I know Nintendo has yet to reveal that GameBoy Advance titles will eventually be sold via the 3DS’s soon-to-be-launched (June 6 in the U.S.) eShop, but you know the company will do so at some point.
When they do, I think they’d do well to throw North Americans a bone by giving us a few first-party GBA games — like the three below — that have never seen the light of day (officially, at least) in our neck of the woods.
“Sonic 5” from Dotstream. With Art Style: Light Trax releasing on WiiWare today, I thought it proper to dig out a track from the unofficial bit Generations soundtrack I downloaded years ago and share a song with you.
Dotstream, for those of you hearing that name for the first time, is Light Trax’s GBA predecessor, and it was a beautiful game with minimalist graphics, simple but addictive racing mechanics, and a bangin’ soundtrack.
I like what I’ve seen/heard from Light Trax so far, which doesn’t surprise me; it’s rare that Skip Ltd. lets me down. Check out the Lumina 3 track from the 600 point game:
This remake looks great, but I still wish it was a portable release instead of a home console game. Maybe there’s still hope for a 3DS follow-up? Can you picture it? Lines in three dimensions. Cross your fingers.
Here’s a random photo of Dotsream’s manual. I’m posting it for no other reason than it looks neat:
Bit Generations-style boxes for WiiWare’s Art Style games (click for a larger version), including the recently revealed Light Trax and Rotozoa, by Stephen Gibson.
Gibson used the Dotstream title instead of Light Trax because he wanted to use the Japanese logos and titles for the covers. Nintendo hasn’t announced Light Trax for Japan yet, but it will likely use the Dotstream name for the title considering the marvelous GBA game it’s based on.
Gamespot has a video interview with Nintendo’s localization team that shows some footage of Art Style: Light Trax and some of its modes. It looks great on a big screen, but I’m disappointed this isn’t a handheld title — the original Dotstream is a perfect portable experience (especially if you have headphones on you).
Art Style: Intersect (Digidrive in the U.S.) gameplay. It’s not Dotsream or another inventive puzzle game from Skip, but it’s nice to see more of the bit Generations GBA titles brought to DSiWare and outside of Japan. It’s a shame we don’t get the fancy bit Gen packaging, though!:
This released in Europe last week, so perhaps we’ll see it out in North America soon, too?
Nintendo unveiled a surprising collection of first- and third-party titles slated for its DSiWare service, and I think we can all agree that the most exciting title in the batch is Sparkle Snapshots, which I presume is actually Itsudemo Print Club: Kira Deco Premium.
Oh, and another bit Generations game, Digidrive, is receiving a DSiWare/Art Style port, but consider these details before you get too excited about the game:
Also announced from Nintendo’s end: 10 Electroplankton minigames, Art Academy: Second Semester, Picturebook Games: The Royal Bluff (this weird thing), and Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (I’m curious about this!).
As for other developers, WayForward is finally releasing one of its many Shantae prototypes, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, after years of fanboys demanding a new game for the genie. It’s the first release of a three-episode series!
Subatomic is also bringing its acclaimed iPhone tower defense title Fieldrunners to DSiWare (and PSP Minis).
All of the games mentioned above (with the exception of Second Semester, releasing September 28th), are slated for the fourth quarter of 2009. Yay!
“The Art Style series on DSi is the perfect follow-up to the bit Generations series. The one thing that didn’t make the jump to digital distribution though was the stylish little boxes that each game came in. I decided to try and create artwork for each of the new games, following the same structure and style of the bit Generations boxes.
And yes, these are the Japanese logos. Since the original packages were Japan-only (and half of these aren’t out in the US and Europe yet), I decided to use those to begin. I’ll put together some Western variations soon.”
The deviantArt watermark is distracting, but other than that, these are great, very much like the original minimalist bit Generations covers.
[Update: Stephen removed the watermark! Yay!]
In other Art Style news, apparently Nalaku released in Europe as Kubos last week. What’s the deal with Europe having five (out of six) Art Style titles, while the U.S. only has two? At this rate, autumn will arrive before North America receives Hacolife.
DSiWare is enabling Nintendo to not only live up to the brilliant legacy left by bit Generations, but even surpass the acclaimed GBA series with its Art Style line.
Though Art Style titles have appeared on WiiWare, it’s on the DSi where Skip Ltd. reached for the stars and captured in its grip that same magic that compels those distant, fixed points of light in the sky to twinkle on clear nights.
Art Style: HacoLife (BoxLife) is more than just a puzzle game about cutting and folding boxes; it’s Japan’s interpretation of the American Dream; it’s the unrealistic but fulfilled promise of prosperity after a life of noble labor; it’s an alternate history in which Bart Simpson never ditched his school field trip to the box factory, and was inspired to pursue a career in the cardboard industry.
While the bit Generations games were praised for championing simple fun through spartan graphics and controls, Art Style’s DSiWare games continue that tradition and add an extra addictive quality — in PiCOPiCT, it was the coin system that tied into unlocking YMCK remixes of classic Nintendo songs, accessing difficult mirror levels, and buying POW power-ups during hectic stages.
In HacoLife, the player character is represented by a winsome, ambitious blue collar worker who can choose to either refine his trade in Training mode, or jump into the real Factory mode and start collecting his cash.
Without any prior practice or real familiarity with the box-folding system, though, mistakes will be plenty on the factory line, and he’ll only scrounge a few thousand yen with each playthrough, if he’s lucky.
If he wants to earn a liveable wage, he has to take 14 Training classes, not just learning the different ways one can cut a box, but picking up the methods needed to quickly and efficiently break down a sheet into 3-5 boxes without wasting a single square. Similar to Fay’s Puzzle in Shiren the Wanderer, he must master these lessons to really survive in the game.
And by taking these classes, the young worker has more opportunities to climb the ladder, going beyond a “Part-Time” position and taking on the role of “Craftstman.” And with his successes at the workplace, the hero can rise from poverty and own the things he dreamt of one day having — a nice house, a healthy puppy, a Vespa with a full tank of gas — these simple wonders begin to populate the game’s title screen .
Art Style: Cubello was assumed to be a WiiWare remake of the bit Generations game Coloris, but it’s pretty clear even from these two screenshots that it isn’t Coloris at all.
In fact, it’s a brand-new bit Generations game. It’s even got a new logo in the style of the GBA series. It is, therefore, impossible to complain about Cubello’s 3D look ruining the charm of the original, because this is the original. I’ll be reviewing it soon, at which point I’ll know if it’s okay to complain about Cubello based on its own merits.
Even releasing remade bit Generations games was beyond my expectations, and now I’m shocked that Nintendo is releasing new ones. Too bad it’ll be completely overlooked because of World of Goo and Secret of Mana.
“I spend a long time talking with Fumihiro Kanaya, a programmer for Skip. He had just finished work on the WiiWare title Orbient.”
4cr’s Vinnk, reporting from a launch party for the iPhone game Newtonica, inadvertently confirms that Skip, original developer of the bit Generations games, is doing the Wii Art Style versions as well.
Later that night, Kenji Eno (D series) showed up to DJ. That is cool.
Rotohex and Cubello, according to the OFLC, Australia’s media ratings board. Presumably, those are reworked titles for Dialhex and Coloris.
JC and I both lose out, as we hoped that Nintendo’s new Art Style line would give us WiiWare remakes for DotStream and Soundvoyager, the two bit Generations GBA titles we were most interested in.
Rotohex and Cubello are both slated to appear on the Wii Shop Channel later this month. Who knows, maybe Nintendo has more bit Generations remakes planned — that’s the hope we’re holding onto.
