The original Legend of Zelda came out when I was two, and I still remember sitting in front of the TV as my mom and brother (and eventually me) navigated through dungeons and dished out Hyruleian justice master sword style. I can trace my love of gaming to those moments being amazed by Link’s quest.

It’s only fitting then that after 25 years and a lot of gaming, I’ve finally got that same feeling back – and it’s another Zelda game.  With incredible production values, bold new mechanics and a wonderous sense of exploration; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword feels an awful lot like falling in love with gaming again. Each time I booted it up, I found something new that I made it not only the best Wii title or the best motion controlled game but the best Zelda in franchise history – and that’s truly saying something.

Nintendo’s bold design choices start with the story of Skyward Sword.  This is the origin story fans have been clamoring for years for that Nintendo wouldn’t give us. Skyward Sword gives us a look at a Hyrule from times gone by, with Link and Zelda as childhood friends. Of course, before long, something terribly wrong happens and Link must go on a quest to save not only his friend, but the world.  It may not seem like a huge change from the established Zelda formula – that is until you take into account just how well it’s all presented.

Skyward Sword is easily the most cinematic Zelda experience to date, and even though there’s still no voice acting, Nintendo has done a magnificent job crafting a thrilling and remarkable tale that’s not only engrossingly epic, but decidedly intimate.  This is accomplished through a mix of taking the emphasis off of the simple plot and on to the game’s interesting cast of supporting characters and letting their emotion come through. Thanks to brilliant pacing, imaginative framing and some of the most well done cutscenes in recent memory, this is a Zelda title that you’re going to find it hard not to be engrossed in and its one that sets a new standard for Nintendo.

The Wii motion plus adds a great deal to Skyward Sword

After 25 years, we’ve all come to know what to expect from a Zelda game, but Skyward Sword challenges that too.  The incorporation of the Wii motion plus controller will change the way you want to play Zelda from here on in. Suddenly, it’s not about just timing and getting a good jump start on your opponents, but making good, conscious decisions how how and when to attack your opponents.  The motion plus enables you to watch your opponents and study just where you should be attacking them. You’ll watch their motions, their patterns and strategize as to the best plan to take them out, but be warned, your enemies can do the same to you.

The true genius of incorporating the motion plus into Skyward Sword is that it never once felt gimmicky and lends itself extremely well throughout the entire experience.  From throwing bombs, to swimming and even gliding through the sky, the Wii Motion Plus feels incredibly natural, like it was made to be used with the Zelda series all along. This isn’t just a game that uses motion controls well – it’s the game that perfects them. Unlike other motion games, I never stopped to wonder what the game would be like with standard controls since I was having so much fun. I often got the feeling that this was the first time that the promise of the Wii and motion control is general had been fully delivered on.

Skyward Sword’s incredible sense of pacing also plays a big part in just how great it is. In previous Zelda games, it was all about the dungeons, and everything before it was just a prelude to the heart of the action. While the dungeons still represent the main portions of the game, Skyward Sword manages to spread out a good portion of the action so it never feels like you’re just traveling to get to the “good parts” again.  There’s also a great sense of exploration here that’s been missing from previous Zelda games, which will require you to go back into areas you’ve already been through to complete certain sections, though it never feels like you’re backtracking as you’re constantly given new tasks and new abilities to try out.

Visually, Skyward Sword is somewhere between the cartoonish visuals of the Windwaker and the darker tones of Twilight Princess. Nintendo seems to have finally admit the limitations of the Wii console and have this created a visual style that’s not only extremely engrossing, but also a great fit for the title.  The entire game has a storybook feel to it that makes the game feel incredibly more epic.

The Blast Factor: When Nintendo introduced the Wii, and motion control to the world, it made some hefty promises. Now, nearly six years later, with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, those promises have been delivered on.  This isn’t just the best Zelda game or the best Wii game, it’s also the first game that makes motion controls make sense. With its incredible production values, new gameplay ideas and most importantly heart, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is simply one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Sonic the Hedgehog’s gaming career sounds an awful lot like an episode of E! True Hollywood Story. When he debuted for the Sega Genesis in1991, he quickly rose to super stardom; spawning everything from TV shows to action figures and even breakfast cereals – but then it all went wrong.  After a steady stream of games, some of which changed the very appeal of the character, Sonic and his growing cast of supporting characters began to wear out their welcome with the gaming public. It wasn’t long before the once proud console mascot was reduced to making cameo appearances in his one time rivals games.

Of course, even the worst True Hollywood Stories have some sort of a happy ending – and Sonic Generations is just that for the Blue Blur. Of course Sega has gone back to the well and revisited Sonic’s heyday before – but never to this level.  Not since his original 16-bit debut almost twenty years ago has Sonic felt this fast, fun and imaginative. Be warned though, much like Sonic crashing in to a wall, Generations ends with a disappointing thud and reminds you why Sonic went away in the first place.

Sonic just can’t catch a break. While celebrating his birthday with his friends, the Time Eater, a n unfamiliar enemy appears and begins to send everyone into time holes, scattering them throughout different points in history. Sonic finds himself in a bland, colorless area known as White Space where he encounters a younger and more pudgier version of himself. The two blue blurs decide that their best option is to race throughout their shared history, restore order and rescue their friends.  Naturally.

What follows is both a love letter to the Sonic universe as well as an epitaph for it. The game is split in to two sections; classic Sonic races through 2D landscapes just as you remember, and its loads of fun. There’s no question that this more than anything is where Generations shines. You’ll race through re-imagined stages from the original Sonic, like the Greenhill Zone and it all feels so natural, and so pure that it’s almost impossible to resist – and this is coming from a guy who’s childhood was heavily dominated by Nintendo consoles.

Perhaps most impressive about the classic Sonic reimagining is the amount of detail and effort that the Sonic team put into its recreation. This isn’t just an HD cleanup of the original visuals; this is a whole new look inspired by the classic. Take classic Sonic himself for instance, inspired by the spirte-based design used for the original, the Sonic Generations features an almost clay-mation like appearance and it feels an awful lot like something straight out of our childhood should feel.  To that extent, the game does suffer from a noticeable amount of slowdown when the game gets up to its top speed, an issue for a game like this.

Then there’s the other half of the game; featuring the more modern sonic levels. While still built for speed, this half of the game channels the 3D versions of the franchise, also known  as where the series went downhill.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are moments (and there always have been these moments) where 3D Sonic games work incredibly well, but they lose a lot of the original charm in the translation. Whereas classic Sonic games were built more on pure speed, games like heroes and colors feel like they really heavily on thunderous velocity, which puts the emphasis more on being destructive than the originals. Also much like the originals, the 3D iteration doesn’t do speed quite as well as its counterpart, as even the slightest error (and even sometimes without an error at all) will cause Sonic to come to a screeching halt. Most disappointing though is that these modern Sonic levels outnumber the classic ones as if Sega is trying to force us to come to terms with what the icon has become.

Regardless, the dynamic between the two Sonics is interesting to say the least. The character has always been built on an in-your-face attitude, but it’s quite fun to watch the two spar. Though he seemed very edgy at the time, classic Sonic seems tame compared to the more modern version. New Sonic seems grizzled, and hardened. He’s less edgy than he is cynical and it’s fun to see how both react to situations, especially when that dynamic shifts about midway through the game.

As you play through Generations, you’re sure to want to go back and play through levels over again to unlock extra challenges or better your time, but those who are going to get the most out of the game are those who have stayed with the hedgehog throughout his entire career as there are tons of unlockables that are sure to make you make you feel all sorts of nostalgic. These won’t really entice any non fans of the series to jump in, but it’s great for those who are dedicated.

The Blast Factor: Though half of the game is a reminder of why an icon fell, you can’t dispute just how fun Sonic Generations truly is. It’s fast, fun and everything else a Sonic game should be. Most importantly, it’s proof that Sega still cares about its biggest star, and knows how to handle him. Those who grew up in the 16-bit era will love the throw back, but really everyone should check it out.

Regular readers here are no stranger to my strange obsession with Disney. Of course, we’re not talking the High School Musical Shake it Up version of Disney, but the old school, classic animation, Walt variety. I’m also a huge fan of Media Molecule’s Little Big Planet series of games, so when I first saw Disney Universe, which looked like a cross between the two properties, I was instantly excited – turns out I should have reigned that in a bit.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that Disney Universe is a bad game, it’s mix of platforming and collecting is great for its intended audience, but the game’s biggest problem is that it’s just simply too much; the game often feels like it’s too many ideas going on at once, and as a result, it feels overly hectic and poorly guided. Disney Universe is good for young gamers, but older fans will get frustrated quickly.

Disney Universe casts players in an admittedly unique story. Disney’s most famous worlds have been recreated in a virtual setting so people can experience them in real time, but as it seems happens with every “virtual world,” someone has hacked they’re way in and filled the worlds with dangerous creatures and hazards. Enter you – a weird looking non descript Sackboy-esque looking thing with a penchant for Disney cosplay. It’s your job to go in, eliminate the dangers and turn everything back to the way it was.

Disney Universe is broken up into worlds inspired by some of the company’s most well known movies and cartoons, like Pirate’s of the Caribbean, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. The majority of these worlds require little thought and are of the, run around, break stuff and collect stuff variety, but there are a few interesting twists, like the Lion King stage which has you running from left to right escaping a fire. Regardless, pretty much all of the worlds are impressive in their design, as they don’t borrow directly from the properties but are inspired by them. For instance,  I had a lot of fun in the Monstropulous section of the Monsters Inc level, which featured a somewhat new take on the classic “door hopping” scene.

Perhaps Disney Universe’s most glaring issue then is how misguided it is. More often than not your goal isn’t easily laid out in front of you, and what’s going on in the game at any given moment is so hectic that you’re bound to give up and just start smashing things until it becomes more clear. This becomes even more of a problem when using four players – though that can also be the game’s most endearing quality, playing with three other friends can lead to some hectic and fun gameplay moments.

The most endearing lasting piece of Disney Universe is unquestionably the costumes and suits of classic characters found in the game. Similar to Sackboy from the Little Big Planet series, your character can don suits from a literal who’s-who in Disney history. Everyone from the fab-5, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto to lesser known characters like the Sushi chef from Monsters Inc (no, really) are here and are a blast to collect. My only gripe was that there’s far more costumes from newer properties than the classics, which is understandable given the target audience, but do we really need characters like Angelica from the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Throw me some Roger Rabbit or Chernobog instead. This an issue that can easily be fixed via DLC, and I’m hoping Disney Interactive offers it.

The Blast Factor: It’s easy to see the appeal for a game like Disney Universe, it’s platforming and collecting that everyone can easily jump in on. Unfortunately though, it’s ideas never really feel feely thought out, and as a result, Disney Universe often feels like a mix of a lot of good but unfinished ideas. Still, you can’t knock it’s easily accessible gameplay, especially for the little ones.

I’m a wrestling fan, but comparatively I despise sports entertainment. I long for the days of Gorilla Monsoon calling epic confrontations of warriors, immortals and immovable objects.  The days of Kayfabe. When the spectacle was the athleticism of off the top rope elbow drops, and not gimmicks. Back when the McMahon family wasn’t afraid of a panda.

It’s for those reasons that I thought I would love WWE Allstars, THQ’s over the top arcade style wrestling game that pits the top stars of yesterday against the new generation, but instead, after playing though the game, I felt unfulfilled and disappointed.  While the game can be fun when played with a number of people, it gets old incredibly quick and leaves a lot to be desired.

Unlike the WWE Smackdown VS Raw series which comes off as more of a simulation, All Stars presents the WWE stars as if they were action figures, and finds even the biggest competitors doing over the top, flashy maneuvers that send them flying into the air. The roster is full of legends like Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant and Randy “it’s about fucking time” Savage along with some of today’s biggest names like John Cena, the Miz and HHH. Oh, and they brought Kofi Kingston with them as well. The legends thing has been done before, like in the majority of the recent Smackdown VS Raw games and the Legends of Wrestlemania game that hit a few years ago.

Sounds great right? Strip away all of the WWE flash, all of the legends, all of the memories and you’re left with a rather thin package. Think about it, if the exact game was available, minus the license, how would you feel? All of the match types you’d expect are here, from single to tag team, extreme rules and steel cage match, but they all come off playing out remotely the same. The roster is broken down in to four categories, brawlers, big men, acrobats and grapplers, but there’s very little strategy since most of the roster plays exactly the same.  This goes a long way in ruining what is the biggest draw of the game, playing as your favorite stars of generations past. What’s the point in being excite to play as Jake the Snake Roberts if he plays exactly the same as say Bret Hart or Mr. Perfect?

To its credit, WWE All Stars is easy to pick up and play, at first. It employs basically the same control scheme as the excellent n64 WWE grappler No Mercy, with buttons for strikes and grapples, but then throws in a few odd additions. One button runs at the ropes, but you’ll have to switch over to another button to get out of the ring? There’s a different button to reverse grapples than there are strikes? Really? Finishers are another issue, as once your meter fills, you hit a button to activate an animation that sets you up for a your specific move. Here’s the problem with this though, your enemy can attack you while you’re doing the taunt that sets up your finisher, and if that happens, you lose the finisher. Oh, and AI opponents are constantly no-selling finishers.

Pow, right in the kisser.

The game’s best mode is easily the fantasy warfare, which pits a superstar from today against one from yesterday for a specific title. For instance, Andre the Giant VS The Big Show is for best big man, while pitting the straight edge superstar CM Punk VS the beer guzzling Stone Cold Steve Austin is to determine the better lifestyle choice. Each bout is presented via a click intro that chronicles both superstars careers featuring actual video footage. The matches are fun, and are no different than if you were to do them in exhibition, but they’re fun none the less. It would have been nice though to have the results of matches online so we can see who is really winning these fantasy warfare matches rather than just who is winning them on our consoles.

It’s a shame that the rest of the game doesn’t feature the fantasy warfare mode’s slick presentation values. In fact, the game feels like a missed opportunity in that aspect. Sure, the Path of Champions mode has animated and fully voiced scenes depending on which path you choose, but that’s just your opponent cutting a promo looking at the camera. Also, the choices of Path of Champions seem a bit off. You choose whether you want to try to fight Randy Orton at WrestleMania, The Undertaker at Summerslam or DX. Since when is The Undertaker associated with Summerslam? Wouldn’t it be cooler to try to snap the dead man’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania?

There are also no Path of Champions modes for the newer guys to take on the legends. Why not build up to facing Hogan at Wrestlemania? The game seems void of any real sense of WWE history, when I pit Hogan against Savage, I want to see a video package chronicling the Mega Powers and their rivalry throughout the years. The Legends of Wrestling game from a few years ago did a great job celebrating the history of the company and the sport, WWE All Stars merely using it as an accessory. Oh, and the commentary of JR and The King is just and random and annoying as ever.

The Blast Factor: WWE Allstars is at it’s best when playing with a group of friends, but even then it feels like a thin, wasted opportunity. As a full $60 game, it’s tough to recommend, perhaps if it were a  digital download title for half the price it would be the other way around. WWE All Stars seems like a forced attempt to win over the market from yesterday, but still cram the stars of today down our throats.

If you’re reading this review to find out if the games found in Nintendo’s 25^th Anniversary Mario All-stars pack areworth playing, let me save you some time – they are. But be honest, you already knew that. These are three of the most influential and most classic games of all time that even the most jaded gamer will have fond memories of.  Where the value of the pack comes into question though is with its presentation and extras. A few questionable exclusions and a thin package make Mario All-Stars a bit of a surprisingly disappointing collection.

If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll recognize the Mario All-Stars pack from its original release on the Super Nintendo way back in 1993. Hell, it even says it on the back of the box. Now, this isn’t a new version of that game, it is that game. From the menu system to the copyright dates and everything in between, it’s clear that Nintendo just plucked the data from the cartridge and plopped it on to the CD. Some also might be disappointed that Super Mario World, widely viewed as one of the best of the Mario franchise. Nintendo even produced an alternate version of the original Super Mario All-Stars with the plumbers 16-bit debut included, why not include it here? The game is available on the Wii-shop channel, so it could just be a bit of smart marketing, but it would have been nice to see it in included.

This year and next, Sony is releasing HD collections of some of their greatest hits from the Team Ico collection to Sly, and none of them hold nearly as much weight as Nintendo’s perennial plumber – it’s just sad that this collection didn’t get the same retouches. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for newly imagined and stylized versions of these classic games, but perhaps just a few touchups. The game runs at a disappointing 50hz, far below what even the Wii can do.

Technical nitpicks aside; the collection is a stunning reminder of just how timeless these games truly are. The original Super Mario Bros, its sequel, Mario 3 and Mario the Lost Levels are all included, and each one feels just as fresh as it did when it first launched. A bit of a history lesson, the Lost Levels game in this package was the original sequel to Super Mario Bros but wasn’t released in the United States in fear of it being too hard for American gamers. Instead we got the game that we know as Super Mario Bros 2, a re-skinned version of Japanese game Doki Doki Panic. Having both on the disc (much like they were in the 1993 version) showcases just how different the gaming industry was way back when. Super Mario Bros 2 proper is a distant  departure from the now famous formula, while the Lost Levels package is one of the toughest platforming experiences of all time.

Interestingly enough, the pack serves as away to educate newer gamers on just where the franchise and in many aspects the gaming industry as we know it came from. You know, the type of gamer that thinks that Mario’s history started with Mario Kart. It’s amazing that these simple mechanics are still so enticing, even to a generation that grew up with HD gaming.

The re-release of the Mario All-Stars collection is done so in celebration of the franchise’s 25^th anniversary and comes packed in a fancy red box, a history book and a collection of music from the series. While the package has been kept thin in an effort to keep the price down (the whole thing goes for $29.99), I would have gladly paid full price for more. Special Editions for games like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed come with mini-busts and replica items; I would have loved to have seen something like this for gaming’s most famous protagonist.

The Blast Factor: Super Mario All-stars will remind you of just why you’re a gamer. It may not be as big of a package as you’d expect, but it’s still more than worth it. This is a collection of some of the greatest games in history, and they’ll always have a place in many gamer’s hearts.  Go out, get the Mario All-Stars collection and fall in love with gaming all over again.

I’m what you might call a cynic. I’m not one for handing out praise and gooey words to games unless they really deserve it. Yet, I can’t say enough about Donkey Kong Country Returns. It’s epic, it’s fun, it’s gorgeous – it’s the best platformer you’ve played in a long time.

Strangely enough, Retro studios didn’t look to new technology or fancy new features for their attempt to restore faith in the once prominent franchise, theymerely returned one of Nintendo’s oldest heroes to his roots and in the process have surpassed everything Rare has done with the original.

Life is hard for Kong, he’s finally gotten rid of those pesky Kremlins, but now he’s got to worry about his fellow jungle animals running off with his banana horde. You see, the animals are under the control of the evil Tikis known as the Tiki Tak Tribe. As you’d expect, your goal is to traverse the jungle, defeat the Tik Tak Tribe and get yourself some potassium goodness in the process.

In essence, returns is the formula from the original Donkey Kong Country boiled down to its most simple assets. Anyone who remembers the last few games in the series will remember that they were filled with increasingly annoying King family members and stale gameplay. Save for our ape protagonist and Diddy (along with a few appearances by Cranky Kong), the extended family sits this one out in favor of a more streamlined story and classic gameplay.  Everything you remember is here, from the vine swinging, to collecting the gold K-O-N-G letters, the key here is that Retro Studios, the same team that revitalized the Metroid series with Metroid: Prime was able to make the gameplay feel fresh, without adding too much.

What’s most striking about Donkey Kong Returns is just how impressive and creatively brilliant the level design is throughout the entire experience. From striking set pieces like riding on the back of a whale to the series trademark mine car sections, every second of Kong’s latest adventure seems lovingly crafted to get the absolute most entertaining experience. Sprinkled throughout are clever nods to the original series, like characters and hidden rooms. It’s clear that Retro were fans of the original game.

