Grazza

Yeah, Pier Solar would be a must-buy for me.

Might get Marvel Pinball for £4.49. I hope we get an Epic Mickey demo soon-ish (then again, I don't know if we could get one in time to pre-order now?) as I can't tell whether or not it's going to be a 2D classic. Personally, I was hoping to get Denpa Men, but with a new Shantae announced, I actually find it impossible to be grumpy at the moment!!

Indeed. Speaking of the 3DS's capabilities, how do you think they will use its extra resolution over the DSi? From those screenshots, I can't tell if Shantae has any extra pixels to her, or they've used the extra pixels to zoom out and show more scenery. Personally, I adore the Arabian Nights/Aladdin vibe that was used in Risky's Revenge. All those cymbal clashes and wind instruments conjuring up images of Eastern magic and belly-dancing. I wonder if it doesn't work in 3D as well as one might think? I say this because Mutant Mudds actually scales the character sprite when he jumps planes. Shantae: Risky's Revenge doesn't scale Shantae, or even the backgrounds really. They just sort of fade away when you change to another one. But still, it's only part of the design when the map changes depth, which is not all that often. Perhaps this game is more "vertical", like Metroid. In an age where the human body is increasingly considered "rude", it's refreshing to see an art style that celebrates beauty. Anyway, since this was announced, I've replayed Risky's Revenge! Not as short as it's made out to be, in my opinion. This was my 3rd playthrough and it still took me 5-6 hours. OK, I got all the items, but how could you resist going in all those nooks and crannies?!! I must have spent about 18 hours on it now - brilliant value! I love Risky's Revenge. The graphics, music and controls are all perfect, as is the pace at which you get your upgrades. It just sends endorphins into my brain like crazy! Not only did my 3rd playthrough confirm the game is absolute genius, it also confirmed what I thought about the story:

Yeah, I'm afraid everything StreetPass has almost become a thing of the past for me. I've completed StreetPass Quest II once, but don't want to do it again. Whilst I'd love to complete the Puzzles, I can only get StreetPasses from GAME/HMV now and they don't seem to collect the pieces. Seems StreetPass in general benefitted from the 3DS being new more than it now does the larger userbase.

Wow, that was a sci-fi spectacular! Funniest moment had to be the "weapons inventory"

I got the same impression as you, but I think they said something like "We're thinking... Wii U". Still, I'm glad the series is staying on handheld. As for HD versions, I'm all for them. My theory is they design the game perfectly with sprites, but the quickest and easiest way to translate that to 1080p is to make it hand-drawn. These HD versions could widen the audience. Plus, if you're a huge fan of any particular game it can be appealing to see the hand-drawn version. But then again, doesn't the eShop have far less restrictions on file size (if any) than DSiWare had? If this had, say, six dungeons and bosses, I'd consider it as full a game as entries in the old "Wonder Boy in Monster World" series (which it's a spiritual sequel to). So I take it animal transformations will not form part of the wider game? Shantae could still use magic though (like Fireball, Storm Puff etc), so I wonder if that will be present. Oh, this sounds so good. Twice as large and with a good map system is basically perfecting the formula. And another potential masterpiece by Jake Kaufman? Yes!!

Oh, my... Shantae, Dragon Quest... I must have been well-behaved recently!!!

That was an excellent review, I thought. I'm a little bit sceptical about the changes they've made to the formula. Whilst I'm not going to pre-judge the sticker system in general, the "Thing Stickers" sound very out-of-place. Furthermore, I think the lack of companions and levelling-up will be sorely felt. In other words, I think they should have stuck to the traditional, RPG formula Paper Mario had in Thousand Year Door. On the other hand, none of this will change whether I buy the game or not. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I'd really like DS games on the Virtual Console, actually. Considering it has a "DS Mode" and the fact that (much bigger) 3DS titles such as Ocarina of Time 3D are available to download, Nintendo's current handheld should be able to run every generation of titles - Game Boy, GBA, DS and 3DS. It would be a good way to obtain Japan/US-only games like Etrian Odyssey I & II.

Yes, I agree that IV (in its current form) is the most forgettable. I hate to say it, but it wasn't localised as well as the others - no Party Talk, for one thing. To be honest, I think IV-VI could all do with a major remake again sometime, when it is possible to make a major jump. I hope to see I-III on the 3DS and IV-VI on Nintendo's next handheld...!

I used to enjoy going to Alton Towers but I became a bit disillusioned after they started only building (as Fierce LiNk astutely describes them) "second-tier" rides. That doesn't mean they aren't fun, but I always thought such a busy park should build more high-capacity rides like Nemesis and Air (B&Ms, quite frankly). As far as I'm aware, Air was the last ride that even needed planning permission (I'm sure Rez will correct me) - all the coasters since then have been built in areas under a "General Development Order", meaning they don't need permission as long as it doesn't go above tree height (and presumably there is a noise range too). Again, doesn't mean they aren't good, but they tend to be smaller and low-capacity (look at the queue times Fierce LiNk had for Spinball/Rita/Thirteen). Still, it's not really Alton fault. They applied for an enormous wooden coaster in 2003 and it was so controversial, they withdrew it (and they've pretty much run out of space too). Trouble is, I haven't been able to see the park the same way since. Maybe I should stop being grumpy though, as I used to love Nemesis and Air!

