Yup, I’ll be diving into these cartoon dungeons because… TRY AND STOP ME! I happen to like dungeon crawlers, comic or not, so this one will get a workout here at the home base. With the fine folks at WayForward Technologies on the case, it’s a guaranteed great time for fans of the show and tourists who happen to be passing by and own a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U or 3DS. Hmmm… if I had to choose a platform, I’d have to go for the Wii U version just because that’s a system that needs more good games and yes indeed, I want to see what WayForward does with that GamePad (don’t disappoint me, guys!).
November 12, 2013 is the day, so mark those calendars. Wait a minute, now… FIRST, go take down LAST YEAR’S calendar, go to the nearest supermarket, barbershop or bank, get a NEW calendar and mark that one. Yeah, I know you forgot (again), but you need to be more on top of things!
OK, it’s finally here and it’s a really rainy day outside (well, at least it is here, bleh!). So… you know what to do, folks. PROTIP: Play on Easy first. This way, you get to learn the levels and be prepared, as the game gets pretty darn old-school tough on the harder difficulties. That’s not my review, though – that will go up around the weekend. Shutting up now, as I have some piles of gold to collect for my bank vault/swimming pool…
Capcom shows off their upcoming revisit to the retro days reboot with this nice long look at the redesigned Himalayas stage. By the way, no stupidly cute cartoon bunnies were hurt in this video, the already angry goats got what they deserved and that big and annoying Yeti boss? Well, he was trying to make duck cutlets out of Uncle Scrooge, so he had to go down hard. MORAL: Don’t mess with a rich canard and his fancy cane bouncing skills, folks. All that swimming around in that huge money pool bank vault of his has given him some MEGA strength in that feathered old body. Tough bird, indeed…
If you’ve never played Shantae previously, that’s because you missed out on buying a copy when it was on the GameBoy Color (or you didn’t pirate it, you scallywag!), thus not having the pleasure of playing one of the best 2D platformers on the handheld. Well, as of this Thursday she’s baaaaaack, and this time it’s on the eShop for the 3DS. I actually like that the dev team didn’t gussy their girl up in a shiny HD coating, as the game was so well animated and colored for the GBC that it still holds up today as a prime example of a platformer at its finest. The best thing is you can now snap this one up for a song and NOT have to pay something like $100 or more for a copy of the game (it got one production run, but was VERY hard to find even back when it was initially released). Or maybe you can buy up $100 worth of codes and give them out to lucky friends who happen to own a 3DS or 3DS XL, you nice person, you…
OK, now I need to unearth my NES and that copy of DuckTales I have buried in a bin somewhere so I can do some comparing. I’d been meaning to do so for a while, but I keep putting it off for assorted reasons. This “duckumentary” did help me decide to finally get off my butt and sit back on my butt once I find everything, so that’s a good thing, right? Alright, I’m not THAT lazy, people! I walked over a mile today already!
It might seem like a small lineup to some, but it’s definitely coming on strong and packing a wallop for other, more longtime Capcom fans. I don’t even LIKE Super Smash Bros. (so sue me), but seeing Mega Man in there at the end and hearing those old 8-bit sound effects bought a big grin to my face. All I know is that shiny new HD version of the character had better be in a new game at some point next year that’s a mix of classic and current gameplay. Something like a Mega Man Legends Remix HD would be a REAL surprise if it could be made so, that’s all I’m saying… get to it already, guys.
As for Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara? It’s going to be awesome, although I need to wait a few more days until my Steam review code can be activated, as Steam hasn’t actually uploaded the game yet (boo!). Oh well – I’m too busy to get hooked on something new this week, so this is probably a good thing I’m NOT playing right now…
Woo-ooooo! Yeah, I played the Transylvania demo level already at the Capcom event last month (it’s quite amazing how WayForward recaptured the feeling of the original and has enhanced it even more), but seeing it once more makes me smile. That Amazon level looks as tough as ever, but with some nice twists. I’m allowing this happy-happy joy-joy stuff take over instead of the news that all my (and your) emails and other online conversations have been (and are) pored over by the federales for security reasons. Bleh. Well, I should be a LOT more annoyed, but I guess I’ll leave that to the bloggers who do better at focusing on politics. Me, I just want to toss them all onto a slow boat to the sun, Wooo-oooooo!
