#airship map release date

[mysterypandastore]

Airship DIY Puzzle 3D Wooden Puzzle is made of high-quality materials and first-class laser cutting technology. The design is novel and unique, which distinguishes it from other 3D wooden toys. There are detailed instructions in the packing box, easy to understand and ensure an easy and smooth assembly process.

[webdesignmains]

Elyon beta dates

#Elyon beta dates Pc

#Elyon beta dates free

#Elyon beta dates Pc

Dimensional Portals will lead you to planes of rich resources that will help you become stronger.Įlyon is coming to PC ( Steam) in Fall 2021.CBT2 participants can expect a build more closely aligned with its Korean counterpart, with features not available in CBT1.

#Elyon beta dates free

Dungeons, Arenas and Dimensional Portals: Enjoy a variety of PvP and PvE content, from classic 1vs1 to Free For All arenas, to dungeons filled with clever mechanics.

When in conflict zones, players can claim Laurel Wreaths of Greed, allowing them to attack any player be it enemy or ally - but the use of such power comes with dire risks.

Open-world PvP: Players of opposing Realms can attack each other anywhere in the world.

Have unused materials? You can sell them via Trading and make a profit!

Gather, craft, and trade: Make your own high grade equipment and other consumables that will aid you in battle.

Top clans get to control Dimensional Portals and collect taxes from any player that enters them.

Clan Wars: Compete with other clans and establish yourself as the best of the best.

Realm vs Realm battles: Engage in large scale Realm vs Realm battles with the assistance of heavy artillery, mechas, and dragons!.

Deep skill customization: Modify the way your skills and character respond with Skill Attributes, Rune Attributes, and Mana Awakening.

Want to go the extra mile? Take your look to the next level with the Equipment Dye system.

Extensive character customization: Create your own unique character with extensive customization tools and detail-oriented options.

By purchasing Additional Packages users will be able to secure up to a 72-hour head start, an exclusive weapon, and an exclusive armor set. Those who pre-order Elyon will enjoy exclusive pre-order rewards, guaranteed CBT2 access and a 24-hour head start on release.

Localization in English, French, Spanish and German.

Improved game service platform and infrastructure for Western market players.

Events specifically for CBT2 participants.

Easier leveling via increased XP for killing monsters at a certain power level.

Dungeons are now divided into solo and party dungeons.

Players can enjoy a variety of challenging battle experiences in new dimensional portals.

Class balance adjustments and updated Mana Awakening skills.

Those selected to join the Elyon CBT2 will be informed of their invitation via email.ĬBT2 will offer a version significantly closer to that of the Korean build, with features including: Kakao Games announced that the 2nd Closed Beta (CBT2) play period for Elyon will run from August 18th to the 23rd across North America, Europe, and Oceania.Īpplications for CBT2 are now open to the public until August 11th, with pre-orders also going live today.Ī substantially higher number of applicants will be accepted to participate in this second testing event, which will occur from August 18th to the 23rd. Players can even create their own quests, alter their hunting grounds, and change the difficulty when battling monsters in dungeons or hunting areas. An airship, for instance, can have its type, appearance, color, and performance modified. Most of Elyon’s content is highly customizable, allowing players to tailor detailed aspects of their play experience and unleash their creativity. The combination of ground-based and aerial combat makes each fight challenging and dynamic. Various strategic weapons such as cannons, mines, and attack buffs are at each faction’s disposal to tip the balance in their favour. Players can also join the fight from the ground with mechs and anti-air artillery to fight airborne threats―or initiate ground based aerial attacks depending on the map and strategy. In RvR, factions fight for fame and glory, taking turns to lead offensive and defensive efforts using all kinds of flying vehicles. Vehicles and mounts in Elyon serve more than just the purpose of transportation they will also provide adventurers with the ultimate battle experience― Elyon’s Realm vs Realm PvP mode. In search of a new home, adventurers take to the skies using a wide selection of airships, vehicles, and flying mounts to traverse Elyon’s open, highly vertical world. Elyon takes place in a high fantasy steampunk world where machines and magic rule and everyone is dependent on flight to explore, travel, and conquer.

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy III Review

Year: 1990

Original Platform: Famicom

Also Available on: Nintendo DS, iOS (DS port), Android (iOS port), Ouya (Android port), Steam (Android port), PSP (iOS port)

Wii/3DS/Wii U Virtual Consoles and Nintendo Classic Edition releases are only in Japan.

Version I Played: DS

Synopsis:

Four orphans (originally only named by the player, DS remake gives them names) fall into a crevice after a sudden earthquake. There, a mysterious crystal warns them about the oncoming darkness that will engulf the world. The four orphans must band together to restore the balance between light and dark.  

Gameplay:

ARE YOU READY TO GET YOUR ASS BEAT?

YOUR BALLS ROCKED?

I’m warning you – this is the most difficult Final Fantasy game to date.

There are no ethers - only elixirs, which you should definitely reserve for the hardest battles. Also, phoenix downs cannot be found in stores - only in treasure chests and as dropped or stolen items from enemies.

The gameplay returns to that of the original Final Fantasy –  turn-based combat and the Job System, only this time the Job System is greatly expanded. Vikings and Geomancers and Bards and Dragoons and the list goes on. Summons are introduced to the series via the Evoker job, which later gets upgraded to Summoner. The expanded Job System allowed for greater customization of your four characters than in the original Final Fantasy.

This game is notable for the Onion Knight. In the beginning of the original Famicom game, the default job is Onion Knight. If you continue playing as an Onion Knight, your stats remain relatively low. However, if you dare to play the entire game as an Onion Knight and reach level 99 – the Onion Knight suddenly turns into the most powerful job in the game.

The DS remake does things a little differently. Instead of the Onion Knight, you start out as a Freelancer – a new job that has a little bit of everything. However, the longer you use the Freelancer job, the weaker you become. This is a good incentive to have players naturally explore other jobs.

The unfortunate feature of the DS remake though is that the Onion Knight is ONLY available after performing sidequests via wireless with friends. This is impossible to do now since the wireless features for the original Nintendo DS (and also the Wii) have been discontinued. HOWEVER. Playing the DS remake through Steam allows you to unlock the Onion Knight by completing at least 25% of your bestiary. You will then receive a message via the Mognet to start the sidequest.

Final Fantasy III is notorious for its high difficulty. The trick mostly lies in constantly switching between jobs and finding the right balance for the right moment. However, changing jobs requires you to level up that job. This means grinding – lots and lots of grinding. Insane amounts of grinding. This is Final Fantasy: Grind City.

In retrospect, Final Fantasy II was hard as well, yes, but more in a stupid way. Leveling up there was annoying but people could find tricks around it like finding weaker enemies and purposely hitting yourself and healing yourself to raise your HP or defense stats.

Final Fantasy III is difficult but it hurt so good. This game turned me into a masochist. There's two types of video game rage - the good and the bad kind. The bad kind is usually because the game's mechanics are irritating or virtually unplayable. The good kind is cursing out loud but then saying, "I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME!" and actually being pumped about trying again because you see it as a challenge.    

The game has an explosively difficult finale. The finale takes place in the Crystal Tower, which is surrounded by Ancient’s Maze. You have to walk through the maze, then through the tower, then fight multiple bosses through other events which I won’t spoil here. The entire ordeal can pretty well take up an entire hour. At least (in the DS version, I don’t know about Famicom) you can save before entering the Crystal Tower. But if you ever need to venture out into the world map again to get something you forgot, you have to go through the Ancient’s Maze. Once you enter the Crystal Tower, you cannot save the game. It’s one long shot to the final of final bosses. In the Crystal Tower, you get to walk around seemingly endless and maze-like floors such as this:

 YAY.

