New trailer for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds sheds light on plot and characters

A new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds has emerged, and seeks to explain some of the plot of the latest installment of Nintendo's beloved adventure series. It seems a world parallel to Hyrule, aptly named Lorule, will be key to the game's story, as resident Princess Hilda (opposite Princess Zelda) apparently has need of Link's heroics. We see a few familiar locations from A Link to the Past, such as the Master Sword's pedestal and the church, as well as more footage of some of the game's new dungeons. We also get a few decent shots of a character who we can presume to be the game's main villain, an individual clad in dark robes and wielding a magical staff. Most notable is the fact that this character has red hair, much like Link's most nefarious nemesis, Ganondorf. However, the beginning of A Link to the Past states that the Ganondorf of that timeline lost his human form and was forever transformed into the beast Ganon. And seeing as Link defeated Ganon at the end of A Link to the Past, it seems unlikely that this character is in fact Ganondorf/Ganon. However, considering that Zelda has a counterpart in Lorule, it is possible that Ganondorf/Ganon might also have a counterpart from this new world. Lorule's villain invading Hyrule would actually make a lot of sense in setting up the story and the literal link between worlds.

First 5 minutes of Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea

GameTrailers has just posted the first five minutes of the upcoming DLC for Bioshock Infinite. Burial at Sea will follow Booker and Elizabeth in yet another timeline from those they hopped back and forth through in the main game, this time seeing the duo explore Rapture on the eve of its descent into chaos. As it turns out, Booker has been called upon by Elizabeth to find a young girl who went missing recently, and who he presumes is dead. However, Elizabeth promises him worthy compensation for his cooperation, as she believes there is far more to the story than what Booker has pieced together on his own. The city of Rapture looks stunningly gorgeous, and it's really cool that we get to see its populous going about their everyday lives and having relaxed conversations, entirely unaware of the chaos that is about to unfold. While I certainly hope the creative staff expands upon the use of tears in gameplay, I'm also curious to see which familiar faces make a return in Burial at Sea. In this five minute sampling alone, Booker mentions Sullivan's name, Fontaine seems to be rather important with his orphanage and Little Sisters being immediately recognized by Rapture's citizens, and there is even a poster for one of Sander Cohen's musical works on display.

Pokémon Y journal - entry zero

As I post this, we are now less than a week away from the release of the sixth generation of Pokémon games. Much like my previous Pokémon playthroughs, I plan to keep a journal running for the duration of my experience with Pokémon Y’s core game. However, unlike my playthroughs of Platinum or my recent replays of Soul Silver, I don’t have a core team nailed down yet. I want my experience with Pokémon Y to be a pure adventure with plenty of exploration of the Kalos region and experimentation with all sorts of new Pokémon matchups, much like I did when I first played through Pokémon White. That said, there are some Pokémon that are already proving quite appealing based on both physical appearances and typings, and what follows is a list of a few Pokémon I’m looking to integrate into my core team.

I already know that my starter will be Froakie. In fact, I’ve known that since around the time X and Y were first revealed – it was basically a tie between Fennekin and Froakie from the start, but I gradually began to lean more toward the water starter. Eventually the second stage evolutions were revealed, and Frogadier’s suave look compared to Braixen and Quilladin's obtuse designs sealed the deal. As for the other two starters that will be available, I have no intention of using either the generation I starter nor the special downloadable Torchic for the main game. Mega Blaziken may come in handy for any postgame competitive play I opt to take part in, and I imagine that Mega Charizard/Venusaur/Blastoise might follow suit, but I’ve used Charmander, Bulbasaur, and all the generation III starters in previous Pokémon playthroughs, and I don’t really care to retread territory that is too familiar.

The second Pokémon that I know I will be using with absolute certainty is Honedge. Ghost types and Steel types have become some of my favorites since my reintroduction to Pokémon a couple of years ago, and having both in the same package seems like a win-win scenario to me. I also have every intention of using a Fairy type Pokémon as a core member of my party, but I have not yet decided on who. Sylveon seems like a good choice, as I’ve certainly enjoyed my time with every previous Eeveelution that I’ve used. The recently leaked Klefki, on the other hand, is an interesting looking dual-type of Steel and Fairy persuasions. I just worry that having two Pokémon that fall under the banner of Steel types might present mildly lopsided battle strategies.

