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Toki Tori devs ar-rive with new platforming shooter
Two Tribes announced its latest game today, a "metal wrecking, robot hacking shooter" called Rive. The game is a 2D shooter-meets-platformer with "old school gaming values," in which players blast robotic enemies and alter their enemies' behavior by gathering and installing hacks. Rive's announcement trailer shows the players' tank-like hero of sorts leaping across levels and firing in 360 degrees, emphasizing the game's blend of arcade-style shooting and platforming action. Rive is the first game from the Toki Tori developer following its reboot in January. At that time, Two Tribes cut its team down to just two (now three for the development of Rive), switching its focus to publishing as opposed to development. The developer did create a hi-res Wii U port of Awesomenauts developer Ronimo Games' first game, Swords and Soldiers, which launched in May. Rive will launch in early 2015 for PC and unspecified consoles. [Image: Two Tribes]
Thomas Was Alone needs your company
Thomas Was Alone, the iPad adaptation of the hit PC and console platformer, proves that you don't need flashy graphics to create an emotional attachment between a player and a character. You see, Thomas is nothing more than a small red block, but by the end of the game's epic story you'll probably like him more than most fully rendered 3D game protagonists. At its heart, Thomas Was Alone is a pretty straightforward platform puzzle game. You guide Thomas and a number of other blocky characters through increasingly complex levels that require inventive solutions. Your goal is to make it to the portals at the end of each stage, but getting there isn't as simple as it usually appears to be. Each block has different properties, like the ability to jump higher than the rest or float on water where the others will sink, and you'll need to use all of them in order to navigate to the exit. This often means a good deal of trial and error -- but mostly error -- as you'll miss jumps, fall in deadly liquid-filled pits, and get stuck in areas where you don't belong. If you pay attention to the story sequences between levels you'll learn the background of how Thomas and his friends came to be. It involves an artificial intelligence experiment gone wrong, and the self-aware AIs that resulted are the blocks you meet along the way. It's a very strange concept, but it helps give purpose to your actions and adds a good bit of geeky humor as well. The game is quite long, spanning a solid 100 levels in the core game as well as an additional 20 levels in the included expansion adventure called "Benjamin's Flight." The bonus levels add a jetpack to the mix, which creates a whole new way to play, and you can start this standalone quest right from the main menu without having to beat the original adventure first. Thomas Was Alone is currently on sale for US$5.99, down from the regular price of $8.99. Those are both pretty high for iOS games these days, but the quality of the gameplay, story, and original twist on the platforming formula is definitely worth the asking price.
The Daily Grind: Have MMOs gone as far as they can go?
Do you ever feel like MMOs have gone as far as they can go? I don't mean to be a downer, especially on a Monday, but occasionally I'll play a single-player title that knocks my socks off and -- as an incurable MMO fan -- the first thing I think of is could/should this be made into an MMO? And usually the answer to that question is no, it can't be done because of technical limitations, latency, or lack of gamer interest. Over the weekend I played Mirror's Edge, a first-person platforming thing that I missed way back in 2009. I fell in love with the free-running, the expansive environments, and the vertigo-inducing perspectives and I realized, sadly, that all of those things and many more simply aren't in the cards for MMOs. I know that not everything has to be an MMO, but I'd love to experience Mirror's Edge with a persistent world behind it, as well as share it with my MMO-playing buddies. What about you, Massively readers? Do you think MMOs have gone as far as they can go, or do you think we're in store for anything new and exciting beyond continual refinements to the existing formula? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Mario crossover developer launches Super Retro Squad Kickstarter project
Exploding Rabbit, the development team behind Super Mario Bros. Crossover, recently hopped on the Kickstarter train to seek funding for its next game, Super Retro Squad. The game shares the 2D platforming qualities of the aforementioned crossover game, but uses original art and music this time around.The game will feature "40+ levels that will be spanned across 8 worlds," and each world will be "based on one of the characters, so there will be plenty of variety found in the environments and enemies." The project also aims to include equipment and character upgrading, as well as hidden items in levels that can only be found with specific characters.A $15 pledge to the project earns fans a digital copy of the game upon its tentative March 2013 release for Mac, PC, Linux, Android, and iOS. Super Retro Squad will be fully funded if it reaches the $10k mark by July 19.[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]
Free for All: Free-to-play MMO versions of your favorite Nintendo games
I have to be honest -- I wasn't the biggest Nintendo fan. I grew up right as the whole thing was really smashing and keeping kids glued to their TVs, but I generally went outside and played more than stayed inside and played games. (Odd, huh?) Still, I had my fun with certain titles. Contra rocked my boat, along with Kid Icarus and a bit of Mario Brothers. My friends, on the other hand, were full members of the Nintendo nation. They subcribed to the magazine, played the same games for hours and hours, and generally acted as though the fate of the real world hung in the balance as they attacked that last boss monster. Stylistically, the games have left a mark on the genre. Many of those same titles still sell as well, some of them reaching so many variations that I lost track a long, long time ago. I thought it might be fun to list off some free-to-play MMOs that remind me of those old classics. See what you think, and leave any suggestions in the comments section!
