Spin Cookie

Prince of Persia Review

2008-12-22T13:33:00.007-05:00

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the epitome of great 3D platforming. When Ubisoft announced that they were rebooting the Prince of Persia franchise for the current generation I was among the millions of people who got very very excited. The new Prince of Persia game has a completely retooled art style that makes it look like a drawing come to life. You run around in an open "corrupted" world trying help heal different areas of the land to prevent an evil God from taking over. The new art style really looks phenomenal and is unbelievable to watch as you play through the game. Part of the experience of this game is just witnessing the gorgeous visuals.

Running along with you is your partner, Elika, the daughter of the King who released the evil God into the world. It is up to you and her to defeat the four bosses of the land (the Alchemist, the Concubine, the Hunter, and the Warrior) in any order you'd like. Every time you defeat a boss they will let loose a new type of "corruption" or trap into the world.

One of the things that really got my attention in the new Prince of Persia was the the importance of Elika. She not only plays an important role in the story, but is also a key factor in the gameplay. When you fall she grabs you, when you're hurt she helps you up, when you need to make a jump she lends you a hand, and when you need an extra hit during a fight she jumps in to take a turn. The developers really did a fantastic job incorporating her into the game and making her feel like a character you absolutely need to complete certain tasks. There are times when she will get injured or knocked down and for that second that you're battling on your own you really notice how much of help she was, and how much you miss/need her assistance.

The gameplay is really good and although at times it feels like the game is playing itself and you're just watching some fancy animations, it really does a good job of keeping a certain flow going. There is so much joy to be had in stringing together perfect wall runs, ring grabs, ceiling crawls, bar swings, and double jumps. Once you get a good rhythm going and can go for a while without it breaking, you'll see what I mean.

The combat is based around a combo system that lets you use your sword, gauntlet, Elika, and a jump move. It is pretty deep and is very fun to watch as you toss your enemy up into the air, throw Elika at them, punch them up with your gauntlet, have Elika through you back at them, then slam them down with your sword. It all plays out very well and looks fantastic.

My only gripe with the game is that is is fairly easy, and I like easy games. There weren't many challenging parts and I felt like I'd always make my jump or leap. It looked fantastic and while I was concentrating on not breaking my string of acrobatics, a deeper challenge would have been welcomed.

Prince of Persia: 9/10

Prince of Persia is a fantastic display of a next gen game. The developers did something truly unique with the art style, really bringing the world to life with fantastic colors and scenery. I wish there was more of a challenge, but what is there is brilliant and breath taking. My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time.

Mirror's Edge Review

2008-11-19T09:27:00.010-05:00

Argh, God damnit you son of a bitch!

Holy shit, that was awesome!

Those are the two main thoughts that were racing through my head throughout every stage of Mirror's Edge. Mirror's Edge is a first person platforming game in the vain of the Prince of Persia series. You are tasked with running across rooftops, corridors, and air ducts, trying to find out who framed your sister for murder.

The game is beautiful, when it wants to be. The city and rooftops all look fantastic when you can see them in the background as you're running. The same goes for the saturated and color filled offices and corridors. However there are many textures in the game that just come off as awkward. You constantly get glimpses of Faith's (the main character) hands as she grabs onto ledges and swings from poles. Every time her hands came into the frame they just looked muddled with dull textures that almost looked like they were from the PS2 era. It's odd because the city is dazzling with color and rich textures, but once her hands came into the scene it looked like you were controlling an 80 year old women with wrinkled old man hands.

I have two main problems with the game. First, I found it hard to figure out the best spot I could grab next, wishing I could just continue my string of jumps and tucks that were getting my adrenaline pumping. A perfect example of what I'm talking about is Sonic the Hedgehog. There are always times in those games where you're zipping along going super fast, only to hit a wall, or some spikes, or a poorly placed enemy. It brings the speed to a halt and you forced to go very slow to jump over the spikes, or jump up a wall, then continue your speed run. I got the same exact feeling from Mirror's Edge. I would be jumping and swinging along having a blast, then I'd hit some weird area where it wasn't obvious where the developer wanted me to go and I had to walk around trying to figure out what I could grab or duck under. It completely ruined the feeling that Faith was a pro at this and with a few button presses she'd be able to run and jump wherever she wanted. There were times in every level where I was brought to a screeching halt, making me urge for a level where I could run and platform for more than 2 minutes without being stopped.

My second complaint about this game is that it always felt the need to force you into combat situations. The combat in Mirror's Edge does work, it's just not as good as most shooting games. This is understandable, after all you are a runner, not a shooter, so it makes sense that you wouldn't be able to aim very well, if thats what they were going for. I mainly have a problem with the combat because it ties back into the first problem. I just wanted levels where I could run for the length of the level and see if I can string together a ton of jumps without falling or missing a ledge. The combat does nothing more than to take you out of that gameplay that makes the game so great.

When the platforming and running segments do shine through, the game is an absolute blast to play. I was getting pretty frustrated at the end of the game from constantly having to break my streak to figure out where to go, but when I got to the last section in chapter 8 they really gave me what I was looking for. I won't say anything to spoil it but all you need to know is that you're tasked with getting to the roof of a building. There was no one in my way and for about 25 minutes it was nothing but great platforming, jumping, running, tucking, wall running, and ledge grabbing. That's what I was waiting for! If only the entire game could have been made out of sections like that, I would have liked it a lot more. Those section are what make the game truly special, and accomplish something that hasn't been done before. Being able to platform like that in a first person view was a fantastic experience, I just wish there were more lengthy segments like that last bit.

The story is pretty much non existent, it's told through poorly animated "E-Surance-esque" cutscenes. They really don't make you care about any of the characters and don't do a very good job of fleshing out the plot. The sound in the game is great, the music and ambiance come through very well and really set the tone for the dystopian city you're running in. The sound effects when Faith runs and jumps, and hits a ledge are fantastic. The sound of your heart and breath when you get going really fast can be very exhilarating.

Mirror's Edge: 7.5/10

Ultimately Mirror's Edge was a fun game, but like the Sonic games, I hated when it broke up my running streaks and left me wondering what I had to grab onto or duck under. I constantly wanted sections where I could run for the entire level without interruption, and they only came towards the very end. The combat was wonky at times and really only bothered me because they broke up the running sections. The reason Mario Galaxy is so good is because it sticks to what it knows, platforming. If Mirror's Edge had just stuck with the running aspects of the game, EA and DICE would have had something amazing on their hands. I'm not trying to sell the game short, there are sections of the game that are unbelievable and very new, they are just buried under other sections filled with wonky combat and frustrating level design.

World of Goo Review

2008-10-31T16:44:00.004-04:00

One of my most anticipated WiiWare games came out a few weeks ago, World of Goo. Developer 2D Boy really made a fantastic and unique puzzle game that looks and plays like Nintendo made it themselves.

In World of Goo you act as a sort of "architect" in that you have to figure out the best and most structurally sound way to build a tower or bridge like contraption to manuever your little goo balls to the exit of each level. The challenges can get pretty tough as there is a really good physics system behind the game. Your tower or bridge will sometimes collapse if you don't keep the base of it strong enough, it will lean in certain directions if there is not equal weight distribution, and it will hit obstacles in the level if not built well enough to avoid them. There are many different types of goo balls throughout the game, some can be used more than once, some act as baloons and instead of adding another frame to your bridge, it will raise it up over some spikes. The game controls wonderfully and using the Wii remote to pick up your goo balls and place them on your contraption works flawlessly and is very fun.

Word of Goo is presented in this very Tim Burton, almost story book like world. It reminds of Charlie and the Choclate factory mainly because of the Danny Elfman-esque music. There is a unique and fantastic story unfolding as you move your goo balls from level to level. The style of the game is a perfect fit for Wii, the developer didn't attempt to do anything too fancy and it ends up looking like a really well put together Flash game, which is a perfect fit for WiiWare.

World of Goo: 10/10

I gave Word of Goo a perfect score because it is really the epitome of the WiiWare service. A fantastic, well presented game for a low cost. I would have easily paid 40 bucks for this game in a retail store, it's that good. WiiWare is really proving to be a great showcase for indie talent in the gaming community. Games like Lost Winds, Word of Goo, and the upcoming Animales de la Murete seem tailor made for the Wii, and that's just what I was hoping we'd get with the service.

Portal Review

2008-10-23T16:43:00.005-04:00

Having just restarted my GameFly subscription I decided I should finally finish playing Portal, so the first game I rented was The Orange Box. Portal looks like a First Person Shooter but is really a puzzle game.

You're given what is called the Portal Gun which allows you to shoot a opening and an exit Portal one colored blue, the other orange. You're placed in various different rooms with obstacles that you must avoid and get around using the gun. For instance, there may be a projectile bouncing off of the walls in a certain pattern, and you need that projectile to hit a certain switch in the room that is not in it's pattern. You simply shoot one Portal on the wall that you know the projectile will hit, and place the other Portal on the wall facing the button. The projectile will go through the first Portal and come out the other heading straight for the button allowing you to continue. There are various other scenarios similar to this and a few of them caused me to scratch my head. But that is where the genius of Portal really starts to shine through. A puzzle may look really complicated and even impossible, but a few well placed Portals, some hops, skips, and jumps, and you're on your way to exit. Like most puzzle games it can be quite rewarding when you finish a particularly hard challenge.

One of the best features and uses of the Portals is momentum. This might be hard to understand through words but I'll give it a shot anyway. Picture a wall in front of you that goes up pretty high, with a small gap at the very top, behind you is a wall that goes straight to the ceiling. On the left and right are walls to the ceiling as well. You have to get out of that room. This is done by shooting a portal at the very top of the wall behind you, another at your feet. Fall through the one at your feet causing you to fall from the top of the wall that is behind you down towards the floor. Right before you hit the floor shoot another Portal, keeping the first one on the wall behind you. This will allow you to build up speed and momentum. Keep falling from the top of the wall behind you to the portal on the floor and you will eventually shoot straight from the back wall over that tiny gap in the wall that was blocking your way. Phew, I hope you got all that, I'm not even sure that I did.

Another great aspect of Portal is the story and commentary that is conveyed through your "captor" GlaDOS. She is a computer that is essentially provoking you and taunting you all throughout each room or puzzle. She can be quite funny and devious at times so pay attention to what she is saying.

Portal: 10/10

I gave Portal a 10/10 because for what is was (a short add on to the Half Life 2 Series that did not need to be included at all) it was perfect. To me it even surpasses the Half Life series as I have never really been into those games. It is a short, addictive, funny, and challenging puzzle game that is disguised as an FPS. There aren't too many games that can fit that mold and Portal seems to have nailed it out of the park. There is an expansion pack that was just released for the XBOX 360 but as the developer Valve is not a the biggest fan of the PS3 I don't see it coming to that big black box anytime soon, if ever.

Thoughts on Nintendo's Press Conference Today

2008-10-02T14:48:00.006-04:00

Ever since Nintendo blew their E3 showing a few months back people have been complaining about Nintendo not catering to the hardcore audience, me included. Wii Music was the only thing in the front of peoples minds after that. A game that basically puts the controller in your hand and plays music on the screen while you wave it around. That, for a lot of us, was not the major title we were looking for.

Enter Nintendo's Fall Media Summit. It did everything their E3 showing should have done, plus more. The major announcement was for the new DS the DSi. It is a redesign of the current hardware, not a new format. The DSi will have larger screens, a camera on the front and one on the inside for video, and no more GBA slot yielding it 12% (correct me of that's the wrong number) slimmer than the current DS. There is a little person inside me that wants everything new and "techie" but as of now there doesn't seem to be enough new features to warrant an upgrade from my DS lite. The only thing that has peaked my interest is the introduction of a "Virtual Console" like system for the DS, which people have been requesting for a while. If this turns out to be successful, in the sense that you can download past game boy, game boy color, and game boy advance games on it then that might justify the purchase in itself. But again this all depends on how things play out, and the software that is released for it. I'd much rather have a new hand held altogether, with a new format of games. It seems like with this re design Nintendo is just trying to get the DS brand to print more money than the millions it already has.

