Review : Minion Quest : The Search for Bowser (from Mario & Luigi : Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions)

    It’s October 2017 : Super Mario Odyssey is bounding onto the Nintendo Switch and Mario & Luigi series developer Alphadream have seen fit to remake their original RPG outing for…the 3DS. And without any 3D.

    If the amount of games released on both the PS4 and PS5 since 2020 have told us anything, it’s that companies tend to keep supporting their older systems for a few years after their next console is out. This way they can take advantage of the pre-existing install base and hedge their bets in case the new console flops. So “Mario & Luigi : Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions” for the 3DS isn’t that strange a release. Reusing sprites from the other 3DS instalments and revamping the visuals now they don’t need to be visible on an unlit GBA screen (as well as removing Geno’s cameo), remaking the RPG made a lot of sense almost 15 years and two handhelds on from release. And –

    Hold on - what’s “Bowser’s Minions”?

    As is the case with a lot of remakes and other flavours of re-releases on Nintendo platforms, Superstar Saga’s remake came with an all-new side mode called “Minion Quest : The Search For Bowser”. No idea why it’s called “Bowser’s Minions” on the front of the box; they got it right on the back.

    Unlocked a few hours in and running parallel to the main story, Minion Quest follows Captain Goomba as he wrangles Bowser’s army from around the Beanbean Kingdom on a search for their glorious leader. Along the way, he appoints a Boo, Shy Guy and Koopa Troopa as fellow captains and clashes with the brainwashed Koopalings. Scanning appropriate amiibo can give you more captains but the default four are enough to get through the game.

    Combat in the game is a departure from the timed hit system Mario & Luigi is known for; instead of attacking and dodging enemy fire, gameplay is far more passive, akin to an auto-battler. Occasionally, your minions’ spirit meters fill and you’re asked to hit or mash “A” to perform their special skill. Hammer Bros. barrage enemies with hammers, Pokeys crash down on opponents in front of them… you get the idea.

    Including your captain, each troop has up to eight members that are either Ranged, Flying or Melee in a rock-paper-scissors system. Melee is best against Ranged and Ranged is best against Flying, which is best against Melee. Some enemies are also vulnerable to specific minions : Broozers (from the 2006 New Super Mario Bros. game and now in this remake of a 2003 game because they had the asset from Paper Jam Bros.) are particularly effective against all mechanical foes, and Boomerang Bros. are good against precariously tall enemies like Goomba Towers and Pokeys.

    Captains attack too but they also have a pool of Command/Captain Points (the game only refers to them as CP) that they can redeem to issue commands at any time. These range from one point to cancel an enemy minion’s special skill to seven points to cast a hail of lightning that temporarily shrinks and weakens your foes, much like in Mario Kart; you choose these with either the d-pad or the touchscreen.

    Although you can theoretically get through the entirety of Superstar Saga without taking a hit, the mortality rate in Minion Quest is far higher. You minions will fall in battle but don’t worry as everyone fully heals between rounds of battle in the middle of quests. Up to three CP will also replenish, so you can strategize for the best time to use your commands.

    Outside of quests, you can “fortify” your troops with beans randomly earned from quests and change the makeup of your squads to better face a battle. There are also plenty of cutscenes with as much wit as the main game, albeit with a lot more exasperated flopping backwards. The humour is honestly the only draw here as the battles are repetitive and the sprinkling of inputs means that you cannot simply watch the action as with many autobattlers.

    After playing almost the entirety of Minion Quest in the room before Superstar Saga’s final battle, I would have to recommend instead playing it in tandem with the main game. When the brothers Mario finish in the Chucklehuck Woods, go back there with the minions right away. You can only play the final quests of the game once Superstar Saga is finished, regardless of how you choose to play. Leaving it until practically the end of the game did mean that I wasn’t spoiled about the Koopalings being in the game. They were everywhere for a few years but must have been a novel throwback in 2003.

    When a game club I joined was playing Superstar Saga last January, I decided to take part with my copy of the remake to see how it fared and to experience “Bowser’s Minions”. On the other side of my 65 hours across both experiences, I would have rather played the original as the side game was not up to my expectations and the artstyle, although nice on its own terms, doesn’t come close to the charm of the original sprites.

