Tag: Nintendo

On Nintendo’s Switch, You’re a PopSlinger than a Breakout Singer

Life can’t be any cooler than PopSlinger, but just how far this arcade style musical shooter by Funky Can Creative goes depends on how good you are with a gun powered by soda.

PopSlingerReleased January 26, 2022
Nintendo Switch

Life can’t be any cooler than PopSlinger, but just how far this arcade style musical shooter by Funky Can Creative goes depends on how good you are with a gun powered by soda. Part of the design is wickedly inspired by 90s anime and its design celebrates this era with amusing nods to Blockbuster, Tower Records and K.B. Toys. The soundtrack is funky enough to enjoy, and it reacts to your in-game performance. This concept helps players stay invested.

Here, you play Ria Carbon who is out to save the world. The intruders from another dimension turn their victims into Corazones and it’s up to you to wash them down. They look like sludge creatures rather than space invaders, and perhaps the idea is in line with how they can be defeated, with soda! The weapons powered by carbon are a strange piece of tech to deploy, and in-game, the theory is that you’re melting your enemy down so they can wash down the sewer. When you have shot down enough of them, your spirit guide(s) are able to manifest to help! One of them is a former pop slinger who goes by the name of Gin and she’s perhaps the most helpful.

PopSlinger

In another aspect, the 2D landscape is not as easy to travel around in. You can’t go backwards (which is a problem) or easily point the joystick in the direction you want to dodge enemy fire. They come at you straight or angled. Nailing the aliens isn’t easy as your weapon’s range is very short. You have to get close to nail the one or two nasties; after that, if there’s more, you better be quick to shoot, dodge and roll to one side. The latter isn’t available, but I wish I could!

Popslinger is better with an arcade fight stick rather than the Nintendo Switch’s joy con. Both are similar where neither offers an advantage. The goal is to nail targets in a specific coloured order for those heals, power-ups and conjuring of help. Both are required for the boss battles and advancing to the tougher levels. As I battled one, I saw no power bar to know how weakened it was. It felt like forever to defeat it.

Once you’re hurt, you lose one of three bars of health. Without a manual or in-game information about where to find first-aid kits, I was at a loss. This game is like Mario where tons of practice is required. I wanted to unlock the ‘Dream Time’ but to kill enough enemies in a specific order in a one-way world wasn’t achievable during my runs. Here, mastering dodging is required to progress in this game. Or, for casuals like me, perhaps having a level of difficulty switch is better.

Hopefully a patch is coming, so I can keep trying rather than give up.

You’re a Dreamscaper! Nintendo Switch Review

This RPG Rogue type game mixes in the brawlers, top-down shooters, and dungeon crawlers into a well-formed randomized swords and sorcery style product.

Dreamscaper for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game DetailsNow Available for the Nintendo Switch and also available on the PC (Steam)

Sometimes it’s impossible to alter the course of a dream.The reason is in the fact there’s something in the waking world that’s causing that sleeping element to be steadfast, but when you can conquer it, more power to you! Fortunately, there is more control inAfterburner Studios‘Dreamscaperwhich is now available for the Nintendo Switch. The avatar is not necessarily yourself. Instead, you’re this young woman, Cassidy, facing challenges in the waking and sleeping worlds.

More often than not, you’rein battles in the Dreamscape rather than engage in conversation with a talking cow. Thankfully, you’re dealing with people than animals. Along the way, you earn a form of currency togain power ups in that sleeping world. In the early part of the game, they don’t come up fast enough and nor can you spend real money to get ahead faster. I like this aspect of the game’s design because it forces players tobe skilled in combat. Dodging swings of the blade and spitballs of energy must become second nature to last longer in the realm of dreams. As you navigate the cells in this realm, a few narrative beats will reveal itself.

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Making the “Switch” to Jetboard Joust for a Mobile Generation

The Nintendo Switch version (that I played) is a recent port of the PC/Mac platformer. Gameplay is very smooth and I couldn’t find a bug that needed squashing even if I tried. The 8-Bit presentation on a 65″ 4K screen is crisp, and the only time I struggled was with the sensitivity of jostling back and forth with the “joust” and “fire” button.