On a sadder note, this looks like it could be the death of the Game Boy brand. The removal of the GBA slot from the current DS seems like Nintendo is throwing away it's last tie to the Game Boy. People can argue that this may not be the smartest move because of all the prestige that name can bring, but with the amount of money Nintendo is bringing on the DS alone, I think they have a new powerhouse brand on their hands. The DS brand is also trying to attract a much wider audience than the Game Boy ever was, so it makes sense that they should be separated brands.

Now, onto the important things, the games. It seems we have been appeased and can no longer question Nintendo's appeal to the hardcore gamer. Today they announced a slew of games that have me, along with every other Nintendo fan, very excited. Specifically the announcement of a new Punch Out!! game. This is a franchise that many loyal Nintendo fans have enjoyed on the NES and SNES which has been long overdue. The franchise hasn't been seen since the SNES days, and only the NES release of the game is currently available on the Virtual Console.

One last game that has every one's attention is Sin and Punishment 2. The first Sin and Punishment was never released in the US, until it showed up on the US Virtual Console last year. It is an "on rails" shooter that was developed by industry favorite Treasure. When the second game was announced last night in Japan, many American gamers were worried that it would not come to the states. During today's conference NOA (Nintendo of America) confirmed that due to the impressive sales of the first title on the VC they are bringing the second game to America.

There were also a bunch of DS announcements including Mario and Luigi RPG 3 and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, both of which I am very excited for. Below I have posted a screen shot from the new Punch Out!!, Sin and Punishment 2, and a comparison shot from GoNintendo of the DSi on the left and DSlite on the right.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village Review

2008-08-28T12:46:00.009-04:00

When I first got my DS back in 2006 there weren't that many games that I wanted to play for it. I loved New Super Mario Brothers, and Sonic Rush, but I couldn't find many games that I felt really couldn't be played anywhere else. Now Professor Layton is not necessarily one of those games, but being able to solve puzzles using the touch screen made the game so much fun, and very intuitive.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is the first game in the Professor Layton series to be published in the United States. Level 5 (The developers behind the fantastic Jeanne D'arc for PSP) self published the game in Japan, but were lucky enough to get Nintendo to get the job done for them in the states. The game is a puzzle game wrapped around a murder mystery. You must inquire around town about a certain "Golden Apple" and the death of one of the towns people. However no one will help you unless you help them first. Every villager has a puzzle that you must solve before they will give you any information. The puzzles range from your standard block moving, to some pretty hard math, word, and logic problems. A lot of the puzzles fall into the brain teaser category, and most of them can be solved if you think outside the box.

The game looks fantastic, with anime cut scenes filling in the story, and some very nice 2D character art when interacting with the townspeople. Just like Jeanne d'Arc the production values were very high and it really came through when playing the game. The story actually had me guessing until the very end, something I wasn't expecting, and I really liked where the developers went with it.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village: 8/10

I gave Professor Layton an 8 out of 10 only because the puzzles would sometimes get repetitive, and often times become downright impossible. Now I love a good challenge, but I simply could not do some of them forcing me to either turn to Google or my girlfriend. I loved the style and the game play and can't complain about the length, it took me a good 16 hours to get through the 100+ puzzles. I can't wait for the next game in the series which should be coming out sometime in 2009, it's already out in Japan. I have included below a very funny comic from Penny Arcade that pretty much sums up the game as a whole.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Review

2008-06-16T09:44:00.005-04:00

I never beat games this fast, I usually never even beat games to begin with. The Metal Gear series has always been a different beast to me however. Ever since I played Metal Gear Solid back in the day I was hooked on the story of Solid Snake. When MGS4 came out I wanted nothing more than to beat it as fast as I could just so I could know the story, and have some sort of closure to this adventure I've been playing since 1998. That's just what I did, I bought the game when it came out on Thursday, after sinking 21 hours into it and having a Metal Gear fueled weekend, I'm done. The Metal Gear series has always been one of my favorites in video games, from the gameplay and stealth mechanics, to the characters and story, these are the games that rank at the top of my list.

Even though I love this series, I can't help but feel that during most of the game I'm tasked with running through tight corridors trying to disarm bombs, change key card colors, or locate certain weapons. With the exception of MGS3 most of the games have taken on this style. While it may be rewarding in the end, I sometimes got frustrated with back tracking, or being in the same type of environment over and over again. MGS4 changes this drastically. You start out in the middle east in the center of a conflict between privatized military groups and the local forces. The main difference about MGS4 that sets it apart from the other games in the series is that you are not the enemy. There is a battle going on around you, but neither side concerns you. You have a specific goal in mind and it is entirely up to you if you want to get involved in the fight. There is a perceived enemy (the PMC's) but you do not have to fight them. However, if you chose to fight them, the local rebels will notice you and come to your aide, helping you progress through each area more efficiently. There are four other areas that this story will take you to, I won't get into any details but let's just say that by the fourth act (out of five, plus an epilogue, and debriefing), I knew this game was a masterpiece.

This game brought back so much nostalgia for me, seeing these characters interact again, and being back in the story that I started ten years ago really felt amazing. I don't want to give anything away but you really get a sense of closure at the end of this game. As much as everyone touts the Metal Gear series for having one of the most convoluted stories out there, this game really does a fantastic job of tying everything together and making you understand almost every aspect of the storyline with ease. Unlike the previous games, I don't have any questions after finishing the game, Kojima (the creator) really explained every question and detail that he created in this world.

Metal Gear Solid 4 also sets itself apart from the other games in the series by allowing you to take a more action oriented approach to each mission. You start out with a ton of weapons and can upgrade or purchase more at any time once you meet a certain character named Drebin and his little pet monkey. This adds a lot to the game allowing you to shoot your way through if you'd like to. I found myself sneaking around, taking out people silently if they were in my way, but if caught I would take out my shotgun and start blasting people. Kojima may be the father of stealth games, but the action and shooting in this game are phenomenal. I would go about some parts almost begging to get caught (which sure enough would happen as I'm not that good) and would have tons of fun using all of the weapons and explosives in my arsenal. No longer is the series tied to the stealth genre, it can run and gun with the best of the action games.

I'm almost at a loss for words. There is so much that I want to talk about, but I do not want to give anything away. There are tons of twists and throw backs to earlier games, plenty of nostalgia to go around. The environments and characters that you meet up with are fantastic and all do a great job of flushing out the story. I don't have to say it, but the graphics look amazing as well, as other reviewers have stated Kojima is really pushing every pixel on the PS3. I think it'll be hard finding a better looking game for a really long time.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: 10/10

This series is legendary, and this game is a masterpiece. It feels weird to finally have closure to a series I've been playing for ten years. I have no more questions, I have all of the information I wanted, yet I still want to walk around as Solid Snake for just a little longer. He is one of the few video game characters that felt truly human and this game shows it more than ever. Kojima has stated that this is not the end of the Metal Gear series, just the end of the Solid Snake chapter. I'm not sure if there can be a metal gear game with out a snake character. I have no doubt's in Kojima, I'm just not sure if anything else can live up to Solid Snake's legacy.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Review

2008-06-12T09:45:00.006-04:00

After beating GTA I decided to spend some time with a game I've been waiting to play since I heard about it in November: Uncharted. Uncharted is an action game with some platforming elements mixed in. It plays a lot like the Tomb Raider games with a Gears of War cover system. The game is set it a beautiful tropical jungle is a blast to play through and to look at.

I was first interested in Uncharted because I heard it had a lot of platforming elements to it, much like the Prince of Persia series. You have to run and jump from ledge to ledge, grabbing on to rocks and catching your feet on little holes in the wall. It is really fun and exciting to string together a bunch of jumps, successfully landing on the other side of a river or water fall. The platforming segments are really well done and I almost always knew where the next ledge or hand hole that I could jump to would be.

Mixed in with the jungle platforming is a bunch of third person shooting segments. These sections are also extremely well done and feel extremely polished. There is a cover system in place that lets you hide behind a ledge or wall, allowing you to peak out at the right time, get off a few shots, and duck back in. It all works seamlessly and provides a good amount of strategy. Often times your cover, be it a wooden crate or something, would get blown to pieces forcing you to frantically run for cover somewhere else trying to avoid the enemies bullets.

Uncharted also incorpates a rewards system, much like the XBOX 360's achievement system. You get points for pulling off headshots, finding random treasures, or getting 10 kills in a row with a certain weapon. Once you have enough points you can unlock things like extra weapons, costumes, cheats, and developer movies. I found these to be a great addition to the game. Once I beat the main story (8 hours and 35 minutes) I immediately went to the "making of" section to see how it was all done. I loved this game so much that I wanted more instantly, these bonus features were a great addition for that.

Along with the action and platforming segments are certain vehicle sections. These require you to take a Jeep or a Jet-ski and plow through some bad guys. These were placed in the best possible spots and added great amount of fun to the game. I had just gotten through shooting down about four waves of pirates when one of these sections occurred. They kept the fast paced action of the game, but allowed me to relax and just drive, or shoot from the back of the truck. The entire game was a blast to watch, and it really felt like an action movie.

The music in Uncharted was also fantastic, some of the best I've heard in a game. The score was composed by Greg Edmonson, who also did the TV show Firefly. As soon as I first heard the opening theme I was blown away. It felt the same way as hearing the opening theme to Pirates of the Caribbean in the movie theater. The nailed the feel of the game and really set the tone with a perfect orchestral score. The music really pushed the adventure theme of the game and was a fantastic addition to the game play and story.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune: 10/10

I gave Uncharted a 10 simply because I have never had this much fun playing a video game from start to finish. There were no extremely frustrating parts, yet there was nothing that was too easy. Developer Naughty Dog really put a lot of effort into this game and it definitely shows. The characters are all fantastic and you really start to understand who they are, and what their motives are. The game really feels like the perfect summer blockbuster action movie. I have never played a game that felt this cinematic, and looked this good. I played the majority of Uncharted on my new 32 inch Sony Bravia, and man it looked fantastic. The colors were vibrant, the animations fluid, everything was crystal clear. To me, Uncharted was one of the most polished games I have played. Everything from the animations and sound, to the story was perfect. This is one game that I didn't want to end, and I am greatly looking forward to the sequel. As of now Uncharted is the epitome of gaming for the PS3, a lot of developers will have to live up to this standard for action games in the future.

What I've Been Playing

2008-05-28T09:46:00.007-04:00

After I beat GTA I pretty much started playing every other game I have but haven't had the time to enjoy. First I started with Uncharted: Drakes Fortune for the PS3. The game is like a big budget action movie, a perfect game to play in the summer that feels just like a good time at the movies. You are constantly running and jumping around a beautifully lit jungle, in between epic gun fights and jet ski chases. It feels like a breath of fresh air after playing a heavy RPG like Jeanne D'Arc.

Second on the PS3 is Assassins Creed. I bought this because it was $18 at Gamefly and I had a $5 off coupon for their store. So I pretty much couldn't lose. Assassins creed is a lot of fun when you are running and jumping on rooftops. Where it can get a little sketchy sometimes is the combat. In the beginning I found the combat to be pretty hard and I would constantly die. However, after I learned the counter move I found the combat to be a little too easy. There was no balance. The game looks beautiful and it is tons of fun running around the open city. I'm looking forward to spending some more time with it.

Last on the PS3 is Skate. I've been interested in Skate ever since I first heard about it, I just didn't have a console to play it on yet. Once I got the PS3 I got the Skate demo and have been playing it nonstop. I tracked down a cheap copy of the game on ebay and have been enjoying my time with it. It looks amazing and really feels like I'm playing in a skate video. The camera is down low and it is easy for you to set up smooth lines. The city is huge and as of now I cannot keep from getting lost. Hopefully soon I'll get a feel for where the good spots are.

