The Wii Ware version of CAVE STORY came out this week. Miraculously, it's peeled me away from my addiction/love affair with New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It's not the perfect Cave Story adaptation that rabid fans of the freeware original were hoping for, but there's enough to it to both justify the $12 purchase and understand why there's so much love for the original game.

For years I've heard about CAVE STORY. It's a platform adventure game that has elements of Metroid, Zelda, Mario Bros, and Mega Man. Amazingly, the original version of the game was conceived of and programmed by a single Japanese programmer known as Pixel over 5 years and released in 2004 as a freeware game (you can download and play it for free). Since it's release, CAVE STORY has been widely regarded as one of the best freeware games ever created.

As I'm not much of a computer-based gamer, I've had limited experience playing the original. The most time I had playing it was 5-minutes on Ohm's PSP when he came to the US in July 2009. I could immediately feel that it was a game that I would enjoy and decided then and there that I'd buy the Wii Ware version upon release.

The game itself is brilliant. The play control is tight, responsive and feels perfect on the Wii Classic Controller. I'm amazed at how well conceived the games weapon systems and enemies are. There is a basic but rich strategy to all the elements that contribute to the overall game experience. Like Metroid and Zelda, power ups and items will help you get further in the game but the game is wisely divided into distinct sections you can teleport to (kind of like Metroid Fusion). This helps the player stay focused as he attempts to complete the objective necessary to progress. I am also incredibly impressed with the rich story that, while presented using old-fashioned sprites and text boxes, is more engaging and fulfilling than what was presented in the games that inspired Cave Story.

This Wii adaptation includes revamped graphics, remixed music, and the option to play the game with a female character. You can also play the game with it's original graphics and music. Since I'm playing the game on a Standard TV, the graphical improvements are more subtle than I anticipated. Unfortunately, the remixed music is inferior to the original tracks (something that seems to be caused by a poor audio conversion) and the default FX sounds are ear piercingly too high. With a few adjustments (lowering FX volume and changing the game to its original soundtrack), the game is a lot of fun to play and a reminder of how to make a superb old school game play experience.

I've played about 2.5 hours of CAVE STORY (I'm in the Sand area looking for dogs) on its Original challenge. I'm a little nervous to see how hard it gets in later levels but am having a helluva time playing it thus far.

Wii Trailer:

Original Freeware Game:

All of my video game playing time as of late has been spent playing some version of a 2D Mario game. The latest Super Mario Bros. incarnation on the Nintendo Wii is to blame. Even though the majority of my time has been spent playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii, my recent experiences revisiting the older gamers in the series has given me the clearest idea of the brilliance of all the games in the series and, more specifically, what was done right and wrong with each game.

10. Super Mario Bros. 2 (US version: NES): I did not like this game. Way too slow and it felt nothing like a Super Mario game. I like Birdo as a character and the unique abilities the 4 chooseable characters have was clever. But pulling radishes from the ground was not fun for me.

9. Super Mario Land (Game Boy): This was a fun way to play a Super Mario game on-the-go, but there is nothing particularly memorable or revolutionary about the game play. The two big contributions are Mario using vehicles (which is odd for a game series built on the nuance of jumping from platform to platform) and a fireball that bounces around the screen instead of just disappearing.

8. Super Mario Bros. 2 (JPN version: Famicom): This game is SADISTIC in its difficulty. I feels like Nintendo just wanted to mess with hardcore Super Mario players. It opens with tricking players to grab a poisonous mushroom that kills you. 'Nuff said.

7. Super Mario Land 2 (Game Boy): This sequel made huge leaps in the graphical department. To make it look better, characters had to be bigger resulting in a far smaller portion of a level being visible on screen. The best thing about Mario Land 2 is the introduction of Wario. Levels looked great and the weird jelly stuff you can get stuck in was interesting. The Rabbit Ears power up was a pointless and too-easy-to-use tweak on the Raccoon Tail from Mario 3.