That level design though isn’t just for show though, it also adds a world of difficulty. While it may not look as menacing as it is, there are sections of Returns that are unforgivingly hard. Much like the original, you’re going to gain a lot of lives, which will lure you into a false sense of security, but you’re likely to use them all during these punishing sections. More often than not, these sections will either be the boss fights or include them. Strangely enough though, the game feels instantly accessible and inviting even for those without an emotional attachment to the big monkey on the cover. Also aiding in helping frustrated players is the Super Guide. Much like in New Super Mario Bros, dyeing eight straight times leads to the option to see a prerecorded run through of the level.

For the first time in the series, Donkey Kong Country Returns includes co-op simultaneous gameplay, and while at times it can be a bit frustrating in the same way the multiplayer of New Super Mario Bros was, it mostly works. As you’d expect, Donkey Kong is more of a brute type character who uses mostly melee combat, while Diddy is quicker and uses projectile weapons. Undoubtedly, my favorite part of the co-op experience was the ability to have Diddy jump on Donkey Kong’s back, so it’s easier for less skilled players to advance while playing with a stronger partner.

The biggest letdown? Why no classic controller support? No don’t get me wrong, the Wii controller works fine in most cases, but growing up playing this very franchise on Super Nintendo and N64 and not being able to use a similar controller just feels wrong. There is some motion functionality in the game, by shaking the Wiimote, DK will perform a ground pound, but in some cases, the game confuses this motion for an attempt to get DK to roll, and it’ll likely cause you one of your lives.

The Blast Factor: With Donkey Kong Country Returns, Retro Studios proves that its talents aren’t just limited to first person shooters. The newest Donkey Kong adventure is a breathtakingly creative and fun instant classic that everyone will be able to appreciate. Whether you hold an emotional attachment to Nintendo’s monkey hero, or your experiencing the franchise for the first time, Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of the best games you’ve played all year.

Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is an interesting departure from the typical shooter. It’s a strictly team-based title that is designed to be a hardcore, real-world paintball sim. There is a single player campaign that takes you through a series of real paintball tournaments and allows you to build a team of up to 10 shooters, while consistently unlocking new equipment and upgrades with money earned from the various events.  There is also a robust, highly customizable local multiplayer mode – and a map editor for folks who want to design paintball scenarios from the comfort of their couch.

It was a new experience for me to play a shooter where your opponents don’t get traditionally “killed” but are rather eliminated by taking a paint spec. What is not immediately obvious about this detail before you get into GHP2 is that it affects play by allowing users to periodically “cheat” and wipe paint off when they’re hit. It is a calculated risk to try, and best to do in deep cover. If the refs see you, the team loses two players instead of just one. Do it too many times in a match and you’ll be hitting the pine in hurry.

The other interesting game mechanic introduced here is the ability to slide. GHP2 features 3 vertical positions like CoD: prone, crouched or vertical. If players are vertical and hit the crouch button while on the move, they’ll perform a slide that stays low and puts them right up against cover if performed at the right distance. It certainly adds to mobility and can be used effectively to avoid danger in certain situations.

Screeshot is from HD version

When I agreed to review GHP2, I had the choice of either Xbox 360 or Wii. I decided on the Wii version because I wanted to know if a game like this could really handle itself with the Wii’s motion controls. If indeed that were true, it might be really fun. Several shooters, like The Conduit and Red Steel 2, are amazing on the Wii and I was hopeful this would also be the case with GHP2 – especially since it is one of the few to incorporate online play. Unfortunately, these hopes were quickly dashed.

First off, the Wii Zapper controls are so bad. Having to reach up to the Wiimote position and tap A to zoom from the Nunchuck position is a ridiculous chore – a deal-breaker really. You can’t win playing this way because you don’t have easy access to the whole host of game controls. Using the Wiimote/Nunchuck combo without a Zapper is slightly more manageable (although you should keep Zapper controls on), with easier access to the A button for zooming in and out. You will still have to hunt for buttons, however.

Unfortunately, all forms of motion controls in GHP2 are just entirely too spastic to provide any sense of real accuracy or room for effective strategy. Your slightest movements outside the field of view and most snap-back reactions will send you spinning wildly out of frame. If this happens while you’re running, diving or otherwise maneuvering, you’ll typically end up leaving yourself exposed in the worst of possible places. I gave the motion controls my best shot for a day or two. I really did. Ultimately, they were just too unforgiving for what is basically a stealth/ cover shooter though. You can widen the Wiimote’s dead zone so that aiming in the corners of the screen is more possible without the whole view changing – but it is still extremely frustrating to use.

Once I strapped up the Classic Controller, I started to enjoy GHP2 a little and understand the game of paintball. I have never played in my life, so a level of education was necessary.  Although GHP2 does not do a tremendous job of explaining the mechanics of the real game step-by-step, especially when it comes to equipment considerations and game types, it is really the best way to learn about the sport I can think of without actually going out and doing the real thing. After playing the GHP2, I feel like my first couple of moves on a real paintball field might not be all that terrible.

Screenshot is from HD version

GHP2 offers an absurd level of customization in both single-player and local multiplayer modes, and the incorporation of  real-life players, locations, equipment and even crowd noise all go a long way toward making the experience feel authentic. Fans of the sport will likely be at home with the title and have natural instincts on how to best cover territory and with which loadouts. Another interesting equipment wrinkle introduced here is the weight factor. You can pimp your gear out to the gills if you want, but it will cause you to suffer in the mobility department. It would literally take months to master all the various loadout options in GHP2, as you work to equip your team of (ultimately) 10 players with all the right stuff.

Blast Factor: While I did have fun with this game, there was rarely a moment when I didn’t wish I was playing something else. I liked the environment and gameplay variety. The sad fact here though is this is just not a good title for the Wii platform. It becomes playable and somewhat interesting once settling on a Classic Controller, but this is really just an argument for playing the game on another platform. If you have a 360 or PS3, don’t even think about this title for Wii. First off, it’s virtually impossible to find a game online, so that aspect of it might as well not even be there. Second, the graphics on the Wii version are really limited and present functional problems when trying to track your shots. You account for wind and gravity in GHB2 – which is cool and relatively original – but it doesn’t add much when you can’t see where the paintballs are going and the splotches you do see vanish almost immediately. The AI is nothing to sing about either. Your teammates are straight garbage.

For real fans of paintball, I might recommend this title on 360 or PS3. But definitely rent it first. If you do end up buying, you will get a free paintball pass for two that is valued at up to $300. If you use the voucher, I suppose you could say the game pays for itself.

Browsing through a record store, you’re sure to notice your essentials, The Beatles, The Stones, and Clapton.What you’ll see if you look closer though is there are multiple albums of smaller bands paying tribute to the greats – Activision’s new Goldeneye 007 title is similar to these tribute albums, it dares not to try to recreate the magic that made the original so unforgettable, but merely pays it respect.

It would be simple for Activision to slap the Goldeneye name on a subpar shooter and watch the profits roll in, but what they’ve done is much more. It may not be the Goldeneye you remember in every sense, but the development team nailed the feeling that accompanied 1996’s beloved shooter. What’s more – it’s also an extremely competent shooter filled with solid mechanics and fun additions that will keep you coming back for more.

One of the biggest changes of Activision’s Goldeneye revamp is the inclusion of current (or maybe former depending on who you ask) 007 actor Daniel Craig rather than the original’s Pierce Brosnan. While it may seem like a small change, it alters a lot more of the game than you’d think; Craig’s Bond is a much tougher, brute than Brosnan’s suave and debonair portrayal of the British spy and as a result, the entire game gets a sort of facelift in the process. There are a number of stealth missions that you’ll take on as you progress through Goldeneye, but the developers have obviously taken cues from the more modern shooters like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. If you play through Goldeneye with a cool head, it’s possible to get through much of the game, but you may opt not to because of how impressive the game’s action sequences are.

A good portion of that satisfying gameplay comes as a result of the game’s incredibly sharp and intuitive control scheme. The safe bet for most will be using either the classic controller (Activision even released a special edition gold version to promote the controller’s use with the game) or the GameCube controller for precision and comfort, but the game controls remarkably well even with just the Wii-mote and nunchuck setup. The precision shooting is downright excellent and leads to the ability to pinpoint exactly where you’re going to shoot – be in appendage or limb.

Goldeneye’s single player campaign will last most gamers roughly around 10 hours to complete, but its longevity stretches far beyond that. Much like the original game, ratcheting up difficulty doesn’t just increase the enemy AI, it also adds new objectives – which of course means that you’re going to want to give the game multiple plays to see everything. Hardcore Bond fans are encouraged to pay attention to fine details throughout the game, as there are a few clever nods that they’re sure to appreciate.

One of the game’s shallow points though is with the story. Featuring a completely rewritten tale with a few nods to the original story, Goldeneye’s main game mode is a bit disappointing. Instead of an interesting tale deserving of the James Bond name, you get a story that’s filled with spy thriller clichés, terrible acting and unskippable cutscenes. You’ll be able to telegraph pretty much all of the plot twists from a mile away. I understand that Activision wouldn’t want to keep a more than 10-year-old story in a brand new game, but why strip away the heart the original had as well.

All of these problems aside though, Goldeneye’s legacy is built firmly on the game’s extensive and innovative multiplayer suite, and Activision has went to great lengths to ensure that the new game’s suite feels like it should. In essence, this new version of the legendary multiplayer mode feels like how the original would have felt if it had come out in the modern era. Combining a perk system made famous in games like Call of Duty and the ability to tweak options to make the game your own, the multiplayer suite is one you’re going to keep coming back to. There are a few things that are oddly missing, like Wii-Speak for the game’s online sessions – why can’t I talk to my opponents online?

Blast Factor: No, Goldeneye 007 for the Wii is not the second coming of the legendary first person shooter – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a competent shooter, with solid mechanics that could work without the Bond license. At its heart though, is a tribute to a favorite of millions of gamers. You’re sure to love the game’s lengthy campaign along with the re-envisioned multiplayer suite. Bond may not be back, but Activision has done a great job recreating the magic.

If you’re a gamer who was born in the late 90s, chances are you ask your older brother one question. “Why does your generation like that stupid blue hedgehog ?”.

Yes, indeed Sonic is now considered a flop, but there was once a time when Sonic was the arch nemesis of Mario, both of them were the most successful characters in the video gaming industry, Sega even created a subsidiary development team called Sonic Team, Sonic was on fire!

Nowadays though, it seems that Sonic is on life support, the shift from 2D to 3D wasn’t too kind to the hedgehog, with SEGA releazing one terrible Sonic game after another, and creating many useless characters along the way, such as Silver the hedgehog, and that dreadful Werehog in Sonic Unleashed. The quality of Sonic games have declined considerably over the years, the blue hedgehog no longer felt on par with Mario, but rather felt like some generic, mediocre mascot.

However, that was then and this is now, SEGA have decided to take Sonic back to his roots, and have released Sonic 4, the sequel to Sonic 3, and a game that fans have been waiting 16 years for. The question that many people will ask, is it good? And the answer, finally, is a “Yes”.

Sonic 4 Episode I is the best Sonic game in a very long time, it took SEGA over a decade, but they finally got it right. The gameplay in Sonic 4 feels like that of a true Sonic game.

The game starts out fairly simple, you find yourself in Splash Hill, an almost updated replica of Green Hill Zone, you play the first level in the game and pass with absolute ease, and then you are taken to the screen where you get the complete freedom to choose which zone you want to choose, and which act you want to choose from that zone.

While Sonic games usually didn’t let you choose the zone or act you wanted to be in, this feature doesn’t exactly give or take much from the game, just like past Sonic games you take on the boss of each zone after finishing all three acts.

The graphics in Sonic 4 are gorgeous, the game stays true to the Sonic 2D formula while updating it with HD graphics and a constant framerate that never drops, the great news to Wii owners is the fact that the game looks exactly like the PS3 and X360 versions, only in 480p, which isn’t a dealbreaker at all really. In fact, the game felt more at home on the Wii than the PS3 and X360, having the game next to other Sonic titles new and old in the Wii library made it feel like this is where it truly belongs.

Some fans have wondered what Sonic’s appearance is like in Sonic 4, does he resemble Sonic of yore? Or does he resemble the modern day Sonic? While playing Sonic 4, we played Sonic 3 and Super Smash Brawl alongside it, seeing how the best 2D sonic models of past and present are featured in said games. Sonic’s model resembles the modern day Sonic more than that of the old Sonic during SEGA’s golden era, with his long legs being the most distinctive feature.

The music in Sonic 4 is a step in the right direction, it surpasses the music in the majority of the 3D Sonic games, the downside is the fact that the music sometimes doesn’t feel like that of a Sonic game, the music is slow, and at times it’s too slow, it just doesn’t mesh with the sprinting hedgehog at times.

The gameplay in Sonic 4 adds nothing new to the franchise, and that is probably one of the greatest things in this game, seeing as how every time SEGA adds a new element to the game (like that God damned dreadful werehog), the game turns out to be a disaster. The new feature in the game is the homing attack, while this feature isn’t new in the Sonic 3D games, it’s new in the Sonic 2D ones, when Sonic is in mid-air and near an enemy, a lock-on appears and Sonic can attack that enemy, this feature actually fits in with the gameplay quite well, and is also crucial at times to progress through a level.

While the gameplay is solid, it does have some issues of it’s own. For instance, the only power ups available are the temporary invincibility and the ability to breath under water, features such as the fire ball and electiric ball were present in Sonic 3 almost 16 years ago, SEGA not including them now is an awkward strategy on their behalf.

Another issue that is noticed almost immediately is the speed of the game. It is obvious from the get go that Sonic 4 is slower than previous iterations in the Sonic franchise, especially in 2D sonic games, add the fact that you will be stopped from progressing in certain levels later on in the game until you perform some minuscule tedious tasks, and the sense of momentum in the game falls flat. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but it stops the game from being truly great.

The final, and perhaps most annoying aspect of the gameplay is the difficulty settings. Usually in video games the game becomes harder gradually, helping the players adjust to the gameplay and introduce new enemies and challenges at a reasonable pace. Sonic 4 throws this strategy right out the window and disorients you in a way like no other.

You spend the majority of the game unchallenged, quite literally breezing through the leves, by the time you reach the final zone, you’ll have around 20 lives and the only real challenge you’ll have faced is the boss of zone 3, during the three acts in the final zone, you will die around 6 times (assuming you get lucky and pass certain frustrating parts of the game quickly), then you will face the final boss of the game. Here you will die over and over again, in one of the longest boss fights in a Sonic game, at times the fight will be hard, and not in a modern day game hard, but in a Mega Man hate yourself kind of hard. And the most frustrating part about the final boss, is the tempo of the level. It is so slow it hardly fits a Sonic game.

The biggest downside for Sonic 4 isn’t the game itself, but it’s the price. Sonic 4 Episode I is priced at $15, the game can be finished in less than 3 hours if you’re dedicated enough to finish it in a single session. It has good replay value, and you can even unlock Super Sonic, but it’s not enough to slap a $15 price tag, especially when there are games like Castle Crashers, and Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light that offer mad replay value and multiplayer gameplay for the same price.

The Blast Factor: It’s almost hard to believe this, but this might the first time in over a decade that Sonic fans get two great Sonic games in a single year (assuming all goes well with Sonic Colors), this could be the year Sonic fans celebrate after all. If you’re a Sonic fan who’s been dying to play a great Sonic game, Sonic 4 is well worth the 15 dollars, if you’re hesitant and wondering if it’s worth the investment or not, you might wanna check Other PSN/XBLA titles first, like Castle Crashers and GoL, or Wii Ware titles like Cave Story.

The video game industry is a very sequel driven. It seems that every week there’s a new Call of Duty, or Guitar Herogame being announced. With all of these sequels, one has to ask – where’s the creativity?

Kirby’s Epic Yarn is none of that. Not only is it one of the most imaginative and creative titles we’ve seen in years; it’s also damn fun. Featuring an irresistible sense of style and a world that’s genuinely fun to explore, Kirby’s return to consoles is one that you won’t want to miss.

Undoubtedly, the first thing you’ll notice about Epic Yarn is the game’s unique visual style. Characters and objects are seemingly constructed of yarn, while the environments themselves seem like they’re made of cloth. While it may not seem like much, the combination of the two makes for a fantastically vibrant world that’s stuck somewhere in between 2D and 3D. The game’s story is presented as if it were a children’s book, chronicling Kirby’s adventures in Patch land. Yes, it’s cute – but don’t let your hardcore gamer bravado get in the way, there’s also a ton of substance to back it up.

The gameplay of Epic Yarn is a perfect mix for the game’s visuals. All of Kirby’s abilities you’ve come to expect are here, only this time they’re handled a lot more contextual. Take for instance when Kirby is trying to traverse a rather wide gap – -like a fat kid, the odds are against Kirby, but hitting the number two button will make our hero turn into a parachute, letting you float safely to the next platform. There are roughly 50 levels in Epic Yarn, and each one offers new and unique challenges.

While Kirby’s transforming powers are great fun, they can also be incredibly frustrating. Many of these changes are performed with a quick press of the D-Pad in a specific direction, which happened accidentally on numerous occasions throughout the game. It gets even more frustrating when you accidentally transform into something you don’t want in an area that’s very hard to traverse, leading to having to restart the section. There are portions of the game where you’ll play the entire section in a different form, which changes the gameplay entirely. Some of these changes are ho-hum, like the train transformation, but others are spectacularly fun, like the UFO transformation.

Save for a few spots where the controls get in the way, Kirby’s Epic Yarn ‘s main story gameplay is absurdly easy. See, you really can’t die, and a lot of the puzzles are pretty easy to solve.Even the game’s bosses are easy to telegraph and don’t offer much of a challenge. You’ll find yourself focusing on trying to collect enough beads to get a high enough ranking to unlock the game’s secret levels than stressing about beating the bosses themselves.

That same easy gameplay though does not carry over to the game’s mini game collection. There’s around 100 mini games, broken up into five categories; hide and seek, bash the baddie, carry your friend, collect the beads and race. Each one pits you against an unforgiving clock and is chock full of the tension and challenge that’s not found in the main game. There’s a few prizes you can earn, and you can use those prizes to decorate an apartment, but you’re likely to skip this aspect during much of your time with Epic Yarn – the real allure of these mini games is finding ways to beat them all.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn also allows for the entire game to be completed cooperatively. Unlike most cooperative experiences on the Wii (yes, I’m looking at you New Super Mario Bros), the co-op gameplay in Epic Yarn is fantastic and allows for two gamers to play together without getting in each other’s way too much. Many of the levels feel like they were designed for single player gaming, but playing with a friend controlling Prince Fluff (a purple, slimmer version of Kirby wearing a crown) offers up new challenges and new ways to clear most stages.

The Blast Factor: If there were more sequels and franchises that took risks like Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the video game industry would be a far more interesting one. Kirby’s latest adventure is a cute, fun filled romp that no one should ignore. Sure, it’s a bit easy at times and there’s a few control issues to be found, but that’s all excusable when you’re talking about one of the most fun games of the year.

To those from my generation, NBA Jam is nothing short of a cultural landmark. When it was in the arcades, it ate up all of your quarters, when it came to consoles, it kept us up all night. Then, we grew up. We favored full-on simulations with complex button systems and mechanics and realistic player tendencies. Ladies and gentlemen; welcome back to fun.

EA’s resurrection of the NBA Jam franchise is unapologetically fun and harkens back to a day when arcade sports titles were king. If you can forgive a few missteps from the developers, you’re sure to find much to love here.

First things first, EA has done a superb job of recreating the original NBA Jam experience we all remember – for the most part. The game’s original announcer Tim Kitzrow is back to shout his classic catch-phrases, and the visuals come off as an HD twist on a retro style. Yes, this is the original NBA Jam you remember, it’s just spruced up. Player faces are far more detailed than earlier versions (even if they sometimes come off as looking like South Park’s Terrance and Phillip at times).

The most important aspect that’s returned though – the game is still insanely fun. You could be the most hardcore sports sim fan of all time, it’s still impossible to deny the feeling you get dunking an alley-ooped ball from the free-throw line in the faces of your opponents. Games are quick, and you’re sure to have plenty of oh-my-god” moments with your friends. The highlight of the game is undoubtedly the back-board shattering yet physics bending dunks. Even after 17 years, the rewarding feeling of dunking it in someone’s places with a blazing ball is the same. Now that’s longevity.

