The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64/3DS) (1998-2013) Review

February 21, 2015February 21, 2015 ragglefragglereviews4 Comments

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The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time is the fifth game of the series, it was released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64

People were very excited for this games release due to it being the first Legend of Zelda game to have 3D visuals, when the game got released it was extremely popular among previous Legend of Zelda fans and new comers, Ocarina of Time was known by many as the greatest game of all time and even today 16 years later it is still often considered to remain in the number one spot, it is so popular that it was remade in 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS and it was given an upgrade in graphics, general game play and audio, this is a comparison review so I will be using screenshots from both versions of the game.

I love this game, but can I honestly say that its greatest game ever made or even the best in the series?

You take control of Link a 10 year old boy who lives in the Kokiri Forest, the other Kokiri are also children and they are looked after by the forests guardian the Great Deku Tree.

Every resident of the Kokiri Forest will some day get their own fairy, as you may have guessed Link is the only child who does not yet have a fairy, but one day a fairy does come to him bearing message from the Great Deku Tree who has summoned Link to ask him to perform a very difficult task, the Great Deku Tree is very sick and he needs Link to defeat the monsters that live within him so that he can die in peace.

Just before his passing the Great Deku Tree tells Link that he does not carry Kokiri Blood but that he is Hyrulian, his mother was murdered by an evil man and in her final breaths she brought her new born son to the Great Deku Tree and asked him to raise her baby.

After a cutscene explaining how the land that surrounds Hyrule was created as well as the origins of the Legendary Triforce, The Great Deku Tree gives Link the Spiritual Stone of the Forest and then he sends link to go and visit a very young Princess Zelda, when Link arrives she explains that the Triforce can grant a wish of the holder, a good person will make a wish that will bring peace to the land of Hyrule and an evil person will bring chaos and destruction to the land of Hyrule.

Princess Zelda had a nightmare that a man in black armour (Ganondorf) is trying to get hold of the Triforce but a hero in green saved the day, the Princess foresees this dream as a vision and she wants Link to make a wish to prevent Ganondorf from bringing evil to the land, the Triforce is sealed within the sacred realm which is located in the Temple of Time but in order to pass the barrier that protects the entrance to the sacred realm, Link will need to locate the other two Spiritual Stones (the Spiritual Stone of Fire from the Gorons of Death Mountain and the Spiritual Stone of Water from the Zora’s of Zoras Domain) and he will also need to bring along the treasure of the Royal Family The Ocarina of Time, by bringing the three Spiritual Stones to the Temple of Time he can open the barrier by playing the Song of Time.

Once you have collected the three Spiritual Stones and you bring them to the Temple of Time, you will find the Master Sword if you take it you will be transported to the Sacred Realm, when you arrive you are greeted by a sage called Rauru who tells you that Ganondorf planned for you to open the Sacred Realm so he could get hold of the Triforce before you, Rauru also explains that you are now 17 years old and the reason that they kept you here for seven years was to protect you from what has become of Hyrule until you were a good age to take on Ganondorf and to eventually save Hyrule from the chaos he has caused.

Now your new quest is to find the 5 secret Temples (Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow and Spirit) and too defeat the evil within them by doing this you will also find the five other sages that represent the element of each Temple, these sages are important because they will eventually help you in your final battle.

There is a lot to do in Ocarina of Time, the main objective that you have to finish in order to beat the game requires you to get the three Spiritual Stones, beat the two mini tasks,conquer the five hidden Temples, fight your way through Ganon’s Castle and eventually defeat Ganondorf

Each of these tasks is unique in game play and level design

Inside the Great Deku Tree

First dungeon of the game, very easy to get through its not too complicated and the enemies are simple to defeat, puzzling aspects help teach the player basic game mechanics such as setting fire to things and jumping.

Dodongo’ s Cavern

A little more difficult this dungeon requires the player to use bombs in order to destroy fake walls, you will also need to activate switches and use some quick firing sling shot skills to get though fiery sections.

Inside Lord Jabu Jabu

By far the coolest of the child dungeon’s, you are swallowed by a giant fish and your mission is to find the missing Princess of the Zora’s ,the problem is that she makes you carry her throughout the dungeon so the puzzles in this dungeon require you to throw the Princess on to switches and on to high ledges which you will then climb, another puzzle aspect is the boomerang you receive it in this dungeon and it is very useful item because you need it in order to get past certain sections of the game.

Forest Temple

The first of the adult Temples, the Forest Temple tasks you catch and defeat four Poe Sisters, you defeat them by pulling them close with your hook shot and then slicing them with your sword, each Poe Sister has a unique way for you to find them,the first two require you to shoot paintings that they are hiding in with the bow and arrow, the green Poe makes you complete a block sliding puzzle before she will let you fight her and the purple Poe will create copies of its self and its your job to memorise her movements and attack her real form.

Fire Temple

In this Temple you will need to have a very good memory as its very large and is quite complicated to get through, the objective here is to release the captured members of the Goron Tribe who are to be fed to Volvagia the Dragon, this Temple is fire based so you will need to wear a heat proof tunic so you can resist the hot temperatures, by using the hammer you must smash sections of the floor to make them drop to lower areas, you will also need to use bombs to destroy fake walls and in order to free the Goron’ s you must find the switches to open the cage doors, this Temple is quite challenging and may be difficult for new players.

The Ice Cavern

The first of the mini dungeons, the ice cavern takes place in a cave above the now frozen Zora’s Domain, in the cavern you will need to collect blue flames in your empty bottles, these flames can be used to melt the red ice that blocks your path, other puzzles require you to use quick responses to avoid giant blades of ice, defeating new enemies that can freeze Link causing serious damage to your health and a puzzle that requires you to push a giant block of ice across the icy floor in order to reach new areas.

Water Temple

Easily the most hated part of the game, the Water Temple is the first Temple that needs you to use your trusty Ocarina, by playing Zelda’s Lullaby to the stone tablets on the walls you are able to raise and lower the water level, this is a very important aspect to the Temples puzzles because some puzzles can only be solved when the water is at a certain height and lets not forget a fight with someone that old school Zelda fan’s may recognise, since you will be spending a lot of time under water you should wear a special tunic that allows you breath under water. Honestly I don’t think that this dungeon is that complicated but due to you having to constantly switch between your normal boots and your iron boots it does make this Temple very tedious and slow to finish.

