I picked up ZombiU on launch day along with Nintendoland and New Super Mario Bros U.

Of these 3 titles, ZombiU contains the most ‘hardcore’ appeal including graphic, skull-busting violence, a noticeably high level of challenge, and a brave, legitimate return to the true Survival Horror genre of yesteryear.  For what it’s worth, ZU has also received my highest amount of playtime for any of my 3 launch titles (campaign completed yesterday with approx. 22 hours, plus perhaps 5 additional hours spent in the single-life ‘Survivor’ mode).

It’s no secret that the game has gotten a wide variety of review scores.  Personally, I find it a little unusual that the IGN review was authored by a non-Nintendo editor, possibly explaining the middling (6.3) score.  I suspect the editor was mentally comparing ZU to a different style of zombie game (more on that below), giving rise to mistaken expectations and ‘incorrect’ scoring…at least in my own opinion.

My own score for this game would be much higher….something around an 8.5 or even 9.0.  I find ZombiU to be a brilliant, unique take on survival horror, and something DEFINITELY worth considering for your own Wii U library.  Read on for details.

WiiU Pad integration and great graphics make this game a must-have for the Wii U launch lineup.

As you’ve probably heard, ZU is NOT a FPS or a modern Resident Evil.  The game is atmospheric (i.e. spooky as all get-out) and paced at a slower tempo than many current ‘zombie’ games—you’ll often wander for minutes at a time, encountering nothing but stray rats and birds (each of which will scare the hell out of you as they skitter across your radar).  Be advised: ZU’s spartan atmosphere is intentional—you should NOT purchase ZU expecting to be firing your shotgun with abandon, or respawning every few seconds.  ZU is a completely different kind of game—this is a post-apocalypse world where every bullet counts, where your supplies are always in danger of running out (including healthpacks, grenades, even the battery in your flashlight), where save-spots are few and far between.  A skilled player can ‘level up’ your character’s weapon attributes, but the game includes permadeath for all avatars—and autosaves INSTANTLY when you’ve been killed—meaning that in order to level up, you’ll need to be VERY good, a little lucky, and supremely cautious.

An enormous part of the game’s appeal is how frackin’ SCARY the whole thing feels.  Ubisoft—lest we forget, an incredible game-making studio– is well aware of other zombie games that include 1000-corpse body counts and nigh-unlimited ammunition.  This is not the route they chose for this particular title.  Instead, success in ZU is measured in how long you can survive on ONE LIFE . . . a clever device that raises the tension beyond almost any game I’ve ever played.    You are NOT supposed to throw away lives here—the characters in ZU are ‘real’ people with names and former lives . . .victims of an apocalypse just struggling to survive another few hours.  Every time you lose a character, it’s meant to feel like a REAL loss—your invaluable items remain on the battlefield, and your own former avatar (now an infected corpse) will haunt the game until you return to reclaim your loadout (and bash the skull of your former self).

This is not good. This zombie is way too close.

Like many creative, unique games–ZU is not a game for everyone.  If you buy this title expecting a COD Zombie-mauling clone, you’ll be sorely disappointed.  This is fine—different games for different players. Instead, ZU is a slow survival game with a ton of fear-factor and slick presentation . . . but no, you won’t be shooting everything that moves.  ZU encourages thoughtful preparation for each mission (limited loadout slots require careful planning), is BRUTALLY unforgiving (a single zombie bite can be lethal . . . even right until the final scenes of the game), includes some highly clever puzzles involving the Wii U pad (brilliantly incorporated throughout the whole game), and forces a player to REALLY THINK about their every move.

Panic is often your own worst enemy—even though I finished the game with a very respectable 16 lives on my first time through, I’d say that at least a third of those lives were lost in a moment of genuine, blind panic . . . it’s tough to describe how freakishly frightening the game feels when you’ve spent a week upgrading a single avatar, painstakingly preparing for every encounter and making sure nothing is lurking behind you . . . and then you  accidentally stumble into a warren of 5 fast-moving zombies (some of them perhaps on fire or spitting acid) . . . . FREAK OUT.  For perspective, in ZU, encountering more than 2 zombies at a time is always a dangerous proposition, and when you face even a small horde of 5 or 6, your typical option is ONLY to RUN, and DON’T look back.   The zombies don’t always shuffle here—they’ll be slashing at your back even as you scramble up that ladder or down the nearest manhole.

My only real complaints about ZU are a few software bugs.  Twice (in 22+ hours), my avatar got “stuck” in a wall or doorway and I was forced to reboot the game to free the character (there’s no other option—which means you lose all progress since your last save).  There were a couple buggy moments when my pad “forgot” how to scan cryptograph messages, and I had to return (twice) to the place where your pad gets upgraded to “fix” it.   There are also a  few moments of confusing plot development that involve conflicting instructions from your Prepper (the guy who speaks to you through the Pad) and the apparent in-game missions. Some of these are intentionally confusing (part of the story), while one or two moments made me feel like “that just seems like a needlessly convoluted part of the game”.   These are NOT deal breakers, but just things to be noted.

Even one or two zombies can easily overwhelm you. The Prepper says “be prepared”.

Summary: I loved ZombiU.  I need to play it again because I suspect there are various endings based on performance (please, no spoilers). I’d recommend it to anyone with a true interest in classic survival-style horror.  The implementation of the Wii U gamepad is brilliant, the game looks awesome and sounds appropriately horrific, includes an interesting plot without beating you over the head, and overall, is, in my opinion, a stellar launch-day entry by Ubisoft.

Thoughts welcome.  I love getting reader comments and questions.

Hello, and welcome to the FIFTH installment of my blog-series where I’ll attempt to review every single (worthwhile) Wii game.

If you missed ‘em, here are links to the first FOUR entries in the series :

Best of 2006: http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1/?p=704

Best of 2007: http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1/?p=716

Best of 2008: http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1/?p=767

Best of 2009: http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1/?p=729

This blog is the FIFTH entry in a series.  As we wait for Wii U to arrive, there remain plenty of great games we all missed out on (unless, of course, you’re a compulsive freak that has no life outside of video games).  Hopefully, this year-by-year look at the Wii’s back catalog will help you identify some of the great games you missed, and give you one last chance to grab em before they’re buried by the next-gen Nintendo.

Every review  includes the IGN score and a handy link to IGN’s own review.  All of the writing and reviews are my own unless otherwise indicated (thanks to CharbroiledEwok and Kyliemale for their awesome contributions).

The order of the following list is determined by IGN’s overall score–and don’t forget, you can click the header of each game to link to the IGN official review.

I’m hoping that you readers find these posts useful.  Please feel free to bookmark these posts for future reference–in the process of writing this blog, I’ve played a lot of great games that I originally missed, and encourage you to do the same.

Without further ado . . .

2010: Golden Guns, Samus gets girly, and (another) Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (10.0)

More Mario for your money in Galaxy 2

I have a bad way of getting way behind on game releases and then finally playing REALLY BIG games, like, years after they’ve debuted.  By the time I’m laying down cash for a big release, the title has already risen, reigned supreme, and fallen off the radar.  It’s already happening with 3DS–thanks to Ambassador status, I’m buried in GBA games and a backlog of top-shelf DS titles (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia up next).   But SMB GALAXY 2?  I feel like a bad joke to admit that I never even thought about buying this notorious 10/10′er until almost 2 years after its debut.  Explanation: I’d heard that G2 was, essentially, the same game as G1, and I wanted to focus on 3rd party titles for a while (the plumber will do fine without my launch-day dollars, while 3rd parties live or die on early adopters and word-of-mouth).   BUT . . . As you’ve noticed by now, I’m not spending a whole lot of time actually reviewing this solid-gold Mario game . . .partly because I assume everyone has played it, and partly because you can read my extended review here.  But if you need a summary, I can boil it down to a single sentence: If your Wii collection consisted of only Galaxy 1 and 2, the system would have paid for itself.  Unforgettable, unbelievable, and overwhelming, the best description of G2 is that single levels are more imaginative and engaging than most other entire games.  Take everything you know and love about previous 3D-style Mario games (Sunshine, 64) and multiply it by 100.  Res-up the graphics, throw in some new suits, and and a healthy dose of Myamoto’s boundless creativity . . . and that’s it.  I’m done talking.  If you haven’t played it (or aren’t just saving it for the perfect rainy day), then you can turn in your Wiimote as you leave, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

GoldenEye 007 (9.0)

My mini-guild would use IM Chat to communicate (earbuds), and overlapping headphones to listen for enemies. Winning.

Goldeneye for Wii is everything we wanted from other Wii FPS, and moreover, is simply one of the best titles on the Wii, period.  While the early games like the original Red Steel lacked the critical online component, and later games (notably The Conduit) included the online component but never garnered a sizable online community, Goldeneye 007 for Wii delivered everything we’d hoped for.  Capitalizing on the notoriety of it’s N64 predecessor, this title launched with plenty of community attention, eventually achieving the illustrious benchmark of million-copies-sold.  Enthusiasts could buy the game with a special edition dual-analog classic controller (gold, natch) which proved extremely popular with many serious players (though yours truly is an outspoken proponent of the WiiMote’s superior point&click aiming ability).  Excellent sales numbers and popular pack-ins gave proof to the mantra of the hardcore Wii player: “if you build us a quality game, we will come in droves”.  Developers, take note.  Looking back on GE007 is a truly delicious experience for me.  The single player campaign mirrors the classic N64 game (and is a complete game in itself), the REAL attraction here–and the reason I list 007 Wii as one of the top 10 “must have” games for Wii–is the multiplayer.  Though I’ve mostly stopped playing due to an excessive case of “Wii Wrist” (tendonitis symptoms resulting from excessive Wiimote aiming), I was able to rise to a respectable level 38 (of a total 56) before (mostly) turning in my weapon.  Be forewarned, the XP tiers in this game are positively enormous; a serious player should expect to dedicate many hours to leveling up (my own avatar lists over 150 hours of playtime).  Worse, not all tiers award new weapons or useful skills, meaning that the extensive grind to glory will strike some players as an endless, frustrating deathmarch.  Nevertheless, the allure of powerful firearms to come and improved secondary attributes (such as faster running or increased resistance to damage) may prove impossible to resist.  You won’t believe how easy it is to convince yourself that a fancier pistol or assault rifle is well worth “a few more hours” of playtime . . . fast forward to 4:30 AM on a worknight (“just one more game”) . . . and you suddenly find yourself stifling yawns during your 10:30 AM company meeting, third day in a row.  Sadly, at the height of the game’s popularity, it was overrun with hackers, cheaters, and host-quitting jerks . . . and yet, in general, I never had too much trouble finding a few good agents with which to while away hundreds of hours.  I still tend to pop this one into my Wii on the occasional weekend night, jumping into a few of my favorite old modes (Heroes and Black Box deserve special recognition, but I genuinely loved all of the various games), and if any IGNer wants to get together for a few matches, just post on my wall–I’m always up for dusting off my trusty Vargen for a few more rounds.

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (9.0)

This game is just so excellent–go get a copy. Bottom right: some good S&P cosplay

This is a game that, simply put, feels out of place on the Wii.  Wait, wait—before you misinterpret me, I’m NOT saying the Wii is an inferior system (yawn) or that S&S:SS is too mature for our favorite cartoony, koopa-infested system.  Indeed, anyone who’s tried this anime-inspired, bullet-hell wildride will agree that Nintendo platforms could do with a LOT more games in a similar vein.  Nevertheless, playing this sequel to an under-appreciated n64 original reminds me more of a brash, boisterous arcade shoot-em-up than the typical fare us Nintendo kids know and love.  Star Successor throws more bullets, surface-to-air missiles, and screen-filling explosions at a player than any other game on the Wii system.  It’s an on-rails experience, but you won’t have time to think about it very much—the camera swings between firefights so rapidly that all you’ll be able to do is duck, dodge, and launch your answering salvo.  The difficulty is higher than your average Nintendo-published product, and honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to find any of the Big N’s standard fingerprints on this title.  It’s gritty, a little cynical, and feels like an all-around departure from the rosier sort of gameplay we’re used to.  The 3DS installment of Kid Icarus seems to be, for all intents and purposes, a way for Nintendo to repackage the Sin & Punishment formula into one of their more classic characters.  Check out my full review here, and then get yourself a copy of this legitimately 9.0 Wii exclusive.

Donkey Kong Country Returns (9.0)

Even ‘this guy’ thinks that DKCR is a pretty tough game

Even though we all recognize the problems with numerical scoring systems–and the subjectivity professional game reviewers–I almost feel like 9.0 was a little low of a score for DKCR.  I don’t even own the game yet, but having played 6 hours of co-op at a buddy’s house, it’s unquestionable that this game is one of the best in the Wii’s entire library, a “must have” for any Nintendo fan, and–bonus–one of the most challenging and gorgeous-looking titles we’ve seen in this generation.  Had I been the IGN reviewer, I’d probably have bumped it up to a 9.5 . . . at least.  DKCR is, simply put, everything Nintendo built their reputation upon.  Classic platforming, tons of hidden collectables, stupendous NES-era difficulty, and a cartoonish cast of characters straight out of the big-N legacy.  What’s more, I say all this even as someone who never quite fell in love with the original Donkey Kong Country series–in the past, I always felt like DK’s movement and gravity were “off”, substituting poor control for genuine challenge.  No more.  This game controls like a dream and, for anyone attempting to collect the piles of hidden items, is mercilessly tough while still pulling off the amazing feat of being incredibly fun.  I prefer using Wiimote-on-it’s side (NES-style) over the Wiimote+Nunchuck combo (the former feeling like a much more reliable way to maintain tight control of DK), but the fact that Retro gave us a choice is a hugely positive design choice.  My only complaint–and it’s minimal–is the need to “blow” on so many objects throughout the game (the incorporation is simply flawed).  This minor issue aside, the fact that the game supports 2-player co-op (much like New SMB Wii) is just another feather in it’s solid-gold cap–I’m crossing my fingers that Nintendo continues to develop in this direction as we head toward the Wii U . . . because games–even the punishingly difficult ones–are just so much more fun when you can suffer along with a buddy.

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (9.0)

Cosplayers rule. They just do.

Feeling like a gamer who was missing out on something good, I ran out and bought a copy of TvC and figured I’d tune up my rusty fight-title skills.  Unfortunately, the elapsed years since my mastery of Mortal Kombat II–and merely competent knowledge of Street Fighter II–left me insanely unprepared for the technical, lightning-fast nature of current Vs. fighting.  Even now that I’ve ‘permanently loaned’ my copy to buddy, I remain enthralled with the awesome graphics, crazy lineup, and obvious strategic depth of this over-the-top / smash-all-challengers title.  I loved the unfamiliar Japanese-based Tatunoko lineup, and as a newcomer to any modern Capcom brawler, I enjoyed the chance to play as classic heroes in a new arena (I especially liked using Roll and Chun Li).  The only problem that I could discover with TvC:UA-S–and it’s a major flaw–was that, in short, I SUCK ENORMOUS ASS and have NO GAME.  One of my friends, over for a couple evenings of competitive play, mopped the floor with the carcasses of my players (seriously, the floor was completely shiny when he was finished), regardless of what teammates I chose or “strategies” I used.  The friend in question is a seasoned vet of other Vs. games (professing his undying love for the Marvel vs. Capcom series, also mentioned by CBE below), and no matter what tips he fed me, I was literally unable to win a single match–this, in spite of training in single-player mode for around 20 hours.  In short, TvC is an obvious example of the high quality, serious gaming that is possible on the Wii system–even if I turn out to be totally unprepared for it.

Another look at Tatunoko Vs. Capcom by CharbroiledEwok:  Well, as a comic book fan (and exclusively a Nintendo gamer), I’m still disappointed that this wasn’t a Marvel vs. Capcom game.  Still, despite being unfamiliar with many of the characters, I really enjoyed the over-the-top fisticuffs.  Of course, I’m no fighting game expert, so I play entirely with the simplified Wii Remote controls (though more complex schemes are available to able-bodied gamers).  With gorgeous animations, a healthy roster of playable characters, numerous modes and unlockables, and a unique battle system, I found myself sinking more hours than I expected into this title (including its online mode).  My Score: 8.0

Kirby’s Epic Yarn (9.0)

Review by Kyliemale!:  Kirby’s Epic Yarn is the equivalent of “Comfort Food” in gaming, and I mean that in the absolute best way possible.  This platforming masterpiece is carefree gaming at it’s best.  You literally cannot die in this game, the levels are relatively simple, and it can be enjoyed in small doses very easily.  While many gamers may see these points as negatives, let me assure you that what Kirby’s Epic Yarn lacks in the challenge department, it more than makes up for in style and gameplay.  The art direction in the this game (from the same team that brought us Wario Land: Shake It) is one of the most creative in gaming history.  The environments and characters are all based off of a cloth/fabric aesthetic that is executed brilliantly, and the game ends up being one of the best looking games on the Wii.  All this being said, Kirby’s Epic Yarn’s greatest achievement is in it’s variety of gameplay.  The pacing is genius; I never tired of the gameplay mechanics, instead finding myself excited to move from stage to stage.  I played the majority of the game in it’s two-player co-op mode, which I would recommend as the best way to experience the game.  Rest assured, this is one of the best games to be found on the Wii and should not be missed by anyone looking for great gameplay experiences on the console.

Monster Hunter Tri (8.8)

When I picked this one up, I had little idea what I was getting myself into.  Those first few days of playing were sometimes boring, sometimes frustrating experiences.  My only foreknowledge about MHT was that it was getting great reviews across the gaming spectrum, and that it was some kind of action-RPG game with a huge Japanese fanbase.  I figured that a mature-looking Capcom-published game should get at least a quick look, and I dove in.  More than two hundred hours later (and I don’t even qualify as “hardcore”), I’m a big fan of the series.  However, I want to go on record as admitting that I definitely considered returning it after the first afternoon of clunkily swinging my sword in the wrong direction and being forced to accept that I, a hardcore vegetarian of 13+ years, would need to ignore the game’s Man vs. Beast hyper-meatheaded ethos (after all, it’s got “hunter” in the title–I should have seen it coming!).  Newbies be forewarned, MHT is the kind of game that requires long-term commitment in order to get any significant returns.  Rather than leveling up in standard RPG style, you undertake (and repeat) series of quests in search of specific items and, er, monster “parts” (such as their bones, skulls, etc) which are used to forge armor and weapons.  Confusing at first, your character will never “upgrade”–his stuff will.  Simultaneously, you’ll be collecting literally hundreds of items, almost all of which serve some (eventual) purpose, such as making medicines, potions, ammunition, and more.  There is so much to learn that a new player can get quite overwhelmed, and this doesn’t even address the battle system.  Learning to fight is a matter of learning to manipulate the camera as much as your weapon.  This can be frustrating until you get the hang of it, but after a while, I found the experience to be genuinely addictive.  Rather than moving my character, I often find it easier to swing the camera first, then aim my next strike at the raging dragon in front of me.  Speaking of dragons, this game’s most awesome appeal is the sheer titanic size and scope of monster battles–though you’re required to face enemies several times in order to fully “harvest” their assets, your opponents are truly awesome, overwhelming creatures that will really test your skills and smarts as a gamer.  Even early face-offs can last more than a half-hour, and later in the game, you’ll realize that the clock may be your worst enemy.  There’s nothing more nerve-racking than realizing you only have 5 minutes left to conquer a foe who you’ve been battling for almost an hour . . . and then the SOB fire-breathing lizard retreats into his mountain hideout, leaving you (and your co-op buddies) to race madly across the map, counting the remaining seconds, praying for a buzzer-beating victory.  MHT is one of the Wii’s most excellent instances of online support.  With lobbies that don’t require friend codes, you can join forces with 3 additional hunters (for a total of 4 per quest) and even share items (but not weapons) between teammates.  I’ve never experienced any significant lag in MHT, and overall, the game shines in almost every category.  My only complaint is the degree of required repetition; even good players must face the same monsters again and again (even after you’ve completely harvested their attributes).  Other than the RPG-style grind, the game is simply one of the best on Wii, a title with true depth that many players will still be visiting even after Wii U arrives in our living rooms.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (8.8)

Sex, blood, and 8bit paradise

Man, I am SO keeping this game near the front of my Wii library forever–when I was only halfway through the game, it had already earned a permanent place in my heart.  Ever since my first experience with Suda51′s demented brand of gaming (Killer 7 for Gamecube), I fell head-over-heels for his style, attitude, and truly cinematic mastery of the game medium.  No More Heroes 2 is even better than it’s predecessor, and though it sheds some major elements (most notably, the sandbox exploration of Santa Destroy is completely gone), this weighty decision is a mark of intelligent, brave game design–like a great writer, sometimes a game director needs to delete entire chapters, even if it means losing some decent scenes.  Otherwise, NMH2 is highly similar to the first installment, and for anyone who hasn’t played the original, both chapters are equally awesome, changes aside.  The belly laughs start from the opening scene–rather than explaining what’s happened between since the first episode, the 4th wall is shattered when the lead characters remark that the story would just bore the hell out of the audience, and you’d probably skip it anyway–so they don’t even bother telling it.   Instead, you’re launched straight back into the action, handed the same motive from episode one (achieve the rank of top assassin (this time, to avenge the murder of your best friend)), and the bloodletting begins without further ado.  Besides having some of the best cut scenes and intelligent dialog of any game on Wii (though anyone under 14 will catch hell from their parents if mom overhears the pottymouth language or spies the perverse sexual content), NMH2 is an unabashed tribute to Nintendo’s own 8-bit roots.  Between killing sprees and truly epic boss fights, you’ll earn money playing what amount to classic NES games (rewritten with not-so-subtle jibes at the limiting conventions of those early days).  And though that’s about all there is to NMH2–sidequest NES games and insane boss battles–this humble formula is enough to make for hours of really engaging fun.  Maybe I’m just the perfect audience (an adult gamer with a deviant sense of humor who grew up playing NES), but NMH2 strikes me as one of the Wii’s best, no contest.

Red Steel 2  (8.6)

Like being a ninja, gunslinger, and comic book hero, all in the same game

You end up wishing that some games had arrived much earlier in the Wii’s life-cycle.  By the time Nintendo got around to “patching” the Wiimote’s motion tracking problems with the the motion-plus accessory, many hardcore gamers had already written off the Wii (and it’s ‘gimmicky’ new remote).  Though RS2 didn’t do badly in terms of sales (reaching a half-million global units), it’s a cryin’ shame that such a nicely stylized, fully-original IP had to wait for technology to catch up to the developer’s imagination.  Had RS2 debuted earlier, it would have sold even better and garnered a lot more recognition from a wider audience.  Yet, RS2 is a fabulous game that holds a lot of value no matter when you get around to playing it.  This “sequel” doesn’t even attempt to relate itself to the first Red Steel entry (a Wii launch title that tried its best with limited tech and development time).  Updated with an incredible comic-book artstyle and a neat wild-west-gunslinger/kung-fu plot, RS2 is an all-original game that deserves a spot on every Wii library shelf.  Though screenshots make it look like a FPS, the game combines swordfights and gunplay, typically focusing on the former over the later.  Fights are won by mastering elaborate combo-moves that combine bullets and sword-slashes–a heady mixture that lends a larger-than-life superhero ethos to every encounter.  These combo moves sharpen the entertainment value of RS2–a very positive thing, since most of your time will be spent progressing in fairly linear fashion from point A to B, killing anyone that gets in your way and collecting (relatively unimportant) treasure and items.  The swordplay definitely requires a player to utilize the enhanced motion-tracking of the motion-plus accessory; though not as specific as Skyward Sword, the concept is in the same ballpark, and you’ll probably need to sit up or stand while playing RS2 to ensure your swings hit their target.  The game does suffer from a bit of one-sidedness; whereas Zelda makes sure to space out the swordfights with puzzles and exploring, there isn’t a whole lot of that here; RS2 is more like Madworld’s mindless mayhem than Link’s measured adventure.  I also tend to agree with IGN’s Craig Harris–by the end of the game (or even the middle), a smart player can get your hero so powered up that the game becomes too easy.  I never got too bored slicing and dicing enemies into tiny piles of bleeding refuse, but it never felt very tough, either.  RS2 includes no multiplayer or online modes, but the basic mechanic of this game isn’t particularly suitable to those options anyway.  Again–looks like an FPS, but it’s more like a brawler.  In the end, though the reply value might be somewhat limited, there’s no doubting this is one of the good ones, and I’d still recommend RS2 as one of those Wii-only gems that really shows what the system was meant to do.

Metroid: Other M (8.5)

Samus gives Other M a thumbs up! And, er, a poorly Photoshopped clown-hand?

It’s become so fashionable to hate on the plot and voice-acting of Metroid’s latest installment that I’m not going to spend a moment defending or even discussing these tired old topics.  On the other hand, the actual GAME that surrounds these controversial features is a really good one.  If you think otherwise . . . fine.  Different strokes.  Other M is definitely NOT “Prime”, but after 3 installments, I was becoming a bit worried that the series might have stopped evolving–so I was really happy that Team Ninja changed it up, and honestly, I was pleased with the results.  By mixing elements of side-scrolling and first-person Metroid universes, Other M turned out to be a slick, ingenious way to avoid becoming just one more first-person shooter, or from simply regressing to an imitation of the series’ greatest early 2D installments.  I loved using the Wiimote to flip between 1st and 3rd person views (it gave me an incredible feeling of immersion into Samus’ battle visor, more even than the full FPS style of the Prime series), and I found the graphics and level design to be so incredibly polished and modern that I’d gladly put these elements on par with the series’ best.  I didn’t find the game to be incredibly difficult, but the added challenge of finding 100% of all items kept me playing past the end credits (something I rarely do), and moreover, I simply liked the game so much that I wasn’t quite ready to give it up.  Feel free to click over to my full review here . . . and don’t believe the haters.  This particular incarnation of Samus Aran might do her monologs like a total whiny baby, but who ever played Metroid for the cutscenes, anyway?

Cave Story (8.5)

Cave Story is probably one of my all-time favorite games on any system. Is that saying enough?

I could wrap up the entry for Cave Story in a single line: if you haven’t played this game on one of the many available platforms, then all that’s left to decide is how you want to play it—not whether or when.  The game remains freely available (legitimately free, not pirated) for Mac or PC, but for those who don’t mind paying a low price for a truly magnificent piece of gaming lore—think Castlevania, only with blasters instead of whips, and a touching story akin to a classic JRPG–or, if you’d just rather play a widescreen version on your television instead of on the computer, the $12 WiiWare download is a very viable option.  The Wii version of this retro-to-end-all-retro-NES-style game adds a few new options including a Boss Attack mode or the ability to play through the game as one of the popular supporting characters, but in honesty, these strike me as tacked-on afterthoughts to a game that achieved genuine perfection in its original freeware iteration.  So, my recommendation for WiiWare Cave Story is a strange one—as an enormous fan, I can’t emphasize how valuable this humble little game truly is.  Anyone with the tiniest shred of nostalgia for the original NES must play this game, regardless of which system you chose to play it on.  Cave Story is just good beyond my ability to describe it, so the only thing that remains is for you to choose your platform.  Wouldn’t hurt to support the author with a paid download.  You’ll never regret it.

NBA Jam (8.5)

Sure, it looks like he has a bad case of hydrocephalus, but he’s still having fun!

Anyone who remembers what it feels like to shed an entire paycheck into the upright Rampage machine at their local pizza parlor will have fond memories of NBA Jam.  One of the most recognizable arcade games in history, NBAJ was revolutionary for it’s inclusion of real NBA players as well as a cast of goofy unlockable characters (a revolutionary idea in itself).  But besides the use of a ball and court, NBAJ isn’t basketball in any conventional sense—this is more like a 2-on-2 fight punctuated with street-thug fisticuffs and soaring, backboard-splintering dunks.  Hit three consecutive shots and the ball catches on fire, burning through the net and giving your player increased accuracy and speed.  When the updated Wii version was announced, I, like so many other gamers, gave a shout for joy (“Boom-shaka-laka!“), swept away with half-forgotten visions of epic arcade recollections.  Yet I, like doubtless many other Wii owners, failed to pick this one up at retail.  As mirrored in Craig Harris’ IGN review, my hesitation was due to the fact that the game’s core mechanic is pretty simplistic—brawl, ball, dunk, repeat—and my fears that a console release of NBAJ would wear out quickly.  The Wii version lacks online support as well (I get so tired of typing that. . .Wii U can’t come soon enough . . .), so this title is probably only recommended for gamers with nearby friends (or siblings) with whom you’d want to start a vicious basketbrawl rivalry.  According to IGN’s review, the Wii version does include some workable motion controls alongside classic control support, and also includes a few extra bonus modes and requisite unlockable characters.  Given that I’m spotting eBay copies as low as $15 (free shipping), there’s no doubt that some gamers might want to revisit the glory days of arcade madness with a few hours on this vicious, no-holds-barred court.

