SuperPhillip's Review Thread (Updated daily)

This thread will review games new and old on a daily basis.

6/11/07 - Mario Party (Wii)

It's his party, and you'll buy if you want to.

Spoiler for:

Seven past console parties down and Mario still feels need to party like its 1999 with a few variations here and there. Mario Party 8 is the series' first foray on the Wii and most likely will not be the last. The Star Carnival has pitched its tent in the Mushroom Kingdom. With it, the carnival brings six new boards, over seventy new minigames, and fourteen characters (two of which being unlockable). But the question is-- does it matter?

Well, to put it simply, yes and no. The main modes you'll be cycling through are the Party Tent and Star Battle modes. The Party Tent is your standard Mario Party fare for up to 4 players (CPU or real life buddies). You'll most likely wish to play with friends as the CPU seems to always get the breaks. Nonetheless, the flow of gameplay is relatively simple. You hit the dice by punching the Wii remote forward, rolling any number from 1-10 (and if you're like me you'll usually hit a 1), moving the numbered amount of spaces, and landing on a space. Blue spaces give you coins, red spaces take away a small amount of coins, green spaces are event spaces which trigger a happening on a board (such as a Magikoopa changing the layout of the board in Shyguy's Perplex Express), Lucky Spaces give whoever lands on them a very nice bonus, Bowser Spaces cause the king of the koopas himself to cause havoc to the player or the board, and DK Spaces calls upon DK to lend a hand to players. At the end of each round-- comprised of one turn by each player-- a minigame roulette appears. These games are either a free-for-all, 2 vs 2, or 1 vs 3. It all depends on the space colors everyone has landed on. Your aim of this mode is to collect enough coins to purchase stars. The player with the most stars at the end of all of the rounds is crowned the Superstar.

Luigi says he's going to strut-- just strut.

To mix things up even further is the additional of candy. Candy is used for a variety of measures. Twice and thrice candy allows the player to hit two and three dice blocks respectively. Slowgo candy summons a slower moving dice block that allows you to move 1-5 spaces. Springo candy allows the player to hop to another player's position randomly by way of a dart throw. Cashzap candy shocks your opponent in losing half of his or her coins. Vampire candy steals anywhere from 5-30 coins from each opponent. There's a number of additional candy that offers other services or disservices to the player. Additionally, at the end of every game if selected players will be awarded bonus stars. There are three given out which range from who collected the most coins in mini-games to who consumed the most delectable candy. Carbs are apparently a worry of the past in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Boards are varied each featuring a different locale and goal. DK's Treetop Temple is the most traditional board needing players to purchase stars at random locations of the board for 20 coins each, Goomba's Booty Boardwalk
requires players to move across the lengthy tropical boardwalk to reach a goomba for a star, King Boo's Haunted Hideaway is a mystical mansion where those who come across King Boo will be able to buy a star from him, Shyguy's Perplex Express is a fast-paced locomotive where those who reach Shyguy in the engine room can get a star, and finally, Koopa's Tycoon Town is where players delve into the world of Monopoly-- buying up vacant and owned hotels to receive the most stars. There's one more map which can be unlocked in Star Battle mode.

In Koopa's Tycoon Town, players into the realm of real estate, buying the most hotels that they possibly can to earn stars.

Meanwhile, speaking of Star Battle mode, Star Battle is a one on one battle with a CPU opponent on six different boards. Each board has a specific challenge for you to accomplish such as in DK's Treetop Temple where the first player to receive two stars before the other player wins and moves onto the next board. There are no minigames in between rounds. You'll only play Dual Minigames which are one vs. one games where the winner wins a random amount of coins from the other player or Challenge Minigames which are for one-player only. Playing Star Battle is sometimes easier than winning Party Tent mode because you only have one other player to worry about instead of three.

Regarding minigames, there's a huge variety of games to play-- over seventy. Most will have you holding the Wii remote like an NES controller while others will have you pointing at the screen to move your character. The best ones use the Wii remote in fun ways such as lassoing barrels in Blazing Lassos or beating the rocks out of a Bowser statue in Punch-a-bunch. Games like Cut from the Team, however, only further cause annoyance as the lucky will win in already luck-heavy Mario Party 8.

Boo-ting Gallery has you and your teammate blast pink boos as you infiltrate this spooky mansion.

To round out the package there's the Extra Zone where you can take your Mii and play Mario Party versions of Wii bowling as well as puzzle games with other players or denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. These aren't too exciting, and there's really not much to these games. Lastly, the Fun Bazaar is where you can spend Carnival Tickets earned by playing the Party Tent and Star Battle modes for buying minigames and figurines. This is apparently how Mario Party 8 encourages replay value as most items are 30 tickets and you only earn 20 per 10 round game.

Ultimately there's not too much of a change between this and past Mario games. I personally skipped out on Mario Parties 5-7 as the formula had just run dry. The Wii remote games are fun, but the main game is still way too heavily luck-based which will probably make skilled players become easily frustrated. The CPU seems to always catch breaks while you catch a nice dice roll of 1s. If you're going to play alone, save yourself the trouble and pick up another game. If you have another to play with, however, I encourage you to at least rent this game to try it out. If you're satisfied with the package, then pick it up.

The Recap:

Story: The Star Carnival has infiltrated the Mushroom Kingdom, and now it's time to see who will win that year's supply of candy! Diabetes, away!

Graphics: Really nothing the Gamecube couldn't easily pull off, but it's still not bad to look at.

Gameplay: The minigames, while fun, won't win any design awards, nor will the luck-heavy game.

Audio: Overused voice clips and MIDI-quality sound and music. Yeah...

Replay Value: There's two characters and one board to unlock as well as numerous goodies to buy in the Fun Bazaar.

Overall: 6/10 - An above average (but not by much) party game.

6/12/07 - Tony Hawk's Project 8 (360)

He was a sk8r boi...

Spoiler for:

Annoying song for the tagline aside, the good folks at Activision bring out the Tony Hawk Pro franchise for an eighth outing in the form of Tony Hawk's Project 8. The aim of the game is to have your no-name skater start at the bottom of the ranks and make his way up towards the top eight-- Project 8. The top eight skaters will star in a Tony Hawk video production. How do you rise up in the ranks? Easy. By completing skating challenges around Beaver Creek (the game hub) you'll slowly begin to make a name for yourself.

I could do that in my sleep.... and die from it.

Starting out in the quaint confines of Suburbia, you'll create your skater. Admittedly the skater options are horrible. You'll basically be choosing a model and be sent off on your way. In my eye, that's a total letdown. Regardless, by completing tasks at either the am, pro, and/or sick difficulties, completing various pro challenges where a professional skater will ask you to perform a specific goal, participating in skate competitions, finding secret spots hidden all around Beaver Creek, and nailing gaps you'll slowly but steadily rise among the ranks picking up new sponsors and notoriety. Goals range from performing tricks in front of a camera to taking down graffiti off of walls. The art of bailing presents itself in Project 8 in various Jackass-styled objectives such as activating a bail to knock down ten bowling pins. These objectives are pretty much too goofy and unrealistic and clash with the supposed realistic skating experience Project 8 offers.

Additionally, a new Nail the Trick mode can be activated by pushing in both analog sticks while in mid-air. This slows time down and focuses in on your deck. By moving the analog sticks to kick the board around and timing your movements just right you can perform some very cool flip tricks with your deck. This can be used to rack up some serious scores which you'll need to complete sick difficulty competitions. Speaking of sick challenges, these are meant for the most professional Tony Hawk players. They will seriously kick your ass if you don't know what you're doing. Thankfully, they really aren't needed to enter Project 8-- only if you wish to be #1. And, achievement whores, don't look at this game for an easy 1000/1000. You will be lucky to break 700 points.

An example of the Nail the Trick feature.

Even though all of the areas are based within the same town of Beaver Valley, the sections are quite varied. You'll start off in Suburbia, move on to the center of Beaver Creek in Main Street, thrash tricks around a Skate Park, hit the books in the School, kick it old school in the Slums, impress your forefathers at City Hall, piss off the squirrels in City Park, work for the union in the Factory, and ride the rides of the Fun Park. As you begin Project 8 you'll be limited to the Suburbia, but as you progress the whole town will be open for you to skate in.

