I’ve been playing Megaman since right before it became cool. In fact I attribute a great deal of its success due to the fact that I gave it the green light— I’m not bragging, it’s just the way it is. I followed the series progression all the way up to Megaman 8. A great game for Playstation, that not only included animated scenes, but also the robot masters were given awesome voices. All the while maintaining the classic Megaman gameplay. This is what I would call, a step in the right direction.

Then Megaman 9 came out… And now Megaman 10…

Yeah!… Finally!… Just what we needed another 8-bit side scroller. Why did I even need to buy a next-gen system? I can have just as much fun playing games that were designed for the NES. A system that came out over twenty years ago. So thanks Capcom for forgetting to add graphics… again— If you couldn’t tell I’m being sarcastic. I mean it’s the year 2010 for Christ sake, give us a gun that makes enemy’s explode into something better than white pixels.

I’m one of the unfortunate robots that accidentally paid for this piece of crap, and I don’t know what I hate the most about it. Was it the stupid robot bosses? Such as Sheep Man, a fluffy ball robot that turns into a storm cloud?

Or maybe what I hated the most was the stupid selection of weapons? For example: Ice Spike. A weapon that ejects a small amount of ooze out of your Megaman arm cannon, and literally drips onto the floor in front of you. The worst part of this stupid weapon is that you can only shoot one at a time, and I estimate it takes 5 seconds to dissolve.

The actual stages leading to the bosses seemed to be put together fine, what was stupid about them was the gimmicks each of them had. For instance, in all the Megaman games they implement platforms with pits in between and if you fall into them, you die. A really basic concept that has worked since Megaman’s inception. But in Megaman 10, (Commando Man’s stage in specific) they felt that wasn’t good enough. They said, let’s add a never ending supply of enemies that jump out of the pits whenever Megaman goes near, but not only that, let’s also add sporadic bursts of a sandstorm that completely block the players field of vision, while moving Megaman willy nilly all over the screen.

At least in Megaman 9 there was some challenge, now in Megaman 10 they added an easy mode for gamers that happen to be pussies. (I only ran through easy mode for review purposes.) And if you don’t believe me about making the game for pussies, in Megaman 10, doctor Wily drives a pirate ship. Literally. Then, rather than having to fight three forms in a row after you beat the first two forms of him, he runs away, you go through a level that doesn’t have enemies, they refill your life, and then you fight the final form that’s weakness is the common Pbuster.

I know I already thanked Capcom, but at this time I feel it would be prudent to thank them again. Thanks Capcom.

Overall Score:

This week in IN, Dr. Cyborg once again takes on the mysteries of dating for comic nerds.

For the online version, click here.

Enjoy the .JPG below, and if you’re in the Salt Lake City or Park City area, be sure to pick up a print copy.

Get excited! We’ve got some great comics bending over the examination table this week!

Starting with Kick-Ass #8

Every time I pick up a new issue of Kick-Ass no matter how wrong I’ve been every other time, I say to myself, “This one can’t possibly be as good as the last one.” And I’ve been wrong every single time. This last issue didn’t let me down in any way. I thought I wanted to see the movie before, but I have to say before reading this issue, I never knew what it was really like to want to go see a movie. Kick-Ass is easily on my list of favorite comics, and Mark Millar’s best to date. This issue was so gory, and so hilarious, read it before the movie comes out! It was worth the wait!

If I had to choose between life, and Kick-Ass, I would choose life. But only because then I couldn’t appreciate Kick-Ass! -Slugtron

Overview: I creamed in my pants from a mere glance of this ass-hole, and not just a little bit. It’s like concentrated anti-Medusa.

Prognosis: It’s bloody, hairy, leaky, and spongy, and I love it!

Next on the list, Siege #2

There has been quite a bit of hype going on with Siege, and when I read the first issue I didn’t think it was bad, but I didn’t think it was as good as the raves going on about it. I sensed it would get better and better for every Marvel comic you’ve picked up for the last five years, but I haven’t been reading that many. I was still versed enough to understand what was going on, but save to say, I was asking a lot of questions.

