RipTen Videogame Blog » Geometry Wars

RipTen Review: Mighty Flip Champs! DX (PSN)

Stephanie Gutowski — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 21:00:34 +0000

If you own a DSi, then you’re probably aware of Mighty Flip Champ’s existence. WayForward (creators of Shantae, BloodRayne: Betrayal) released this puzzle game on the Nintendo hand-held back in 2009, but now Sony faithful have the opportunity to try this quirky little mini for themselves. I’ve always considered myself a connoisseur of all things unusual and brightly-colored, so I logged into the PlayStation Network and commenced the downloading. It took less than a minute to install this mini and get it up and running. Plus one to convenience.

Mine was more like, "D, D, D, D, You Suck, D"

Rather than transfer the game to my PSP, I decided to try it out on my television, due to the presence of a comfy couch and a sudden bout of lethargy. I was punished for my laziness immediately as I laid my eyes upon noticeably-pixelated loading screens and momentarily wished that I had just taken the time to put the game on my PSP. But my PSP is fat and tired, and the couch was oh-so-comfy, so I grumbled and crammed another fistful of chocolate raspberry sticks into my mouth. Luckily, the slightly-distorted art faded and I jumped right into the game– clueless and covered in chocolate, because that’s how I do it. All of a sudden, I’m warped back in time to the days of Bust-A-Move and…. other games that looked like Bust-A-Move, as Mightly Flip Champs! DX looked as though it have time-traveled from the same arcade era. On one hand, it was a nostalgic treat to have a game look so old-school and uncluttered with a HUD or dialog bubbles. On the other, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

Fishman... I don't even...

Those familiar with the DSi version remember that the game comprises of two puzzles at a time: while your character, Alta, exists in one puzzle, trying to reach her strange fish friend, another puzzle exists in a mirror world. As Alta moves through one puzzle via the directional buttons, she discovers that she can go no further, but the puzzle in the mirror world shows her standing on a path that would actually take her right to Fishman. Press “x” and the puzzles flip, allowing Alta to make the move that seemed impossible in the last screen. It’s a lot of switching back and forth between puzzles until you reach the goal. The PSN port features horizontal mirror puzzles rather than vertical ones seen on the DSi’s dual screen setup. The first couple of stages were pretty much “flip back and forth as fast as you can until you find Fishman,” but eventually, I came across a puzzle that was composed of about four mirror puzzles. That’s when things started to get a little tricky. Before, it was just about getting from point A to point Fishman as quickly as possible, but then, all of a sudden, there was a cat in the picture. I’d nearly torn my hair out after finally arriving at Fishman’s edge, only discover that he didn’t want anything to do with me unless I rescued the damn cat (which was sitting on the other side of the screen.)

Five chocolate raspberry sticks later, I reached the cat and began my mirror journey back to Fishman, only to discover that I’d reached my goal the first time thanks to blind luck. I didn’t have the slightest clue as to how to get back. Aside from that moment of agony, I enjoyed my experience with Mighty Flip Champs! DX and I actually pictured myself kicking back and investing a bit more time into it. I was a big fan of Geometry Wars and Hexic and this game (which is more akin to the latter) seemed at home in my collection. It’s fun, but expect a challenge. I mean it. This game becomes incredibly difficult during the later stages and there’s no puzzle in between to get you warmed up for the more perplexing ones. If you’re looking for something to really test your puzzling skills, Mighty Flip Champs is for you. Just try not to put your fist through a wall while you’re at it. I was tempted.

It’s not the most innovative of games, but it’s not trying to be. It’s just a solid, inexpensive way to spend your time, especially if you’ve had your fill of plot-heavy, kill-tastic games. While I’d fault this game for the lacking visuals, I understand that it was intended for the PSP an judging it so harshly in that department would be like chastising a zebra for not having enough feathers. For a six-dollar arcade game, I’m satisfied.

Here’s the rundown:

+Simple controls, yet fun, challenging puzzles

+Good, clean fun

+I can usually find six dollars after digging through my couch for ten minutes.

