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Ivy the Kiwi? |OT| of Helping Baby Birds

H

Hero of Legend

Member
Gamefly's got the ACTUAL retail cover plus the back one:

r9j21k.jpg


Looks like XSEED decided to fully stick with the Japanese box after all, I actually like it better than I thought, it looks cleaner.

They should've used the pic of Ivy on my avatar for the back at least, so much cuter.

Edit: NP reviews:

Wii - 7.5

DS - 7.0
 
V

Volcynika

Member
Well I grabbed the boxarts from their official Facebook page. So deal with it! :p

Anyways, my DS version should be here Friday, just in time for the weekend.
 
J

jgkspsx

Member
I dunno. I sort of got the hang of the demo, but I cannot imagine controlling that with a wiimote. I love the artstyle, but finishing the demo seemed like more work than fun.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
Volcynika said:
Well I grabbed the boxarts from their official Facebook page. So deal with it! :p

Anyways, my DS version should be here Friday, just in time for the weekend.
Click to expand...

No no, that wasn't in anyway a jab at you! :p

GameFly commonly does that, good thing to, as a lot of time, retailers get what are seemingly final boxes early on (like Ivy's), but upon release, they actually put up the boxes as they appear in stores, showing us what to actually expect when seeing the game in the store. :p

Most of the time differences are only just the addition of say a Wii Wheel logo.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
zigg said:
How'd the Wii version get a better review from NP?
Click to expand...

I predict that it's due to the controls actually being more polished on Wii, Gamepro said the DS version has sometimes inaccurate controls:

http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/216236/ivy-the-kiwi/

CONS: Fairly lax level of difficulty for most of the game, sometimes inaccurate touch controls, might not be what some expect
Click to expand...

The game was conceived with the Wii in mind.
 
G

Gazel Ministry

Banned
I was going to hold off until next week to pick this up with Metroid & Valkyria II, but I might grab it on the way home from class today. I think I am a bit too curious to wait another week. I might post impressions tonight if my local Gamestop has copies in. :D
 
G

Gazel Ministry

Banned
Well, got out of class, called my local Gamestop and they received zero copies. The dude checked the other stores in the district and no one received any orders. There were also no copies incoming through shipment. Great, another game I should have reserved, but didn't. Off to Amazon like I should have done from the start :lol
 
N

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Hero of Legend said:
I predict that it's due to the controls actually being more polished on Wii, Gamepro said the DS version has sometimes inaccurate controls:

http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/216236/ivy-the-kiwi/



The game was conceived with the Wii in mind.
Click to expand...

Plus you can delete vines with the B button (you can't delete vines without drawing others in the DS version) and the multiplayer is slightly different in the Wii version as you can mess with the other players by drawing on their screens :lol (Think Wario Ware Showcase)

But yeah, the Wii version is the original version that wasn't able to be released before, since Prope couldn't find a publisher at the time so the game was originally designed for the Wii Remote control scheme. The Windows Phone and DS ports came after the original Wii version was made.
 
V

Volcynika

Member
Amazon shipped later than I thought they would, so no copy for me until Monday at the latest (hopefully earlier though).
 
Z

zigg

Member
Hero of Legend said:
I predict that it's due to the controls actually being more polished on Wii, Gamepro said the DS version has sometimes inaccurate controls
Click to expand...

Weird. I played the Nintendo Channel demo, and played both versions at E3, and I thought the DS version was marginally superior just based on the feel. I didn't experience any problems with it. Now I'm curious.

I did just start in on the Wii version today (XSEED sent it along for review) and apart from the feel there certainly isn't a problem with it, though. Nice and accurate. What I do need to learn how to do better is not "draw" vines so much as stretch them out... I keep wanting to release the button too quickly and often just end up trapping Ivy.

BTW, box looks like the Gamefly pic, in case anyone cares. A win for Hero?

