Mario Party 10 (Wii U) Review

The work week ends and the weekend begins with celebratory fashion. Party hard with Mario and friends in the tenth installment of the Mario Party franchise, Mario Party 10. Is this party worthy of RSVPing to? Find out with my in-depth review!

Bowser's crashed this party. It's recommended

that you go ahead and crash it, too.

Mario Party games used to be like Maroon 5. It was everywhere, and you couldn't get away from it no matter how much you'd want to and how many times you'd smash your head against a brick wall to suffer enough brain damage to forget it forever. However, over the years and with a change of development team (Hudson to ND Cube, which to be fair is made up of former Hudson employees), Mario Party has dialed it back a bit. For instance, the Wii only had two Mario Party games released for it when the Nintendo 64 and GameCube had three and four respectively. Now, over 15 years later since his very first party, Mario is back with friends (and a ticked off Bowser) in Mario Party 10, the first entry to hit the Wii U. Does this party deliver a fiesta of fun?

Mario Party 10's main mode, the aptly titled Mario Party, is structured similarly to Mario Party 9's. It has all four players riding along a fairly linear board, occasionally offering a duo of paths to venture down, in the same vehicle. The player whose turn it is controls the vehicle by rolling a die, and whatever spaces they land on or events they pass through happen solely to them. The goal of the Mario Party mode is to possess the most Mini Stars by the end of the board. This is performed through playing mini-games which happen sporadically through landing on special spaces, collecting coins from special event spaces, and a myriad of other means.

Mushroom Park, the first of only five boards.

Captain events from Mario Party 9 are absent, but this is seen by me as a good thing. Captain events had the player who controlled the vehicle upon reaching the event the choice of trying to influence the game with some strategy. However, these events generally took so long that they became annoying on repeated play-throughs. With Mario Party 10 removing these, play is much faster.

The player in control of the vehicle is about to get
that bundle of Mini Stars laying there.

In fact, play in general in Mario Party 10 is much faster and streamlined. Gone is the waiting for a CPU player to choose a special dice block in their possession and slowly rolling it. Instead, the block is chosen without any scene showing them selecting it, and they roll. Mini-games load faster, offering simple explanations via a quick video and short, scrolling description. There's little "now what button do I press again?" in this Mario Party.

The Mushroom Kingdoms crew will do just
about anything for their daily dose of Vitamin C.

In the Mario Party mode, there are five boards to play on, a departure from past games that usually have six full boards at the very least. These boards feature plenty of chances for the tides to turn, allowing some players to make a daring comeback-- perhaps TOO many. It can seem sometimes that the first 75% of a board has little bearing on the outcome of a game when the last 25% has a heavy influence on who is deemed the winner and who goes home a last-second loser... and an understandably bitter one at that. When one board has it where if you end up in the path of a fireball near the end and you lose half of your Mini Stars-- which is very easy to do-- games can be decided a bit unfairly at times. What's the point of playing the first three quarters of a board, you might ask? That would be a good question, in all honesty.

Halfway through and at the end of each Mario Party mode board is a fortress that serves as a place in a game for one of two boss mini-games. These pit four players against one boss with the goal of earning the most hits against the boss to earn the most points. There are mini-games where you try to memorize and avoid the locations of Boos to traverse a series of tiles leading to one of many spotlights to shine in King Boo's naught face, and games where you try to stumble your way through a maze to reach one of four cannons first to blast a colossal Monty Mole.

A barrage of bombs are blasted in Petey
Piranha's unattractive mug.

Meanwhile, Bowser Party pits four players against Bowser, once again highlighting the Wii U's ability to use asymmetrical gameplay in a beneficial way. The four players use Wii Remotes while the Bowser player utilizes the Wii U GamePad for rolling die and controlling one of ten specially made mini-games for this mode.

Each player on the competing side begins in the same vehicle with a set amount of hearts. Each player rolls a die, earning a special and quite helpful dice block when they land on a blue space. These can be used strategically to gain create some distance between the players and Bowser. Once the players roll, Bowser gets several dice blocks to roll at once. Depending on how well or poorly the Bowser player does, the always loyal Bowser Jr. either assists his father with the addition of more dice blocks or to cause havoc for the other players.

