Perhaps the best news of the week comes from the pages of Japanese magazine Famitsu, which has revealed that brilliant Wii title Little King's Story is to be resurrected on Sony's PS Vita.
The original is one of my favourite games on Wii and tells the story of Corobo, a young lad who inherits the crown to the ramshackle land of Alpoko.
The player guides the pint-sized monarch around beautiful pastoral landscapes, giving villagers jobs, battling creatures and rebuilding his dilapidated kingdom.
It's an epic game which was sadly overlooked when it was released back in 2009. But in a brilliant turn of fortunes, Corobo and the gang will be tramping around Sony's new hand-held thanks to Marvelous Entertainment and Konami.
Titled The King, the Demon King and the Seven Princesses, the new game features spruced-up visuals and touch-screen functionality - more details are expected to emerge at next month's Tokyo Games Show.
A word of caution, though. Original developer CiNG have gone bankrupt since the original's release and the core group of talent who worked on the game are now scattered across Japan representing different companies.
Let's hope Marvelous do the game justice and release a game which will be as good, if not better, than the wonderful original.
I first became aware of Contact in the pages of EDGE magazine back in 2006. The bright visuals jumped out the page at me, and I immediately started scouring the internet for more information about the game. Unable to hold on for the UK release, I eventually ordered it from the US and fell in love with its quirky gameplay styles and cute visuals.
The player takes control over protagonist Terry, a young boy who, along with the enigmatic Professor, finds himself embroiled in an inter-galactic quest for precious power cells.
The quirky visual style smacks you between the eyes in the game's opening moments, with Terry exploring a a lush and detailed universe via the DS’s touch screen, while the Professor – and his loveable pet – inhabit a stranded starship, which is presented in a simple isometric view on the top screen. What makes the game interesting is the fact the Professor talks directly to the player, not Terry. So in a sense, you are simply controlling Terry’s actions, while the Professor gives you, the player, advice on what to do next.
Unlike most DS RPGs, Contact dispenses with random turn-based battles, instead adopting a more MMO feel to combat. When prompted, Terry continues to attack until he is successful or flees from danger. To help Terry defeat foes, he finds several suits on his journey, which grant him special attacks. Some take a bit of exploration to find and are well worth hunting down - even though they don’t really add a great deal of tactical nous to proceedings. While Contact is a traditional Japanese RPG wrapped up in delightful visuals, game director Akira Ueda has woven in some original ideas to spice things up. Decals are adhesive stickers which can be peeled using the stylus to unleash special attacks. These limited powers are useful in tight situations, but restoring their effectivness is sometimes more hassle than it's worth.
Another neat touch is the Chef’s Suit, which allows Terry to rustle up stat boosting food. There’s a limit to how much food Terry can eat, though, so you have to think carefully about when Terry chows down his grub.
There’s a lot of grinding involved and you’ll die quickly unless you’re extremely careful. However, there’s something compelling about the adventure which keeps the player ploughing onwards.
It was never a huge hit and might be quite hard to track down these days. But if you stumble across Contact, you should definitely pick it up. One of my favourite games on the DS.
Do you love RPGs, but don't have the time to wade through 70+ hour epic adventures? Does the thought of spending hours grinding to level up your characters fill you with dread? Do long-winded boss encounters make you want to cry? Does micro-managing your inventory seem to take forever? If the answer to any of these is yes, then Yuusha 30 might be the answer to your prayers.
Although I've only played the demo - the game isn't out until May in Japan - This Marvelous Entertainment title on PSP is one of the most fun and refreshing games I've played in ages - Basically, it's an RPG which has been reduced to bite-sized 30 second segments.
You are tasked with defeating a demon lord, who is safely ensconced in his castle on the other side of the map. As soon as you start the game, a 30 second timer begins to tick down. If the timer reaches zero, the game will end.
As you cross the map, you can visit towns and villages. When visiting a town, the clock is suspended and here you can buy new weapons, items and heal your wounds.
When out on the world map, battles are random, but don't despair, as these brief encounters are fast-paced fun. There are no long drawn-out turn based battles in Yuusha 30, instead pushing the d-pad to the right takes care of business, and most fights are over in under two seconds.
If a monster is too tough, simply take on a few more enemies and you'll level up in double quick time. Defeating monsters also rewards you with gold, which can be spent in the villages.
Now 30 seconds simply isn't long enough for you to level up and reach the demon lord, so to help you, some towns have statues which replenish your timer. The first time you use a statue it costs 100 gold, but every time after that, the cost goes up in increments of 100, so you have to weigh up the options of fighting for gold to earn more time, or just heading straight to the demon lord in the hope you will be able to beat him.
If you successfully defeat the evil demon, you are given a final result, which charts how long the quest took and what level you were. In many ways Yuusha 30 is more of a time trial than an RPG, and is all the better for it.
Graphics are deliberately blocky and utterly charming, while the bright and breezy music is just wonderful.
The demo only has two levels to play through, but they are incredibly addictive and I can't stop tyring to better my times. Marvelous have already said there will be more modes available, but details are still a bit sketchy. If anyone out there can shed a bit more light on these other modes, please let me know.
Obviously the game is in Japanese, and I very much doubt it will ever be released in the West. However, Yuusha 30 might appear on the Japanese PSN, but no matter what, it's a game I'll be keeping a close eye on in the months to come.
Check out this video for some breathless Yuusha 30 action:
Perhaps the best news of the week comes from the pages of Japanese magazine Famitsu, which has revealed that brilliant Wii title Little King's Story is to be resurrected on Sony's PS Vita.