Nuclear Muffin said:
Plus you can delete vines with the B button (you can't delete vines without drawing others in the DS version) and the multiplayer is slightly different in the Wii version as you can mess with the other players by drawing on their screens (Think Wario Ware Showcase)
Click to expand...

B button is stretch vine. I'm not really sure there is a delete function? Manual doesn't say anything about it.

By the way, that co-op mode is maddening. I would never choose to play it willingly.
 
Z

zigg

Member
Got my Nintendo Power today--no limitations of the DS version were mentioned in the rather short review (the Wii review was considerably longer, taking a full page.) Seems to just have been someone else's opinion who didn't get it quite as well.

This is about the thinnest review section I ever remember seeing in NP, by the way.
 
S

SSJ1Goku

Banned
I got my copy 2 days ago from amazon. I was not planning on getting this game but I needed another game to get free shipping for Mario Golf ($10 on GBA). The game looked stupid as fuck but I thought WTH I want a new platformer and this game was $20.
 
Z

zigg

Member
SSJ1Goku said:
The game looked stupid as fuck
Click to expand...

Thanks for your contribution!

Beat the main game today with 55 feathers remaining and a smattering of medals (mostly bronze); found out what Ivy is.
She's confused.
The back 50, if I can go by the first few that I played, could be remixes of the first 50, with required keys to get to the exits and a whole lot more hazards placed everywhere. I would have happily paid $30 for it. (review copy, as I mentioned)

It'll take you maybe 1-2 hours to get through it first time, but if you're a score fiend you may want to try going for the whole quest again, as there's a high score table for runs through the main game. I took a little longer because after I ran out of lives (lives matter! wow!) in world 8, I decided to try again from the beginning to see how that felt rather than just continue. (By the way, don't be afraid that starting over threatens to erase all your data—it's just talking about your continue point. Doesn't seem you lose medals, cleared levels, etc.)

This is a pretty neat game, all in all. It's got a reasonable dose of challenge, a very unique mechanic that takes a bit to master (tip: don't just make paths for Ivy to walk on; sweep her and other things around with the vines—also, watch out that you don't unintentionally sweep other things into her path!) and it's charming as well.

I'll play some more, try to get some medals, collect more feathers, work on the back 50, and post my review soon.
 
G

Gazel Ministry

Banned
zigg said:
Thanks for your contribution!

Beat the main game today with 55 feathers remaining and a smattering of medals (mostly bronze); found out what Ivy is.
She's confused.
The back 50, if I can go by the first few that I played, could be remixes of the first 50, with required keys to get to the exits and a whole lot more hazards placed everywhere. I would have happily paid $30 for it. (review copy, as I mentioned)

It'll take you maybe 1-2 hours to get through it first time, but if you're a score fiend you may want to try going for the whole quest again, as there's a high score table for runs through the main game. I took a little longer because after I ran out of lives (lives matter! wow!) in world 8, I decided to try again from the beginning to see how that felt rather than just continue. (By the way, don't be afraid that starting over threatens to erase all your data—it's just talking about your continue point. Doesn't seem you lose medals, cleared levels, etc.)

This is a pretty neat game, all in all. It's got a reasonable dose of challenge, a very unique mechanic that takes a bit to master (tip: don't just make paths for Ivy to walk on; sweep her and other things around with the vines—also, watch out that you don't unintentionally sweep other things into her path!) and it's charming as well.

I'll play some more, try to get some medals, collect more feathers, work on the back 50, and post my review soon.
Click to expand...

Nice impressions! I'll be getting my copy from Amazon on Monday. I am even more excited to play this game after what you said. How is the soundtrack? Does anyone know who the composer might be?
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
Gazel Ministry said:
Nice impressions! I'll be getting my copy from Amazon on Monday. I am even more excited to play this game after what you said. How is the soundtrack? Does anyone know who the composer might be?
Click to expand...

Good question!

Let's Tap used Basiscape for most of the music, but I think there was one Prope composer, I'll have to check who that was.

