Recently Nintendo shut down its online services for the 3DS, having closed the online store the year prior. This event has prompted me to go ahead and install Homebrew on my 3DS with the following being a few capabilities I wanted to unlock:
- Ability to backup my physical games and run from an SD Card.
- Region unlocking my 3DS, so I can import games from other regions into the future, especially now that I can’t purchase titles digitally.
- Setup Pretendo Network, which is a project looking to emulate the Nintendo Online network and restore online capabilities to games.
I obtained a GameSir G8 Galileo recently and was unsure how the device would fare with an iPhone 15 Pro Max in a Bullstrap leather case. GameSir doesn’t specifically advertise case support and I was unable to find information on this configuration. I was prepared to need to take a knife to the GameSir to cut down the rubber patting in order to get a decent USB connection, which some users have had to do with certain cases. It turns out the GameSir G8 works amazingly well paired with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and this leather case and no hacking of the controller was necessary. That’s in part attributed to the open base of the case (which some dislike but I don’t mind) as well as the flexible USB port on the G8.
USB Connectivity between the G8 and an iPhone 15 As a point of comparison the Backbone One 2nd Generation also works well with this phone and case. No problems there either.
Comparing those two devices, the Backbone is much smaller, sleeker and portable, but can be a bit cramped in some titles. The Games on the other hand is massive, similar grip size to an Xbox controller, but is more comfortable to hold. In terms of portability Backblaze has an official case where I haven’t seen a great fitting option yet for the G8.
The one other difference in the G8’s favour is the Backbone has issues with the iOS version of Inside. Horizontal movement works but the jump button and other actions do not. GameSir (and PS5) controllers work fine. As an indication that this may be a bug with the game, if you launch it with a GameSir attached then disconnect the GameSir and insert the phone into the Backbone, the Backbone works then on until Inside is restarted. Odd. I hope the developers fix the title (support ays they’re investigating the issue). Unsure if this issue with the Backbone will crop up in other games or not and hopefully it’s limited to the one release. Even Limbo by the same developer is fine.
Otherwise both are good options for iPhone 15 gaming. I think the devices will become a lot more valuable now we’re seeing titles like Resident Evil 5 and Village coming natively to iPhones. On screen controls just won’t cut it for many titles moving forward.
Just finished Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (with the exception of time trials) and I must say that overall that was one fantastic experience. The game is definitely up there with the best on the Wii U and well worth your time.
All in all it wasn’t too hard to 100% most levels if you bypass the before mentioned time trials (which are absolutely brutal in many cases). The difficulty does go from a five to eleven for the final two bonus levels which I found to be an absolute pain thanks to a certain character named Mummy-Me. Those who played Mario 3D Land’s later levels will remember certain stages contained a shadow Mario that would follow your every move and prevent you from ever stopping, while making back tracking more difficult and was generally there to force the pace of the game. Mummy-Me is Toad’s shadow Mario, and really made the final few bonus stages incredibly tense for what was generally otherwise a very relaxed game.. The last level in particular is a 50 stage maze(/gauntlet) with these guys and a bunch of other enemies all trying to get you, resulting in one rather tense finale.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a fantastically cute and a well crafted little puzzle game. Seriously, check out some footage from the video in this article.
