Ahead of its PC/Mac release this Thursday, I was able to get my hands on a copy of Nifflas’ roly poly puzzle platformer NightSky.

The game has you rolling around as a mysterious orb through ten twilight-filled worlds, solving different physics-based challenges and uncovering secrets along the way. So how does the latest title from Nicalis stack up?

After watching the beautiful intro, I felt right at home from the get go with the game and how it played. Similar to other puzzle platformers, NightSky offers individual one-screen challenges (occasionally more than one) combined together by variations of the title’s core gameplay mechanic to form the playable worlds. Each new level seemingly brings in another layer to this relatively simple mechanic, refreshing the player with new methods of completing puzzles.

The controls are solid and you really get a feel for controlling the sphere right away. Advancing through, the sphere obtains new powers that you’ll have to implement to progress to the next screen such as picking up more speed, becoming much heavier or even defying gravity — in some cases using these powers were actually enforced, which brought about its own set of challenges.

The game offers a normal mode for more casual players that includes a tutorial and hints and an alternative mode with more complicated puzzles and no hints for those looking for a tougher challenge. Running through both I can say that I’m glad I made the normal run first as suggested. There’s a certain ambiance that’s lost in the alt mode behind my shouts and curses (the good “oh, you tricky bastard” kind.) Though if you do find yourself getting bored with normal mode, I’d suggest making the switch. It’s really a matter of preference, and a nice touch that the option was provided.

I may just be a victim of being to into the title’s genre, but I did notice a familiarity with almost every aspect of the game; that is, I feel like I’ve been through it all before. The game does an excellent job measuring up with any of the better puzzle platformers out there, but I never felt it presented me with anything mind-blowingly new when drawing comparisons to them. That said, the puzzles are still wildly creative in places and plenty of fun, it just never struck that “woah this is different” chord with me.

As far as style, the game makes a conscious effort to soothe the player with both sights and sounds. The artwork is a treat for the eyes, using backgrounds with calmer, cooler colors and silhouetting the foreground including the surrounding wildlife and the sphere itself.

It’s also not hard to understand why the game received an honorable mention for Excellence in Audio in this year’s IGF as the diverse soundtrack, by composer Chris Shlarb, is quite excellent. At times the music is treated as a kind of reward upon completion of an area or by activating a puzzle’s solution, with the absence of music filled by the ambient sounds of ocean waves crashing against a shore. The result is an extremely harmonious buffet for your ears and really adds a tremendous amount to the overall experience of playing through the game.

You won’t get an argument from me against NightSky being a good game. The physics-based gameplay is tight, the songs are splendid and the art is simple yet gorgeous. If you’re a fan of platformers with a little more thought involved like Braid, VVVVVV and LIMBO, they’ll be plenty for you to like here.

NightSky arrives January 6 for PC/Mac and is pinned for WiiWare sometime down the road.

[NightSky]

I had originally meant for this review to go live last week, but, unfortuantely, the holidays just got the better of me. I do hope that you didn’t take that to mean Frobot wasn’t a good game, however, as I’ve just finished playing my review copy and I came away thoroughly impressed with not only the gameplay, but also the aesthetic, characters and story… yes this game most certainly has a story.

Frobot, for those of you who haven’t seen it, can be summed up in a single word: funky. Everything about this game oozes with that sort of jive 1970s vibe that was so pervasive 40 years ago. While it might seem dated now, you can rest assured that reliving this fabled time of gold chains and jive turkeys is actually well worth the entry price, particularly if you always found yourself fond of a certain American detective named Shaft.

But enough about that let’s tackle what you’re probably really interested in, the gameplay.

I’ve mentioned this previously on this site multiple times, but I’ll say it again: the entire gameplay of Frobot is very similar to playing a the classic 2D Zelda temples. This, in my opinion is a fantastic gameplay structure as it creates a fun, puzzle atmosphere but without getting overly complicated for people who just want to play a game and not worry a third dimension as is now customary in modern Zelda titles.