Jetboard Joust

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Bitbull Limited
Now Available on the Nintendo Switch

Jetboard Joust has everything I’d expect from a reinvention of Williams Electronics’s Defender kicked up a notch. Players knock down the enemy and they drop coins so you can use them to acquire power-ups. The dedication to destroy your enemies and earn in-game currency (without ever having to spend real money) at the same time makes for a nicer product. Similar to the classic, you pilot, no skate on a flying board where you have to race from one part of a side-scrolling world to another to save humans.

The alien bosses you meet are titanic, and the gameplay includes a dungeon-crawl. Instead of rinse and repeat with the speed of these abductions getting faster, you have to deal with other foes (there’s 50 of ’em!) as you advance through levels, new planets and maybe a black hole!

Continue reading “Making the “Switch” to Jetboard Joust for a Mobile Generation”

Knight Squad 2’s “Switch” to Handheld Play!

The fantasy basics are more or less adhered to with your traditional combat weaponry. However, the joy is when other non-traditional (modern) weapons become part of the equation

Chainsawesome GamesBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Nintendo Switch
Release Date:
April 14, 2021

Also available on Xbox, Switch, Steam and the Epic Store
Chainsawesome Games

Knight Squad 2 is one of those “cute” party-games which is better with real life team-mates (or opponents) than the AI. It’s a lot more fun and I daresay better than the Nickelodeon television show bearing a similar name (no relation). The standalone mode is very good to help players get used to dodging. One hack or slash is enough to slay the player’s avatar (which can be very frustrating for newcomers). The real challenge is in those mini-games where teams have to work together to have each other’s back than to individually win the day! True to the original, the action is with trying to nail one another in attacks that you don’t see coming.

This sequel to the original was originally developed for desktop PC and to have it on Nintendo Switch is certainly perfect since it handles multiplayer quite well. In addition to Steam and Epic (for the Windows system), I hope a Mac version is being worked on. Continue reading “Knight Squad 2’s “Switch” to Handheld Play!”

It’s the Same Ol’ with Luigi’s Mansion 3 & Shinier Too!

PopSlinger
Available to purchase on AmazonPopSlinger

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a ghostbusters style video game where the protagonist is definitely afraid of ghosts! When he and his friends—Mario, Peach and Toad—are given an invitation to a lavish hotel, little does he know it’s a trap. Everyone is captured (frozen into a painting) and it’s up to Mario’s brother to save the day.

This sequel to the original GameCube program and Dark Moon (part two) picks up some days, if not weeks after his last Scooby-Doo adventure. After more than a week of casual play, I’m still not done. I’m enjoying exploring every nook and cranny. On a big screen, this game is very richly detailed. On Nintendo’s latest handheld (I tried it on the lite and first edition), I was squinting to admire some of the details. I’ve (pardoning the pun) switched over to the latest handheld just because of this game. Continue reading “It’s the Same Ol’ with Luigi’s Mansion 3 & Shinier Too!”

Classic Halloween Games to Get Your Spook On!

Here are some games I would recommend checking out to get in the mood for thrills and chills. It has everything from lighthearted spooks to in your face jump scares!

Dreaming in Digital
By Shawn Trommeshauser
(Dreaming in Digital)

Halloween is just around the corner and that means it’s time to break out the scary movies and games! (Is it ever a bad time for that?) No matter how you celebrate this day, something on this list is sure to appeal to you.

Even if not, there are countless other horror and monster themed games out there from the famous titles like Alone in the Dark and Ghosts & Goblins to the letter known indie thrillers such as Doki Doki Literature Club and Pony Island, there’s always something to play alone and in the dark.

Here are some games I would recommend checking out to get in the mood for thrills and chills. It has everything from lighthearted spooks to in your face jump scares!

 

Luigi's Mansion

Luigi’s Mansion

Luigi from Super Mario Bros searched for his missing brother, Mario, while clearing ghosts out of a haunted mansion with a vacuum cleaner-like ghost trapping device. The Luigi’s Mansion series by Nintendo began on Gamecube with both a remake and a sequel available for the Nintendo 3DS/2DS systems. Give it a shot to prepare yourself for the anticipated third game in the series coming soon to Nintendo Switch!

Continue reading “Classic Halloween Games to Get Your Spook On!”