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Episode 239: The Black Wind Howls

by James Jones, Greg Leahy, Jon Lindemann, and Jonathan Metts - April 17, 2011, 1:13 pm EDT
Total comments: 42

This show has it all... new console rumors, Japanese shmups, and RetroActive!

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It's that time of the decade, when new console rumors begin to swirl, and you can bet that RFN is all over that red meat. First, though, we've got New Business impressions of Okamiden, Last Resort (on Japan's Virtual Console), a Magus-filled update on Jon's Chrono Trigger progress, a fresh perspective on Radiant Historia, Telltale's Puzzle Agent, the HD remake of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, and James's first peek at Phantom Brave. Then, we finally break ground on all the Wii price drop and successor rumors!

After an epic first segment, we jump directly into RetroActive #17 with our discussion of Konami's early SNES game, Legend of the Mystical Ninja. It proves to be a fertile topic, as a deeply flawed mixture of action and adventure that nevertheless displays numerous flashes of innovation. We get into the cultural impact, pacing issues, comparisons to the first-ever RetroActive selection, and a handful of listener comments from the still-open forum thread. Stay tuned for the next RetroActive poll, coming soon!

This podcast was edited by Greg Leahy.

Music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is used with permission from Jason Ricci & New Blood. You can purchase their newest album, Done with the Devil, directly from the record label, Amazon (CD) (MP3), or iTunes, or call your local record store and ask for it!

Additional music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is copyrighted to Nintendo, and is included under fair use protection.

Talkback

readyletsgoApril 17, 2011

Yay!!!! I love when you guys upload the show for me to listen to in work tomorrow morning!!!!

Love the show guys and keep up the great work!

Bring on the DuperWii !

PS: next time can you give me a shout out on the show, that would be cool!

Retro DeckadesApril 17, 2011

Quote from: readyletsgo

PS: next time can you give me a shout out on the show, that would be cool!

Probably the best way to get a shout out on the show is to send a thought provoking/discussion inducing question to rfn@nintendoworldreport.com.

Or troll us.

Killer_Man_JaroTom Malina, Associate Editor (Europe)April 17, 2011

Very happy that you were able to have such a wide-ranging discussion for RetroActive. I've enjoyed Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the most part, although I do think the point about it being anachronistic is apt. Having to grind for weapon upgrades and sandals doesn't really seem to fit with the overall design of the game, and it's especially unfriendly when the pay-off is so easily lost. About half way through, I just surrendered myself to the slow movement speed and used my money entirely as projectiles.
It's also nice to be called 'astute'. And if you're wondering about how to pronounce my username, it is simply a silly deconstruction of a certain African mountain.

Mop it upApril 17, 2011

Quote from: Killer_Man_Jaro

And if you're wondering about how to pronounce my username, it is simply a silly deconstruction of a certain African mountain.

I knew it!

Quote from: Mop

Quote from: Killer_Man_Jaro

And if you're wondering about how to pronounce my username, it is simply a silly deconstruction of a certain African mountain.

I knew it!

I can't believe I didn't figure that out!

CericApril 17, 2011

Welp, I listen to this in the car and various places so you are saved from my comment stream that normally happens. (unless I listen again.)  Sad about the mail though.

Edit: Made it more accurate.

Quote from: OneTwenty

Quote from: readyletsgo

PS: next time can you give me a shout out on the show, that would be cool!

Probably the best way to get a shout out on the show is to send a thought provoking/discussion inducing question to rfn@nintendoworldreport.com.

Or you could become staff, write something for the site and get mentioned in the part where they talk about what's on the site. That's the whole reason I joined staff: so that my troll battle with Lindemann could spill into the podcasts.

CericApril 17, 2011

I applied for staff before and it didn't work out.

That just means you weren't trolling current staff members hard enough.

Mop it upApril 17, 2011

I also applied before and it turned out badly, though it's mostly because what I actually applied to was NWA.

I encourage people to apply again when the opportunities open up. I got hired on my second attempt - and now I'm a Senior Editor.

THE FOOLS!

Yeah, if Crimm can get hired, you certainly can!

CericApril 17, 2011

Quote from: Crimm

...I'm a Senior Editor. ...

So its you I should hold to Spelling and grammar mistakes :P.

Quote from: Ceric

Quote from: Crimm

...I'm a Senior Editor. ...

