Backlog Summer: 08.09.2014

As summer winds down, the staff near the end of their backlog journeys.

By Nintendojo Staff. Posted 08/09/2014 12:00 1 Comment     ShareThis

Welcome back to another installment of Backlog Summer! How much progress have the staff made through their backlogs since last week? Read on to find out!


Iain Farrell

Phew! What a fortnight! I have just had a baby so the game I’ve been playing most in the last couple of weeks is Nappy Change. It’s not the best game I’ve ever played but it’s as addictive as Peggle and I am getting quite good.

In the real world though, this week was all about getting the DS out again and playing Civilisation Revolution. This game ate hours of my life when it came out and picking it up again I’m reminded why. There aren’t many games where I can oversee the development of a benevolent dictatorship, of the kind that I dream of in real life, and maybe I’m drawn to it now because I’m powerless next to my tiny son.

Whatever the reason, once you get used to the slow pace it’s a very rewarding experience and well worth picking up anew or returning to if you’ve been away for a while.

Next week? Well, who knows! There are all those Mega Man games on the virtual console just begging to be bought, aren’t there …


Nicolas Vestre

After years of playing Sonic (I think I was exposed to the blue blur when I was five or six), I finally finished the original Sonic the Hedgehog! This marks the first time I’ve ever beaten a 2-D Sonic game. I’ve gotten close, but never before have I taken Robotnik down in a side-scrolling fashion. I was really sloppy the first time I beat the game, having to rely on continues to see Sonic through to the end. However, I couldn’t resist the pull of getting all the Chaos Emeralds and earning the better ending. This meant I had to get pretty good at every level, as it takes fifty rings at the end of each level to earn a shot at the bonus stage and a Chaos Emerald. At one point I had fourteen lives, which isn’t too shabby! Sure, I lost many of them throughout the next-to-last level, but I got the good ending with several lives (and tons of continues) to spare. My decent memory helped greatly in avoiding those cheap deaths, and when all was said and done, I actually enjoyed myself a lot. There will be more Sonic games in my future, including the Game Gear ones.

To continue with my massive backlog, I’ve decided to do a buster-only run of Mega Man 2, which is going great. Taking down the Robot Masters with the buster is surprisingly easy, ranging from some moderately tough battles (Wood Man and Bubble Man) to some easy battles (Heat Man is a pushover and I can take care of Crash Man without taking damage). There are a couple of areas that require the use of Items-1 and 2, but other than that, it’s just Mega Man and his peashooter. It’s been a decade since I’ve played Mega Man 2, so I don’t know if the one boss I have left before Dr. Wily will require Robot Master weapons, but I’ll only use them when forced to. My strategy to take down the Robot Master gauntlet before Dr. Wily is pretty simple: take down a difficult boss, then go to an easy boss to get the health refill; rinse and repeat as required. I’ve never attempted this run before, but here’s hoping the final two stages go well!


Marc Deschamps

This week, I started exploring the Wind Temple in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Making the experience a bit more unique is the fact that, while playing, I watched this week’s Zelda-themed Nintendo Direct. It was a neat experience following the adventures of Link on (essentially) three different screens at the same time. My only regret about doing so is that it made me a little disappointed that Nintendo has yet to announce anything from The Wind Waker for Hyrule Warriors. While the cel-shaded visuals probably make it difficult to translate any of the game’s characters, I’m sure that Nintendo could find a way around that minor hurdle.

Should Nintendo choose to bring over a character or two from The Wind Waker, my current partner Makar might make a good candidate. Like Medli in the Earth Temple, Makar’s control mechanics are really interesting. I find it pretty cool that the title allowed players to control someone other than Link. If I’m not mistaken, this is the only Zelda title so far to allow players to do just that. Of course, the hero of winds is still the game’s main character, and he just attained a new weapon in my latest play through: the Hookshot! I’m very likely a ways away from finishing up this temple, but I’ll have to hustle if I want to finish this game up before our Backlog Summer series comes to a close!


Robert Marrujo

Fossil Fighters: Champions is an odd duck. I’m digging (a pun!) the fossil cleaning, collecting, and Vivosaur battling, but there’s no denying the entire thing isn’t as fun as Pokémon. Which feels like an unfair criticism, but let’s face it, it’s pretty obvious Nintendo intentionally wanted to players to draw those connections given the nature of the title. The Vivosaurs are definitely in their own class, though, and don’t come across as cute the way a lot of Pokémon do. The deeper I get into the game, the more I realize that maybe the point is that Fossil Fighters isn’t a generic Pokémon clone, but instead borrows just enough to elicit some of the same fun.

Fossil Fighters: Champions screenshot

So, Starfy. I liked it. I didn’t love it, but I liked it. Ultimately, Starfy became a bit more challenging at the end, but I couldn’t help but feel that it tried to do too much. I said this before, but I found the cast enjoyable, in spite of the heavy-handed storytelling. If the narrative were as engaging as the gameplay, I could have tolerated being immersed in it as much as I was, but sadly, it veered way too kiddie, and left me wanting to hit skip most of the time. If Tose can get together another Starfy for 3DS that dumps the endless storytelling, I think the series can do great things. As far as this installment goes, it did just enough right to make it worth recommending.


How is your own Backlog Summer journey coming along? Share your progress with us in the comments!

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