SEGA this year at PAX didn’t have much in the way of games on Nintendo platforms. What they did have though was for the most part, decent.
Aliens: Infestation (Nintendo DS)
WayForward is at it once again with Aliens: Infestation. The game takes place after the first Aliens movie with Ripley and Newt leaving the planetoid LV-426. You’re in charge of a squad of four Colonial Marines. Each of course has their own personality and their speech reflects this. Although there are four in the squad, you can only control one at a time. Swapping is done through safe points only that also allow you to grab full ammo and health.
Once you’ve chosen which Marine to play, you’re off to destroy robots and meet mission objectives. The game is 2D and is reminiscent of older Metroid titles. Although you can’t upgrade your Marines, you’ll be able to obtain upgrades for everyone to use to progress through the levels. When I was wandering around, I was shown how to obtain the torch tool to cut through welded doors. Another time I managed to snag some grenades which made certain crawl spaces accessible. These upgrades and tools are scattered throughout and at times require quite the bit of exploring to find.
There are a variety of enemies in the game. Robots can fire at chest level and follow you up ladders. Other humans are also present and can be even more of a pain to take down. Perhaps the most iconic enemy in the franchise, the xenomorphs, took the most firepower out of any baddy I was trying to take down.
If you get picked off by an Alien, that particular character will be cocooned elsewhere for you to rescue and rejoin your squad. When you die from any being that isn’t an Alien, you lose that Marine permanantly. However, you’ll be able to pick up other Marines throughout each level.
Surprisingly I only had a few issues. First, when I would push on the directional button after firing, I found my character wouldn’t look that way. This became somewhat annoying when fighting xenomorphs. The other issue came into play when fighting a boss. When jumping, you’re not able to fire your grenades. This seems to be a gameplay mechanic however, so the impact was minimal since other devices are built in to fire effectively.
Meticulous detail went into the making of this game. From the sound for example, when you pick up the motion scanner and it makes the clicking noise from the movie. To the bullets that ricochet off the doors when you fire at them. It also is smooth and the graphics crisp and clean. It’s clear this is a work of love for WayForward which is coming along quite nicely.
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Shinobi (Nintendo 3DS)
As a disclaimer, I’ve never played any previous Shinobi game. This was a pleasant surprise for me. When I heard a bit about what the game was about, being about your score, that put it off my personal radar.
When I grabbed the Nintendo 3DS unit up to start playing, I found myself thrown into the middle of a level. The level went from left to right at an angle so it wasn’t your standard 2D plane. On horseback, I was attempting to dodge tree limbs and attack enemies who came at me on their own horses. To chop them down I had to hit A and the direction they were in, right or left. Along the way were gems of sorts that raised my score, a few that were difficult to grab. When I turned on the 3D effects, it made it slightly easier to tell where they were in relation to my horse.
After the riding section, I was presented with a 2D area with enemies ahead. I could attack them with my sword or deflect the attacks. The first few enemies proved to be no problem, aside from a few kunai embedded in my face (no not really). When I went to the next enemy I found he had a chain with a sharp object at the end that he’d spin in circles. This effectively blocked all my attacks including my thrown kunai which I ran out of. Luckily these recharge over time, so I just had to wait to resupply. I still had the annoyance in front me though. It was then I jumped up and did a special move from above where I’d spin and come quickly down on him. This dispatched the enemy effectively and allowed me to move on.
These special moves are different for each power as well. There are four types: fire, lightning, water, and earth. Each have their own special uses, though for the most part I used the fire which provided me with the jumping spin downward thrust move. There’s also a powerful shield and attack that can be used occasionally. This was helpful for a mini-boss I encountered which allowed me to move on more quickly.
Eventually I found my way to a boss. She was a sort of floating geisha that had that air of something amiss around her. Once I figured out her pattern however, she went down quickly. I was told that the game has patterned based bosses and it just takes time to figure out what they are.
Although in the game you want to cut down your enemies and progress, it’s really about the scoring. You’ll get a certain amount of points for killing enemies, but if they manage to hit you, that will be subtracted from your score. You can also earn combos by not getting hit by enemies while attacking. This leads to a slightly stronger sword attack and multipliers of your score, depending on what combo level you make it to. At the end of a level, all of these factors get tallied up and your final score displayed.
The cutscene artwork is lovely throughout and reminds me of a few pieces that Production I.G. has done. I asked whether or not they outsourced this and I was told no, it is all in house. Bravo to Griptonite Games for such a beautiful style.
As for the stereoscopic 3D effects in the game, I felt they added to the experience. The levels looked flat and plain with the slider off, but when I turned the slider up, it added a decent feeling of eye candy. As I mentioned earlier, it also seemed to help in the horse riding section of the stage since I could see where to dodge and proceed easier. One stand out little detail for me personally however was when I would block a ranged attack from an enemy. Once the projectile hit my sword, I noticed it would either fly somewhat towards my face, or go farther into the distance in the direction of the screen.
I was informed that the controls are pretty customizable and that you don’t even need to use the slider pad if you don’t wish to. This surprised me because the controls felt great and I never had an issue with attacking or movement whatsoever. Still, for those who have different tastes than default controls this is good news.
This is going to be one of the better Nintendo 3DS titles coming in the future and I’m pretty excited about it.
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Sonic Generations (Nintendo 3DS)
Having only seen the PS3 and 360 versions previous to this encounter, I was pretty excited to check out Sonic Generations for Nintendo 3DS. Although the name is the same across all platforms, it’s been announced that the 3DS version will have different content than the console versions.
When I picked up the system, I had a few options for where I wanted to go: Green Hill Zone 1/2, Mushroom Hill 1/2, and Boss. The numbers represented which Sonic, classic or modern, would be used. It’s important to note that no matter which version you choose, you’ll be provided a small line that shows you where you are in regards to the end.
I started both levels out as classic Sonic. When I ran around both levels, I was pleased with the feeling and speed. Sonic spin-dashed and flew across the screen when I ducked and charged. The jumping felt great and the platforms were appropriately placed for both levels. This was what I was here for.
After I played classic, I went to modern Sonic and at first all was good. I used the homing attacks to destroy enemies and once again fly through the level. That was of course just on Green Hill Zone. When I got to Mushroom Hill, that’s when I started running into issues. I found myself hitting a few enemies wrong which resulted in rings flying everywhere. That wasn’t what made me truly frustrated however. That came when I tried to hop from mushroom to mushroom. I’d be hitting the homing attack after jumping and miss the proper fungus. It was annoying and nearly led to me just simply quitting. I didn’t and got farther through the level, to a point where I was trying to escape a giant falling totem poll of sorts. The game indicated I needed to spam or maybe press at the right time “Y,” but when I did so with all 3 tries I had, I kept getting squished. After that I gave the level up since I couldn’t progress.
Now perhaps these issues are due to me not being a wonderful Sonic player. I however felt the need to mention these issues because players with the same play style as me (read: crappy) may find these to be stumbling blocks.
Still, even with the frustration, I enjoyed my time with the classic version of Sonic at least. I’m optimistic about the game, even if there are portions I won’t be caring for too much.
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