This Week in Games

Finally Back To Kick Some Tail

Welcome back, folks! I had a fun weekend at This Week in Games Central. I was able to find a few old Shogun Warriors comics at a local comic swap, and I counted the minutes until Monday rolled around and UPS would deliver my Switch 2. For folks waiting for a verdict/breakdown: I'll have one next week! I need some time with the thing. It was otherwise a fairly humdrum weekend, not much--

WAIT, WHAT

I've talked about the Cotton games a few times; Success Corp's long-running retro-series of "cute-'em-up" horizontal shooters where the little witch Cotton and her fairy-friend Silk fly their way through waves of goofy critters on a snack run for the elusive "Willow." Cotton is on a bit of a kick lately, with Success putting effort into bringing back all of the older games on modern hardware—including the formerly-unreleased Dreamcast entry, Rainbow Cotton. Currently, Success and Studio Saizensen are hard at work on the newest Cotton entry, a sequel to 2021's Cotton Rock'n'Roll (a.k.a., Cotton Fantasy: Superlative Night Dreams). I had to dig through my shelf to track down my collection of Cotton games to ensure I got that title right. Regional titles are hell.

Anyway, this past weekend was the Shooter Game Fest in Japan. While shooters are somewhat passé in the US, there's still quite a bit of nostalgia for titles like Lightening Force or Gradius in Japan. Just a few weeks ago, we showcased another of Success' shooters that's getting released: Sonic Wings/Aero Fighter. Success made good on revealing some extra details about their new Cotton game—including the title!

Considering Cotton is in an elaborate kimono, the title Success is going with is Cotton Rock with You: Oriental Night Dreams. In a bit of a departure for the series, Cotton and company will shoot down waves of yokai. In a unique twist, the stages will also feature branching paths.

That's all cool, but you know what else it'll do? Do you know what makes this game a must-buy for me, as one of my nice readers informed me this past Sunday?

Izuna's joining the roster.

For the newcomers to This Week in Games: I've been a huge fan of Success' Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja games for a long time. Izuna and Cotton have crossed over in the past, particularly in Success's Rondo of Swords back on the Nintendo DS. But while many of the recent Cotton games have featured cameos like Umihara Kawase from the self-titled series, Izuna's been strangely absent from a number of those recent games—much to my disappointment. No longer! Following the announcement of a third Izuna game back in September 2023, Izuna will be swinging by Cotton's neck of the woods for a cameo appearance. Thank you! Here, US$60. Give me that copy!

In addition to giving us the first-ever look at Izuna's new design from the front (verdict: "Ninja" meets "Popful Mail," cute), Cotton Rock with You also gives her a unique control scheme. The game promotes this as a "melee" build: Izuna can either shoot out volleys of shuriken or charge up a close-range slash to set up chains of explosions. She collects kunai for screen-clearing attacks instead of bombs, with the "explosion" using more kunai the longer you charge (the instructions promise a "surprise" if you stockpile 99 kunai). In addition, Izuna will earn experience points as she shoots down enemies, leveling up her attacks.

As you can imagine, this news has me positively delighted. I've been begging for Izuna to cameo in a Cotton game practically ever since Success rebooted Cotton. And while the news on a third Izuna game back in 2023 had me happier than I'd been about a game in years, we sadly haven't gotten any update on it since. Maybe we'll get some news at the next Tokyo Game Show? Regardless, there's something new for folks (me) to look forward to! No word yet on when Cotton Rock with You: Oriental Night Dreams launches. We (I) will keep you (myself) posted.

Voice acting is rather fraught in the United States. Even if you're considered the iconic talent behind a character's portrayal, there's no guarantee you'll get the call-back to voice them again in a new installment. It's a rough job that is subject to a lot of misinformation on behalf of people who get blinded by the skin-deep glitz and glamor of getting to work on a game. And unfortunately, even a long-running career can't shield you.

Samantha Kelly voiced Princess Peach in the Mario games for 18 years (she was also the voice of Toad). You can hear her as the Princess as recently as Princess Peach: Showtime!. But eagle-eared listeners might notice that Princess Peach sounds different in the recently-released Mario Kart World. The reason is simple: Nintendo didn't bring Samantha Kelly back for the role. She found out she was replaced the day after Mario Kart World was released. Some might wonder how a person doesn't know they've been recast; the fact is, a lot of VAs don't often know what they're voicing for, and likely won't know which project is which until after the fact. When it comes to games like the Mario series, voice lines often get recycled between games, making it a bit harder to tell.

Samantha Kelly's replacement oddly mirrors former Mario voice actor Charles Martinet's abrupt departure from the role last year, when he was replaced with Kevin Afghani. While Martinet was given the title of "Mario Ambassador" after his years of service, it seems no such title was given to Samantha Kelly. Similarly, Takashi Nagasako (longtime voice of Donkey Kong) was also quietly replaced as of Mario Kart World.