Does WoW need more minigames?
When I started playing WoW in 2006, I knew next to nothing about it. I had bought a copy to play with my boyfriend but did so while he was out of the country; it was my intent to surprise him with it when he got back. The unfortunate result of this was that I didn't really know what to do on my own and spent most of the time being eaten by murlocs. Back then, the multiplayer aspect of WoW wasn't apparent to me. I had only ever joined groups to complete a few quests and didn't know what dungeons, raids, or Battlegrounds were. Because of this, I often remember thinking WoW wasn't a very good game because it was missing all sorts of basic elements that other games had. For example, I remember jumping in a river and thinking "Awesome, this will be a quick way to get to the southern side of the zone," only to realize a moment later there was no water current in WoW like there is in Legend of Zelda. "This is so lame," I thought.
Media Molecule toyed with full 3D level design in first LittleBigPlanet
The original LittleBigPlanet was billed as a platform for platformers -- but what about those gamers whose favorite entries into that particular genre include Kazooies, Ratchets and Bandicoots? Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans recently revealed to Joystiq at Gamescom that an early build of the original LittleBigPlanet allowed for that kind of 3D gameplay, explaining, "LBP 1 had free depth and completely moving cameras, and the gameplay engine wasn't layered fundamentally." Evans added that while the developer "used to make levels that could travel into the screen," this feature was ultimately removed from the game. "It's really unconstrained in 3D. It's really hard -- I mean creatively unconstrained, it's really difficult to have something to push off," Evans explained. "We found our level designers wasted tons of time in 3D land, so we iteratively reduced it, first of all we reduced the scope, then we added the layers, and with each restriction we did, it improved the quality." According to Evans, the lack of 3D platforming wasn't due to a technical snafu, but rather, "entirely a game design decision." He added, "so when we go 3D, and I'm assuming at some point we will go 3D, the challenge we will have, and any other user-generated content company -- you know, I want to be one-upped, I'd love to see a fully-3D creation game. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying we haven't cracked it yet." Keep an eye out for our full interview with Evans in the coming days.
Hands-on: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (360)
Regardless of how you felt about Ubisoft's 2008 Prince of Persia, it represented a clear departure from the acclaimed Sands of Time trilogy -- an experiment, even. And although, on a granular level, The Forgotten Sands modifies the formula through the addition of elemental powers, they primarily strengthen the game's familiar basis of linear platforming mixed with light combat. It's a solid basis and one that Ubisoft clearly believes to be worth pursuing again this May (especially with movie buzz in the air), but it hasn't been swept clean of old problems. Even in the short snippet of gameplay on show at PAX East, the combat feels like filler. It's competent -- and the Prince's agility adds an exciting flourish to every strike and finishing blow -- but it never feels complex enough to stand out as anything more than "that thing you do between platforming segments." That's a problem Prince of Persia often shares with Tomb Raider.
