Tag: first impressions

Kirby’s Adventure

Kirby’s Adventure for the NES is now available on the Wii U Virtual Console at a special price, only 30 cents for a limited time. I already had some money in my eShop account, so I went ahead and bought it. I have never actually played a traditional Kirby game before. I’ve played Kirby’s Avalanche, which is a puyo puyo puzzle game (much like Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine on Sega Genesis), and I’ve also played Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The latter is a platformer, but it’s not your usual Kirby game because it doesn’t feature Kirby’s typical attack of inhaling and swallowing enemies to gain their abilities.

Above is a video of the first level, Vegetable Valley. Although a “level” is really like a world, since it contains four stages and a boss. After Kirby inhales an enemy, he can spit the enemy back out at another enemy or swallow the bad guy to inherit his ability. That is a particularly cool concept. You can use it to acquire a beam attack, a fire attack, a parasol to use as a weapon, and so on. The controls are a bit floaty, but I guess that’s to be expected considering Kirby can float (and fly). I haven’t played much beyond that first world yet, but the game seems fairly good from what I’ve played. It didn’t blow me away, but I did enjoy it. I’ll be playing more of Kirby’s Adventure in the coming weeks.

Kirby's Adventure screenshotKirby's Adventure screenshot

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Demo Impressions

Today I tried out another 3DS demo game: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy demo title screenI had seen the game’s title mentioned online before, and it stuck with me because of how odd the title is. I’m guessing “Theatrhythm” is a combination of theater and rhythm, although for a long time, I thought the title was Threat Rhythm. But anyway, it is a music/rhythm game that uses music from Final Fantasy games. The game does have some RPG elements, but they’re mainly cosmetic.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy screenshotThe game is played with the stylus and the touch screen. There are different icons which let you know if you must tap, hold, or slide the stylus in a certain direction. You must perform the correct action at the right time. If you make a mistake, you lose HP. If your HP drops to zero, you fail the level. If you complete the level, you are then graded based on how well you did.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy screenshotThe demo has only two songs to play (plus a brief tutorial), so it’s definitely a shorter demo than the Castlevania demo I tried last week. But Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is much more enjoyable to play. Granted, I am a fan of music/rhythm games and I’m also a fan of Final Fantasy games (and the music in those games), but this is a demo I definitely had fun with. The full game has music from all 13 of the main Final Fantasy games, and that fact makes me want the game even more. I may not be buying this game immediately, but it is going on my list of games I intend to buy in the future.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time!

Buy Theatrhythm Final Fantasy at Amazon.com

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.