Seriously though - I still enjoyed the challenge and thought it was epic. If you're going to hit me hard, you might as well go all out. Nothing in this game is held back. Also, the expanded job system allowed you to try out so many different things.

I tried for the longest time to play Final Fantasy III on an emulator but for some bizarre reason, I couldn't save, not even on save states. When I have the time, I definitely want to go back to that, try a different ROM or something, and experience the original. But I played enough of the original to know how hard it is. I died right away when I ventured outside the first town.

The DS remake mostly retains the difficulty of the original, which I admired, unlike the watered down PSP Anniversary Editions of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II.

Graphics:

The original Famicom game definitely has a lot more going on than the first two Final Fantasy games. Battles are still 90% black space but the rest of the game is 8-bit Heaven. 

The DS remake is AMAZING. I would argue that Final Fantasy III DS is really the first great Final Fantasy remake. They got a chibi thing going on and it works here. It’s cute without being obnoxiously cute.

The FMV sequence for the DS is staggeringly beautiful.

I also kind of laugh at this one part where Luneth and Ingus are arguing and it’s the equivalent to a stock photo of two people arguing.

I only wish they added an ending FMV. That would have been the cherry on top for the remake. 

Story:

Final Fantasy III is kind of like crossing the original Final Fantasy with Final Fantasy II. The story is wider in scope and more epic. The fictional world is much more interesting. The score has a wider repertoire. You fly many different airships. It also begins what I like to call the "Crystal Trilogy." Final Fantasy III, IV and V, as you'll read later, are quite similar in their general plot, which utilizes crystals as important plot devices.

There’s more to the story than people give credit for. You venture into the world and run into secondary characters who have their own stories, such as Cid, Desh, Princess Sara (reference to the original Final Fantasy), Prince Allus, Priestess Aria, and even four imposters of the four heroes of light. You save towns with a variety of problems, from a village cursed by a genie to finding a missing precious stone for the dwarves. Then you discover the truth behind the world you live in. . .

The DS version elaborates on the story by giving the four orphans names: Luneth, Arc, Refia, and Ingus. This sharpens the story by connecting more dots. The DS story starts with Luneth and Arc as childhood friends. They later meet Refia, a runaway who was tired of her guardian's blacksmith trade, and Ingus, a knight of Sasune who protects Princess Sara. I was disappointed by one rather misleading thing in the DS remake. The opening FMV sequence seemed to imply that Priestess Aria plays a wider role in the story – she doesn’t. That disappointed me.

As I’ve said already, the DS version is a wonderful remake of the original. I very highly recommend it. It enhances everything about the original and more. The remake's heroes hardly get any recognition in other Final Fantasy media and that’s a shame.

Music:

As Final Fantasy games keep getting bigger, so does the score. Uematsu shone here. He did some unique things for a Japanese composer at the time. An example is the illusion of having chords in the track Crystal Cave.

Final Fantasy III’s soundtrack is twice as long as Final Fantasy II’s. I’d say that out of the entire Famicom/NES era, this game probably has the best soundtrack. The battle theme has a sexy bass with more drums added to it. Eternal Wind, the world map theme, is definitely the greatest map theme in an RPG. Period. It truly gives the feel of wandering around a fantasy world.

The DS version reinvigorates the entire score. I loved every second of it.

The way Uematsu composed the final of the epilogue is reminiscent of how John Williams does his finales in the credits for Star Wars or Indiana Jones films. In this case, he references the Final Fantasy Main Theme at the end of the credits.

The result is a wholesome feel to the game. Final Fantasy III has a fantastic score that is perfect for closing the 8-bit era of Final Fantasy.

Notable Theme:

I'm split between Eternal Wind and Priestess Aria's Theme. Fortunately, the DS opening cinematic includes both. It has a great orchestrated rendition of the classic themes.

Verdict:      

The hardest out of all the Final Fantasy games (so far). At the same time, there’s so much to enjoy – but it’s not for everyone. Because of the difficulty, I would save this game for last. There’s something about this game that actually gives me a true “final fantasy” feel. The final stretch is so kick-your-nuts-hard that nothing else in the series can compare to it.

If you go for the DS version, however, that can be a tad bit easier. Just a tad. A smidge. Nothing more. It’s one remake that I highly recommend. They did a good facelift on both the game itself and the story. The DS version was adapted into Android and then ported into Steam, so you can get it there. 

Direct Sequel?

No.

[masternest]

Among Us - New Map Release

So on the last day of March, the creators of Among Us had released their newest map for the game called The Airship. It’s their biggest map to date which is sure to bring back old Among Us players. I was able to try out this map with some peeps and I can honestly say that it was a lot of fun. There were new tasks that helped keep things engaging and helped bring back that slight sense of anxiety and urgency whenever you’re doing a task Another thing to note is that since it’s April 1st, they have made the Kled map to where everything will appear opposite when you check your map hud. I think it will only happen for April Fools but it’s a nice little event that the creators cooked up

Another thing that you need to know, is that we’re no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I. A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of. You wouldn’t get this from any other guy. I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling. I gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

[askomnitica]

Watch "Among Us: Airship Map Reveal Trailer & Release Date" on YouTube

[ladyknight33]

So call me optimistic. 

I stumbled across the Overwatch 2 website after someone shared the redesign of Tracer on Twitter. Thinking “Hey, maybe there’s new stuff.” Not so much in the way of new stuff since the Zero Hour cinematic from BlizCon so long ago.

But. They have reorganized the comics and cinematic into a cohesive story line. Granted hardcore lore addicts have already done much the same, it is satisfying to see it done by the company itself.

This gives me hope that in this period of waiting we are experiencing Blizzard is actually creating a detailed story, rich in lore and background, in order to move forward with the new release.

Since Overwatch 2 is supposed to have story related missions. You know, like the ones we love from the Archives Event. I’m hoping this reorganization of current lore is setting the stage for it to be referred to while battling the endless horde of Omnics promised to us with that “over the shoulders view gameplay” of Lucio and company making their way to a giant airship over Rio de Janerio.

I would totally envy the people who got to experience the story mission first hand, if I could actually tolerate the massive crowds such events draw.

They have also promised at least three new maps. One new character. And the most precious thing to me: Lore.

Now I don’t know how long this new playoverwatch site has been in existence. Probably since BlizCon released the news and I’m totally behind the times.

But I’ve found it now and am falling in love with the new character designs and the maps. Overall I’m feeling good about Overwatch 2 and the story missions.

Just impatient for a release date.

[dungeon-architects]

Cosmological Chronicle - Salir, The Plane of Air

The plane of air is a land of freedom, open to both scholars and scoundrels. A place were one can travel on currents of air and find the finest goods in any realm. It is also a realm of freezing blizzards and scorching sandstorms where lighting is commonplace and even the most skilled of flyers may find themselves buffeted into oblivion. Currency While some merchants may accept gold or other mortal currencies, The only universally accepted form of payment in Salir would be Aetherium most commonly Lesser Aetherium Shards. Culture and Custom Unlike the other Elemental Planes, Salir’s culture is very intermingled and cosmopolitan. It is not unusual to see creatures from other planes travailing and trading in Salir, as such the plane has truly become a melting pot. That being said most natives to the plane tend to be nomadic and free spirited. Wealth, Martial Skill, and Knowledge are often the main factors in determining ones social status in Salir. Treats and Entertainment The most common of tasty treats in Salir are Sugar Cloud Puffs and Rimecones both of which come in an abundance of flavors. Entertainment in Salir is quite varied, street performers, magicians, and musicians are all common, more exclusive and impressive are the grand music halls. but the grandest spectacle are the cloud-ship races, where the best sailors in Salir practice for the Aether Grand Regatta.

