Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

New Ultraman Title Announced For Wii

                                             A picture of a Wii console and a WiiMote.

Namco Bandai recently revealed their latest title for the Wii, which will be a Ultraman game. The game will be titled Daikaiju Battle Ultra Coliseum DX: Ultra Senshi Daishuketsu, and will be released on February 25th, 2010. No regions are specified for the release date, but we can assume that that information will be revealed closer to the released date.

Daikaiju Battle Ultra Coliseum DX: Ultra Senshi Daishuketsu is a fighting game, including many of the characters of the Ultraman universe, spanning up to the movie Great Kaiju Battle Ultra Galaxy Legend. Not all of the characters have been revealed at this moment, but the list that has been confirmed is:

• Ultraman
• Ultraman Zero
• Ultraman Belial
• Ultraman Mebius
• Ultraman Dyna
• Ultraseven
• Ultraman Leo
• Astra

I’m not a huge fan of Ultraman, mainly because that I never really followed the series. However, if its a good fighting game, I will have to give this one a try.

Posted by Chris Bunner in General News | Comments Off

Beautiful Renditions Of Classic Zelda Tunes

Album art for Ocarina of Time -The Complete Collection-

Are you a fan of music from The Legend of Zelda games? Specifically Ocarina of Time? The folks at Zelda Reorchestrated have redone the entire Ocarina of Time soundtrack and have put the finishing touches on it, making sure that everything is just right. Oh, the best thing is that it’s completely free of charge! Get it here.

That’s not all, though. If you check their music section, you’ll also find music from the rest of the Zelda series. Those soundtracks might not have the amount of tracks that the OoT one does, but you’ll still find some really good stuff in there. Good job ZREO, you’ve done well.

So far I’ve only been able to sample their music via streaming, but what I’ve heard is beautiful. I’m in the process of downloading the OoT soundtrack in full right now.

Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News | Comments Off

Capcom Delays Multiple Titles

                                       A picture of the Capcom company logo.

As the title of this article suggests, Capcom has recently updated their 2010 release list with the delay of multiple titles. The reason Capcom has delayed these titles is to not "clash" with the releases for Q1 of 2010, as Capcom would prefer to "maintain the value" of its titles. The titles have been moved to Q2 of 2010, being released sometime after April 1st, 2010.

The titles that have been delayed are as follows:

• Super Street Fighter IV
• Lost Planet 2
• Dead Rising 2
• Monster Hunter Tri

Among these titles, Monster Hunter Tri is the release that gamers have been anticipating for the Wii, and it is sad to see it delayed. The game will bring the Monster Hunter franchise to the Wii, so everyone can get in on the fun!

Posted by Jim Avery in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

Rock Band DLC Update: 12/29/09

This week’s update consists of seven country tracks new to the Rock Band Music Store. All these tracks were originally exclusive to the Country Track Pack, and now are being made available for individual purchase. The press release didn’t offer information as to which songs were playable in Lego Rock Band. All songs cost 200 Nintendo Points and are downloaded in-game.

Alan Jackson – “Good Time”
Cross Canadian Ragweed – “Cry Lonely”
Jason Aldean – “She’s Country”
Keith Urban – “I Told You So”
Kenny Rogers – “The Gambler”
Martina McBride – “This One’s For the Girls”
Shania Twain – “Any Man of Mine”

The only song I know of these is "The Gambler"; I’m not sure this update is for me, though I know there are country fans out there.

Posted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off

Nintendo Download: 12/28/09

DSiWare: The Oregon Trail, 800 Nintendo Points

Die from dysentery all over again in this remake of the original game. You and your family are trekking across the nation to Oregon, and along the way you’ll have to solve problems, make decisions, and complete mini-games that will affect the resources available to you.

DSiWare: Sudoku Sensei, 500 Nintendo Points

This game bills itself as "super-hard" and includes 100 hand-crafted Sudoku puzzles.

DSiWare: Glow Artisan, 500 Nintendo Points

You’ve got over 100 puzzles to solve in this color-based game. In addition to Time Trial, Randomizer and Multiplayer modes, you can create new puzzles by hand or from photos taken with the DSi Camera. Still a mystery, though, is how the game is played.

DSiWare: Master Of Illusion Express: Psychic Camera, 200 Nintendo Points

This fun little trick has you take a picture of a person, and then reveals an object that they are thinking about.

DSiWare: Arcade Hoops Basketball, 200 Nintendo Points

It’s a portable version of the game seen in Chuck E. Cheese’s everywhere. You’ve got 45 seconds to shoot as many baskets as you can; up the challenge by adding a moving basket, or moving to three-point shots.

WiiWare: Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, 1,000 Nintendo Points

This game is based off of the original Castlevania from 1989, and allows players to see the game from a new perspective.

WiiWare: Eat! Fat! FIGHT!, 1,000 Nintendo Points

This well-named title is a sumo wrestling game, where you use motion controls to pull off a number of moves in order to force your opponent out of the ring. You can play by yourself and add in eating-based and sparring-based challenges to improve your fighter, or take on another player, though the press release claims that this requires unspecified additional accessories.

WiiWare: Rabbids Lab, 500 Nintendo Points

There’s a raving Rabbid in your Wii Remote. Interact with him by shaking your Remote or pressing its buttons, or customize him and share his appearance with your friends.

WiiWare: The Magic Obelisk, 500 Nintendo Points

This action-adventure game has a bit of puzzle in it as well. As the light spirit Popo, you must guide Lukus to the perfect spot for him to become a tree, but he can only move in the shadow of other things. Manipulate the light with your powers in order to get Lukus where he needs to go.

SNES: PilotWings, 800 Nintendo Points

This renowned SNES game has you taking on challenges like biplanes, skydiving, hang gliding, or rocket belts. Complete the challenges to earn your certification, but beware, as weather and other factors can increase your challenge.

I may have to look into getting Castlevania or PilotWings. Though maybe I should finish playing Symphony of the Night first.

