Month: March 2013

I Got My 3DS!

I got my 3DS today! It’s a blue 3DS XL.

My Blue 3DS XLFor those in the U.S., this is a great time to buy a 3DS. Through Saturday (March 30th), Target has regular 3DS systems for $129.99 and XL systems for $159.99. Those are $40 off the normal prices. It looks like they’re currently sold-out on the website, but call your local store to see if they have any. Also, Nintendo is having a promotion through April 30th that if you buy a 3DS XL and either Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, you can get a free game (such as Super Mario 3D Land).

As for the system, there was one thing that surprised me: How small the buttons are! The main X-A-B-Y buttons are tiny! My Game Boy Advance SP, which is about half the size of a Nintendo 3DS XL, has bigger buttons. And I thought those were pretty small to begin with too. Not cool. Well I guess this is just one of many reasons I prefer console games to portable games.

Castlevania demo screenshotAnyway, I played around with some of the included apps, but not all of them yet. First, I wanted to see what demos were available in the eShop. I was hoping for a Pilotwings demo (no such luck). I tried out the demo for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate. (What’s with two-colon games?)  Much like Wii U demos, 3DS demos allow you to play them 30 times. As for the game, the graphics are 3D, but the gameplay is 2D. So I was surprised it didn’t let me control the character with the control pad; you have to use the circle pad to play. The game is set up like a Metroid game or Symphony of the Night, but the gameplay didn’t seem as fun. Enemies take a little too long to defeat and it didn’t really feel like a Castlevania game. It was okay, but it’s probably not something I would buy.

But as you may know know, I got a 3DS primarily for Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which comes out in June. My Animal Crossing blogs are the most popular part of my site, and I’m looking forward to blogging New Leaf from the very beginning. My other Animal Crossing blogs were started years after I had most tasks completed, like having my house paid off, the town upgrades, and so on. So this upcoming blog will cover everything, so keep an eye out for that, coming soon.

And of course, much like City Folk and Wild World before it, Animal Crossing: New Leaf will have online play. Since 3DS systems have one universal friend code (instead of separate codes for each game), it’s not too soon to start adding future New Leaf players to your friend rosters. In fact, that’s what I’m doing now. For a limited time, I will be adding people to my roster for future New Leaf play.

Zen Pinball 2 (Wii U)

Zen Pinball 2 was released today in the Wii U eShop. The game itself is free to download; but by itself, it’s really just a demo and not a game. It relies on selling the tables as DLC. There are 26 tables altogether, over half of which are based on Marvel characters such as The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, and so on. From the main menu, you can see all of the tables available:

Zen Pinball 2 Menu on Wii UYou get trials of four tables included with the game (all Marvel tables). You can also download free trials of the other tables, but you have to back out of the game and go back to the eShop to do so. If you want to buy a table, it costs $2.99 for a single table, or you can buy a 4-pack for $9.99. The four-packs come with specific tables though; you can’t just choose which four you want. As for the trials, the game lets you play until you reach a certain score or time limit (about two minutes).

Here is a video showing some gameplay of four tables: Mars, Plants vs. Zombies, The Infinity Gauntlet, and Sorcerer’s Lair.

When you play, you can cycle through eight camera viewpoints, or choose a custom view. You can also play on the TV or on the GamePad itself. I’ve tried out nine of the 26 tables. My two favorites seem to be Mars and Sorcerer’s Lair. Perhaps outer space and sorcery appeal to me as pinball games, as two of my favorite pinball games of all time are Galactic Pinball (on Virtual Boy) and Devil’s Crush (on TurboGrafx-16). But Mars and Sorcerer’s Lair are fun tables that also have some pretty good music. The Plants vs. Zombies table is pretty good too. Once I try out all of the tables, I will likely buy one or two of them. I’ll keep you posted if/when I do. Until next time, here are some screenshots of Zen Pinball 2.

Zen Pinball 2: Plants vs. ZombiesZen Pinball 2: HulkZen Pinball 2: Fear ItselfZen Pinball 2: Sorcerer LairZen Pinball 2: Mars

Batman: Arkham City

After beating Earthbound, I’m now playing Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition for Wii U. I had only played it a couple hours or so before today, so I’m still very early in the game. As you load up your game, some static screens are displayed that show what happened last time. This serves to refresh your memory of what’s going on, as well as give you a reminder of what your next objective is. I really think that’s a great idea.

batman-loadingOnce you’re out in the city, you’re free to roam around. Using Batman’s grappling hook, you can quickly scale skyscrapers for a great view. You can use your cape to glide around, and grapple back up when you need to. It’s pretty fun just exploring the city on rooftops without ever touching the ground.

Batman: Arkham City - churchOf course there are objectives for you to complete, but the game doesn’t rush you. And you can drop in on some random thugs for some action anytime.

Batman: Arkham City - FightingBut eventually, I got to the location of my next objective. I had to sneak into the steel mill through the chimney.

Batman: Arkham City - Sneaking into the steel mill.There are puzzles to solve, many of which involve the use of Batman’s gadgets. The game uses a lot of buttons, button combinations, and the GamePad screen, so the controls can be confusing at first. For example, you need to press ZR + B to open a hatch or L stick + B + B to dive through a window. Not the most intuitive controls and I’m still trying to get the hang of it all.

Batman: Arkham City - diving through a windowEven though I’m not the biggest fan of stealth in games, it is put to good use in this game. Batman can grapple up to vantage points where people on the ground/floor level can’t see him. He can then drop down behind a bad guy when the time is right and silently take him out without being spotted. Hey, if he can do it in the movies, why not in the game too? Pretty cool stuff.

Batman: Arkham City - Vantage point screenshotI will be playing more Arkham City over the coming weeks. I’m currently only 5% through the main story mode, and only 1% through the game overall. But this blog won’t be limited to just Batman. Zen Pinball 2 comes out for Wii U next week (supposedly), so I will give that a try. The game itself is free, but the tables are sold individually as DLC. They do let you sample at least some of them though, so I will definitely give them a try next week. I may also revisit some other games in the near future, so stay tuned.

Buy Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition at Amazon.com