genterprise
Latest
Two cheapo DSiWare shmups in Japan this week
The surprise announcement that Nintendo would publish an Arika-developed shooter on DSiWare was weird enough. We didn't expect to see more shmups on the service within a couple of weeks, but Genterprise has revealed exactly that.Publisher Genterprise has announced two shooters as part of its 200 DSi Point "GG Series," both developed by Wario: Master of Disguise/Boing! Docomodake DS developer Suzak. Z-One is a horizontally scrolling shooter featuring a "Pod," a multidirectional-shooting "Option" kind of device that flies near your ship. And Wonder Land is an Alice in Wonderland-themed vertical shmup. Being made specifically as super-cheap games, it's doubtful they'll be great. But they will be very cheap when they come out in Japan this Wednesday.[Via Andriasang]
Umihara Kawase DS: not ruined yet!
We are pleased to report that the DS remake of Umihara Kawase Shun Second Edition is real, and we have Famitsu screens to prove it. If this news strikes you as underwhelming, then you haven't played Umihara Kawase, a game whose physics-based grappling (the line is stretchy and bouncy) is so cool that we don't even mind that all the enemies are creepy walking fish. In this puzzle-platformer, a girl with a backpack and a fishing line must climb and swing across a variety of platform-filled stages, avoiding fish monsters or tossing them over her shoulder with the fishing line, on the way to an exit.Since this is a new port, we're confident that Genterprise's DS release will actually get the fishing line physics right, unlike the PSP version. In addition to probably working okay, the DS game adds a new stage and the ability to save and share replays. The graphics seem a bit fuzzy on the DS screen, but we are entirely capable of looking past that. As of now, it just looks like Umihara Kawase, which is the best we can expect -- the article doesn't even say anything about touchscreen controls! If they were to implement something like that, it would probably warrant mention in the preview. Whew.
Rumor: Umihara Kawase swinging to DS?
NeoGAFfer duckroll spotted a mysterious, and potentially interesting, new DS game listing on Amazon.co.jp: Umihara Kawase Shun Second Edition: Complete Version, due out March 26. In case the name doesn't ring any bells, Umihara Kawase was a Super Famicom platformer similar to Bionic Commando, but with a young girl in the place of the beefy military dude, and a heavier emphasis on self-contained, small levels, technical grappling, and ... fish. We adore the game.Unfortunately, if this is true, we're unlikely to adore the result. Umihara Kawase was recently released in Japan on the PSP (a US release is planned as well), and it's a mess. Basically, the rope doesn't work right at all, failing to hook when it's supposed to, swing the way it's supposed to, or let go when it's supposed to. And if the PSP port (of the PlayStation version of the Super Famicom game) was so lazily and poorly made, what chance does the DS version have? Not to mention that the DS release is in extra danger of touch screen controls.[Via NeoGAF]