    Mario & Luigi : Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions was released for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems on the 5-7th of October, 2017 for £30/$40. It was developed by Alphadream and published by Nintendo. Minion Quest received a sequel in the side game in Mario & Luigi : Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey the following year. If I ever make a Patreon and receive £50/month, I promise to play and review that.

Our Final Night (take one)

 

6pm. My alarm goes off for the hundredth time and I clamber out of bed. The light of long-dead stars illuminates my cabin. Three weeks on this cruise and I never shut the curtains before sleeping – my mind’s usually elsewhere. There’s a pair of trousers at the end of the bed that I grab. They’re not mine, but she was about my size.

It’s almost 7pm by the time I make my way down to the lounge and take my usual seat at the bar. Pravit’s in tonight, just my luck.

“Nice to see you bright and early, Miriam.” he says, “The Usual?”

“If you please”, I say, and he slides an already mixed glass of ginger ale and bourbon my way.

“That’ll be 2600 Marks.”

I reach into my pocket for my purse but only find a lighter. I knew she was covering something with all that perfume.

“On your tab, then.”

Ignoring my looming debt, I take a sip and look around the lounge for the final time. The ceiling stretches a mile high, dotted with light fixtures worth more than my life; they stretch down to bathe the whole room in gold. All around I see the richest people alive bragging about things that would get most people life inside.

I won a lottery I didn’t even enter to get on this cruise; it would be an understatement to say I feel out of place here. Half the people pretending I’m not there when I’ve bothered to strike up conversation has only made me hate their guts all the more. The people that haunt the casino are more my speed. I’ve made a few friends amongst the staff like Pravit and a few… night-friends too.

At the centre of the lounge a woman plays at a marble-white grand piano right out of a holograph. Every night of this cruise I’ve stopped by the lounge to hear her play. She’s about my age but has ten times the class. Her dresses shimmer in the golden light and there’s never a silver hair out of place. I don’t know if she works here or is another guest, but she plays for hours and never missing a note. Freestyle, old standards and covers of radio favourites all flow from her fingertips when she plays. Occasionally she sings along with a voice like silk.

“She caught your eye again?” Pravit asks from behind me, scaring me out of my skin.

“I don’t know what you’re on about,” I say through my glass as I take a strong swig. “Another please.”

“Say what you want, but your eyes can’t lie,” he says, pouring another glass without breaking eye contact. “That’ll be 2600 marks.” I’ve already forgotten about my purse; I scramble for it again.

“I’ll put it on your tab. How about I give you her favourite drink free of charge since it’s the last night?” Before I can say no, he’s poured a strawberry daquiri into a cocktail glass and pressed it into my hand. “Go get her.”

All but forced to my feet, I inch over to the piano with a glass in either hand. I down The Usual and leave its glass on an empty table as I pass. My head swims as I approach.

“Hi there,” she glances up at me, continuing to play, “is that for me?”

I nod like my head isn’t heavy with poetry and set the daquiri down. I stay put until she finishes her song and realises that I wasn’t a waitress slipping her a complimentary drink. The room is full of conversation but as she sips her drink, it feels silent. She turns to me. She’s waiting for me to speak.

“Erm… Howdy. I’m Miriam,” I trip over every other word. The alcohol’s kicking in fast. “I’ve heard you play a few evenings and uhh… wanted to just show my appreciation before the cruise ends.”

My suit constricts me like a cobra as she looks me up and down. She lifts her gaze to take another sip, giving me a second to breathe. I should probably say something.

“So, uh… what’s your name? I’m Miriam.” Wait I already said that.

“Kira. I spotted you at the bar most nights. Guess you’re a fan?” My cheeks flush red. “Of drinking?” I go redder.

I’ve got her until she finishes the drink but she’s already halfway down. What do I normally say?

“Where are you from?”

“I was born in New America, but you probably guessed from my Martian accent,” she takes another sip, “You sound like you’re from Europe. Is this your first time off of Earth?”

