Relevant Links:

Jay “Not Justin” Johnston

“Keep the Change”

The Fistula Foundation (a truly wonderful cause)

Sure, there have been some developers that toyed with the idea along the way. The Paper Mario series often features pipes that bring you to hidden items in the background, and Donkey Kong Country Returns features some dynamic set pieces that make frequent use of the temples and trees in the distance. Last year’s Shantae sequel for the DSi and iOS also springs to mind, though the layered levels are too confusing for their own good. I’m sure that you, the reader, can rattle off a few examples as well. However, to see Mutant Mudds in motion is a thing of beauty, and that’s largely because of the way it uses the 3D display and alternating planes.

Mutant Mudds confirms what I’ve often suspected, that 2D, sprite-based games often look better in 3D that their polygonal counterparts. Your own eyes might see otherwise, but you’d have to admit that the graphics really pop here. When swinging spiked balls or hammers are set to attack, the appear to fly out of the screen in a way that is very striking and immediate. While Mario Kart 7  or Pushmo go for subtlety, Mutant Mudd embraces its gimmick with all of the tricks that VB Wario Land and many of its crimson peers used years ago.

What really makes everything come together though are the three layers of of each level. From designated jump pads, the player can leap into the foreground or deep into the background, becoming “bigger” or “smaller” based on the virtual proximity to the screen. All of these layers move with parallel scrolling, giving an amazing sense of depth with 3D turned on or off. There’s a richness here that has yet to be matched, and it makes me excited for the future possibilities.

We already know that a new 2D Super Mario game is on the way, and I’m assuming that this game will use 3D in a similar fashion. In fact, with the Vita set to dominate the fancy graphics space, I’m hoping that we see a return to the sidescrolling wonderment that we had on the original DS, only souped up with better resolution and some of the effects we see on display here. Hopefully, Mutant Mudds is just the beginning. Whether this is the start of something more or just a single great game that fades into obscurity, I ultimately appreciate Renegade Kid’s nods to the past in the form of “VB Land,” a series of deep-red levels that aren’t nearly as blinding as the technology that inspired them. Still, it’s nice to know that I wasn’t the only one who remembers Wario’s lost chapter.

Relevant Links:

Luigi’s Mansion: The Unboxing

The Zelda Timeline

What: Left 4 Dead 2 multiplayer

Where: Steam

Note: We can absolutely play on Xbox Live depending on listener preference. Let us know what works for you and we’ll make it happen!

When: Tuesday, January 31st at 9:00 p.m. EST

Why: Because at the end of the day, this is still the only zombie game that really matters

Our Steam IDs can be found here: http://www.therumblepack.com/gamertag/

RSVP Here

Relevant Links:

Risk Legacy

“Karnevil 9″ Halftime Extravaganza

Relevant Links:

Duke in a Nutshell

Special thanks to all of you who joined us last Thursday.

Relevant Links:

Episode 221 Video Recording

Uptown Popcorn

Chicks with Steve Buscemeyes

Relevant Links:

Create Your Own Pat-Facts

It’s time to ring in the new year with your old friends at The Rumble Pack. The enormous distance between us usually forces us to record over Skype, but because we’ll all be in the same city for a change – the first time in years – it made sense to try the whole “call-in podcast” thing again. You’ll be able to watch us via video stream, call up our special “rumble.pack.call.in” Skype line and chat with other members of the Rumble Nation.

Our live show will include:

• Our Game of the Year lists, complete with heckling
• A Secret Santa exchange
• A pre-recorded ghostly visit
• Bro-hugs, pointless taste tests, call-in questions and more

Hopefully you can find time between your winter holidays to tune in. We’ll be releasing our video feed details in the coming days, so watch this space!

As the title implies, pushing walls in is a major element of Pushmo, but just as important is pulling them out. Each levels starts off with a flat surface, and the challenge lies in figuring out which colored segments to move in what order, keeping in mind that there are three different planes along which you can move. Early on, this push/pull technique is used to make basic stepping stones leading to the goal (and a random living puffball in need of your aid). It’s fun, but you’ve seen similar block puzzles in games like Catherine and Cuboid, among many others. However, as the puzzles get taller and wider, the stakes become much greater as well. A handy rewind feature ensures that Pushmo is never too frustrating, but you’ll need to be patient and methodical when climbing up a multi-screen Christmas tree.

Though developer Intelligent Systems definitely had a “right way” in mind when creating this game’s puzzles, I was happy that the more expansive levels feature multiple paths to victory. Pushmo is not so rigid that you can’t experiment with different solutions, and because you’re hopping from platform to platform as you would in a standard platformer, you can sometimes finagle your way out of certain traps. That said, when the game introduces switches and manholes, the difficulty quickly spikes. Four-star challenges and beyond are brutal, but conquering them is incredibly rewarding.

Though the game would work just find on the regular ol’ DSi, Pushmo puts the 3D effect to good use by making it easier to differentiate the depth of each part of the wall. Coupled with the game’s very bold colors, it’s much more of a looker than the screenshots scattered throughout this  review suggest. The color palette’s richness greatly benefits the create-a-level portion of the game,  which gives you all of the tools you need to bring your totally appropriate creative vision to pixelated life. It’s too bad that this doesn’t support StreetPass, but overall, Pushmo continues Nintendo’s trend of pushing user-made content.

Maybe that’s how this game will build momentum. Or maybe Pushmo just needs strong word of mouth. Either way, this is the game that the eShop has been waiting for, something around which to rally 3DS owners that have dismissed the service up until now. It’s not the first Nintendo downloadable game worth owning or even necessarily the best, but it’s an absolute crowd-pleaser and one that I hope is destined for  moderate success.

Relevant Links:

VGA Trailers

Join the Rumble Pack Digital Secret Santa

If you’ve listened to some of our more recent episodes, you may have heard about our holiday season video game fantasy draft. At the beginning of last week’s show, some of our Podcast Nation chums joined us in officially selecting from a pool of upcoming blockbusters. Standings will be based on an algorithm devised by Kaz that takes into account each game’s Metacritic score and the number of reviewers.

The notion may be silly, but the stakes could not be higher. The winner will officially be declared “World’s Best Person,” a title indisputable under any circumstances. Our picks are displayed below, and we’ll be updating from time to time so you can follow the rankings along with ourselves.

Game on!

Official Standings (as of 12/14)

Score Breakdown:

What: Mario Kart 7 multiplayer

Where: Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (and simultaneous Skype chat)

When: Monday, December 12th at 9:00 p.m. EST

Why: Because you can only take so many blue shell barrages from the A.I.

Our 3DS friend codes can be found here: http://www.therumblepack.com/gamertag/

Our Mario Kart 7 Community:
“The Rumble Pack”
11-9657-7914-8548

RSVP here

Relevant Links:

Sour Patch Kids Oops All Berries (seriously, we’ll ease up on candy talk next week)

Car Talk

Filmspotting (formerly with Matty Robinson)