Platformer Update

NGamer UK sat down with Dan Borth of Red Fly Studio to discuss the creation of Mushroom Men, an upcoming Wii-exclusive platformer.

We saw a mini puzzle in the DS game and an egg leaping ‘retro’ platforming section in the Wii game - will minigames like these be sprinkled throughout both games liberally?

Yes. Literally liberally. In the Wii version we’re trying to harken back to our roots, make reference to games that we enjoyed and still enjoy, pay homage to well-done gameplay. I could go on. They’re interesting changes in the gameplay that allow you to progress in a unique way.

See the interview here: Mushroom Men Developer Interview

The japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, widely known now in the gaming industry has revealed new screen shots for an upcoming DS Castlevania game. It will be produced by Koji Igarashi, who also did Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin as well. Two player will also be supported but it is unknown if Wifi will be supported, but I think after the 3rd title on the system it is time to add some Wifi 2 player co-op or something into the series. For those who have not played the DS Castlevania’s yet, they are action/platformer hybrids with slight RPG elements such as leveling up and character stats, great games indeed.

There you have it, folks! The first teaser for Banjo Kazooie 3 (Or Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts). It seems as if the game will nearly entirely revolve around vehicles - building them and using them. The style looks as good in motion as it did in the leaked screens. However, Nintendo fans are up in arms over the fact Banjo blows Mario’s head off at the end of the teaser. Rare once developed for Nintendo until Nintendo sold them off. This seems like a grudging slap in the face. Nonetheless, the game is what’s important. It’s a bit of a 180 from where the series was at previously but it’s probably too soon to jump to conclusions.

However, one can only wonder what happened to the Banjo-of-old style we saw two years ago in this trailer:

Rare’s creative changes or Microsoft’s infiltration in order to have a 360 game that would rival Ratchet & Clank? Time will tell…for another video of more gameplay (with some actual platforming elements) keep reading after the jump!

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Sometimes I think certain games are better off without motion controls, especialy when Activision poses the question, “What could be more fun than using the Wii Remote to swing on a vine over blood thirsty crocodiles as retro-cool Pitfall Harry?!” Umm… probably pressing the A button and then releasing to swing on the vine. Really something tells me this game is going to be brought down by terrible controls, I have no idea how they plan on pulling off using the Wii remote to swing on vines without it being overly awkward.

Enough bad talk though. The game is being developed by Edge of Reality, and they are bringing back a very similar character design from the previous Pitfall game “Pitfall: The Lost Expedition”, which is a highly stylized, big footed version of Harry. Thinking positively though, it seems to only be in development for the Wii, so maybe instead of porting it to the Wii with sloppy controls it might just end up being a great platformer for the Wii, we will find out later this year.

Gallery:

I would like to take the time to welcome my first two new staff members, Neal (nealp) and Lygo. Neal is the webmaster of the best Spyro website on the internet SpyroWorld, who will be mainly concentrating on keeping us updated with platformer news from around the web. Lygo is a platformer fanatic from the UK who has had a passion for the genre for well over 20 years, he will be mainly concentrated on writing reviews for platformer games from all era’s.

We have some new ideas in progress for the website, Neal wants to compile a list of every platformer game ever made on every system, which you can find as a work in progress on our forums which will in the future make its way to the website. Exclusive Platformer Update reviews will also finally be making their way to a computer near you soon as well, so look forward to that.

The best part of this news announcement is that Platformer Update is no longer a one man team, with three staff members on board you can now expect to constantly see updates on the site so you don’t miss any platformer news. If you would like to view the staff be sure to check out the work in progress Staff page, and if you would like to join the team I am still accepting applications, just check out this page here.

Wii-owning platformer lovers rejoice! WiiWare, the independent game development outlet on the Nintendo Wii video game system launched today, and among the first game offerings was LostWinds, a unique new platformer. The story is as follows:

You wield the awesome powers of Enril the wind spirit - from raging tornados to the gentlest breeze – to guide and protect Toku, a young boy who is the only one who can help you release the curse placed upon the world of Mistralis by evil Balasar. Mistralis is a stunningly presented, magical land full of wonder and intrigue that bursts to life with your every action and exploration.

The game costs 1000 Wii Points (which is the equivalent of $10.00 USD).

To learn more about this title visit its website:

http://www.frontier.co.uk/games/lostwinds#

The first two alleged screen shots for the upcoming Banjo Kazooie 3 are making their rounds around the internet today. They mark the most recently released media for the game since the original teaser trailer back in 2006 (unless you count the less than stellar site update earlier this year).  Both screens show Banjo piloting two different vehicles, a plane and a boat. If you ask me, judging by these screens it’s safe to say that building and piecing together different vehicles will be a large part of the game, anyone wanna bet you actually have to find and collect parts for the vehicles in a massive open world? (platformer fans rejoice!) well it’s wishful thinking. You can checkout the two screens in the gallery bellow or visit our Forums where member Bort has posted the two in large Hi-Resolution glory.

Gallery:

As you remember me previously reporting, it is a very likely rumor right now that a new Kid Icarus game is in the works, despite Nintendo’s refusal to comment on a “rumor”, being a new Kid Icarus game. Kombo has received these new concept artworks of a possible Kid Icarus design as well as weapons that they got earlier this year as a pitch document. Despite them being informed that the concepts have since developed much more now, they have still decided to share it with their readers. As you can see the concept designs put some age on Kid Icarus, and if you ask me it looks like he will be going on more of an action oriented game than a traditional platformer. For more concept art and info you can head on over to Kombo’s article. 

You might remember the old generic forum style from before, well I never intended to keep it that way it was just a matter of time before I gave it a bit of an upgrade to something more interesting. I added sections for all different platformer series with their respective icons next to their forums. My next mission is to get people to join the forum so we can get a great community started! We have a couple of active members already but we need more to get things started, don’t be shy to join a new forum, it’s the only way to get it going!

Please register and be sure to introduce yourself, you can join the only forum on the internet dedicated just to platformer games, share your passion for these classic games, Join Now and let your opinions be heard!