[Official] Wii U thread

[Lil B From The Pack]

Imma probably be getting the console in the coming weeks. Gonna wait next week and see if there are any Amazon Black Friday deals for the console. Any good RPG games upcoming or already released?

[Canucks1219]

Imma probably be getting the console in the coming weeks. Gonna wait next week and see if there are any Amazon Black Friday deals for the console. Any good RPG games upcoming or already released?

The Wii U's RPG library is dry. Here is a list: http://www.gamefaqs.com/wii-u/list-48

There is a game called Xenoblade Chronicles X , a spiritual successor to Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii that has a planned North American release for Q3/4. Xenoblade is my favourite game on the Wii and one of my favourite games period so this game alone justifies my Wii U purchase.

But yeah, the Wii U isn't going to have any quality RPGs until mid-to-late next year. If you don't play anything aside from RPGs, I would recommend not buying the console just yet. Otherwise, the console does have lots of great games.

[Xbox]

Imma probably be getting the console in the coming weeks. Gonna wait next week and see if there are any Amazon Black Friday deals for the console. Any good RPG games upcoming or already released?

Next year, Xenonblade Chronicles looks pretty dope. Even Zelda U looks to have RPG elements.

Going to pick both those games up for sure. 2 of my most anticipated games of 2015, next to Star Wars: Battlefront

[g_bassi13]

Next year most important to me is Zelda (duh), and Star Fox. The world has been starved of a great Star Fox game for too long. I would kill for one.

[Canucks1219]

Next year most important to me is Zelda (duh), and Star Fox. The world has been starved of a great Star Fox game for too long. I would kill for one.

Don't care what anyone says, I thought Star Fox Assault was great.

[g_bassi13]

Don't care what anyone says, I thought Star Fox Assault was great.

I liked it and enjoyed it, but it was not really "great". I'm talking about something closer to Star Fox 64. Not necessarily a masterpiece of its generation like that one, but you know, something a little more memorable than what's been offered since then. Every game in the series after that has been developed by groups that that were not Nintendo, so it will be good to see what happens when they try and control it on a direct basis. There's a lot of potential.

[Canucks1219]

I liked it and enjoyed it, but it was not really "great". I'm talking about something closer to Star Fox 64. Not necessarily a masterpiece of its generation like that one, but you know, something a little more memorable than what's been offered since then. Every game in the series after that has been developed by groups that that were not Nintendo, so it will be good to see what happens when they try and control it on a direct basis. There's a lot of potential.

Yeah, I understand. I thought you had meant that everything has sucked since 64. It will be tough for any rail shooter to make a big impact in today's era of gaming but I agree there is potential there, for sure. Assault got close with their rail-shooting segments but it could have been a little faster-paced.

I'm definitely looking forward to the Wii U Star Fox game.

[DollarAndADream]

I liked Star Fox Assault as well, and I actually like Star Fox Adventures too.

[Canucks1219]

I liked Star Fox Assault as well, and I actually like Star Fox Adventures too.

I thought SF Adventures was a great Action-Adventure game but it's pretty clear that the Star Fox element wasn't really necessary. It gets hate from purists of the series for that reason. Oh well, I thought it was a good game.

[DollarAndADream]

I thought SF Adventures was a great Action-Adventure game but it's pretty clear that the Star Fox element wasn't really necessary. It gets hate from purists of the series for that reason. Oh well, I thought it was a good game.

Yeah, I really liked the game but it didn't have the Star Fox feel at all.

It was just cool that you were Fox walking around doing stuff.

[g_bassi13]

It's a good game (far from perfect), but yeah, it is just Dinosaur Planet. Not too much to distinguish it as a full fledged Star Fox game. Even if you classify it as a Star Fox game like I do, there's not enough to carry the series forward, even if it is a decent distraction, and one that manages to add a main crew member to the fold.

Would have been better if Dinosaur Planet was its own game though. A lot of the things they described in that project were pretty cool, and while most of it was directly ported, they sacrificed some of it to fit the Star Fox angle in.

More sad about the death of Rare more than anything though. How awesome would it be if they were one of the companies still making games for the Wii U? Would instantly add a lot of depth to the library. Even if their development branch is doing nothing but making Kinect Sports games now, they still hold the intellectual property for Conker, Banjo, Perfect Dark, and even more. Would be nice if Nintendo saw some potential in the Perfect Dark series and at least bought that back from Microsoft. If there's an example of a company making the wrong games, for the wrong console, Rare is/was it.