Posted by Chris Bunner in Miscellaneous, Reviews | Comments Off

Review: Need For Speed: Nitro

Racing games aren’t exactly my forte, but every once in awhile I’ll pick up certain ones that I really enjoy. Since I’d only owned a couple of the older Need for Speed games and very briefly played Most Wanted, I wasn’t completely sure what to expect out of this one.

From what I’ve played and seen of some of the newer Need for Speed games, they’ve been growing more realistic while still keeping an arcade style. With Nitro, however, it goes with more of a cartoon-like style with the characters and isn’t as realistic as some recently. They definitely seemed to try and attract more of the family with this one. That’s not to say that it’s totally unrealistic, but for example you have pickups you can grab on the track such as a wrench to repair your car or a badge so you can take the heat from the cops off of yourself and target it toward one of your rival racers. Having the cops sometimes drive vehicles like Hummers isn’t exactly something you’d see in real life, either. Basically just the overall feel of the game is a different take than the others.

As for the main gameplay, you have the basic arcade mode where you can jump straight into a race, or you can take on the career mode. Either mode can be played with up to four players which can definitely add to the fun. The only real difference with multiplayer that’s worth mentioning is that in eliminator mode, if one players goes out then he will get to take control of a police car and get to chase down and try to slow down the other racers which is pretty fun. With career mode there are a few different types of events that you will get to choose, from a normal circuit race to drag races, and of course time attack. At the end of each cup there is a grand prix that awaits you as well. Each of these events will have challenges in which you can earn stars, which allow you to progress further into your career. These events are quite easy early on in the bronze cup, but once you make your way into the gold cup things get a good bit more difficult. Cops go from being an annoyance at times to turning into kamikaze cops. Even then, just beating the game is not all that difficult. Going through and collecting all of the stars and unlocking all of the special cars will definitely provide more of a challenge and give you something to go back for, though veteran NFS players will probably not have all that much trouble doing so.

The controls in the game are pretty solid, and you have a wide range of choices in how you go about playing the game. You can go with the full motion control, holding the Wiimote horizontally and either using the wheel peripheral or holding the remote itself. The controls might take a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of them they are able to do the job fine. You can also hook up a nunchuk and steer with that while still keeping some of the motion control with the remote. Then, for a final option with the remote, you can hold it in your hand while pointing it straight at the TV. You steer by twisting your wrist one way of the other, which if found to be very uncomfortable and awkward for something like racing. The car didn’t seem to turn near as much as it should have, and it just all around seemed like a bad control scheme. Finally, if you’re more of a traditional gamer and prefer a controller, you can hook up either a Game Cube or Classic Controller. I wasn’t able to test of the classic, but the Game Cube controls ended up being personal choice. I still would use the motion controls at times, but being more accustomed to a traditional controller for racing games I found it easier to stick with it for when I had to get really serious.

Like I mentioned before, Nitro went for a less realistic feel, and the graphics go along with that. The rival racers that you will face are very much cartoon-like, and even the cars are a little less realistic than I know they could have done. Still, that is only the style. The graphics are still done quite well and the frame rate stays smooth for the most part. That other part would be later on in the game in the elimination events. The cops come after the pack from the beginning of the race with up to five of them at once. Having all of them hold up the rest of the pack that early in the race results in having about thirteen cars on the screen at once, not counting the traffic. The game has real car models, so that’s a definite plus. They didn’t have Mustangs which was disappointing to me, but they still have a number of sweet looking rides. You can also go into the shop and paint them up with several of options and change around certain parts of the car. The amount of colors you have to work with when designing your car was a bit of a letdown. You’d think it would think today it would be simple to include the option to create your own colors, but instead you’re limited to what they give you.

The soundtrack for the game is probably about what you would expect if you’ve played other EA racing games. The list is pretty much divided up into two, with one part being rap and the other some rock. With the whole graffiti thing they have going on in the game with tagging the city with the leader’s color, it’s not really surprising that rap music has a slight edge in numbers over the rock. After giving it all a fair chance I ended up turning off all of the rap thanks to the ability to select which tracks will play. However, that’s simply my own tastes in music and no real strike against the game. Not much can be said for any sound effects. Again, they’re what you would expect from a racing game. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Having a Need for Speed game built specially for the Wii is pretty cool. The gameplay is solid, the controls, the graphics…. For the most part everything is done pretty well, with only a few problems here and there. The thing is, aside from the motion controls, there’s really nothing that sets it apart and makes it different. There’s the graffiti and tagging the town, but for the most part that’s athsetic, not adding a lot to the actual gameplay. The game is definitely enjoyable and if you want a racing game for the Wii then this would be a nice buy, but it honestly felt like just another racing game. Good, but nothing too special.

Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo DS | Comments Off

New Dragon Quest VI Trailer Released

      The trailer for the new game from Square Enix, "Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie"

Recently at the Jump Festa 2010, Square Enix has revealed a new trailer for their new game Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie. The game is a DS-remake of the original game, and the trailer reveals that it will not dissapoint. From the trailer, Square Enix reveals that the game will use the dual screens on the DS console in a creative way, letting you even navigate ships underwater. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie will use impressive 3D graphics, which will make this game stand out among others.

As a fan of the original Dragon Quest VI game, I personally cannot wait for this remake from Square Enix. The trailer does no less than increase the hype that I already had for this game.

Posted by Jim Avery in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

Rock Band DLC Update: 12/22/09

This week’s Rock Band 2 DLC update features a three-pack from Weezer, including their hit single "Beverly Hills". Limp Bizkit, the Offspring and Yellowcard also make an appearance. All tracks cost 200 Nintendo Points and are downloaded in-game.

Limp Bizkit "Build A Bridge"*
The Offspring "A Lot Like Me"*
Weezer "(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"*
Weezer "Beverly Hills"
Weezer "Let It All Hang Out"
Yellowcard "Ocean Avenue"*

*Playable in Lego Rock Band.