As for the second issue, I thought it was way better than the first, and in fact it was better than most comic books. But at the same time I felt there were a lot of things that didn’t hold as much weight without the back story. I think a dead give away of this fact is the roll-call page they put into this issue. Then there were some things that held just as much weight, (like the sentry ripping Ares in half.) That’s right, spoiler alert sucka’s! And I thought the ending was cool, but I don’t think Bendis brings the majesty to Cap the way Mark Millar does. I’m just sayin’.

Overview: If I had to pay for ass, (which I don’t) I would pay for a slice of this one. (Although you’ve got to hate the 4 dollar price tag on popular comics.)

Prognosis: Safe for banging.

Last up, Ultimate Enemy #1

Another Bendis title, one that proves he’s stretched a little thin. This was essentially an issue of Ultimate Fantastic Four after Ultimatum, with a few other cameo rolls granted. The thing is, Bendis has written UF4 and it was much better than this. I’m not a Bendis fan but I know he can do much better.

It’s issues like this that make me wonder why they even bothered with Ultimatum. I’ll admit I’ve liked all of the Ultimate titles since Ultimatum, but this issue was bad. It was literally flashing around the world to different super heroes, capturing a boring moment of their lives right before a mysterious explosion goes off, five times in a row. Ultimatum was so confusing I don’t know what’s what in the universe anymore, I need some more exposition to be entertained.

Unfortunately just because this issue was bad it doesn’t mean that the next one will be. That means we still have at least four more dollars to gamble on Bendis, if he lets us down again I think we need to start an ass e-mail campaign. (Which is similar to a normal e-mail campaign.)

Five explosions! -Slugtron

Overview: This title worries me about the future of the Ultimates universe, especially with the news that Jeph Loeb is writing New Ultimates.

Prognosis: This ass-hole is as shriveled as an eighty-year old’s and it’s brand new! It’s the Benjamin Button of ass-holes.

Batman Confidential #40

Written and illustrated by Sam Keith, (Creator of The Maxx) this is definitely worth getting just to look at. The story doesn’t seem bad, but it doesn’t seem to stand out either. I really like where his art style is going in this book. Most of the panels make me want to frame them, and hang them on my wall. While I don’t think I was completely pulled in by the story yet, I think it has potential, and I’m really interested to see where it goes in the next few issues. The best part about this run is that it is more like a Sam Keith Elseworlds, so you can jump on board whether you are reading any other Batman comic or not. Viva Batman Confidential #40!

Overview: A fine looking ass-hole by anyone’s standards, the only problem is the location. Usually I like to see my ass-holes dead center of the buttock, while this one hangs to the far right. I’m just glad I’m not the one pooping out the side of my ass.

Prognosis: One beautiful ass colon!

Batgirl #1-6

I’ve always been a fan of both Batgirl, and Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler), and so this seemed like an obvious addition to my hold, (Because the Spoiler is currently Batgirl) although I even began with mixed feelings. For starters, who the hell is Bryan Q. Miller?  And why does he think he’s good enough to write such a book. I don’t trust most of DC’s all-star writers to write these characters, let alone this ass-hole. Although I gave him some six issue leeway to see if he could impress me, and at the end of the third issue it took a turn from “Whatever” to “I don’t like you very much,” when he had Oracle give Stephanie Brown a really stupid looking costume.

If ass-holes had brains, this one still wouldn’t have one! -Slugtron

Honestly the comic did get a little better after she switched costumes because she began interacting with Dick, and Damian, but all at the price of seeing her in this new ridiculous costume. Basically I feel like the book is bitter sweet at best, but leaning more towards the sex with an in-law side of bitter sweet. It basically feels like a bad episode of L.A. Law.

Overview: To get to the problem with this ass-hole I had to examine its shit. Now, if you know me, you’d know I don’t like examining shit. I don’t even like saying the word. My business is ass-holes, and I’ve got to tell you brother, business is booming!

Prognosis: I don’t even know if I’m looking at a bonafide ass-hole.

