WingDamage.com

"REAL adventure is waiting for you, DS."

I’m the type of gamer who mostly plays old Sierra and LucasArts adventure games. Some people might not even consider me a gamer at all, in fact. I didn’t have a console until very recently. My circa 2002 computer may be running like a champ, but it had some lagging problems running Psychonauts… in 2005. So, modern computer gaming is also out. I was lucky enough to be visited by the Wing Damage Fairy a while back, who blessed me with a DS.

I was excited about rumblings of the DS being the promised land of adventure gaming; I’d read on many a message board and blog that since the console’s point-and-click stylus interface was ideal for the genre I would have a bevy of adventure games to choose from once I had a look around. I was bummed to find out, however, that there is not, in fact, a whole lot of quality adventure games on the DS. At least not the kind I’m looking for.

Read after the jump to see my findings.

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“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

Looking back on 1996 a few tumultuous events may come to mind, ranging from the controversial accusations and trial of O.J. Simpson, to finding out our favorite cycling champion was inflicted with a treacherous testicle tumor. But more importantly, at least in the eyes of a (at the time) four year old child, 1996 was the dawning of a new generation of gaming with the launch of the largely successful Nintendo 64. Only 2 games were available with the launch of this console, and only one of them was able to hold my interest every time I visited my cousins brand new ’super-system’. I’m talking about, of course, Super Mario 64.

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"An improvement over Phantom Hourglass, but by how much?"

For the most part, I love the Zelda franchise. The portable titles in particular have a history of getting on my good side with Link’s Awakening being my second favorite title in the whole Game Boy catalog (next to Tetris). That being said, I was shocked when I didn’t fall in love with 2007’s Phantom Hourglass.

While Spirit Tracks looked disturbingly similar to the object of my disappointment, the Zelda fan in me was determined to give the game a fair shake from beginning to end.

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“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

I checked with the WingDamage gods and they agree that you cannot have an unofficial Mario day without discussing the original Super Mario Bros. It simply cannot happen.

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"The Wizard never saw it coming."

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

Today is a special themed edition of “Friday Old Games”. With our recent review of New Super Mario Bros. Wii now live, I’m taking this opportunity to talk about my favorite game in the franchise, Super Mario Bros. 3.

While the original Super Mario Bros. laid down an excellent starting point for the series, the sequel (known to us non-Japanese gamers as The Lost Levels) felt like more of an expansion than a new game. In October of 1988, Nintendo of America released their own Super Mario Bros. 2 (later to be titled Super Mario USA in Japan) at the same time that Japanese gamers were getting their hands on the revolutionary Super Mario Bros. 3.

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"The true successor to Super Mario World."

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the follow up to the DS game entitled New Super Mario Bros. It was only a matter of time before having the word “new” in the title of a game would become terribly confusing. Despite what the poor naming choice might suggest, this is not a port of the DS game, but rather a completely new Mario game.

Like any 2D platformer in the franchise, the game will have you running and jumping on the heads of enemies through eight themed worlds before finally reaching Bowser and rescuing the princess yet again. But this time around, Mario has new powers, multiplayer, and some of the zaniest level design (in a good way) the series has ever seen.

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"Easily importable thanks to Virtual Console"

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

Sin and Punishment is a Treasure developed rail-shooter for the Nintendo 64. When it came out back in 2000, it was exclusive to Japan. Seven years later, it was released on the Wii’s Virtual Console service, finally making its first appearance in North America and Europe. Was it worth finally bringing over?

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"What have I become?"

I’m a big fan of Star Fox. The name of this site, “WingDamage”, and our podcast, “Barrel Roll!“, are both references to the series. But when I say I’m a big fan of the franchise, what I really mean to say is that I’m a big fan of about two and a half of its games.

Today, I’d like to take you down memory lane and discuss the high points, what went wrong, and what Nintendo could do to save the series.

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It’s that time of year again! The fourth quarter of 2009 is already upon us and we at WingDamage are here to keep you in the loop about some of the notable games coming out for each platform. Below you’ll find some of our most anticipated titles for the Nintendo Wii along with a few multi-platform titles.

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"manliness (noun): Fighting a giant space centipede while entering Earth's atmosphere."

Over the last year, a new trend has gained popularity with game developers. I’m talking about new games made in the style (both graphically and in terms of gameplay) of “retro games”. On North American shores, it would seem that “Mega Man 9″ started the retro movement. However, in Japan, the country where such games originate, Konami’s “Gradius ReBirth” was released almost a month earlier.

The reverting of the Gradius franchise into an “old school” style was apparently successful enough to not only spawn “Contra ReBirth”, but also “Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth” and “Salamander ReBirth” (according to recent ESRB ratings and filed trademarks).  Is a game intentionally made to look and play like something a decade or two old worth the ten dollar price tag? Let’s find out!

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