A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I loaded up Mario Kart Wii and went online with it, like we always do. We didn't realize that after a few races, two of our friends had joined us. Now I know this is typical fair for most online games, but this is not how things usually work on a Nintendo system. It was nice to see that they could effortlessly join us without forcing us to back out and accept their invitation or something like that. Our competitiveness was instantly boosted and it really made the already fun online racing a lot more intense.

I also recently found a program called Crossover which lets you emulate Windows software on a Mac or Linux based machine. I downloaded the free month long trial along with Steam, a windows application for digitally distributed games. Steam installed and worked perfectly so I immediately purchased one of the games I have been waiting to play for a a long time: Portal. glaDOS's narration and the puzzle game play are fantastic. It plays like an FPS but is really a puzzle game where you use Portals to get to hard to reach areas. I can't wait to finish this one so I can finally understand all the inside jokes on Digg.

Along with Portal I purchased Team Fortress 2. I didn't want the entire Orange Box because I already have Half Life 2 on the XBOX and also don't have much space on my Mac. TF2 is great and I really love the cell shaded look. Everything about it has a comical feel to it and the games can get pretty intense. It is a team based multiplayer online shooter. You can pick from different classes of characters including Medic, Heavy, Engineer, Solider, Scout, Demo-man, Pyro, Spy, and Sniper. I found that I got the most kills with the Solider as he has a rocker launcher, but I also really enjoyed setting up sentry guns to mow down opponents with the Engineer. Each class has it's own benefits and I have yet to figure out which one I like the best.

Finally on the handheld front I have been playing Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on the DS and Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP. There is a new Castlevania game coming out for the DS (and potentially Wii) in the near future and I wanted to brush up on the series. Dawn of Sorrow on the DS looks great and is really well animated. It's been a while since I have played a classic 2D sidescroller but I found it really fun and actually pretty deep. I never realized that the Castlevania games have pretty in depth inventory systems. The PSP game is a different story. I found the pace to be painfully slow as your character cannot run, and it can be difficult to land kills as you whip doesn't always hit the enemy when you think it will. I only really bought the PSP game because it contains as a bonus feature what I've heard to be the best Castlevania game ever: Symphony of the Night. I will probably stop playing the main game and jump into that after I beat the DS version.

I plan to review all of these games, eventually, as I beat them. A lot of them are fairly short and shouldn't prove too hard. Metal Gear 4 also comes out on June 12 so look forward to a review for that after I beat it, but that could be a ways down the road.

Jeanne d'Arc Review

2008-05-26T17:01:00.008-04:00

After over 40 hours of play time I finally beat Jeanne d'Arc for the PSP. The game is an alternate take on what happened during the hundred years war, and with Joan of Arc. Instead of the usual soldiers and infantry, the enemies take the form of orcs, trolls, and daemons.

The game is a strategy RPG (SRPG) meaning that you move each player along a grid and then perform an activity whether it be an attack, healing spell, or other skill. Each time you defeat an enemy you earn experience points helping you "level up" throughout the game. Unique to Jeanne d'Arc is the ability for certain characters to transform into super soldiers, with heightened attacks and powers, by use of jewels they wear on their arms.

I have never played an SRPG before and was a little skeptical coming into this one. My friend had sold me on the story which is why I decided to try it out. After getting a lesson in how to play the game, and most RPGs, I undertook my first battle. It reminded me very much of playing chess. The game requires you to plan out each move very carefully, everything must be taken into account. You can attack from the side or back of the enemy for more damage, leave burning auras or "hot spots" for another character to step into to increase their ability, and you can choose when to transform your character to inflict greater damage on your enemy at the most crucial time. You also have to take into account when your characters need healing or other forms of aide, as each health boost takes up a turn.

I fell in love with the gameplay of Jeanne d'arc and although at times it felt a little repetitive, I was always unlocking new attacks and abilities to try out. The story also proved rather interesting with various twists and turns. The story was accompanied by almost an hour and half worth of anime cut scenes. These were super polished and very well done. After staring at sprites on the small map for each battle it was good to see a fully realized version of each character, it gave them depth and personality.

The game looked amazing on the PSP's bright and wide screen. The colors were brilliant and each stage looked completely different from the last. Part of why I kept pressing on in the game is because it was fantastic to look at. Level-5 did an amazing job with this title and I can't wait to get my hands on some of their other games, such as Professor Layton for the Nintendo DS. I have decided to start scoring my reviews to accompany the write up. Each game's score will be on a scale from 1-10 with no half points or decimals.

Jeanne d'Arc: 9/10

I give this game a 9 out of 10 because it was extremely fun to play and a great introduction to the genre. It made me really want to try out two other SRPG's for the PSP: Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea. I deducted a point because of the level grinding. It sometimes became a pain to loose a battle, go out to another free battle just to level up a bunch, then go back into the battle to finally win. It became time consuming and I mostly wanted to progress the story.

Overall this was a fantastic game and I look forward to their other titles.

Grand Theft Auto: IV Review

2008-05-19T09:47:00.006-04:00

This is the first GTA game I have ever completed. That statement is going to ring true with a lot of people out there. I beat it in 31 hours with 60% of the game completed, 60% being the full story. A lot of gamers who play the GTA games are used to going into the city, getting a ridiculous amount of weapons, and causing havoc until they either get killed or busted. This process is then repeated for hours on end. I can't comment on the story for the other GTA games, I've heard they are good, but sometimes don't suck you in enough. The only other GTA game where I started to follow the story was Vice City Stories on the PSP. I played about 20% through the story before I got bored and just started messing around again.

GTA IV is a different beast, and I have a feeling that a lot of people will agree with me. No longer is the focus of the game to own every piece of property and build your empire. You now play as Niko Bellic, a eastern European immigrant who is trying to survive in Liberty City (inspired by NYC). Yes Niko wants money, but he has no interest in controlling the mob, or telling other people what to do. He has a back story and a reason to be in Liberty city. He takes various jobs in return for information about someone he is searching for. This is what sets GTA IV apart from the other games in the series. Niko has his own agenda. The story plays out less like a mobster movie with a guy trying to make it big, and more like a best picture nominee with underlying themes and principles guiding Niko.

Often times the player is forced to choose between two different scenarios in the game. You will be asked to either kill someone, or walk away and let them live. Sometimes this affects the dialogue between other characters and sometimes it affects the story of the game. What makes this interesting is that I found myself pausing the game, and asking my girlfriend to help me decide who to kill, or who to let live. You grow attached to Niko and start to think of what Niko Bellic would do instead of what you, the gamer, would do. Sure I just want to blow the heads off of people and run over everyone I see, but the game pulls you in and forces you to make decisions as Niko, not yourself. Niko may be a killing machine throughout most of the game, but he always has a motive. It becomes a WWND situation (What Would Niko Do). Would he really kill this person just because he was asked to? Or does this person deserve a second chance? Sometimes the answers are more obvious than others, but it can be tough.

The graphics for this game are incredible. Although they are not the best for the system, the sheer amount of stuff going on and the fact that it is a living, breathing city is amazing. Like a lot of reviewers said before this, the city really feels "lived in" it doesn't feel like it was made just for this game. From the conversations on the street to the traffic, roads, and buildings, the city really feels alive. Adding to that, the PS3 version had a mandatory install that allows for almost no loading in the game itself. You can drive all the way from Queens, through Manhattan, to New Jersey with no load times at all.

The replay value on GTA games has always been amazing. You can go into the city and cause mayhem all you want, but now you don't have to do it alone. Multiplayer has been added this time around along with a variety of game types. The only one I got to try out was free mode, which drops you in Liberty city with a number of other players and lets you roam around on your own.

Grand Theft Auto: IV: 9/10

GTA IV really makes you think about the characters, and choices you make in the game. This is the first video game I've played that really had a cinematic feel to it. I actually cared about the characters and based my gameplay and decisions around them. I have no interest in going back to play the stories of past GTA games after this. However, I am greatly looking forward to the future games in the series. I took off one point because sometimes the controls would get a little wonky. Rockstar has crafted the franchise into a storytelling masterpiece, and I'm sure they will only get better from here.

LostWinds Review

2008-05-13T09:43:00.007-04:00

Wii Ware launched yesterday, and I couldn't wait to get home to download a copy of LostWinds. LostWinds is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer where you control a little guy named Toku with the nunchuck, and the wind spirit Enril with Wii remote. Toku will automatically jump off of ledges and climb up things, like Zelda games, but will need the aid of Enril to boost him along. By pressing the A button and flicking a gust of air under Toku you can give him an extra boost and get him across longer passages.

The game looks fantastic. When Bionic Commando Rearmed was announced for PS3 and 360 I thought that something similar could be done on the Wii. Granted LostWinds' graphical quality isn't up to par with that game, it is still probably some of the best 3D graphics for a sidescroller that the Wii can produce. The world is bright and colorful with great attention to detail. When not aiding Toku you can move the wind spirit around to just blow a breeze through the trees or the nearby plants, all react in different ways. You will also use the wind to solve puzzles in order to progress Toku through the game. There may be a plant that needs watering in order for Toku to hop into it and have it shoot him up to a ledge. Draw a path from a nearby waterfall to the plant and water droplets will follow the gust and get the job done. Similar puzzles use fire to burn down vine filled passages.

The music in LostWinds is another great addition to the game. In the background you will hear the leaves rustling under the sound of native american flutes and other ambient noises. It is all very relaxing and makes the world that much more beautiful.

LostWinds: 8/10

For $10 LostWinds is a fantastic game. I am only an hour into it but have heard that there is only two more to go. For such a fantastic looking game I would have liked to see it a little longer. God of War for the PSP is only a 5 hour game and I paid $40 for that, so this is still a good deal. Despite it's short length, LostWinds is certainly more fun, and has a lot more effort put into it than a lot of 3rd party Wii games out there today. I can't wait to go home and finish the game tonight. A sequel has also already been announced by Frontier Development. This looks like another franchise I'll keep on my radar.

Monster Truck Mayhem

2008-05-09T12:42:00.003-04:00

Back in the day when I used to play PC games on my Packard Bell machine, the families machine, I played a lot of racing games. Megarace, that came with Windows, destruction derby, and Monster Truck Madness got the most play time. The last title is a game I played a lot of. I loved driving off the track where ever I wanted, taking my truck off of huge jumps and hill tops.

Playing console games over the years I haven't really gotten back into racing games. I've been too busy with the RPG's, shooters, and action games. Now while I love all of the games I've been playing, I miss some good arcade racing. I was never one to like Gran Turismo games, or play realistic sports games. I always wanted everything to be way over the top, arcade, fun. When I signed onto the PSN last weekend I saw a demo for a game I knew little about, Motorstorm. I booted it up and realized it was everything I loved from the old Monster Truck racing game I missed so much, everything that is except the monster trucks.

In Motorstorm you drive around in ATV's, Dirt Bikes, and buggies on off road mountain top courses. The game looks absolutely fantastic on the PS3 and I was having a blast with it. I read reviews and learned that the games was disappointingly lacking in content and game modes, so I figured I'd wait until the sequel.

Well that time has come, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift was recently announced at Sony's game day in London this past week. The game takes everything from the first game, adds split screen multiplayer, more cars, tracks, and game modes, and best of all: monster trucks. I'm a sucker for games with bright colorful/tropical settings, which is why I bought Uncharted. The fact that Motorstorm now has monster trucks, and takes place in the pacific is just awesome. I'll be playing the demo for the first game anxiously waiting for the second one to come out, which happens this fall.

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves Review

2008-05-09T10:19:00.007-04:00

When I first got the Wii I wasn't sure which game I wanted to pick up first. I wanted to dive right into Zelda and Metroid but I also wanted something I could play with my girlfriend. I decided the first game I would buy would be Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.

