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[Yuterald]

Information:

Developer: AQ Interactive
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: 3DS
Price: $39.99
Genre: Action/Puzzle
Release Date:
6/14/2011 NA
6/24/2011 EU


Pictures:

Features
-5 Worlds
-7 Playable characters. One is playable from the start, the rest need to be unlock.
-100 levels spread out across 5 worlds. Each world introduces new obstacles
and traps including wrecking balls and fans that blow you into spikes.
-Players can either tilt and turn the 3DS to play or choose a circle pad configuration instead.
-Survival Mode and Time Trial Modes included. Survival needs to be unlocked.
-Game keeps track of individual stage completion between each character.
-Par Time Flags can be earned on each stage if the player finishes the level under the par time.
-Create Custom Stages with parts you unlock in single player.
-In game achievements unlock Medals which can be viewed. Some achievements require you to earn every Par Time Flag or unlock every character in the game.

Trailers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB7Xdg7BX-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsLVfgvMxfE

 

[Big One]

I'm surprised there isn't an GAF impressions for this game yet

 

[Londa]

I'm not sure if I will get this...

 

[Gospel]

Yeah, you can tell Ubisoft is the publisher.

 

[Lijik]

Damn now thats a boxart

EDIT- Saw the footage.
I was always under the impression this was going to be a fast paced Meatboy/N+ type game. Not sure if want

 

[Boney]

Yeah, you can tell Ubisoft is the publisher.

Kiss of death

Spoiler

along with nintendo

 

[Gospel]

Kiss of death

Spoiler

along with nintendo

Really makes you wonder: Is it better to have played and flopped, than to have never played at all?

 

[Yuterald]

I picked it up today and I am enjoying it quite a bit. I haven't used the tilt and play control scheme yet so I'm not sure how jank that might feel, but the regular circle pad scheme is pretty solid.

I guess you could say this is an N+/Super Meat Boy style of game. Stages are usually less than a minute long and it's all about speed & precision. Load times are fine, but it's the retry option that can get annoying if you are trying to beat a specific par time.

When you retry a stage it asks you to select a character again. When I'm trying to learn a level inside and out, fast retry times are a must. It's not the worst thing ever though. Just a couple extra seconds.

Oh, and the soundtrack is pretty good too. There are some decent tracks so far in the game too. Not sure what I would compare it to and I don't know who the composer is, but the music is certainly not just background noise.

 

[Amir0x]

yeah i saw this in the store today when I was picking up OoT and I said 'what this is out!?'

I was vaguely interested in it from way back when but with the silence I didn't go ahead and buy it

 

[Barrett2]

Amazing commentary on the 3DS that I can't recall the last time I even bothered to look at the new release section for 3DS games. I had no idea this, or anything else, had been released for the damn thing.

 

[Lonely1]

Waiting for impression before considering this.

yeah i saw this in the store today when I was picking up OoT and I said 'what this is out!?'

I was vaguely interested in it from way back when but with the silence I didn't go ahead and buy it

So, you gave in?

 

[mileS]

damn lots of dislikes on that first trailer..

 

[Hex]

Too many 3DS games outside of the big releases look like Ipad and Android games.

 

[Yoshiya]

Cavia

I'd buy this if I had a 3DS, in their memory.

 

[angelfly]

My impressions from back in April:

Cubic Ninja is turning out to be one of those games I like way more than I expected to. Playing through is simply relaxing in a way even through some parts can get frustrating (like Flower). Played through the first set of levels and now I'm playing around with the level creator which works really well especially with the 3D. You can trade maps with people via QR codes or street pass. I found a bunch of levels already posted online and played through a few of them. They were a lot more brutal than the early levels in the game. I'll probably run through the first set of levels again tonight with the new character that was unlocked to see how gameplay changes up.

For those not planning to use the motion controls I'd say don't bother picking it up. The traditional controls are simply not worth using especially on the more trickier levels.

 

[-PXG-]

If this isn't a Meat Boy clone, then I don't know what is.

 

[Amir0x]

Waiting for impression before considering this.

So, you gave in?

I mentioned in the official thread. I realized I am just too big of a Zelda whore to ever resist buying a Zelda game. I even purchased that Zelda Training game and I never even played that for more than the fist ten minutes it took for me to vomit all over the screen and what they were using Link for. I guess I just can't help myself, I must own every Zelda game.

At least I get that Zelda soundtrack for free. That makes me feel 2% less dirty

 

[Nemo]

The character immediately reveals how much creative thought went into this. Pass

Too many 3DS games outside of the big releases look like Ipad and Android games.

 

[Fantastical]

The Nintendo Power review was very critical. Apparently its very short.

