You ought to know how I feel about Kirby games, and what I think is necessary for a really good Kirby game. I elaborated on as much in my review of the colorful but unexciting Kirby’s Epic Yarn. At E3, however, I was surprised to find a playable demonstration of Nintendo’s newest announced game in the franchise, the tentatively named Kirby Wii. I was even more surprised to find that the game felt just as well crafted and fun as Kirby Super Star. In fact, Kirby Wii may be even better than that.

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How would you like to hear Super Metroid remixed by the co-composer of Mass Effect 2? Heroes vs. Villains, a free album of game music arrangements by fans of the medium, has turned such a scenario into reality.

This is the first official collaboration between game remixing giant, OverClocked ReMix, and The Bad Dudes. Two opposing factions. One album. Who will survive this climactic battle of epic proportions?

Heroes vs. Villains features 20 songs from 10 different franchises including Monkey Island, Streets of Rage, Kirby, and many more. (more…)

The dawn of a new year is the time to take a fresh, new outlook on life, and prepare optimistically for what the future has in store. Not for me though! As an aging, bitter gamer I am constantly worried. Worried that the shiny new game everyone’s going on about is going to turn out to be a dud. Even long running, dependable series aren’t always safe. It’s like when you go to a favorite restaurant time and time again, and then that one time they really screw up your order. Sure, you’ll go back again, but you’ll never forget that bad experience. You will always go in more cautious.

So simply enough, this is a list of games in 2011 I am most worried about. Specifically, these are games I really and truly want to be good, but can’t help but fear something might go wrong, for whatever reason. So you won’t see anything like, say, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, which I have no expectation will be any good to begin with.

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At this year’s E3, Nintendo’s biggest announcement was naturally the 3DS. But it’s also an announcement we expected. For me, Nintendo’s biggest unexpected announcement was that quality 2D platformers on consoles were not dead. Certainly the sales of New Super Mario Bros. Wii were a big wake-up call for them, and suddenly gamers were looking forward to a new Kirby and Donkey Kong Country on the Wii.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn stood out to me because it is the first console Kirby experience since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (although having never owned a Nintendo 64, my last console Kirby was Kirby’s Dream Land 3), and it is a series I have many fond memories of. But while that’s all fine and good, Epic Yarn was also prepared to shake up the Kirby formula a bit. Maybe that’s not a shock, since Kirby was delving into pinball, golf, and block stacking games even in his early years. But what would it mean for a platformer?

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Klonoa for the Nintendo Wii is a remake of the ps1 classic, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, a game I never had the privilege of playing. In an attempt to revive this franchise, Namco Bandai has decided to start by remaking the first entry in the series in the form of a budget title to both rekindle the interest of fans as well as bring in new players that missed out on the original (like me!).

Klonoa is a very accessible 2.5D platformer. The controls are simple enough that you only need as many buttons as an NES controller. Realizing this, Namco Bandai included the “sideways Wiimote” scheme that I ended up using for the entire game. There were a handful of other control schemes available as well, but given that you only need a D-pad and two buttons, this scheme works just fine.

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