blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Hey, did you notice DSiWare is starting to get its |OT| threads these days? Of course, if a game has been anticipated for 8 years, that's rather natural. But what about other worthy titles on the service - do they not deserve a word or two on the forum? Sorry, I did not hear ya.. They do? Ok, then, here's one.
GG Series: Ninja Karakuri Den is not your little sis' platformer. In fact, it's not even your pimply brother's platformer. It's a platformer so quintessential, that it's like the mother all platformers, excavated from a Toltec acheological site. It's the very incarnation of the idea of platforming, appropriately dressed in an 8-bit outfit.
NKD has no story, no dialogues, and no save slots - those things have little to do with platforming. Instead, NKD is arcades-style, 'beat my score, bitch!' experience. The one word that comes to mind when thinking of the game's mechanics is pure, and the corresponing word that comes to mind when thinking of the game's outcome is satisfaction.
It's simply a game about making the player play better, as their only hope for proper progression* is improving their own skills. Depending on what your attitude toward games like, say, Ikaruga is, you'll find this rewarding, or off-putting. The only thing I can promise you about NKD is that you will need to use all your four limbs to climb the game's learning curve. Once you climb it, though, you'll be glad, as you did something that people are not naturally skilled at. It's like learning to ride a bike - the process is simple, but it quickly grows to an exhilarating culmination.
So how does it look? It looks very much like this: 8-bit glory.
And how much does this gem cost? 200 pts. Yep, that's less than most VC titles that could hope to compete with NKD's genious.
So, if you love platforming, and you're in possession of a spine, you'd might want to check this one out.
/focker out
* note the use of 'proper' before 'progression'. Just like Ikaruga, NKD offers the proverbial 'insert coin to continue' equivalent, which strips you of your score and freezes your progress tracking in general, but allows you a glimpse of what comes next. Still, not the way you want to play this game, despite what sites like Destructoid might say (I quote):
Availability:
GG series: Ninja Karakuri Den is the NA localisation of the original JP title GG series: Shinobi Karakuri Den, also available on DS cart as part of the GG series collection. Game is currently unavailable on the PAL store, and there's no information of a DS cart PAL localisation.
GG Series: Ninja Karakuri Den is not your little sis' platformer. In fact, it's not even your pimply brother's platformer. It's a platformer so quintessential, that it's like the mother all platformers, excavated from a Toltec acheological site. It's the very incarnation of the idea of platforming, appropriately dressed in an 8-bit outfit.
NKD has no story, no dialogues, and no save slots - those things have little to do with platforming. Instead, NKD is arcades-style, 'beat my score, bitch!' experience. The one word that comes to mind when thinking of the game's mechanics is pure, and the corresponing word that comes to mind when thinking of the game's outcome is satisfaction.
It's simply a game about making the player play better, as their only hope for proper progression* is improving their own skills. Depending on what your attitude toward games like, say, Ikaruga is, you'll find this rewarding, or off-putting. The only thing I can promise you about NKD is that you will need to use all your four limbs to climb the game's learning curve. Once you climb it, though, you'll be glad, as you did something that people are not naturally skilled at. It's like learning to ride a bike - the process is simple, but it quickly grows to an exhilarating culmination.
So how does it look? It looks very much like this: 8-bit glory.
And how much does this gem cost? 200 pts. Yep, that's less than most VC titles that could hope to compete with NKD's genious.
So, if you love platforming, and you're in possession of a spine, you'd might want to check this one out.
/focker out
* note the use of 'proper' before 'progression'. Just like Ikaruga, NKD offers the proverbial 'insert coin to continue' equivalent, which strips you of your score and freezes your progress tracking in general, but allows you a glimpse of what comes next. Still, not the way you want to play this game, despite what sites like Destructoid might say (I quote):
"Little in the way of punishment for failure.." Holy point-missing, Batman!
Availability:
GG series: Ninja Karakuri Den is the NA localisation of the original JP title GG series: Shinobi Karakuri Den, also available on DS cart as part of the GG series collection. Game is currently unavailable on the PAL store, and there's no information of a DS cart PAL localisation.