I like how Harmonix can mix mainstream hits with the other genres they bring, like heavy metal. That doesn’t mean I’ll be getting these, but I appreciate their existence.

Posted by Chris Bunner in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

New Trailer For Aragorn’s Quest

Trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest

Apparently I let this game slip under my radar during E3. This is the second trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It’s been said that this game is supposed to be a family friendly version of the story. This graphics look like they take on a style similar to that of Sierra’s The Hobbit.

The first trailer showed a bit more of the hobbits, as this game will have you controlling a young hobbit in a sort of main hub area who is told stories about Aragorn by Samwise Gamgee. The game will cover the story of all three movies and will also be released on the DS, PS2, and PSP.

I think I would have preferred it if they would have come up with their own designs for characters since they’re going for a more cartoony look. Instead they still made at least some of the characters look like their real-life actor counterparts. Although Gandalf seems to remind me more of Count Dooku from the horrible new Clone Wars movie/show.

Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

GH5 DLC Update: 12/22/09

                                                   A picture of a Christmas tree.

Celebrate the holidays this year with a free track (and a track pack) from Activision! Steve Ouimette (previously known for his tracks such as We Three Kings, and Dueling Banjos) has made yet another appearance to the Guitar Hero series with the track "Hark The Herald Angels Sing". Activision is feeling the season of giving, as the Steve Ouimette track is completely free of charge. We also get appearances this week from bands such as No Doubt, Taylor Swift, and Maroon 5! As usual, each individual track will cost 200 Wii Points (with the exception of the Steve Ouimette song), while the "Celebrity New Years Rock Track Pack" will cost 550 Wii Points.

The songs being released on 12/22/09 are as follows:

Christmas Rock Pack (Free)

• "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" by Steve Ouimette

Celebrity New Years Rock Track Pack

• "Our Song" by Taylor Swift
• "Harder to Breathe" by Maroon 5
• "New" by No Doubt

I can’t get enough of Steve Ouimette, so that will be an instant download. I’ll have to listen to the Taylor Swift song to decide if I want to pick up the whole New Years pack or not.

Posted by Jim Avery in General News | 1 Comment

Nintendo Download: 12/21/09

DSiWare: Uno, 800 Nintendo Points

It’s the popular card game Uno, now in digital and (more) portable form. In addition to "exciting" and unspecified new rules, you can play multiplayer locally or over the internet.

DSiWare: Dragon’s Lair, 800 Nintendo Points

This hand-drawn game from Don Bluth (The Land Before Time, An American Tail, The Secret Of Nimh) places itself within the genres of "arcade" and "adventure". You are Dirk the Daring, who hopes to rescue the princess from the evil dragon, by exploring a castle enchanted by a wizard. While the plot is generic enough, not a whole lot is revealed about the gameplay.

DSiWare: Hot And Cold: A 3D Hidden Object Adventure, 800 Nintendo Points

What you see here is pretty much what you get with Hot And Cold. You’re on the lookout for the lost stuff of your friends, and a voice in your head tells you if you’re getting warmer or colder. The press release promises a bit of mystery in the story as well.

DSiWare: High Stakes: Texas Hold ‘Em, 500 Nintendo Points

It’s Texas Hold ‘Em poker in this game, which advertises that newcomers and veterans will be able to play together. The No Limit rule set is in play here, as you play with people across the country via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

DSiWare: myNotebook: Green, 200 Nintendo Points

See myNotebook: Blue.

WiiWare: Eco Shooter: Plant 530, 1,000 Nintendo Points

This light-gun-style shooter has a distinctly green theme to it. The alien race of Cannoids have brought Earth’s discarded cans to life, and it’s up to you to properly recycle these monsters and save the planet. Keep an eye on your ammo, as it acts as your health as well. For high scores, go for big combos.

WiiWare: TV Show King 2, 800 Nintendo Points

This sequel to the WiiWare launch title includes over 8,000 questions sorted into 12 categories, and you can make up your own as well. Play multiplayer locally or online.

WiiWare: Pallurikio, 1,000 Nintendo Points

You are Rusty, a boy who’s been transported to a mysterious new world, and you assume the form of the round, titular Pallurikio. You’ll use the Wii Remote to roll and bounce your way through over 50 levels with realistic physics, as well as collectible cards and space ships.

WiiWare: Happy Holidays Christmas, 500 Nintendo Points

This title lets you keep up with friends over the holidays. You can create your own greeting cards and send them to players in your Address Book.

Nintendo 64: Super Smash Bros., 1,000 Nintendo Points

This game does not need any introduction. This revolutionary and entertaining fighter pits twelve classic Nintendo characters in fast-paced, partially unpredictable combat. Play by yourself in Classic mode, or make it a party with four-player carnage.

Arcade: Ninja Gaiden, 600 Nintendo Points

You are an expert ninja, entering the concrete jungle to take on waves and waves of enemies from an assassination syndicate. Use the three-button controls to execute powerful attacks as you progress through levels influenced by both Japanese and American culture, and parodies thereof.

I’ve been waiting for the arrival of the original Super Smash Bros. I think it may be my favorite in the series, to be frank. Simple and fun.

Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo DS | Comments Off

New Monster Rancher DS Trailer Released

                     The trailer for the upcoming game from Tecmo, "Monster Rancher DS"

The latest addition to the Monster Rancher series (created by Tecmo) has been giving a new trailer. If you don’t already know, the Monster Rancher series was introduced to the world in 1997 by the company Tecmo on the Playstation. Since then, the series has been offering diverse gameplay that has kept the consumers coming back for more.

The latest title in the series is staying true to this format, but with a twist. The game is utilizing the features of the DS system to let players be able to talk through the mic of their DS, use the GBA slot, and draw on the DS touch screens to create monsters. As shown in the trailer, the game will also use Nintendo’s Wi-Fi system. From what I can grab from the trailer, this game looks well-structured, and down the path on my "games-to-buy" list (I will have to learn more about the game to determine if this will be a day-one purchase).

