After such surprisingly little press in prior Directs, Nintendo has finally once again acknowledged Yoshi’s New Island, a Yoshi’s Island sequel in development for 3DS, one barely shown or detailed past a couple of screenshots. At least Nintendo had a small teaser to show for the game, while also confirming that the original Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island director will return to oversee Yoshi’s New Island, which is in development in-house at Nintendo EAD. This is perhaps in reference to Nintendo outsourcing most of the development of the previous Yoshi’s Island DS to Artoon.
The teaser at least confirmed that the game will adhere to the style of the classic Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, with plenty of egg-throwing, platform-rotating, flower-gathering action. Beyond that however, there was still surprisingly little said or detailed about it.
What’s even stranger is that Kirby: Triple Deluxe, a 3DS game that Nintendo is likely saving for Summer or Fall next year, got plenty of details and coverage, while Yoshi’s New Island was confirmed during this Direct to be releasing as soon as Spring 2014, still with barely an actual trailer to its name! Mind you, that’s great news, but it’s a bit curious that Nintendo has said so little about the game when it’s releasing so soon. Perhaps a January or February Direct will shed more light on this promising 3DS sequel to a Super NES gem.
Another of the best surprises to come out of this Nintendo Direct was the much-demanded return of Chibi-Robo, a cult favourite series and character that debuted on the GameCube, and spawned two sequels on the DS, though only one made it outside of Japan. Now, Chibi-Robo is making the leap to 3DS even in North America however, with Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder, in development as a 3DS eShop game.
The premise of the game is Chibi-Robo, a four-inch-tall robot for those unfamiliar, helping to open a museum. To do so, he’ll need to collect ‘Nostaljunk’, which is where the player comes in. Players are given silhouettes, and must use the 3DS’s cameras to take pictures of objects in their daily lives that resemble those shapes. Chibi-Robo then uses them to populate the struggling museum.
Of course, there’s more to the gameplay than that. Various eccentric characters, from superheroes to aliens to sponge bears, will ask for Chibi-Robo’s help to accomplish their own tasks. These can include spraying wasabi into sushi, cleaning up various areas, or clearing out intrusive enemies. All the while, Chibi-Robo remains dependent on electricity too, so don’t let him run out of power!
Nintendo is throwing a huge amount of support behind what could very well be one of the biggest 3DS eShop games to come in a while! They’ll be hosting Nostaljunk Challenges that see how creative 3DS players can get with their photos, based on the silhouettes. Winners can net bonuses like exclusive costumes for Chibi-Robo to wear in the game! Players are encouraged to check out the Chibi-Robo website at chibirobo.nintendo.com for more information.
Chibi-Robo fans long awaiting the character’s return won’t have to wait long either! Both a demo and the full version of the game will arrive on the 3DS eShop as soon as January 9th! The Nostaljunk Challenges will follow soon after, and will be available to anyone who downloaded the full version of Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder.
It’s always fantastic when Nintendo finds clever ways to revive dormant franchises and characters, and Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder simultaneously brings back an old favourite, while also giving the 3DS eShop another big tentpole offering to look forward to right from the start of 2014!