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[Milpool]

One balloon yet in free flight, and it's for the rocket belt. Strange, since that's the one I have spent the most time on. Tips for extremely well hidden rocket balloons, anyone?

The last one I found was in a little pit at the ancient ruins, never spotted it despite flying over there numerous times.

 

[supermackem]

Just unlocked my first diorama. Woah! Best showcase of popout 3D on the system. Everyone I've shown the dioramas to have become believers.

Whic one did you unlock, i unlocked the first mii one and did see much 3d effect on it at all.

 

[Mailenstein]

I love the game. I really do. But F-Zero difficult? Not if you mean F-Zero GX it isn't. Perfecting the platinum missions doesn't hold a candle to the frustration of even the fourth and fifth levels of GX's story mode.

Lol, a fourth of fifth of FZGX level is totally fine and still enough to keep me busy, I'm sure hehe.

 

[jgkspsx]

I mean, I think GX is just too damn hard. This isn't that hard, but it's definitely challenging.

Sometimes getting a perfect is just a matter of everything just clicking, though, rather than extreme challenge. I went from 1 star to a perfect on the hang glider mountain climb without changing my playstyle at all.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

Noooooo, keep going! When you three-star the Diamond missions, something a LOT bigger than a whale starts wandering around Wedge Island. And you get a badass trophy of the "creature" as well. Trust me, keep at it!

Heh man you talked me into it! I've now 3 starred the plane mission on diamond and think I can get the other two as well with enough tries. Rocket belt constantly gives me less than 10/30 for time though
This is a quality title overall and I'm certainly glad I picked it up as my launch game. Clocked 17 hrs now!

 

[Barrett2]

Finished getting most of the collectibles in free flight. Time to head back into mission mode and work my way through the platinum levels. This game is awesome, it is also bringing back so many good memories of the SNES and N64 games. I love this series.

 

[gingerbeardman]

The last one I found was in a little pit at the ancient ruins, never spotted it despite flying over there numerous times.

One trick I started using when on my final few collectibles was to cruise in the glider over an area and then use the d-pad to look down at the ground, so you're viewing directly from above. Spotted a few things that way.

 

[Invisible Man]

Free Flight 100% complete!

Now onto red starring Silver-Diamond.

 

[Effect]

How do the three stars system work? Does each star represent different objectives that need to be completed in order to gain them?

 

[Chairhome]

How do the three stars system work? Does each star represent different objectives that need to be completed in order to gain them?

No, its just based on the number of points you get.

 

[Effect]

No, its just based on the number of points you get.

So it's possible to max them out on the first try if you happen to get a lot of points?

 

[Boney]

So it's possible to max them out on the first try if you happen to get a lot of points?

Yep, if you max out, you get 3 red stars, and with that you can retry the mission and go over the top score now based on time I think.

 

[gingerbeardman]

You can get better than perfect with Fuel (and Time) on jet pack levels

Maxing out levels with perfects first ever try happens very rarely indeed!

 

[Milpool]

Finally found the last gold ring, 100% complete now. 8 hours for the missions, 5 hours for free flight. If this had online leader-boards I'd be playing for months.

 

[Fernando Rocker]

I just ordered the game but it won't arrive until next week...

What do you guys think about the graphics? Better or worse than Wii Sports Resort? Textures, models, lighting?

 

[Santerestil]

IMHO, it's the same. Maybe some effects on the volcano.
However, the island seems too little respect your Mii: try to going on the chanbara arena wih the jetpack, it's basically a miniature of the "real" thing!

 

[Kai Dracon]

I just ordered the game but it won't arrive until next week...

What do you guys think about the graphics? Better or worse than Wii Sports Resort? Textures, models, lighting?

It's obviously trying to look like the Wii Resort universe so the island is very similar.

However there are inherently more advanced shaders and lighting due to the tech. The characters and vehicles look rounded and glossy; better than Wii quality. The lighting during the dramatic times of day is very nice.

Textures look as good or better.

And naturally the 3D effect gives the visuals a unique quality. As many have said, Pilotwings benefits the most of the launch games. Great volume and sense of depth to the environment.

 

[thomaser]

It's obviously trying to look like the Wii Resort universe so the island is very similar.

However there are inherently more advanced shaders and lighting due to the tech. The characters and vehicles look rounded and glossy; better than Wii quality. The lighting during the dramatic times of day is very nice.

Textures look as good or better.

And naturally the 3D effect gives the visuals a unique quality. As many have said, Pilotwings benefits the most of the launch games. Great volume and sense of depth to the environment.

It does look very nice, especially the textures. I like looking down at all the little details from high above - it looks really sharp! But I think the island has more movement in Wii Sports Resort. Weren't there cars driving around and such?

 

[Crash Station]

Beat it and 3-starred everything up to Platinum. Great game, but I'm really dreading trying to perfect everything.

