From The Collection: Solstice

Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos (to give it its full name) is a fairly rare beast; an ancient relic from a genre that has very much gone out of fashion in the two decades since it was released on the NES. Ostensibly a puzzler, it plays more like a precision platformer, rendered entirely in an isometric aesthetic. I snapped it up as a kid – its fantasy setting made it a must-buy out of my pocket money; anything in that genre turned my head ever since I read Lord Of The Rings at 9 years old on a particularly uneventful family holiday to Corfu.

An interview with The Impossible Game creator FlukeDude

Following on from last week’s developer interview for FlipSide, infinitecontinues brings you another Q&A session with the creator of this week’s reviewed Xbox Live indie title, The Impossible Game. FlukeDude (Twitter feed here) gives us the lowdown on the choices he made whilst developing the game, how it’s so difficult even he struggles with it, and what other games he has up his sleeve. Full interview after the jump.

The Impossible Game // XBL Indie Games

I must be feeling masochistic. After subjecting myself to Brian O’Keefe’s brutal gate-’em-up FlipSide last weekend, this week I cranked up the difficulty gauge by yet another notch by downloading the ominously-titled ‘The Impossible Game’ from the Xbox Live Indie Games platform. Although its name suggests it offers an insurmountable challenge, the inclusion of a ‘Beat The Game’ medal on the game’s menu screen offers a glimmer of hope. Regardless, this is still the gaming’s Mount Everest.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii // Wii

I’ve been slack. Once a devoted Nintendo fanboy who would devour any new Mario games within days of release, I’ve recently allowed myself to become distracted by numerous other games on other consoles. Today, I was determined to make amends, to give New Super Mario Bros. Wii the dedicated attention it deserved, and sat down to my save at World 5 determined not to get up again until the final credits rolled.

First Impressions: Wario Land: The Shake Dimension

As I’ve mentioned recently, since the turn of the decade I’ve been obsessed with the online multiplayer deathmatches and dominations of a certain Modern Warfare 2, to the point where I’ve been seeing snipers in my sleep and idly fantasizing about tossing semtex into a group of hooligans raising hell outside our flat. What better way, then, to soothe my frayed nerves and assuage my battered psyche, than by settling down to a type of game that, for me, started it all off all those years ago – a 2D platformer on a Nintendo console? Enter Wario Land: The Shake Dimension (aka Wario Land: Shake It! in the US).

Prince Of Persia // PS3

Prince of Persia, the 2008 re-imagining of the series from Ubisoft Montreal, is a strange beast. It’s not a particularly good game, and it’s certainly not a challenging one. Yet despite that, I have been playing it to death, and have enjoyed (nearly) every minute of it.

Retro Sunday: Donkey Kong Country // VC

It was coming up to 15 years ago, on Christmas Day 1994, that a giddy 12-year-old me excitedly unwrapped Donkey Kong Country from underneath the Christmas tree. Not only did I play it all day, I also lugged my SNES, connection leads and the game round to my Nan’s for the evening, where my family traditionally gathers for Christmas Night. There, I set up on the tiny portable TV in my Nan’s bedroom and showed it to my incredulous younger cousin; particularly, as I remember, the first mine cart level ‘Mine Cart Carnage’. It was the start of a love affair with Donkey Kong that ensured I would snaffle up subsequent releases from Rare; the rest of this series, of which there were three in total, and Donkey Kong 64 on the N64.

Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time // PS3

I received Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time in my free games allocation for being an employer of SCEE. Based on my perception of the series to date, I thought I’d inherited a children’s game,  despite having never played any of its numerous instalments. Bright, bulbous visuals apart, I was mistaken – although in some parts criminally easy, Ratchet & Clank also provides some rock solid platforming challenges requiring hand-eye coordination right out of the top drawer.

First Impressions: Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time

Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time makes no apology for wearing its influences on its sleeve. Whilst essentially an evolution of classic collect-’em-up platformers in the Banjo & Kazooie mould, it also casually apes the planetoid structure from Super Mario Galaxy, the space combat mechanics of Lylat Wars, and even the radio stations of the Grand Theft Auto series. But whilst it doesn’t really score points for originality (expect to smash a lot of crates) Insomniac should be commended for creating a title that is a lot of fun to play, whilst also being genuinely funny.

First Impressions: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Balancing the expectations of a veteran enthusiast who grew up with Mario games, and a casual gamer only just getting to grips with the platforming exploits of the portly plumber was always going to be a tough task. Judging by the amount of laughs me and my girlfriend shared within our first few hours of the follow-up to the DS game, New Super Mario Bros. Wii makes a decent fist of it. And it does it in vibrant and colourful style, with a grin-inducing spoonful of nostalgia to boot.