Posted by Jim Avery in Miscellaneous, Reviews | Comments Off

Review: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

It’s a well-documented fact that I am not a fan of traditional RPGs, for reasons unknown to me. If you give me the same strategy-based gameplay with a different facade, like that of Earthbound, I’ll eat it up. It’s something I’ve never really been too sure about. What I do know, however, is that Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is now one of my all-time favorite RPGs, as well as one of my favorite DS games. And I can tell you why.

The Mario & Luigi series has always had excellent writing, and this may be the best example yet. The residents of the Mushroom Kingdom have somehow become gargantuan, rotund blobs, and this is an emergency for about five minutes, before it’s promptly forgotten about by the game. In rather short order, Mario, Luigi and crew find themselves inhaled into Bowser’s body, and the story proper picks up from there. It’s a little strange, but that doesn’t mean it’s not engaging, and the climactic finale is very exciting. It doesn’t take itself seriously most of the time, but it can when it needs to.

The script is excellent, as is usually the case. Bowser’s character is one of my favorites in the series, and he gets most of the script for himself in this game, which is a delight. He’s the perfect mix of sarcastic, egotistical, angry and irreverent. Even better is the constant presence of the game’s main villain, the absolutely hilarious Fawful. These two characters alone would make this game comedy gold, and thankfully the rest of the cast is similarly funny. The game never takes itself too seriously, but it knows not to go too far. It’s a joy to watch cutscenes as much as it is to play.

Speaking of playing, the Mario & Luigi series has a great formula going on. It takes normal RPG conventions of turn-based battle, special attacks, hit points and the like and adds a layer of interactivity to the entire mix. When you attack an enemy, tapping a button with good timing will increase your attack power. If an enemy attacks you, you can successfully input a dodge command to avoid all damage, if you’re lucky. If you use a special attack, you’ll be really challenged, as you have to memorize positions and button combinations in order to really get the most out of it. The best part of this whole system is that there’s no such thing as an unfair attack from an enemy, as with enough skill and practice, you can handle anything that comes your way.

There are two different battle systems in place, one for Mario and Luigi and one for Bowser. The bros fight as they always have, hammering and jumping on their enemies, while Bowser’s main attacks are a superpowered punch and his flaming breath. While the special attacks for the dynamic duo are all button-based, you’ll be breaking out the stylus for the Koopa King’s superpowered attacks. Additionally, Bowser has a vacuum breath attack, where he can take in some of the enemies into his stomach for the Mario Bros. to battle, and all three characters gain experience. The general switching of battle styles helps keep the game from getting stale. Also, battles aren’t random. That is always nice.

Besides the battling, which is the meat of any RPG adventure, there’s the puzzles of the overworld. If you’ve played the game before, you generally know what to expect from Bowser; the puzzles are mostly based on exploration, where you have to explore the landscape to find the right way to remove whatever obstruction is blocking your path. It’s a bit slow-paced, and not quite as fun as what the Mario Bros. end up doing. As Mario and Luigi, exploring either inside or outside of Bowser’s body, you can shrink Mario down, spin through the air, or tunnel underground to get to where you need to go, and if you’re inside Bowser, you’ll be solving more interesting puzzles in order to progress, in a style that feels like a mash-up of traditional platformer and RPG. It reminds me a bit of Super Paper Mario, now that I think about it.

This sort of exploration is broken up by the occasional mini-game; these can vary in scope and playstyle, but they’re almost always welcome and entertaining, and the game has enough that they don’t get repetitive. While Bowser doesn’t get as many mini-games as the bros, he instead is given the opportunity to turn into a gigantic version of himself for some epic large-scale touch-screen battles. It’s even more fun than it sounds.

Besides that, there’s a good amount of RPG-style customization available to you. As you level up, you’ll gain access to better and better equipment that will let you steer your characters in a certain direction, such as high HP, high defense, high strength, things like that. Bowser’s Inside Story also includes a new feature known as Badges, which give you access to certain abilities in mid-battle. As you land successive well-timed attacks, the Badge meter fills up, and once it’s full, you can tap it to unlock its effects. I personally had mine set to a powerful heal, since I’m an item hog and conserve all items I ever get for the final boss battle, but you can also give a temporary strength increase and things like that. The game is set up to cater to your specific RPG playstyle.

My personal playthrough, up until the final boss, clocked in at a little over 23 hours. There’s a bit more to be done after that, if you want to be a completionist and obtain the final rank for your characters. Most importantly, though, I never felt bored, and never dreaded any particular part of the game. I was interested for all 23 hours of the game, and when it ended I wished there was more to do.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is easily one of the best games I’ve played all year, if not one of the better DS games I’ve ever gotten to play. I give this game an emphatic Yay! for anyone who wants a fun and interesting RPG adventure. Casual-to-hardcore players could find this as a good entry point for RPGs, given its interactive nature, and gaming veterans will probably appreciate it even more. I don’t see much reason to pass this one up.

Posted by Chris Bunner in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

The Wii Of Midas

The Nintendo Wii SUPREME

Are you a huge Nintendo fan who has about half a million dollars to blow? If so then this little trinket may be for you. Stuart Hughes has a thing for taking new technology and reforming it with gold and diamonds. Now he has done the same with the Wii, giving it the golden touch with over 2,500 grams of solid 22ct gold, making it the most expensive game console in the world. It’s name is the Nintendo Wii SUPREME.

According to the site there are only three in existence, so if anybody who reads this can seriously buy this and wants one (however unlikely), then you’d better snatch it up quick. For the majority of people, though, we can only scratch our heads and wonder…. Why?

