Tag: Weekly

#WeeklyGameMusic: Toad Café (Paper Mario: Color Splash)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

Ah, yes, time to return to the good old classic Italian plumber in this week’s #WeeklyGameMusic. This time, let’s chill with the Toad Café theme, composed by Takeru Kanazaki, Shigemitsu Goto, and Fumihiro Isobe. The track is from…*shuffle, shuffle*…uhhh…the fan-disapproved game, Paper Mario: Color Splash, developed by Fire Emblem series game, Intelligent Systems?

Before, uh, I get any comments from fans of the Paper Mario series (this writer being one of them), I guess I should cover the paper-thin story. On a faithful day, Princess Peach approaches Mario to deliver a letter. Or a folded, completely discolored Toad, to be more accurate. Struck by this tear-agic discovery, Mario and Co. travel overseas to investigate where the letter was delivered from: Prism Island.

Upon arrival, Mario and Peach learns the truth: the sucky Shy Guys has been slurping up all the color out of this colorful resort. Including Toads, apparently. Crumpled, but undeterred, Mario teams up with the Prism Island guardian (and all-around a floating, hammy bucket) Huey to bring color back to the decorated world.

Much like prior entries, Paper Mario: Color Splash is turn-based JRPG. Similar to the misaligned series entry, Sticker Star, Color Splash also has a TCG-like aspect where Mario needs to collect cards to attach enemies. The power of the cards is determined by how much paint Mario applies to them, which in turn can be permanently powered up by collecting power-ups from defeated enemies. And of course, the trusty cardboard-hard hammer can be used in the regular exploration levels to color any blank spots, restoring Prism Island to its former gay glory.

Paper Mario: Color Splash was developed for the Nintendo Wii U. No other ports exists as of this writing.

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#WeeklyGameMusic: Ascension (Dear Esther)

Posted on by Taro Omiya

Around five years ago, I used to post video game music with the hashtag, #WeeklyGameMusic. To be honest, I’ve been really wanting to revive the series again, so here it is: new week, new game music. While I originally stuck to only one music per franchise (this series is about introducing the highlighted game to the reader as much as its music), it’s been so long since the last post, I’ll be resetting my past queue and allow myself to revisit some old franchises I’ve already introduced in this blog series. Anyways, where else to start then Dear Esther‘s Ascension, composed by Jessica Curry.

Dead Esther is most well-known for kicking off the often derided Walking Simulator. Despite its criticism, though, I do believe the indie developers, The Chinese Room, answered a genuinely interesting game design question: what happens when the player is given conflicting information while they attempt to progress the story? How will they react when the story contradicts what one observes, and even itself? The game randomly choosing pre-written narration is a central part of the player’s experience as they make an attempt to piece together the clues they’re given. And, at least as a game designer, I find that fascinating.

Dear Esther is available on Steam for Windows and Mac.

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