Nintendo does seem to be giving the DS a pretty good send off.  Two of the final games for the system are Professor Layton and a new Kirby. Professor Layton and the Last Specter is as fantastic as all the other installments but not much is actually new to the gameplay.  Although, really, I can’t begin to imagine how they could change it without ruining the game. Kirby on the other hand seems to be a new take on the series.  This installment takes the platform to a new level by mixing in what they have deemed realtime strategy.  What it looks like to me is more using the new powers at the right time. The new power is the ability for Kirby to split into multiple Kirbys.  Basically the idea is very similar to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure but on a larger level.

The Wii titles this year were also pretty scarce.  I don’t think this is a sign of the Wii coming to an early end but it does make me think the transition is going to be very abrupt when the time comes. The big game was still The new Legend of Zelda title, but three other games caught my eye just as much. The first is Kirby and maybe it isn’t well known but Kirby is a powerhouse in my book.  This installment seems to revert back to the older style of inhaling enemies and stealing their powers. The addition of extra powers is also very exciting. The more exciting news is the multiplayer to the extent of having four players at once.  The only thing is the non-Kirby players most likely function in a different way. I wish that there had been more shown in this regard. The other two exciting games are Mario Party 9 and Fortune Street. Both games are board game style games. The announcement of Mario Party 9  surprised me as Wii Party seemed to be the new direction.  I’m actually happy this isn’t the case.  The other game Fortune Street is Square Enix’s take on the board game using Dragon Quest and Mario characters. This one has potential for the Monopoly fan and plenty of opportunities to annoy others.  The game seems to focus on real-estate and stock style strategy.

Overall, the main game news seems to have been saved for the 3DS.  At the same time the news on the DS and Wii are nothing to laugh at or ignore. Though at the same time it is probably safe to assume that next year’s E3 will have few, if any games for the Wii and almost no chance for DS games.

Lunar: Dragon Song takes place 1000 years before Silver Star Story.  From here the story struggles to keep focus.  The previous games had story and depth and, yes, very predictable plot points, but this game seems to try and remove all but the staple plot points.  This makes the characters exceptionally flat, I’m talking nearly subatomic flat.  The game could have been a lot more if it had simply been longer and taken time to explain the characters’ motivations.  By the end of this game dialogue became more of a chore and finishing the game seemed like just an end point rather than a real conclusion.

Unfortunately, the story isn’t the only shortcoming.  The battle system was altered to a point that makes the game needlessly complex and sometimes harder.  First going into battle makes you choose between two modes, virtue and combat.  Virtue mode is the only way to gain experience from battles while combat mode is the only way to gain items from battle.  Versus all other RPGs I’ve played this is really counter intuitive.  In fairness, unless you want to collect all the enemy cards, virtue mode is what you will stay in during the game.  Also the designers thought they would be creative and use the DS’s microphone allowing you to shout commands.  Because there is nothing like yelling “run” at the top of your lungs, which on a sidenote if you leave this option on a lot of ambient noises can trigger the running away.  Beyond this the game uses a lot of standard RPG controls including using enemy cards for extra effects.

Due to the previous games I expect a lot from the music and graphics.  The good news is that the graphics maintain well versus the other remakes and improving the look.  I could have done with more animated cutscenes but I accept that there are limitations to what handheld systems can do. The music however is lackluster and boring.  The normal repeating loop is in the background and due to the limited story cutscenes there is no really dynamic musical portion.  Now a part that I don’t mind is the lack of voiced dialogue.  This could have been made even better had I been able to name the characters.  It made sense in the previous games where I couldn’t name characters due to voiceovers, but this game has no excuse.

If you want an RPG that represents the DS then steer clear of this game.  If you love the Lunar series also steer clear of this game.  If you want an RPG where you need not pay attention to story, hate good combat systems, and/or hate yourself then and only then should you even think about touching this game.

Viewtiful Joe follows Joe, a movie lover that is pulled into the movie world in an attempt to rescue his girl, Sylvia. Nothing too exciting there and for the most part pretty standard, but then Joe is given a watch from his movie hero, who at this point is getting old. This watch allows Joe to transform into a super sentai style character. Through a majority of the first game he attempts to come up with a cool superhero name final deciding on Viewtiful Joe.  In the end, Joe of course saves Sylvia, who then turns and also becomes a hero, Sexy Sylvia.  Within the first game you could replay the games with other characters which altered the cut scenes but mostly played the same.

The second game brought in Sexy Sylvia as a main stay.  Compared to Joe’s hand-to-hand combat style, Sylvia had guns.  These were used as an additional puzzle aspect in the second game.  Besides these basic styles the hero forms allowed Joe and the others to utilize movie powers. This ranged from altering the passage of time to zooming in for a close up. Each game added more such as the second game giving Sylvia replay abilities. These powers could be used in different ways such as fast forward allowing Joe to strike something enough times and fast enough to catch on fire to deal more damage. Further into the games, these powers needed to be used in conjunction to either make the bosses easier or even to get through puzzles.

Graphic wise this was when cel-shading was new and the thing to do. In this case, the cel-shading lends well to the movie themed levels. The atmosphere fits and even the serious levels have a colourful and fun feel. Along with the trips through different movie themes the music also changes accordingly.

The spinoffs, on DS and Gamecube/PSP, are also pretty good.  In the case of Red Hot Rumble on Gamecube and PSP, they basically tried to do a party fighting game in the vein of Smash Bros.  Unfortunately, this game is easily the weakest. While it shares the same look and characters as all the others, it doesn’t seem to capture the series.  Double Trouble, on the DS, however does feel like it could have been the third game that never happened.  The only thing that makes it obviously not the finale is the unconnected storyline. This one adds two more powers called “Scratch” and “Split”.  In these cases you are directly affecting the film.  This mainly was to use the DS’s touch screen and manipulates other onscreen objects.

Overall, I miss this series and wish it could have had the ending it deserved. If you can pick any of these up, in anyway, it should be done. However, if you can only find Red Hot Rumble go ahead and avoid it because that is not a measure of what this series really is.