Online allows you and a handful of humans to skate via various modes include a variant of tag, trick attack, a mode to see who can score the highest combo, and more. When a player drops out, the game still continues. Online has a very casual feel to it, and it never feels overly competitive like some games like Gears of War or Halo 2.

One of the pros shows us how it's done.

Ulitmately, Tony Hawk Project 8 is a solid title that mostly heads back to the basics. While not too much has changed the total package is one that is both challenging, satisfying, a delight to play, and rewarding. Those who aren't a fan of the series won't be persuaded by this title to pick up. Those who are though will discover a THPS game that harks back to the originals.

The Recap:

Story: Tony Hawk has announced Project 8, and you're interested in joining. Hey, what's the guy from My Name is Earl doing here?

Graphics: Impressive to say the least.

Gameplay: Traditional Tony Hawk with a few twists.

Audio: A pretty good soundtrack that can be overshadowed because it's not loud enough.

Replay Value: There really isn't much to do after completing story mode which few will probably do 100%. There's still online to be had, however.

Overall: 7.5/10 - A solid entry into the franchise. Not bad for the old bird.

6/13/07 - Planet Puzzle League (DS)

Leagues above other puzzle games.

Spoiler for:

Leagues above other puzzle games.

Tetris Attack bursts onto the DS with a new name in the form of Planet Puzzle League. For those new to this type of puzzler, the standard playing style is that you hold the DS in book form so the screens are tall and skinny as opposed to short and wide. This is to allow you to move blocks without having your hand in the way while you play. This can be tweaked so you're able to play normally as if you were playing any other DS game. Left-handers are also accounted for as you can select to play left-handed under the options menu.

Don't have a lot of time to play? Try the Daily Play mode.

The main aim of Planet Puzzle League is to line up three or more blocks of the same color and shape to score points. Meanwhile a line of blocks will continue to stack up from the bottom of the screen. If the blocks reach the top of the screen, it's game over. The catch is that you can only slide blocks left or right with either the stylus (which is much more intuitive and simple to use) or using the traditional button controls. Create chains by setting up the blocks to clear and then have another line blocks fall on top and clear as well. Chains and combos are the greatest means to score big points.

Multiple skins further enhance the PPL experience.

There's a variety of modes to be played in Planet Puzzle League as well. Single player modes include Endless mode which is an endurance game where you play until you receive a game over, Clear mode which has you clearing all the blocks below the clear line to advance to the next stage, Garage Challenge is where you have to clear adjacent blocks to giant garbage blocks to score points, Vs. COM which is a mode that pits you against a CPU opponent, Time Attack is a mode where you face a clock to score as many points as possible during the time limit, and finally, Puzzle mode will sharpen your brain as you try to clear all the blocks in a puzzle in a set number of moves. Additionally, there's a Daily Play mode perfect for casual gamers to pick up, play a 2 minute game, and try to beat their high scores.

The most notable feature of Planet Puzzle League besides the trance like presentation is the online mode where you can face other players to increase your overall rank, battle against players sharing your birthday, your skill level, or folks on your friends list. When playing friends on your list, you can even use voice chat to speak with them adding even more to the online experience.

Drop garbage blocks on your unsuspecting opponent!

The main problem with Planet Puzzle League is that it seems to really appeal to casuals-- that is, there isn't anything to unlock. The only satisfaction players will obtain is either by beating their own high scores, clearing the various modes, or playing online with friends. Furthermore, there really isn't any personality to this game. It just seems "bleh". It obviously borrowed the techno-ish presentation from Q Entertainment's Lumines. However, these problems notwithstanding, Planet Puzzle League is still a terrific puzzler, and for fans of the old Tetris Attack and Pokemon Puzzle League games, there's a lot of modes and variety for anyone to easily pick up and play.

The Recap:

Story: N/A

Graphics: Some pretty cool effects in the backgrounds make for nice eye candy.

Gameplay: This is the culmination of great puzzling. 'Nuff said.

Sound: You'll be bopping your head around to some of the techno tracks.

Replay Value: No sign of unlockables, but challenging anyone around the world more than makes up for it.

Overall: 8/10 - Not a perfect puzzler but still fun in its own right.

6/14/07 - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Wii VC)

It's on like Donkey Kong... again!

Spoiler for:

All screenshots by SuperPhillip.

No later than a year after Donkey Kong Country was released for the Super Nintendo, Diddy's Kong Quest came out in North America the following holiday season in 1995. With it, gamers took on the role of Diddy Kong and his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, in an adventure to save Donkey Kong from the clutches of the sinister Kaptain K. Rool.

Fast forward to 2007, and we've already seen a third installment of DKC in 1997 featuring Dixie and newcomer Kiddy Kong, pretty well done remakes of the DKC trilogy on the Gameboy Advance, and a 3-D collect-a-thon in Donkey Kong 64. Out of all of those, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (side-note: up until today I always read the subtitle as Diddy Kong's Quest and not Diddy's Kong Quest) still weighs in as the best banana of the bunch. Why is that?

Players begin on the ship that served as the climax to the original DKC, the Gangplank Galleon, as Diddy Kong. Entering the kaptain's-- er.... captain's chamber Diddy reads a note informing all of us that he has captured Donkey Kong somehow. That's all for the story, but at the same token I don't play 2-D platformers for John Grisham caliber material and neither should you.

Diddy Kong plays exactly the way he did in the original. He's small, fast, and carries barrels, crates, and cannonballs in front of his chest. Dixie on the other hand can jump in the air, twirl her yellow locks in the air, and slowly hover to the ground. She lifts barrels and other items over her head with her ever versatile ponytail. Neither of the two can take out larger foes without help from a throwable item.

Collecting all of the stars in this bonus area will reward you with a kremcoin.

Gameplay hasn't changed much from the original DKC, but that isn't a bad thing. If you have a decent formula why screw it up? Oh, no. I hope the Mega Man designers aren't reading this review! ...Regardless, players move from the start of the level to the end, all the while collecting bananas (100 gives players an extra life), collecting banana coins (used as currency), seeking out well-hidden DK coins (one per actual level), and finding bonus rooms. Unlike DKC, bonus rooms aren't a free ticket to 100 percent plus completion. You'll need to meet a goal in each room such as taking out all of the enemies, reaching a token in the bonus area, or collecting all of the stars of an area. To add the mix, some levels feature animals that will assist you. Rambi the rhino returns to ram into enemies, as well as smash through certain walls. Enguarde the swordfish helps you in underwater levels by poking and prodding unsuspecting foes. Squawks the parrot is the final returning buddy. No longer is he confined to carrying a light around for you. He'll fly you around wherever you want to go. New animals enter the fray such as Rattly the rattler who can reach high places with his giant jumps, Squitter the spider can shoot out webs that can knock out foes as well as webs that can be used as temporary footings. Lastly, Clapper the seal will cool down scalding water for a set amount of time and Glimmer the angler fish will appear in one level to light the way for you.

Newcomer Rattly shows everyone why he's the master of height.

There are numerous levels in each of the game's eight worlds (one of which being optional but necessary to get the best ending). These worlds range from being inside a fiery lagoon, to a swamp, to an amusement park gone bananas, to a trap-laden castle. There's a lot of variety here, and you'll see that as you progress through only just the first world! At the conclusion of each world besides Creepy Castle, you'll face a boss. These bosses require a different approach to defeating them such as tossing the eggs that a giant Necky pirate knocks down from his krow's nest. Furthermore, each world has Kongs to stop by as well. Cranky Kong is the old coot who will give you advice for some banana coins (way to spoil the young'ns, Crankster), Swanky Kong is the game show host with the most. He'll offer you extra lives if you can answer his quiz questions correctly. Finally, Wrinkly Kong, wife of Cranky, is an old schoolteacher will allow you to save your game. Additionally she, too, will offer advice. These Kongs is where all those banana coins come in. At Klubba's Kiosk, those kremcoins you've earned from bonus rooms are able to be used to allow access to the Lost World. Thankfully, Jeff Goldblum is nowhere in sight.