Faced with the other option of being destroyed
by Bowser, I think it's understandable to run away.

When Bowser catches up with the other players, a mini-game begins with the goal of Bowser to defeat the other players (or at least rough them up real good) and for the other side to just survive. The mini-games have Bowser employing a varied amount of means to damage the other players, costing them hearts in the process. All the while the players need to evade Bowser's assaults. One mini-game has the players needing to quickly alternate between the A and 2 buttons to climb up a tower to avoid Bowser's advances, who pursues and shuffles up behind them. The majority of the mini-games are all about dodges Bowser's attacks with just one of them being based on luck for both sides. The mini-games seen in Bowser Party are fun to play, much like the other mini-games in general, but I can't help but wish there were at least five or ten more. With only ten mini-games total in Bowser Party, one can fly through all of them within one or two games.

Careful, Mario and friends, or Bowser
is going to hand it to you-- literally!

The most controversial mode in Mario Party 10 is Amiibo Party, controversial due to the fact that it's hidden behind a paywall, the price of an amiibo figurine. This is closest to the traditional Mario Party rules of old. There are ten turns, and four players roll the die to move around a square board. The goal is to earn coins either through the mini-games that play after each round of turns is over or through landing on special spaces and areas to afford Power Stars. The player with the most Power Stars at the conclusion of ten turns is deemed the winner.

Depending on the Amiibo used, the board in
Amiibo Party will have different properties to it.

While it definitely stinks that you have to possess a $12-$13 figurine to play this mode, it sort of is offset by Mario Party 10 costing $50 MSRP instead of the full $60. Buying a figure makes it so you're basically paying the price of a full game anyway. Those mental and financial gymnastics by me aside, this isn't optimal for most people, especially those on a budget. It definitely is geared towards those who collect amiibo like myself. It's sort of underhanded by Nintendo and ND Cube to have a mode locked behind requiring a $12 toy.

Mario Party 10's mini-games are one of the best batches in series history. There are a lot of things you can slight developer ND Cube for with their installments of the Mario Party series (9, 10, and the Nintendo 3DS's Island Tour), but the mini-game selection is not one of them. Games are played in a free-for-all setting, 2 vs. 2 team setting, or 1 vs. 3 setting. Thankfully, the majority of these are skill-based with maybe just one relying a little on luck.

I don't want your honey-- honest! Leave me "bee"!

The games presented here in Mario Party 10 are generally really fun. Bob-Omb Bogey, for instance, has players trying to be the first to hit a golf ball that appears onto a tee to earn the most points. However, occasionally a Bob-Omb appears, which takes away points if it's hit by a player. Beeline Shrine features a challenge of avoiding bees that appear in various patterns. Meanwhile, Snake Block Party is a bit of platforming peril, having players scurry along in the sky on moving snake blocks, trying to reach the goal first.

Mario fans finally get that paintball game
that they have been wanting.

Outside of the three main modes, there are multiple miniature modes in the mix as well, such as Coin Challenge that pits four players to compete in a series of seven randomly selected mini-game to determine the winner by coin amount at the very end. There are also two more complicated mini-games in the form of Badminton Bash and Jewel Drop.

This mini-game looks simple enough,
but then you get tilt controls to worry about.

In addition to the modes presented in Mario Party 10, you can spend Mario Party Points earned from playing the game on various in-shop items in Toad's Room. From two secret characters to different vehicles for Mario Party mode, backgrounds and character models for the Photo Mode (which you can share your pics with folks on Miiverse), and music, there's a lot to spend your hard-earned points on. There are also challenges that unlock when specific conditions are met, earning players hundreds of Mario Party Points and adding some longevity to Mario Party 10 in the process.

Ground pounds are a hazard to your butts, kiddies.
Make note of this.

Many of the modes in Mario Party 10 offer a more streamlined approach, and it seems that has bled over into the presentation of the game, too. Basic and minimalist menus are what Mario Party 10 delivers, and while they look serviceable enough, I do miss the personality that was apparent in the presentation of past Mario Party games. What is present in Mario Party 10 is much more sterile in comparison. The visuals are quite pleasant on the other hand, possessing tremendous amounts of character and polish. This is best displayed in the mini-games, which are bursting with personality. The music features competent melodic tunes with a suitably amount of cheeriness to them, though nothing that I could currently hum back to you. They just aren't that memorable this time around.

