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'No More Heroes' sequel hits Nintendo Switch next year
Suda51 and the snarky, over-the-top, ultra violent titles he makes -- like the Wii's No More Heroes and the more recent free-to-play experiment on the PS4, Let It Die -- are some of the best gaming experiences around. During Nintendo's live stream focusing on indie developers Wednesday morning, Nintendo revealed a brand new title from the auteur, Travis Strikes Again, which is coming to the Switch in 2018. There's even a new fourth wall-breaking trailer here, which sets up the new game's story.
Comparing the censored and uncensored versions of No More Heroes
Spoiler alert: This is the first boss fight in the game.If there's one thing we can't get enough of right now, it's No More Heroes. Suda's masterpiece (yeah, we went there) came in to our video game collection and proceeded to decapitate every single other game in its pursuit to be the top title of our library. We're so smitten, we've cuddled with the game's case every night in bed, clenching it tight against our chest like our teddy bears of old. But enough about our rampant love of the game. One of the biggest concerns for Europeans is how the censored version would stack up the bloody affair that is the U.S. release. One gamer was kind enough to do just that, taking video of each death scene in the game from both censored and uncensored version of the game. So, if you're beaten the game or just don't care about spoilers, hit up the link below. For the rest of you, go play No More Heroes already!%Gallery-4611%
Flower, Sun, and screenshots
These new screens from Suda 51's Flower, Sun, and Rain pull you in, encouraging you to look again and again until you can stop the bomb from exploding in our gallery. No, wait; that's just ridiculous melodrama. They're only pictures, after all, not a repeat-o-tron. Despite the revamped PS2 title's upcoming March release (in Japan), we haven't been treated to many images from the game, so these are a nice treat. While the game is a little less shiny than the original, which had a strange, haunting quality to the look, the images are very true to the original characterization and feel of the game. Here's us crossing fingers for an English-language release.%Gallery-12911%
Suda's other assassin game hitting Japan in March
No More Heroes wasn't the only Goichi Suda game to cause our pulses to race in the last few weeks. With its Groundhog Day-esque hook and all-too-topical tale of airborne terrorism, we're anxious to hear whether or not Flower, Sun, and Rain will ever leave Japan. It doesn't strike us as the most import-friendly title, so unless you're one of those forward-thinking types who took the time to learn kanji, a western release might just be our best only hope.We know one thing, however: the game is scheduled to release in Japan on March 6th, and it has a shiny new official site to prove it. Poke around there, and you'll find a number of (tiny) new screens, character profiles for three of the game's fifteen primary characters (including protagonist and assassin Sumio Mondo), and a rundown on "Katherine," the suitcase-shaped instrument that Sumio carries to crack codes.[Via Go Nintendo]
Another Suda 51 classic coming to DS
Flower, Sun, and Rain, an adventure game released in 2001 for the Playstation 2, is being remade for the DS, according to the latest Famitsu. It's one of the earlier works of Grasshopper Manufacture, headed by Suda 51, and has a lot in common with later works.Like Killer 7 and No More Heroes, the protagonist of Flower, Sun, and Rain is an assassin. Sumio Mondo lives the same day over and over again until he can stop a bomb from exploding in an airport. To do this, he must also solve the problems of the people he interacts with during that repeating day. As time (fails to) pass, his hotel room starts changing to reflect his mental state.With The Silver Case's remake being done with an eye for international release, can we expect the same of Flower, Sun, and Rain? (Will The Silver Case actually be released outside Japan?) Is Suda 51 attempting to remake his complete works for the DS? That would certainly be welcomed by Suda fans and adventure fans. We've posted the magazine scan after the break.
Japanese No More Heroes fans get their own beam katanas
The events of No More Heroes are catalyzed by Travis Touchdown's purchase of a beam katana in an online auction. Now preordering the game will enable Japanese gamers to reenact that part of the story, in miniature, and probably without the subsequent murders. The "beam katana accessory" will be given out in limited numbers to people who reserve a copy of No More Heroes. It's made of metal (probably aluminum) and is 70 mm (2.5 inches) long. Dengeki considers it potentially suitable as a phone charm or as something to attach to a bag, although it may crunch your phone in your pocket, we think. Chances are most people will keep it in its packaging forever as a keepsake, a reminder of the time they went to a store.