OK, before some of you think I’m totally nuts, let me explain. Way back in 2001 and 2002, WayForward Technologies made two games for the Game Boy Color that were completely amazing from a technical standpoint: Wendy the Witch: Every Witch Way and Shantae, both of which got one production run and despite some solid reviews from all over, never got the sales they so deserved.
“So, er… what’s so cool about these ancient games?” you ask? Well, it’s funny you should ask, dear reader. Here’s a very nice (and pretty lengthy) long play video of Shantae from YouTube user cubex 55 to check out and see for yourself what’s what:
Nice stuff, huh? Yeah, now YOU want one of your own too, right? Well, these days, complete copies of either game are ridiculously expensive (even cart-only versions command top dollar on eBay and game trading sites) and although the developer did indeed finally make a Nintendo DSi sequel to Shantae (Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, which also ended up on iOS devices), folks who wanted something more physical to own got shut out once again (bleh!). Well, the original Shantae is coming back after eleven years, but this time, it’s also a digital download hitting Nintendo’s eShop on June 20, 2013 for the Virtual Console. Sure, it’ll do well, but cranky old farts like me want a better way to keep the gal around a bit longer than as a download.
Heck, I’d bet a wooden nickel that some sort of crowd funding deal could get both Shantae games (and perhaps a Wendy remake) onto a disc for PC with all sorts of fun extras. The chances of these coming back to a cartridge are slim (it’s probably not very economical for a few reasons), I’ll admit, but at least there would be a bunch of people paying WayForward more for a new game and not getting the old ones of torrent sites (as I know more people have played Shantae and Wendy than own legal copies of either). Eh, we’ll see what’s what down the road, I guess. In a perfect world, both physical and digital versions would be available, but I know that’s a pipe dream these days…
Ever since it was revealed a few months back, I knew WayForward Technologies and Capcom had their DuckTales reboot all buttoned up like Scrooge McDuck’s custom-made spats, but after getting some hands-on time with the first level of the game, I can safely report that any adult who played this as a kid on the NES will feel as if they’ve lost a good 20 or so years when they get to play this one. The game brings the classic into 2013 with all-new HD visuals, excellent voice acting from members of the original cartoon’s cast and a fantastically redone score that takes those familiar tunes you remember and makes them even more memorable.
Yeah, you watched the show as a kid (or a drunken college teenager or early pre-hipster doofus) and yeah, you played the NES game to death. So now you need to show your love or else the game’s upcoming remake will be trapped in development HELL. Not really. I just wanted to see you all singing along to the DuckTales theme song. Corny as hell, but C-l-a-s-s-i-c cartoon stuff from the 80’s!
OK, shut up and sing along. You sing, an angel gets a new kidney or something like that. And a puppy.
YOU SING! NOW!!
Life is like a hurricane…
Here in Duckburg.
Race cars, Laser, Aeroplanes
It’s a… duck blur.
Might solve a mystery
Or rewrite history…
DUCKTALES
Woo-oo!
Everyday they’re out there making:
DUCKTALES
Woo-oo!
D-D-D-Danger moves behind you
There’s a stranger out to find you
What to do? Just grab on to some:
DUCKTALES
Woo-oo!
Tales of derring-do
Bad and good luck tales (Woo-oo!)
Not ponytails
Or cotton tails, no:
DUCKTALES
Woo-oo!
DUCKTALES
Woo-oo!
Now there, don’t you feel a LOT better?
You’re welcome.
OK, before some of you think I’m totally nuts, let me explain. Way back in 2001 and 2002, 
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 