Escape From Buckingham Palace In New Zombi U Trailer

Creepy and tense are words few games can claim in today's market unless they are independently produced and even those are limited.  Zombi U just keeps getting better with each new trailer released by Ubisoft and their latest is no different featuring an attempted escape from Buckingham Palace.  One of the more unique aspects of this game is the European setting which is not common in most games, especially horror, which are normally set in a random North American town.  As shown in the video, this setting helps add a lot of tension in the way of historical buildings being seen in an uncharacteristic state of disrepair.  Scheduled to launch this Christmas, Zombi U continues to stand out as one of the best and most original Wii U launch titles.  Thank you Ubisoft!

La-Mulana Whips WiiWare Into Shape September 20

La-Mulana, an amazing "Metroidvania" style action adventure game for PC and WiiWare, has just popped up on Nintendo Of America's website with a September 20, 2012 release date.  Developed by Nigoro and released in Japan last year, the game seemingly lost its chance for a stateside release when former publisher Nicalis backed out of the project.  One of the better WiiWare releases, La Mulana had gathered quite a few fans in both North America and Europe who were pretty upset at the news that they wouldn't be able to get the game on Nintendo's little white box. Fans can now rejoice thanks to EnjoyUp Games who have taken up publishing the adventure in both the US and PAL regions. If you enjoy a good challenge and  like Metroidvania games with an Indiana Jones vibe, get your Wii prepped with 1000 WiiWare Points by September 20.

La-Mulana TGS 2010 Trailer

Source

Pokemon Developers Show Their Rhythm In New Game

Game Freak, developers of the most successful RPG series of all time have occasionally flexed their creativity with other great games in the past.  Games such as Pulseman (Wii Virtual Console) and Drill Dozer (Game Boy Advance) have proven that the company is more than a one trick pony and their newest title looks to continue that tradition. Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight is set to hit the 3DS in Japan this year with a stateside release likely in early 2013. HarmoKnight is a rhythm platform game in the same vein as the WiiWare hit Bit.Trip Runner developed by Gaijin Games. Gameplay involves your hero auto running through side scrolling stages while you are responsible for dodging obstacles and attacking enemies. The rhythm aspect comes into play with the background music and your actions triggering the notes. When played skillfully, you will enter an almost zen-like state of concentration where you are purely reacting without thinking. Based on their past non-Pokemon games, this is one to keep an eye on.

Source

Animal Crossing Jumps Out At 3DS Players!

Animal Crossing: Jump Out! will launch in Japan November 8 making a western debut in March 2013 likely due to the immense translation work.  Some new details have surfaced about the game showing that the series is FINALLY getting some much needed updates:

• Your house can now be customized outside to match your unique layouts on the inside
• You decide what shops to build which offers a town that caters to your play style.
• You can change store hours which is excellent for the night owls out there.
• Adjust the town to fit your gameplay and personal style which puts the game more in line with The Sims.
• Exchange custom clothing via QR Codes offering a lot of cool possibilities with social media
• Furniture colors can be changed once again illustrating a more personalized type of game

Animal Crossing, a series that was looking a bit tired in City Folk, is showing an level of freshness that could make this a truly must have 3DS title.  It's nice to see Nintendo evolving their games to better suit newer game advances without compromising their original and unique "Nintendo" design.

Source

Club Nintendo August Rewards Update #4

Nintendo has updated their downloadable Club Nintendo rewards today replacing 3D Classics Excitebike with Tennis for the 3DS Virtual Console.  The expiration date for this offer is now September 9 and the price is 150 coins.  Be sure to check back September 3 for the next reward, most likely for WiiWare or Wii Virtual Console.

Tennis - Nintendo 3DS
150 Coins (Available Until September 9)

Castlevania II Patch Has Vanquished The Horrible Night

Ever since the Angry Video Game Nerd did his now infamous review of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest for the NES, it seems to be insanely popular for people to hate on this game.  While I am a huge fan of the AVGN and admit that his points are very valid, I have to confess that I am a big fan of Castlevania II for the NES.  It has a lot of well known problems but a lot of these come from the fact that it was originally a Famicom disk drive game in Japan.  This means that it should have had a save feature similar to The Legend of Zelda when being brought stateside but battery backed cartridges were a risky expense for a game so different from the original.  The other major issue was the cryptically poor translation that turned the game into what is affectionately called a "Nintendo Power Game" which means you basically need a guide to decipher how to progress through the game.  There are other issues such as the day/night transition but honestly, I always enjoyed the ambition and exploratory nature of the game.  It was the first step into the brilliant "Metroidvania" gameplay style that would result in some of the finest games in the entire series.

It turns out that a dedicated fan known as TheAlmightyGuru took up the task of fixing many of the numerous flaws in a ROM patch titled Castlevania II: Simon's Quest Redaction.  With the exception of the password system, just about every nagging flaw has been fixed.  Here's a short list of some of the improvements (A full list can be found here on the download page for the patch):

• Dialogue has been completely rewritten resulting in useful clues and hints.
• Text has been sped up which makes talking to people less of a hassle
• Day/Night transition has been changed from 10 seconds down to 4 seconds making the game flow MUCH smoother
• Sign graphics have been tweeked making it much easier to keep track of where you've been and where you need to go. 

The only thing that would make this better would be an actual cartridge release but a ROM and your favorite emulator will have to do.  Make sure you own the original cartridge before downloading the ROM.  Click here to download the patch from The Almighty Guru's site!

Source