We don't just love MarkerMan for its imaginative physics-based puzzles, or because of the similarities it shares with the tremendous Pocket Physics. We also adore it because finally, for the first time since Pac-Man hit the scene, we have a character who is simple enough for us to draw effectively. Brilliantly, even. No longer will we have to endure the cruel snickering of DeviantARTists when we submit our crudely drawn tributes to Marth. The picture to the right isn't a piece of official MarkerMan art, but we'd totally forgive you for thinking it was!
And now, European artists will be able to try and better our efforts, because Majesco has signed up the rights to publish MarkerMan in the region. For the Euro release, the camel case will be dropped from the title, with the game instead known as Marker Man Adventures. It launches there in early 2009.
In the meantime, if you want to use this image in your European campaign, Majesco, just drop us a line on 000-1337-1337, and we can discuss fees.
Two Game Boy Advance games have randomly appeared in the Stars Catalogue, leading us to surmise that Nintendo has been spring-cleaning its warehouses and found a bunch of old, unsold stock. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and Mario Power Tennis are both decent purchases, we suppose, even if the price (5000 Stars each) is steep (you'd need to buy at least 20 DS games to amass that many Stars). We're still waiting on the warehouse with all the sealed Super Famicom consoles to get cleared out (it must exist somewhere).
Some other new tat has also been added, including a Pokémon sports bag, and three further items that have (inexplicably) sold out: a Raving Rabbids T-shirt, a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon bookmark, and a Brain Training pen. Don't all rush at once, please.
With Konami currently developing two Castlevania titles, one for the Wii and the other for the Nintendo DS, it seemed obvious that the studio would add some sort of connectivity feature to the two games, especially considering that Shanoa, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia's protagonist, will be a playable fighter in Castlevania Judgment.
Though Konami hasn't provided any specifics, the company has announced that connecting the two games, presumably through WiFi and not with a string, unlocks "bonus gameplay content." We don't know yet if that extra stuff will be limited to just the Wii, but we're hoping for some added DS perks!
What could that "bonus gameplay content" be? New items/costumes/areas? The original Castlevania games for the NES? A minigame for raising your own pocket Castlevania monsters?!
Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi is on the way in October, and we've got a few new screens in our gallery that show how the game is coming along. The 2.5D platformer uses somewhat simple polygons (a smart decision) but gives off the same kind of atmosphere as the rocking concept art due to very interesting lighting effects!
Mushroom Men on the DS is planned as a prequel to the Wii game -- another smart decision, we think. It helps position the DS game as less of a spinoff item and more a part of the real game series. It would be a shame if a cool sidescroller like this got overlooked because of the 3D game. That is, of course, assuming that the Wii game isn't also overlooked.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again a million times -- Stafy is so cute! With his happy giggles, his bright smile, his bulging eyes, and his overall star quality, you just have to love the little guy. (Yes, you do.)
Some new trailers for Densetsu no Stafy: Taiketsu! Daiiru Kaizoku-dan (which are actually Japanese commercials) show Stafy and his somewhat playable sister, Stapy, getting in and out of all kinds of trouble. You also get to check out his transformations, which might just put you into a coma from cuteness overload. (Consider yourselves warned.) At least you can say "import!" with a big smile on your face.
Check after the break for an equally precious video showing off Stafy's latest adventures.
Konami is showing off Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia at the Interactive & Digital Entertainment Festival in Cannes, leading one Jeuxvideo.tv contributor to show off his ability to hold a camera steady on the DS screen while simultaneously playing. Or he brought a friend. The point is: hey, look!
The backgrounds look more layered and detailed than the last couple of games, and the enemy sprites appear to be a mix of old and new. The skeleton hasn't changed since at leastSymphony of the Night, but that new floating shade (or witch, or whatever the girl in the dress is) is pretty amazing. Of course, we're more than willing to look past the reused sprites because there's a different world map! With non-castle locations!
This segment provides a better look at the Magnes glyph (which creates a powerful magnetic field, allowing Shanoa to pull herself up to certain metallic platforms, then slingshot herself offward) and its in-game tutorial. The glyph will act as a sort of high jump, to allow access to previously inaccessible areas of the castle.
We may not have LocoRoco or even World of Goo on the DS, but we do have a sludgy platforming hero of our own: Mister Slime. Little Slimy will be setting out in his self-titled platforming adventure next month, and we've got some exclusive gameplay tips for all future gamers looking to protect the gooey guy's home village from the invasion of evil Axons. Stretch out and get comfortable -- we've got all the info you'll need after the break!
My eyes glazed as I stared at my Nintendo DS Lite which cased the finished build of N+. N, my titular ninja avatar, braced his body as he slid halfway down a wall before springing away, using his momentum to snatch three gold coins dangling in midair. I firmly pressed d-pad left, causing him to again shimmy down the wall slowly, carefully, before again leaping for a nearby ledge. Unfortunately, my momentum wasn't enough in this instance. Though little more than a plump stick figure, I had a vision of poor N desperately straining for the tip of the ledge that was at least (at least) a good six feet away before plummeting, plummeting, plummeting -- and eventually exploding in a shower of square-shaped shards as he cratered into the ground.
