R.I.P. Satoru Iwata

I had a different post, about a game that's sure to interest at least a few folks who frequent this blog but is far from important (especially in grand scheme of things), all lined up to be published today, but then I heard that Satoru Iwata, who has served as Nintendo's president since 2002, had passed away.

In light of that sad, shocking news, I decided to move things around a bit and instead publish this too-brief post about the man who has, along with Shigeru Miyamoto, personified Nintendo for the last 10 to 15 years.

All that's known about Iwata's untimely passing at the moment is what the company shared in a simple note on its Japanese website last night:



"Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth."

Iwata's career in the gaming world began long before he took the reins at Nintendo, of course. First he worked for HAL Laboratory and helped produce titles like Balloon Fight, Hoshi no Kirby (Kirby's Adventure) and EarthBound.



In 1993, 10 years after Iwata started at the Tokyo-based Nintendo affiliate, he was named its president.

Seven years later, he joined Nintendo to head up its corporate planning division, and in 2002, Iwata succeeded Hiroshi Yamauchi in the company's corner office.

With all of that said, I'd just like to reiterate the message that makes up this post's headline: rest in peace, Mr. Iwata. You will be missed, and you will be remembered.

Five favorites: Famicom/NES platformers that don't involve a fat, Italian-American plumber

As much as I love the first three Super Mario Bros. titles as much as the next guy or gal, they're not the only cartridges I stick into my Famicom when I'm in the mood for some platforming action.

In fact, these days I'm far more likely to reach for the five games listed below--each of which offer up music, graphics and gameplay that I consider to be on par with those aforementioned Nintendo-made classics.

1. Don Doko Don 2--I'm guessing Taito's decision to turn Don Doko Don's sequel into a Super Mario Bros.-esque, side-scrolling platformer was met with at least a bit of skepticism back in the day (it was released in 1992), but gamers needn't have worried. After all, the contents of this particular cart is a treat for the eyes, ears and even hands. (You know, because it controls well and is an overall joy to play.) Plus, it features a cameo of sorts by Chack'n (of Chack'n Pop fame)--which, in my mind at least, means it's an absolute-must-play.

2. Hoshi no Kirby: Yume no Izumi no Monogatari (aka Kirby's Adventure)--Is Kirby's first console outing his best? I tend to think so, although I also hold Kirby's Epic Yarn and Kirby's Return to Dream Land in high esteem. (Sorry, I've yet to play Kirby Super Star.) Regardless, the game known to westerners as Kirby's Adventure easily is one of the more enjoyable--and precious--platformers released for Nintendo's 8-bit super system. It is easy? Yes, it is, but that's the point. Focus on taking in the sights and having fun while doing so and you won't regret a second of the time you spend with this one.

3. Pajama Hero Nemo (aka Little Nemo the Dream Master)--Would you believe me if I said that this may be my favorite Famicom/NES game? Well, it is. Or it may be. Whatever. Anyway, even if you don't agree--due to its difficulty, most likely--you have to admit this title is a looker. I mean, really, how adorable are those sprites? That Little Nemo sounds nearly as good as it looks just adds to its status as a top-shelf platformer that should be experienced by everyone who isn't afraid of a bit of a challenge, a splash of color and a protagonist who's still in his pajamas.

Put me down for one copy of Kirby's Dream Collection, please

When I first heard that the folks at Nintendo were planning a Kirby's Dream Collection (I'm leaving out the "Special Edition" part because I think it's both pointless and stupid) for Wii, I wasn't sure what to think.

I mean, Super Mario All-Stars: Limited Edition was nice enough--as far as "ROM dumps" go--but I barely spent any time with it. Would I similarly ignore the not-all-that-different Kirby's Dream Collection, despite my new-found love for the Kirby series? Both my heart and head suggested I would--although it's hard to know that for sure without knowing this upcoming release's contents.



Fast-forward to a few days ago, when I read (here) that Kirby's Dream Collection would include the six "mainline" Kirby games that were released for the GameBoy, Famicom, Super Famicom and Nintendo 64, as well as a "More Challenge Stage" mode that I don't quite understand at the moment.

Has that news caused me to change my mind about picking up this Wii compilation? Actually, it has--although obviously it helps that I've only played one of the collection's six games thus far (that being Kirby's Adventure).



Also responsible for my change of heart: Unlike the games featured on the aforementioned Super Mario All-Stars: Limited Edition, the ones included on Kirby's Dream Collection will feature adorable--rather than black--borders (like the ones seen in the screenshots above).

Finally, I find the packaging that's being prepped for this particular title--see it here--to be beyond adorable (and we all know I'm a total sucker for anything adorable).

Now all that needs to happen is for the folks at Amazon to allow me to pre-order the darn thing.

Second Chances: Kirby's Adventure

No joke: Despite my avowed adoration of adorable games, I avoided playing Kirby's Adventure, which was released all the way back in 1993, until I downloaded it via the Wii Virtual Console five years ago.

What kept me from giving this precious platformer a go? I honestly don't remember, although I'm guessing it had something to do with the fact that I, like many gamers, already had moved on to the SNES by the time it hit the shelves of my local ShopKo.