Bottom of the well

Another child dungeon, the bottom of the well can be finished very quickly if you don’t intend to finish the game 100 percent, the only objective here is to find the eye of truth (an item that allows you to see through hidden walls and to see items that appear invisible to the naked eye), the eye of truth can be found very early into the dungeon and if you know where to go you can finish it in under 10 minutes, one thing this dungeon does introduce is the Dead Hand which is a horrifying fleshy zombie creature that grabs you with his many hands and then proceeds to bite at you with his sharp teeth, I am sure this gave nightmares to children all over the world because Dead Hands are absolutely terrifying.

Shadow Temple

My personal favourite Temple, the Shadow Temple has the player using their newly discovered eye of truth to help them solve puzzles and to help them make their way across invisible paths and platforms, other puzzle sections include the player having to swap between the three types of boots in the game so that they can get past some of the more difficult obstacles that can be found in this particular Temple.

Spirit Temple

This Temple is very interesting because you need to complete it as both and adult and a child, being the final Temple in the game before your final encounter with Ganondorf it is very difficult, you will need to fight these very powerful enemies called the Iron Knuckles they are huge and attack at you with a giant axe players must be careful because one hit takes away three hearts from your health, the majority of the puzzles require you too reflect light from the sun in order for you too hit these sun switches on the walls, floor and ceiling, you do this by using the Mirror Shield and ordinary mirrors to bounce the light from one place to another eventually hitting your target, this is in my opinion the most complex Temple but it is also one of the coolest.

Ganon’s Castle

So you’ve beat all of the Temples and now your ready to take on Ganon’s Castle and the final part of the game, I’m not actually going to explain too much here just to avoid spoilers for people who have not yet gotten this far, but what I will say is that it’s not that difficult to beat, you will be required to finish trials based on each of the Temples you have already finished these trials are quite complex but not too difficult to figure out, getting to Ganondorf is quite easy because its all one straight path so you wont get lost and all enemies that you encounter are enemies that you have defeated previously, the final boss is very cool and fun to fight and again I wont say much here but I will mention that the final boss has three sections for you to beat before you finally finish the game and the final fight its self is really awesome and one of my favourite final bosses in video game history.

When your not tackling the games main quest there is plenty of other things to keep occupied, you can win a horse called Epona if you win the horse you are able ride it across Hyrule Field and other outdoor areas and you can also shoot your bow and arrow while riding, you can go fishing and certain fish that you catch at the fishing pond you are able can cash in for some really cool prizes, as a child you can help a mask sales man to sell his masks and if you finish this side quest you get a really cool mask that allows you too read peoples minds.

Of course you get the usual Heart Pieces that are in all Legend of Zelda games but collecting them in Ocarina of Time is really fun too do as some of them require you to win mini games or to discover secrets.

Some of my favourite mini games include Hyrule’s Famous Shooting Gallery which requires a good aim and fast reflexes to shoot rupees before they disappear and another favourite of mine is Bombchu Bowling which has the player setting off Bombchu’s (Essentially Bombs that move in the direction you face them at) to hit targets while avoiding obstacles.

One of the creepier fetch quests in Ocarina of Time is the quest to collect the 100 Gold Skulltula Medallions, a family in Kakariko Village has had a curse put on them which has turned them into Skulltulas and the only way they can be freed is if some one brings them Gold Medallions left behind by Gold Skulltulas, these creatures are hidden throughout the entire game and some are much easier to find than others, even though this side quest is not a requirement it is really fun and rewarding because every now again after you have collected a certain amount of Gold Medallions you will be given some sort of prize.

One of the most useful side quests in the game is finding the hidden Great Fairies, these fairies will help Link in certain ways, sometimes they will give you enhancements or spells that can help you on your quest and sometimes they will upgrade your magic meter allowing you to cast more magic before you need to replenish it.

That’s only a few things you can do in the game but I assure you there is a lot more, I have been playing this game for about 11 years now and I am still discovering new secrets and cool little Easter eggs that I never found previously.

The most important aspect to this particular Legend of Zelda game is music and that’s where your Ocarina comes into play, throughout the game you will learn many different songs and by playing these songs you can trigger certain events, six songs in the game are warp songs playing these will warp you to certain locations throughout Hyrule, the only two other songs that are important are Zelda’s Lullaby and the Song of Time as most temples and dungeons have puzzles which require you to play these particular tunes, other really cool songs include the Suns Song which allows you to switch between day time and night time as often as you want and Song of Storms which makes it rain

For a lot of people the games biggest flaw is Navi the Fairy, fans often complain that she is much too annoying and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t agree, the problem with Navi is that her only real purpose is to constantly remind the player of their current objective which can get annoying especially during side quests, she may be annoying but her being there isn’t technically a flaw since you don’t have to listen to her since she will only speak too you if you press the button to allow her too speak, she will alert the player that she wants to speak to them by speaking her famous line “Hey, Listen” but she only does this once each time so its not a huge problem.

With a game this big the controls are a very important aspect and for the most part they are fantastic, with the game being in 3D Link now has more free range when it comes to fighting compared to the original 2D games, Link can now roll, dodge, stab, slice, cast magic and leap into the air to slam enemies with his blade and genuinely the battle system is much more complex here than it was in the older titles, a new mechanic introduced in Ocarina of Time is Z-Targeting (L-Targeting on 3DS) this allows the player to lock on to enemies while fighting this makes the fight more cinematic and genuinely easier to handle, the controls are tight and very responsive to the player, the only real issue with the game play is the camera and this is a problem seen in a lot of N64 games, sometimes the camera goes behind a wall or an enemy and due to this the player cannot see Link which is obviously a big problem however the 3DS version still has this issue but not as much, something I really hate about the 3DS version is the Sheikah Stones these stones allow you to crawl inside of them and they explain how to solve puzzles and they also tell you where to go if you get lost, I can see how this may help a very young player but for me it takes away the sense of adventure and that really sucks.

Visually I think its fair to say that the 3DS game is superior but you also need remember that the original came out in 1998 and for a game that was on the N64 it looks beautiful, personally I don’t mind which version I play because I can appreciate the visuals of both versions but I do feel that the younger generation of gamers will appreciate the more modernised graphics of the 3DS port because at the end of the day they are cleaner, smoother, more colourful and genuinely better looking, also in game text scrolls faster on the 3DS version which is great because a problem I have with the original is that the text scrolls too slowly.

