METROID AND KIRBY REVISIT
Well, we've got to at least have a check-in. And the result of that check-in is, there have been no new entries to the Metroid or Kirby series since we last visited. Metroid still has a major one coming, and considering Pokemon will likely take more than a year, simply by its very nature, I'm sure it will be out when we swing back around. Until then, let's do our character sheets!
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: ECHOES OF WISDOM
Zelda is our protagonist, accompanied by a little Triforce fairy creature called Tri, who gives her the Tri Rod, which grants her most of her abilities for the game. Specifically, most of Zelda's moveset is built around creating echoes, replicas of various items Zelda encounters around her world. This includes summoning enemies to fight for her and creating objects that she can use as stepping stools to get around. Some of the most common include the flying block enemy that now functions as a floating platform to let Zelda cross large distances quickly, and the bombfish, her go-to bomb item. She can also use a bind move to grab objects and pull them toward her, and a reverse bond that lets her be pulled by moving objects.
Link appears in the game, both playable in the beginning level and then later as a damsel-in-distress type or an ally, and Zelda can even mimic his abilities at certain points, using his sword and arrows. Other notable allies include Zelda's father, the King of Hyrule, as well as his right and left hand advisors, General Wright and Minister Lefte. There's also Impa, and the inventor Lueberry who upgrades Link's weapons. Then there's the Great Fairy, the goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore, the Great Deku Tree, a Stamp Guy who functions similar to Tingle with a stamp-collecting sidequest, a master named Shisho that puts you through boss rushes, and finally Dampe, who is now an inventor this time around, and builds automatons based on enemies that you can use to fight. (Guess who earned himself a spot).
As you travel around Hyrule, you'll encounter other races like Gorons and Zoras with specific members who will help you get to the temples and figure out how to heal the rifts. They're not quite sages, and the level of their help varies, so I'm not totally certain on including them, but here they are anyway. For the Gerudo, your main companion is Dohna, the daughter of the chief Seera. For the Zoras, we have two factions (the river and sea Zoras respectively), led by Dradd and Kushara, as well as their two advisors Inawa and Rogma. Darston is the new young chief of the Gorons, and he is the most companion-y in the game. For the Deku Scrubs, Blossu is the most helpful, but only really a little. And then, when you climb Hebra Mountain, you meet a lonely yeti named Conde, whose brother went off on an adventure. I'm going to look back at my history with all these races and make a decision on them. They might be echoes or something.
Ganon starts out as your main villain, fighting you twice with his trident, but then he turns out to simply be an echo of Ganon and the true villain appears. This is Null, the embodiment of the void and nothingness that existed at the start of the universe. The three goddesses created the land of Hyrule and everything on it in order to seal it away, leaving the Triforce and the Tri fairies behind as a means to stop it if it ever broke through. Null is able to create echoes of its various bosses, create rifts in the world, slash with its claws, and blast balls of dark energy around. It can also make its arms grow from anywhere.
Other bosses include the Seismic Talus, who can launch its fists and slam the ground to make earthquakes; Vocavor, a large fish that creates whirlpools and can fly; Mogryph, a winged mole that can fly, burrow, throw sand waves, roar, charge, and summon tornadoes; Volvagia, who flies around, dives into lava, and spits both a large green energy ball and a laser beam; Gohma, who releases Gohma eggs and shoots an eye laser; and Skorchill, a mad yeti that could use ice and fire attacks, and jump really high.
Mini-bosses include dark versions of Link and Zelda, a cloud named Smog, Lord Jabu-Jabu, and various large enemies. Most of the enemies can be included in Zelda/Tri's moveset, and they are: Zols, Buzz Blobs, Moblins, Boarblins (not sure on the difference), Lynels, Lizalfos, Darknuts, Armos, Ball-and-chain Troopers, Gibdoes, ReDeads, Wizzrobes, little armadillos called Caromadillos, Ropes, tornado frogs called Tornandoes, singing frogs called Ribbitunes, Slugs, moles called Holmills, Wolfos, Keese, Mothulas, Needleflies, various birds like Crows and Guays, Octoroks, Sand Crabs, Biris, fish called Tanglers, Bombfish, sharks called Chompfins, Deku Babas, Peahats, Zirros, Moldorms, Crawltulas, Arurodas, Tektites, Poes, blobs of slime called Goo Spectres, Ghinis, Leevers, mini-Taluses called Tweeluses, Freezards, Sparks, living platforms called Platbooms, and Beamos.
As for stages, we have Hyrule Castle, Hyrule Field, Suthorn Forest, Gerudo Desert, Lake Hylia, Jabul Waters, Eldin Volcano, Faron Wetlands, Kakariko Village, Hebra Mountain, Eternal Forest, and the Still World where Null resides.
And that's about it! Let's see what we've got:
Characters:
Zelda/Tri: various echoes, bind, reverse bond.
Link: sword, arrows
Impa
Dampe: automatons, everything he did before.
Dohna?
Dradd or Kushara?
Darston?
Blossu?
Conde?
Ganon
Null: echoes, rifts, slash, dark energy, arms grow
Talus: launch fists, slam the ground
Vocavor: whirlpools, fly
Mogryph: fly, burrow, throw sand waves, roar, charge, tornadoes
Volvagia: flies, dives into lava, energy ball, laser beam
Gohma: Gohma eggs, eye laser
Skorchill: ice and fire attacks, jump
Stages:
Hyrule Castle
Hyrule Field
Suthorn Forest
Gerudo Desert
Lake Hylia
Jabul Waters
Eldin Volcano
Faron Wetlands
Kakariko Village
Hebra Mountain
Eternal Forest
Still World
Thanks for reading! Next up, a quick revisit to Metroid and Kirby!
SUPER MARIO PARTY JAMBOREE
As for Super Mario Party Jamboree, it's the newest game in the Mario Party franchise. Kamek is the host, and the game is a pretty standard entry, though with a one-player where you can run around and complete tasks and so on. Your playable characters include: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Rosalina, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Shy Guy, Boo, Monty Mole, and Spike, with Pauline and Ninji as newcomers. Lakitu, Boom Boom, and Pom Pom all have cameos.
The stages include Goomba Lagoon, a tropical island; Rainbow Galleria, a mall; Mega Wiggler's Tree Party; a forest level with a giant Wiggler in the middle of it; Roll'em Raceway, a Mario Kart track; and King Bowser's Keep, your standard Bowser level. Western Land and Mario's Rainbow Castle also return from past games.
The game has a bunch of minigames, most of which are in the pretty standard category for Mario Party. As there's no one to give them to as a gimmick character, unless I just wanted to add boosts to Tumble, Koopa Kid, Ballyhoo, or Brighton and Twila, but I think that's not necessary.
Next up, The Legend of Link!