“It is. I won a ticket. Well, my mum won a ticket for me.”

“How interesting.” I’m losing her. “And what do you do day-to-day?”

“For a living? Deliveries, window cleaning, dog-walking… whatever will pay the oxygen bill, you know?”

Her face pales. She was definitely asking about hobbies.

“I see. That must be difficult for you, Miriam.”

“Just my life. There’s about five apps I keep open at all times so I can scoop up whatever’s closest.”

“I see. My father invested in a few of those,” her drink is almost drained, “Have you heard of Scryp?”

“The one that paid out its own currency?”

“That’s the one. He liked to remind me that Scryp paid for my piano lessons. Even after the crash…”

Her glass is empty but we’re still talking. Maybe I can steer us in a more positive direction.

“Do you like to play the piano?” She’s played every single night for the last three weeks, of course she—

“Not really.”

“It reminds me of my father, his … expectations,” she traces the rim of her glass. “But music can delight people, so I play all the same. Just to see you smile.” She looks back up at me.

“My? I mean, me?”

She giggles. How much redder can I turn before Pravit calls the medic bay?

“I meant in general, but I’ve noticed you – the girl in the suit leaving the bar with a different woman at her side every few nights. You caught my eye, but I didn’t want to be another fling. So, I sat here and played my siren song.”

“What do you want now you’ve lured me in?”

She puts the glass down and stands up, her purple eyes level with mine. I bring my arms over her shoulders and smile.

“I have some ideas.” We lean in and kiss.

***

6am. I wake up in an unfamiliar room. I also didn’t have my key so went to her cabin. It’s lit up like a shop window and smells like a bouquet. I hear a shower. She’ll be out in a few minutes, and we can decide what comes next.

No use speculating. I get up and fish my clothes out of the pile on the floor. There’s a knock at the door and a slip of paper slides in from underneath.

It reads : “Thank you for your custom, Miriam Jain. A charge of 340,000 Marks has been credited to your account.”

Did I really drink that much?

Underneath is scrawled : “Miriam, Kira rang first thing and offered to pay your tab.
Up to you. Love, Pravit.”

A new day dawns and for once I’m not alone in the dark. I pull back the blinds and see the Moon as we roar back home.

Looking Through Dad’s Attic, I Found A Photo Of The Twin Brother I Never Knew I Had

             I never looked much like my parents. People would ask if I was adopted, and I’d stare daggers into them before I knew what a dagger was. But in the picture in the palm of my hand, Mum’s smile and Dad’s eyes shined on a tiny face with a blue bonnet.

Dad refused to look straight at it when I asked. Don’t let that get near your mother, he said and left it at that. He couldn’t snatch things away from me anymore.

I’d always wanted to be a big sister, but Mum never even humoured the idea; unspooling the hats and socks I knitted in my mind with a word and a chuckle.

The next time I visited Mum, she wrapped bony arms around me and held me close. The nice man from the hospital had been in to do her bloods and the kettle was still piping hot.

We sat on opposite sides of the sofa as the tea cooled. I passed on the biscuits and ignored what she had to say about what I should and shouldn’t be eating. My mind went to the yellowed square tucked away in my purse by my Nectar Card.

With a motion I could cut her chattering short. I could bring dark clouds over us and turn the tea sour. I could.

Product Listing on a Grecian Urn (After Keats)

 AUTHENTIC GREEK URN VINTAGE GRECIAN RETRO GENUINE ANTIQUE FREE POSTAGE

            From Sylvia & Co. Retro Furnishings, Moorgate

Made in attic shape, this antique Grecian urn is the perfect addition to your home décor – be it in the bedroom, in the pride of your living room or between the plants in your conservatory. Originally made in Ancient Greece, the urn sports many leaf-fringed legends sure to interest the most ardent historian. See :

·       the youthful piper play his unheard melodies to the spirit

·       the fair lovers lean in forever to kiss, ever out of reach

·       happy boughs never to bid Spring adieu

·       the priest lead the silken heifer to his altar

With a lifetime warranty, this urn is an investment not only in your home but for generations to come, its marble men and maidens a friend to humanity across time. This is your chance to own a one-of-a-kind piece of ancient history, so don’t delay!