The game is a collection of mini games all requiring you to use the Wii remote in a unique way. Each time a new "position" is necessary, a creepy voiced man will tell you in a low, romantic, tone how to hold the remote. The names and demonstrations on screen are hilarious, and some of the movements and positions are very creative. One position is the "The Butler" which requires you to hold the remote in the palm of your hand and extend your hand out as if holding something on a butlers tray. The mini game would then be a phone ringing, and you'd have to move quick to grab the remote with your other hand to answer. This sounds really easy, but you have to take into consideration that you are given about 1 second to do this. The mini games fire off in quick succession, one after the other. Sometimes a game will appear on screen and you will not know how to accomplish the goal, simply because you didn't hear the correct position to hold the remote. You are left waving it in front of you hoping you might still win, which rarely works.

Along with the positions to hold the remote, are movements you must do to win each game. A mini game may require you to hold the remote at your side, and squat down to pick something up. This can generally be done by just holding the remote up, and moving it down, without causing you any physical stress. However this almost breaks the game. The game is very fun and very entertaining if you buy into it. It can get hilarious to just be doing all of the crazy movements it wants you to do. The Wii remote can't tell if you're actually doing the movements, but they are what make the game fun. All the remote knows is if you moved it up, down, left, or right, and how fast you did it. Watching someone try and do 8, 1-2 second, mini games in a row can be quite funny. The games ramp up in difficulty as you progress and you may find yourself breaking a sweat at some point.

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves: 8/10

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves is a very fun and creative game, if you let yourself go and just do what it asks. Sure you can break the game, and half ass it, but is that really what you're playing it for? You're playing it to have a good time with the people around you, and that is exactly what this game accomplishes.

Super Mario Galaxy Review

2008-05-07T16:18:00.006-04:00

I have had the Wii for quite some time now and realized that I have never given my thoughts on most of the games I have played for it. This includes one of my new favorite games, Super Mario Galaxy.

I have always been a Nintendo fan, especially a Mario fan, since as far back as I can remember. I've always loved platforming and running Mario through the different levels. Although I was part of the few who actually enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine, I realized that it was missing something. Too much of the level design was theme based and everything about the game had a tropical feel to it, due to the island setting. Super Mario Galaxy is a return to form for our favorite plumber. It puts him back in the kinds of levels we ran around in Super Mario 64. More random puzzles and levels filled with goombas and other familiar enemies.

To start off, the game looks beautiful on the Wii. The Wii may not be able to produce the best graphics of this generation, but Nintendo knows how to make their games pretty. Everything has great lighting and shading, and the world is filled with bright and rich colors. I found myself repeating levels not only because they were fun, but because they were so much fun to just stare at (specifically Gusty Gardens).

The new element that has been added into the mix is gravity. You'll find yourself having to run around spherical planets and levels. You'll jump straight up from the sphere and find yourself flipped upside down on the planet above it. This adds a great deal of fun to each puzzle. As much as I love just classic Mario platforming, this new addition of gravity made the game that much better that I can't imagine it without it. I'd like to see where they can go next. Adding a feature like that improved upon the gameplay so much that I am begging they do something similar, not necessarily gravity, with there other franchises. The Metroid and Zelda franchise, while still fantastic, could use a gameplay reboot.

Another great addition to Super Mario Galaxy is the ability to have someone play with you and collect all the star pieces around the level for you. This allows them to shoot the pieces at enemies and help clear paths for you. It sounds pretty simple and is probably meant for a parent to be able to play with their kids, but my girlfriend and I had a blast with it. She wasn't interested in the 3D platforming but still wanted to play the game. This "Co-Star" mode was a prefect addition for that.

Super Mario Galaxy: 10/10

I say that Super Mario Galaxy is one of my new favorite games simply because the style, level design, gameplay, and overall production value were through the roof. I've rarely had this much fun playing a video game. Some levels are a lot harder than others, and can prove stressful at times, but I had a big smile on my face just running Mario around in this new world. It reminded me why I like to play video games. I like shooters, RPGs, and racing games as much as every other gamer, but sometimes nothing can beat perfect platforming, and stringing triple jumps together.

Mirror's Edge Footage

2008-05-06T15:06:00.004-04:00

Above is new footage for the upcoming EA game Mirror's Edge coming out on PS3, XBOX 360, and PC. The game looks beautiful, taking place in a bright sun filled city. What interests me about this game is that it is emphasized as a first person adventure game, not an FPS. It looks to have all the great platforming moments from a game like Prince of Persia, or Mario Galaxy, but played through a first person view. Interesting. Here is a quote from an IGN preview for the game:

"The team at DICE continued to hammer home the point during their presentation that the feeling of momentum and fluid movement was very important to the gameplay dynamic within Mirror's Edge. As Faith made her landing on the adjoining rooftop she immediately sprinted toward a fence, vaulted it, slid under a set of pips and then began traversing a thin metal pipe to yet another building. It all felt like one continuous movement, similar to cycling between pieces of cover in Gears of War only a bit more natural."

The best part is that the video is all in game footage. It looks like a game I'll be keeping my eye on. Below is a screenshot of the city.

Metal Gear Online Beta Impressions

2008-05-06T13:50:00.006-04:00

I preordered Metal Gear Solid 4 which got me the code to play the Metal Gear Online (MGO) beta. I created my Konami ID, which is separate from a PSN ID, sat through about an hour of updates, then finally created my character. All of the character options were pretty much just dudes in camo and cargo pants, but after all this is just the beta.

Once I got into the gameplay I found myself a little confused. I'm used to playing Metal Gear games in a certain way: sneak around, stop, take out weapon, aim at head, pull trigger, hide body, repeat. It was a little weird running around trying to navigate the infamous metal gear menus to get the right weapon out in time. I eventually got the hang of it and was cappin' fools in no time. This was made easier, and somewhat frustrating, by the fact that I could not figure out how to take auto aim off.

It was pretty fun, and different, to see the Metal Gear world in a fleshed out online shooter, there is a lot more strategy involved then normal multiplayer games. There are a ton of modes, even with the beta, I only tried out regular death match. I plan to try more and can't wait to get my hands on the full release which ships with MGS 4 this June.

Echochrome Review

2008-05-06T09:33:00.006-04:00

I don't usually play too many puzzle games, but when I downloaded the demo for Sony's new puzzler, Echochrome on the psp, I was hooked. The game drops you into an M.C. Escher type of puzzle making you walk around and collect "echoes" of other figures in the environment.

You must manipulate the world around you by turning the camera to change the perspective of the puzzle. You may be on a low platform all by itself, and you have to get to a higher platform above you, but they are not connected. Simply rotate the camera vertically and horizontally until it looks, to you, like both platforms are on the same plane. Once that is accomplished your character will simply walk from one to the other. However the puzzle looks to you, from your angle, is how your character will walk about it. There may be a hole in the floor that you need to get around. Just swing the camera around and make it looks like another piece of the level is blocking that hole, so you can't see it. Your character will act like the hole is not there and walk right over it. It's concepts like this that make Echochrome very enjoyable, and very unique.

The game is downloadable both on PSP and PS3, each with their own set of 56 levels. Every level is open to you from the start, you don't have to unlock anything. This is helpful when one puzzle seems too frustrating and you just want to skip to the next. Along with progressing through each puzzle is a level creator. You can modify any of the 56 puzzles in the game, or just create your own from scratch. Sony will make a new user created puzzle available for download each week.

Echochrome: 8/10

Echochrome is a unique puzzle game that really makes you think about perspective. If you don't want your character to hit that launch pad in front of him, just make it appear as if it's not even there. If takes a few tries to fully understand the concepts of the game, and that whatever you can see is what's going to happen. Once you get the hang of it, the game can be very rewarding. Often times you character will get launched off of the puzzle, by swinging the camera around 360 degrees you can catch him on the other side. Because the game takes place on a white background, there is no sense of depth. Once he is off the screen on one side, just swing the camera and you'll see him still falling. It is possible for him to fall and be gone, causing him to re appear on the puzzle, but it is very fun to think you've lost him only to whip the camera around and catch him on the exact section of the puzzle you needed him to be.

Second Impressions: GTA IV Multiplayer

2008-05-01T09:35:00.003-04:00

After doing a bunch of missions last night in GTA, I decided that I couldn't wait any longer to check out the bulk of Liberty City. I booted up multiplayer, which is accessed right from your cell phone, and was driving across the bridge from New Jersey (Alderny) to Manhattan (Algonquin) in no time. I played "free mode" which means that I could just mess around in the city with other players (and pedestrians, cops, and traffic) without any rules or structure. The entire city was open.

The first thing I did, naturally, was shoot down everyone I saw. The combat in GTA works very well and I got used to the controls after the first day pretty fast. I was shooting people, people were shooting me, it was a blast. After I died a bunch of times I decided to drive around the city and find some landmarks. I drove past Radio City Music Hall, Central Park, Times Square, the Empire State building, and tried to find my old office which wasn't there. I then proceeded to jack a Ferrari from the Upper West side and drive it straight into a barrier guarding central park, forcing me to fly straight through the windshield careening into the park. That was just what I had intended.

After that I found a group of other players surrounded by some cops, I hopped on the back of another players motorcycle and he drove me around while I shot down the Cops, it was total awesomeness. After we had finished with the cops, I jumped off the Bike, shot the other player in the head, and stole his motorcycle. Just being able to do anything you could think of is unbelievable. You can pretty much setup any game type you want. One of the reviews I read for the game mentioned that they got a group of helicopters, dropped players off on the Empire State Building (after the players had obtained rocket launchers of course) then they sent another swarm of helicopters towards the players to see if they can shoot them off the buildings before the other players shot down their helicopters with the rocket launchers. They called this game type "King Kong." Another scenario involved piling people on top of a fire truck and speeding around corners, seeing how many players you can get to fly off. Anything is possible in the world of GTA. There are other game types built into the game like deathmatch, cops and robbers, and rescue missions. I didn't get a chance to try those, but after playing in the full open city with other real players, I'm sure I'll get to them very soon.

First Impressions: GTA IV

2008-04-30T09:43:00.004-04:00

I booted up my brand new PS3 last night, signed up for PSN, and popped in GTA. Wow. The game looks fantastic, and plays great. I had a few freeze ups requiring me to reboot the system, but after that it played great. I was a little annoyed that I couldn't get into the main part of manhattan yet. I just wanted to mess around in there for a little before I started the missions. I've heard that this is one of the few GTA games where people will actually want to play through the story, it's that good and engrossing. I did a few missions, honed my driving skills, and obtained a pistol. The gunplay and new cover mechanics work great, and look great in action. I still need to get used to the controls but I don't foresee them being a problem. I can't wait to jump back into it tonight. I haven't gotten a chance to load up Uncharted yet, I'll most likely get to that this weekend sometime.

The main character, Niko, is really funny, likable, and a complete bad ass right from the start. He's a little disillusioned from his cousin Roman's antics and lies but is quick to have his back in tight situations. The driving mechanics were a little different than previous GTA games but after some learning I quickly got the handle of it. Needless to say my girlfriend was a pro at driving right from the start.

I did a Sixaxis tutorial which utilizes the motion control of the Playstation 3 controller. It was kind of fun, but nothing the Wii hasn't perfected. I probably will turn that feature off, it will most likely just get in the way. I like the way the mission structure is laid out, where you just answer your cell phone when it rings and drive to where you have to meet someone. Also, if you feel like you're driving around with nothing to do, you can just call one of your friends or your cousin and they'll give you a new mission. Nothing too fancy yet, I'm only about 5 or 6 missions in. I can't wait to unlock Algonquin (Manhattan) and find my old office building, if it made it into the game. I'm going to try and focus on the story on this GTA. All of my other GTA experiences have just been messing around in the city, which is really fun, but this time I want to experience the full game. I'm obviously only about two or three hours into the game so I can't review it yet, once I've beaten the story mode I'll post more about the game.