Team Fortress 2 re-imagined as a side-scroller
Dylan Loney isn't just a dude with an awesome name, he's also quite the Team Fortress 2 mod-tician ... which is a real word that we totally didn't make up. With a couple of custom maps under his belt, Loney decided to up the ante, so he rolled up his sleeves and turned Valve's class-based shooter into a speedy side-scroller. The redesign was part of a contest for Interlopers back in December. Drawing inspiration from Canabalt, Loney created the complimentary mixture of TF2's characters and Canabalt's fast side-scrolling gameplay you see above. Actually, an image really doesn't sell it, so head past the break to check out some footage of it in action. [Via Kotaku]
Assassin's Creed II multiplayer, Rayman 2 out now on the iPhone
Two major league games have hit the App Store already this week, one of them for the surprise price of free. Ubisoft has released the multiplayer version of their Assassin's Creed II game on the App Store, and it's available for free for the first 48 hours. The game's a top-down multiplayer game that has you walking around the world of the console version, both targeting other players and being targeted yourself. All the reports say it's definitely worth a try, and if you can catch it before they raise the price back up (sounds like Ubisoft is trying to find a place for their releases), you should. And as expected, Rayman 2 is also out on the App Store -- it's a port of the 3D Playstation platformer that was actually a Ubisoft property, but as you can see from the trailer above, this one's been ported by Gameloft. As with most iPhone platformers, the game uses virtual controls, but Touch Arcade says they work just fine. The save system is the biggest issue -- your iPhone is not the best platform for playing games for long stretches of time, and any game that kicks you back out to a menu if you happen to step away for a second will cause frustration eventually. Still, it sounds like a solid platformer port, and there are certainly fans of those out there. The game is $6.99 on the App Store right now.
Fret Nice soloing on PSN this week [update]
Tecmo announced via Twitter that Fret Nice, the musical platformer played with guitar controllers, will be available on PSN in North America this week. In its own tweet, developer Pieces Interactive said that a European release date would be "coming soon." Now PS3 owners will be able to use those guitar controllers of theirs to do something other than play along to "Uncontrollable Urge" over and over again (what, you mean you don't do that?) Specifically, in Fret Nice, players take control of the Vibrant Chordblasters as they travel through the world defeating Hair Bängers with their riffs. Oddly missing from both of these announcements is any mention of the Xbox 360 version. We're checking with Tecmo about that. [Update: Tecmo has no date for the XBLA version yet, and could offer no reason for the wait.] %Gallery-84479%
Hands-on: The Behemoth's 'Game 3'
There's a part of me that likes examining games' sub-superficial levels -- the lingering inspiration behind the art, gameplay, story and all the rest of its aggregate components. Behemoth's Game 3 is difficult to dismantle in this manner, largely due to the fact that, even when compared to past entries in Behemoth's bizarre repertoire -- it's an unabashed labor of madness.It could also be due to the fact that the speed at which I was forced to play the Game 3 PAX demo could best be described as blistering. Still, it didn't take much time to get what the game's core components are all about: Frantic multiplayer platforming action, the likes of which you haven't seen since Super Mario Bros. 3.
The Shorts DS game draws our attention
Normally, a DS game based on a kids' movie wouldn't attract our notice -- they're as common as rocks, and tend to be less fun to play with. But the DS game based on Robert Rodriguez's Shorts, a movie about a neighborhood of kids who find some kind of wish-granting rock, appropriates one of our favorite new trends in side-scrolling games: drawing platforms.Kirby Canvas Curse started it, but in the last year there has been an explosion of games that mix traditional platforming with user-created platforms. The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity did it, and the upcoming Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, MarkerMan Adventures (also published by Shorts publisher Majesco), and, outside of the DS, Crayon Physics, Drawn to Life on Wii, Max and the Magic Marker on WiiWare, and Trine allow players to make platforms by drawing shapes.And, as it turns out, we are extremely receptive to this idea, even when it is in a game in which you control a character named Loogie. See the trailer after the break.
AT&T mobile users to get MapleStory on their phones
Normally we'd be somewhat cynical when talking about an MMO going to a phone. World of Warcraft on an iPhone just seems complicated, while Second Life on a phone just seems unusual. But for MapleStory going to a phone, well, we just can't see much wrong with that. It just seems to make sense, with the 2-D side scrolling action being perfectly at home on a mobile device.However, don't jump for joy just yet, it's only a version of that's making it to the MapleStoryAT&T media mall. MapleStory: Warrior is the same MapleStory gameplay, just condensed down for your phone. It's sadly not online, but it does connect to your MapleStory account to give you a brand new in-game item. So if you ever need that MapleStory fix and you're just not anywhere near a PC or internet connection, now you have options. Downside, those options are all warrior-based options.