Last up, Fables # 92

This is the first of a two part series called “Out to the Ball Game.” Let me start off by saying, I’m glad they aren’t wasting Mark Buckingham on this run. It’s not horrible, it’s just a clear deviation from what I want to read about. This issue takes place in Flycatchers Kingdom, where Goblins and recently deceased fables live in harmony under his rule. In fact the issue starts with a parody of Casey at the Bat, where Goblins are the opposing baseball team, and Weyland Smith is Casey playing for humanoid fables. The Goblin Pitcher ends up getting drunk and killing a fable in his drunk stupor, and the next issue is going to be his trial. There I said it! I gave everything away! So now there’s no need to read the issue at all. Honestly other than the Great Fables Crossover, this seems to be the lamest deviation to date. I don’t mind these when they’re added into the trades, but I hate to see them monthly.

Overview: This is an old ass-hole that’s been pooping quite some time, and I imagine it’s going to continue to poop for quite a while longer. I would now like to conjecture what this creatures mouth has been eating lately. Card board, very high fiber, hurts coming out, stinks like a prostitute, leaves a handsome rash for a few days.

Prognosis: A strong enduring colon. Recommending a return visit to the ol’ass doctor soon.

A Zombie’s Perspective:

Capcom’s latest addition to the vs. series puts their wide line-up of characters against an anime company that I have never heard of. Although the Tatsunoku side consists of a good group of interesting character’s I’m sure American sales of this title will be hurt by the lack of recognition.
Upon booting this game I didn’t think too much of it, pretty standard intro (although their theme music is MUCH better than SF4). Basic character select screen, and away we go picking our two and beginning the combat. Round 1, Arse-Bot vs. a beginning Zombietron. Needless to say I lost several times, but slowly began to pick up on the combo system and how fluidly the game allows you to move from point to point.
Playing on a standard Wii-mote the folks at Capcom have given a very easy control scheme, forward and 2, forward and 1, and the list continues with all directions.  This for most learners was pretty easy, but I gotta say, when the battle gets intense, it’s hard to make sure you’re hitting the correct combos when you only have six button choices. Taking these and add few combos like the usual DFP for Ryu’s Hadoken, and the game quickly falls into the standard fighter category with mostly solid controls. Using a classic controller it then begins to play like the Capcom fighters from the SNES days, which once again is easy to adjust and just as fun to work with.

Where I think this game shines as opposed to some of the other members of the vs. group, is the attentiveness to balance the game has. Every character has a strategy, and every character has a weak point you can exploit to win. (ask Mexicus about the upper-cut super counter). That being said through the hours we battled, Tatsunoku seemed to have the advantage in speed, power, and over-all character quality. It simply felt that taking a Capcom character against the futuristic weapon-toting Tatsunoku crew could be considered a mistake. But I still found myself pulling out the wins when it really mattered.  It was nice to see even the giant characters namely px-40 and Lightan (also known by the BSR crew as “The Waffle Iron Dude”) were limited in speed, and you could choose only them, instead of your usual two choices.  AND THEY WERE BEATABLE, unlike the sentinel MVC2.
All-in-all, Tatsunoku is a solid line up of good characters, interesting arenas, and a great time blasting away at your friends.  It has a good technical side for the hardcore fighting kids.  This game is worth a buy, it will even be featured in Evo this year. I say high-five to Capcom for giving Wii owners a game to compete on!

The Zombie Score:

• Graphics: 8.5
• Audio: 8
• Controls: 9
• Replay: 9.5
• Zombie’s Overall : 8.75
• The Composite : 7.75

The Doctor’s perspective! (In other words the correct perspective!)

Dr. Cyborg here, Just got done with a bout on the newly released Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom! The new fighter from Capcom exclusively for the Wii. I found this to be a game that needed to be done for a long time, as this is the first fighting game I’ve purchased for the Wii. (Excluding Smash Bros. which doesn’t count at all, you idiots!)

To preface, I’m a big fan of both Street Fighter in general, and all the Marvel Vs. Capcom games. TVC, is a sort of blend of these games, but not really like either. Thankfully it has the same type of look as SFIV, but the dual battle system of MVC. The biggest variation from both titles is the controls. You can play with a Game Cube controller, the classic controller, or with the Wii remote itself. I’ve found I like the classic controller the best. But that isn’t what separates the controls, it’s that they’ve designed a whole new system. Now rather than having 2 or 3 kick and punch buttons, they’ve combined the buttons. So now your light, medium, and hard buttons throw different types of attacks in different situations. For example, if Ryu is in the air and you press your hard button, it will be a kick, but on the ground holding forward it might be a punch.

