E3 2014 - Toad, Kirby & Mario Wrap

Nintendo had a lot of games at E3 this year, and rather than post little stories about each of them, for the final few I have decided to do a nice wrap up here. So continue on to read about Captain Toad, Kirby and Mario Maker.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker

When Nintendo showed this game off during the Nintendo Digital Event, I was very happy, I mean more of those fun levels from Super Mario 3D World would not be a bad thing right?

Well after playing on the show floor, I can tell you that the game plays and feels just like more of the same, which exactly what I wanted it to be. Each of the levels on offer were all new and they did a great job of showing off the mechanics behind the game. Moving Toad is easy enough, but doing that in conjunction with rotating the level can be a little tricky at first, but thankfully it does not take long to understand it.

Moving items on the Wii U gamepad is easy enough with just a simple touch and the level that had players using the gamepad as a targeting system for radish launches was really fun. Overall if you enjoyed the levels in Super Mario 3D World, there is a fair chance you will like this stand alone release. I do hope they add more content to the game like the mine cart level though.

Look for Captain Toad Treasure Tracker later this year.

Mario Maker

A few days prior to E3 starting a leak happened that released the title of Mario Maker to the world and a lot of people questioned if it was real. I mean come on, Nintendo would not make a game where you could make your own levels, Right?

Well it turns out it was accurate, Nintendo are, for the first time allowing players to create their own Mario levels. On the show floor they had the game playable and what they offered was really cool, I mean they had 3 pre-built levels ready for people to see what they could do. But if you were like me you would not bother with those and jump straight into making your own, of course I did that and I had a great time doing so.

Adding items to the world is simple enough; you simple select your item from the menu across the top and tap on the touch screen where you want it to appear.  Adding a koopa troppa is easy, but if you touch and hold him and shake you can turn him into his red variant. If you want to make them fly, drag out the wings and attach them, its really that easy. If you want to be a little crazy and stack a heap of Goomba’s together and top them off with a piranha plant you can do that too. There is very little you can’t do with the tools at your disposal.

And perhaps the best bit as at anytime you can swap between the 8-but style and newer style. Look for Mario Maker next year.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

When the trailer for this game started to play during the Digital Event, I had no clue what it could be at first, I mean a claymation art style, who would that match. But then they showed Kirby it just made sense.

This game is the sequel to the 2006 DS game Kirby and the Canvas Curse and just like that, Kirby has been turned into a ball and is controlled by the paths that you draw for him. Its actually pretty easy to do in practice, you want to make Kirby go up, then draw a line that goes up. Maybe you want him to turn around, then draw a giant U and he is on his way.

The levels that were on offer were two basic levels and one transformation level, where Kirby as a tank. The game plays almost identically to the DS game, so if you did not like that game, there is a chance you may not like this, but as I loved that, this game is one I can’t wait to play again. But lets take a moment to talk about how the game looks, it is amazingly detailed with the art style. I mean its not like they attempted a clay look and got close, if you did not know better you might be convinced that they made every possible screen out of clay, it’s just that good.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is out next year and is one game I can’t wait for.