If you speak with me for more than 10 minutes, the odds are good you’ll hear me mention video games at least 6 times. I’ve owned two Switch Pro Controllers (I call them Pro-trollers), and two sets of Joy Con, and all of them have suffered from the dreaded drifting phenomenon that hampers control. I don’t have a fix and I’m presently mailing them in to Nintendo for repairs. So for the first time, I’ve primarily used Third Party controllers on a Nintendo Console. An oddity which inspired my writing this review, and likely many more. Today I’d like to focus on the Power A Enhanced Wireless Controller.
The subject of today’s discussion!
Controller Quality and Features
After much use, I’ve never encountered a real problem with either of these controllers. The Analog sticks have remained drift free despite heavy use, and the ergonomics are very similar to the original Nintendo Pro-trollers.
There are additional programmable triggers upon the bottom, which are a unique selling point to these controllers, and they are handy in particular to “Bumper Jumper” technical types like myself. For instance, Crysis is now playable on the Switch, and there is a button for Stealth mode and a button for Armor mode, both of which come into use routinely. But to press those buttons first you’ve gotta take your thumb off the right analog stick. Which is a big no no for me.
By mapping the two modes to the programmable left and right triggers, I now can control the game in a way that feels much more natural to a jerk like myself. Similarly, I love the action platformer Gunvolt series and there is a great collection of Azure Striker Gunvolt 1 & 2 on the Switch… But the “Special Attacks” are selected by moving the right analog stick, and executed by clicking it. Not ideal at all for me. With these controllers, I can map that out to a trigger, making it feel much more natural.
I’ve heard folk describing these controllers as feeling somewhat cheap but I don’t get that impression at all from mine. No loose buttons or anything, solid feeling sticks, and the D Pad plastic looks fine to me. The controller feels as comfortable as the Switch Pro-troller, just a bit lighter and with 2 extra triggers on the inner side of the grips. While I think they’re pretty, I’m usually not one to care about appearances so long as a controller performs well.
For myself, I use AA Energizer Rechargeable batteries. They work very nicely with a lot of play time between recharges which I think is the ideal option for these controllers. There is no Rumble feature or NFC. But those aren’t essential to most of the games I play on my Switch. Motion controls on the other hand have had no discernible difference to me in my experience. Lastly, I’m very happy to say this controller CAN awaken the Switch from Sleep mode.
Conclusion
While there are some features of the Pro-troller that I miss, it’s very important to note that I’ve lost confidence in them. They need to fix the analog sticks before I will go back to them. For comparison, these controllers have never even started to drift. So I’m pretty well sold on these for the time being. At the very least, I recommend getting these for any general purpose play on Switch that doesn’t require NFC or Rumble.
Very good, very reliable, especially handy in specific games for bumper jumpers like myself.
Power A was very kind to me, sending me a replacement when I thought my original controller was no longer synching. The problem was actually with my Switch, and required me to fully shut the Switch off and turn it back on.
Since I’d unintentionally swindled them out of a controller, I decided to write about my experience with their product to repay them. Sooo there wasn’t a controller sent to me for review, but I was sent one without paying for it by my own mistake. Based on my experience, I would gladly recommend the Power A wireless enhanced controller.
On the fifth episode of the Polyspice Game Recommendation Podcast, Thorbjorne, Robert, Gerardo, Daniel and Greyson discuss the legacy collection that is Super Mario 3D All-Stars! Less than a month before it’s locked away, we’re here to tell you why it’s worth it! If you haven’t made up your mind yet, now’s the time. Click below to find out why it’s worth a buy!
Super Mario 3D All-Stars is available until March 31st, 2021 for Nintendo Switch. If you have any thoughts or comments on the game, feel free to let us know about it on our Twitter!
On this month’s episode of the Polyspice Game Recommendation Podcast; Thorbjorne, Robert, Gerardo, Daniel and Greyson all discuss the mobile and Switch physics-based crane puzzle game Part Time UFO!
Part Time UFO is a game developed by Hal Egg. A smaller division of the company behind the Kirby series. It has just as much charm and polish as anything we’d expect from the pink puffball. A game of surprising style and depth. The crew had a lot to talk about with this one; and we’re so excited to bring it straight to you in our second episode!
