The gameplay is very similar to the last Mario & Luigi DS game, where you basically control both characters at the same time, with one button for Mario and another for Luigi. This time however, you control Bowser as well, and actually, you’ll spend more time in the game playing as Bowser than Mario & Luigi, which might seem odd at first, but it feel quite natural. Yes, quite natural, controlling the antagonist.

If you like the humor of the previous game, you’ll be glad to know that it’s back, and everything from Mario & Luigi’s Italian murmur to the writing is just hilarious at times, even if you’re a bit older than the age group this game was intended for. The visuals of the game are strictly 2D, with the old-school pixelated style, but it’s very colorful and the use of the dual screen on the DS is take to its full advantage.

The main levels are comprised like this: you stride through the levels until you meet an enemy, and then you duel it out, old school, turn based style. You then pick which attack to use, and hope for the best. Well, not really, each attack does require some skill and finesse, but once you’ve gotten a hold of it, it’s very easy to do the simple attacks, while the more elaborate ones will require delicate timing to pull off. The game also includes a series of mini-games as well, which help break the main gameplay into larger chunks — always a good idea with a lengthy campaign. For instance, there’s a Space Invader-type game that helps boost Bowse’s adrenaline, and there is a notable RPG element with badges that you can collect an equip Mario & Luigi, giving them added bonus to their abilities.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is a wonderful game that should satisfy a wide spectrum of DS owners, from kids to adults. The campaign lasts a good 20 hours, a solid chunk even for a Mario game, but the game has a tendency to repeat itself, especially during the end. Technically, it looks great, the sounds and music are top notch as well — the whole game screams of great production value, which is hard to achieve, since it’s still a “little” DS game.

The Good:
Great humor
Wonderful gameplay
Great story
Top notch quality and polish

The Bad:
Not much innovation
Can get repetitive

Overall score: 9/10

The gameplay is simple and follows the standard 2D side scrolling fashion, but to solve puzzles in Scribblenauts, you need to use an object that might fit and help you move forwards. You “scribble” the object (say, a “meteor”) and poof! it appears on the screen. The goal of each level is to secure a Starlite at the end, and accumulate them. On top of that, you have dedicated puzzle levels, which don’t feature as much action but pack plenty of challenge for your imagination. Once you’ve settled in the gameplay and figured out how advance through the levels (maybe you need a club or a crowbar to break something, maybe you need a walking robot), you’ll be troubled by the rather frustrating controls the game has to offer. You control your hero (named Maxwell) via the stylus, where you point to an area on the screen, and he’ll run to it. But it’s far too easy to point a few pixels too far, and see yourself walk into certain death.

The vocabulary of the game, which is its greatest asset — and the entire concept — is staggering. There are over 30,000 items you can call up to help you, anything from a fruit to a black hole. Yep, black holes. It’s one of those games where your own imagination (not the developer’s) is the limit. Hell, you can even summon a Man-Bear-Pig to fight your enemies. However, despite the vast opportunities, they’re rarely used to their full potential. Out of the 3,000 items, you can complete the game with a few dozen, and the levels don’t challenge you to come up with something new. You can always strap wings to yourself and easily fly to where you need to be, and summon someone to kill your enemies for you. While you can get a special bonus for completing levels without using weapons or stuff like that, it’s not exactly the best use of a game with such a high concept.

Having said that, there are still over 200 levels, most of which will give you a great time, and some of which are really amazing. On top of that, the game features a level editor as well, and you can share the levels with other players online. The visuals are fairly decent considering it’s a DS game, while the music seems bland and a bit out of place. Overall, Scribblenauts is a game you should try if you own a DS, despite its issues, its originality and concept far outweigh the quirks with the game.

The Good:
Wonderful concept
Huge amount of items
Original
Tons of levels

The Bad:
Concept isn’t used to its full potential
A few control issues
Mission objects aren’t always clear
Bland soundtrack

Overall score: 8/10

Earlier today Nintendo officially announced the DSi XL, a Nintendo DSi with 4″ screens as opposed to the pervious 3.25″ screens. However, at the time we had no idea when we could expect the device to hit store shelves in the United States.

Now, a Nintendo spokesperson has come forth to let us know that the DSi XL will in fact be made available in the States in Q1 of 2010. Unfortunately, we still don’t know how much it will cost but as soon as we know we will let you know.

via joystiq

When Blue Dragon first made its way onto the Xbox 360 it was met with generally good reception but hand held consoles in the States have yet to get the same love. Luckily, D3Publisher has announced today that they will be bringing Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow to the US for the Nintendo DS sometime in Spring of next year.

According to Joystiq, this game will be set 2 years after the Xbox 360 game and feature similar game play.