Posted by David Craig in Miscellaneous, Reviews | Comments Off

Review: Hasbro Family Game Night 2

There is something endlessly entertaining about watching an anthropomorphic potato dance "The Robot." Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the minigames included in Hasbro Family Game Night 2. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a terrible game, and considering its bargain price, I wouldn’t hold it against you if you picked this up for some quality family gaming time. However, many of Hasbro’s gaming properties are considered timeless – such as Operation, Connect 4, and Jenga. And sadly, their video game equivalents just don’t stack up (no Jenga pun intended) to the lofty status of their real life counterparts.

There are five games in this collection, which you can either play individually or in a game show type setting, where Mr. Potato Head acts as your host. Your Miis move across a board competing in various minigames based on the Hasbro properties in the collection. It’s a nice addition, but since some of the games in this collection are simply not worth playing, I found I’d much rather just play the games I know I like rather than risking a grab bag.

Letting Mr. Potato Head choose your game could be a mistake…

That being said, there is some fun to be had here, beginning with the best game in the batch: Pictureka. For those of you that haven’t played the original, Pictureka is a game in which you must find pictures hidden amongst various crowded collections. The game is entertaining enough to warrant repeat visits, especially in multiplayer. Each game in the collection also includes a "Remix" version of the original title that adds extra features and/or rules to the standard gameplay. In this case, this means adding new colors to the die that decide what pictures you need to find. For example, you may now have to find all the letters that spell out the word "rust." This is really the only game in the collection whose Remix mode is better than the original game. My only complaint is that occasionally it’s hard to choose the picture you want with the Wiimote since some are very small, and the game’s overall controls are quite floaty.

Operation is also quite a bit of fun, but only the first one or two times you play it. It’s simply too repetitive and easy to hold your interest for very long, even though extracting items by twisting and turning the Wiimote is entertaining. Unfortunately Operation is one of the games in the collection that does not have the option of changing your difficulty setting. The Remix version seems completely pointless, as all it does is add a new randomly appearing minigame where you shoot germs with the Wiimote. It’s not fun and doesn’t serve much of a purpose.

Game Night includes three versions of Connect 4: the original, Connect 4×4, and 4×4’s Remix version. I found 4×4 to be somewhat confusing. The only benefit of it is that it allows up to four players. Otherwise, it’s basically just two Connect 4 boards superimposed onto each other. The Remix version adds special properties to some of the slots, but it only serves to make the gameplay even more confusing. This is another game that suffers from a ridiculously low difficulty level as well. Although it does have a difficulty setting for its AI, I was able to win on both Easy and Normal by simply stacking four checkers on top of each other, completely unchallenged.

Jenga holds true to the original in that it is extremely difficult. As you may know, the game consists of you pulling blocks out of a wooden tower and stacking them on top of it. If the tower falls on your turn, you lose. Unfortunately, the game sometimes switches to the next player’s turn even while the tower is falling, which means my friends and I quickly developed the strategy of placing a block on top of the tower in such a way as to make the tower fall as the turn passed to the next player. Some may call that cheating, since that wouldn’t be possible to do in the real game. In the real game, turns wouldn’t pass until everyone was certain the tower was stable. In order to turn the camera, the game suggests holding the B button and twisting the Wiimote – but this works horribly. Instead, simply use the left and right buttons on the D pad and save yourself a lot of aggravation. Jenga’s Remix mode adds in Boom Blox-ish qualities, such as exploding blocks, which adds some replayability.

Finally, the last game on the disc is Bop It. Basically, Bop It is newer version of Simon Says, which requires you to perform different actions with the Wiimote in sequence. However, most of these actions are so similar that you can get away with just waving or shaking the Wiimote to pass – especially in the Remix version which adds even more motions to remember. Bop It is easily the worst game in the collection, unless you’re a memory nut who is willing to follow the rules and not just shake the controller like crazy.

Game Night does try and introduce some additional replay value by having you collect various parts and costumes for the affable Mr. Potato Head in lieu of a traditional achievement system. Unfortunately, it’s hard to care about the unlockables since it is impossible to unlock any new games, no matter how hilarious Mr. PH looks in a pimp hat.

If you’re looking for a decent game collection to share with the kids, Hasbro Family Game Night 2 isn’t a terrible call. Just don’t expect to get much more than a couple of nights out of it. I might also suggest that you look for the original game which includes classics like Sorry and Battleship.
 

Posted by Jake Bellissimo in Miscellaneous, Retro | Comments Off

Looking Back: Super Smash Bros.

Looking Back is a series where we take a glance at a particular game of yesteryear,  whether it be influential, under appreciated, or just simply worth remembering.

There are many games in Nintendo’s history that are considered “ground-breaking” and “innovative”. Among all of these games, there is one that particularly stands out as not only changing the way I play video games, but also the fighting genre as a whole. That game is Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. This game stood out against the competition for a variety of reasons (such as controls, stages, characters, items, etc.), and brought many fond memories to gamers around the world.

The controls for the game are simplistic, not requiring players to memorize complicated button combinations, but rather having a certain attack assigned to a single button on the remote. You could utilize these attacks and use them in orders to deal more damage to the opposing player, which would end the round in your favor. These controls made the game an easier way for beginners to gaming to play, and ended up for more fun at parties, as everyone wouldn’t have trouble playing.

A picture of the character-selection screen for the Multiplayer modes.

Traditional fighting games like Street Fighter determine the winner by seeing how much damage each player can bring to the other player (or CPU). Unlike this traditional technique, Super Smash Bros. took a rather unique approach, and made characters have to force the other off-stage to be able to truly defeat them. Players could generally keep on damaging the other player as much as they wanted, but their “damage total” would gradually rise. The damage total system was a percentage under each player’s icon, and it would indicate how “vulnerable” the player was to harsh attacks. While a player’s damage total rose with every hit (it could exceed 100%), the attacks would throw them farther away from the player that dealt the attack. When a player’s damage total is at a very high percentage (the color would get darker-red with each blow), even a very small attack could send them flying off of the stage. When a player flew off of the stage, they would have an explosion of some sort to indicate they were dead, and the person would come back on a floating piece of land and join the fight again. This system was new to the fighting genre, and offered a different way to play, which many gamers are very grateful to have today.