6. New Super Mario Bros. DS: The DS 'NEW' addition to the series took a lot of the right steps to finding the elements that make a great Super Mario game. Unfortunately it wasn't able to bring a sense of polish that would make it a Super Mario classic. As with the Super Mario Land 2, it felt like the level layout suffered from having to make the characters big enough to look attractive. I like how all the power ups were built around the core jumping and platforming game play. But the levels feel bland and forgettable. Using the touch screen for an emergency power up was distracting and counter-intuitive. I also don't like that to get many of the hidden coins, you have to use a power up that is not included in the level (like the Micro Mario mushroom).

5. Super Mario World (SNES): The game had a lot of great things and a lot of bad things going for it. The good levels were great (like the fortresses, haunted houses, and castles) but some of the regular levels were forgettable and/or confusing. Yoshi was fun and created some variety. The weird choice of having koopas pop out of their shell when you stomp on them was a very odd game play change that disrupts the standard Super Mario game flow. The flying cape technique is non-intuitive and gives players the unfair advantage to just fly through levels. There are also way too many buttons to use, confusing game play.

6. Donkey Kong (Game Boy): Although not traditionally considered a Super Mario game, I think it deserves to be here because Donkey Kong showed how to give players a variety of intuitive moves without the need for extra buttons. In many ways, what Super Mario World did wrong, the Game Boy Donkey Kong did right. In the Game Boy Donkey Kong you can back flip and time your jumps perfectly to get an extra boost. This awesome move set made many of the Donkey Kong levels too easy, but showed how to make a simple yet nuanced 2D Mario gaming experience.

4. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES): I struggle putting this here because, as much as I love this game, it's not a Super Mario game. I love the unique way Yoshi floats a bit when he jumps. I also think the throwing egg technique was cleverly implemented and had a sense of intuition that was not prevalent in Mario World's Cape power up. Level designs were awesome but a little too long. As a whole SMW2: Yoshi's Island was a brilliant 2D platform game (one of the best) but was a bit too methodical and slow-paced to be regarded as a true Super Mario game.

3. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES): This game got so many things right. My main problem with it is it had too many ideas. It could have benefited from a little editing. We didn't really need Raccoon Tail AND Tanooki power up. The Hammer Bros. power up a waste. And the game often got absurdly hard (those air ships are NASTY!). But it did so many other things right: the level maps, distinct over world themes, Koopa Kids... The raccoon tail power-up was a fine example of a simple but clever way to introduce flight to a game based on jumping. Three things that bummed me out were that some levels were way too short, that fortress boss was pointless, and I didn't feel that the Koopa Kids were used to their fullest potential.

2. Super Mario Bros. (NES): Perfect level design. Tons of variety. A level of nuance to game play that not only was ahead of its competitors but still feels rich over 20 years after it was made. Call me crazy, but I also think that graphically Super Mario Bros. looks better today than Super Mario Bros. 3.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii: This game takes all of the best elements from previous games and refines them. By choosing to use the Wii Remote like an old NES controller, Nintendo forced themselves to make a play control approach that was easy to understand but hid great depths of game play. Every power up adds something new to the gaming experience. Level designs are memorable and carefully hint at hidden coins without giving away too much. Challenge felt just right. It's tough but not as merciless as Super Mario Bros. 1, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Mario World sometimes become. The one flaw is the generic graphics.

After much delay and hesistance, I decided to play NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII and loved every minute of it. Although it didn't take very long to beat the game, it was a fun experience that reminded me of the polished gameplay of the 2D Super Mario Bros. games.

Going into playing the game, I really did not want to like it. I was unimpressed with the safe and generic graphical style. I also was extremely disappointed with the difficulty and lack of originality found in the NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. DS game. Fortunately, the Wii's sequel's smart level layouts and variety did an excellent job of creating nostalgia for memorable levels from previous Mario games while adding some new nuances to the classic platforming experience that reminded me that there were still plenty of new ideas to explore and introduce to the 2D Platforming game.

The one thing that I liked about the DS Super Mario Bros. was that it went back to the most essential platforming elements from the first Super Mario Bros. Every power up in that game contributed to the fundamental Mario gaming premise of jumping from platform to platform. This Wii sequel builds and refines that idea with the addition of the propeller hat power up and wii-motion controlled platforms.

