How the Wii Ruined Skyward Sword

Let me throw this out there right now: Skyward Sword is an unbelievable game. It is a lot of fun, contains plenty to do, and contains most of that Zelda magic we’ve grown accustomed to. It doesn’t have the tedious beginning like Twilight Princess’ wolf sequences, and doesn’t have the boring overworld navigation of Wind Waker. This Zelda is arguably the best since the Zelda games from the year 2000, when we saw the likes Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, and of course Majora’s Mask. That being said, it has a huge setback, and it has nothing to do with the developers of the game and more to do with the system itself: the Wii’s hardware limitations prevent it from being something special and groundbreaking.

For years I have been stating that the reason why 90s Zelda is far more memorable than modern-day Zelda is because we have not had a Zelda that raised the bar for gaming since Majora’s Mask. The reason why we fondly remember Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time is because these games at the time represented the peak and the limits of what video games can do, and then associated that time incredible gameplay. Every official Zelda game from the original to Majora’s Mask (and this even includes Link’s Awakening) reinvented the gaming industry in different ways, and also was gaming on top of its game (no pun intended). Zelda became a synonym for quality in the world of games.


But after Majora’s Mask (still in my opinion one of the most underrated games in history), the rest of the gaming world started catching up. Because of a different approach to the franchise and also because the developers (and Nintendo’s hardware) started lagging behind the competitors, the handheld Zeldas, Wind Waker, and especially Twilight Princess became decent games marred by potential, and marred by superior presentations of other games. Now, I know graphics aren’t everything, but part of the appeal of Zelda was its incredible presentation, attention to detail, and the fact that this was Nintendo’s sandbox for creating the ultimate game. The Legend of Zelda series is the equivalent of an epic film aiming to earn all the Academy Awards. Nintendo always pushes the boundaries of what they can do when the famed hero is in the center of the game.

Now we go back to Skyward Sword. This game is superb, but (just like Twilight Princess) suffers so much from the Wii’s limitations that all I can do is sit back and be upset but what it could have been. Skyward Sword looks even weaker than Perfect Dark Zero, an XBox 360 game that is already over 6 years old. This Zelda was aiming high with its gripping storyline, creative and expansive environment, and its new art style---which suits Zelda quite well. It contains some of the best Zelda gameplay since Ocarina of Time, as well as the best story since Majora's Mask. It has the right blend of heart, humor, and whimsical adventure. This game honestly is the best we've seen from the Wii since Super Mario Galaxy 2. But the game suffers from lower textures, lack of graphical details we now see in PS3 and XBox 360 games released at around the same time, and small little bugs like partially going through a wall.


So what should Nintendo have done? Made Skyward Sword a WiiU launch title. While I am a Wii owner and am repeatedly frustrated by the pure lack of games in recent times, Skyward Sword should have been pushed over to next year and become a launch title. The WiiU also implements motion controls, so why not make this game for a system that’s rumored to be twice as strong as the 360? Not sure if you saw it, but the Zelda demo in the WiiU during E3 earlier this year looked quite phenomenal. Personally, I would have pushed for the HD next-generation graphics as opposed to continuing to make the game for a system that is pretty much 7 leagues behind the competitors in terms of graphics and hardware. What better way to start the WiiU’s life than delivering Nintendo’s first HD Zelda? Skyward Sword is quite grand in scale and would have definitely benefited from a stronger hardware at the helm.

Releasing it to the WiiU would have finally given Zelda a spot it has not received in 11 years: the peak. Skyward Sword in HD would have been Zelda on top of its game, and would have been action-adventure gaming on top of its game. It would have made a far bigger impact and would have risen amongst the surprisingly vast array of awesome action games. Skyward Sword would not have been just another good game; it would have left its mark on the industry, much like what the earlier Zelda games accomplished.

