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Project M 3.0 Review- Manhattan Digest

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Copyright Nintendo Source: Max Level
Copyright Nintendo
Source: Max Level

Project M for marvelous.

If you’re a fan of the Super Smash Bros. series like me, you love the fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat action that has been gripping gamers for the last fifteen years now. No series has combined a smooth fighting game experience with skilled platforming as well as Nintendo has with Super Smash Bros. However, if you share my thoughts on the most recent release, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, you know that it doesn’t live up to the standard set by the first two releases. Enter Project M, a game that seeks to capture the greatness of the past. With the ‘M’ standing for Melee, the second game in the series that was released for the Gamecube in 2001, the creators of this homebrew game want their work to highlight what made Super Smash Bros. Melee one of the greatest titles of all-time.

Removing the tripping that plagues Brawl and reinstating small combat mechanics to their Melee counterparts, Project M greatly succeeds at delivering frantic and fun skirmishes that keep me playing for hours. The roster now stands at 41 characters, which includes every playable character from the Super Smash Bros. series. While the creators have stated that the most recent 3.02 release is not a “final” or “gold” version,  they’ve certainly outdone themselves by having a fleshed-out roster. Add in the massive number of usable items, 42 stages, online play, tournament mode, and customization options, and you have a lot to do here.

While the game is epic in both scope and execution, there are some minor, almost nitpicky flaws that I’d like to address. First up is the balancing. Now, Nintendo has never been known to care very much about characters being broken in these games (looking at you, Pikachu from the N64 version and Meta Knight in Brawl), and the creators of Project M have done a nice job rebalancing things, certain characters leave a bit to be desired. Some could use buffs, others nerfs (or debuffs), but since the intent is there to continue balancing I can’t fault them too much. Next, some of the faster characters simply feel too slippery. I’m sure this is by design, but picking up items and managing to avoid suicides can prove to be extremely difficult at times. Finally, the AI. This isn’t as easy of a fix as other areas, but in the original release of Melee, setting CPU opponents on the max difficulty was a definite test of skill that forced you to adapt on the fly. In Project M, even at the highest setting the AI seems to have a penchant for offing itself, whether by simple jumping off the side or by deliberately attacking explosives.

If you’re looking for a game to play with others and already have a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (that, along with an SD card are required to play), look no further than Project M. It faithfully replicates the frenetic gameplay of Melee while adding a few wrinkles of its own in order to remain fresh. Even after the new entries in the series hit shelves later this year, I still see myself firing up this game for long sessions with my brothers and friends.

Final Grade: A

Platform: Wii + SD Card with game downloaded to it + Gecko OS
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-4 simultaneous
Price: Free (if you already have Brawl)

For more information regarding Project M, including downloads and instructions, click here.

WRITER’S NOTE: I do not endorse or promote any hardware or longterm software modifications to copyrighted equipment and content. Project M is a game that can be played without hacking or modifying anything having to do with the Nintendo Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Guild Wars 2 – It’s Wintersday!

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Guild Wars 2 is bringing you a White Christmas!

 

Avid MMO gamers will be pleased to know that Guild Wars 2‘s Wintersday events have returned to Tyria! Players can venture to the now snow-covered Lion’s Arch and participate in all kinds of fun activities! Snowball fights, escorting caravans with gifts, battling malfunctioning toys, a bell choir mini-game that is reminiscent of Guitar Hero, and Toypocalypse, where you must protect gifts from angry toys, are all part of this content update. Alongside this content is a boatload of new achievements, along with titles, gift boxes, loot bags, and a whole lot more to satisfy your Christmas spirit. In my estimation, this is the best update to the Guild Wars 2 Living Story since Halloween’s Mad King Returns event.

As someone who missed out on Wintersday last year due to being burnt out from the game (followed by losing my account password), this content is all new to me. While running around Tyria, I’ve instantly felt deprived for missing out on all the fun from a year ago. Unwrapping huge gift boxes in the open world, only to have them explode and release hostile armies of angry toys was certainly a fun surprise, though in the higher level zones this becomes more of a hassle to deal with than it’s really worth; one can simply bypass the boxes, however, so the choice is up to the player. The player vs. player Snowball Mayhem activity features two teams duking it out in a winter wonderland. Players are awarded points for defeating opponents as well as carrying a gift back to their base. Another piece of content that I found entertaining was the new dungeon, where you help Toymaker Tixx keep his workshop under control and operating smoothly. There is much to do this Wintersday, and so ArenaNet has stated that these events will persist for a month, until January 10th. After all the flops that the Living Story has produced since Halloween (namely the entire Tower of Nightmares arc), this is one update that I’m going to miss once it’s gone.

One more update to the game is the release of ascended armor. With ascended weapons and trinkets already in the game, armor will allow players to complete their gear sets and maximize their effectiveness. Naturally, it’s a huge grind to gain all the materials needed to make the armor, and taking a shortcut by buying completed components on the trading post is going to leave a huge hole in your virtual wallet. Unfortunately, not all characters are on an even playing field when it comes to crafting these goodies. While heavy and medium classes have had opportunities to craft items that can also be used on armor in the weaponsmith and huntsman professions, light classes have had no previous method of acquiring the cloth needed to make their armor. My two level-capped characters are both light classes, so it’s an inconvenience for me. However, removing all biases this is something that should have been addressed prior to the release of the update. I’m still going to make at least one set of ascended, it’s just going to take me longer than some of my friends who play warriors and thieves.