Another thing that made this game stand out were the characters that you could fight with. Super Smash Bros. pulled faces from all over the Nintendo universe, ranging from Kirby to Ness. You started off the game with only a few characters unlocked, with the game requiring you to do certain challenges (and complete tasks) to unlock the remaining characters. The items were another unique feature, pulling different unlockables from the ends of the Nintendo universe. For example, if you threw a bob-omb, then it would explode, adding more to the damage total of the other player. An item that stood out was the Pokeball, which gave the players opportunities to summon Pokemon (from the popular franchise). These Pokemon then used their attacks to inflict damage on the other player. The items and characters were both great choices for the game, as it also did a good job advertising their other games for the N64 (i.e. Somebody plays as Kirby and wants to play the game that Kirby stars in).

The stages for the game ranged from different sceneries such as the Mushroom Kingdom (from the Mario series), all the way to Saffron City (from the Pokemon series). Like the characters/items, the stages were a way to market Nintendo’s other games, which was a little bit annoying, but at the same time enjoyable.

A picture of a battle on the “Yoshi’s Island” stage.

The gameplay modes that Super Smash Bros. featured also added to the experience, having different single-player and multiplayer modes. In single-player, there was the typical versus mode (where you could vs CPU’s, which ranged from levels 1-9 in difficulty). The other options are a set of mini-games, which include “Break The Targets”, and “Board The Platforms” (both of the mini-games are self-explanitory). There was also a training mode where the player could choose the character/CPU they wanted to play as/vs, and could train on that character (to improve their skills for the other modes). What really stood out in the single-player experience of Super Smash Bros. was the “Classic Mode”, which was the closest thing the game had to a story mode. Of course a story mode was not needed for this type of game, but it was re-assuring to have a semi-one available. The story involved players needing to defeat wave after wave of opponents, ending with the final boss (dubbed the “Master Hand”). The Classic Mode didn’t take too long to beat, but it was always fun to go through every once in a while, and I surely didn’t get bored of it. Although the single-player experience was enjoyable, the center of the stage for Super Smash Bros. were the multiplayer modes. The core of the multiplayer experience was the head-to-head versus mode, where up to 4 players could battle to see who was the best. You had the option to edit the battle, which included editing the time limit, the amount of lives (for each player), and many more. These options sweetened up the battles so no game was ever the exact same.

Super Smash Bros. was a game that we can all look back on and be grateful for, as it brought all of our favorite Nintendo characters into one place for an awesome gaming experience. It was a huge hit at many of the parties that I went to, and it changed the way that people look at fighting games (I know I’m not the only one that compares fighting games to Super Smash Bros.) The game was so successful that Nintendo eventually released 2 sequels, and the game is still running strong to this day.

Posted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off

Nintendo Release List: Q1 2010

Nintendo has released their official list of upcoming games for the first quarter of 2010. The full list is presented below, sorted by system, then by date, with publisher’s names in parentheses.

Notable Wii releases include Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll, Calling and Shiren the Wanderer, with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Mega Man 10 and WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase hitting WiiWare.

The DS and DSi have a number of big names on the way, with major releases Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver from Nintendo, as well as WarioWare D.I.Y. Other noteworthy titles include Sands of Destruction, KORG DS-10 Plus, Dementium II, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Monster Rancher DS and Sonic Classic Collection. Coming to DSiWare is Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, the sequel to the critically-acclaimed Game Boy Color title.

Wii

Fast Food Panic (SouthPeak) – Jan. 5
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces (XSEED) – Jan. 5
Walk it Out (Konami) – Jan. 10
Sleepover Party (Ubisoft) – Jan. 12
Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Capcom) – Jan. 26
Data East Arcade Classics (Majesco) – January
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Ubisoft) – late January

Sled Shred featuring the Jamaican Bobsled Team (SouthPeak) – Feb. 1
Chicken Riot (City Interactive) – Feb. 9
Shiren the Wanderer (Atlus) – Feb. 9
Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll (Sega) – Feb. 9
Combat Wings: The Great Battles of WWII (City Interactive) – Feb. 16
Endless Ocean: Blue World (Nintendo) – Feb. 22
Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral (Storm City) – February
City Builder (Collision) – February
The Daring Game of Girls (Majesco) – February
Family Party: 30 Great Games Winter Fun (D3Publisher) – February

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins Of The Moon (XSEED) – March 16
Build-A-Bear Workshop – Friendship Valley (American Game Factory) – March 17
How To Train Your Dragon (Activision) – March 23
Alice in Wonderland (Disney Interactive) – March
Let’s Play Ballerina (Deep Silver) – March
Let’s Play Garden (Deep Silver) – March
Major League Baseball 2K10 (2K Sports) – March
Pizza Delivery Boy (Majesco) – March
Racquet Sports (Ubisoft) – March
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Sega) – March

Arcade Shooter: Ilvelo (UFO Interactive) – Q1
DanceDanceRevolution (Konami) – Q1
Jaja’s Adventure (UFO Interactive) – Q1
Red Steel 2 (Ubisoft) – Q1
Rock Blast (UFO Interactive) – Q1
Yu Gi Oh! Duel Trancer (Konami) – Q1

Calling (Hudson) – Spring
Rooms: The Main Building (Hudson) – Spring

WiiWare

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Capcom) – January

Mega Man 10 (Capcom) – March

And Yet It Moves (Broken Rules) – Q1
Max & the Magic Marker (Press Play) – Q1
Military Madness: Nectaris® (Hudson) – Q1
Rage of the Gladiator (Ghostfire) – Q1
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat) – Q1
Toribash (Nabi) – Q1
WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase (Nintendo) – Q1
Zombie Panic in Wonderland (Akaoni) – Q1