Mario Party 10 might not be the great game that fans were hoping for the milestone tenth installment, but it's a fun game in small doses and solely if you have other friends to play with. A lack of online play of any kind-- even if just for mini-games, is pretty much inexcusable in 2015, once again showing Nintendo's archaic stance on online play, and hiding Amiibo Party behind a $12 paywall is sort of slimy. However, with some of the best mini-games ever seen in a Mario Party game, great boards, and a wide selection of playing choices, Mario Party 10 manages to make for a hearty party.

[SPC Says: C+]

Announcing the Release of Super Push Adventure, My First Official Game!

As someone who has been reviewing games for the better part of seven years now, you might be asking yourself occasionally, "Well, if you know what makes a good game, then why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" For the past two years I've been doing just that, working on my own video game.

Today I am very excited to announce that that game in question, Super Push Adventure, is now complete and is ready for download! Here's a description from the game page on itch.io!

Super Push Adventure stars Trevor McMannis, a bird aficionado, who gets a tip that a rare, elusive species of bird is holed up in a secret cavern. Trevor enters a finds more than he bargained for! Can you help Trevor solve the trials of this mysterious cavernous complex and nab each bird on each floor of the game?

Over 80 levels of pushing fun! - Every ten floors is a new themed area, and each floor gradually introduces new gameplay mechanics and gimmicks to keep the experience fresh and fun!

Charming cast of characters! - See the beginning of a beautiful friendship when Trevor meets up with a talking bipedal wolf in a fedora, Rolf! The two have humorous conversations and witty dialogue abound!

Original sprites and music! - Look at the well designed and simplistic art style while you listen to the catchy and melodic tunes made specifically for Super Push Adventure!

Over 25 challenges to complete! - Meet certain requirements to complete in-game challenges that keep the longevity of the game going! Perhaps after completing a certain amount of challenges you will unlock something good!

Challenge yourself to beat the target times! - Try to beat all 80+ levels in quick fashion to beat Rolf the Wolf's target times for each level. Can you beat them all?

Here are some screenshots of the game in action:

If you'd like to listen to the soundtrack in anticipation for playing Super Push Adventure, you can check it out at this link. 

As for the game, download it here for FREE and let me know what you think!

Gone But Not Forgotten 3: More Game Cancellations That Still Sting

Time to open up some old wounds, ladies and gentlemen! When a game you're hyping is suddenly cancelled, whether it's with an official announcement or worse, quietly never talked about again, it's an emotional blow that takes something out of your soul. Perhaps I'm waxing poetic here, so I'll just say that a game cancellation for something you're hyped about takes its toll on you. That's what this series of articles is all about, games that were cancelled, either ceremoniously or not, that still hurt to this day. If you'd like to check out the first and second installments of this series, check them out with part one and part two. Now, let's open up those wounds!

Maverick Hunter X (PS3, 360)

We kick this third look at cancelled games with some Mega Man X action. Developed by several folks who had worked on Metroid Prime, Maverick Hunter X was pumped and primed to be Capcom's attempt to create a similar game. Played in a first-person perspective with the ability to scale walls, Mega Man X was in an all-new form for this perceived reboot. However, as Mega Man lead director Keiji Infaune left the company, this project was scrapped. Thankfully, all of us can view this footage of what could have been a fantastic entry in the series and a new era of Mega Man games.

True Fantasy Live Online (XBX)

A collaboration with Level-5 and Microsoft, True Fantasy Live Online was met with feverish anticipation from the moment it was unveiled. Offering an expansive fantasy world allowing for thousands of players to inhabit it simultaneously, the promises made by both companies involved sounded too good to be true. Unfortunately, they very much were too good to be true. A combination of Level-5's inexperience with online gaming and Microsoft's continued demands made for a partnership that quickly unraveled at the seams. The project was officially cancelled, and the two sides left with a bit of equal bitterness.