Rock on, Dixie. You certainly deserve to.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is simply a blast to play. Even if you collect everything in less than three hours, you will want to return to the game to play it. At least that has been my experience. Playing with a friend where one player controls Diddy and one player controls Dixie is a blast, or you can play competitively to see which players' team can complete the game first. Bonus areas and DK coins are almost dastardly hidden allowing for fun for discovery... or you can spoil the fun and use a FAQ, you cheeky monkeys. Overall, DKC 2 is a worthwhile purchase for only eight bucks, and it is one the best 2-D side-scrollers next to the Mario and Sonic series. You owe it to yourself to pick this game up if you don't own the original cart or are just jonesing for your DKC 2 fix (Classic Controller recommended).

The Recap:

Story: Donkey Kong has been Kongnapped by Kaptain K. Rool, and it's up to Diddy and Dixie to rescue him.

Graphics: They hold up well actually and are a quite nice to look at.

Gameplay: Roll, bash, jump-- it's all here and accounted for wonderfully.

Sound: One of the best SNES soundtracks ever. Period.

Replay Value: You'll want to play this game over and over again if you liked it like I did.

Overall: 9.5/10 - A banana-slamma.

6/15/07 - Donkey Kong Country (Wii VC)

It's on like Donkey Kong.

Spoiler for:

1994 brought with it the graphical powerhouse known as Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo. While Rare is no longer owned partially by Nintendo, games featuring Nintendo characters made by Rare such as Donkey Kong Country remain up for Nintendo's Virtual Console.

From caverns to jungles, Donkey Kong gets around!

Donkey Kong Country tells the tale of Donkey Kong whose banana horde has been pilfered by the dastardly Kremlings under rule by King K. Rool. With that token of knowledge, players start off bursting out of DK's treehouse in search for the missing horde. Gameplay is all 2-D platforming. You play as both DK and his good buddy Diddy Kong. DK is the stronger of the two so he can take down larger enemies, but also moves more slowly. Diddy is faster, but he can't take down larger enemies such as Krunchas. If one of the two gets hit, the character gets removed. Get hit by your lonesome, and you lose a life and must start either at the beginning of the level or at a continue barrel which is a starting point midway through a level. By hitting DK Barrels you bring back one of your missing Kongs. Think of this as getting a mushroom in Super Mario Bros. Get hit in that game, and you go back to small (or in this case with only one Kong). Get hit once again and you lose a life.

The graphics still hold up well by today's standards.

There are seven major areas in Donkey Kong Country and each area is comprised of multiple levels (usually five or more). They also include houses where Cranky Kong who will give you meaningful advice while exploring DK Isle, Funky Kong whose flights will let you fly to past areas in the game, and Candy Kong who will allow you to save your progress are all stationed in each area of the game excluding the final area, Gangplank Galleon. The areas are pretty much all mainstays in platformers. You have Kongo Jungle, DK's home area giving you the basic gameplay of the game, Monkey Mines, featuring boardwalk platforms and a mine cart level, Vine Valley, full of forest platforming action, Gorilla Glacier which is filled with icy slopes and tricky jumps, Kremcroc Industries Inc., a toxic wasteland, Chimp Cavers, home to the biggest platforming challenges, and Gangplank Galleon where K. Rool rests. At the end of each area is a boss fight against a larger version of one of the baddies you'll come across in your adventure.

Slipslide Ride features slippery ropes that will make you go one way or the other.

Each level is full of its own secrets. You'll want to throw barrels into walls to expose hidden bonus areas, look carefully for barrels that will shoot you into more bonus areas, while gathering up bananas (100 will give you an extra life), animal tokens (collect three and be warped to a special area full of medals; for every 100 medals you earn you get an extra life), and collecting the letters K-O-N-G in a level will give you an extra life as well. Most of these bonus areas are cleverly hidden, so look hard! By getting all of the bonus areas in a level you'll get an exclamation point after the level's name. This is the only way to get 100% plus in Donkey Kong Country, so it's a challenge that perfectionists will love to try to achieve!

In your platforming adventures you'll most likely come across animals which will help you out in your journey. Rambi the rhino will be the first. His horn can take out even the strongest of enemies. Winky the frog can hop higher than the average animal and can help you reach hidden areas in the game. Enguarde the swordfish is your best friend in underwater levels. His nose can take out almost any peril in the sunken depths of DK Isle. Espresso the ostrich can fly for a limited time which will allow you to travel great distances. Finally, Squawks the parrot will light the way for you in two of the game's levels.

Just one of the many animal buddies you'll come across in Donkey Kong Country.

There really isn't anything wrong with the gameplay. I feel that it has aged well despite some criticisms. Levels where you have to shoot yourself from barrel to barrel can be particularly challenging. With finding all of the hidden areas in every level, bashing the game's bosses, and rolling your way through the numerous levels, Donkey Kong Country is one of the best platforming treats a gamer can have. A Classic Controller is recommended to play as the Gamecube's controls are inverted which will most likely throw you off. You can play with a friend for some great co-op play. Either by having one player be Donkey and one player being Diddy, or a mode where you are able to see who can complete the game first (taking turns playing, of course). Ultimately, Donkey Kong Country is definitely 800 points well spent. If you're new to the franchise or haven't touched your SNES or GBA cartridges in ages, you owe it to yourself to pick this bad boy up.

The Recap:

Story: The crocodile Kremlings have taken Donkey Kong's banana horde! Time to go ape and get them back!

Graphics: Still beautiful to this day. The 3-D models are just great.

Gameplay: Plays best with a Classic Controller. Rolling, leaping, and defeating Kremlings is all in fun, too.

Audio: One of the best SNES soundtracks ever. It holds up remarkably well even now.

Replay Value: I've played through this game so many times already, yet I keep coming back. You most likely will, too.

Overall: 9/10 - Go bananas with this excellent title!

6/16/07 - Sonic the Hedgehog (X360)

Sonic Rushed, New Generation, same old problems.

Spoiler for:

Coming from someone who played and S-ranked every 3-D Sonic from Sonic Adventure 2 to Shadow the Hedgehog, I've come to accept Sonic's transition from his roots to what we now see before us in 2006. Sonic Adventure was the blue blur's first step into total 3-D gaming. That was 1998. This is 2006. I expect more from Sonic Team than the same horrible camera, myriad glitches, and deviation from Sonic that both Sonic Adventure and Sonic the Hedgehog supply. This goes especially since this Sonic game was supposed to go back to his roots. I did not die because the automated jump sequence I was participating in decided to send me careening to death in the original Sonic the Hedgehog, so, Sonic Team, please tell me how this game returns his roots. Which roots exactly? Because it seems to me as if Sonic Team decided to go back to its Sonic Adventure rulebook. Sonic Team got this game out on the 360 first for a reason, and it shows that they weren't quite finished with their work.

This is the part where I'd fall off the platform magically.

The camera is something that all 3-D Sonic games have a difficult time getting a grasp of. Most of the time the speed of the characters is too swift for the camera to adequately follow. Other times the camera locks while you're moving, so you don't even have a clue as to where you're running to (usually to pain). Another way the camera can mess with the gamer is to flip sides without warning. Sonic may be running one way only to have the camera flip. This usually happens when I'm holding the control stick forward to run, and then I'm forced to alter the direction of the control stick just to meet the happy-go-lucky camera.

Another staple in 3-D Sonic games but becomes prevalent in StH are glitches. Glitches when you homing attack, glitches when you pressed the button to homing attack and nothing happens, glitches when you aim your homing attack at one enemy yet get another to totally throw off your groove.

It'd help if I could see where I was flying to.

This installment of the Sonic series once again deviates from the title's focus to include episodes with the always brooding Shadow the Hedgehog and nasally and annoying newcomer Silver the Hedgehog. Apparently the twenty characters Sonic Team pulled from their collective butts to put into Sonic games wasn't enough, so they added this psychic hedgehog into the fray. Shadow's levels are similar to Sonic's except that include vehicles in them. Why a speedy hedgehog would need vehicles is beyond me, but we're dealing with Sonic Team so anything is fair game with them involved. Silver's level are more puzzle oriented as he uses his telekinetic powers to move boxes, make platforms, and stop missiles to fling them at enemies. Truly I'd prefer a focus to actually be on the person the game was made after, but Silver is an intuitive addition to the series.

A beef I have with game is one that I had with Sonic Adventure-- the over-world.
Sonic is meant to be a fast-paced game. However, the tedious, uninspired world maps filled with boring side missions (which not only take fifteen seconds to load a mission, but it also takes fifteen seconds just to load the freaking mission request!!) that don't add anything to experience besides ennui.

