Going Western with Gunman Clive!

Title: Gunman Clive

Genre: Action, Adventure, Platformer

Developer/Publisher: Horberg Productions

System: iOS, Nintendo 3DS

Release Date: April 3rd, 2012 (iPhone)

The year is 18XX, and a group thugs and outlaws have been overrun in the west. One day a group of bandits decide to kidnap Mayor Johnson's daughter and spread havoc across the western plains. Now, it's up to Clive to rescue Ms. Johnson and bring order to the west...

So, if you're looking for something that's both worthwhile and of course easy on your wallet, then Gunman Clive's here for you at only $2. The game consists of 20 levels, split into four areas of five in which Clive must defeat all of the biggest baddies in the west in order to save Ms. Johnson. Of course, rescuing damsels in distress being a thing, you know that it won't be easy to reach the end.

Gunman Clive plays very similarly to the Mario games, with some exceptions.

In the 3DS version of the game, you use "B" to jump, and "Y" to shoot enemies with your gun. Sometimes you the enemies you defeat will drop a piece of cake to restore your health, and sometimes there will be an upgrade that can allow you gun to fire multiple bullets at once, shoot a bouncing bullet, or even make your bullet size bigger. Enemies range from gunmen, birds, and even sometimes you'll come across sharp obstacles.

There are three playable characters in this game, with two being available from the start. 

Clive is the main protagonist, who's duty is to save Ms. Johnson from her captors. He bears no special abilities of any sort, and plays similarly to Mario.

Yep. It's true.

Ms. Johnson herself is also a playable character. In her story, the roles have been reversed, and it's up to her to rescue Clive. She has unique ability in which she can float in the air temporarily, similar to Princess Peach. 

A Duck is also playable once you've completed the game one time. The duck in this case has no methods of attack, but can flutter in the air, similar to Yoshi.

Don't expect this game to take you very long to beat, but if you're looking for something quick to pass the time, then this game is the perfect choice, especially with it having a great graphic design and music tracks.

That's it for now everyone!
-Anthony-

Mother, What Is Earthbound?

Title: EarthBound/Mother 2

Genre: Role-Playing Game

Developer(s): Ape, HAL Laboratory

Publisher: Nintendo

System: SNES (original), Game Boy Advance, Wii U (ports)

Release Date: June 5th, 1995

If you don't get the title of this post, it is that "Mother" is actually the name of the series, though in the U.S., it was localized as EarthBound. It is the second game of the series, and the only game of the Mother trilogy to have been released in North America. Compared to all of Nintendo's other titles, it is one of the few series that is not well known. 

Unlike most RPGs in the 80s to mid 90s that are usually based in some sort of medieval settings, EarthBound takes place in a more modern time -- "199X" to be exact, and also in a world that resembles America. And, the enemies that you face can vary -- from strange bizzare people, inanimate objects, beasts, and even aliens.

The Starmen are the most notable enemies in the Mother series, and are generally fought near the end of all three games.

As stated, since the game takes place in Eagleland, which is based on America, you'll notice that the game has references to American pop-culture, through dialogue, and even in the game's soundtrack.

In EarthBound, one night, Ness awakens to see that a meteorite landed on top of a hill not far from where he lives. Near the meteor, he meets an Alien known as "Buzz Buzz" who tells him about a mysterious evil in the future that is too powerful, and that it is up to him along with three others in order to save the world. The task is to located eight melodies using an item known as the Sound Stone in order to unite his power with everyone else's in order to stop this evil from ever existing.

The main cast of EarthBound

Ness -- A 13 year old boy from Onett who has strong PSI powers, who's main mission is to collect all eight melodies in order to save the world from evil. He always has his red cap sideways, and wears a blue and yellow striped shirt. His weapon of choice aside from his PSI powers is baseball bats.

Paula -- An 11 year old girl from Twoson who also has PSI powers, and knew about Ness in a dream. She joins Ness after she has been rescued from some of the main villians. Aside from PSI attacks, Paula uses frying pans as her weapon.

Jeff Andonuts -- A 13 year old child prodigy and the son of the Dr. Andonuts, a notable professor/scientist who resides in Winters. He is the only character in the party to not have the ability of PSI. He uses guns/lasers to deal damage to enemies, and can also use bombs and bottle rockets.

