In a platform game, it's important that you be able to actually move from one platform to the next. Action game? It's similarly important that you be able to fight and move, in order to progress through the game. Few people would argue those points -- so why is the text in a text adventure often less than great?
Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles could have been a great game. The potential is there, and there are a lot of great little touches. Unfortunately, the localized script is sloppy, and that, combined with the missing cases, makes this much more a miss than a hit.
It seems like only a few days ago when publisher Aksys Games announced that it would be localizing Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles (Tantei Jinguji Saburo), much to our delight. Though both titles have been met with mixedreviews, we can't help but be thankful that someone took the risk to bring over these titles that likely would have stayed in Japan otherwise.
With both Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Jake Hunter now on store shelves, we chatted with the studio's localization crew -- associate producer Mike Manzanares, assistant associate producer Frank deWindt, and marketing director Gail Salamanca -- about the two titles and Aksys's future. Jump past the break for details on Super Dodgeball Brawlers' unlockables and Jake Hunter's abridged case load!
If you neglected to pick up Super Dodge Ball Brawlers two weeks ago -- and we suspect you did, considering how few people are talking about the game -- you can still terrorize playgrounds with River City Dodge Ball All Stars!!
Developed by doujin groups Miracle Kidz and Downtown7 (along with Famicom Kunio series creators Yoshimitsu Yoshida and Mokeke Sekimoto), this PC title was actually released several months ago in Japan, but the demo is still worth downloading and playing. Plus, there's an English version of the trial!
The game doesn't suffer from the slow pace many have complained about with the DS release, and it even offers two speeds -- Normal and Retro. River City Dodge Ball All Stars!! doesn't, however, include some of the cool features introduced in Super Dodge Ball Brawlers, like the equipment shop, throwable items on the field, and the 8-player local wireless brawl mode.
As its title suggests, the PC game comes with the added bonus of a roster filled with recognizable names from the River City Ransom cast! Smack people in the face as end-boss Slick! Dodge super shots as Zombies gang member Turk! Wear panties on your head as, uh, Panty!
With that said, we don't know how this weekend will unfold for us, from a game-playing perspective. So, what will we play? Wait, who cares! We're just some jerks who blog. Let's find out from more important people what they'll be enjoying this weekend.
Well folks, it would seem that all of our excitement over Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles might have been wasted. What little in the way of reviews for the game online say it's kind of, well ... below mediocre. They aren't too kind to the game, but we can't say we blame them. The North American release only has three cases, where the Japanese release has six!
Game Informer (65/100) says "This is a brief and functional title, but it lacks the flair and intrigue to pull off the film noir aesthetic. It's also hard to get over the fact that Jake Hunter looks like he should be ordering Jägerbombs and hitting on your sister instead of solving cases."
Nintendo Power (50/100) thinks "The game would have benefited from some compelling touch-screen use (for puzzles or combat, perhaps), but as is, it barely puts the 'interactive' in 'interactive novel.'" [June 2008, p.89]
1UP (D-) is of the mind that this game isn't even qualified to be in the bargain bin: "Each case is stupidly linear (to the point where you cannot leave an area until you perform the game-moving action), the script is riddled with typos (at one point, a character refers to a mobile phone as a "sell phone"), and the static character art exemplifies the cheapness of the entire package."
With Super Dodgeball Brawlers releasing late last week, we've finally got enough reviews in that we felt comfortable putting up a Metareview for the game. Also, you all have likely had enough time with it to form your own opinions. So, without further ado, let's get to it:
Play Magazine (85/100) grades it as good, but thinks the characters are a bit too slow: "This is damn near as good a version of Dodgeball as I could ask for...if only overall character speed could be tweaked." [May 2008, p.66]
Nintendo Power (65/100) says "Dodgeball fans won't be disappointed with Brawlers, but if you've been waiting for something new to bring you back on the court, the wait continues." [June 2008, p.89]
1UP (58/100) thinks that it's not as good as the first game: "It's certainly entertaining enough, and it offers plenty of detail for dedicated gamers to sink their teeth into. But will fans still be playing it two decades from now? Probably not. It's an acceptable rendition of a time-tested classic -- a little too complex to stand beside its classic inspiration, a little too primitive to stand up to contemporary releases, but still decent."
Any of you with the game want to chime in? Is it as good as the original NES title?
Gallery: Super Dodgeball Brawlers
With our Metareview feature, we comb the internet for reviews on popular games and conveniently place them into one post. But, we also like to review things ourselves, when time permits. So, be sure to check those out!
Are you sitting there and reading this? May we ask why? You have a game that you should be out getting right now! Okay, you ordered it online? Fine, you may read the rest of this then.
Seriously, only one game is on our mind right now: Super Dodgeball Brawlers. We've been waiting on this sucker for what seems like forever now and we're finally going to be able to play it. How many of you out there are doing the same this weekend? If not Brawlers, then what will you be playing?
