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Kicking from the Hip with Kung Fu Kickball

WhaleFood Games
Blowfish Studios

Sorry, Carl. Everyone wants to do Kung Fu Kickball, because it’s likely to be fast and fought with expert timing!

This 2D sports platform retro-style fighter features many traditional characters playing ball. From Boxers to Monkey King to Panda and Sifu Masters (to name a few), the look is crazy, and concept engaging. It borrows from many kids anime, especially Dragonball, and how can anyone not want to, in the game, legally knock your opponent down? They’ll stand back up in due time, but in this game, it’s all about ringing the bell to score one for the team.

The music is fun, and the only downside with this game is that while up to four players are supported, there can only be two opposing teams. Even in solo mode, the AI is reasonable enough to let players progress and the game allows you to set the difficulty for the uninitiated.

Continue reading “Kicking from the Hip with Kung Fu Kickball”

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.

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

By 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!

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!”

Dreaming of Shawn’s List of Top 25 SNES games? Part Two Arrives!

This time I’ll look at some of the grandest epics and most jaw-dropping technological innovations of the era. These games are widely loved and played to this day, and still inspire and affect modern game designers.

By Shawn Trommeshauser
(Dreaming in Digital)

It’s been a while, but here is the second part of my personal top 25 Super Nintendo games (You can read part 1 here). This time I’ll look at some of the grandest epics and most jaw-dropping technological innovations of the era. These games are widely loved and played to this day, and still inspire and affect modern game designers.

As I mentioned previously, I ended up with FAR too many games to choose from, so I had to give myself some limitations to narrow down the field.

Rule 1: The game must have been released in the North American Market at the time. This eliminates several Super Famicom titles I enjoyed such as Rockman & Forte and The Firemen.

Rule 2: It must be a game I originally played on actual hardware when it was current, not something I discovered in later years through later releases of the game, or fan-translation patches using emulation on PC. A lot of Role Playing Games got bumped due to this—Seiken Densetsu 3, Final Fantasy V, and Front Mission to name a few.

And now we continue:

Continue reading “Dreaming of Shawn’s List of Top 25 SNES games? Part Two Arrives!”