Nintendo Land is a launch title for Wii U which is available in stores now as a stand alone game and is also included in the deluxe package. Generally a bundled game needs to have a few particular attributes It should have a broad appeal, be very approachable to even new or casual gamers and have replay-ability.
So how does Nintendo Land score on these 3 criteria? Lets break it down:
1) Broad appeal:
You can’t please everybody but a game like this will appeal to the largest number of people. The 12 Mini-games in Nintendo Land are theme based, and the themes include previous Nintendo Hits like Pikmin, Metroid, Mario and even Donkey Kong. You can see that Nintendo fans new and old will be pleased. Family friendly game play means parents and small kids can cooperate or compete. Young children (4+) and lower skill levels are accommodated with easy to learn games and great tutorials.
2) Approachable:
Absolutely. With the touch screen controller Nintendo has introduced us to a new way of playing games. Nintendo Land is being used to showcase the new gaming possibilities with a set of simple mini-games and being able to walk around in a plaza which acts as a game lobby and way to connect to the Miiverse. Easy to understand game mechanics like chase games and target shooters is sure to attract most video game players at any skill level. Where Nintendo Land excels is in its wide appeal, attracting even some non-gamers who might have been intimidated by more complicated games.
3) Replay-ability:
There is some variety here in the selection of mini-games and collecting and high score challenges will hold interest for the obsessive or competitive, but overall this set of games lacks the addictive quality that compels us to keep coming back. Most games are too simple for long term play and can become repetitive. I can see this as the perfect party game for up to 5 players and it could serve well as the go-to game for family nights or entertaining guests.
So the strengths of Nintendo Land are mostly in the social aspect of some of its mini-games. There are some chase games in which up to 4 players using standard wii controllers need to navigate a maze to tackle the player with the touchscreen controller. The frantic communication that arises as the hunters try to corner the chased is a source of great fun. The asymmetrical nature of game-play that the new Wii U touch screen controller can provide adds a new wrinkle to otherwise familiar territory. (think in terms of the hunted being the only one with access to the level map showing the location of the hunters).
For those who have the previous Wii system I can summarize this way:
Nintend Land is to Wii U as Wii Play was to Wii. With Nintendo Land, we are being shown a glimpse of what is possible with their new game system and unique controller interface. With it, there is a lot of fun here as players experience new ways to play old games.
Lets hope developers are taking notes too – the new controller, and what it can do to make games better should not be ignored!
Remember; Nintendo has a history of bundling some of the greatest games with the launch of a new system, eg: (SuperMario/Duckhunt with NES, Tetris with Gameboy and the more recent Wii Sports with the Wii).
Jack – The Villain
High above the action, hanging out in his space station, overseeing and attacking the heroes. Not a playable character but Jack is the antagonist in the Borderlands 2 story. And through Jack the player gets to experience some awesome dialogue. The overly narcissistic, humorously sarcastic wit was a highlight of the preview game play we have seen. He is the Villain we will love to hate.
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Maya – The Siren
Early information and footage of Maya in action give the impression that her skills of elemental damage and crowd control are almost god-like. In fact, this is not far from the truth.
This Athenas born Siren has come to Pandora to learn more about her heritage. I’m not sure what that entails but I’ll bet the word “annihilation” comes up more than once.
Her main action Skill – Phaselock involves suspending enemies of any size in mid-air. This can be useful for getting a troublesome enemy out of the fight for a few seconds, or capturing a particularly fast one so the rest of your party can recoup or just wail on them.
Her Skill tree is divided into Motion, Harmony and Cataclysm; how very elegant and destructive sounding is that!?
Maya skill tree
Zer0 – The Assassin
Like a Space Ninja, complete with a blade for melee attacks. He looks mysterious and he is. Little is known of this characters back story, but what we have seen in previews shows how this character can kick serious ass. A main skill for Zer0 is deception, which lets him become invisible, and while in stealth mode a holographic decoy distracts enemies, allowing him to sneak up or behind his targets. While he is good up close with that blade, he can also handle a sniper like a pro.
Zer0’s skill tree includes ‘Sniping’ ‘Cunning’ and ‘Bloodshed’. (Notice how the 3 main skill branches pretty much define the character – brilliant!)