Poo -- The last recuritable member who lives in Dalaam. A dedicated warrior and also popular with the ladies of his hometown. He lets his fists do the damage dealing along with his PSI skills. He also can wield a special weapon known as the Sword of Kings. Unlike other characters who can heal their HP and PSI with Western food (like pizza and hamburgers), this is not as effective for Poo, so having Eastern Foods and Water will help restore him.

Nintendo Direct is Nintendo's update series that talks about games coming out on its current consoles. 

Now, here comes the main reason why today's blog is about EarthBound and not something else. In today's Nintendo Direct, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo announced that EarthBound will be coming to the Nintendo Wii U's eShop/Virtual Console sometime later this year.

I'm sad to say that I never played EarthBound when it first came out on Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but now I'm more hopefully that once I acquire a Wii U, I'll be able to play it for sure.

When EarthBound was released back in 1995, it wasn't very successful and sold poorly, but now that the fanbase has grown, and more people have been demanding it, with more people downloading EarthBound on the Wii U, it could gave future EarthBound games more availability to come overseas.

Also, while not mentioned in the video, EarthBound was not released in Europe, so there's a first for a lot of people over there.

If you want to learn more about the Mother/EarthBound series, the best site for all things related to these games would be Starmen.net, where they have new and previous information regarding EarthBound as well as Mother (known by the fans as "EarthBound Zero") and Mother 3 ("EarthBound 2").

Well, I think that covers everything for this blog, stay tuned for more exciting things to come!
-Anthony-

Kickstarting The Code of "Shovelry"

Hello everyone.

Normally at the top of this blog you'll normally see information about the game, it's name, it's release, publisher(s) and what not, but that's not the case for today's blog.

Not that long ago I came across a trailer for a new game that has yet to be released. I instantly was amazed by it's concept. The title that I'm talking about is "Shovel Knight".

Shovel Knight is an upcoming action/platformer game that will be released on Steam (PC), and also on Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo 3DS that will be released sometime in 2013. The game is done in a retro 8-bit design, from enemies, dialogue boxes, and even the musical score.

Like any indie game before it, making a game costs money, and of course the company behind this game, Yacht Club Games, is in need of funds in order to finish the game in its entirety. With the way the economy is, and how money goes by quick, sometimes you have turn to something in order to get the project at full speed.

That's where sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo come in.

A week or so ago, Yacht Club Games started their Kickstarter campaign for Shovel Knight, and need a total of $75,000 in order to fully finish the game. Now you're probably asking: "Why should I donate to for this campaign?" Any campaign done on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, regardless of the project type, gives people who donate certain amounts rewards in return.

Kickstarter and IndieGoGo campaigns can offer special rewards to those who donate. People who donate $100 or more for Shovel Knight's campaign get "official Shovel Knight Dirt" along with a special secret, and all other previous rewards.

Of course, the company must pay part of the money once that have fully funded their campaign to the site itself (this is the case for IndieGoGo, though I'm not 100% sure about Kickstarter).

Even though there's still a little over three weeks of campaign still going on, and it's reached halfway towards it's goal, the sooner it gets fully funded, the sooner progress can be made for the game's completion. Even if you donate just $1 to the campaign it helps a lot in a way.

So let's see what we can do to help get this game into a reality!

The Shovel Knight Kickstarter Page

Shovel Knight's Steam Greenlight Page (NOTE: You must have an account/login to Steam to vote it up)

Shovel Knight Trailer

Shovel Knight will also be shown at this year's PAX East, which is this weekend. So hopefully more info on the game will come out soon.

Cheers, everyone!
-Anthony-

Harmonious Harmony - HarmoKnight Demo

Title: HarmoKnight
Genre: Rhythm, Platformer
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo
System: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: March 28th, 2013

You're probably surprised that I'm posting something about a game that hasn't came out yet, but luckily there's a demo of this game on the Nintendo eShop and I decided to check it out.

Because I'm talking about a demo, this blog will be pretty short, and spoiler free.

HarmoKnight is Rhythm based Platformer developed by Game Freak, the company that's well known for making the Pokemon series. Every now and then they'll make a non Pokemon based game, but if you still need that Pokemon fix in your life, several levels in HarmoKnight feature music from various Pokemon games.

