Dragonball GT: A Hero's Legacy (TV Special : 1997) + The Positives Of Dragonball GT

This week I take a look at the original chronological end point to the entire animated Dragonball universe with the GT TV special A Hero's legacy, which originally aired in March 1997 in Japan. Interestingly this is the only special, OVA or movie to come out of the GT era and featured a more or less entirely new cast of characters. This was created as a way to show how the world after the original Z fighters has turned out and if there were still heroes around who could potentially take up their mantle if need be.

While it does not really divulge in to that area as much as the epilogue of the series did with the battle between both Goku Jr and Vegeta Jr it does show us the origins of a potential successor to Goku's legacy as the English title suggests. But how does this TV Special hold up today, and while it is not as good as the Z specials featuring Bardock and Trunks is it worth a watch after all this time?

The basic plot of the special is something a lot simpler and light hearted than what you may be used to as it follows Goku Jr, a descendant of Goku 100 years after the defeat of Baby. We see now that Pan is an aged woman and the only Z fighter left, along with her Grandson Jr who is more of a crybaby like Gohan used to be and afraid of fighting. As we progress we see that Jr is bullied at school and refuses to stand up for himself, which Pan disagrees with.

But as she reminds him to stand up for himself she suddenly falls ill and it taken to hospital, it's actually pretty touching as Jr doesn't have anyone else and promises he'll do better to become strong, but Pan realises she's been too hard on him and even references her Fathers training with Piccolo. As Jr returns home he remembers Pan telling him about the dragonballs and believes if he finds the 4 star ball he can wish for her health to recover.

Of course he fails to listen to his Grandmother and believes he only needs one ball rather than all seven. Jr makes his way to Mt Paozu where Goku grew up in search for the ball and along the way meets a number of people, some who steal from him and some unlikely allies like his former bully Puck. As they reach Paozu they are tricked by a number of enemies similar to those Goku and Bulma first encountered on their journey.

After being tricked in to entering a creepy looking house both Jr and Puck are almost turned into dinner for the demons that reside there, however Jr escapes by using some of his Saiyan strength, alluding to his ability to turn Super Saiyan and shortly after Puck falls from a ravine after a bridge breaks making Jr feel extremely guilty and believing his friends death was his own fault, however he uses this loss to push himself as a person and conquer his cowardice.

We see examples of this throughout with his battle against Shusha and his protection of defenceless creatures like the Bear he encounters. After reaching Goku's old house we again encounter the demons who are now joined by their leader Lord Yao. After Yao begins to harm the Bears Jr encountered earlier we see Jr tap in to the Saiyan potential he always had and obtain the power of a Super Saiyan, with Yao defeated Jr finally finds the four star ball and attempts to make a wish to save both Pan and Puck.

But of course nothing happens, which leads Jr to become frustrated and the be visited by a familiar face, Goku. Goku explains that all seven are needed and that Jr has become braver than he thinks, shortly after a helicopter flies overhead with both Pan and Puck inside, showing that the balls weren't needed at all, and with that Goku disappears. This suggests that Goku really did become one with the balls during the end of GT and that he will always be with Jr as long as he holds on to it.

Now while this was a pretty short 40 minute or so special there was not a lot of room to work with, which seems to be an issue with a lot of the features surrounding the franchise but I quite enjoyed what the studio did with their time and thought they used it as well as they could as it was more of a prologue to the end of the franchise.

Interestingly I always believed this special was created after the end of GT in Japan and therefore at the time acted as the end all for the entire animated side of the franchise, but what this really is is actually more of a prelude to the last episode of GT. I say this because this actually aired in Japan between episodes 41 and 42 which were the first and second episodes of the Super 17 Saga, so there were still a number of episodes to go until we reached the epilogue of the series which featured Goku Jr again.

Now this special never aired in the UK so I personally did not have a chance to see it until a while after the series was over on UK television and because of that I thought it fit better as something that aired after the series did, so I'm curious as to how the Japanese reacted to this showing up before the last Saga of GT and if in retrospect they feel it spoiled what happened to Goku at the end of the series.