Places of Importance

Hoarfrost The Citadel of Rime Lonely, isolated, and deathly cold, it is from this frozen citadel that Moroz watches over the wilds, and tinkers away in his workshop. While the fortress itself is nearly unreachable, any who do manage to pass through its massive sapphire doors will find warm clothes, hot chocolate, and a burning fireplace to greet them. 

Stratovas Academy Home to scholars and mages from across the planes Stratovos is Zyphyr’s proudest achievement. The academy itself sits upon several floating islands in The Hitaru Reach. 

Boralis City of Auroras This grand city attracts many artists, musicians, and playwrights to its crystalline spires. The entire city pulses with scintillating colors and patterns, always dancing for the inspiration of all.

Rashad City of Sand Rashad is a major trade hub floating upon a ever-moving sandstorm. craftsmen, traders, and soldiers abound in the city of sand. The city’s many domes and minarets are decorated in mosaic tiles, precious metals, and jewels.

The Redwind Sirocco’s flagship, racing yacht, and pleasure barge, this sleek airship has crimson sails, countless cannon, and a soaring bronze griffon figurehead.

Gale The Citadel of Storms Suspended above a colossal cyclone and wreathed in lightning, The ancient fortress of the storm giants has never fallen to a hostile force. 

The Sandstone Stockade  Rashabar’s prison, this solid tower of sandstone floats aloft in the eye of an unending hurricane, masked in fog, and buffeted by blizzards. None may come to this place save for Akaska herself. 

Individuals of Note

Akaska The Mother Of Winds A true and guiding wind Akaska is both kind and firm. She often appears as a wise old woman wearing the subdued garb of a queen mother. After being forced to imprison her beloved husband for the good of all, she handed administration of Salir over to her children. She only involves herself in politics to settle bickering between the children, Preferring to spend her time visiting with her husband in his prison. 

Moroz The North Wind The Eldest of Akaska’s children Moroz appears as a large rugged woodsman with a long white beard. His arms bear a tattooed script that is ever moving and changing. Despite his foreboding appearance Moroz Is kind and gentle, ever the friend of forest creatures and children.

Zyphyr The West Wind Calm and meditative Zyphyr is the scholar among Akaska’s children. Tall and gangly with flowing hair, he wears long robes and is a master of acrobatics. At times Zyphyr can be coy often choosing to test the intellect or skill of those he comes into contact with.

Sirocco The Southern WInd Adventurous and brash Akaska’s youngest child has a tendency to get himself into trouble. A skilled sailor he can often be found in daring battles with pirates and monsters alike. Sirocco is athletic with short fiery hair. He often dresses in red and orange outfits with a military look to them. While many see him as unreliable and aloofm when thing become dire Sirocco can always be counted on.

Zonda The Eastern Wind Taking more after her father then mother Zonda is temperamental and prone to outbursts of rage, followed by long dreary bouts of sadness and frustration with the unjust state of the world. She often appears as a poor girl clothed in rags with a mess of tangled hair. She tends to mingle among the common folk, often avoiding palaces and parties. It has been said that on the rare occasion that Zonda is dressed formally she is beautiful beyond compare. While harsh with those she does not know well, and practiced in cutting humor, she can be quite kind to those few who become close to her.

Rashabar The Black WInd Long imprisoned for his crimes, Akaska’s husband is a destructive force unlike any other within the plane of wind. It is said should he ever be released his wrath will scour all life from the land. No descriptions remain of Rashabar as all mention of him has been stricken from record.

The Lesser Winds Akaska has countless grandchildren whom command some measure of respect and power, but are too numerous to mention here.

Items of note

Windvein Compass This small metal disk projects an up to date map of wind currents in Salir, allowing one to safely and quickly traverse the plane.

Windsheer Blade These bladed weapons appear as a ornate hilt, however when swung they create a dense, fast moving line of air, more deadly then any metal blade. Windsheer Blades always have the finesse wielding and agile properties, and in addition they do an additional d6 of sonic damage. 

[thearkhound]

Shigeru Miyamoto interview from Micom BASIC (February 1989)

The following is translation of a review of Super Mario Bros. 3 written by Akira Yamashita for the February 1989 issue of Micom BASIC Magazine as the 7th entry in his “Serious Play, Sincere Review” (ホンキでPlay, ホンネでReview) series of articles. It contains commentary by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto himself on the development of the game and its design choices. The review was written a few months after the release of Mario 3 and provide a few insights of not only of how game was received in Japan, but also how it compares to other games available in the market at the time thanks to Mr. Yamashita’s tremendous insights.

There’s also a list of recommended 2-players games for the Famicom that I decided to leave out, but I might translate it too and edited into the article at a later date if there’s demand for it.

Profile of Shigeru Miyamoto

Name: Shigeru Miyamoto

D.O.B: November 16, 1952 (Sonobe, Kyoto)

Employed by Nintendo Co., Ltd after graduating from the Kanazawa University of Arts on April 1977. He became involved in game development in 1979, working as a character designer in titles such as Space Fever and Space Firebird. Currently works as manager of Nintendo’s R&D department 2.

Work History

Arcade: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros.

Famicom (as director & game designer): Hogan’s Alley, Excitebike, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Wild Gunman, Duck Hunt, Devil World, Spartan X [aka Kung-Fu]

Famicom (as producer): The Adventure of Link, Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 3, Shin Onigashima, Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race, Volley Ball, 3D Hot Rally

The Culmination of The Athletic Game Genre

Athletic Game - This is the term that Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo uses to collectively refer to Super Mario-like games. Specifically it refers to games where slightly large characters move around the screen and jumps serve as the basic action.

Indeed. Mr. Miyamoto’s career has been in a cycle. Ever since Donkey Kong, the first time he ever worked as a game designer, it appears he has an inseparable bond with the athletic game genre.

First of all, any game in which almost all the characters are pushed out to the front (including “athletic games”) can be divided in the following sub-categories depending on the objective the player needs to fulfill in order clear a single stage.

A so-called “chase game” where the purpose is to avoid obstacles and enemies while doing a certain task (such as eating all the dots or reaching the exit). Examples include Pac-Man, Mappy and Chuck’n Pop.

A game where the objective is to defeat a set amount of enemies such as Dig Dug or Bubble Bobble.

Donkey Kong, Mr. Miyamoto’s maiden title, clearly belonged to the first category (although it might be a bit misleading to call it a “chase game”, since the enemies and obstacles only move at a regular pace). I remember it felt pretty fresh at the time to play a game made basically about “jumping”.

The objective of the game was changed for the original Mario Bros., which now felt into the second category. In addition to the Jump from Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. introduced “headbutting” as a new method for defeating enemies - This was very groundbreaking. Usually in a second category game, it was expected for the player to shoot bullets or some kind of equivalent. Substituting that with such an unusual method as “headbutting” was the nature, and significance, of the original Mario Bros. When it comes to games that feature unique methods of defeating enemies, it is surprising rare for titles released prior to Mario Bros. The games that suddenly comes to mind are titles such as Heiankyō Alien, where you dig and fill-in holes, and Libble Rabble, which employs a unique method called “bashishi”. [Translator’s note: The “bashishi” refers to the ability to destroy enemies by using a strand tied to two arrows to enclose them.]

