Nintendo Power Recap – March 2007 issue
Yesterday, I got my hands on the new issue of Nintendo Power, and it’s fairly early for once. Some good tidbits inside, here are my highlights.
On the cover, we’ve got a nice pic of Sonic for their feature on Sonic and the Secret Rings, which we’ll get to in just a bit. Also, what’s this? Along the top, we see there are some new games coming for Wii, and among them… Super Paper Mario.
So I guess that’s official, sorry GCN owners.
The letters column is alright, a little more dull than the usual fare, though it is amusing when someone tries to correct them on the name of the Wii Fire Emblem game (frequently refered to within NP as simply “Fire Emblem“), and citing Wikipedia as their source. You can pretty much guess how it goes from there, though later in the same issue, they seem to concede and use the full Japanese name. Guess everyone wins.
Oh, and another pitches the idea of a “DS Player” to attach to the Wii, but they pretty much shoot that one down. I don’t think that’d be so good anyway, save for very select instances…
Also, don’t expect a timeline for Zelda to be forthcoming.
News has previews of Dragon Quest IX, Medal of Honor: Vanguard for Wii, and an untitled Looney Tunes game for Wii which is cited as “Warner Bros. meets Smash Bros.”.
Previews gives some looks at Pokemon (April 2007), Rayman: Raving Rabbids for DS (March 2007), SNK Vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS (February 2007), with a nice pic of a Mega Man X card, and a nice look over the TMNT games (March 2007) coming to Wii, DS, and even GBA, the latter in the form of a classic “Final Fight” type brawler.
Oh, and of course, Super Paper Mario. How could I forget? *whistles*
Coming in April, the game starts in traditionally-but-lovably Mario cliche’, with Bowser kidnapping the Princess, and those “buttinsky buddies” giving chase to an interdimensional town known as Flipside, which has a black hole looming overhead with math equations floating through.
Parody of another big recent release? Maybe.
Interestingly, it seems the game will be simple to control as all it requires is a sideways-held Wii remote, with basic Mario controls in play (2 being the jump button here), and the A button turning things sideways. Plus, shaking the remote when jumping on an enemy allows for extra points to be accumulated.
Along the way, Mario gains assistance from characters known as Pixls, which sort of act like a cursor and can help search areas, find doors, or highlight enemy weaknesses.
In addition to all this and the move to the Wii, it sounds like the game will accomodate better graphics than those on display back at E3, hopefully paving the way for more Paper fun on the Wii.
NP also takes a look at recent and future releases for the Virtual Console, perhaps giving us an idea of what to expect in the near future. Of the games listed, some of those not released are: Comix Zone, Donkey Kong Country, Streets of Rage, and Super Mario World.
Another feature here, “Better Gaming Through Science” looks at a “recent middle-school study,” which “proves that liberal application of the Wii can transform even the most hopeless non-gamer into a Super Smash Bros. opponent.”
I seriously have NO idea the legitimacy of this piece, though I strongly suspect it’s a just-for-fun they threw together.
At least, it’d better be. I’ll pound the kid who got their hands on Metroid Prime 3 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl this early.
Another feature gives tips on Diddy Kong Racing DS, and another looks over Mario Party 8. Playable Hammer Bro = win.
Then we have one for Wario: Master of Disguise, which proclaims boldly “Master of Disguise may grab the record for fart references in a game featuring a talking wand.” I guess it’s always better to pick your battles. The article describes Wario’s various powers in detail, and more.
SSX Blur is there, if you want it, as well as an official miniguide to Final Fantasy VI.
Bonus! Rayman poster on one side, 2007 Super Smash Bros. Brawl calendar on the other.
It’s votin’ time, as NP is taking votes for their nominees for the 2006 Nintendo Power Awards. A winning entry via the Player’s Poll gets 1 Wii, 1 DS Lite, 1 copy of the GCN game of the year, 1 copy of the Wii game of the year, 1 copy of the DS game of the year, and 1 copy of the GBA game of the year.
What would be sad is if Zelda managed the best on both GCN and Wii.
Speaking of which, “Playback” looks back at two Zelda I never got to play, the Oracle duo.
Reviews for the latest batch of titles: Wii Play gets 7.0, Final Fantasy VI Advance a 9.5, Diddy Kong Racing DS a 7.5, Hotel Dusk an 8.0, Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja a 6.5, Konami’s Marvel Trading Card Game a meager 4.0, Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel a 6.0, and Lunar Knights an 8.0.
Community features some familiar-looking celebrity Miis, and other fan stuff. Oh, and this:
“After a bloody, two-hour round of Star Fox Command with our readers, it’s fair to say that the Nintendo Power team owns the servers- which is beside the point, because we got the crap kicked out of us in the game.”
Next issue: My Sims for DS, SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS, Alien Syndrome, and more Mario Party 8.
And you didn’t think I’d go without sharing some of Sonic and the Secret Rings, did you?
Well, if you did, your loss, because then you probably aren’t reading this. Tsk tsk.
They say the game is due in March, but the ad just before the feature says Feb. So, I don’t know there.
As noted in past previews, control is simple, with the player simply steering the Blue Blur left and right by tilting the remote as he goes forward.
“Originally, we were going to produce Sonic the Hedgehog, the game we did for the XBox 360, on all platforms, including Wii,” reveals Secret Rings’ producer Yojiro Ogawa. “But after we looked at the Wii remote and the features of the controller, we decided to produce a new, completely different Sonic title for the system. I already had this basic idea [of Sonic constantly moving forward] in my mind, and when Sega asked me to produce the Wii game, I thought it would be a perfect fit.”