As always, this Guild Wars 2 content update is free to download and will do so automatically once you start up the game. Happy hunting!

For more information about Wintersday, click here

Game Boy for the iPhone: Without Jailbreaking

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Remember the Game Boy? It was Nintendo’s crowning handheld achievement in the days when video games were a new and exciting medium. The Game Boy allowed us to take our video games out of our living rooms and play them on the go – wherever we went. It was the first of its kind.

Today of course the modern smart-phone has far outweighed the need for an individual portable gaming console. There are thousands upon thousands of games available for play on the iPhone alone. While this certainly suffices as means for adequate mobile gaming, there is always a certain joy to playing the games of old in their original form. Who doesn’t enjoy a round of Game Boy’s original Super Mario Land, or Mega Man? Nintendo still produces Game Boys, now in color, technologically advanced 3D graphics, and dual screens. Yet one thing Nintendo never did was strike any sort of deal with Apple, or any other platform, to sell their trademarked games as applications. Who hasn’t looked for  Mario Bros. or Castle Quest as games in Apple’s App Store? For those who have the latest iPhone, is it really worth spending the money on a Game Boy just to play vintage Kirby’s Dream Land?

I have seen several examples of iPhones which are jailbroken uploaded with vintage Nintendo games. However many people (myself included) have no interest in having their phones jailbroken. Certainly not for a game.

Enter: A nifty new platform, designed for the iPhone 5. Game Play by InSeven Limited has developed the loophole that my geeky Mario-loving self has been looking for. Interested? Well, the details are very specific. But if you have what’s needed to set it up, why not give it a try?

You need:

An iPhone 5

The company has developed this program specifically for the latest version of the iPhone (iPhone only). At least for now…

A Google Drive account & iPhone App

If you have a Gmail account, you have access to Google Drive, used to save and store files online. The App (which is free) is available at the App Store.

 

  • Step 1: Add the Program Link to your Home Page

The link must be visited on the phone so the website can be bookmarked to your phone’s home screen directly. The link is http://inseven.co.uk/apps/gameplay/app/
Press ADD button on your screen to open the options.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add the page to your Home Screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2: If you don’t already have it, download the Google Drive App

Google Drive is free in the App Store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Step 3: Find and Download Game Boy ROM files

This step tends to be the trickiest one. The Game Play website cannot directly offer the ROM files for download. Instead, it is suggested that you search for the files yourself. Game Play does provide a list of games which currently will work for the application:

Adventure Island, Adventure Island 2,Bionic Commando, Bomberman, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Castle Quest, Castlevania 2 – Belmont’s Revenge, Double Dragon, Dr. Mario, Duck Tales 1, Duck Tales 2, Fist of the North Star, Kirby’s Dream Land, Mega Man 1, Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, Mystical Ninja, Ninja Boy 1, Ninja Boy 2, Ninja Gaiden Shadow, Othello, Ren & Stimpy Space Cadet Advenutres, Super Mario Land, Tale Spin, Tecmo Bowl, The Castlevania Adventure (’86), The Flash, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, The Pagemaster, The Real Ghostbusters, Tiny Toon Adventures – Montana’s Movie Madness, Tiny Toon Advenutres – Bab’s Big Break, TMNT – Fall of the Foot Clan, TMNT II – Back from the Swewers, TMNT III – Radical Rescue, Yoshi’s Cookie.

There are several different websites which can be used to find and to download game ROMS. The one I personally utilized most was one called DopeRoms.com. Specifically, if you search for game boy games, this page lists the games used for the original Game Boy, which are the only ones that currently work for the iPhone application:

http://www.doperoms.com/roms/Gameboy_And_Gbc.html

*Note: The game ROMs will be labeled as GB, GBC, or both. (Game Boy and/or Game Boy Color) – If the file is only listed as GBC, it will not work.

 

  • Step 4: Save the downloaded Roms to a folder in Google Drive. 

On your computer, the saved files can be dragged or loaded into your google drive account.
Create a folder in your Drive specifically for the games.

 

 

 

The folder and files will sync with your iPhone 5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Step 5: Add artwork

The photos for the games must be downloaded and added as well. To find the artwork,
search for it. For example, for the game Super Mario Land, I Googled Super Mario Land under images and found several shots of the original cartridge artwork:

Once downloaded, add the artwork file to the same google drive folder as its game.

You then must rename the artwork file to exactly match that of the game, only changing the file type from gb to jpg.

For example:

Once again, the folder and contained files on your Google Drive will sync with those on your iPhone 5 app.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Step 6: Open the App!

You’re finished! Open the Game Play app on your iPhone Home Screen. The Google Drive app automatically syncs with the app and the games will appear within the app itself.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Notes on the application

– There is no sound on any of the games for Game Play. Do not be concerned when there is no sound for the games. It is not yet available. The application creators are working to add this feature soon.

– The games cannot be saved.  If the application is closed, the game will be lost and can only be started from the beginning the next time the application is opened. If the iPhone itself is turned off while Game Play is running, the game will continue where you left off.

InSeven Limited, the company behind Game Play, has stated that they are continuously working to improve the program. They hope to bring Game Play to other platforms soon, and are seeking to expand to include Game Boy Color games in the near future.