In early September we were notified that Alpha Unit’s Monster Finder was to be the first ever Nintendo DSi exclusive title on the market. However, there was no word on when, if ever, the game would be hitting North American Shelves.

However, a recent listing on GameFly’s website has let us know that Konami will be publishing the game in January 2010. Is this to be believed? Well, GameFly is a pretty credible source but until Konami, or anyone involved, says something there

Back in July we let you know that Need for Speed Nitro would be hitting store shelves for the Wii and Nintendo DS on November 16th. Today, EA has announced that the game’s development has gone smoother than expected and the game now has a release date of November 3rd.

If you’re a fan of the Need for Speed series and are looking for a hardcore racer, this most likely isn’t the game for you. However, if you’re a casual player looking for a fun racing game to play then you should definitely check out Need for Speed Nitro. I mean, it is for the Nintendo DS and Wii, after all.

via joystiq

Amazon.com has today announced that they will be holding a buy 2 games get 1 free deal through Saturday, October 17th. In such an economy, this is a perfect time for gamers to rejoice and hop on this deal as fast as they can.

What’s better is games such as Madden NFL 10, Need for Speed: Shift, NHL 10 and Call of Duty: World at War all make the cut, among other titles.

Check out the full list of qualifying titles for the various consoles here.

Pretty much ever since the Wii and Nintendo DS hit store shelves retailers had trouble keeping the consoles in stock. In fact, trying to get one of the two around the holidays was close to impossible unless you got extremely lucky. However, according to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, this year should be different.

Below he comments:

We have a tremendous amount of product in inventory. We’ve been flowing product into retail. We do not expect to have shortages on our products. Now, if we do experience them, I’d love to have that problem, but we’re not seeing that happening this year.

So, if one of your loved ones was wishing for a piece of Nintendo hardware under the tree, their wishes may now be able to come true.

Read (MSNBC) via kotaku

Usually, when you purchase digital content it is assumed that if you migrate hardware you will be able to bring the software with you. However, with the DSi and DSiWare purchases, that doesn’t seem the be the case.

Nintendolife questioned Nintendo of Australia if users who were to purchase one of the new colored DSi’s would be able to transfer their DSiWare purchases over to which they replied no, you won’t be able to.

If however, your DSi is rendered unplayable and you purchase a new one, you can send both of the consoles into Nintendo to get your DSiWare purchases transferred. But honestly, who wants to do that?

Anyways, it was recently made known that the two latest versions of Pokemon have collectively sold 1,480,980 copies in their first week on the Japanese market. However, since the game was released on a Saturday it only had 2 days of the week to show numbers for which means it sold all of those copies in just 2 days.

Now all we have to do is wait until Spring of 2010 to see if Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver will make the same impact in North America.

via rpgsite

Players will reportedly use the DSi’s built-in camera to collect various monsters, but that’s all we have to go by for now.

In terms of a release date, our sources say it will hit Japan sometime this winter with no mention of a worldwide release.

via andriasang

Back in March, Nintendo revealed plans to expand to social networking options. Today, Nintendo has released a new application for the Nintendo DSi which allows players to upload their photos directly to Facebook.

To get setup, you need to link your DSi with your Facebook account via Facebook Connect. Once that’s done, a Facebook logo will appear on top of your photos. Users are allowed to upload entire albums at once (200 photos), and every photo after that, a new album is created.

The firmware is only exclusive to Japan, Europe, and Australia. No word on when the update will be released for North America.

The television series game tie-in, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes has a new launch trailer, straight from last weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con. I’ve only watched the Clone Wars cartoon once, and I didn’t exactly fall in love with the show, but I know there are fans who will enjoy this game.

LucasArts will be releasing the game onto shelves on October 6th, as opposed to a September 15th release announced back in May. The game will be published on every current generation console, including the PC and PS2. ]]> http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/07/29/star-wars-the-clone-wars-republic-heroes-launch-trailer/feed/ 0 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/07/29/pokemon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-dated-for-us/ http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/07/29/pokemon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-dated-for-us/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:40:45 +0000 Gibran Nawaz http://www.digitalbattle.com/?p=26227 Nintendo of America has announced that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky will be seeing an October 13th release date, as opposed to the September 23rd date we saw back in E3.

The game will have the option to play as one of 19 different Pokémon, which will allow you to interact with over 490 Pokémon.

Explorers of Sky was released in Japan last April, and will be hitting Europe later this year, followed by a 2010 Australian release.

No word on a date for the Wii version, or specifics on which handheld platforms will be developed for.

Along with the port, THQ also announced that the series will become an annual franchise, meaning a new game for the series will be released every year, with new gameplay features and modes. Hopefully the game will not turn into another Madden.