3DS eShop Sega Double Header: 3D Streets of Rage and 3D Outrun

Game: 3D Streets Of Rage
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: M2
Release Date: 19th December 2013

This is the first in a series of reviews exploring M2's series of 3DS ports, of classic Mega Drive games. Some games have simply been ported over to the handheld console with few changes, but there are others which have received important improvements and upgrades on the original games. 3D Streets of Rage hasn't had much added to it from the original game, save for a "Fists of Death" mode, allowing players to defeat enemies in a single punch.

My thoughts on the original Streets Of Rage can be found here, and are still applicable to this game as a whole. The addition of 3D is nice, and compliments the game's style and overall aesthetic. While the 3DS's 4 button scheme doesn't allow for a perfect translation of the Mega Drive's 3 button layout, the Y, B, and A buttons make do. The fact that gameplay is as enjoyable as ever is mostly thanks to the timelessness of the concept, but this port allows those who weren't previously able to enjoy Streets of Rage to discover the first game in the trilogy.

Since the game isn't markedly different to its Mega Drive counterpart, I won't be adding a rating into my all time rankings, or grading it any differently to the original Streets of Rage review, but I'd definitely recommend giving it a go whether you have or haven't played a game from the series!

Rating: 92/100
Grade: A

Game: 3D Outrun
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: M2
Release Date: 12th March 2015

A far newer game in M2's series of ports to the 3DS, 3D Outrun features far more changes from its original game than 3D Streets of Rage. In special mode, players can choose to upgrade their vehicle through reaching each goal stage in any run. There are four vehicle upgrades available which make a noticeable difference to the vehicle's speed, handling, recovery time and off road ability. Reaching all 5 goal stages unlocks arcade mode which runs the game at 30fps (instead of its regular 60fps) with minimal pop-in to emulate the original arcade cabinets of the game.

Players can set their time and difficulty options according to their skill, and choose between new and old course modes for a total of 30 differing stages across the entire game. There's also two brand new tracks alongside the three classic tunes offered by the original Outrun, and all 5 choices are excellent and fit wonderfully with the gameplay. While 3D Streets of Rage was merely ported to the 3DS in all its glory, 3D Outrun keeps the excellence of its original game, but piles new features on top, to keep experienced players interested. If only all ports of classic games were this good!

Rating: 87/100
Grade: B

Game Review: Game & Wario

Game: Game & Wario
Console: Nintendo WiiU
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Release Date: 23rd June 2013

I am a huge fan of the Warioware Series, its microgames and general humour. Having played a short demo of this game at MCM London Expo, I was fairly confident that it would be pretty fun upon release. Unfortunately, as much as I would like it to be a great game, it isn't. Whether or not it's under the Warioware banner is debatable; certainly it's not in name, and only features microgames in one of it's 16 minigame segments, but even without the expectation associated with the Warioware series, the game feels like little more than a misguided tech demo.

Many gamers will recall Nintendoland, released alongside the WiiU as its pack-in game, featuring a selection of Nintendo based minigames, each showing off a different function of the WiiU gamepad. In many ways the overall impression given by Game and Wario is similar to this; its 12 single player stages and 4 multiplayer stages feature an array of ways to hold and interact with the gamepad; some clever, others not so much. The problem is that unlike Warioware: Smooth Moves on the Wii, there's less of a fun, party game atmosphere.

I don't want to simply list each stage and compare flaws between them, since most problems are common to the game as a whole, however I will provide a few examples of stages featured in the game. In Mona's game 'Shutter', players must search for specific targets to photograph on their tv screen before taking a picture of the target with the gamepad. As with most stages in the game, there are 5 different levels for players to try, progressing in difficulty as players continue. Patchwork features Kat and Ana, challenging players to piece together knitted puzzle pieces to make shapes. This is a contender for worst minigame, but there's no shortage of options.

The better minigames include Pirates, Wario's minigame which is rhythm based and fairly fun once the gameplay has been mastered, Kung-fu, which sees Young Cricket jumping across platforms towards Master Mantis, using the tv and gamepad for different viewpoints, and bowling. Which is literally bowling, but it's in my top 5 minigames simply for not having too many faults.

The game I take most issue with, however is Gamer, featuring 9-Volt and 18-Volt. The premise is simple, stay up late and complete your videogame, whilst pretending to be asleep when 9-volt's mum enters the room. This game features microgames from the Warioware series as the videogame 9-volt is playing (much like previous Warioware games have done), and was the minigame which I played during the demo at MCM. Having advertised the game in its demo as featuring microgames, I was fairly surprised to find that this was the only one actually sporting them, and reused ones at that.