North American publisher Aksys has accompanied Super Dodgeball Brawlers' stateside release this week with an image bonanza of (Japanese) screenshots, character art, and other promotional assets, all of which we've conveniently collected for you in the gallery below.
Apparently, lots of people are having trouble finding the game in stores, so here's an opportunity for you to flip past the screenshots quickly to approximate an animated match, imagining that you're really playing the game. We had no problem finding Super Dodgeball Brawlers ourselves, as most of the GameStops around our area kept two copies on their shelves.
In related news, Fujitsu also plans to ship Super Dodgeball Brawlers to stores in Korea next week and has released a huge, 80-image-strong batch of Korean-translated screens, which, for some reason, includes shots from the staff credits and celebration scene that appears after a completed tournament. Perhaps they were accidentally released in Fujitsu's rush to get the word out -- the word(s) being "Kunio in Korea!"
Before we go into fits induced by the awesome fact that Super Dodgeball Brawlers is releasing in a mere two weeks, we figured that the least we could do is spread some love for an aspect of the original game that's often ignored -- its music.
Of course, the best thing to do with great video game music is remix it, and The Bad Dudes have done just that. Taking Kazuo Sawa's score from the original Super Dodge Ball (NES) and arranging it with some ethnic flavor (based on the different teams' countries of origin) makes for a great combination. Don't just take out word for it, though -- give it a listen or download the zip file over at No Balls, No Glory.
Aksys also plans to use this EP to promote the upcoming DS remake, which is set to hit American stores on May 27th.
Paging through the magazine, however, we spotted at least two advertisements that we wanted to share with you. As we were tearing them out to throw into our scanner, we thought, "Why not post all of the other DS ads (and the cover)?" Join us past the break for the scanned pages!
Okay, folks, the next few months are going to be absolutely, 100% crazy hard on our wallets. With some very awesome looking titles coming around the bend in May and beyond, we were wondering how you were preparing yourself? Super Dodgeball Brawlers hits this month, which will be an absolute must-buy for everyone, as well as some other quality titles (Drone Tactics, Puchi Puchi Virus). Still, it's nothing compared with how difficult June will be for our bank account.
What're you most looking forward to in the coming months? The summer is going to be great for DS gamers, so what are you waiting on and how excited are you for it?
Remember From the Abyss, Sonic Powered'sSecret of Mana-esque ARPG? The title debuted in Japan earlier this year to little fanfare, and it didn't seem to have much potential for a North American release. Publisher Aksys thought different, however, and has announced that it will be localizing From the Abyss for "Q4 2008." If Eco-Creatures, an environment-conscious RTS with hardly any mass appeal managed to find a home in the US, why shouldn't From the Abyss?
As we discussed before, From the Abyss features a randomly generated world, capturable souls for stealing enemy techniques, and a two-player local co-op mode (separate dungeon, not main campaign). Hit the gallery below for screenshots from the Japanese release.
The only complaint we've heard about the Japanese version of Super Dodgeball Brawlers is that it is very slow compared to previous games, though you gain the ability to speed your characters up over time. Aksys Games, publisher of the American version, apparently paid attention to this criticism: according to IGN, who totally got to play the game already, Brawlers has been sped up, and this timing has had a positive effect on their ability to catch the ball.
The items have also been rebalanced since the Japanese version, which now makes us glad we've waited. Just like Bangai-O Spirits, which will come with many new Treasure-created stages not found in the Japanese release, the American version will be the definitive Super Dodgeball Brawlers.
Thanks to a sweet thread over at GAF, we've got a look at the boxart for upcoming Aksys title Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. Regular readers of the site will know that we're pretty darn anxious to get our hands on this game and give it a try.
If there's one thing we'll say about the boxart, it sure is busy. There are tons of characters crammed onto the boxart, but none is so prominently displayed as the lead man, Jake Hunter himself. And, because of this, we consider the boxart a great success. What about you all?
There's a considerable number of DS games out there that we cherish, but Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Bangai-O Spirits must rank amongst our greatest obsessions.
By a happy coincidence, both titles recently released within days of one another in Japan, so the next question is obvious: as the U.S. still has a couple of months to wait for these gems, did you buckle under the pressure and import either? If so, we'll be happy to place our extreme envy to one side for the time being, and listen to your impressions! We're nice like that, see.
With our Metareview feature, we comb the internet for reviews on popular games and conveniently place them into one post. But, we also like to review things ourselves, when time permits. So, be sure to check those out!
Before we go into fits induced by the awesome fact that Super Dodgeball Brawlers is releasing in a mere two weeks, we figured that the least we could do is spread some love for an aspect of the original game that's often ignored -- its music.
The only complaint we've heard about the Japanese version of Super Dodgeball Brawlers is that it is very slow compared to previous games, though you gain the ability to speed your characters up over time. Aksys Games, publisher of the American version, apparently paid attention to this criticism: according to IGN, who totally got to play the game already, Brawlers has been sped up, and this timing has had a positive effect on their ability to catch the ball.
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