And with Super Mario Bros. released for the Famicom [NES], the ingenuity was further expanded. “Stomping” on enemies has been added as a gameplay element in addition to jumping and headbutting, as well as the option for “Fire Mario” in order to satisfy the desires of players who wanted to shoot bullets. When you consider the type, it’s basically a Category 1 game, but it brings up the image of a Category 2 game to the player, creating a brilliant fusion of both types.

“It’s a type of game that is easily approachable for younger inexperienced players, but can also be played by experienced hardcores without getting tired of it. It’s a fun game, even when you’re just watching other people play from the sidelines. That’s the sort of game that I wanted to create.”

Miyamoto explained why he stepped into the so-called “athletic game” genre (which is a label that I don’t mind using). Super Mario Bros. 3, a game which satisfies such conditions, can be said to be the culmination of the genre.

Some of the Virtues of Super Mario 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 was a huge hit that by the end of 1988 there was even a shortage of supply. I think the following aspects should be noted.

Caption: A card-flipping minigame similar to concentration. There are many hidden items such as 1UPs, Starmen, coins. Since there are only eight patterns to the distribution of the cards, it’s not impossible to memorize them and get a perfect.

Caption:

At a first glance it seems like a picture-matching game. You can stop the wheel (?) with the push of a button. If you can memorize the pattern, you can combine the picture into a starman and earn a shocking amount of five extra lives. It’s a perfect aid.

The Spirit of Aiding - Because 1UP mushrooms are plentiful compared to the previous two Mario games, and it’s also easy to get extra lives through minigames such as the picture roulette and concentration, it’s almost hard to get to the Game Over screen. Moreover, I’m glade there are aids that have been employed, such as the technique of picking up consecutive starmen, that take into consideration how well you can play the game comfortably.

The Presentation - Despite being an action game, considerable effort has been put into the game’s presentation in otherwise mundane places. For example, the kings that appear at the end of each world has been transformed into a different animal, in World 4 there levels where you can switch between normal-sized version and a version where all the enemies and environments are larger than usual, and in World 5 there’s a tower that you can climb which takes you to the heavens, where you will find the castle at the end. There’s no limit to the examples I can give. This is a significant improvement over the first two Super Mario games thanks to the increasement of the game’s ROM size. If there is one aspect I think could’ve been improved, was the presentation of the ending could’ve been better.

Scrolling Ideas - It’s rare for a single game to employ various methods of scrolling. There’s free-scrolling with your character, forced-scrolling to the right (and ocassionally diagonally), hi-speed scrolling, ect. The highlights are the flying airships that you enter at the end of each World. Like in Stage 3 of the arcade game R-Type (which also involved moving around a giant airship), you must carefully navigate your character while the stage scrolls through various directions in order to avoid being crush by a wall. While these ideas have been employed by other games in the past, they still deserve merit for the way they’re employed here.

The Music -  I believe the soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. 3 will go down as one of the best in Famicom music’s history. In addition to the sense and atmosphere that makes you feel the uniqueness of each world, what is truly amazing is that they managed to devise a program that makes sound sampling on the Famicom possible. That’s real. Those are the sounds of a real kettledrum and a bassdrum that were recorded through sampling. Following the release of the game, rumors spread that the Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge employed an integrated chip specifically for the sampled sounds, but Mr. Miyamoto clearly denied such a thing.

Caption: The king who appears in the castle at the end of Worlds 1 through 7 are each transformed into a different animal. You might find yourself laughing at the unexpected transformations. By the way, do you know what happens if you clear a World as Frog Mario?

The Peculiar Details and the Difficulty Setting

Caption: The airship from World 8 is said to be one of the most difficult levels in Super Mario 3. Because of its uneven footholds, along with its high-speed scrolling, the results are quite bad. Perhaps you might even need the P-Wings if you can’t clear it normally.

Caption: Among the enemies with individual patterns in the game, Boo has the most unique concept out of all of them. She only approaches gradually while Mario has his back turned on her. Each of these character establishes have good sense in them.

As mentioned above, Super Mario Bros. 3 has several aspects that are a rank higher than other games. However, when you take into account the game as a whole, it could be said that the secret to its popularity lies in how the details were set. The experts at Nintendo have crafted detailed maps, along with enemy characters that exists mainly to raise the quality of the game, that help motivate players.

Of course, you can’t ignore the perfectly exquisite difficulty setting. When I was playing for the first time, there were many stages where I thought “gah, I hope I don’t have to repeat this again!” Yet, strangely enough, most of the levels can actually be cleared without much of an effort. Although, you could say it depends on how you memorize the level designs, it is at that moment that you truly believe that you’re skilled. It is evident that you gain experience from playing Super Mario Bros. 3 and level-up at a very fast-rate.

Once you’ve become truly skilled, that’s when you start pursuing artistry in your play style. On a certain rough spot, could it be possible to clear it elegantly on the quickest time possible? With that in mind, perhaps the best strategy for certain stages is to aim for a non-stop completion. In fact, if you jump while doing the B-dash, it is possible to stomp on a Goomba and such with dead-on timing.

Caption: For example, when you’re on top of the T-shaped pies in World 1-2 if you’re run off with the B-dash and do a large jump with a clack, you can step on a Para-Goomba like this. If you’re confident in your skills, you might want to try challenging your friends over who has the faster completion time in certain stages (although, it might be foolish to try this on a forced-scrolling level). You may also want to record your own nonstop gameplays on video to make your own “Super Mario Bros.3 Perfect Strategy Video”.

Mr. Miyamoto comments on the excess that led to such a strange setting being accepted by players

“I believe the reason why our players have support our games to such an extent is because we do our work with the utmost sincerity. ‘Don’t make the consumers feel like they’re lost - That’s our policy. Also we never try to deviate from our original intent, our original concept, even if a similar game is released before finish ours. If you do that, then it will be inevitable are that your game’s settings and balance will be ruined.”

It was through this interview that I’ve come to the realization that Mr. Miyamoto is truly one of Japan’s leading video game designers with his firm grasp on video game development.

The Greatest Theme: 2-Player Simultaneous Play

Caption: In 2-players mode, if Mario and Luigi enter the same area, the original Mario Bros. will somehow begin play (this is no hoax). You can understand the importance that Mr. Miyamoto is placed on 2-players gameplay.

“The biggest theme of Super Mario Bros. 3 was making a game that was fun for 2 people to play”

I was a bit surprised by Mr. Miyamoto’s statement. I was aware that Super Mario Bros. 3 has a mode where two players take turns between Mario and Luigi. For example, if Mario completes World 1-1, then it’s Luigi’s turn to play World 1-2, which feels a bit odd at first. I’ve never paid much attention to this mode until Mr. Miyamoto mentioned it. What was his purpose for adding such a mode? The following is his answer.

“In Super Mario Bros. 3, I wanted to give players a ‘field where two people can play together’. For example, you can have a skilled play help out his unskilled sister proceed through the game through cooperation, or have a pair of friends compete to see who gets the highest score. Therefore, when playing in 2-players mode, I would be glad if they approach it like a board game and use the whistles to instantly access any of the 8 worlds they like.”

This could indeed be said to be a challenge to create a new 2-players game for Miyamoto, who made one of the biggest 2-players game ever, the original Mario Bros. However, Miyamoto himself was not satisfied with the 2-players play of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Perhaps there are readers who are thinking “Why don’t they just put Mario and Luigi on-screen in Super Mario Bros. at the same time? That’s such a brilliant idea! Maybe I should become a game designer”, but such an idea is short-sighted. Just having Mario and Luigi on-screen at the same time wouldn’t be viable. To be precise, it’s not impossible, but the quality of the game would suffer.