The music is incredible and there is plenty of it, one of my biggest issues with the original Zelda was the lack of music tracks so having lots in this game is much appreciated, every song suits the area you are in and it really enhances the already fantastic experience this game has to offer, my favourite music in the game is the music that plays in Gerudo Valley, I found the audio to be very similar between both versions obviously the 3DS versions was more cleaner and genuinely sounded better due to it being on a newer gaming system but its not so different that I can say its better than the original.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a fantastic game no matter what system you play it on, but I don’t think that its a masterpiece the game is great but it does fall short in some aspects for example the original suffers from slow text and camera problems and the 3DS version has those Sheikah Stones that I really dislike, overall as much as it pains me to say the 3DS version is the better version of the game plus it does also give you Master Quest for free which is something you cant get with the original game.

Ocarina of Time is a great adventure that has warmed the hearts of millions, Including myself

Original 9.2/10

3DS remake 9.6/10

Thank you for reading my review of Ocarina of time for the N64 and the 3DS

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites Review

February 14, 2015 ragglefragglereviews2 Comments

When I first saw these I was amazed at how cheap they were the person I bought these from asked for only 3 dollars which is the equivalent of about 2 pounds.

I am a big fan of Cookie Dough so I could not resist picking some of these up.

Nutrition Facts

One box of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites contains 2 servings of candy.

Each serving contains

200 Calories

10g of Fat

7g of Saturated Fat

0g of Trans Fat

5mg of Cholesterol

65mg of Sodium

27g of Carbohydrates

0g of Dietary Fibre

20g of Sugar

and 1g of Protein

It does not matter how much you love cookie dough, I’m sure everyone will agree that it is not most nutritional thing you can eat so eating these in small doses is highly recommended.

The company that makes Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites has pasted that the product does not contain egg all over the box, I guess this just to show that this particular candy is safe for vegans too eat as in the list of ingredients they do say that they use milk powder instead of milk from an animal.

The product its self is an assortment of cookie dough balls covered in milk chocolate they come on various sizes and shapes which is an aspect that I like because it does give me a bit more faith in the product because it makes it seem that it was not just simply made by machines in a factory.

The milk chocolate is quite flavourless, it does have a very slight chocolate taste to it but in general it honestly just tastes like plastic.

The cookie dough tastes pretty good but again it does not have much flavour too it, although I will admit that the flavour is much stronger and of better quality compared to the chocolate. The cookie dough has a mixture of salty and sweet flavours and the texture of the cookie dough is quite dry.

My biggest issue with the product is that it’s called Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites and as much as there was cookie dough in bite size pieces I failed to find any chocolate chips, I suppose you could argue that the chocolate covering the cookie dough is the chocolate chip but if that is the case surely the product should be named Milk Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough Bites.

This product was really disappointing it lacked in both chocolate chips and flavour and even though they are quite cheap to purchase I recommend staying away from these. 3/10

Thank you for reading my review of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Land of Illusion (1992) (Master System/Game Gear) Review

February 9, 2015 ragglefragglereviews2 Comments

Released in 1992 for the Sega Master System and 1993 for the Sega Game Gear Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse is the second game in the Mickey Mouse Illusion series.

One stormy night Mickey Mouse is reading book the worlds greatest fairy tales, Mickey starts feeling very drowsy and eventually falls asleep, when Mickey wakes up he is in a fairy tale land, a girl who appears to be Daisy Duck tells Mickey about an evil phantom who stole the magic crystal from her village and because of this the land which was once filled with happiness and laugher has been replaced with sadness, after hearing such a sad tale Mickey decides that he will defeat the phantom and will return the magic crystal to the village.

Land of Illusion is a platform game, the player takes control of Mickey Mouse and its their job to make sure that Mickey survives each of the 14 in game levels.

There are many enemies that Mickey must either avoid or defeat, in order to attack enemies Mickey must either pick up an item such as a block or a nut which he must then throw at the attacking enemy or Mickey can defeat enemies by jumping in the air and hitting the enemies with a ground pound.

Through out the game Mickey will need to defeat multiple bosses in order to rescue the other villagers who are fairytale versions of Mickeys friends such as Donald, Minnie and Goofy, after saving these characters they will often tell Mickey where he can find new items in the game which he will need in order to progress further.

All of these items have different uses

The Flute gives Mickey the ability to exit a level at any time while also keeping any treasures or items he picked up.

The Magic Potion gives Mickey the ability to shrink to a very small size which will allow him to enter small doors and narrow passages.

The Rope gives Mickey the ability to climb walls which makes it easier to reach high areas.

The Shoes are very light in weight and they allow Mickey to walk on top of clouds

And the Magic Beans will grow a beanstalk that Mickey can climb to get to the Phantoms Castle way up in the sky.

The controls are almost perfect and to be honest there is not much I can complain about, the controls are tight and very responsive to the player, using different items is really easy and only requires very simple button combinations and controlling Mickey is genuinely a pleasant experience.

I do have one issue with the controls for some reason every time Mickey comes to a stop he slides in the direction he is facing, this is very slight but it does cause issues in certain parts of the game, I would understand if this happened if you were moving fast but this happens every time you move and because of this its a small issue that can cause big problems.

The game looks fantastic considering that it can only run in 8 bit, the colours burst off of the screen and everything is animated extremely well and everything in the game moves very smoothly.

I do wish that the backgrounds of some stages were not as empty as they are, this in no way effects the game play but the levels do genuinely look quite bare and I do believe that adding more things to the backgrounds would make the game more pleasant to look at but this is an issue that only applies to some of the stages.

Every level has many secrets and short cuts to find, Mickey will also need to solve many different puzzles, avoid many dangerous obstacles and defeat many bosses during his adventure.

The music is nice but that’s about it not one track in this game was memorable to me, a lot of the time the music sounds like a fun little tune on a constantly repeating loop, but even though the music is nothing amazing it is fun to listen too and its not in any way annoying.

Land of Illusion is a charming little game about everyone’s favourite mouse, I cant say that this game is a masterpiece but its a fun little side scroller with mostly great controls, fantastic graphics and animation, a fun and happy soundtrack and an innocent and easy to understand story line that anyone can enjoy.

Not an amazing game but its still loads of fun and is overall a great time 7.8/10

Thank you for reading my review of Land of Illusion for Sega Master System/ Sega Game Gear

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

White Reese’s Review

February 2, 2015 ragglefragglereviewsLeave a comment

I am a big fan of the original Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I buy them a lot and they are one of my top five favourite chocolate bars of all time. I was recently ordering some candy and beverages from the US and I noticed the White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups were being sold and I knew I had to order some.