When it was announced, some gamers were apprehensive that NBA Jam was (at the time) a Wii exclusive due to the inevitable inclusion of motion controls. While you’ll will have their choice between using the Wii  remote and nunchuck, the Wii remote by itself (held sideways) or the classic controller; it’s the later that is surprisingly the most effective. I’m not the biggest fan of adding motion controls where they don’t fit – but they work here. Using small, mostly sweeping motions you can do everything from passing to shoving, and even dunking. What’s even more surprising is the fact that the classic controller doesn’t fit the game as well as it should. The game’s reactions to the Wii remote and nunchuck were easily quicker and much more effective.

Quick fun and flash may be a specialty of NBA Jam, but depth is not. As much fun as the game is, it wears thin very quickly. You’re likely to see many of the game’s animations during your first game, and the title quickly looses momentum shortly after. NBA Jam is at its best when its life is prolonged by being  played with up to three other friends and letting the trash talk fly. There are a multitude of modes to be found in NBA Jam, but you’re likely to have the most fun with the classic campaign which finds you playing against progressively better teams in an effort to defeat the entire league.  There are a number of other modes, including a few half-court modes and boss battles, and while they do offer a change from the normal gameplay, they’re nothing special and you’re not likely to go back to them much.

When a game company brings a classic franchise like this back to life, they often go overboard – stripping the franchise of everything that made it so interesting in the first place in exchange for modern flash.  With NBA Jam, EA went the complete opposite route, leaving much of the original intact, but leaving out what makes this era of gaming so interesting. For instance, with NBA Jam’s core experience being built on multiplayer – where is the online play? I grew up playing this franchise with my friends and family and now that we all live spread throughout the country, it’d be nice to get that back, but sadly the game is local multiplayer only.  It’s a minor complaint when the game is this fun, but a valid one none the less.

The Blast Factor: EA’s NBA Jam rebirth is as much of a fun and exciting experience that we all remember from the franchise. It’s over the top, it’s flashy – it’s just what you remember from NBA Jam. There’s a few missing features like online play, and you’re unlikely to ever stray far from the main portions of the game, but those are all more than forgivable. NBA Jam is a must own for sports fans of all ages.

In 1997, 50s and 60s pop singer Pat Boone released In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, an album of Heavy Metal covers. A far cry from the crooner’s normal work, the album, complete with Boone in choke collar looking menacing was an obvious final cry for popularity, so Boone could enjoy one last shot at popularity with a younger crowd.

Warrior’s of Rock, the latest iteration of the long running Guitar Hero franchise is much like Boone’s metal album; an obvious attempt to stay relevant amidst a changing cultural landscape. Yes, the franchise was once the biggest franchise in gaming, but it’s clear that over five years since its debut, the franchise is in dire need of a reboot.

Perhaps the worst part about Warriors of Rock is that it showed potential to advance the series, but only manages to show the franchise’s age even more.  The game’s main draw is in its new Quest mode, which puts you in control of one of eight characters (All but two of the characters return from previous installments) looking to unlock their true warrior potential. Just how do they do that you ask –apparently by recovering a mysterious powerful guitar that in turn revives the demi-God of Rock as voiced by Gene Simmons of Kiss fame. The mode is filled with campy metal themed visuals and you can’t help but think that Activision finally realized they should have published Brutal Legend in the first place.

Story aside, how you really progress through the game’s quest mode is by doing exactly what you’ve done in previous Guitar Hero games, playing your instrument of choice through enough songs to complete each chapter, move on…repeat. There are a few kinks thrown in to put a few blurbs on the back of the box, like the boss battles, special powers and a seemingly random rendition of Rush’s 2112, but they do little to add to, or detract from the Guitar Hero formula, it just is.

Warrior’s of Rock’s track list harkens back to the older days of the series with a more hard rock flavored repertoire. Look, it’s not that I’m dogging playing some of the mainstream and poppy acts of recent editions of the game, they just weren’t as fun to play. Still though, the set list isn’t without its fair share of problems though, chief among them that the game splits up the list by character this time, which in turn breaks up the track list by genre. Don’t like death metal? You’re going to hate an entire section of the game. The same goes for merely every genre of rock. At least when the songs were divided up by difficulty you could lay claim to at least liking one of the songs in a section.

While playing through Warrior’s of Rock’s set list, you can’t help but get the feeling that the developers seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to track selection. Terrible live versions of ZZ Top songs covered by Metallica? No thanks. Especially not when the original song was in one of the previous games and was so fun to play. It’s almost as if the developers were hoping that gamers would rekindle their love for these classic set list hits in order to look over how boring these versions are to play.

Much of Warrior’s of Rock feels like a stretch to appeal to someone…anyone. In the process though, the developers throw so many rock clich©s and standards in that the game loses any sense of identity. As mentioned above, the quest mode is narrated by Gene Simmons (along with a bit from RUSH) but there’s a segment where you play through such historic punk venues as CBGB and OMFUG. Yes, I get the cultural importance of the venues to the world of rock music, but it just doesn’t fit here in a game filled with heavy rock and big budget shows. It feels much like a loud cry from the developers to stay relevant. It’s the video game equivalent of your parents suddenly showing up in a Ramones t-shirt so you’d still think they were cool.

The new guitar for Warrior’s of Rock is just as reliable as you’d expect a plastic peripheral to be, but here — the sides split off to form…an actual axe. It’s a cool ascetic, but it’s just that, and serves literally no valuable in game purpose. Curiously enough, the guitar features no touch pad, as made famous in Guitar Hero: World Tour, though several of the songs feature sequences built specifically for it. It almost makes players use older guitars when playing the game if they’re available.

Guitar Hero made its debut in the Fall of 2005, and has since seen more than 13 different iterations and spin-offs — that’s more than two different games every year. Once the most important game to the video game industry, the series has become stagnant and needs an obvious reimagining. My advice to Activision? Take a step back, take a year or two off without releasing a Guitar Hero game because it’s games like this that remind us why Rock Band is so good.

The original Endless Ocean was a special little title that many people missed upon release. The aquatic explorer was unlike almost anything else on the market at that point—it was a game that, in many ways, wasn’t a game at all. You swam around in reefs, discovered, pet and fed fish, enjoyed the detailed, realistic scenery of the ocean–all while learning about aquatic life in the process. It certainly wasn’t the kind of thing you see on the wish list of today’s gamer, but despite this, it was a relaxing retreat from the missions and the violence we all love so much in our video games.

Endless Ocean was something of an ocean sandbox where you generally spent time free of direction, free to do as you pleased. This did not sit well with many gamers though, as even open-world games have some sort of structure to them. Endless Ocean: Blue World, this year’s sequel from developer Arika, fixes that issue by focusing more on story and giving you more direction in your gameplay. They do this without sacrificing the things many folks loved from the original as well, which makes this sequel a better purchase for both fans of the original and the uninitiated.

All of the things you love from the original are intact—you can still take photos, the descriptions of sea life that you can read as you discover them, hidden locations that you must dive to discover, and the multiplayer, which allows you to dive with a friend online. This time around though, Wii Speak is supported, so you no longer have to quietly dive underwater, as calming an experience as that may have been. Now you can talk with a buddy, which makes things easier if you’re trying to direct someone towards an area or creature.

As for the story, your character, who you create with the very simple character creation, joins the R&R Diving Service in order to learn more about the Song of the Dragons, which is a song of legend that is said to be cursed. Conveniently enough, the diving company has ties to the song through pendants left to the owner’s granddaughter, a fellow diver. The story is entertaining, though mostly because it’s ridiculous and good for the occasional laugh. The highlight of the game remains the diving and exploration under the sea.

This time around you have some gadgets at your disposal. First is the Multi Sensor, which is a sonar device that helps you locate treasures and artifacts—you’ll find many of these just by swimming around fish and aquatic life, but the sensor is appreciated for making this easier. Second is the Pulsar, which magically heals fish simply by giving them a few jolts of energy. Realistic? Of course not, but it’s still fun when a tiger shark is about to bite you and you shock him in the face with a pulsar to settle him down and save your hide. For those who are concerned that Arika has put headshots into your calm, ocean exploration title, don’t be alarmed: these moments occur infrequently, as the game certainly isn’t all fighting off tiger sharks and the like.

Just because the game is structured more than the original doesn’t mean you can’t swim as long as you feel like, taking your time in order to discover treasures and interact with all of the life underwater. The game still encourages you to lazily make your way through the very deep and very much alive diving stages. In order to build a better sense of accomplishment though, there’s a leveling system in place for your oxygen—the more dives you complete, the longer you can stay in the depths of the ocean. It’s a good incentive to keep playing for those who need a push to keep playing.

Graphically, Blue World is superior to its predecessor—everything that is underwater is beautifully rendered and detailed, and the sea life animates very well. Even when the camera zooms in close on specific areas or creatures, the visuals hold up. This may be a budget title, but its production values, at least graphically, outshine plenty of games on the system.

The one thing I dislike about Endless Ocean is the control scheme—it’s entirely pointed based, as you point at the screen and then hold B to swim in that direction. Nunchuk support would have been helpful, especially with a relaxing title such as this—I just want to lay on the couch and use my thumbs for something like this, not hold the Wii Remote aloft in order to stay aligned with the sensor bar. This is more of a personal complaint than something that’s wrong with the game though—it’s not the developer’s fault I want to be lazy. I just hope that if there’s an Endless Ocean 3, they give you the option of more than one control scheme.

Blast Factor: Endless Ocean: Blue World takes everything you enjoyed about the original and tightens up the offering with a more direct storyline, new gadgets to change up the pace of ocean exploration, and even more areas and sea life for you to discover and explore. This is not a game for everyone, but it is a game everyone should try—you never know, even the most cynical of you may enjoy the beautifully rendered environments and the calming sense of atmosphere.

Endless Ocean: Blue World is available exclusively for the Endless Ocean: Blue World is available exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $29.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

The original No More Heroes is one of the better games in the Wii library. There are two responses to that out in the wild, the first of which is, "That goes to show you how poor the Wii’s game selection is" and the other, which is, "Absolutely, No More Heroes is just that awesome". It was different from anything else on the system—and still is, in terms of franchises—as it delivered Suda 51′s (Killer 7) brand of dementia and adoration for all things retro and nerdy while also steeping the player in ultra-violence, a la Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1.

I’ll be honest and say I fit into the latter camp, the one that thinks the original is a flawed masterpiece of sorts, working as both a creative gameplay experience as well as a smart critique on the present day gaming landscape. The game has its problems, yes, ones even a fan such as myself cannot deny the existence of, but when No More Heroes 2 was announced, and things started to take shape, you could see that Grasshopper had done its best to answer the calls of the original’s critics in order to deliver a tighter, more enjoyable, and more intense thrill ride. For many reasons, Grasshopper and Suda were able to deliver with No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, giving the Wii an early contender for its game of the year category.

Revenge is the theme, right from the start

Here’s the deal: if you loved the first game, then you need the second one. It’s not that much of a leap forward for those of us who already enjoyed the sadistic tendencies of Travis Touchdown, but for those who took issue with the first one—the pacing, the sidejobs, the repetitive nature of combat—you will be happy to know that these items have been worked on and smoothed over for you, in order to produce a much tighter, fast-paced and enjoyable experience. For those people, Desperate Struggle is a giant leap forward, and gives the franchise the credibility that those of us already in love with it had, simply by trimming the fat and replacing it with high-quality awesome.

The gist of the story is that Travis has returned, no longer the #1 ranked assassin as he was at the conclusion of the previous title. There are those who want revenge on him, and in order to get his attention, they murder his friend Bishop in cold blood. Travis goes into a rage and vows to end the life of anyone involved—conveniently enough, the #1 ranked assassin is the corporate mastermind behind Bishop’s death. It works well, just like in the original, with cutscenes delivering humor, violence, and very likable—though odd—personalities throughout.

Travis, after ending the life of one of those personalities

Combat is largely unchanged, with the direction you angle the Wii Remote in (high or low) still making for high or low attacks, while the A button does all of the swinging. The B button is still for melee and initiating your wrestling moves—leave it to Suda to include both lightsaber type weaponry and a Tiger Driver fluidly in a combat system. The one major change is that the slot machine system from the original has been tweaked so that you can see your progress on an "Ecstasy Gauge", which you can steal from at any time when there’s enough in order to deliver more powerful attacks. Also, if your gauge fills completely, you may turn into a tiger. Why a tiger? I asked the same, but then realized this allowed me to maul enemies in one hit as they crawled on the ground away from me, and decided not to ask any more questions and just get back to maulin’.  You also get a nice grindhouse sheen on the screen during these slot machine events, as everything looks grimy with that burnt-film quality to it.

The overworld, largely derided by critics, was scrapped in favor of a menu system that allows fast travel to any area you need to go to. No more driving across the city to retry missions over and over, and, for that matter, missions have been revamped as well. With the exception of one side job, you now play 2D, 8-bit NES style games in order to earn extra cash. This cash also no longer goes towards entry fees for fighting the next ranked assassin, and instead can be used for sword upgrades, new duds, and paying for training at the gym. You can do as much or as little of these as you want, but you will find yourself playing them not just to earn cash. They are a fun diversion after slicing heads off of countless anonymous thugs.

Dual beam katanas is enough of a reason to own this game

As for the gym, these workouts have also been given the old-school treatment , though with a little less success than the side jobs. The treadmill works fine, as you just need to be facing the correct direction while mashing the B and Z buttons alternatively, but the muscle exercise, which finds you pinching and kicking free weights thrown at you, requires too much perfection in order to pass—this is a good way to waste huge chunks of money as you advance, as the price climbs and climbs. You don’t make much money in main missions either, so all of that cash is going to have to come from side jobs. This is the closest thing to grinding for cash in the game though, which is a big improvement over the first title’s system.

There are two other non-story diversions for you, in the form of Revenge Missions and your cat, Jeane. The Revenge Missions find you slicing up a number of baddies before the clock runs out, and then you have to find the boss of those particular thugs in order to slice him up and clean up the streets. As for your cat, Jeane has put on quite a bit of weight in between titles, and now weighs 24 pounds. By playing with her, lifting her, massaging her, and feeding her well, you can get Jeane to lose weight—drop her far enough over the course of the game, and you will learn a very My useful and powerful technique that’s activated by the Nunchuk. It’s more than a worthwhile reward for what are actually well-designed mini-games.

Graphically, the game is superior to the original, and not just because the overworld has been removed. Everything looks a bit cleaner and more polished, and the animations and lip-synching are all improved.  The sound is also wonderful, with various genre remixes of the main theme spread out across all of the levels and missions. The bad guys do not have enough catchphrases to keep their last words from being annoying after awhile, but it gets so repetitive at times that it’s hard to tell if it was done on purpose in order to mock other games with the issue, or because they didn’t put the effort into this one area. Either way, it’s an annoyance, but nothing major.

My only complaint with the game worth anything is that the bosses are nowhere near as interesting as those in the original. They lack the fleshed out personalities of their predecessors in most cases, and do not verbally spar with Travis for anywhere near as long prior to the fights. The battles are still tests of your abilities and the best part of the gameplay, so not all is lost, but it’s just a little disappointing that I don’t feel like I knew my adversaries as well as I did in the first, when they were given such powerful, unforgettable personalities. I guess not every assassin can be a drunken school girl with a fetish for baseball and gimps, but a little more spIotlight on who they are would have been appreciated.

Blast Factor: No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is superior in every other regard to the first game though, and is a must-own for anyone with a Wii, a sense of humor, and a penchant for lightsabers. In what looks to be an impressive year for Nintendo’s white box, Desperate Struggle has set the bar at the outset with its entertaining story, lovable and despicable cast, and improved, tight gameplay. Desperate Struggle is not to be overlooked, even if you could do without the original.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99. A copy of this game was purchased for reviewing purposes.

I have always looked forward to becoming an adult, because the crown jewel of adulthood is the ability to stay up all night eating ice cream and playing video games. And that’s just what I did (along with three intrepid friends) to review Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Nintendo Wii.

Like many gamers I hold the Silent Hill series in high regard…kinda. The games have clearly suffered from adaptation decay since the acclaimed Silent Hill 2, moving away from carefully plotted psychological horror and slowly turning into a series of lengthy Pyramidhead cameos.  Hearing that the new one was supposed to be good was like hearing that someone had made a new Neverending Story worth seeing: so simultaneously implausible yet tempting that I had to see it.

Your flashlight is your best friend. Use it well.

You play as Harry Mason, a protagonist veteran players will find familiar. After crashing his car in a snowstorm in his hometown of Silent Hill, Harry wakes up to find his young daughter Cheryl missing from the wreckage. As he wanders through the eerily unpopulated town searching for her, it becomes clear that all is not well—especially clear when nightmare-fuel monsters start chasing you.

Now the most striking feature of the game (and the feature that gives it incredible replay value) is the personalized psychological tests you’re given throughout the game. They determine every aspect of your experience: how the monsters look, how the NPCs behave and treat you, what levels you’re given to explore…your whole game is literally customized to you. I had the good fortune of playing with a friend who had already completed one game, and a character who was polite and well-dressed for him was rude and dressed like a floozy for me.  And this was only the beginning: we solved different puzzles, went into different rooms, and basically played a completely different game. The intricacy is astonishing, and although the options are somewhat limited, it makes the game completely compelling for multiple play-throughs.

Some may call him Dirty Harry, but it's not because of his guns.

In this installment, it’s the small things that packed the biggest terrifying punch.  When your in-game psychiatrist hands you a coloring book image of a house and asks you to color it in, my friend Joe squiggled a pink house with a green car and a family dressed in red.  When the action picks up again, Harry is standing in front of his house: pink, with a green car in the driveway. But when he rings the doorbell he finds not his daughter, but a happy couple dressed in red… A happy couple who’ve lived there for twenty years and have never heard of him.

Harry is a refreshing protagonist in his completely normal reaction to danger. When horrible shambling monsters slither out of the darkness and start running, screaming, toward him, he RUNS like HELL. Yep, this game has no weapons. No guns, no baseball bats, no fists…Your choices are to run, hide, or die, and I strongly suggest running. I’ve overheard some griping about this feature, but when given the fight or flight options, gamers will always tend to pick a fight.  Forcing them to run for their lives not only provides for a new challenge, but also enhances the feeling of complete helplessness and panic you should be feeling. (And besides, when was the last time you REALLY enjoyed a complex control system on the Wii? That’s what I thought.)

Speaking of controls…Like most gamers, I can be easily frustrated by the Wii. Often the Wiimote would refuse to recognize this simple formula:

Frantic shaking = Oh god, oh god, get this monster off me

…but overall the controls are very effective. One sequence in particular comes to mind: you’re trying to escape from a car that’s slowly sinking underwater.  You need to jump into the front seat, roll down the windows to depressurize the cabin, lift the tab to unlock the door, then push it open.  The game won’t give you any handy clues either—like Harry, you’re on your own.

The functions of the game are so well integrated into the world that they are almost hidden.  Your only real tool is your cell phone, which allows you to navigate using a GSP, take pictures to expose paranormal activity, and receive text messages and voice mails that will guide you to the game’s conclusion. Silent Hill the Video Game takes a backseat to Silent Hill the Emotional Journey, and the lack of showmanship is (in this case) a hallmark of an extremely well-designed game. The design team was intuitive enough to know when dungeons were getting repetitive, chase sequences getting dull, and they never pushed anything to the point of boredom. At about 6-8 hours, it’s a perfect length for a game designed to be replayed.

Blast Factor: I’m shocked; I’m amazed; Shattered Memories is a really great game! It may not be quite as scary as previous installments, and it fits very nebulously into the series’ continuity, but who cares? Ambiguity, atmosphere, character, and psychology are unique elements that need to be nurtured in the gaming industry. If you’re looking for style and action and guns, play Bayonetta; Shattered Memories shows a refreshing new approach and is a fantastic addition sure to breathe life into this decaying (but redeemable) franchise.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is available on the Wii, Playstation 2 and Playstation Portable, and retails for $49.99. A copy of this game was purchased for reviewing purposes.