It sounds complicated, but in all actuality it simplifies things. I think it makes the game playable to a larger audience, but it’s still complicated enough that if you aren’t skilled, you are going to get your ass kicked. I find myself sentimentally attached to the old system, but I like how easy it is to learn a new character with this decrease in controls. Honestly it’s intimidating to try a new fighter in Street Fighter IV, but in this game every character has their own strengths and weaknesses, but has basically the same controls as everyone else.

To wrap things up for doctors, I’m just going to spout off a few sentences! There’s plenty of playable characters in this game, but I wish there were a few more. (Most notably Ken.) I’ve only played through the arcade a few times, and the computer can be pretty challenging. All of the characters endings seem to be pretty ridiculous. The online play seems awesome if it isn’t lagging out too bad. I find this to be highly enjoyable, but easily not the best Capcom fighting game on the market. (I’m now much more excited for Super Street Fighter IV.)

Overall I’d give it a 7.75/10 (Completely different than a Zombies 7.75)

P.S. Q: What do you call a lame brain that couldn’t think their way out of a super market? Give up?

A: Zombies!

Dr’s rule suckas!

It’s time again this week to take a look at Big Shiny Robot!s weekly column inside IN Magazine.

If you’re in the Salt Lake or Park City areas, please, pick up a copy of the magazine.  For the online version, click here.

For the laid out version, click the image below:

I’ll admit that I’m a faithfully enamored Nintendo fan, but this only applies to their beyond famous titles. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, there are others, but save to say, I spend a lot of money on Nintendo games, and I’m generally satisfied. In fact you could say I’ve come to trust them. But do I trust them for something that doesn’t have the hallmark characters I’ve become fond of? The answer is a definitive NO.

When I first looked at the pictures for Glory of Heracles I really wasn’t sure what to expect. All I knew was it was an RPG based around Greek mythology. (A cool premise) But Nintendo hasn’t really done that many RPG’s, and when they have, they aren’t traditional in any way. The only thing it really had going for it was the fact that some of the Final Fantasy creators were working on it. Which was just enough to make me want to try it.

Story: The game starts with an amnesiac boy who finds out he’s immortal. Traveling the world he runs into other immortals that have sketchy pasts. As you progress you learn more of each of the characters back stories, until all is finally revealed. The characters pasts were by far the best part of the story, and it certainly made this game stick out. It wasn’t trying to tell an old Greek story, but its own story, filled with enjoyable characters, and story turns that range from touching to comedic. I found myself laughing out loud several times.

Without revealing too much story, one of the best concepts in the game is that there are four Heracles’, and you spend most the game wondering who’s the real one. To add to this, each of the Heracles’ have very different personalities. My favorite of which punches a princess in the face because she won’t shut up.

Overall the story isn’t very strong, but the characters, and the dramatic revelations make it seem great.

8/10

Gameplay: This is definitely the strong suit of this game. It has a fairly traditional battle command system, you can use normal controls, or if you prefer they all work with the stylus. You can also control every other aspect of the game with the stylus, though I opted not to.

The battle commands and battle system are equivalent to any Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, or Breath of Fire, but in a lot of ways Glory of Heracles did it better. Starting with the fact it had a unique front-row/back-row system. Next, It offered a mini-game power-up system for your special moves. So every time you cast a spell it would ask if you wanted to play a short mini-game with the stylus in order to increase the damage of the spell. It sounds as if it might get boring after a while, but you can always skip it, and additionally there’s probably more than twenty different mini-games. Some as easy as tapping the screen repeatedly, and some as complex as a short game of Simon.

Another thing this game got right, was the balance of the game. The way they dished out experience and money seemed perfect. There wasn’t a time when I needed to sit and level, but there wasn’t a time I felt over leveled either. The dungeons were fast paced, and well done, but the game did lack mystery. I wish they threw in a few puzzles throughout the game. It seemed as if in place of puzzles, they made the method of killing dungeon bosses very strategy based. (An acceptable substitute, but they could have done both!)

