Month: August 2014

Mario Kart 8 – Update & DLC

Nintendo has sent out an update for Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, and it adds an on-screen map to the game. The lack of a map was one of my biggest complaints about the game, so I’m very glad to see it has now been added. Here’s a look at it:

mk8-mapI noticed one other small change to the game as well. In Grand Prix mode, the first and default option after a race is to continue on to the next race. Before, the default option was to view the replay. That was also something I complained about before. Even though it wasn’t a big deal, it’s nice to see Nintendo is listening.

But the biggest addition in this update is the new shop. For now, you can currently download a free pack that contains three Mercedes-Benz vehicles: GLA, W 25 Silver Arrow, and 300 SL Roadster.

Mario Kart 8 MercedesFuture paid DLC packs are also on the way. One is Zelda themed and one is Animal Crossing themed.

mk8-dlcpacksThe Zelda pack is coming out in November, and it includes three new characters (Link, Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach), four new vehicles (including the Blue Falcon from F-Zero), and eight new courses.

The Animal Crossing pack will be out in May 2015, and it lets you race as Isabelle, Villager, or Dry Bowser. It will also contain four new vehicles and eight new courses.

The two packs will cost $7.99 each, or you buy them both for $11.99. If you pre-order them both, you get eight color variations you can use for Yoshi or Shy Guy right away.

I’m generally not a big fan of paid DLC, but these DLC packs will be too hard to resist for me. Sixteen new courses is a significant addition, and Mario Kart is one of my favorite game series. Not to mention, Zelda and Animal Crossing are two of my favorites as well.

There is one thing I’m not a big fan of, however. The character select screen and track select screens already show the racers and cups which are locked and unavailable.

mk8-lockedI know they’re trying to convince people to pre-order the DLC packs, but it makes you feel like you don’t have access to the whole game. I can see some people getting upset by this, especially people who don’t plan on buying the DLC packs, or people who may have just shelled out $60 for the game. Seeing one-third of the game as unavailable and requiring a purchase to unlock is something you’d expect to see in a free phone/tablet app. There’s no reason for those cars and tracks to be displayed on the selection screens; keep it in the shop section until a player buys them.

As for my progress in the Mario Kart 8 Grand Prix mode, I have now won gold medals on all cups. I’m working towards getting three-star ratings on all of them, but I have a ways to go still.

Dr. Luigi First Impressions

Nintendo recently announced their elite status rewards for Club Nintendo. Unfortunately, there are no physical rewards (like posters or CDs) this year, and all of the available options are downloadable games for Wii U or 3DS. Of the rewards I was able to choose from, Dr. Luigi was the one that stood out to me. It’s essentially the Wii U version of Dr. Mario, just rebranded for Nintendo’s “Year of Luigi.” And I’ve been a big fan of Dr. Mario for a long time, so the choice was easy. By the way, if you earned elite status at Club Nintendo, make sure you choose your gift by August 15th! (Note: This applies to North America. Other regions may be different).

Dr. Luigi Title ScreenDr. Luigi has four main modes and I’ll talk a bit about each one:

Retro Remedy

This is the classic Dr. Mario game you all know and love. Or at least, you should love it. Luigi drops colored pills (each with two sections, which may or may not be different colors) and you have to line up four colors in a row to wipe out each virus. Clear the stage of all viruses and advance to the next level.

Dr. Luigi - Retro RemedyOperation L

This new mode is played basically the same as Dr. Mario, except that the pieces dropped are blocks consisting of two pills stuck together (in the shape of the letter L). They appear in an ugly looking white outline box until they land, when the white box shatters and the two pills separate (when gravity allows).

Having pills in this shape will sometimes allow you to clear a virus using just one piece. But overall, the extra pills stuck together are more of a hindrance than a help. After you get over the novelty of having L-shaped blocks, it just feels like a slightly less enjoyable version of Dr. Mario.

Dr. Luigi - Operation LVirus Buster

This mode first appeared in Dr. Mario Online Rx on Wii. You could use the Wii remote to point at pills and drag them to where you wanted to put them. In Dr. Luigi, the object is the same, but you’re now using the stylus on the gamepad to drag the pills. It works well, and dragging them feels more natural than pointing the Wii remote. An interesting feature of this mode is that it lets you turn the Wii U gamepad sideways for a better, larger view of the playing area.

Dr. Luigi - Virus BusterOnline Battle

If you’re a Dr. Mario veteran like me, this is likely the main attraction: The ability to play Dr. Mario (oops, Dr. Luigi, excuse me) online against friends or random players. You can play Operation L or Retro Remedy, either one in classic or “flash” mode (where the object is not to clear all the viruses, but only the flashing ones).

When I tried to play Operation L, I waited a few minutes, but it didn’t match me up with anyone. Perhaps I’m not the only one that doesn’t care for that mode. When I chose Retro Remedy instead, I was matched up with another player fairly quickly. However, I noticed I was often paired up with players with a much higher rating than mine. Shouldn’t the game match up players with similar ratings? It doesn’t seem to. (Ratings start out at 5000, by the way).

drl-matchupOf course my rating is only so low because I’m new to the game. I generally beat the people with a similar rating to mine, and I found that I was neck-and-neck with one player rated around 8000. But I didn’t do very well against that person with a rating of over 9000. Still, I had a good time battling them. I’m a bit out of practice though, and I never felt I was “in the zone” just yet. But I’ll definitely be playing more of this in the coming weeks and months.

There is one thing that bugs me, however. When it shows your number of wins, that’s your all-time win count. It doesn’t show the results of the current match! So unless you memorize or write down both players’ win count at the beginning, you can’t see your current win-loss record against that player. The Wii game had that feature, so it’s a step backward to not include that. Sometimes it boggles my mind how Nintendo leaves out the little things sometimes.

Dr. Luigi - Online BattleFinal (First) Thoughts

My biggest gripe with Dr. Luigi is the fact that the first player *must* use the gamepad to play the game. The Wii remote, pro controller, and classic controller pro are only supported for the second player! What makes this problem so bad is that when I play with the gamepad, pieces will occasionally fall instantly–as if I pressed up on the control pad, even when I didn’t. Unless there’s something wrong with my gamepad, it must be extremely sensitive to diagonals–because I don’t recall having this problem in the Wii game when using a Wii remote.

But even aside from that issue, using a Wii remote to conserve gamepad battery life should be reason enough to allow for other controllers. There’s really no reason this game should require the gamepad (other than Virus Buster mode, of course).

But overall, I definitely enjoyed the 2-3 hours I’ve spent with the game so far. I still think Dr. Mario Online Rx was a bit better, but of course, that game doesn’t have online play any more. (Nintendo pulled the plug on online games for the original Wii back in May). If you’re a fan of Dr. Mario, you’ll enjoy Dr. Luigi too. Just don’t expect any radical changes to the formula.