Two positives that I will compliment are 1) the fantastic soundtrack-- a series staple-- is both pumping, riveting, and memorable, and 2) the story. Some will like it and some will hate it, but that truly goes for anything in this world.

Waiter, there's emo in my hedgehog!

Overall, I think even the Sonic faithful will be disappointed with this game. I don't believe I'd even recommend it to the greatest Sonic fan. However, I'm sure there will be many who blindly take Sonic Team's rushed project and love it. I'm not one of those people. This game is worse than all previous 3-D Sonics because it has horrible control, a chaotic camera, cheap deaths, and annoying load times that detract from any enjoyment I would have had while playing this game. Do not buy this game unless you have a collection going on, or you're messed up in the head. Someone has to show Sonic Team that this debacle of a game, this shoddy effort on a game-- isn't going to fly anymore. The blue blur deserves better.

Overall: 3.5/10

6/17/07 - Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2

A kamehameha burst of fun-- and I'm not even a fan of the show.

Spoiler for:

Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the fifth installment of the Budokai series and the second of the Tenkaichi series. Basically the words more, more, and more adequately describe this game. There's more characters, more arenas, more capsules, more sagas, and more battles to be had.

There's not too much of a difference between the Playstation 2 and Wii versions, however, save for an alternate control scheme, and even then the control scheme isn't mandatory to use. Regardless, you'll have the best Wii DBZ experience by using the Wii remote and nunchuk combo. The control stick moves your fighter, swinging the nunchuk makes your fighter dash, the B button unleashes an energy attack called a Ki Blast, pointing the Wii remote up and holding down on the control pad makes your fighter block, A is used for attacks fittingly, holding the C button and moving the nunchuk up enables your fighter to jump or rise into the air, the opposite is how you descend-- yeah, there's a lot to remember which may turn people off immediately, but when you get a hang of it it's quite rewarding. Alternately you can use either a classic controller or Gamecube controller to play. However, don't expect to look in the instruction manual for help on the button configuration-- there isn't any.

Falcoooon PUNCH! Wait, wrong game...

The meat of Budokai Tenkaichi 2 rests in the Dragon Adventure mode. It's basically a mode that has you go through all of the sagas of Dragonball Z and GT lore. You fly around an overworld map, go to the designated area, and pick a fight. There is a lot of fighting and a plethora of sagas to be had in this mode-- almost too much that it gets monotonous at parts. You'll begin in the Saiyan Saga and go all the way to GT's climatic confrontation against Omega Shenron. There's also Ultimate Battle Z where you fight a series of battles against various DBZ characters, Dragon Tournament-- a three round ring out or KO battle to earn zenny to buy items, Dueling-- a mode for you to face the CPU or a friend on your terms, Ultimate Training which will help the uninitiated get their bearings, Evolution Z which is a mode to equip skills to your fighters, the Item Shop where you buy and sell Z Items, and finally a Dragon Library where you can brush up on everything Dragonball Z. Whew. A lot modes, huh?

Her looks could kill... and did.

Not only are there a lot of modes, but there's a lot of characters. Taking a handful from Dragonball, a ton from Dragonball Z, and a nice collection from Dragonball GT, you'll discover a lot of fighters to face off with and against. Most are merely cosmetic as they really play the same as others. Such characters include mainstays like Goku, Piccolo, and Krillin to lesser talked about fighters such as Cooler, Lord Slug, and Janemba. Almost every Dragonball Z character is accounted for, and by combining Z-Items you can unlock new ones.

One hell of an air show.

To say Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is fun is an understatement. It's literally a blast to play, but the story mode-- filled with voice work from the show-- is just the same thing over and over again which gets somewhat boring. Additionally, some characters-- besides their appearances-- are far too alike. Nonetheless, even if you aren't a fan of Dragonball Z and think it's the most overrated anime on the planet (like me) you will still enjoy this fighter.

The Recap:

Story: Dragon Adventure skims over every Dragonball Z and GT saga.

Graphics: Gorgeous cel-shaded characters and environments fill this fighter.

Gameplay: 3-D battles with destructable environments and fierce attacks for either Wii remote and nunchuk, classic controller, or Gamecube controller support.

Sound: I hate Goku's voice. Everything else including the music is pretty good.

Replay Value: Unlocking all the fighters and Z-Items is pretty time-consuming indeed.

Overall: 7.5/10 - Not a bad fighter for any level of Dragonball Z fan.

6/18/07 - DK: King of Swing

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Spoiler for:

All screenshots by SuperPhillip.

Donkey Kong returns in a brand new game, but it's not what you think it is. DK King of Swing throws the Country formula and gameplay out of the window bringing with it a new control scheme with it. The Kongs are having a competition to see who can grab the most DK medals and be designated as "The King of the Jungle" when suddenly King K. Rool flies in, pilfers all of the medals, and rockets away. Now DK must get them back!

After a brief tutorial with Cranky, you'll launch into the game itself. There are five worlds consisting of DK's jungle, a western themed area, a coral reef, an ice domain, and finally King K. Rool's vessel. There are about four levels in each world. Each level is comprised of vertical rooms which DK will have to climb multiple series of pegs while avoiding enemies, grabbing bananas, and finding hidden bonus barrels. You use the L and R buttons not only to move on solid ground left and right, but you also use them in mid air to control DK's hands. L being his left hand, and R being his right. You use these buttons the most when playing. You'll latch onto pegs and alternate between L and R to climb on the various surfaces the game has to offer. Holding L and R while on the ground performs a jump while holding L and R together while holding onto a peg to execute an attack on an enemy. The A button is used to make DK invincible for a short period of time. This move consumes twenty bananas while healing a heart of DK (in this game DK has three hearts as his health bar) costs ten. When you lose all three hearts, it's game over until you restart on the world map. Now being able to use bananas to heal is a nice touch, but it's easy to abuse by going back to previous levels and stocking up on DK's yellow fix.

Familiar foes abound in King of Swing.

You'd think alternating between L and R would be shallow, but there's a lot of variety to this game. You can grab onto rocks in certain levels to chuck at climbing Kremlings. Speaking of baddies, numerous Donkey Kong Country foes make a return to DK King of Swing including Kritters, Flitters, Zingers, Neckies, and Lockjaws to name a few. Obstacles such as walls can only be pressed by cranking a switch to allow DK enough time to pass through. DK can ride in barrels to shoot himself past danger. Worlds of ice make grabbing onto and sticking to pegs all the more difficult. The final world will have you dodging spikes, mortar fire, while clinging to conveyor belts that'll push you off if you stay on them too long. Not only are there the levels to complete, but each level has a medal and crystal coconut hidden in them. One is in a bonus barrel which will lead you to a stage where you'll have to collect all of the bananas within the time limit, and the other is hiding somewhere within the level.

Each world concludes with its own boss battle. Some you can simply hold L and R and bash into the boss, but others require a different approach. The Davy Bones boss will desire you to grab onto its tail and ram it into the surrounding spikes around the battlefield. Simply ramming into it won't do you any good.

This boss requires you to grab its tail and pull it into the surrounding spikes.

To round out the package, DK King of Swing comes with an alternate party type mode called Jungle Jam. There's a race mode to see who of the four can climb to the top of the area the fastest, an obstacle course, and a battle mode to see who can hit the competition the most within the time limit. These are a necessity for perfectionists to complete. Even after beating the fairly short adventure mode 100%, you'll deal with another mode called Diddy Mode. This is a harder version of the adventure mode. You will only find bananas when you fell an enemy. No more strewn about the levels. Those patient enough to complete this will unlock a very cool character which you'll have to see for yourself to unlock (or check a FAQ).

Silly monkey, Trix are for kids!

DK King of Swing is a very innovative game that retains the fun of the franchise. Though sometimes frustrating climbing your way to the top of a room only to get knocked down back where you started can be quite annoying, overall the game experience is positive. The story mode may be short, but unlocking everything King of Swing has to offer lengthens the play time. If you're in the mood for an underrated gem, then DK King of Swing should be the top banana for you.

The Recap:

Story: K. Rool has stolen some medals needed for the Kong's competition. DK is on the case.

Graphics: Instead of the Country style of pseudo 3-D graphics there's colorful 2-D sprites and backgrounds.

