Unboxing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and the Yoshi Amiibo

Yikes, it’s been a while since my last update, so I sincerely apologize for letting the GHG blog go a bit stale lately. As I’ve mentioned a few times, my focus has shifted a bit to producing video content on YouTube. Between that, trying to get through games in order to provide raw content for those videos, and writing daily pieces on the blog was simply too much for one person, and I’m still a one-person team at the moment. Some things are in the works to help ease the workload, but those things take time, so for now I’ve just been going with the flow and not worrying about it too much!

In any case, this past Friday saw the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and the first wave of Nintendo’s Amiibo near-field communication (NFC) figurines, first announced and shown at E3 2014. I was skeptical — and remained so for a long time — seeing it as Nintendo being late to the party on the Skylanders and Disney Infinity playable figurine market, and giving critics one more reason to hate them for not announcing Super Mario Galaxy 3 or a new Metroid.

Not being a fan of the Smash Bros. franchise didn’t help, but as time passed, footage was shown, and features revealed, my interest level skyrocketed. By the time early November rolled around, I had the game and a Yoshi Amiibo preordered. Yeah, I’m weak that way.

While I’m still getting used to the game itself, I wanted to share a collection of photos I took of the game and the Amiibo, as well as comments about each. I hope you enjoy them!

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Bright and colorful front cover, using the standard Wii U blue case color.

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Front cover logo detail.

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Back cover and spine with Super Smash Bros. circular logo.

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Back cover detail. It’s a bit messy, but shows the roster and some of the new features.

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Close-up showing supported controllers, including the new Wii U GameCube controller adapter. The 3DS can also be used.

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Inside of the case, a relatively thick, full-color manual is included, although they tend to get mangled by the extra disc holders along the spine.

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Printed on the inside of the game’s front cover is the Club Nintendo registration code.

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Inside the manual is a guide to basic commands, as well as a list of the fighters and their move set. Since I’m new to Smash Bros., I was surprised to see that commands are identical across all of them, although the moves obviously vary depending on which fighter you choose.

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Close-up of one of the manual’s move set pages.

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Game disc has nice art and the usual high quality Nintendo printing. Gotta love those smooth, rounded edges on Wii U discs.

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The Amiibo packaging is pretty standard stuff with a cardboard backing, clear plastic display holder, and cardboard Amiibo base insert.

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This particular Amiibo figure looks good. Bottom of packaging is relatively flat for convenient in-box displaying, too.

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Closer detail of Amiibo packaging. Where the plastic meets the cardboard backing is wavy and not very attractive.

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Back of packaging. Nice that it’s themed for the Amiibo inside and not just generically across all of them.

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Another shot of the back packaging. Poor Diddy Kong!

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The infamous metallic protective piece that prevents users from scanning/using Amiibos while they are still in the packaging. I don’t mind this, but I know that this irks some collectors who like their stuff to be “NIB”.

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Nice detail on the actual figurine with good color, motion, and sculpting. At $12.99 each, they are competitively priced with the offerings from Skylanders ($9.99-$14.99) and Disney Infinity ($12.99).

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Close-up of Yoshi’s bulbous snout.

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A shot from above.

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More detail of Yoshi’s shell and tail.

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They did a really nice job on his eyes.

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Gold and black Amiibo base with Super Smash Bros. logo on it. It’s interesting that they are themed this way since they will be used for current and future titles not part of this franchise.

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It’s worth noting that this is one of several Amiibo that do not have clear or colored translucent support braces. I think that for the most part, those supports look terrible, so I do prefer ones like this, Kirby, and Pikachu.

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Another shot of Yoshi’s tale. Notice the somewhat sloppy painting errors.

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There are even more splattery painting problems underneath his right arm. This is the side you see the most, which is unfortunate and slightly disappointing.

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Underneath the base, showing the Amiibo logo, part number, and other information.

For the most part, I’m happy with the quality of the Amiibo figurines, and the game looks and sounds beautiful. I’m definitely looking forward to digging into it more this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and for those braving the store crowds, may the Black Friday odds be ever in your favor.