This product used to be called Reese’s White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups but these days they are just called White Reese’s because THEY NO LONGER USE REAL WHITE CHOCOLATE!!!

This really annoys me because Reese’s is a really popular and wealthy chocolate company and the fact that they don’t use real white chocolate is not just lazy its a bit of a slap to the face of their fans.

On the bright side they use real cocoa butter which gives it a buttery and creamy texture.

The white chocolate part of the candy is surprisingly really nice, I was surprised by this considering that they only used white chocolate flavouring, it has a very rich taste that is smooth to the mouth, its really good and if they didn’t clearly state that it isn’t real white chocolate I probably would not have noticed.

As soon as I opened the packet the scent of the peanut butter filled the room, the scent is very strong but it smells really good, the taste of the peanut butter is just as strong it has a good combination of salty and sweet flavours which just melt in your mouth and the peanut butter is very smooth, the biggest problem I have with this candy is that the taste of the peanut butter is so strong that it over powers the taste of the white chocolate and when you eat it you can hardly taste the white chocolate at all.

White Reese’s is not one of the best chocolate bars I have ever eaten, but it was not terrible it just had a few issues especially the over powering flavour of the peanut butter, if your a big fan of the taste of white chocolate then give these a shot otherwise I suggest just sticking to the Original Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups 6/10

Thank you for reading my review of White Reese’s

If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

The Care Bears Movie (1985) Review

January 31, 2015February 21, 2016 ragglefragglereviews6 Comments

First appearing on television screens in 1981 the Care Bears are a group of colourful bears that live in the clouds, each bear is named after a trait and each bear has a symbol on their belly representing this trait.

The Care Bears originally started their debut through TV specials airing between 1983 till 1985. In 1985 the Care Bears were given their own television series which was very popular amongst young children but before the television series was released we were given a movie based completely on the Care Bears toy line.

The movie starts in an orphanage where one of the staff voiced by Mickey Rooney is reading the story of the Care Bears to the children.

The Care Bears live in a land of clouds called Carealot, The Care Bears have the ability to travel to earth to help those who don’t care any more, the reason they do this is because the stability of Carealot depends on people on earth caring about each other, while visiting Earth the Care Bears try to befriend two young siblings called Kim and Jason.

Kim and Jason have given up about caring for people because both of their Parents left them at an orphanage at a young age, the Care bears want to befriend Kim and Jason to show them that they will not always be alone and to hopefully get them to care again.

Not much later and we are introduced to some new characters a magician and his apprentice Nicholas.

Nicholas is a young boy who has never had a friend in his entire life, this has made him very depressed and angry at the world, an evil spirit trapped inside a book encourages Nicholas to set it free and in exchange it will teach Nicholas how to be more recognised.

A desperate Nicholas agrees to the deal and he uses a key to unlock the book releasing the spirit inside.

The evil spirit starts teaching Nicholas dark magic which Nicholas uses to turn people against each other and eventually taking all of the care out of the world.

Of course this has massive effects on the stability and the well being of Carealot so the Care Bears quickly investigate and learn about Nicholas and the reasons he is angry at everyone, after quickly realising that all three of these children need people to care about they all decide to head to earth to find Nicholas, but just as they start to transport the transporter is destroyed sending the children and the two Care Bears to a land between worlds.

The remaining Care Bears decide to get aboard a boat and travel down a river in the clouds in the hopes that they will find the children and the missing Care Bears, they eventually find the children and the other two Care Bears in a new land called the Forest of Feelings, here they meet some new animal friends including Brave Heart Lion, Swift Heart Rabbit, Playful Heart Monkey and Lotsa Heart Elephant.

The animals join the children and the Care Bears in their quest and they all head out together on a big adventure to save Nicholas from the evil spirit.

The animation is basic to say the least, it looks more like a direct to VHS release than it does a movie that got released into theatres, it’s not terrible though the animation plays very smoothly and the movies use of shadows and shading is very impressive, the only real problem I had with the animation is that most of the time the characters lips don’t sync with what they are saying and this can be very distracting.

The songs in this movie are just awful, they are all very forgetful and genuinely annoying with lyrics that make very little sense, every song in the movie honestly feels like it’s just there for filler and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.

The Care Bears Movie is not one of the best children’s movies I have ever had to sit through, the plot is not very interesting, the animation is fairly basic with the exception of the films use of shadows and shading, the songs are not fun to listen too in the slightest and apart from a pretty cool villain the movie is really bad.

I suggest skipping this one unless you have very young children who you want to keep quiet for an hour.

I hope you enjoyed this review of The Care Bears Movie

If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Marble Madness (1989) (NES) Review

January 27, 2015 ragglefragglereviewsLeave a comment

A NES game about marbles?

Marble Madness may be one of the most bizarre video games that I own, you play as a marble and the objective of the game is to roll the marble through six different obstacle courses.

You may think that this seems really easy, but believe me it’s not because the controls are very sensitive, one tap on the d-pad can get your marble rolling and then its up to you to carefully traverse past any obstacles,it genuinely feels like you are controlling a marble and because of that reason the game is immensely difficult, anything can happen you can fall into a dip in the course and then you will need to roll around to build up momentum and speed in order to push yourself back to the flat area, you can roll into acid and melt, you can be eaten by a snake, you can be blown off of the course by powerful gusts of air and you can even spin out of control and smash, and while all of this madness is happening you have a time limit!!

depending on how quickly you finish a course will determine how much time you will be given for the next course and once you hit zero seconds its game over and back to course 1.

You have six courses to get through and each course has its own specific design and theme.

Course 1 Practise

This is literally the practise stage, no obstacles just a good way to get used to the controls by rolling to the goal while trying to avoid falling off of the course.

Course 2 Beginner

Things start to get a little more challenging here, you will now need to travel through a bigger course than before while avoiding those green snakes who will eat you and also staying clear of the mean black marble that will try to knock you off of the edge.

Course 3 Intermediate

This course isn’t too difficult but it does introduce a new hazard, puddles of acid are now in the game and if your marble touches any of these puddles it will immediately melt, also introduced is a really tough section of the course that requires you to avoid a green wave that will push you off of the edge of the map.

This course also brings back those annoying green snakes and the course in general has many high slopes for you to climb in order for you to reach the goal.