 

[El Pescado]

Just finished this up with 100% collection in Free Flight and three starring all the missions. It took me over 10 hours according to the 3DS Play Time App. I could see this taking the rest of my life to get all Perfects so I'm just gonna wrap this one up and move on to Steel Diver for now.

Excellent game. I loved every second of it. The 3D adds SO MUCH this really is the launch showcase title.

 

[low-G]

I just ordered the game but it won't arrive until next week...

What do you guys think about the graphics? Better or worse than Wii Sports Resort? Textures, models, lighting?

The biggest improvements over Wii Sports Resort are specularity (on the grass, rocks, and water) and bloom (lights at night and some other places). Otherwise the geometry and textures seem about the same.

No Mii's with balloons everywhere and less things flying in the sky or driving on the roads.

 

[jgkspsx]

I'm not wholly impressed by the texture/specularity. It looks wonderful up close, but the transition from far to near is very abrupt and looks like old-fashioned pop-in.

 

[herod]

Finally done.

As I said previously, Mission Mode can be 'seen' inside 3 hours. Getting 3 stars on the Diamond missions is where it actually starts to get challenging, shame there is no progress after this. You definitely should be considering Free Flight Mode to get value out of the package. It really really really needs more Mission Mode substance, but I enjoyed it anyway.

 

[metsallica]

You're not truly done until all of those stars show red trimming!

 

[daakusedo]

I can't do perfect landing anymore with the jet. Don't know what happen, but playing through the diamond mission perfectly and losing on the final, hard.
I trained on free flight but I don't grasp the thing.

 

[Barrett2]

How do I unlock Diamond? Do I have to 3 star everything?

There are a handful of missions in Gold / Platinum I haven't 3 starred yet because they are BITCHES!

I'm now 15 hours in, haven't even unlocked Platinum. But remember guys, it's a 2 hour long game.

 

[low-G]

I'm not wholly impressed by the texture/specularity. It looks wonderful up close, but the transition from far to near is very abrupt and looks like old-fashioned pop-in.

Looks like traditional bilinear filtering. I agree it's noticeable. I'll live.

How do I unlock Diamond? Do I have to 3 star everything?

Yes.

 

[EatChildren]

This week! Yay!

 

[herod]

You're not truly done until all of those stars show red trimming!

I don't want to hate the game or myself.

 

[Boney]

5 Missions left to red star... Got Platinum taken care of though

 

[Neiteio]

Only one white balloon left in Free Flight, and it's with the Plane... Any easily overlooked white balloons with the plane? I've been scouring and scouring... I want that last balloon so I can have five minutes and, more importantly, five photo opps in Free Flight.

 

[geebee]

God damn I haven't been this obsessive with a game in a long time. I seriously cannot play this for less then an hour at a time. Of course there is frustration in retrying missions to get 3 stars, but it's satisfying when I do get them. Definitely my favorite launch title.

 

[Dr.Palutena]

ok i give up, can someone tell me where info ring 41 and 50 are located?

 

[Barrett2]

Only one white balloon left in Free Flight, and it's with the Plane... Any easily overlooked white balloons with the plane? I've been scouring and scouring... I want that last balloon so I can have five minutes and, more importantly, five photo opps in Free Flight.

There is a balloon over the water. As soon as you take off in the plane, go up immediately a few hundred feet and fly straight forward. Did you find that one?

There is also one deep inside a cave. It is the entrance beneath the 'ruins' area where the entranceway sticks out from the cave wall along the water below.

 

[gingerbeardman]

A trick to find the missing balloon is to isthmus rocket pack and seek ou the transparent balloon, turn go back for it in the proper craft.

Having a hard time landing the jet perfectly on my red star quest. Any tips?

edit: managed to do it after much swearing. Currently at 28/42 red stars which is 66.6% done in my book

 

[Neiteio]

Finally found the 120th white balloon! For me, it was in the Lava Tube with the plane. I scouted it out at sunset using the Super Rocket Belt (which by the by, is my favorite way to get around in Free Flight). Now time to board the Pedal Glider, a.k.a. Rasta Bike, and put Wuhu through a photo shoot.

 

[Crash Station]

Man, I am terrible at landing the plane perfectly. Don't know if I have the motivation to perfect everything if I'm struggling with friggin Bronze missions.

 

[Neiteio]

Has anyone ripped and made available for download the credits music yet? I'm rewatching the credits from the main menu and man, this song is pure Pilotwings 64 nostalgia. Same instruments, same vibes. I love it. <3

 

[jgkspsx]

Man, I am terrible at landing the plane perfectly.

Judging by the fact that everybody here seems to have the same issue, I think the requirements for a perfect landing are just too harsh.

 

[Neiteio]

I'm pretty sure the game simply expects you to enter the landing strip gently but with enough speed so that when you slow down you're in the shadow under the walkway. Of course, actually pulling that off is another matter entirely.