Sonic Colors (8.5)

Review by CharbroiledEwok!:  After seeing what SEGA did with Secret Rings, Unleashed, and The Black Knight, I was understandably leery of ‘Colors’.  Well . . . color me surprised (*cue rimshot*).  It’s by no means perfect, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.  The visuals are clean and detailed, the music is the typical Sonic pop music fare, and the controls are simple and tight.  I especially liked the clever use of the Wisp powers, a new feature that harkens back to the glory days of platformers and power-ups (before everything was turned into an RPG).  My only real complaints would be the uneven difficulty (expect plenty of “cheap” deaths), and the lackluster multiplayer (though, who really plays a Sonic game for the multiplayer?).  My Score: 8.5

Mega Man 10(8.5)

His super power is game reviews . . . in a timely fashion!

Yet another great review by CharbroiledEwok . . .    It takes a special type of person to truly appreciate Mega Man 10.  No, you don’t need to fondly remember the original (read: homoerotic) He-Man TV series – you just need to enjoy the classic art style and grueling platforming challenges of the 8-bit era.  Unlike the NES titles upon which it’s based, Capcom opted to include multiple difficulty settings, a second playable character (Proto Man, who appeared only as DLC in MM9), an in-game item shop, and a dedicated Challenge Mode.  Though it was slow to trickle out, MM10 also offers slightly better DLC than its predecessor: a third playable character (Bass who, like Proto Man, plays differently than Mega Man), three special stages/boss fights (which award you their abilities), and an Endless Stage (similar to MM9).  My score: 9.0

Fluidity (8.5)

Tilt the world, toss the water . . . it’s a great game with lots of content.

I got this game in the first round of Nintendo Club game rewards—finally, something WORTHWHILE to buy with my meticulously-collected coins (yeah, the Mario desktop calendar wasn’t really doing it for me).  Even as a launch-day Wii owner, I still have only a handful of downloaded titles after more than 5 years.  Fluidity is, thankfully, one of the good ones.  It’s light, yet challenging fun can fill a few minutes or a few hours, and seems to have a fairly large amount of content.  At it’s core, Fluidity is a physics-puzzler—a cute game good for the “whole family”, yet manages to harvest a good deal of fun out of a relatively simple concept.  Tilt the Wiimote (no nunchuck) to move a blob of water around a 2D landscape–and this mechanic works really well, including basic commands like shaking the remote to turn from gas into liquid (make it rain, baby) or just the back-and-forth sloshing of water (the tilt-control function of the Wiimote is very responsive and is a perfect example of well-implemented motion controls).  You can make your blob jump, change form (freeze or gaseous), and carry objects.  Don’t let too much of your water get separated from the pack (this amounts to dying) while you solve puzzles to collect ‘rainbow drops’ and other hidden items.  It sounds almost too simple to be fun, but in honesty, Fluidity is amazingly entertaining, doing quite a lot with a stripped down cartoony art-style and a few basic rules.  In an era of $1 apps, a $12 download title might strike some as a bit overpriced, but I’m willing to say that for gamers who like puzzles and experiencing the Wiimote’s motion controls at their best, this one is worth a look.

DJ Hero 2 (8.5)

I was GOING to Photoshop Deadmau5 into a picture of DH2 . . . but turns out, he’s IN THE GAME.

It feels a little silly for me to be writing a second summary review for a game I’ve never played (either the original or sequel), but the high IGN score for DJH2 compells me to include it in this list of all-things-Wii-worthy.  Dameon Hatfield reviewed this one for IGN, confirming that the DJH series remains his preferred form for the plastic-instrument genre.  From the sounds of things, DJH2 is more of the same; an entertaining dance/hiphop-oriented music game with many similarities to the guitar-and-drumkit sister versions.  Hatfield notes that the tracklist in DH2 seems oriented to a wider audience than the original (less variety, more pop), but still gives the game’s 83 remixes high praise for polish and appeal (scoring the audio at a respectable 9.5).  From the sound of things, some of DH2′s new features aren’t exactly improvements (vocal accompaniment is confusing, and career mode is unsatisfying), but the 2-player call-and-response battles are actually better than the original.  I hope to find time (and the space) to add a plastic DJ table to my own collection, and based from the sound of IGN reviews, either the original iteration or this sequel are very safe bets for their entertainment value.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (8.1)

That’s so cool of Konami to sponsor this game!

The link above will take you to the 2010 IGN entry; this is the last version of the game that IGN scored or reviewed, though there are more recent updates available for Wii.  As I mentioned in my few other ‘serious sport sim’ reviews, I’m not an ideal reviewer of sporty titles (never play ‘em), so this entry is best taken as a stub serving as a reminder of the (few) decent sport games that exist for Wii.  Pro Evolution Soccer gets consistently decent reviews from IGN (2008 = 8.6, 2009 = 8.5, 2010 = 8.1) and seems like a worthy recommendation for gamers who use Wii as their primary/only console and enjoy a birds-eye game of soccer.  IGN’s 2010 review gives the game credit for good use of motion controls and including classic controller support, going so far as to say PES is the sort of game where you’ll wish the Wiimote could be used to play the same game on other platforms (where better graphics and sound are available).  IGN warns that the online community was smallish when the game launched; I’m compelled to wonder if the situation has improved for the more recent versions.  Wii gamers already know that the graphics found in a Wii title will suffer when compared to other platforms; other than this obvious flaw, IGN’s review seems to indicate that PES is one of the worthwhile Wii sport series.  The call is yours.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (8.0)

The Prince has still got it in The Forgotten Sands

PoP has become an institution; with iterations dating all the way back to 1980s PC gaming–and now a Hollywood film adaptation–the humble little prince has come a long way.  I was a young kid when I played that first installment on my trusty Apple computer, but I still remember loving the rudimentary platforming, the devious traps, and sensing that there was a sophisticated design to the game’s puzzles.  Fast forward to the modern era, TFS is a Wii-exclusive “side story” that is parallel to, but different from, competing versions on other platforms.  Though “Wii Exclusive” can often translate to “recipe for disaster”, I’m glad to report that Forgotten Sands is a cool treat worth your time and money.  For starters, the (Wii-only) point-and-click gameplay elements are excellent innovations that are genuinely fun and add to the game’s appeal.  Creating wall-hooks, jet-streams, and hovering bubbles with your Wiimote feels natural, easy, and entertaining.  On the other hand, the combat elements are pretty awful.  Sword swings and attacks feature a lot of waggling, and a lot of the earlier fights can be won without any strategy at all.  More annoyingly, the camera is pretty wonky in free combat situations, and the lack of a target/lock-on system feels like an amateur oversight.  You can chose an advanced method of camera control (I recommend this) but your view still ‘sticks’ to enemies when you don’t want it to, and ultimately feels, well, annoying.  But back to the good:  the game’s real strength is, as always, the breathtaking platforming elements . . . running along walls, scaling sheer rock faces, balancing on precarious ledges over gaping chasms…these aspects are simply great, just like every other PoP game.  The visuals are excellent, and the music/voice acting nicely reflect the game’s middle-eastern setting.  The protagonist controls responsively–even too responsively, perhaps.  To clarify, I sometimes feel disconnected from the game, as though the careful leaps and climbs are so carefully choreographed that I’m not really “playing” a game as much as pushing it along.   It’s hard to describe, but a platformer with this much polish can have the drawback of often feeling a bit too easy.  Along these lines, PoP:FS a wonderfully cinematic game, if not all that hard.  I solved many scenarios in a matter of seconds, and even when the going gets tougher (around the 7 hour mark) I never found it to be overwhelmingly difficult.   The disc offers some valuable retro-appeal by including an unlockable version of the original (2D) SNES game, plus some especially cool bonuses in the form of a ’2D’ modern PoP and a creepy dungeon labyrinth sub-game (I really loved this, so don’t overlook it).  Given that this installment of PoP includes other add-ons such as an achievement system and a speed run mode, I’m quite willing to recommend this PoP episode for old fans or new inductees.  After playing through the entire game and clocking in at a respectable 10.5 hours, I’d say that IGN’s 8.0 is eminently fair–perhaps a smidgeon low, even–and you can’t beat that $10 used price.

And Yet It Moves (8.0)

Here’s another chance to give Wiiware download service a little bit of love before it’s (hopefully) surpassed by a far-superior online store for Wii U.  Retailing at $10, AYIM may be overpriced by a couple bucks, but it’s the kind of game that catches my interest due to a bleak-cool artstyle (looking like a nightmarish collage of torn pages and paper-cutouts) and a simple puzzler-premise.  No enemies or boss-fights here—just escape from a maze by spinning the world around your character.   Since AYIM arrived on Wii in 2010, we’ve gotten a few other games that feature similar gravity/screen-shifting mechanics (I’m thinking specifically of VVVVVV for 3DS), so the premise isn’t as fresh as it might have been a couple years ago.  Still, Jack’s IGN review makes the game sound generally fun and worth a few hours of a devoted puzzler’s gaming life.  I’ve wanted to check this one out for a while (I almost just want to support a game with such a cool title) and I may still find the time.  Below, a link to an IGN-sponsored video, perhaps the best way to get a clear picture of how this game feels and looks.

Tetris Party Deluxe (7.5)

As noted in the IGN review, the biggest problem for this in-store release of Tetris Party is that it costs twice as much as the version available on the WiiWare shop, but really only adds a small number of improvements to the same game that was available for download two years previous.  That said, I am well aware that many gamers still prefer disc/manual/case releases, if only to have a permanent plastic trophy for their game library (I can’t say that I’m totally immune to it myself).  This updated release includes the ability to game against owners of the download version (a critical and welcome detail) and a number of new modes for the true Tetris fanatics.  If you’re a gamer that prefers the retail pack-ins  and don’t mind waiting a few days for delivery, I’m spotting numerous copies at eBay between 16$ and $20, shipped.  The Wiiware version runs for $12, so with such a small difference in cost, seems like the choice is yours.

Call of Duty: Black Ops (7.5)

Believe it or not, the Wii version even includes multiplayer chat.

Let’s get the really shocking stuff out of the way first:  due to hardware limitations, the Wii version isn’t as awesome as those found on the other current-gen systems.  Surprise.  With this groundbreaking piece of information out of the way, IGN’s review still manages to award a fair score to COD:BO, noting that the flaws found on other systems (specifically the single-player campaign) are still present in the Wii port—so these don’t represent specific deal-breakers for playing BO on Nintendo.  More interesting, since the Wii version (naturally) allows players to use the Wiimote for this FPS, some gamers may even find the Wii COD superior in the controls department (I myself thought the Wiimote/nunchuck were the ONLY way to play Goldeneye—point and click Wiimote being far superior to clunky old analog sticks).  For those not interested, classic control support is still available and customizable.  For the requisite online two player modes, I’m definitely intrigued by the sound of “wager matches” (you’ll gamble in-game currency on matches) and the vast variety of COD online match options that can handle up to 12 players.  With other cool-sounding features like Nazi Zombie mode (less voluminous than the other systems yet still present), seems like COD:BO on Wii isn’t the worst bet you could make.

Trauma Team (7.5)

Don’t get any weird ideas, you’re just playing doctor.

I played and enjoyed the original Trauma Center on DS, right around the same time I played the first entry in the Phoenix Wright series.  Back then, I was still surprised by the relatively new trend for games to include “mundane” characters like lawyers and doctors, rather than the more “normal” mutant monsters and mustachioed plumbers.  I never quite found the appeal in Phoenix Wright (too scripted and slow-paced), but definitely found some appeal in that first experience with the Trauma Center series.  Using my stylus to cut, stitch, suture, and save lives was a unique and entertaining experience, but I can’t say that I was left particularly hungry for more . . .which is probably why I never tried this Wii sequel.  According to the IGN review, this latest installment retains the goofy anime sensibilities and the surgery-”sim” elements of previous games, but also adds some point-and-click adventure elements that provide a bit of welcome contrast from the standard (and still interesting) surgery puzzles.  In this episode, your work is divided into six areas of treatment, with most fields mirroring the gameplay from previous episodes, though offering a few areas that expand beyond the standard series concepts.  On the other hand, the IGN reviewer finds some control elements to be frustratingly flawed and repetitive, leading to a “mixed bag” of gameplay and a lower overall score.  I’m not going to be grabbing this game anytime soon, but with an average reader score of 8.8, it must have something going for it.

Dragon’s Lair Trilogy (7.0)

I’ve been going to arcades my whole life, and have never seen all 3 in one room together–so this collection is a good deal for classic gaming fans.

The scene: 1985, small-town department store, a young boy begs his mom for quarters.  Knowing that the boy will harass her through the entire shopping trip, mother hands the boy three singles, extracting a promise that he will clean his room that evening.  He’s gone before she can finish telling him to meet her at the front of the store in one hour—like a lightning-bolt, he’s headed to the video arcade. . . . That boy was me, and among my cherished early gaming memories, Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace stand out among thousands.  If you ever encountered these games in their heyday, you’ll know why.  The laserdisc graphics were light-years ahead of the pack; while other games still relied on crude sprites (or, God forbid—LCD vectors), here were games that looked even better than a lot of Saturday morning cartoons—these games were in the ballpark of feature-film Disney epics.  The only problem was that, as a kid, you couldn’t figure out how to play the damn things.  Dragon’s Lair, it’s sequel (Dragon’s Lair II) and Space Ace were the first mass-market iterations of what we now know as “quicktime events”, though nowadays QTE’s are typically used to break up the primary action of a game—not staged as the foundation for an entire game.  So, here’s the problem for a young kid with only three bucks to spend: these fabulous-looking Don Bluth-animated games typically cost .50 cents a play, while all other games only required a single quarter.  No game-loving kid could walk past any of this “trilogy” without giving it at least a single try, but when you (immediately) realized that Dirk or Ace’s actions didn’t directly correspond with your mad thrashing of the joystick (or hapless smashing of the buttons), you quickly surrendered, hoping none of the big kids noticed how fast you’d lost your quarters.  Nowadays, with fancy graphics as a fundamental piece of most games, DL and SA have lost some of their unique appeal.  The Trilogy for Wii is essentially a DVD encapsulating 3 laserdiscs of (incredibly-well-animated) quick-time events.  Craig Harris reviewed the collection for IGN, giving it high marks for visual and sonic presentation, and optimistically noting that the games are entirely identical to the arcade versions.  But newcomers should be warned:  all three games rely heavily on trial-and-error (i.e. experiment, die, start over) and lightning-quick (i.e. sometimes unfair) reflex actions, and though I’ve never gotten quite good enough to finish any game in the series ( . . . yet. . . ), none of them would require more than a few minutes to finish on a perfect playthrough.  Yeah—sounds kind of boring in a world of fully cinematic HD gameplay, doesn’t it?   Still, in spite of the incredible upgrades we’ve seen in gaming in just two short decades, that arcade kid in me (still alive and kicking in my heart) cannot wait to get a copy of this Trilogy, if only for the express purpose of mastering every last quicktime event.  The next time I stand in front of those upright machines, I’ll be able to wow everyone around me with a perfect playthrough of these solid-gold classics.  Even the big kids’ jaws will hit the floor.  Sometimes, nostalgia is the only reason you need to love a game.

Wii Game of the Year for 2010

Super Mario Galaxy 2:  In a year that includes one 10.0 game, FIVE 9.0 games, and TEN games scoring 8.5 or higher, 2010 is arguably the strongest all-around year for the Wii.  And I’m going to come clean, right now: handing the win to SMG2 isn’t entirely reflective of my own opinion, but is instead my acknowledgement of the larger community consensus.  Seriously, I’m sitting here writing this entry thinking things like “But Galaxy 2 isn’t really innovative–should it get the win?”, and in reality, G2 is pretty much the same game as Galaxy 1 . . . but it’s still so incredibly, unbelievably good. . . . and deserves every inch of that 10.0 rating.  Looking down the list of other great titles, I can’t see any other game that captures as broad a spirit of imagination or pushes the limits of the Wii hardware as much as this second installment was able to do, and even if I got 10x as much playtime out of Goldeneye 007 and 20x out of Monster Hunter Tri . . . neither game achieves the soaring heights and majesty as Mario’s second cosmic adventure, and so Nintendo fans can rest easy once again–Mario is STILL the king of his own system.  Kudos, good plumber.

Runner Up Wii Game for 2010

Donkey Kong Country Returns:  HARDEST. PICK EVER.  Same as with the GOTY category, I’m sitting here looking at the choices . . . Goldeneye, Sin & Punishment 2, Monster Hunter, No More Heroes 2, Red Steel 2  . . . and still, again and again, time after time, Nintendo just proves that their own IPs are the best thing on offer on their own consoles.  I say this as a gamer who never entirely loved the N64 versions of DKC–yet even a few minutes with this modern installment was enough to convince me that this return to the country is one of the best games to grace the Wii system.  Hard as nails, gorgeous beyond description, cooperative and intelligent gameplay…this game is a love-letter to oldschool Nintendo fans, when games were tough to even finish, and verging on murder to complete 100%.  Even in early stages, finding all the hidden rooms, side-games, and collectibles is a nigh-impossible task, yet I never find myself getting annoyed at the game–it’s simply too perfect, too polished.  Playing with a friend makes the game all the better, and even if you give up before making it to the end credits–this country is one beautiful place to explore, delivering the best possible platforming experience that money can buy.  The ape is back, and it’s a pleasure to say, better than ever.

WHY! WHY MUST I ALWAYS FINISH SECOND TO THIS STUPID PLUMBER?!!?!?!?!?

Most Underrated Wii Game for 2010

This is easily my toughest call in the entire series.  “Underrated” can refer to simple sales figures, or can indicate “under-appreciated” by the people who bought it.  In terms of pure sales figures, No More Heroes 2 is incredibly undervalued (considering how excellent the game really is), selling only 170,000 units in the USA (340,000 worldwide).  On the other hand, Monster Hunter Tri sold a respectable 500,000 units in the USA, but was buried by the one-million plus figure in Japan (where that series reigns supreme).  However, No More Heroes 2 isn’t the sort of game that everyone can appreciate (it’s simply too gory and childish), so it probably shouldn’t win this category.  Nor is it sensible to call a game with over two-million sales worldwide “underrated” (even if Monster Hunter isn’t fully appreciated by American audiences).  Therefore, in the end, I’m going to hand 2010′s Underrated title to GoldenEye 007, for one specific reason–the multiplayer.  Please note, GoldenEye is NOT winning this category for the single player campaign (which is respectable and well-crafted, balancing loyalty to the N64 classic with modern sensibilities of a FPS).  No, the truly underrated aspect of GoldenEye is most definitely the multiplayer feature.  After years as Nintendo owner yearning for a really good online experience, 007 finally brought a highly playable multiplayer co-op/competitive game to the Wii, complete with interesting game variants, worldwide leaderboards, worthwhile achievements, and crazy leveling tiers that led some players to get really addicted to the game.  Sure, there are a TON of flaws with Bond’s latest Nintendo installment–rage-quitters suffer no penalties (even when hosting matches), there’s no voice chat support (not even for the terrible Wii Speak), and the entire leaderboard and weapon tiers were undermined by hackers who simply skipped the leveling process and awarded themselves the maximum loadout capabilities.  Yet IN SPITE of these many complaints, the online GoldenEye experience was often excellent, especially for those of us that formed guilds or even collected just a few online friends to game with.  Really, I didn’t spend half a year of my life playing this game for no reason–GoldenEye really had something great going for a while.  And (insert personal brag) I even killed PrinceLuigi twice (the leaderboard’s legitimate top player) . . . although he proceeded to tear me to shreds for the next several minutes.   Ultimately, I’m giving the Underrated title to Goldeneye;  although the sales figures were reasonably good for this game, I suspect that a lot of players never spent enough time in the online matches to acquire a full appreciation of the game’s underlying excellence.

Campers rarely win . . . but you can really piss off your friends.

That’s it for 2010!  Looking over this list, I’m ready to conclude that 2010 was MY favorite year for the Wii, given that my time spent playing Monster Hunter Tri and Goldeneye 007 are probably close to the sum total of the rest of my Wii library.  No kidding.  These two games alone could have held me over until Wii U . . . but there are just so many great games on this system to try out.  ;’]
I welcome your comments, corrections, and proposals for games I’ve forgotten to include.  I’m just one guy, and I can only research and play so many games at a time.

Seriously, leave me some comments.  TELL ME YOUR TOP 3, OR WHAT I GOT WRONG!!  Comments are my favorite part of the whole “blogging” process.  I’d be especially interested to hear what YOUR nominations for GOTY and ‘Most Underrated!

Or really, anything.  Drop me a line!

2011 coming soon….

If you missed them, please check out the earlier entries in the series, all cataloged in the main Wii page of my blog.

And now, for the fourth entry.  As we wait for Wii U to arrive, there remain plenty of great games we all missed out on (unless, of course, you’re a compulsive freak that has no life outside of video games).  Hopefully, this year-by-year look at the Wii’s back catalog will help you identify some of the great games you missed, and give you one last chance to grab em before they’re buried by the next-gen Nintendo.

Every review includes the IGN score and a handy link to IGN’s own review.  All of the writing and reviews are my own unless otherwise indicated (thanks to CharbroiledEwok and Kyliemale for their awesome contributions).

The order of the following list is determined by IGN’s overall score–and don’t forget, you can click the header of each game to link to the IGN official review.

I’m hoping that you readers find these posts useful.  Please feel free to bookmark these posts for future reference–in the process of writing this blog, I’ve played a lot of great games that I originally missed, and encourage you to do the same.

2009:

The Wiimote gets an Upgrade, (Even More) Plastic Instruments,

 . . . and the End of the Road for Prime

2009 saw Wii software heading in a number of different directions, resulting in a welcome variety of types and styles of games.  With 1st-party releases including a side-scrolling four-player Mario game, a long-overdue installment of the legendary Punch Out!! series, and a direct sequel to Wii Sports, we all missed out on some of the lesser-known titles from this calendar year.  With a respectable amount of support from 3rd party developers, 2009 may include the most overlooked games of the Wii’s entire life-cycle.

Read on, and learn the error of your ways.

Metroid Prime Trilogy (9.5)

A truly excellent trilogy, all in one package

Though it feels a little odd for IGN’s highest-ranked 2009 Wii game to be a collection (rather than an original game) this was still a great package deal for anyone who hadn’t already collected the GameCube versions of episodes 1 and 2, or somehow missed the Wii unveiling of part 3.  Indeed, the Trilogy package made the single-game discs irrelevant, since the price of the combo package WAS equivalent to a regular top-shelf Wii title.  You’ll note that I’m using the past-tense to discuss MPT, because the resale prices for the MPT collection are strikingly high (due to a limited pressing of the 3-game collection, MPT is no longer available at regular retail).  Anyway, as a gamer with limited time, I can hardly imagine playing through all 3 Prime games back-to-back–this is a LOT of content, and the games highly similar style and mechanics–but if you’ve even missed a single one of Samus’ first 3D outings, the Trilogy is the best possible way to experience or revisit any of the three.  Since Metroid is one of Nintendo’s most popular and enduring core franchises (and probably the most mature), MPT is one of the easiest recommendations for any Wii collection.  Featuring improved graphics, Wiimote/Nunchuck support for all episodes, and some minor changes to gameplay and difficulty balancing, Metroid Prime Trilogy is one that many lucky gamers already have their shelves.  If you don’t, well, prepare to pay a few extra dollars for the pleasure.

Guitar Hero 5 (9.3)

Oh man, those were the days

While IGN’s highest-ranked game for 2009 is a repackage, the runner up tells us a lot about the industry of that year (just take a look at the next several entries).  Myself, I was already getting past the plastic instrument crazy by the time GH5 arrived, so I never actually played this one for Wii, but spend some time playing it at a friend’s house on his PS3.   Unfortunately, when I read through Bozon’s review of the Wii-exclusive Roadie Battle mode (check it out here–it sounds REALLY awesome), I found myself disappointed that I didn’t experience the Wii version, since he recommended it as thedefinitive version of GH5–PS3 and 360 notwithstanding.  The concept of pairing DS and Wii systems in a crazed co-op experience is brilliant, and the Wii version gets equivalent marks in most other categories.  Admittedly, I don’t have many local friends who even own a DS, so the Roadie Mode would have been something I loved in concept without getting to play it very often.  But for players with a large stable of Nintendo-obsessed buddies, it sounds as if GH5 is THE music game experience to top all others.  Myself, I got my fill of plastic instruments via World Tour and Beatles Rock Band, so I’m not likely to play this game, yet I can’t help but wish I had.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (9.0)

Rachel and Jaimee are ignoring my booty calls. Guess I’ll just play Wii tonight.

Coming in a tie for third-highest ranked of 2009, it’s another sequel.  However, TW10 for Wii is one of the rare instances where the IGN score for the Wii version beats that of the PS3 or 360, so don’t overlook this game, even if sporty affairs aren’t your typical cup of tea.  Motion controls (enhanced by Wii Motion Plus) make the game as accurate, sensitive and potentially frustrating (hello, sandtraps) as a real game of golf.  Furthermore, this game deserves a lot of praise for being able to draw players of all types onto the virtual links–I’m not even the target audience (I have very little interest in sports of any type), yet my friends and I have played numerous rounds of this perfect TW experience.  On the other hand, I can’t claim that we’ve finished an entire 18 holes in one sitting though–somewhere around hole 12 or 13, the inevitable sensation of “wow. . golf is a slow, quiet game” tends to set in, and we usually switch over to Smash Brothers or Strikers.  In any case, I can see the definite appeal for golf enthusiasts, and even I, a nerdier type who prefers platforming and puzzle solving over any other type of game, suffers from the occasional urge to hit these virtual links for a few hours.  Definitely a solid acquisition for  any Wii library.

DJ Hero (9.0)

If they’ll do a DJ table, maybe hope isn’t lost for the Weird Al package.

Color me intrigued, but unwilling to shell out any more duckets for one more plastic instrument.  Even writing about it now, I feel the lure of the siren’s song, calling me to hunt down a used turntable peripheral and start getting my scratch on.  I’ve heard that DJH is notably harder (in some ways) than the parallel Guitar Hero series, and that the soundtrack kicks a$$.   Daemon Hatfield’s IGN review gives this game high marks on everything from the track listing (he calls it “Hands down the best soundtrack for any music game, ever”) to the graphics to the general sense of fun and lasting appeal.  He also says it’s one of the best music/rhythm games he’s ever played.  And damn, if those high words of praise aren’t enough, just re-reading his review makes me wonder if I might be able to find enough room in my house for another darn peripheral.  And now I looked on eBay, and the complete set is available for under $30.  Damn. . . I’m starting to get that itch.

The Beatles: Rock Band (9.0)

Best graphics in any plastic-instrument game, period.

I have a cool girlfriend–the coolest, in fact.  I think we were only dating a few weeks when she surprised me with a Playstation 2 for Christmas (she didn’t know I was basically a Nintendo-4-Lyfe kind of guy, but it was still an insanely cool gift).  On one hand, I’d gotten her a couple CDs, some books, some art supplies–and she hands me a PS2 and GTA Vice City.  Why?  “Because I knew you’d like it.”  Fast forward about 8 Christmases, and she gets me (along with a slew of other gifts) a copy of Beatles: Rock Band (this was a follow-up to getting me the full drum-kit GH World Tour package a year earlier).  Yeah–she’s good.   To the point: she bought me a copy of B:RB because we’d had a lot of fun jamming other RB and GH games with our friends, and she loves having company over for game nights, so the Beatles were a perfect fit.  And the game is, by far, one of the best entries in the plastic instrument genre.  I’d have a hard time calling it “the best” though; the game is strikingly short, and I couldn’t help but feel like we were gypped on overall song selection–especially considering the high pricetag for additional downloads.  On the other hand, the graphics and choreography are steps above any other likeminded music karaoke game.  After all, the Beatles are one of the most important musical groups of all time, so you can’t go wrong there, and the graphics are often far better than the lackluster stuff found in other similar games (I especially love the Sergent Pepper sections of the game).  For anyone who wants to round out their music/rhythm library in style, The Beatles RB is a perfect–and maybe theperfect–choice.  Just set aside a few bucks for DLC.

Madworld (9.0)

Something very bad is happening here.