 

[angelfly]

The Nintendo Power review was very critical. Apparently its very short.

It's not a super long game but it has replay value. The different characters unlocked are made up of different materials and some with different shapes and can make levels either harder or very difficult depending on the stage. Also being able to create and download levels add to it as well. Posting your levels is a bit weird though since it generates a QR code but doesn't save it to the 3DS so you have to take a picture of the screen. Not sure if they changed that for the US release.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

I heard somewhere that this doesn't support 3D because of the tilt. Any truth to that?

 

[angelfly]

I heard somewhere that this doesn't support 3D because of the tilt. Any truth to that?

It does support 3D but not while using motion controls.

 

[Fantastical]

It's not a super long game but it has replay value. The different characters unlocked are made up of different materials and some with different shapes and can make levels either harder or very difficult depending on the stage. Also being able to create and download levels add to it as well. Posting your levels is a bit weird though since it generates a QR code but doesn't save it to the 3DS so you have to take a picture of the screen. Not sure if they changed that for the US release.

Weird, but yeah, I got the latest Nintendo Power and here's what they had to say about the game.

The motion controls are bad, leading to extreme movements to control the character.
The 3D effect is automatically disabled when playing with motion controls.
The circle pad can be used to control the player, enabling 3D, but that highlights the mediocre and uninspired level design.
“Mercifully short”
100 levels, each taking a minute on average.

http://www.handheldgamingblog.com/nintendo-power-thinks-cubic-ninja-bit-dud/

 

[angelfly]

Weird, but yeah, I got the latest Nintendo Power and here's what they had to say about the game.

http://www.handheldgamingblog.com/ni...ninja-bit-dud/

Well some of those opinions sound about right.

The motion controls are bad, leading to extreme movements to control the character.
It sounds like their problem was the extreme movements. That was my favorite part of the game. On one particular stage I had gotten stuck and then realized I had to turn the 3DS upside down to get through the section. I thought that was pretty cool.

The 3D effect is automatically disabled when playing with motion controls.
The 3D only works when you're staring straight at it so why would they expect it to be enabled when you've got to do a bunch of moving.

The circle pad can be used to control the player, enabling 3D, but that highlights the mediocre and uninspired level design.
If you're playing this game using the traditional controls then of course the levels will seem that way since it clearly wasn't designed to be played like that.

“Mercifully short”
As I already said it's not a long game.

100 levels, each taking a minute on average.
That sounds about right with boss battles being the longest of the stages

 

[Lonely1]

I mentioned in the official thread. I realized I am just too big of a Zelda whore to ever resist buying a Zelda game. I even purchased that Zelda Training game and I never even played that for more than the fist ten minutes it took for me to vomit all over the screen and what they were using Link for. I guess I just can't help myself, I must own every Zelda game.

At least I get that Zelda soundtrack for free. That makes me feel 2% less dirty

You own the CDi games long with the console?

 

[Yuterald]

I got to the second world and the music is pretty cool there too. I'm liking the game. Nothing to freak out about or anything, but it's certainly not an awful game. A lot of extreme criticism going around it seems.

I think the game also has a cool shoebox feel to it. I like holding X to make your character fall towards the screen to traverse some hidden pathway and then letting him fall into the background. It's neat.

I picked it up too because I needed a new 3DS game besides OOT this Sunday (since it's something I've already ultimately played a bunch of times). I'm enjoying it for what it's worth.

 

[generaldane]

You own the CDi games long with the console?

you can't own what don't exist.

 

[PigSpeakers]

I mentioned in the official thread. I realized I am just too big of a Zelda whore to ever resist buying a Zelda game. I even purchased that Zelda Training game and I never even played that for more than the fist ten minutes it took for me to vomit all over the screen and what they were using Link for. I guess I just can't help myself, I must own every Zelda game.

At least I get that Zelda soundtrack for free. That makes me feel 2% less dirty

How did you pick it up? I thought it wasn't out until the 19th. Unless I'm mistaken and I could've gotten it already.

 

[iphys]

I'm not buying this. The loading screens for each little stage take like 5-10 seconds -- too annoying.

 

[Haint]

$39.99. Amazing.

 

[Fantastical]

$39.99. Amazing.

Yeah, I can't wait for these prices to drop like the PSP.

 

[Barrett2]

The Nintendo Power review was very critical. Apparently its very short.

Looks like an iOS game *and* paltry content? I think I'll keep that $40 securely in my wallet for now, thanks.

 

[malingenie]

Got it from gamefly. Played for 10 minutes and it is back in the mailbox.

A gaffer's impression? This game could have been in my android for $0.99 or a free ad-supported version. And I still wouldn't be delighted.