Finally, Noivern is a Pokémon I’ve had my eye on for a while. I wasn’t immediately sold on the Dragon-Flying dual type from the early reveal trailers, but now I feel it might be a good way to complement the typings of my other party members. As for the remaining two spots, I’m open to basically anything. As Fairy is already confirmed as being supereffective against both Dragon and Dark type Pokémon, an Ice Pokémon seems a little redundant, and a Fighting type would only be particularly useful against Normal type Pokémon. To that end, I think my fifth and sixth party members will likely fall somewhere in the spectrum of Fire, Electric, Psychic, Grass, Rock, or Bug – the first four of those typings being tried-and-true, with the latter two being types that I have significantly less experience with.

With all that in mind, this is but a teaser of what is to come. I’m doing little more than laying the groundwork of what I hope to gain from the 3DS Pokémon games, and these plans could change significantly between now and the days following my acquisition of Pokémon Y. I’m still blown away by what the 3DS has managed to do for the handheld side of the gaming industry, and Pokémon X and Y look like they are going to tread even further into bold new territory.

Anime review: Pokémon: The Origin

Since the Pokémon franchise first debuted, its anime and video game incarnations have followed very different presentations. While the anime focused and the friendship Ash, his Pokémon, and traveling companions shared, the video games exuded more of a sense of adventure and strategy, as players discovered more and more Pokémon of varying types that might better counter opponents. However, with Pokémon X and Y just around the corner, a new Pokémon anime emerged, paying homage to the original Red and Green Gameboy releases (or Red and Blue, as they were known in North America). This four episode special, known as Pokémon: The Origin, follows the original games almost exactly as they played out, with a brief new addition at the end tying into the upcoming sixth generation 3DS games and the Mega Evolutions set to debut therein.

Red and Green, childhood rivals, are called upon by Green’s grandfather Professor Oak to choose a partner Pokémon and scour the Kanto region for any and all wild Pokémon they can find in order to complete the Pokédex. Red picks Charmander as his starter as its colors pay tribute to the name his parents gave him, while Green selects Squirtle due to its typing advantages over Charmander. The two set off on the same path, though they have notably different ideals in mind – Green wants to become the greatest trainer ever, while Red wants to learn as much as he can about Pokémon and see Professor Oak’s request through to completion.

Each episode of Pokémon: The Origin presents a play-by-play sequence of events like gym battles and wild encounters that – while important to Red’s journey and his development as a character – are not the core focus of any of the four episodes. The first episode sets the stage for Red and Green’s journey, and ends shortly after Red defeats Brock – one of the few gym or trainer battles that is presented in full detail. Episode two deals with the ghost that haunts Lavender Town, Old Man Fuji’s Pokémon orphanage, and the nefarious deeds of Team Rocket. Episode three focuses on Red confronting Team Rocket’s leader and completing the Kanto league, and of course the final episode sees Red and Green face off one last time for the title of league champion after besting the Elite Four.

Where The Origin deviates a little from the canon of the Gameboy titles is after Red has caught the 149 known Pokémon and then goes out of his way to seek out the mysterious and powerful Mewtwo. While Mewtwo is still encountered in the same location he is in the games, Red relies on a Mega Evolution for Charizard to defeat it, providing a quick (though not excessively forced) nod to Pokémon X and Y. The Gameboy ‘save’ and ‘load’ screens that act as bookends to each episode are a cute throwback, while the reorchestrations of classic Pokémon tunes sound phenomenal. Pokémon: The Origin is short, sweet, and very much a direct adaptation of the plot of the Gameboy games, yet it manages to convey a more human and engaging tale in four episodes than the 800+ episodes that Ash and friends have spent retreading the same simplistic challenges.