Zer0 skill tree
Salvador – Gun Zerker
If you’ve seen any pre-release content for Borderlands 2 so far, you have probably seen this guy. At 5’4”, he is not the tallest of the playable characters (though he may be the strongest). But what he lacks in height he makes up for in gunzerker-ness.
What exactly is a “gunzerker”? well, the Pandora dictionary defines a gunzerker as: “one who gunzerks”, but you might be more familiar with the term “dual weild”. Yes! Now this sounds like an awesome skill. The power to blast from 2 awesome guns at the same time!
His three skill tree branches are Rampage, Gunlust and Brawn (see below). From some of the trailers we have seen of this guy in action, he defines all three.
Not quite the surgeon with a weapon that Axton might be, Salvador is best at going into a rampage and blasting with maximum damage.
We know that Salvador was born on Pandora and we look forward to learning more back story of this tough looking hombre.
Salvador skill tree
Axton – The Commando
The first Borderlands 2 character profile is for Axton. This one seems to be picking up where Roland left off. Not just an ordinary soldier, he is a commando, so you can expect Axton to be good with assault rifles.
His primary action skill is the new and improved Scorpio turret 2.0, a deploy-able turret which can be modified to help the team as well as hurt the enemy.
Axton’s skill tree includes Guerrilla, Gunpowder and Survival branches (see image below). From what we can see, this class is perfect for the player who wants to shoot it out at range with snipers, or unleash a hail of bullets in typical armed combat.
“Axton was kicked out of the military for being too unpredictable and too much of a fun-loving glory hog. Rather than face certain death at a firing squad, he thought he’d retire to the one planet in the galaxy where his talents would be appreciated.”
We know that his former commanding officer and wife ‘Sarah’ is a big piece of this characters back story and in the game we might learn more of his military past.
Axton the Commando – skill tree
As we count down the last days before its official launch, we will post a set of character bio’s so you know what to expect.
Click the Icon to see the character bios:
Which Character class will you play first in Borderlands 2?
And be sure to check out the official site by clicking here.
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So far I am loving NSMB2. This is because I am a complete sucker for nostalgia and Nintendo. They keep finding little ways to add new nostalgia to their games. It’s exciting and NEW! Because it’s OLD! Yes!!! I am a sucker and I love it.
There are a lot of great little surprises in this game which I won’t ruin for you, but there are plenty of things that are out in the open which really add to the “same but different” feel. For instance, you can see the Koopalings all piled into Bowser’s clown copter on the ads and packaging. Each one is the boss of a world! Yay! New nostalgia! The question mark blocks are even more reminiscent of the ones from Super Mario World, as are the little flames which jump out of the lava at you (they have eyes again!). You get the Fire Flower and the Super Leaf, of course. The music is, again, the same but different. Basically it’s everything you are looking for if you want to play a new Super Mario World / Super Mario Bros.
That’s all I will say about the “Mario Factors” because really, it’s more fun to discover them yourself.
Please, kid. I’ve been collecting these since before you were… Oooo… so shiny…
The other thing this game has going for it is the fuss about coins. I didn’t think I would buy in. Nintendo has been throwing ads in my face telling me I will want to collect a million coins, that the Mushroom Kingdom is bursting with them and collecting coins has never been so fun etc. etc. Yeah. Ok. That’s great for the kids who are just learning the ways of Mario, but I have been doing this for a while.
I won’t fall for it, I told myself. First level. They’re counting… they’re watching me… waiting to see how many I can get per level. There’s a little counter. Every time I get another thousand, it congratulates me. Heh, I got a thousand in like 1 level. Bet they didn’t expect that. It’s a sign of how AWESOME I am.
Err… it was just coincidence.
The only bad thing I have to say about the game is the length. There are three not-so-secret worlds to complete as well as six regular worlds. I played through the first 8 worlds and some “A” or “B” levels on my way to rescue Peach, but still finished the game in less than 24 hours. I then spent 2-3 days playing the last secret world, collecting the missing star coins and seeking out the remaining secret exits. In the previous two I found star coin collecting far more challenging – if I remember correctly, I was satisfied with the game before I ran out of star coins to collect. Nintendo has a great deal to say about how they did not hold back game content for later DLC… I hope that’s true.
