NintendoWare Weekly: Bit Boy!! brings the bits

by David Hinkle { Jul 13th 2009 at 4:00PM }

This week's biggest release is undoubtedly Bplus' Bit Boy!!, an odd title that pays homage to the various bits that make up gaming's past. Bit Boy!! runs the gamut from gaming's humble beginnings during the 4-bit era, all the way up to the last generation's 128-bit capabilities. The goal is to rescue Bit Boy Kubi's pals, who've been imprisoned across the various worlds.

DSiWare

Brain Challenge (Gameloft, 1 player, 800 DSi Points): Brain Challenge is an eight-dollar experience featuring 48 different mini-games aimed at keeping your brain sharp. The game does this through exercises in math, but also focuses on four key areas: logic; focus; memory; and visual. There's also a Stress mode, which features a set of "authority challenges," so we assume you protest against cops or something. Weird that Gameloft would put that into a game aimed at keeping your mind sharp, eh?

WiiWare

Bit Boy!! (Bplus, 1 - 2 players, 600 Wii Points): What? You didn't read the first paragraph in this post?
Incoming (JV Games Inc., 1 - 2 players, 500 Wii Points): Much like the name implies, you must defend against waves of attacking tanks, but as you progress, you unlock more complicated weaponry. The game also features a head-to-head mode, which lets you jump into the shoes of the valiant defenders or the attacking hordes against a friend. Now you can finally settle that dispute over which one of you would make a better French knight.
Ant Nation (Konami, 1 player, 700 Wii Points): Not to be confused with the cinematic tour de force that is Antz, Ant Nation is Konami's latest foray into WiiWare and focuses on maintaining a colony of super ants. Players are charged with building character in their ants by zapping them with lasers, pitting them against other deadly animals such as spiders and ladybugs, and navigating their way through 100 different missions. Keep an eye out for the special Simon Belmont ant, which we're sure Konami snuck in somewhere.

Virtual Console

Secret Commando (Sega Master System, 1 - 2 players, 600 Wii Points): This European import features a one-man army, sent behind enemy lines, tasked with rescuing his comrades. It's kind of like Rambo, mainly because it is Rambo.
Pulseman (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 900 Wii Points): We have yet another import in Pulseman, which sounds like a really odd title. It's kind of a mixture between Lawnmower Man and Mannequin, as the game revolves around a man who creates artificial life, falls in love with artificial life, injects himself into a machine, combines with that life, and turns into a super hero as a result. We should also point out that the game was made by Game Freak, the same individuals responsible for the lovely Drill Dozer on the GBA.

Tags: ant-nation, bit-boy, bplus, brain-challenge, dsiware, incoming, nintendo-dsi, nintendoware-weekly, pulseman, secret-command, secret-commando, virtual-console, wiiware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DBuck_Eye @ Jul 13th 2009 4:22PM

I think I'm more excited for incoming and ant nation than I am for bit boy.

Fernando Rocker @ Jul 13th 2009 4:30PM

Yeah, I'm actually waiting for the reviews of Incoming!... but if you want to buy a newly released WiiWare game, I suggest you Bit.Trip.Core. Very fun game.

Where is my Icarian, Super Meat Boy, Cave Story, Contra ReBirth, etc...?

mr mobius @ Jul 13th 2009 8:25PM

Icarian has been out in Europe for at least 2 weeks now. I highly recommend it. It's renamed to NyxQuest in America though when it comes out.

Kevin @ Jul 13th 2009 4:40PM

If WiiWare becomes a refuge for new 8-bit games, I will be happy.

TheFreak @ Jul 13th 2009 4:44PM

You mean Simon Belm-ant, mirite?

Roto13 @ Jul 13th 2009 4:57PM

I think it was the Nintendo Life review of Bit Boy that said it's actually pretty bad. I'm more interested in Pulseman, personally.

hvnlysoldr @ Jul 13th 2009 5:07PM

VOLT TECCER!

BPMOmega [GT,Steam] @ Jul 14th 2009 2:32AM

Hell yeah, Pulseman!

I made this a while back in honor of GAME FREAK's classic game:
http://bpmdotexe.deviantart.com/art/Rotom-used-Volteccer-97781734

Dopple Boppler @ Jul 13th 2009 6:43PM

I'd have thought Pulseman was the biggest thing this week, since I've heard Bit Boy is supposed to be horrible. Not to mention Pulseman is such a relative unknown that it might as well be a new game to most people.

Ditikos @ Jul 13th 2009 6:45PM

It's amazing! I thought once something similar when I first played zelda and the ocarina of time.

You were a bit that you were travelling through a datachannel, as you leveled up the world changed from 8bit to 128bit graphics!

Too bad I never had the chance of making it into a game :(

rTwelve @ Jul 13th 2009 6:54PM

"We should also point out that the game was made by Game Freak, the same individuals responsible for the lovely Drill Dozer on the GBA."

Yes, that is EXACTLY what they are known for.

Metal Gear!? @ Jul 13th 2009 9:11PM

I guess they forgot about the little known game series called Pokemon. Drill Dozer sucked, it was really boring. Played one level and never touched it again.

Shadow Hog @ Jul 13th 2009 10:11PM

Drill Dozer was great! Good fun, couldn't put it down until I was finished with it. Sadly I no longer know where my copy of the game is; might have to rebuy it :(

But yeah, uh, Pokémon much, Joystiq? And Pulseman's clearly the bigger headliner here, not some mediocre Pac-Man rip-off.

Roto13 @ Jul 13th 2009 10:19PM

I think he referred to Drill Dozer because Pokemon is not an action game.

And Bit Boy is big news because it was pretty eagerly anticipated before it came out and sucked. Pulseman was referred to once back when it was rated by the ESRB in February and then forgotten. Most people hadn't heard about it before then and forgot about it immediately after reading about it. :P