Known for publishing the Cooking Mama games, Majesco is looking very interesting
at the moment.  With new titles such as Major Minor’s Majestic March and AWAY
Shuffle Dungeon, it made for quite an enjoyable visit to their booth than
normal.


AWAY Shuffle Dungeon

This was the first game I was shown and it’s a unique spin on a somewhat tired
genre.  AWAY is about a sole survivor of an event that whisked away the residents
of Webb Village.  You play as this individual who’s name is most creatively
called Sword.  Your job is to find the vanished persons through dungeons.

The actual game play is what is truly interesting.  Sword needs to expose and
navigate dungeons in order to find the villagers.  Only the path isn’t a straight
line, the dungeons, true to the title, shuffle.  Sliding somewhat like a slot
machine, but horizontally, the levels move to make this a thinker’s game.  Time
is limited in each area though so you won’t have all day to think of a solution.

If that’s not enough to be impressive, the talent involved in creating this game
has to count for something.  Hironobu Sakaguchi, Naoto Oshima and Nobuo Uematsu
all worked on the game in different aspects.

There are numerous dungeon crawler type games around, but none with a creative
and fun twist as this.  I think this will be fun to play through, but am not
sure that even with the names behind it, it’ll perform well at retail.


Our House

I wasn’t sure what my original thought behind just hearing the name was, but I
honestly wasn’t expecting a mini-game collection.  That’s essentially what Our
House is with a housing facade.  You and up to 3 players can compete in trying
to improve a house by destroying what’s currently it in to make way for new and
exciting furnishings. 

What makes this different than most mini-game collections is the WiiConnect24
feature that’ll allow you to show off your dream home to your friends as well as
view theirs.

I could see this doing well due to the popularity of mini-games, though I think
to fully enjoy it, you would need to play it with friends.


Zoo Hospital

Built from the ground up, Zoo Hopsital gives you an entire zoo to watch over and
maintain the overall health of the animals that inhabit it.  Similar to Trauma
Center, the game uses the Wii Remote to probe and X-ray your patients to examine
what is causing trouble.  The Nunchuk was also used to select which instrument
you want to use next in an operation. 

Unlike the Trauma Center however, this game seems to be a bit more forgiving and
geared toward a younger crowd.  Still, it was fun to try and find what was wrong
with an animal and diagnose and make them feel better.

I’m really looking forward to checking this out when it gets released sometime
in August and fixing up those camels.


Major Minor’s Majestic March

The creative force behind the PaRappa the Rapper franchise returns to this Wii
game and isn’t skipping a beat so far.  The basic concept is to march, but
before you dismiss this as just another rhythm game, it’s got a bit of heart to
it.  You as the player set the tempo to the march and off you go to recruit
more.  As you go along, you can pick up players to add to your procession that
you’ll be able to hear as each joins.  During intermissions you’ll be swirling
the Wii Remote around for bonuses to delight the crowd with your baton swinging
skills.

For those that are worried about not knowing the tunes, not to worry, there will
be more than 30 well-known marching band songs to choose from.  Sound is nothing
to sneeze at in the game and either is the art direction which is bright and
cheery so far.

When speaking to the demonstrator about the game, I was told they were shooting
for about 8 levels, though currently the press release states 7.  Hopefully
they’ll be able to add in another, but with the variety of music, I’m not so
sure it’ll be necessary for now.

It seems like a simple game on paper, but was a treat to see in action.  I
definitely can’t wait to get my hands on this and march my way to the end.


Cooking Mama World Kitchen

Having only played the original DS Cooking Mama, seeing this new version of the
game made me really want to play it more so than the previous versions.  The
basic premise is the same, it’s a cooking game with numerous recipes you’ve got
to whip up.  Unlike other versions however, this time Mama is getting involved
and helping you out if you happen to falter.

This new version comes with some greatly improved features that were lacking,
such as control. The movements the demonstrator was performing seemed to be a
bit more user friendly when it came to the game detecting what exactly was going
on.  Those that remember the egg cracking will not need to throw their Wii
Remotes across the room in frustration any longer since a meter is now in place.

With 50 recipes and Mama actually getting her hands dirty with you, this is
looking to be the version of Cooking Mama to put in the shopping cart.  I think
I’ll be skipping right to World Kitchen and season it just like a skillet in my
own kitchen.

Overall

I liked what I saw for the most part, though I’d say Our House is easily the
weakest of the offerings.  With a few great new IPs and a strong franchise in
Cooking Mama, I’d say Majesco is going wonderfully into the Holidays.