[Canucks1219]

It's a good game (far from perfect), but yeah, it is just Dinosaur Planet. Not too much to distinguish it as a full fledged Star Fox game. Even if you classify it as a Star Fox game like I do, there's not enough to carry the series forward, even if it is a decent distraction, and one that manages to add a main crew member to the fold.

Would have been better if Dinosaur Planet was its own game though. A lot of the things they described in that project were pretty cool, and while most of it was directly ported, they sacrificed some of it to fit the Star Fox angle in.

More sad about the death of Rare more than anything though. How awesome would it be if they were one of the companies still making games for the Wii U? Would instantly add a lot of depth to the library. Even if their development branch is doing nothing but making Kinect Sports games now, they still hold the intellectual property for Conker, Banjo, Perfect Dark, and even more. Would be nice if Nintendo saw some potential in the Perfect Dark series and at least bought that back from Microsoft. If there's an example of a company making the wrong games, for the wrong console, Rare is/was it.

Yep, and that's fuel for purists' hate. As a casual fan of Star Fox, I don't think it's fair to Adventures to use its SF elements as a reason for putting it down. We're lucky enough to enjoy the game for what it is: a good game.

Rare has disappeared off the face of the earth since Microsoft got involved. Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie are my favourite games on the 64. Hands down. The music. The gameplay. The writing. Few games have the kind of charm that those games have. So yeah, I would love if Nintendo were to bring that franchise back to life at least.

I was really, really hoping that Sonic Boom could be a new adventure game of that ilk but that game is apparently a freakin' disaster. I haven't played it but I've seen gameplay videos and reviews (for whatever that's worth) and... It. Looks. Bad. So many glitches/bugs -- some of them game-breaking. The writing might be the worst of it all.

"Aw nuts... Oooh, now I'm hungry."

That is actually a spoken line in the game. A human being wrote that into the script.

[DollarAndADream]

Man, Rare used to be so awesome at making games.

I'm surprised they don't go ahead and make some of these AAA games, since you'd think they'd know they have the fan base for them.

[avelanch]

the people who made rare great left when ms acquired them, or shortly thereafter. they all moved on to different companies. they are a shell of a company. merely a name now

[g_bassi13]

Yep, and that's fuel for purists' hate. As a casual fan of Star Fox, I don't think it's fair to Adventures to use its SF elements as a reason for putting it down. We're lucky enough to enjoy the game for what it is: a good game.

Rare has disappeared off the face of the earth since Microsoft got involved. Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie are my favourite games on the 64. Hands down. The music. The gameplay. The writing. Few games have the kind of charm that those games have. So yeah, I would love if Nintendo were to bring that franchise back to life at least.

I was really, really hoping that Sonic Boom could be a new adventure game of that ilk but that game is apparently a freakin' disaster. I haven't played it but I've seen gameplay videos and reviews (for whatever that's worth) and... It. Looks. Bad. So many glitches/bugs -- some of them game-breaking. The writing might be the worst of it all.

"Aw nuts... Oooh, now I'm hungry."

That is actually a spoken line in the game. A human being wrote that into the script.

Sonic, God Damn, lol. That guy died a while ago too. I understand that this was a spin off based on some show I'll never see, but that series has been utter trash for over a decade now. I have nothing nice to share about how I feel with his games. They're so bad. I have heard about this specific game's shortcomings, and I don't find it a coincidence that both the 3DS and Wii U ones, which are totally individual games, managed to drop the ball so hard.

Man, Rare used to be so awesome at making games.

I'm surprised they don't go ahead and make some of these AAA games, since you'd think they'd know they have the fan base for them.

They were making a Perfect Dark 2 (Perfect Dark Zero was a prequel), but Microsoft shot them down. I dunno, they seem to want to chuck as many franchises out there as possible and just carry forward the one that rakes in excessive cash. It seems logical that they should have done something more in the last 10 years than just releasing a half-assed not so HD Remake of the first game, but what do I know.

the people who made rare great left when ms acquired them, or shortly thereafter. they all moved on to different companies. they are a shell of a company. merely a name now

Like with every company that sells itself to become a subsidiary of a larger publisher, it never ends well. The developers will find new jobs, and the company's founders will make bank and retire or whatever. But as a gamer, you're the one that ends up on the short end of the stick, as the publisher squeezes blood from stone, and you're being charged the same for pale imitations of previous works as mandated by said publisher. The worse the publisher, the worse the outcome (See: Everything Microsoft and EA have ever owned.)