Let’s get this out of the way right now: if you like the original Excitebike, the NES version from long ago, then you’re going to love Excitebike: World Rally. It’s the same game, only now with better graphics, an updated art style that fits developer Monster Games’ other two Excite efforts, enhanced controls and–wait for it–online play. The main question is whether or not it’s worth the extra $5 to pick up World Rally when the original is available on Virtual Console–as someone who had the classic version prior to this game’s release, I can tell you that it’s worth throwing the money down to have both versions.

Excitebike is an arcade style title. You drive on your bike, racing against your own time in order to earn a better grade. You spend your time popping wheelies, using your turbo boost, hitting jumps, avoiding pits, jumping hurdles, flying ahead of other racers–World Rally feels like the original in that sense, but tighter and more responsive. There are 16 courses where you switch lanes, hit boosters and jump over hills, and they are progressively harder. You may think you rock at Excitebike after you drive through the first few courses, but once you get to the Gold and Platinum cups, the game will let you know what it thinks of you. In order to earn the best grades possible on those levels, you’re going to need to hit every jump the right way, hit all of the markers to cool off your boosters, and avoid crashing at all costs–it’s a lot harder to do than it sounds.

World Rally also brings you back to the days when all you needed to have fun with any game was two buttons–2 is accelerate, 1 is your limited turbo supply, and the D-pad is used to switch lanes and perform a wheelie. You also use the D-pad to align your bike for landings so as not to interrupt your speed. That’s the classic style though, as you can use the updated version that lets you tilt the Wii Remote in order to align yourself. Both work, and work well, but I eventually went back to the D-pad to avoid accidentally shifting in mid-air.

The other racers on the course are there mostly to get in your way, as you aren’t actually racing them. You can bounce off of their heads as you come down from a jump in order to cool off your engine, and you can also take them out of commission by switching lanes directly in front of them at the exact right moment–be careful though, as crashing will ruin your times, though you can get back up from that and from your engine overheating more quickly than before thanks to shaking of the Wii Remote, just like in Excitebots or Excitetruck.

Completing all of the courses with a grade of S in a particular cup (B is passing, A is obviously better, and S is the best) earns you a few different colored bikes. Their performances are all the same, but if you’re not digging the original colors or just want a change of pace, they are your reward for a race well run.

The track editor from the original game returns, but there’s a twist now, as you can trade levels with your friends. No longer do you have to rely on your own imagination in order to have more fun than what came in the virtual box, which is appreciated.

Graphically, the game is 3D now, but it’s a fairly simple 3D. The art style is more impressive, as the courses actually resemble the areas they are based in now, like in Excitebots, rather than simply being listed by letters for differentiation. Another update Monster Games snuck in was the ability to alter courses by hitting items, creating jumps and hills where nothing was a moment before simply by driving into them. Little things like that go a long way towards enhancing the experience and making this the superior product.

The most significant addition is online play though. Once you’ve mastered taking on the AI, try taking someone on online and see how well you fare–you may be surprised at just how good people are at Excitebike. My one complaint about multiplayer is the fact that there is no local play–sure, the original didn’t have it either, but if you’re going to include online, then it seems natural to have split-screen for those of us who maybe just want to rub our friend’s noses in our superiority face-to-face rather than through a headset or silently, like many online games.

Blast Factor: Your first thought may have been, “$10? Really?” but Monster Games packed this WiiWare sequel full of value that easily trumps what the original offers. The updates to the graphics, controls, and track editor, as well as the addition of online play make Excitebike: World Rally a must-own for fans of the series, and gives Monster Games its second Excite winner of the year.

Excitebike: World Rally is available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii’s WiiWare service, and will cost $10 or 1000 Nintendo Points. A copy of this game was purchased for the purposes of this review.

I’ve been hooked on arcade light-gun shooters since I played the original House of the Dead all those years ago. The zombie genre has, for the most part, lost its horror component and is now firmly entrenched in the action-adventure genre with the added bonus of much more gore. Capcom’s follow up to Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles follows a similar method: two recreated stories (Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica here) with an original story that binds the two together. It pays homage to the original fans while drawing in gamers who are unfamiliar with the game franchise’s mythos.

The game opens up with "Operation Javier." Leon S. Kennedy and his new partner, Jack Krauser, explore Latin America while trying to find the head of a major drug cartel with ties to the Umbrella Corporation. When zombies appear, Leon recognizes that there’s trouble ahead, while Jack wonders about what he’s gotten himself involved in. Leon then explains the events of Resident Evil 2 in "Memories of a Lost City" and Claire Redfield’s story in "Game of Oblivion." With 5 playable characters (Jack, Claire, Leon, and Steve Burnside), we’re thrust straight into the world of Resident Evil and experience the some of the earlier games from an updated perspective.

This is an on the rails shooter in the vein the House of the Dead series, which isn’t that bad. The style is a fitting way to retell the stories while focusing on a new element of gameplay for the series. In an attempt to preserve the horror based nature of the original games, Capcom made sure that the when you move the Wii Zapper the camera moves with you. This makes it seem as if you are actively participating in the game instead of on a set track. It’s an interesting concept, but it isn’t fully realized. If you’re worried about playing the game with the Wii Zapper, you should know upfront that you can still play even without the Wii Nunchuck. The game’s functionality allows it to be played with solely the Wii remote.  You can still pick up peripheral items such as weapons and medicine and use them as you go through the game’s levels. Aside from that, you’re just along for the ride. You can switch between weapons by applying the weapons to the directional arrows. A quick tap will switch weapons quickly in order to effectively fight off enemies. As you explore the game, you can find pieces of gold or hidden files which allow you to upgrade your weaponry and expand the story, respectively. This helps new players understand the story better with a look down the rabbit hole, while veterans of the series will be able to enjoy the power that comes with weapons upgrades.

Visually, this game is a labor of love to the original games. While the plots have been cut down to the essentials, the attention paid to the details of some of the more iconic settings from Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica is simply amazing. Old fans of the game will want to play this game if only to see the events unfold in such a visually stunning manner. While it retains the anime quality, there is also a level of realism involved which complements each other well and draw you into the game.

Now that you have a basic overview of the game’s strong points, we need to focus on several major weaknesses. One of the biggest problems with this game is the AI. When playing solo, the AI doesn’t really help out that much and for the most part, I felt I was playing alone since I was the only one taking out the Infected. Not only does the AI not help you fight through the game, it screws you over every chance it gets. If you’re tempted to turn your back on the path you are heading to see what’s going on behind you, I warn you: don’t. Just don’t. When you turn around you will be pleasantly surprised by the wave of zombies which have come to maul you to death when you’re not looking. Whenever that happened, I would lose a large amount of life or be killed straight off. This aggravated me to no end, especially in conjunction to the camera movements.

While I understand that the camera movement is designed to simulate human head movement and maintain a horror vibe, but it comes off as an annoying aspect of the game. In House of the Dead, you point the Wii Zapper but the screen remains static. This makes it easier to aim. In Darkside Chronicles, the erratic nature associated with the Wii Zapper’s movement *can* induce motion sickness. When playing multiplayer, the only weakness that came up is that you can’t jump straight into the action like with House of the Dead or Dead Space Extraction. Instead, you need to wait until you’ve completed the round before you can bring in your partner to take control of the AI partner. That, and the shared ammo depot which one player can run out for both if you’re not careful, are the two things which bring multiplayer down.

Blast Factor: This is a decent on the rails shooter which will be a fun trip down memory lane for veterans and something interesting and entertaining to draw new gamers into the series. The game is sleeker than Umbrella Chronicles and recreates classic scenes from the franchise’s history in a new way. The three central stories come together in a relatively neat manner and the game has a lot of replay value since you can run through each scenario from two perspectives and take different paths to make it through to the end. You may find the Wii Zapper controls a bit obnoxious, but once you get over it you’ll be able to enjoy the game. It’s a solid video game and a decent shooter for the Wii, so if you already own House of the Dead 2 & 3 The Return or Dead Space Extraction then pick up a copy of Darkside Chronicles during the Holiday Sales.

Admit it, you still toss a Super Mario Bros. cartridge into your NES every now and then or boot up Super Mario World on your Wii thanks to the wonders of Virtual Console. These timeless classics have wowed gamers and brought a smile to the face of millions over the years, but there has not been a true sequel to the 2D Super Mario universe on a home console for over 15 years. Mario’s move and success to the world of 3D–Super Mario 64 is the blueprint from which all 3D platformers were developed and judged after–killed the 2D Mario platformer, at least outside of handhelds. Thankfully, Nintendo is revisiting the past using the technology and knowledge of today to create a brand new 2D Mario title, one that combines all of the things Nintendo has utilized and learned throughout their years as the most successful 2D platform developer in the world, and brings them together in one game–and then lets you play that game cooperatively with your friends.

Outside of the fact that this is a Mario game in the classic style, that’s the big hook. You can play this game along with up to three others, all at the same time. It’s total chaos on occasion, but it’s also some of the most fun I’ve had playing a game in a long time. You can work together in the story mode, grabbing every coin, assisting your friend’s jumps, not rushing through the level so that your slower friends can keep up, but don’t worry, there’s also room for the more competitive side. New Super Mario Bros. Wii offers two competitive multiplayer modes that work so well that I’m almost retroactively upset the older games didn’t include them.

Graphically, New Super Mario Bros. Wii looks fine, but it’s not a stunner like some of 2009′s other sidescrolling efforts, like Muramasa or A Boy and His Blob, or even Nintendo’s own Wario Land: Shake It. You won’t notice though, because you’ll be too busy running around trying to collect every coin, find every hidden room, or if you’re playing with friends, just trying to stay alive and out of harm’s way.

This is classic Mario platforming: run, jump, collect item suits, use suits’ abilities. You’ve got the old standby suits, such as the Fire Flower and the Mushroom that makes Mario grow, but in addition there are some new suits. The Penguin suit allows Mario to shoot ice balls that freeze enemies (that he can then climb or throw like a shell) while also giving him the ability to slide on ice and swim effectively, while the Propeller suit lets Mario fly–unlike the Raccoon tail or Cape though, this is more vertical than horizontal. Flying horizontally at fast speeds would result in the death of everyone without that power, so it’s a logical design choice to eliminate those powers.

The level design is on par with Mario’s peak as a 2D platformer, during the Super Mario Bros. 3/Mario World phase, where loads of enemies, platforms, pipes and difficult jumps were placed everywhere for you to navigate. You can already tell that this is a game you can replay again and again, and you will find something new all of the time, whether it be hidden coins, hidden boxes, rooms, ways to clear jumps or dispose of your enemies–there are multiple ways to do everything, and that sense of exploring the game will keep you enthralled with the title.

The fact that you can replay the levels in multiple modes makes finding secrets easier too. As stated, you’ve got your cooperative story mode. Besides that though, you have Coin Battle, which gives you somewhat of an alternate version of the game’s levels that are littered with coins. There’s no counter for individual coins as you play, just the team’s total, so you aren’t quite sure who is in the lead, which makes every coin matter. When you finish the level, you see your total and your champion; the game will also keep track of how many levels you have won if you play more than one round, so you could replay the whole game this way and check out the splits afterward.

The other mode is the aptly-named Free For All. This is Mario Bros. Wii at its most chaotic, as four people battle it out to see who can score the most points. Extra lives are worth points, coins are worth points, and of course, killing enemies and collecting items are both worth points as well. You are ranked at the end of each level, and just like Coin Battle, can play every level you have unlocked in the story mode this way. Depending on how close you and your friends are, this is either the greatest game mode you can imagine or the quickest way to get yourself punched in the face. There is nothing quite like the look of death you receive for using someone else’s head to propel yourself to an item, and then finding out that your makeshift trampoline pal fell into a canyon and died because of it. At the same time though, it’s worth that glare for the laughs.

And that’s why you won’t hear me complain about the lack of online play in this game. Sure, it would have been nice for some, and more modes are always welcome, but as LittleBigPlanet taught me, the most enjoyable experiences come from booting up the game and playing with people in your living room. The laughter is louder, and the experience is more enjoyable. You may disagree with me, but you can adjust your own personal score accordingly–just know that, online or no, this game is a must-own.

It seems like there is no shortage of racing games as the holiday season approaches. Over the last few months, we’ve seen the release of Gran Turismo on the PSP, Forza Motorsport 3 and Need for Speed Shift on Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively. And now we’ve got a new racing game for the Wii in the form of Need for Speed: Nitro.

Those of you who have picked up a copy of Need for Speed: Shift, you may have high hopes for NITRO. However, Shift and NITRO are two completely different experiences. Where Shift was in the vein of a racing simulator, NITRO returns to Need for Speed’s Arcade roots. You drag race through the city while trying to beat other racers and avoid the police. The more damage you do while driving, combined with your position in the race, will draw more police attention. So if you’re in first place and causing a large amount of damage to your surroundings, watch out. The challenge makes the game interesting and makes it feel like you’re racing in the Fast and the Furious (not an opinion everyone may share).

The game play is definitely designed for casual racers instead of hardcore racing fanatics, so this game will probably not appeal to racers who enjoy realistic racing. The racing itself is very cartoonish, which doesn’t take away from the game, but makes it rather endearing. You drive with acceleration and braking and also use Nitrous to speed up the car for a competitive edge. The difficulty levels are just right so that it’s not insultingly easy but not soul crushingly hard (sorry to disappoint all you masochists out there). You play in either Arcade or Career mode and use the Wii remote to drive. However, you’re not limited to using only the Wii remote — you can also use the classic controller (a personal favorite), the Wii Wheel from Mario Kart and even a Gamecube controller! That was a great relief for when I tried out multiplayer with my friends and found that all four worked on the game.

There are 30 cars that are available to use but you have the ability to customize them however you wish. The 30 cars are separated into three tiers: Supercars, Balanced Performance and Commercial vehicles. Supercars are fast racing cars while Commercial vehicles are slower but sturdier. You can paint your cars in whatever way you like in order to make it more interesting. While you can drive around, you can’t total your car. That doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for reckless driving. If you crash too many times, you end up losing your nitro meters, which can cost you the race.

Visually, the game is very cartoonish and animated in a way which makes it interesting to look up. Unfortunately, the game’s variety limits its potential. The game has very few levels and only 30 cars. Even if you increase the difficulty of the levels, there’s little incentive to keep playing when you know what the tracks are like. This incredibly repetitive game play is a big disappointment of a fun game to kill time with. This is surprising given the fact that the game’s simplicity would have seemed like the biggest letdown.

Blast Factor: Need for Speed: NITRO is a fun arcade racer which suffers from a very repetitive set up. The cars are interesting, as are the visuals, but that doesn’t really improve the lack of courses to race through and the fact that there are only 30 cars. This isn’t a bad game, and it is perfect for fans of casual arcade racing games but it isn’t something which would appeal to hardcore racers. If you want something silly for the kids this is definitely a game for you to pick up.

Need for Speed: Nitro is available on the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, and retails for $49.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.

Last year EA and Hasbro teamed up to release a Nerf blaster and light-gun style shooter for the Wii. The game was mostly a collection of shooting gallery type minigames, but it came packaged together with a Nerf blaster that doubled as a Wii blaster, meaning you could use it for other titles as well. This time around, EA Salt Lake has developed more of a light-gun adventure for kids, that’s a lot heavier on the action and has the kind of story that only a pre-teen could appreciate–given that’s the target audience though, that’s not such a bad thing.

I won’t ask why the evil enemy’s robots are capable of being shot down by foam darts and soft balls, but we’ll just use video game logic here to say that it works and you best not question why. Regardless of what they are using for ammo, the four friends team up to take down this evil-doer, and they pick up loads of blasters along the way, blasters that they can customize to their liking. You purchase upgrades with items you find scattered around levels and hiding inside your enemies, just waiting to burst out when you blow them up. This adds to the replay value significantly–light gun games like House of the Dead and Time Crisis suffer on occasion from not having enough incentive to replay them, but when you’re given a reason (like this spring’s House of the Dead: Overkill, with its achievement and upgrade systems) then you’ve got yourself a keeper, as playing through it again isn’t painful.

To add to that, you can also play with another person, even if they don’t have their own Nerf blaster. They can just use the Wii Remote (or another peripheral like the Wii Zapper or Nyko Perfect Shot) in order to play along–some areas are only available to you if you are playing co-op, so there’s good reason for Little Timmy to invite Little Billy over to blast some robots.

Outside of blasting everything in sight, the big hook for N-Strike Elite is the Red Reveal–there’s an attachment for the Nerf blaster that you look through at certain parts of the game, in order to reveal secret codes that you can use in various places. The places where you need Red Reveal could not be anymore obvious if they had signs with fingers pointing surrounding them, but it’s hard to read the text without the Red Reveal, and it is the sort of thing that your little pre-teen adventurer will eat up due to it’s undercover, secret agent mystique.

The one knock the game has is that it’s very non-violent, but that may also be a selling point to many parents who want their kids to be able to enjoy video games, but don’t exactly want them sawing off aliens heads with a chainsaw bayonet just yet. The kids don’t die; the game just sort of stops and you get the chance to restart from your last checkpoint. Foam darts and balls will also not be mistaken for bullets anytime soon; it’s not like they go inside the robots, they just sort of bounce off, but then again, that would happen if you turned and blasted your co-op buddy with the fully functional Nerf blaster you’re playing with anyways, so it makes sense.

The Nerf blaster is a better product than the Wii Zapper, though I would put it a step below the Nyko Perfect Shot; the grip on the handle is not long enough for comfort if you’ve got big hands, but otherwise it’s well-made and works perfectly for its intended Wii related purposes. Considering you’re getting it with a game without too much of a price hike, it’s not a bad accessory to have around for other games.

Blast Factor: Nerf N-Strike Elite made a great design change from the original, going for more of a light-gun adventure than an arena-based series of challenges. It makes for gameplay that immerses the player into the experience more, and with the loads of customization options and many blasters to collect (and don’t forget co-op) there are plenty of reasons to come back to this title. It’s $60, but it comes packaged with a peripheral that works better than most similar products on the market alongside a quality game.

Nerf N-Strike Elite is available exclusively on the Wii for $59.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

Although my 25-year-old brain isn’t entirely sure what I played and why I was playing it, I am pretty confident in saying that Bakugan does not entirely suck.  It is derivative and not really that original, which would be a problem if it were aimed at (allegedly) mature adults such as myself, but it seems fine for its kid to teenage target audience.

My confusion stems from the feel of the story and plot, which is strictly low-quality, Saturday morning cartoon level filler.  You play as a youth who, uh, loves this card battling game that features creatures popping out of balls.  Think Pokemon, but with a bit of a technological and alien bent as opposed to animals.  Your youth is plucky, with a whole cast of stereotypes to help you out – A super cool dude who serves as a tag team partner, an obvious bully and a lackey to fight against, several girls that are cute but have no personalities of their own, and a nerdy kid who is obviously very nerdy because of his nerdy kid glasses.

Although all of the characters are definitely stock, straight from central casting, the voiceover work is done pretty well.  Likewise, the graphics are Saturday morning cartoon, but in the good way – Crisp, colorful backgrounds and good animation on the actual battlefields.  While the voiceover and graphics aren’t selling points, they do not actively take away from the experience.

If you are reading this and under the age of 18, then the above characters and presentation might appeal to you greatly.  If you are not, then you will have to rely on the gameplay, which is so-so.  While there are some fun aspects here and there, the basic gameplay is rather unrefined.

Bakugan is essentially a “monster battling” game, similar to the aforementioned Pokemon.  You create a deck of cards, compromised of three attacking monsters, three base cards and three power-up cards.  At the start of combat, you are transported to an arena, and you have to place down a base card.  You then use the Wiimote to “throw” a ball – one of your attacking monsters – on to one of the base cards placed by you or your opponent.  The control pad can be used to “steer” the ball in the air, and also after it lands.  You opponent then throws, followed by you again.

The goal is to win three gate cards.  If you can land two of your monsters on a single gate card, then you can claim it.  However, the main combat occurs when you and an enemy land on the card, which initiates a battle.  Each monster has a “power” level – think hit points – that can be amplified depending on the base card the fight takes place on.  For example, a Holy powered monster might get an extra 50 points for fighting on a Holy battlefield.