We would have gotten a Zelda game with an orchestrated soundtrack, a very different (and downright fun) mix of dungeons, adventures, and side-quests, AND then high-definition graphics that would have showcased what Nintendo’s first HD system could deliver. They should have waited. Now, we have a great game muddled in the pack of excellent games we’ve gotten in Fall 2011. While this is usually no issue for franchises like Uncharted, Call of Duty, and Saint’s Row---this is freakin’ Legend of Zelda we are talking about. It feels strange seeing this game quietly whip up good reviews and decent sales, when two generations ago the franchise delivered a game that eternally changed the gaming world forever. Skyward Sword will entertain, but won’t inspire anything like what NES Zelda, Zelda II, Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Majora’s Mask did.


Bottom Line: The Wii has run its course unfortunately, with unmet potential, several disappointments, competitors catching on to the motion-control craze, mysterious disappearances (where the #()*)# is F-Zero?), and a Zelda game that was aiming for the moon but could only reach the sky. Skyward Sword is a superb game that is great to follow and lots of fun overall, but it stinks to see the WiiU just around the corner and this 35-40 hour mammoth adventure have to graphically and stylistically cut corners just to fit in the realm of Wii’s limitations. If I were personally running Nintendo, I would have delayed the game to next-generation, or pulled a Twilight Princess and just release it for two systems at the same time. Much like how an excellent film can be marred because of low-quality footage, Skyward Sword is a bundle of joy that is wrapped in mediocre presentation. But if they had waited just a year more, we would have had a totally different ballgame.

A Letter From a Gamer to Capcom (Part 3)

Part 2 is Here


Of course, Survival, Time Attack, Arcade, Training, Wi-fi Battle, Vs, and even Extra Game should all come back. Extra Game NEEDS a boost. Bringing that one game back, this sequel can introduce 5 more games to add to it for more variety. Maybe a race-like game, Megaman’s Target Practice, and a few others. One of them can include a watered-down demo version of Tatsunoko Fight that has a number of characters (less than the original game) and allows you to just do 5 fights but when you win all 5, you get Neon (as explained above). These extra games can be ‘bought’ with the same currency from the last game. Saving teams would be nice. Bosses can include a team of Buraiking Boss (Neo-Human Casshern), Sigma (Megaman X series), and Omega (Uchu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade).

Speaking of bought, that’s exactly what can be brought back from the previous game. Buying alternate costumes, extra games, icons (for wi-fi), and even character biographes obtained from beating arcade mode from specific characters. Gives the players things to go after; especially dark and light costumes for every character. Since the Wii U has 8 buttons to rotate through costumes, it’s easy to pull many costumes off.

Now, as for the actual gameplay itself, other than 3-on-3, nothing else from the fighting portion of gameplay should change. Baroque should come back, alternating hyper combos in the middle of others, team aerial combos, keeping the Japanese dub, Mega Crash, etc. As for the giant characters, with 3-on-3, what you guys can do is boost the amount of health that each character has to last long enough to not be IMPOSSIBLE to defeat but be challenging. Remember, as explained, Goliath would have a little more but with chopped down power. The levels would go from 1-4 before Maximizing at 5 like the previous game as well.

Why this game for the Wii U? Well, updated graphics (1080p HD), MUCH better wi-fi system, more data, and imagine this with the new tablets. Picture this, you’re playing the game against a friend of yours and your roommate pops in and says, “hey, there’s a great baseball game on that I would love to watch.” No problem. You pause the game and swipe the touch screen toward the television so that a screen showing who’s facing who with their health bars and level meters will appear on the television and the fight is now on the 2 tablets of you and your friend. Continue the fight there, roommate watches TV, everyone is happy! As well, the touch screen can be used in correspondence with the Extra Games and maybe (like Street Fighter 4 for the 3DS) have preset attacks that can be launched from the touch screen. All these features from the Wii U can benefit this game entirely and can add a lot of fun to the game that can be outside of fighting.