[avelanch]

the only exception to the rule would be nintendo. when they acquire a company they tend to keep around the reasons those developers were so successful. and the 2nd party developer usually continues to release quality products. once they stop doing so nintendo tends to sell off it's share and release them.

[Canucks1219]

Sonic, God Damn, lol. That guy died a while ago too. I understand that this was a spin off based on some show I'll never see, but that series has been utter trash for over a decade now. I have nothing nice to share about how I feel with his games. They're so bad. I have heard about this specific game's shortcomings, and I don't find it a coincidence that both the 3DS and Wii U ones, which are totally individual games, managed to drop the ball so hard.

These are relatively recent Sonic games that I think are very, very good. I guess you could throw the Daytime stages from Sonic Unleashed (PS3/Xbox360) in to the mix but everything else is in that game is average at best.

Both games have handheld counterparts (like most recent Sonic games) and I'd say those are good games too. Obviously not on the console version's level but still good handheld platform games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhqPY6cmReE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfUoXJzff2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg_uQ-_U9Dw

[g_bassi13]

I hated Sonic Generations. Not the worst game, but to me it felt like a reaffirming of how far SEGA is lost. I liked the first few levels, but it dragged on hard after that, where by the final boss fight I was incredibly frustrated.

It was presented as a meeting between the past and present, but the problem for me was that it implies an equivalence between the two, when none exists. Incredibly far from it. Forgetting even that it means they want me to pay respects to Sonic '06 and the like, it also means there's one level from Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and a level each from all those games I already couldn't stand. That, plus all the levels representing the better earlier games are incredibly easy and short, where the later games have these difficult levels that require a longer slog to get through.

Also, I didn't like much how the old sonic was treated as some sort of relic of the past, where the new Sonic was supposed to be some sort of cool and awesome guy that has to carry the old one. With his awesomeness. It felt really condescending in nature, and a nod by the developers to show how far they think they've brought Sonic in recent years, when they've done little but hold him back.

Felt less to me like a reinventing of the series, and more of a bunch of guys patting themselves on the back for all the crap they released of late. I get why people liked it, but I got something else out of it entirely. I don't really expect anyone to share my opinions in this regard. But yeah, I hated it.

Sonic Colours seems cool though, and I really should play it.

[Mathew Barzal]

I hated Sonic Generations. Not the worst game, but to me it felt like a reaffirming of how far SEGA is lost. I liked the first few levels, but it dragged on hard after that, where by the final boss fight I was incredibly frustrated.

It was presented as a meeting between the past and present, but the problem for me was that it implies an equivalence between the two, when none exists. Incredibly far from it. Forgetting even that it means they want me to pay respects to Sonic '06 and the like, it also means there's one level from Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and a level each from all those games I already couldn't stand. That, plus all the levels representing the better earlier games are incredibly easy and short, where the later games have these difficult levels that require a longer slog to get through.

Also, I didn't like much how the old sonic was treated as some sort of relic of the past, where the new Sonic was supposed to be some sort of cool and awesome guy that has to carry the old one. With his awesomeness. It felt really condescending in nature, and a nod by the developers to show how far they think they've brought Sonic in recent years, when they've done little but hold him back.

Felt less to me like a reinventing of the series, and more of a bunch of guys patting themselves on the back for all the crap they released of late. I get why people liked it, but I got something else out of it entirely. I don't really expect anyone to share my opinions in this regard. But yeah, I hated it.

Sonic Colours seems cool though, and I really should play it.

Were there any Wii generation games that were reminiscent of Sonic 2 or 3? Those are two games I played the crap out of. I haven't touched Sonic since.

[Canucks1219]

I hated Sonic Generations. Not the worst game, but to me it felt like a reaffirming of how far SEGA is lost. I liked the first few levels, but it dragged on hard after that, where by the final boss fight I was incredibly frustrated.

