Again (but kind of for the first time), thanks to everyone on the forums for the great input/discussion. chrunk, whose name is just a blast to say out loud in front of old people, gave us a delicious rundown of the games released this week:
WiiWare™ Art Style: ORBIENT (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Explore the universe like never before in Art Style: ORBIENT. Take control of gravity and anti-gravity and carefully maneuver your small star through 50 stages set in multiple galaxies. Collide with other stars to absorb them and make your own star expand in size, or capture the stars in your orbit and have them become your satellites. Space isn’t empty, though, and you’ll have to avoid bumping into obstacles or getting pulled into a black hole. If you feel like relaxing while still being challenged, this is the game for you. Its combination of simple controls, atmospheric sound and unique environment make for an experience unlike any other.
Bomberman Blast (Hudson Entertainment, 1-8 players, Rated E for Everyone—Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): A brand new addition to the Bomberman series is available on WiiWare. Up to eight players can battle online simultaneously via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection. Simple controls make this a great game for family and friends to enjoy anytime. You can trigger new items by shaking the Wii Remote™ controller, creating new levels of Bomberman excitement. You can even take the intensity up another notch by adding your own Mii™ caricatures to the mix. Battle results can be recorded on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Ranking, so you can see how you stack up against others around the globe. This title will prove to be a blast for everyone–from those who’ve never touched a Bomberman game to the Bomberman masters.
Virtual Console™
Super Turrican 2 (Super NES™, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone—Violence, 800 Wii Points): As the last survivor of the United Freedom Forces, it is your duty to destroy the Machine’s forces that have devastated the galaxy. Fight through countless hordes of enemies using everything at your disposal. Use weapons and power-ups to fight back the tide of oncoming enemies. Use special abilities like the Energy Wheel and Cyberfist to find secret areas and score extra lives. When your lives and continues are gone, the mission ends. You are the galaxy’s last hope. Are you up to the challenge?
I wonder what everyone thought? Maybe I should click the jump to find out…
Eh, for my money, Super Turrican 2 was a game I used to play on the SNES, but only because it was available. Maybe hindsight is 20/20 or this game is dog shit or whatever, but I’d call this the weakest release this week. The other two, though? Well, MagiHiro, who will henceforth be my nemesis, seemed excited:
This is an exciting week for WiiWare 😀 Bomberman will be awesome, and Orbient is an English release of Bit Generations : Orbital, one of those games released in Japan that was omgamazing.
Oh MagiHiro! If I wasn’t arbitrarily plotting your downfall over a nice glass of Chablis, I might find some time to play Art Style: ORBIENT, which is pretty fucking good, all things considered. Look at all those commas in the last sentence! I hope I used them all correctly. You know who doesn’t fret about grammar? **Gator** and **A New Challenger**. But not because they’re illiterate; they’re just too busy discussing the pros and cons of Bomberman. First up is Gator:
Judging from the IGN review, the game does indeed support WFC with strangers. It even includes a ranking system and leaderboards. It’s not as clear with single player; all they offer on the subject is, “For the most part, Blast provides a friendly multiplayer experience, both online and off (which is good, because there isn’t any incentive to play the game alone)” although they do say the game has bots.
A New Challenger added this:
Plus 8 players on one system offline!
Shame there’s no disc version, but eh. I may pick it up down the line. The only Bomberman game I own is Jetters.
, bless his little heart (of unrelenting darkness), wasn’t sold on the admittedly stupid shake controls bullshit:
…The shake controls look horrible and annoying. It just seems to activate the new items and thats it, and it appears to be the same motion for everything. And that locks out the use of Classic/Wavebirds. So fuck all that, Bomberman 93 wins.
You know who else passed on a Bomberman game, Goober? The Nazis. History is going to back me up on this one. Amid all the hustle and bustle, **Gemini** shined his knowledge and wisdom across the topic with this keen observation:
Bomberman is an excellent fit for a downloadable game. All those years of trying to blow up the Bomberman concept into a full retail game were a bit painful, to say the least.
Hey, you’re smart! You should write for Nintendorks! That’s all for this week, gang. Tune in next Wednesday for more riffing. Maybe we’ll do some sort of live, chat room type thing for next week. I don’t know; I’ve been drinking! Peace!