Star Fox 2 (SNES)

Nintendo and Argonaut Games worked together on this direct sequel to 1993's Super Nintendo classic Star Fox. It was to feature new vehicle types, two new Star Fox team members, and an upgraded use of the Super FX chip, allowing for unparalleled 3D on the Super Nintendo hardware. The latter was the reason this basically complete game was shelved, never to be released in official capacity. Star Fox 2 was set to release in the summer of '95. However, it seemed this projected date was too close to that of the launch of the Nintendo 64. Thus, Nintendo decided to not release the game, wanting the next Star Fox to use highest caliber graphics possible that only the N64 could provide.

Crash Team Racing 2010 (PS3, 360, Wii)

Planned for development in 2010, a prototype for an all-new Crash Team Racing was being devised by High Impact Games, most notably the makers of various PSP spin-offs of acclaimed PlayStation series like Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank, and Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, to name a few. Before the prototype could be completely 100% finished, the publisher Activision cancelled the project. However, there is footage of the prototype and game in motion. The cancellation of this 2010 incarnation of Crash Team Racing was a rolling snowball in the number of cancellations surrounding the Crash Bandicoot IP, including a Nintendo DS racer by Renegade Kid and a new 3D platformer in the series. Nowadays, Crash Bandicoot sits at home reliving his best days and old adventures on his busted PS1 and watching commercials starring himself. He now weighs 408 lbs.

Toe Jam & Earl 3 (DC)

While the funky duo of Toe Jam and Earl did arrive for a third installment on the Xbox, that finished product and the original vision of the game on the Dreamcast are two entirely different beasts. While the Xbox game is more of a traditional 3D adventure, the Dreamcast game was much more in line with how its Genesis predecessors behaved and played. The so-called "rough cut" is available to play, and you can do so and find more information about the project at this link, courtesy of Eurogamer. Do you think in a parallel universe the finished Dreamcast would have been more intriguing than the released Xbox game?

Mega Man Mania (GBA)

Bookending this edition of Gone But Not Forgotten is a double dose of Mega Man. Around the time that Mega Man Anniversary Collection, which contained all eight mainline classic Mega Man games, was announced and later released for the PS2, GameCube, and later the Xbox, Capcom also had plans to release a companion collection for the Game Boy Advance. This would have been a compendium of Mega Man's handheld adventures from the original Game Boy. Months upon months turned into years with little information regarding Mega Man Mania (here's footage in the form of a trailer), the compilation in question, until it was sadly and silently killed off, much like the Blue Bomber is with Capcom today.

Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4, XONE, PC) Gameplay Video – “Officer Down”

"As the citizens of Gotham flee and criminal gangs take control of the city, Batman uses his own special methods to discover the true purpose behind Scarecrow's plans."

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Spring Has Sprung Edition

We're a few days into spring, and the birds are tweeting (but not on Twitter-- that'd be one heck of a trick!), the flowers are beginning to bloom, and the weather is much warmer. We've broken through the wall of winter and have arrived at spring! Looks like a fantastic chance to share five new VGMs with you guys and gals. I have music from Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, ICO, TimeSplitters 2, Sonic Rush Adventure, and The Last of Us. It's quite an eclectic mix if I do say so myself!

If you would like even more VGM goodness, check out my VGM Database that houses all 835 prior VGM volumes for your ears to listen to!

v836. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U) - Razzle-Dazzle Slider

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a charming budget title for the Wii U that stars both Captain Toad and Toadette. The latter of which is the character that plays this pinball style level, Razzle-Dazzle Slider, full of bright lights and this jazzy theme.

v837. ICO (PS2) - You Were There

A powerful vocal theme from ICO, You Were There is a song that touches upon the soul and elicits a great range of emotions from the listener. Who knew that over a decade later that we'd still be waiting on the team behind ICO's third game? Is The Last Guardian still around? Does it still exist? Is it finally time to ask for a time of death? These are questions with answers as mysterious as the themes of ICO.

v838. TimeSplitters 2 (PS2, GCN, XBX) - Siberia

TimeSplitters 2 and GoldenEye 007 have quite a few parallels between the two games. For one, several key staff members of Free Radical Design worked on both games. Another is that both first missions in both games take place at a Russian dam. Graeme Norgate wrote the music for the TimeSplitters series, and this theme brings a feeling of mystery and wonder with it.