So its you I should hold to Spelling and grammar mistakes :P: .

Welcome to Punchline.
Population: Everyone who got here before you

A fitting soundtrack to Mega Man X gameplay. Thanks, guys!

CericApril 18, 2011

Quote from: Crimm

Quote from: Ceric

Quote from: Crimm

...I'm a Senior Editor. ...

So its you I should hold to Spelling and grammar mistakes :P: : .

Welcome to Punchline.
Population: Everyone who got here before you

I'm just punching the line man, punching the line

KDR_11kApril 18, 2011

Puzzle Agent's puzzles were kinda weak, with turning tiles the art usually gave the solution away as they'd only line up when rotated correctly and with the put-together ones the automatic sticking to the glob made brute force too usable. I hear for the second one they've hired a puzzle expert so it'll probably do better on that front.

I played it on the iPod BTW.

MoRZApril 18, 2011

No one makes Jonny sound as good as Greg (compare crosstawk ;) ) and this episode was another one of editing wizardry. Sound effects and video game soundtracks galore. Hats off. I would like a new staff title: "Señor Editor".

CericApril 18, 2011

The Animorphs wh….

Which Bills? (You be in UK right?)

…Rinse and Repeat.

Happy 20th Birthday.

I played a Demo of this on my 3DS from a DS Download Station.  Thought it was … interesting …  Think it be better if I had played Okami.  Also played a little game about a bird that can’t fly and you made vines.  Was sort of interesting.

That what happened when I tried to get Cubivore back in the day.

Oh the Great Merciful Gregg.

Screen switching lag?

“This Week on Lindemann CT Theatre: Magnus or how I Learned to Ditch the Robot.”

Really should play the music in the background where Jon is.

Was  Chrono Trigger seriously Jonathon Mett’s last Review.

Like getting the final move for a character that then dies so you never get to use it?

I hate that.  If you giving me text I want it to be story.  I find the ones with a lot of front load tend to have points in the middle where you going , “Why am I doing this?”

Their Measuring you endurance before letting in the game.

Puzzle Agent that is what it was called.

Not big in the shape problems in Layton and hate the water ones.  I agree I like the clue ones but, some of those are stupidly frustrating.

Clash of Heroes might be interesting to rent for DS but, yeah your HD impression just sounds frustrating.

http://www.amazon.com/Might-Magic-Clash-Heroes-Nintendo-DS/dp/B002EWD02C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1303143408&sr=8-1 $10.99 at Amazon

I have fond memory of a few fun multiplayer weirdness with the original Might and Magic

I have never finished Disgaea.  I got it because people said it was good and I like the anime but yeah never got very far.  Phantom Brave sound much harder.  For some reason that reminds me I need to finish Odin Sphere…

That is sort of funny about the emails.

Give a direct quote from the penguin.

It is out haven’t you seen it?  Your just in the wrong Time Stream for it.

Punch Time Explosion… Could go so many places with that.

Go go Fighters.  There can be round robin games tournament.

OMG The Price Drop is Almost Here… oh wait…

Wii’s pretty saturated.

The PS2 did good because Sony idiotically didn’t position the PS3 as the natural upgrade when your PS2 Dies by axing BC.

“We’ve all been scooped but, we’ve talk to are people who are better than their people and this is what they say”

I agree with the Subjective opinion.

Which they did. I mean who developed for GCN?

“Hey Everyone, We’re going to Announce Something and They’re will be Balloons.”

360 just has garnered such a community.

I need to do that.

Funnest time on the Internet is the Rumor mongering.

But there just so friendly codes.  They just want to love you.

It has really really died down all of a sudden.

I love to be at E3 but, I never get there.

Monster hunter I try if someone gave me a copy just seems tedious from description.

How long has Japan’s drought been?  If it’s been long  that flow has to be going somewhere.

Break Retroactive Start:

Lol at the big text made it easy to read compared to the HD micro text.

What?  Your ancestors didn’t play Gradius.

We just want to hug you.

Then there is the Stupid fish…

Yeah the third is snappy.

Yeah their really isn’t anything in the field to regen your health and having the Small Pipe on a boss stinks.

Why didn’t they just say it was a Tanooki.  This is post Super Mario Bros. 3 for goodness sake.

Actually enjoy the Money throw.  I wouldn’t mind the next Zelda using Rupees again.  It’s convenient.

