Showing posts with label Wind and Water Puzzle Battles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wind and Water Puzzle Battles. Show all posts

Wind & Water Puzzle Battles Arrives on PC for Free! Also free on Wiz and GP2X!


Thanks to Wind and Water Puzzle Battles developer Hao via a reply to my article "5 Indie Dreamcast Games Worth Your Time" over at SEGAbits, it was revealed that the great indie Dreamcast game Wind and Water Puzzle Battles has been released for free on the PC! What more, the Wiz and GP2X handheld versions are also now free. Even more what more, if you scroll down on their main page you'll find that they have knocked down the cost of a custom sprite for a limited time. $10 for a custom avatar sprite, and $15 for a full animated set of four avatar sprites! The sprite can be used in the PC version, as well as on the handheld versions. I'll be picking one up, if only to fund potential future Dreamcast projects (Little Ninja, please?). Hao also mentioned that depending on the feedback for the PC version, they will develop W&W Online with netplay.

You might be asking "where does the Dreamcast play into this?", well I downloaded the PC version and spotted Mr. VMU himself! Finally, an anthropomorphic piece of SEGA hardware on my computer screen. So give it a download, buy a custom sprite and give the Yuan brothers your thoughts!

Note: While I only operate on Macs, I was able to get the game running flawlessly via the Mac application CrossOver. I'm certain other PC emulating applications will also do the trick.

5 Indie Dreamcast Games Worth Your Time


While there are a lot of great independent Dreamcast games out there, many worthy of a Dreamcast collector’s collection, not every game is worth it for the casual fan. Some games are too short, too difficult or too simplistic. Gamers shouldn’t be expected to pay $20 to $60 for a so-so indie game simply because that money goes towards development of new games. We’re not dealing with charities. People buy games with the promise that the game will be worth their money.


As such, I thought I’d share five independent Dreamcast games that are worth the time and money of not only collectors, but also those who have a Dreamcast console but aren’t into the indie scene. The following five games are just as good, and in some cases better than official Dreamcast games.

click here to read more 

In the comments, let me know what indie Dreamcast games you've enjoyed!

RedSpotGames permanent price drops on R4 and W&W!

Redspotgames have just put out some permanent price drops on some of their excellent indie games including Rush Rush Rally Racing DX (which comes with the soundtrack CD) for just 22 Euros (£18.60 / $29.25) and get this: Wind and Water Puzzle battles for an amazing 10 Euros (£8.45 / $13.30)! If you haven't already picked up these outstanding games now is defiantly the time to get going to their shop!

Still not sure about Wind & Water? Try out the demo!

I know there are some that are still not sure wherever or not they want to buy Yuan Works Indie Dreamcast release Wind & Water: Puzzle Battles. First of all watch my Rummage review, then if that intrigues you head over to DCEvolution who now have a demo download which you can burn and try out on your DC. Then hurry up and grab it if you like it, because there's no way of knowing how long the game will available!

There has been quyite a lot of activity going on over at DCEvolution lately, like DreamMP3 which comes with the Dreamcast EP by I have a Dreamcast on it, a demo of Goat Store's Inhabitants (another neat indie puzzle game), and other homebrew downloads.

Back to the scene

My Dreamcast hates me. And the worst part is, she's (yes, you all know I call me Dreamcast a "she") right! I've been neglecting her, only playing with my many other consoles (except for the N64, that one's sitting quietly in a dark corner). Maybe that's why the laser slowly began to fade away... But now it's back! I really have no idea what's going on, maybe it just needed to rest for a bit, but, anyway, what matters is that I've been playing the hell out of that thing lately, with 3 particular games, 2 I already had, neglected in the shelf, and a new one. Let's break it down:

Le Mans 24 Hours


Amazing game. The only reason I didn't play it much when I got it was because at the time I was more into arcade stuff. Now that I'm seriously in the simulator business this game is a godsend in the Dreamcast's library. The gameplay's just...right, you know? The cars respond to every move you make, with fully analog control that lets you turn or accelerate exactly how much you want, depending on the pressure you apply to the analog pad or the triggers, and it just feels good, driving those hi-powered machines in a variety of different tracks. The graphics are pretty damn awesome, and, of course, it gives you the option to race the whole Le Mans challenge, in 24 hours real-time!