v839. Sonic Rush Adventure (DS) - Blizzard Peaks (Mario and Sonic Version)

This version of Sonic Rush Adventure's Blizzard Peaks comes from Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. The original song was already an awesome one, and this remix, like most of the remixes in the Mario and Sonic series of Olympic titles, is even better.

v840. The Last of Us (PS3) - The Path (A New Beginning)

A guitar plays this somber theme from The Last of Us. What's your opinion on the game? I don't have nearly the same love for Naughty Dog as others do. Some of my trepidation towards the developer comes from its desire to make more Hollywood-style experiences rather than actual video games. Still, I think there's room in the industry both types of gameplay experiences, so I can't say I have an ax to grind against Naughty Dog.

TimeSplitters 2 (PS2, GCN, XBX) Retro Review

The first-person shooter is admittedly not my favorite genre. It needs to be a specific type of FPS for me to really dig into it, one with a feel for an arena-based shooting experience, and one with a campaign that isn't linear. TimeSplitters 2 is both of these things, and it makes for a well reviewed game as you'll see with this review of mine.

The Heir to Perfect Dark's Throne

My favorite first-person shooter of all time is Perfect Dark. True to its name, the game offered a perfect mix of solo play and multiplayer options, a healthy heap of content, and a presentation that was jaw-dropping for the time, even if now, the game plays more like a slideshow thanks to the sporadic frame-rate.

Fifteen months before the game was set to release on the Nintendo 64 back in 2000, a portion of the development team packed up and left to create a new studio, Free Radical Design. The team, made up of notable members like David Doak, Steve Ellis, and Graeme Norgate, released TimeSplitters on the PlayStation 2 as their first completed project. As soon as development for that game was finished and the game launched to high fanfare, the team then turned its attention to the sequel, TimeSplitters 2, this time arriving on two more platforms, Microsoft's Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube.

Amassing a hefty load of content and acclaimed first-person shooting action, TimeSplitters 2 seemed like a game I should have played a long time ago, just based on the credentials of the team alone. It turns out that TimeSplitters 2 is the Perfect Dark heir that I had been waiting to play for over a decade now.

Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart, two space marines, arrive at a space station that is infested with TimeSplitters, an alien race that wants nothing more than to see the demise of humanity. Using special objects called Time Crystals, the TimeSplitters are entering several periods of time to change the course of history to humanity's dismay. It's up to Sergeant Cortez to leap into the time portal, take on personas related to the various time periods he enters a la Quantum Leap, and stop the plans of the TimeSplitters before they can do irreparable damage to history and humanity. This is all the while Corporal Hart fends off the TimeSplitters trying to reach the portal room.

They're not here on a whim. They're here to
wipe out the TimeSplitter menace!

TimeSplitters 2's story is fragmented thanks to the different personas Sergeant Cortex assumes. The game is most definitely not a story-driven one, which makes it quite easy to not care about the characters or plot whatsoever. You get a text briefing at the start of each mission, but at the same time, you don't fully become aware of why you're doing some primary and secondary objectives, making for some questions on why you, the player, should be invested in this fight.

The fifth mission of TimeSplitters 2 takes
place in a futuristic Tokyo.

There are three difficulties to choose from for each of TimeSplitters 2's ten missions. Regardless of which difficulty you pick, each mission has to played in order. Missions are relatively short in Easy mode, whereas with Normal mode, you get to explore more of the levels with more objectives that are required to complete to beat a mission. In Easy and Normal, you get an ample amount of body armor and the ability to reach checkpoints that are helpful spots that you restart at if you are to fail your mission or die prematurely. Hard mode doesn't give you the benefit of checkpoints, and truth be told, some missions are very challenging even on Normal. In fact, the first, Siberia, is one of the harder missions in the game due to its length and lack of more than one checkpoint. It's here that I realized that TimeSplitters 2's difficulty curve was more of a roller coaster than a straight uphill climb.

There may be no honor in shooting a guy in the back,
but there's also no honor in dying on the first mission!