The multi-player aspect was a smart marketing point, but I still prefer playing the game as a singler-player experience. The game's difficulty was reasonably challenging for an experienced Super Mario player (as I consider myself)... but nothing in the game forced me to use the computer controlled Luigi Assistance that Nintendo included in the game for more novice players.

Any quibbles you may have with challenge are quickly answered in the 9th World (Star World) that opens up after beating the game. Each of the 8 levels in Star World opens up after you have found every hidden large coin in a Numbered World (there are 3 large coins in every level). I was able to open up the first Star World and it was frustratingly difficult.

Overall NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII is a fun game and, despite the boring artistic style, a great sign that 2D games are alive and still capable of challenging and entertaining gamers.

The unconventional design sense of the TRON movie universe has had an even larger cultural impact than the movie itself. The movie failed to live up to expectations, but its beautiful virtual game universe (with it's wacky neon lighting and abstract vehicles) live on in a variety of ways including the upcoming film sequel and it's influence on video games. Two of the most interesting things I discovered from Nintendo's Media Summit (from last week) are that they are doing downloadable game remakes of 'X' and 'Dotstream'. Curiously, both games have an undeniable stylistic influence from the TRON film. Is it strictly coincidence that both remakes are coming out in the same year as TRON 2? I don't know and don't care. All I know is that both games look and sound great and I look forward to playing them both!

I happened to have owned both games at different times in my life. In the early 1990s my uncle lived in Japan and he'd often purchase and send me used Game Boy games he'd come across. Two of his more memorable purchases was the puzzle game 'YOSHI NO TAMAGO' (Yoshi's Egg) AND 'X'. I remember being incredibly frustrated with 'X' because it was an atmospheric and technically impressive game for the Game Boy (with it's amazing soundtrack and polygon wire frame graphics) but I had NO IDEA how to play the damned thing. I'd keep screwing up and and seeing that funky head talk to me in Japanese and couldn't read enough to understand what to do. I have no idea what I have done with my copy of the game. It might still be stored in the attic at my parents house...

I also currently own DOTSTREAM. I purchased all the Bit Generation games from a video game import store when the came out. I LOVED the concept and packaging and was pleasantly surprised that the majority of them were also very good games. DOTSTREAM is a very fun expansion on the Tron light cycle concept complete with super minimalist graphics and an amazing soundtrack.

I love seeing what the original games were like and comparing them to the new versions. You can check out the original game and revamp videos below.

Original 'X' Game Boy game from 1992:

Revamped DSi sequel 'X-Scape' to be released in 2010:

Original 'Bit Generations: Dotstream' Game Boy Advance game from 2006:

Revamped Wii Ware successor 'Art Style: Light Trax' to be released in 2010:

I completed NO MORE HEROES 2 about a week or two ago. I enjoyed it but didn't feel the same level of cohesion that I felt with the first NO MORE HEROES game. It's still a great deal of fun and, despite a few bits of irritating gameplay, it's a gaming experience I strongly recommend for anybody that owns a Nintendo Wii, has a sense of humor, and doesn't mind some sex & violence in their videogames.

I'm on a bit of a Grasshopper/Suda51 gaming binge these days. In anticipation of No More Heroes 2's release, I went back and played No More Heroes 1 to completion. Since beating No More Heroes 2, I've decided to give Grasshopper and Suda51's previous game, KILLER7 on the Gamecube another shot and am currently playing it's last of 6 chapters.

Since I literally started playing NO MORE HEROES 2 the day after completing the first No More Heroes game, many of the changes felt jarring. The graphical style is a bit more realistic than what was used in the first game. There are still bits of that harsh polygon shading style I like in KILLER7 and the first game but Grasshopper has refined the graphical style to one that feels more like Capcom's Resident Evil 4 and the Final Fantasy games. There's a softness to the facial features that gives the main character, Travis Touchdown, a feminine quality that I didn't really like. His eyes look like they've got touches of mascara and his lips and hair look a bit too "glam" for me.