No More Nudity: Grasshopper Manufactures some t-shirts
To commemorate No More Heroes, developer Grasshopper Manufacture had some shirts printed up. There are seven different designs, most of which have color variants as well. As would be expected from the guys responsible for the rocking look of No More Heroes, they look awesome. They run from the somewhat normal (the No More Heroes logo on the front, "KILL ONLY" on the back) to the weird (a big Tengu mask with the word "TENGU" printed above and below in Japanese and English) to the obscure (the Santa Destroy shirt above).There are a few problems. The shirts seem to run very small-- some are available in sizes up to a US small. They're also a little pricey at 3500 yen ($29). That's not quite King of Games territory, but it still seems a little high. Most problematic of all, however, is the fact that we haven't figured out how to get one out of Japan yet. They seem to only ship to Japanese addresses. Maybe NCSX or Play Asia will pick them up-- or maybe we can bug Ubisoft to sell some to US fans.[Via Dengeki]
You can see his stripes, but you know he's clean
Oh, don't you see what I mean? The latest update on No More Heroes is the very best kind of update, in our eyes. It's a tiger-icon-related update. We've been dying of curiosity about the unconventional HUD elements in Suda 51's super-stylish, otaku-themed action game. TGS brought us tentative word that it was related to a "super mode" of some kind, and now we can see it for ourselves.Each successful combo activates a slot machine; when you get three Grasshopper Manufacture grasshopper-guy heads, Travis transforms into a "Dark Side" mode; his skin darkens, his hair lightens and he can fight with enhanced speed and strength-- until the tiger walks across the screen to a "goal" area. Having a tiger walk a short distance is a perfectly logical way to express a limited strength increase, right?
Friday Video: Destroyer of oil
The No More Heroes site just keeps churning out the (very short) videos, and we gobble 'em up with the same zeal every time. In fact, it's probably safe to say that this is one of the games we're anticipating most -- right up there with Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy. That's tough company to roll with, but we think Travis can handle it ... and so we've once again got him in our video spotlight. Hit the jump to see why.
TGS07: No More Heroes says yes to more videos
Now that we know that one of our favorite games has a publisher outside of Japan, we undertook the watching of the latest footage from TGS with a particular zeal. While neither offers sound, we do get a glimpse of the controls and a long, lovely look at the game in motion, which puts all the short clips offered by the official site to shame. Before, we were excited; now a new word will have to be created to communicate the passion with which we approach tSuda 51's offbeat No More Heroes. If anyone has any linguistic suggestions, please let us know. In the meantime, hit up the videos after the break.
No More Uncertainty about No More Heroes' Japanese release date
Grasshopper Manufacture's violent, stylish, nerdy free-roaming action game No More Heroes finally has at least one release date. It'll come out in Japan on December 6. That doesn't help the rest of us directly, but any forward progress in getting this game out the door is a good thing. Since the voice work for the game is already in English, localization shouldn't take a terribly long time, leaving only one major obstacle to a U.S. release. Unfortunately, that obstacle is finding a publisher. Check after the break for another bite-size No More Heroes video-- they usually go up on Friday, but we suppose Grasshopper wanted to get one online before TGS.
More teaser videos of No More Heroes
And by "teaser," we mean "teaser"-- like the last set of videos found on the official No More Heroes site, these clips are, at best, travel size. They may even be fun size. But they're the coolest extremely brief videos you're likely to see today.Today's clips show snippets of a battle between Travis Touchdown (whose name makes us smile) and Shinobu-- a battle that looks like it'll take us a good few tries. We don't exactly know how the game controls yet, but we assume that it's as difficult as it looks.We've embedded the videos after the break. Blink a few times right now so you won't have to while watching.
Trio of brief clips from No More Heroes
When we say "brief" here, we really mean it -- these video updates from the official No More Heroes site offer no more than glimpses of the game. There's also a Grindhouse-esque grain to the footage, and we're not sure if it's simply the video quality, or the intentional look of the title -- either way, it doesn't spoil the effect. We've tucked the clips away after the break, and re-ordered them to save our pick of the best for last, since on the NMH site, it was first.
TGS exhibition list light on Wii
This year's Tokyo Game Show doesn't look like it'll be as Wii-oriented as we would like. CESA, the organization that holds the show, has published a list of games to be exhibited at TGS, only eight of which are waggly. We're fairly sure that publishers wouldn't put previously unannounced games on a list before the show like this, so we assume that they're all holding back the new stuff. This looks like a list of show-floor playable games anyway, which usually doesn't include brand new games.We're happy despite the relatively small list, because it contains stuff like No More Heroes that we're dying to hear gameplay impressions of. Here are all the Wii games on the list: Nights: Journey of Dreams Ghost Squad Doraemon: Himitsu Doguo Kettei Sen Simple Wii Vol. 1 THE Everybody's Kart Race Simple Wii Vol. 2 THE Everybody's Bass Fishing Tournament Dragon Ball Z Sparking! METEOR No More Heroes Project O [Link goes to a Japanese .PDF file containing the full exhibition list for all systems.]
