Ducktales Remastered for the Wii U (PS3, XBOX360, & PC too)

Ducktales Remastered is a remake of a old classic NES title "Ducktales" made by CAPCOM in Sept. 1989. With the help of WayForward, CAPCOM released this version for 4 systems in Nov. 12, 2013. I played it on the Wii U, so this game will be reviewed under that system.

FUN: If you remember the classic NES game as well as the Saturday Morning Cartoons, then this game will bring Nostalgia overload. When they Remastered the game, they change little to nothing about it. The controls are still great, the music is still memorable, and they even added Voice Acting that bring childhood memories of the cartoons back. FUN - 2.

REPLAY: This game doesn't have much replay value. However, it is so simple ad enjoyable for many players that replaying the levels for the humor and music is still fun. On top of that, on your first playthrough, you are not able to find enough money to be able to buy all the gallery items to unlock everything. The good news still, one the game is beaten the first time, all the stages are unlocked for you to pick and play. REPLAY - 1.

STORY: It all starts off with the Beagle Boys breaking into Scrooge McDuck's Money Vault. You play as Mr. McDuck as you are going through your Vault battling the Beagle Boys with your only weapon, your cane. Within the Vault, you find you Nephews Huey, Dewey, & Louie trapped by the Beagle Boys.

After rescuing your Nephews and saving your Vault, Scrooge McDuck finds a Treasure Map leading to 5 different places with 5 highly valued treasures. It up to you as Scrooge McDuck to find these treasures to make yourself even richer! STORY - 2.

DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL: There's not much differences in this game nor are there any original content. This is a remastered version of the classic NES title. However, there are a few changes. The most major change in this version is the last level.

In the classic NES title, they had you replay one of the past levels as the final level. In this game, they added 2 new levels, The Vault as a opening level & another one just for it to be used as the final level. Another change is that the game actually has Voice Acting. The NES version had it's limitations, so they couldn't do any voice acting. The comedy between Scrooge McDuck and LaunchPad will have you laugh time to time. With the Wii U tablet, You are able to keep the map displayed as you play the game on the TV. The last add-on is the Gallery. The Gallery can only be unlocked when you spend your founded new cash on the items. DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL - 2

DIFFICULTY: This game actually has 4 different difficulty settings; Easy, Medium, Hard, & Extreme (only unlocked by beating the game on Hard). Each difficulty setting has it's own set of rules. There's also a mode called Hard Pogo (for your cane, since you use it as a pogo stick). The controls are simple and easy to use. However, a newbie can have trouble at times with the jumping from rope to rope and jump distances. All these issues can be annoy, but you soon get a hang of knowing how soon enough, so you will learn fast. DIFFICULTY - 2.

TOTAL - 9.

There you have it! Ducktales Remastered for the Wii U! I highly recommend this Nostalgic Trip for anyone who wants a cheap, simple, but fun game. Until next time, this has been Benjamin P. Parker aka The Nintendo Rater.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse for the Nintendo 3DS

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a Nintendo 3DS & Wii U eShop Exclusive game by WayForward. Released on October 23, 2014, this is the 3rd game of the Shantae series.

Shantae is a Half Genie and the Guardian Genie for Scuttle Town. In this game, thanks to a pirate named Risky Boots in the previous game Shantae: Risky's Revenge, Shantae is no longer a Genie.

FUN: This game captures the essence of what a classic platformer game should be. Since Shantae is no longer a Half Genie, she has to use Tools and Weapons, instead of transformation magic from her previous games, she picks up along her journey to aid her even further. The Touch Screen for the 3DS makes for easy access to her items such as health items and extra attack weaponry and power.

The controls are smooth and the button placement makes anyone who hasn't played a Shantae game before easy to pick up and play. The characters and music also makes the game quite enjoyable. FUN - 2.

REPLY: The reply value for this Shantae game is actually quite unique. There are 3 different ending for this game; Any% complete, 100% complete, and 100% Speedrun. However, you can't unlock the 100% Speedrun until you beat the game once with either Any% or 100% complete. On top of that, beating the game once will unlock, Pirate Mode!