Mission: PS3 Procurement Complete

2008-04-29T13:02:00.005-04:00

Today around 11:00 AM a coworker and I made the voyage to our local Gamestop with one goal in mind, well maybe three goals.

1. Get him GTA IV for XBOX 360
2. Get me GTA IV for PS3
3. Get me a PS3

Maybe steps two and three should be reversed, but oh well. It all worked out, I finally have in my possession a glistening black Playstation 3. Along with my purchase of a little game called GTA IV, I picked up a copy of Uncharted. Uncharted is a tomb raider style jungle action adventure game. I was waiting to get my PS3 when Metal Gear IV launched in June, but after IGN gave it a perfect score in every category, something that hasn't been done on a home console since 1999's Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast, I figured it was probably an OK time to pick up the system. Tonight will be filled with plenty of GTA IV and also plenty of Mario Kart, as the Nintendo fan inside me is still very excited from the release of that game. I'll post more on my thoughts of the PS3 as a whole and I'll be reviewing GTA IV and Uncharted once I'm a ways into them.

Mario Kart Wii Review

2008-04-27T20:40:00.009-04:00

So today I picked up Mario Kart for the Wii, and after almost 8 straight hours of play time, I think I got the gist of it. It rocks! My girlfriend and I both really like it and are having a ball with it. I picked up two wheels for it (a plastic steering wheel shaped shell) and gave those a shot first. I went into the game knowing that I wanted to give the wheel a chance, and was actually pretty excited to use it. It turns out, I love it. It really makes this version of Kart stand out from the rest. I've played a dozen racing games on consoles using the analog stick. I could never afford a steering wheel setup for games like Gran Turismo, so being able to control the game with the wheel is a huge plus. It works really really well and its extremely fun to use. My girlfriend stuck with the classic controller, same thing she uses for Smash Brothers. She doesn't like the feel of the Gamecube controller. I'm going to keep using the wheel. If you keep with it you end up getting a golden wheel icon next to your name in online mode. Thats my goal!

Speaking of online mode it works great, unlike Smash Brothers. The game installs a mario Kart channel onto your Wii, so you can see if your friends are on before you even load up the game. Another great feature, that is part of almost every other online multiplayer game, except Smash, is that you can see if your friends are on and then just join their game. You don't have to wait to create a special room, or invite each other. I can just see that the person is on, jump into there game, and be a part of the next race...it's fantastic. There are many new additions to this version of Kart. One of the cooler ones is that before you load up each race, you get to see where the people you are racing are from. The game will show your name, mii, then your home country. It's pretty cool to be racing against someone from Japan, Finland, and Australia all at the same time. Other games let you play with players from all over the globe, but you usually don't get to see where they are from. It gives the game a nice sense of community.

The courses in this game can get very intense sometimes. There are 16 retro tracks and 16 new ones, and online play supports up to 12 people. That's a lot going on in one race. The game gives players in the last few places the chance to come back by giving them the better special items and power ups. While this may be frustrating to only get bananas in first place, it really helps out after you're ready to throw the controller down from being pushed from second place all the way to tenth in less than three seconds. The option for a comeback is very welcomed.

New vehicles have also been added to the game, in the form of motorcycles. They control a little different from the karts, as they are lighter, but are usually faster. I find them easier to control with the wheel, although it can sometimes be hard to nail a power slide as they turn pretty sharp forcing you into the wall or barrier on the side of the course.

Mario Kart Wii: 9/10

We've been playing the N64 version of Kart for a while in preparation for this game, and it paid off. Even though I've been perfecting my maneuvers, my girlfriend seems to beat me in almost every race. I'll just have to practice some more. Our one major complaint about the game is that if you are doing online there are leader boards, which are great. However, only one person can be ranked at a time, the other person must play as a guest. So although we each have our own profiles (licenses) in the game, we have to choose which one gets ranked and which one is the guest each time we enter online play. We just switch off, say five races with her being ranked, then load up my profile so I can move up. It isn't that big of a deal, but it would have been nice to see both players allowed to be ranked in a Halo sort of fashion. Out of pure coincidence we each wind up doing the best when we're the ones playing as the guest and not ranked, figures.
Overall Mario Kart Wii is a great time, we're having a blast with it and it probably won't be leaving the system anytime soon. Smash Brothers is also a great game, but I've always been a fan of the Kart over the Smash. Nintendo really nailed the online mode even with the lack of voice chat. Being able to join a friend that easily, and see the countries you're connected to really makes a difference. Let's hope they keep this formula for future online games.

Beware the Blue Shell

2008-04-25T11:59:00.000-04:00

After seeing Penny Arcade's new comic strip this morning I became aware that I have not posted about Mario Kart yet, which comes out this Sunday for Wii. My girlfriend and I are both big Mario Kart fans and have been playing the N64 one on the Virtual Console for quite a while now. I'm really excited to try out the Wii Wheel, from what I've heard, it works pretty well. If you are a player who continually uses it you will get a golden wheel icon next to your name in online mode, thats what I'm shooting for. I'll post more about it this weekend after we've played it.

Want to Slaughter Zombie Zoo Animals? Then you should buy a Wii.

2008-04-24T21:17:00.007-04:00

Thats right. The makers of the recently announced Wii exclusive shooter The Conduit have just one up'd themselves by unveiling a gory, cartoony WiiWare game with "Animales de la Muerte". The game plays like a top down shooter where you go around doing just what you'd think, killing all the zombie zoo animals and saving the ones that are still alive. It reminds me a lot of the classic Lucas Arts shooter, Zombies Ate my Neighbors. It has the same feel and style with all the unique weapons and power ups. All my dreams have come true, thank you High Voltage! But seriously, the studio has come from left field and proven that these types of games can exist on the Wii.

Along with Animales de la Muerte, they have another WiiWare game in the works called Gyrostarr. Gyrostarr will be a shooter that plays like a Wipeout or F-Zero race. High Voltage are doing great things with Wii, and I personally cannot wait to get my hand around all three of their upcoming Wii games. Slaughtering zombie zoo animals! I mean come on, you can't go wrong there.

Prince of Persia: Trademarks of Time

2008-04-24T14:37:00.008-04:00

It was discovered that the creator of the Prince of Persia series has trademarked a new name in the franchise: Prince of Persia Prodigy. The POP team's last effort was Assassins Creed which came out to mixed reviews.

I recently picked up Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for the original XBOX and am about 75% of the way through it. I have to say that coming from the Mario and Nintendo brand of platforming, this game is a lot of fun. It's very enjoyable to run the Prince along the walls, jumping off at the crucial moment to catch the next bar or pole. They really nailed the platforming aspects on the head. My main gripe with the game is that the fighting sequences could have been a little more polished. The game's emphasis is on platforming so you can't fault it too much. However, most fight scenes lock the Prince into a fighting pose and it can be difficult to back up or run away from a group of surrounding enemies. You are constantly stuck in this fighting pose which has different movement mechanics than if you were just running around, making the Prince control like a tank. Those types of sequences are few and far between but can prove frustrating.

Super Mario Galaxy is the last major platformer I played, and loved to a great extent. I was excited to play POP but my expectations weren't that high. I have to say that I was somewhat surprised when I found huge rooms and elaborate puzzles all based around the Prince's movements. It was very well done and very fun. I've heard many things about Assassins Creed, that it is fun at first, a visual splendor, and the platforming elements are great. I have also heard bad things about the combat and redundancy of the game. If anything I will at least try to rent it. I remember seeing a screen shot for the game in some magazine a while back and thought to myself that I would get a next-gen system just for this game. I owe it to myself to at least try it, especially after how much fun I'm having with POP. Below is a screen shot from Assassins Creed.

I'm looking forward to a new Prince of Persia game, hopefully the team will take the criticism from Assassins Creed and somehow work it into this game, if it needs it. After seeing how gorgeous Assassins Creed looks, I can only imagine what a new Prince game will look like. Below I posted some pictures from another Ubisoft game, Rayman Raving Rabbids, for Wii. Part of their marketing campaign included these pictures of the star bunnies in various other Ubisoft games, including Assassins Creed, I know they're old, but still pretty good stuff.

The Earthworm Cometh

2008-04-23T14:12:00.007-04:00

After Interplay sold the rights to their post apocalyptic MMO franchise, Fallout, to Bethesda, they were able to start funding some new projects after being out of business for a couple of years. They announced yesterday that they will be bringing back one of their most celebrated franchises, Earthworm Jim, with Earthworm Jim 4. They also announced that the game will appear, along with Clay Fighter, on the Virtual Console.

Normally I would pick these up in a heartbeat, but I just acquired an SNES emulator for my computer and one of the first games I've been playing through, along with Earthbound, and A Link to the Past, is Earthworm Jim. The game is a known for it's unique level design and graphical style, looking more like a cartoon than most other shoot em ups. Speaking of cartoons, the game was spun off into a series for television in the mid 90s. I remember both the game and the show very well, and cannot wait for a new entry in the series. There was supposed to be a 2.5D remake of the original game for the PSP back in 2006, which I was unaware of at the time. Now being a proud PSP owner I am a little disappointed to learn that it was cancelled also in 2006. With Interplay's new footing in the industry hopefully they'll bring that game back along with the new entry.

The upcoming game was confirmed to be Earthworm Jim 4, and not a remake, however it is still unknown what platform(s) it will be on. I'm not sure I can see Jim running around in a fully 3D world after the disaster that struck the N64 in Earthworm Jim 3D. I would love to see something along the lines of the new Sonic Unleashed, again a 2.5D game, where the character's and levels are in 3D but the game plays on a 2D plane. That would be amazing, we'll have to wait for more news to find out.

The Conduit: FPS for Wii

2008-04-18T10:05:00.007-04:00

The Wii is not known for its graphical power, but that doesn't mean that it can't display some pretty impressive visuals. Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and No More Heroes all show different styles of games that work pretty well for the system. What makes these games more enjoyable is the gameplay. The Wii remote is perfectly designed for the first person shooter genre. Using the remote to control your characters sight (the camera) works flawlessly in games like Medal of Honor Heroes 2 and Metroid Prime 3. The controls are usually customizable which makes turning around on a dime that much easier, simply put it is the closest you can get to using a mouse setup like PC FPS games. As of now there haven't been many games to capitalize on this functionality.

IGN.com unveiled today a new FPS game developed by High Voltage Software, exclusively for the Wii, called The Conduit. The game puts players in Washington, DC as they face off against an alien invasion, nothing new there. What is new is that the developers designed the engine for this game, Quantuam3, from the ground up for Wii. They are hoping to make a game with graphics you don't usually see on Nintendo's console.

They say that the Wii is more powerful than the PS2 and XBOX yet we are still getting games that aren't even up to those standards, they hope to change that. They are also going against the paradigm that there is no market for adult oriented Wii games, which is why we don't see many mature titles or FPS's on the console. They are out there, case in point: No More Heroes, Manhunt 2, and Resident Evil 4. RE4 proved itself by selling pretty well for a game that was already released on the Gamecube and PS2. There are gamers out there, like me, who like all types of games including M rated FPS's. The developers now have a challenge, just because the game is rated M and is an FPS doesn't mean it will be good. If the games controls work perfectly like MOH2 or Metroid, and the story and gameplay are immersive, then they probably have a hit on their hands. Let's just hope they can live up to they hype they've created. I am definitely interested and if it is as good as they say it is, will definitely pick it up.

EarthBound for the Win

2008-04-17T14:22:00.009-04:00

Last night I downloaded myself an SNES emulator for my mac-attack and it worked like a charm, with a little help from my girlfriend. She got the USB Controller to work for me. After figuring out how to save games, I was all set. I started off playing some classics that I was familiar with on the Genesis like "Zombies Ate my Neighbors," and "Earthworm Jim." Then I figured I'd go ahead and load up some of the games I've been waiting to play, having never had an SNES before. I booted up "A Link to the Past," "Super Mario World," and "Final Fantasy VI." It was awesome. Then I saw it, glowing bright, pushing the other ROMs aside, Earthbound.