Diagonal would be nice and those Fish are scary.

I never even found the travel agent…

I would have liked to known about the map.

Huge Kanji.

I remember how many people bought Animal Crossing for the NES Games.

Completely menu based soccer… Sounds like something on a TI-82.

How could you not tell this was from Japan?  I mean it screams Japanese culture unabashly .

Grats on beating it.

Co-op sounds fun.

This has been a long episode…

I had email in the mid-90's as well.

FZeroBoyoApril 18, 2011

Ah, I love the Rumor and Hype Season leading up until E3 along the E3 Predictions show and then the show comes and proves us all wrong in one way or another.  :P:


I admit, the show is the reason why I've tried out a number of new games. Along with Okamiden, one I'm aiming to play sometime soon is Radiant Historia after hearing Jonny and James give kind impressions of it and hearing the mini-Retroactive last week makes me want to play Mega Man X. (Which is now on the Wii Shop Channel!)


I agree with the Q2 schedule looking pretty bad for the most part compared to last year's where we got Monster Hunter Tri and Galaxy 2. Even then, I agree that the 3DS has a strong line-up for the next three months and I hope Star Fox 64 3D follows shortly.

I gave kind impressions of Radiant Historia over a month ago! I followed that up with what read more like a love letter than a review. I spent part of this weekend writing an article that languished more praise on it (although it is not posted yet).

Just now, eh?

FZeroBoyoApril 18, 2011

I was still working through a lot of games back then. Plus having to fend for myself at school can create some delays. =P


Now I'm more or less done with my backlog, so I can get started on that soon...

I think you mean "lavished", not "languished", James. SENIOR EDITOR PEOPLE

Coincidentally, I just bought Radiant Historia for $28.99 on Amazon today.  I couldn't pass it up at that price, especially since it's been languished with so much love.

Malapropism

gtownclownApril 18, 2011

Ok I'm also going to finish chrono trigger. I can't let captain never finishes a game beat me.

motangApril 18, 2011

Just ordered Radiant Historia from Amazon. It was on sale (just for today) and I don't want miss out on not getting that game!  ;D

Oh if anyone is interested here is link: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B004CVWETI?tag=betteraddons-20

CericApril 18, 2011

Quote from: gtownclown

Ok I'm also going to finish chrono trigger. I can't let captain never finishes a game beat me.

Oh Captian My Captian.

gojiraApril 19, 2011

I've been playing Okamiden for quite a while now and the lag to bring up the celestial brush is there, but it's not really noticeable unless you're doing a lot of drawing in a row.  Most of the time you'll do a slash or a bloom here and there.  And the time it takes to bring your hand from holding the DS to readying the stylus on the touch screen is about the same time it takes for the top screen to drop to the bottom.  However there parts like in the demo where a lot of drawing is required, like when you're directing a character while keeping enemies away, but I wouldn't say you do it enough to be bothered by the lag.

And I'll admit that I'm even worse off than Lindy when it comes to Chrono Trigger.  I own two copies of the game.  The PSone version of which I got frustrated with the loading times and never got to far.  And a SNES copy I inherited from my little brother (yes my younger brother) after he grew out of his SNES.  But I've never made it more than a few hours into either version. 

SundoulosApril 20, 2011

After James praised Radiant Historia a few weeks ago, by some stroke of luck I was able to snag it for $20 in an Amazon Warehouse deal.  I was grateful for that because it was shortly after the first printing sold out there, and the price was already starting to get jacked up.  I still have yet to see it at any of the brick and mortar stores around here.

James, out of curiosity, have you ever played La Pucelle?  I rather liked it, though I think it was a little more basic of a tactical RPG than Disgaea and Phantom Brave.   

I have not, although I'm aware of its place in the Nippon Ichi's history. From what I can deduce their games have become increasingly befuddling. I'm going to speak about this a bit when we record tomorrow, but Phantom Brave is can be a very sadistic game.

CericApril 21, 2011

Quote from: Crimm

I have not, although I'm aware of its place in the Nippon Ichi's history. From what I can deduce their games have become increasingly befuddling. I'm going to speak about this a bit when we record tomorrow, but Phantom Brave is can be a very sadistic game.

I've always thought anything Nippon Ichi has produced has the potential to transcend to very Sadistic.
For that matter about anything Atlus publishes as well.  Doesn't mean I don't enjoy a lot of it.  Still need to finish Odin Sphere...

