0 comments

Nintendo Wii Upcoming Titles Preview

by on July 27, 2011
 

Last week in London, we got to see some upcoming Nintendo 3DS titles, as well as some hands on with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. We walked away very impressed with most of what was on offer, not least of all because there were other new titles on show, for the Wii!

Amongst the big hitters like Mario Kart, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Luigi’s Mansion 2, we also got to take a look at a new Kirby title for the Wii, as well as Xenoblade Chronicles and a new version of Rhythm Heaven, for the Wii!

Kirby’s Epic Yarn was easily the best ever game involving our favourite loveable pink blob, and was duly awarded a super review score by none other than yours truly. Truly innovative, with some incredible graphics and a wonderfully whimsical feel, it ignored the key mechanics of previous non-DS Kirby games, namely platforming whilst sucking things up and using them to take on abilities and/or fire objects. Which is why we were a tad disappointed to find out that the forthcoming Kirby Wii appears to be a straight return to traditional platforming gameplay, with little to set it apart from earlier titles in the series, particularly the N64 game which it most closely resembled.

Using the Wiimote held horizontally, you guide Kirby around Dream Land, using his familiar vacuum-like lungs to inhale enemies and blocks in order to take down enemies and smash your way through certain areas. Gone are the incredible fabric-based surprises that made Epic Yarn such a winner, the only impressive additions here are a super-powered suction attack that is accessed by shaking the remote, and some admittedly impressive special abilities that Kiby can take on, in particular one which morphs him into a screen-encompassing fiery dragon. It looks great, controls intuitively and retains the time honoured gameplay from previous entries in the series, yet is a somewhat disappointing prospect when you compare it to its stellar predecessor. That said, the finished product promises four player co-op, and we are looking forward to seeing some more of the special moves on offer.

Rhythm Heaven was a sublime rhythm actioner for the DS which involved a plethora of engaging minigames played whilst holding the console vertically like a book. It seems rather late in the day to bring out a Wii version, but it appears Nintendo are doing just that, as the short playable demo on display here shows. Still entirely in Japanese, this bite-sized reveal involved simply pressing the A button to trap a pea under a fork in time to the rhythm. I absolutely adored the DS version, and if the Wii version can bring more of the same, perhaps with some good use of the motion sensor, then it could be something special.

Last but by no means least was Xenoblade Chronicles – a forthcoming Japanese-style RPG that had a playable battle sequence on display. After a lengthy and graphically impressive cutscene came a real-time combat demo where you employ a giant blade to dish out turn-based death to some huge steampunk-esque mecha foes. Targeting is very simple and everything is controlled using the Classic Controller, including special attack “arts” that can be selected to kick even more ass. Your attacks happen automatically in a queuing system, a bit like Final Fantasy XII, in fact, and the whole thing moves a long at a right old lick. It looks mightily impressive, and has already garnered an excellent score in Japan’s esteemed Famitsu magazine. Given that this is only being given a European release and will not be coming out in the US, it looks like RPG fans are in for a treat.

Despite being nearer the end of it’s life than the beginning, Nintendo’s Wii showed me that it still has much to give, and there are some real treats in store for us all when these titles come out.