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Mighty Flip Champs!

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Mighty Flip Champs! is a puzzle-platform game developed and published by WayForward Technologies for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare digital download service. It was released on June 1, 2009, in North America and on November 27 in the PAL regions. The developers took inspiration from multiple sources, including the video games Wendy: Every Witch Way and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In it, players control Alta, a girl who has to reach a fishman by flipping between areas until she can reach him. Since its release, Mighty Flip Champs! received all-around positive reception, while also being called one of the best video games for the DSiWare service. It is the first game in the Mighty series, and is followed by Mighty Milky Way,[1] Mighty Switch Force! and Mighty Switch Force! 2.[2]

Mighty Flip Champs!
Developer(s)WayForward Technologies
Publisher(s)WayForward Technologies
  • JP: Intergrow
Director(s)Matt Bozon
Designer(s)Matt Bozon
Mark Bozon
Programmer(s)Chris Losorelli (DSIWare)
Michael Clasgens (PlayStation Minis)
Artist(s)Matt Bozon
Jason Robinson
Composer(s)Jake Kaufman
SeriesMighty
Platform(s)Nintendo DSi (DSiWare)
PlayStation Portable
ReleaseDSiWare
  • NA: June 1, 2009
  • PAL: November 27, 2009
  • JP: April 30, 2014
PlayStation Portable
  • NA: July 12, 2011
Genre(s)Puzzle-platform
Mode(s)Single-player

The game has been ported to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable via the PlayStation Network as a PlayStation Mini under the title Mighty Flip Champs! DX. It was released in North America on July 12, 2011.

Gameplay

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Screenshot of Mighty Flip Champs!. The top and bottom screen act as two different areas, that the player-character is simultaneously walking on.

Mighty Flip Champs! is a puzzle/platform game hybrid, requiring players to explore stages that vary from having two areas to up to eight areas. The objective is to get the player-character, Alta, through the stage and to find the Fishman. Later in the game, levels will add characters that Alta must find before she may exit the stage. Alta has only two abilities: movement and flipping. Movement requires use of the Nintendo DS' directional pad, allowing Alta to move only left or right. The player controls Alta on the top screen, with another area being shown on the bottom screen with a mirror image of Alta shown. Players are able to flip to a different screen by pushing a button. When these screens are flipped, the area on the bottom screen will appear on the top screen; depending on the number of areas, the top area will be moved to the bottom area, or a new area will be revealed. If Alta does not have any footing to land on, she will fall, though uninjured. If there is an obstacle in the way while flipping, she will lose and the level will end. Some special stages exist where Alta cannot flip the screen, and is at the whim of a clock which flips the screen every so often. Once a stage is completed, the players are shown their time and an accompanying rank, the highest being an "S".[3]

Development

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Mighty Flip Champs! was announced in March 2009 for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare download service.[3] It was developed by WayForward Technologies, using only five developers, the lead designer being Matt Bozon. It was designed for the sake of taking advantage of the Nintendo DS' features, though scaled to work with the DSiWare.[4] Initially, the developers were contemplating the inclusion of enemies and items. They chose to leave enemies out of the game, feeling that if they had enemies, it would make the game too complicated. However, Matt commented that if players responded well to the game, they may implement enemies in a clever way next time. While the difficulty level was not designed to cater to younger or inexperienced players, the developers designed earlier levels to be more forgiving. They had younger players play it, and were surprised as to how far they could make it through. One of the developers, Mark Bozon, commented that it was as difficult to create the levels as it was for players to beat them, adding that they have to build the concept, account for player movements, and then ensure that players cannot exploit any mistakes in the level design.[5][6][7]

The developers used very little storage space in developing the game, attributing this to the small sprites, which allowed them to have improved audio and cutscenes. The developers took inspiration from multiple other video games, such as Wendy: Every Witch Way, which was developed by Mark and Matt Bozon, the former describing Mighty Flip Champs! as a spiritual successor to it. They also took inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the idea of dimension traveling. Mark called it the "grand daddy" of the concept. Development took a total of two months, while testing and the publishing process taking a month.[5][6][7] It was released in North America on June 1, 2009, and in the PAL regions on November 27, for the price of 800 DSi Points. The developers described Mighty Flip Champs! as a way to gauge fan interest in the possibility of a Shantae sequel for the DSiWare, in order to see how well it could perform. A sequel to Shantae was later announced and released for the DSiWare service, titled Shantae: Risky's Revenge.[7][8] When asked if they would ever use the DSiWare service's ability to add new content to games, Matt stated that he would rather do a sequel with new ideas. Mark concurred, adding that if they have the time, money, and fan support, he would like to do a sequel, stating that they have some great ideas for it.[7]