Gameplay: L, R, L, R, L, R, L, R... You'll be using those buttons a lot.

Audio: Catchy tunes you'll be humming to most likely.

Replay Value: The adventure is short, but there's a lot of content there to unlock.

Overall: 8/10 - Great. Pick this winner up today!

6/19/07 - Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii)

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

Spoiler for:

While not the platformer the franchise is known for, Rayman Raving Rabbids turns the series into a new direction-- the party game. The rabbids-- cute, fluffy, white, babbling creatures-- have kidnapped Rayman's friends and imprisoned Rayman in a dark and dank prison cell. Each day they release him into an expansive coliseum where he is forced to participate in four "games" daily and a final challenge. These games make up the core of Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Rayman shows that cows among other creatures really can fly.

There's a wide variety of games to play-- all using the Wii remote and nunchuk combination. Did you know bunnies are afraid of the dark? Neither did I. You'll play games where you'll twirl the Wii remote over your head like lasso to throw a rabbid serving as a shotput. You'll pick worms out of a rabbid's filthy mouth, you'll fill up rabbids' snorkels with orange juice, and let your groove thing hang out in a dance competition. All of the mini-games use the remote and nunchuk well, and most are a blast to play. There's over fifty mini-games in all in Rayman Raving Rabbids, and most of them will make you look like a fool.

An example of one of the rail-shooter mini-games.

The final challenge of each day consists of either racing on the backs of wild boars to a very fun and satisfying rail-gun style shooter where you blast rabbids with your plunger gun. You can even grab a rabbid and use him as a shield against attacks or to simply toss into another foe. These final challenges reward Rayman with an albeit unimpressive plunger. However, these uninteresting plungers are actually Rayman's tools for escaping from captivity. Once he has enough to climb up, he can reach an open window and escape! Seeing as how cute those rabbids are, would he really want to? Oh, well.

As your complete all the games in a certain day you unlock extras for Rayman's cell including new songs for the jukebox and new costumes. As you progress through the game, the rabbids will take to Rayman as if he were a heroic gladiator, holding up signs, rolling out a red carpet, playing a fanfare for him, and escorting him to and from his jail cell in style. Other unlockables can be found outside of the main mode. There you can try to beat the high scores to unlock hidden content such as artwork and entertaining movies.

Move the Wii remote up and down to move faster.

The main problem with Rayman Raving Rabbids is that it's over far too soon. There doesn't seem to be a lot of substance to a game based solely on mini-games. Although I wouldn't mind playing more of the rail-shooter levels over again. Overall though, Raving Rabbids is a very fun, albeit short, party game even for single-players. If you're getting tired of Wii Sports, you should definitely pick up the superior Wii version of Raving Rabbids.

The Recap:

Story: The cute rabbids have captured Rayman and his friends. Now Rayman needs your help to escape with his friends!

Graphics: Nothing mind-blowing but the graphical style works for this game for some reason.

Gameplay: A collection of varied mini-games is the meat of the gameplay.

Audio: Daaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Those rabbids are freaking cute. You can also hear remixed tunes of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "La Bamba" among others.

Replay Value: The main mode won't last you too long, but you can always go for high scores.

Overall: 8/10 - Great. Any fan of Wii Sports will love this game.

6/20/07 - Mario Kart 64 (Wii VC)

Welcome to Mario Kart... again!

Spoiler for:

When it premiered on Nintendo 64 consoles across the world in 1997, multiplayer madness ensued. The second game in the Mario Kart franchise, Mario Kart 64 improves on its predecessor and takes racing out of Mode 7 and into the third dimension. Eight karters are available for racing including mainstays like Mario and Luigi to Peach, Toad, Yoshi, DK, Wario (who replaces Koopa Troopa), and Bowser. Each character has its own weight class. Mario and Luigi are the most balanced while karters like Peach, Toad, and Yoshi have the greatest acceleration but are also easily smacked around by other karts, and DK, Wario, and Bowser are the heaviest of the eight. They can bounce around other racers, have the highest speed, but they are lacking in high acceleration.

You'll most likely want to start with the 50cc grand prix if you're a beginner or are just getting your feet wet again with this title. This is the slowest cart class and is perfect to begin with. There are four races to each of the four cups (the special cup being unlockable with the most difficult tracks). Each track brings something new to the table both aesthetically and fundamentally. Racers will have it easy on the figure eight track of Luigi's Raceway, have to deal with mounds of Monty Moles in Moo Moo Farm, clean the sand out of their wheels in Koopa Troopa Beach, and halt for an oncoming train in Kalimari Desert. That's just the variety of the first cup, the Mushroom Cup. Other cups feature sprawling mountainsides, snowy paths, traffic congestion, haunted boardwalks, a race bordering Peach's castle, a motocross track gone berserk, and even a track through the innards and outers of Bowser's keep. Variety is the spice of life, and there's a lot to digest in this racer including the items. You'll use green shells, red shells, banana peels to slip up the competition, starmen to make you invincible, lightning bolts to shrink everyone so you can run over them, and more. MK64 features the ability to hold items behind you to dodge homing red shells and other items. This may seem cheap or too easy to anyone who has played later Mario Kart games.

Save for Koopa Troopa, the gang's all here!

Four players can face off against one another on any of the sixteen tracks. There is no AI with three or more players, and there's no AI in the battle mode either. This mode consists of you using items on your human controlled opponents. Each time you get hit by an item you lose one of three balloons. Lose all of your balloons, and you're eliminated. While there's no AI in battle mode, one friend can compete with you in Grand Prix mode to help you collect trophies and unlock faster cart classes, or you can race by your lonesome against the CPU. The CPU however had rubber-band AI. This means that no matter how far ahead you think you are from your opponents they will somehow catch up to you and drive up your butt-- figuratively, as this is an E rated game. This makes races seldom a sure thing and creates more excitement, but at the same time it feels like artificially making the game more difficult. I felt that it was a mixture of both ideas. Furthermore, the game feels a lot looser compared to its younger brothers which through me off a little. Also, without controller pak support you cannot save ghost data for time trials which is an added bummer.

Play with friends for the most replay value.

Overall though the experience is over far too soon. You'll want to have friends to play with you to enhance the experience rather than always playing alone against the rubber-band AI. Seriously, AI, you cannot possibly be driving any further up my ass! This game won't take you but a few hours or so to unlock and complete the final game mode if you're really cooking. A great racer but now I feel that at least two of the future Mario Kart titles in Double Dash and DS have outdone this once perfect racer.

The Recap:

Story: N/A

Graphics: Beautiful 3-D tracks with 2-D sprites makes for a pretty good combination.

Gameplay: A little loose after playing Mario Kart DS for a bit, but it's manageable once you get reacquainted to the controls.

Audio: Awesome tracks. The best Mario Kart soundtrack of all time in this reviewer's opinion. Also voice overs are welcomed as well.

Replay Value: Unless you have friends, there's not too much which greatly docks the score.

Overall: 7.5/10 - My third best Mario Kart game which is good company to be in for sure.

Nice review, maybe a merged topic with blackholes is in order?

New review added: Tony Hawk's Project 8. 

You might want to say what console it is for in the future.

You might want to say what console it is for in the future.

The future is now. Fixed.

Planet Puzzle League is today's review. Enjoy. 

Check out today's newest review-- DKC 2 for the Wii's Virtual Console!

Top notch reviews, but I think you are being too easy, or not reviewing the bad games.

Top notch reviews, but I think you are being too easy, or not reviewing the bad games.

Well, 5 is average, and I haven't gotten to a bad one yet. I will shortly, however.

Nice reviews and I'll agree with DKC2....tha game is truly one of the best platformer of the SNES (and DKC) and now available in the VC.

Sonic the Hedgehog has gotten the review treatment.

Can you review GRAW 2 and tell me about the off-line multiplayer if you can.

Can you review GRAW 2 and tell me about the off-line multiplayer if you can.

Never played the franchise before. Sorry.

New review added.

DK: King of Swing added. 

Awesome reviews. I guess I won't be getting Mario Party 8 then. :x

My friend ghas Mario Party 8......so I don't need to buy it.....

DK: King of Swing 8/10, really? Is it that good? I though it suck because of the reviews they gave to it......but I don't like the look of King K. Rool...he looks retarded.

DK Country: 9/10???