I quite enjoyed this special for what it was and felt as though its biggest strength was that it was pretty much an early episode of the original series with the focus on an adventure between a small group of characters in environments we're familiar with and plot points that feel as though they could be right out of the original series, particularly the first few episodes with Lord Yao pretty much being the Bear thief who tried to stop Goku and Bulma all those years ago, and the three demons acting kind of like a more serious Pilaf and co, minus their need for the dragonballs.

A dynamic I quite enjoyed with this is that Jr doesn't seem to have parents around much like Goku and is raised by a Grandparent much like Grandpa Gohan raised Goku. The first scene we see Pan and Jr in shows that Pan has taken her role as a Grandparent to similar levels as  Grandpa Gohan as she teachers Jr manners and also trains him in ways much akin to that of Roshi. She also still idolises her Grandfather and constantly reminds Jr that he is much like him and that he should aspire to become as great as he was.

I think the character of Jr is refreshing in the sense that he is the protagonist now and was raised to be a fighter to a certain degree, much like his predecessor. I like that he seems to be this amalgamation of Goku as a child, Kid Gohan with his power and original fear and also Goten with his excitable nature. It seems as though he has inherited traits from the majority of his family and made them mix enough to be an entirely new character.

It's a shame we won't really get an expansion on his character as he has never really appeared in any media outside of this special and the final TV episode, perhaps one day we'll get his inclusion in a game and a few what-if stories from that. It's also a shame we never got a brief run down of how the rest of the Z fighters lives turned out after Omega Shenron was defeated but to be honest this special is pretty self contained and I believe it could be viewed with no prior knowledge to the series and still enjoyed.

I honestly felt like the use of Super Saiyan in this special was unnecessary, it kind of took it away from that original Dragonball feel that it was going for and threw you back in to that idea of 'oh yeah we're in a world where we can just be super strong and throw ki all day'. However while it was not something they focused on a whole lot in the special it does connect to the idea that Jr may be the next saviour of Earth someday along with Vegeta Jr who can also go SSJ and they may one day have to face an uber strong enemy just like their predecessors.

I think the general hate I've seen online for this special stems from GT itself, after Z finished in the West at least many may have assumed this new series would be more of the same, with huge epic battles and the like, but when we saw these more 'goofy' aspects like Goku becoming a child again or these until then unheard of Black star balls which spell the end for Earth. I know for me that's how I originally felt about the series when it first aired in the UK.

In the UK the broadcast order we had was Z, GT and the back to the original series, because of this I was sort of in the dark about the past of Goku and co, so I never experienced this great adventure for the dragonballs and the tournaments before I saw GT. But now that I have seen the entire series multiple times I appreciate its beginnings a lot more and because of that I can see a lot more of the positive in the GT side of things.

Don't get me wrong GT has its problems and I won't deny that there are aspects that I really do not enjoy but I can see a lot more positives now and I've spoken to others who agree with me and even made me see some positives where I had not before. For example the biggest positive for me was actually the start of the show, it was not about power levels it was about a small bunch of people going back to searching for the dragonballs but this time on a much larger scale.

This introduced to us new environments, new races and new albeit smaller threats with aspects of Z thrown in slightly such as Goku going Super Saiyan against Ledgic and having a short but sweet battle. I really enjoyed that, but soon after the series reverted to a new powerful enemy showing up and constant battles happening. This is not to say I did not like the Baby saga, I actually enjoyed the focus on the Tuffle race and a little look at the history of planet Vegeta which was only briefly touched upon in Z and again in Plan to eradicate the Super Saiyans. I did find the use of Vegeta being possessed again to be a bit tiresome and Baby to be slightly annoying as a villain but overall the story and motive of the character was interesting to me.