Figure 1: A situation in 2-players co-op

Let met get into the specifics. Let’s supposed there’s a version of Super Mario Bros. where two players can play simultaneously. Now, consider the situation shown in Figure 1. Mario will naturally try to avoid the Venus Fire Trap by moving towards the right (the direction of the scrolling), but he can’t because Luigi is on the other end of the screen. As a result, a tragedy will occur and Mario will be struck by fire. There’s also the problem that Mario cannot see the enemies that will appear ahead of him since he’s too close to the edge of the screen. In terms of the situation described above, it’s almost impossible to play Super Mario Bros. with two players at the same time, unless forced-scrolling is employed.

Caption: This is Alien Syndrome, an arcade game by Sega. The gruesomeness of the monsters was nice, but during 2-players mode, I was also concerned on where to scroll as well.

With that said, there has been plenty of free-scrolling multiplayer games in the past ,especially arcade games. Titles such as Alien Syndrome, Ikari Warriors and its sequels, Rock ‘n Rage, Dark Adventure, Quartet, and many more. Anyone who has played this game with partner has likely experienced the frustration of screaming while seeing their character died on-screen because the screen wasn’t scrolling like it should. It can be asserted that these types of multiplayer games are absolutely unreasonable systematically. Multiplayer games are only possible either, with a fixed screen or with auto-scrolling - that’s my theory.

Caption: Although it was an early Famicom games, Devil World must be seen for its scrolling ideas. When I was told this was a Shigeru Miyamoto game, I was pretty convinced.

On a side-note, one 2-players game that impressed me with its scrolling was Devil World, a previous game by none other than Mr. Miyamoto himself. This was a game where the direction of the auto-scrolling changes as indicated by the devil at the top of the screen. Although one of the game’s flaws is that the logic behind the scrolling couldn’t be understood during a 2-players game, the concept of an auto-scrolling game that changes direction is still impressive even in this age.

What’s Next For Nintendo’s Top Designer?

Usually this would be part where I would mention the aspects of the game in which I was unsatisfied with and come up with suggestions on how to improve them, but unfortunately (or not).

If I may mention a few things, perhaps the game might be too difficult to players who have never played the previous Mario games or the game might take too many hours to complete if you intend on completing it without using warp zones. With that said, it’s a pretty good game when you consider that those are the only flaws I could think of. 

Is Mr. Miyamoto, who served as producer of this super game, going to continue making games like this? This is a question that is of the interest of many videogame fans. At the end of this interview, while the answer was a bit abstract, I was still able to get it from him .

“I have been in charge of game direction until now. Of course, I will continue doing so in the future, but when the time is right, I would also like to work on planning out a gameplay system too.”

System planning - While Mr. Miyamoto said this quite bluntly, he seems to have considerable preparedness for it. The fact that most recent games don’t have their gameplay systems designed for them, but rather they simply rearrange existing systems, is a situation that Mr. Miyamoto himself is coming to grasp, even though most players can’t imagined it from their standpoint.

What kind of gameplay system is Mr. Miyamoto thinking of? I’ve asked him for the specifics.

“There are many talented creators involved in other industries such as novel authors and filmmakers. Now if only someone would create a system, or perhaps a field, in which such people could get involved in game development with ease... My dream is to create a point of contact for creators active in fields other than video game development.”

In our current situation, it’s pretty difficult to create an interesting game if you don’t already know anything about videogames to some extent. But perhaps, with some kind of tool or aid, we will see infinite possibilities in the game industry that we’ve ever seen before.

Mr. Miyamoto brought up an RPG that is being developed by Nintendo with the cooperation of writer Mr. Shigesato Itoi, best known for his coverage of Namco’s Family Stadium baseball video game “Please look forward to it” remarks Mr. Miyamoto. [TL’s note: Of course, that RPG would be none other than the original MOTHER, which Mr. Yamashita himself would review in a later issue.]

1989 will be an intense year, not just for the Super Famicom, but Nintendo’s software development department in general. [TL’s note: At the time, the Super Famicom was expected to be released in 1989 in Japan, but it was ultimately delayed to 1990.]

Miyamoto’s History of Athletic Games

Donkey Kong (June 1981, Arcade) - The originator of the athletic game genre, as well as the first game Miyamoto was involved as a game designer. Despite the fixed screen format and simple controls that consists of a joystick for moving and a jump button, the game was rich in its variety that it showed. Perhaps it might had been the first game to ever have a jump button, but I can’t say for sure.

Donkey Kong Jr. (July 1982, Arcade) - The sequel to Donkey Kong featured a bold setting in which the roles of the protagonist and antagonist from the previous game were switched. While the gameplay system remained largely unchanged, the switch to a larger protagonist brought on many new ideas. This has been the only game to ever feature Mario as antagonist.

Mario Bros. (April 1983, Arcade) - A game that brought-in 2-players co-op to the gameplay cultivated by Donkey Kong. Both players can proceed throughout the stages in various ways, whether it is by cooperating with each other or by pulling each others’ legs trying to kill each other. It is considered to be one of the greatest 2-players simultaneous game in history.

Super Mario Bros. (September 1985, Famicom) - The game that served as the turning point for the athletic game genre, expanding from a fixed screen to side-scrolling. It would go on to become the biggest hit game for the Famicom, becoming a huge influence to the industry along with Dragon Quest.

Super Mario Bros. 2 [Japanese version] (June 1986, Famicom Disk) -  A sequel known for its hellish difficulty, it was aimed specifically at players who mastered the first game. The game is filled with many situations in which the levels can only be cleared using advanced techniques. With that said, the gameplay system was almost unchanged from the original. There were many people who bought the Disk System add-on just for this game.

Yume Kojō: Doki Doki Panic (July 1987, Famicom Disk) - A game produced in cooperation with the Fuji TV’s event Yume Kōjō. While the game wasn’t much of a success, many of its ideas would go on to inspire Super Mario Bros. 3. In fact, a graphically modified version was released for the NES in North America as its version of Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario Bros. 3 (October 1988, Famicom) - The third installment of the Super Mario series was developed with the idea of rearranging the original with a much larger ROM size. In addition to the high degree of completeness, we cannot overlook the amount of new ideas that were enthusiastically inserted into the game. The hard work that has put into the game can be felt by its presentation.

Super Mario Bros. 4 (working title) - Scheduled to be released this October as one of the launch titles for the Super Famicom. [TL’s note: The Super Famicom wouldn’t be released in Japan until 1990] Our curiousity over the kind of Super Mario game that this new machine will be capable of is endless. One can only expect as much from Mr. Miyamoto’s skills as a producer.

[saintarchie]

Remember A Day

Me: The year is almost over, this is a good time to start playing that game. My Life: Here’s 58,000 fucking other things that need doing before Christmas. Me: Oh.

Anyway, now that’s done, let’s check out Ringabel’s future diary gimmick.

There’s actually a lot to take in: In addition to the journal itself, it seems all of the relevant information about the game’s characters and mechanics are kept in here. Probably wouldn’t hurt to familiarise myself.

[several minutes of reading later]

OK, let’s move on to the journal itself. It seems to be written from Ringabel’s perspective, but he doesn’t remember any of it and the events described mostly haven’t happened yet. Assuming they prove to be accurate, the most likely explanation would seem to be that he was either given the book by a future version of himself, or that he is the future version, but doesn’t realise it thanks to his amnesia.