If you're unfamiliar with Earthbound it's because you too probably did not have an SNES growing up, the only Earthbound game released in the US was for the SNES. The Earthbound series is a Nintendo franchise that is popular in Japan, where it is called Mother, instead of Earthbound. There are three Mother games released in Japan for the Famicon (NES) and GBA (Game Boy Advance). Mother 2 was released in the US for the SNES and renamed to Earthbound. US fans only got a small taste of the Earthbound series with that release, and have been clamoring for more ever since, especially because Nintendo teases us every so often. The Smash Brothers series have included Lucas and Ness, two characters from Earthbound, as fighters in some of the games. Other references in Smash Bros include the stages Onett and New Pork City.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl also included a "Masterpieces" section where you could demo several Virtual Console games featuring the characters in Brawl, which included Mother in the Japanese release, and not in the US release. Nintendo has been very resistant to demands to release more Earthbound material in the US. Who knows why? It could be because they are done with the franchise, don't want to develop RPGs anymore, or just don't like Americans. There are many fan sites working on translations of Mother 3 that you can install onto an imported copy of the game for the GBA, but that's asking a lot for most gamers. I'm excited to finally get my chance to play the SNES version after thinking I'd never have the opportunity, and after thinking Nintendo just didn't want us americans to enjoy the series.

The game sets itself aside from most other RPGs by having a setting in modern times, instead of the sword swinging fantasy camp eras that most RPGs undertake. You play as Ness, a little boy, who uses no more than baseball bats and other house hold items to stop an alien invasion, what more could you ask for? Cult favorite/forgotten/often teased at Nintedo franchises always get me excited. I'll be posting more about the game as I progress through it, and eventually will review it. I can finally put those Smash Brothers characters into context. Take that Nintendo.

No More Heroes, the most Colorful/Bloody game you'll play on your Family Friendly Wii

2008-04-16T13:49:00.006-04:00

There have been many Wii games that I have been enjoying over my time with the system, and most of the them have been Nintendo made. That is, in fact the reason as to why I wanted a Wii in the first place, I love all things Nintendo. There haven't been many strong games coming in from third parties for the Wii with the exception of Capcom giving us Zack and Wiki and RE4. Ubisoft is ready to change that with their release of No More Heroes, think of it as Kill Bill the video game.

You play as Travis Touchdown, best name ever I might add, who wields a beam katana (light saber) as he tries make his way up the ranked assassins list to become number one. Each boss battle is a ranked assassin and each is a wilder character than the last, making for some interesting cut scene banter, and fighting. The game is oozing style from all over, it has a very retro feel but manages to feel new and refreshing all the same. After each Boss fight you'll come to a high score screen just like an old school arcade game, showing you moving up the assassins ladder. It acts as a hack and slash game for the boss fights, but in between you'll be traveling around the open city, doing mindless jobs to earn money for the next fight. The in between stuff may not be as fun as the boss battles, but they are still pretty enjoyable.

The game is at its best when you get enough money for a fight, go to the location, battle through hundreds of enemies with motion control and wrestling moves (the creator is a huge wrestling fan), finally making your way to a wacky boss fight. It's definitely one of the best games I've played on Wii. It's just as bright and colorful as Super Paper Mario and is also once of the bloodiest games I've ever played (again think Kill Bill style decapitations). Every finishing move you do will leave you very satisfied and wanting more and more. I'm currently the 7th ranked assassin in Santa Destroy and should be at the top in know time at the rate I'm playing. I'd definitely pick this up if you have a Wii, it's one of the most unique games you'll ever play. Below is a video from Game Trailers showing some of the gameplay, motion controls, and bloody messes you'll be experiencing.

LostWinds WiiWare Video Unveiled

2008-04-07T20:22:00.005-04:00

IGN released a video for the upcoming WiiWare title, LostWinds. It is a 2.5D sidescroller (where the characters are modeled in 3D, and environments are 3D, but the game moves along a 2D plane) where you control the character on screen with the wind. The wind is mapped to the wii remote, you swoosh and push the character along the screen. It looks really fun to play, and I love me some 2D action so I'm interested. WiiWare debuts in North America next month.

Nintendo Media Summit April 10-11

2008-04-07T10:35:00.006-04:00

Nintendo will be holding a media summit this Thursday and Friday which will ideally lead to the unveiling of some new games. Hopefully they'll bring back some of the franchises we've been waiting for like Starfox and Pikmin. I want to see the totally revamped franchises like Kid Icarus but big announcements like those will probably not come until E3, this summer. Nintendo will not be the only ones releasing news this week, other companies like Sega and THQ will be there to show off some of their new products as well. Wired.com had a chance to talk with Telltale games, who are bringing Sam & Max to the Wii, and in the interview they discuss their new WiiWare IP and that they'll be showing it at the media summit. It's not often that Nintendo lets us into their crazy heads, so lets hope from some good news and good games to come out of this.

Sam & Max Coming to Wii this Fall

2008-04-04T09:40:00.005-04:00

Sam & Max, a popular PC point and click adventure game will be coming to the Wii this fall. The series is known for its unique brand of humor and is one of the few remaining, and popular, point and click adventure games. The title is usually released online through Gametap in episodic form, much like how the new Penny Arcade game will be. The Wii version is going to be a collection of every episode from Season 1.

Zack and Wiki is the only adventure game I have played on Wii and I have to say that the point and click style of the gameplay translated very well. I was hoping they would bring similar games over to the Wii and now it looks like they are. Sam and Max is a series I have especially been looking forward to as a lot of the designers of the series have previously worked on the Lucasarts adventure games like Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle. The creators of Sam and Max are also going to be releasing episodic content for a new series on Wii Ware. Horray for 3rd part support on Wii!

Digital Distribution in Gaming

2008-04-03T16:34:00.007-04:00

Penny Arcade, a web comic centered around video games, announced yesterday that they are partnering with game developer Hothead Games to launch a digital distribution service for indie game developers called Greenhouse. Hothead are also developing the Penny Arcade game called "Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness." The game is going to be an RPG with theie brand of humor mixed in. It will launch on PC, Mac, and Windows simultaneously through their new service. What's interesting is that you will download one key and be able to play the game on any of the platforms. You do not need to re-buy or re-download the game if you want to have in on your Mac instead of your PC, just copy it over and you're all set. This interests me because I have a mac, not a PC, and am always seeing interesting games come out on the PC and not on the Mac, or if they are on the mac then they come out a year later. I like seeing when games get simultaneous releases across all platforms. The only other game I've seen do this is Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PS3, it will be released in every region on the same day, which is very uncommon. The Penny Arcade guys will serve as a sort of editorial board for the games they put on the site, kind of a way to show the community the games they're interested in or that they recommend.

In an interview with Wired they mentioned how the game will most likely not appear in a Gamestop. They tried to ink a deal with Gamestop but Gamestop wasn't happy that the game would appear online first, and if that was the case, they wanted a share of those profits as well. The guys said "No thanks" and are keeping it online only for the time being. This is good for gamers because the game is being presented as episodic content, and the first release will only be the first episode. As soon as new episodes are released you just log into Greenhouse and download it. There is a screen shot below taken from the Wired article, the style of the game looks just like the comic if you haven't seen one of them. I'm big into collecting and like to have the cases for the games I own displayed on my shelf, but if this is a franchise I'm going to be buying constantly then I think I'll enjoy the benefit of just downloading it and playing it. For a game like this, this model works, If Nintendo said they were only releasing Super Mario Galaxy online then I would be a little upset.

EA, one of the biggest 3rd party developers in gaming, is also playing an interesting part in the role of digital distribution in gaming by releasing there new multiplayer shooter, Battlefield Heroes, online only, playable in your web browser, and for free. This is a first for a major studio like EA. The game will play just like there other battlefield games, and like most multiplayer shooters such as Quake, Halo, and Medal of Honor. The games look is where things get different. It looks just like the recent release from Valve software, Team Fortress 2. It has a very cel-shaded and cartoony style too it. I personally love games with unique visuals like this, similar to Zelda: The Wind Waker, and I can't wait to play it. My only concern is that on the site right now they only say that it is for the PC, and iscoming out in the summer, but if it is going to be playable in your browser window then I can't see having a problem running it on my Mac. EA has been pretty good in porting over their Battlefield series to the Mac anyway, so I'm sure this will make it over in some form. The game is free, you can use all the maps and play just fine without paying anything, however there will be upgradable weapons and costumes that you could pay for, perhaps even new characters. This seems like a good system because you don't have to pay to get the general experience of the game, but if you're the kind of gamer that likes to level up and upgrade your character, then sure, why not. It's completely up to you. Battlefield Heroes will be released this summer, hopefully on all computer platforms.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed New Wii Info

2008-04-02T12:21:00.008-04:00

Gamepro has posted a new hands on feature with the Wii version of the upcoming star wars game. A lot of info has come out about the new physics engine for the PS3 and 360 versions, but nothing so far on the Wii Version. In the article they state that the motion controls for the Wii version aren't exactly 1:1 but they do feel really smooth and are mapped pretty well. It isn't just going to be a preset animation on screen when you move the wii remote, each direction you move will be represented correctly on screen. They said they got into some pretty intense light saber battles, especially when two sabers connect.

"After clearing a hallway filled with temple spirits, we got to try out our first boss battle, in which we took on Darth Desolus, who is a new character introduced in The Force Unleashed. In battling Desolus, we quickly noticed that boss battles are much more epic in scale and require more finesse with the motion controls. We lashed out at Desolus, and our lightsabres locked together. We struggled to overpower Desolus, and as you've seen in the many movies, that sort of situation usually leads to an intense parry or show of strength. The same goes for Force attacks; Force Lightning and other Force powers will push against each other. When you're engaged in "Saber Lock" or "Force Lock," you've got to tilt your Wii Remote or Nunchuk to an angle indicated onscreen, then punch forward once you're correctly aligned. Though hard to describe, these battles of will feel truly authentic, like the way you would resolve a physical stalemate in a Star Wars battle."

They also commented a bunch on the "duel mode" which is a Wii exclusive. Here you can pick from a list of of star wars characters and go head to head in a versus fighting scenario. Gamepro had this to say about it:

"Your favorite characters. Your favorite planets. The Duel Mode in The Force Unleashed is the best Wii fighting experience outside of Smash Bros. Brawl."

The new physics engine on PS3 sounds tempting, but I may have to stick with the Wii version for the motion controls and duel mode, not to mention three exclusive levels. It's the closest we'll ever get to holding a light saber, I'm in.

Super Dodgeball Returns on the DS

2008-04-02T10:18:00.005-04:00

I remember back in the day playing a game called Super Dodgeball for the NES. I never really got into any sports games, I wasn't good at making plays, passing, scoring baskets, or winning in overtime. What I was good at, was throwing balls at people. Seriously. This game let me get my ball throwing on in full capacity, and now it's getting a sequel on the Nintendo DS in Super Dodgeball Brawlers. I'm not sure if they're just trying to jump on the hype train with Smash Bros Brawl by adding Brawlers, but I'll still take it. The original game put players against other countries from all over the world, in an Olympic match of sorts. It looks like the game play in this one will be the same, and thats fine by me. Below is a trailer for the Japanese version of the game, and another video with more game play elements, the japanese one is funnier though, who knows what they're saying.