Product specs :

·       H x W x D : 60 x 30 x 20cm

·       Clay pottery with a gold finish

·       Adorned with Sylvan legends

·       Weight 1kg (approx.)

·       Light and portable urn

·       Discovered by genuine Roman soldiers

·       Vintage original – low carbon footprint

·       Perfect Panathenaic gift

·       Would work great as a plant pot

·       Not a toy – not suitable for children under 5

·       Collectors’ item – not on the high street

·       All inscriptions in Greek – no English varieties

·       Keep away from extreme heat and cold

·       Keep out of direct sunlight

·       Not dishwasher or microwave safe

·       Lifetime warranty

·    “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” – our guarantee

Demo Diving : Mario Vs. Donkey Kong (2024)

    Most of my childhood game-playing was spent in the back of a car, usually after school. Whether it was a shop’s car park, an hour’s drive to relatives or a long trip to McDonald’s, I would fill the time blocking out the radio and playing on my DS Lite, later my 3DS (later still my 2DS after the 3DS met concrete too many times) and eventually my Switch.

Why do I say all of this? Because the new remake of Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is a dip-into-while-in-the-back-of-the-car-on-a-journey type of game.

Originally released on the Game Boy Advance as a successor to the original Game Boy’s Donkey Kong (1994), Mario Vs. Donkey Kong has always been good handheld fodder. Apart from Mario & Donkey Kong : Tipping Stars releasing on Wii U alongside the 3DS, the series has always been at home on the smaller screen. Something that’s perfect to play a level or two when you’re travelling over a few months. If you hit a wall, just close the game and look out the car window for a bit. Maybe switch the radio back on. By contrast playing the demo tethered to a TV under my own roof and giving it my full attention felt wrong. The music is pretty jazzy at least.

Apart from fully animating the original cutscenes, adding a Toad for co-op, and a Casual mode that removes time limits on stages, the demo doesn't show any differences from the original that aren't graphical enhancements. It's strange to play a game with such a NSMB house style Mario who controls like he's right out of the GBA. I had a similar adjustment period with the Link's Awakening remake, but that at least was classic Link. This is not classic Mario, but classic DK Mario : a very different beast that's slower and prone to handstands, now with sound bites from New Donk City.

Every level is timed and parcelled out in sets of six regular levels with two special levels on the side. The special level included in the demo tasks you with guiding the precious Mini Mario toys back to their toy box. The other special level seems to be a battle with Donkey Kong to get more Mini Marios back. I got through the four levels in the demo in about twenty minutes, taking care to not leave a trail of dead Marios in my wake.

According to the game’s website, there are new levels in the remake and later stages are sure to challenge more than the demo’s opening levels. Much like the original I feel Mario Vs. Donkey Kong will be a welcome companion on long journeys but doesn’t feel at home on the TV.

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is available now on the Nintendo Switch for £39.99/$49.99. It is a puzzle-platformer developed by Nintendo Software Technology and published by Nintendo.

Thanks for reading Demo Diving - a series about the slices of games you can try before you buy. With high prices and long playtimes, starting a new game can be a big commitment. Thankfully many publishers choose to release a small part of their games for free. Let’s dive in the deep end and see what’s good!

The Spinning Man

The Spinning Man

A life in darkness
flat on my back
flat on my face
the view never changes.

The hand cuts through the dark,
dragging light in its wake,
blinding me.
The hand sifts through my box,
past building blocks and plastic cars,
and plucks me

out of darkness and into light.
Sometimes everything hangs off the ceiling.
Sometimes everything is stuck to the ground.
Always new faces in the crowd.

Held up on one end, I look around.
Fleeting fragments of the past stick out
before my four-walled world starts to blur.

I spin. Pillow forts turn to white streaks.
I spin. Bookshelves turn to a brown square.
I spin. My box stains the picture purple.
I spin.
I have no choice.

