With the release of Pikmin 3 today, the first game that I had an interest in this month has already come and gone. However, there are still plenty of game releases scheduled throughout the rest of the month. Now the question is, which of these are ones that I can’t wait to play?
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
As a continuation of the “Year of Luigi,” the fourth entry in the Mario & Luigi franchise finds Mario having to travel into Luigi’s dreams for parts of the game, while other areas find both brothers fighting side-by-side in the overworld. I actually have only played a good amount of the first and third games in the series, so this release really makes me want to get a copy of the second game and play all four together. If you like Mario and you like RPGs, this is the perfect game for you. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team will be available on August 11 for Nintendo 3DS.
Ducktales: Remastered
The classic Ducktales game for NES is a classic platformer that defines what old school platform gaming is all about. The first system I ever owned was an SNES, so I never got to experience the NES growing up. However, I finally bought an NES for myself a few years ago, and Ducktales was one of the first games I had to pick up for the system. It did not disappoint from all the hype I had heard about it. You can imagine my excitement back in March when Capcom announced that an HD remake of the game was coming titled Ducktales: Remastered, that from gameplay videos and screenshots, appears to be a faithful remake. Ducktales: Remastered will be available on Playstation Network, Wii U eShop, and Steam on August 13, with it coming to Xbox Live Arcade next month. A retail release of the game will be available for Playstation 3 on August 20 and includes a download code for the game and a collector pin.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
This upcoming release may be controversial, due to its replacement of Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher with a much younger Eric Johnson, but I am still very excited for the title. The Splinter Cell franchise has always been a series I’ve had an interest in, but never ended up getting around to playing much. I would always play them at friends’ houses or rent the games, but never ended up purchasing one of the titles or fully beating them. That changed with the release of Splinter Cell: Conviction, when a friend urged me to pick up the game around its release. I ended up spending a good bit of time playing the game right after that with said friend and then played through the full single player on my own shortly after, which I enjoyed immensely. It took out some of the elements of the original games, which I hope make a return in Blacklist, but was still a really fun ride. Splinter Cell: Blacklist will be available on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC on August 20.
New Super Luigi Bros. U
While technically an old release, one game that I am also interested in getting is the retail release of New Super Luigi Bros. U. I have yet to get the DLC for the game that released in June due to being so busy around the time it came out. Plus, I am a sucker for retail releases of games more so than downloadable versions. With the game being essentially an entirely new game, I can’t wait to give it a try since the original game was so much fun on its own. New Super Luigi Bros. U will be available in stores on August 25 for Wii U.
Madden 25
The last release of the month that I am very excited for is the interestingly named Madden 25. With the series usually being named based on years, this edition chooses to go with the number 25, a reference to this being the 25th edition of the series. Having introduced the new Infinity Engine in last year’s game, the Madden series was at its best with some of the most realistic and satisfying gameplay in the entire franchise history. This year’s edition will feature the follow-up to that with the use of the Infinity Engine 2. The cover features NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, who was chosen after a public vote where he beat current NFL running back Adrian Peterson in the finals. As with most other sports games, you likely aren’t going to attract non-fans of the sport, but having always been a huge football fan, I can’t wait for the next entry in the series. Madden 25 will be available for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on August 27.