Another thing I liked was the fact that it is played straight through. You can’t loose your way, if there’s an obscure house you have to go to before moving to the next area, you will know it! I think this style worked great for a portable game. You still have 30 hours+ of game play, but you feel as if you are moving forward with every five minutes you put in.

10/10

Graphics & Appearance: This looked fine for a DS game, it had a nice Breath of Fire 3 quality to it, and the characters were well animated. There wasn’t any spectacular movies or anything, but some animations that did look cool. Although some of the graphics were cheesy at times, my overall feeling is that it looked great.

The one complaint I have, is that there weren’t that many monsters, and they reused the same ones a lot. They looked good for the most part, but I wish there were many more of them. (Not all of them had cool names, but the Hemo-goblin, made me laugh.)

9/10

Overall: This was a solid RPG that is funny, and fun to play through. The story lacks excellence, but the characters back stories make up the difference. The battle system was one of the best I’ve seen. I think everyone should try this purely for the fact that you can’t get lost during the game, and it tells a simple enough story that you can literally play it in your spare time and have a full RPG experience.

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

You can buy your copy from Amazon here!

Note: this is the fifth game in the series, but the first one that they released in the U.S. (This is completely independent of all the other games in the series.) I hope they release a U.S. sequel. I’m excited to get more details, personally.

Hello folks! Dr. Cyborg just got himself a new gig. It doesn’t pay as well, but I love what I do. Today we’ll be shoving our camera up the ass of a few comic books that I’ve read recently, and hopefully finding out if they are in good health or not.

First up, Ultimate Avenger’s #1-4

Written by ultra mega star Mark Millar, I thought this was a pretty safe bet going in, and in that way it didn’t defy my expectations. I sure do appreciate Captain America kicking some ass, but I found that I like it a little bit better to see him get his ass kicked. Therefore I think my favorite issue so far was #1. But I like the direction it’s going in, and knowing Mark Millar it’s going to get a lot better. (Aside for Old Man Logan, which blew its load early, peaked, and then ended okay.) For anyone that hasn’t read this title yet, I suggest jumping on board. You won’t be disappointed, and you don’t have to know what’s been going on to appreciate it. (I know because no one knows what went on in Ultimatum.)

I haven’t had this much fun since Jr. prom! -Slugtron

Overview: It’s a good looking ass-hole, no debris, no irritation. I’m taking a wild guess that they are using a premium fluffy toilet paper, and possibly applying lotion afterward.

Prognosis: Colon in good order.

Suggested retail price: Priceless!

Next up is, The Haunt #1-4

Robert Kirkman, and what’s his names, new baby. (ummm…Todd Mcfarlane I think?) while it seems to me that even Mcfarlane is giving most of the credit to Kirkman on this one, it does have more of a Spawn feel. A special agent gets killed, then haunts his brother that’s a priest, who is now in a sticky situation because of his association with said dead brother. The spirit and the priest somehow combine, turning them into a sort of grim superhero.

Well, I didn’t hate Spawn, and I don’t hate this. I think Kirkman is good at writing this type of arcane gore, and he is  good at the slow reveal of the characters pasts. I just don’t know how interested I am in these characters anyways. The book does look awesome, with pencils by Ryan Ottley, but I just haven’t committed myself fully to this book yet. Invincible, and Walking Dead seem to be a little more my cup of tea. Although if you are still into what Spawn had to offer than you should definitely be on this book.

Overview: While this anus appears in good order, on examination of the fecal matter there seems to be traces of blood. Something you want to watch out for. I would give it a few months, and see if things have cleared up.

Prognosis: Possible mud-butt.

Almost as good as the robot equivalent to menstruating! -Slugtron

Suggested retail price: $2.99

Next we have Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.2 #1-6

I have to give it to Bendis, he can write a lot of comic books… I don’t think he’s doing a horrible job either, he’s definitely got me reading. My biggest problem with Bendis is I think he is only funny half the time. He writes an entertaining comic but he doesn’t know when to stop. His touching moments aren’t touching, and it doesn’t help that David Lafuente is only passable half the time as well. Some of his pages make me stop and say, “…” while others make me utter words. The point is, I like the direction of this book, it is a good read, but it lacks excellence.