I don't know where you got that.
And DK C2 is now where near as good...
But aside from that, I really like this thread! 

Rayman Raving Rabbids reviewed.

Mario Kart 64 on the Virtual Console has been added to the ever-expanding list of reviewed games.

I had to take a little break there, but I'm back!

6/25/07 - Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS)

Rare makes you question their sanity, but DKR DS is a pretty nice remake overall.

Spoiler for:

Diddy Kong Racing was a game that originally came in the hey-day of the Nintendo 64 back in 1997. This was when Rare and Nintendo were still joined at the hip. This time around Microsoft owns Rare and has allowed the company to continue developing for Nintendo's handhelds, thus Diddy Kong Racing DS is here. Playing this game I couldn't help but wish Rare left DKR alone.

Voices have been given the boot for text. Weird choice at first but with how bad the in-game voices are, maybe that's a good thing.

It's not to say the game is bad. It's a far distance away from bad, but some of the design choices with this game makes me wonder if Rare is just trying to screw with their classic games to get revenge on Nintendo for selling them. For one, Rare opted to use gimmicky options to start off each race. In a car, you have to rub the bottom screen up and down repeatedly to gain speed. In a hovercraft you need to blow into the microphone. Hopefully no one playing has asthma. Finally, a quick circling of the stylus to the bottom screen starts off the plane. These ways to boost are simply gimmicks and hinder the experience. I'm blowing into the mic, and then I have to quickly raise up and begin the race? Whaaaaaaat?!

Additionally, silver coin challenges have been removed from adventure mode replaced by touch challenges. These are mostly unresponsive, needing you to drag the screen to look in different directions, trying to grab coins and pop balloons simultaneously. It's just a jumbled mess. A handful of the boss touch challenges require you to draw lines to guide your racer to the finish. Completely terrible controls and design choices. Thankfully the latter chore isn't required to complete the game. Furthermore, a new mode called T.T.'s Wish allows players to draw their own tracks-- albeit very simplistic tracks.

This game won't win any graphical awards.

Graphically the game looks a little grainy compared to its big brother.
Audio-wise the voices have changed drastically. Some are ear-curdling to listen to quite honestly. David Wise returns to compose tracks for this version of the game. The quality is lessened compared to the N64 version as expected. It's still as catchy as ever, so it's nothing too major unless you absolutely loved the original's soundtrack and do not want to hear any changes whatsoever.

After all of those questionable or mediocre changes you may be wondering what decent upgrades there are. For one, four new characters have been added to replace Conker and Banjo (removed for obvious reasons), two of which are Dixie and Tiny Kong. The other two are unlockable characters. Also, four new themed tracks of DK Isle have been included as unlockables. The biggest draw to this version of DKR is the inclusion of online play. The game supports six players via Wi-Fi in a variety of modes such as trophy race (a four race cup), battle mode (which was missing from Mario Kart DS), T.T.'s Wish (players take turns drawing and racing on tracks) and token tussle (a collect before your opponent does mode). Online lobbies allow you to see if your friends are online, and they allow you to join them freely.

Pre-race minigames are a pain in the ass.

Diddy Kong Racing DS isn't 100% faithful to its N64 brethren, but it does give more to the table than the N64 ever did. Online play is a big plus with this title, and although other modes may have been replaced or stupidly given gimmicks to, DKR DS remains almost as satisfying as its N64 counterpart.


The Recap

Story: Wizpig has taken over Timber's Island, and Diddy Kong is on his way to save it. Seriously... who plays racing games for the story?

Graphics: Grainier textures than the original and less colorful.

Gameplay: Touch-screen and mic controls for boosting could have been left for dead. Otherwise this game handles like it ought to.

Audio: Mostly terrible voice-work. Music is stripped down compared to the 64 game.

Replay Value: Online play and T.T.'s Wish add limitless value, moreso than the 64 version ever could.

Overall: 7.5/10

6/26/07 - Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Wii)

Definitely Definitive.

Spoiler for:

Since its original release in the early part of 2005, Resident Evil 4 has reached a total of four different platforms. Originally a Gamecube exclusive, RE 4 was ported with added goodies onto the PS2 and a year later ported to the PC. Now it has been ported to the Nintendo Wii with the PS2's bonuses and the Wii's trademark waggle controls. This rendition of Resident Evil 4 is easily the best, and quite possibly is the one of the best games of all time. Read more to see why.

The debonair Leon S. Kennedy has arrived with a fistful of boomstick. Wait, wrong hero.

Those new to the Resident Evil series won't be missing out on too much by leaping right into the fourth edition of the franchise. Capcom successfully reinvented the series by doing away with the clunky tank controls (those who've played previous RE games will know what I'm referring to and if not, don't worry about it), fixed camera views, and prerendered backgrounds. RE 4 places the player in the role of government agent Leon Kennedy as he transports to rural Europe to find the whereabouts of the president's daughter, Ashley, who has apparently been abducted by some kind of religious cult. The camera as previously stated is no longer fixed and changes angles as you move around the landscapes and rooms of the game. Instead, the camera stays over the shoulder of Leon so the action is much more up-close and personal.

The Ganados isn't the name of a new reality show-- it's the name of these zombie-like humans.

Game flow is rather simple. You move from one area or room to another all the while blasting through Ganados-- zombie-like humans, solving puzzles to advance, finding hidden treasure to sell to a mysterious traveling shopkeeper, buying and upgrading your weapons such as shotguns, magnums, and rifles to name a few, and trying to survive the game's many challenges. Occasionally you'll come across action sequences such as waving the Wii remote furiously to run from a rolling boulder-- Indiana Jones-style. These action sequences also occur in cutscenes too, so you never want to put down your controller when playing or you just might die! You can blast enemies at specific body parts to slow them down. Headshots are always good and can make a Ganado's head blow off in a violent mess of crimson. Additionally if an enemy is too close you can draw out your knife and hack them, press the A button to perform a kick while they're stunned, and knock them away from you to buy yourself more time or create some distance.

Quick! Waggle that Wii remote!!

Now you can use the classic controller to play RE 4, but the main draw is playing with the Wii remote and nunchuk control scheme. It'd be like buying a surround sound system and only using one of the five speakers! The control stick moves Leon around, and while holding Z you can run to or from other places in a flash.. er.. a dash. Holding the C button draws out Leon's knife which is great for slashing barrels, nearby enemies, or practicing your mugging routine. You can choose to press A while holding the knife to slash or by waving the remote like a knife. Pressing A is much more manageable than waggling the remote. It's also much easier from my and other gamers' experience. Holding the B button on the Wii remote will stop Leon in his tracks as he draws out whatever gun you're holding. You aim with the pointer on the remote and fire with the A button. The - button brings up the menu where you can look through your inventory, items, key items, and treasures held, as well as notes from the various characters in the game. Lastly, the + button is used when you have Ashley on your side to either make her hold her position or follow Leon.

Burn, baby, burn.

Speaking of Ashley, the president's daughter will join your side at various points throughout the fifteen hour main story mode. Now don't think "Oh, God, not another tag-a-long brain-dead NPC that I have to baby-sit!!!" Ashley isn't like that too much at all. She will push down those who try to pursue her, she'll duck out of your line of fire if she's standing in front of you, and Ashley will also cower behind her knight in shining armor, and she will hide in boxes while Leon takes on the surrounding enemies. If Ashley gets picked up by a Ganado, it's your duty to shoot her captor before she gets taken out of the area. If she gets captured or dies, Leon's mission has been compromised and it's game over. Numerous puzzles will involve you and Ashley working together to proceed in the game. These are welcome and never feel tacked on. There's one particular moment in the game where you'll have to shoot at faraway enemies while Ashley attempts to raise up two platforms that are submerged in the water. This is while enemies are pursuing you as well as the isolated Ashley.

Ashley creeps behind Leon, ready to pants him.

There are three main areas in Resident Evil 4-- the village, the castle, and the island. Each have its own flavor and ambience to them. You'll be amazed by the amount of variety RE 4 has to offer in its single player alone. There's nothing more terrifying than hearing the buzz of a chainsaw in the background knowing that that noise is coming for you. Boss fights are placed at various times throughout the game as well from the monstrous fish Del Lago to the giant titan of El Gigante-- the battles are intense and a blast to play through. Resident Evil 4 like past Resident Evils encourage multiple playthroughs as you'll unlock new weapons and costumes to play the game through with.