I loved the look, the aggression, the all-original IP, the Wii-excusivity . . .and then I wasn’t crazy about the game.  Many reviewers call Madworld one of the most overlooked on Wii, but I unfortunately cannot include myself in that group.  I bought it used, I sold it back without finishing it.  On one hand, the game has kick-ass graphics, a psychotic storyline, and a level of Mature content rarely seen on Mario’s home console (I don’t think Nintendo has welcomed any other game where a player can jab a street sign through an enemy’s head).  But Madworld, to me, was kind of like gaming porno . . . fun to look at for a few minutes, but unfulfilling in the long run.  The slash-and-hack action bored me after only a couple levels, and the thrill of throwing baddies into whirling blades of spikes wore out after only a few tries.  It’s very hard to pinpoint why a game like, say, No More Heroes can sustain similarly repetitive action through 2 incredible installments, yet explain why a highly similar formula fails in Madworld–but it does fail, for this reviewer anyway.  The comic book attitude and stark black-and-white graphics are definitely some of the most unique on Wii, and from what I saw, the storyline seemed promising (though I never made it to the end).   In spite of my negative overall opinion, and considering the many favorable reviews (including IGN’s own), I suspect there are several hundred-thousand Wii owners who would love this game.  Seek it out for under $20 at your local retailer and decide for yourself.

New Super Mario Brothers Wii (8.9)

They’re on a mission from God

Love. This. Game.  One of my closest friends claims that he found it “far too easy”–a review that surprises me, yet has zero impact on my own feelings toward this smash hit.  Myself, I found the difficulty to be perfectly aligned with classic Mario outings like SNES’s SMB World and the more recent NSMB for Nintendo DS.  Throw in those challenging bonus levels at the end of the game, 4 player simultaneous play (which really! ramps up the difficulty, if only because your friends are idiots), and a genuinely classic side-scrolling Mario mentality . . . winning, bigtime.  Personally, I tend to enjoy flat Mario games a smidge more than the 3D outings (just my personal taste), so this game probably surpasses Galaxy 2in my own “must-have” roster of plumber-oriented Wii titles.  The Smash-Brothers-style option to play a Mario game with 3 friends makes me jump for joy, and I’m already crossing my fingers for a direct followup on Wii U.  Given the insane sales numbers for NSMBWii, seems a safe bet that Nintendo’s already got this one on the stove.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (8.9)

I played through this game in about 2 weeks, loving mostly everything about it.  The game’s biggest flaw–just to get it out of the way–is that the combat and gameplay is very repetitive, almost entirely focused on classic slash&hack mechanics.  Sure, the action is embellished by characters who can soar like anime ninjas and the variety of special attacks is positively enormous-but you’ll still spend a lot of time mashing buttons and slicing bad guys into ribbons.  Factor in the need to backtrack on a regular basis, and most players will probably wish there were a little more to the action.  Yet, in spite of these flaws, this game remains a kick-ass piece of Wii software.  The graphics are among the very best on the system, the story and atmosphere are intelligent and cohesive, and the sheer volume of sword-types (i.e. special attacks) are incredible.  With a rapid schedule of weapon upgrades, a player barely has time to get used to a single roster of attacks before you’ve earned new ones, forcing decisions as to what weapons to keep in your loadout and which to retire.  Boss fights are truly something to look forward to (indeed, they’re almost the main attraction of the game), and the game’s dual-pronged narrative (featuring two intertwining storylines that can be played together or separately) greatly increases the content and opportunity to fully explore the game world.  And though Muramasa isn’t a particularly difficult game (though I got really stuck on the final boss), I think IGN’s score of 8.9 is spot on–a game with flaws, but one that everyone should check out.    For my full-length review, check out this link.

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (8.9)

Truly one of the best looking Wiiware titles

I downloaded this beautiful and atmospheric platformer based on a volume of positive reviews.  It never entirely satisfied me, but I have to say that the gorgeous art and intelligent integration of motion controls make it stand out as a far better game than almost all other Wii Shop titles.  Maybe I was just in the wrong mood when I played it, or maybe the pacing is a little too quiet and subtle to satisfy my hunger for more intense puzzling or action sequences.  Nevertheless, it’s easy to recommend LW:WotM because it’s a solid game that hits a lot of right notes.  The game is a puzzle-platformer that features a character who can control the wind in a variety of ways.  Puzzles must be solved to advance, and as you move through the game, your character will expand his roster of tricks for modifying the atmosphere and air around him.  These powers are largely activated via Wiimote motion controls, and for the most part, work very well (albeit you’ll need practice to master some of the more subtle motions).  Regardless of my own feelings toward it, I can easily say that this game is well worth a look for gamers who enjoy slower-paced platforming games with loads of polish.  In many ways, it’s fair to make a comparison to the Wii version of A Boy and His Blob, but LostWinds:WotM is, in the end, a much better game overall.

Punch Out!! (8.8)

Not without flaws, but seriously, it’s still pretty classic

I was there to grab Punch Out!! on launch day, and I’m far from the only fanner who was psyched as hell for Nintendo’s continuation of the Little Mac saga.  Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: no matter how nostalgic one is for the classic NES and SNES iterations, there is no escaping that Punch Out’s underlying game is founded on a really basic mechanic.  At it’s core, PO!! is a rhythm game that leaves little room for experimentation and creativity.  Sure, there are hidden variants in every match that allow a skilled player to score extra hits and uppercut stars, but the fundamental game remains the finding and countering of each opponent’s rhythm while avoiding the temptation to get greedy and swing wildly.  To address this potential weakness, the Wii episode added optional achievements that encourage more experimentation—a first for the series, and a neat addition (if mostly forgettable).  Unfortunately, the roster only featured one new fighter (really? one new fighter after all these years?) and the game isn’t insanely long, so some players weren’t as thrilled as they’d hoped.  In spite of all this, I’d still argue that Punch Out!! is a must-have for any Wii collection.  The gameplay gets fairly tough in the final matches, not to mention the difficulty of the 2nd playthrough (when baddies unleash new moves and faster routines).  I’ll brag a bit here–I finished the entire first circuit using the Balance Board and Wiimote/Nunchuck combo, and if you haven’t tried it, I stronglyrecommend checking it out.  I’d be covered in sweat halfway through a single match–and although I’m pretty healthy and in-shape–I could rarely fight more than a few matches back-to-back.  Good times for sure–you owe it to your Wii to see for yourself.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (8.6)

They’re not kidding.

I may not be the ideal reviewer, having never played any previous Silent Hill game.  But because of my general unfamiliarity with the series, I had no preexisting biases when I sat down with SH:SM.  Overall, I definitely enjoyed this unique take on the horror genre.  It’s definitely got some problems—I thought the controls and camera were a little awkward and occasionally glitchy, and I experienced some episodes of frame-lag and loading-freeze during action sequences.  On the other hand, the genuinely creepy and cerebral storyline are muchmore interesting than most other Wii games, and the scare-factor is amplified by the fact that your only defenses are modest sprinting abilities and a flashlight (neat innovations on a genre that typically encourages wanton use of shotguns and hunting knives).  The action can get a little repetitive by the end, but I definitely think this episode of Silent Hill (the only one on Wii) is worth checking out for those looking for a little fear factor in their gaming schedule.  It’s got a genuinely great plot and a freaky ending that’s worth your time.

The Conduit (8.6)

Sega’s entry in the “Worst Box Art For Wii” contest

Enjoyed it in many ways, yet the inherent problems are hard to miss.  Long before the arrival of Goldeneye 007 (the best FPS on the Wii), The Conduit tried to give us what we wanted.  It’s shamelessly modeled after great games like the N64′s Perfect Dark (including a convoluted aliens and conspiracy plot, and I swear they used identical fonts), but The Conduit ultimately fails to go that last mile into “truly great” territory.  A lot of players complained about the recycled backgrounds and generally limited scope (you spend a lot of time inside government buildings), yet I found the gameplay and action to be engaging enough to play all the way to the end.  But even as an all-Nintendo gamer, I still couldn’t help feeling like the FPS genre has probably evolved a little more than this in all the years between Perfect Dark and this 2009 imitation.  In short, The Conduit feels like a great game from several years ago, and does virtually nothing to innovate on a really familiar formula.  That said, the Wii is short on good shooter games, so The Conduitdeserves a look if you’re hungry for something other than the war-themed Battlefields and Calls of Duty available on every other major platform.  I liked it.  Didn’t love it, but liked it.

Dead Space: Extraction (8.5)

Before / After

If you hate–utterly HATE–on-rails shooters, then you might as well stop reading right here.  I tend to like them quite a bit (at least on occasion), so DS:E struck me as a great game with good intentions.  I’ve never played a Dead Space game on any other system, so I was actually pretty glad to have the chance to check it out on my Wii console, or at least get an introduction to the universe.  Turns out it’s a scary place, and gory, too.  Similar in many ways to the Resident Evil “Chronicles” series (the othernotable light-gun shooters exclusive to Wii), Extraction whisks the player through a dark and doomed spaceship storyline, a stage for the massacre that begins the canonized Dead Space series.  You’ve got a fair amount of heavy armaments at your disposal, and your inner teenager will be overjoyed to discover that alien dismemberment is a required strategy.  I can’t say I was particularly blown away by the game, but having played a lot of the Wii’s on-rail shooting games, maybe I’m just tired of the genre.  And don’t get me wrong–I played Extraction all the way to the credits.  This is a great game, no doubt, and I’d recommend it as an excellent way to spend an evening with a buddy (two player co-op works perfectly) or even as a single player campaign (it’s got a solid 8-10 hours or more, especially if you play on hard).

The Bit.Trip Series (episodes 1-5, 7.0-8.5)

Retro + Future = Epic

Man oh man, having to write commentary for this one makes me feel pretty bad that I don’t own the entire collection.  I was the biggest proponent of the first episode (Bit.Trip Beat) when it first debuted as a standalone download title.  I’m an enormous fan of modern 8bit music, and even before the game, I’d already attended a live show by one of the artists featured on B.T Beat’s soundtrack (BitShifter of NYC).  Add in the classic (read: impossible) difficulty level of B:T Beat, the utterly awesome Atari 2600-meets-concert-rave-graphics, and the intelligent use of the Wiimote controller (twisting the Wiimote like a cylinder to move a Pong-style pad)–suddenly I was telling everyone I knew to buy this game.  Then the sequels started arriving, and I was ecstatic to see that the designers weren’t simply recycling the same game, but were tweaking and rewriting the formula for each subsequent outing of CommanderVideo.  Now the entire collection is available for both Wii (as a physical disc, including additional features) or for 3DS (featuring 3D enhanced graphics).  I have yet to invest in the collection (or even decide which version I want more), but rest assured, I Can. Not. Wait. to dig into this insanely creative and entertaining suite of retro-inspired goodness.  I can already hear the beat in my ears.

Let’s Tap (8.5)

This is an honest to goodness picture of my family having a mildly boring time playing Let’s Tap

I’m always compelled to check out games that feature innovations of art style, control scheme, or gameplay, and LT fit the paradigm.  Let’s Tap is one of the only games I’ve ever played that boots up and asks you to go get some physical object in order to play the game–in this case, any old cardboard box, upon which players will lie their Wiimotes.  The entire game is then controlled by tapping, drumming, and smacking the box–you can even control the menus this way.  The mechanic works pretty well, and though you’ll need to remember to lightly drum your fingers (rather than pounding), I found it to be without significant flaws.  However, LT is only worth about the ten dollars I paid for it–and IGN’s 8.5 score is definitely too high–but for $10, LT has some fun casual appeal.  To get the bad aspects out of the way, the disc includes 5 mini-games, 3 of which I find pretty boring.  One isn’t even a game, per say, but just a graphics visualizer that changes graphics based on Wiimote vibrations.  Another is a strange Jenga-style stacking game, and though I only messed with it for a few minutes as a solo player, it failed to inspire me to want to revisit it.  Rhythm Tap is a Donky Konga clone, falling somewhere in the middle.  Tap the remote (or rather, the box) with varying degrees of strength to complete a library of techno-style soundtracks.  Not terribly bad, but I don’t love the songs.  The two games that really make the game worth an evening (or at least a couple minutes) of your casual game attention are Tap Runner and Bubble Voyager.  Bubble Voyager is similar to Nintendo’s own Balloon Fight, updated with polygon-retro sensibilities.  You’ll tap a flying robot through a side-scrolling maze of mines and pickups, firing missiles to destroy barriers and landing on various pads.  Neat idea, and I’ll probably give this one an hour or two of my life.  Tap Runner is probably the most recognizable and memorable game in the collection, though in some ways, is the most straightforward and simplistic.  Tap in a quick, steady rhythm to make a neon track-star sprint through a wireframe-retro course.  You’ll leap gates, inflate balloons, balance on high-wires, all the while trying to keep a balance between rapid tapping and a careful light rhythm.  This is the game’s primary challenge–any red-blooded gamer will tap harder when the excitement builds (and your buddies are speeding past you), yet the game penalizes you for ‘over’ tapping (your character will stumble or leap awkwardly out of rhythm).  Part rhythm game, part party game, Let’s Tap is worth adding to a collection for your kids,or even for those gamers who just enjoy having a variety of games around for casual game-night.  You won’t be playing it for years, but there are a couple reasons to give it a chance.

Boom Blox Bash Party (8.5)

Spielberg says “Come one, come all”

I hate that there are so many games on this list that I don’t actually own . . .  yet.  Nevertheless, as an avid reader of reviews and a gamer of 25+ years, I feel that I have a pretty good radar on must-have games.  Given the social nature of the Wii system and the undeniable popularity of party gaming for a vast number of users, this followup to 2008′s Boom Blox seems like a no-brainer for most self-respecting Wii collectors.  This sequel includes all the features that made the first episode fun (knock over towers of “blox” using motion-controlled weapons and items–imagine throwing a baseball at elaborate stacks of carnival-game milkjugs)  but now includes a better level editor and the all-important ability to share and download user-generated content.  Though Wii U will (hopefully) bring Nintendo fully into the modern age of social online gaming, titles like BBBP have been quietly moving in this direction for years.  Mark me down for a copy, just as soon as I find the time.

Little King’s Story (8.5)

Looks like Pikmin. That’s a good thing.

I’ve long been divided as to whether LKS is the kind of game for me.  I’m not the world’s biggest fan of sim-style games, often preferring straightforward puzzles and challenges over open-world/at-your-own-pace gaming.  That said, the good reviews and mixed-genre format of LKS have caught my interest for a long time, and I hope to grab it at discount someday.  The infamous Bozon reviewed this one for IGN, recommending it as an entertaining mix of sim and RPG.  The control style of the game sounds like something akin to Pikmin (which I love), situating the player as the commander of an entire kingdom, omnipotently controlling the every move of your subject population.  While giving the game high marks for pure fun and a comic sense of humor, Bozon did knock it for a lack of motion/IR controls (an obvious fault in a point+click style game) and deducted some points for a blurry graphic style that lacks polished resolution (I had negative feelings toward this aspect of Skyward Sword, making me wonder if I’d be bothered by LKS as well).  Given that I’ve spotted Little King’s Story at retail for under $20, I hope to give it a spin sometime and see if Bozon was on the money by saying that the positives outweigh the negatives.  He’s usually right with his pronouncements.

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (8.5)

Review by CharbroiledEwok

I’ll be the first to admit: I don’t always judge games by traditional standards.  While I agree presentation and story can make or break certain titles, it’s more important that the game be fun, interesting, and make innovative use of the hardware.  I first experienced NyxQuest via a free downloadable demo, but it didn’t take long for me to drop $10 for the full version.  While some gamers may be turned off by the slow, methodical pacing, I enjoyed how the developers deftly blended action-platforming with manual physics puzzles.  It’s a perfect fit for the Wii’s control scheme (think: Boom Blox meets the original Prince of Persia).  More importantly, the steady introduction of new concepts and abilities throughout the game keep things fresh (e.g., the “Fields of Argos” level).  To you graphics snobs, you’ll be glad to hear that this is one of the prettiest WiiWare titles available, with music and art design consistent with the mythological theme.  My Score: 8.5

Rabbids Go Home (8.5)

E3 2009 included the debut of . . . a tower of junk. (a promotion for RGH)

I’m not a huge fan of the Rabbids, but reading through Casamassina’s IGN review makes me see the places where a game like this one might suit some of my tastes in gaming.  First of all, it sounds like a hilarious romp–a game as much about entertaining the audience as solving puzzles or completing achievements.  After all, the subtitle of RGH is “A Comedy Adventure”, so it sounds like Ubisoft was trying to say “this one is for fun, not necessarily a test of skill”.  Secondly, the underlying goal of the game–build a tower of junk to the moon–seems like an undeniably awesome premise for the game.  Working against it, though, is Casamassina’s warning that the game becomes repetitive after hours of playing similarly-styled levels.  He indicates that the challenge never really ramps up, feeling more like a series of strung-together levels (rather than a linear quest with tiers of difficulty).  Given that I’m currently struggling to stay interested in one of Rockstar’s awesome-yet-repetitive games (Bully), it’s a bad time for me to be encountering a game of this nature.  On the other hand, IGN’s review gives the game high marks in almost every category, and ultimately a strong 8.5 recommendation (albeit with a warning that the core gameplay is repetitious, and load times are bad).  So check it out–given the recent release of Rayman: Origins, there’s probably something good to find in this one.

Excitebots: Trick Racing (8.4)

Hey, who doesn’t enjoy a game of cards while driving a cartoon grasshopper at light speed?

Besides the generic arcade-style soundtrack (I found it cheesy and annoying) and the weird motion-blur that occurs at high speeds (a limitation of the Wii, I suppose), I love this game.  Excitebots is the sequel to 2006′s Excite Truck, and I’m willing to bet, was overlooked by 99% of Wii players because the name sounds like some awful kiddie cartoon or stupid movie tie-in.  Including worthwhile Wii Wheel support and a fully original approach to the (non-realistic) racing genre, Excitebots feels like a cross between an arcade-style speedway and the madness of a classic Mariokart throwdown.  The “bots” part of the game is totally forgettable; your ‘kart’ is actually a transformer-style, creature-shaped racecar that occasionally morphs into a stampeding two-legged giant.  The main—and most memorable—things about this game are the epic launch ramps and omnipresent high-speed insanity.  By shooting your vehicle off of even the tiniest bumps, hillocks, or towering cliffs, you’ll be flying as much as racing, and there is a great deal of replay value in searching out hidden jumps and finding new ways to speed boost through a whole course.  This isn’t a typical racer–it’s cartoon warfare at hyperspeed.  Tracks are covered with extra goodies that include insane mini-games (taking place while you’re throttling at full speed), a variety of weapons for smacking other players, and shortcuts that make the world feel more open and unlimited than almost any other most racing game I’ve played.  Excitebots is 100% fun for single or multiplayer, so it’s definitely worth tracking down, even if you don’t have a lot of other buddies to play with.

New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (8.4)

Hey Lucy, now that Ricky’s out of the way, why don’t you stop by my hut for a game of Jungle Beat

This one is tough to comment on, because I’d never recommend NPC!DKJB to anyone with the time and money to track down the GameCube original.  I myself missed the game at the time of the original launch (grad school has the annoying effect of stealing away all of a would-be gamer’s free time), yet I cannot adequately state how important the physical konga drums are for a real experience of DKJB.  The NPC! version has my gratitude for exposing this truly awesome game to a whole new set of players (it’s an ingenious platform-style experience somewhere between New SMB and Donkey Kong Country Returns) but playing without the original hand-drum peripherals would be like porting Wii Sports Bowling to a classic controller scheme–it’s the same beloved game, but you’ve lost the unique feature that made it famous.  With all that in mind, some players may still need to try out DK:JB without the use of kongas, since, as of late 2011, new Wii consoles no longer include GameCube controller slots–or maybe you just have nasty neighbors who hate late-night hand-drum concerts.  In that case, NPC!DK:JB is a decent alternative IF you lack an original Wii console, IF you lack the wherewithal to buy kongas and the GC disc on eBay, or IF you simply don’t possess the strength of character needed to enjoy a content-heavy, top-notch terrific, all-original Nintendo 10/10 game (in my humble opinion, anyway) that invites you to smack a set of gorilla drums until your palms are sore and the people below your apartment are tired of hearing your monkey-induced glee.  The choice is yours.

Wii Fit Plus (8.2)

I’ve only ever checked out the “+” version of Wii Fit at a friend’s house, but I wish I had waited for it.  By the time this expansion arrived, I was kind of burned out on my balance board (but not before putting in over 50 hours of practice on the original Wii Fit’s roster of toning exercises, games, and calisthenics).  For anyone still wondering if Wii Fit is right for them, you should simply buy the Wii Fit Plus version of the game and skip the original—it includes all of the first installment’s activities but greatly expands the lineup of options and activities–and allows users to create continuous custom workout routines, rather than having to select each exercise one at a time.  Most welcome are the new Mii-style games included in WFP—this is where Wii Fit really shines, achieving the toughest thing imaginable—making exercise fun. . . .for gamers.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles(8.1)

You’re on rails, but it doesn’t mean you won’t be scared

First, check out my review of 2007′s RE: The Umbrella Chronicles. Then feel free to click through to my reviewof this more recent episode (hosted at my private blog).  Yep, this one is nearly identical to the preceding episode–on rails zapper, revisits all the previous REs without adding much new plot or content, and it feels like a lame apology for Capcom’s failure/inability to bring RE5 to the Wii system.  I still like the game though–I’m a fan of both light-gun-shooters and the RE universe in general.  The graphics are polished, the voice acting is appropriately cheesy, and  this second installment adds leaderboards (though you’re still unable to actually play online).  I feel like the difficulty was turned down a notch in Darkside–headshots seem a bit easier to pull off, and I actually miss the process of shooting every single background item to find hidden bonuses (a major aspect of Umbrella Chronicles, altered in this sequel).  Bottom line is that if you, like me, enjoy on-rails light gun gaming, then this one is a great addition to your collection.  It might even be a bit better than the first Chronicles, though I still love the first one a bit more.

Klonoa (8.0)

“Hey! You want to talk to each other like little babies and make all the gamers barf?” “Hell yeah!”

Klonoa wasn’t a game that I was terribly thrilled with.  The art and overall aesthetic is childish, the storyline is definitely aimed at kids, and the game isn’t very long.  I have to admit, without sounding terribly harsh, I don’t really understand why this one lands on so many “most overlooked” lists of Wii software (trust me, it won’t win in my survey).  I’ll concede that the platforming is polished and looks great, the game’s primary grab-and-launch mechanic is unique and definitely a cool innovation, and the way that levels scroll in curved layouts (requiring the camera to swing along) is a nice hallmark of above-average development.  Klonoa, in some ways, is a decent knock-off alternative to the superior Mario platforming universe, yet it just didn’t feel very satisfying to me.  The game is shockingly easy, and the cartoon cutscenes were so nauseatingly sweet that I found myself mashing at buttons with all permissable force to skip even a few seconds of barf-inducing dialog.  In spite of my personal reservations, I am still compelled to list Klonoa in my “best of Wii” collection, if only because so many fans seem hell-bent on singing it’s praises.  To each their own, for sure.

New Play Control! Pikmin (8.0)

I never even knew a single person who bought this upgraded Pikmin release (maybe a clue as to Nintendo’s abandonment of the NPC! line), so I can’t say much about it.  I mean, if you never played Pikmin, this game is an awesome chance to experience one of Nintendo’s most recent all-original IPs (and to study up in advance of the long-anticipated Pikmin 3, coming to Wii U).  On the other hand, Pikmin 2 (also on GameCube) is actually the better game, so a newbie might be better served to simply grab a classic controller and a copy of the GameCube sequel off eBay.  Hard to say.  In any case, the Pikmin series is a good fit for Wiimote controls (imagine a point-and-click mouse-driven PC style game), so picking up NPC! Pikmin for Wii might not be such a bad idea after all.

Dawn of Discovery (8.0)

Looks like a sim game. (Yeah, that’s all I’ve got.)

Throughout the life of the Wii, I’ve been pretty ‘tuned in’ to the notable games for this system.  Dawn of Discovery somehow slipped through the cracks, although none of my friends seem to have heard of it either, the decent reviews convince me that I should list it as one of those “lost games” that might be worth checking out before Wii U arrives.  IGN’s review compares DoD to Civilization Revolution and awards this strategy/simulation/city-building game high marks for graphics, voice-acting,  and implementation of the Wiimote cursor control.  On the other hand, IGN notes that some pacing elements and artificial restrictions on your progress keep the game from achieving “must-have” status.  Overall, I get the impression that the IGN reviewer liked this game and is essentially saying “good for people who like this sort of game”.  Not being much of a sim/strategy guy myself, I’ll be skipping it, but an 8.0 score probably means some of you will want to give it a look.

Wii Spots Resort (7.7)

In fairness, it would be tough for anyone to look cool in this situation.

Mixed feelings about WSR . .  . though there is no way a true Wii fan could really avoid this game.  Not only did WSR expand the content of the original Wii Sports, it shipped with the Wii Motion Plus, a hardware patch intended to correct the problems of the Wiimote’s often-janky control.  And it works . . . sort of.  With the add-on of WMP, the Wiimote can detect finer shades of angle, speed and motion, so activities like sword fighting and swinging baseball bats now have a higher degree of accuracy and nuance.  The controls still aren’t perfect, and you’ll surely tire of the need to “re-center” your aim, but given that Skyward Swordwas WMP-mandatory, it looks like Nintendo plans to keep using it straight through into the coming Wii U era.  In any case, Wii Sports Resort had some fun, worthwhile activities–I especially liked the jet-ski event, the sword fighting, and the (highly challenging) dog frisbee game–but many of the events felt somewhat clunky or simply boring (the canoe never felt like more than a mildly frustrating way to waste five minutes of my day).  Overall, this game can be a fun diversion for a family get-together or causal play with friends.  It isn’t perfect, and has some lackluster moments, but it’s worth checking out for sure.

A Boy and His Blob (7.6)

I’m telling you, the looks are seductive, but the gameplay . . . not as much.

I just started playing the Wii version of aBahB in time for this article.  As one might guess from my IGN avatar, I’m a fan of the original NES title.  I’ve always had an undying fondness for the roughly-hewn/ultra-clever/ridiculously-difficult nature of that unusual game.  The graphics were blocky, almost pre-8-bit (similar to the graphics found in old Apple and Commodore games), the concept was goofy and original (a jellybean-eating alien sidekick?), and the challenge was enormous (I never quite finished the game, though I got very, very close a few times).   That said, fans of the NES game shouldn’t expect a lot of similarities in the Wii update.  The underlying concept is still here—you’re still a kid with a blob-buddy acting as your all-purpose slave—but the vibe of conceptual weirdness has been replaced with a boy-meets-dog sacchrin-sweet plot (which isn’t all that bad, but it’s not the same).  Moreover, a game that was punishingly(!) difficult has been retooled to be easier than anything I’ve played in recent memory—losing lives means nothing at all, since you’ll respawn within a few inches of your last death, no limit.  Finally, the NES graphics—with their Atari-era appeal—have been upgraded into a truly beautiful watercolor art-style . . .probably the best thing this game has going for it is that it is damn good-looking. . . . and strangely, I think i still prefer the original look.  If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m having a tough timegiving a “recommended” stamp to this game—I mean, it looks great, and it’s heartfelt simplicity is a welcome relief from a game-market overcrowded with redundant FPS and death-dealing space marines.  But this modern BahB is pretty shallow, too easy, and feels like a title aimed at kids who have no memory of the NES, much less the dastardly sewers and the poor collision detection that made the first installment so infuriating, but yet so memorable.  Maybe it will get harder when I make it back to Blobonia.  We shall have to see . . . if I stay interested long enough.

Tales of Monkey Island (Episodes 1-5) average of IGN scores: (7.3)

You’ll point. You’ll click. You’ll chug. ARGH!!!

Noting the metacritic score of 79, a ranking counterbalanced by a 5-user score of a whopping 9.4, I thought I’d include this one near the bottom of 2009′s notable Wii releases.  I would be an ideal fan for this rebooted later-day sequel to the infamous Lucasarts Monkey Island franchise; only problem being, though a lifelong fan of Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle, as well as many other excellent games in that stable…I never played the originals of Monkey Island.  Therefore, I’d rather go back and visit the first installments before diving into a new version, given that these games are all plot and narrative, and much less about gameplay.  Playing a modern iteration without knowing the full backstory seems, to me, like a recipe for missing half the punchlines.  In any case, I’m sure there are a few Wii owners who never got around to visiting this welcome update to a classic point-click/fetch-use/puzzle-cartoon adventure, and it remains available as a Wiiware download (though $10 per episode seems a bit high to me).  IGN reviewed episodes 1, 2, and 5, and entirely skipped reviews for parts 3 and 4–not sure what to make of this.  Part 5 got the highest score of the series, meaning that the best stuff may only be seen by the most dedicated fans of the series.  Check it out for yourself, especially if point->click->laugh is your preferred style of game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition (7.0)

Looks good, right? Tempting, right?

I almost pulled the trigger (pun intended) on this one so many times, and that damn IGN “7.0″ held me back every time.  Then Goldeneye 007 came along and eliminated any need to play COD:MW:RE, which was described (by Bozon) as having a choppy framerate and some significant cursor problems.  It’s odd, because when you read his review it sounds as though he’s telling us to avoid the game, yet it ends up scoring an “average” 7.0 score.  Based on that confusing review, it sounds as though the biggest problem for Reflex Edition is it’s inevitable comparison to the versions on other systems.  Once again, one can therefore assume that if one only owns or playson Wii, COD:MW:RE is a decent game to add to the collection.  Otherwise, probably something you’d best avoid.  Me, once I found paradise in Goldeneye, I didn’t have any reason to try other shooters.  But it’s here if you need it.

and now . . . .