This game is available now for mobile devices and enhanced on Nintendo Switch. If you have some thoughts you’d like to share in the game, let us know on Twitter!
Moonsprout Games’ turn-based RPG Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling is a love letter to the first two games in the Paper Mario series. Those first two entries in the console-based Mario RPG series are regarded by many as some of the best games ever made by Nintendo, which is no small feat.
Bug Fableswas made with a crowdfunded budget of just under $25,000. Considering the massive scale and high standards of quality set by the original two Paper Mario games. It seems that attempting to capture the magic.
I can say confidently, after having – at time of writing – dumped more than 35 hours into the the game, that Bug Fables is the single best Paper Mario game that I’ve played since Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
If this image triggers the same chemical response in your brain as mine, then I suggest you keep reading.
Story
I don’t want to dwell on or over-emphasize the extent to which Bug Fables takes inspiration and mechanics from classic turn-based Paper Mario. So I’ll refrain from going into detail about the similarities unless a major difference between the two comes up. Okay? Okay. For now, let’s take a look at the story in this self-titled “Fable”.
Bug Fables tells the story of Kabbu the Beetle, Vi the Bee, and Leif the Moth, three complete strangers who end up forming an expedition team by circumstance to carry out quests and treasure hunts for the mighty Ant Kingdom. What starts as a simple and friendly quest into the local monster cave turns into a surprisingly long, emotional, and effectively dramatic story of three friends learning and growing together in an attempt to save all they love.
In many respects, it’s a standard RPG story. But it’s presented very well and the high density of memorable and likable characters both in the main cast and on the side kept me intrigued over the course of the plot. Especially when the odd serious moment popped up in the middle of what was mostly a lighthearted tale. I’ll avoid spoilers for now, but just now that there are a solid story and overarching quest to follow on this adventure. With that laid out, let’s talk about gameplay, and how it differs from the familiar Paper Mario formula.
Combat
Unlike the games that it takes inspiration from, there are no bonus partners that get added to party over time. The three members of your party that you have at the start of the game will be your whole party for the rest of the game. Normally for myself and many others part of the fun of an RPG like this is found in adding new characters with new backstories and all to the party. You may not have that to look forward to in Bug Fables. But as a trade off the game is wholly designed around having just these three party members.
Each member of the party gains new abilities both in the overworld and in battle over the course of the story. Which leads to continuous development of new strategies. As well as new obstacles to overcome and puzzles to solve in the overworld. Not to mention, the core combat itself is built around.
The combat is a familiar and time-tested affair. But with it’s own twists on the classic staples of Paper Mario-style turn-based combat. Every character has their own distinct advantages in battle. Which makes each of them equally useful for different reasons. Kabbu can only attack the first ground enemy but can piece defense. Vi can hit airborne enemies, and Leif can attack enemies buried in the ground. Everyone also has a series of different special moves which take TP (Teamwork Points) which they gradually earn throughout the story as well as by leveling up.
The pebble is mightier than the sword!
Leveling and Medals
Adding further depth to the combat are both the leveling system as well as the Medals. Every time the party levels up you get to choose between a permanent addition to health, Teamwork Points, or Medal Points. So your growth in each area is dictated entirely by how you want to build your strategy.
The Medals on the other hand allow for many, many different battle strategies and builds for your characters. There are medals that swap defense for attack. Some that prevent status ailments, and even some that unlock moves for certain characters. It’s straight out of classic Paper Mario. It is just as wonderfully simple and yet staggeringly deep as before.
Side Quests & Bonus Content
As for what you do outside of battle, there’s plenty extra to do. There are boss fights hidden away on secret paths, dozens of side-quests with their own associated characters and storylines. In general a ton of positive reinforcement and rewards for experimentation and exploration. While the world isn’t the largest out there, but no space is wasted. You’d never guess how small the game’s budget was when looking at some of these massive areas loaded with different enemies and obstacles. Had this game released at the time of the original Paper Mario on the N64 or PS1, it would have easily been a rival to the original series’ quality and scale.
There are so many mysterious and curious moments in this game that you’ll find yourself searching around every corner for goodies and new things to fight and collect.