As for what the book actually says, here’s a quick summary:

9/20: Ringabel admires a picture of Edea and longs for the chance to meet her. He also watches a new ship, named the Eschalot, being towed into wherever he was at the time.

9/26: Ringabel crosses the Norende Plateau, en route for the capital, uneasy due to the lack of a weapon. Upon arriving, he is unable to stay at the inn and so lets himself into the empty house next door.

9/27: While exploring Caldisla, Ringabel is “volunteered” to join a local boar hunt with Owen. It goes well enough that Owen offers to set him up with better accommodation when they return.

9/28: Following the hunt, Ringabel becomes more ingratiated with Owen, but still keeps a certain amount of distance, allowing the people at the inn to go on believing their incorrect assumptions about why he came to them.

10/03: The new routine Ringabel had settled into is upset when a bright flash and violent ground tremors occur, apparently heralding some great cataclysm back in the direction of the Norende Plateau. Ringabel can’t figure out what’s happening, but of course the audience already knows that it’s Madoka’s birthday the Elric brothers burning their house down Norende falling into a chasm.

10/04: Signs of the destruction of Norende wash downstream, and Ringabel helps the locals investigate. Turns out, it was he who found Tiz and brought him back to the inn.

10/07: While Tiz convalesces, a badly damaged ship arrives in the port. The seas are rotting and un-navigable, stranding this ship’s crew and passengers. Among the latter group is Agnès, who has a lot of questions about the events of four days earlier. Ringabel tells her about Norende.

Of course, these are all things that have now happened. The next set of entries, however, are still to come:

10/25: The Sky Knights are defeated by the Vestal et al, who comandeer their airship, apparently taking Edea captive in the process.

11/13: The writer travels to Ancheim in search of the Vestal. This is interesting because it suggests that, assuming Ringabel is still the narrator of these events, that he did not take part in the capture of the airship. Since the current Ringabel has joined the party that’s about to head off and do that, it implies that either something will happen to separate him from the group, or that he is trying to subvert the pre-ordained narrative from the journal. In any event, he is unable to find Agnès in Ancheim and is pointed towards the Yulyana Woods.

11/23: At the palace in Ancheim, Agnès appears to be fomenting a rebellion against the king for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, although they have something to do with an evil sigil she’s carrying. The narrator is unable to get close to her because of the crowd.

12/08: The narrator expresses relief that “they” haven’t come to wherever he is, as their presence would complicate matters in some way. In their absence, he begs for “her” help but the book doesn’t say what for. Later, aboard his ship, he notes that Florem is a place where women live in chaste humility, peacefully co-existing with nature and rejecting conflict. He notes that “those two” would react badly to this description.

1/31: Nyx’s avatar awakens at the summit of Tartarus, bringing about the end of the world. Wait, wrong game. The narrator receives his first contact from “them” in three weeks, a brief message simply noting that the Vestal has entered the Sacred Flower Festival. He doesn’t seem to know what this means.

3/07: The narrator returns to a fortress for the first time in four years, wondering what “they” intend to do with such a large sword. He restrains the urge to attack his guide. Despite complaining about the properties of mythril and orichalcum being common knowledge that everyone already learned at school, he still makes a note of them in the journal. The fort’s interior appears unchanged, and there’s a map of it that I assume will be useful later on. At the top of the fort, he dismisses the guide, just as somebody with a giant hand greets him.

3/17: The narrator is annoyed about having to defend some brat from being tortured. This came about as the result of a stand-off between him and an odd couple made up of a fat guy and a weakling. After “old man battleaxe” intervened, the kid ended up in the narrator’s care. The child is an eight-year-old orphan who ran away from a forced labour detail and so ended up “here”. Where that is isn’t specified, beyond the kid and the narrator having to share a room there.

3/19: The narrator reluctantly allows the child to accompany him on a journey... somewhere. Wherever it is, there’s a secret tunnel into some magma caverns. During a break they are caught by Edea, who demands that he let the boy go. Despite his exhaustion, the narrator has the boy hide and prepares to fight not just Edea, but Tiz and Agnès as well. So if it is Ringabel writing all of this, it appears that he ends up at odds with the rest of the party. In the midst of their battle it seems that the ground becomes unstable, leading to him having to pull Edea to safety. While she’s grateful for the help, neither she nor the other two are prepared to let this thing with the kid go. It’s all rendered moot however, by the narrator falling into the magma himself.

4/24: The narrator doesn’t initially know that that’s what the date is, but it’s written in the in-game menu, so I assume he added it afterwards. Anyway, he has improbably survived his magma bath and is being “fixed” by someone who doesn’t seem all that concerned about his well-being for reasons that seem to stem from an incident that’s not in the book. Oh maybe not, actually, the fixer is described as a pig, so it might be the fat guy from earlier. More painful reconstruction follows, after which, someone else tries to question the narrator about a letter he’s received. “Bring the orphan to the inn of origin.” The questioner assumes that this is a code of some sort, but I’m assuming that it is literally what the writer wants him to do with the boy. Of course, it’s been over a month since he actually had the boy, so the letter writer is working from outdated intelligence. Anyway, the questioner tries to get something out of some other letters they’ve intercepted, but the narrator’s not up to it, catching only a few key words like “earth crystal” “grandship” and “engine room”. After some more time passes, he’s released into civilian care, and within a week is fully healed.

6/16: The narrator reflects on the fact that “his” predictions are coming true. The first is a pillar of light that can be seen over the sea to the south, while the second has yet to happen, but stopping it depends on the narrator’s ability to stop Agnès et al from doing... something. He reflects upon how that trio came to be, and his feelings towards Edea, before signing off his final entry.

So yeah, a lot going on, or at least will be going to have been going on at some point in the past/future. Time travel is complicated. I’m assuming it’s time travel, anyway. Will be interesting to see how much, if at all, we end up deviating from the version in the book. The deal, as far as I can tell, is that the party is/was/will be convinced to do something, possibly under false pretences, while Ringabel is convinced to stop them. As for who’s right and who did all that convincing, I guess I’ll find out as I play through it. Airy’s absence from the diary narrative is interesting, though. Presumably that version of Ringabel didn’t see her much.

Now I look, there’s a bunch of notes that he’s written about people/things that are probably worth commenting on. Think I’ll leave that for tomorrow though.

[linuxgamenews]

Airships: Conquer the Skies massive update has a release date

Airships: Conquer the Skies game is due to get Co-op and Conquest update soon for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the ongoing work of developer David Stark. Plus the game is also discounted on Steam and GOG, regular price on Humble Store. The developer is eager to announce, August 16th, 2022. Since it is the definitive release date for the huge Co-op and Conquest update for Airships: Conquer the Skies. The update also adds co-op airship combat. Along with any number of human and AI players on each side of the fight. Due to massively expanding the features of the conquest mode: A full-featured diplomacy system. The AI takes a "realpolitik" approach and the system explains in detail why the AI likes or dislikes a diplomatic action. So no AI opponents that hate or love you for no clear reason. Your diplomatic actions also affect your reputation in the Airships: Conquer the Skies world as a whole. The ultimatum system is a big change, where you can send an interaction saying, "do this or else I'll do this other thing". This can be "pay me tribute or I declare war". But also more out there are things like "upgrade our non-aggression pact to a defensive pact or I'll cancel our trade treaty".