Wii Game of the Year for 2009

New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  I’m not giving it to Prime (after all, it’s a collection, not an original game) and I can’t see handing GOTY to a plastic instrument or a straightforward (though wonderful) golf game.  So yeah, though I enjoy seeing other winners take the top slot, 2009′s most important game has got to go to the brothers that started it all.  I can’t overstate how much I appreciate the concept of four-player cooperative competition, the “bubble” mechanic that allows less skilled players (i.e. your girlfriend) to play along without killing the team, or the fact that Nintendo was able to deliver a great balance of casual appeal while also giving the veteran players a game to sink their teeth into.  Once again, anything with “Mario Bros.” in the title simply delivers the best experience money can buy.  If only Hotel Mario had included “Super” or “Bros.” in the title, maybe it would have worked out better.

Runner Up Wii Game for 2009

Don’t say a word. Mac’s my boy.

Punch Out!!  It’s not long enough, it’s not a complicated game, and maybe I’m showing my NES-era biases by putting this game into the #2 slot for 2009—but I don’t care.  For me, Punch Out!! was a heck of a lot of fun, even though the game failed to give us more than a single new fighter or update the formula in any appreciable way.  Then again, when something isn’t broken, there’s usually no need to fix it, and so in the end, I was happy enough to play a modern update to a classic game that, 25 years on, remains on most Nintendo enthusiasts “best of all time” lists.  I totally understand why some readers would give this #2 slot to another game, but I’m betting I’m in good company to call Punch Out!! a “must have” for any serious Wii collection.

Most Underrated Wii Game for 2009

Commander Video watches over us all

The Bit.Trip series.  This was a really tough call to make, given the competition for “underrated” is pretty thick in 2009.  My runner-up choices for this award would be Excitebots, Muramasa, and Dead Space—and I’m sure that many of you would argue that Madworld, The Conduit, or Klonoa deserve the nod.  Making it more complicated is the fact that the Bit.Trip series actually stretches across 3 years, with only the first 3 installments taking place in 2009.  However, when it comes down to it, I feel as though this imaginative and unique retro-modern series deserves the win for a few reasons.  Firstly, given that it was released through Wiiware, I’m betting that 99% of Wii owners never even heard of these games, much less downloaded them.  Secondly, the series delivered a welcome hybrid of classic visuals and difficulty (B.T is ridiculously tough, akin to quarter-eating standups of yesteryear) with modern musical soundtracks and humorously self-conscious retro-appeal.  Finally, the episodes themselves are just ridiculously cool, bringing games back to a place where having fun is more important than a complex concept, and true mastery will elude all but the most devoted players.  Individual episodes are still available via the online store, and the entire collection is now available in a complete retail package for Wii or 3DS—so there’s no time like the present to become a fan.

That’s it for 2009!  WHAT A YEAR! A pile of great games (more even than I had the space to include here), a wide variety of genres and styles, and a serious competition for your gaming adoration.  Could 2009 be the best year for the Wii?  We’ll have to wait and see. . . until the next installment of my blog!
I welcome your comments, corrections, and proposals for games I’ve forgotten to include.  I’m just one guy, and I can only research and play so many games at a time.

2010 coming soon….

Hello, and welcome to the THIRD installment of my blog-series where I’ll attempt to review every single (worthwhile) Wii game.

If you missed ‘em, check out the other two entries in the series (2006 and 2007) at the mainpage of my blog.

(If the links “IGN Fail”, simply scroll down to the earlier entries in my blog).

This blog is the third entry in a series.  As we wait for Wii U to arrive, there remain plenty of great games we all missed out on (unless, of course, you’re a compulsive freak that has no life outside of video games).  Hopefully, this year-by-year look at the Wii’s back catalog will help you identify some of the great games you missed, and give you one last chance to grab em before they’re buried by the next-gen Nintendo.

Every review  includes the IGN score and a handy link to IGN’s own review.  All of the writing and reviews are my own unless otherwise indicated (thanks to CharbroiledEwok and Kyliemale for their awesome contributions).

The order of the following list is determined by IGN’s overall score–and don’t forget, you can click the header of each game to link to the IGN official review.

I’m hoping that you readers find these posts useful.  Please feel free to bookmark these posts for future reference–in the process of writing this blog, I’ve played a lot of great games that I originally missed, and encourage you to do the same.

Without further ado . . .

2008: Karts, Brawls, and Balance Boards

When a year includes the two most enduringly popular titles for a single console–one appealing to the the casual/family crowd, and the other for the ‘hardcore’ players–you think that this might be enough for a single turn of the calendar.  There’s no doubt 2008 helped to cement Wii’s legacy–as of this writing, two 2008 releases stand at #3 (MarioKart) and #13 (Wii Fit) on VGchartz best-selling games of all time.   Even in spite of these two top-shelf offerings, Nintendo didn’t rest with the release of the latest cartoon kart racer or the long anticipated followup to Melee–they also released yet another of their trademark “WTF!?” peripheral devices . . .  only to have it catch fire and become the must-have Wii add-on for over a year (including a true mark of commercial success: widespread retail shortages during the year-ending holiday season, more than 6 months after the balance board arrived in stores!!).  I’m pretty sure the corporate heads at Nintendo saw 2008 as a decently successful year.  If not, I can’t imagine how they’d define “winning”.

Let’s do this.

Super Smash Bros. BRAWL (9.5)

I SO wish this was real.

There is nothing I could write about SSBB that hasn’t already been said.  For many, BRAWL is the #1 reason to own a Wii.  For others, it’s the only reason.  SSBB was my first foray into Nintendo’s battle royale mashup (yeah–I never played Melee . . grad school eats up your time), but it won’t be my last.  Like many before me, I initially found the lack of a health bar and basic gameplay to be somewhat confusing–even annoying (for those living in a cave, matches are decided by sumo-style ring-outs rather than the standard energy depletion of other fighters).  Raised on familiar fighting games like Mortal Kombat II and Street Fighter II, I just didn’t know how to deal with the absence of complex button combos, lack of fatalities, or ambiguous knock-out percentages.  Yet, a few thousand matches later, I can truly call myself a convert.  A responsible critic can’t overlook the negatives of SSBB–the online support is laggy and disappointing, and the game isn’t very fun for a solo player, but since I have one or two local friends to play with, I was able to eek quite a lot of fun out of this top-shelf Nintendo franchise.  Now, all I need to do is get A LOT BETTER, because I still regularly get my a$$ handed to me.  Can’t wait to see the next iteration on Wii U and 3DS, and continue my training.  It’s one of Nintendo’s strongest series, and undoubtedly their best game of 2008.

World Of Goo (9.5)

Only one of the best games on any platform, that's all

If you haven’t played it, you’ve been living under a rock.  WoG is the game that exposed more people to the concept of ‘physics puzzler’ than any other title in modern memory.  With the visuals of a Tim Burton film and melancholy, often-twisted humor, the gameplay might have been just average, and people would still have remembered it.  But the basic mechanic of using cartoon blobs to build rube-goldberg structures and escape various scenarios is so addictive and ingenious that WoG stands as one of the best titles on Wii, much less all the other platformson which this king-of-the-indie games rules supreme.  The single player campaign is as interesting for the dark-humor plot and freakish levels (in one particularly memorable moment, you’ll construct an escape route out of a monster’s belly), and there’s even a legitimately addictive free-play mode in which a player tries to build the tallest possible tower using a limited supply of goo (even cooler, your Wii system syncs with other tower-builders around the world, giving you added inspiration to try and outdo their unbelievable achievements).  Finally, with an aptly-titled “OCD mode” that tests the best players to find hidden solutions to the toughest puzzles, it’s got lasting appeal that outshines almost any other puzzle game I can think of.  Play it now, or forever hold your peace.

Rock Band 2 (9.0)

Look familiar?

Looking back, it’s a little tough to write enthusiastic reviews for the hyper-saturated plastic-instrument craze of 2007-2008.  What was once epic innovation has, by 2012, mutated into a collective sense of “now where do I store these bulky peripheral controllers, just in case I ever want to play with them again”.  In spite of our collective storage problems, almost every gamer played along for those first heady months of music-game parties, reminding us all just how great a real co-op experience can be.  Rock Band 2 (and all the games like it) represent a chance for the gaming world to finally understand what ‘normal’ people like about Karaoke—we just prefer a more interactive experience.  It’s unlikely that anyone is running out and buying games like RB2 at this point, yet in it’s time, this was one of the must-have titles for the entire world.  And, in fairness, it’s a worthwhile installment in the pantheon of the (now enormous) music-game arc, if you’re still hungry for more songs and haven’t yet played it.

Okami (9.0)

My dog would never put up with this.

Full disclosure: I played about 5 hours of Okami on Playstation 2 and never went back to it (or picked up the Wii version).  It instantly struck me as a knockoff of the Zelda franchise, and I was having personal issues with that whole genre at the time (fetch-quests were especially irksome to me, so much so that I also quit on Twilight Princess).  Nevertheless, I wish I would have waited for the Wii debut of Okami, because the play mechanic that first attracted me to the game (drawing symbols on a canvas is one of the main ways you interact with the game and battle enemies) is undoubtedly perfect for the Wii, and the reviews (including IGN’s) reflected it.  The game has an impressive style of visual art, a uniquely entertaining canine protagonist, and a good soundtrack that emphasizes the visual themes.  IGN’s review knocks a few points from the Wii version due to PS2-carryover framerate issues and the fact that this port includes not a single new feature (in spite of the game being more than 2 years old at the time of Wii release).  Yet, given the high praise and universal popularity, I’m betting Okami for Wii is still worth checking out, particularly if you can’t get enough of Zelda-like games.  A 9.0 from IGN is nothing to scoff at.

Tetris Party (9.0)

As a gamer of 25+ years, I have a hard time figuring out just why I’d need another copy of Tetris in my collection (more than 10 platforms and literally hundreds of discs and cartridges).  I’m still content with an occasional visit to Tetris Worlds (one of the few games I still use on my dusty PS2), and though it lacks online modes, I don’t really have a burning urge to play competitive Tetris against strangers.  BUT, since I’m sure there are millions of people for whom Tetris remains THE KING of games, I’m still certain that Tetris Party is a must-have Wii title, no debate or discussion about it.  Whether for hosting family game nights, owning an ‘everyone loves it’ style of game for holiday get-togethers, or hooking up with your old college roommates–now living thousands of miles away–via the online battle modes. . . Tetris Party is an obvious game that many players will want, if only because it’s the kind of game that never goes out of style.  Like Pac-Man, people will be playing some iteration of this classic in a hundred years, so buy with confidence.

Another look at Tetris Party by Kyliemale:  Tetris games have been released on every video game system since the infancy of the industry.  Tetris Party, Wii’s version of the classic falling block puzzle game is, in my opinion, the 3rd best iteration; I can’t help but feel that this version trails Tetris DS and the original GameBoy cartridge.  This, however, is a significant accomplishment, considering that the top two versions of this game are for handheld platforms–the ideal way to play Tetris.  Thanks to the inclusion  of a robust multi-player experience, Tetris Party is a great download for any Wii owner.  A large variety of game modes is a big lure to this downloadable title.  The best of these are to be found in the split-screen 4-player matches. The biggest setback for the game is the less-than-thrilling presentation, which abandons Tetris DS’s awesome use of retro themes and music in favor of a more modern look with heavy Mii integration.  These changes do not affect the gameplay, but should be noted as a mark against the overall package.  Yet, all things considered, any true Tetris fan or Wii-party-gamer would not want to miss out on this version of an age-old classic.

CharbroiledEwok Says:

Another look at Tetris Party by CharbroiledEwok:  There’s not much to say about Tetris – the basic formula hasn’t changed much after all these years.  If it ain’t broke, why fix it?  That said, each new iteration seeks to add new modes or gimmicks, and this WiiWare entry is no different.  You can expect the same classic gameplay, of course, but Field Climber, Stage Racer, and Shadow modes are welcome additions.  Online multiplayer is a little weak, but local matches are thoroughly fun (esp., Co-op Tetris and Dual Spaces).  There’s even a mode that makes use of the Balance Board accessory, but it’s nothing to write home about.  In the end, it’ll come down to how much you want to play another Tetris game.  My Score: 8.

Guitar Hero: World Tour (8.8)

In the debate over Rock Band/Guitar Hero, I threw in my lot with GH.  Having played both, I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the two, but the additional drumpad in GH was the deciding factor for me (plus I’m a big fan of real-life Guitar Heroes—everything in a name).  GH:WT is the title where I cut my teeth on the music-game genre and spent the majority of my time, and I still have fond memories for it.  I got good enough to play through 80% of the game on Expert before turning in my axe, and I have numerous fond memories of many epic jams with my friends.  IGN’s review wisely points out that GH remains more challenging than the parallel release of Rock Band 2 (something I personally prefer, and definitely noticed in games of RB2 at a friend’s house), and I’d personally add that if you’re only going to buy one set of plastic drums, I’d personally want the one with the most pads (RB has one less than the GH default set).  Finally, this is one of the the early examples of a Wii game embracing a “fully online” concept, inquiring if you want to sign into the internet service each time you fire up the game.  That was a great move by Activision–we should probably all thank them for fighting to include a feature that helped remind Nintendo that gamers DO want online games after all.

Mega Man 9 (8.6)

These are the moments when you wish games still came in cardboard boxes (promotional art for Mega Man 9)

I was more psyched than anyone for MM9.  I’m a huge retro/NES fan, and I never liked the Mega Man offshoot series that took over the Nintendo DS.  To me, MM is supposed to be a lineup of cartoony boss characters who each have a secret Achilles heel, and who each give up a cool weapon when you kill them.  Then, just when you think you’ve won, Dr. Wily is supposed to appear with a team of oversized, nearly-unbeatable super-robots, and THEN you’ve still got to face the final gauntlet where you’ll fight all the robot bosses in a row without a single game over.  It’s a formula that worked for some of the most legendary games of all time (MM 1-3 in particular), so why mess with it?   MM9 was a return to the roots of 80s gaming, a love-letter to fans who grew up throwing NES controllers at the television and scouring Nintendo Power for tips.  And what a coup for the Wiiware online service it was.  This 2008 retro-reboot reminded us of the days when games were made to be really hard and ‘Game Over’ wasn’t just a quaint nod to old-timers who still think that a real game hero shouldn’t simply respawn in the spot where he got zapped.  In short, I loved MM9, I went through it 3 times, finishing as many  achievements as I could (and there are a lot of tough ones!) while never quite mastering the art of the speed run.  In any case, Mega Man 9 is 100% recommended for anyone who ever loved any game on the NES, and misses the days when the ‘blue bomber’ kept it simple, straightforward, and epic.

Mario Kart Wii (8.5)

It still sucks, but there's a lot of online art for this "worst item ever".

I have to seriously wonder, how much time do I need to spend describing a game that is probably on the shelf of everyone reading this article (currently ranked as the third-best selling game of all time)?  Yet . . . in spite of the overwhelming popularity and literally insane sales figures, MKW is, I have to say, one of those games where the widespread popularity is maybe a wee bit overinflated.  Sure, it’s Mariokart (one of the most enduringly entertaining multiplayer games spanning several excellent installments), and sure, it’s got no-latency 12 player online support (a feature seen in far too few Wii games), but to me, MKW is….well…not the best in the series.  This isn’t to say I didn’t clock somewhere north of 100 hours playing it (and was a serious online contender waaaay back when the game debuted), but as one gets older and plays all the ‘karts across the years, the fundamental flaws of last-to-first-place Blue Shells and ridiculous rubberband AI will take their toll on the enthusiasm of even the most dedicated player.  I’d still say this episode is an integral part of any truly complete Wii collection (there’s a good amount of content and challenge in the single-player mode alone)–I just wish Nintendo would finally give us the option to turn off the come-from-last-place weapons.  Otherwise, MKW remains a mostly great game featuring one of the earliest and best Nintendo efforts to bring online multiplayer to the masses—thank heavens.

Art Style: Orbient  (8.5)

Cosmic, bro

Ding ding, Wiiware alert!  Another chance to support Nintendo’s underutilized online delivery service!  Retailing for only $6, and combined with an 8.5 rating, I feel like I’m nearly convinced already.  Craig Harris’ review is unreservedly enthusiastic about this simple-sounding game, describing an experience that is relatively straightforward (attract and repel planets using only 2 controller buttons, no other inputs needed) yet gives the impression of a downloadable title with challenge and addictive elements.  Background:  AS:O is one game in a series called “Bit Generation” that never made it to USA GBA screens.  According to IGN, the Wiiware version is entirely loyal to the original GBA gameplay but includes welcome visual and sonic updates, making it a bit more palatable for a modern console release.  With the IGN review including varied terms like “mellow”, “relaxing” and “challenging”, I’m definitely intrigued.  After watching a few youtube videos of the game, I also tend to think the ambiance and spacey, atmospheric soundtrack are right up my alley as well.  I still have some leftover Wiiware points to spend—this might be the game that receives em.

Dr. Mario Online Rx (8.5)

I swear, it's not a metaphor! We were really playing video games!

Over the years, I’ve dated at least three different women with whom I spent many entertaining hours playing countless games of Dr. Mario.  I mention that not to prove that I’m some kind of dating/gaming/blogging triple-threat (I am, but it’s beside the point) but more to make the point that Dr. Mario–whatever iteration we’re talking about–is the sort of Tetris-style game that everyone can enjoy, and it still holds up all these years and versions later.  Since I’m now in a steady relationship of almost 10 years, and my girl doesn’t love videogames nearly as much as me (though she’ll still throw down some skills on Guitar Hero or Tetris) I haven’t been able to spend a whole lot of this online iteration.  When we’re ‘feeling the itch’, we still prefer my old NES for ‘trips to the doctor’.  I did play the new online version with a buddy a few times, and can definitely say that for anyone hankering to get their prescription fix, it’s a valuable update for a total classic.  I haven’t played the all-new “virus buster” mode that arrived in this latest iteration of Dr M., but based on Bozon’s comments, I hope to check it out next time I’m over at my buddy’s place.  He already spent the $10 on the download, and we might as well get his money’s worth.  That last mode is 4 player too–so maybe our lady friends will want to join in. ;’]

Skate It (8.5)

If it's anything like balance board Punch Out!!, you'll be drenched in a sexy sweater of sweat.

Having done my time with the Tony Hawk series, I never got around to trying out the competition found in Skate It.  Looking back on the review, IGN makes it sound like a refreshing take on the genre that was, imho, beaten to death by Activision.  Too bad I was tired of the skate-game genre, because balance-board support and a new input format for a skateboard game (timing and flicks of the sticks, rather than complex button combos) make it sound like something I would have liked.  Daemon Hatfield gave it high marks for the Wii platform, saying that although the (optional) balance board makes the game far harder than the normal Wiimote/Nunchuck layout (and feels like a tacked-on feature, rather than a planned design), the game is largely entertaining and a welcome addition to the Wii library.  Other than the balance board, it seems as though there isn’t a whole lot of new material from the versions on other systems, but for those who’ve been away from the skateboard genre long enough, this looks like a good way to dive back in.  Ebay auctions are closing under $10 as we speak.  Yours for the taking.

Shawn White Snowboarding: Road Trip (8.4)

Bet you didn't know I could drink beer and exercise at the same time

So over the winter, I’ve been sitting around my house doing a lot of non-physical activities (writing IGN blogs for instance, or drinking great beer and playing my 3DS).  Come springtime, I got my yearly checkup and noticed my cholesterol was a smidgeon high.  I’m in pretty good physical shape, but figured that it couldn’t hurt to work some new exercise into my life (NOTE: before you scoff at the concept of balance-board as a calorie burner, I already walk 2 miles a day and ride my bike at least once a week.  I’m just looking for an extra boost).  Enter Shaun White.  Googling around for “best balance board games”, Road Trip showed up in several lists, so I hit up eBay and got myself a copy for $10, shipped.  After only a few hours on the board, I can already say that this was money well spent.  Though the game’s graphics are more cartoony than realistic, the visual style works very well, conveying a sense of speed and physical realism akin to a real-life mountainside experience.  In my non-videogame ‘real life’, I’ve skied some big (and scary!) runs in Utah, so I find it very cool that SWS achieves a surprisingly accurate sense of a crazy downhill race, especially if you’re playing on a big-screen television (I’d strongly recommend this for balance-board enthusiasts—definitely amps up the ‘realism’ factor).  Of course, the game doesn’t require the use of a balance board (you can play with just the Wiimote) but given that the BB works so nicely, it’s tough for me to see the real attraction of this game if you’re just using the standard controls.  The trick-chaining isn’t as deep as similar games (I’m thinking of the crazy combos in the Tony Hawkseries), and though you’ll be pulling off some multi-obstacle stunts (i.e. launch ramp to grind rail, etc) the real fun, for me, is the ability to immerse myself in the difficulties of carving, launching, spinning the board, and landing correctly . . . .all with the use of my feet.  Sure, the added challenge of the balance board definitely causes me miss some tricks (and bail horribly when I don’t land straight), but I’m definitely having fun and, no kidding, working up a sweat—anyone who’s ever skied or snowboarded can gladly tell you, you’ll be soaked at the end of a good day on the mountain.  It’s a testament to the game that I can experience something similar in my living room.  If you, like me, own a balance board that has been gathering an impressive coating of dust, why not grab a copy of SWS:RT and wring a little bit more value out of that overpriced peripheral.  Maybe you’ll even get a little bit healthier in the process.

Wario Land: Shake It! (8.4)

Finally, a game for my kid to enjoy.

I hated it. . . but I suppose I can see some of the appeal….if I work really hard at it.  For this reviewer, there was something about the graphic style that made me feel like I was playing some cheap-ass flash game, and the music struck me as maximum-intolerable–I’d rather hear chalkboard fingernails or someone rubbing a balloon (that squeaky sound goes right through me).  Perhaps I’m wrong, but I felt like the game had started life as a pre-teen/casual title but then was (slightly) “aged up” as an afterthought.  It looks like a game for kindergarteners, the controls felt loose and cheap, and the enemies seemed mostly boring and generic.  I’ll admit, I definitely liked the game’s “run backwards through the level” concept–in each level, you’ll platform to the goal (much like a standard Super Mario game), but once you’ve reached the end, you’re immediately forced to run, double-time, backwards through the level, all the way to the entrance.  It’s an incredibly straightforward yet unique twist on an otherwise bland game, and I wish this backwards-through-the-hoops mechanic had shown up in a ‘core’ Mario title, rather than languishing in this all-too-cheesy sideshow.  In the end, I can certainly understand why some Wii fans will like this game more than I did…but considering that the developer (Good Feel) are the same folks who worked on the unapologetically-youthful Kirby’s Epic Yarn, I’m not surprised that I felt too old to be playing such a childish game.

De Blob (8.4)

Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy (8.1)

I find myself strangely attracted to the arty/retro graphics

BlastWorks remains on my “need to play, eventually” list (and I have almost no excuse not to, considering it usually sells for around $6 at GameStop).  I love the concept of a side-scrolling shooter in which one can build and share their own stages and enemies with other players.  After (re)reading IGN’s review, I’m even more interested in the game; I was under the mistaken impression that the user-generated-content is the only reason to play BW, but Daemon Hatfield’s article makes BW sound like a worthwhile and chaotic co-op experience (with up to 4 players simultaneous).  Even better, the single player campaign includes up to 15 levels and stands out from other shooters in the way you arm yourself–by sucking in and attaching the debris from other fighters to your own ship.  Meanwhile, the “build and trade” part of the package remains available as a primary reason to try out BW.  Though IGN docks some points for the level editor tools (“not quite as easy to use as they could be”), the fact that you can trade and download levels from other users means that BW is an rare Nintendo-platform crowdsourcing game with unlimited potential.  And seriously, this is one of the cheapest games around, perennially available in every Used bin for only a few bucks.  With an 8.1 score, I’m betting there is some value to be found here.

Boom Blox (8.1)

Admit it--this looks like a good time.

This cute little game is entertaining beyond it’s simple premise and remains on my short list of “games to get” (though I’ll honestly probably just skip to the sequel, which also stands as one of the Wii’s top titles).  A few years ago, I spent a few hours playing this original installment at a buddy’s house, and remember thinking “this is the kind of game where the Wiimote’s limited motion controls can really shine”.  Imagine the classic carnival game “knock over the milkjugs with a baseball”, and you’ve spotted the inspiration underlying the BB concept.  It might sound too simple to be fun, but in reality, the basic premise of throwing projectiles at teetering Jenga-style block forts yields surprisingly deep results.  BB includes a variety of special weapons and an array blocks with individual characteristics that add layers of challenge, and the different goals for each level are varied enough to give the basic concept a longer shelf life than my description will convey (you’ll be achieving specific goals in each level, not just knocking over blocks).  Again, in one of the best uses of the (non-Wiimote Plus) Wii’s controller, BB senses the force of your throws (so you can make calculated decisions as to your attack strategy) and is also used to point/grab/manipulate objects in some situations.  Finally, BB’s most valuable aspect is it’s potential for universal appeal–even your non-gaming parents could understand and enjoy playing for a few hours, but BB will simultaniously please experienced puzzle-physics fans.  Considering that Wii U supports the continuing use of your trusty Wiimotes, it’s hard to see why any Nintendo gamer wouldn’t add at least one of the BB games to their co-op collection.  As they say, “good fun for the whole family”.

Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People (episodes 1-5, 8.1-8.6)

This box art is from the (physical release) PC version. Now that is just bad-ass.

I never tuned into the whole Strong Bad/Homestar Runner phenomenon, so I’ve also failed to shell out for the Wiiware downloads of this internet in-joke-turned-video-game.  Plus, given that point+click adventures can be so hit or miss (though I definitely love the Lucasarts cannon), I sort of  feel like my money is best spent elsewhere.  My lack of exposure means I’d be missing a lot of the jokes in a Strongbad game, but on the other hand, IGN’s scores for the series make me think that the bizarre humor and loyal fan service in these Wiiware episodes will strike fans as worthy.  The link I’ve provided above is to IGN’s review of the first episode; reading the review makes me think I’m probably right to avoid these titles until I’ve had some actual exposure to the source content the games are based on.  Sure, I have an insane sense of humor, and yeah, I tend to like much of the Adult Swim style of jokes, but I also need to remember that cult fads often hinge on insular goofs and self-reference, so sometimes, one has to simply accept they are on the outside of a given gag.  I would note that, even without downloading the game, a $10 Wiiware pricetag is one of the higher fees you’ll see on the entire service, meaning that to collect the entire story arc, you’ll be shelling out as much a full retail game.  I can’t say I’m convinced that a point-and-click adventure is really worth $50, but then again, if they released a sequel to Day of the Tentacle, I’d probably be lining up.  There’s no accounting for cult tastes, right?

Bomberman Blast (8.1)

Colorful and multiple. Looks like fun.

Believe it or not, I’ve never played a Bomberman game.  Daemon Hatfield reviewed this $10 Wiiware download for IGN and gave it a reasonably good review with specific focus on the online multiplayer aspect.  Not only is the online play worthy of the hallowed Bomberman mantle (according to Daemon), but this is the only Wii game I’ve ever heard of that can handle up to eight local players, presuming one owns 4 Wiimotes as well as 4 GameCube controllers (and an original Wii with the GC ports included).  That’s a lot of co-op gaming fun; sadly, I doubt if many players have 7 nearby friends (or the necessary peripherals) to ever try this option.  But back to the online mode (likely the most attractive aspect of this downloadable title); there are leaderboards, penalties for rage-quitting (this should be required by law for all online games) and 11 maps in which you’ll be destroying strangers and buddies alike.  What started as an NES game has become a total institution, and though the underlying concept seems pretty basic (blow sh&t up, now blow up your buds, repeat) it seems like a franchise with enough endurance that I should probably plan on testing one of the iterations (maybe this one) sometime.  Given my love for competitive gaming, I’ll probably get sucked in.

MaBoShi’s Arcade (8.0)

Hard to explain why, but that subtitle has me in stitches!