Coloring in the Wii

2008-04-01T10:18:00.005-04:00

THQ is releasing a new game for the Wii called de Blob. It's a game where you control a little blob of color and you have to paint the town to free it from its captors who want it to be black and white. It looks like it takes inspiration from games like Jet Grind Radio, where you go around town and spray paint on walls, except here you jump and slam into buildings, people, and other objects to color them. You can dip yourself into different colors and each time you paint an object the music gets a little funkier. It seems like it could be a lot of fun, the movement controls are done with the analog stick, but jumping seems to be mapped to the Wii remote, flicking in a direction and slamming back down. It could be fun to link jumps and combos together trying to paint as many structures as you can. I'm always interested in games that aren't necessarily casual, but don't require 40 hours of game play, massive inventory systems, and huge learning curves to play. It also reminds me of a Tony Hawk game where you just skate around town and do some random stuff. It doesn't come out until September, we'll see how the reviews shape up. The guys over at IGN seem to like it so far, and THQ knows they have a unique Wii title on their hands cause they aren't afraid to show it off.

More Dreamcast Goodness

2008-03-30T00:23:00.010-04:00

I opened my mailbox today and saw a package I had been expecting. My new dreamcast VMU (memory card). For those that are not familiar, dreamcast memory cards have little screens on them where you can view certain items during gameplay. My girlfriend called it a Giga Pet. The only game I played so far was Soul Calibur, a fighting game, during the battle you can see a little 2D sprite of your character jumping around, and it also notifies you when the game is saving. Not that useful for that game, but for another game on the way, Shenmue, I think it will be more of a help. I'm not positive but I think you can view your health and other inventory items on the VMU during gameplay, we'll see.

On another note, I spent some time playing Super Paper Mario on the Wii tonight. It was the first Wii game I had bought that was not a party game (Wii Play, Wario Ware Smooth Moves). I bought it back when I first got the system. My girlfriend had already beaten it, and I was a good ways into it before I put it down for Mario Galaxy, Zelda, Metroid, Zack and Wiki, Medal of Honor, Resident Evil 4, Guitar Hero 3, and now Smash Brothers Brawl. After playing nothing but Smash bros for a while I decided to throw that back in, I was missing some 2D platforming. I love the way the game looks, it's almost like an updated HD version of a classic Mario game, only with RPG elements added in. Your health is your HP and each enemies HP decreases as you jump on them. There are certain Items you can use to attack with and certain powerups (pixels) you get along your journey. It's a very fun game especially if you like the classic Mario games. It's also pretty long, my girlfriend beat it in about 25 hours. I'm going to try and play some more Wii games in general, besides Brawl, I have a ton I still have to beat (1 more puzzle in Zack and Wiki, 1 more world in Metroid, 40 more stars in Mario Galaxy (to get to 120), a ton more missions in Medal of Honor), and I have been playing lots of PSP anyway and could use the Nintendo time.

Sonic Unleashed

2008-03-28T10:22:00.009-04:00

A trailer has been leaked for an upcoming Sonic game, rumored to be on the XBOX 360 and PS3 based on the quality of the graphics, lets hope for a Wii port too. The only sonic games I've played have been Sonic 1, 2, and 3 for Genesis and Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 for Dreamcast. This is good because the only Sonic games I've played happen to be the only GOOD sonic games ever made, or so I'm told. Sonic Team has really loosened it's standards on our blue friend for the majority of his outings. This trailer looks like they're sending him back to his roots and having him run around a 2D playground of loops, springs, and coins. The game looks like it plays just like an old school Sonic game, with enhanced graphics and 3D backdrops. Hopefully this is what we have all been waiting for.

The Old School

2008-03-28T09:39:00.004-04:00

Well, not that old. I recently got a Dreamcast from a friend and have waiting on buying some games for it until now. He gave me a few good ones but not some of the ones I remember playing the most. Yesterday I ordered Shenmue and Marvel vs Capcom 2. I never owned Marvel vs Capcom, but always wanted to. I would play it in the arcades but was never able to track down a console copy, until now. Shenmue is more of an action RPG that I remember playing for a while, it is one of the first games I beat that was over 6 hours long. I remember the world in that game just feeling alive and everyone you spoke to had something interesting to say, well most peopel. There were supposed to be 16 chapters to the Shenmue story, 8 years later and we only have 2. I haven't played the second one yet, which came out for XBOX, but a 3'rd has rumored and crushed about three times now.

After I ordered these games it made me crave some more retro goodness, which led me to this site: http://www.nintendo8.com/all/. There you can play tons of classic NES games right in your browser. The controls are a little wonky with a keyboard, but it suffices. It gave me the chance to play the classic games I never got a chance to play when I was younger, like Kid Icarus, Metroid, Bionic Commando, 1942, and tons of others. Another site also has a great bunch of Flash remakes of classic games from: http://game-oldies.com/.

Hopefully the games I ordered will ship soon, I can't wait to play them. Some more great Dreamcast games I eventually want to hunt down are Jet Grind Radio, Chu Chu Rocket, Sonic Adventure 2, and Fatal Fury. Sega's last system was one of the companies best. A lot of people don't realize that the Dreamcast came out in the same generation as the Playstation 2, XBOX, and Gamecube. The graphics for the system are pretty good compared to its rivals, and because it was first to launch there are few crossover titles and a lot of original and unique games. I wish you could still buy these games in stores, but oh well, Ebay for the win.

Wii Ware

2008-03-26T10:08:00.007-04:00

Wii Ware launched in Japan yesterday. It is a service similar to XBOX Live Arcade (XBLA) and the Playstation Network (PSN) where users can download new and original games for their systems. This is great news for Wii owners who have been waiting for something to rival XBLA for quite some time. Maybe now we can start getting remakes of Street Fighter II and Bionic Commando, instead of just getting the original games on the Virtual Console. Capcom is one company that has recently been spending a lot of their money to remake their older games for these types of services, and I'm all for it. Graphical updates to classic games are always welcome, I just hope now that they will start to come to the Wii. There are many games that have been announced such as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as King (a kind of town building simulation RPG of sorts), Lost Winds (a platformer where you control the wind) and Star Soldier R (a classic side scrolling shoot em up).

Wii Ware launches in May for North America. As much as I love the virtual console, I really can't wait for downloadble, original, games that are up to the Wii's graphical standards. The capcom remakes can easily be done on the Wii, lets hope they bring them over. Below is a trailer for Bionic Commando Rearmed, the remake of the original game by Capcom that is coming to XBLA and PSN. You can see why I'd want this on Wii, it looks so awesome.

The yearning to play Final Fantasy

2008-03-24T14:23:00.004-04:00

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII comes out tomorrow for the PSP. It is an Action RPG prequel to the original coveted RPG Final Fantasy VII. I have always wanted to play a Final Fantasy game and have yet to do so. I purchased FFX when I bought my PS2 but played it once, grew bored, and sold back the PS2 entirely. Now that I am into RPGs of all types, especially on the PSP, I have been dying to give this classic franchise a try.

The PSP offers two FF games, I and II. I will probably start there as they are the most accessible to me. The Nintendo DS has a remake of FF III, now in 3-D, and the Game Boy Advance (GBA) has ports of FF I-VI. This is all great, and I plan to try most of those out, however it does not solve my main problem. The FF game I want to play the most, and the one that really stands out in the series, is FF VII. It is set in a futuristic sci-fi world instead of the classic fantasy world, and is one of the first games to be renowned for its cinematic quality. The PSP game Crisis Core will be a great sequel, but I still want to play a classic FF game, especially FF VII. All of the hype for Crisis Core is bringing out rumors of a remake of FF VII. This would be right down my alley. I'll take it for PSP, or even an epic PS3 version. Another great option, which they just did in japan with the original metal gear solid game in preparation for the MGS4 launch, would be to release the original FF VII on the playstation network as a PS1 classic. This way I can download the original FFVII and still get to play it on my PSP. Come Square Enix, do something awesome, again.

God of War: Chains of Olympus Review

2008-03-24T13:15:00.001-04:00

Wow. Where do I start. Well first let me say that this is my first ever God of War game, my introduction to the series. I had always been interested in playing them but had gotten rid of my PS2 before they game out. I went into this knowing that it was the prequel to two of the best PS2 games ever made, one of which only came out a year ago, when the 360, PS3, and Wii were already out. That's a lot to live up to.

Developer Ready at Dawn nailed it. I've never seen a prettier came on the PSP. While I was playing I swore I was staring at a game from the early life of the PS2, it looked that good. The backgrounds, lighting, blood effects, animations, everything was crisp and perfect. Even the camera angles were fantastic, it was very cinematic and at some moments would scale back as you were still running forward to show the epic scale and architecture of the structure you were running towards. It was truly impressive. The weapons and magic attacks were very fun to use and felt awesome when you connected a hit. The sound and music in the game is also some of the best I've heard on the PSP, or any console for that matter. The production levels were through the roof for this game, it is one of the most polished games I've ever played.

All in all in was a short game, taking me about 6.5 hours to beat. However I cannot wait to jump back in and play it again on Hard, then on God mode. I found some of the boss battles to be pretty easy, and I'm terrible at games, so Hard mode should be fun. I can't wait to go back and play the earlier God of War games now, and am greatly looking forward to God of War 3 on the PS3, which was teased at on the back of the PSP manual for the game. I'd like to see Ready at Dawn do some more work on the PSP, but they said they're moving on to home consoles now, including the Okami port for the Wii. After putting Daxter down for a while, another Ready at Dawn game for PSP, I think I might start playing it again just because they blew me away with God of War.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

2008-03-24T13:13:00.001-04:00

This is more of my history with Zelda games than it is a review.

I only got my Wii last summer, so I missed it when Zelda came out back in 2006. I didn't get Twilight Princess until Christmas of 2007. Now there's something you should know about my history with Zelda games, the only one I have beaten is Phantom Hourglass for the DS, and even this gave me problems. This is something I'd like to call "The Curse of the Water Temple." I know this sounds like an awesome new Indiana Jones movie, but it isn't, sorry.

I played the Zelda games on the NES and SNES in little snippets and only at friends houses, I never really got into them, but didn't deny that they were fun. The first Zelda game I got was Ocarina of Time for the N64. I played and played it and played it. Then something started to happen around the Water Temple. I had never played any game this long, and was growing sort of bored with it, and found the game play redundant. I honestly don't remember how far into the game the Water Temple was, but that's where I stopped. I put the game down thinking I'd pick it back up again some other time, that never happened. Ocarina of Time went
unfinished.

When the Wind Waker came out I was so excited, I loved the visuals and couldn't wait to get back into another Zelda game. I felt bad for not beating Ocarina of Time, and I thought I could make it up by beating this. As you can see, this didn't happen. I accidentally deleted my save file. Now there was no "Water Temple" per say in this game, but the whole game was based off of sailing around to different islands, so my theory still holds up, water was involved somehow. I was right at the part were you navigate your boat into the "Tower of the Gods" so it pretty much was the water temple anyway. I did not want to have to do all of that over again, so I never played it again. Now after beating Twilight Princess I do want to go back to it, but thats another story.

I picked up Phantom Hourglass simply because I loved the Wind Waker's visuals, and this was a direct sequel. I played it for a while and loved how the controls were working on the DS. Then came the Ocean temple, or what I like the call the "Water Temple" for the DS. The game makes you go back and do the Ocean temple after each major boss fight. There is only one checkpoint about halfway through it. I got so frustrated with having to purposely re do this temple multiple times, that I thought I was going to break my DS. It's not an easy task, although you do start to remember where things are after doing it 4 times. I didn't think I was going to beat it, the curse remained. I wanted to smash everything that had to do with the Ocean temple. But I pulled through, somehow I got past it each time and managed to beat the game. My first Zelda game finished! The curse had been lifted. I was thrilled.

When I got Twilight Princess I thought I could definitely complete it, no problem, it would just take a while. 44 hours later and I finished it. I loved it, some parts did get repetitive and frustrating but if you just stick with it you will be rewarded. This game had some of the most epic battles I've ever seen in a video game. The weapons were great, and the conrtols worked pretty well with the Wii remote. The graphics looked outstanding at times, and gamecuby at other times, which wasn't really a bad thing. The music in the game was also pretty great, it wasn't fully orchestrated like Smash Bro's or Mario Galaxy, but the compositions sounded awesome. It was by far the longest amount of time I've ever spent playing a single game. I'm surprised myself that I managed to stick with it and not give up. I can't wait for the next Zelda game, and in between Smash Bro's sessions I plan to pick up a copy of the Wind Waker and give that another whirl.