My rating: 8 (out of 10)

DS review: Kirby Super Star Ultra

A remake of the SNES classic, Kirby Super Star Ultra features updated graphics including pre-rendered cutscenes that act as bookends to each stage. Though the black edges to these cutscenes are a tad unnecessary, their presentation is solid, as is the more clean and colorful look of the core gameplay which appears to run on the same engine as the GBA title Nightmare in Dreamland. The main game relies on the D-pad and buttons almost exclusively, retaining a very familiar control scheme, while the three minigames rely heavily on the stylus and touch screen. Two of these minigames, a shooting range and card matching, are very simple, requiring little more than quick reactions from players, while the third is slightly more involved as it demands players clear bugs and bombs off a conveyor belt feeding their respective Kirby.

Meanwhile, the core game is comprised of nine different modes, the majority of which act as samplings of slight variations on the core Kirby formula. The SNES release of Super Star was most notable for its addition of copy abilities, which allowed Kirby to inhale certain enemies in order to gain new attacks including the Cutter, Yo-yo, Sword, Bomb, and many more. These abilities are both plentiful and nicely varied, and Kirby can even abandon his current ability to add a partner character to his side. Every partner character bears the appearance of whatever enemy Kirby originally copied, and bears their own health bar separate from Kirby’s. While Kirby can grab various food items to restore his own health, tapping the partner character will share the health regeneration with them.

Aside from Gourmet Race’s fast-paced run against King Dedede to collect the most food items before crossing the finish line, the remaining five game modes are essentially quick snippets of what any other Kirby game would offer up. Meta Knight’s Revenge includes a countdown timer, making it arguably the most challenging of the lot, while The Great Cave Offensive is the complete opposite – a sluggish, time-consuming treasure hunt that lacks any real challenge, fun factor, or sense of fulfillment. Meta Knightmare Ultra offers up a retread of previous stages, allowing players to don the cape and faceplate of Meta Knight. It is the only one of major subgames that relies on the touch screen to activate Meta Knight’s abilities and attacks, each of which requires a different number of points gathered from defeated enemies. The stronger the enemies, the greater the number of points rewarded. The more powerful the attack, the greater the number of points required to activate it.

The soundtrack of Super Star Ultra is generally quite good, though the quality of the tunes in The Great Cave Offensive sound quite rough on the DS hardware. Super Star Ultra is a decent remake – nothing more, and nothing less. It contains everything that led the original to be so well-loved, but the fact that it does very little to incorporate the DS’ touch controls is disappointing. Because it is divided into many subgames, Super Star Ultra lacks any sense of exploration found in most other modern Kirby titles. While there are few Kirby games that ever feel too terribly challenging, Super Star Ultra is exceptionally easy from start to finish.

My rating: 7.25 (out of 10)

New Kirby game announced for 3DS

It might be strange to some, but not long after I purchased my 3DS, I found myself incredibly excited at the prospects of what a new Kirby title might entail. I quite enjoyed Return to Dreamland and The Crystal Shards, but Kirby is one of those rare series where the home console and handheld releases like Nightmare in Dreamland can convey the same style and quality of game design without having to sacrifice much in the way of presentation to accommodate for their respective consoles. As luck would have it, a 3DS Kirby title has now been confirmed for a 2014 release, and though the trailer only shows off a small preview of what is to come, I couldn't be more pleased with its offerings.

Sonic joins the roster of the new Super Smash Bros.

Sonic the Hedgehog has been officially confirmed as returning for the latest installment of the Super Smash Bros. series. This comes as little surprise to me, personally, considering how much Nintendo and SEGA have bred a strong sense of partnership over the last two console generations, as well as the fact that the blue blur will be starring in his latest adventure in the Wii U exclusive Sonic: Lost World. I'm certain that many old school Nintendo fans will have fun pitting Sonic, Mario, and Mega Man against one another. And hey, even if you were not a fan of the way Sonic played/controlled in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, at least he has a unique moveset unlike Toon Link whose unnecessary return was announced a short while ago.