No More Heroes is a gem of a third party game on the Wii, a console that is generally starved for them. I’ve played through the game twice now, and debated for a significant amount of time with a number of other people about the themes and the “point” of the game. Debate about the themes of No More Heroes were much more in-depth than I had initially expected, and maybe the reason that these debates occurred at all is that nobody expected them. The game carries itself as a bizarre stylized videogame nostalgia filled beat-em-up, and it many ways, it is. Underneath the shmup dream sequences and the anime girl game over screen, there is commentary about various societal issues. Suda51 stated himself that while Killer 7 was primarily a commentary on politics in Japan, No More Heroes would be more focused on societal issues. These are seen most clearly in the assassins that Travis must kill. There is one theme beyond this that is also worth discussing: the sexual maturation of the protagonist Travis Touchdown.

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February 23, 2008 @ 21:21
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I Wanna Be The Guy: The Movie: The Game is an 8-bit masochistic wet dream of a platformer. The game prides itself on being incredibly difficult, so much so in fact, that the difficulty is the most enticing feature of the game. That is not to say that it is boring, however. All the various ways that you die, and the plethora of old school game references (or straight rip offs) will keep you very much entertained, if you can make it that far. The game also features a very non-linear map, allowing for various methods of exploring for new locations to get killed at. And you will be killed, many times. The save game file will actually count how many times you perish (the only other stat kept track of is play time). And everything will kill you, from Zangeif to spikes to cherry-tomato looking things to stars and Tetris blocks, and really anything else in the game.

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Uwabami Breakers is an incredible freeware shmup. The goal is to drink as much alcohol, by killing enemies that are represented by foods, beverages, and other substances, before the bar closes. Getting hit by an enemy causes you to lose roughly 45 minutes of time (equivalent to 45 seconds). provided you clear the stage in enough time, you will meet with the both of the stage, generally a chef. I have yet to beat any boss, so I cannot describe exactly how they play out.

The game will likely require the East Asian Language pack to be installed, but understanding of Japanese is not needed at all to play the game, as most menus include the English translation.

Another positive aspect of the game is that it is much more forgiving than bullet hell shmups that require incredible precision and prodigy like spatial awareness. Rather, the difficulty in this game does ramp up (as evidenced by my failure to complete the first stage) but at such a pace that the barrier for entrance is not astronomically high. That said, those who are unfamiliar with shmups may want to give it a try, but will likely find the difficulty too much to bear.

Official Site: Uwabami Breakers || Download