With this saga also came the Super Saiyan 4 form, which people seem to have mixed feelings about, personally I prefer it to the God form because if its use of mixing the style of a Super Saiyan and the ascetics of the original Great Ape form it felt like the legend of the Super Saiyan had come full-circle. I do think it looked best on Goku rather than Vegeta or Gogeta however, even if the idea that his power was so great that it made him jump back in to an adult form and then back again was a little dumb to me.

I quite enjoyed the remainder of the show with the Super 17 Saga being a nice short break between the two bigger Sagas and the Shadow Dragons being the end all of Villains. Originally I thought the Dragons themselves were an underwhelming enemy but always thought their origins as a creation of all the over use of the balls to be an interesting idea, as well as their relation to certain wishes. After discussing them with a friend Id been convinced that actually these enemies were a great way to end the series with the main plot device of the series overall now being turned on it's head and giving the heroes the biggest threat they've ever faced.

Overall I think GT is not as bad as a lot of people seem to think, I think a lot of people were like myself and were so connected to Z and not DB that we thought this 'new' direction was just an oddity, maybe a lot of people decided it was the start of the beating of a dead horse or maybe they just did not like that it was ultimately not the story Toriyama had intended. Regardless it's always going to be a part of the franchise and whether you see that as a stain or just a bit of glass that's not as polished as the ones next to it is up to you, but I think this special took a lot of the great aspects of GT and used them as a great way to chronologically end a popular series as best they could.

I really like how in this Special even in English Goku Jr is voiced by Stephanie Nadolny who voiced Kid Goku in the original series, along with Kid Gohan and Goku as a child in GT, this really does keep with the Japanese tradition of having Masako Nozawa voice the characters and his descendants and while the English dubs strayed away from this for the most part this use of having Nadolny back for Jr really seemed to fit with the nostalgic feeling the special was going for with it playing out much like an original Dragonball episode, I thought it was such a nice touch of the English team to do this and really served as a good note to end on until new features would be made over a decade later.

There are a few more interesting notes on the voice acting in both the English and Japanese versions, one of the more interesting is that the character of Susha the frog like enemy who attacks Jr is voiced by Peter Mayhew who played Chewbacca in the original Starwars movies. Now I can't seem to find any reason as to why this is, as he does not really have any other voice acting roles that I know of but nonetheless it is pretty cool. I honestly wanted to ask him if he remembered doing the voice work when I saw him at London Comic Con one year but never did, maybe next time.

Now on the Japanese side we have Jr's companion Puck who sticks with him throughout the early part of his adventure for the dragonball. Puck is actually voiced by Toru Furuya who voiced Yamcha throughout the entire series, now this again just brings us back to that feeling of the original series where it's just a bunch of friends having a wacky adventure while the search for some Magic balls. While you could say it would have been better to have a female protagonist join in and be voiced by Bulma I think ultimately this was decided against as Pan filled in that female role to a degree.

I think the choices on both sides really work and benefit the special, it seems as though the staff really wanted this to be a nice little book end to the franchise and make you feel nostalgia but at the same time content with the way things have turned out for this world, sure you could argue it leaves a lot to be answered but I think that's best, you're never going to have everything answered but you do have the opportunity to decide some things for yourself or keep a discussion going with other fans about what you think could have happened to certain characters before these events.

While you could say with the new movies GT is essentially retconned, I personally like to think it takes places in a separate continuity because to me that doesn't just erase all the neat things that came out of that series. I mean who knows the movies could soon connect everything back together in some way even if it does mean tweaking certain aspects and facts but until that happens I am perfectly alright with the separate universe idea and love that it is slightly touched upon in some games such as Xenoverse with Beerus and co wondering when Goku turned into a child again and asking how he obtained this unheard of Super Saiyan 4 form.

I think a lot of the fan base do whine too much about the 'canon' of the franchise and like I have said before to me these little things don't really matter to me, like the little changes Toriyama made in Dragonball Minus to Bardock and stuff, why does that effect your enjoyment of the franchise so much? If it helps just think of it as another universe. Or why not just take aspects of it all and make your own conclusion to what happened? You can argue the franchise is being milked to a degree but then hasn't it always?