There are a few other wrinkles from here.  First, you can use power-up cards to give yourself some extra points.  And second, each battle features one of three mini-games – a rhythm timing game, a shooting game with the Wiimote pointer or a masturbatory shaking – in order to further increase the power level. Whoever has the higher number wins.  There are also power-ups your monster can collect while rolling around the arena as well, to raise or increase the power level, and to debilitate your opponents with annoying status effects.

It’s simpler than it seems, and unfortunately, you don’t need a lot of the extra options, like the movement or even doing well on the mini-games.  For the most part, I was able to accurately throw the balls on to cards with little trouble, with the computer’s success rate was about 50 percent.  I was able to win most of the game’s battles within three to five turns.

This lack of challenge and generally unoriginal gameplay creates a sense of “meh” while playing Bakugan.  It is kind of fun, but my old fogey mind kept thinking back to Pokemon, and how much better that was, even though its prevalent color was an odd sort of green and I played it on the original, chunky Game Boy that now doubles as a paperweight for me.

There are some attempts here and there to prolong the Bakugan experience.  For example, you can purchase new monsters at a store, and like every game of this type, there is an emphasis on collecting every monster, gate card and power-up card.  This will probably only appeal to the few ensnared enough by the game to continue with it though, and it’s not really a drawing point if you don’t like the basic gameplay.  Likewise, tag team, battle royal and multiplayer matches are available, but they’re all just more of the same.

Blast Factor: Bakugan has a very narrow niche in my mind – Boys who aren’t trying to get laid yet.  If you have one of these in your household, then this is a good game to forestall that hellish part of their life (also known medically as “The Rest of Their Life”) for another month or so.  If you don’t fall into this group though, Bakugan isn’t worth its price tag.  Just plow through the game in a quick renting if you think it’s your cup of tea.

Bakugan is available on the Wii, DS, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Playstation 2. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

Hey, don’t walk, “jump” and buy Guitar Hero: Van Halen!‚  Ha ha ha!‚  Man, I’m so witty “" Around the Blast offices, if we had such a thing that I hung around, they would say I’m the funniest guy in there.‚  Wooooo!

Anyway, don’t let my horribly corny jokes dissuade you from checking out Van Halen’s edition of Guitar Hero.‚  It offers much more depth than you’d expect from an installment of Guitar Hero that is more of a side project, and it totally shames the Rock Band offering of The Beatles, at least in this humble reviewer’s opinion.‚  While it clearly isn’t as polished or as much of a value as Guitar Hero 5, if you love Van Halen or need more Guitar Hero fun, it is a clear “must buy” for you.

As you can imagine from the premise of the title, Guitar Hero: Van Halen focuses primarily on the band.‚  Almost every significant single is included, from the pure arena rock nature of “Jump” to the… uh, other arena rock songs, like “Hot For Teacher” and “Jamie’s Crying.”‚  Happily though, some deeper tracks are included, such as the ultimate shredding song, “Eruption” which is as ridiculously difficult as you would expect.

A note right up front about the song selection “" The game only features songs and avatars of the current‚  lineup of Van Halen.‚  Given the band’s notoriously challenged relationship with past contributors, this probably isn’t shocking to most of you reading that actually enjoy Van Halen.‚  Almost every David Lee Roth song of significance is included in the 25 Van Halen tracks, and the avatars are of Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Wolfgang Van Halen.

When it comes to the other 19 tracks, they were picked out by the 18-year-old Wolfgang, the son of Eddie, and it shows.‚  Weezer, Foo Fighters, Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World and Fountains of Wayne are artists you would normally associate more with modern rock, but I’d argue that they have more in common with Van Halen than, say, Twisted Sister, or some other hair band from Van Halen’s era.‚  Case in point “" While era contemporary The Clash have a song on the game, “Safe European Home” is more gritty punk than the refined, arena rock sound of Van Halen.

The difficulty of Guitar Hero: Van Halen is definitely a tick up from the most recent rhythm game releases, Guitar Hero 5 and Rock Band: The Beatles.‚  Then again, that is probably to be expected with the tracks featured.‚  The guitar and bass portions feature lots and lots of notes, especially if you’re trying to segue from The Beatles, who feature fairly simple transitions and chords.

However, while the game is incredible at its core goal “" Roth-era Van Halen excellence “" it doesn’t incorporate some of the features from Guitar Hero 5.‚  I suspect that development on this game began far before the completion of Guitar Hero 5, which might explain why some of the new tweaks weren’t incorporated.‚  (It might also explain why there is a Foo Fighters song present, even though Dave Grohl got pissed that his former band mate was a playable character in Guitar Hero 5.)‚  For example, there is no drop-in play, and while you can chose or create an avatar to play as, you can’t swap out other members of the band.‚  On the plus side, the crowd sings along during certain choruses.

One other sticking point is the price – $50 for the Wii edition.‚  Eech.‚  For practically the same amount, Guitar Hero 5 is a much better bargain, since it provides almost double the amount of songs: 85 to 45.‚  Although Guitar Hero: Van Halen was a throw-in for purchasing Guitar Hero 5 early and features half the songs, this is not reflected in the price at all.

Blast Factor: Your enjoyment of this game though, as with any of these band-specific rhythm games, hinges on your enjoyment of the track list.‚  I love Van Halen, so I loved this game.‚  If you love Van Halen, the higher price tag will probably not dissuade.‚  In addition, if you love modern rock and alternative, this is definitely the best track list next to Guitar Hero: Modern Hits for the Nintendo DS.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen is available on the Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 systems, at a cost of $49.99 and $59.99 respectively. This review concerns the Wii version. A copy of this game was redeemed via the Guitar Hero 5 offer for review purposes; the official retail version is not available until December 22.

A Boy and His Blob was always more of a good concept than it was a good game; this was true back when it released in the late 80s, and holds to this day. Wayforward (Shantae, Mighty Flip Champs) realized this, and decided that a re-imagining of the now 20-year old title was in order, one that would bring A Boy and His Blob into the minds and living rooms of those who wanted to give the series a second chance, as well as to introduce the ideas of the game to brand new gamers. In doing so, they finally crafted a game that was worthy of the wonderful concept behind the boy and his blob and their jellybeans.

The game is a bit light on story, but here’s the short of it: the Blob lands on Earth, and he needs help to save his planet of Blobolonia. The titular boy finds him, and they set out on a journey full of danger, puzzles, jellybeans and hugs. Yes, there’s a button specifically used to hug Blob, and it’s as adorable as it sounds. Don’t laugh, you’ll catch yourself using it.

The game is presented via beautiful handrawn artwork in a 2D style. It’s 2D, but it isn’t simple–think of Wario Land: Shake It! as this game’s closest kin, presentation wise. The game animates very well, and the real star of the show is Blob, as he morphs into loads of different shapes throughout the game, fluidly and impressively. This morphing process occurs when you feed him jellybeans–different beans give you different abilities, like the jack, for lifting objects and enemies, a trampoline, a bowling ball, a rocket–the list goes on and on.

In the original game, you had a limited number of jellybeans, and the game was a bit more open-ended. In this update, you have unlimited jellybeans, and the game is broken into levels–there are 40 of them, plus 40 bonus levels. You are given a few specific jellybeans for each level, which is basically simple platforming combined with puzzles that grow in difficulty the further you proceed in the game. There are also three treasure chests in each level–they are easy to spot and pick up at first, but this grows more difficult as time goes on as well. You will not find all of the treasures on your first playthrough unless you scour the game world for each and every one, but you can return to a level at any time to replay it as well. Picking up all three treasures in a level unlocks a challenge level for you to visit (more on that later).

These puzzles are very satisfying to complete, especially as you progress through the game. Eventually you will need quick reflexes and to do more than just toss a jellybean anywhere in order to proceed. You can throw jellybeans by holding the B button and checking the angle at which it will land and bounce, and Blob will give chase. You can call Blob back if you miss too, using the C button. This also works if Blob is stuck off screen; the Blob’s AI works most of the time, but for the odd time when he (she?) doesn’t follow you when they are supposed to, you can press the C button a few times to start an automatic return process.

Just because you have a specific set of jellybeans for each level does not mean there is just one way through many of the game’s puzzles or enemies, either. Lots of enemies charge at you from a distance–you could try to peg them with the bowling ball if it’s available, drop an anvil on their head if there’s a ledge above them, drop a hole in the ground, or jump over them as they charge with the trampoline. Oftentimes your jellybean inventory will be full or close to it, so these options are close at hand assuming the environment cooperates.

Even boss fights are puzzles, kind of like in Braid. Once you figure out what to do, it’s very simple, but until you do you may have a bit of a problem. It’s nice to combine action with the puzzle every now and then, so these are satisfying moments in the gameplay.

This slow-paced, puzzle-based gameplay is something you need to be aware of before you throw money down on this game. If you’re looking for a fast-paced platformer where you can run and jump around, then this isn’t the game you’re looking for. The boy is basically helpless without the Blob–he doesn’t run very fast, doesn’t jump very high, and needs the Blob to get around even some of the most basic looking levels. That’s not to say it isn’t a great experience, because it is, you just need to be aware that this is, first and foremost, a puzzle game with platforming elements, not the other way around. My one complaint with this setup is that the hint system–signs with painted Blob objects on them–detracts from some of the satisfaction of solving the puzzles. There are fewer of them as you play, but an option to turn off hints would have been nice.

Then again, Wayforward may have just been saving the bigger challenge for the post-game play. When you complete the initial 40 levels, which takes more time than you think it will–levels extend in length as the game goes on, and as they rise in difficulty the amount of time you spend completing them will also rise–you can play 40 challenge levels, assuming you’ve been discovering the treasures in each level along the way. If you’re unfamiliar with Wayforward games, let me tell you that they don’t kid around when they say “challenge”. These levels will require your reflexes and quick thinking in order to complete them, but once you do, you can unlock concept art and storyboards–this is a great looking game, and you get what you put into the story, so those are two fun additions outside of bragging rights. I played through some of the challenge levels for this review, and they are aptly named–I’ll be happy to pick up the rest of the treasures and complete as many challenge levels as my brain and thumbs can handle now that this review is done.

Blast Factor: Wayforward and Majesco’s A Boy and His Blob is what a remake or re-imagining should be–it keeps the core concept of the original, but improves on enough that the game feels fresh and new. The artwork is gorgeous, and shows off just what the Wii can do with inspired art direction and capable artists, and the gameplay is worthy of the excellent concept of shape-shifting puzzle solving, something the original game has a harder time claiming.

A Boy and His Blob is available exclusively on the Wii, and retails for $39.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

The novelty of the motion controls on the Wii has faded a little bit.‚  It’s been three years since the release and I understand that waving my hand back and forth affects the action on the screen.‚  The people over at Hudson however, still find it fascinating–sadly, their latest release, Deca Sports 2, doesn’t even have the most up-to-date motion abilities (Wii Motion Plus) to enhance the experience.

Meant to be played with a full living room, of the ten games represented in Deca Sports 2, none of them are any of the sports showcased in the previous Deca Sports.‚  Some draw similarities like figure skating to synchronized swimming, but in an attempt to make everything fresh, Hudson offers:‚  Darts, Petanque, Synchronized Swimming, Mogul Skiing, Road Racing, Tennis, Kendo, Speed Skating, Ice Hockey and Dodgeball.

Crossing timing mini-games with accuracy, most of the games in the collection are fun for ten minutes.‚  Petanque, a game very similar to bowling in Wii Sports or shuffle board, was one of the only games in the set to offer some depth.‚  Kendo is a random flail victory, and road racing is as exciting as it is in Mario kart minus weapons and Mario.‚  It’s hard to really replicate the experience of running around in gym class on a dodgeball court but that is exactly why it shouldn’t be in a mini-game compilation.

Dodgeball is an intense sport with strategy and timing, but in Deca Sports 2 it’s overly simple where one button throws to the people outside the court and another makes you catch the ball flying at your face but that’s all there is to it.‚  Shaking the Wii-mote sometimes has your whole team dodge the ball, which in Deca Sports 2 the whole team is controlled by one player therefore everyone moves together making the court look silly instead of like a battlefield, hurting any ability to get into the game when it’s all luck and two buttons.When you get down to your last player though, it works better, since that feeling of silliness is gone and it’s more about timing than luck.

We’ve all heard about the Wii by this point and considering the Wii is packaged with Wii Sports, we’ve all had the chance to play one of the five games on it.‚  While a solid game, there is always room for improvement.‚  Deca Sports 2 does it’s best to improve upon the one crossover Wii Sports game, tennis, by allowing the character the ability to miss-time a serve as well as run in towards the net or away.‚  A huge complaint in Wii Sports, the fact you can’t control where the character moves, was seen and fixed by the people at Hudson.‚  I’m trying not to draw many comparisons to Wii Sports but it is very hard not to, giving the natural similarities.

The game itself isn’t all bad.‚  The fact that you can customize your team using their‚  Mii-esque character creator like it does in Wii Sports is still fun.‚  It’s nice to play a league tournament with five characters you made yourself.‚  The body size of the characters you make also affect what their skills are.‚  If you pick a small character they may be quicker than a bigger guy, but the bigger guy packs more of a punch for games like tennis and petanque, therefore you have options for who you want to play for which sport your team is up to compete in.

Overall, there are some moments of fun here.‚  Also, don’t be afraid to play synchronized swimming because, surprisingly enough, the timing and motions they ask you to do are somewhat rewarding.‚  When I watched my hairy large white man with a beard twirls his shaved legs out of the water to music, I got a kick out of it.

Blast Factor: If you’re craving more mini-games that will keep your kids glued to the Wii or you’re in need of simple games, than this is the game for you.‚  Otherwise, you’re probably safe with Wii Sports, or maybe even picking up Wii Sports Resort for its Motion Plus games.

Deca Sports 2 is available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $29.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

The original Wii Fit was a commercial success, but it also was an important step in getting many gamers off of the couch and into better shape. Nintendo has never claimed that Wii Fit is the be all, end all of weight loss solutions–or that you are even guaranteed to lose weight by using it–but as a companion to additional exercise or as a way to keep yourself limber thanks to aerobics, yoga and strength exercises, it’s a success. It’s less expensive than most workout and exercise materials (never mind a gym membership) and you can use it from the comfort of your living room when it’s convenient for you.

Wii Fit Plus is an extension of Wii Fit, meant as an upgrade to replace the original. The question here is whether those who have already purchased Wii Fit can find anything worthwhile in this version, or if there is now enough included to bring in some of the skeptics from the past.

The short answer: Wii Fit Plus is a better exercise tool than the original, and a better game. There’s more emphasis on the game portion this time around, with 15 new activities–many of which are mini-games exclusive to Wii Fit Plus–and more attention paid to multiplayer and competition. Sure, they aren’t the most strenuous exercises around, but the key thing with them is that you have fun while you’re exercising–anything that keeps you from noticing you’re doing something healthy is good by me. Think of Wii Fit Plus as a Fitness Ninja that gets the job done without you ever noticing while it’s happening.

The new games are meant as a fun diversion though, and not as a replacement for strength training and aerobics–don’t expect to lose weight by replaying Rhythm Kung Fu or golf over and over again, even if they are fun and working modes. There are plenty of other enhancements to Wii Fit Plus that make it a better workout tool. It’s more family oriented now–you can weigh your pets and babies if you want, which is fun in its own way even if it isn’t necessary. There’s a calorie counter, which tracks how many calories you have burned during your workout. This is done by using METS (metabolic equivalent of task) which basically measures the amount of time you work out by the METS number for said workout to give you an idea of what you’ve accomplished. To give the calories some context, you can also compare the total to different food items within Wii Fit Plus, or pick a food item equivalent worth of calories you plan to burn each day. Have a need for a soft serve ice cream every day, but don’t want to put on extra weight? Make that your workout goal and burn those roughly 200 calories. This also serves as a wonderful reminder of how awful fast food can be for you–see how willing you are to shove two cheeseburgers from your favorite drive thru into you after you see that it will take you half a day of exercise to work it all off.

Have a certain area you want to work on? Maybe you have a schedule of workouts you want to rotate if you use Wii Fit Plus all the time? Thankfully, you can now create custom routines or use ones that the game has in mind for you, rather than just mindlessly choosing exercises and programs like in the original. This is something I enjoyed, as I don’t mind doing the aerobic exercises daily, but like to switch up yoga and strength training so I don’t overdo it. This is also good for those of us who may not want to use the mini-games very often, but prefer using this for a legitimate workout tool.

I’m not a fan of the Wii Fit Age setup. It worked well for Brain Age, but when you just do a few of these per day and at random–and I, like many others, probably do this early in the morning when their body is awake but their brain is still napping–the results are going to be negatively skewed. I already have tools to measure my brain’s age, so let’s stick with how my body is doing in the future instead of linking them up. Thankfully, you can always skip these and just get your updated weight and progress.

For those of you who do not work out everyday, you can install the Wii Fit Channel on to your Wii Menu, and check your daily weight from there. This is also nice since you don’t have to switch discs a bunch of times if you want to play a game right after your workout. With SD card support, you also have no excuse to not have room for the channel.

Another issue with Wii Fit Plus is that it uses BMI still. The weights it estimates for many users, including myself, are not always as healthy as the game thinks they are thanks to BMI. I’ve been at the weight the game suggests before, and it’s a good 5-7 pounds below my own personal comfort level. That being said, you can make the mental adjustment–like I just said, I know I should be about 5-7 pounds above what Wii Fit told me–and still appreciate the software for what it does right rather than focusing on what it doesn’t do.

If you already own Wii Fit and have a Balance Board, Nintendo has not forgotten about you. Wii Fit Plus is available in standalone form for $20, which is a great deal considering that it is the superior software and has loads more to do than the original.If you are sans Balance Board, you can pick this up for $100, $10 more than the original. I’m not pleased with that price increase, but it’s also much less expensive than workout equipment or a gym membership, as previously stated, and worth the money.

Blast Factor: Wii Fit has shown itself to be much more than a passing fad, and it now has an updated version that fixes many of the original’s issues. The calorie counter, the food comparisons, the customizable workouts, and the emphasis on making this more of a game help the Plus version of Wii Fit stay true to its name. If you already own Wii Fit, you should pick this updated version up, and if you haven’t jumped in yet but need an excuse to get off the couch, then Wii Fit Plus is the answer for you as well.

Wii Fit Plus is available exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $19.99 by itself and for $99.99 with a Balance Board peripheral. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.

Did you like The Lord of the Rings Playstation 2 games?‚  You know, the ones where you played as Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Frodo and others, hacking and slashing thousands of enemies with nary a mind paid to defense.‚  I know I constantly thought to myself, “I’d love to play this game, but without licensed characters, with ridiculously dark backgrounds and bad lighting, and a stupid gameplay feature, set thousands of years in the future!”

“¦ Wait, actually, that never happened.‚  But somewhat unfortunately, Spyborgs did.‚  If you lust for the days of mowing through thousands of enemies, then this game is kind of okay.‚  I mean, on a primal level, it is fun to just repeatedly jam on a button to beat things into a pulp of mechanical gadgetry, completely oblivious to the block and jump buttons because you don’t really need them anyway.‚  However, Spyborgs has several nagging features that make this seemingly simple goal harder to accomplish.

For starters, they do not believe in lights in the future.‚  Apparently, they live in a despotic world run by Al Gore, and all light sources have been eliminated in order to fight global warming.‚  This might be a slight exaggeration on my part, but only slightly so “" Half the time I was playing Spyborgs, I had trouble discerning the character I was controlling from the enemies I was fighting, especially since everyone looks weird and robotic.

I could talk about the characters, but really, they’re just an excuse to hit the button to attack the other characters who are attacking you.‚  There is a bit of a plot in place, the type that would be enjoyable if you were still a kid and watching Saturday morning cartoons.‚  Basically, your female robot ninja, machine gunner and robot must fight through these creatures because, uh… Well, they’re trying to kill you.‚  Oh, and at some point, some evil organization double-crossed you, so of course you have to get revenge against them.‚  The female ninja is kind of hot, so you’ll probably want to fight with her most of the time.