I hadn’t even heard about this Wiiware title ($8) until noticing how high it scored on Metacritic.  Therefore, I’m not going to pretend I’ve even played it (yet), or can do anything besides summarize the basic concepts, based on my surveys of the IGN and nintendolife reviews.  In any case, the game clearly warrants a spot in a list of notable Wii games (underrepresented in the Wiiware category), so here we go.  First off, the low price vs. the positive reviews make it seem like the game is worth a risk for retro-game or co-op arcade fans.  With a premise calling for players to rack up a million points (literally), it’s got that classic masochistic sensibility going for it as well.  The core gameplay occurs in 3 mini-style games that rely on premises of almost Atari 2600 simplicity.  Even the games have oversimplified titles–Circle, Stick, and Square–yet based on Craig Harris’ review, I’m definitely intrigued and considering a download (I love faux-retro titles like Bit.Trip, and reading Craig’s MaBoShi review reminds me of something similar).  Most attractively, MBS features a lot of co-op/competitive gameplay (depending on the situation), allowing multiple players to play simultaneous, separate events that interact with each other in real time.  Cooler yet, MBS includes a rare instance of DS/Wii connectivity, with the ability to send a miniaturized version of a game to your handheld system.   Sign me up–I have abut $10 unused Wii points that are looking suddenly useful again.

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (8.0)

I surprised myself by getting really addicted to Metroid Prime Pinball for the DS.  Prior to that, my last positive pinball experiences (virtual or real) were back on the original Gameboy (I’m recalling many fond hours playing Revenge of the Gator).

Video pinball has come a long way since Gameboy.

I just positively suck at real-life pinball, but turns out that I’m really able to enjoy videogame versions of the tabletop hobby.  I haven’t played The Williams Collection, but having read through Craig Harris’ IGN review, I’m now tempted to consider grabbing a used copy (ranging on eBay between $15 and $20 shipped).  The Wii version of the game includes 10 famous recreations (Pinbot, Taxi, and Funhouse being some of the only pinball I’ve ever played in my life) and IGN reports that TWC has great physics and a worthwhile achievement system that increases the replay value.  All in all, Craig’s comparisons to versions for other platforms make the Wii iteration of TWC the one to own.  Given the cheap price and decent review score, I’d say it’s a game worthy of our time.  Even as a “non-pinball guy”, I’m feeling a genuine itch to check it out myself.

Wii Fit (8.0)

Epic win!

I had to try it, if only to be able to check yet another Nintendo phenomenon off my lifetime “to-do” list.  I’m genuinely glad I did.  Less a game than a personal exercise trainer, Wii Fit was one of those must-have Christmas gifts for the casual gaming world.  Though I’ll gladly bet that 99% of Wii Balance Boards haven’t left their respective closets since 2009 (a frightening number, given that the game sold over 22 million copies world-wide), I personally got my money’s worth from Nintendo’s flattest white plastic peripheral.  I’m in relatively good physical shape, yet I definitely benefitted from the training in basic yoga and calisthenics, and genuinely enjoyed the bite-sized Mii-style games.  Anyone still interested in checking out WF should just move directly to Wii Fit Plus (it includes all the original activities as well as additional games).  You may also want to look into buying a few other games that support the balance board (Punch Out!! and Shawn White Road Trip being two of the best).  You’ll definitely work up a sweat.

Disaster: Day of Crisis (8.0, IGN UK)

Please explain how this game doesn't look awesome

In order for USA players to check this one out, you’re going to need to soft-mod your Wii—something I haven’t had the nerve to do. . . yet.  I’m told it isn’t difficult, and this minor act of jailbreaking will unlock the ability to play Wii games from other world regions.  D:DoC is the only game that has seriously tempted me to consider modding my Wii (I’m paranoid about messing up my trusty old launch-day system), though others may have taken this route long ago due to the hyper-delayed US releases of Last Story or Xenoblade.  Anyway, after making the warranty-voiding changes, you’ll simply need to hit eBay for an import copy of Disaster and start enjoying what sounds to be one of the oddest, yet intriguing titles on the system.  The UK IGN review describes D:DoC as a mismash of different ideas and game styles, including third person shooting and adventuring segments.  The attractions of this game are obvious: staged as a B-movie natural-disaster game, volcanoes, earthquakes and floods are the big enemies you’ll be facing (cool, right?) while you simultaneously gun down baddies and rescue civilians.  Your hero has upgradable attributes, and a stamina bar is paired against your health meter for a nod to semi-realistic conditions one would face in a true calamity.  The IGN UK review knocks the game’s use of rough-looking polygons and questionable tendency to throw too many different ideas into one (nearly) incohesive game, yet still ends up giving the game a general thumbs-up for the entertainment value, concept, and length.  Like I said above, I’ve often considered modifying my Wii so that I could try my hand at D:DoC.  Let me know if I’m wrong to be so interested in this unusual title that thundered right past USA players.

Call of Duty: World at War (8.0)

Didn’t play it, but CoD:WaW looks like a worthwhile FPS on Wii (as of 2008, Bozon called it “a serious contender in the world of Wii FPS”).  Sure, it’s yet another WWII shooting game, and sure, it’s been far surpassed (even on Wii) by the more recent versions of the endlessly popular CoD series, yet IGN’s own review notes respectable online gameplay, a surprisingly adult level of brutality (surprising on a Nintendo platform) and gives the game high marks in a variety of categories including graphics, control, and sound.  If, like me, you especially love playing FPS games on the Wii due to the point-and-click abilities of the Wiimote, then CoD is another moment where Wii’s unique, customizable control layout may shine in comparison to the dual-analog-only versions on other platforms.  In the end, CoD:WaW is a game that is inevitably superior on another system, but if you happen to be a Nintendo-only kind of player (like myself), it sounds like one of those back-catalog Wii games that might be well worth the used-bin prices

Bully: Scholarship Edition (8.0)

No kidding, some REALLY weird stuff happens in this game

This was a game I wanted to try for a few years, but I needed to give myself a little time between Rockstar titles to avoid being burnt out on the entire sandbox genre.  A testament to my excitement: when I recently finished Skyward Sword at 1 AM on a quiet Friday night, I got up, poured myself another beer, and went right back to the Wii for my first hour with Bully.  And I have good news to report:  Even though I’m kind of sick of the whole self-important GTA criminal narrative–and though Rockstar’s formula has become unbelievably repetitive–Bully remain a whole lot of fun. Instead of dodging cops, you’re running from hall monitors; instead of crashing cars, you’re ollie-ing a skateboard down the library stairs.  Smack a girl or a little kid–both prohibited actions—and you’re liable to get taken to the principal’s office (and stripped of all your cool toys like stinkbombs and slingshots).  The best thing about Bully is the way GTA-flavored gameplay has been ingeniously transmuted into this goofy childhood fishbowl.  The biting sarcasm and pointed social satire of Rockstar is on full display (obese kids waddle helplessly into trouble; teenage girls whine about lipstick shades and stupid boys; teachers vary between comic buffoonery and militant psychosis).  The game is a brilliant exploration of childhood fears and evil fantasy, and although I doubt the game will have enough staying appeal for me to finish even half of the expansive missions and sidequests, I’m definitely going to give it a try.  Postscript: I got about 15 hours into Bully (25% complete) before moving onto another game.  Like so many Rockstar experiences, Bully is meant to be a very long haul, but this still didn’t prevent me from having a good time with the parts I played.)

No More Heroes (7.8)

This game was made for Cosplay

The IGN score is too low–if only for the sheer weirdness, NMH deserves at least an 8.0 rating.  Better played than described, NMH is the brainchild of infamous Suda51, maker of killer7, one of the Gamecube’s best (and weirdest) titles.  NMH probably isn’t for everyone: blending sandbox influences from Grand Theft Auto and a demented(!) comic-box/anime-style plot, you play as the unforgettable Travis Touchdown, a weird young man with fetishes for wrestling and Japanese cartoons.  Travis is on a quest to become the #1 ranked assassin in the world by winning (i.e. killing his way to the top of) a tournament of underground street-fighting matches.  The plot, mixing samurai and punk ethos–along with a healthy dose of sexy M-rated content–gets indescribably weirder–and more awesome–the closer one gets to the end of the game.   The final levels and fights are some of the most memorable I’ve encountered on the Wii, and NMH might have the best ending of any game for the platform.  There are some weaknesses though; the open-world environment fails to approach the excellence of even the earliest GTA games (there’s a lot less to do in Santa Destroy, and the blurry graphics aren’t even in the same ballpark as GTA3), and the motion-controlled sword-style combat can get repetitive after a while (NMH is basically a brawler with a laser sword).  Nevertheless, the story, cut-scenes, and overall challenge of NMH make it one of those games every Wii owner (over the age of 14, anyway) should try at least once.  You’ll probably get hooked, and the ending alone is worth all the hours of decapitations and hack+slash battles.

Sam & Max: Season One (7.1)

It's the kind of game you need to try to know if you'll like it

Though the IGN review is mixed and the score comes in at a middling 7.1, I need to include this package out of personal loyalty to the fading Point & Click genre of yesteryear.  I grew up playing the early Sierra games (King’s Quest, Manhunter, Space Quest) so I have an irrepressible nostalgia for these dated formats that are more interested in making the player laugh than wowing us with hi-res graphics or snazzy control schemes.  For those not familiar, S&M hails from an era when limitations of hardware meant that an interactive adventure was often merely a “collect all items / use items to solve puzzles” sort of experience.  S&M might not appeal to some gamers–imagine something along the lines of Zack and Wiki, or an interactive cartoon where you control the main characters as they wander around a world.  There are no boss battles, RPG elements or co-op killsprees here–it’s a slow-pace experience with a lot of great jokes and silly goofs, but not a whole lot else.  If I haven’t already turned you off to the entire genre, S & M could be a good starting point to get your feet wet.  Used copies run for around $10 on eBay, so the laughs alone might make this one worth a look.

Wii Game of the Year for 2008

Wii Fit!! The game that shed piles of pounds from portly grandmas and gamers alike . . . JUST KIDDING.  You know it’s Super Smash Brothers Brawl.  What else could a sensible reviewer pick . . . MarioKart?  Hell, I gotta consider my audience here–if I picked anything other than Smash, I bet I’d get “un-followed” by half of my readers.  In a poll for most important game on the entire Wii console, SSBB would have a serious shot at winning the vote (though I’m betting that the Mario Galaxies could give it a good contest).  In any case, there’s no question that Smash is the GOTY for Wii 2008.  With more replay value and entertainment value than anything else on the system, it’s the game that keeps Wii relevant and lively for fans who don’t bother to play anything else on the system.  Moreover, it’s a brilliantly balanced and entertaining game that showcases everything (and everyone) that is good about Nintendo.

Runner Up Wii Game for 2008

 Mariokart Wii: It’s not a terribly tough call but with competition from truly legendary games like World of Goo (though not exclusive to Wii), Wii Fit (like Wii Sports before it, this little number sold bajillions of Nintendo consoles), and epic niche games like No More Heroes, Mega Man 9, and Okami, I did have to ponder the #2 slot for a bit.  But Mariokart takes 2nd place, all flaws and limitations aside.  With 12-player online support, great graphics, weekly online challenges, Wii Wheel support, and a decent amount of difficulty (i.e. 3-stars and Mirror Cup), MKW is a solidly excellent title with something for everyone.  Years later, it’s easy to forget, and even easier to make fun of, but MKW remains a really good game in almost every way.  Except for those damned blue shells.  They’re just evil.

Most Underrated Wii Game for 2008:

Disaster: Day of Crisis: This was the toughest call for me in 2008–especially considering I haven’t played the game!  On one hand, I don’t think No More Heroes can reasonably qualify as “underrated”, Boom Blox (and it’s sequel) have gotten a fair amount of attention, and Bully was a success across multiple platforms simply due to Rockstar’s name recognition.  Disaster gets the win in the Underrated category for two reasons:

A: Because D:DoC failed to arrive in the USA, an 8.0 game gets good reception in other regions while the world’s biggest game market (USA) misses out on what sounds to be a worthwhile game

B: D:DoC LOOKS AWESOME!!  Tornadoes? Earthquakes? Volcanoes??!?  I SO WANT to ‘appreciate’ this game but have been told (i.e. region lock) that I’m not allowed to!  Therefore, ‘underrated’ seems to be a fair call, given that a sizable % of players never got the chance to rate it for themselves.  In the words of SNL’s Kenan Thompson, “What’s up with that?!?!”

(as a USA player . . . I wouldn't know)

That’s it for 2008!  It wasn’t the biggest year for Wii, but with a very respectable catalog of releases, is definitely a year when Nintendo players had a lot to enjoy.  Given the overwhelming popularity of Mariokart and Smash, I’m betting that a lot of people simply never had time to play many of the other great games that debuted in this year.  So, here’s your chance–go get a few of these classics before they’re lost in the mists of time!

I welcome your comments, corrections, and proposals for games I’ve forgotten to include.  I’m just one guy, and I can only research and play so many games at a time.

Seriously, leave me some comments.  It’s my favorite part of the whole “blogging” process.

2009 coming soon….

Hello, and welcome to the SECOND installment of my blog-series where I’ll attempt to review every single (worthwhile) Wii game.

If you missed it, here is the link to the first entry (Best of 2006) 

This blog is the second entry in a series.  As we wait for Wii U to arrive, there remain plenty of great games we all missed out on (unless, of course, you’re a compulsive freak that has no life outside of video games).  Hopefully, this year-by-year look at the Wii’s back catalog will help you identify some of the great games you missed, and give you one last chance to grab em before they’re buried by the next-gen Nintendo.

Every review includes the IGN score and a handy link to IGN’s own review.  All of the writing and reviews are my own unless otherwise indicated (thanks to CharbroiledEwok and Kyliemale for their awesome contributions).

The order of the following list is determined by IGN’s overall score–and don’t forget, you can click the header of each game to link to the IGN official review.  I thought about doing my own scores–but it just seemed redundant.  My reviews will indicate cases where my own view of the game differs from IGN’s score.

I’m hoping that you readers find these posts useful.  Please feel free to bookmark these posts for future reference–in the process of writing this blog, I’ve played a lot of great games that I originally missed, and encourage you to do the same.

2007: The Real Wii Launch Year

With a number of big name titles and some notable third-party support, 2007 was a strong first (full) year for the Wii, including a number of significant games that deserve a home on the shelf of any true Wii devotee.  It was frustrating that we were forced to wait almost an entire year for an epic Mario title to grace the system, but for those in the know, there were a lot of really good games to get us by in the meantime.

Super Mario Galaxy (9.7)

Some levels will test even Mario veterans

This one needs no introduction. SMG(1) is an unforgettable, home-run, knock-it-out-of-the-park, once-in-a-lifetime type of game.  It’s such a good game that Nintendo broke with tradition and released a direct sequel on the same platform–using identical architecture and gameplay– . . . and the sequel is even better than this epic first installment.  Taking cues from previous 3D Mario games including M64 and Sunshine, Galaxy feels like the launch title we should have gotten alongside Wii Sports.  With an enormous amount of content and even some notably steep challenges for completionist gamers who collect every last star, Galaxy shines in so many ways that it must truly be played to be understood.  Though the framing narrative is too childish, and the hub world struck some as needlessly confusing, these minor pitfalls do nothing to diminish Mario’s shining star.  Galaxy will invoke the same kind of nostalgia that Mario 64 does for an older generation.  It’s a must-have for any Nintendo gamer, and I’d doubt that there are very many Wii owners who don’t already have it in their collection.  For a character with the most games (and household recognition) of any video game hero, Galaxy stands out among Mario’s very best.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (9.5)

Those Aurora Units remind me of someone I once knew...

Though it puts me at odds with the majority of Nintendo fanners, I can admit that I wasn’t crazy about MP3.  My complaints were partly due to a sense that the Prime series was getting repetitive, and while I could appreciate the symmetry of a complete trilogy, I wasn’t too thrilled to don Samus’ FPS helmet one more time.  You’d be right to compare my feelings toward MP3 to my negative reaction to Twilight Princess. . . sometimes even the most devoted Nintendo player wishes that the Big N would go to greater lengths to reinvent their franchises (as opposed to endlessly rehashing them).   Specifically, I found MP3′s combat to be far too easy (I went through the entire game with an insanely low number of deaths) but worse, the 3D map system was so confusing and difficult to use that it caused me to quit playing the game for months at a time.   Still, the game looks incredible, controls very well (other than that f^%king map) and rounds out the trilogy in serious style.  I was pretty tired of the formula, but most fans went apeshit–and I respect your opinions.  It’s commonly cited as one of the best on Wii, though anyone who hasn’t yet played it might as well just spring for the complete trilogy disc and see what all the fuss is about.  There’s no doubt it’s a great game.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (9.0)

I couldn't find any decent Z&W cosplay, but I did find this sweet pumpkin

Dedicated fans of the Wii (or my previous blog posts) already know how awesome this point&click puzzle/adventure was.  One of the great original IPs for the Wii, Z&W ranks among the most underrated titles on Nintendo’s latest console.  If you haven’t played it, do yourself a favor, and check out my blog here (scroll down for the Zack & Wiki content).  No need to rehash it all in this post.  It’s an incredibly cool point-and-click puzzler with a ton of charm and worthy moments. Sadly, Z&W is very unlikely to ever get a sequel, so this may be the one chance you’ll ever have to meet this bizarre pirate-and-flying-monkey pair of treasure hunters.  The game isn’t without it’s problems (occasional flaky controls make for some frustrating deaths), but the positives of this unique and challenging puzzle adventure far outweigh the occasional flaws.  Click through to my previous blogpost, and once I’ve convinced you, go buy a copy.

Resident Evil 4 (9.0)

Am I the only one who thought THIS guy was the game's only flaw?

The definitive version of the GameCube hit.  For me, this one was a mixed bag of emotions–I’d already played the hellout of my GC version (there’s no doubt that it was one of the GC’s best titles), so there didn’t seem to be much reason for purchasing it again.  Yet, I give major applause for Capcom’s decision to re-release it with updated Wii motion controls . . . for anyone who hadn’t already crapped their pants at the sound of the unforgettable chainsaw, take a memo: RE4 is a high point for the entire series–many think it’s the best RE, hands down–and I’m sure thousands of people hold this Wii port in the highest regard.  If you’re like me, its been a few years since you played through RE4, so it might be about time to pick up a copy of this truly legendary game.

Super Paper Mario (8.9)

Gotta admit, the graphics are great.

If I were to summarize my feelings on SPM in a single sentence, I’d say, “Cute game,  but far too easy”.  If you gave me another couple sentences, I’d want to ask, “What happened to the RPG elements that define the Mario&Luigi games?  And what about the truly-epic Thousand Year Door?”  It’s gonna make me sound like a hater, but one of the most irksome things for me was the widespread praise from fans and critics, all of whom were seemingly unaware that SPM represented a step backward for an otherwise great series.  Though I played all the way through the game–and had a reasonably good time doing so–I felt like I was the only one wondering why this beloved RPG/platformer/adventure series had taken such a sharp turn toward the casual market.  Sure, it looked great, and sure, it attempts to capture the wit and humor of earlier installments, but I can’t help but feel that  SPM was the weakest Paper Mario/Mario RPG installment to date.  This isn’t to say it isn’t a good game with a lot of polish and reliably Nintendo quality–it is.  SPM is a fine introduction to the “flat mario” concept, but for older gamers looking for more depth and challenge, try the GameCube’s Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (soooo awesome) or  any of the DS Mario&Luigi titles.

Guitar Hero III (8.6)

At the time, it was great, though has been long surpassed by multi-instrument/microphone/dj table madness.  I missed this episode at its launch (though I’ve dabbled with it in subsequent years)–I was still rolling my eyes over plastic instrument madness when III rolled around.  It’s the game that exposed hundreds of thousands of people to the core concept of shredding-as-a-game, and will always have a distinct spot in the larger gaming pantheon.  I’ve heard that this episode is also one of the hardest in the entire series, so challenge-seeking gamers may well want to revisit this early installment.  I don’t think I need to go into much more detail on this one–you’d have to have been living in a cave . . . on the MOON  . . .with your fingers lodged solidly in your ears. . .  to not know about Guitar Hero.  ‘Nuf said.

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (8.4)

Have you ever played an FPS? No? This is what it looks like.

8.4 is a decent score for any game, but especially for an FPS on Wii.  I’m not the world’s most avid FPS gamer (or WWII buff), though make no mistake, I’ll occasionally call off sick from work if I’m really into one (2010‘s Goldeneye 007stole about 150 hours of my life, so I’m not totally imune).  Bozon’s enthusiastic IGN review gives the game high marks in critical areas including a steady frame rate and one of the earlier instances of a fully customizable control layout for the FPS-friendly Wiimote.  He even awards lofty praise to this early incarnation of online Wii gaming, with MoHH2 supporting up to 32 players in a quality competitive experience.  Matt Casamassina even weighs in to compare the experience of MoH with the quality found in Metroid Prime 3.  Now that’s saying something.   Unfortunately, none of my friends picked this one up, but having re-read the IGN commentary, I’m starting to think I might need to squeeze a little time in with this one, even if the FPS genre has been pretty much done to death.

Mario Strikers Charged (8.3)

Yeah . . . I'm a fan.

This game is in my top 5 Wii games, period.  I’m betting many of you have never played it.  Me?  I’ve played hundreds of hours of local multiplayer against close friends.  I have a poster of the game on the wall next to me, and I modified the tap on my kegerator to feature an image from the game.  Now I’m here to tell you that the selling point for MSC is it’s surprising depth and subtle complexity–much more than one might expect from a simple cartoon soccer game.  The basic roster of players includes character balances and skills that can be twisted and rejigged into a wide variety of team styles and offense/defense strategies.  The captains (Mario, Peach, WaLuigi, etc) bring brash superpowers and a variety of basic skills to the field.  If I was to compare it to another Wii title, I’d mention Super Smash Brothers: Brawl.  Though not in the same league, anyone who can appreciate the finer distinctions between fighting styles, defensive moves, knockback, ranged attacks and the like . . well, MSC is a humbler version of Smash on a soccer pitch.  Beyond mere multiplayer (local or online), it’s also got one of the hardest single-player seasons that I’ve ever beaten in any game.  Next Level Games–the same folks who brought you Punch Out!! for the Wii (and who are currently developing Luigi’s Mansion 2 for 3DS)–were behind this one, and it’s been added to the Nintendo Selects library ($19.95 new), so you should buy with confidence.  It still holds up 5 years after launch.  For those who are interested, here’s a link to a great interview with the designers of the game.  But if you haven’t played it, stop reading, back away from the computer, and go buy a copy.  Now.

Warioware: Smooth Moves (8.2)

This was actually one of my first games that I owned for Wii.  As a result, almost all of my friends and family have fond memories of it, and still regularly request me to bring over “that one with the funny games where you pick noses and swat flies and stuff”.  W:SM was a great way for me to be introduced to the Warioware series–I’d never bothered to check one of these out before (I’d assumed they were aimed at little kids).  Although I was able to “beat” the main game in a very short amount of time (unlocking every challenge within a matter of mere days), the appeal of Smooth Moves isn’t the single player mode–its the party game madness.  Though the game suffers from the classic “unlockable” flaw (you’ll need to complete single-game challenges before opening the dual-player mode–I was reminded of this terrible design decision when I accidentally deleted my save file), once you’ve got everything open, the game becomes a veritable symphony of good old fashioned fun.  The bonus challenges are excellent (I never expected to get addicted to a game where you swat a ping-pong ball through an ascending tower, or balance piles of blocks on a serving tray), and the various competitive modes are simple yet entertaining.  I definitely wish the game included slightly more minigames (I’d say there are about 100, but either way, I could stand many more), but the offbeat humor and style are so excellent, I consider W:SM to be an essential part of a truly complete Wii library.

Granny's dentures, inflicting pain on old men, and, er, personal hygiene. What more could you ask for?

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (8.0)

I like board games, but not on my Wii. Tactics are a big part of the appeal for FE fans.

I wouldn’t consider myself an apt reviewer for a Fire Emblem game–tactical RPGs aren’t my cup of tea–so anyone who wants a full review of the game should click through to Bozon’s review.  To summarize, Bozon weighs the pros and cons of this game–one that could have appeared on GameCube with no changes whatsoever–and concludes that the RD experience is worthwhile and engaging, though this episode fails to innovate or update the series in any way.  I’ve always liked the idea that characters, when killed in FE games, die forever–yet this attractively hardcore aspect isn’t enough to override my general dislike of the genres (it’s just a little too slow and time-consuming for my standard tastes).   I’d welcome any supplementary reviews from fans of the series–I’d gladly some’s review in this space, since I never played it, and probably never will.  I’m going to give the FE series another try on my 3DS ambassador copy of the GBA episode, but I’m not expecting any tectonic shift in my opinion.  As I’ve said elsewhere, and will surely say again, “to each their own”!

Geometry Wars: Galaxies (8.0)

The game is a feast for the eyes and a true test of your skills

Geometry Wars isnt the deepest title you’ll ever play on Wii, but if you (like me) are a fan of classic arcade-style experiences, you’ll probably think this cool game is worth every penny (especially since used copies run for around 8$ at GameStop).  I personally thought GW:G was awesome.  The game will remind you of every asteroids-style knock off you’ve ever played, but it does everything better and more brazenly.  The graphics are simple, colorful and perfectly designed, the gameplay is frantic and white-knuckle-inducing, and the difficulty ramps at a fair and demanding pace (aspiring to and eventually matching the ridiculous expectations of old arcade standups).  The upgradeable “drone” adds strategy to every battle (players need to figure out which of the drone’s varied skills are best for countering a specific onslaught) and the sheer amount of levels means that even the best gamers will be playing GW:G for many hours.  My own disc got irreparably scratched and unusable, so I look forward to picking up another used copy and continuing my battle against the legions of geometric baddies.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (7.9)

Albert Wesker's backstory is "fleshed out" in Umbrella Chronicles

I know, I know–it’s an on-rails “Zapper” title, lacks a “number” behind it’s name, recycles content, and it’s nothing like the other entries in the series (in terms of control and play action).  Yet, on the other hand, Umbrella Chronicles offers co-op multiplayer, great graphics, and for those who care, greatly expands the RE backstory, plot, and character biographies.  Imagine a mix of high-octane on-rails FPS mixed with the classic Resident Evil narratives, and you’ve got the recipe for UC.  The fun is best when shared with a buddy, though most players will find the game to be far too easy when playing as a team.  Even as a single player experience, finishing the game isn’t incredibly difficult.  The real challenge (and it’s a doozy) lies in achieving a hallowed “S” (superb) rank on all boards.  You’ll need to pull of headshot zombie kills while being swarmed from all sides, simultaneously hunting down hidden items and extra ammo if you want to be the best of the best–therefore, even good players will need to make a few attempts at every level.  I actually found the game to be a great deal of fun, though perhaps I’m just a softie for anything RE-oriented.  And who doesn’t enjoy a bit of raucous zombie blasting on a Saturday night?  Pass the Doritoes man.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (7.8)

Pick your character from a full range of monsters, ninjas, or psychopaths. Something for every player!

Matt Casamassina reviewed this one for IGN, and his review comes across as fair-minded and cautiously positive.  I’ve played Armageddon on a friend’s console a few times, and I can’t really offer much in the way of review.  Having played MKII more than almost any other game in my life (though SNES MarioKart comes close), I know better than to pass quick judgement on a fighter with as many characters and likely subtleties as this pinnacle Kombat title.  I generally enjoyed the few times I’ve played it, but the motion controls included with the Wii version left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied, in spite of the fact that Casamassina seems to give them positive marks.  I’d personally recommend the classic controller for a more legitimate experience.  In fairness, I acknowledge that my days of memorizing slews of secret moves and combo attacks are behind me (at least for now)–and as a result, I didn’t play enough Armageddon to even master a single player, much less the entire roster.  The painful fatality–for the Wii version–is the lack of online support (a feature included on other platforms).  Therefore, gamers with an itch to dismember friends will probably opt to play elsewhere, but for the die-hard Kombat+Wii fan, this one is worth a look.  It’s not bad at all.  . . it’s just not perfect.

Another look at Mortal Kombat: Armageddon by CharbroiledEwok

CharbroiledEwok Says:

One of my all-time favorite games in the Mortal Kombat series is MK Trilogy, for the N64.  Armageddon continues in the spirit of that beloved game, albeit with a few hiccups along the way.  While offering a solid brawler for fans of the Wii console (including every character and several locations from past titles), the game falls regrettably short due to a lack of online support, the superfluous inclusion of unresponsive gesture controls, and the removal of traditional fatalities (in favor of generic dismemberment/stage fatalities).  Still, the game can be played with the Classic or GameCube controller, the modes and unlockables are diverse and plentiful, and it’s sure to satisfy the bloodlust of any Wii owner looking for the frenetic fun the series is known for.  My score: 7.5

Manhunt 2 (7.7)

Manhunt 2 caused some US Senators to ask for a review of the ESRB rating system

Both IGN reviewers zero in on the fact that this sequel is simply not as good as the original game.  Matt Casamassina, however, recommends the Wii version over the competing systems based on better graphics (!?!) and clever implementation of motion controls.  Jeff Haynes, on the other hand, sounds fairly disappointed with both the Wii version as well as the game in general.  It’s a Rockstar title, so most gamers can imagine the sort of sandbox-style, commit-horrific-act-then-flee-from-pursuit style of game that Manhunt 2 likely is.  If you haven’t guessed by now, I’ve never played it, and the mediocre review has always kept me from laying down cash on this gory stealth/slasher game.  But every time I revisit the IGN review, I can’t help but feel a bit intrigued by Wii’s adoption of a ultra-M-rated series that focuses on tearing countless victims to shreds.  The IGN editors drive home the point that the game’s AI is unforgivably stupid, but that the sound effects and Rockstar-style atmosphere are enveloping and entertaining.  I don’t know.  On one hand, it seems like there are a lot of better titles to spend our time playing, yet Manhunt 2 is sort of a lone wolf of a Wii game, so it might be good for some players.  Your choice.