Nintendo DS/Nintendo DSi

Fast Food Panic (SouthPeak) – Jan. 5
Puzzle Chronicles (Konami) – Jan. 10
Daniel X: The Ultimate Power (THQ) – Jan. 12
Escape the Museum (GameMill) – Jan. 12
Sands of Destruction (Sega) – Jan. 12
Imagine Party Planner (Ubisoft) – Jan. 13
Glory of Heracles (Nintendo) – Jan. 18
KORG DS-10 Plus (XSEED) – Jan. 19
Imagine Reporter (Ubisoft) – Jan. 20

Crime Scene (SouthPeak) – Feb. 1
Sushi Go Round (SouthPeak) – Feb. 1
Dementium II (SouthPeak) – Feb. 2
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Activision) – Feb. 2
Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace (GameMill) – Feb. 9
World Cup of Pool (Aksys) – Feb. 9
Imagine Sweet 16 (Ubisoft) – Feb. 10
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (Capcom) – Feb. 16
Animal Country: Life on the Farm (City Interactive) – Feb. 16
Ragnarok DS (XSEED) – Feb. 16
Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral (Storm City) – February
The Daring Game for Girls (Majesco) – February
Dawn of Heroes (Majesco) – February
Lovely Lisa and Friends (enhanced Nintendo DSi content) (Tomy) – February
Myst (Storm City) – February
Squishy Tank (Natsume) – February
Super Speed Machines (Majesco) – February

Montessori Music (SouthPeak) – March 1
Imagine Gymnast (Ubisoft) – March 10
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (Atlus) – March 10
Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version (Nintendo) – March 14
Art of Murder (City Interactive) – March 16
Build-A-Bear Workshop – Welcome to Hugsville (American Game Factory) – March 17
How To Train Your Dragon (Activision) – March 23
America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking (Nintendo) – March 28
WarioWare: D.I.Y. (Nintendo) – March 28
Again (Tecmo) – March
Alice in Wonderland (Disney Interactive) – March
ATV Quad Kings (Storm City) – March
ATV Revolution (Majesco) – March
Cheer We Go! (Natsume) – March
Infinite Space (Sega) – March
Let’s Play Ballerina (Deep Silver) – March
Let’s Play Flight Attendant (Deep Silver) – March
Let’s Play Garden (Deep Silver) – March
Major League Baseball 2K10 (2K Sports) – March
Monster Rancher DS (Tecmo) – March
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Sega) – March
T.A.C Heroes: The Big Red One (Storm City) – March

Bejeweled Twist (PopCap) – Q1
Scene It! Twilight (Konami) – Q1

Deca Sports (Hudson) – Spring
Puzzle Overload (Telegames) – Spring
Rooms: The Main Building (Hudson) – Spring
Solitaire Overload Plus (Telegames) – Spring
Sonic Classic Collection (Sega) – Spring
Sonny With a Chance (Disney Interactive) – Spring

Nintendo DSiWare

Trajectile (Nintendo) – Jan. 4
Touch Solitaire (Nintendo) – Jan. 11
Starship Defense (Nintendo) – Jan. 18
Number Battle (Nintendo) – Jan. 25

Link ‘n’ Launch (Nintendo) – February
X-Scape (Nintendo) – February

Downtown Texas Hold’em Poker (EA) – Q1
Fieldrunners (Subatomic) – Q1
Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A. (Gameloft) – Q1
Legends of Exidia (Gameloft) – Q1
Let’s Golf (Gameloft) – Q1
Real Soccer 2010 (Gameloft) – Q1
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (WayForward) – Q1
Surviving High School (EA) – Q1

Looks like plenty of great stuff is coming out on DS next quarter; Wii seems a little bit lacking in comparison. Then again, the DS has always had a very powerful library. My most awaited game, of all of these, is probably Ace Attorney Investigations.

Posted by Chris Bunner in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

First Trailer For Mega Man 10

Gameplay from Mega Man 10

A video showing the first footage of Mega Man 10 is out now. A number of stages can be seen in the trailer, as well as a few silhouettes of robot masters (none of which appear to be the already revealed Sheep Man). The trailer also shows some gameplay as Protoman which looks pretty sweet. It looks like the retro goodness will be delivered yet again.

Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off

GH5 DLC Update: 12/17/09

                                                      A picture of the band Pavement

Activision is bringing holiday cheer to Guitar Hero 5, as the "Indie Rock Track Pack" was released today! The 3-pack includes 3 songs from 3 different bands (such as Pavement, Nada Surf, and Spoon). As usual, each single song will cost you 200 Wii Points, while the "Indie Rock Track Pack" will cost 550 Wii Points. The songs listed in the "Indie Rock Track Pack" are:

• "Hi-Speed Soul" by Nada Surf
• "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement
• "Sister Jack" by Spoon

Its about time Pavement has been released in GH, I’ll listen to the other 2 songs and then decide if I want to buy the full pack or just "Cut Your Hair".

Posted by Michael Phillips in Nintendo DS, Reviews | Comments Off

Review: Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 (DS)

Posted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off

Rock Band DLC Update: 12/15/09

Right on the heels of the announcement of Green Day: Rock Band, Harmonix is throwing up a three-pack of Green Day tunes from the new album 21st Century Breakdown, two of which are exportable to Lego Rock Band. We’re also receiving tunes from 30 Seconds To Mars and the hit single from the All-American Rejects. All songs cost 200 Nintendo Points and are downloaded in-game.

Green Day – “Christian’s Inferno”
Green Day – “Last of the American Girls”*
Green Day – "¡Viva La Gloria!"*
30 Seconds to Mars – “Kings & Queens”
30 Seconds to Mars – “This is War”
All-American Rejects – “Gives You Hell”

*Usable in Lego Rock Band.

Additionally, The Beatles: Rock Band saw the release of its third DLC album, Rubber Soul. Eleven classic tracks are available for download, individually, from the Music Store, for 200 Nintendo Points apiece.

