With the recent announcement of Nights 2 on the Wii, I can't help to think about the possibility of some great Saturn franchises coming back to life on the Wii. Today we're going to talk about one of my favorite series from the Saturn, Clockwork Knight. Essentially, Clockwork Knight is a standard platformer in the vein of Sonic and Mario however the game's style more reflects the Donkey Kong Country games due to it's use of pre-rendered sprites. The difference here though is that unlike DKC, all of the boss battles, backgrounds and environments are fully 3D in CK.

The Story in the clockwork night games is standard fare. You are the mighty Knight Sir Tongara de Pepperouchau III(!) armed only with you key and armor you much save the princess from an unknown force. Basically it's a story of toys in a child's toyroom at war. Much like Chibi Robo or Toy Story, Clockwork Knight shows us what toys do once the lights go out.
Pepper's Moveset is pretty limited. He can jump, thrust his key forward and by continuously tapping the attack button he can spin his key. Spinning your key comes in handy for lowering bridges, repeatedly striking enemies and opening gates. I can only imagine what the Wii's Motion controls could do for this series.
Music is another big part of the series. Both games are filled with memorable tracks accompanied by some really cool CG cutscenes. In Clockwork Knight 2 there is an option to watch all the cutscenes from both games and listen to all the music.




As far a sequels, there was one in development for Saturn titled Clockwork Knight 3. Basically the game was changed from a platformer to a Bomberman-style game where you destroyed enemies by laying "Bombs" and kicking them at enemies. The game was never release in Japan or the US but a few years ago the beta was leaked and footage of the game showed up online.



Clockwork Knight was a solid series and is prime for a comeback. The Wii's motion Controls could lend so much to this game. I'm not holding my breath but hopefully, with the resurrection of Knights, we'll see some more saturn franchised appear on the Wii in the coming years.

Posted in: Features, Retro, Saturn, Wii on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at at 4:25 PM 1 comments  

This was originally going to be an episode of The Wiicast but i was having trouble locating good footage for all the games. In a time where obscure classic games are within our reach, I'd like to add my two cents into the mix. These are some forgotten games I played growing up and would love to see them make a comeback via the Virtual Console. Here's the list in no particular order.


Kid Niki: Radical Ninja (NES)
Before Katamari, Japan released plenty of oddities that made it to the US. Kid Niki is one of those games. KN is a platform game released on the NES. The object is to guide Niki through different levels, connected by a world map, to save someone. The game itself has a great cartoony style and strange boss battles (see video). My kingdom for a re-release!


Chakan: The Forever Man (Sega Genesis)
During the dark time of 16bit machines when games like "Crue Ball" and other Metal/Death games were being released, Chakan was born. Released in 1993 on the Sega Genesis, Chakan put players in the role of The Foreverman.Two swords hack and slash through enemies with the greatest of ease. Chakan is a tough game. It's mainly a platforming game with some great art and level design and a "Killer" soundtrack. In fact, it's one of my favorite game soundtracks to date. Unfortunitly, Chakan was not meant for this world, although a sequel was in the works for the Dreamcast, development never got past some beta footage.


FlashBack (SNES/Genesis)
Part platform, part puzzle, part action. Flashback was in incredible piece of software for it's time. 2D animation never looked so good on a console before Flashback. You are stranded on a strange world evading your captors. Will you escape? Armed with a gun and an impressive move set, you'll have to try. I have a bad feeling that this game will never see the virtual console...mainly because it was published by Sony Imagesoft...oops!


Jet Force Gemini (N64)
Before Halo, there was only Jet Force Gemini. Developed by Rare in the middle of the 64's life, JFG is still one of the best shooters available for any system. Not only is the gameplay great, but being from rare, you know the art/graphics and story are all amazing as well. Choose between three heroes to save the cosmos!


Sonic CD (Sega CD)
No Sega CD games have graced the Virtual Console yet but we can only hope that this will be the game that kicks it off. Sonic CD is hands down the best 2D sonic game. Really. The game is huge with 2D levels featuring 3d elements such as ramps and loops. Personally I'd bee more than willing to shell out 800 points for this game.


So how about you guys? What are some games you really want to see come out on the Virtual console?

Posted in: Features, Virtual Console on Monday, March 26, 2007 at at 12:54 AM 5 comments