Look at the amount of games and re-releases of the show on home media etc, it's not going to go away any time soon and if you're familiar with the Dragonball Heroes game in Japan you'll know there are what-if scenarios and characters all over the place, but the 12 year old in me loves seeing even GT Trunks going SSJ3 but that doesn't mean im mad because he didn't do it in the show, I just enjoy the ride and the breathe of fresh air these ideas bring to the series as a whole.

I think this special overall is worth a watch if you're going through GT again but personally id wait until the last few episodes to watch it, I think GT has gotten this negative stigma attached to it but I can see why but honestly as a bookend to a viewing of the series this special still does it's job really well by giving you a glimpse at the future of the world we've seen for so many years while making you feel a huge sense of nostalgia for the original series.

But I'm really curious to what you guys think about GT and if you think you would ever give it a rewatch, let me know on Twitter @Scatmanbegins or on facebook if you've got me on there, as always thanks for taking the time to read this.

Counterspy ( Playstation 3/4/Vita & IOS: 2014 )

As of late Playstation plus has given me no end of pretty decent titles to play on both the consoles and the Vita and this month has been no exception with titles like Valiant Hearts, OlliOlli 2 and a particularly interesting title called Counterspy. Counterspy is a stealth orientated 2.5D Sidescrolling game not dissimilar too much to the original Metal Gear titles in that you have to go through a number of levels while trying to remain undetected while aiming for the highest score.

Counterspy was developed by Dynamighty, a San Franciso based company founded in 2011 and comprised of a few ex-Lucasarts and even Pixar employees. Now while these developers consider themselves 'indie' they did receive some help from SCE Foster City Studios who had worked on more well known titles such as Uncharted and Infamous. Dynamighty state they focus primarily on action based games for both the console and mobile platform with Counterspy being their first title released. Counterspy was released in August 2014 on both the Playstaion 3, 4 and Vita with cross buy/play functionality and met with generally neutral reviews.

There was a later IOS version released a month later which I have not personally played, but from what I have seen it does seem to be pretty much the same core gameplay as its Playstation counter part. Now I generally enjoyed this game for what it was, but it was not an amazing title that I would go out of my way to recommend to just anybody. There are however aspects of the game I really enjoyed, so let me try and explain why I stuck with this game until the end.

In terms of the story of the game it is nothing amazing and honestly I feel like it could have been ignored entirely. You play as an agent working for C.O.U.N.T.E.R, a group who want to prevent the two unnamed superpowers who both seem to be modelled after Russia from launching nukes on the Moon and causing it to crash into the Earth. It's up to you to infiltrate either of the superpowers bases and retrieve information on when and where the nukes will be launched while keeping the defcon level of each country as low as possible.

The only story interaction you get in the game is before and after every level in which you have a briefing with C.O.U.N.T.E.R in a fashion similar to the codec conversations found in Metal Gear. While these are used primarily to explain each step of the process in stopping the superpowers they do attempt to throw in a lot of humour which did make me laugh a number of times but also fell flat at others, however I think the use of humour benefited an otherwise pretty generic storyline and enhanced it sightly.

Now the gameplay itself is what I believe is one of the games biggest strengths because it takes the pretty simple concept of a sidescroller but adds some neat stealth aspects to it. Your objective is to find the hidden blueprints within each level, however some levels may have less blueprints but more upgrades for yourself and vice versa, what is also interesting is every time you back out and retry a level its layout will be slightly different.

You need to have 5 parts of the currently assigned blueprints in order to progress, once you obtain these you must then do it 5 more times obtaining 5 blueprints in total, this leads you to the final level, naturally the difficulty does ramp up each time however I personally did not feel a difficulty change until the last few levels of the game. To progress through levels you typically make use of a sneaking function by lightly tapping the directional buttons so not to make a sound and avoid the enemies. While progressing you will be looking out for upgrades, health, ammo and blue prints, most of which can be found in lockers or computers.
 