No More Heroes: more beam katanas and Raidenesque Irishmen
The latest No More Heroes site update reveals some of the different beam katana weapons that Travis Touchdown will be using in his quest to become the highest-ranked assassin in Santa Destroy for some reason. The "system" page has images of the pistol-gripped "Blood Berry," which is the katana that Travis wins from an auction, and the elegant Tsubaki, which is made for him by Naomi.We think we're going to scour eBay for a couple of hours now. We're definitely pro-beam katana, even if we feel pretty strongly anti-assassinating-folks.In other No More Heroes news, on the Kojima Productions Report podcast, voice actor Quinton Flynn revealed that he was a member of the No More Heroes voice cast, playing an Irish character named Henry. Flynn, best known for playing Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2, was on the podcast to discuss his upcoming reprisal of that role. But you guys knew all of that, because you already listen to the Kojima Productions Report every week, right?
Welcome to Santa Destroy
Famitsu is conducting a guided tour of some of the locations from No More Heroes' assassin-filled town, Santa Destroy. This way, you can enjoy the scenery before being challenged to multiple deathmatches with eccentric murderers.The cleverly-named No More Heroes Motel acts as home base for Travis. Seems like a classy place, as befits a serious competitor. When he's tired of watching color TV with a tethered remote, he can go out onto the beach we've seen in a lot of No More Heroes screenshots, whose name has been revealed as Body Slam Beach. Other locations include the Gasoline Stand, where-- wait for it-- Travis can get some gasoline, the Atomic Drop District (a big empty lot of some kind), and Naomi's Lab, where Travis can go to get weapon upgrades.It's the rare game where a single screenshot of a fairly tame-looking motel setting can energize us. But we are so ready to Beam Katana our way up the assassins' ranks.
No More Heroes pages packed with images
For once, we don't even mind that the text is difficult, because these new scans from Famitsu have so many No More Heroes pictures that we're too distracted to be unhappy. This is one game we never get tired of looking at; the character models are awesomely twisted, the environment is full of dirty, yet colorful images, and the whole thing has a sinister-yet-cartoony feel. We can barely tear our eyes away. We can't wait to get in there and start swinging our not-lightsaber. To check out the full scans, take a peek past the break, and get to clicking for the high-res versions.
Fast Times at Santa Destroy High
Today's No More Heroes website update is something that we can all enjoy, regardless of Japanese proficiency: a bunch of screenshots of Travis's battles with Shinobu and Holly. Shinobu's turf is Santa Destroy High School, and Holly fights on the beach, as we know from already having seen the screens featuring her, albeit in a lower quality.We see a guy beating up a bunch of high-school gang kids and our minds go immediately to River City Ransom. Of course, the player didn't have a beam katana in River City Ransom, and the brawl didn't culminate in a duel against a sword-wielding schoolgirl.
Travis vs. Holly: new No More Heroes images
Considering that Holly Summers is ranked several slots higher than our antihero, Travis Touchdown, it's probably no surprise that she's kicking his ass in these screenshots. But just because it isn't surprising doesn't mean it's not cool. We've put the latest shots in a gallery for your viewing pleasure, because we figure that, just like us, you can't get enough of No More Heroes. %Gallery-4611%
No More Heroes site updates
The No More Heroes site continues to leak bits and pieces of information -- just enough to keep us drooling -- and this latest update covers some of the ground already tread by this morning's video. Our hero Travis and his beam katana are the center of the new information, which is all about combat and the tools of the assassination trade. The beam katana can be used to deflect bullets (where've we seen that before?), but it's not a never-ending source of bloody awesome; like any gadget, it can run out of juice. Luckily, there are battery packs scattered around, but in the event you can't find one and find yourself in need of a good cutting edge, you can always get your waggle-charge on. Charging the katana is as simple as jerking the Wiimote up and down. The updates also show off something we've already seen -- Travis's penchant for wrestling moves -- and a shot of a fight brought to a grappling standstill. The image isn't terribly clear, but it seems that with a turn of the Wii remote, it's possible to break free and beat your opponent down. We couldn't possibly want this game more, but at this point, all we really want is to find out just what's up with the tiger indicator on the upper part of the screen. In videos, it can be seen wiggling around, and in these screens, it looks like he takes a little tiger-journey across the top of the image, but for what reason? We can wait for the game, but we must know the secret of the tiger! Perhaps he's like a pet, feeding on the blood of your enemies. It's either that, or he's linked to all the tiger rugs we keep seeing in the game.