Anyway “" Smushing stuff talk.‚  The enemies come after you, wave after wave, with a typical stage having in upwards of 50.‚  You and a buddy, or you and a computer-controlled buddy, have to attack them, while you also bust open crates and boxes for health and power boosters scattered inexplicably throughout the stage.‚  The primary goal is to string together attacks to create combos “" The more hits, the better the combo rating, and the more points you get at the end of the stage to upgrade your characters.

Like every game of this type released since God of War, and similar to Madworld, you can fill up a power gauge to perform super combo attacks with your buddy or the computer-controlled character.‚  These are kind of neat to watch, except that using them almost always kills the enemy you’re currently attacking.‚  For point-harvesting purposes, it’s normally better to just beat them up yourself as opposed to relying on the combos.‚  They are somewhat neat looking though, and their application “" slashing the Wiimote, or pounding down with it and the nunchuk “" are one of the few productive uses of motion controls in Spyborgs.

That doesn’t mean that the combo attacks are the only motion controls used, just that they’re the only production controls.‚  I would have scored this game a half-point higher if it weren’t for the frustrating method used to discover “hidden” items.

Basically, by pointing the Wiimote at the screen, a little blue circle floats around.‚  Certain parts of the background look transparent, and pointing the circle at them will reveal hidden crates, kind of.‚  You actually have to point the Wiimote at it, then press A, and then yank up with the Wiimote, in order to reveal whatever you’ve found.

This sounds kind of neat, but its actual application is a nightmare.‚  There is a “ping” noise each time your Wiimote comes across a hidden crate, which would be fine if it was an occasional thing.‚  It’s not, as there are dozens of crates hidden in every god damn stage, all of which must be “uncovered” to be broken open.‚  Even worse, in later stages enemies are cloaked, so you have to manage this feat while they jump around like idiots, shooting green laser blasts at you.‚  By the way, the “hidden” crates are also placed right next to existing crates in the majority of stages, meaning you would have to be an idiot not to find them.

Blast Factor: I constantly felt like I was about 10 years old while I was playing Spyborgs, so I guess that the hidden crates next to existing crates was the right move.‚  If you have a small kid, they might enjoy this game.‚  But if you’re no longer stuck in a Saturday morning cartoon mindset, you’re better off playing the ultra-violent Madworld, a classic like Final Fight or checking out some of the more “epic” mash games like Lord of the Rings and Dynasty Warriors.‚  There really isn’t anything new in terms of gameplay to recommend here, and the cloaked items and enemies detract from an otherwise average experience.

Spyborgs is available exclusively on the Wii, and retails for $39.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.

The Dead Space franchise is probably my favorite new one of the past year. I awarded the original game five out of five stars in our old scoring system, praising it for its attention to detail, brutal gameplay and the limits it pushed the survival horror genre to. Visceral Games had crafted a dark and futuristic universe that needed to be expanded upon, because the story of Isaac Clarke was just a portion of what occurred on the flagship mining cruiser, the Ishimura. How did the Necromorph disease get there? What was it like for those who sent out the distress signal that Isaac and his team responded to in the first place, as they tried to escape a horrible death for as long as possible? Dead Space: Extraction sets out to answer those questions, but does so from not just a different character perspective, but also a different viewpoint.

Extraction is, as EA puts it, a “guided first-person experience.” While many people scoffed at the notion, and claimed that EA was just dressing up the term on-rails shooter so that the opinion of this Wii prequel would be higher, those who have now played through Extraction will have to admit that EA was not full of it, and the game is much, much more than your standard on-rails shooter. The first-person perspective, the focus on action and atmosphere and the constant dialogue from your characters makes this game much more Aliens than Alien, but it’s still Dead Space in every way.

In order to make this feel like it belonged in the Dead Space universe, Visceral needed to accomplish a few goals. First, they needed to nail the atmosphere. The original took its cues from games like Resident Evil 4, Doom 3 and the Metroid Prime series to create a sci-fi world where you would feel isolated, helpless, and very, very scared, and these feelings permeated the entire experience. With ammunition at a premium, every battle with the Necromorphs was a struggle as you tried to dismember their limbs and push on through the halls of the Ishimura. Visually, the game was stunning, with attention to detail in things like shadows and lighting that helped you scare yourself when the game wasn’t busy doing it for you. The audio was also fantastic, and helped to keep the mood thick with tension that you couldn’t get over even when the coast appeared clear.

While Extraction is not as much of a horror game as Dead Space, it still managed to meet the expectations for atmosphere–enemies attack you in large numbers from all directions,‚  you need to keep an eye on your ammunition, and, despite the stop and go nature of an on-rails title, there are plenty of surprises thrown your way thanks to the developer’s control over the action. The sound is also excellent, with text logs and reloading effects coming through the Wii Remote speaker and plenty of bumps and thuds in the dark to keep you on edge. I’m also happy to report that this game is a visual stunner–there was not a single moment in my entire playtime of Extraction where I wished the game was on more powerful hardware, because Visceral Games did a fantastic job recreating the visuals. Remember–this is a game that places place in the same exact areas as the original Dead Space, so the fact that Visceral was able recreate those areas and environments without forcing the player to think negatively about them in a negative sense is a huge achievement. Seeing the same rooms also helps shed some light on how certain areas ended up covered completely in the bodies of the dead, or destroyed by blasts and so forth. For those who have played the original, it’s a very nice, subtle bit of fan service and story expansion.

Besides that, Visceral also would need a compelling narrative; while the characters themselves fall into horror movie stereotypes–the calm, collected leader figure, the veteran soldier, the helpless girl, the shady, self-important guy that won’t reveal his past–the story itself is right up there with the action as far as being compelling goes. You’ll keep playing Extraction to learn what happened to the Ishimura and its crew, as well as those people from the colony you’re in control of,‚  not just because blowing the limbs off of mindless creatures is exhilarating. (though that has its merits as well!)

The game is broken up into 10 chapters, and you’ll control a slew of different characters throughout depending on what needs to be done and who has been separated from who. To keep you on your toes, many characters you travel with or are controlling are killed off without warning as part of the story–you’re never quite sure what’s going to happen next, which helps build the tension. You’ve got loads of Dead Space standbys at your disposal, like the Plasma Cutter, the Flame Thrower, the Ripper–which by the way, works much more effectively in Extraction than in the original thanks to pushing and pulling on the Wii Remote to aim the spinning blades–as well as a few new weapons, like the Rivet Gun. The Rivet Gun is used for its tool purposes–you’ll seal off barricades by riveting them into place–but also as your basic “pistol” type weapon that does not run out of ammo but is clearly weaker than your other options. Secondary fire modes are enabled by twisting the Wii Remote, and the only motion you’ll deal with is intuitive: to enable the flashlight-esque Glow Worm, you’ll shake the Wii Remote–this will often need to be done while in dark hallways in the middle of battles, so keep an eye on it and feel that tension build–and in order to throw a Necromorph off of you as it tries to devour your face.

You have recharging stasis shots that come in handy for environmental puzzles as well as slowing down faster enemies or dangerous ones in your peripheral vision. You’re able to grab ammunition, weapons, health, audio and text logs from afar using Kinesis; you can also grab projectiles from enemies and explosive canisters that can be fired off with the B button. You can do all of this in single-player, or pair up with a buddy anytime with drop-in co-op–on the harder difficulty levels, some people may find co-op a necessity just so you can fire twice as often and at different targets. Even on Normal, the second half of the game is challenging. You’ll most likely live through it, probably without dying even, but it will get hairy on occasion. Given the game has four difficulty levels, you’ll be able to test for yourself just how good you are at Extraction. It’s a good thing too, because the game may run a little short. It’s long for an on-rails title, clocking in at 7-8 hours, but still short as far as a shooter goes.

Besides the difficulty modes, there are a few more extras that will help you get your money’s worth out of the title though. You’re graded on each level you complete, and you unlock additional health and weapon upgrades by achieving higher scores. Challenge modes unlock as you complete the story; the title is not misleading, as you face wave after wave of Necromorphs as they try to tear you limb from limb in order to make you like them. You can also check out some Dead Space comics in motion comic form, which is a neat extra, especially for those that are very much into the Dead Space universe and all of the non-game content.

Blast Factor: Dead Space: Extraction had a lot to live up to in order to be a worthy entry in the Dead Space series, but it succeeded in many huge ways while only failing in minor, negligible forms. It has more depth than any on-rails title you’ve ever played, a great and engaging story, and many reasons to come back; namely, more difficulties, the Challenge modes, and the motion comics. I hope this is the start of a companion series for the Wii used to flesh out details of the Dead Space universe, but even if it is not, this game stands up on its own as a great Wii title and one of the system’s better releases in 2009.

Dead Space: Extraction is available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.

The MySims games are marketed to the younger crowd; there’s nothing false about that statement, as EA has put in the research to please a specific demographic in each of the four previous titles. The latest entry, MySims Agents, is once again directed at the younger crowd for its gameplay, but unlike the others Agents is full of the kinds of winks, nods and sly elbows that something like a Pixar movie might have; it’s a game that children can play, but parents or older brothers and sisters can help out with and enjoy due to the jokes and writing.

I can’t name many young children I’ve met in my life that would understand what setting up a fake branch of the government to requisition flowers means, or why it’s a funny scenario, but MySims Agents does that and more throughout the title, and even has nods to more mature EA titles like Dead Space–who wouldn’t want to wear an Isaac Clarke suit as they uncover clues for the next mystery?–as well as some subtle pop culture references to things like the X-Files. MySims Agents takes the series in a direction that, while feeling slightly less like a MySims title than previous efforts, feels more like a game that anyone can enjoy, despite being aimed more specifically at the younger gamer.

With that out of the way, let’s focus on the game. You play as a character that you create, the guy or gal trying to become a special agent. Very quickly you are handed your own agency thanks to solving your big break of a case, and you are able to hire new agents to help with side missions while you’re off saving the world from Morcubus, the MySim villain who loves nothing more than to cause needless issues for other residents of the MySims universe. Having a legitimate plot this time around keeps the game interesting and gives you a reason to come back, since you’ll want to continue to solve mysteries in order to see how everything is connected and what Morcubus is up to.

In the main missions, you have a set of tool that you use–you start with a crowbar, wrench and magnifying glass–and you have to find clues hidden in boxes, trash cans, dumpsters, rooftops, indoors, or on the ground by following tracks or footprints. There are mini games for putting together broken machinery that have you putting spare parts where they belong, as well as games for analyzing evidence and hacking into computers and the like. It’s a lot like a point-and-click adventure in many ways, and the IR and Nunchuk combination make all of your moving around simple and fast.

You’ll talk to people to collect clues and discover leads, and you’ll be able to check all of this information just by pressing the Plus button. One other nice touch is that the game can intentionally mislead you; all of the things you can learn are not necessarily pointing at the person in the wrong. Older gamers playing the game should be able to pick up on things easily, but there appears to be enough challenge there for the younger crowd.

Eventually you receive more advanced tools that any special agent would be envious of, and you’ve got your own lady in distress in a dress to attend to as well–James Bond would approve, for sure. You aren’t the only one solving cases though, as said before; you hire new agents after meeting up with them in the real world and solving cases. By using them in teams where their specific skills can work in concert, you can pass the 50 dispatch missions, earning yourself more rewards (costumes, items, etc.) and unlocking an additional ending. There’s a lot of game here for a younger player, especially with all of the traditional MySims player customization in place. Maybe you want to wear a trench coat and sunglasses around town, but a tux or a Yeti costume while you’re up in the mountains. It’s your call, as per usual, but it’s nice that you can create your own special agent and toy with him or her as you like throughout the game.

The game has the same kinds of sound effects that past MySims titles have, with the Sims speaking their own language, so if it bothered you in the past it’s still here. Like I said though, the dialogue is worth reading for the most part, so there’s always that to focus on. Graphically the‚  game looks decent enough as well. There aren’t much for special graphical effects or anything like that, but everything looks smooth, colorful and the title is bereft of technical issues. My one complaint may be that the camera occasionally gets in your way, but for the most part if you’re hanging out somewhere where it is difficult to see what you’re doing, you probably don’t even need to be there.

Blast Factor: MySims Agents might be the best of the traditional MySims titles, despite feeling the least like one. The customization options and MySims universe that has become so popular is still there, but this time there’s a legitimate plot and gameplay suited for those outside of EA’s normal demographic, instead of just the specific audience they historically shoot for with the series. Younger gamers will enjoy this game for the gameplay and the MySims features, while older gamers no longer have to be embarrassed about picking up the controller to play along with their little siblings thanks to the dialogue and nods to the more core crowd you’ll discover along the way.

MySims Agents is available on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.95

Nintendo has published many a puzzle game over the last year plus thanks to their partnership with skip Ltd. on the Art Style series, and now they have another one for puzzle lovers in the form of You, Me and the Cubes. This physics based puzzler was developed by Kenji Eno and his most recent development company, fyto (from yellow to orange), and is enjoyable, accessible, but still difficult to master, just as a puzzle game should be.

In You, Me and the Cubes, you throw Fallos–men and women that you create in pairs by shaking the Wii Remote up and down once–onto cubes that are on the screen. It’s an easy process, too: simply point the IR at the two areas you want a Fallos to land on, press A to confirm, then flick the Wii Remote. You won’t fling them harder or softer based on your motion, so you don’t need to overdo it either, which is nice. Flinging Fallos onto a cube sounds easy though, and it is; the challenge comes from throwing them into places that will not upset the natural balance of the cube or cubes. If you succeed at this, the Fallos will stand there triumphantly for a time and the cubes will not move, but if you throw them into a place that upsets this balance, the cubes will shift accordingly, and your Fallos may fall.

There’s a little more personality and even humanity in these Fallos that make you want to do this right. First of all, they scream as they plunge to their death below if they fall off of a cube. Second, if there are two Fallos on a cube, and one begins to falter or is slipping off of the edge, the other Fallos will do their best to save them, lifting them back on to the cube. These Fallos have their own AI that you will see on display, but that AI makes them look like compassionate creatures that are trying to survive your flinging. It gives this puzzle game a bit more character and personality, and maybe even a little bit of a gamer conscience.

There are six stages, each with six levels, and each of those levels has six cubes that you must complete, one at a time. The first section will have one cube, the second two, and so on. You will need to place a certain number of Fallos on the structure for each section, and also at least one Fallos per cube, which gets tougher as you add cubes given the shapes created by the merging. There are also different types of cubes, such as the Freezing Cube, which freezes the entire structure when hit and keeps the balance of the cubes where it is, which is a big help to the next batch of Fallos if you can move quickly enough.

The game is also very difficult. While you may breeze through the first set of stages no problem, mastering them is another story, as the game keeps track of how many Fallos survived each round–if the Fallos is off-balance when you complete a round, they fall off as the next cube is added, deducting from your overall score despite your advancement. You will also start to have trouble when you create Pale Fallos in your Wii Remote; you’re basically throwing a playful imp onto the screen, one that likes to bully your other Fallos and push them off of ledges, though no worries, you can do away with Pale Fallos once they land as well by tossing another Fallos onto their head, which also adds 10 seconds to your timer.

That’s You, Me and the Cubes gameplay in a nutshell, but there is also a two-player mode that is markedly different. You have the same basic gameplay structure, except now instead of you tossing out two Fallos, you throw one while player two flings the other. You can synchronize your throws so that you both land your Fallos at the same time, which is a skill you will need to work on when playing multiplayer. If you pull off this synchronized toss, the two Fallos will not slip or fall for a short period of time, which will allow you to throw more Fallos before the cube’s balance becomes a problem.

That’s helpful, but it isn’t why you need the skill. You need it to repel the enemies found in the multiplayer mode. Shade Fallos appear when one of your Fallos falls off of the cubes, and they are very heavy, enough that they disrupt the balance of your cubes and start sending other Fallos falling to their doom. You can lock him in place with the A button just like the Pale Fallos–except this time as a team–then synchronize your flinging in order to take the Shade down. These additions make multiplayer the preferred mode, and gives this game loads of replayability.

Blast Factor: You, Me and the Cubes is a fascinating puzzler, given its physics-based gameplay and its very human puzzle “pieces”, the Fallos. The single-player alone would have made this a fun title, but the addition of multiplayer that forces you to work in concert in order to advance makes this one of the better WiiWare releases from 2009. If you’re into puzzle titles and quirkiness, then You, Me and the Cubes is a great place to invest your $10.

You, Me and the Cubes is exclusive to Nintendo Wii’s WiiWare services, and is available for 1000 Nintendo Points.

After all of the trailers, the wondrous screenshots, and the months of waiting, Vanillaware’s latest game, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, is finally in stores. Now that it’s here though, the question becomes, “Is it any good?” This is a title that has been built-up as the next big thing since the moment it was announced, due to its look as a spiritual successor to Odin Sphere, the fantastic, late-life PS2 RPG, so people expected a lot of it. The short answer: Muramasa is not just a good game, but a great one, as it’s one of the best Wii titles of the year and a necessary addition to any gamer’s library.

There are two separate stories you can play through. You can use either Kisuke, a ninja who has forgotten the crime he is being pursued for, or Momohime, who has had her body possessed by the spirit of a master swordsman. Each storyline has different bosses and weapons you can use, and by playing both of them you can unlock additional swords and endings for each character, giving the title some replay value. The stories in this are solid enough, but they are not the strong suit of the game.

That distinction would go to, well, everything else. Graphically, the game is stunning. The hand-drawn, animated backgrounds are some of the most stylistic and graphically superior sets in the entire system’s catalog, and look great for any game, not just a Wii one. We’ve noted many times from the trailers that this game looks even better in motion than it does in the screenshots that capture its beauty, but playing the game and seeing it all unfold in front of you is something else. The soundtrack that accompanies this art is fitting; it was created by the same sound team that worked on Odin Sphere, and is made up mostly of atmospheric, Japanese music that occasionally takes it up a notch and introduces newer, faster-paced instrumentation depending on what’s going on in the game world at that time.

Vanillaware cranked the presentation up to 11, but they didn’t spare any expense when it came to gameplay either. You control your character on a 2D plane, fighting enemies that attack and surround you on the ground and in the air. You perform attacks with the A button and special attacks using the B trigger, while jumping is executed by moving the analog stick upward–press it twice to double jump. There are plenty of secrets hidden high up in the levels, so you will want to explore vertically as well as horizontally. Exploration is encouraged in fact, thanks to the game’s design–it’s like a more RPG oriented Metroidvania title, with much faster-paced action. Think Ryu Hayabusa in 2D traversing feudal Japan rather than Transylvania, and you would be close. While there is a lot of backtracking, there are also loads of areas to explore that are off the main path, and many of these areas bring you extra battles (and therefore experience and money) as well as additional items and secret challenge rooms that you can open up only after acquiring the blade specific to that area. These rooms don’t fool around either, as they present you with challenges such as defeating 100 armed monks, or wave after wave of ninja.

On easy, the game is not that difficult. Leveling up and creating swords is your focus here, as well as progressing the story. When you play on the harder difficulty though, the game is significantly different. You can’t just spam the A and B buttons here until everyone on screen is defeated, as you will need to block accordingly and use your special attacks in a more strategic manner; enemies also take much more damage in this mode, so battles will not be as quick. You earn experience and money with each battle, and you can earn bonus experience by avoiding damage, repelling attacks, using Quick Draw attacks–performed by switching blades in the midst of battle to unleash a powerful attack on all enemies in view–and various other objectives. This encourages you to learn the ins and outs of Muramasa’s fighting, as you will progress much faster once you master battling and pick up more experience.

Besides leveling up, there’s another area to progression to pay attention to, and that’s forging swords. There are over 100 blades in total in the game, and you will need to create progressively more powerful ones in order to succeed. The lifespan of a blade is pretty short, as you will unlock the ability to make new ones each time you defeat a boss, and will most likely have created all of the new ones available to you by the time you unlock another major blade. Special attacks often repeat in more powerful swords though, so don’t feel like you need to hold on to an inferior blade just because you’re partial to its special feature. You will also use all of the blades you acquire, sometimes within the same battles, as blades break from taking too much damage, using special attacks, or from blocking incoming attacks. They repair themselves when in your sheath, so they aren’t broken forever, but the best strategy is to sheathe a blade prior to its breaking point–this unleashes the Quick Draw attacks mentioned above–and move on to the next one. Blades are broken up into Long and normal types, with the smaller ones better for quick attacks or aerial fighting, while the longer blades work well for cutting through swaths of enemies at once.