Radilgy/Radirgy/What-the-fuck-you-want-to-call-it


Personally I like to call it Radilgy, as in Radio Allergy. Because that's what the game is all about, your character having a radio-wave allergy, and her father's being kidnapped, and you taking control of a flying robot shooting wave after wave of enemies... Pretty generic shmup storyline, you see. As I stated sometime ago in a comment to a Martin's post, I had it, though, as what happened to Le Mans, at the time I got it just for collection's sake, not exactly to play it. Well, now things are different. In the past months I've became a huge shmup fan, so I inevitably had to play this. Here's what I think.

The graphics are awesome, pure cell-shaded, bright colours, delicious animations goodness! The gameplay is tight, the controls respond well and the game's not impossibly difficult (although it's far from easy). There's the regular shot, a special move identical to the bombs in other games but which is used primarily to render you invulnerable for a period of time and a close-range sword attack, powerful but dangerous to perform since you're right next to the enemies, making it difficult to dodge incoming fire.



I only have two major gripes with the game. First, you can't use the analog pad. This is just stupid. If the damn thing is the closest you have to an arcade stick, why the fuck shouldn't they allow you to use it? The d-pad's fine, but it just isn't the same... Second, the main shot is weak as fuck. Even when you power it all up certain enemy ships take about half a minute to blow up, which leaves you felling like you have a peashooter on your hands.

Other than that, great shmup, specially considering the rather weak competition when it comes to the Dreamcast (face it, it wasn't a particularly great machine for shmup fans...).

Wind & Water: Puzzle Battles


Finally! I thought I would never get my hands on this game! (now I only have to get that Dux...) Played just a little bit yesterday, not enough to pass judgement, but I can already tell you two things. First, the gameplay is rather unique, so be prepared to suck at it at first. The game features a nice tutorial, explaining everything in detail, but still, don't expect to master it right away. Second, this game was made with love. Seriously. The attention to detail, to make this game appealing to the player and has solid, complete and polished as a game can be is really astonishing. Also, the soundtrack's great.

Now, I've only really saw the tip of the iceberg, but I can already tell I'm going to love it. By the way, Gagaman and Father K, would you be so kind as to send me your custom character's codes? I'd love to play as both of you :P


(Gman's rummage vid)

DCJY Rummage: Wind and Water Puzzle Battles



Finally I've sorted this review out! I had a lot of bother with it when I ended up losing all my editing and voice work for it a couple months ago, but dedicated yesterday to finishing it off. Take note the footage was recorded back in December so my gameplay stats shown are quite old! Also note the new intro I animated for the Rummage series, and it's in widescreen (sort of)! That artwork I made a while back was for this video too.

Some Wind & water fan art for ya.


Take this artwork as an apologise for still not getting around to sorting out that video review I promised.Sorry, it might get done one day!

Wind and Water - €12 + Shipping

Thought I would share this good news with others... HuCAST (bringing us the eagerly anticipated DUX) have some copies of Wind and Water puzzle battles for sale for €12.

From their email:

"HUCAST.net decides to do not stock redpostgames products anymore, so you can get Wind & Water for Dreamcast to a special pricing. Only 12 EUR instead of 32,95 EUR. "


Bargain. I nearly bought this last week at full retail. The Gods have spoken, open up your paypal accounts and go and buy it.

Darn, beaten to the first Wind + Water Video Review!



Just spotted this on 'That Guy with the Glassies' and man is it a good video review for the recently released Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles. In fact it makes the one I was working on look a bit shit, because it's not just informative, but darn funny too. It even has an animated segment about the history of the Dreamcast and how the public screwed it over because they wanted to wait to play the matrix on DVD on a PS2 instead. What's not to like? Apoloies again for still not getting my review sorted, so enjoy this one instead for now!

Wind and Water unpacking and first impressions



So Wind and Water Puzzle Battles showed up in the letter box this morning, so I promptly did a video of the excitement of getting a brand new Dreamcast game, showing the game's highly professional packaging as well as a quick look at the game running on the system. I'm very impressed by just how slick the presentation of both the manual and the game itself is, the Yuan Works team (all two of them!) are evidentially very passionate when it comes to making games, I hope we see more from them in the near future.

So my first impressions on the game? The story mode is the game's strongest point: you get a Super mario 3 like hub map where you'll bump into characters to chat to (two of which are based on the Yuan brothers themselves) and plenty of different mission based stages to play, that on completion open up more of the map. There is also a shop to buy items from and great little mini games to be found. The dialog between the characters in a great laugh: the game's story is based around Amy who has been deemed the task of teaching everyone how to play the game despite being a bit of a air head, while the game is still being developed around you by the Yuan brothers. One particularly amusing moment was coming across a little kid who was on his way to a RPG school, holding a giant, Final Fantasy VII like sword. There is also a arcade mode and a very clever puzzle mode where you only get one or two moves to clear all the blocks.

