‘Soon Shine’ Review: SvnnyNight

Many a mobile game that involved copious amounts of screen tapping have come before Soon Shine, and many have failed to provide any interesting depth or lasting interest¹. While Dahku Creations‘ latest² can’t explicitly be considered a mobile title (though you do play the game exclusively on the Gamepad), it has the same idea in mind: a time-waster with a ‘catch-all, everybody can play’ attitude.

… Soon Shine has definite and immediate charm …

That said, Soon Shine has definite and immediate charm, featuring bright colors and an oddly-relaxing tone. Using a day & night swap via the Sun and Moon, you’ll have to tap to kill approaching spirits that seek to steal your energy. It starts out maddeningly-slow, almost to the point that it makes you forget you’ll be tapping your Gamepad screen repeatedly in the coming moments.

Fortunately, all that tapping goes into earning tokens, which can be redeemed in the shop for powerups that refill your health, or eliminate all spirits on-screen. If you’re the type to bank your tokens for a rainy day, then you can also purchase more expensive, permanent prizes; additional music tracks and visual backgrounds that can help spruce up the game and temper some of the repetition that the default background and music track may cause.

All well and good, that initially-easy setup, tap tap tapping to your heart’s content. The game’s lone mechanic comes in swapping out the Sun for the Moon, to occasionally squash larger spirits of the opposing spectrum like a planetary form of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ (Moon beats Light, Sun beats Dark). However, this simple swap harbors some fairly deep scoring and planning options.

You see ‘tapping’, I see ‘combos in an alternate dimension’.

You can ‘combo’ by tapping regular enemies of the same color, yet those same foes have counterparts in the other dimension. Given that those enemies freeze in place when you swap characters, you can essentially ‘piggyback’ off targets to build your score, then switch dimensions and continue the combo. This isn’t just a brilliant way to deepen the combat, mind you, but vital to besting your high score. Reaching a max combo also sends out a ‘bonus tokens’ powerup for you to nab, making it more than worth your while to play intelligently. At the same time, stacking too many enemies of one color can leave you vulnerable and outnumbered once the action picks up.

It’s a clever system, spread across three different modes, ‘Standard’, ‘Purist’, and ‘Timed’. There’s no huge gameplay differences between the settings, outside of having three minutes to work with in the ‘Timed’ mode, and not being able to use purchased powerup items in the ‘Purist’ gametype. This isn’t really a loss, either, considering you can do just fine with quick fingers.

Soon Shine is an excellent time-waster …

I would have liked to see additional enemies or more gameplay (a ‘Frantic’ mode that skips the slow build-up to combat would be most welcome). Still, Soon Shine is an excellent time-waster; ‘simplistic’ on the surface, with ‘smart’ and ‘strategic’ lurking just beneath. It’s not going to set the world on fire with that complexity or its repetitive tap-fest, but a colorful style and the bargain price makes it a must-buy for arcade fans on the Wii U.

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Note: A code was provided by Dahku Creations for the purposes of this review. For more on this policy, please visit the About page.

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1. I can think of only one ‘tapping’ game I’ve consistently had on my iPhone; Kenji Eno’s One Dot Enemies. Though the squinting to see the tiny bastards on a worn-out screen gets old, flushing those bugs down a virtual toilet does not. ↩
2. The two-man team also released the well-regarded Chubbins on the Wii U eShop in June. ↩

‘Maze’ is Newest Project From ‘The Letter’ Developer

Any mention of the Wii U pariah The Letter is likely to cause a shudder or two; the wounds of that disaster are just too fresh in mind. Even with a promised update¹ on the way, that game is beyond redemption. Still, the bad press isn’t stopping developer TreeFall Studios— and more specifically, lead designer Eli Brewer— from starting on a new project destined for Wii U, Maze.