Airships: Conquer the Skies Launch Trailer (Linux, Mac, Windows PC)

You can now upgrade your towns and cities. Doing so with shipyards, factories, police stations, pleasure palaces, labs, and more. Balance your costs between building up your empire and winning more of it. There are new systems for logistics and city unrest in Airships: Conquer the Skies. As well as a fully rewritten espionage system and a revamped tech tree. Plus a much better looking new map. Finally, there are now special eras in conquest that change things up by having special rules. Like an Age of Piety that reduces unrest and gives the players a bunch of holy sites to fight over. Or an Age of Exploration that lets the players send out parties to find knowledge and valuables. Airships: Conquer the Skies is a real-time strategy game. One where you build steampunk vehicles and fight with them against other players and weird monsters. It's been around for a number of years from solo developer David Stark. It has sold over 100,000 copies and has an active modding and multiplayer community. Airships: Conquer the Skies Co-op and conquest update is coming on August 16th, 2022. But the combat game is discounted 25% on discounted on Steam and GOG, regular price on Humble Store. Available on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC.

[weekendshowcase]

Third Game’s the Charm

by Antonio Garland

    Like before, this game was nonexistent to me until I was in my teens and played it at a friend’s house. This, too, was played on Super Mario All-Stars on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. I found it similar to the original game, though with a few additions. At the time, I also found it extremely difficult. However, I did have fun with it. I have bought and beaten it several times since, though this is still one of the more difficult games in the series. It’s Super Mario Bros. 3, originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988 in  Japan and 1990 in America.

(image source: Moby Games)      The plot is one that should be familiar. Bowser kidnaps Peach again and it’s Mario’s job to rescue her. This time, however, Bowser brought backup in the form of his seven children, the Koopalings. Bowser has also taken over the seven sections of the Mushroom Kingdom, stealing magic wands from the seven Kings and turning them into animals. In addition to rescuing Peach, Mario must also get back the wands and turn the Kings back to normal. The gameplay should be recognizable by now. Hold right until you reach the end of the level, while jumping over obstacles and defeating enemies. Koopas and Goombas are back as the default enemies. Certain variations of Goombas now have wings and drop smaller Goombas on the player for an additional hazard. Buzzy Beetles also return, though they can now climb walls and ceilings. They drop on top of Mario and attempt to spin into him when he’s near. This game also introduces the Boos, ghost-like enemies in castle levels who are still when Mario is facing them but come for him when his back is turned. Another new enemy is the Thwomp, sentient stone spike-covered blocks with faces that attempt to drop on top of Mario when he’s underneath them.

      Returning from the American Super Mario Bros. 2 is the ability to pick up and throw enemies and items. Certain blocks can be picked up and tossed as projectiles. Koopa shells can now be picked up; however, if the shell is held for too long the Koopa will reemerge and harm the player. A new move Mario can perform is the slide maneuver. While going down a slope, pressing down on the control pad will allow Mario to slide down for both faster travel and to attack  enemies along the way. He can also swim and climb vines. There’s also now a speed bar. The longer Mario runs, the faster the bar will fill until it reaches the P at the end indicating Mario’s max speed.

    Speaking of new moves, Mario gains quite a variety of power-ups. The mushroom, fire flower, and starman return with the same mechanics. Some new power-ups include the frog suit, which allows better control in the water and a higher jump. The leaf which gives Mario raccoon ears and a tail. It allows him to spin when pressing B. When the speed bar is full, the leaf allows Mario to fly for a few seconds by rapidly pressing A. The Tanooki suit is the same as the leaf, though pressing down and B turns Mario into an invulnerable statue that can harm spiked enemies and fire.

      A special item only available in one level is the Goomba Shoe (a.k.a. “Kuribo’s Shoe”), a green boot-like item that Mario rides inside of, and allows for attacking spiked enemies. Another usable but rare item is the hammer suit. This item dresses Mario like a Hammer bro. and its function is like the fire flower, only it can defeat normally invincible enemies such as Boos. It also protects Mario against fire attacks when crouched. There’s also a P leaf, which allows Mario to fly infinitely during a single level, afterwards functioning like a normal leaf suit. Extra items can be stored in the inventory on the world map screen. They can be selected before the next level for use.

      This is the first Mario game to feature the world map system. Instead of automatically being taken from one level to the next, the player has the option of going to various levels from an overworld map. Outside of levels are a variety of other places to visit on the world map. There are toad houses which allow for playing matching minigames for bonus items and extra lives. Sometimes Toad will give Mario a choice to choose an item from three different chests. Castle stages are done at the halfway point on a world map. At the end is a mini-boss called Boom Boom, a rather large Koopa who races back and forth attempting to hit Mario. He sometimes jumps and grows spikes on his back when attacked.

      The world map also features enemies, specifically the Hammer Bros. They are fought the same way as before, only they come in pairs. After beating a level, they move around randomly on the world map until they encounter Mario. There’s an item called the music box which puts them to sleep to make bypassing them easier. Defeating a Hammer Bros. duo will yield an item, including the rare hammer which breaks blocks on the world map for alternate routes. Returning from Super Mario Bros. 2 is the world variation. There’s a desert world, an ice world and a pipe world, among others. There’s actually a world that changes in size depending on which pipe you go down. Just as before, there are eight worlds in increasing difficulty. At the end of each world is a castle where Mario meets the resident Toad and transformed King. He then boards an airship which is home to the game’s boss, one of the Koopalings. The airship levels are done similarly as the castle levels of earlier games. The airships move automatically and sway up and down for difficulty variation. At the end are pipes where Mario goes down to fight the boss. Each Koopaling is different visually and in how they attack. They can shoot projectiles at Mario and attempt to hop on top of him. If Mario looses on an airship, he’ll be kicked off the ship, which will go to a different location on the overworld map. After defeating the Koopalings, they each drop a wand and Mario returns it to the world’s King, causing him to change back to normal.

      Just as before, there are warps that can instantly take the player to later parts of the game. They come in the form of Whistles, a rare item hidden in some of the earlier levels. When used, a tornado appears that scoops up Mario and takes him to a world select screen similar to the overworld screen. The Whistles only take Mario a few worlds ahead, so another whistle is needed to reach the final world. Also, they only allow transport to the beginning of a world and can’t skip levels.

      The final world is the Dark World, where Bowser resides. There are a lot of airship-like levels with tanks and water ships, along with occasional mini-boss battles. This world also doubles as the fire world as it does have an underworld feeling. Once Bowser has been dealt with and the Princess is saved, the player is treated to a new game where all their inventory slots are stocked with P leaves. Other than that, there isn’t a variation with the enemies or other bonus features.

      Upon its release, Super Mario Bros. 3 received widespread universal acclaim and is hailed as one of the best Mario games to date. It featured innovative new features that new Mario games today use, such as the world map and varied power-ups. The Koopalings would also go on to become reoccurring enemies. On your first playthrough, there will be so many things to experience as you never know just what will appear. Lots of levels feature secret areas and bonuses that reward you for thinking outside of the box. If there was one Mario game to play, this would definitely be it. The game was so popular that it spawned a cartoon series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. The game has been re-released several times. It’s been featured in Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and for various systems that support Virtual Console.

[dipulb3]

Among Us coming to Xbox Game Pass, adds new map

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/among-us-coming-to-xbox-game-pass-adds-new-map/

Among Us coming to Xbox Game Pass, adds new map

SEATTLE, Wash. — Two developments regarding the game Among Us emerged Thursday night during the 2020 The Game Awards webcast. These two developmental announcements are definitely nothing to be sus about.

