Weekly Game Music: Tetrobot (Blocks That Matter)

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Taro Omiya

New week, new music. Here’s a soothing chiptune-like music from the puzzle game, Blocks That Matter. Tetrobot is the title character’s name, who’s theme is composed by Yann Van Der Cruyssen — the same composer as Cave Story+. It’s relatively non-serious tone sets stage for a hilarious indie game about two kidnapped game designers, and their robot to save them.

Blocks That Matter has a self-referencing story: in the magical land of Sweden, renowned game developers Alexey Pajitnov (of Tetris fame) and Markus Persson (of Minecraft fame) were working on a project that, decidedly, was not game related. Lo and behold when a bunch of darkly hooded men with guns kidnap them to an unknown location, and it’s the role of Tetrobot, their secret project, to go save them.

Blocks That Matter is a 2D puzzle game that borrows ideas from Minecraft, i.e. digging blocks to move them to a different location. Unlike Minecraft, however, our robot can only place the blocks it carries in a Tetris-block formation. You know, the usual stuff. The game levels, of course, progresses in a predictable manner: go through a pre-set level, and reach to the black-hole-like portal.

Blocks That Matter was released on the PC, Mac, Linux and Xbox 360 in 2011. It’s available for download on Steam and Xbox Live.
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Strange Free Games: Mari0

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Taro Omiya

New week, new game. Here’s a Super Mario Bros. knock-off. It’s Mari0, a game about the trusty plumber, Mario and…a Portal gun?

Mari0 can be downloaded at StabYourself.net.

The nefarious Bowser and his army has turned the peaceful Toads into blocks, and only the magical Princess Toadstool can save them. Even worse, Bowser kidnapped Toadstool as well, leaving you, Mario, to save her.

Also, for some reason, Mario has a Portal gun. How handy.

Mari0 plays almost exactly like the original Super Mario Bros. You jump, run, run-jump, and throw fireballs. Different in this game is the obvious Portal gun, used to create shortcuts, going to unreachable locations, and conveniently defeat enemies. Furthermore, unlike the original game, you can actually backtrack the levels you’re in. The need to keep track of the portals actually makes this game harder than it seems, as physics tends to play tricks on you frequently.
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Weekly Game Music: Mii Channel (Wii)

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Taro Omiya

New week, new music. Lets try something different, shall we? Here’s the Mii Channel music from the Nintendo Wii console. It’s composed by Kazumi Totaka: the composer who frequently drops the Totaka Song Easter eggs in his games.

Well, there isn’t a whole lot to talk about the Mii Channel, let alone the Wii Console, but…according to the Iwata Talks interviews, the developers has intended to make it a simple, fun character avatar creation that anyone can use. The music is composed to be inviting, in that sense.
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Strange Free Games: Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Taro Omiya

New week, new game. Lets talk about an MMORPG, shall we? Here’s one addicting, but queer RPG called Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online. Why queer? Well, for a Japanese anime inspired game, the visuals are oddly gothic and religiously offensive. Unusual to this genre, the game even has some cinema-scenes, too. And the most interesting part? It plays a little likePokémon.

Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online can be downloaded at Aeria Games.

Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online starts off in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, where the city has been leveled by demons. As the typical MMORPG trope, you are a Demon Buster, one trained to fight against demons. While investigating a ruin, your leader takes a significant blow as a gigantic demon emerges. You’re rescued, barely alive, and decide to take some vengeance against this boss.

It wouldn’t be a Shin Megami Tensei game, however, if you couldn’t befriend these demons. As luck may have it, you have a talent to convince demons to join your cause, and have them fight alongside with you. Some NPCs are demons themselves, proving once and for all how resilient the human species are.
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Weekly Game Music: Opening Credits (Little King Story)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Taro Omiya

New week, new music. Like classic music, with a modern twist? Here’s an a cappella remix of Ravel’s Boléro: the Opening Credits for Little King Story, composed by Yutaka Minobe. The royal music helps set the stage for the toybox-like environment in this dictator-takes-over-the-world game.

Little King Story starts with a little boy who comes upon a crown that magically turns him into a king of a country. A shoddy, failing country. Taking a bold leadership role, our king directs the civilians to rebuild the country, and eventually take over neighboring lands and their princesses.

Little King Story is frequently described as Pikmin, if it were themed aroundPsychonauts. As the king, you approach and charm workers to follow you to quests. Each worker can be thrown to handle a certain task correlated to their profession, including building, digging, and of course, fighting. The boss battles you encounter when invading rival countries are widely varied, including straight-up fights, answering questions from trivia shows, and even a ping-pong tournament. Despite its childish graphics, the game frequently delves into the surreal and disturbing imagination of a child’s mind.

Little King Story was released on the Wii in 2009. No other ports exist.

Extra!

Title: King Jumbo Champloon
Game: Little King’s Story
Composer: Yutaka Minobe
Comments: Remix of The Infernal Gallop from Offenbach’s opera, Orpheus in the Underworld

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Strange Free Games: Void

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Taro Omiya

New week, new game. Today’s free game is from the friendly team of students at DigiPen Institute at Singapore. The game? Void, a dimension-manipulating first-person puzzle game.

Void can be downloaded from the DigiPen website.

People who played Portal should feel very comfortable with this game. Void begins with our main hero, Artaith, desperately running away from the rubble, and investigating on its cause. Somehow, he’s gained the ability to create dimensional rifts into the past, as well as obtain eyeglass that allows him to see the complex he was in, pre-destruction state.

Artaith can create up to two temporary, spherical dimensional rifts on any surface. In doing so, certain floors and items may become visible, while others may end up being obstructed. As such, the player must carefully place the rifts to his or her benefit, without losing their footing. The puzzles becomes particular complex when water is introduced, allowing you to swim to higher locations that would be otherwise dry and difficult to climb.
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