Pirate Mode allows the player to start the game with all the Pirate weapons and tools you picked up during your 1st playthrough. This allows quick shortcuts and gives you a better chance at the 100% Speedrun ending for the 2nd playthrough. REPLAY - 2.

STORY: The story starts off with Shantae getting awoken by a load bang outside her lighthouse. When she goes and checks it out, she finds out that Ammo Baron is taking over the city! During her trek through Scuttle Town, she finds the Mayor you told her that Ammo Baron owns the town now! After finding and defeating the Ammo Baron, Shantae is given a summons saying that she is fired as the town's Guardian Genie for attacking the owner!

After being assigned to her house until further notice, Shantae gets captured by Risky Boots. Risky then tells her to give her back her crew and weapons. Shantae being confused by this quickly states that she doesn't have her crew and weapons. Risky then shows Shantae that her Uncle has one of her crew member locked up. Before Shantae tried to find an answer to why, a dark mist enters Risky's crew member and transforms it into a Cacklebat! Risky releases Shantae when she realizes there's a bigger problem, the Pirate King is being revived! It's up to Shantae and Risky to stop this from happening before the whole world becomes the Pirate King's. STORY - 2.

DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL: In all of the other Shantae games, Shantae was a Half Genie. Being a Half Genie gave Shantae the power to Transform into animals by dancing. In this game, thanks to Risky Boots in the previous game, no longer has that power. Instead, Shantae has to use weaponry and tools she picks up and buys in order to complete her quest. That's preety much the only difference about this game. DIFFERNCE/ORIGINAL - 1.

DIFFICULTY: The Shantae series and WayForward knows what makes a great platformer. Smooth controls and easy button placements. Those two things makes the game easy to pick up and only your skills and what you learn from playing the game will help you along the way. Most of the time, it will be you own doing that will get you killed. From not having enough healing items to forgetting a simple pattern to get through. Most of the mistakes will be you and not the game's. DIFFICULTY - 2.

TOTAL - 9.

Well, that's Shantae and the Pirate's Curse in a nutshell! I will be reviewing Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero for the PS Vita when it comes out, so be sure to check out my Non-Nintendo VG review Blog to read it! Until next time, this has been the Nintendo Rater! See ya!

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley for the Nintendo 3DS

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley was made by the company Natsume for the Nintendo 3DS. Released on Nov. 4th, 2014, this is the new addition to the Harvest Moon series. This is the 3rd Harvest Moon 3DS game (2nd if you only count Only for 3DS games. Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns was for both DS & 3DS) Natsume made for Nintendo.

FUN: This game is a great addition to the famous Harvest Moon series. With the whole land left to your creative genius, you can make the land any way you want it. The game kind of makes you think a bit of Minecraft in the way of land forming. They also brought back the lift and move Buildings like in their previous game Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. However, this time you need the help of a guy by the name of Doc and his devices Insta-Buildings and ARCHITECT (Yes... In the game, the name is in all caps). The whole raising crops and animals has become a bit easier thanks to the story part of the game and money making is very easy due to all the Mine throughout the land. On top of all that, the marriage and kid aging is fantastic. FUN - 2.

REPLAY: This is a Harvest Moon game... The only replay value it has if you want to play both Genders or you accidentally deleted you file. Unless you do either one, this game is endless. REPLAY - 0.5.

 STORY: The story goes as followed. You find yourself in a heavy snowstorm, climbing a mountain path. Upon reaching the top, you hear a voice saying go inside the house in front of you. Of course you do & you go to sleep. While asleep, you dream of the Harvest Goddess. In this dream, she's asking for your help to save this land. When you wake up, you find 3 Tools; a Watering Can, a Hoe, & a Shovel. After grabbing the tools, you step outside to hear a voice calling for help. You go to the spot where the voice was and shovel to find one of many Harvest Sprites. He then tells you that the Harvest Goddess became weak and thus this land lost the other 3 seasons to an endless Winter and they need your help in bring back those seasons and the Harvest Goddess. STORY - 2.

DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL: This Harvest Moon game surprisingly has quite a bit of Originally in the game. Sure, as I said before, the creating land part feels like Minecraft, however... they never did something like this in any Harvest Moon game. Usually, you can only rearrange Items and, last game, Buildings. This time, the whole land is in your hands. Shape it to however you want it. On top of that, there are new crops to grow and well as new fodder and food to make thanks to recipes. There's even recipes for buildings! There is quite a wide range of interesting people you meet in the game, from an inventor named Doc (who makes me think of Doc Brown from 'Back to the Future'), a Blacksmith who talks in 3rd Person (who became my Father-In-Law due to marriage in the game), a rich girl, and a very young girl looking for her mom and her only clue is a pendent with her picture in it. On top of that, there are only 3 Bachelors & Bachelorettes in the game. For your kids growing stage, you are given Formula Milk to feed you kid and you will need to buy the recipes to make it as well. If you don't feed your kid at least once during the day, you will be woken up in the middle of the night by the kid's crying and your energy level will go down for the next day. On top of that, you will wake up at 8am instead of your normal 6am. During your kid's growing stage, your kid will get the Sleeping Sickness and it's your job to find a cure! Another new thing is the requests. Requests can be story based or just something that appears when you raise friendship levels with people (it also help raise them too). The Sleeping Sickness that your kid gets is actually an added bonus story request (mainly due to Natsume knowing you will be getting married and raising a kid). Lastly, you can ask the Harvest Sprites you awaken to help you with chores such as helping your flowers grow and growing special Sprite Trees (which is needed to get Mysterious Lumber to build your Giant House in order to get married and have a kid). DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL - 2.

DIFFICULTY: None. Nana. Zilch. This is a Harvest Moon game. Even the story and the requests are easy. I finished the story before the 1st year was over and for certain requests you can use a Save & Reload Cheat that refreshes what appears in the mines and what type of wool, eggs, and milk you can get (due to the items have to be the same Quality in order for it to work. Only annoying part). Raising crops and animals are quite easy as well. DIFFICULTY - 0.5.

TOTAL - 7.

There you have it! Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley in a nut shell! Hope you gamers enjoy this review! Until next time, this has been the Nintendo Rater! See ya!

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the Nintendo 3DS

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is a game that was released on November 22nd, 2013 Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past and game that got released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo aka SNES.

FUN: By far the best sequel Nintendo has ever made. Some of there other sequel (like Super Mario Galaxy 2... another rating for a later date... maybe) doesn't come close to comparison to this game. The controls, the story, & the gameplay all are fantastic. FUN - 2.

REPLAY: Even though it's a Zelda game and Zelda games tend to not have any replay value. Well... this sort of does. Sure it only has Hero Mode after you beat the game, however... the game is so great players are going to be playing it over and over trying to do 100% Speed Runs just like A Link To The Past. REPLAY - 1.

STORY: Just like A Link To The Past, someone has been capturing the sages in order to revive Ganon. However, since it is the sequel, it the sages' kids. Yep... the descendants of the sages. The descendant of the lost hero, Link must do thing same thing his past self did years ago to save Hyrule and Princess Zelda. STORY - 1.5.

DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL: Well... the Original part can mostly go out the window here. It's more the Difference here that counts. It takes place in the same world map as the Light World in A Link To The Past (see... no Original here). Almost every dungeon is the same. Placement and everything except for a few minor details that only players who watch or played A Link To The Past can catch. The Difference is the instead of you gaining ALL you weapons and gear from the dungeons, you get them from a mysterious bunny guy named Ravio. However, the catch is that you RENT them. If you die, all RENTED items go back to him. Sure... after a while you can buy them off him to KEEP, but for a whole lot of Rupees (This game is very Rupee based... just like Skyward Sword... later date... again). Another Difference is of course, the Sages or Sages' Descendants. It's their kids. The next Difference is the Opposite World. In A Link To The Past... it was the Dark World (Light and Dark... creative...), but for this game it's a world called Lorule, a counterpart of Hyrule. Everyone in Hyrule has a complete Opposite way of think and most of them are quite rude in Lorule. However, some of them do keep a few things the same as their Hyrule counterpart (like the Blacksmith still love his work and swords). Of course... Princess Zelda has a counterpart named Princess Hilda. The Last difference is the way you go between Hyrule and Lorule. It's not the Magic Mirror in A Link To The Past, it actually you new skill... making yourself into a moving painting and going through tight crevices. DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL - 1.5.