The use of these upgrades is quite useful as it's not really health based but weapon and gameplay based, for example it allows you to unlock a tranquillizer or a shotgun, which is useful as you have four slots for weapons, or you could unlock an ability which gives you one less defcon level at the start of the stage or even the ability to run and not have your footsteps heard. These abilities however only have a one time use per payment, but you can use up to three a stage which really helps during the final level.

Now you have a few ways in which you can tackle a level, you can either try your best to not be seen and stealth the entire thing by hiding and using a silenced weapon and takedowns, or you can just take out an enemy as you see fit without dying. Regardless of how you play if you do manage to get seen an enemy may begin to call in that you have infiltrated the vicinity, the longer they call the higher the defcon level will be. This means if you go past defcon 1 then you have 50 seconds to reach the end of the stage.

The interesting thing about the defcon counter is that it carries over each level of that respective superpower, so you could be at defcon 1 (the highest) with one side but defcon 5 (the lowest) with another. If you do want to lower a defcon level however you must be in a room with an officer (who wears white) and kill every enemy but them making them surrender, this will bring you defcon level down by 1 each time so is it paramount that you do NOT kill an officer if you want to do well.

The best way to actually fight back with the enemy is to hide behind pillars and ramps which allow you to be in cover and aim you weapon for safety, as you can die relatively quickly in this game you'll be using this tactic the most, especially when faced with rocket wielding enemies whose rockets you can shoot as they move slow enough to give you time to think.

While the game is a single player experience only it does make use of leaderboards in which you can check your overall score with your friends and the world, what I thought made this games use of leaderboards interesting however was that if you beat the score of the person directly above you on the board then their 'agent' would be dead somewhere within the next level for you to find. While they were sometimes easier to find than others if you did locate them you would gain a small bonus for that level.

While this did add some replayabilty to the game for those who want to go back and beat a friends score it does not help the overall issue for some which is the general length of the game. Being that this is an 'indie' title I personally did not expect it to be a long experience, which was good because I beat this game in two sittings coming up to about 2 and a half hours. This was with me having difficulty on the last level because I was pretty terrible at it and with me searching pretty much every nook and cranny of a level for upgrades.

Now do I think this is a problem for the game itself? No because this game focuses on a repetitive nature which kind of puts you off playing for a long stretch of time, it also is avalible on the Vita which means if you're the type to play this on a commute or something you don't really want a game with long levels and hours of gameplay. I actually find the length of the game fine in that respect, yes it could have been a little longer but depending on who you are and what you're playing it on it may actually benefit you, especially if like me you got this for "free" on Playstation plus.

Another plus for me would be both the art style and music used in the game, now with ex-Pixar staff working with the team you can see why the art is just so great to look at, it really conveys this dark and sombre tone to the industrialised look of a secret base like you'd see in an old spy movie. The only real bright colours you actually do see are on the screens or propaganda posters seen throughout the levels, which I feel works really well as it juxtaposes the dull colours surrounding it and quickly draws your attention.

The music, while not overpowering is pretty good as it again feels like it belongs in an old spy movie, it generally feels like it belongs in a James Bond theme with its use of the Bass and Trumpets in the background as you sneak.

While the AI in this game is pretty simplistic in that they follow a general walking pattern across the level and just duck and shoot at you there are some frustrating moments when they decide to hide in a corner of the level you just cannot reach as there is no pillar to crouch behind that allows you to face them, which would be fine as you could just lure them out. However the a problem arises when they begin the call in that they have seen an enemy, and with no way to stop them you'll pretty quickly get your defcon level raised substantially.

While this only happened a few times to my I have seen quite a few complaints about it online so it does not seem like something they decided to patch out or perhaps are even aware of, other than this small problem and the general basic AI there are no real problems with the game glitch wise which is a plus.

Overall I feel like this game was great in the sense it was a short enjoyable ride, however I think if it were any longer I would quickly become bored, I feel if there were to be a sequel to this title the developers would have to add enough new or expanded upon content to keep it fresh. The core gameplay is great and the use of leaderboards is a step in the right direction without the game having an unnecessary multiplayer mode.