Prince of Persia: Rival Swords (7.1)

If you take a look back at IGN’s own review of this one, one of their primary complaints has been eliminated thanks to the passage of time–you can grab this game for almost nothing in the used bin.  At the time of it’s debut, PoP:RS was priced at $50, though the (virtually identical) GameCube version was available for only $20.  Since then, much sand has flown through the hourglass, and now the Wii version can be picked up for less than that.  Unfortunately, the other primary complaint of the IGN team is still as relevant as ever–if you played Two Thrones on GC, you’re just getting the same game with new (motion-based) controls.  And apparently, the mapping of a dual-analog game to Wiimote/Nunchuck is an awkward transition.  Still, reading through the IGN review (for what must be at least my 10th time), I still want to get ahold of this title–I never played it on Wii, and Prince of Persia is almost always a great deal of fun (film adaptations not withstanding).  Money where my mouth is: I just checked my “to buy” list and saw it’s still listed there.  Let me know if I’m wrong to be interested.  (Postscript: I picked up a different Prince of Persia game for Wii (Forgotten Sands) and would probably recommend it over Rival Swords).

Link’s Crossbow Training (7.0)

We basically got this (fictional) game in the 3DS KI Uprising!

A surprisingly awesome, if VERY short, pack-in game with the Wii Zapper.  Much like Wii Sports, I feel as though IGN’s score fails to truly capture the fundamental fun factor you’ll discover in this tiny, entertaining little game.  I’m definitely not the only person hollering for a sequel . . . for more on that, check out my diatribe here: Unoclay’s Demand for a sequel to LCB.  Indeed, every time I’ve ever brought this game up with other Wii owners, the praise is almost universal–it’s not as casual as Wii Sports, it’s got Twilight Princess tie-ins, and it’s just a satisfyingly fun little shooting gallery that ends before it really gets a chance to shine.  No doubt, they should sequel this game for the Wii U, and sell another bazillion zapper attachments (that will never be used again).  We’ll still buy it.   On the right, you’ll see a fictional game box created by Gamesradar.  This is a snip from their hilarious article, Nine games that could break our hardcore gamer hearts.  In spite of their opinion, I’d actually love a game like this!

Sonic and the Secret Rings (6.9)

I’m not a “Sonic” guy.  That said, I’m including this one for the legions of Sonic Nation.  The score isn’t terribly good, but reading through IGN’s review, I get the sense that a hardcore hedgehog fan would probably want to include this one in their final collection of Wii games, even if it isn’t one of the entirely best representation of the blue blur.  I’m glad to have CharbroiledEwok’s review to include, because myself . . . I stopped playing Sonic games somewhere around 1994 when I sold my 2nd-and-last Genesis to get money for SNES games.   Mario’d!

Another look at Sonic and the Secret Rings by CharbroiledEwok:

CharbroiledEwok Says:

Two words spring to mind when I think of this game: wasted potential.  It’s not a BAD game, per se, but you’re unlikely to ever complete it.  I’m willing to believe that SatSR represents an honest attempt to simulate the thrill of the original 2D Sonic games (i.e., “Run THAT way, very fast!”), but haphazard level design, muddy controls, and an uncooperative camera will produce profanities from your mouth you didn’t even know you knew.  In the beginning, you’ll enjoy the beautiful graphics and the RPG-lite character building, but towards the end, you’ll likely give up in frustration.  My Score: 6.0

Wii Play(5.5)

I loved it in the 80s, and I still love it now.

This is the game with the lowest score of my entire survey (all years).  No matter what you thought of the game itself, the bundle pack was an excellent way to get that extra Wiimote (which you definitely needed for Smash Brothers competitions or Guitar Hero madness) so I’d argue that Wii Play earned it’s place in a top 100 list.  It’s undeniably hilarious that Wii Play–thanks to that included Wiimote–is now technically one of the best selling games of all time.  And though most of the minigames are forgettable (or outright sucked), the final unlockable app, “Tanks” (a two player game with many similarities to the Atari classic “Combat“), was a genuinely addictive multiplayer experience that captivated my neighbor and I for a surprising number of late night firefights.  But why am I trying to convince anyone?  You probably already own it.

Wii Game of the Year for 2007

Super Mario Galaxy.  Sure, this is a no-brainer, but even in light of a sequel that equals or bests it, there is simply no way around it–SMG is an incredible game that belongs on every single gamer’s shelf.  Whether or not you’re an all-exclusive Nintendo player (like me), or someone who flits from system to system depending on the day of the week and your gaming interests, SMG is a classic for all time, a game that sets (yet another) new standard for all games, regardless of platform.

Runner Up Wii Game for 2007

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.  This is the place where you’ve got to give me credit as an unbiased reviewer–I didn’t even like MP3 very much, but I’m still willing to bow to popular opinion.  For my money, there are better games (i.e. ones with more challenge and less back-tracking) to spend your money on, but people went ape-shit for it, and I hear ya–it’s an integral part of the core Wii catalog.

Most Underrated Wii Game for 2007

It's simply a kick-a$$ game

Mario Strikers Charged.  Picking the “runner up” entry is more fun than the other categories (it gives me one last chance to crow about epic, overlooked games) , and in this case, it’s especially sweet since MSC is one of the games that will live forever in my own personal roster of “games I got a little too obsessed with”.  Though you wouldn’t know it to look at it, I am here to tell you that the subtle challenge and character balance of this Next Level Games production is on par with far loftier titles (cough cough Brawl ahem) and has nearly as much replay value (for those willing to look for it).  Even if you’re good enough to finish the single player campaign (severely doubtful), you and your friends will still be duking it out late into the wee hours, throwing controllers at each other and shouting obscenities as Dry Bones electrocutes your goalie, or a Hammer Brother flattens your entire defensive line.  It’s an epic little piece of gaming history, and like so many, one best enjoyed with a friend.  Try it, or forever hold your peace.

That’s it for 2007!  As you’ve now seen, this year was a much more active year for the Wii compared to lackluster Wii launch schedule .  The upcoming entries in this series are even larger (gulp!) and will continue my attempt to cover EVERYTHING worth playing on Wii for those years.

I welcome your comments, corrections, and proposals for games I’ve forgotten to include.  I’m just one guy, and I can only research and play so many games at a time.

Seriously, leave me some comments.  It’s my favorite part of the whole “blogging” process.  (Incidentally, since this site essentially functions as my archive of game-related writing, you may wish to check out my blog at IGN, where I get a very decent response and comments.  The link for that is http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1 .  However, if you comment here, I’ll definitely respond.  Thanks for reading.

2008 coming soon….

Hello, and welcome to the first installment of my blog-series where I’ll attempt to review every single (worthwhile) Wii game.

This blog is the first entry in a series.  As we wait for Wii U to arrive, there remain plenty of great games we all missed out on (unless, of course, you’re a compulsive freak that has no life outside of video games).  Hopefully, this year-by-year look at the Wii’s back catalog will help you identify some of the great games you missed, and give you one last chance to grab em before they’re buried by the next-gen Nintendo.

I’d initially planned this blog to launch as an all-inclusive, all-at-once entry (every year, game, and review . . . in one post) but quickly realized that NOBODY would be able to read the whole thing (the draft file is over 20 pages long).  Accordingly, I’m going to split it up by years–and some years include so many games, they’ll probably need to be chopped into bite-sized posts.

Every review  includes the IGN score and a handy link to IGN’s own review.  All of the writing and reviews are my own unless otherwise indicated (thanks to CharbroiledEwok and Kyliemale for their awesome contributions).

I’m hoping that you readers find these posts useful.  Please feel free to bookmark these posts for future reference–in the process of writing this blog, I’ve played a lot of great games that I originally missed, and encourage you to do the same.

2006: In The Beginning . . .

Though the Wii’s first year roster was very thin, we need to recall that the system only arrived in the USA on 19Nov2006.  As a result, the list of worthwhile titles for 2006 is much shorter compared to other years.  There is no doubt that Nintendo would have been wiser to launch with a larger selection of must-have titles.  However, in the end, I think it all worked out for the best–most of us were too busy playing Wii Sports and Twilight Princess to notice anything else.  There will be inevitable omissions from my list (Red Steel comes to mind), but my goal here is to give overviews of the “must have” titles for a given year, or describe the best games that busy players might have missed.  Naturally, I’m going to cut some things out of consideration–but I welcome your comments and input on games I didn’t include here.  Without further ado . . .

Wii Sports (7.5)

John Bates, 85, holds the world record for the most perfect games of Wii Sports Bowling (2,850)

As thegame that sold literally millions of consoles and unseated Super Mario Brothers as the (technically) best-selling game of all time, IGN’s score strikes me as a bit low, which is why I’m giving it the lead-off position.  This isn’t the format I’ll be following for the rest of this series (rankings are determined purely by IGN’s overall score), but for Wii sports, I’ll make an exception.

I can already hear the complaints, and I totally agree with some of them . . . Wii Sports isn’t the deepest title of all time, the sequel (Resort) includes more events and technical improvements . . .  and yet . . . considering the mass-market appeal, I think it deserves a little bit more credit than an “average” 7.5 rating–don’t you?  I mean, are you kidding me, IGN?  Even IF we admit that the controls are flawed for some events, and even IF we (the SERIOUS gamers of the world) are tempted to look down our noses at this Holy Grail of Casual Gaming . . . Wii Sportsis simply an all-time legend.  It’s the kind of game people will still remember in 20 years (the bowling game, by itself, sold millions of consoles) and will keep people–young and old–coming back to Nintendo, time and time again.  Kind of like those little ole games about a mustached plumber-turned-koopa-hunter.

Twilight Princess (9.5)

I like her version of Midna better than Nintendo's own

Full disclosure , first things first. . . I didn’t love TP.  At the time of it’s release, it struck me as a formulaic rehash of earlier Zelda games (IGN’s own review acknowledges this as a potential problem for TP).  In honesty, I played about 10 hours and resold it without even getting close to the end.  This isn’t a critique on Twilight Princess so much as an indicator of my feelings toward the franchise in general–I can’t deny that modern iterations haven’t innovated as much as I’d like.  On the other hand, the vast majority of fans loved it, and I’ll gladly accept that my opinions are in the minority.  Looking back on IGN’s review of TP, it’s comical to spot so many similarities with their recent reviews of Skyward Sword (which I did like) and to see (2006) IGN acting as an apologist for TP’s lack of 1:1 motion control swordplay.  Yet for a game that is a GameCube port, TP definitely did a lot of good things that won’t be forgotten by Wii fans anytime soon–transformations into a wolf and the twilight world were highlights for any player, and the game had a more expansive world than it’s sequel.  Regardless of personal opinions, the importance of a launch-day Zelda cannot be underestimated.  Deserves a look from any self-respecting Nintendo fan.

Madden NFL 07 (8.5)

Motion controls included

I never play realistic sport-sims (my last one was NHL ’94 for Sega Genesis).  I’m sure plenty of fans were happy to see this one come to Wii, and the IGN review makes it sound like a worthy title for football fans.  If any reader wants to offer a quick blurb, I can edit it into this placeholder.  Otherwise, I’m basically including NFL 07 because the IGN score is high enough to make it stand out from the crowd.  Also, since the Wii is pretty light on sport games in general (at least ones that don’t include Mario), we should at least remember there were a few true sport sims that might have appealed to some gamers.  IGN’s review is receptive to the motion controls and the game in general.  I wonder if the critics gave it higher scores due to a thin software launch (less competition to compare it against), but you’ll have to decide for yourself.

Rayman Raving Rabbids (8.3)

A good friend picked this one up.  Wasn’t my cup of tea, but I could see the appeal.  Generally entertaining and an early entry in the popular Wii-minigame pantheon.  We drank some beers and played the Rabbids.  I liked the concept, didn’t love the graphic style.  The humor was a welcome aspect–not being too familiar with the Rayman/Rabbids universe, I didn’t know that they are entirely demented–yet there was something about the overall presentation of this one that I never loved–something about the way the graphics were rendered or something.  Today, given that Wii is close to the end of it’s life-cycle and there are quite a number of mini-game collections available, I’m wondering if the IGN score for Rayman Raving Rabbids still holds up–I mean, an 8.3 puts it above a lot of really decent arrivals down the road.  Yet with “like new” copies available on eBay for under $10 shipped, I’d say that even if time and competition dock a few points from RRR, it’s probably still worth it for any gamer who loves this offshoot of the Rayman universe.  I know the Rabbids are an institution, so I must be missing something, and I’m sure I should give the game another chance.  Hey, it was fun for a Friday night, and maybe another down the road.

Until I was researching this blog, I didn't know there was a culinary scene for Rabbids

Excite Truck (8.0)

A unique racing/action combo that was overlooked by too many players.  The sequel, Excitebots: Trick Racing (2009) is even better (and equally overlooked)–and I tend to think that the sequel was released just to further capitalize on an engine/IP that was missed by most players.  In any case, the game’s mechanics and concept are really worthwhile entertainments, and it’s sort of a toss-up whether a gamer should check out this original “excite” entry or the robotic-oriented sequel.  Thanks to the NVC crew making frequent references to Excitebots, I was smart enough to add it to my collection–and then got hooked until I’d achieved gold-star ranking in every race.  I’ve still never played Excite Truck, but considering how similar the game appears to it’s sequel, it’s almost certain to be a game with more depth than the box art indicates.  Check out IGN’s review, compare it to my review of Excitebots below, and decide which version is right for you.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion (8.0)

This review contributed by CharbroiledEwok (click the image to link to my blog)

Let’s get this out of the way first: I’ve never played either of the Trauma Center games for the Nintendo DS.  So, of course, this was my first experience draining tumors in a video game.  I understand it’s a remake (with added content, Wii-specific controls, and a slightly updated presentation), but I can only review it according to my own limited exposure to the series.  It’s an interesting cocktail of disparate genres: a hectic arcade-style mini-game collection realized through an absurd sci-fi/hospital drama.  While it’s basically a good game (and an awesome premise), I’ve never actually finished it.  I became too frustrated by the game’s reliance on trial-and-error and demand for unrealistic precision.  I never got the hang of sewing a patient up, mostly because it had to be done QUICKLY (something I hope is rare in actual hospital settings).  If the game had valued quality over speed, I wouldn’t have ranked so low in each scenario (or outright failed others).  Too bad, because I always wondered what was up with the “GUILT” parasite, and would have liked to see how things wrapped up…My Score: 7.5

Call of Duty 3 (7.7)

The ratings are higher for COD3 on the other consoles, but for Wii console junkies, we were glad to have a reasonably acceptable (single-player) version of this installment.  COD3 is one of those games that is tough to include in the “best of Wii” list–especially since the Wii version lacks multiplayer mode–but if Wii was all you played, it was still a game you probably wanted to get.  These days, probably better to skip ahead to a different iteration.  Still, I’m compelled to include COD3 in this list because the series is such an institution that there are sure to be players who absolutely need to play every episode, even if the Wii version is a little faulty.  Plus, it’s not like the Wii has a million first-person shooters, so you might want to grab a copy (new, shipped, for around $10) on eBay and check it out.  PS. I’m not including an image here–I’m betting you already know what COD games look like.

Metal Slug Anthology (7.2)

Great sprites, customizable controls, multiplayer madness.

I never played Metal Slug in the arcades, but a friend brought this Wii anthology over to my house for a few nights of good time shoot-em-up action.  I immediately understood why the series has enough episodes to warrant an entire collection–it’s a kick-ass Contra-style game with worthy cartoon sensibilities.  I admit that I had some gripes with the presentation and other technical issues–I have a hard time seeing bullets and identifying threats vs. friendlies/background art, and some aspects of the porting process seem poorly handled (can someone explain to me why it’s so hard to add a second controller??)–but for a very low cost, the player gets a sizable bolus of affordable multiplayer action.  Anyone who loves games like Contra will get a kick out of Metal Slug.  The episodes play identical to a classic arcade experience, the sprite animation is entertaining (and far more cartoony than one expects from a war game), and the challenge-level is extremely high (we–two veteran gamers–have yet to make it through to the credits in any of the MS games).  Not the most sophisticated or polished offering, but this is a heck of a lot of game for a very low price.

Wii Game of the Year 2006:

Wii Sports.  Sure, Twilight Princess is the obvious choice, but I’m willing to stick my critical neck out for Wii Sports as the must-have title of the year.  After all, the enormous success of the Wii is integrally linked to this amazing piece of gaming history.  The entire world will always remember those first couple months of Wii bowling parties with your friends and family–including people who’ve never played (or enjoyed) a single other video game in their lives.  Say what you will, but I don’t think that there’s any credible comparison between the importance of (one more) installment in a long-running franchise, and a game that shook the gaming world to its foundations.

Runner Up Wii Game 2006:

Twighlight Princess. Go ahead, get mad that I called it the “runner up”.  Then get even madder that I sold my copy without even finishing it.  ;’]

Most Underrated Wii Game 2006:

Excite Truck.  It couldn’t compete with the likes of Zelda, Red Steel, and Madden, but it was a great formula and a worthwhile experience.  And without Excite Truck, we’d never have gotten the even odder (but better) Excitebots.

That’s it for 2006!  It’s easily the easiest year to review for Wii, given that the system was on the market for under two months before a new year arrived.  The upcoming entries in this series are MUCH larger and will continue my attempt to cover EVERYTHING worth playing on Wii for those years.

I welcome your comments, corrections, and proposals for games I’ve forgotten to include.  I’m just one guy, and I can only research and play so many games at a time.

Seriously, leave me some comments.  It’s my favorite part of the whole “blogging” process.

2007 coming soon….

04April2012

Dear Miyamoto, Iwata, Reggie, Mario, et al:

As a lifelong player of Nintendo systems and games, I’ve been with your company through thick and thin.  Some of my earliest memories of gaming include the tabletop versions of Mario’s Cement Factory and Popeye.  I’ve been along for the crazy roller coaster of Nintendo’s ups and downs, and I’ve always remained a fan, because time and time again, Nintendo has proven my faith to be well-founded.

Some good childhood memories right there

3DS recently illustrated exactly this phenomenon, rebounding from what the markets were calling a truly ‘epic fail’ to become a smash sales success.  Lessons about hardware launches were surely learned (i.e. software lineups, competitive pricing), and in the end, it’s likely that Nintendo has come through the fire all the stronger.

Bringing me to my point.  I wanted to write this open letter because I’ve been noticing a change in approach from your company–to be specific, a new and, frankly, unfamiliar degree of Nintendo fan service.  It’s not that you’ve never done anything for the fans before (quite the opposite), but lately I’ve sensed that your company is making a welcome shift away from being “just a game company”, aiming to become a genuinely holistic entertainment outlet–a gaming powerhouse that isn’t limited to mere hardware and software, and just maybe, you’re showing signs of wanting to escape the label of a company that only makes games for casual players.

If I’m right, this a welcome and necessary change.  In this era of race-to-the-bottom pricing, insane competition from every direction, strained consumer budgets, I want to see Nintendo rise above the competition using any means possible.  I feel like, all of a sudden, Nintendo has started to realize that it’s no longer enough for a game publisher to make cool games–you need buzz, you need fireworks, you need games that evolve and change over time, you need to (try to) be all things to all gamers, all the time.  You need new gamers coming in the front door, and you need old veteran players to stick around.

Hardcores come in all shapes and sizes

With all that in mind, I’d like to give you a list a few of the thing’s you’ve “been getting right” lately, if only to let you know that your most loyal, hardcore fans REALLY appreciate it.  We’re glad to see you shooting for the moon, because this will mean a good future for all of us.  Without further ado . . .

WHAT NINTENDO IS GETTING RIGHT

• The Ambassador Program:  The 3DS price cut was a moment where Nintendo could have fallen HEAVILY on it’s face, but instead, you provided us with legendary fan-service and saved the day, bigtime.  I’m a launch-day 3DS owner who talks with a lot of other 3DS players, but I haven’t heard of a single Ambassador who was angry about the price cut . . .  all because of the deluge of free games.  The value of the Ambassador Program cannot be underestimated.  Think about it–if any other company charged their most loyal fans an additional $80+ as a penalty for early adoption, the negative backlash would have been unimaginably destructive. Instead, you tossed out not 10, not 15, but TWENTY free games for anyone who took a chance on 3DS before it was truly ready for market.  20 free games is more than an apology–it’s a freakin’ love letter to fans.  Months later, I’m still playing some of my free titles.  Every time I load one up, I think how cool it was to get these games for free.
• Harcore games, hardcore difficulty:  There are very promising signs that the 3DS wants to make a name for itself in the challenging game/adult department. Kid Icarus Uprising includes one of the most ingeniously adjustable difficulty systems I’ve ever seen (and is REALLY hard even at level 7, much less 8 or 9), and with other games like Resident Evil Revelations and Metal Gear Solid 3D, the system truly feels like a home where grownup games can live and thrive.  Although it took months of campaigning, hardcore titles Last Story and Xenoblade are finally coming to Wii.  Most importantly, there are a number of high-profile adult launch titles on the radar for Wii U.  The frequent lack of ‘hardcore appeal’ is Nintendo’s most glaring Achilles Heel, so it’s vital to continue this route for all of your systems.  Gotta say, it’s looking like you’re finally responding to our call for hardcore content.
• Club Nintendo Coins = Games : Not every Nintendo owner is a member of (or even knows about) Club Nintendo, but the most loyal fans certainly do, and until recently, the yearly gifts have been embarrassingly lame.  Then, without warning, we suddenly received the awesome option to spend our coins on actual games(!) rather than near-worthless prizes like gamecard holders, playing cards, or desk calendars.  I mean, it seems like a no-brainer in retrospect–Nintendo players like video games, so give them what they want, right?  This shift to valued rewards means that Club Nintendo has gone from an occasional diversion for fanboys to a real way for Nintendo to collect direct consumer feedback from their most invested users.  Well done, Nintendo–beyond fan service, this was a really smart business move.
• Announcements within the 3DS and Wii networks: Though hardcore gamers will often get their news from third-party websites long before big publishers talk, the bulletin-style announcements that turn up on the 3DS homepage are a great way to keep your audience informed.  Do I really need a message letting me know that Swapnote is now available for free download, or there’s a new cartoon available on Nintendo Video?  No, not personally, but I’m betting a lot of more casual gamers appreciate the memo. The messages create a sense of connection, of something “to do” with your system, and overall is a great, great move by Nintendo.  It felt like Wii meant to have something similar (the flashing disc drive light being our cue to check messages) but it never really took off.  I’m betting that Wii U will up the ante in the messaging department, and I welcome it.  You can’t bug me too much.  You’re freakin’ Nintendo.  I WANT to hear from you.
• Ability to Join Games:  Finally. Finally.  With the arrival of Mariokart 7 and Kid Icarus Uprising, Nintendo Players can finally join games with their registered friends, or to simply see what their friends are playing in real time.  I feel like the Home menu friend system could be improved (maybe making it accessible directly from in-game submenus, so you can check what people are playing without exiting to Home) but it’s a huge improvement over the Wii, which has absolutely no system for knowing what your buddies are doing.  Since an improved friend system is expected to be a part of Wii U, I’m giving you 100% thumbs up on this improvement.  3DS is a step in the right direction–keep it up.
• Creating BUZZ: This was the general inspiration for my letter.  Lately, it’s felt like Nintendo is simply ‘waking up’ to the idea that the company can–and should–do more than just make great games. In an era of $1.99 app games and competition from all sides, Nintendo’s rabid popularity is something most companies would kill for.  As such, it’s far easier for your company to create excitement for your products than would be the case for almost any other company.  The little stuff matters, even if not all players appreciate it–Zelda symphony concerts, West Coast Customs full-size Mariokarts, collectable Kid Icarus AR cards, goofy anime promotions on Nintendo Video, Nintendo Week reviews, Swapnote messages from Reggie and our friends–all these items provide a variety of “access points” for a wide variety of fans.  The more ways we have to love Nintendo, the more we will.  Hell, I’m wearing a Nintendo World jacket as I write this letter–proving that player genuinely want to show their love.  Keep giving us the means.
• Easy Dev Kits: Though there is a lot of confusion and conflicting rumors at this point, at least some reports indicate that third party developers find Wii U development kits easy to use.  This is a critical factor for allowing non-Nintendo companies to bring big games to Wii U, instead of asking them to jump through a million hoops for just one system (which has reportedly been the case for some previous Nintendo platforms).  Based on many early comments from developers, the winds seem to be blowing quite favorably for Wii U to become a formidable leader in the next-gen platform race.  As a lowly gamer with no inside knowledge of these matters, I’m just glad to hear that Nintendo is attempting to keep those developers and programers happy.  I’ve been a loyal Nintendo-only player for my whole life (I simply don’t have the time or finances to own other systems), but this has meant missing out on a lot of incredible games on other platforms.  I can’t deny I’d love to try out some of the most notorious 3rd party franchises on Nintendo’s next console–so keep giving the 3rd parties the tools they need to make it happen.
• Better online store: The Wii’s online shop took quite a long time to take off, and never quite exploded the way it could have.  Then 3DS launched without an online vendor, and I got worried–hadn’t Nintendo learned their lesson?  Yet, in the many months since 3DS eShop came online, I’ve been mostly impressed with the new store’s polish and ease-of-use.  I’d change a few things about it (customizable catalog options, for instance–I personally hate browsing by category, and would rather browse a no-frills list with release dates and player review scores) but overall, the 3DS’s online shop represents a great improvement over the Wii, and works very well.  Keep moving in this direction for Wii U, and Nintendo will be a legitimate contender in the online gaming marketplace.

This list of Nintendo’s recent moves “in the right direction” is far from complete, and  there are probably a few missteps that need to be remembered when considering the positive developments for Nintendo–but that’s not my purpose here.  In any case, given the way things have been going of late, I’m feeling quite positive about the near future for your company.  Rest assured, your fans are watching with approval, we’re loving a lot of these new angles, and I sincerely hope you to keep the good stuff coming.  We’re noticing the changes, and we’ll be waiting for more.

With respect and fanboyism,

Unoclay1

PS. I gotta say it.  I’m not so sure about the decision to have Uggie as your official ‘Spokesdog’.  I love dogs as much as I love Nintendo, but this move strikes me as a bit too pop-casual/family-friendly.

PPS. If you insist on rolling with this angle, please show Uggie playing some hardcore FPS games and perhaps biting a few little kids.  You’ve gotta shake that all-casual reputation.

I welcome your comments.

My entry was the #1 winning submission and was featured on the front page of IGN’s 3DS column.  Needless to say, I was grateful for this honor.  You can link to this entry on IGN (including user comments) at http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1/?p=647

IGN ASKS:

What do you think about Kid Icarus Uprising’s controls? Are they uncomfortable? Not a problem? Did you find an option/holding technique that made it work for you?

Unoclay1 Replies:

For this here gamer, controls can be the most interesting part of exploring a new title.  My undying love for videogames is directly related to a love for puzzles (see one of my first IGN blogs for more on this topic), and new or unique ways to control a game–when implemented correctly–can represent an interesting new challenge.

Nintendo is no stranger to adventurous new control styles, so maybe we’re silly to be amazed by the brand new layout in Kid Icarus Uprising.  Folks, this is the company that first brought us the modern ‘plus-sign’ control pad (NES), Shoulder Buttons (SNES), the Rumble Pack (n64) and perhaps the most memorably of all, launched the motion-control revolution with the flawed-yet-innovative Wiimote.  On the handheld front, the original DS brought touchscreens and styluses out of the business world and into kids pockets.  Pushing further, the 3DS includes incredible gyroscope sensitivity (used for incredible effect in the Ocarnia of Time remake and smaller apps like Faceraiders).  The whole “Nintendo invents a new way to control a game” is definitely a well-known phenomenon.

A Family Tradition

So, as a gamer who owns every Nintendo console ever made, maybe I’ve been training my whole life for Uprising’s unique control style.  I’m not the kind of gamer who just wants recycled concepts and over-familiar techniques–when I’m shelling out $40 for a new title, I almost expect something innovative.  Love it or hate it, Kid Icarus certainly delivers a new experience.  I’m glad to say I like it quite a bit, though there are a couple things that could have been changed for an even better experience.  I’m going to spend most of my time in this blog answering IGN’s first question about the controls, since I think this is one of the most interesting and innovative aspects of Uprising.

