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

Earthbound’s Excellent Ending

Today I finished Earthbound for the second time overall (but first time in years). In the final battles, you have to fight both Pokey and Giygas.

Earthbound Giygas fight screenshotI always thought it was ridiculous that Pokey, the annoying kid next door, could so quickly become aligned with the most evil force in the world. Then again, I suppose it’s no more ridiculous than another young boy (Ness) becoming the most powerful fighter in the world.

Earthbound’s ending does almost everything right. It has the happy ending, peace is restored, and the characters return to their hometowns.

Earthbound ending screenshotBut most importantly, you are free. All the enemies are gone, but you can still go anywhere in the world that you want. You can explore. You can reunite with characters you haven’t seen in a while. There is new dialogue, as characters will react to you having saved the world. You can even get any of the photos that you may have missed. Every RPG and adventure game should do this! Sure, lots of games revisit the characters and maybe show what they’re up to now, but you don’t have the freedom to go anywhere and explore at your own pace.

Earthbound ending screenshotThe ending seems to do everything right…but not quite. There is one problem: You can’t save your game. You may be free to do anything else, but you can’t save your progress and finish up later on. Sure, it’s almost unheard of for a game to let you save during the ending. But this is no normal ending. A normal game ending is typically non-interactive and lasts maybe 5-10 minutes. In Earthbound’s ending, you are still playing! According to Starmen.net, it can take over two hours to go back and talk to everyone! And that’s a long time to have to go without saving. So it may not completely perfect in my mind, but it is still a great ending that more games should emulate.

At any rate, once you are done visiting with everyone, you can return home. Then you and your mother will look through the pictures taken by the cameraman throughout your journey. And of course the credits will roll as well.

Earthbound ending

Next up, I plan on getting back to Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition for Wii U. In the meantime, check out my video of Wii Fit Plus. It’s a collection of my many fails while playing the obstacle course. It may seem funny now, but those hits weren’t so funny at the time!