DIFFICULTY: Nice Balance... not much to say about it. It a Zelda game. DIFFICULTY - 2.

TOTAL - 8.

There you have it. LoZ: A Link Between Worlds in a nutshell. Until next time, this has been Benjamin P. Parker aka the Nintendo Rater.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for the Nintendo DS

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was released on Jan. 11, 2011 by Capcom. From the same markers of the Phoenix Wright series, Ghost Trick shares the same witty humor and suspense gameplay along with awesome music. There are no known sequels nor are there any rumors of one. Along with Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Rating on later date), Ghost Trick wasn't well known unless you kept up on the news about the makers of Phoenix Wright.

FUN: If you haven't play this game, you should. By far, this game had the best feel for suspense in any of the games made the makers of PW (Going to shorten it now. Save space.). Also great to play as a ghost with powers aka tricks. FUN - 2.

REPLAY: Just like a lot of PW games, there isn't much to replay value. Sure, I will give that it's fun to play over and over more than the other PW game in the series. REPLAY - 0.5.

STORY: You as a ghost (Later finds out his name) who has lost everything; his memories, his body, and most importantly... his life. When he woke up, the very first thing he saw was a red haired young woman at gun point. Not knowing what to do (Due to the fact that he was dead) he heard a voice saying that he could actually do something to be able to save her. The voice call it his 'Ghost Tricks.' Later after saving the young lady, he told the voice that he wants to find out why he was killed and who he was. The voice told him two things; that he only had one night and that the red haired young lady was the key to all his questions. STORY - 2.

DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL: This game is totally different from the PW series. First of all, time actually flows in each chapter. On top of that, you have to use your 'Ghost Tricks' to progress instead of a basic point and click game with a whole lot of reading. This game's major concept is the touch screen. You need to drag your character to many different kinds of items, each with an unique ability or nothing at all. On top of that, you will be needing to switch from ghost world to the living. DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL - 2.

DIFFICULTY: This game has a great balance between easy and hard. Some chapters are simple due to what to processed, but others use more unique 'Ghost Tricks' and even some logic thinking and timing. DIFFICULTY - 2.

TOTAL - 8.5.

There you have it! Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective in a nutshell! Hope you stay with me during these long waits. Very busy due to college, writing books, etc. Thanks for waiting! The Nintendo Rater.

Harvest Moon: A New Beginning for the 3DS

Harvest Moon: A New Beginning is the lastest of it's series from Nintendo for only the 3DS. Released on 11/06/12 for both the cartridge and the 3DS eShop. Made by Natsume, this Harvest Moon game went back to the basics and took bits and pieces from all there past games and put them together.

FUN: Even though Harvest Moon games are usually never ending and routine, this one, by far, is one of the best in the series. It takes the building aspect of the "Island" games, the design of the Wii games, and the humor in dialoge of "Harvest Moon 64" and "Harvest Moon DS". The main concept of the game is the building and the use of blueprints. Since you are the one who builds everything, you have the ability to place every building where you want it and if you have to move a building to make more room, you can just pick it up and carry it to a new place. A few downsides of the game are the fact that there are too many festivals too close together, so there are weeks where stores are closed for many days in a row. Another downside is that the single men and women in the game aren't really that great. Even though Neil (A Single Man) and Iroha (A Single Woman) are very easy to win over, Neil has a grumpy mood until you get him to a blue or green heart (Woman only). Iroha is usually series, but she is also cheerful on sunny days and festivals. Also, you can only have one Chicken Coop and Barn in each area of your farm (Total farm areas - 3). FUN - 1.5.

