Shin’en Multimedia’s Nano Assault for the 3DS (published my Majesco) is what you get if you were to combine Starship Troopers with Inner Space*. Your mission is to pilot a small ship armed with lasers through a treacherous micro-verse (around and inside alien cell clusters) and destroy an out-of-control virus. Does this sound like a fun shoot-em-up? It should – because it is!
All pics in this article are 2D representations of 3D images.
A group of colourful characters, some good and some not-so-good, fight it out to establish their supremacy; MK7 is here! Of course, I’m not talking about Mortal Kombat; I am referring to the newest title in the other MK franchise: Mario Kart 7. In light of the awesomeness that is Super Mario 3D Land, does this latest foray manage to stay ahead of the pack? Or is it the pits?
Remember: all pics here are 2D representations of 3D. Don’t complain or I will ground pound you.
It is always challenging to review Super Mario titles; while there are a whole whack-ton of them, they are all just so damned good. Of course, there is a big pile of expectation placed on our plumber friend’s shoulders due to the fact the his latest adventure, Super Mario 3D Land, is a first party title on a relatively new platform (that has some less-than-stellar titles available for it since launch). Of course, there are other great titles available already; but there is just something about Mario that brings out the best in Nintendo hardware; it really defies description. This 3DS title is no exception, no matter which dimension you’re looking at.
Puzzle games tend to be my downfall – in a good way. I have enjoyed solving all kinds of puzzles since I was a kid; the more obscure the puzzle, the more fun I have in the search for a solution. Tying in puzzle-play with a cinematic narrative is not a new concept. Traditional games that had limited 3D-rendered graphics (The 7th Guest or the Tex Murphy series, for instance) relied on a strong story coupled with puzzles that were challenging to give the user a worthy experience. Ubisoft’s 3DS title, James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes, struck me as being similar to those addictive games of the past, with a few differences.
Today, at Times Square, Military Island was turned into Mario’s 3D world. People were able to step into a real-life video-game in the middle of New York City. There was a life-sized warp pipe, trampoline coin jump and even a flagpole at the end! Fans and non-fans alike got to play the game before release. We just thought that this was a neat event!
I have a confession to make: I didn’t really enjoy New Super Mario Brothers Wii. I felt the controls were not nearly as precise as they should be; everything was so floaty and slow. I was pretty disappointed, especially after playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 (the greatest game ever made). But you know, as adults we put bad experiences behind us and move on, right? No! it all came flooding back after I went hands-on with Super Mario 3D Land. It was like Vietnam flashbacks of slight annoyance.
Mario Kart games are a socialite’s dream. I can’t count how many Mario Kart parties I’ve had and with the release of Mario Kart 7 I may need to clean my basement because more parties are to come. I recently had a chance to sit down with Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS and I’m here to tell you that it’s a game you’ll definitely want to pick up.