The streaks of light melt back into shape.
I stagger on the spot until I fall on my face.
The crowd applauds.
Footsteps trail away and I’m left to lie,
surveying the world from the corner of my eye.

A breeze may turn me over,
the dust may layer on thick,
but always the hand comes back,
stands me up on one end,

I spin.

The Birth of the Rose

The Birth of the Rose

Across the green Elysian Fields,
the dead and deathless dance.
They bask in the eternal light,
snared in harmonic trance.

The gentle nymphs dance in the dark,
the forest shade their shield.
Beyond Apollo’s golden gaze,
they yearn to join the Field.

They see their sister break away,
she dances in the sun.
They see their sister stumble down,
her gleaming light grows dun.

Kind Chloris found her lifeless child,
and cradled her and called,
for Gods of Wine, of Love and Wind,
to breathe life in the falled.

“Rise now our child,” they spake. And lo,
sprang up their toil of hours.
No more the verdant nymph that fell,
but Rose – Queen of Flowers.

Fullbright and Open Roads Developers Separate

Fullbright and Open Roads Developers Separate

"It's just no longer Fullbright's place to represent Open Roads publicly going forward."

As of 12th May 2023, the developers behind Gone Home and the upcoming Open Roads have parted ways with their founder Steve Gaynor and the Fullbright name. This announcement comes not from what are now known as "The Open Roads Team" or from their publisher Annapurna Interactive, but Gaynor himself in his first Fullbright newsletter in years.

In the newsletter, Gaynor alludes to "serious turmoil" at the studio that came to light shortly after the announcement of Open Roads and acknowledges that events have shown his "own strengths do not lie with attempting to manage a large project or direct the work of others", but does not detail what happened at Fullbright.

Within a year and a half of Open Roads' announcement at the 2020 Game Awards, fifteen employees left Fullbright. Current and former members of the studio spoke to Polygon in 2021 about their concerns with Ganyor's behaviour toward them, specifically the women. They emphasised that the behaviour did not veer into sexual harassment or explicit sexism, but Gaynor's "controlling" behaviour and "demeaning presence" that wore many down, to the point of their quitting en masse. The overall impression was that Gaynor saw Open Roads less as the team's game and more as his; Fullbright as an extension of his auteurship. Indeed, his personal Twitter account was Fullbright until forced to change it by the unrest in May 2021.

By the time of the Polygon report, Annapurna were already aware of the situation and had conducted an internal investigation, but the team were dissatisfied. When speaking to People Make Games in 2022, the staff - again anonymous for fear of repercussions from either Annapurna or Gaynor - said that Annapurna "talked around" the issue when asking the staff what they would need to finish the project and the prospect of removing Gaynor from his position at the head of the studio and writer on Open Roads was not brought up.

After the report went out and news of Gaynor's misconduct was public knowledge, the Open Roads twitter issued a statement now deleted saying : "Fullbright's co-founder Steve Gaynor has stepped back from his role as creative lead and manager, and transitioned to a role as a writer". The statement could also be found on the game's website, which was a part of Fullbright's website and is currently down. A day later, Gaynor issued a statement on twitter saying much of the same and acknowledging his "hurtful" leadership, but also not giving details. Through all of this, Annapurna Interactive remained silent and continues to do so.

When the changeover from Fullbright to The Open Roads Team happened is unclear : Gaynor's influence on the game was gone from June 2021 according to the Game Informer interviews and Amy Fincher's job as executive producer on Open Roads changed from under Fullbright to under Annapurna in September 2022. The game's website and Steam page were both linked to Fullbright as recently as early May and the developer still hasn't been updated on Annapurna's website. Whether Gaynor's announcement was ahead of or instead of a statement from Annapurna or The Open Roads Team, the developer is once again in his shadow, hopefully for the last time.