Firstly, I didn’t plan to use the pack-in 3DS ‘stand’.  I expected the stand to be wobbly, flimsy, or just plain stupid (I was imagining something much less sturdy, perhaps akin to the Virtual Boy).  However, after a few hours of cradling the system between my torso and legs (I’m not fat enough to hold the system still with my gut), I kept noticing the system slipping out of my grasp, or simply not being able to keep the game still enough when the action gets hot (and since I tend to play at level 6 or 7, the challenge is always intense).  So I reluctantly unwrapped the stand and set it up.

Way better than some previous options

The stand is plain, unassuming, and almost too simple to work . . . but it mostly does.  Small rubber bumpers keep the base of your 3DS from sliding left or right, and the stand itself is made of sturdy plastic that resists slipping across the table and easily bears the pressure of your in-game button-mashing.  By using the stand, you’ll be (freer) to concentrate on manipulating the stylus and executing the all-important Smash-Brothers-style dodging (accomplished by quick flicks of the circle pad).  This is the stand’s greatest strength–since Uprising dodges are tougher due to the well-known ‘slip factor’ of the circle pad (your thumb starts to slide off at the first droplet of game-induced sweat), the stand provides needed leverage and allows better use of an ultra-critical game action.  Overall, and in spite of my following complaints, I’d say the stand is a very worthwhile addition to the Uprising package.

The weaknesses of the Kid Icarus / 3DS stand are obvious:

• First, you’ll need to cart it along anytime you want to play Kid Icarus on the go.  Given that you’ll dodge hundreds of times in every single Vs. match (again, imagine Smash Brothers), the stand becomes almost a requirement for serious online play, so if you’re gaming on the go, now you have a peripheral to tote along.
• Secondly, I’d strongly prefer a more substantial 3DS stand–the one we got is pretty good, but a stand with a wider and heavier base would have reduced slippage (when you get excited, you’ll still move the stand by accident).
• Thirdly, I’d have liked a way to anchor my 3DS in the stand.  I’m imagining a claw-like socket that would lock the 3DS down during sessions, allowing me to manhandle the system a little more, rather than having to restrain the enthusiasm of my stylus swipes and dodges.  I definitely feel like I lose some online matches because I ‘hold back’ a little bit, mediating my movements based on the fear of moving the system/stand too much (and therefore losing my flow).

Beyond the pros and cons of the stand, and circling back to my original point, I basically can say I love the challenge of Uprising’s new control layout.  As a big fan of Wii’s Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, I’m very familiar with the process of using the Wiimote to aim a reticle while manipulating other buttons to control my character.  In the ‘flight’ levels of Uprising, the 3DS stylus takes the place of the Wiimote, meaning I have precision control of the aiming reticle at my fingertips, leaving the remainder of the controls for my other hand.  This design greatly enhances the appeal of an on-rails shooter (which is what the Flight sections really are), demanding a player to stretch their brain in two directions at once–dodge bullets with the circle pad, aim your weapon with stylus.  It’s not the simplest task to accomplish, but what fool ever thought video games should be easy?

Similar, but in a very, very good way.

The controls also shine in the free-roaming adventure levels of Uprising, reminding me of the oft-forgotten gem that is Link’s Crossbow Training.  Here, the stylus takes the place of the Wii Zapper, serving double duty to rotate the camera and aim your weapon.  Given that you can fine-tune the speed of camera rotation, I tend to enjoy the experience of whirling the camera at the flick of a stylus–it’s a neat design concept that lets me to fight in a 360-degree fashion, whether online or single-player.  All of my above comments about the challenges of dodging apply here as well–you won’t dodge nearly as much in the single player campaign, but it’s a critical action that is probably the toughest aspect of Uprising’s control layout.  It’s frustrating to admit that the circle pad’s slippiness may be the biggest flaw with the game’s controls, but since this was a problem before Uprising hit shelves, I’m reluctant to dock points from Icarus for this system flaw.

Come to think of it's Gannon's hordes are very similar to Medusa's army.

Like I said at the outset, I really love it when any game pushes the limits of the delivery technology.  In this case, 3DS is only a single year old, yet Masahiro Sakuri took ideas from some of Nintendo’s best modern titles (Smash Brothers, Sin & Punishment) and recombined these elements into an all-new game with an overwhelming amount of polish and playability.  The game itself is a phenomenal delight, almost qualifying as a brand-new IP (the NES/Gameboy episodes of Icarus had exactly zero personality) with humorous voice-acting, plenty of retro-references, 4th-wall-shattering in-jokes, and most critically, a shocking amount of “hardcore” depth (including an upgradable weapon system and the crazy degrees of adjustable difficulty).

As a gamer who has always seen Kid Icarus as the forgotten “fourth pillar” of the NES’s original catalog (SMB, Metroid, Zelda, and lowly Pit), I can’t believe how RIGHT they got this reboot.  It’s a must-have title for any Nintendo gamer, minor control flaws not withstanding.  Do yourself a favor and join the fight against Medusa.

By way of introduction, I’ve never played any Metal Gear game since the two episodes on the original NES.  I’ve been ultra-excited to finally have the chance to play a MG game on the system that introduced the game to US shores.  All of my following thoughts are just first impressions regarding the 3DS version, and may change once I’ve spent more time with the game (I’ve played about 2 hours so far).

Seriously--this is the last MG I've played.

In general, I found the game relatively easy to control and really entertaining to play—it’s already clear why this game is a classic of the stealth genre, and clearly an incredibly awesome game, apparent even in the first few minutes of play.    There were a few moments where I got stuck due to my unfamiliarity with the control layout of MGS.  For instance, your first task is to find the backpack you lost while parachuting into the jungle, and I must have spent a solid 10 minutes wandering around trying to spot my gear in the trees.  Perhaps the game intends this to be the experience of the brand-new player; my confusion definitely gave me a chance to get used to controlling the camera (a feat entirely controlled via X,Y, etc buttons) and moving Snake around in the MG universe.  My 3DS is equipped with a 3rd party battery pack, so the Circle Pad Pro isn’t an option (I’d rather have increased battery life than a second circle pad), but I didn’t find the camera controls or character movement to be significantly impacted by the non-CPP layout.  I’m a little worried that the primary attack button (with or without CPP) is the right shoulder button, since this makes holding the 3DS a little awkward (lying down with 3DS on chest seems to be the optimal position).  However, since MGS doesn’t seem to require a million attack gestures per second, it’s working alright so far.

One of the features unique to the 3DS is the use of gyroscope in scenes that require Snake to maintain his balance.  So far, I’ve encountered this feature on a few tree branches and while crossing a rope bridge.  It’s a neat innovation, but it honestly doesn’t add all that much to the game experience.  I can see how it might strike some as a bit gimmicky (think blowing into the DS microphone) but at the same time, I’m not opposed to it’s inclusion, and in general seems like a neat concept that might play an interesting role as the game progresses.

Overall, a neat concept.

Another interesting 3DS innovation is the ability to use the 3DS camera to create customized camouflage for Snake.  I experimented with this feature for a few minutes, enjoying the idea of making different battle fatigues from photos of my art studio’s neon green walls, a plastic toy hot-dog, and my Yorkshire Terrier’s fur.  After messing with the options a bit, my dog’s fur seemed to be the best option for jungle stealth, actually looking pretty suitable for the Metal Gear environment.  Unfortunately, as soon as the game gave me a tutorial on proper camouflage use, survival dictated that I needed to swap out my dog-fur for one of the game’s more effective pre-rendered options.  Again, a neat way to involve the 3DS technology and give modest updates to a game that’s been around for years.

An epic dog, but not the best camouflage

The many (television/film) video clips that begin the game have not been translated to 3D, but as a gamer accustomed to the more limited technologies of the original DS and Wii, I can’t help but admit that I’m still amazed to see full, several-minute-long video clips—including clips of the Cuban Missle Crisis and President Kennedy–running so nicely on an Nintendo device.

With respect to 3D incorporation, I noted that when I enter into FPS weapon mode, the visuals kick back to a flat non-3D mode.  It’s not a significant issue, but it’s a minor detraction from the overall 3D immersion.  Overall, the 3D is nicely done.  I spent a lot of time flipping in and out of the 3D/2D modes, and although the sense of depth isn’t nearly as great as in some other 3DS titles, there are moments when the presentation really shines.  I especially liked the effect of crawling through 3D grass, experiencing the sensation of stealthy blindness, quietly pushing my way through foliage, homing in on the voices of enemy soldiers.  The game’s lighting was, however, a little tough at moments, making me wish I was playing in a fully darkened room, rather than the full daylight of my workplace office.  I definitely found myself squinting at the screen during a few parts, trying to decipher if that’s a tree I’m seeing, or maybe a stationary enemy soldier.  I wouldn’t have been opposed to a bit brighter presentation, but it isn’t a deal-breaker at all, just a factor I noted.

A Snake In The Grass

With respect to sound, the intro sequences include a ton of voice acting—something else I’m not used to encountering on Nintendo platforms.  Since I hear that Snake’s character was modeled after the ridiculously overacted protagonist in Escape From New York, I’m not going to fault the game for cheesy lines or over-masculine action-film delivery (I’m remembering the way we’ve learned to accommodate the voice acting in Resident Evil).  I can say that, much like my amazement at the extensive video clips, I’m pleasantly surprised at how well the 3DS is capable of handling long (even supplementary, subscreen) audio conversations with no disruptive loading or quality issues.  Given the extensive dialog at the beginning of the game—as well as the non-vital, entertaining conversations you can have with NPC’s via Snake’s radio–I’d definitely recommend using headphones or earbuds to get the most out of the experience and avoid missing anything.  The jungle atmosphere of the first level is excellent, including far-off sounds of wind, insect life, and warning enemy footsteps.  Indeed, my Sennheiser earphones definitely gave me an advantage, allowing me to know which direction enemy voices (and their inevitable gunfire) were coming from.

The similarities aren't very hard to find, especially when you hear them speak.

I also need to state that Snake Eater’s intelligent, adult-friendly plot AND tutorial is the sort of thing that Nintendo needs to incorporate into their 1st party releases.  I recall that, around the time of Skyward Sword’s release, some IGNers were bothered by my own eye-rolling/wish-I-could-skip-cutscenes reaction to Nintendo’s most recent attempts at narrative development.  But when I see a game like Snake Eater touching on complex, real-world pathos (in only the first 10 minutes), and the control-scheme tutorials are seamlessly interwoven with a measured pace of story/game/teaching points, I quickly realize why I’m bored by two hours of cut-screens regarding Link and Zelda’s never-to-be-satisfied faux-romance and two hours of “how to play a game you’ve already played”.  By way of contrast, Snake Eater is handing me a crazy, complex story that I’ll actually care to see resolved, rather than just acting as a mere launching-pad for the underlying gameplay.  Plus, I’m not getting too much handholding on the in-game controls.  The game gives me enough to get by for now, but doesn’t force me to wait hours before I get to try it for myself.

Additional comments added 8:30 EST 21Feb12

I’ve played about another 2 hours of the game, and beyond stating that I apparently REALLY suck at stealth gaming–I’m constantly alerting the guards, and seem completely incapable of executing a total stealth attack without making all kinds of noise and setting off alarms, panic, etc–my latest MGS3D update would be a desire to convey my total and utter excitement at a game of this quality existing on a Nintendo platform.  Maybe I’ve just played too much casual Wii, or maybe I’ve just been missing out on some critical experiences, but playing MGS3D makes me step back in amazement, realizing–”Hey, I’m sitting on a commuter train, playing an awesome-looking, incredible sounding, full-console, adult-oriented 3D video game . . . on my NINTENDO handheld”.  I don’t think I’d be overstating the case to say that this game represents an epic moment for Nintendo–sure, it’s an updated release of a semi-dated title, but that doesn’t change the fact that Metal Gear Solid 3D looks AWESOME, and truly feels like Nintendo is finally arriving in the modern era while still retaining the individuality and high quality of their past.  It’s a game for grownups on a system that truly has something for everybody.  Gawd, I’m so psyched for this kind of thing to continue.  3 cheers for Nintendo and Snake . . . I’m loving being a Nintendo guy right now.

The only other note I’d offer is that I seemed to detect a significant volume output difference between earbuds and full stereo headphones.  When I switched over to earbuds for my train ride home, I felt like I was having a tougher time hearing the nuances of dialog and background effects.  That said, it wasn’t a big problem, but I definitely caught myself trying to jam the volume slider higher and higher (past the max point) after leaving my headset behind.  It’s probably just a matter of perception, but if possible, play with the best earphones available–seems like the game benefits from the added volume and stereo boost.

That’s it for now–I’ll add more commentary as time allows and my playthrough continues.

I welcome your thoughts and questions, and especially appreciate your reader comments.

For my first Fun A Day project, I chose to employ a piece of free software called “Swapnote” (Nintendo 3DS). The basic function of SN is to allow users to exchange short (3D) messages and pictures via stylus and touchscreen.

The timing was fortuitous; Swapnote debuted just days before the new year. . . just as I was scrambling for ideas for my January FaD project.

The unique features of SN made a perfect medium; not only does the software “track” your sketch process (records your brushstrokes in real time), the integrated social network of SN means that a user can receive nearly instantaneous feedback from an audience. It has some interesting limits and caveats as well; a very limited supply of “ink” forces an artist toward brevity, while the ability to draw and display in 3D (not visible in this video) inspires incredible new concepts.

I sought out about 40 users from various gaming networks and message boards, linked my system to theirs, and began drawing.

I’m a terrible sketch artist but I love to doodle cartoons; i’ve been doing it since I was a wee lad. My Fun a Day project never felt like anything more than Fun–goal achieved–but i also met with some surprising success. I received a shockingly warm response from numerous daily readers. To keep this video to a manageable length, I have edited out most of their commentary, but I genuinely appreciated ALL of their time and attention, and most of all, their input into my experiment. Suffice to say, the number of positive comments exceeded my wildest expectations. Thank you to everyone who participated.

The background music is from my first “album” entitled “The Green Room”, a self-recorded piece of something. Something–that’s all I can say. Shoot me a message if you want to download a copy–I’m happy to poison your brain a little more. ;’]

The video you see here is a short sampling of the 31 day project; I’ll be presenting a DVD of the entire 31 day process (including all comments and replies!) at the Philadelphia FaD show (Feb 10-11, 2012); check out http://www.artclash.com for more information. Comments welcome!

MT, for those who weren’t aware of this modest little game (and almost nobody was—lifetime sales are estimated at less than 40k worldwide) is the direct spiritual sequel to Henry Hatsworth, and even includes some members of the same development team.  MT even includes a late-game dialog tree that makes oblique reference to HH—a neat Easter-egg wink to the loyal players.  But no amount of copy-cat gameplay and stylistic similarities allow MT to surpass HH…Henry is just that damn good.

I'm so SICK of those guys getting all the attention!!!!

However, IF you’ve already played Henry Hatsworth and are, like me, yearning for a sequel that will probably never happen (again, see my email exchange with HH Director Kyle Gray), Monster Tale is at least a reasonable surrogate of similar quality and composition.

Like Hatsworth, Monster Tale is a direct descendant of the Metroidvania action-platforming universe.  You’ll move about in a gradually-expanding worldmap, acquiring powerups for the lead character (a human girl, Ellie) while simultaneously powering up your sidekick monster, Chomp.  One of the game’s strongest attributes is the addictive combination of attacks at your disposal.  Ellie’s primary offense (again, exactly like Hatsworth) is a melee strike capable of juggling monsters into item-dropping multi-hit combos.  She’s also equipped with a blaster for long range hits, but using her melee attack is so much fun, I tend to forget about using her gun in all but the most challenging situations.

Assisting Ellie is Chomp, her hovering, omnipresent monster buddy.  Chomp is like an action-game version of a Pokemon sidekick.  Your monster will gather experience, level up, and evolve into new forms over time.  Chomp’s evolutionary direction is up to you; your submenu includes branching trees that allow the player to direct Chomp’s development and ultimate forms.  However, I never found the game to be difficult enough to spend much time pondering Chomp’s potential evolutions; the most important thing seemed to be remembering to equip my monster with the right style of attacks and statistic-altering badges before heading into battle.

The presence of two onscreen protagonists makes for a fundamentally entertaining formula akin to the dual-hero structure of the DS Castlevania series.  Ellie possesses weaker attacks and lower defense stats, while Chomp has a variety of bombastic offensive moves and sustains less damage than his human friend.  Frantic button manipulation is the name of the game; a skilled player can wipe out a full screen of enemies in mere seconds by using Chomp and Ellie in a chaotic two-pronged assault.  Since Chomp has to recharge every few seconds (by returning to monster-limbo on the bottom DS screen), primary strategy lies in timing the use of your monster pet.  If Chomp’s life meter drops to zero, he’ll be knocked out for a nail-biting half minute, leaving Ellie exposed and alone on the battlefield.  It’s an innovative formula that can get a little repetitious by the end of the game, but works well overall.

Monster Tale  isn’t very long; my playcount reads 8 hours, 16 minutes for a finished game (though I only achieved a 73% complete).  Nor is the game as difficult as Hatsworth; whereas the final levels of HH were classic affairs of white-knuckled boss fights, I only started losing lives in the final few levels of Monster Tale, and beat the final boss on my third (relatively lazy) attempt.  The graphic style is acceptable (if a bit childlike/cutesy) . . . but again. . .  not as polished or detailed as a certain other similar game (I may have mentioned it a few times by now).  The soundtrack is similarly passable—inoffensive, even decent at moments (the punchy bass in the nightclub level is some of the loudest in any DS title) but doesn’t even hold a candle to the mesmerizing symphonic genius of Hatsworth (I say this as a guy who has the HH soundtrack on his iPod).  Finally—and in some ways, most glaringly—the humor and wit of HH is entirely absent from MT.  This isn’t entirely surprising, given that I’d put HH on the comic level of classic Lucasarts comedy, but it’s a regrettable omission, considering the many other similarities between the two games.

vLuWluFfQZs

IGN rated Monster Tale an 8.5 (while Henry Hatsworth got a 9.0 Editor’s Choice rating) so it’s obviously not a bad game, and please don’t misinterpret my underlying message.  To wit, Monster Tale is a good platformer with neat innovations and moments of true greatness.  But the problem with making a spiritual successor to a truly legendary game is that the descendant will always reside in the shadow of its forebearer (think Goldeneye 007/ Perfect Dark).  Still, given that you can pick up a new copy of Monster Tale on Ebay for around $13, I’d definitely say this game is worth your time.

But only if you’ve already played the sh*t out of Hatsworth. ;’]

If you enjoy my game-related writing, feel free to check out my blog (and follow me) at http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1/.  With 200+ followers and a sizable community of gamers, it’s worth checking out.  And at either site, I always reply to all of your comments.

And if you don’t mind . . . PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS!!!  I really look forward to your feedback, and I could seriously talk games all day long.  Thanks for reading!

Never heard of this before, but apparently, in 1969 (Summer of Love, yup yup) the same man who went on to invent the Gameboy debuted this handy little number.  No, I’m not joking.  Nintendo’s history of goofy peripherals goes all the way back to the 60s.

#2 Unopened Box of Nintendo Cereal System

Oh yeah, you remember this one–Nintendo Cereal System was one of the “best” cereals of all time, complete with a box that split down the middle ala Nerds candy.  I can still remember the “yummy” flavors and the way I “delighted” in every bite of my “favorite” fanboy breakfast.

Buy the Nintendo Cereal System, and you too will agree, it’s tough to decide which of the two flavors is the better!

Current Price to dine with Mario and Link: $300, ebay (free shipping, what a bargin!)

Affordable Alternative: Empty, banged-up box from the less-famous Pac-Man Cereal (Current price: $55 ebay)

#3 Unopened copy of Stadium Events for NES

You know you want it, and you know you can’t STAND that your NES collection remains incomplete.  Go ahead and pick up a copy of this Holy Grail collector’s piece.  Hell, you already bought all those unappreciative jerks in your family a nice holiday gift–time to treat yourself right!

Current Price to play the BEST game of all time (based on cost): $22,201, ebay (free shipping!)

Affordable Alternative: Buying the entire catalog of NES games other than Stadium Events, plus a cute little shed for handy storage

In the fall of 2008 through the summer of 2009, I fulfilled one of my life’s ambitions.  As a lifelong fan of rock music (as well as experimental music of all genres), I purchased a new computer with the sole intention of recording an “album” (quotes intentional).  I’ve never suffered from any driving desire for fame or public notoriety, yet I do tend to experience strong artistic impulses that require constant forms of outlet.  Music is one of these outlets.

Recording my own, original “album” was something I’d wanted to do for a very long time, and the creation of a full-length piece of music would be, I hoped, a process that would allow me to improve my skills as a musician.  I grew up playing the trumpet for more than 10 years, but when I bought myself an electric guitar in 1996, I never looked back.

The Green Room "album" cover (ghost is a linoleum block print I made for first 100 copies)

Fast forward to 2009.  With Garageband as my launching pad, the eventual result of 100+ hours of work was my first album entitled “The Green Room”.  I’m pretty close to the flame, and so I find it difficult to comment on the final product, but I’m generally happy with the way the “album” sounds, regardless of my amateur status.  The Green Room is, in it’s own bizarre way, a statement of my fundamental artistic intentions and ideals (whatever that may mean) but more importantly, certainly helped me to become a better artist while venting a whole lot of noisy musical steam.

Now that I’ve bored you to tears, download the album here. 

My only request is for your comments and input.  Harsh criticism won’t hurt my feelings, and empty praise does little to help me with future projects.  I love to hear your real reactions, opinions and ideas regarding anything I create (written, musical, or otherwise), so be sure to stop back here after you’ve digested the album and let me know how, or where, it struck you.  I look forward to knowing exactly how The Green Room infected your brain.

But before I drop #1 on you, you need one last chance to get caught up.

If you missed em–and I bet a lot of you did–definitely check out the rest of the series (these are links to the respective posts on my blog at IGN.com).

Games #5 and #4: http://tinyurl.com/6twbm5n

Game #3: http://tinyurl.com/7t885bc

Game #2: http://tinyurl.com/82vlkak



In the end, it seemed too darn sad to conclude with a title that has almost zero chance of a sequel.  After looking over my original list and pairing it down to the final roster, it made the most sense to finish with the sequel most players would vote for.

“The company is currently refocusing and returning to its roots, working on one of its most requested titles for the next generation,”

– developer Silicon Knights as quoted on Kotaku.com, 01 Nov 2011

That quote–which may or may not refer to our #1-needs-a-sequel-game–is making plenty of waves in the blogosphere right now.  That such a small quote can garner so much attention is a good indication of just how popular this #1 Demanded Sequel may prove to be.

If you don’t already know what game we’re talking about, then you haven’t been following the rumor mill as closely as the rest of the Gamecube fanboys . . .

Without further ado, the #1 Nintendo Game that DEMANDS a sequel is . . .

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Why pick Eternal Darkness for the number one sequel slot?

Well, to begin with, it’s probably the most popular game in my list, and like so many other overlooked sleeper hits, ED:SR built up an enormous reputation in the years following it’s original launch (2002).  But most importantly–and relating directly to my reasons for giving it the top spot in my list–Nintendo has repeatedly stated that they intend Wii U to be a console for both casual and serious gamers.

I want this.  I–like so many of you–desperately want the Wii U to claw back a piece of the hardcore market, to see Nintendo escape the reputation of a company only concerned with kids and grandmothers, to see my favorite system achieve the nigh-impossible task of creating games that are accessible, entertaining, challenging, balanced, and–most importantly–innovative . . . and do all of these things in a way that appeals to a variety of age groups and gaming devotion.

If the quote above is truly hinting at a Eternal Darkness sequel–and we have no guarantee that it is–then this would be a serious statement of commitment for Nintendo.  The first Eternal Darkness wasn’t a smash sales hit, but it WAS a Nintendo-published, M-Rated, seriously spooky psychological horror game that pushed the genre in new directions (sanity effects, anyone?), not to mention a game with an incredibly intelligent narrative that would freak the h*ll out of most players.  Simply, Eternal Darkness is the poster-child for the unequivocal greatness that Nintendo can–and does–achieve when they choose to move away from tried-and-trusted rainbow road racing and party-game paradise.

We all know that no company does innovation like Nintendo, period.  Rumble packs?  Platform gaming ala Mario?  Motion Controls?  Handheld, glasses-free 3D?!   The final jewel in Nintendo’s crown will not be creative imagination or new technology (they already do these things perfectly well), but must be a balancing of their cutie-pie image (Mario, Kirby, Pokemon, Nintendogs) against the deeper, darker, more complex experiences of  less sunshiney software (Metroid, Castlevania, Killer 7).  In recent years, we’ve seen Nintendo make efforts in this direction (Donkey Kong Country Returns is notoriously difficult, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was a huge hit on the DS, and even Skyward Sword (which I’m just beginning) is aiming at a more mature sense of storytelling than we’ve seen in previous Zelda titles.  Lest we forget, one of the top games on GameCube was Resident Evil 4, and the N64 was the system that gave the world it’s first taste of Goldeneye 007.  Nintendo systems have always hosted a smattering of great games for older audiences—they just need to do it more consistently.  They need to convince the big boys why we should stick around and play.

Nothing but innovation successes. Well, mostly.

Eternal Darkness is quite literally the most non-Nintendo thing Nintendo has ever endorsed (if Nintendo had published Conker’s Bad Fur Day, ED:SR might have had some competition).  Characters lose their minds and speak in freaky jibberish, Lovecraft-style madness is a permeating theme, and the whole story takes place in a shockingly dark universe awash with devilish symbols and occult imagery.  Throw in a deceased narrator, an opening scene with nightmarish skeletons and shotgun blasts, and a headless corpse–all of this within the first 5 minutes of the game— well, we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.  Looking at them side by side, I can only lament that Skyward Sword’s opening sequence wasn’t nearly as awesome.   :ducks flames:

Am I suggesting that Nintendo, in order to succeed, needs to become less Nintendo—to embrace the darkside, as it were?

Not necessarily . . . but, on the other hand, games like ED:SR give us a hint of how Nintendo–the company that made superstars out of the humble Mario and meekly heroic Link–could be all things to all gamers.  Nintendo shouldn’t stop making games that appeal to all ages, but at the same time, they need to dedicate more resources to the development and/or publication of titles that suit the more risqué tastes of the grownup fanbase.

A few words on the game itself.

Eternal Darkness might be a bit extreme for some Nintendo fans, but for me, it’s the ultimate example of Nintendo-sponsored excellence.  Though I don’t care about the narrative in most video games (so many storylines are too predictable and trite, though this is a topic for an entire separate blog), ED:SR has one of the most incredible and intelligent plots of any Nintendo-published game I’ve ever played.  The whole experience is incredibly creepy and dark, so obviously a game made by designers who were unafraid to incorporate grown-up storytelling alongside classic literary influences.  The gameplay ingeniously blends with the narrative; levels are a series of linear chapters that occur in various eras and geographic places, all of which are tied together in a plot of epic scope and nightmare imagination.  Maybe I just have a taste for the darkness, but I haven’t seen many titles on Nintendo that do so much storytelling with so much maturity and intricate detail.  Like a great film or text, ED:SR creates a universe that stretches far beyond the confines of the game itself, creating massively fertile ground that practically begs for sequel treatment.

Another reason to hope for a sequel is for a chance to revisit the amazing plot structure that includes 3 branching paths, all of which must be completed in order to see the true, final ending.  Such devotion requires the love of a true completionist, since a player will have to go through the same game three entire times with only minor gameplay differences to maintain your interest.  Still, I find it incredibly cool that a player must chose their path quite early in the game, but will only understand their choice much, much later.  A sequel could greatly expand upon the original ED’s multi-path plot layout, while simultaneously adding a great deal of replay value and content (both of which are increasingly important factors in today’s retail environment).

Chance of a sequel?

If the current message board rumors are to be believed . .  . well, I’ve got to conclude that we simply don’t know.  In researching this piece, I read several debates regarding SK’s tease-tastic “returning to roots” quote, none of which seemed to resolve the issue in a conclusive fashion.  The studio just experienced a significant staff cut—which could obviously impact a company’s best intentions—and SK possesses a small catalog of other games that could reasonably be the “most-requested title”.   Nevertheless, Nintendo has renewed the Eternal Darkness trademark (which in itself means little, but adds fuel to the fire), thereby giving a glimmer of hope to the fans of Nintendo’s darkest offspring.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

And with that, I conclude my 5-part countdown of the Nintendo-platform games that DEMAND a sequel.

Thank you for reading.  Can I take a second of your time to request that you LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS?