Now, am I going to let the PS3 and Xbox 360 users that only have Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 suffer looking at a potential game like this soar into the homes of Nintendo gamers? Not at all. This is up to you guys but you guys said that you WERE intending on having downloadable characters later on down the road, so what better for everyone than to release a bunch of new characters for UMvC3 owners so that they won’t feel left out? At least 5 from Marvel and 5 from Capcom would be enough. All one has to do is flip over the page of the book of characters to find the DLCs in a different section. Marvel Characters can include: Venom, Silver Samurai, Mister Fantastic, Gambit, and Falcon. As for Capcom characters, it can include Megaman (classic or Volnutt; if you decide to keep Volnutt for TvC2, then X would be most preferable), Ryu (Breath of Fire), Ruby Heart, Jet Black (Viewtiful Joe), and Sonson. These are just examples but they could be potential wants into UMvC3.

In conclusion, this is NOT me telling that you guys are under the water and NEED this to survive. I am a fan but if you guys do this, it would be incredible. I would buy the game in a heartbeat and even buy UMvC3 to go with my new PS3. The original Tatsunoko vs. Capcom had a lot of praise from many critics even here in America. It didn’t sell as well in America as you guys may have anticipated but, remember, you’re dealing with an audience that does not know half of the characters in the game. Many people started loving the Tatsunoko characters after playing this game so this sequel can add a better shot of selling a lot since many players now know who these guys are. Pull off the presentations on Youtube as you did for UMvC3, and this game will sell much more than the original did. Thanks for reading and thinking about it. As I said earlier, I’ve been a fan of you guys for years so I wish you guys the absolute best in your productions for the future.





Sincerely,
Michael Malespin
Just a fan; nothing more

A Letter From a Gamer to Capcom (Part 2)

Part 1 of the Letter

Not bad so far right? These are very potent characters that can work.

Now for Capcom:

#1 Zig (Last Ranker)

Judging by this character, you can tell I’m doing what I should be doing (kind of targeting the Japanese audience). Last Ranker is a game that has NEVER come out for America so this would get the Americans to know him more and get the Japanese to love him more. He had some nice sword techniques in Last Ranker that can be used here:

1st Level 1 Hyper Combo can be one of the hidden techniques he learned in Last Ranker in which he tosses an energy ball towards the opponent and CAN be used in midair to aim at the opponent below. CAN be cancelled with other projectile hyper combos.

2nd Level 1 Hyper Combo can be that critical hit you get sometimes with those blue slash marks in Last Ranker. It’s a nearby kind of aim that it’s looking for.

Level 3 Hyper Combo can be called ‘Final Blow’ relating to Zig’s final blow against the final boss in Last Ranker. It’s similar to Zero’s level 3 Hyper Combo in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, cancelling ANY hyper combos that can be cancelled.
He is a medium-fast character that will dish out some good combos.

#2. Jin Saotomi (Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness)

Where did this guy go? He was crazy in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. He will be one of the 4 characters I will recommend to bring back from MvC2. For Jin, it’s a copy-paste kind of character. Just take what you got from Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and just make the barrage-of-guns hyper combo as his level 3. Although…I could do without the constant clothes removal he did a lot in the past…

#3 Jotaro Kujo (Jojo’s Bizzare Adventures)

This is one of the most awesome-looking characters that can show up on a fighting game without question. He and his Stand powers can knock the opponents by launching multi-hit moves. I managed to attain potential hyper combos right here:

1st Level Hyper Combo is simple. His Stand ghost gets released and beats up on the opponent BUT Jotaro can be controlled regularly to either do another hyper or join in on the beat up AS the Stand power is attacking.

2nd Hyper Combo can be a Hyper Combo canceller. His Stand will release a giant punch on the opponent (similar to what he did in the video game). After all, that can’t be cancelled because he’s a ghost.

Level 3 Hyper Combo can be a charging up animation that you saw in the game but the effect will act like an X-Factor from Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in which Jotaro and his Stand power will be faster and much stronger for a short period of time and heals his red bar during the time too.

Jotaro is quick and lightweight so he is a fast guy with not so much power.

#4 Tokugawa Ieyasu (Sengoru Besara)

Might as well give this guy some love as well coming from an American and then Japan-only game. He is a relaxed samurai who has a lot of power for his looks. He relates to Iron Fist in a way. The only hyper combo I can think of with him is a Level 3 Hyper Combo in which he attacks the opponent by knocking him down. Afterwards, he calls his army to ambush and thrash the opponent and then they scatter.