Stages include the dinosaurs, the wreckage of a pirate ship on the stormy seas, a fossil yard, and “running along floating paths in the sky that lead to ancient ruins atop giant flying beasts.”
While the article admits the game pretty much runs on rails, “there is more to Sonic and the Secret Rings than just moving left and right.” It also has a “healthy” dose of platforming, with the 2 button activating his jump(hold it down longer to go higher), and flicking the controller for his patented Homing Attack.
If things get too fast? Button 1 puts on the brakes.
In addition, there are various context-sensitive actions, including rope-swinging, magic carpet rides, and even catapults, plus some impressive boss battles.
The feature notes that this is Ogawa’s first time heading up a Sonic project, though he did pitch in on the original Sonic Adventure, as well as Phantasy Star Online, Feel the Magic XY/XX, and Panzer Dragoon Saga.
“Once Sega decided to do a Sonic title specifically for Wii, I wanted to make a game that was completely different from the Sonic the Hedgehog that (the other team) had been making for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.”
(And it’s for the better, to hear some speak of the other title.)
That includes the story, which starts when a genie named Shahra appears to Sonic and informs him that the evil Erazor Djinn is absorbing the power of The Arabian Nights and causing the pages to disappear. And according to legend, the only one who can defeat him is a blue hedgehog.
Definitely different.
Cutscenes are presented like a sketchbook presentation, and music is “an interesting blend of Arabian-style melodies and ‘classic’ Sega guitar rock.” According to NP, the team’s done well in blending Sonic’s universe with this theme.
A sidebar promises “no treasure hunting,” “no wonky camera,” “no brooding anti-hero” (“If we wanted some angsty, spikey-haired bad boy to drag us down, we’d play FINAL FANTASY VII. That’s a joke! We kid the FINAL FANTASY!”), “no guns,” and finally, “no Big the Cat.” (“Best of all, Sonic and the Secret Rings is completely devoid of dim-witted, morbidly-obese felines. We think.”)
Not that Sonic’s cast of allies and enemies don’t put in any appearances; besides a variety of near-Mario Party quality mini-games, familiar faces appear not as themselves, but as characters from the stories. Tails is Ali Baba, Eggman is a bumbling King of Persia, and you gotta see Knuckles decked out as Sinbad…
And in the place of seven Chaos Emeralds are the Secret Rings, a source of unparalleled power in the world of Arabian Nights, all of which must be collected to see the true ending… there may be more to them, but that’s all Ogawa is saying, being “Secret” and all.
Another big change is the addition of special skills to the heroic ‘hog, 100 in total to choose from. With various mission objectives to complete in the stages, you can earn medals which can help grant you new powers such as an extended range for your Homing Attack, the ability to move left or right faster, or cancelling a jump to execute a ground-pound that’ll probably make Mario a little jealous.
The moves are purchased with skill points, which are earned through completing stages and gaining experience based on your score. You can turn skills on and off (turning them off returns your points to you), and multiple skills can be equipped, though it’s unlikely you’ll be able to equip them all at once (I eagerly await seeing the internet defy this). There are also certain areas that can only be reached through special skills, so that adds some replay there.
In addition, leveling up inproves Sonic’s standard skills, including Speed Break, which lets Sonic race through portions of levels at blurring speeds, and Time Break, which puts things into a bullet-time perspective. If you’ve watched the videos, you’ve no doubt seen the former, as well as those glowing pellets whose purpose is to fill the gauge used to activate these powers.
This concept of powering up Sonic is one of the reasons the hedgehog is going solo for the first time in years. “I realized that many of the other characters [in the series] were becoming too strong,” says Ogawa. “Usually, when we create a Sonic title, we create the Sonic parts first, then add some powers to each of the other characters to differentiate them. But as a result, those other characters end up being stronger than Sonic. With this game, I wanted to focus solely on Sonic and allow the players to customize him according to their own tastes.”
So true, and so cool.
Contrary to what was reported before of 10 stages, the feature says there are 8 stages in Sonic and the Secret Rings, each consisting of 12 missions with different stipulations. The first is basic: reach the end. Others can involve themes such as collecting 99 rings, or racing someone to the goal. With different missions, there are different branches to the areas, allowing players to reach parts of the stage they may not have otherwise gone to, and addressing a complaint in recent of the linear feel of Sonic stages.
Your performance when completing a mission earns you bronze, silver, or gold medals, which aren’t necessary to the main story, but help unlock new abilities and pages in the Secret Book, which is a collection of over 200 bonus features including production art, Sonic trivia to celebrate his 15 years, and more.
Personally speaking, this has me stoked, and I encourage everyone who likes Sonic to read this issue of Nintendo Power when it hits newsstands in a few weeks.
Or if you can’t wait that long, register three Nintendo-brand systems or games with MyNintendo (register your Wii, and you get a 90-day extension of your warranty) and you can get three issues for free, with an option at the end to subscribe for a year for $12 (15 in Canada), a buck an issue. It’s free, what’ve you got to lose?
I can’t wait for this game to come out, and not counting Wii Play or Wii Sports, it may just be my second Wii title.
Blue is Back.
‘Til next month, folks!
–LBD “Nytetrayn”