Course 4 Aerial

This is where the game gets really tough, in the aerial course you will need to use fast speeds and patience in order to survive, while trying to build up speed to jump large gaps you will be greeted by many air blowers, the air blowers will blast heavy gusts of air at the marble attempting to knock it off course, also some areas of this course will have floors that will raise very quickly often throwing your marble into the depths below

Course 5 Silly

When you first start the silly course you are made to traverse up some rather steep hills, this is not too difficult to do but it can cause you to lose quite a lot of seconds if your not quick, you are again having to deal with the green snakes and the black marbles but now they are tiny and because of this they are much less dangerous and you shouldn’t have any trouble avoiding them, a new enemy introduced here is the purple birds, these birds are a pain they show up in a flock right at the end of the course and it is your job to try to avoid them while quickly making your way to the goal, it took me lots of practise before I could finish this level.

Course 6 Ultimate

This is the final level of the game and so as you may expect it is really hard, you need to patience, good timing, fast reflexes and constant movement in order to make it to the goal. You will need to get past puddles of acid, the black marble, and an extremely annoying final section that requires you to carefully travel across many disappearing and reappearing sections of a dangerous path and if you fall your marble will smash.

Marble Madness does in fact have a multiplayer mode, if 2 player mode is selected on the main menu, you will need to go through the same six courses from the single player mode, the only difference is that now there are two marbles on the screen instead of just one, Player one (Blue Marble) will need to race Player two (Pink Marble) to the goal, both players will be given the usual time bonus upon starting each course but whoever wins the race will be given extra time on top of the usual starting bonus.

The overall winner is whoever makes the most points at the end of the game

Once you select either singleplayer or multiplayer you will be given a choice of either playing the game in 90 degrees mode or 45 degrees mode.

In 90 degrees mode you hold the NES game pad vertically and you control the marble with all four of the D-PAD buttons

In 45 degrees mode you use all four of the D-PAD buttons but in this mode you need to rotate the NES controller so that the D-PAD looks like an X, some players find this mode easier because while playing the game you will be moving diagonally more often than you will be moving horizontally or vertically.

When I played through the game I realised just how brilliant the soundtrack is not only because the music if super fun to listen too but because of how it evolves throughout each course. In the early stages of the game the music is really fun and happy but when you go to the later stages the music starts to get more intense and crazy as if its warning you of the dangers lurking in the later sections of the game.

Final Verdict

Due to the sensitive controls this game can prove to be very difficult, I see this as positive thing because in reality marbles are round which means that they are very difficult to have control over once they start rolling and also due to their round shape the slightest touch can get marbles moving quite a distance before they come to stop, Marble Madness follows these rules and so it may surprise you that this game is actually quite realistic, its not just the physics based game play that’s impressive its also the way that the music changes with the atmosphere it really helps you feel immersed in the experience and it only goes to show just how special this little game about marbles really is.

Marble Madness is literally Madness, its a fantastic little game which uses realistic physics, has a surprisingly immerserive soundtrack, the game is challenging but still really fun to play I only wish there was a few more levels and maybe some more options such as changing the colour of your marble and being able to play with more than 2 players on multiplayer mode.

Marbles have never been so much fun 8.9/10

Thank you for reading my review of Marble Madness for the NES

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) (Genesis/Megadrive) Review

January 24, 2015January 24, 2015 ragglefragglereviews2 Comments

The blue blur is back and this time he’s brought a friend

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is very similar to the first game and there is a high possibility that it’s a direct sequel.

Doctor Robotnik (Egg man) has again turned the wildlife inhabitants of South Island into to robot’s and it’s up to Sonic and his friend Miles (Tails) Prowler to adventure across some new areas of South Island in order to find and Defeat Dr Robotnik and to save the Island from his Evil Antics.

the only really big change in game play is the introduction of Tails, a two tailed fox who has the ability to fly which makes up for his lack in speed.

Tails is a very useful mechanic in the game not only because he can fly but also because he can defeat enemies, collect rings and he can even help by dealing damage during boss fights.

Tails biggest downfall is his lack in speed, the problem is that because Sonic is so fast Tails will often get left behind leaving Sonic to get through the the majority of the stages alone, this isn’t as much of an issue during single player because as much as Tails can help with rings and boss fights it is possible to beat the game without him, but on the other hand if you want to play the single player with a friend, Player 2 (Tails) wont be able to keep up with Player 1 (Sonic), this makes playing the single player with a friend pointless which is a shame because they could have fixed this by making single player split screen when a second player joins.

On the bright side Sonic 2 does have another Multiplayer mode, if you select 2 players from the main menu, you will be able to select specific levels from the game which Player 1 (sonic) and Player 2 (Tails) will be able to race each other to the goal and the best part is that this mode does use split screen which makes the game fair for both players to have a good time.

The games visuals are stunning, again everything is animated amazingly well the environments and backgrounds scroll with the player and some background objects such as clouds, lava and water move by themselves. The only complaint I have regarding the level design is that sometimes its really difficult to tell what is in the background and what will hurt you.

For example it may seem that the flames here can hurt you but they are actually harmless.

Every zone in the game has its own unique theme, level design and enemies for Sonic and Tails to defeat.

Sonic 2 has 11 zones and provides a total of 22 levels

Emerald Hill Zone

Very similar to Green Hill Zone, Emerald Hill Zone has a tropical theme and provides plenty of loops, slopes and multiple pathways for Sonic and Tails to run through. This zone is super fun and super easy so you shouldn’t have much trouble with it.

Chemical Plant Zone

Going straight from a nice tropical vacation spot to the dangers of a factory filled with lots of enemies and toxic water which can kill you very quickly, this zone has multiple pathways and high speed game play which makes it very challenging and it shows that Sonic Team isn’t messing around.

Aquatic Ruins Zone

A fun little zone based around some ancient ruins surrounded by a lake, this zone is one of my favorites because you are able to change how to traverse through the zone every time you play it, for example if you stay near the top of the level you will have to adventure across the top of the ruins to reach the goal, but if you head downwards you will have to adventure across the bottom of the ruins and through the lake in order to reach the goal.

Casino Night Zone

A definite upgrade to Spring Yard Zone from the first game, Casino Night is awesome Sonic and Tails will need to run, fling themselves, shoot themselves and gamble in order to survive this crazy stage, Casino Nights is loads of fun.

Hill Top Zone

Sonic and Tails will be running above the clouds in this zone, Hill top zone requires you to take your time as you will have hills to climb, lava to avoid and lots of caves to explore, this zone is definitely for the explorative types.