NMH2 has also done away with the overworld from the first game and made the mini-games an unnecessary side bit to the main beat-em-up game. In the first game you had to play the simplistic mini-games to earn enough cash to enter the next death match. This time around, you can go straight to the death matches. The mini-games are still very relevant because the money you earn from them allows you to upgrade your fighting speed and/or health, buy new light sabers, and buy new clothes.

Like the first game, mini-games are basic affairs. Most mini-game controls are simple and, appropriately, the games graphics look like old 8-bit NES games. It's a novel visual concept. But I was surprised at how the look and gameplay of the mini-games completely took me out of the game. As annoying as the mini-games were in the first No More Heroes, I felt like I was always in the same world as the fighting levels since their visual consistency and presentation were identical. But as the visual style changed from 8-bit game to the regular polygon style in NMH2, I was constantly reminded that I was playing a game and had a harder time connecting with the world of the game. Yes, it was nice to get straight to the more exciting fighting bits... but I didn't feel the same level of intimacy with the city of Santa Destroy that I felt in the first game.

I found that most of the mini-games were unplayable with the traditional wii-mote and nunchuck controller combination. Most of the games needed some very precise movement that was not possible with the nunchuk's analog stick. I was just about to give up on all the mini-games when I decided to start playing them with the classic controller and immediately noticed that the controller's gamepad was the perfect way to get the precision I needed. One other bummer was the poor quality of the mini-games graphics. It seems as though they were built to play on an HD TV. On my Standard TV, the mini-game screen was very small and graphically blurry.

With the wii-mote and nunchuck, the actual fight mechanics for Travis are improved ever-so-slightly from the first game. General fighting feels identical to the first (in a good way). Also, the different light sabers you can select in the game give you different strategies for fighting. Some are fast but weak. Others slow and powerful. I also noticed that some sabers are faster when in the high offensive position versus low. All of that gives you a lot to experiment with during fighting.

As with the other Grasshopper/Suda51 games the story is non-sensical in a stream of consciousness on acid kind of way. Oddly, I found that this game was even more non-sensical than the others. There were a lot of interesting bits to the story and I love the way it plays with different game styles like Resident Evil 4 and Metal Gear Solid. But there doesn't seem to be as much of an overall theme as in the first game. It's just a bunch of interesting moments. Most of those moments are satisfying, a few will irritate the crap out of you.

Overall, I'm glad to have played No More Heroes 2. There are enough great characters and neat ideas to forget about the occasional odd gameplay choices.

Bayonetta sales, worldwide, for the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined has hit 1.1 million. If so, great news for Platinum Games/Clover Studios! There is some debate as to whether that number represents games shipped or games actually sold... either way its a nice step forward for a company known for creating quality games that have consistently struggled to find an audience. I loved what Kamiya-san and his team did on games like Viewtiful Joe, Okami, God Hand and Madworld. It's good to see that they've found a decent following with their latest action game. I wonder who is buying Bayonetta. Is it just the old-school fans feenin' for a new beat-em-up style game? Or has Bayonetta found a way to attract gamers that would normally play a game of Halo or Gears of War? There have been many arguments that traditional gamers (who are mostly male) hesitate to play as a female protagonist. It's nice to see that Bayonetta has been able to challenge that conception. I have yet to play Bayonetta (as I niether own a PS3 or Xbox 360). But my interest in the game is there. I've heard it's a lot of fun to play. Design-wise I really like the main character's look... but have a hard time appreciating the cast of villains in the game. Overall it's got a very garish SquareSoft Final Fantasy design style going for it... which has never been a look I've really liked. With all the trinkets and metal the characters are wearing it's very difficult to make out what the characters actually look like. To my eyes it just looks like blobs of 'bling bling'. Despite that snafu, Kamiya's got my trust. I assume it all makes sense once you give the game a little playtime. As I love the Bayonetta character you play as, I decided to include a selection of some really nice development sketches of the character from Platinum games. You can find more on their flikr account.