Reception

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Mighty Flip Champs! and the PlayStation 3 version of Mighty Flip Champs! DX received "favorable" reviews, while the PSP version received "universal acclaim", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[16][17][18] On June 10, 2009, Mighty Flip Champs! ranked ninth on the top 20 best-selling DSiWare games of that week. It stayed at that ranking in the week of June 17, falling to 13th on the week of June 25. It ranked at 18 on July 2, and its last appearance on the list was on July 9 in the 20th place.[19][20][21]

Official Nintendo Magazine praised it as a "charming, addictive and original addition to the growing DSiWare library".[13] IGN praised the DS version's unique design and retro style, describing it as a top notch package and highly recommended.[11] They also gave it their "Editor's Choice" award.[22] Edge described the same DS version as being both a "cold study in design brilliance" and a "speed-runner's dream" in certain points, comparing it to video game developer Treasure's Gunstar Heroes.[9] Nintendo Life praised both the overall quality of the gameplay as well as describing the music and artwork as high quality.[12]

Mighty Flip Champs! was nominated for multiple awards and listed as one of the best DSiWare games by several publications. Nintendo Life named it the runner-up for best DSiWare game of 2009,[23] GamesRadar+ included it as one of the best DSiWare games, calling it an interesting puzzler and one of the most ambitious titles on the DSiWare.[24] In 2011, IGN ranked it as the 13th best DSiWare game, calling it one of the first must-have games for the service.[25] Mighty Flip Champs! was a nominee for best downloadable game of 2009 by GameSpy.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Faulkner, Cameron (July 19, 2022). "Nintendo will close the Wii U and 3DS eShops on March 27th, 2023". The Verge. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  2. ^ Blundon, Michael (June 27, 2011). "WayForward Announces Mighty Switch Force for the Nintendo eShop". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Harris, Craig (March 9, 2009). "DSi Gets Mighty Flip Champs". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  4. ^ Donlan, Chris (August 6, 2009). "Interview: Matt Bozon". Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 9, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Reed, Philip J. (April 2, 2009). "Interviews: WayForward talk Mighty Flip Champs!". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Dillard, Corbie (May 12, 2009). "Interviews: Matt Bozon, Adam Tierney, and Sean Velasco of WayForward - Part One". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d McFerran, Damien (April 28, 2009). "Interview: Contra 4 developer WayForward talks Mighty Flip Champs DSiWare". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  8. ^ Dillard, Corbie (May 29, 2009). "Mighty Flip Champs Coming June 1st". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Edge staff (December 2, 2009). "Review: Mighty Flip Champs". Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  10. ^ Ronaghan, Neal (July 14, 2011). "Review: Mighty FlipChamps DX [sic] (PS3)". GamePro. GamePro Media. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Harris, Craig (June 12, 2009). "Mighty Flip Champs Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Dillard, Corbie (June 4, 2009). "Mighty Flip Champs! Review". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  13. ^ a b East, Thomas (January 2010). "Mighty Flip Champs review". Official Nintendo Magazine. Future plc. p. 83. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  14. ^ "Review: Mighty Flip Champs! DX (PSP)". PSM3. Future plc. October 2011. p. 111.
  15. ^ Jenkins, David (November 2009). "Mighty Flip Champs! (DS)". Teletext GameCentral. Teletext Ltd. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Mighty Flip Champs! for DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Mighty Flip Champs! DX for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Mighty Flip Champs! DX for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  19. ^ Dillard, Corbie (June 10, 2009). "Top 20 DSiWare Games in USA (10th June)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  20. ^ Dillard, Corbie (June 25, 2009). "Top 20 DSiWare Games in USA (25th June)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  21. ^ Dillard, Corbie (July 9, 2009). "Top 20 DSiWare Games in USA (9th July)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  22. ^ "Mighty Flip Champs". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  23. ^ Newton, James (January 6, 2010). "Nintendo Life Game of the Year Results". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  24. ^ Miller-Watt, Josh (April 6, 2010). "The Best and Worst of DSiWare". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  25. ^ Thomas, Lucas M. (May 9, 2011). "The Top 15 DSiWare Games". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  26. ^ "GameSpy Game of the Year 2009: Downloadable Game of the Year 2009". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 12, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
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