Open Roads is a mother-daughter road trip currently in development by The Open Roads Team at Annapurna Interactive. In light of its rocky development, the release date is unknown.

https://youtu.be/xDPzZkx0cPs?t=1015
https://fullbright.cmail20.com/t/t-e-fhtudtt-pikikkhuk-k/
https://web.archive.org/web/20210806094550/https://twitter.com/OpenRoadsGame/status/1423071532952080386
https://twitter.com/SteveGaynorPDX/status/1423094322396762113?cxt=HHwWgsCsheKv7L8nAAAA
https://www.gameinformer.com/feature/2022/07/21/a-new-destination-how-open-roads-changed-direction-and-saved-its-turbulent-road
https://www.polygon.com/22610490/fullbright-steve-gaynor-controversy-stepped-down-open-roads

(originally published as part of Girl Games Network #1 on 21/5/2023; Open Roads is now set to be released on 28/3/2024)

Streamer Alanah Pearce banned for watching Zelda trailer footage on Twitch

Streamer Alanah Pearce banned for watching Zelda trailer footage on Twitch

"It would appear that Nintendo DMCA'd me for watching approved Zelda gameplay."

When their long-awaited game The Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom leaked over a week before release, Nintendo's notorious legal efforts and takedowns only got more aggressive.

One person caught in the crosshairs was Alanah Pearce, game writer for Sony Santa Monica as well as YouTuber, boxer, DJ and most importantly Twitch streamer. During a stream where she watched a TOTK preview video from SkillUp that only contained pre-embargo footage, Pearce's channel charalanahzard received a DMCA strike from Nintendo and was suspended. The SkillUp video has not been subject to any takedowns.

After 70 minutes, Pearce managed to appeal and reverse the Twitch ban and regained access to her channel. With over 163K followers on Twitch alone, the size of her audience may have sped up her appeal; smaller streamers may not be so lucky.

https://twitter.com/StreamerBans/status/1655817156553060353
https://twitter.com/Charalanahzard/status/1655799864457035776?cxt=HHwWgIDQwYbNyvotAAAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKc2_3-vRf8

(originally published as part of Girl Games Network #1 on 21/5/2023)

Riot Games paying out $100 million to 1,500 female employees

Riot Games paying out $100 million to 1,500 female employees

"It isn't everything you deserve. But it is an acknowledgement that you aren't alone, you are never alone, and we can stop this across the industry together." 

US game developers Riot Games (Valorant) are paying out $100 million to 1,548 women employed at the company between 6th November, 2014 and 27th December, 2021. This follows a 2018 class action lawsuit for gender discrimination from former employees Melanie McCracken (Nuverse) and Jes Negrón (Retcon Games) that had its final approval hearing on 16th May, 2023.

After the initial $10 million settlement was objected to by California's Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), the $100 million was agreed on in 2021, with $20 million covering legal fees.

According to the settlement Riot must pay out the following to those eligible :

• $2,500-5,000 depending on whether they worked as an employee or temporary agency contractor, and regardless of whether they exclude themselves (the “Minimum Payment”), and
• $15,000-35,000 if they worked as an employee and do not exclude themselves, or
• $5,000-10,000 if they worked as a temporary agency contractor and do not exclude themselves
• Group/Class Members may also receive an additional $40,000 if they worked as an employee in or before 2015 and do not exclude themselves.

In statements on LinkedIn, Negrón and McCracken both expressed relief at the end of their four year journey. McCracken emphasised that "this is just the beginning" and talked about the importance of "inclusivity and belonging" in the workplace, while Negrón spoke about the stories of "disgusting bro culture" she and other women involved in the case had to endure and repeat throughout the process to get a "modicum of justice".

Any "current and former female employees and temporary agency contractors" at Riot in California between 6th November, 2014 and 27th December, 2021 can participate in the settlement and payment will be distributed in the three weeks following the final approval hearing last Tuesday. If you think you or someone you know might be eligible, go to https://www.riotsettlement.com/ for more details.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/04/activision-riot-settlement-payments
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/riot-s-100-million-gender-discrimination-settlement-granted-final-approval
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7064643428264857600/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melaniemccracken_toggle-navigation-activity-7064744567169822720-sS-t/
https://twitter.com/JesNx/status/1659212142829264899?cxt=HHwWhoDTxeWp2oYuAAAA

(originally published as part of Girl Games Network #1 on 21/5/2023)