It seems to me that either this is a game, entirely unrelated to the Warioware series which was meant to serve as a tech demo for the WiiU gamepad, released too late to do so and thus Warioware themed so as to avoid having to release it as Nintendoland 2. Or worse it's meant to be part of the Warioware series (I mean it does feature all the same characters, and a similar concept) but has taken the series in a new direction of minigames, rather than microgames. If this is the case, the then latter is far worse but the former isn't exactly good for my opinion of Nintendo.

With every newly completed stage, players earn coins which can be exchanged for minigame/collectible prizes, but it's also clear that this gimmick is an attempt at infusing some replayability into the game. Without collectibles and an incentive to continue it'd be fairly easy to stop playing after unlocking and trying each minigame. Having said that, most of the minigame and collectible prizes are pretty rubbish anyway so there's little point unlocking them all.

Graphically it's unclear what overall style the game is going for with cartoon and 3D elements mixing together in a far less coherant way than Smooth Moves. Musically the game is alright, but doesn't seem to feature as much of the instantly memorable tunes that other games in the Warioware series have done. Overall Game & Wario is a fairly poor mish-mash of games, in the same vein as Nintendoland with Wario's face slapped on the front to increase sales. Perhaps young gamers who aren't expecting the Warioware legacy to be continued in the game might find a little enjoyment, but I'll stick to the classics.

Rating: 65/100
Grade: C

Game Review: Adventure Bar Story

Game: Adventure Bar Story
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Ride On
Release Date: 19th February 2015

I've been playing Adventure Bar Story on the 3DS for quite a while now, on and off, but only recently have I begun to feel as if I'm ready to review the game. It's the sort of thing that can quite easily been picked up and put down as needed, with a simple overarching storyline and a general list of activities which need to be done each day in game in order to progress.

The story focuses on two sisters who are running a bar serving hot and cold food, snacks and various drinks. Siela, the younger of the two has a knack for cooking and making the various things served at the bar, as well as adventuring to find new types of ingredient to cook with. Gameplay takes place in two stages; the first is prior to the bar opening for the day, in which players can leave town and travel to one of the other areas of the map in order to collect ingredients and battle enemies.

Unlike most RPGs, levelling up occurs via eating the dishes Siela prepares for sale in the bar. This means that players must decide which dishes will be sold and which to keep back for levelling. The most complex and expensive dishes also yield the most exp. points, and as such players must consider their financial state also; health potions and other useful items can be expensive. Due to the eating/levelling mechanic in the game, training characters can be a slow and obtuse process, requiring battle, collection of ingredients and recipes, and allocation of cooked food rather than simply battling.

Players encounter new friends and party members as they progress through the story, and are able to choose 2 of these to accompany them in any travels outside of the main city. A variety of magic spells can be learned by each party member as they take part in more battles, and there are different types of weapons which suit different party members skills accordingly.

Battles take place in much the same way as many other RPGs; there's a choice of a regular or skilled (magic) attack, items with which to heal or help your party and the option to run away if things get too much. The difficulty curve is such that new areas can be challenging at first, leading to careful exploration, with more discoveries of each area occurring over time. Unlike other RPGs though it's possible to just eat a ton of high exp. foods and come back far stronger, which can be useful.

The storyline progresses as Siela takes part in various cookery contests at the Royal Palace in an attempt to beat her rival chef from the Cassel Garden restaurant, who is looking to buy her bar. In my 6 or 7 contests at the palace (there's one every in game month), I've never placed anything but first, so I can only assume that they're not particularly difficult to win with a little preparation. The reward for winning is more custom at your bar, and some rare-ish ingredients.

Graphically the game is presented in a retro-esque style, emulating the look of 16-bit games with its sprites, with anime influenced character avatars appearing when characters speak. The locations and areas featured in the game are varied and interesting for the most part, although once most of them are unlocked it can be somewhat of a drag to be limited to visiting just one a day. Musically the game's soundtrack has some enjoyable moments, but nothing that'll stick with players for long.

Overall Adventure Bar Story is cute, enjoyable break from the gameplay of standard RPGs. Running a bar alongside fighting monsters and exploring makes for an interesting dynamic and working out the various recipes can be fun, but after a while the whole gimmick gets in the way somewhat and can actually make the game less enjoyable.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C