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Historia Lessons

I've followed video games off and on since the late 1980s, so it's only natural that I get nostalgic about some aspects of this constantly evolving, frequently regressing industry. Truth be told, there are only a few things from the old days that I miss. But one of them is the allure of a pack-in game.

Sure, modern consoles are sometimes bundled with best-selling titles or compilations like Wii Sports, but there's rarely a system-defining standout forced on any new console's buyer. Nearly all NES owners knew Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt to the cores. Everyone who picked up a first-year Sega Genesis endured Altered Beast. And kids given the Turbo Grafx-16 learned the folly of showing off Keith Courage in Alpha Zones to their friends. Today, there's no such camaraderie, no matter how many Xbox owners bought Halo.

Which brings me, somewhat vaguely, to Nintendo's new Japan-only system bundle for the Wii, which includes Mistwalker's ambitious RPG The Last Story. There'll be no such deal in North America, where we're not sure just how or when we'll get The Last Story. When we get it, though, it certainly won't be something every Wii owner will remember a decade down the road.

SQUARE'S LORD OF ARCANA GOES AFTER MULTIPLAYER MARKET
Square Enix's Lord of Arcana has gotten substantially less press attention than the new Parasite Eve, Front Mission Evolved, or any given Final Fantasy. Perhaps that's because it's not so much a stunning new experiment as it is Square's retort to Monster Hunter. A PSP action-RPG with a healthy cooperative bent, Lord of Arcana has four interconnected players roaming a land of monsters, ancient secrets, and the usual Square window-dressings. It's also noticeably more violent than Monster Hunter and Phantasy Star Portable.

It may look like a Monster Hunter clone dabbed with a bloody Final Fantasy brush, but Lord of Arcana has some notable names behind it. Its director, Hidetaka Suehiro, previously brought us Deadly Premonition, the best bad game of the year, and the monsters of Lord of Arcana were designed by some prominent artists, including Square favorites Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura.

Square also invited comic-toy mogul Todd McFarlane to draw the dragon Nidhogg for Lord of Arcana, possibly hoping to bolster the game's North American release this January. It should prove just as important as McFarlane's original Soul Calibur II character, Necrid. Remember him? I doubt it.

UMINEKO BECOMES A FIGHTING GAME
The When They Cry anime/game/manga franchise doesn't cry out to become a fighting game. But Umineko no Naku Koro ni is part of this fairly popular series, which also includes the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni titles released over here. Now developer 07th Expansion hopes to do for Umineko what the Melty Blood games did for Type-Moon's Tsukihime series: namely, turn it into a well-received and colorfully animated 2-D fighting game. And that fighting game is Ougon Musou Kyoku.

In its original “visual novel” incarnation, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni is a mystery focused on the power struggles within a wealthy Japanese family. In 1986, the clan's dying patriarch gathers his children, his servants, and some other interested parties at his island home, where they're soon stranded by a typhoon. Murders and witchery ensue, and Ougon Musou Kyoku translates all of this deadly squabbling into a fighting game where maids hurl energy bolts and rabbit-eared women launch nuclear-powered arrows. It looks quite crisp for what amounts to an indie fighter, and it debuts for PCs at the Winter Comiket next month. I can't say I care about the series, but I'm amused at seeing Beatrice and Virgilia going through martial arts routines in full-length gowns.

SPELUNKER HD ARRIVES ON PLAYSTATION 3
The old NES version of Spelunker is vehemently hated by some, since it's a cavern-exploring game where short-distance falls, gusts of air, and the slightest negative stimulus results in the player's instant demise. Yet the game has a following, to the point where it inspired Spelunky and, most recently, Irem's Spelunker HD.

Available on the PlayStation Network this week, Spelunker HD cares nothing for modern notions of coddling players. As it was decades ago, the game kills its hero in one hit with potholes, ledges, stubby stalagmites, and the occasional ghost. It does, however, benefit from entirely new graphics, a four-player local mode, and a six-player online mode. And there are 100 levels to explore. Or loathe, if you're in the anti-Spelunker camp.

LOVABLE ZOMBIE MIXES UNDEAD WITH FARMING
If the zombie craze is indeed over, no one's told Japanese game developers. Apparently deciding that Harvest Moon needed an undead infestation, Chunsoft created the real-time strategy game Lovable Zombie for the DS. Players command a horde of simple farmfolk turned into zombies by some strange gas, and they'll mob and overtake the living, giving off little cartoon hearts the whole time. They'll also learn new skills as well, becoming an experienced army. These hints of sentience do little to move the authorities, who'll unleash SWAT teams and nukes if players can't pull off a zombie revolution in time.

When not tackling the challenges of Lovable Zombie's overall quest, players have two mini-games at their disposal: the soccer-like Deadsal and the multiplayer Party Hunt. The Japanese version comes out in January, and it seems intended for international appeal. A lot of the game's in English, and the art resembles Westernized cartoons more than a little.

IN BRIEF: TACTICS OGRE'S RELEASE DATE, LUFIA HEADS TO VC
It's somewhat impressive that Square's releasing the PSP version of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together in North America three months after the Japanese launch. As a considerably enhanced adaptation of the Super-Famicom original, Tactics Ogre is crammed with dialogue and expository documents. And they've all apparently been translated just in time for February 15th. Square's also mimicking the Japanese version's pre-order bonus: reserve the game, and you'll get a Tactics Ogre Tarot Deck illustrated by Akihiko Yoshida. I suddenly want it, even though I never did anything with that deck of Psychonauts cards.

One of the best things about the Wii's Virtual Console is its tendency to make once-expensive games into affordable and legal downloads. An Ogre Battle cartridge for the Super NES will run around $50 on eBay, but it's yours for eight bucks on the Virtual Console. Anyone about to spend considerable sums on the Lufia games should take note: Siliconera's trademark sleuthing revealed that Taito re-registered both Lufia titles in the U.S., along with boring ol' Darius Twin. Darius is already out for the Virtual Console in Japan, and the Lufias are likely headed to the same place.

Also Shipping: Epic Mickey (Nintendo Wii) and Hello Kitty Seasons (Wii).