There are three difficulties in Muramasa, and the third is even more intense than the original hard, and is only unlocked by completing the story mode. In Shigurui difficulty, the game plays much like it did on easy, but with one major caveat: no matter your level, you have one hit point the entire game. Now that, my friends, is a challenge mode. Combine this with the multiple endings for each character and the two separate stories, each of which should take you 6-8 hours to complete, and you’ve got yourself a game well worth the price of admission.

Blast Factor: There has not been a better looking game on the Wii this year, and it’s also one of the better playing titles on the system in 2009. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a must-have for any gamer, as the game’s easier settings allow even those not accustomed to action games to enjoy the story, gameplay and gorgeous graphics, while those looking for a challenge are sure to find it on the two more difficult modes. Highly recommended.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade is available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99

I’m a big fan of survival horror games–I’m the kind of person who will play one alone in the middle of the night with all of the lights off and windows closed. Any game that wants to play ball with my desire to freak myself out is good by me, but as a fan of the genre, I will admit that there is a lot of sameness in these games. Similar creatures, similar circumstances, similar scares, and sometimes similar stories detract from the shock value and emotional affect these games are supposed to have on you–if a psychological thriller isn’t thrilling anymore, it’s not doing its job. Cursed Mountain probably fits more into the “thriller” camp then the “horror” one, but you will have to fight to survive in extreme conditions regardless, and in an original, refreshing setting with a story that will keep you in your seat.

Cursed Mountain is a creepy game, thanks to its atmosphere, its setting, and the nature of your enemies. Ghosts are an entirely different breed of enemies than something like a zombie, which has become the go-to horror game opponent. Ghosts can disappear, they can move through walls, and they possess things, while a zombie just kind of lumbers at you. When you combine ghosts and their abilities with a mountain setting, one that, despite its massive scale and open space, feels claustrophobic, then you’ve developed a creepy atmosphere that will keep your gamers uneasy throughout. While the game isn’t outright scary, it does a great job of leaving you feeling unsettled and uncomfortable with your situation, and it does try to mess with your head in a psychological manner that keeps both you and the main character, Eric Simmons, guessing about what’s going on.

The setting is also successful in replicating the area it represents. Deep Silver went to great lengths to research Buddhist and Tibetan ideas and beliefs, as well as the region they lived in; this shows up in the villages, the insides of houses, the monasteries, and the mountain paths. One nifty item is that you can see the game world from anywhere in Cursed Mountain. If you’re at the bottom of the mountain in the village, you can see your destinations alongside the mountain, and as you climb up, you can see where you used to travel getting smaller and smaller as it moves further away. You get a sense of your accomplishment as well as the scale of your undertaking and the mountain this way; it’s a unique item that adds to the game experience, especially when you look back or forward to take it in.

Not everything works this well though. It’s a bit annoying when there are doors you can’t open though–not locked ones either, just ones you can’t interact with–and also when a path that appears open is unable to be accessed by your character–invisible walls, of sorts–and these moments do break up the atmosphere and remind you that you’re in the middle of a game. The controls also need some work, though this is a common complaint for this type of game–in fact, it has the same tank-like movement issues that plagues most survival horror. Eric Simmons might be a normal person, but he should be able to turn around faster than he does, and he walks and jogs a bit slow for my liking–the game suffers from some pacing issues already, and this doesn’t help. The motion controls work pretty well though–you use them to banish ghosts, releasing them from their prison in this world. Deep Silver wanted to use Wii Remote and Nunchuk gestures to perform a ritual for removing these ghosts, and you do this by moving both controllers side to side, diagonally or up and down, depending on the markers on-screen. There’s one Nunchuk motion that sometimes gives me trouble, and I have to do it 2-3 times before it works, but it’s never a game-breaking issue. The IR implementation is probably the smoothest portion of the control scheme, as you can fire bursts of energy at these ghosts or throw a sort of capture net around them so you can banish them quicker.

Even if the controls or pacing frustrate you a bit, the story will more than make up for it. Simmons is trying to locate his lost brother, who was scaling the mountain in order to find a sacred and secret item. Things are not what they seem from afar, as Eric finds the village empty save for one person, with ghosts coming at him from all sides. From there, he searches for clues about both the appearance of the ghosts and the disappearance of his brother, sometimes finding help along the way, but often finding himself outnumbered and the object of scorn for both the living and dead. I don’t want to spoil any plot details, just know that the story is worth your attention.

Graphically, Cursed Mountain looks pretty good. There’s a lot of detail in the setting, and as stated, viewing the entire game world at once is a wonderful trick that the game benefits from. Eric’s animations are sometimes stiff though, and I feel like a lot of the game looks dark in places it doesn’t need to. Overall though, it’s well above-average for a Wii game, especially a third-party one, and does a far better job than most of the realistic-styled titles on the system.

Blast Factor: Story, setting and atmosphere are the keys to Cursed Mountain. The gameplay works but has its issues, and the pacing is sometimes a little too slow, but there’s more than enough good to make up for those minor problems. Here’s a quality, realistic, mature title for the Wii that wants nothing more than to creep you out while it tells you a fine story, and that’s good enough for me.

Cursed Mountain is available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99

Back in 2002, Retro Studios released Metroid Prime. While many longtime fans of bounty hunter Samus Aran were upset with the move to 3D from 2D, those who took the plunge and played realized that this was very much Metroid, and not a first-person shooter despite the viewpoint. It was still a game primarily focused on exploration, platforming and turning Samus into an unstoppable force of suited-up nature. Since the final product was the best game on the Nintendo GameCube at the time, and also ended up as the highest rated game of last generation on any console, two sequels were spawned, one on the GameCube and one on the Wii. All three of these titles are three of the most important games in Nintendo’s catalog–not just from the last two generations, but in Nintendo’s long history–so it’s no surprise that they would get the collector’s edition treatment.

A collector’s edition with just the two original games packaged together with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption would be neat enough at a $50 price point–Corruption’s MSRP is still in that area after all–but Retro more than went the extra mile in putting this together, and has come away with a deal that challenges the Orange Box in terms of sheer value as well as content. Let’s go over the basics, and then cover the changes made to the games. The original Metroid Prime, as stated, was the top game of last generation–you would be hard pressed to find games for which the press has that much glowing adoration for, and the use of the word “perfect” in describing it was commonplace. While its sequel, Echoes, did not draw the same amount of attention–Retro kept some parts of the formula firmly in place, making it a very familiar feeling sequel in some ways–it was a wonderful game in its own right, the Majora’s Mask to Prime’s Ocarina of Time.

You had a darker storyline in a much more difficult experience that could punish even the most seasoned Metroid fan, and for that Echoes earned its stripes. The final portion of the trilogy is probably the best title on the system behind Super Mario Galaxy, but you would find people to argue it’s the best as well. Besides bringing Metroid into the next generation, the game also managed to enhance the series’ control scheme and produce one of the best console setups for a first-person shooter that I have ever used- It doesn’t have the customization of The Conduit, but the default setup is amazing on its own.

So what’s different? The major change to the first two games comes in the form of the controls. Now those controls that you know and love from Corruption work in both Prime and Echoes, which makes playing through those titles again (or for the first time) a more satisfying experience. I recommend the advanced controls, as they allow you to lock on to one enemy but shoot freely on screen, as if you were playing on a PC. Besides implementing the controls, there were also some graphical updates. Both titles run in 16:9 widescreen now, and the original Prime also has new bloom lightning effects that Retro was able to stick in. There are upgraded textures and enhanced visual effects as well, which hides a bit of the age of those games. It’s not an insult to the Wii’s catalog when you say that both Metroid Prime and its sequel Echoes look better than a significant portion of the competition; Retro’s art direction and artists were and are just that good at what they do, which is why Metroid Prime Corruption is far and away the best looking realistic title on the Wii as well.

One other change to the actual gameplay that you may notice is that the loading times have been decreased; Metroid’s loads were never that noticeable to begin with, as each door that opened loaded the next room as it was opening, or had you in a quick elevator ride where you got to check out the enhancements to Samus’ suit, but those have been tightened up in all three titles, and they run off of the disc much faster than their previous ones, even in Corruption which has not changed platforms like the other two.

All three titles run off of one dual-layer disc. You can access single-player mode for Prime 1-3 all from one screen, and the multiplayer from Echoes from the main hub, rather than from Echoes itself. While Echoes’ multiplayer was a bit boring given you button mashed and had to deal with controls that, while suited to exploration and the idea of Metroid, were not ideal for frenetic competition, it gets a second life here on Trilogy. The enhanced control scheme makes this a much better test of skill, and playing in 16:9 widescreen also helps with the four-player local visuals and view. There’s still no online, but it’s a much more worthwhile experience when you just want to see which of your friends is the better Samus Aran than in its original form.

Besides the gameplay, an achievement system was put into place in Prime and Echoes, similar to the one employed in Corruption when it was first released. You get tokens for clearing certain areas, defeating bosses and mini-bosses and the like, and these tokens can be used to unlock loads of fan service such as music and artwork. This extends the replay value of the titles–and helps gives you an excuse to go through the first two titles again, not that you wouldn’t anyways with the other changes–but also fits very well into a collector’s edition package given the nature of it.

Blast Factor: Three of the most important games in Nintendo’s history and one of the best trilogies in all of gaming, together in one package for the price of a single game. You get a collector’s edition case, special artwork, the definitive version of each game in the Prime trilogy, and worthwhile multiplayer for the first time in the series’ history, in addition to the loads of art and music you can unlock with the tokens from the achievement system. The one negative you could point out about these titles is that you have played them before, but given how well they hold up and how they lend themselves to replayability, that’s not much of a negative argument and certainly not a reason to avoid 80 hours of Retro’s masterpiece.

Metroid Prime Trilogy is available exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99

Madden NFL 10 is a different yet familiar beast on the Wii this year. It’s familiar in the sense that the modes and much of the gameplay you know and love are there, making it in one way similar to its hi-def console cousins, but on the other hand you have a game that is no longer striving for a watered down version of the realism shown in the other versions of the game. Whereas the focus of Madden NFL 10 on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 was on the revamping of realism and how that positively changes the game experience, Madden NFL 10 for Wii is meant to give the system its own distinctive football game that plays towards its strengths and its audience. In that sense, it’s a success, but that does not mean that there are not some issues that should be ironed out for next year’s edition.

If you have been following our coverage, you know about the changes to the look of Madden on Wii. The art director, Tim Spangler, spoke with us at length about the new, arcade looking style, and the reasons why EA Tiburon went that route. Many people may not like the new direction, but if you give it a chance, you will see that there is a lot to love about it. It’s arcadey, sure, but there isn’t any of that out there right now either, and that style helps to make things like Big Hits (the Wii Remote version of a Hit Stick tackle) that much more fun and satisfying. Most importantly, the menus and fields got a makeover, not just the players. The stadiums and fans fit well with the art style, and act as an extension of the direction they were going for with the players redesigns. The menus are also much more polished and are well-presented, thanks to IR support.

Madden NFL 10 Wii also has plenty of its own exclusive game modes. There is Madden Showdown, which lets you play 5-on-5 or classic 11-on-11 in customizable games. It’s a 1-4 player tournament, so it’s great for a quick run of games by yourself of if you want to see which one of your friends is the best at Madden. There are a few things EA Tiburon did that change things up a bit in this mode. First up is Game Changers, which are basically extreme rule changes. There’s Tug of War, which gives you a single down before the ball is turned over, meaning you have to score fast. Fumblitis makes you much more prone to fumbles, All Passing Plays and All Running Plays are self-explanatory, as well as many others including a Random mode that will keep you on your toes. These are a lot of fun if you want to have some laughs while you play, or if you’re just tired of the standard gameplay. Within the games themselves you may come up on spotlight moments, which are dramatic, game-changing moments. A mini-game (much like the fumble pile in the 360/PS3 versions) will come up, and you’ll fight for things like breaking a tackle for a big gain, fighting for the ball, sprinting to the endzone, or avoiding defenders trying to sack you in the pocket.

This mode is fun, but the other new mode that I prefer is Road to the Super Bowl. It’s a season mode with a few new twists. You can keep the 5-on5 gameplay here if you would like, which makes things interesting enough to begin with, but you can also choose a differing season length, or start off right in the playoffs. This mode is 1-4 players and features co-op, but there’s a catch. Completing a pass, catching the ball, running successfully, picking the ball off , sacking the QB, and basically anything else you can think of are worth points, which are tallied at the bottom of the screen. You need to earn points to stay in the game–if you fall below a certain threshold, you will be benched, and your partner will have to buy you back into the game using some of his points. If you’re playing single-player, you will lose, so you need to make sure you pay attention and try to keep your production consistent and avoid costly mistakes. This makes Road to the Superbowl loads of fun if you’re playing with a group of friends, especially if you want to pass controllers around every time one of your buddies gets himself kicked to the curb. In 5-on-5 mode you’re also guaranteed some action, since there are so few offensive options on the field at any time, so you won’t be bored playing co-op.

As for actual gameplay, the best new addition is that of Point-and-Pass. Simply point the IR at the player you want to throw to, and hit A. No more complicated motions that you need to remember to perform specific actions, just point and press A harder or softer depending on whether you want to rifle it in there or lob it over the defenders. The IR usage goes deeper than that though, with Call Your Shots returning on offense–this allows you to write new routes for your players and take advantage of holes or mismatches in the defense–and for the first time appearing on defense. This helps you keep your best defenders where and on who you want them to be, and is much more rewarding than simply calling an audible.

EA Tiburon has also added All Player defense this year, so for those inexperienced or younger players, you now have things a bit easier on both sides of the ball. There’s also a Huddle Up mode which can work for father/son or boyfriend/girlfriend duos, since one player uses the IR remote rather than a player to change things on the field. If dad’s tossing a pass but he’s going to get smoked by a lineman, Little Timmy can use his IR pointer to knock that guy right over and give dad some space in the pocket. It works for opening up holes in running lanes, clearing pass routes and anything else you can think of. Obviously this makes the game a bit easier, but it’s good for people who want to introduce the game to inexperienced and young players that may not be able to enjoy the full version of Madden yet.

The last major change to All-Play also benefits more hardcore Madden devotees. There is now Skill Level Play Calling, which lets you choose from All Play, Intermediate and Advanced play calling menus. Ask Madden is still around as well and as useful as ever if you’re in a pinch, though he’s a lot less chatty than he used to be.

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned any of the traditional modes yet, like Franchise and Superstar. They are in the game under the Classic Modes section, and they received the same gameplay and visual updates to the players, stadiums and fans that the brand new modes received, but there is a little something amiss with them presentation wise. They still have the bland, boring menus from the 2009 version of Madden, and lack the polish that the new menus do; even the way you select things changes, as the IR function no longer works. While this does not affect the gameplay experience, it’s just kind of odd to see, given the attention to detail everywhere else. Hopefully this will be changed in the 2011 version of Madden, and hopefully they won’t be modes you have to unlock either.

Blast Factor: The new Wii exclusive modes are great, and make this more of a “party” Madden than any other. It accomplishes this without sacrificing the gameplay you love either, and in fact makes it easier for even those who aren’t familiar with Madden–or even football–to play and play well. The new visual style won’t work for everyone, but trust me when I say it will grow on you as you see it in motion. It’s a shame that the classic modes weren’t given the same attention as the new ones, but given Madden Wii is in a transition phase, we can give it a pass on that and hope for better things next year.

Madden NFL 10 is available on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99

Platformers have started to see a resurgence in popularity, in no small part thanks to the advancements in digital distribution of video games across all major home platforms as well as on handhelds. Over the Top Games may have just given us one of the better titles in this platforming renaissance though, as NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits released this week on WiiWare.

There is very little to complain about in NyxQuest; it’s quite the looker, it plays very smoothly, and even though the game clocks in at roughly 3-4 hours, it is packed full of diverse puzzles and levels that require you to think and think quickly in order to progress. Before anyone complains about the game length, remember that it (A) costs $10 and (B) other platformers of this length have released at retail for three times the price this year (and not necessarily with the same level of quality either). You’re going to love every second of however much time you invest in NyxQuest, so there’s nothing to worry about.

You play as Nyx, who has herself a little crush on a human named Icarus. Icarus (and his famous wings) used to visit Nyx during the day and disappear at night so she could attend to her duties as a goddess. One day, Helios, a powerful Titan, decides that he doesn’t like humanity very much, and wants to wipe it off the planet and begin anew. The once beautiful and lively Greece becomes a ruined desert filled with a scorching heat, one you must avoid as you traverse the land looking for your lost love.

To find him, you will need to move through famous areas of ancient Greece that you will recognize in name alone, as the famous monuments and buildings are for the most part toppled and buried under the sand. You control Nyx through the environment by using the analog stick on the Nunchuk, and you fly (although briefly, with a recharging number of wing flaps) by pressing the A button. You can glide with Z, and you will need to become very good at timing all of these flaps and glides in order to reach the higher areas of the levels. You learn new skills every few levels–like the ability to use the wind to guide you through certain portions of levels, or the ability to carry around fire and fireballs in order to open up rooms and vanquish enemies–and you also see brand new puzzles that are always more difficult than the ones you previously finished.

The game stacks ideas and puzzles together, and by the last few levels you will find yourself doing three or four things at a time, trying to stave off enemies, fly over gaps, avoid spikes by gliding and control blocks or fireballs in order to move further. The game preps you for this very well though, by gradually bumping up the difficulty and intelligently introducing these ideas the way they have, so you will never feel helpless; rather, you will feel like the game is a very smooth and flowing experience, despite the somewhat slow pace. In short, the gameplay is wonderful. The pace is slow at first, but it’s because of the way puzzles are presented to you, so that you can figure things out on your own and for yourself. Methodical, rather than plodding, is one way to think of it.

As for how this game looks…well, you can see it in the screens we’ve included, can’t you? The 2.5D backgrounds are epic in their appearance, and Nyx is this tiny creature facing off against both the environment in addition to the enemies in her path. They are stunning to look at, and I’m not sure what magic of the Greek gods Over the Top Games employed to make all of those assets fit under the file size limit, but they did, and WiiWare now has a new competitor for top graphics on the service because of it. The music is also very fitting and improves the experience–it reminds me of the music from the Diablo series, in that it blends in with the background and then storms out at certain points just to remind you how good it sounds.

NyxQuest problems are small ones: there isn’t much variety in the enemies, and there is never any kind of large-scale boss fight, even at the end (though there are mini-bosses scattered amongst the levels, and a final confrontation is included). It’s more of a puzzle based platformer than a pure action title though, so it doesn’t bother you as much as you think it would. If the game was constantly throwing enemies at you, it would be different, but the environment is your biggest foe throughout. The levels themselves also stay very similar at least in appearance (never in gameplay) with a few exceptions. Neither of these issues is a game-breaker though, and the good far, far outweighs any bad you may encounter in NyxQuest.

Blast Factor: Over the Top Games’ first WiiWare outing is one of the service’s best. The pacing is fantastic, the platforming is some of the best from the 2D realm this generation, and the use of the Wii Remote’s IR function in conjunction with the Nunchuk makes Nyx easy and satisfying to use. Let’s not forget that it looks just as good as it plays, either. If you haven’t already sunk your $10 into NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits, it better be the first thing you do when you finish reading this paragraph.

Let’s give Square Enix credit where credit is due: they made a few Crystal Defenders tower defense games that were pretty basic, but skinned with characters from the Final Fantasy universe. While entertaining enough, they didn’t add anything new to what has become an oversaturated genre. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord (the pseudo sequel to the nifty WiiWare launch title, My Life as a King) changes that pattern up though, and not only proves to be a worthwhile addition to the tower defense genre, but also brings some new and fresh ideas to the table that help to make this one of the top games on the WiiWare service.