"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"
"You Won’t See Me"
"Nowhere Man"
"Think For Yourself"
"The Word"
"Michelle"
"What Goes On"
"Girl"
"In My Life"
"Wait"
"Run For Your Life"

Rubber Soul is excellent music, and the charts that I’ve played so far are great. "What Goes On" is the new hardest drum song in the game, amazingly. Try it out.

Posted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off

Nintendo Download: 12/14/09

DSiWare: Littlest Pet Shop, 800 Nintendo Points

This pet game lets you play catch with your pets, dress them up, buy accessories for them, feed them, and even throw a dance party for them. Beyond that, the press release doesn’t really say.

DSiWare: Bejeweled Twist, 500 Nintendo Points

The popular PopCap puzzler hits the DSi. This version offers a new way to play, wherein you rotate explosive gems and try to rank up huge combos that way. You can play in Classic or Battle mode.

DSiWare: Miami Nights: Life In The Spotlight, 800 Nintendo Points

Miami Nights bills itself as a "life simulator". Once you’ve customized your character, you’re let loose on the people-filled streets of Miami, which features more than 30 areas. Make relationships, break promises, and more in order to build up a unique personality for your character.

DSiWare: Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam, 500 Nintendo Points

This title wants to know how good your cooking skills are. You’ll have to serve up a number of dishes, including hot dogs, hamburgers, and burritos to a colorful cast of characters before they get angry and leave. Feed vampires, aliens, and others.

DSiWare: Master Of Illusion Express: Matchmaker, 200 Nintendo Points

This package contains the Matchmaker, which lets you illustrate similar favorite dates or foods between you and someone else, and Photo Diagnosis, which gives someone’s exact age based on two photographs.

WiiWare: Stunt Cars, 800 Nintendo Points

This racer has you zooming around on elevated racetracks, with racers surrounded by pain and bottomless pits should you fall off. The game offers four championship cups.

WiiWare: Diatomic, 800 Nintendo Points

You are a specimen in a petri dish, and nine different diatomic creatures are out to get you; defend yourself! This retro-style arcade game offers 65 levels of gameplay through five story chapters.

WiiWare: Moki Moki, 800 Nintendo Points

The world is a puzzling labyrinth, as you must bend and twist the world around you to guide the little Moki creatures to safety. Ramps, hooks and jets will aide you in your quest through 100 puzzling levels, but be careful of the numerous obstacles.

WiiWare: Rubik’s Puzzle Galaxy: Rush, 600 Nintendo Points

In this 3D puzzler, you’ll have to guide different-colored cubes to specific exit points, navigating conveyor belts, warps, stop signs, splits, and more. Rush also contains an original Rubik’s Cube for you to solve, learn to solve, or challenge a friend to.

NES: Blaster Master, 500 Nintendo Points

This action shooter sees you falling down a secret manhole into what seems to be the Land of the Lost, filled with insane creatures that want to eat you and other bad things. You’ll have to defeat creatures as you navigate a tunnel maze, looking for the hidden exits and defeating bosses that fill your screen.

Genesis: Earthworm Jim 2, 800 Nintendo Points

Jim teams up with his new sidekick, Snott, to brave a new adventure where every level is something different. You’ll play through trivia contest, mazes, arcade-style levels and more.

Diatomic looks like it could be fun; it reminds me of Geometry Wars. I’ve never played Earthworm Jim, though I always hear good things.

Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo DSi | Comments Off

Fight With Photos: Photo Fighter X Announced For DSi-Ware

                                               A picture of the DSiWare logo

Nintendo has recently announced an innovative game called Fight with Photos: Photo Fighter X. The game lets you take pictures of yourself (or others) in a fighting position using your DSi’s built-in camera, and puts the photo of you as a playable fighting character in the game. You can also record vocal and sound effects. The game lets you store 8 custom characters, which gives you the freedom to experiment and not lose your characters.

There are 2 different ways that you can play the game; single-player, and multiplayer. Single-player is a standard beat em’ up mode (defeat 100 CPU’s to win), while multiplayer is a 1-on-1 fight. Strange enough, the multiplayer mode can be played on 1 DSi system, with player 1 using the D-pad and L to attack, and player 2 uses the A, B, Y, X, and R buttons.

The game releases tomorrow (December 16th, 2009) in Japan for the price of 200 Nintendo Points.

Posted by Chad Fleming in Miscellaneous, Reviews | Comments Off

Review: Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked

Food Network: Cook or be Cooked exists. That’s seemingly the best way to describe this latest effort from Red Fly studios. There’s nothing offensively bad about the game, and other than surprisingly functional controls there’s nothing that stands out as being particularly good. It simply exists.

Posted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off

November 2009 NPD Group US Sales Numbers

Hardware

NDS – 1,700,000
Wii – 1,260,000
360 – 819,500
PS3 – 710,400
PSP – 293,900
PS2 – 203,100

Software

1. 360 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – 4,200,000*
2. PS3 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – 1,870,000*
3. Wii New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 1,390,000
4. 360 Assassin’s Creed II – 794,000
5. 360 Left 4 Dead 2 – 744,000
6. Wii Wii Sports Resort – 720,200*
7. Wii Wii Fit Plus – 679,000*
8. PS3 Assassin’s Creed II – 448,400
9. 360 Dragon Age: Origins – 362,100*
10. Wii Mario Kart Wii – 315,000

*Number includes all SKUs except those bundled with game systems.

^The numbers on the right represent units sold.

The software numbers speak for themselves – Modern Warfare 2 had, by a large margin, the most successful launch in video game history. Not even Halo 3 saw numbers like these; MW2 sold better by 16%, once you compare the amount of time each was out. Besides that, New Super Mario Bros. Wii ended up being the second-best selling game this month, barely beating out the combined sales of Assassin’s Creed II. It looks like my prediction is coming true so far – Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit and Wii Play are being replaced with Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I wonder how long those three titles will last on the top 10.