-Puzzles quickly become incredibly difficult

-Pressing the same button over and over gets a little old

-Fishman

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page.

Mighty Flip Champs! DX was developed and published by WayForward Technologies and released on July 12, 2011, for the PlayStation Network. WayForward provided us with a download code for the game, which I enjoyed until I started being bad at it.

Ex-Bizzare Creations Staff Form New Studio “Lucid Games”

Bryce Wilson — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:55:10 +0000

The final culmination in a saga of sad news sees former staff of the now defunct studio Bizarre Creations go on to open up a new studio that they believe will allow them to “build a studio which encourages open communication with its partners, customers and other developers.”.

With Peter Wallace at the reigns of the new studio they’re looking to employ fifty, yes, fifty new staff members to fill now available spots. Wallace seemed optimistic and excited about the new studio commenting;

“With the great history of Bizarre behind us, we are proud to be part of Lucid and are committed to the UK game development community. We plan to build a studio which encourages open communication with its partners, customers and other developers.”

The new studio is also backed by the powers that be over at Liverpool Vision, a local economic development company who is keen on keeping the ex-talent of Bizzare in the region and country. Steve Smith, the digital director of Liverpool Vision commented on the new studio saying;

“Liverpool Vision has been keen to keep what is some of the best games talent in the global games market in Liverpool and from day one we have been very supportive of this initiative, this world class talent combined with a very credible and experienced management team, we believe offers the best future for a sustainable and viable business within the significant Liverpool gaming sector.”

He was quick to defend the close of Bizzare Creations, putting it down to economic hardship as opposed to poor games in the last two years. “It should be stressed that Bizarre was very successful,” Smith said “And Activision’s actions were driven by global economics and not by any failure of the creative talent based in Liverpool.”

Let us know what you think or let me know what you think about the latest entry in the Bizzare saga via Twitter – @DrjftGaming.

Source: [x360a] via [GamesIndustry.biz]

Bizarre Creations Officially Closes Friday the 18th

Bryce Wilson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:23:54 +0000

After 15 years, 20 games, 200 staff and thousands of units sold, a titan in the racing game industry is finally closing its doors amidst poor sales and negative reception to its most recent titles.

Officially formed back in the dinosaur gaming days of 1994, Bizarre Creations first broke into the video game entertainment market with their Formula 1 racing title “Formula 1 ’97″ that quickly established their identity as a creator of high quality racing titles. However, after a number of AAA caliber titles and wildly popular arcade games – things strangely started going down hill for the developer.

You can read about the rise and untimely fall of Bizarre Creations in an editorial that I wrote titled “Was Bizarre Creations a Ticking Time Bomb?“.

Our thoughts go out to the staff from Liverpool that are unfortunately losing their positions at the pivotal developer, but we know they will be picked up in a hurry by other companies (Codies!). What are your thoughts on the Bizarre Creations saga?

Let us know or contact me via Twitter – @DrjftGaming.

Source: [Develop]

Schizoid: First XNA Game Out The Gate

Andrew Podolsky — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:57:59 +0000

If Ikaruga and Geometry Wars exchanged drunken looks at a bar after-hours and stumbled into eachother’s arms, only to later regret their cheap hotel-room fling and the fact that they forgot to use protection, the result might look something like Schizoid.

A co-op game where the red and blue ships can only destroy their own types of colors, Schizoid also has the glory of being the first game pushed out the door via Xbox Live Arcade’s hot new development community, XNA.

From developer Torpex Games, Schizoid contains online and offline co-op, an AI partner for single player mode, and a faux-German Uberschizoid mode where you can control both ships at the same time. Although this seems more like a refinement of the frantic shooter genre, maybe Geometry Wars 2 can also take a few pointers from Schizoid.

Meanwhile, check out this brain-melting quote from Bill Dugan, the President of Torpex Games:

“Although it has been reported that Schizoid will ‘make your brain melt and ooze out of your ears’, I want to reassure gamers that in our testing we found no evidence of actual brain liquefaction.”

If your brain does melt while playing this game, your family now knows who to sue.