Anyway, for some reason I also can't recall, I finally picked up Kirby's Adventure in 2007 ... and promptly found myself bored by it. Oh, it looked nice enough, and it sounded nice enough, too, but the early levels were so easy that I couldn't help but wonder if I'd wasted my hard-earned money on the gaming equivalent of a lemon.

Rather than hanging in there to find out if later stages were less of a calk walk, I pretty much gave up on ol' Kirby and moved on to other pursuits.

After playing and thoroughly enjoying both Kirby's Epic Yarn and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, though, I decided to give this cudly character's first console release a second chance. I'm glad I did, because I now consider Kirby's Adventure to be wonderfully captivating experience.

Don't get me wrong, I still think it's easy. That said, I'm pretty sure that's the point. It's not supposed to be difficult; it's supposed to be fun. Not only that, but players are simply supposed to enjoy hopping and bopping through each of the game's colorfully charming stages--or at least I'm guessing that's what players are supposed to get out of the game.

Now that I understand that, I happily, leisurely and regularly play this HAL Laboratory-developed NES title as I believe its makers intended it to be played: Smiling and swaying my head to its lilting soundtrack as I stroll through and take in, with no small amount of awe, its lovely, almost dream-like landscapes.

(Note: All of the images above were taken from theflatness.com, a great little blog that sadly hasn't been updated since early 2010.)

Manual Stimulation: Hoshi no Kirby (Famicom)

Before I get to the meat of this installment of "Manual Stimulation," I have to say that few things in the gaming world can compete with the out-and-out cuteness of Hoshi no Kirby's (aka Kirby's Adventure's) box art.

This Famicom game's instruction manual gives it the old college try, though, and that alone makes it worth checking out.

Said instruction manual's cover certainly is adorable--and pink--enough, don't you think?



I'm skipping the manual's first two pages, by the way, because they're pretty boring. (They basically show players which buttons do what. Yawn.) The next few pages, though, are anything but boring thanks to a number of nice illustrations that seemingly help tell the story behind this pastel-splashed platformer.





After a few more yawn-inducing pages that feature lots of text and a smidge of screenshots, the manual gets interesting again.

For the tenth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... a beautifully boxed copy of the Famicom version of Kirby's Adventure (known as Hoshi no Kirby: Yume no Izumi no Monogatari in Japan, which translates to something like Kirby of the Stars: Story of the Fountain of Dreams in English).

Honestly, I've never been all that interested in this game, although I couldn't tell you why. I'm guessing it's because it came out after the SNES was released; by then, my mind had moved on to 16-bit games like F-Zero, Final Fantasy II and Super Mario World.

That all changed, though, after playing Kirby's Return to Dream Land, which I enjoyed so much that I decided I just had to own the series' first console outing, too. So, I bought the copy seen in the photos below through eBay.

Anyway, I'm having such a blast with Hoshi no Kirby: Yume no Izumi no Monogatari--expect to hear more about that in an upcoming post--that I've already hit myself over the head a number of times (with one of those giant squeaky hammers) for passing on this magnificent platformer back when it was first released.

Oh, well, all that really matters is that I'm playing and enjoying it now, right?

By the way, if you'd like to see a few more photos of this game's beautiful box and cart, please check out my Flickr photostream at your earliest convenience. 

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

My wallet, marriage and I survived my maiden voyage to Seattle's Pink Gorilla store

After a long, hard day of yard work, the hubs and I treated ourselves to dinner on Saturday night. We didn't go anywhere classy, mind you--just the Chipotle that's located in Seattle's aptly-named University District.

Anyway, as we neared said Chipotle, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a pepto-pink awning that said "Pink Gorilla." I'm pretty sure I've talked about it before, but just in case I haven't: Pink Gorilla is a small game shop here in Seattle. Actually, there are now two Pink Gorilla stores in the so-called Emerald City--one in the International District and one in the University District.

I had completely forgotten about the latter location until we passed it on our way to Chipotle. Thankfully, David (aka the hubs) was willing to let me check it out before we stuffed our faces.

So, what did I think of my maiden voyage to Pink Gorilla? I thought it was awesome! I was a bit disappointed at first, as I thought the glass case near the front of the store--which housed a good number of complete-in-box imports--represented all of the Japanese games this particular Pink Gorilla location had to offer, but I discovered that was far from the case when I began surveying the rest of the store.

In a way, Pink Gorilla's University District store reminds me of a small Japanese game shop, with all sorts of Dreamcast, Famicom, Mega Drive, Nintendo 64, PC Engine, PlayStation, Saturn and Super Famicom imports hanging from the walls in clear plastic bags.

Among the games that caught my eye: Complete-in-box copies of Galaxian and Hoshi no Kirby (Kirby's Adventure) for the Famicom and a pristine copy of Twinkle Star Sprites for the Dreamcast. A trio of PC Engine titles I've been meaning to add to my collection--Detana!! TwinBee, The New Zealand Story and Parodius--for some time also captured my attention.

I didn't buy any of the above-mentioned games because, well, I'm a bit broke at the moment. As soon as I have some dough, though, you can bet your butt I'll buy at least a few of them, as the prices at Pink Gorilla were on par with what I've seen on eBay.

You can also bet that I'll do my best to snap some photos next time I'm in one of the Pink Gorilla stores--assuming they allow such things, of course.