I can't imagine why these vocal talents were replaced. I can understand a voice actor retiring because the role is too taxing for them; I recall an anecdote where Scooby Doo voice actor Don Messick simply walked out of a recording booth because he felt he simply couldn't do voices anymore. But also, plenty of voice actors keep at it out of their love for the game; Masako Nozawa has been belting her heart out as Goku for literally longer than many of us have been alive, and she shows no sign of wanting to stop (bless her). It was very clearly getting a little harder for Martinet to hit Mario's chipper high-tones than it used to, but he was still willing to go for it.

Nintendo being so quiet about this changing of the guard feels off. Martinet's retirement was similarly sudden, with only a bit part in the Super Mario Bros. Movie as his only "send-off." Normally, these kinds of recasts for legacy characters are a big deal; you normally don't recast Mickey Mouse or Goofy unless someone died. And even if one VA did something to merit letting them go, you don't replace the whole team because of it.

I have to wonder if part of this isn't due to a shakeup at Nintendo proper; as many have pointed out, the Nintendo Switch 2 is likely the last time we'll see the current big heads at Nintendo working on a console release. Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, Koji Kondo... these men are in their golden years, and like Walt Disney's Nine Old Men, while they embody the spirit of the company and its creative endeavors, there will nevertheless be a day when the world wakes up without them. Maybe Nintendo wants a clean break to wipe the slate clean?

Regardless, I sympathize with Samatha Kelly.

Last year's Silent Hill 2 remake was a pleasant surprise! Nobody expected Bloober Team to pull it off, but they produced a faithful remake of Silent Hill 2 that played well and didn't stray too far from the series' tone. Konami must be happy with how the game turned out, because they've announced that Bloober Team will try their hand at Silent Hill again--with the first game in the series.

... Well, Konami knows that "1" comes before "2," at least...

The plan to remake Silent Hill 2 was pretty sound, considering it's the most popular game in the series by a long-shot—for better or worse, given how Pyramid Head has been shoehorned into being the series' mascot when by all means he really shouldn't. Silent Hill 2's success also overshadows its predecessor. While everyone knows the story of James Sunderland and his voyage into the town of Silent Hill to find his missing wife, not as many people remember good old Harry Mason, a single father who ventures into Silent Hill after a car crash, in pursuit of his missing daughter. Silent Hill did see a remake in the form of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories back in 2009, but Shattered Memories is more of a reimagining of the game, with several details changed. Also, it leans further into the "horror" angle, giving Mason no real offensive options against the monstrous denizens of the eponymous town.

For now, details on Silent Hill's new remake are slim; we currently have no word on its release date. We'll keep folks posted. Here's hoping they bring back Mary Elizabeth McGlynn for the music, at least!

A lot of folks might be seething right now; people love reading tea leaves to see when a Nintendo Direct might happen, and folks had been holding their breath on a Direct sometime this month (because Nintendo has released Directs in June for the past few years now). That the Direct was taken up by one whole game disappoints them, I guess. Hey, man, the Switch 2 only just came out—you gotta wait it out like the rest of us!

At any rate, that one whole game was the upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza—and holy crap, it looks like a phenomenal killer app for the Nintendo Switch 2. We'll get more into the nitty gritty of the details shortly, but it's exactly the kind of game Nintendo would make to sell a console: every last one of its mechanics and gimmicks revolves around emphasizing one of the key features of the Switch 2. Moreover, quite a few of them are pretty convenient; the Direct underlined how Game Share works with Bananza, allowing you to upload co-op data of the game with someone locally so that they can contribute to the Kong-ing. This also works online through the Switch 2's GameChat... as well with the original Switch. So not only is this great for families to play together, it'll also take advantage of the multiple Switch consoles your family likely has lying around. And you only need one actual copy of the game to play together—just like those halcyon days of Mario Kart DS...

I wanna take the time to address something else: I know a lot of folks feel like these single-game Directs are a bit pedantic by explaining that characters can run and jump or that we'll see lava and ice levels. But I think we're forgetting that a lot of people who play games aren't fanatics. One thing the Bananza Direct does well is break down Donkey Kong's abilities into simple verbs: run, jump, roll, tear, clap, and punch. Combine these to do crazy platforming trickery. If we want games that break the mold a little, we need to explain the mechanics to audiences better. It's just so easy to explain how DK can grab chunks of the environment and swing them around, ride around on them, or even toss them together to build new stuff.