Edit: Apparently someone named "yam"? o_O

http://prope.sega.jp/letstap/sound/

細江　慎治(Super Sweep) ：　『リッジレーサー』シリーズ、『ドラゴンスピリット』など
佐宗　綾子(Super Sweep) ：　『テクニクビート』、『テクニクティクス』、『ストリートファイターEX』シリーズなど
岩田　匡治（Basiscape） ：　『ARCHAIC SEALD HEAT』、『ソウルキャリバー４』、『オプーナ』など
金田　充弘（Basiscape） ：　『オーディンスフィア』、『オプーナ』、『くまたんち』など
上倉　紀行（Basiscape） ：　『救急救命カドゥケウス２』、『オプーナ』など
千葉　梓（Basiscape） ：　『怒首領蜂大復活』、『Lの季節2 -invisible memories-』など
幡谷 尚史(SEGA） ：　『バーニングレンジャー』、『スペースチャンネル５』など
Shoes（Missile Chewbacca） ：　「ラムライダー」、「桃井はるこ」らへの楽曲アレンジ・リミックスなど
yam(PROPE) ：　「MEG」らの楽曲アレンジ・リミックス、アニメ「鉄コン筋クリート」リミックスなど
Click to expand...

Anyone wanna help me out here?
 
B

Boney

Banned
Due to my recent Wii troubles and costs, I'm definately gonna have to skip this out. Will grab it when it's cheaper I guess... it's a shame since I was really really looking forward to it.
 
G

Gazel Ministry

Banned
To my surprise I received my copy from Amazon in the mail this afternoon! I didn't think I would get it until Monday. I played all the way up to Stage 4-1 and I am really enjoying it. The mechanics are really neat. I didn't think I would like the kind of maze-like design of the stages, but drawing the vines across spike pits and blasting Ivy through blocks is really addicting. The game moves at a very nice pace and the stages, so far, are not very long which makes this a perfect pick up and play game.

Yeah, the music is okay from what I heard. They already reused the first stage track in stage 3, but some of the tracks are a bit catchy. There is definitely a lot of value here for 30 bucks. There are 10 Red Feathers to collect per stage and if you complete the stage with all 10 feathers under specific times you can obtain either a bronze, silver, or gold medal. I retried the first stage a bunch of times and could not get anywhere close to a silver medal. The game seems pretty challenging if you want to shoot for the best medals!

Definitely a nice surprise. It's a total chillax' game to play in between other stuff you might be involved with.
 
Z

zigg

Member
Hero of Legend said:
So far Metacritic has Ivy Wii at 78 in green and DS at 70 in yellow.
Click to expand...

I'm reeeeeally getting to the point where I think I need to get my hands on the DS version and play it through for the sake of justice now.
 
P

Poyunch

Member
claviertekky said:
Oh so this is what Yuji finally decided to do with the game he made for Windows Phone 5/6.

Nintendo gets a cell phone game port.

Can't find that thread for WM that I created.
Click to expand...
Actually this was a Wii game that got a cell phone and DS port.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
claviertekky said:
Oh so this is what Yuji finally decided to do with the game he made for Windows Phone 5/6.

Nintendo gets a cell phone game port.

Can't find that thread for WM that I created.
Click to expand...

Hero of Legend said:
Yuji Naka confirmed that the Wii version is the original version. They finished it but couldn't get it published if I recall, but then they made the DS version and half-way they started on the Mobile version, which of course they self-published, probably why that's the first one we saw, and the success(?) of it got Bandai Namco to sign on the other versions.

I have to wonder, it was reported that Naka was underway with an "Action game" for the Wii of sorts at the beginning, but during development he discovered that the Wiimote can pickup tap motions, thus Let's Tap was born.

Could Ivy be that Action game?

In other news, Naka confirmed in a few interviews that he's underway with two bigger projects, one which is an action game using a new control scheme of sorts, the other is based on a real-world activity.

In another interview he mentioned one is using a new animal character with a theme based on the sky.

