition and stay alive.

2006 and 2012 were different technological markets, and they knew it. They just overestimated how much "tablet+game console" would be a thing.

If they really wanted to get off the ground, they'd make a Disney Infinity clone with that NFC spot that's been on the Wii U Gamepad since day 1. That's what's in.

Zero · December 20, 2013, 05:30:02 PM

Aren't they dabbling a bit with that for Pokemon Rumble U?

They might be a bit intimidated by the competition.

Tupin · December 20, 2013, 05:52:36 PM

Uh, they're Nintendo. The only other company that has a cast of characters that can even come close to brand recognition on Disney scale.

Though I have heard they're looking into "experiences" for smartphones/tablets. They're adamant about only developing actual games for their own platforms, but this was something that they wouldn't even touch a few years ago.

Zero · December 20, 2013, 06:27:09 PM

Yeah but think about it. How successful is a third competitor going to be when the Skylanders has been on the market for years and Disney will be successful because its Disney.

I mean how many 179.99 combo pack toy game bullpoop can you even sell? Are parents really going to double or triple up when really the products are mostly the same?