The Henry Stickmin Collection

Merry Christmas!

Mario beating the Heck outta Dracula?
Where do I sign up?

Back in the days of Newgrounds, I played a buttload of Flash games. From fan games of Mario beating up bosses from other games to all the previous installments of the GemCraft series, passing by titles that could be perfectly serviceable indie Steam releases if they had been made for profit. Or, Heck, even if they had been released to Steam for free.

Some websites have moved on to games made on HTML5, while others have made it their duty to catalogue and preserve the Flash games in some way. With the end of Flash at the end of the year – in less than a week – these conservationist sites are much welcome.

This screenshot is taken from a Flash game called
Villainous. I loved it.

It’s not a completely accurate comparison, but much like someone who tries their hand at fanfiction before writing a proper original novel of their own, building a Flash game is a valuable learning experience in game development, and can open the doors to the indie world (or, who knows, all the way to AAA). In fact, there are several games I used to play on Newgrounds that were good on their own, that now have versions on Steam – with price tag, sure, but it’s good to see these creators moving from free games to actually being compensated for their work. It might also have to do with several seeing the writing on the wall for Flash for a few years now, so they remade their game (or created sequels) for a digital gaming distribution platform like Steam.

One of the series that made the jump is Henry Stickmin, whose five games have been entirely remade, with a bonus sixth to make it really worth the price tag. I recall playing “Stealing the Diamond” way back, so I wasn’t entirely stranger to the series. But it was a treat to rediscover it (and play through all the games I had missed) through this collection. Not to mention the moments of hilarity it gave me. For, if there is one thing we needed this year, it was laughter.

Punch-Out!! Wii

I can now cross an item off the list of Nintendo franchises I’ve never played.

Punch-Out!! has a special place in the hearts of many Nintendo fans, in spite of being a fairly small franchise. After a modest start with a couple games in arcades, it was eventually ported for Nintendo’s Game & Watch, and then on their home consoles, with its content adjusted for the more child-friendly platforms. We got Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out for the NES, featuring Mike Tyson as the final boss; Super Punch-Out for the SNES; and this game for the Wii, made by Next Level Games and released in North America on May 18th, 2009.

The franchise’s concept has appeal: You are Little Mac, an up-and-coming boxer trained by Doc Louis, an ex-heavyweight champion, and you are going up the ranks of the boxing world. Your adversaries are walking, talking national stereotypes with comical quirks, but they also have their own attacks that you must learn and defend yourself against. It’s not about unleashing a flurry of punches on them without thinking; it’s about studying them, spotting the telegraphing of their attacks, and reacting accordingly with proper timing. Dodge and/or punch back, and if it’s been done correctly, the opposing boxer is left stunned and open for attacks.

Will I fare well on my first experience? Let’s see.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes

Who would need a story to
enjoy a 3D Picross anyway?

I’ve frequently wondered how puzzle games could have stories. For several of them, the answer is simple: They don’t. They give their challenges to the players, and that’s it. Other games attempt to tie the puzzles to the plot. This, however, usually means creating all sorts of different puzzles instead of focusing on only one type. Today's game fits the latter, and is also a mystery story involving murders that must be solved.

However, Professor Layton this isn’t. 

James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes was developed by Ubisoft and released on the Nintendo 3DS on November 1st, 2011 in North America. The game utilizes all the capabilities of the console, even the camera and the built-in tilt detection for some puzzles. It also does things I don’t recall seeing in games before… and it’s not exactly a great thing. I think it will be best explained as I cover the plot. How does it go?

(For the sake of explaining the plot, I'll use the second person, since the game tries so hard to involve the player in the plot.)

Something looks really uncanny about this.

In June 1961, "you" are auditioning for the hit TV gameshow The Incredible Puzzle Masters, hosted by Glenn Darnby. How the show works: Two contestants alternate weeks, the first contestant on week #1, the second on week #2, the first contestant returns for week #3, and so on. This goes on for a maximum of six rounds. On each round, both participants have to reach a score. The first participant must reach the score, and the second must also reach it and beat the other's performance. The required number of points increases for Round 2, and puzzles get tougher, but the rewards increase. The game ends when either contestant doesn’t reach a round’s required score, or the second participant doesn’t beat the score of the first. The winner’s prize is a year-long trip around the world, with all expenses paid by the show.

Top 12 Pokémon Mechanics That Should Come Back

It’s very easy to make lists related to the Pokémon series, if only due to the sheer number of elements in it. Over 900 species with tons of alternate forms, eight generations in the main series and countless side-games, items as far as the eye can see, abilities and moves and whatnot…

Oh, and gameplay mechanics. So many gameplay mechanics. Most of the core mechanics come back, all the time – and we’re thankful for it. Berries, special Pokéballs, hidden abilities – all things that the games can’t do without by this point. However, some things showed up for a single Generation. Game Freak keeps finding new ideas for mechanics related to Pokémon encounters, but also has the bad habit of dropping things nilly-willy between games in the main series.

Today, I’m digging through over 20 years of Pokémon to pick out 12 things that I would like to see making a comeback, in some way or another, in the franchise. Usually because it’s a cool idea on its own, or because it would be quite great to see it be implemented with newer mechanics that have stayed… I’m also not saying that all of these mechanics could fit into a single game, either, as some can't coexist. Keep in mind that I haven’t played any games from Gen VIII (Sword/Shield and everything that will come after), so examples from those games will be rare in the list. Most of my examples are based on my own gaming experiences with the franchise, ranging from Gens III to VII.

Before I begin, here is one willful omission: The National Dex. As much as I would love to see a game in which we can genuinely “catch them all” again, I also acknowledge that the franchise’s unsustainable growth and the inclusion of more and more species means that there has to be cuts at some point. While I dislike Game Freak’s actual explanation (and excuses) for it, I do agree that it’s getting harder and harder to include every Pokémon in one single game. Hardware limitations and other factors are the cause for it. Mind you, it’s sad for me as I’m a collector above anything else in Pokémon, so I love to have a full living Dex. I don’t like having Pokémon cut out, but I have come to reluctantly accept it. With this, on with the list. Starting with…

12. Swarms/mass outbreaks (Gens II-V)

Route 18? It's a swarm of Exeggcute!
I'm on my way!

If you’ve played games from those generations, you probably remember them. The basic mechanic was changed at every Gen, but the concept remains the same: For a limited time, a Pokémon will swarm a single Route or place where it’s not usually found, and will replace most of the encounters you’ll have in the area. Generally, the Pokémon that swarm are of a species that’s not a part of the current game’s regional Dex. It’s a nice bonus to help with completing the National Dex. I especially remember its use in Pokémon HeartGold, where swarms were for Pokémon from the Hoenn and Sinnoh dexes (since the game included Kanto and Johto), and in Pokémon Black/White, where it allowed Pokémon from past Gens to appear on routes otherwise populated exclusively by creatures from the Unova Dex. During Gen VII, it was replaced by the QR Scanner function, which was impractical and annoying since you would encounter only one Pokémon of a family not in the regional Dex. I think it would be neat to have something like this happen again, even if its inclusion in new games might be tricky.