Joystiq Review: Prince of Persia Epilogue (DLC)
"I'm glad you're still doing that."The Prince's relief at being spared another fatal plunge, even if it squashes his pride just a tad, is well justified in Epilogue. Crumbling, daunting, dark and no more practical than most video game locales, the Underground Palace is the sort of place that makes you glad you invested in that magical, life-saving companion. Its entirely linear layout offers a breathless string of platforming challenges for the Prince, a final chicane of scurrying and swinging that requires more adept timing than anything else in the main game. That isn't to say that the downloadable extension is a mere taunt directed at those who scoffed at Prince of Persia's forgiving nature. The difficulty curve matches the dire situation crafted by the story, which has prompted the acrobatic duo to flee rather than fight. It's easy for me to recommend Epilogue based on the engaging spatial puzzles or the elaborate, corruption-riddled platforming sequences, but the real draw is witnessing the aftermath of Prince of Persia's poignant climax.%Gallery-43418%
This Wednesday: Bird, bear, backpack join forces on XBLA
This Wednesday's Xbox Live Arcade update will finally deliver the spruced-up N64 classic, Banjo-Kazooie. After experiencing a brief delay, fans of the backpack-packing bear from Rare will be able dive headfirst into nostalgia, once again transforming into compulsive note-collecting maniacs. It happens to the best of us.Aside from notes, tokens and jiggies, this version also requires one other collectible: Microsoft Points. You'll need 1,200 of them to proceed beyond the trial version.
General Banjo-Kazooie XBLA release delayed until Dec. 3
Microsoft has come bearing (GEDDIT? BECAUSE BANJO IS A BEAR) bad news, notifying 1UP that the general Xbox Live Arcade release of Rare's classic N64 platformer, Banjo-Kazooie, has been delayed until Dec 3rd. It would appear the high-res re-release has been pushed back in order to extend the period of exclusivity, granted to those who preordered vehicular adventure Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and failed to receive their bonus XBLA download codes.Microsoft is currently "investigating" the holdup, urging customers who did not receive a redeem code to contact their retailers' customer service departments. That's always a grizzly task. GEDDIT? BECAUSE GRIZZLY IS A TYPE OF BEAR AND BANJO IS A BEAR. Gallery: Banjo-Kazooie (XBLA)
Tag Games bringing Rock'n'Roll to the iPhone's accelerometer
The folks over at Touch Arcade are doing a terrific job of keeping up with all the good-looking games on the App Store (and even some not-so-good-looking ones) but for my money, this one falls solidly into the first category. Rock'n'Roll is an accelerometer-based puzzle/platforming game (ported from other mobile platforms). As you can see in the video above, it plays like a much more colorful version of the already-fun Spinner, as you rotate the iPhone to control the little circle and get him to fall down in the right place. There are power-ups and items to collect as you explore the little mazes, and though there's no sound in the video, we're told the game will have a "traditional Americana" rock soundtrack, which sounds like fun.A few people have mentioned motion sickness, and while that's a possibility, my guess is that it's more from the video itself -- playing Spinner has kind of the same effect, but when it's you controlling the spinning and the image is confined to the iPhone's screen, it's not so bad. At any rate, we'll find out soon whether the game is as fun as it looks -- it's due for a release later this month.
Mega Man 9 getting intentional bugs, flicker
Capcom's going out of its way to make sure its deliciously stale Mega Man 9 offers a true 8-bit experience, bugs and all. The company's Hironobu Takeshita recently told Gamasutra that the download will have the look and feel of a NES-era release, and that things such as sprite flicker have even been included as a -- thankfully optional -- feature. "Yeah, there were some things, like you couldn't have more than three enemies on the screen at once, so we had to make sure that that's how it stayed in our game. In the part with the dragon with the flame, [there should be] flickering, and whatnot," noted the game's producer. "In the options of this game, you can adjust that, unlike the old games. We purposely put some of those old-school bugs into this game, so it does recreate that feel." Now, if only Capcom could emulate blowing into the cartridge we'd be in retro heaven.%Gallery-28279%
Rumor: Mega Man 9 coming to XBLA, PSN too [update: Capcom denies]
According to Ars Technica, Capcom's two-dimensional return to tradition in Mega Man 9 may not be confined to WiiWare, as was originally revealed in the latest issue of Nintendo Power. The report notes that the game is currently listed as an Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network title on Capcom's E3 roster -- if true, Mega Man 9 would be the first downloadable game to jump through the doors of all three services. Capcom remains quiet on the matter, however, telling us that we'll have to wait until E3 for further news. Given the publisher's continued support of both XBLA and PSN for its downloadable games, the blue bomber will likely stick with a multi-platform approach. We can't imagine how many gamers would be left seeking retrobution otherwise.Update: Capcom has reaffirmed to Ars that Mega Man 9 is "WiiWare only."