‘It can’t be worse than The Letter.’ was my first reaction, and I’m cautiously optimistic that statement will hold up in the end. Maze is… a series of mazes, spread across a variety of themed worlds. In the year 2050, Robots have replaced Humans as the dominant species on Earth. They’re all set to mark Us down for extinction, but decide to give Us one last chance— navigate a bunch of mazes, and we’ll be spared. Not the most compelling of dramas, but again, ‘It can’t be any worse than The Letter.’

Maze is coming to the system one way or the other, but Eli has opened up funding for the game on Indiegogo. It seems likely the game won’t reach the full amount requested, but you do get the chance to be a part of history and help fund this thing. Can’t put a price tag on that, right? Maybe you can. Given that you can secure an early code for the finished game on Wii U at four dollars, it’s probably a safe bet to assume the game won’t cost you anymore than that. No firm release date has been mentioned², but hey, you can always play The Letter in the meantime, I guess (shudder).

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1. Adds a new level, and slicks up the title screen some. Also, the game is currently on sale for fifty cents. Much better gamble now than it ever was at $2.00, but it’s still not worth it. ↩
2. Though ‘October’ is listed as a delivery date for the rewards. ↩

‘Armillo’ Review: Super Hedgehog Galaxy

That completely unsanctioned and non-official subtitle¹ might be stealing some of the thunder from Fuzzy Wuzzy Games‘ Armillo, but it’s an apt assessment. It’s also a compliment, at least how I intend it. Much like Mario’s outings on the Wii, Armillo has you blasting from planetoid to planetoid, circling around and exploring the different gameplay options each new environment presents. And a lot like Sega’s beloved icon, you can roll around the grounds to quickly get where you need to go, running through certain enemies and barriers like a true… um, space armadillo. You know what, it’s close enough.

The plot is typical stuff, but generally entertaining. An invading army of ‘darkbots’ has taken over your world, enslaved your brother and turned him against you with mind control, and imprisoned a bunch of cute creatures (which you’ll have to rescue, natch). The visuals are decent throughout, if a little dated. Armillo looks like a N64 game that’s been trapped in developmental limbo, then suddenly plucked from that hell and placed on the Wii U eShop. It’s a nostalgic vibe, mostly, and I suppose the best compliment I can give here is that Armillo feels like a game that belongs on a Nintendo console.

… the platforming bits in Armillo are excellent all on their own. Nary a level goes by that you aren’t doing something new or different …

It plays like one too, with the game’s namesake Armillo and (later on) his brother dashing about, rolling into enemies, traversing exotic locales, and solving some light environmental puzzles just like the best of Nintendo’s storied history with great platformers. Despite those similarities to other games and mascots, the platforming bits in Armillo are excellent all on their own. Nary a level goes by that you aren’t doing something new or different, and the stage layouts do all they can to compliment the changing mechanics and make it a fresh experience.

One minute your morphing the planet’s weather from cold to hot in order to expedite your progress, the next you’re playing a pseudo twin-stick shooter. Armillo‘s design is the kitchen sink of gameplay, tossing everything at you to see what sticks. Thankfully, most of it does. And there’s a lot of it. You’ve got your primary stages (set in five distinct hub worlds), followed up by mid-level jaunts into an alternate dimension where you can only survive for a limited time, then on to an end-of-level bonus run. Oh, and then there’s the secret 2D time trial stages that function as ‘keys’ to unlock other 2D time trial stages². Whew! The game certainly keeps you busy.

Simply put, there’s always something to see and somewhere to go in Armillo …

And motivated. Scattered ‘orbs’ serve as the game’s currency, giving you a host of upgrades and level tweaks to choose from. These items can permanently increase your health / initial stockpile of lives, or tack on extra time to explore the game’s numerous stages on subsequent runs, finding new secrets or improving on old scores to increase your medal count. Simply put, there’s always something to see and somewhere to go in Armillo, and minus some occasional dips in the framerate when things get too busy, there’s absolutely no reason not to.

All told, you can expect five to six hours of steady fun, with plenty of unlockable skills and additional levels to keep you grinding for more orbs, all in pursuit of that hard-fought 100% completion. Armillo should satisfy any hankering you have for a solid, challenging platformer. It’s an excellent addition to the eShop library that sets a high standard for future indie releases on the console.