I only played about 5 levels, but I think this would be a game enjoyed by a) The Super Meat Boy crowd or b) Score/Time chasers.

Motion controlled only + No 3D. The gyro seemed to work ok for the most part (sometimes the cube shaped homunculus seemed to float in gravity defying hover mode.).

This is one person's opinion and one that admittedly played for five minutes before realizing it is not for him.


Edit: Played for so little that I didn't realize it had a no motion control mode. Still wouldn't pay more than a buck for it.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

I loves me some Artoon, but this just looks terrible.

 

[d0c_zaius]

yea, I wanted this to be good...but it got old pretty quick.

 

[wazoo]

pretty much every early 3DS game will be forgotten later faster than light and in 3D.

 

[Lonely1]

Day one!

Spoiler

(on DsiWare).

 

[Yuterald]

I got to World 3 today. Music is really cool. I'm actually going back to each world and re-doing them when I unlock a new character so I don't finish the game in a sitting. Each character performs differently which is pretty cool tool.

The 3rd dude I unlocked is really heavy and he doesn't bounce off walls so for the stages that have those pinball obstacles you can get to the goal extremely fast. I'm still digging the game. I kind of impulsed purchased it because I had nothing left to play on 3DS until OOT comes out, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it to many people at $39.99.

I'd say still check it out when it price bombs if you had any interest in it or if you dug games like Super Meat Boy or N+. It really isn't a bad game, just at the current price point is asking a bit much.

 

[OnPoint]

Just got this on clearance at Target for like $15. I guess being surprised is my fault for going in expecting a platformer, but this is NOT a platformer.

It's a motion-controlled level navigator. And I'm super letdown by it. I don't like tilting my system to slide around. Moving deeper into the world and back again by tilting the system forward and back constantly obscures my view because it takes so much of an angle to do so.

I played like 15 levels or so and I don't want to touch it again.

So, a cautionary tale to all you 3DS bargain hunters: I'd pass this one up.

 

[Sinthetic]

Just got this on clearance at Target for like $15. I guess being surprised is my fault for going in expecting a platformer, but this is NOT a platformer.

It's a motion-controlled level navigator. And I'm super letdown by it. I don't like tilting my system to slide around. Moving deeper into the world and back again by tilting the system forward and back constantly obscures my view because it takes so much of an angle to do so.

I played like 15 levels or so and I don't want to touch it again.

So, a cautionary tale to all you 3DS bargain hunters: I'd pass this one up.

I've got 4 letters for you mate, eBay.

 

[Lijik]

Bought this on the cheap knowing full well it wasn't what I wanted it to be and thinking it looked bad. Think this shoulda been a 7 dollar eshop game, it seems like it would be great as that!

I'm surprisingly having fun with it. It looks so boring in videos but when I'm actually controlling it, its great! Granted I'm a sucker for odd experimental control schemes so that has a lot to do with it. I even liked Artoon's previous GBA Yoshi tilting game which would also make sense as an eshop game.

Really annoyed that you can't save QR codes directly. Explains why I couldn't find any user levels when I checked earlier today. Taking a picture of the code with a different camera and scanning that works fine but it just looks so bad man. The level designer also isn't as user friendly as I'd want it to be. Stuff like going through to edit objects is a goddamn hassle

 

[outunderthestars]

There is no reason for this to be a $40 game.

 

[Lijik]

There is no reason for this to be a $40 game.

There really isnt.
The 10 dollars I paid for it felt like around the right price

 

[dr3upmushroom]

I almost picked this up the other day, it'd actually only $8 at my Target right now. Even for $8 though, there's so much other stuff out right now and I'm so busy with school that I just don't have the time to waste playing something that's just decent.

I almost picked up PES and/ or Dream Trigger for $15 and both of those are sold out now, so that sucked.

 

[Santerestil]

I guess being surprised is my fault for going in expecting a platformer, but this is NOT a platformer. It's a motion-controlled level navigator. And I'm super letdown by it. I don't like tilting my system to slide around. Moving deeper into the world and back again by tilting the system forward and back constantly obscures my view because it takes so much of an angle to do so.

Do you know you can use the pad to control the ninja? It's in the options. Trust me, all the levels are completable with its (little) precision boost. And it's the only mode that permits a 3D effect - borked, but working.

Think this shoulda been a 7 dollar eshop game, it seems like it would be great as that!

Really annoyed that you can't save QR codes directly.

Agree: I payed 30 € for this game, and no Bay will return all to me (not first I 100% the game with all the ninjas!). And I'm sure that an eShop version would permit to save the QR on the SD, or send them to friends via Spotpass or internet. Have you listen, Ubi?


Oh, and somebody can PM a photo of one of their QR code, please? There is no way I can make a decent picture of the 3DS!