That was absolutely hilarious ("Dear Dave"). All the story threads came together to make a brilliant ending.

Could be another real classic for the 3DS. I'm hoping for something in the style of either a) R-Type/Gradius, b) Xevious/Axelay or c) Metroid/Contra. I know none of those are Treasure, but I'm just trying to give broad examples. Treasure's own games can be a mixed bag, I feel. Whilst I loved Guardian Heroes, I couldn't get my head around Bangai-O Spirits at all.

Oh, the 3DS just keeps getting better and better.

Thanks for keeping us up to date, @\-Dem0\-. I hope we get Denpa Men next week!

Hehe, yeah, I just got a bit overexcited now they've established this (potentially great) new engine! I-III would be very, very welcome, but I agree with your points about IV-VI. In all honesty, IX doesn't have an important enough story to warrant a remake as opposed to a sequel. Now that would be great! "Dragon Quest IX part 2", if you like, or just Dragon Quest XI. I think the latter is just as likely on the Wii U though.

I wonder if this will have "visible clothes", like DQ IX (and a few in VIII)? The screenshot just shows the "proper" clothes, but I'd love to see some of the other iconic weapons/armour rendered in 3D.

Oh yeah, I forgot the 3DS did 3D (not being sarcastic). Metal King Spear in 3D!!

Several leaps into the air and speedy circuits of the dining room! If this is legitimate, I consider this to be the best 3DS announcement ever! DQ VIII was the first to be released in Europe, so I've always wanted to play this. And Dragon Quest is so immersive, it's the one series I prefer to be fully 3D, although the overhead-view games do have charm. I love them all, basically! The idea of exploring VII's world with a similar immersion to VIII's... Let's hope they use this engine for remakes of I-III as well. And quite honestly, IV-VI wouldn't go amiss! Same goes for IX - what the heck, I'll spend 800 more hours on it! I do love VIII most of all and would love to step into that world again on handheld, but I'm just a little bit doubtful ogf how much it'd shine on the lower-than-PS2 resolution 3DS. Great news!

I don't know what the mystery is, you sarcastic bugger. Without Rob Grant it couldn't hope to be as good as I-VI, but it's still good.

Out of however many you count them as having made - 9 or 10.

Yeah, it was good stuff, as usual. I loved the concept of a place that employs people who get everything wrong, and yet the concept itself was a bad one. The irony of it amused me greatly in the same manner as the "Chinese Whispers" joke in Episode 2. Also, Craig Charles was trying not to laugh with his kebab! I think I've sussed Red Dwarf X out. It is heavily focused on presenting everything to a studio audience, with as little shown on screen as possible (a screen in the studio, I mean). There are probably two or three sets side-by-side, and they are used as much as possible. For example, when Lister/the crew went to that moon to gamble with the aliens, all you saw was one CGI shot of Starbug leaving Red Dwarf. In the old days you'd probably get far more location shots, eg. them walking on the planetoid, model spaceships landing... And think of the Series V episode I watched the other day, "Terrorform", where (as well as the things I've just mentioned) you had a monster. First it was depicted by some claws coming out of a hole, then you saw its shadow on the wall, then it was represented by the claws again. I don't think you'd get anything like that nowadays. Anyway, it works. I'd already put it as the 7th-best series and I've enjoyed every episode.

"New Leaf"? Brilliant name!

Yes, I see what you mean. You could say LttP to Wind Waker is "my era", which does seem like it encompasses too many games to have much in common, but it was only about 10 years. See, being a Sega and Nintendo fan I see this a bit differently to most people. I think both companies suffered more because of fashion than either of them (Nintendo specifically) being kiddy. It's true that Nintendo censored a bit more than Sega, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with that, personally. Both the SNES and Mega Drive co-existed and were pretty much respected by all gamers (as you say). The change came when the PlayStation became popular. The new people brought in didn't appreciate what Sega and Nintendo were doing, and I don't think it's because they thought Nintendo was kiddy. I just think Sony's marketing was too good. According to my acquaintances at the time, Wipeout was in a "different league" to F-Zero. Tekken was much better than Virtua Fighter because it "felt more like real fighting". In truth, they didn't know anything (sorry to sound snobby, but this change really got on my nerves). Couldn't agree more. I think the weak response to Spirit Tracks might have been because it was the 2nd game built upon an engine no one really liked a great deal in the first place. This is the danger of reviewers asking for "fresh" ideas every time. I remember how people were a bit disappointed with Twilight Princess and the mantra was "This is just like OOT. We need something fresh!" Phantom Hourglass was released and I can't help but think they went overboard with the scores just because it was different - too different, in my opinion. I can't help but feel sorry for the Zelda team nowadays as they don't seem to know which things to keep and which to throw out.

This would be so good. It's obviously what a lot of people want. Furthermore, they could have many different teams working on them, putting less pressure on EAD 3. There could be a cel-shaded "Wind Waker" series, a more realistic "Link" series, Kid Icarus (but not like the 3DS game) and (what you were suggesting) new characters.