Nintendo Power - November 2008 (V234) - Muramasa, GTA DS

[botticus]

Cover
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)

News
Muramasa: The Demon Blade [Oboro Muramasa Youtouden] (Wii)
EA-Suda collaboration sidebar
Suikoden: Tierkreis (DS)
Square-Enix party
- Sigma Harmonics
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2
- Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+
- Chocobo and the Magic Storybook
Phoenix Wright manga (Vol1 - September, $14.95)
Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
Overlord Dark Legend (Wii)
Overlord Minions (DS)
Rygar: Battle of Argus (Wii) - updates next issue
Dragon Ball: Origins (DS) - 3D

Wii Channels (WiiWare/VC coverage) - now with ratings (good, bad, meh)
WiiWare
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episodes 2 & 3
Mega Man 9 - Boss Blowout
Helix - meh
Midnight Pool - good
Strong Bad Ep 1 - good
Wild West Guns - good
Alien Crush
Bomberman

VC
Break In - meh
Mega Man - good
Neo Turf Masters - meh
Sonic the Hedgehog (SMS) - meh
Samurai Showdown II - good
Splatterhouse 2 - meh
Star Parodier - good
Ys Book I & II - meh (very dated, other than music)

Most Wanted (Genesis)
Staff
- Mega Man: The Wily Wars
- Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- Sonic & Knuckles
- Shining Force II

Reader picks next month

Previews
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Wii/DS)
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (DS) - November 2008
Tomb Raider: Underworld (Wii/DS) - November 2008
Transformers Animated: The Game (DS) - October 2008
Facebreaker K.O. Party (Wii) - November 2008
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS) - October 2008
Metal Slug 7 (DS) - November 2008
MySims Kingdom (Wii/DS) - October 2008
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (Wii/DS) - October 2008
Call of Duty: World at War (DS/Wii) - November 2008
Luminous Arc 2 (DS) - November 2008
Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS) - October 2008
All Star Cheer Squad (Wii/DS) - October 2008
Dokapon Kingdom (Wii) - October 2008
Quantum of Solace (DS/Wii) - November 2008
Rock Revolution (Wii/DS) - Fall 2008
SPRay (Wii) - October 2008

Features
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)
- interview with Dan Houser
Sonic Unleashed (Wii)
Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii)
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (DS)
Avalon Code (DS)
20 Year Feature... of Features
Interview with Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka (BioWare)
Playback - Kid Nki: Radical Ninja (NES)

Reviews
Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii) - 8.0
Spore Creatures (DS) - 8.0
Samba De Amigo (Wii) - 9.0
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (DS) - 8.0
Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise (DS) - 7.0
Line Rider 2: Unbound (Wii) - 5.0
De Blob (Wii) - 8.0
Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS) - 9.0
Bleach: Dark Souls (DS) - 8.5
NHL 2K9 (Wii) - 7.0
SimCity Creator (Wii) - 6.0
Myster Case Files: Millionheir (DS) - 6.5
Time Hollow (DS) - 7.0
Lock's Quest (DS) - 7.0
Line Rider 2: Unbound (DS) - 6.0
NBA Live 09 All-Play (Wii) - 4.0 :lol
Tornado (DS) - 6.0
The Legend of Kage 2 (DS) - 8.0
Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition (DS) - 7.0
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 (DS) - 6.5
Populous (DS) - 7.0
Unsolve Crimes (DS) - 4.5
Prey the Stars (DS) - 5.5
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 (Wii) - 8.0
Exit DS (DS) - 7.5

Next Month
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Chrono Trigger
Suikoden: Tierkreis

 

[botticus]

Sonic Unleashed
[quote name='Hero of legend']I found scans of the latest NP featuring a new SU Wii preview. That's all the user showed (the source being a Sonic site must've had something to do with that...) so I didn't see Oboro.
Anyway, the scans show new shots, and finally of the China level (two shots of that), plus some new Werehog in Europe shots.
Here's the new info:
SONIC:
-Move with control stick (natch), jump with A.
-Quick step (dodge left or right by holding B and tapping the control stick left or right).
-Drift by holding B or Z.
-Homing attack by shaking the Wiimote.
-Shake remote while on ground for speed boost.
WEREHOG
-Swing remote and nunchuck to attack with Sonic's right and left hands, respectively.
-Z blocks.
-Combos by swinging remote/nunchuck up, down, or towards each other.
-B grabs and tosses enemies.
-C brings out "Unleashed mode" where you gain new attacks and take less damage.
-Grab enemies in midair and swing from them by swinging the remote like a pendulum.
-Climb poles by lifting the remote/nunchuck alternately.
-Raise gates by pulling up the remote/nunchuck together.
LEVEL INFO
European city of Spogonia.
The desert is Shamar.[/quote]