I personally played this on the Playstation 4 but I feel as though it would have been better suited to my Vita because of its length. I think if you're looking for something new and short to play on a commute to work or on a plane ride this game would be perfect, you'll probably complete it during the trip or at least on your return but honestly I think those kind of games work really well on the Vita, because y'know it's a portable console.

I would highly recommend picking this up on PS+ while you can or if you see it for a cheap price sometime but I would not say it is a essential title for a Sony console in any way, but it is a nice short and refreshing take on the stealth genre and makes for a nice time sink in between other titles.

As always thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker ( Wii U: 2014)

This week I took a look at a relatively new Wii U title, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, a puzzle spin off of the Super Mario 3D World series which featured Captain Toad levels as a mini game segment.
This title was announced at E3 2014 and later released toward the end of that same year, developed by Nintendo EAD Software Development Group 2, it was clear this title would purely be an expansion on the mini game we were familiar with in 3D World.

Although these segments in 3D World were not popular with everyone I felt they broke up the game slightly with more or less optional levels which made use of the game pads control scheme, such as the ability to change your perspective via turning the pad left to right. I found them to be quite enjoyable and when I heard they would be making an expanded title for a cheaper price I knew I would pick it up eventually.

Perhaps this was due to my affinity for theWorld series, as I was never really in to Mario at all before I got a 3DS and played 3D Land. Before that I had only played the original Land on my Gameboy Pocket as a child and the odd kart game with friends. Playing the 3DS title really opened my eyes to how fun Mario games could be, so I began to go back and play the NES and SNES titles on the virtual console.

It's fair to say I still have a lot to catch up on but with the release of World on Wii U I had found one of my games of the year for that year. Perhaps the reason I purchased Captain Toad was to hope to continue that same enjoyment all over again. But how does this title hold up to the likes of its predecessors?

In terms of story like much of the Mario franchise it is nothing to write home about, we follow treasure hunter Captain Toad and Toadette as they search for gold stars across the world only to eventually have Toadette captured by an enemy who also covets the stars. What is funny however is that the only reason Toadette was captured was because she wouldn't let go of the damn star... So it's then up to you to rescue her and collect as much treasure as you can along the way, simple stuff!

In terms of gameplay what we have is an expansion upon what we have seen within the Toad mini game segments of World in that you control Toad in a very small stage as you make your way to the golden star. In order to reach the star you must traverse through multiple puzzles that usually incorporate the features of the game pad in some form. For example you may not be able to see much of the stage without first turning the game pad left or right (or using the right stick), you may also come across certain blocks you must control via the use of touch features or even platforms that can only be moved by blowing on the mic.

There are a number of enemies who can appear within stages, primarily Shyguys who you can either sneak past, attempt to fall on them from a great height as Toad cannot jump or grab a turnip from a root sticking out of the ground and use it as a weapon. These turnips can also prove quite useful in obtaining items you otherwise would not be able to reach such as collectables as whatever the turnip touches like coins, you will then obtain it.

A difference added to this title is the inclusion of the three diamonds hidden within every level. These items become necessary as they accumulate in order to unlock further levels within the game, however if you were to collect all of them you would not gain any kind of completion bonus. While these stages are small they can become rather challenging if you are attempting to collect every item within them as the game goes on. The game like most Mario titles does start off rather easy and some may argue it stays that way but personally I have found myself scratching my head at some stages as I tried to figure out how I would obtain each diamond.

While the majority of the gameplay is the same as its mini game predecessor there are stages in which we do see a change, such as the mine-cart centric levels which turn the game in to an on rails shooter where you shoot turnips via the game pad camera at enemies, coins and diamonds. While these levels are few and far between they are quite fun and I would like to see more in a future title, hopefully they would also improve the length of these levels too as they did tend to end rather quickly.