Mystic Cave Zone

Sonic and Tails will need to explore some dark caves filled with old abandoned mine cart tracks, but don’t relax just yet because it is also filled with lots of traps, spikes and switches, this zone will definitely keep you on your toes.

Oil Ocean Zone

Literally an Ocean of Oil, this zone is very difficult as it has a lot of environmental hazards and obstacles, players will need to try to avoid falling off of oily slides and will need to use Green furnace flames to help propel themselves onto small platforms in order for them to traverse further through the zone.

Metropolis Zone

In my opinion the most difficult zone in the game, this Giant factory is filled to the brim with enemies, environmental hazards, large pits of boiling chemicals and the worst part is that the entire zone is like one big maze, this is one maze that I never want to get lost in again

Sky Chase Zone

During a short plane ride Sonic and Tails need to chase down Dr Robotnik while he retreats to his air ship, during this stage players will need to avoid robotic flying turtles and collect rings, at the end of the stage Sonic needs to jump out of the plane to take on the air ship solo.

Wing Fortress Zone

Based in Dr Robotnik’s air ship there are plenty of opportunities for you to fall to your doom due to the many platforms and thin ledges. While avoiding Dr Robotnik’s most dangerous robots yet players will need lots of patience and good timing in order to survive.

Death Egg Zone

Again similar to Sonic 1 this is just the final boss and get ready for one tough final boss battle because unlike the first game now you have to face two bosses in a row. You will need to defeat Metal Sonic and once you beat him you then need to beat Dr Robotnik in his giant space armour, but if you die you will need to take on Metal Sonic again and you will need to keep repeating this pattern until you can defeat both bosses in a row without dying.

Players have the ability to choose to play the single player mode as Sonic with Tails, Sonic alone or Tails Alone.

Beating the game with different characters does very slightly change the ending of the game but it so slight that it does not really count as an alternative ending as the final outcome is the same.

Bonus Stages are back but with a big difference, this time Sonic and Tails will need to collect 50 rings and once they reach a checkpoint they need to jump into the sparkly portal that appears above.

Once they enter the Bonus Stage the player will see Sonic and Tails looking slightly 3D, they will be running through a tunnel filled with rings that they need to collect, if they collect enough rings they will be rewarded with a Chaos Emerald. This may sound easy but it can be very difficult because this time Sonic and Tails are running forward with the camera following behind, also there are many obstacles such as bombs and spikes that if Sonic or Tails hit they will lose some rings.

Warning: If you enter a Bonus stage when you leave your ring count will be Zero.

Getting all 7 Chaos Emeralds will allow Sonic to transform into Super Sonic once he collects 50 rings in a stage you transform by jumping , Super Sonic is invincible, the only downfall is that you lose a ring for every second super sonic is on screen and once you run out of rings you will lose the super sonic ability until you collect some more.

Sonic 2 is an amazing game, it has some really creative levels, the bonus stages are more fun and rewarding, the soundtrack is so good that every time I listen to it I want to dance, the visuals and general game design is beautiful and apart from the pretty bad multiplayer and the fact that sometimes background objects seem dangerous, the game is near perfect.

One of the best games that Sonic Team has ever made 9.3/10

Thank you for reading my review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

The girl who leapt through time (2006) Review

January 14, 2015January 14, 2015 ragglefragglereviews3 Comments

Makoto Konno is an ordinary teenager, she goes to high school, hates her little sister, her emotions are all over the place and she loves hanging out with her two best friends Chiaki and Kosuke

Apart from the fact that Makoto is extremely clumsy and a bit of goof ball her life is fairly normal for a girl of her age, but that all changes when she is asked to return some books too one of classrooms in her school, when she arrives the class room appears to be completely empty, she discovers a message on the blackboard which reads “Time waits for no one”

She thinks nothing of this and she returns the books to their proper place but being the klutz she is, she falls on a walnut and crushes it. On her way home she is racing down a steep hill on her bike, she hears a railroad crossing ahead as it is bleeping warning pedestrians of an incoming train, Makoto tries to use the brakes but they wont work, she hits the rail and flies off her bike straight into the oncoming train and presumably dies.

A few Seconds later she is back on top of the hill and is in pain after falling off her bike and she hears the rail road crossing warn passers by of the same train that hit her previously.

Obviously she gets very confused by this and she goes to visit her Auntie Witch

She Explains to Makoto that she had peformed a time leap which means that she leapt through time and time traveled. We also learn that time leaps can be peformed by a lot of teenagers her age, but not many know that they have this ability.

As you may expect like any person who discovers that they can time travel Makoso starts time leaping whenever she can, she starts time leaping to get what she wants, to change how she deals with situations because if she does screw up anything she can reverse time and start again, she even time leaps so she can keep redoing her maths test until she has a perfect grade.

Makoso starts to get very selfish knowing that she can now have multiple chances at any thing that life throws at her and that nothing in her life will ever go wrong again.

At least that’s what she thought because later on in the movie Makoso notices a Tattoo of the number 9 on her arm, at first she thinks nothing of it and she carry’s on time leaping only to realise that the 9 is now a 6, this number represents the amount of time leaps Makoso has left,.

Makoso starts to feel foolish that she wasted almost of all of her time leaps and with only one left she decides that would be a great idea to time leap back to the begging of the movie so that she can get her friend Kosuke in a relationship with a girl who has a crush on him, but by doing this she ends up managing to sprain the girls ankle, since Makoso just walked away not realising what had happened Kosuke borrows Makoso’s bike and starts rushing to his house to get the girls ankle fixed but little does he know that he is heading towards the same train from the beginning of the movie.

Makoso Realises this and with no time leaps left she runs to try and stop her friend before it is too late.

The films plot is very impressive considering that a lot of anime’s are full of action, have an antagonist of some sort and are genuinely un-realistic, but with this anime its not the case at all because these teenagers act like normal teenagers, the high school looks and feels like a normal high school and even when Makoso starts time leaping she uses her new ability for non important things such as redoing karaoke over and over again, going back in time so she can eat her meals for a second time and to just genuinely avoid awkward situations, the reason I bring this up is because when I was a teenager if I this ability I would be using it in a similar manner.