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Unboxing Bayonetta 2 (Wii U, 2014)

As someone who was never that into third-person action games, Platinum Games’ Bayonetta flew right past me, as did the studio’s other games such as MadWorld, Vanquish, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. However, it only took a few minutes with Bayonetta 2‘s demo on the Wii U to make me realize what a big mistake I had made.

I’ve played it several times since its release, slowly improving upon my previous runs. In that sense, it feels like a true arcade experience, similar to how I felt with Volgarr the Viking, one of the best games I’ve played all year.

Upon playing Bayonetta 2‘s demo, I immediately preordered it on Amazon. Since I had just finished LEGO City Undercover, I decided to fire up my Xbox 360 copy of the first Bayonetta. I haven’t finished it yet — and finishing it once is really only scratching the game’s surface — but you can check out my highlights and hear what I have to say about the game so far on YouTube HERE.

Bayonetta 2 arrived late this past Friday, and even with the first game unfinished, I couldn’t help myself; I just had to tear into my copy!

Below is a series of photos showing what’s included. Nothing earth-shattering, but I do hope you enjoy them.

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Full shot of the front cover. Standard Wii U blue box. Bayonetta 1 is included on its own separate disc.

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Another shot of the front cover, with a more detailed look at the logo and artwork.

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Additional detail of first Bayonetta logo. I like that it’s relatively small and up in the corner instead of being plastered somewhere else over the main artwork.

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Full shot of the back cover. Hard to tell what’s going on in any of the tiny screenshots, but it does show some of the alternate outfits now available in the Wii U version of the first Bayonetta, including Samus (Metroid), Peach (Super Mario Bros.), and Link (The Legend of Zelda)

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Close-up detail of the back cover’s screenshots. For some reason, Bayonetta’s pose on the left looks a little strange to me.

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Sega and Platinum Games logos, as well as supported controllers: Wii Classic Controller Pro, Wii U Pro Controller, and Wii U GamePad. I will be using the Wii U Pro Controller.

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Game case spine and thumbnail, which is from the same piece of art from the back cover.

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Inside of case, a black & white safety/e-manual pamphlet and game discs. Those come in their own separate trays, which is always nice. Case itself is a standard eco type, which I know saves on plastic, but they just feel super-flimsy. No actual game manual of any kind, which isn’t surprising, but is still disappointing.

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Bayonetta 1 game disc. Artwork is from the back cover of the 360 version. Screening is nice and of high quality.

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Bayonetta 2 game disc. Artwork is from the front cover, and looks great.

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Club Nintendo information and registration code are now printed on the back of the game case insert, which makes getting to it a little more difficult. Nearly impossible to miss, though, due to the eco case cutouts.

Be on the lookout for my Bayonetta review and Bayonetta 2 playthrough on YouTube soon. Have a great week!

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Quick Update: NES Remix 2 (Wii U)

I’ll be back tomorrow with my regularly scheduled update, but for now, here’s a video of my Remix II replays from NES Remix 2:

Full disclosure: I had a big mug of coffee before recording this, and humorously, you can tell I’m kinda wired throughout. I’m talking way too fast, and I run out of breath a few times as well!

I do like the energy, though, so hopefully I strike that happy medium next time.

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More Playing, Talking, and Drawing

When you’re tired, it’s tough to get in front of the microphone. However, I bought one for a reason, so today I did a Let’s Play — or Let’s Replay, rather — for the Zelda II section of NES Remix 2:

A lot of my posts and social media updates lately have revolved around this game, and for good reason: It’s a lot of fun, and its short bursts of gameplay that focus on achieving the lowest times possible is highly addicting. It’s hard for me to think of another series — besides maybe the license tests from the Gran Turismo games — that have made me so obsessively replay stages over and over like this.

20140723_kid_icarus_boxartAs I mention in the video, I’m currently working my way through the Kid Icarus levels, and for me anyway, this particular title feels like the Ice Climber of NES Remix 2.

The controls are slippery and seem almost broken at times. There is a very specific way that you have to do things in order for the controls to work correctly, so I suppose it’s just a matter of getting used to them.

I hate fighting so much with a game, though, and hopefully it clicks before too long. It’s highly regarded in the pantheon of classic NES titles, but one that I’ve never quite been able to get good at.