My bets are this being the new control scheme game, OR perhaps it's sort of a Wing Island thing and it's the latter where it stars a bird flying an aircraft, could be a hang glider for all we know.

Edit: Unless he was trying to hide something, Ivy was NOT that original action game, it never made it to development:

http://play.tm/interview/23282/yuji-naka-on-let-s-tap-and-beyond/

You mentioned that the idea for Let's Tap originated while you were working on an action game. Does this game still exist or has it since been scrapped?

The game never made it to development and it's unlikely it'll ever come out.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

.
 
G

Gazel Ministry

Banned
Well, I finished the game last night! :lol It's amazing how quickly 50 levels fly by in this game. I really enjoyed it. I also collected all 10 feathers in every stage and I unlocked the bonus round with the extra 50 levels. I'll definitely be checking them out later. I really, really started to get the hang of the vine mechanics by stage 5 and the game just clicked. I couldn't stop playing it at one point. Going back for gold medals is going to be tough though, the requirements for some stages are pretty ridiculous!

For those who like quirky Japanese platformers with lots of replay value, check it out. I found it to be an extremely relaxing experience.
 
Z

zigg

Member
abstract alien said:
Demo is up for dsi, so I'll go ahead and give it a spin.
Click to expand...

DSi? Like... DSiWare? Or did you just mean the Nintendo Channel demo? (That works on all DS systems.)
 
N

nincompoop

Banned
Used my $20 Metroid credit from Amazon to order the Wii version for $10. So I probably won't get it for another two weeks or so thanks to Amazon's slow-ass shipping.
 
abstract alien

abstract alien

Member
zigg said:
DSi? Like... DSiWare? Or did you just mean the Nintendo Channel demo? (That works on all DS systems.)
Click to expand...
I just meant the nintendo channel demo, sorry about the confusion. It seems pretty cool from what I've played, and doing the 360 swing could lead to some pretty devious levels if they want to really kill us on the difficulty.
 
V

Volcynika

Member
Really, ArjanN, did that need to be posted in here? Ugh.

Anyways, got my copy today, didn't get to start it this evening, but I will if I have some time during lunch at work tomorrow.
 
D

Deleted member 20415

Unconfirmed Member
Me and my gf played the Wii version last night and really had a good time.

I think we played about an hour and a half and got up to level 6-1, so it seems like the game will be rather short.

It's a lot of fun, something completely unexpectedly awesome. But, I also enjoyed Let's Tap. :)

Does anyone know if the DS version and the Wii are the same levels or different levels?
 
Z

zigg

Member
El_TigroX said:
Me and my gf played the Wii version last night and really had a good time.
Click to expand...

Did you play the co-op mode? I could not make that mode be fun at all. Just frustrating.

El_TigroX said:
I think we played about an hour and a half and got up to level 6-1, so it seems like the game will be rather short.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is to just go from 1-1 to 10-5, though I think this is a much more classically-structured game that encourages you to replay the whole thing again for points, or just go for medals in the individual levels if you like. Of course, there's the remixed bonus mode too that is basically the same level structures, but with a ramp-up in spikes and enemies, (I think) different feather placements, and also a key you must find to unlock the exit each time.

El_TigroX said:
Does anyone know if the DS version and the Wii are the same levels or different levels?
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure they're the same, but don't quote me on it. :D I suppose an easy way to tell would be to check the demo's levels against the main game's.

My review should be coming tomorrow.
 
D

Deleted member 20415

Unconfirmed Member
zigg said:
Did you play the co-op mode? I could not make that mode be fun at all. Just frustrating.
Click to expand...
We actually started playing multi without ever playing single and it was rough. She got frustrated, I sort of figured things out, but it wasn't fun. So we abandoned that idea and went single and just kept passing the remote off and on. I know two people can play single player mode, but that seemed too chaotic.
 
D

d+pad

Member
I've played through a few levels of the Wii version so far and really like it. Very charming -- and addictive! I wish I had bought the Japanese version instead, though, as I don't really like how they colorized the backdrops in the NA version...
 
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