There are also "boss" levels to an extent where you will have a large enemy on screen at all times who follows a specific pattern that will hinder your ability to progress through the level, other than that they remain the same as the standard levels with the same goals and collectables. While these were quite fun they did tend to reuse the same enemy a few times, however the battle against the "antagonist" of the game was quite cool to me as she would constantly blow wind from different directions which would move platforms as well as yourself which added a new challenge to getting all the diamonds.

The game breaks itself in to three books or episodes each containing around 20 or more levels, which initially confused me as I came to the end of book one and thought  had finished the entire game as the credits began to role. Episode two has you play as Toadette, which does not add anything gameplay wise but is a nice change, although literally the same events have happened where the Bird has come yet again to take your star and this time Toad is the one who refused to let go....

The game is honestly a very simplistic one, but this is not to say it is a bad game in anyway, it is accessible for all ages as you would expect from a first party Nintendo title, it is also a great game for those who just want to do maybe 3 or 4 levels and then move on to something else as you will be done in no time at all. While overall the game is short in that respect and does not have much replayablity I think Nintendo made up for this by giving it a cheaper retail price, although my local 'GAME' store in the UK thought £40, which is the price of a full release game was perfectly fine.

The visuals in the game are beautiful just like World, with the bright colours and interesting level layouts which follow that of World with its move from grasslands to desserts and water based levels.
The designs of these levels are really where the game shines visually as they start of simple and then become more complex. Each level seems to use some assets from World yet uses them in a unique puzzle based way rather than a platformer to keep them fresh.

A particular favourite level of mine is the snow train level pictured above in which the entire level places you on a moving train as you proceed through each cart and back again with a comfortable backing track. While this level is incredibly easy and does not really feature much in the way of puzzles I can only describe it as comfy level because it's just relaxing to look at and be in. I could say that for a lot of the levels in this game and the same can be said for World, it's just pretty to look at and makes you yearn for a Wii U Mario title akin to 64 or Galaxy with visuals like this.

What I found to be a neat little bonus was the addition of a few 3D World levels if the game detected a save from that title on your console. These stages are available to you right from the get go and are pretty much just the exact same World levels with the omission of the collection of three diamonds and the only goal being to move through the level as Toad and get the green star.

There was a side objective to the levels in which you would need to locate a golden mushroom on each stage but there was no real need to do this unless you are a completionist as it does not add anything to the game itself. Although I personally enjoyed this little bonus it may not be for everyone, many dislike the fact that it is literally just a handful of World levels with no real differences, but for something added to the game for free I could not really complain.

It is a shame there is no multiplayer aspect to this game as I feel it would not hurt to have some co op based puzzles although that may be something they were saving for a future title, or perhaps they wanted to stick to the single player experience as the game is only short. Regardless I feel they could make some interesting levels out of a multiplayer format even if you could argue the use of the cherry item creating clones of yourself is pretty much a two person puzzle experience and more challenging than a multiplayer one.

Interestingly Nintendo have stated they would like to do more first party titles like this where they are shorter and simpler games and if this title is anything to go by then hopefully they can pull through and create some really interesting games at a cheaper price. Perhaps this would be the gateway to incorporate older franchises into the mainstream once again such as Mach Rider, whatever they do I am interested to see it.

Overall this game is fantastic and there is not much I can really complain about other than the length and difficulty of the game, but I feel that is to be expected with a cheaper spin off title like this, especially since it was based off a mini game from another title. I really would recommend picking this up if you did enjoy those segments from 3D World, even if you're not sure on paying so much for a shorter title such as this I think if you ever see it on sale it will be more than worth it for sure.

It really is the perfect game to play just to break up the longer titles you may be playing or even if you've just got a half hour to spare. I do feel as though Nintendo could have added some DLC levels for some form of replayabilty but they still have time to do this, or perhaps they are saving them for a sequel. Perhaps a 3DS title would work better for those who just want a shorter game to play on their commute to work, regardless I would love to see this series expanded upon and do not regret purchasing this game at all, you really should check it out.