Special
The side quests in particular are something special. Don’t expect Witcher 3 levels of depth and scripting for them or anything. But you still get a ton of excellent side-stories, extra bosses, and loads of intriguing lore and secrets that help build the world of Bugaria. On that note. there are also Lore Books you can collect to help fill you in on the history and culture of the world around. Adding more texture and narrative depth to what appears on the surface to be nothing more than a cutsey game about bugs.
There’s also a simple yet deeply fun to explore cooking system that encourages risks and experimentation. A Magic the Gathering style card game on the side that gets better the more you study enemies in battle, and tons of different items to find and collect. It almost seems like you’ll never run out of things to do, and even though you do eventually. I promise you you’ll be satisfied with your own journey by the end.
Conclusion
There is much more good I could say about Bug Fables. I could go into detail about every little reference and element directly lifted from Paper Mario (of which there are MANY), or how many moments from the story will stick with me for a long time. But I’d rather say this: If you enjoy classic Paper Mario or good RPGs in general, you need to play Bug Fables.
I must stress that Bug Fables is not a perfect game. I did come across the occasional minor bug or performance issue. But it was only ever a minor annoyance at worst, so I can forgive that. The controls for overworld abilities can be a bit difficult and sometimes annoying. But it never becomes too serious or stressful of an issue.
Any other complaints I might have would be to the tune of “the Paper Mario games did X element better”, and I don’t want to linger on thoughts like those, because I believe this game stands strong enough on its own.
While Bug Fables may not be better than the classic Paper Mario games. It might be just as good and deserves to be regarded as a modern RPG classic all it’s own. I am hopeful that many of you will go and enjoy it for yourselves. This game made something fresh and new out of an old formula and made something magical that is all their own.
Watch this video for some extended thoughts on the game.
Greyson is an aspiring author and YouTuber with dozens of consoles and hundreds of gaming hours under his belt. He’s always looking for something new to play, and is always happy to share it with other people. He also likes the Shantae games, like, a lot.
You can recommend games to the Polyspice audience too. Take a look at our content guidelines.
As a small-time writer in the gaming journalism circle. I don’t have a tremendous amount of power. I have some power, granted to me mostly by the people kind enough to give me a platform. But I can only reach so many people this way, and only so many people will listen. But if I had my way, and I could get people to do whatever I wanted them to. I would have everyone reading this go and buy Vitamin Connection on Nintendo Switch right now.
Vitamin Connection is a game that deserves to succeed. It has the kind of unique gameplay that I wish I could see more of more often. It’s original in so many ways. It utilizes the unique hardware of the console. It’s exclusive to so well that it fits in right alongside the major releases made for the system.
Vitamin Connection has you controlling Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl. Two tiny friendly folks who pilot a vitamin-capsule shaped spacecraft. They fly through the bodies of sick individuals in order to blast bad guys, heal their vital areas, and make them feel all better.
WayForward
Vitamin Connection comes exclusively to Nintendo Switch courtesy of WayForward. The superstar independent developer who has given us the Shantae series, Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche, and many fantastic licensed titles such as their Adventure Time games and DuckTales: Remastered. More specifically, the game was brought to use by director James Montagna. A longtime member of the company who previously worked on many projects including the previously mentioned Shantae and Adventure Time games, and who makes his directorial debut within the company with this game.
Having been one of the few people I know to have played his previous game. The retro-simplistic but still fun and creative Dodge Club Pocket for the 3DS. I can see his style oozing from every crack of Vitamin Connection, and style is exactly the word to use.
James Montagna
James Montagna has stated that influence for the game was taken directly from the original Jet Set Radio as well as Katamari Damacy. Particularly in how both games have exuberant, upbeat tones emphasized by their highly joyful and elaborate soundtracks, and it shows. It’s the kind of game that you might have found in a video store in the early-to-mid 2000s. When Japanese imports were flooding North America on systems like the Dreamcast and PS2. Where unsuspecting American youth would be drawn in by their rainbow color-pallettes and enticing J-Pop soundtracks. This is the type of energy and tone you can expect from Vitamin Connection. Bright, simple colors creating a stark but striking visual style, personality practically dripping from its pores, and simple but fun and addictive gameplay.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Vitamin Connection is a brilliant mechanical twist on the classic premise of flying around and shooting things. The gameplay has both Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl controlling their ship at the same time. Regardless of whether you are playing in single-player or co-op, and will have a lot of mechanics to balance.