What it lacks in looks, it makes up for in…Well at least it has pages.  -Slugtron

Overview: This ass-hole isn’t wiped well enough. The left over feces is irritating the skin around the anus, but it hasn’t become infected as of yet.

Prognosis: A smelly, but healthy ass-hole.

Suggested retail price: $3.99 (a little high for this book in my opinion.)

Join us next time when Dr. Cyborg illegally shows you other comics private medical charts! You’ll never guess what comic book character dying  of spastic dysentery!

Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers isn’t what you would expect out of a traditional Final Fantasy game. It’s not even what you would expect out of a normal Crystal Chronicles game. It’s something different all together, don’t let the name fool you! This doesn’t mean it’s not a good game, it just means, don’t go in expecting a traditional RPG (or an RPG at all for that matter.) If that’s what you expect, prepare to be disappointed.

I keep finding myself comparing this game to Dawn of Mana, in both expectation, and execution. Because in both cases I had been a huge fan of the series, and both these games defied my expectations of them. I wouldn’t call either of these games bad, but it seems to me they are both a little kitschy. (Crystal Bearers less so.) And I don’t blame Crystal bearers in any way for this, it seems as if Square-enix puts a lot of resources into the making of Final Fantasy games, and so it makes sense to put less of those resources into an offshoot. Especially one that is promoting “accessible to gamers of all levels.”

Accessible to gamers of all levels? What about people without hands!? Looks like Square-Enix didn’t think this one all the way through! -Slugtron

As a Final Fantasy fan I was excited about having Wii controls for the first time, but as I said it isn’t what you’d expect. Although it starts out with a bang, I think this is Crystal Bearers strongest suit. There are plenty of moments of high action. Crash landing an airship, Falling off of buildings, being chased by dragons, basically a series of near misses. There were different new mini-games at almost every turn. (Some of them better than others…)The story played into these aspects well. Keeping a cast of characters shrouded in mystery, so that there was plenty going on.

Although, while I felt that the characters were decent enough, I felt the production of the voice acting was a little off. Which wouldn’t have been such a flagrant mess if it weren’t for the models having some very robotic hand gestures. Admittedly this is a very small complaint as I was hardly annoyed by it at all, and the models weren’t bad themselves. I thought they were pretty exceptional when considering Wii games.

What I did find a little “distracting”, was some of the battle music, and when I say “distracting” I actually mean, they would have been better off employing my autistic robot father to blow into a jug for the soundtrack. Despite the poor choice of retard, the battles (and the whole world for that matter.) had a good set of physics. By that I mean that you could telekenetically pick almost anything up and move them with your crystal power. Which I will now explain.

Essentially crystal bearers (Which your main character Layle is) have powers imbued to them from some internal crystal. That make it so they can do “Whacky stuff.” Such as, Picking people up and throwing them. In much simpler terms, your main character has the force. Although there are other crystal bearers with other powers, like pyrokenisis.

Using your crystal bearer powers in game, reminded me of using the gravity gun in Half-Life 2. The only problem is, you only get the gravity gun. Your character can’t as much as throw a punch. (I found that quite odd.) The battles were seldom enough that they remained fun for most the game, but they certainly got repetitive.

One thing that I liked in this game was the city structure. By this I mean they didn’t design the city’s to waste your time. They might have a hundred people in the city, and you can’t talk to any of them. If they aren’t running a shops your interaction with them is maneuvering around them. It made me feel like they were pushing me to the next area, giving the game a brief feel. (Which I think helps immensely.) I think anyone that’s played a Final Fantasy game before knows how much time you can waste talking to everyone in town. In Final Fantasy XII, sometimes I would sit down, shop around town, and by the time I was finished, I would need to stop playing. Although this game doesn’t have a map, and so I found that I would lose a lot of time going in the wrong directions. (You win some, and you lose some.)

Overall, I think this game is marketed more for a younger audience. Possibly a good way to get younger teens to start playing Final Fantasy. Which I think would be great, I know some of the other Final Fantasy games don’t appeal to younger gamers, and this one is pretty big on action, while being very simple to control. It would also introduce them to the entire Crystal Chronicles world, and tell a simple, yet interesting story about it’s foundations.