To round out the package is a set of unlockable modes, the first being called The Mercenaries where you'll play as one of five mercs trying to score the most points in each of the levels. Assignment Ada and Seperate Ways are side-missions that take place through the locales of the main game helping to flesh out the holes in the story. The PS2 extras were not simply ported to the Wii either. They were graphically re-done using the Gamecube's graphics. All this added with a thirty dollar price tag, too.

Aiming is a breeze with the new Wii remote controls.

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is only thirty dollars, and if you missed out on any of the versions you owe it to yourself to play through this excellent game. No game in a long time has ever had me excitedly hold my controller with a stupid grin on my face while playing. It's simply that good, and if you've only played the Gamecube version you're STILL missing out. I own the GCN and PS2 versions, and I am still enamored with Resident Evil 4. It is indeed one of the best games of all time, and I'd put it high on a top ten list of my favorite games of all time easily. Pick this bad boy up if you have a Wii and $30 lying around. You won't regret it at all!

The Recap:

Story: The president's daughter has been abducted by a group called the Los Illuminados. The Los Illuminados... isn't that redundant like the El Gigante? Eh... never mind.

Graphics: Blows away most Wii games easily. Sad that more games aren't looking like this on the Wii.

Gameplay: Run, stop, shoot, slash, pick up items, complete puzzles, etc. It's all there, and it's all perfect.

Sound: Ominous music, sound effects, and great voice work. The only beef is that most of the Ganados' yelling is repeated a lot.

Replay Value: Play through this game once and it will probably take you 15 hours. Now play through the various side-story missions, conquer The Mercanaries mode, and unlock all there is to this beauty.

Overall: 10/10 - Oh, no! I said that there was something negative about this game so this score can't be perfect!! Wait a minute. It's just repetitive Ganado yelling? Big whoop. Otherwise, this game is perfect, and it's awesome for any Wii collection even if you've played through the original versions ad infinitum.

6/27/07 - Mega Man: Powered Up (PSP)

Mega Man got..... Good Score!

Spoiler for:

Mega Man returns to his roots with Mega Man: Powered Up, a remake of the original NES Mega Man game, complete with new characters, options, music, and attitude. Those who played the original NES cartridge or purchased Mega Man Anniversary Collection (PS2, GCN, Xbox) know how it wasn't for casual gamers. There was some pretty nice difficulty for us full-fledged gamers. Nowhere near a Super Ghosts 'N' Goblins difficulty, but a difficulty nonetheless. This remains intact with this remake as do a lot of things.

The graphics are colorful and pleasing to the eye.

Firstly for changes, if you play the new style mode you'll realize that there's an edition of an opening stage as well as two new robot masters, Time Man and Oil Man. These duo of bots come with their own respective stages to master on top of the original six's levels. If you dislike the new style gameplay or changes, you can always go back to old style which is the game on a smaller screen with the opening stages, Time Man, and Oil Man excluded. Graphically the game has changed to a more chibi-inspired approach. Some may dislike it, but I personally enjoyed the colorful characters and levels. Voice work has been included which is a nice touch also. None of the voices made me cringe which is a first for quite a while. Music has been upgraded as well featuring returning themes with more modern sound and instruments-- an additional treat for audiophiles such as myself. Furthermore once you beat a boss using only Mega Man's Mega Buster, you can select to play as them in new style mode which is an added treat.

Get bored of playing as Mega? Play as another character instead.

If you become bored with either new or old style modes, you can play Challenge mode. This mode features level designs encompassing different goals. My favorite addition would have to be the Construction mode which allows for aspiring designers to craft their own levels in a variety of themed locales and settings. Each room you create is its own grid, and you can place a set number of enemies in each grid. You're able to set platforms easily, drop in enemies, and add a boss all within minutes, or if you desire, take all the time you need to create one masterful level. The possibilities with the level creator are limitless allowing an infinite number of replay value. What's better yet is that you can share your levels to anyone over Capcom's own server.

Construction Mode allows unlimited replay value.

Mega Man Powered Up is a fantastic remake of a classic game that launched the life of a gaming icon. If only Capcom would take Mega back to its roots or continue to unleash great Mega Man games such as this would Mega's career stop becoming so tarnished. Sadly, the likelihood of a follow up to this remake are not likely at all thanks for worldwide sales. Regardless, pick up this future classic if you can.

The Recap

Story: Dr. Wily has betrayed Dr. Light and has taken their robots to try to rule the world!

Graphics: Colorful chibi-inspired design that may not be for everyone admittedly.

Sound: Great remixed tracks and voice work to add an extra dimension to the original Mega Man.

Gameplay: Jumping, shooting, platforming, and a pretty steep difficulty later on are what you get in this gaming gift.

Replay Value: Collecting power-ups and construction kits for created levels, playing as the various robot masters, constructing new levels, and playing through challenge mode make a myriad ways to play Powered Up.

Overall: 9/10 - A must for any Mega Man fan unless you dislike the art style for some reason. My first PSP game and the last PSP game I've played recently after ten other games in my PSP. That should tell you something about how much I keep coming back to it.

6/28/07 - Mega Man X: Maverick Hunter

X searches for a Dallas basketball team.

Spoiler for:

Mega Man X premiered on the Super Nintendo in the early part of 1994. The title didn't really change the formula of choose one of eight levels, beat boss, choose another level, beat boss with previous boss' weapon, rinse and repeat as much as it did add to that formula. Now this version of Mega Man could latch onto walls, scaling up them, charge up his X-buster, find capsules to learn new armor modifications, and pummel plasma into new animal-themed bosses. More than a decade later the title has remade for the Playstation Portable in the form of Mega Man Maverick Hunter X.

A showing of a beautiful animated cut-scene.

Maverick Hunter X bumps the presentation by adding animated cutscenes with not too shabby voicework. These cutscenes help to flesh out the backstory more and further explain events of the game. Graphically you'll find 3-D models of X, his enemies, and the surroundings. Rest assured this is still a 2-D side-scrolling action title. It simply has 3-D models.

You'll start off in the familiar highway opening stage blasting away at baddies, then being intercepted by Vile, saved by your friend Zero, and heading out to face off against eight Maverick bosses ranging from Chill Penguin to Boomer Kuwanger. Like any Mega Man game of this formula you're able to choose which stage to enter. By beating a Maverick at the end of each stage you get their weapon. The easiest way to play through Maverick Hunter X is to use the weapon that the boss is weak against for each of the bosses. Veterans will probably want to change it up and try beating each boss with simply the X-buster to make things more challenging.

X is walking in a winter wonderland.

Unlike previous Mega Man games, X can discover heart tanks (one in each of the eight Maverick levels) which increase his health and sub-tanks (four in all scattered in the eight Maverick levels) to be used to refill his health. Additionally hidden away in some of levels are Dr. Light's capsules. By discovering one Dr. Light will grant you a piece of armor. One piece will allow X to dash while another will grant X the ability to perform a more powerful charge shot with his X-buster. The capsule locations aren't the same as they were in the SNES version either. Speaking of changes, veterans will notice that Sigma's levels are reconfigurated and are somewhat different in order of events and enemies.

An added bonus to Maverick Hunter X is the option to play as X's nemesis, Vile. This gives the player an alternate take on the story with different sub-tank and heart tank locations. This mode is unlocked once you beat the game as X and is an added challenge to an already meaty game.

Using the right weapon on a boss makes all the difference.

Mega Man X is one of my favorite games of all time, and Maverick Hunter X improves the original game with impressive graphics and an updated story. My only beef with the game is that the soundtrack is too meh for my tastes. Some of the tracks are nice, but some don't fit with the levels at all. Listening to Vile's butt rock theme while playing as him is pretty annoying as well. As a whole though without soundtrack issues, Maverick Hunter X is one hell of a remake. Paired with Mega Man Powered Up, and you have 2-D action side-scrolling bliss.

The Recap:

Story: Sigma leads the Mavericks against humanity. The Maverick Hunters are the only ones left to stop them.

Graphics: Not too bad at all. Backgrounds are beautiful and bosses are as bad (in the good way) as ever.

Gameplay: Heaven for any Mega Man fan.