REPLAY: Let's face it... Harvest Moon games are never ending. The only way to be able to have any replay value is to choose a different person to marry and choose a different gender to play as. REPLAY - 0.5.

STORY: Like "Harvest Moon 64", you take over your family's farm. While there, you find out that the town is becoming a Ghost Town. It's up to you to rebuild the town to it's old self and beyond. STORY - 1.

DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL: There's really not much original content that wasn't used already in other Harvest Moon games. The only thing I can think of is the ability to place and move buildings at will. DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL - 0.5.

DIFFICULTY: It's a farming Sim. game... What is hard about that? DIFFICULTY - 1.5.

TOTAL - 5.

There you have it, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. Just remember that I rate using only facts, not opinions. If you don't like the score, don't blame me. Thanks for reading my blog. Until next time, this was the Nintendo Rater.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS

Paper Mario: Sticker Star was made by Nintendo and was released on Nov. 11, 2012. Paper Mario: Sticker Star is only for the Nintendo 3DS, but is also can be bought on the 3DS' eShop for only 39.99 US Dollars. Sticker Star is the fourth game in the Paper Mario Series. After Super Paper Mario (Wii Game), Nintendo decided to go back to it's old Turn-Based Battle Style like Paper Mario (N64... I Already Rated it. It's under my It's By The Book Blog) and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (Gamecube).

FUN: This game was so entertaining, most people had a hard time putting it down. The dialoge, gameplay, and whole humor thoughout it was so fantastic that it was never boring. However, it ended too quickly. FUN - 1.5.

REPLAY: This game has no replay value, unless you count getting 100% Completion (Which I'm trying. Almost done, too). REPLAY - 0.5.

STORY: The game begins with everyone having a great time at the annual Sticker Fest. However, it didn't last long when Bowser went and touched the Sticker Comet, a comet that comes once each year to grant wishes (Seriously... why on earth does the Mushroom Kingdom have so many wish granting items!?!). Touching the Comet causes it to explode, spreading stickers everywhere and planting a special powerful sticker on Bowser's head. The sticker on Bowser's head causes Bowser to go crazy! After Bowser destroys the Sticker Fest, Kidnaps the Princess... again, and disappears, Mario wakes up to find the whole town a huge mess. After Mario gets up, he hears a voice calling him. Following the voice, he finds Kersti, a Royal Sticker in charge of protecting the Sticker Comet and the Six other Royal Stickers. She orders Mario to go and gets the missing Royal Stickers. It's up to Mario to Find the Royal Stickers and save Princess Peach Yet Again! STORY - 2.

DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL: Even though this game is like it's first two games of the series (Turn-Based), it has a unigue twist to it battles. You attack using stickers in your Sticker Album. That's right... No Badges, No Parners, No Magic, Just Stickers. On top of that, with the help of Kersti, you can Papertise (Outside of Battle ONLY) and use a Slot-Machine-Like Battle Spin for more power. To get more powerful Stickers that aren't like your normal items (Boot, Hammer, Flowers, Etc.), all over the worlds are items called Things. If you go to certain places, you can fling these Things against a wall and turn them into Stickers. Also... unlike the past three Paper Mario games (Only half of Super Paper Mario), each world is like New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Each world has a set number of stages that you can re-enter and re-collect the Stickers in that stage (Think W1-1, W1-2, and so forth). DIFFERENCE/ORIGINAL - 1.5.

DIFFICULTY: If you don't have a battle plan for each battle and stage, then the game can be a little difficult. However, if you plan it out (And stock pile the Thing Stickers), it very easy and simple game. DIFFICULTY - 2.

TOTAL - 7.5.

There you have it! Paper Mario: Sticker Star in a nutshell! I got this game on Nov. 13 and just finished it today (Nov. 18). However, I did not get 100%. Since it saves the game after you beat it and brings you back to the last stage you played on the world map, I going back to finish getting 100% complete. I'm also working on a Sticker Museum Guide for Gamefaqs.com, so look for that within a week. Thanks for reading my post! Until next time... See Ya!

Benjamin Parker aka Nintendo Rater