Nintendo Power v.234 (Nov 2008) - Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Sonic Unleashed

Cover
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)

News
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)

quote botticus, GAF

- two-page spread, mostly screenshots (old, I think)
- 2009 release
- takes place in a fantasy version of the Genroku era (golden age of Japanese art)
- Demon Blades possess incredible power and a curse that drives the wielder to homicidal madness
- Male and female playable protagonists
- Use remote to emulate swinging sword and throwing shuriken
- levels involve more vertical progression than OS
- visuals put Odin Sphere to shame (NP saw brand new footage)
- writer laments the lack of any other info regarding game structure, RPG elements, etc.

EA-Suda collaboration sidebar
Suikoden: Tierkreis (DS)
Square-Enix party
- Sigma Harmonics
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2
- Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+
- Chocobo and the Magic Storybook
Phoenix Wright manga (Vol1 - September, $14.95)
Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
Overlord Dark Legend (Wii)
Overlord Minions (DS)
Rygar: Battle of Argus (Wii) - updates next issue
Dragon Ball: Origins (DS) - 3D

Wii Channels (WiiWare/VC coverage) - now with ratings (good, bad, meh)
WiiWare
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episodes 2 & 3
Mega Man 9 - Boss Blowout
Helix - meh
Midnight Pool - good
Strong Bad Ep 1 - good
Wild West Guns - good
Alien Crush
Bomberman

VC
Break In - meh
Mega Man - good
Neo Turf Masters - meh
Sonic the Hedgehog (SMS) - meh
Samurai Showdown II - good
Splatterhouse 2 - meh
Star Parodier - good
Ys Book I & II - meh (very dated, other than music)

Most Wanted (Genesis)
Staff
- Mega Man: The Wily Wars
- Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- Sonic & Knuckles
- Shining Force II

Reader picks next month

Previews
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Wii/DS)
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (DS) - November 2008
Tomb Raider: Underworld (Wii/DS) - November 2008
Transformers Animated: The Game (DS) - October 2008
Facebreaker K.O. Party (Wii) - November 2008
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS) - October 2008
Metal Slug 7 (DS) - November 2008
MySims Kingdom (Wii/DS) - October 2008
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (Wii/DS) - October 2008
Call of Duty: World at War (DS/Wii) - November 2008
Luminous Arc 2 (DS) - November 2008
Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS) - October 2008
All Star Cheer Squad (Wii/DS) - October 2008
Dokapon Kingdom (Wii) - October 2008
Quantum of Solace (DS/Wii) - November 2008
Rock Revolution (Wii/DS) - Fall 2008
SPRay (Wii) - October 2008

Features
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)
- interview with Dan Houser

quote botticus, GAF

- True GTA game - sandbox gameplay, open-world environment, gritty crime narrative.
- M-rating
- Isometric camera angle
- Cel-shaded polygons w/ black borders
- good touch-screen implementation - "tasteful" minigames, streamlining interface
- UI based on a PDA - hub for email, contacts, map, music player, GPS, stat-tracking
- stats uploaded to Rockstar Social Club website via Wi-Fi
- finger-sized icons
- missions designed for shorter periods of play, arcade quality
- aiming with control pad, auto targeting with R button
- subtle autosteer
- if you fail a mission, you can jump back to the action sequence
- chain gun, flamethrower
- good portion of Liberty City is modeled in the game (different routes than console games)
- no probems with load times, draw-in or frame rate
- lots of pedestrians, cars, etc on screen
- Wanted system - objective is to disable police cars any way possible
- real-time weather effects, 24-hour day/night cycle
- lots of radio stations to listen to (more instrumentals than vocals)
- 800,000 lines of hand-optimized source code (hey, the people like the info, right?)
- no details yet on multiplayer/Wi-Fi features

Sonic Unleashed (Wii)

quote Hero of legend, GAF

SONIC:
-Move with control stick (natch), jump with A.
-Quick step (dodge left or right by holding B and tapping the control stick left or right).
-Drift by holding B or Z.
-Homing attack by shaking the Wiimote.
-Shake remote while on ground for speed boost.

WEREHOG
-Swing remote and nunchuck to attack with Sonic's right and left hands, respectively.
-Z blocks.
-Combos by swinging remote/nunchuck up, down, or towards each other.
-B grabs and tosses enemies.
-C brings out "Unleashed mode" where you gain new attacks and take less damage.
-Grab enemies in midair and swing from them by swinging the remote like a pendulum.
-Climb poles by lifting the remote/nunchuck alternately.
-Raise gates by pulling up the remote/nunchuck together.

LEVEL INFO
European city of Spogonia.
The desert is Shamar.

Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii)
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (DS)
Avalon Code (DS)
20 Year Feature... of Features
Interview with Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka (BioWare)
Playback - Kid Nki: Radical Ninja (NES)

Reviews
Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii) - 8.0
Spore Creatures (DS) - 8.0
Samba De Amigo (Wii) - 9.0
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (DS) - 8.0
Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise (DS) - 7.0
Line Rider 2: Unbound (Wii) - 5.0
De Blob (Wii) - 8.0
Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS) - 9.0
Bleach: Dark Souls (DS) - 8.5
NHL 2K9 (Wii) - 7.0
SimCity Creator (Wii) - 6.0
Myster Case Files: Millionheir (DS) - 6.5
Time Hollow (DS) - 7.0

quote botticus, GAF

- Interesting characters
- Intriguing story
- anime visuals are great
- scroll background to find hidden items
- carve hole into the past by drawing on the touch screen to manipulate reality
- ends up too linear to use your powers very creatively
- odd plot twists

Lock's Quest (DS) - 7.0
Line Rider 2: Unbound (DS) - 6.0
NBA Live 09 All-Play (Wii) - 4.0
Tornado (DS) - 6.0
The Legend of Kage 2 (DS) - 8.0
Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition (DS) - 7.0
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 (DS) - 6.5
Populous (DS) - 7.0
Unsolve Crimes (DS) - 4.5
Prey the Stars (DS) - 5.5
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 (Wii) - 8.0
Exit DS (DS) - 7.5

Next Month
Animal Cross: City Folk
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Chrono Trigger
Suikoden: Tierkreis

Courtesy of GAF.

quote

Next Month

Animal Cross: City Folk

quote Akira_EX

- Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: Maze of Time DS+
- Chocobo and the Magic Storybook
Phoenix Wright manga (Vol1 - September, $14.95)

:D

quote

Next Month
Animal Cross: City Folk
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Chrono Trigger
Suikoden: Tierkreis

D:




Kirby Got the good review it deserved. I always TP the people who give kirby games bad reviews or call them suckish.

Chrono and AC, nice.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood and Bleach: Dark Souls both got solid scores. Yays.

Spogonia sounds like a type of sausage...

quote Dragon ZERO

Samba de Amigo is good, but defidently not 9 material. The motion controls are too innacuratte.

You've played it?

quote Dragon ZERO

Im dissappointed in deBlob. Every review says its the best 3rd party Wii game and gives it an 8. Makes no sense.

WL: SI/D should also do better, really an 8.5.

Samba de Amigo is good, but defidently not 9 material. The motion controls are too innacuratte.

Note I do not own SDA or DB. Only read revies.

I pretty much stopped paying attention to NP's reviews when they gave Nights a 9 and Okami a high 7.