The primary difference between Frobot‘s puzzle “temples” and Zelda‘s is that Frobot‘s puzzles aren’t contained to a singular room. What I mean by this is that you’ll habitually be dragging items from one screen to the next and back again in order to solve a puzzle. This ensures that no puzzle is too easy, aside from the very first few, of course.

Now, naturally, being a badass Frobot, the game hooks you up with an impressive arsenal to dispose of any enemies that you most definitely will come into contact with. You’ve got the traditional “pew pew” energy blast gun, remote mines, a rocket launcher, the “Jive Stalker” which follows your Wii pointer, and a grenade which can be thrown over walls. Each weapon provides it’s own use and functionality within the game that will allow you to proceed through the levels. Note: the grenade is for multiplayer only.

Beyond the weapons, Frobot also has a a shield with which he can block energy blasts as well as a dash that allows Frobot to quickly move out of the way should you require it. These two items are fairly standard within this type of game.

My favorite part about the game, however, isn’t really the puzzles but rather the bosses for each section of the game. During these fights, the game’s camera zooms out and gives you a much wider perspective from with which you can view everything. Each boss has a unique hook to it that makes fighting them different from traditional games where you’re usually just required to hit them ‘x’ amount of times.

Frobot also comes with a local  multiplayer mode. It’s pretty fun, although nothing really spectacular. It’s just you and 2-3 friends blasting each other with all of Frobot’s arsenal. It can be particularly fun if you’re with the right people. Sadly, however, beyond that there’s just not much to it.

Stylistically, Frobot is a double edged sword. On the one hand, the aesthetic and setting of the game are great. I love how colorful and funky the game feels. On the other side, Frobot is a glaring reminder at the Wii’s inadequacies when it comes to graphics. Colors are dimmer and everything is rougher than what you’d expect on even most Xbox Live Indie Games. A PC version of Frobot is supposed to be coming out soon and I can only hope that it doesn’t suffer from similar issues.

Finally, we come to the story. As you can imagine Frobot absolutely has quite a ridiculous plot line. But that’s okay because being set in the same vein as Shaft entitles you to have a ridiculous plot even if it involves jive robots from a dystopian future. I won’t delve too deep into it, but suffice it to say “the Man” has decided to abduct Frobot‘s women, an entirely unacceptable proposition.

Overall, I was impressed with Frobot‘s simplistic yet addictive gameplay that had me returning for more time and again. There’s a lot of gameplay to be had here, especially for fans of the old Zelda games.

Frobot can be had today on the Nintendo WiiWare store for 1000 Nintendo points ($10).

[Frobot, WiiWare]

I gave a few column-inches to Metroid: Confrontation back in my second Fangame roundup article, but it has since gotten a couple of minor updates, and now a major one, so it gets another few words written about it.

Wii owners waiting patiently for Team Meat’s fun, tough bastard of a platformer Super Meat Boy have been stuck with the proverbial coal in the stocking as the developer has announced on twitter (I’m real tired of ‘tweeted’) the cancellation of the WiiWare version. The dev added that a retail version appears “grim” but is still being looked into.

We reported in November a delay due to Nintendo’s strict 40 MB or less policy for WiiWare titles putting a strain on what could actually be included in the version of the game. Flash forward to today and Joystiq’s Ludwig Kietzmann has posted the response they received from Edmund McMillen which pretty much sums up why there’s no chance the game will see release on the console:

“If Super Meat Boy were to launch on WiiWare today, it would have no leaderboards, no Dark World levels and no support for downloadable additions. Boss fights and cutscenes would have no musical accompaniment, and only six music tracks (including just one for retro-themed levels) would be present. In the words of designer Edmund McMillen, it would be “a piece of shit version of Super Meat Boy.”

When McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes, who together form Team Meat, tested a version of their loopy platformer that could fit under the (previously disputed) 40MB file-size limit imposed by Nintendo’s WiiWare service, they weren’t satisfied with the compromises and decided to cancel it.”

