The gorgeous Dark Samus Amiibo is available now! Here’s an up close and personal look at this doppelganger! Enjoy!
Click through for the full video and still images!
3DS
The Fire Emblem Series Tier List
Fire Emblem may be a modern phenomenon to many, but the franchise’s history goes way back. Even excluding the Japan-only releases that make up roughly half of the catalogue, you’re still left with 10 mainline games and multiple spin-offs. Those alone might make Fire Emblem one of Nintendo’s deepest franchises in terms of quality and volume.
Though I don’t think there’s a bad game in the series per se, there are certainly titles that stand out from the rest. It’s always been a goal of mine to rank them, but it’s been a long time since I’ve played some of these games, and I don’t want to do the legwork required to confidently place them on a numerical list.
Instead, I’m going with a tier list. Unless stated otherwise, there’s no particular rankings within each tier. As of right now, here’s how I’d rank the mainline games in the Fire Emblem series!
Nintendo’s Presence at the Louvre
In 2012, Nintendo became the audiovisual guide provider of the Louvre. Using a 3DS, users are able to access dozens of hours of audio commentary, rotate 3D sculptures for a unique look, visually highlight details that the average person would probably miss, and even provide direction through the console’s GPS. Though I remember thinking it was an odd pairing at the time, it didn’t cross my mind again until I saw the 3DS guides at the museum on this recent trip.
Code Name S.T.E.A.M. Review
Aliens have invaded London! Who can we call to save the day?! The Agents of S.T.E.A.M. of course! Led by the Abraham Lincoln, it’s up to you to guide him and his ragtag group of steampunk soldiers through battle. Created by Intelligent Systems, Code Name S.T.E.A.M. is a turn-based strategy game with third-person shooting, a la Gears of War. Is this shake-up enough for it to move outside of the shadow cast by Intelligent Systems’ previous efforts, such as Advance Wars and Fire Emblem?
Amiibo Story: Gold Mario
When Nintendo first revealed the Amiibo concept, it was inevitable that they would release multiple versions of the same character. As a means of being somewhat disciplined with my money, I’ve set a general guideline for myself that I would only buy one version of a particular character I liked. For certain characters, like Peach and Luigi, this rule should be pretty easy to uphold. For Mario, forget about it. If he’s in any other form than his classic suit, I’m probably going to fall for it more often than not.
Amiibo Story: Peach
“Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!”
I have to admit, I never did save the princess in her NES debut. Not for a lack of effort, though, as my attempts at beating the original Super Mario Bros. have come up short. Even as recently as last year, I couldn’t get any farther than world 8-3. She may forever be trapped in that castle, though we’ve certainly shared some great gaming moments together.
Amiibo Story: Yoshi
Super Mario World has a deceptively amazing soundtrack. I don’t know if you ever noticed this, but that game basically has one song that’s repeatedly re-imagined throughout. By changing the tempo, instrumentation and bits of the melody here and there, Koji Kondo created a varied, yet wonderfully cohesive soundscape for my all-time favourite Super Mario game. I didn’t pick up on this until many years later, though there’s one audio cue that caught my ear immediately. Whenever Yoshi was on screen, he was accompanied by a sweet bongo arrangement. Those bongos in my mind became synonymous with the awesome that Yoshi brought to the table.
Amiibo Story: Ike
In the eyes of most, Ike is probably just another sword dude like Marth in Smash Bros. or one of the Amiibo figures that are seemingly impossible to find. To me, Ike is so much more than that. He’s a star character from Fire Emblem; a series that is one of my all-time faves. He also happens to be the star of my favourite game in the series.
Amiibo Story: Mega Man
I vividly remember the first time I ever played a Mega Man game. It was the summer of 1990 and a family friend that was a year older than me had come over to my house with his new copy of Mega Man 2. Having never heard of the franchise up until then, I had no idea what to expect when I booted it up. Within seconds, the music in my ears was all I needed to hear to know that I was in for something special.
Amiibo Story: Sonic
It’s easy to make fun of Sonic the Hedgehog. For the last 15 or so years, the games he’s starred in have been mediocre at best to dumpster fires at worst. His glory days may be long behind him, but I’ll never forget the time when he was the king of video games.