Audio: X is voiced by Mark "This hand of mine is burning red" Ratha, and the rest of voices are great, too. The soundtrack turned me off somewhat, however.

Replay Value: The main mode won't take you but four hours if you're real slow and collect everything, but Vile's mode is an alternate take for more action. Games like this beg to be played over again anyway.

Overall: 9/10 - Excellent. X certainly marks the spot.

6/29/07 - Phantasy Star Universe (360)

Nothing but a chore

Spoiler for:

Being a huge fan of Phantasy Star Online, I immediately decided to plop down the sixty bucks for Phantasy Star Universe. Not a good idea. When a myriad of monstrous invaders known simply as the Seed wreak havoc on the Gurhal System of planets, annoying Ethan Waber gets thrown into the middle of events when he joins the Guardians-- an elite force of fighters sworn to protect the universe... or something like that. This all takes place within the story mode comprised of twelve chapters.

The main characters of the story mode.

Gameplay in story mode consists of wandering aimlessly around spaceports and cities, talking to NPCs, wandering around even more, gabbing with more NPCs, dwindling time by moving around the cities more only to speak with another NPC... ad nauseum. When you do get to the action that mostly consists of running around expansive "dungeons", hacking and slashing your way through waves of enemies to unlock doors, grabbing keycards to unlock more doors, and pillaging loot from your foes' carcasses. Not much has changed from Phantasy Star Online. An occasional boss battle is thrown in for good measure. The story mode is deeper as it obviously follows a story. The dialogue though is quite horrible both to the eyes and to the ears. Basically all the running around and pressing the same button over and over again to attack is quite tedious. Additionally you'll spend an hour marching around the same dungeon, defeating the same enemies, and listening to the same long-winded banter that you'll grow tired of story mode. It's an easy 1000/1000, but only if you wish to be masochistic and suffer through it.

How can such a dork be so strong?

Alternatively you can take to the fight online with a party of up to five other players. You won't be on the same server as PC and PS2 players, however, but you will be able to communicate with your friends via voice chat. There's a wide variety of online quests which are mostly kill this monster, fetch this item, and find this person. The gameplay is still the same of murdering monsters, going from room to room, and picking up new equipment. The main aim of the online mode is to keep getting rare catches in the form of powerful weapons and items. Still,  there is a hefty monthly fee in addition to the sixty dollars to pay for the game just for the privilege of playing more of the same. Hurray, progress!!

One of the boss characters you'll encounter.

Ultimately, if you just love PSO so much that you can't stand not having a new adventure to play (or if you have a fetish for odd clothing) you'll most definitely want to pick this title. The rest of us, however, will be content on passing up the opportunity, or if we're achievement whores, will rent this game and be tormented for the thirteen plus hours it takes to unlock all of the achievements. Hurray, achievements!!

The Recap:

Story: I don't care. Just give me the 1000/1000 achievement points.

Graphics: Not really a step up from the Xbox/GCN/Dreamcast PSO titles.

Gameplay:Hack, slash, move to the other side of your enemy. Rinse and repeat for the rest of your playing experience.

Audio: The music is pretty good. The voices? Stop raping my ears, please.

Replay Value: If you don't go online, this game won't last too long. If you go online, Sonic Team will laugh their way to the bank.

Overall: 4/10 - Poor. I need to sell this game now that I think about it.

6/30/07 - Crackdown (360)

Short but sweet.

Spoiler for:

From the creator of GTA, Crackdown starts you off as a no-name agent under an authoritative branch of Pacific City known only as The Agency. It is here where you are immediately put into the fray and let loose into this beautifully-crafted world. The aim of being set loose into Pacific City is to go after the leaders and generals of each gang holding a grip onto each island of the city. That's pretty much it for the story. Nonetheless, these gangs are Los Muertos, The Volk, and Shai-Gen, and each gang has several leaders all working under one general. Players can take on the general, or boss, immediately from the start. However, only by defeating gang leaders will chances of victory against the gang general increase. By taking on a general from the word go, players will find themselves facing off overpowered soldiers, superior firepower, and overwhelming odds. Hence, killing off the gang leaders is recommended.

What can I say? I'll do anything for a close-up.

You start off with limited abilities, weak strength, slow agility, mediocre driving skill, and less than stellar weapons and firepower. As you use a certain skill regularly, your experience for that skill will increase. Powering up agility by seeking out agility orbs, completing rooftop races, and killing foes from high altitudes will allow you to jump higher. Running over bad guys with a vehicle and finishing races around the city will raise your driving skill. Leveling up your explosive ability will increase the blast radius of your grenades, rockets, and any other explosives. Additionally, taking out enemies with your fists will level up your throwing capacity-- what you can and how far you can throw. Finally, murdering gang members with your firearms will upgrade them to more effectively kill targets. This RPG element rises replay value severalfold.

Say hello to my little-- wait. You've heard that line before already? Damn.

The sandbox-style gameplay allows the player a plethora of ways to tackle an objective. Countless times I thought of ways to approach a gang leader. Maybe I should take the cliffs instead of going guns blazing down the middle, or perhaps I should take rockets right down their throats? The possibilities are numerous. Los Muertos, Volk, and Shai-Gen gangs can be taken on in any order and at the player's discretion. The world is large, but by no means Oblivion or even Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas-scale. However, you're given more freedom to scale obstacles unlike the two aforementioned titles. If you can see it, you can probably climb it. The pleasure of leaping from rooftop to rooftop is something reminiscent of Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. It's just a lot of fun. Driving around is a little frustrating at first, but once my skill level improved I was careening around corners with little problem. The only problem I found with the gameplay was unlike most sandbox titles, this one could be finished rather quickly.

My version of valet parking. Enjoy.

Graphically, the game has an eye-catching style. It's cel-shaded. The cars, the denizens, the weapons-- all cel-shaded. This is a nice touch by the developers to capture a cartoon, comic book-ish style. The draw distance is impressive as well. Being on top of a building you can essentially view all of Pacific City in its crime-drenched glory. Audio-wise, the game is pretty mediocre. Explosions and sound effects are pleasant, but the music whilst driving is nothing notable and was more yawn-inducing than anything. Voicework was limited to the fellow in charge of briefing you of missions. Nothing impressive, but nothing horrible either. Gang members after you surely like to say "Time to die." or "You're gonna die" in different voices. Silly how they're all in the same gang and are all saying the same thing in different voices.

One of the greatest items of interest for 360 owners are achievements. This game has a lot of them, too. There's 900 points total with the final 100 coming through a future download. The imagination of some of these rival Dead Rising's: tossing an object or person a long distance, keeping a body in the air for a set period of time, and pulling some cool car stunts are some examples. However, some such as finding needles in haystacks like the hidden orbs, and to some extent the agility orbs, are a hassle that some gamers might just shrug off acquiring.

My arm is getting tired. Are we through posing yet?

Overall, Crackdown is a very enjoyable experience, but at the same time is not for everyone. Those looking for a world as interactive as San Andreas or wanting a deep story need not apply. However, those wanting mindless combat and fun, GTA-inspired gameplay, and an interesting city to explore should at least check the game out.


The Recap:

Story: What there is isn't very notable. Don't play Crackdown for the story.

Graphics: Solid cel-shading creating a stylized feel. Draw-distance is incredible at all times.

Gameplay: Combat isn't deep by any means, but the RPG element of leveling up abilities is a nice touch.

Audio: The man who briefs you will be your new friend. You'll listen to him talk a lot. The music is pretty poor and not towards my own tastes.

Replay Value: The game is pretty short for a sandbox title, but getting all the achievements will give this game some more legs.

Overall: 8/10

When i saw this game...i though it will be different from the N64....but it still has the n64 graphics.....

I think ther revamped some of the stuff in some games. I don't know, though.

I added RE 4: Wii Edition.

Because of your review, I am buying RE4 as soon as possible.  I have the original for GC, as I am a Nintendo fanboy, and I hate the fact that it was an exclusive for GC only to be ported to ps2 because of bitchy Sony fans.  Thats another story.  I have $40, and I plan to go and get this gem of a game again, just to play it for Wii.  I already tested out the aiming and everything at a friends, and of course, it is top notch.  Great review.

Good for you biohazard...........That games is truly a perfect game (have it on GC), expecially for the Wii......i should buy it when i have money  Great REviews! Keep 'Em Comming!