As for the gameplay, so far I'm finding it quite challenging at say the least. It's rather simple to get into, but deceivingly tricky once you start to get deeper into it, especially when facing CPU opponents. The game requires very quick reflexes and the ability to manipulate the blocks you swift about very strategically. Personally I tend to hold my own pretty well in puzzle games but in this case I'm getting my arse whupped. I still haven't even beaten the first opponent you need to face in the story mode yet after quite a few attempts, he just manages to throw me out of the game in seconds with his super quick maneuvers.

So at the moment I'm struggling to keep up with it but I'm going to stick with it and see if i can get better, so this game may even be able to pull me away from LittleBigPlanet for a bit, so that's something. When I said in the video the review will be by the end of the week it'll probably be more like next week as I want to play quite far through it first.

Wind and water is out!

From this week copies of Wind and Water: Puzzle battles should be on their way to whoever pre-ordered it, and can also be purchased right now as the game is officially out! Apparently it was already for sale at a convention in France a week ago, lucky buggers. If you haven't already, buy yourself a copy of this NEW game for your Dreamcast at Redspotgames store. Alternatively Play-asia will also be stocking the game within the week. I'm looking forward to finally getting my copy, look forward to some videos on it's release from me including a Rummage video review!

A Gentle Reminder: Dux and Wind and Water Puzzle Battles

For everyone who has been living without Internet access...(you know, like me). The rest of you might be sick of hearing about these games but come on!

Wind and Water.It's a fast paced puzzle game!
http://www.wind-water.net/
http://www.redspotgames.com/shop/

Dux.
It's an old school shooter!
http://www.hucast.net/
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-17-71-4-74-1uf-49-en.html

This is a very exciting time for the Dreamcast scene. Possible success for these titles may help usher in a new wave of Dreamcast Independent releases from smaller companies.

Also bear in mind that similar games with limited releases became quite the collectors items once the original run ran dry. So yeah. If you are considering spending some cash on a "current gen" game maybe you should consider investing your cash in one of these instead. It's gonna cost you about the same amount of money.

(And don't forget they still have some copies of Last Hope left at Red Spot Games. I know I am gonna grab one!)

Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles Pre-orders are open!

I just received an e-mail from the guys at Yuan Works that Pre-ordering is now open for their indie Dreamcast release Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles. It'll be released at the end of October, and costs about £21/$40. There's still a chance to buy a custom sprite if you haven't alreday, but get a move on if you want one of those! You can pre-order it from the RedSpotGames shop, the publishers of this game as well as last year's shump Last Hope. If you enjoy puzzle games like Panel De Pon (otherwise known as Tetris Attack) this is a must play, and the love and care that's gone into it's production shines through every pixel. Look out for a Rummage video review in November!

Wind and Water Puzzle Battles Interview

Interview with Yuan-Hsi Chiang: Developer of the World’s Next Dreamcast Game

"Well, it’s a nice console with a dedicated fanbase. When I was younger, I would be extremely grateful when a Super Famicom (SNES) title arrived very late in its life, as it felt more like a tribute than a big commercial project. Many Dreamcast users around the world are really excited about this release! And the market, especially in Japan, is big enough to make it very profitable, which doesn’t hurt one bit!

On a more techie side, the DC is very robust, and supports true 240p RGB, which provides the definite 2D arcade experience. The controller suits the game perfectly, and there are practically no load times. There is also VGA and Arcade Stick support, so you can truly play this game any way you want on DC!"

Via www.siliconera.com


I liked the interview a lot. The guys over at Yuan Works seem to really want to preserve the pixel art that makes retro games so great.

I am also glad to hear that the Japanese market for Dreamcast games is still great enough to generate profit. Hopefully we can see some more games in the future.

Wind and Water Puzzle Battles

A bit of information about the upcoming Dreamcast port of Wind and Water.

Blatantly stolen from the headlines at DCEmu UK http://dreamcast.dcemu.co.uk/

From the Wind and Water website.

"The Dreamcast version will feature a new package design, as well as an extensive manual with new artwork, in both English and Japanese! The final package will resemble closely the pictures you see below:" (Official Site)



It looks like there is gonna be some pretty good packaging for the puzzle game! And it looks like there is going to be VMU support!

Perhaps they could have gone with a DVD case design but the classic CD case looks pretty sweet.