The plot of HarmoKnight is simple: you play as a young warrior named Tempo and find out that monsters known as Noizoids have come and attacked Melodia (a planet/main setting) and it's up to him to save the planet from these monsters.

Going by the demo, you have two main controls: B in order to jump and A to attack enemies. Occassionaly there will be times where you will need to use the circle pad/controller in order change directions.

Again, to keep spoiling the game, it would be best to try out the game and or demo for yourself. Sorry for the short posting! And happy belated St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Fire Emblem Awakening Discussion Part 2

After pretty too much delay, I bring to you the second part of my Fire Emblem Awakening discussion which will focus briefly on character classes, battle layout, and conversations.

1. Character Classes and Weapons

In Fire Emblem: Awakening, each character is specified by a different class, which allows them to use specific weapons in battle that can either deal damage or help out other allies in battle. Characters can use swords, lances, axes, tomes, staves, and other items to assist them in battle.

The Avatar, shown above is part of the Tactician class, one of the new playable classes in the game who can wield swords and tomes.

While most characters can use weapons to battle others may not have that luxury. For instance, Clerics use staves in order to heal other players in order to gain experience rather than by fighting.

Some character classes such as Mages and Archers who wield tomes and bows can attack enemies from two spaces away (but in this case Mages can also attack up close, while Archers cannot). Lancers who wield a Javelin can also attack enemies two spaces away.

Characters can also be promoted to other classes or change classes (via specific items). In the case of the Avatar he can be promoted to a Grandmaster or change to any other class entirely.

2. Battle Layout

Shown above is the layout of one of the battles in Fire Emblem Awakening. Blue units are your characters, Red units are enemies, and while not shown here, Green units are allies.

The general condition of battle can be to either A: Defeat all enemies in battle or B: Defeat the leader of the enemies, which ends the battle automatically.

While in battle you can view the enemy's status and weaponry. And in regards to weapons (specifically swords, lances, and axes) there's something you should pay attention for.

Sword wielders have an advantage over characters with lances, lance wielders have an advantage over axe wielders, and axe wielders have an advantage over swordsmen. Wielding a weapon that is weak against an opposing weapon that is strong will harm your chances in battle, but it won't always be the case.

Characters can also pair up together in combat and enhance their allies' statuses, and sometimes even help out in battle alongside them. Winning battles while paired up will not only give them experience, but it will also allow them to have special conversations, which will be mentioned finally.

3. Conversations

Characters can have up to three to four special conversations which can be done outside of battle. Male characters conversing with female characters will have four conversations (the fourth being an eventual marriage) while same gender characters, characters who are siblings to others and siblings to parents will only have three.

Depending on which two characters are interacting, the scene will be different with each character as they are all unique in their own way.

While I have given some information about the game, the most important thing for anyone to do is to experience the full game themselves and learn about what goes on the world each game takes place in.

Thanks again for watching,
-Anthony-

Pandora's Tower - One of the Last Major Wii Titles

Title: Pandora's Tower
Genre: Action, Role Playing
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer(s): Ganbarion & Nintendo

Publisher(s): Nintendo & XSEED Games

Release date: March 26, 2013

Even though that Nintendo's latest console, the Wii U has been released and out for a few months, developers will shift to work on games for the Wii U rather than the Wii. However, the Wii in this case, while  only getting a few games this year, will still have a surprise up it's sleeve, and in this case, it's Pandora's Tower.

Originally released in Japan in May 2011, Pandora's Tower follows the story the story of Aeron, a man who must travel through a series of towers in order to break a curse on his girlfriend Elena by defeating bosses known as Master Beasts in order to reverse Elena's curse.

Pandora's Tower was not initally going to be released overseas (both in America and Europe) due to the lack of general marketing in the west. However a group of people started a campaign known as Operation Rainfall in order to bring this game, along with two others: Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story, all of them being RPGs (Role-Playing Games), with XSEED publishing the latter of of the two.

So the campaign that simply started as a small group at IGN is now three for three in their original operation (which has now expanded with other similar campaigns to release games to the west).

You can pre-order Pandora's Tower on Amazon or Gamestop for $40.

Trailer for Pandora's Tower (NOTE: This is from the European trailer, not US)



Thanks for reading this! More stuff coming your way!
-Anthony-