I want to address the worst thing I’ve heard about the game so far: “I already have New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. DS, why would I buy the same thing I already have again? Nice try, Nintendo.” But I’ve had to scour the internet to find a total of three non-critics who actually bought the game and still feel that way. In a sense, they’re right – it is the exact same formula with a new coat of paint. That’s what this game is, and always has been. Are these people for real?
There’s something about a Mario side scroller that every Nintendo lover has stashed away in their thumbs. It’s muscle memory and pattern recognition. It’s a sense of confidence that you might feel while walking around a dark room in a home that you’ve lived in forever. The first time you pick up a NSMB game you know what you have to do. You have a 6th sense for invisible blocks or which tunnel you can use. A pattern will cue you to triple jump – a set of walls aligned a certain way triggers a wall-kick. You can run through a brand new level full speed and dodge every falling twomp and ball’n'chain with perfect timing. It’s in your blood!
Yes, Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 and 3 all have a slightly separate identity, but NIntendo was working on the pattern. They seemed to hit it bang on with Super Mario World. I was old enough to play when it was released, but not yet a critical mind – I am unaware of the reception, only the current fanbase… which is to say, there is STILL a current fanbase. They catered to those people with the first two NSMBs and again with this one. All we are buying is more levels and a couple new moves for the same game. Why do people expect a new formula for a game that’s named for a series of side scrolling levels which have been going on for 27 years?
This comment on Nintendo’s Facebook page tickled me: “I don’t want to buy this same game again, I just want to buy the OTHER same game again!”
Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 were both released for the Wii. None of the New Super Mario Bros side scrollers have appeared on the same system as another. There will be yet another NSMB this winter with the Wii U – both in the same year, but on completely different systems. I don’t see why this is unreasonable. They used to produce new Mario sidescrollers all the time until Mario 64 was created in 1996. Now we complain about getting one per system? I never thought I’d see the day when people started complaining about having too many choices!
Fortunately these complaints are being strongly repudiated, so we should be seeing plenty of Mario content to choose from in the future.
Edit #2: I am hearing a lot of criticism about the number of coins providing too many lives, which makes the risk/reward far less gratifying, since the risk of seeing a game over screen is nearly null. Is that the only thing people are really afraid of? Is the irritation of not completing a level on the first try (or so) really not a factor for old Mario fans?
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MAXIMUM NOSTALGIA. PURCHASE NOW. THANK YOU.
…Now that she has finally put down the game and taken a moment to write it, Part 2 is available HERE.
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With only one month until Borderlands 2 launches, I have a confession to make.
I don’t play FPSs.
The shock! The horror! She’s not a gamer after all!
Seriously, I feel like I’m missing out on the one genre that unites everyone. I know plenty about the big online FPS brands, but I never had the urge to “get good”. That, combined with my terrible eyesight, means I don’t even see what anyone is shooting at. By the time I register something is there, someone else has turned it into a pile of bloody fading corpse. At this point, I generally begin to shoot, because I can’t tell that it’s dead. Yep.
Even though I am left out of the new release hype and the kill/death ratio bragging, I can’t be bothered. There’s a lot of rage, frustration, confusion and competition. Maybe I’m just a giant softy, but I want real people to be on my side against AIs.
This sounds like… Borderlands! It’s a first person shooter and action RPG. Thank you, Borderlands, for bringing me a shooter I can get into. I am so excited to play Borderlands 2 co-op. I’ve been hearing fantastic things, like some advancements in the AI behavior for hostiles, who will apparently try to flank the player and fall back when injured. Regarding the Psychos, though, there is a popular quote going around by Gearbox’s VP who says they still behave with the attitude “Wow that’s a gun! I want my face in front of it.” That sounds excellent! Really, what game doesn’t need that type of adversary?
Borderlands 2 has also included a sweet feature from some of my favourite games like Skyrim, Fallout and Fable: choices with world changing consequences. Like many games we are seeing lately, the world is affected by the decisions made by the player. Along with this, the co-op players will have a greater interaction, since there will be more emphasis on class types and support.
None of the traditional FPSs have this. It’s no wonder why they feel empty and unworthy of the rage they inspire. If we see more games like this in the near future, I might get enough practice to give you a run for your money on November 13th when Black Ops 2 drops.
(I’m just kidding – I will be wayyyy too busy playing Paper Mario: Sticker Star that week.)