Rather than building towers along a path to slow monsters down and guide them away from your home base or an exit, you instead build inside of a tower. At the top is the dark crystal, which you have to keep the opposition away from. You do this by placing floors in the way that the adventurers will have to stop and fight on. You have multiple kinds of floors that you unlock through the game–some offensively oriented, some defensive, some support–and they each have their own positives and negatives. You then place monsters on each floor–again, each with their own strengths and weaknesses–in the hopes of defeating the waves of adventurers before they reach the dark crystal.

Damage is done in rock-paper-scissors form, with ranged attackers besting magic, magic beating melee, and melee hurting ranged. There are also generic monsters that do the same amount of damage to all classes, which is useful if you’re unsure of just what you will be facing when. Be warned though: the adventurers can destroy your monsters, but can also damage and take out your floors too, meaning they can move up through the tower quicker than you anticipate. You get some healing monsters to alleviate this later in the game, but you still need to be aware of it or it will make winning difficult. Thankfully you can retry at any point, and even keep some of the karma points–which is used to upgrade monsters and your tower–when you do so.

You build with Negative Points, which are accumulated by defeating adventurers. You can increase your starting amount by collecting items that you find after finishing levels, some on the main path and others from optional side missions. The game warns you when you are running low, which will happen often, given you need to build new floors, add monsters and then level them up over the course of a match.

The game is very difficult at times, but it’s also very rewarding. You can retry as many times as you would like, and since you gain karma even in your failed attempts, none of your efforts are wasted. You can also replay levels you have beaten in order to beef up your tower or units, though the karma output will be lower the second time around.

The title has the charm and polish we have come to expect from Square Enix and the Crystal Chronicles series. Graphically, it’s pretty good looking for a WiiWare title, though it is basic at times–units don’t change appearance when you upgrade them, and Mira, the Darklord, is strangely static in her facial expressions much like the King in the first of these spinoffs. The music is catchy and well done though, and even if there is a bit of slowdown at times when the on-screen action is chaotic, it’s nothing that affects the gameplay.

There’s a bunch of DLC planned for this title, in addition to the initial $10 price tag. While a lot of it is meant to be for costumes and items, new stages will be available at some point in the future. Not all of the DLC may be for you, but it is optional, and there is plenty of game here for $10 to begin with.

Blast Factor: My Life as a Darklord is a worthwhile entry in the tower defense genre, one that takes its namesake literally by placing you in control of a tower in a vertically-based game. It’s polished, charming, and both difficult and rewarding. You can’t ask for much more than that for $10, but if you insist, Square Enix also has DLC available and more–including new stages–on the way.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord is available exclusively on Nintendo’s WiiWare service for $10, or 1000 Nintendo Points

Due to the novelty of motion controls and its role as pack-in title for the Nintendo Wii in North America, Wii Sports has been one of the biggest games of this generation, even though it is somewhat of a tech demo for gamers and developers to see what was possible on the system. It’s no surprise then that Wii Sports Resort would showcase what the Wii, in conjunction with the new Wii MotionPlus peripheral, would also act as somewhat of a tech demo. The major difference is that this game is available at retail for $50, and comes with a single MotionPlus accessory. Does the game have enough depth to warrant a purchase?

The short answer is “absolutely”, though this review will present that answer in much more detail. There are 12 games included with Wii Sports Resort after all, and while a few of them are questionable, most of them succeed, and a few of them are great fun that you will want to return to often. You can also think of the inclusion of the peripheral in two ways, depending on which helps you sleep at night in regards to your purchase: either you bought a $30 game with a $20 peripheral, or you bought a $50 game with a free one. I think that Wii Sports Resort has enough meat that it warrants the latter title, even if there are some issues that should have been ironed out.

Before diving into the games, let’s talk about the features. Wii Sports Resort features gameplay for 1-4 players, depending on the game, and covers a variety of sports and a few other activities as well. There’s a built-in achievement system, though you can only view these on your Wii Message Board–an achievement hub like the one used in Metroid Prime 3 or House of the Dead: Overkill would have been preferred, but this is the first Nintendo developed game with an achievement system as well, so at least it’s a step in the right direction. There are 12 games, but there are also various versions of those games; for example, when you beat the standard sword fighting, you can another two modes, or when you finish bowling there are also another two modes. This gives the game much more depth than its predecessor, and also presents some challenging play options for your more core players. This is a title that all but the most soulless of gamers should be able to at the least appreciate, though the inclusion of online play would have helped back that statement up further. If there is a Wii Sports 3, there needs to be online play.

Most of the games included in Wii Sports Resort are worth your continued time. Swordplay, Frisbee, Archery, Basketball, Table Tennis, the re-designed Golf and Bowling games, and Air Sports are all fun and have more depth than you may initially think they do to them. The clunkers are the ones that bring water into the equation, which is disappointing given how impressive the water physics and effects are–Wakeboarding, Power Cruising and Canoeing are all either boring or feel somewhat uninspired or unexplored. The only land sport that lacks in the fun factor is cycling.

Swordplay has almost true 1:1 motion controls, and if you swing the sword harder it will hit the object or opponent harder as well. You can attack from whatever angle you can move the Wii Remote in in reality, and blocking is as simple as pressing B and choosing a direction to block your opponent’s attacks from. It seems like a wagglefest, but the system has a lot of depth to it, as you will learn in the later stages of the game. The first is a simple one-on-one fight mode, American Gladiators style. Completing this allows you to play Speed Slice, which is a challenge where objects and food are thrown at you and your opponent, and whoever slices first in the correct direction earns a point. This is a fun diversion, but the best part of Sword Play has to be the Showdown mode, where you have 10 stages that increase in difficulty. You are on rails, fighting waves of opponents, some with more health than others, better tactics and armor. You can take three hits, so you can’t just run around flailing; you need to pick your spots for attacks, and make sure that they are aimed at vulnerable points. You also need to be sure to block to throw your opponents off balance and open up these vulnerable spots. While this mode can turn into somewhat of a workout, it’s very satisfying to reproduce 1:1 motions with a sword, and just makes you realize how much LucasArts needs to jump on this MotionPlus bandwagon to bring us a proper lightsaber experience.

Frisbee has two modes, one where you toss a frisbee to a dog on the beach, trying to score within a target range, and another where you play frisbee golf. Resort’s Frisbee Golf is a bit more forgiving than Tiger Woods’, but I would prefer to play that mode over the actual golf included in this game as well. This is a great multiplayer mode, but also showcases just how much MotionPlus can enhance your motions and movements. You can get some very fine tuned motions out of frisbee in order to boost your accuracy and distance.

Archery has you using the nunchuk as the hand that pulls back the arrow, and uses the Wii Remote as the bow. It’s satisfying to have this much control over where the shot goes, and as you practice you will see that your movements matter a great deal; lots of practice means much more accurate shooting, and you will need that when you tackle the more difficult stages. You can also pull off shoots quickly once you get used to it; I wouldn’t mind seeing a slightly modified version of this in the next Zelda, rather than straight IR pointing.

A game like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is maddening to review. To get “inside reviewing” a bit here, I got my copy of the game last Monday, and I’ve been picking at it since then. I wrote about three different drafts, consulted other professional reviews and just generally agonized about how to tackle it.

The thing is, I’m not a Harry Potter fan. I haven’t read any of the books or seen any of the movies, which is hard to do, I’ve been told. Should this matter? I’ve never seen Goldeneye either, but it’s still my favorite Nintendo 64 game, and I never even liked football before falling in love with the game based on my experience with Tecmo Super Bowl as a seven-year-old in 1991.

Most of the other reviews I’ve read give the game an extra few points for appealing to fans of the book and movie series, except that I’m not entirely sure if this is true. My friend Danielle is one of those nuts who dresses up for premieres, and when her and I played this, she was bored by the end of the hour.

She’s only a casual gamer, but again, should this matter? Harry Potter seems like something that should be ideally suited for a casual gamer “" wander around Hogwarts and cast spells by shaking the Wii-mote like a wand! Fly around on a broom from time-to-time! Mix liquids in a cauldron to create spells and magic! Duel with other wizards and friends in a two-player mode!

Don’t get me wrong, these things don’t totally suck. I mean, they’re not great or anything. But the experience doesn’t suck. That is kind of a good way to describe the entire experience of The Half-Blood Prince, although “doesn’t suck!” makes for a rather poor ad campaign.

I’ve been told that the book series does take a rather dark turn around this installment, so the tone of the game fits the book and movie well. Hogwarts is dark, moody, and gothic, with a constant gloom hanging over your every movement. Urgency, not so much “" characters don’t shut up, and you can’t skip dialogue. Sigh.

If I seem a bit dispirited and somber myself, I blame the dreary tone of the game and an existential crisis on my part. The one question that was constantly on my mind while playing The Half-Blood Prince was, “Why bother making this crap?”

Now, the game isn’t crap; it is solidly average. The 21 reviews cataloged on GameStats are between 4.0 and 8.0. Take out the two highest scores and the lowest, and the remaining 18 professional reviews all fall between 4.9 and 7.2. The average critic score is 6.0. Since my score is a 5.0, I am united in the cartel labeling Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as average. It is a bit dull, but no major deficiencies or outstanding moments, which are the biggest problems.

As a member of the Harry Potter universe, the Wii version of The Half-Blood Prince reminds me of a paint-by-numbers coloring book. It follows the source material so faithfully that it makes no attempts to really excel past it. Hey, this is a video game, so you know what would be cool? If I could chose to join up with Voldemort or Severus Snape or deviate from the plot of the book and movie. Of course, you can’t do any of this, so the whole experience feels like an on-the-rails, no-risk ride. At least if everything about the game sucked, it would be interesting material for the Angry Video Game Nerd or Internet trolls, but there is a base level of competence throughout. So really, what’s the point?

If you are a die-hard fan of everything Harry Potter, then you’d probably rather see the movie multiple times than play a watered-down version of wizard dueling and potion-making, even if they do use Wii controls. If you’re not a fan of Harry Potter, then you probably have zero interest in playing this when there are so many better games out there competing for your time. Young kids might be able to handle this, but the dark tone and acres of text and dialogue don’t make it as engaging as it could be. And heck, if you have young kids, make them read the freakin’ books instead.

Blast Factor: I can’t really justify anyone spending $50 on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Just go see the movie four times, and save a 10-spot to buy the DVD when it comes out. Or, just rent it, or wait until it inevitably gets shipped to the $20 and less bargain bin. I can’t really fathom anybody who would be completely satisfied with this game, or who would completely hate this game. This is a satisfactory but ultimately unimaginative product that exists solely to cash-in on the Harry Potter trademark a bit more.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is available for the Nintendo Wii at a suggested retail price of $49.99

From the well-crafted title screen to the gorgeous backdrops and the cute lead character, you can tell that Eduardo the Samurai Toaster was a labor of love for Semnat Studios. It is a game meant to remind us of all of those times we sat in front of our Sega Genesis playing Gunstar Heroes, or those days when we pumped quarter after quarter into an arcade cabinet with Metal Slug in it; visually, the game has the same cartoony vibe to it that helped make those classics distinctive, as well as screens overrun with nameless foes sent to destroy you. The problem with Eduardo is that once you play for a little bit, you’re going to want to put down this tribute and head back to the real thing.

Eduardo plays like any other run-and-gun side-scroller, with your basic power-ups (a shotgun blast, a rapid fire gun, a homing cannon, etc.) but the difference is that rather than firing bullets, your rounds are pastries. You use these pastries to take out other pastries, as well as carrots throwing spears at you, or flying fruit that drop fuzzy, exploding pits on your head, and”¦that’s about it. Before you are even one-third of the way through the game’s 13 stages, you will have seen the entirety of your opposition.

Eduardo lacks actual boss fights, instead ending every level with a battle against more pastries, peaches and carrots than you faced on the previous few screens. The final fight of the game is a lot like the first major skirmish, except there is just more to deal with. This hurts your sense of accomplishment upon completing a stage, something already lacking given that the game simply boots up the next in a line of similar levels without a hint of story, progress or reasons given as to why our ponytail sporting kitchen appliance is on the attack.

What little game there is plays well, as the controls are very tight. If you own a Classic Controller, you will want to use that rather than the NES-style Wii Remote, as the fatter D-pad makes for easier eight-direction shooting. Eduardo moves fluidly, automatically unleashing his melee attack”"a swipe with his power cord”"when enemies are within range. You can also grab enemies and throw them, as in the aforementioned Gunstar Heroes. You can block incoming attacks while taking out large groups of enemies simply by jumping around and timing your shots, thrown enemies and melee attacks, which is the most satisfying aspect of gameplay.

You have a choice of four difficulty levels, and can also adjust how many lives you start with. This last part is somewhat meaningless, as the penalty for running out of lives is a trip back to the beginning of your current stage. There are no continues, and you can begin a game from any level once you have reached it. Truth be told, due to the sameness of it all, there isn’t much variance in the levels outside of which splendid background you enjoyed looking at while you fired off Pop Tarts from your head.

When you do finish, there are few reasons to go back and replay the game. You could crank the difficulty to 11 and invite up to three friends over to see if you can survive, but there is one major component missing from Eduardo that hinders the replay value of both the single and multiplayer campaigns: scores. There are no scores in this run-and-gun title, which is an odd decision given the genre. People do not play these games for story (though Metal Slug comes off like Shakespeare when compared to Eduardo’s nonexistent tale) so not giving them something as obvious as a scoreboard to work with is just strange. Gamers would be more inclined to go back and replay the game if they had some gauge of how well they did, and it would also be a great way to earn bragging rights amongst friends, making the multiplayer that much more enjoyable. Online leaderboards are a must for this genre, especially on a service that already has games with them, but Eduardo doesn’t even have local ones to browse.

Blast Factor: It is a shame that Eduardo the Samurai Toaster is not a great game, because Semnat Studios has a lot of talent on display in the audio and visual departments, and they also made it control as well as any of its predecessors in the genre. While those things on the periphery are in place, the core game itself is lacking. At just $8, it is not painful to your wallet, but you would be better served with the established classics in the field that are available for the same price on the same system.

Eduardo the Samurai Toaster is available exclusively on WiiWare for 800 Nintendo Points

You can’t get much more retro than the Bit.Trip series. They are inspired by old-school games, full of chiptune sounds and music, have pixelated graphics that focus on bits, and no forgiveness whatsoever in the difficulty. It’s no wonder that I loved the first one, and now welcome the latest, Bit.Trip CORE, onto WiiWare with open arms.

The concept is simple enough. You sit in the middle of the screen as this D-pad shaped object that takes aim and fires at bits as they come at you from all directions. You can shoot up, down, left and right by pressing the corresponding direction on the D-pad as well as the 2 button, and if things get a little too hectic you can fire off a bomb with the 1 button. The bits move directly in front of your team, or around you in circles, or diagonally, or back and forth quickly, sometimes with tons of them coming at once from all different angles. The game keeps you guessing, and putting the levels into muscle memory will go a long ways towards your successfully completing them.

If you can hit lots of these bits in a row, then the music and graphics will become enhanced. There are different levels that indicate this, like Hyper and Mega, and the corresponding word flashes on the screen as you approach it and eventually get there. Missing too many in a row sends you in the other direction, making the music and backgrounds basic until eventually you end up in a screen that looks as basic as Asteroids or Pong, with no music. Miss too many there, and it’s Game Over for you. You should get used to seeing that screen, because this game is difficult, but if you’re willing to play each of the three levels a few times, you will learn its secrets and master it, just like say, Punch-Out!!!, or various space shooters.

One thing to notice is that the HUD is much better organized in CORE than it was in BEAT. You have an easier time figuring out how far along in each level you are, and where you rank as far as Nether/Hyper/Mega/etc. go. This also helps you when you realize how close you were to finishing a level, and gives you that “One more time” feeling.

There are a few wrinkles in the gameplay that also make Bit.Trip CORE a good time, like the challenge beam, which forces you to turn your Wii Remote in a different direction since your D-pad has now been twisted in a different way. You end up holding the controller like it’s a joystick, pressing the 2 down at the bottom (or at the top, depending on what challenge you get) while pressing what used to be left for up, or what used to be up for right. You get bonus points depending on how successful you were during the challenge too, which is a good way to shoot up your leaderboard.

Which brings me to the only major complaint I have with Bit.Trip CORE, and that’s the lack of online leaderboards. It’s a shame the first two games don’t utilize that feature, but Gaijin Games has also told us that they are looking into it for future releases. Here’s hoping that we get them in time for the third entry, because there’s nothing I love more than thinking I’m great at a game and then seeing myself ranked far lower than I ever imagined. It’s great for motivation and replay value, even if it is a bit depressing at first.

Blast Factor: Bit.Trip CORE is every bit as good as its predecessor, and puts enough new spins on the retro design to warrant a purchase. Even if the basic universe is the same, the gameplay is different enough that it rightfully feels like a brand new game. If you like your games old-school and challenging, then Bit.Trip CORE is perfect for you, especially with the great, foot-tapping music and colorful visuals.

Bit.Trip CORE is available exclusvely on the Nintendo Wii’s WiiWare service, and costs 600 Nintendo Points

Blast had its first go-round with Tiger Woods 10 on the Wii with the new MotionPlus accessory back at E3, and let us tell you that it’s a lot easier to play video game golf when your character is Tiger Woods — maxed out on specs and equipment — then when you’re amateur wannabe John Guilfoil with his lack of power and stock equipment.

There’s something else to consider. The MotionPlus accessory, bundled with this year’s game, makes the title a lot more realistic. Every arm and wrist movement can drastically alter the course of the ball. A swing that would have cut it in Tiger Woods 09 is in the trees in 10. Then you realize it…

Golf is a lot harder than we’re been led to believe all these years.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Grand Slam Tennis and Red Steel 2 are the first major third party tests of the MotionPlus for us, and it gets a thumbs up so far. Tiger Woods 10 is a far reach harder than Tiger Woods 09, which is good considering nearly everything else about the two games are exactly the same — endlessly upgrading your clubs, picking corny celebratory animations, regretting setting your majors to four agonizing rounds, etc. etc. etc.

One thing we don’t like in Woods 10 right off the bat (or the club…) is the sheer lack of Scottish play-by-play announcers. It’s one of the few things that makes televised golf enjoyable. And, I’m sorry ESPN, but Scott Van Pelt saying “useful shot that” just doesn’t do it for me.

There are, ethnicity aside, some very nice new features in 10 besides MotionPlus, including actual live weather conditions and a mini game called Disc Golf played with a Frisbee that is exclusive to the Wii version. But the best new feature is the online live tournaments. You can challenge friends, play in EA tournaments, and match up with the pros with online tournaments during actual PGA events.

There are plenty of real courses in the game and plenty of tournaments but this series is missing things like The Masters and the US Open and some of the other “real majors” in golf. Because of that, career mode is that much less invigorating. You’ll spend a few weeks as an amateur, playing boring tournaments against idiotic computer characters just to get to the PGA TOUR where there’s really no reward — no green jackets or “Superbowls” of golf. You just play, get money, buy stuff, and play more. It’s a real problem with sports games.

You will get addicted though, and we highly recommend getting a golfing buddy, either at your home or online, because it’s kinda depressing to make an eagle and just stand there with the cat licking himself.

Just keep your wrists straight and follow through with your swing. This isn’t Wii Sports. You don’t just flick your wrist and five it 300 yards. Once you get used to it, you’ll be fading and punch shooting your way through the Fedex Cup. One thing about a harder game is that you really feel like you’ve accomplished something when you finally get good at it.

There are 28 courses and Wii’s “All Play” mode just in case you really, really can’t get used to the new controls. If you’re in a bad mood, turn on All Play and select Pebble Beach. In our tests, I shot two double eagles, two aces, and five eagles. But the announcing still sucks. I made a double eagle on 18 from about 200 yards, and all Van Pelt had to say was that my putting had been fantastic today.

Blast Factor: It’s Nerf or nothing. Tiger Woods is the only sim golf game out there, much like EA’s Madden franchise. It’s not the old days of six brands of computer golf that you play with your mouse. You actually have to get off the couch this time and swing the club like you mean it. The good thing is that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is simply great. The verbose online options give you plenty to do, even for the most finicky video game golfer.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is available on the Nintendo Wii bundled with MotionPlus for $59.99, or without for $49.99