Nintendo released a new Splatoon map tonight, called Ancho-V Games. It is reportedly the last new stage that will be added to the game. It takes place in the offices of a game design company. It has platforms that can rise into the air when fan-like propellers are shot with ink. Here is a gameplay video showing two turf war battles in the stage:
Battles in the large center room can get pretty intense. I don’t think I like the stage as much as I like Piranha Pit (the other recent addition), but maybe it will grown on me as I play it more. But I’m pretty happy that the game now has 16 maps available. That’s pretty significant when you consider the game launched with only a handful of stages. I still haven’t had enough of Splatoon, so I’ll continue playing it for months to come. I’ll also be posting another Splatoon video by next week, so stay tuned for that!
I received a Nintendo eShop gift card for Christmas, and I used it to buy FAST Racing Neo for Wii U. It’s a futuristic hovercraft racing game like F-Zero or Wipeout. But in FAST Racing Neo, you must frequently toggle between two phases (orange and blue). There will be orange and blue boost pads and jump pads throughout the courses, and your ship must be on the correct phase to use them. If you touch them while on the wrong phase, it will slow you down dramatically. So you’ll need to switch phases effectively, while also evading other ships and avoiding obstacles in a very fast racing environment.
In addition to boost pads, there are also boost orbs that can be collected. These charge up your boost meter, which you can use whenever you wish. Efficient usage of boosting will be crucial in later courses.
Many of the courses have twisting tracks, dangerous jumps, and crazy obstacles. One has pillars of fire that erupt from the track itself, while others may have giant boulders that fall onto to the track or inconveniently-placed pillars in the way. Another has a giant mechanical bird that at first appears to be part of the background, until it starts pecking at passing ships! Some of these obstacles may seem a bit unfair when they first hit you out of nowhere, but you’ll learn to avoid them. Still, some of the later tracks are quite challenging.
Most of the game modes are pretty standard: There is a championship mode, a split-screen multiplayer mode, a time trial mode, and an online mode. But there is also a “hero mode,” in which you must win a cup without exploding your ship (no respawns). I have not unlocked this mode yet, but it sounds like quite the challenge.
After just a couple hours of gameplay so far, I am enjoying FAST Racing Neo. I’m not sure if it’s quite in the same class as F-Zero, but it is a fun, polished game with great graphics. It’s definitely a bargain for just $15 in the Wii U eShop.
Here is a gameplay video showing the Storm Coast course in championship mode:
For those wondering, I also received Xenoblade Chronicles X and Wii Fit U for Christmas. I may have separate blog entries and/or videos of those games at some point in the future.
If you’ve read my first impressions of Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, you’ll know that I found the board game to be quite boring. But fortunately, the game has other modes as well. I’ve recently spent some time with the Desert Island Escape mode. This mode is just for one player, and it requires three Amiibo cards. The game comes with three cards, so this shouldn’t be a problem.
The cards you scan are the characters that will be stranded on a desert island. The object is to find three logs and a sail, which are hidden somewhere on the island, to build a raft and escape to freedom. You have seven days to accomplish this goal, with each day being represented as one turn for each of your characters. Unlike the board game layout, the island is represented in hexagonal spaces which give you more freedom to explore where you want.
You start with only three days worth of food, so you’ll need to collect fruit, fish, and/or honey along the way to replenish your stock. You can also pick up items such as stones, string, sticks, and cloth in order to make tools. Those tools will help improve your odds of finding food or getting past obstacles. A shovel lets you avoid pitfalls, a fishing rod allows you to catch fish, a slingshot improves your chances against enemy creatures like snakes and centipedes, and a net improves your odds of getting past the bees and scoring some honey.
Each character has a special ability. For example, dogs like Goldie can sniff out nearby items, allowing you to go directly to the goodies you need. Bears like Stitches are good at finding honey and fending off bees. Cats like Rosie can catch fish without a fishing rod.
One game, I made the mistake of selecting Eugene to be on my “ugly all-stars” team. Eugene is unpredictable but strong: Some days he can move forward 7 spaces, which is very helpful. But other days, he’ll be lazy and will refuse to move at all! That’s not being a team player!
At night, your characters will set up a tent to rest. You can choose to place the tent on any spot that you’ve already explored. If you have enough items, you can make a tool from the items you’ve collected. When you’re ready to proceed, you’ll eat and sleep. In the morning, you’ll start out the new day from where you pitched your tent.
As soon as you’ve found all of the parts you need for your raft, you’ll immediately assemble the raft and escape to freedom. You are scored based on how much of the island you’ve explored, as well as how much food and how many days you had left.
Unlike the board game, I’m really enjoying Desert Island Escape. It’s quite fun and I’m looking forward to playing it more. I actually think Amiibo Festival may have been better received if this had been the focus of the game. There are 30 islands to escape from, and each one seems to take about 10-15 minutes to complete. I’m not sure if this mode will have much replay value once those are completed, but at least Amiibo Festival isn’t a total loss. Here is a gameplay video featuring Stitches, Goldie, and Rosie:
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival also has other modes that I haven’t unlocked yet. I’ll have more blog entries discussing those in the future, so I hope you’ll continue to visit Jeff’s Gaming Blog! See you next time!