An unfortunate situation to be sure, and one that I have a hard time pinning any piece on the developer. Sounds like they tried to work with the limitation any way they could, but bottom line the game would be a mutilated version of itself. That’s just not something Edmund or Tommy are willing to have on their records going forward.

Well, some good and bad news for fans of the upcoming Retro City Rampage game. The good news is that the game is now definitely coming to a platform other than WiiWare, in fact it’s actually coming to my preferred platform of XBLA. The abd news is that the game has been delayed significantly to the summer of 2011. For those that recall, the game was originally slated for this month.

Some other off putting news for Wii owners is that the game isn’t set to launch on WiiWare until fall of 2011, a significant delay from when it was supposed to launch exclusively onto the service.

Still, it’s not all bad news as it appears that Retro City Rampage could be in the running for inclusion into Microsoft’s coveted “Summer of Arcade” event that they hold annually. No specific word on it yet, but I’d be surprised if such a high caliber game wasn’t included.

Our own Peter Eykemans previewed the game recently and found it to be a fantastic gaming experience even 6 months out from release. Even I can attest to the fact that the game is certainly shaping up quite nicely given my play time at this past year’s PAX 2010. So, with that said, let the waiting game begin.

[Retro City Rampage]

I honestly had my doubts about it getting released this year, but it appears that Andrew from Fugazo has kept his promise to get Frobot out by the end of Q4 2010 and, just 11 days away they’ve made it so.

For those who haven’t heard of Frobot, just imagine the old top-down Zelda formula mixed with a dash of funk and you’ve got yourself a fantastic looking game in the same vein. Seriously, the game looks and plays great. You can check out our own preview of the game earlier this year from PAX 2010, or you can wait until our official review later this week or early next.

There is a demo available right now and, should you decide you want more, the game will cost you 1000 Nintendo points ($10).

[WiiWare, Frobot]

The news had been heating up that we were nearing a release date after the development team had submitted their build of LA-MULANA to Nintendo, but after it was rejected and they’ve gone back into testing, LA-MULANA has officially been pushed into 2011.

With countless apologies, the team stated that they’re going to need more time to finish it because “it’s better to enhance the completeness instead of completing it roughly in a hurry.”

I completely agree with them. Don’t needlessly rush a game out. Give it the attention and bug-fixing it requires.

We’ll have more on LA-MULANA in the new year. You can read the official explanation of the delay from the developer.

Merry Christmas from the guys over at Tons of Bits as they’ve just emailed me to let me know that their upcoming, adorably charming WiiWare game Chick Chick Boom is finally getting a North American release two days after Christmas (Dec. 27th).

The game will presumably cost 1000 Nintendo points ($10) and features 1-4 multiplayer.

[Chick Chick Boom]

Trailer

It’ll be time to get funky this holiday season, because the disco-stylings of Frobot will be hitting the WiiWare channel on December 20th.

We’ve covered the game several times (Early Preview, GDC 2010, PAX 2010) and have been waiting for it to come out forever. When it hits the service in two weeks, it’ll be at the price point of 1000 Wii Points. A free demo will be available that same day.

The game is inspired by the original Zelda, which you’ll see from the inspired level design (room to room dungeons). We’ll do a full review as soon as the game is available.

Check out the latest trailer:

If you have any artistic inklings in those hands of yours, then you may want to take a few minutes and enter a Fan Art contest that Retro City Rampage is holding.

All you’ll need to do is “Draw a Retro City Rampage scene with a the PLAYER carjacking a flaming DLX-88 sportscar with his sweet light gun!”

Contest winners will receive a signed copy of a Retro City Rampage NES Cartridge. All entries must be submitted by December 6th and winners will be announced on the 13th.

For me, with the artistic talents of a drunken three year old, I’ll pass. But you have a real shot at this.

Check out the official page for the full contest rules and regulations.