Also before I wrap up, I would just like to say that this has one of the coolest looking Bahamut’s to date. I don’t know where they got this new idea for the rings on dragons backs (FF10, and FF12), but I hate it, and this game goes to a more traditional style. This is one of the best looking Wii games if nothing else. If you are looking for a game that will tide you over until Final Fantasy XIII comes out, this might help pacify you. But I wouldn’t go out and buy a Wii for it.

I like Bahamut’s back ring. It makes it easy to tell him to go F%$# himself! -Slugtron

You’re disgusting slugtron…

My overall rating is 6 out of 10.

You can buy it on Amazon through this link!

For the first post of 2010 I thought I would do a review of Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story. Why did I pick this for the first post of the decade? I don’t know.

I saw the first screen shots of this game around the same time they were releasing footage for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Unfortunately like most of the world, I didn’t see through the gimmicks of the Wii release and put this DS game lower on my list.

A bad decision in retrospect, as I was in love with this game at first sight. It looked as if it was a modern Super Mario RPG. And while Super Mario RPG wasn’t the best RPG ever made. It was one of the easiest to shut your brain off and play over and over, and in that capacity it has earned its spot in my copper heart. But looking at Bowser’s Inside story didn’t’ look exactly like Mario RPG, it looked better. But would it live up to my inflated expectations?

I’m pleased to say it did, And quickly at that. The battle system is very original and while maintaining somewhat of an RPG feel, it also puts your skill at the helm so you can’t get too lazy. That goes for just about every aspect of the game. There are more than a few mini games, and in just about every dungeon you are learning completely new moves to use in and out of battle.

There is definitely some explanation in order just to set up the world. First off, your playable characters are, Mario, Luigi, and Bowser. You fight separate from each other the entire time, and in fact Bowser doesn’t even realize he’s teamed up with the Mario Bros. the entire game. So it’s like you are playing two different games simultaneously. Bowser with his motives, Mario and Luigi, with theirs.

It is like you are teamed up the whole time though, because most of Mario and Luigi’s battles are meant to help Bowser out from the inside, and even when you are focused on a Bowser dungeon, you might ingest an enemy that the Mario Bros. can help you fight. The whole battle system was brilliant and it doesn’t stop there. There are some other types of battles as well, Mario and Luigi traverse in and out of Bowser’s body throughout the game, and another aspect of the game is that Bowser can become a giant and add an entire other way of fighting. Overall the battles were amazing.

Starting with the concept of the game, Bowser swallowing most of the Mushroom Kingdom, and unifying good and bad Vs. worse. (A stranger named Fawful.) The story continues in this awesomely ludicrous fashion until the very end, and keeps you laughing the whole time. There were times that I was laughing out loud. Some of the interactions with Luigi were priceless. And everything with Bowser and his minions was solid gold.

The writing in this game was really good (Some of the best ever!). Nintendo did a great job, and they kept it short enough that I wouldn’t mind going through it again in the near future. My first play through was just under twenty hours, and if I so chose to deviate from the main story, I’m sure there would be another solid 5-10 hours of playtime to add.

Anyway, that’s what the game did right. I did have some tiny complaints on my way through.
#1 There’s far too much explaining going on. The first hour or more, while being really funny, is really boring. You don’t have any freedom, and they don’t really let you loose for a couple of hours after that. And honestly once you are let loose you don’t know what to do without the chains.

#2 There seems to be no way to game over. Some of the bosses were a little tricky, but they give you enough elite items to run through the game several times. In my opinion it was a little too easy. Although (not to sound presumptuous.) if you aren’t as seasoned a player as I am, I can see it being more challenging, and therefore even funner.

In defense of #2, I would recommend this game to anyone because it is really fun. There were just some points in the game where I felt too comfortable.

My final analysis is, 9 out of 10. The writing and the story were top notch. The battle system was really good. The finale was astounding (because they worked every battle system into the last dungeon.) The game design looked fantastic. I really loved this game.

I recommend picking it up, and where better than Amazon!

Happy New Year from Big Shiny Robot!