It was presented as a meeting between the past and present, but the problem for me was that it implies an equivalence between the two, when none exists. Incredibly far from it. Forgetting even that it means they want me to pay respects to Sonic '06 and the like, it also means there's one level from Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and a level each from all those games I already couldn't stand. That, plus all the levels representing the better earlier games are incredibly easy and short, where the later games have these difficult levels that require a longer slog to get through.

Also, I didn't like much how the old sonic was treated as some sort of relic of the past, where the new Sonic was supposed to be some sort of cool and awesome guy that has to carry the old one. With his awesomeness. It felt really condescending in nature, and a nod by the developers to show how far they think they've brought Sonic in recent years, when they've done little but hold him back.

Felt less to me like a reinventing of the series, and more of a bunch of guys patting themselves on the back for all the crap they released of late. I get why people liked it, but I got something else out of it entirely. I don't really expect anyone to share my opinions in this regard. But yeah, I hated it.

Sonic Colours seems cool though, and I really should play it.

(Sorry everyone else, another non-Wii U post upcoming...)

I don't agree with anything you've said -- well, aside from a crap Final Boss and difficulty discrepancy with regards to eras -- so we will have to respectfully disagree. :- )

As far as the difficulty is concerned, I think it would have been better for the 3 stages in each area to be one from each era. Eg. GreenHill+SpeedHighway+CrisisCity. That way there isn't an "easy" era or "hard" era. But whatever... too late for that now.

Colours is a fantastic game and is in my opinion better than Generations by a fair margin... Though judging by your thoughts on the latter that may not be hard to accomplish.

The game has beautiful graphics. It obviously isn't in high-definition but the colours (ha!) are vibrant, the scenery is active, and the dramatic camera angles for certain stages work to good effect. The camera isn't too much of an issue compared to other 3D Sonic games. Mostly because it is fixed and doesn't have the "freedom" to suck. It isn't faultless, but it's on a different level compared to the likes of Sonic Heroes + Sonic the Hedgehog('06) in the best way possible. For a Wii game it is quite the visual accomplishment.

The gameplay is pretty much status quo (for Modern titles) with the exception of the main gimmick: the Wisps. These are basically powerups/morphs that allow you to access different areas of the stage. They feel like gimmicks, for sure, but it's not a huge deal because they are, surprisingly, not shoved down your throat to the extent that you may expect. A few missions/acts are centred around the Wisps but for the most part they are not required to complete stages. You'll need to use them if you're into time trials but the actual completion of a stage often does not require their use. The stages are all neat to look at and there are enough stage-specific elements to stay relatively varied. Unfortunately, 3 of the bosses are recycled so you face them twice each. There is also that issue in 3D Sonic games of cheap platforming-related deaths, albeit to a lesser degree and you can at least rack up lives easily.

The music -- probably the only consistently good thing in the Sonic franchise -- is quite good. The theme song "Reach For the Stars"(?) is too Pop for me but the in-game music is great. This is more of a personal taste thing so I'm not sure of what more I can say, really.

It's a short game with replay value of varying degree. It sort of depends on whether or not you like to beat personal records and stuff. You can go for beating times, scores, getting S ranks (which is much harder than in Generations), collecting Red Rings, and playing the "Sonic Simulator". The SS is basically a collection of mini-stages exclusively in 2D with chiptune versions of their respective main-game stages. It's really bland and not really difficult but it's there as an extra little thing you can do. As with every other stage there is a time (and maybe score...) you can beat. I think beating these stages is required to acquire the Chaos Emeralds.

I got my used copy for about $20, which is sort of expensive for an old + used Wii game, but I'd say it was well worth that.

Were there any Wii generation games that were reminiscent of Sonic 2 or 3? Those are two games I played the crap out of. I haven't touched Sonic since.

In what way? 2D? All of the handheld-platformer Sonics have been primarily 2D with the exception of Lost Worlds. I might get hate for this but the simple platforming Sonic games have gotten outdated and most of the 2D games have a "boost" mechanic which allows you to move forward very fast. For that reason the new games have a different "taste" to them. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is pretty faithful to the older games so I'd recommend that.

Generations tried to do the same but not as effectively. g_bassi13 hated it but I thought it was decent. Not great but decent enough.

As a whole there isn't much to like for fans of the Genesis games.