The icing on the cake is the animation, this movie is beautiful every scene is hand drawn and its amazing. What may surprise a lot of people is that the animation and designs of the characters are quite simple but the backgrounds have had so much effort and time put into them that they really stand out, I don’t see this as a bad thing because its actually quite a nice change of pace considering that with most animated films and animes its the characters them selves which stand out the most compared the the rest of the imagery the film has offer, this film is a complete reversal of the usual formula and it works really well because it allows the viewer to really soak in the animation and ultimately 9 times out of ten they will appreciate the animation a lot more as well as the time and effort that went into making the film.

The girl who leapt through time is an amazing film it has top notch animation, a wonderful cast of characters, a brilliant plot and writing and it some heart warming and heart breaking moments which are bound to bring out some emotions in any who watches it.

If you haven’t yet seen this movie, I highly recommend giving it a watch

I hope you enjoyed this review

If you repect my opinion, I will respect yours

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Wave Race (Game Boy) Review

January 9, 2015August 24, 2020 ragglefragglereviews2 Comments

Big thanks to Michael Elvidge for sending in Wave Race

Wave Race on the Nintendo Game Boy is one of the very few Game Boy games that I owned when I was a child, I remember that I would always bring this game to the playground and me and my friends would often challenge each other to see who was the fastest racer.

Back then I thought that Wave Race was a fantastic game, but how does it hold up today?If you haven’t figured it out yet,Wave Race is a Jet Ski racing game, you and three other players which can either be CPU’s or your friends who you have the ability to race against by connecting via the Game Boy Link Cables.

If you decide to play alone you will be have the ability to select one of three options

Practice- Selecting this option allows the player to select any course they desire, they can then race through the selected course alone with no other players or CPU’s, this option can be extremely useful as some of the tracks later on in the game have been built for more advanced players as they contain more obstacles such as whirl pools and strong currents of water which slow down the racers, also these later courses have a more complicated and challenging layout compared to the earlier courses.

All Courses for Circuit mode

All Courses for Slalom

Record- This mode shows the player their best times for every track in circuit mode and it also shows them the total amount of time they have spent on each track, this is a really useful feature that any competitive players will enjoy using for bragging rights it is also really cool to see this kind of feature on such an old game.

and finally 1P aka the single player mode, as soon as you select this option you will be greeted to another screen which will give the option of playing Circuit Mode or Slalom.

Circuit Mode is essentially just a Grand Prix of the four available courses, the player will have to race three CPU’s through out each course while trying to avoid being bashed by the other racers while also steering away from any obstacles in their path to victory, depending on what place you finish at the end of each course you will be given a set amount of points and once the Grand Prix is over all of the points will be added up and the player with the most points will be crowned the winner.

Slalom is similar to Circuit mode as you are still racing three CPU’s in all four of the Slalom Courses, the big difference is that now instead of racing to a finish line the main objective is to race through marked flags in a set order, again depending on how long this takes you will determine what place you will finish, once all of the courses are complete every players points will be added up and the one with the most points will become the winner.

The overall look and sound of the game is mediocre to say the least, even though we are given two different game modes I wish that a larger selection of courses were available because 8 courses isn’t enough to keep bringing people back.

I also cant say much for the music as again there really isn’t a lot of it, during the different selection screens and menu’s we are presented with some catchy little tunes, but during the racing segments there is no music at all and the only sound you can hear is the penetrating sound of the jet ski’s motor and this gets very annoying. very quickly.

Overall Wave Race is nothing special but that in no way makes it a bad game,it has tight and simple controls and even though we are not given much variety in course selection or music the game it self is still fun to play especially with friends, I don’t recommend this game if you plan to play it alone though as I can see most people getting bored with it rather quickly, but if you plan to buy the game I suggest either playing it in short bursts or competitively with friends, as long play sessions did tend to give me a headache due to the annoying buzzing you hear during races.

Wave Race for the Nintendo Game Boy is an ok game but sadly that’s about it 5.4/10

I hope you enjoyed this review of Wave Race

If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Nintendo Land (Wii U) Review

January 2, 2015January 5, 2015 ragglefragglereviews15 Comments

A Nintendo amusement park? AWESOME !!!

I remember when Nintendo Land first got announced at E3 back in 2012, I couldnt believe my eyes a Nintendo Theme Park with Attractions based on all of my favourite Nintendo IP’s, I was so excited and even though I didn’t own a Wii U at the time I couldn’t wait to watch people play it on YouTube.

Nintendo Land E3 Announcement

Nintendo Land was a genius idea but I couldn’t help being just a little sceptical because I remembered how excited I was for Wii Sports a game I thought I would love but instead I was bored of it after a week.

so how was Nintendo Land?

Nintendo Land does not really have a plot and I don’t see this as a bad thing because unlike other Nintendo Series such as Metroid and Zelda which have timelines connecting each game in the series, very interesting and epic character developments and some really in depth and well detailed story lines, the story in Nintendo Land is just that you are Mii visiting the theme park for fun and I personally think that as simplistic as this is it works perfectly considering where the game takes place.

There are 12 attractions in Nintendo Land and each one is themed around a specific Nintendo Character or a Series and has a unique objective and playing style. I will now talk about each attraction briefly while explaining my personal opinion and reasons why I may like or dislike certain attractions

The Attractions I don’t enjoy

Balloon Trip Breeze

I like the idea of this game, you play as your Mii travelling across the ocean via the transportation of floating balloons, the idea of the game is to draw on the Wii U game pad to create a breeze of wind to help blow your Mii out of the way of obstacles. I understand why a lot of people will enjoy this attraction, it’s slow paced and at times it can be very gripping but personally I found it a bit boring and it’s one of the games I play the least often.

Octopus Dance

Is it just me or does anyone else find this game to be a bit dull?

The idea of Octopus Dance is to copy the dance moves performed by the scuba diver by using the Game Pad’s two analogue sticks and that’s it. This is my least favourite attraction because compared to the other attractions I think its fair to say that its the most unoriginal, also sometimes the Game doesn’t recognise me copy the dance move and I lose a life which is really annoying.

Is anyone else having this issue?

Captain Falcons Twister Race

I was really excited for this attraction when I first saw it in Nintendo Land because the last F-zero game came out on the Game Cube so we haven’t seen a new F-zero game in a long time, I only have one problem with this and its not even the game it’s self, I hate that I have to look at the game pad while playing and all I can see is a birds eye view of myself and the track, while on the TV it looks like an F-zero game. I do enjoy playing this attraction but it’s the fact that I am forced to look at the game from a different perspective than what is shown on the TV and this factor really helps me too form a not so positive opinion.