You will be both moving the ship as well as rotating it in clockwise or counterclockwise motions in order to dodge obstacles and fit through gaps. All while watching your ammo while blasting baddies with your vitamin beam. A single player will use both standard and motion controls to pull off these maneuvers while playing in co-op splits the duties between two people. Both of these modes are absurd amounts of fun. There is a bit of a learning curve to the general gameplay, what with all the unique controls to consider. But it’s nothing too major considering the game’s generous checkpoint system and steady difficulty curve.
Shooting baddies is all well and good. But there’s so much more to Vitamin Connection than that. Vitamin Connection is a Nintendo Switch exclusive by design. It utilizes every single exotic function of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons in a variety of ways. I’ve not really seen for the system since 1-2-Switch (only much, much better). You’ll be rotating the controller to spin the ship, squeezing it in order to simulate a love-tester machine, using the infrared camera to reach out and grab objects. Basically everything and more you thought the Joy-Con was capable of.
Soundtrack
I alluded to it before, but Vitamin Connection has a truly excellent, diverse and bountiful soundtrack that is equally as good as the games it draws inspiration from.
The soundtrack is mostly composed of J-Pop songs with catchy upbeat rhythms and lyrics. But there’s also rap music from the perspective of a dog, emo grunge from the perspective of a baby, yodeling and orchestral music and so much more. There are multiple songs on each level, and during gameplay, the game will play these all of shuffle in the background as you play. Adding a layer of refreshing variety to the experience that – on top of the normal gameplay – ensures that boredom is impossible. Speaking of layers, there’s even an additional unique layer of instruments that play over any song whenever you’re firing the vitamin beam, which is a really nice touch.
Speaking on the package as a whole, I do have some minor nitpicks. Some may find the story campaign is a little short for $20, and the main levels can be a bit long with a bit of backtracking through them thrown in. But the constant variety of gameplay – as well as optional means of speeding things up if you should be so inclined – made it not feel like too much of a problem for me personally. Plus, you unlock mini-games to play as you go along, and even a sort of New Game+ sort of scenario once the main quest is over, and you can play through the game either alone or in co-op from the start, so there’s actually a fair bit of replay value here.
Tone
On top of that, if you’re looking for something lighter in tone or something to play with your children, this game is right up your alley. I can’t remember the last time that I played a game this good-natured. The music is all upbeat, the game is loaded with bright colors and wonderful shapes, and the dialogue and writing, in general, is both funny and wholesome. This game just wants to spread good vibes and teach kindness, and honestly, I can appreciate that a lot at the moment.
In a time where nearly all of us are stuck inside and worried about the future. We just need something fun to distract ourselves, maybe with a friend if we’re lucky. Here comes a fun, friendly, good-natured game like Vitamin Connection to make us smile, tell us to be kind to one another, and remind us to take our vitamins.
Vitamin Connection is a special kind of game that comes by only a handful of times every generation. One that truly captures the purity of gaming and puts a wild spin on it with the effective use of what so many other developers typically ignore about the console it was made for. I’d go so far as to call it one of the best games available on Nintendo Switch right now, and a classic for the system in the making.
Conclusion
As I write this review, it has been around two months since the game launched, and barely anybody has been talking about it. Sure there’s been some major release lately to be excited about. But it was a bit of a slow spot for the Switch when it released. I’m just a baffled how a game both this unique and this good has been getting ignored by so many people. This has happened with other games before, even with many other WayForward games. But I refuse to let it happen this time.
Vitamin Connection is a must-own game for Nintendo Switch owners given its high quality and meager $20 price tag. So you should absolutely buy it if you’re interested. But if you do buy it, and if you do like it, then do WayForward and people like me a favor and recommend it to a friend. Show it to them, maybe even play it with them, and maybe together we can form a greater connection. Open up the eShop and say “ahhh”, because it’s time to take your vitamins.
Watch this video for some extended thoughts on the game.
Greyson is an aspiring author and YouTuber with dozens of consoles and hundreds of gaming hours under his belt. He’s always looking for something new to play, and is always happy to share it with other people. He also likes the Shantae games, like, a lot.
You can recommend games to the Polyspice audience too. Take a look at our content guidelines.