Outside of the story mode-- which is other than the inconsistent difficulty curve, well designed and offers an awesome ability to play cooperatively with another player-- there are a multitude of other modes to tackle by your lonesome. The Arcade League mode presents you with a varying amount of league difficulties, Amateur, Honorary, and Elite, and have you competing in different themed skirmishes in one of TimeSplitters 2's fifteen multiplayer arenas. Depending on how well you do, you earn one of three medal types and unlock new in-game content like cheats, as well as new multiplayer maps, modes, and characters.

Whoa, ugly! We don't need to get
all up close and personal!

Challenge mode has you taking on a profusion of different scenarios with the goal of trying to meet the requirements, whether a time limit or a score for the best medal. These come in different categories like stealth, shooting galleries, survival, and a several others, giving you plenty of types of scenarios to select from.

Both Arcade League and Challenge deliver a massive amount of more gameplay styles and content for solo players. It's immensely rewarding to gain medals to unlock new, unexpected content that would otherwise be hidden away from the player. The fact that with all of this single player gameplay I haven't yet mentioned how the multiplayer half of TimeSplitters 2 plays is really saying something to just how packed the game is with things to do.

One gun against two? Are you cocky or dumb?

Only four modes are available in multiplayer matches at first: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Bag (a Capture the Flag variant), and BagTag, where a player must hold onto to the bag as long as possible to score points. As Arena League battles are completed, new modes open up-- one of twelve others, offering a grand variety of match types.

The Mexican Mission is one of sixteen unique
and fun multiplayer maps in TimeSplitters 2.

The multiplayer in TimeSplitters 2 is an absolute blast, offering a robust amount of match options to fiddle with, allowing you to create the match types you want to a shocking degree of customization. Bots are here and allow for full rooms, making matches fun if you are by your lonesome or have three other friends to frag. Maps are well designed, allow you to choose from a set of bots, weapons to use, and options like one-hit kills, if players begin with weapons, and a multitude of other customization features.

My favorite multiplayer map Streets
unlocks by beating the game.

In addition to the multiplayer maps already provided in TimeSplitters 2, a returning feature from the original TS is the Mapmaker, now with even more creation tools to allow you to make your own multiplayer maps and even single player missions. With helpful and accessible tools, level kits, and more, you can create a competent map with your own character and weapon spawn points, lighting, and so on.

Like the some of the team's past work on GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, TimeSplitters 2 delivers in offering awesome weaponry to mow down enemies and the competition with. From old school weapons like Tommy Guns and silenced pistols to futuristic weaponry like homing rockets and guns with bullets that bounce off walls, floors, and ceilings, TimeSplitters 2 gives you the offensive goods to tackle any challenge or obstacle the game throws at you with relative ease. At the very least, you'll feel like a one-man or one-woman army, even if you quickly die to your opponents.

Oh, sorry! I didn't think anyone was using
the restroom at the moment.

While the design of human characters leaves a little to be desired, the settings and areas of TimeSplitters 2 look fabulous and have an intricate amount of detail to them for a sixth-generation game. From nice effects to rain droplets blurring the periphery of your view in the Notre Dame mission to intense flames in other levels, there are some lovely effects thrown in to TimeSplitters 2's presentation. Fortunately, unlike Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64, the frame-rate is your friend in Free Radical Design's second offering of TimeSplitters.

Better call your State Farm agent for this one.

Graeme Norgate delivers a techno at some times, dynamically symphonic at others, score to accompany the many hours of missions and multiplayer fragging that await you. The voice work, despite being attached to characters I found no interest for, is performed adequately and believably. This is indeed a presentation for TimeSplitters 2 that is as engaging as the gunplay-- that is to say, very good.

TimeSplitters 2 may not offer the online play that most of us expect from a first-person shooter today, but the ability to play with bots of varying difficulties makes for a nice replacement-- but not totally. You'll easily get your money's worth from the solo content of the game alone, much more with multiplayer throwing in one of a dozen match types, one of sixteen well-designed multiplayer maps, and an abundance of characters to unlock. TimeSplitters 2 is now one of my favorite FPS games of all time, and it makes the thirst to play the other games in the series like the thirst of walking a desert for days without water. As you kids growing up in the eighth generation of video game consoles would say, "I needs me some more TimeSplitters!"

[SPC Says: A-]