Captain?  Only a captain?  I've earned better stripes than that man!

Admiral is a higher rank and a funnier word. Plus, it makes me think of Battlestar Galactica, where they called Admiral Adama "the old man," which also works great in this situation.

CericApril 21, 2011

Quote from: NWR_Lindy

Captain?  Only a captain?  I've earned better stripes than that man!

Fine then.

When you know

Quote:

... I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral, I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical; I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical, I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical, About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news, With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse. I'm very good at integral and differential calculus; I know the scientific names of beings animalculous: In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral ... I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's; I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox, I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus, In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous; I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies, I know the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes! Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore, And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore. Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform, And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform: In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General. In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin", When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a Javelin, When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at, And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat", When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery, When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery— In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy— ... For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury, Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century; But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral...

Then you can match that level of knowledge you can be a Modern Major General
http://youtu.be/SoiQw7kPqf8

pookyruneApril 22, 2011

Well on a totally unrelated subject has anyone here seen Haloid on Youtube?!?!?!?! Craziest fan-film I have seen!!!

Chocobo_RiderApril 22, 2011

Hi guys!

Sorry I'm sooooo late with this post.  I've been in New Jersey all week visiting in-laws.  Though, my wife and I did manage to sneak in a trip to NYC and had a grand ol' time at the Nintendo World Store.

Not a ton for me to respond to this week, but here we gooooo ...

0.  Greg is a Bills fan?? Cool.  I'm a Giants fan but I live in Buffalo so I have to be a Bills fan by association.  I'd love to know how Greg became a fan of such a heart-wrenching team from all the way in the UK.  .... Greg??

1. I never had a SNES back in the day (I was a Genesis kid in that era), but my wife's SNES is sitting on our gaming shelf and definitely has gained a strange/weird/lame coloration.

2. I admit it, I've never played through Chrono Trigger.  I should do that sometime.  I downloaded it on emulator when I was in college.  I started the game at least 3 or 4 times but it just never grabbed me enough to keep playing.  Which is really odd because:
A) I almost ALWAYS finish a game I start, even if I'm not crazy about it.  I like to see what's good and bad about it and get a whole feel for it.
B) I love Akira Toriyama's work!
C) RPGs used to be my favorite genre.  The only thing that changed that is that I have less lengthy swathes of free time these days.

Chrono Trigger is one of my good friend's favorite game of all time.  He lent me his DS copy of the game and said not to give it back to him until I've beaten it.  So, someday I'll do that =)

3. The Wii 2 hype is ridiculous right now.  I'm going to wait until Nintendo makes some announcements before I start emotionally attached to rumors.  This comic sums up a lot of my feelings on how a lot of gaming media is treating this story:
http://www.nintemple.com/images/comics/HighDem-005.png

PS - am I correct in assuming the title of this week's podcast is a reference to the Bob Dylan tune?

gojiraApril 22, 2011

I also own Disgaea, Phantom Brave and La Pucelle Tactics and haven't played any of them. 

Quote from: gojira

I also own Disgaea, Phantom Brave and La Pucelle Tactics and haven't played any of them.

Oh, so enjoy the next 2000 hours of gameplay.

CericApril 22, 2011

Quote from: Crimm

Quote from: gojira

I also own Disgaea, Phantom Brave and La Pucelle Tactics and haven't played any of them.

Oh, so enjoy the next 2000 hours of gameplay.

If your good.

gojiraApril 23, 2011

Quote from: Crimm

Quote from: gojira

I also own Disgaea, Phantom Brave and La Pucelle Tactics and haven't played any of them.

Oh, so enjoy the next 2000 hours of gameplay.

Yeah, and I still gotta get through Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.  I was making progress in that game until the Ogre Battle 64 RetroActive.  That kinda took the desire out of me to play such long games.  But if they were on my DS I'd probably have gone through all of them by now.  I mean I have played through Pokemon Platinum and Pokemon Silver in the last few months.

That's about what happened with Phantom Brave to date.


Hit barrier
Grind in the dungeon generator for an hour
Push through barrier
Clear 1 or 2 more missions
Hit barrier
...
...
...


Recently the dungeon generator has become a bit evil, implementing rules like 'no equipped items' leading to characters entering a 6 floor dungeon with no weapons.

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