At any rate, sorry for the short update today, but I’ll have a new entry in my Industry Memoirs section by the end of the week. It’s been a while since I’ve written one of those, so I’m looking forward to diving back in!

In the meantime, here are a few more Miiverse sketches that I quickly did last night and this morning while finishing up my Zelda II stages:

 

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It doesn’t look anything like the Master Sword, but without any reference material handy, this is about all I could come up with off the top of my head. I’ll draw a proper one soon!

 

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For this one, I “increased” the resolution of the Link stamp, added some more detail to him, and attempted to make it look like the bolt was cutting through the numbers. I reduced the number of bits flying off of them since it was starting to look surprisingly gruesome.

 

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Here’s an extreme close-up of the Triforce, or maybe it’s just a rock monument to the actual Triforce? Whatever the case may be, I made it look aged, with cracks and other rough details.

 

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Finally, this is another one using stamps with the addition of a sunset, stairs from the alter, and other little bits. Hopefully the time on the sign — which is from one of the Kirby stamps — is readable on the small screen when it displays in-game.

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Progress Report: NES Remix 2 (Wii U)

20140721_nes_remix_2_2I cannot tell a lie: I’m all sorts of addicted to this game.

Now, as much as I played the heck out of the first NES Remix, the sequel does just about everything better this time around, providing an experience that is more fun from the get-go.

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First of all, the selection of games on display here is arguably better, mostly because they are newer and more refined in their gameplay and controls. Some, like Kirby’s Adventure and Wario’s Woods, were originally released in 1993 and 1994, respectively.

This is quite impressive given that the 32-bit PlayStation came out in 1994, two generations removed from the 8-bit NES. I always like seeing the differences between launch games and those from the end of a console cycle. It’s like night and day.

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Anyway, another area that has seen noticeable improvements is the Miiverse. You can now watch replays from your friends — which are prioritized — and other players to see just how they got those low Clear Times. This is a terrific addition, and one of the best features of NES Remix 2. In my opinion, it’s always best to try figuring out how to get as low a time as possible on your own, but once you’ve hit a wall, watching ultra-fast runs really opens your eyes to shortcuts and other tricks.

Knowing what you need to do and actually doing it, though? These are two very different things that can be very difficult to replicate. I’ve retried stages many, many times in order to shave off a tenth of a second or two. It can be infuriating when you can’t seem to improve upon or even match the best Miiverse times, but it’s so much fun, and I find it nearly impossible to tear myself away from the game until I’m successful.

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My mentality and approach to playing this has also changed. In the original NES Remix, I was perfectly satisfied and would move on if I just got 3 stars. I would eventually go back and rainbow star everything, but that wasn’t until much later. In NES Remix 2, I find myself almost obsessing over each stage, wanting to beat the lowest Miiverse times that appear for each one.

Doing things this way has made forward progress in the game a lot slower, but it has also given me a very deep appreciation for each individual title, and it underscores how well these old Nintendo games were designed. Even the ones that are just OK are elevated when the element of time comes into play.

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Getting back to the Miiverse, another addition that makes a huge difference is that now the individual game and stage names are tagged in Miiverse posts. In the first NES Remix, if you were viewing updates outside of the game, you wouldn’t have any context, unless the person who wrote it put it in their post. Here, you can see which game and stage a post pertains to, so it’s a lot more helpful now.

I’ve been having a blast comparing times and doodling pictures for other Wii U players. I’ve mentioned it before, but the Miiverse is by far my favorite implementation of a console social network. It’s smooth, easy to use, and a lot of fun.

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In terms of the actual Remix stages, I’ve barely scratched the surface. As I did with NES Remix, I’m going through all the individual games first before I take on the wacky and unique challenges to be found there.

I also haven’t really messed with the modes outside of the main game, namely Super Luigi Bros. and Championship Mode.

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Any gripes so far? Yeah, one thing I’ve never liked in this series is that you can’t just forfeit a life and retry the current sub-stage you’re on. It’s annoying when your only options are to (a) restart the entire thing from scratch, (b) waste time trying to lose a life, or (c) wait for the sub-stage timer to end. Depending on the circumstances, this can take a long time, and a slight tweak in design could have made this so much more streamlined.