#5 Captain Commando (Captain Commando)

Another throwback in which I thought was the main mascot for Capcom for one second (Cap-Captain, Com-Commando…anybody?). Regardless, I could never beat him in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 if it killed me. He’s quick, strong, and pretty easy to use. Just copy and paste this guy, and all you’ll need is a Level 3 Hyper Combo in which Baby will spring out a claw that grips the opponent and then Commando, Ninja, and Mummy will give the opponent a barrage of attacks with Captain Commando ending it with a huge thunder punch. Pretty nice right? It makes your jobs easier just doing this.

#6 Samanousuke Akechi (Omnimusha)

Sooooo….a medium version of Kajin no Soki but with different attacks other than his level 3 where his final attack, after charging up enough soul energy since he transformed into that form, can send a huge wave blast that does a ton of damage? Yep, that’s pretty much what I came up with. The level 1 Hyper Combos I can’t think of any but you guys can definitely come up with some cool stuff for him. The Japanese will love seeing this guy in the game.

#7 Rouge (Power Stone)

A fun little character than can actually bring something very different to the table. As you fight with Rouge, random colored gemstones can start popping up during the fight in which Rouge can pick up. Judging by the colored gemstones, it can determine what kind of hyper combo you’ll get. This can lead to one of the few characters in the game to have more than 3 hyper combos. Give it a shot! Rouge can be a medium character.

#8 B.B. Hood (Darkstalkers)

This…is another character than can definitely work in this game. It’s almost copy-paste. The problem here is that her level 1 Hyper combo where she’s crying because of her grandma and throws the opponent in her tears seems too cartoony. If that can be replaced with another one while her weapon-crazy barrage from her basket is her level 3, you pretty much have this character down.

#9 Tyrant (Breath of Fire 4) [LARGE character]

Finding another large character to go with Goliath was tough until I came across this final boss. He’s HUGE! He can be a tough threat to the character roster. I came up with a couple combos for him:

1st Level 1 Hyper Combo can be where he creates a dark blast from the ground in front of him. Similar to Zero’s Level 1 Hyper Combo in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I can’t think of a

2nd level 1 Hyper combo…BUT…

Level 3 Hyper Combo can be Dark Wave as used in Breath of Fire 4. Once you see that move, you’ll know why I considered that to be a great level 3 Hyper Combo.
EXTREMELY powerful. His range of attacks is not so good though and is pretty slow…
Below is a list of 4 Capcom characters that can be used as hidden characters as well (total of 8)

H#1 Hayato Kanzaki (Star Gladiator)

The last character I ask of you guys to bring back. He is such an awesome character that could work coming back. Another copy-paste (since his combo-creating attacks were actually pretty distinct from the others in Marvel vs. Capcom 2) however he had 4 hyper combos. Make his charging up his level 3 and get rid of the one where he slashes opponents in the dark and you’re good.

How to obtain: Beat Arcade mode with all 26 characters from the first Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (excluding Damaio)

H#2 Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure)

Once again, we have a newly added hero with a newly added villain! Dio is a brutal character than can be all-power with not so much speed. Thanks to the video game, I managed to find 3 good Hyper combos for him.

1st Level 1 Hyper Combo can be him throwing a bunch of knives at the opponent. Simple.

2nd Level 1 Hyper Combo can be used in the air where he leaps up, slams the opponent with a steamroller, and punches the daylights out of it until it explodes. Lovely.