I grumbled, but the fault was wholly mine, not the acrobatic N's.
"You've got what the indie scene will call the best platforming engine in Flash, ever," said David Geudelekian, producer of Metanet Software'sN+. "What N did really well was it presented this incredible platformer with 1000 levels, it was crazy difficult. N the ninja was this lithe, acrobatic guy with all the things developers had learned from other platformers. You can wall jump, you can press along the wall as you're falling to slow your descent. Because it's a full-featured physics engine, momentum can kill you, but if you use a ramp's natural curvature, you might be able to catapult yourself across the level."
Summer in the northern hemisphere officially starts today, which means one thing: sharing strawberries with a loved one in a tranquil hay meadow as you soak up the rays grabbing cheap games in the sales! The folks at HMV know the heat turns us Brits into mushy-minded impulse buyers, and so they've gone and slashed prices on approximately 30 DS titles to around the £12 - £15 mark. Here's the best of what's on offer:
Densetsu no Stafy 3 on the Game Boy Advance featured multiplayer minigames that let a second player take the role of Stafy's sister Stapy. Stafy 4 featured Stapy as a playable character in the main game. The latest in the series, Densetsu no Stafy: Taiketsu! Daiiru Kaizoku-dan, features drop-in multiplayer in certain areas of the game for which you'd like to have a bit of help. (mostly bosses) A second player can take the role of Stapy and join Stafy in fighting bosses via Download Play. Stapy can wall-jump, crouch, and launch a spin attack. And, of course, she does also return for the series' customary dress-up mode and minigames.
It may not be news to say that Stafy is cute (in fact, it comes up every time we mention the game) but seriously, go look at the new screenshots at Dengeki. Cuuuute.
This just in: the fifth game in Tose's Densetsu no Stafy series will continue the tradition of making bloggers "awwww" themselves silly with its ludicrous levels of cuteness.
New scans from Famitsu confirm that, just like its immediate predecessor, Densetsu no Stafy: Taiketsu! Daiiru Kaizoku-dan won't be light on the saccharine imagery, and also that Stafy has a new friend for his latest adventure: Rampa (?) the space bunny. According to the magazine, Rampa will be able to transform Stafy into other creatures, including a seal and a dragon, which will in turn help our squishy, five-pointed hero progress through the game.
Nintendo Power subscriber? Already got your copy? Goody for you -- we haven't! Which is why we're so completely fascinated by the artwork from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesiathe magazine has on offer; we haven't seen it yet. Since some of you are probably in the same boat, we thought it might be worth sharing a peek.
If you didn't see our earlier post on the details of the latest from the franchise, go check it out. For a few blurry bits of screens, jump to the ledge past the break. For better screens? See the gallery below.
So it's Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, which may seem like a disappointment to some (compared to, y'know, Earthbound), but hey: at least we get oodles of new details. According to Nintendo Power, this IGAvania is set in the mid-1800s and stars the series' first ever female protagonist, Shanoa. The magazine that there are "no real weapons in this game," with glyphs that can change form (for example, into a sword) Shanoa's weapon of choice.
There's a mass of other details waiting for you after the break -- don't forget your whip glyphs.
When the scans got leaked online showing off a new Castlevaniatitle, we don't have to tell you how exciting it was. Our staff was all kinds of happy, sipping on champagne and even a few were making copies of their butt on the Xerox machine. Now, you have to prepare yourself, because looking at scans is nothing like getting your eyes all up on some direct-feed screens, right? Right.
Well, thanks to a post over at NeoGAF, that's what we're looking at right here. And, we'll do you one more solid. We'll save you the trouble of having to say it: those sprites look utterly fantastic.
Famitsu has revealed the next Castlevania game for the DS, confirming recent speculation over Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Judging by the screens in the scan above, those mysterious shots from last month were the real thing. The magazine also divulges the involvement of Koji Igarashi, producer on Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow. As in those games, there will be support for two players, though the exact nature of the multiplayer (local play? WFC?) remains a miserable little pile of secrets.
And that's it for now! Leap past the break, whip in hand, to see another snippet of a scan.
We don't just love MarkerMan for its imaginative physics-based puzzles, or because of the similarities it shares with the tremendous Pocket Physics. We also adore it because finally, for the first time since Pac-Man hit the scene, we have a character who is simple enough for us to draw effectively. Brilliantly, even. No longer will we have to endure the cruel snickering of DeviantARTists when we submit our crudely drawn tributes to Marth. The picture to the right isn't a piece of official MarkerMan art, but we'd totally forgive you for thinking it was!
With Konami currently developing two 
We may not have 
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