Muramasa: The Demon Blade
- two-page spread, mostly screenshots (old, I think)
- 2009 release
- takes place in a fantasy version of the Genroku era (golden age of Japanese art)
- Demon Blades possess incredible power and a curse that drives the wielder to homicidal madness
- Male and female playable protagonists
- Use remote to emulate swinging sword and throwing shuriken
- levels involve more vertical progression than OS
- visuals put Odin Sphere to shame (NP saw brand new footage)
- writer laments the lack of any other info regarding game structure, RPG elements, etc.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
- True GTA game - sandbox gameplay, open-world environment, gritty crime narrative.
- M-rating
- Isometric camera angle
- Cel-shaded polygons w/ black borders
- good touch-screen implementation - "tasteful" minigames, streamlining interface
- UI based on a PDA - hub for email, contacts, map, music player, GPS, stat-tracking
- stats uploaded to Rockstar Social Club website via Wi-Fi
- finger-sized icons
- missions designed for shorter periods of play, arcade quality
- aiming with control pad, auto targeting with R button
- subtle autosteer
- if you fail a mission, you can jump back to the action sequence
- chain gun, flamethrower
- good portion of Liberty City is modeled in the game (different routes than console games)
- no probems with load times, draw-in or frame rate
- lots of pedestrians, cars, etc on screen
- Wanted system - objective is to disable police cars any way possible
- real-time weather effects, 24-hour day/night cycle
- lots of radio stations to listen to (more instrumentals than vocals)
- 800,000 lines of hand-optimized source code (hey, the people like the info, right?)
- no details yet on multiplayer/Wi-Fi features

Yeah, they like it.

Time Hollow Review
- Interesting characters
- Intriguing story
- anime visuals are great
- scroll background to find hidden items
- carve hole into the past by drawing on the touch screen to manipulate reality
- ends up too linear to use your powers very creatively
- odd plot twists
- reviewer was still hooked on the game even with its faults


Enjoy! I'll probably toss up a scan of GTA when I get home.

 

[BlueLobstah]

[quote name='botticus']Reviews
Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii) - 8.0
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (DS) - 8.0[/quote]


What were their overall impressions of Sonic Chronicles and Wario Land: Shake It!? I do plan on picking up Wario Land at some point, but I want to see what the overall impression of Sonic Chronicles is.

[quote name='botticus']Next Month
Animal Cross: City Folk
Chrono Trigger
Suikoden: Tierkreis[/QUOTE]

 

[botticus]

Requested review summaries should be taken care of tonight.

I don't think we're allowed to link to scans, but a GTA page is currently circulating around the internet.

 

[vherub]

can't wait for muramasa, really enjoyed odin and grim

 

[Dead of Knight]

I'd be curious to read the Sonic Chronicles review. God that game looked horrible.

 

[botticus]

Wario Land
Pro:
- well-designed levels
- fun moves (especially motion controlled actions)
- side puzzles/bonus missions provide extra difficulty
- animation is great
- good bosses

Con:
- slow-paced
- few enemies can do much damage to you until late in the game
- most of the challenge is in the bosses
- clunky menu navigation
- mediocre music

Samba de Amigo
Pro:
- controls work extremely well; two remotes benefit from rumble

Con:
- may take a few songs to get used to the new pointing mechanics for series vets

Sonic Chronicles
Pro:
- interesting environmental puzzles
- EBA-type stylus moves provide a lot of excitement in battles
- witty dialogue
- characters were fun
- team attacks make combos of characters interesting
- benched players level up
- decent character customization

Con:
- EBA-type stylus stuff gets tedious in minor battles; regular attacks don't do any damage to many enemies
- may annoy you, but won't bore you

15-20 hours

 

[pete5883]

Any indication that Sigma Harmonics might come to the US?

 

[dcfox]

I've had that Phoenix Wright book pre-ordered on Amazon months ago. I can't wait for it to finally come.

 

[EXStrike]

[quote name='botticus']
I don't think we're allowed to link to scans, but a GTA page is currently circulating around the internet.[/quote]

Isn't that only GAF? I posted Monster Hunter 3 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Famitsu scans the other day and nothing happened, at least as far as I know.

Oh btw, Animal Crossing

 

[botticus]

[quote name='pete5883']Any indication that Sigma Harmonics might come to the US?[/quote]
They just comment that since TWEWY did relatively well, they're hoping SH follows it over.

[quote name='EXStrike']Isn't that only GAF? I posted Monster Hunter 3 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Famitsu scans the other day and nothing happened, at least as far as I know.

Oh btw, Animal Crossing[/quote]I dunno, ToS says no copyrighted stuff, but my scans got linked in the GTA DS thread anyway, so no biggie.

Fixed!

 

[blackbird3216]

not to mention the subscriber exclusive cover.

 

[utopianmachine]

[quote name='blackbird3216']not to mention the subscriber exclusive cover.[/quote]

The new cover indeed surprised me, not to mention the grittiness, which really surprised me when Mad World took the cover. Considering the audience usually attributed to Nintendo, I'm surprised to see a chick chocking her weapon on the cover.

The magazine cover looks really nice and clean. Almost made me want to start keeping the mags around, and then reality hit and I remembered that clutter sucks.