The Attractions I enjoy

Animal Crossing: Sweet Day

This attraction is a lot of fun especially when you have a bunch of friends over, any players using wii remotes will need to collect as many sweets as they can and drop the sweets into one of the many bowls located on the map, the player using the game pad must control the two guards, controlling one guard with the left analogue stick and the other guard with the right analogue stick. I had a lot of fun playing animal crossing sweet day with my brothers when they visited over the holidays.

Luigi’s Ghost Mansion

The idea of this attraction is that Luigi is hunting down an escaped ghost in his mansion, all players using the wii remotes will play has the ghost hunters and the player using the game pad plays as the ghost, in order to win the game either the ghost hunters need to drain all 100 of the ghosts health hitting the ghost with the beam of light shining from the flash light or the ghost needs to catch the hunters 3 times. This attraction is really fun especially if you like games which require a bit of strategic thinking in order to catch the enemy when they least expect it.

Yoshi’s Fruit Cart

In this attraction you need to guide the Yoshi cart to all of the fruit and then to the exit door, you do this by drawing a single route to all of fruit and the exit, the only catch is that on the game pad all of the fruit is invisible so you really need to plan out your route carefully. Later the game gets really tough as it starts adding holes you fall through and by making you collect fruit in a specific order. If you are a fan of puzzle games then you will love this.

My Favourite Attractions

Metroid Blast

Metroid Blast is the only game on Nintendo Land that I have actually managed to finish, the idea of the game is that you and a friend need to complete an objective while taking on a barrage of alien foes, these objectives can be anything from defeating all of the enemies on the map, collecting all of the character tokens, protecting civilians or overcoming a challenging boss fight.

The mulitplayer aspect allows you and your friend to fight eachother, one person will take control of the spaceship with the Wii U game Pad while shooting their target from above land and the other players will remain on land and will work together to take down the space ship. Metroid Blast really is a Blast and it only makes me more excited for a future Metroid game on the Wii U.

Mario Chase

Mario Chase is very similar to the animal crossing game, the only difference is that this time the objective is to either avoid the Toads or catch Mario. The reason I enjoy this game more than Animal Crossing Sweet Day is because in my opinion Mario Chase has much better maps, the Animal Crossing maps were fun but the Mario Chase maps are much bigger, you are able to pick up power stars, they have obstacles and one of the maps has slides. freaking slides !!!. Mario Chase is a multiplayer only game but everytime you play it it’s going to be heaps of fun.

The Legend of Zelda Battle Quest

In The Legend of Zelda Battle Quest you and your friends take control over what appears to be the four link’s from the Legend of Zelda Four Swords. The idea of the game is to defeat all of the enemies quickly and strategically until the hero’s manage to reach the Triforce which is located at the end of each stage, the Triforce is sometimes guarded by a boss, the player with the game pad will need to use a bow and arrow for some long range attacks on oncoming foes and any players using the wii remotes will need to attack enemies at close range with their swords. This game is really awesome to play especially with friends, I personally don’t like that its on rails but I understand that this does add to the challenge and many players will appreciate this aspect of the attraction.

Donkey Kong’s Crash Course

Donkey Kong’s Crash Course seems to be a very popular attraction among many of the guests who visit Nintendo Land and I think the reason behind this is because the game is very challenging but its also very fun to play which is a perfect combination for gamers of all ages. The idea of the game is to guide a rickety cart through an obstacle course which is filled with many fun puzzles for players to solve. This game is so far the only reason I have had to blow into the microphone on my Wii U game pad, its a quirky little feature that I hope more Wii U titles will implement in the future.

Takamaru’s Ninja Castle

Is Takamaru a new IP or have I missed out on a past Nintendo Series?

In all seriousness I don’t know who Takamaru is but I do know that Takamaru’s ninja castle is wonderful. The player needs to turn the Wii U game pad vertically towards the tv, the player will then need to swipe the game pad in order to throw shurikens at paper ninjas who appear on the tv. This game really helps show the capabilities of the game pad and its so intense its bound to get your heart pounding.

Pikmin Adventure

This is by far my favourite attraction in Nintendo Land, one player will use the Wii U game pad and will take control of Captain Olimar and any players using Wii remotes will play as Big pikmin, The idea of the game is to destroy blocks and defeat enemies in order to collect nectar, the nectar will give your character experience points and after collecting a certain amount of nectar that players character will level up. Leveling up is important as it will make your character more powerful, if you are playing as pikmin your objective is to use your fists to beat up the enemies but the player controlling Captain olimar will need to tap on enemies in order to hurl their pikmin at them (real pikmin not the other players). The goal is to reach the end of stage alive but be warned once all players are defeated its back to the beginning of the stage. I have never played a pikmin game before and after playing this I am detertimed too one day to at least play Pikmin 3.

A small side mission you can do in the game is to use a pachinko machine in order to try and win prizes for your park, these prizes can be any thing from music you can play on the juke box, buttons which can do really cool things such as changing it from day to night and bits of memorabilia from the attractions.

while playing all of these attractions you will notice that everything in the game is formed from some sort of hand made material for example in Mario chase the Yoshi Carts are made out of wood and appear to be wind up toys, in The Legend of Zelda Battle Quests everything is made of a cloth like material and you can even see the stitching and in the Pikmin game all of the creatures are robotic and also appear to be wind up toys. I believe this feature helps give Nintendo Land its own charm and it also helps show that all of the games are just attractions and that the player is in no real danger just like in an amusement park.

The Music isn’t all that memorable but I think this is fine considering the purpose of the game, the idea of Nintendo Land is to help player get use to using the Wii U game pad while at the same time showing off some of its key features, so there is no need for epic orchestral masterpieces which you may find in The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario Galaxy. The Music in Nintendo Land may not be that memorable but it is nice to listen too and for me that’s good enough.

Nintendo Land is a fantastic game which definitely outlived my expectations, there were some attractions that I personally didn’t enjoy but I had a lot of fun with the attractions I did like. I am really happy that we didn’t get a sports game to show off the Wii U game pad as that was one of my biggest fears as Sports games are not everyone’s cup of tea but luckily Nintendo Land provides a variety of game play styles and challenges and I am certain that everyone will find something they enjoy.

Nintendo Land is a great game for all the family 9.0/10

I hope you enjoyed my review of Nintendo Land

If you respect my opinion, I will respect yours

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

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