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1. I think I’m so clever sometimes. ↩
2. All of it set to a diverse and awesome soundtrack. Seriously, Armillo packs in some of the best indie tunes I’ve heard recently. ↩

‘Soon Shine’ Will, ah…, Soon Shine, on Wii U

As the trailer indicates, Dahku Creations‘ Soon Shine is all about reflexes and high scores. The game plays exclusively on the Wii U’s Gamepad, with you swapping between light and dark— Sun and Moon, natch— to defeat enemies of that particular palette and maintain a steady combo.

You’ll buy upgrades via the in-game shop to help in fighting off the energy-sucking spirits, as well as new music tracks and backgrounds to spruce up your surroundings. Taken together with the arcade gameplay, it could prove to be an addictive combo.

Soon Shine will release onto the Nintendo eShop on August 14th. It will cost you $1.99.

‘The Letter’ Review: Return to Sender

If any console is in need of high-quality third party software, it’s the Wii U. Even coming out of this year’s E3 with a bit of a surge in viability and popularity¹, Nintendo will need all the help it can get from outside studios to turn things around. Particularly from its courtship of indie developers, and the unique ideas that those teams bring to the table. Unfortunately, The Letter, from TreeFall Studios, is not going to assuage anyone’s fears surrounding the system’s software predicament. In fact, it might make things worse.

Billed as a first-person horror adventure, the game has you traversing a grand total of three-ish spaces, seeking out esoteric objects and clues on the disappearance of your father. Playing as his son, Michael, you’re given little else to go on. Even the razor-thin plot seems unsure of what’s coming next, as your father’s fate goes from ‘missing’, to ‘probably dead’, to possibly ‘murdered’, despite no credible evidence to support any of it.

No enemies, no jump scares, and no threats of any kind (even implied) exist in The Letter. Strange for a ‘horror adventure’, no?

The bland environments you pick through do nothing to help (nor do the inverted look controls, which cannot be changed) or inject tension. Whether it’s an abandoned construction site or a ghost town, ‘nighttime’— and the fact that you’re carrying a flashlight— seem to be the only spooky aspects. There’s no need to worry, anyway. Though your father’s letter warns you that this construction site is dangerous, and you’re unlikely to survive, there is literally nothing bad that can happen to you. No enemies, no jump scares, and no threats of any kind (even implied) exist in The Letter. Strange for a ‘horror adventure’, no?

Instead, you simply walk around, hoping to stumble upon the ‘clues’ the game wants you to find, with a friendly chime being the only indication that you’re doing anything right. Not that you’ll have to wander for too long. The layouts aren’t overly-complex, and The Letter will probably take you less than twenty minutes to finish. On any subsequent playthroughs, when you know the locations of all the items? Five minutes at most.

This about sums up my experience.

There are a few optional things to find, including some interactive items and bits of side plot involving your father. These ‘hidden’ letters seem to hint at family strife, but the deus ex machina ending disproves that theory and feels like a slap in the face of everything that leads up to it. So what’s left to sift through in The Letter? Not much. Maybe there’s hidden meanings in some of the game’s oddly-scaled props, like the grapefruit and kiwi slices that appear at the beginning and end, or the strange, whispering teddy bears².

The Letter is a terrible game that plays like an unfinished demo …

That could be grasping at straws. Even with the promise of additional updates incoming, The Letter is a terrible game that plays like an unfinished demo, full of inconsistencies, jarring tonal shifts, and half-baked ideas. It would need a total overhaul of, well… everything, to change that fact. No doubt the developer had good intentions at the start³, but the final product is a short, sloppy waste that doesn’t belong anywhere near the eShop.

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1. Hey, it convinced me to finally buy in. ↩
2. Or, more likely, I’m just over-thinking all of this. ↩
3. As evidenced by this failed Indiegogo campaign. ↩