Anyway, one of the biggest reveals is that Donkey Kong Bananza doesn't just star the most famous ape in gaming—it also stars his famous co-star, the oft-forgotten Pauline! People forget, long before Princess Peach (or even the days when she was named "Princess Toadstool"), Pauline was Mario's main squeeze; Mario had to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong's capture in the original game way back when. Nintendo's done a better job of including Pauline in recent titles, including her big show-stopping musical number in Super Mario Odyssey as the mayor of New Donk City. Curiously, Bananza calls back to Pauline's singing, tying it into the story of Bananza: here, Pauline is a 13-year-old with dreams of becoming a singer.

Pauline's presence was leaked a few months back by accident—someone produced an image of the Donkey Kong Bananza cover featuring Pauline instead of Odd Rock, as we'd seen in the previous reveal. As it turns out, Odd Rock is Pauline. This has a lot of people asking where Donkey Kong Bananza fits in The Grand Super Mario Timeline™, to which my answer is "I don't care." People pay too much attention to "timelines" and miss the forest for the trees. For further proof of this nonsense, look at the knots people tied themselves into with the "Zelda timeline." True, there's a throughline with Donkey Kong; as it turns out, the Donkey Kong from the original game grows up to become Cranky Kong in the Donkey Kong Country titles. The DK we know is actually a grown-up Donkey Kong Jr (from the eponymous game). Pauline debuted in the original Donkey Kong, but here she's a kid—but the Direct showed Cranky Kong, along with Rambi, Diddy Kong, and Dixie Kong. Again, I think worrying about the timeline shenanigans is a fool's errand; it's like asking whether Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers is supposed to happen before or after Runaway Brain, or whether A Goofy Movie is canon with Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas. Take a lesson from Joe Dirt: "Don't focus on the wrong part of the story, brother!"

Anyway, Pauline ties into a lot of fun mechanics for the game. She's the dedicated Player 2 in the aforementioned co-op mode, where she can shout words at things to destroy them. There's also a nifty feature where you can copy the texture of random objects to use them on Pauline's shouts. Her singing allows Donkey Kong to do several transformations to help traverse the environment (so far, we've seen a bigger gorilla form for punching, a zebra form for speed, and an ostrich form for gliding). Between the transformations and the key NPCs having big googly eyes, this game has a lot of Rare's DNA. A lot of people liken Bananza to Super Mario Odyssey, but I'm getting a ton of Donkey Kong 64 and even Banjo Kazooie—only with a sense of control. You still collect tons of giant bananas (called "Banandium Gems"), but those add up to Skill Points you can use to upgrade DK's abilities. You can collect coins, but you can use those to buy outfits for DK and Pauline that modify their abilities. Nintendo knows there's still room for collect-a-thons, but people don't want their time wasted. I also feel that Pauline's music is a way to bridge the gap from her later depictions with Donkey Kong's "blowing" ability in the Donkey Kong Country Returns games, but that might be a stretch.

Minigames? Minigames. Donkey Kong has always had tons of hidden extras in its stages, and Bananza is no exception. They seem a lot better than Beaver Bother! You've got your usual minecart stages, racing against Rambi, and other puzzle stages that require clever use of DK's ability to modify the environment. We also learned more about VoidCo, the corporate Kongs that antagonize DK and Pauline on their trip to the planet's core: the gruff Grumpy Kong, the insidious Poppy Kong, and the diminutive Void Kong. A lot of people want to see a reference to King K. Rool somewhere, so we should wait and see.

In addition to all of that, Donkey Kong Bananza even has stuff for folks hoping that the Switch 2's Joy-Con mice lead to a new Mario Paint: DK Artist! It's effectively a whole 3D sculpting suite inside of Donkey Kong Bananza, where you can either use pre-made sculpts or even make your own to create all kinds of artistic things. It's possible to paint objects, or even change their "texture" (like coloring DK's hair with lava). It's also possible to edit them by sticking new materials in place. It's a pretty brilliant addition, and even if it doesn't get much use, it's a phenomenal proof of concept for a full Mario Paint revival. The clip also has some cheeky references, like Mario's three-dimensional head from the Super Mario 64 title screen to the parakeet from the Nintendo DSi Sound app.

A lot of people might have had misgivings about the options on display for the Switch 2, but I think Donkey Kong Bananza might be the killer app we need. It's shaping up to be phenomenal—and at the very least, the story between DK and Pauline will be a heartstring-tugging affair. I've seen folks call this a "happy Dad game," and I'm all for it. Look forward to Donkey Kong Bananza on July 17.

That'll do it for this week. Thanks to my readers for that amazing tip last week—none of my sources had even mentioned Izuna! (Provided, RebelTaxi and I are the only people who care about her.) I appreciate when folks help out with stuff like that. There are a lot of games I don't talk about because they're American titles—begging pardon for folks excited for Mina the Hollower (trust me, I'm one of them). I have a nice, long weekend ahead of me, as I write this—the first I've had in far longer than I should have. Hopefully, by next week, I'll have some proper first-hand experience with my Switch 2. In the meantime, as always, be good to each other! I'll see you in seven.