I don’t know what took them so long to finally create and release a messaging app for the 3DS. About bloody time!
Tag Archives: Nintendo
Sonic BOOM: Shattered Crystal (3DS)
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It’s funny that the week I tweet about my vision for the Sonic franchise coincided with the release of the latest Sonic game and the final in a 3 game partnership between SEGA and Nintendo (the first two being Sonic: Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games)
I love that blue hedgehog and when I was younger I thought no one was as badass as Knuckles nor as effortlessly cool as Tails (my favourite character). But in as much I love the characters, the cartoons and the games I have to admit to thinking they have collectively regressed since the hey days of Sonic 3 and Sonic Advance. With the demise of SEGA into just a publishing and rights house and the rise of the gaming oligopoly of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft the series has suffered from a general lack of direction, innovation and adapting to the new platforms and possibilities. So my tweet a week ago was an attempt to redirect the energies of SEGA and Nintendo for the next game but this latest one comes close enough but not nearly there.
Sonic games oft late have suffered a bit of an identity crisis. Either they focus on the speed such as Sonic: Generations and cater to the speed junkies and nostalgia gamers looking to remember their old games or explore a bit such as Sonic: Lost World whose attempt at an open platform environment copying Super Mario Galaxy didn’t work because it lacked the speed or fluidity that is attached to Sonic. Decent game but it wasn’t Sonic. Frankly I’m of the opinion that old Sonics whilst great are now rather outdated and the genre has evolved beyond that; hence my tweet.
Whilst I had envisioned something akin to an open environment RPG much like Golden Sun or Zelda with a certain of amount of exploration and puzzle solving with links to portals to other worlds that could serve as the speed focus stages or time trials or races etc. It meant for one Sonic would have to give us an immersive story line something that haven’t really done, often leaning towards the cartoony cheap thrill route rather than a coherent and involved storyline route. Which brings me to Sonic BOOM: Shattered Crystal. It doesn’t go the RPG route remaining a platformer but addressing several of the issues from Lost World and whilst still cartoony thanks mostly to the TV show tie in it has grown up a little. It attempts to find the balance that we all felt it needed.
I was initially miffed that they had decided to have two different storylines for Sonic BOOM: Rise of Lyric (Wii U) and Sonic BOOM: Shattered Crystal (3DS) but I found it to be a much better compromise as opposed to having the same story without the content of the other as they did for Sonic Generations which left the 3DS with a vastly inferior game. Their current approach allowed them to tailor the game to each consoles capabilities so whilst different the game felt just right on each one.
The game play was smooth, different stages offering different challenges – some purely speed based and others more akin to traditional platformers with time being a factor but exploration key to proper and full completion of the stage. This is sonic trying to harness not only the speed of sonic but the full skill set of the rest of the characters and it is much better for it. You have to make use of each character’s unique abilities to explore ancient ruins, tropical jungles and everywhere in between. There are multiple routes and secrets within levels which reward players with a keen sense of adventure, and character upgrades throughout the game grant even more possibilities for exploration. The new character Sticks is a welcome addition but whose boomerang was at times too hard to control. Speaking of control, the only other problem I had with the controls was that when using sonic in the time-trial stages he couldn’t change direction whilst in boost speed but had to stop pressing the button, change direction and then resume again.
It made for jarring game play, slow down your experience of the stage and was at time unresponsive when Sonic was hugging the top most walls on either side. It took a while before I figured out a system to counter it. The map was a bit of a miss, it didn’t show where you’ve been and required you to upgrade it (which took a while and lots of needless repeated effort) to allow to show the crystals and blueprints if you were close to their locations. Lastly the dialogue can be atrocious, which makes me wonder about the future of the show.
Verdict – 7.0
+ return of Tails, Knuckles as playables
+ puzzles and different roles each characters play
+ return of Sonic’s speed
+ variety different stage formats
– new focus on exploration meant at times the speed fell through
– difficulty in usage of Sticks’s boomerang
– Sonic speed stages weren’t responsive with Sonic unable to change direction when at speed.
Sonic BOOM: Shattered Crystal is a fantastic platform game which is also a Sonic game. It echoes Crash Bandicoot, Sonic Advance and Rayman. Fanboys might be irritated and even angry at new focus on exploration (which I think makes for a more complete game) and rather than just focus on the speed Sonic is known for but this is a worthy instalment to the Sonic franchise. I still say they should go RPG + puzzle + alternate speed dimension route but that’s just me.
Squids Odyssey
I bought Squids Odyssey cause I was looking for a nice easy quick cheap RPG with a decent story I could play to fill up some of the extra free time I had and got a nice not so easy quick cheap RPG with a good story. Its a rather surprising game that uses mechanics akin to Angry Bird’s pull shot system as you sling, bump and shoot your way through beautifully designed stages. I haven’t come across such a well designed game from the smaller indies in quite a well so this right from the get go had me going. Deceptively simple controls and physics would make you think this was an easy game but placement of foes, behaviour, ricochet physics and stage layouts made it a much more engaging and challenging experience. By being turn based you had to actively strategize your movement so that you didn’t wonder too far out to be ambushed or away from support. What movements you had required a certain amount of skill to ensure you made them worthwhile, whether in attack, retreat or support. Squids Odyssey offers a unique mix of action strategy and RPG as you rotate characters to enhance team strengths and skill in relation to their environments, customizing their equipment and upgrading their abilities.
In a story with a strong environmental message about the effects of oil drilling and spills on marine life our heroes Steev, Vahine and the rest of the Squids are on a mission to stop the spread of the vile black ooze that’s destroying everything. Along the way they collect new characters whilst unravelling the mystery of who caused this and why whilst simultaneously offering some details on the characters themselves albeit not that much
Promoted Features:
-More than 15 hours of gameplay, 90+ levels and 15 Squids, plus the Pro Mode!
-Recruit a unique team of Squids in four different classes: shooters, scouts, troopers and healers
-Customize your party with special ability-boosting and crazy looking helmets
-An epic story with giant turtle rides and heroic boss battles
-Discover the Squids’ legendary world through gorgeous
VERDICT —> 7.5/10
+ Great Set Design
+Quirky but great soundtrack
+ Engaging game dynamics
+ Nice Storyline
– It can be repetitive, some stages needing to be redone to acquire all the bonus stars
– a stage or two had frustrating placements of key structures that made completion in light of the bonus stars a rather arduous task.
Otherwise this is a fun game to play, a quick mission or a full on immersion. Offers great replayability because try as you might its hard to play the same way again.
This Way South, This Way Home 