Super Smash Bros is awesome...Online, not so much

2008-03-24T13:12:00.001-04:00

Not yet at least.

So Super Smash Brothers Brawl came out this weekend, and it's awesome. I played it all day yesterday (after beating Zelda Twilight Princess in 44 hours on Saturday) and finally unlocked Solid Snake, the character I wanted to play with the most. He's pretty good and powerful, has a missile launcher with missiles you can guide, he can plant mines, and throw grenades, all in all he's a great addition and pretty powerful from a distance. I find myself using Ike, Meta Knight, and Samus the most. I'm a big fan of Ike just because he's a character I never thought I'd get into and has a pretty solid move set.

But what I really want to talk about is the online mode. You have two options "With a Friend" or "With Anyone." With a friend requires that you have the persons friend code, since none of my "wii-friends" have the game yet I'll have to wait for that. I tired "With Anyone" yesterday and got it to work twice, out of 50 attempts. You select your character and stage and the game puts you into a practice lobby where you can fight a punching bag while you're waiting for other players to join, the only problem is you get a different error each time and end up getting disconnected. I'm thinking there are just too many people trying to play, causing the servers to flood. Hopefully after some time has passed this will get fixed. I can't wait to do some more online Brawling. The two matches I've done so far were pretty fun.

The Adventures of Last Gen Consoles

2008-03-24T13:11:00.002-04:00

Story time:

I do stupid things. Let's face it, we all do. One of the stupider things I have done, on more than one occasion, is get rid of/sell my consoles sometimes before they are even near the end of their life cycle. I have also been known to do the less damaging practice of selling back games when I'm done with them. Yes you lose money, but let's be honest, am I really going to play Phantom Hourglass again after doing the god damned ocean temple 5 times in a row. No, I'm not. But let's not get too far off topic and keep this post about consoles.

I have always been a Nintendo fan so it may come as no surprise that the first console I bought with my own, hard earned money was a Gamecube. I bought it for the new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games. I brought it to college and had a blast with it there playing through Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, and Zelda: Wind Waker (still one of the best looking games, in my opinion). One of my roommates, having no other choice as it was the only console in the room, also had a great time playing with the Gamecube. Somewhere down the line probably around my junior year of school a little game called Halo 2 came out. I had always played shooters, just not much on the Gamecube, so I hadn't played one in a while. Let's just say that I have never played past the first level of single player in Halo 2, but managed to log over 100 hours in multi player in a very short period of time. One of my roommates was obsessed with the game and would request we play with him every instance possible, which we easily complied to.

As time passed I got bored with the XBOX not being able to see any other game I wanted to play on it besides Halo 2, and I had been bored with the Gamecube for a while as nothing good came out for it after the Metal Gear Twin Snakes, which is a great game, but technically a remake. So I decided to buy a PS2, seemed like a great idea at the time. Best selling system in the history of games with an epic library of great games. You can only guess what I did. I got Metal Gear Solid 3, beat it, and sold the PS2 back for half the price. I know, dumb move. I make very quick and very dumb decisions very often. I never bothered to look into other games, even older ones for it. I saw that there was nothing on the horizon and got rid of it. I never bothered to play games like ICO, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear 2 even, and again was left with just my Gamecube and XBOX.

After graduating college I stopped playing games for a while. The Gamecube was done with the official announcement of the Wii, which I was very excited about, and the XBOX was done with the release of the 360. I had no money saved up after college and video games are very expensive, so you can see why I stopped. It wasn't until I got my first real job and first couple of paychecks that I started getting back into gaming, around the Fall of 2006. I sold my Gamecube (which I didn't regret because I knew I'd get a Wii at somepoint), sold all my games for it (which I'm regretting now as I'd love play me some Wind Waker and Luigi's Mansion) and bought an XBOX 360. I loved it, although I loved my Gamecube and everything Nintendo, I realized that I was missing out on some great games and gaming genres, specifically shooters. I picked up Gears of War when it came out, and loved it, played me some Halo 2 again, Rainbow Six Vegas, it was great. Then I began to realize something. I missed Nintendo. The games for 360 started to seem generic and rehashed concepts from the original XBOX, sure they looked great, but the game play mechanics were all the same. I missed the cartoony and unique style of Wind Waker, the classic platforming from Mario Sunshine, and the amazing recreation of the Metroid franchise. I hit a wall. I stopped playing the 360 altogether and cried myself to sleep every night in lament over my sold Gamecube. I had betrayed it, it was gone, someone else was having the fun I could only dream of.

You can only guess what I did next. I sold my 360 on ebay, I did manage to make a good sum on it though, still ended up losing money, but a lot more than selling it back to Gamestop. I had nothing, no games for me. I was a goner. I went with no consoles from March of 2007 until the end of August 2007 when my girlfriend bought me a Wii. I was back! It was fantastic, all the games and characters I loved were all mine once again. I started getting some Gamecube games again and playing through those. Ahhh, it felt damn good.

I am now two years older than my college self and have come to appreciate gaming for the gameplay, and more stylized and unique games, over the graphical powerhouse games. This led me to think about the games I had passed up on the XBOX and PS2. There were tons of classics I had completely bypassed. By this time my brother had gotten his own 360 and had managed not to get rid of the original XBOX. He mailed it to me and I began to get some, very very cheap, games for it. Games I had never known even existed for the XBOX like Halflife 2, and games I had only heard of but never played like Fable, Max Payne 2, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Black. I can't imagine myself enjoying any 360 games more than I'm enjoying regular XBOX or Wii games. I recently finished Black and man, what a fun game. I know it's not 360 graphics but I really can't believe how they got some of the visuals and effects in there on the original XBOX, pretty impressive stuff.

Now I don't doubt for a second that there are fantastic games for the 360 but when you have limited funding, and want to play some great games, older systems are the way to go. In this gaming rebirth, if you will, that I have gone through I've been playing some great games on the virtual console, Dreamcast, and XBOX. Every system has it's share of great games, and if you don't mind dated visuals, you can have a really great time for not that much money. So the moral of the story is to really think hard about selling your old consoles and even games, because if you're like me, you'll eventually get to the point where you just want to play that one level from Metroid real quick, have one more go at Ninja Gaiden Black, or actually play through the single player of Halo 2. The virtual console has been a godsend for this because you can get a lot of the games you (or at least me) grew up on for a very small price, all bundled nicely into your Wii.

So play older games, they're fun.

The end.

Develop a Following

2008-03-24T13:10:00.001-04:00

There are many people who play a game from a certain developer/publisher, like it a lot, and go find out what else that developer has done to play their other games. There are the obvious developers that a lot of people follow like Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. People are always going to play and probably get the most enjoyment out of the first party titles for each system, thats what I usually do. I've always followed those bigger studios, but recently I have been playing some games by lesser known developers and it's made me look more carefully at who is developing or publishing the games I'm playing.

I've always done this to an extent with companies like Rockstar (GTA, Max Payne, Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver) and Capcom (Street Fighter, Mega Man, Zack and Wiki, Resident Evil), but every once in a while I'll play a game that I enjoy so much only to come to the realization that I have no idea who made it. The first instance of this came with the EA game Black. EA is the publisher of Black and it was developed by an in-house studio called Criterion. Criterion is responsible for the Burnout games. I've always loved those games, they have fantastic production value and are completely polished, and that's the same way I felt about Black. Once I found out it was developed by Criterion it just made sense, and I thought hmm I'll pretty much play any game they put out if they are all this good. You can tell the games a developer has worked on, they all have the same feel.

Another company I just discovered is Level-5. They are the developers of a game I'm playing right now on the PSP called Jeanne d'Arc. It is a Strategy RPG, the first one I've every played, and I'm completely loving it. It seems like a breath of fresh air after only playing shooters and platformers (which I will always love). This made me look at Level 5's track record and realize that they are the developers for another game I'm pretty interested in for the Nintendo DS: Professor Layton, a word puzzle type game. That is a game I probably would have picked up anyway because it just looked fun. I also noticed that they are working on a PS3 project called White Knight Chronicles, a game I probably would have bypassed, but now that I know it's Level-5 I might check it out.

I've been playing a lot of PSP lately which is how I found Level-5, and this next developer: Ready at Dawn. I bought the PSP slim pack that came with a copy of the game Daxter. It is a really fun platformer with some great graphics for the PSP. Being more interested in developers I decided to again look up what else they have worked on. Sure enough they are the developers behind another great game I have been waiting for on the PSP: God of War. This is a game I probably would have bought no matter what, it will be a system seller for a lot of people. Seeing now that it was developed by Ready at Dawn, who have already proven themselves with Daxter, made it a no brainer. But wait, there's more, not only are they behind God of War for PSP, but they are also behind another game for my other favorite system: Okami for Wii. Okami is a game I missed on the PS2 and have been looking forward to on the Wii, specifically using the Wii remote as the brush. Once more, seeing that a really great developer is behind it only heightened my excitement.

If I hadn't looked up who developed certain games I would have missed some other really good ones. It's also good to know that if you really liked a game, you have another one by the same team that you can get excited about. It's the same way with music. You always look forward to a new album by your favorite band. Even with movies, you look forward to a new film by your favorite director or actor. Now I can look forward to a new game by my favorite developer, I can follow them and support them, and hopefully it will lead to more great games in the future.

Manhunt 2 Review

2008-03-24T13:09:00.001-04:00

Manhunt 2 is a game that I figured I would eventually play sometime, it wasn't at the top of my list. I had recently gotten a PSP and a Wii and wasn't sure which one to get it for, if I was going to get it at all. My brother then surprised me for Christmas and got it for me on the PSP, not knowing that I was interested in it at all. I just completed it the other day and have some things to say about it.

Now let me preface this by stating that one of my favorite game franchises of all time is the Metal Gear Solid Series (MGS). The best part about those games are the stealth elements. You hide in a corner, tap the wall, the guard patrolling the area walks over to investigate, you grab him from behind as he walks away and choke him out. You can then either stuff him in a locker, carry him around with you, or leave him there for his buddies to see and wonder "I don't remember leaving this here" It's all real fun but can be very frustrating sometimes. If you fail to choke him out then you end up in mediocre hand to hand combat where all you have have is a stun gun and you're aiming frantically for his head, which never works.

Manhunt works the same way, where you hide in a dark corner, wait for the enemy to come find you, and choke him out. Where the games differ though is that if you miss the execution, either he walks away too fast, or you don't time it correctly, the melee combat actually works pretty well. Unlike the MGS games you usually have more than a stun gun with you. In a lot of the levels you're given a shotgun, or machine gun, and you can just gun fools down. On the psp it locks on for you, so all you have to do is run though, push a button to lock on, and fire away. It was a little easy, but it was very satisfying. The levels were very long too so it didn't feel like I was blowing through the game too quickly.

The executions, if you do pull them off, are awesome. They're extremely violent and brutal, and even though they are filtered due to controversy from the ratings board, you can still tell what's going on with no problem. I have always loved Rockstar's games, from the obvious GTA games, to the lesser known Max Payne or Table Tennis games. I am new the the Manhunt franchise and will probably go pick up the original game for the xbox sometime. The story may not have been as engrossing or cinematic as the MGS games, but I found the game play to be just as tight, if not better. The graphics also looked fantastic on the PSP, I was impressed at how well some of the levels looked, probably just as good as the PS2 version. Manhunt 2 is out for the PSP, PS2, and Wii (probably will take the cake as the most violent game to ever come out on Wii). If you're in to violent stealthy games, I'd pick this one up.