 

[zeioIIDX]

Has anyone ripped and made available for download the credits music yet? I'm rewatching the credits from the main menu and man, this song is pure Pilotwings 64 nostalgia. Same instruments, same vibes. I love it. <3

Searched on YouTube but didn't come across anything Listening to it on my 3DS right now though

 

[speedpop]

Has anyone ripped and made available for download the credits music yet? I'm rewatching the credits from the main menu and man, this song is pure Pilotwings 64 nostalgia. Same instruments, same vibes. I love it. <3

Just this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8WGfwI9-Io

 

[Mockingbird]

I'm pretty sure the game simply expects you to enter the landing strip gently but with enough speed so that when you slow down you're in the shadow under the walkway. Of course, actually pulling that off is another matter entirely.

Yup. a perfect landing is having your plane in the shadow.

Man the second hang-glider mission in silver is a bitch. Taking perfect photos + perfect landing? UGH. I once managed to get perfect pics but I didn't get a perfect landing. I hate these photo missions!!!!

 

[gingerbeardman]

Yeah perfecting that one was a real bitch!

 

[shawnlreed]

Yup. a perfect landing is having your plane in the shadow.

Man the second hang-glider mission in silver is a bitch. Taking perfect photos + perfect landing? UGH. I once managed to get perfect pics but I didn't get a perfect landing. I hate these photo missions!!!!

I am at the same point. I've Red Starred all of Silver except this one.
Photo missions can go to hell.

 

[Neiteio]

Wow, this is amazing! A complete video walkthrough of how to get Perfects on EVERY mission -- simply select your class at the beginning and away you go!

Now if only somebody would rip the credits theme for us... I need that on my mp3 player.

 

[Outtrigger888]

I just ordered the game but it won't arrive until next week...

What do you guys think about the graphics? Better or worse than Wii Sports Resort? Textures, models, lighting?

I think the game looks better than wii sports resort. Change the time of day to dusk? I think thats what it is and the game looks awesome. I didnt know the team that made this is based in minneapolis, I hope they have a long relationship with nintendo. Have they made any games before this?

 

[Neiteio]

I think the game looks better than wii sports resort. Change the time of day to dusk? I think thats what it is and the game looks awesome. I didnt know the team that made this is based in minneapolis, I hope they have a long relationship with nintendo. Have they made any games before this?

I hear they're based in Northfield, Minnesota, actually, and yes, they've made Excite Truck and ExciteBots.

 

[Outtrigger888]

I hear they're based in Northfield, Minnesota, actually, and yes, they've made Excite Truck and ExciteBots.

Offtopic but are excite trucks and bots worth picking up? Ive heard praise around these parts before but for some reason always decided to ignore it.

 

[Neiteio]

Offtopic but are excite trucks and bots worth picking up? Ive heard praise around these parts before but for some reason always decided to ignore it.

They're both worth picking up, though if you pick one, I guess I'd recommend ExciteBots, as it's more colorful, has more "character" and, while it eschews the SD card soundtrack option of Trucks, it has online multiplayer for up to six randoms or friends.

What both games have in common are a dizzying -- and I mean dizzying -- sense of speed as you blast through the wide-open environments, which are rendered with tremendous draw distance. And in each game there are icons you hit to trigger on-the-fly terrain transformations, I.E. a valley where there was once a mountain or a mountain where there was once a valley. Trigger these and you'll find yourself being launched into the stratosphere, from which you can really appreciate the aforementioned draw distance.

And then there's the addictive dynamic of landing parallel to the ground for a speed boost (complete with motion blur that turns the colorful environments into a wash of rainbow hues), and hitting water to cool off your engine as it overheats. Also, the motion controls work beautifully; you really feel like you're leaning into each turn as you drift at blistering speed around the bend. It's a rush, and what's cool is that the tracks are very open-ended in that you can race over (or up) just about anything. And while you'll crash frequently, the game puts you back in the thick of the race in seconds, so there's no down time.

In Bots, you have the addition of items and on-the-spot minigames. Like for instance, you might turn a corner and see a giant soccer ball on the track, a goal nearby. Ram into the soccer ball to launch it into the goal for extra points. In Excite Truck and ExciteBots, you win not by placing first but by accumulating stars. You get more stars the higher you place, yes, but you also get stars for landings, for air time, for stunts, for knocking out other racers, for weaving in and out of trees like a daredevil, etc. So you can finish third or lower but if you took the whole track like a daredevil, you could still win. It's brilliant.

So yes, get them, absolutely. The only thing they had going against them in terms of success (particularly Bots) was Nintendo's complete lack of marketing support. And they feel like high-quality productions, save for some bland menus and generic music. But you won't notice once you're blazing across vast, dynamically transforming landscapes.