Another quibble is that occasionally, you’ll run into a challenge where one of the sub-stages is simply a long, drawn-out, non-interactive demo. I’m looking at you, Punch-Out!! and Kirby’s Adventure. Why they decided to put these in the game baffles me. If you replay these to improve your times, you will learn to hate them quickly.

Finally, I wish there were traditional leaderboards, with sorting options for friends, regions, and time periods. Currently, the only way to know what times your friends achieved is if they manually post them in the Miiverse. A more automated leaderboard system would have been so much better for a game like this.

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Besides those things, however, this is one fantastic game. It takes the addictive formula of NES Remix and polishes it into a better experience. I look forward to playing through the rest of it, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that SNES Remix isn’t far behind!

For more first impressions of NES Remix 2, check out my YouTube video HERE.

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A Second Chance: NES Remix (Wii U)

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Back in January, I played NES Remix and gave it an unenthusiastic B-, citing its good ideas but ultimately lackluster selection of titles. I played through a good chunk of it, but gave up before going through the entire thing.

A few of my friends later told me that they had similar experiences with it initially, but that something clicked with them, and they ended up really enjoying it. I’d been through this before with the Dragon Quest series, which I had absolutely couldn’t stand for most of my life until I fell in love with it two decades later on the Nintendo DS. It’s for similar reasons that I haven’t parted ways with Final Fantasy XIII, Metal Gear Solid 4, Demon’s Souls, and many others. They’re all games that failed to click with me initially, but might later in life.

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Also, with NES Remix 2 now available with bonuses, a seemingly better selection of games, and more robust features, I thought now would be a good time to give the original another go to see if I was simply too quick to judge.

After having played through a couple more hours of it, several things are standing out for me:

20140606_wiiu_nes_remix_gpFirst, playing it on the Game Pad is great. NES Remix feels like a game that is more at home on a handheld instead of a TV, since the bite-sized gameplay is just better on the small screen. It’s also nice to step away from the TV, lay down in bed to relax, and play through a few stages at a time.

This makes the game so much easier to pick up and play whenever you want, and with Nintendo’s latest June 2014 Wii U update, the new Quick Start menu makes getting into it — and all other Wii U games — a lot faster.

When it’s a big part of a game’s design, I can be rather compulsive about collecting everything, or getting the highest rating possible. In NES Remix, the best rating you can get in each of its mini-games is 3 stars with a rainbow outline.

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This urge to achieve the best results can be — and has oftentimes been — my undoing. It’s one of the main reasons why I don’t finish most mobile games based on this scoring system, such as Cut The Rope, Angry Birds, and others. I’ve always said that if a game ceases to be fun, then you should just stop. However, sometimes I need to realize that it might not be the game that isn’t fun, and instead my own stubborn tendencies turning what should be a fun experience into a chore.

In NES Remix‘s case, I started playing the game earlier this year with the intent on rainbow 3-starring every stage, but that quickly became an exercise is frustration that pushed my patience to the limit, fueling my negative impressions of it. So this time, my goal is to simply 3-star the rest of the levels, and you know what? I’m OK with that. Life will still go on, with or without those rainbows.

20140606_nes_remix2I’m also not feeling so strongly anymore than the game selection isn’t good. True, seeing the first Super Mario Bros. here yet again feels like a retread in the worst possible way, but the manner in which you have to actually play it makes it feel like something completely new.

In many cases, you’re asked to do things you never thought about doing, sparking ideas about untapped gameplay potential in each of Nintendo’s franchises. It’s really cool when you stop and think about what the developer Indieszero crafted here.

It’s kind of fun playing games that I never grew up with too, such as Balloon Fight. It’s Nintendo’s take on Joust, and while the controls are strange, the challenge requirements force you to get used to them quickly. The variety also gives otherwise very average games like this one a modern achievement-focused approach, which is cool.

So here I am, now enjoying a game that I initially thought was quite mediocre. It might not be the instant classic that WarioWare, Inc. was on the Game Boy Advance over a decade ago, but it definitely shows how small design and goal tweaks can energize games of a bygone era.

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