MAXIMUM Hyper combo has GOT to be End of World. As his levels go down, the opponent is frozen and you can pull off hyper combos until the End of World is done.
Nice throwback from an old game right? That’s why I thought this would work. Plus, on a side note, PLEASE allow Shadow Dio to be an alternate costume. That would be awesome
How to obtain: Beat 20+ matches in Survival (if Tekkaman Blade hasn’t been achieved yet, you’ll get him first; then Dio Brando)

H#3 Blade Master Alastor (Viewtiful Joe)

Didn’t think I’d go here right? Viewtiful Joe was a great action-packed game with so many characters yet just using the hero as a fighter? Here, we give love to Joe’s rival. Of course, it would be more interesting to add him where Dante is but this is the next best thing! Alastor can be a quick combo king with his exploding swords (of course, they don’t ALL have to explode but just saying). I do have his hyper combos here if you’re interested:

1st Level 1 Hyper Combo can be where Alastor shoots a bunch of exploding swords that, like in the original video game, float and home at the opponent so that as the player beats up the opponent, the swords can hit the opponent to add to the combos.

2nd Level 1 Hyper Combo is a nice little beat ‘em up hyper combo where he takes out 2 swords and slashes the opponent relentlessly and ends the final slash by exploding the 2 swords.

Level 3 Hyper Combo can be where Alastor takes out one sword to hit the opponent and, when successful, Alastor will levitate and toss a ton of swords surrounding the opponent as he/she struggle to get back up. Afterwards, Alastor will look away from the opponent and drop his pointed finger from the air to drop a purple bolt that hits the swords and a huge burst of purple electricity shatter the opponent. A very sinister Hyper Combo.
How to obtain: Beat AN OPPONENT on Time Attack under a certain time (you guys can help here. Also, if you pull this off, no matter what final time you end up with, you’ll get Alastor before Jimmy the Falcon/Berg)

H#4 Bass (Megaman series)

This is perhaps the greatest final character to reveal in this sequel. Who would expect this? One of, if not, the greatest villain in Capcom history in this game paired up with Megaman and Zero…like a dream come true. He is definitely going to be a powerhouse and a tad slower than Zero and Megaman. I have his hyper combos too:

1st Level 1 Hyper Combo is actually a fun one. Bass will turn his buster into a mine buster and then shoots mines at the opponent and stick to them too. Afterwards, he switches back to the buster mode and blasts the opponent with the mines stuck to them.

2nd Level 1 Hyper Combo can be where Bass punches the opponent and then Treble comes in and attacks the opponent. Afterwards, Bass just looks at the hurt opponent, pulls out his blaster, and blasts the opponent with a sharp, powerful beam.

Level 3 Hyper Combo can be Bass setting up his blaster and then tries to vacuum up the opponent. When successful, Bass will use his energy and rage towards his buster to set up a HUGE blast that he sends to the air along with the opponent. All but the blast is darkened.

Is there a better final character than this guy? Doubt it. MASSIVE fan favorite. It would be amazing if this character is in the game.
How to obtain: Beat arcade mode with every Capcom character (beating it using the characters; not ENDING the arcade with them necessarily)

#10 Megaman X (Megaman X games) [to replace Megaman Volnutt]

The ONE replacement that I would agree on and accept; Megaman X has been BEGGED upon! Having 2 Megamen in the game would seem pointless. That’s why replacing Megaman Volnutt would seem fair. Now, am I telling you that this is a better move? No. If you guys feel that many players use Volnutt, IGNORE this entire paragraph. But if you are interested, this is what I have for X.

1st Level 1 Hyper Combo can be X setting up his buster to ice beam mode and blasts the opponent to freeze them into a ball of ice (HAS to be funny seeing this on a giant character) and afterwards, runs toward the ice ball and beats it up ending it with a normal blast from his techno buster.

2nd Level 1 Hyper Combo can basically be Megaman Volnutt’s hyper combo when he drilled the opponent upward except X can just use his fist and end that with a Buster Blast too.

Level 3 Hyper Combo can be a throwback. X punches the opponent and, as he’s ready to blast the opponent, X hears a familiar whistle. The camera pans to Protoman watching from a distance. He jumps in and both he and X blast the opponent with a MASSIVE combination blast.

Again, you don’t HAVE to replace Volnutt with X but I wouldn’t mind that replacement if it ever happened.

So we got through the characters and now, let’s discuss gameplay.........

To Be Continued.

Original Writer:
Michael Malespin