Among Us coming to Xbox Game Pass

Subscribers to Xbox Game Pass rejoice! (You know I am, being a subscriber of Game Pass Ultimate.)

While new games are being added to the growing games library, there are some questions as to availability.

What is certain: the game will be coming “soon” to PC, where it is normally a paid title. The only difference is the mobile version is free-to-play.

Joining Among Us are the popular RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and The Yakuza Remastered Collection. Additional games include Neoverse, Killer Queen Black, The Medium, and Cyber Shadow.

With these new additions come questions as to where they will be available.

Skyrim, for example, will only be available for PC beginning December 15.

The mainline Kiryu Yakuza saga will be available in staggered phases. The Yakuza Remastered Collection, which is a remastering of the third, fourth, and fifth chapters, will be available beginning Jan. 28, 2021. The sixth chapter, The Song of Life, will be available on March 25. Moreover, all Yakuza games will be available on PC and Xbox.

There was no official date on when Among Us will be available on PC. The announcement simply stated, “soon.” The game is normally a paid title, unlike the free-to-play mobile version. There is nothing available regarding its availability to Xbox consoles.

Among the other titles, Neoverse will be the only other title outside of Skyrim to be PC-exclusive on the Game Pass.

New map — the Airship — coming in early 2021

Game developer InnerSloth would announce its newest map with an airship theme: The Airship.

With the new map came a new trailer. The trailer would show off new activities for crewmates to try and complete.

In addition, this massive map has multiple floors and contraptions.

The public release date is not available, but the video would state early 2021.

Heartland Newsfeed may get a commission from retail offers included in links throughout this article.

For more local and Illinois news, follow Jake Leonard on Twitter @JakeLeonardWPMD and Heartland Newsfeed @HLNF_Bulletin on Twitter.

Additionally, you can follow Heartland Newsfeed on Facebook and Reddit among other platforms. You can now follow our news updates on Telegram, Flote, and MeWe.

Support independent journalism. Become a patron on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. There are other donor options as well.

Like this:

Like Loading…

(function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=249643311490&version=v2.3'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 4/7/21

SEAN: April! Maple! Let’s do the list backwards this time!

This means starting with Yen Press, who have precisely one manga out, but it is a debut. Please Put Them On, Takamine-san! (Haite Kudasai, Takamine-san) is a bizarre high school comedy with SF elements, about a girl who can redo her past actions to achieve the best result… but only by taking off her underwear. This runs in Gangan Joker, and is by the author of the delightfully titled Is a Zombie Bitch Considered a Bitch?, which thankfully is not licensed.

MICHELLE: Pass!

MELINDA: I. No. Yen Press, why is this your brand now? Seriously, why?

ANNA: No thank you!

SEAN: Yen On has two debuts. First off we have Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin (Hazure Skill “Kage ga Usui” o Motsu Guild Shokuin ga, Jitsuha Densetsu no Ansatsusha), which I’ve heard is better than it sounds, but I’m trying to avoid taking on any new “my skill everyone hates is actually the best” sort of books.

ASH: I feel that.

SEAN: The other debut… at long last… is Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense (Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu), the light novel that inspired the popular anime. Kaede is ready to play the new game her friend recommends… but has no real gaming experience, and also it’s a VR game, meaning she could feel pain! As such, she sinks ALL her points into defense. Playing as “Maple” (a pun on her name), she rapidly gets ludicrously overpowered in the most adorable way possible. I suspect these books will be a bit more gamer-talk than I’d really like, but… Maple.

MELINDA: This actually sounds kind of fun.

ASH: It does!

SEAN: No debuts for Viz, just some heavy hitters. There’s Yona of the Dawn 29, We Never Learn 15, One Piece 96, Natsume’s Book of Friends 25, My Hero Academia 27, Moriarty the Patriot 4, Jujutsu Kaisen 9, the 7th and final volume of An Incurable Case of Love, Dr. STONE 16, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 21, and Chainsaw Man 4.

ASH: I’m reading quite a few of these series, but I’m especially glad to see Natsume’s Book of Friends in the list.

ANNA: Some good stuff here for sure.

SEAN: Udon should – for real this time – have The Rose of Versailles 4.

MELINDA:

ASH: Hooray!

ANNA: Yay!!!!

SEAN: Three titles for Seven Seas: Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary 12, Magical Girl Site 14, and The Kingdoms of Ruin 2. They also have the last 3 volumes of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game.

Kodansha Manga debuts A School Frozen in Time (Tsumetai Kousha no Toki wa Todomaru), which seems to combine an eerie high school tragedy with a death game atmosphere. It ran in Monthly Shonen Magazine.

MICHELLE: I’m really looking forward to this one!

MELINDA: I think I am, too!

ASH: I wasn’t previously aware of this one, but now I’m looking forward to it, too!

SEAN: Also in print: Orient 2 and Fire Force 22.

Debuting digitally is Girlfriend, Girlfriend (Kanojo mo Kanojo), a comedy from Weekly Shonen Magazine and the creator of Aho Girl. It’s about a boy who is confessed to by two girls, so asks if he can date both of them. Expect a lot of hyperactive silliness.

There’s also Vampire Dormitory 5, Those Snow-White Notes 2, Our Fake Marriage 6, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 4, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 3, the 5th and final volume of The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu, and Chihayafuru 25.

MICHELLE: I better get on Those Snow-White Notes before I fall too far behind.

ASH: It’s likely a futile wish, but I’d love to see Those Snow-White Notes released in print.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has no debuts, but oodles of titles. In print, there’s the 2nd Infinite Dendrogram manga omnibus, In Another World with My Smartphone 15, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 3 (manga version), By the Grace of the Gods 3, Ascendance of a Bookworm 8, Ascendance of a Bookworm 4 (manga version), and Animeta! 5.

ASH: I need to catch up on Ascendance of a Bookworm, but I’ve really been enjoying the series.

SEAN: Digital titles are A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 4, Outbreak Company 17, Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party 4, Infinite Dendrogram 7 (manga), I Love Yuri and Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi 2, and Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village 3.

Dark Horse has a 3rd volume of Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles.

Lastly, Airship has 3 print titles: Berserk of Gluttony 2, Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average 12, and How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 11. They’ve also got a digital-first version of Reincarnated As a Sword 8.

Are you maxing out your defense with manga?

By: Sean Gaffney

[digitalfime]

'Among Us' will get 15-player lobbies and a new art style | Engadget

‘Among Us’ will get 15-player lobbies and a new art style | Engadget

After a lengthy wait, Among Us’ latest map, the Airship, is available to download today. With it comes the biggest update developer Innersloth has released for the game to date. Included in the package are a persistent account system and an extensive collection of new hats. However, the studio has even bigger changes planned for the future. i This content is not available due to your privacy…

[cufeed]

Among Us: The Airship Map Release Date Announced

Among Us: The Airship Map Release Date Announced

The Airship, Among Us’ new map, will be released on March 31, 2021 alongside a new update that adds the ability to pick which room you start in, ladders, a basic account system for moderation, and more.Announced by Innersloth, this new map, which was revealed at The Game Awards 2020, is based on the Toppat Clan Airship from the developer’s Henry Stickmin series.Innersloth also shared what the…

[enter21st]

Among Us’ new Airship map release date revealed

Among Us’ new Airship map release date revealed

Among Us’ new map, The Airship, will be released on March 31, developer InnerSloth announced Thursday. The new map was originally revealed in December, and will arrive as part of a free update that adds ladders, a basic account system for moderation, and the ��ability to pick the room you start in,” the developer said. Of course, there are also some new hats. Among Us launched in 2018 with a…