I look forward to your feedback and conversation more than any other aspect of the blog process, so take a few seconds and drop me a line.

Below is the third entry in my countdown of five epic games (native to Nintendo consoles) that really should get sequels.  As part of my series, I wrote to some of the designers and developers behind these deserving titles.

Kyle Gray, the main brain (and Director) behind the DS-exclusive Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure, took the time to respond to my email and sent me the following letter.  As expected, it isn’t a very positive response, but I got his permission to publish his email here anyway.  Enjoy the news update and leave me any comments below.  If you have substantial questions or follow-up inquiries, I can gladly pass your thoughts or questions along to this legendary designer.

Unoclay, 24Nov11 to Kyle Gray:

. . . blah blah blah . . . .I’m simply writing to inquire if there has been any update to the situation with Hatsworth, and whether the probability of a sequel is any more likely than it was a few years ago.

As a devotee of the DS, I’d gladly say it ranks among the best titles on the system–and that is most definitely “saying something” imho.  The game is of the purest, highest quality, and I pray you’re able to someday sequel this item.  I suspect your reply may have something to do with IPs, ownership by EA, etc….but tell me it’s possble, or even likely…the fans WANT to know!

Kyle Gray, 29Dec11 to Unoclay:

Greetings, my fine fellow!

I would love to do a sequel, but as you are no doubt aware, I ceded my rights to the game long ago when I created it at EA.  Having quitted the company, it is doubtful that they would ever let me create a derivative work, and I lack the funds to purchase the necessary rights from them. Nor have I heard of any sequel in the works through whatever EA contacts I still have.
Be that as it may, perhaps I’ll try my hand at a spiritual successor at some point.  Apologies for the late response.
Regards,  Kyle

(he called me ‘fine fellow’!  How cool is that!?)

Too bad, but much what I expected.  If you want to support Mr. Gray’s general sense of creativity, check out The Experimental Gameplay Project, easily one of the coolest things on the web.

(below is the text of the original blogpost)

Nintendo Games that DEMAND sequels (part 3)

Full disclosure:  I REALLY WANTED to make the following game #1, but it’s probably best to end on a high note and finish out with a game that might actually get a sequel. . . which #2 probably won’t.  But if I could have my wish, this #2 game would get a followup before anything else on the list–its a strong contender for my all-time favorite game of the original DS catalog (which is saying a lot).  It deserves a sequel SO badly…and I envy anyone who hasn’t played it yet.  You’re in for a HUGE treat.

If you missed the first two entries in this series (#5, #4, and #3 Nintendo games that DEMAND a sequel), find them here: 

#5 and #4:    http://tinyurl.com/6twbm5n  

#3   http://tinyurl.com/7t885bc

And now with no further ado, #2.

#2: Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

Hilarious.  Addictive. Challenging.  Innovative.

Some titles can claim a few of these labels, but very few video games are such perfect mixtures of LOL humor and rock-solid gameplay, or successfully merge fresh, original ideas with adult-level difficulty.

If there is one single element that makes Henry Hatsworth so unforgettable, it must be the way the game perfectly weds the worlds of puzzle gaming (ala Tetris) with the familiar conventions of platform adventures.  When you invest in this cartridge, you’ll truly be getting two games in one package–and both are insanely addictive.

The upper DS screen is where the majority of the action takes place; you’ll guide Hatsworth through a variety of environments, thwaking enemies with your melee sword and blasting tougher baddies with Henry’s cartoonish elephant gun.  Even Henry’s basic attacks are satisfyingly addictive; HH is one of those games where the basic combat mechanism never gets old, thanks largely to the ability to juggle enemies with multiple hits and earn extra item drops.  The environments are colorful and fresh, there are a high number of longish levels to explore, and most areas include hidden side-rooms full of treasure and items.  Meanwhile, the music is simply awesome; reminiscent of a Tim Burton film, the brilliant score serves to amplify the themes and cartoonish atmosphere of the game.  If you don’t believe me, DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE SCORE HERE (thanks EA!) and listen for yourself!

But the platforming is literally only half the fun.  The lower DS screen is a Meteos-style, ever-rising sea of colored blocks that must be matched into chains of 3 colors or greater.  Let the pile climb too high, and enemies will start to swarm upward into your platform adventure.  This steady climb of the puzzle requires the player to switch between upper and lower screens every few seconds.   At first glance, this mechanism might sound disruptive or annoying, but trust me–you’ll be completely blown away by this ingenious, entertaining hybrid of two addictive games.  Furthermore, the puzzling serves purposes beyond mere entertainment.  Bonus items (that affect play on the upper screen) and enemies are buried within the puzzle pieces, meaning that a player has incentives (beyond basic survival) to motivate frequent visits to the lower screen.  And lest you make the mistake of thinking the puzzle aspect is merely a tacked-on concept with lots of flash but no true pizazz, just consider the reward for becoming a puzzle master (thereby filling your super meter to the max):

If you have any doubts about this game, look deep inside your soul and ask the burning question that has troubled philosophers and sages through the ages:
WHAT OTHER GAME COMBINES STUFFY BRITISH TEA-TIME with HEAVY METAL MECH WARRIOR COMBAT?

Finally, no review of this 10/10 game would be complete without a mention of Henry Hatsworth’s legendary sense of humor.  Not only is the game’s basic setup fundamentally hilarious (Henry discovers a magical golden bowler hat that allows him to manipulate the puzzle realm in a quest to acquire the lost pieces of the magic ‘Gentleman’s Suit’), the entire adventure is colored with a ridiculous caliber of goofy polish and running jokes.  If you love the Mario & Luigi RPG series for DS, this game will simply knock your socks off with equally-awesome comic moments.  Characters speak in nonsensical voices of  parodic British pidgin, something between Charlie Brown’s gargling teachers and outright Monty Python lunacy.  It’s some of the most entertaining”voice acting” I’ve ever heard in a game, and boosts this game beyond “merely funny” to the hallowed level of clownish soul we loved in games like Earthworm Jim and Dragon’s Lair.   It’s tough to describe what I’m talking about, so check out the following video.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that finishing the game (a feat in itself–some of the final scenes are notably difficult) opens a “hard” mode.  It is a testament to this game’s greatness that I immediately started a second playthough, hungry for the extreme challenge of the bonus mode.

With so many games that aren’t worth the time we spend on them, Henry Hatsworth In the Puzzling Adventure stands out as one of the most interesting, worthwhile titles I’ve played over the last generation.  If you don’t believe me, then listen to what IGN’s own legendary Mark Bozon had to say about Henry Hatsworth (just before awarding it an overall 9.0 and an Editor’s Choice distinction): “There isn’t much more that can be said about Hatsworth without coming right out and telling you to buy it, which is exactly what I’m doing.”

WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL?

In a 2009 Nintendolife.com interview, HH lead designer Kyle Gray (who has since left EA and gone on to found the ultra-awesome Experimental Gameplay Project along with Kyle Gabler of World of Goo) had the following to say about the possibility of a Hatsworth followup:
KG: If I got a call from EA that gamers were clamouring for a second Hatsworth (call me EA!) then I’d once again don my bowler hat and set to work on the sequel. I think we only managed to scratch the surface of British stereotypes, and I’ve love to broaden out – into French stereotypes, for example!

Otherwise, the web is not overflowing with any recent information.  In researching this article, I emailed the Experimental Gameplay Project to request any update from Mr. Gray, but have received no response as of yet.  If anyone reading this article has any additional information, PLEASE share it….I know I’m not the only one thirsty for another Tea-Time with Henry Hatsworth.

If you enjoy my video-game-related rants, please feel free to visit my own website where I post game reviews, commentary, and a general bunch of nonsense.

And if you don’t mind . . .

LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS!!!!

It makes writing these things all the more worthwhile.

Now, for #3.  This entry was meant to include at least two games, but I ended up writing more than I planned, so entries #2 and #1 will have to show up separately in a day or so.  I know, I know–the anticipation must be killing you.

#3 Link’s Crossbow Training (Wii)

Ok, I’m freely admitting that this one may be the least likely of my five choices to receive sequel treatment.  But before I offer up #2 and #1, I wanted to take a second to recall this excellent demo game.  I’m pretty sure a follow-up would be well received by the marketplace, so perhaps it’s not so crazy to hope that Nintendo might someday take up my suggestion.  And lest we forget, Miyamoto had a direct hand in LCT’s development, and we all know how devoted he can be when it comes to his pet projects.

Honestly, until recently, I’d entirely forgotten about this pack-in disc that accompanied the Wii Zapper peripheral.  Like the original Wii Sports, LCT came in a cardboard sleeve, meaning that I don’t even have a convenient way to display it in my game library.  Thankfully, a recent workplace conversation reminded me just how great this non-cannon Zelda really was, leading me to dig it out of storage.  A female coworker had mentioned that her boyfriend really likes video games, though she herself had little interest in his hobby.  But she mentioned one exception, describing “this one shooting game on the Wii, it had something to do with Legend of Zelda . . . I played the heck out of that game, it was really fun!”.  Inspired, I went home and pulled out Link’s Crossbow Training for a quick visit.

If you can't afford the real thing, Miyamoto came up with a reasonable substitute.

LCT definitely held up in the ‘pure fun’ department.  Like so many casual Nintendo efforts, I quickly remembered how entertaining the simple, straightforward gameplay of this basic shooter had been, just a few Christmases ago.  I was surprised to see how many family members had spent some time with it; unlike most of my Wii library, the system memory showed 7 registered Miis, all with a decent level of progress.  My own avatar was maxed out with platinum medals in all events, so I started a new character for a replay.

Simple, straightforward, charming, addictive.  One of my earliest encounters with Nintendo was the arcade classic Hogan’s Alley; in many ways, Link’s Crossbow Training is the direct (albeit evolved) descendant of that early light-gun shooter.  Some rounds amount to little more than “shoot the targets / don’t shoot the penalties”, playing against a player’s inclination to blast anything that moves.  But the bonus multiplier for sequenced hits takes LCT to a whole new level of addictive gameplay, forcing the wise shooter to check their fire while efficiently taking down targets.  The Wiimote/Zapper vibrates with a satisfying buzz at each hit, and the scoring system (chaining 3 stages together for one final total) allows a player to balance personal weaknesses (say, moving targets) against areas of strength (FPS-style sandbox zones).  Four medal classes are awarded at 20,000 point tiers, and the fun (for a serious player) lies in figuring out the subtle tricks that let you run up the score and grab the platinum badge.

Different types of shooting missions keep the gameplay fresh from screen to screen

Throw in a Zelda-themed universe, and you’ve got yourself a winner.  It still strikes me as a bit odd to be gunning down enemies as the elfin Link (rather than, say, James Bond), but you’ll be able to overlook it given how deliciously fun this all-too-short game really is.  Besides the minimal content (there are only 9 levels with 3 zones each), my only other complaint are the washed-out graphics.  Even with hi-def Wii cables, the visuals look a little shoddy to me, almost as though they rendered the game in a hurry, or ported images from the development of Twilight Princess.  But again, the solid entertainment value overrides the obvious flaws, at least for me.

So, though I started off by admitting that a sequel to Link’s Crossbow Training is unlikely, I still think Nintendo could seriously consider the idea with good results.  The graphics could be updated or entirely revised (Windwaker style, or perhaps Skyward Sword, anyone?) and the content could be greatly expanded.

The only real news on the sequel front seems to be years old, and doesn’t look promising (http://www.1up.com/news/aonuma-wanted-link-crossbow-training    . But, if the big cheese at Nintendo WERE to reconsider, perhaps a sequel could be released as a standalone discount game (15-20$?), serving the dual purpose of giving fans another look at this notably entertaining Zelda-offshoot, while also rebutting the all-too-common complaint that Nintendo never supports their own peripherals.

After that, all we’ll need is a 3rd game for R.O.B.

Someday I'll get another chance...

Again, if you didn’t catch the first part of this list, check it out in the ‘Discussion and Debate’ section of this blog.

I love nothing more than to read (and respond to) your comments.  So go ahead and LEAVE ME SOME!!

#2 and #1 coming soon!

#5 Metroid Prime Pinball (DS)

Released to US audiences in 2005, this is not a title I played at launch.  Honestly, I fell into that category of people (probably a fairly large group) who thought, “Metroid . . . and pinball.  Really?”  The concept struck me as yet another goofy “oh those crazy Nintendo developers” moments.  Having zero skill at pinball in real life (and thus no interest in virtual recreations), I happily overlooked this gem of a game for several years.  When I spotted it on discount at an indie 2ndhand shop ($11.99), I figured I’d give it a test run.

Mixing pinball with minigame challenges keeps the action lively

In spite of my initial reservations, MPP turned out to be one of my favorite games on the DS system.  Though the title includes only 6 pinball tables, I managed to wring several weeks of entertainment out of this solid little Metroid-offshoot.  Difficult without being impossible, even I, as a gamer who SUCKS at pinball, was able to gradually build up the necessary skills to finish the game.  Each board in MPP is themed after an area from the cannon Metroid series, complete with boss fights and a final confrontation that takes a lot of practice and skill to complete.  Gameplay cleverly spans the two screens of the DS, a visual device that works very well (in spite of occasional lost-balls that occur when Samus crosses between screens). I can imagine some players becoming frustrated with the nature of the game–if you lose all your balls, you’re going back to the beginning, no continues allowed–but the challenge and score-based achievement system grew on me, deftly combining an old-school score-attack with the sensibilities of a modern adventure game. The player must complete certain pinball-style tasks to open new levels, and your score matters in terms of both bragging rights and extra lives.

Bosses are a survival test (just don't throw your DS when you die)

To my entire surprise, MPP constantly left me itching for “just one more game”.  Unfortunately, a quick google search turned up ZERO information regarding any future sequel.  Anyone with information on this item, PLEASE pass it along via comments–I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d be willing to pay for an Echoes-themed followup.

#4 Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (Wii)

With a title like that, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the first ZaW was a sequel itself–but you’d be wrong.  Frankly, I’ve often wondered if the convoluted title and semi-childish box art caused this title to suffer at the sales counter.  Furthermore, the game could easily be mistaken for a commercial tie-in to some kiddie cartoon (and not one you’ve even heard of)–leading mature gamers to skip it without a second thought. Regrettably, I think a lot of Wii owners missed out on this awesome, unique title.  The good news is that with a long wait between Skyward Sword and the debut of Wii U, players can pick this one up in the used bin for practically nothing, and get a really great game experience on the cheap.

A treasure of a game, awaiting your discovery

Zach and Wiki is most like classic point-and-click adventure games (think Lucasarts-style games like Maniac Mansion or The Secret of Monkey Island), but uses a unique “single screen” puzzle layout.  Rather than adventuring through a large sandbox world to complete fetch-quests and dialog trees, Zach and Wiki’s puzzles are typically contained within a self-contained level.  You’ll face a single area at a time (though most areas are bigger than a television screen, requiring some scrolling and character movement), with a standard solution usually requiring the manipulation of a handful of moveable items, clues, and creatures.

Many levels are sprawling affairs with many items and clues, yet you can solve the puzzle without leaving the area

And yes–this game is one of the few to successfully incorporate Wii motion controls.  Though some of the waggles/twists/points are a little flaky and difficult to control (this game debuted long before MotionPlus was around), the problems are not significant enough to hamper the game’s overall fun.  Most of a player’s time will be spent working on the puzzles themselves, trying to figure out how to manipulate strange and comical items into a workable solution.  The game’s scoring system rewards ingenuity and speed, so ZaW actually has decent replay value for those who want to earn the highest marks.

According to a 1998 comment, Capcom appears disinterested in the possibility of a sequel.  A quick google search turned up the predictable petitions, messsage-board discussions, and a “Zack and Wiki 2 Has To Be Made” facebook group, but no hints that Capcom has reconsidered.  While we give them time to change their mind, in the meantime, let’s keep the flame alive by remembering this excellent, unique Wii-only title that definitely deserves a second installment.

And that’s all for now.   MORE TO COME… #3, #2, and #1 coming soon!
Comments welcome!

Beyond all this, Cave Story has a sweetness of narrative and moments of touching character development that larger, more expensive games can only hope to emulate.  It plays like a cross between Castlevania and Mega Man, but invokes the spirit and sentiment of the best JRPGs.  In short, the original Cave Story is an uncontested classic, and no gamer should overlook it.

The original freeware version of Cave Story remains available for download to Mac or PC computers.  Given that commercial release hasn’t led the developer to pull down the free version strikes me as a testament of pure indie game greatness.  Here’s the link, for the uninitiated:

http://www.cavestory.org/index.php

Now, let’s talk about the latest update—Cave Story 3D.

What’s New in Cave Story for the 3DS?
First and foremost, the graphics are the BIG feature in this new version.  Though we haven’t had many games by which to judge, the 3DS is an amazing graphical powerhouse that can push a visual update (such as the treatment given to Ocarina of Time) from the realm of “neat” into utterly amazing, eye-popping territory.  If you’d told me that Cave Story was being remodeled for, say, Xbox 360 or PS3, I wouldn’t have cared nearly as much.  But the added bonus of a 3D element adds an entirely new layer of appeal to this already-artistic game.  Below, I’ll offer more detail on the updated 3D graphics.

The music has also been enhanced for the 3D version, though not nearly to the degree of the visual overhaul.  Since my first play-through of the freeware version, I’ve held a deep appreciation for the score of Cave Story, so much in fact, that I’ve kept the soundtrack on my iPod for months at a time.  The melancholy and cartoonish tunes stand on their own, retaining their appeal even outside of the game that gave them life.  Full disclosure–I’m not able to say if the updated music is identical to the remastered version that was released with the WiiWare Cave Story download (I chose to wait for the 3D update, and have never played the Wii version of CS).  However, I’m happy to report that although the music has been retouched to include subtle effects and backing tracks that feel appropriate for a modern title, these are still the same classic songs you first fell in love with.  It sounds great, yet entirely familiar.

The 3DS update lacks some of the alternate game modes that debuted in the WiiWare version, but this handheld version retains the ability to choose from 3 different difficulty settings.  As I’ve previously finished the game on PC, I opted for the hardest setting, and I’ll give the designers credit—I’m shedding lives on a regular basis (many monsters crush your character in a single hit).  Adult players will probably want to stick with the average difficulty or higher—Cave Story isn’t the longest game on earth, so you should savor the added challenge required for a true a retro-game experience.

The final big addition to the 3DS version is the option to choose between two graphic styles.  Each time you boot up your game, you can select between “story” mode or “classic” mode.  Though I find the labels slightly confusing (both feature the same story and cut scenes), Story mode utilizes 3D models of the hero, NPCs, and enemies, while Classic mode incorporates retro-style sprites similar to those of the freeware release.  The environment and background graphics are identical in either mode—you’ll still be adventuring in a 3D world, but Classic mode reminds me of the way Super Paper Mario transposed a cast of ‘flat’ characters into a multi-dimensional environment.  Classic mode looks very cool, and is probably my favorite of the two.  Conveniently, you can switch between Story and Classic modes every time you boot up the game, so you won’t need to play through the same game 2x to experience the difference and decide for yourself.

More on . . . the Graphics of Cave Story 3D
In general, Cave Story 3D looks very, very good.  Three-dimensional without being gimmicky or dizzying, the (formerly) minimalist world of the Mimigas now has all kinds of atmosphere and depth, as well as a million little artistic touches that bring the universe to life.  The foreground sprouts colorful trees and flowers, while distant backgrounds hint at a much larger world of villager huts, winding caverns, and mysterious vistas.  These additions don’t strictly add to the gameplay, but given that the original CS went to great lengths to create atmosphere and narrative using a limited palate, these updates are legitimately cool expansions of the Mimiga’s world, not merely tacked-on bells & whistles.   There are tons of little things to appreciate, like the farm sprinklers that spray pixelated water droplets (a super-cute exception to an otherwise fully 3-dimensional world), or the large-yet-subtle improvements, such as when the computer-controlled camera pans in such a way to create the illusion of a curved (yet two-dimensional) playfield.

One of the game’s few flaws is related, in part, to the game’s ambiance and setting.  Since the events of Cave Story take place mostly underground (big surprise, given the title), many areas are dimly lit.  Unfortunately, this means that some dark-colored enemies may not show up very well, and you’ll find yourself dying for no apparent reason.  This is frustrating when it happens several times in a row, especially when you were already being extremely careful and doing your best to avoid threats.  The problem is most noticeable in areas that use a long-distance camera angle, meaning that the enemies are now tiny as well as semi-invisible.  The issue isn’t going to impact your love for the game (you’ll simply learn to move more slowly and fire your weapon constantly in problem areas), but random deaths always feel cheap, and I wondered if the designers could have spent a bit more time fine-tuning the brightness/contrast settings for some levels.

Gameplay and game design—what’s new, and what’s not.
I’ve already mentioned the difficulty settings, which is one of the few changes from the freeware version of the game.  Honestly, Cave Story 3D strikes me as a bit light in the new content department, aside from the overwhelmingly well-done graphics.  In fairness, CS was never intended to be anything more than a bare-bones, simple & pure gaming experience, so perhaps the lack of added features is in keeping with the spirit of the original design.  Still, I can still imagine many would-be CS spelunkers wondering why exactly they should pay $40 for a game that they’ve already downloaded, loved, and conquered, so the lack of bonus content is slightly surprising.
More positively, the in-game controls and general gameplay are entirely intact in this reimagined 3D world.  The floaty, fun physics (the ones that you raved about to all your platform-loving friends) are identical to those found in the freeware version, and if you’re like me, you’ll relish the chance to play Cave Story with a true Nintendo control pad and buttons (I actually finished the freeware version using keyboard controls, not an easy feat).   I’m not always the biggest fan of the 3DS’s shoulder buttons—they sometimes cause my hands to cramp up with repetitive motion agony—but I have to say, the shoulders work really well here, allowing the player to rapidly toggle through your hero’s arsenal of weapons.

One of my only gripes—and again, this is relatively minor, but still annoying enough to mention–is the inability to skip cut-scenes after you’ve viewed them the first time.  I’m probably sensitive to this issue because I’ve chosen to play on the hardest difficulty, meaning that I die/repeat tough areas more than I normally would.  Still, given that almost all boss fights start with a pile of dialog boxes, one would appreciate the option to avoid reading the same conversation 10 times in a row.

So, should you purchase Cave Story 3D?

It’s really hard to make one unified argument for–or against–purchasing this game.

On one hand, it’s Cave Story–it’s the game you’ve already played on PC, Mac, or the Wii download service.  If you’re sick to death of it (or never understood what all the hype was about), you’re probably not even reading this review.  Beyond the flashy 3D graphics and the ability to play on a handheld device with true Nintendo controls, there isn’t a whole lot of innovation going on here.  It’s a phenomenal game—a phenomenal game from several years ago.

On the other hand—this is freakin’ CAVE STORY, for God’s sake!  This new 3D version is the most gorgeous realization of Cave Story to date–and I say that as a card-carrying retro-gaming freak.  The first reason I heard of Cave Story (and gave it a chance) was because friends kept telling me, “you love those old NES games, you’ve GOT to play this”.  For comparison, I’ve played almost none of the most popular PC videogames—I’ve never started an avatar in WoW, or solved the puzzles of Portal (yet)—but Cave Story, with it’s throwback spirit, humble presentation, and glorious shoot-em-up attitude…this one hooked me in . . .  waaaay in.  The masterful pairing of 8bit-era sprites with intense adventure/platform action is the reason everyone loves this wonderful little game.  You might wonder if a 3D update would somehow dilute the very reason you loved Cave Story in the first place—like, why mess with perfection (i.e. George Lucas syndrome)?  But, I’m telling you, they pulled it off.  They retained the original’s perfection while adding all kinds of enhancements that reinforce the game’s underlying greatness.  Indeed, this tasteful reinvention of a modern classic makes me wish that more studios would take a page from Pixel’s book—Maniac Mansion, or Day of the Tentacle, perhaps?

FINAL THOUGHT:  If you’re not stretched to your gaming limits in terms of finance or time, the 3DS version seems like the perfect opportunity to show your love for this epic piece of gaming history–one that was offered for to us for free, but worth so much more.

If you enjoy my reviews and want to read more of my video-game-related commentary, PLEASE check out my IGN.com blog at http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1/ .
Thanks for reading.  Your comments are not only welcome, but encouraged.

PS.  PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT. . .
For Cave Story Pros, I’m including the following link for your ease of reference.  I’ve never faced Cave Story’s easter-egg “final” board (“The Sacred Ground”, aka HELL)– but I’m going to make the attempt as I work through Cave Story 3D.  I’ve heard it’s total punishment.  I look forward to seeing if I’m up to the challenge.   How To Enter Sacred Ground

I can honestly say that my current interest in Rhythm Heaven has nothing to do with the announcement of a Wii sequel.  RH has been on my radar since it hit shelves–I would have been living in a cave to have missed all the positive buzz.  When Rhythm Heaven debuted, my job required me to travel quite a bit.  I spent as much time in airports and hotels as I did in my home office.  My DS–the fat original model, no less–was my most trusty companion on countless lonely nights in podunk country towns.  (Sounds sad if taken out of context–but I’d rather be playing Professor Layton or Elite Beat Agents and drinking beers on the company tab, than watching crap television in a dinky Holiday Inn lobby).  Point being that, thanks to my job, I was able to play a lot of DS . . . a lot.  Rhythm Heaven was one of those titles I always wanted to pick up, but just never fit it into my schedule.  Given the nature of my employment (3-4 days on the road, every other week–think Fight Club), I tended to choose longer, content-heavy experiences that would last for a couple weeks of airline hell.  Titles like Castlevania, Phantom Hourglass, the Layton series, and Contra 4 were the likeliest choices, if only because they offered more value for my money.  Rhythm Heaven had the aura of a shorter, casual game, so I left it in the queue, and time passed.

If you thought WarioWare was weird...ladies and gentlemen, meet the new weird.

ANYway . . . the game.  Rhythm Heaven is an experience divided into tiny vignettes of song and cadence.  And although RH is a card-carrying member of the “rhythm game” genre, RH is nothing like Guitar Hero or Rock Band.  RH comes from a different universe entirely–imagine WarioWare’s microgame sensibilities merged with Elite Beat Agents.  Humor is front-loaded here; while you won’t be picking noses (a WarioWare staple), the pure, unapologetic weirdness of the RH universe will have you laughing out loud.  You’ll build dancing robots, you’ll slice vegetables as a dog ninja, and one of my personal favorites, you’ll lead a choir of snot-nosed, ugly little kids who can’t carry a tune to save their lives.  Even if the gameplay wasn’t good, you’d still be laughing your ass off.

But the gameplay–so simple in concept, so awesome in execution.  Controlled entirely via stylus and touchscreen, you’ll only use a few basic moves to play Rhythm Heaven.  Mastering this title, however, is a different story entirely.  Most of the mini-challenges run between 1 and 3 minutes, yet pack such an intense punch that I’ve often finished a round to discover myself crushing the DS in a deadman’s grip.  Most levels require the player to execute a small set of tap-and-swipe stylus patterns while grooving to the beat of ridiculously catchy tunes.  The cues are both visual and audible; to succeed, you’ll need to use your ears as much as your eyes, seeking that sweet spot between rhythm hell and that sweet on-the-beat, in-the-zone sensation.

And Rhythm Heaven is no joke in the difficulty department.  An adult gamer could assume that the kiddie graphics and goofy premises position RH as a title for the under-10 crowd, but you’d be so ridiculously wrong.   Levels can be completed at 3 tiers of competence: ”OK” (average performance),  ”Superb” (nearly no misses), and “Perfect”.  Even an “OK” ranking can require a skilled player multiple do-overs; as you come closer to the end of the game, you’ll even be tempted to skip tough levels (the game condescendingly offers this option when you’ve failed several times in a row).  The game also includes an agonizing side-effect: multiple misses will cause some tunes become permanently ingrained in your psyche (I’ve woke up to realize I was hearing RH songs in my dreams, no kidding).   In spite of this, I’m betting that you’ll willingly line up for more punishment at the hands of the rhythm devils.   The game is just too damn cute and catchy to ignore for long.

If I had any complaints, I’d probably note that the gameplay can become slightly repetitive after a few hours.  The minigames are delightfully creative and well-balanced, but they ultimately all come back to tapping and swiping the stylus.  On bad days, when you’re having trouble finding your inner groove, you’ll be tempted to throw your DS across the room.  It’s the kind of game that requires a high degree of concentration and timing, so I tend to play it for 10-20 minutes at a stretch, then switch to something else.   But I  always come back to it, because it’s the sort of game that encourages compulsive replay and perfectionist attention.

My fat old DS is currently living out it’s old age alongside my bathroom reading pile, so my nearly-complete copy of Rhythm Heaven gets a few devoted minutes every day. ;’]

No serious DS collector will want to miss this one.

If you enjoy my reviews and are a member of IGN.com, feel free to check me out, follow and comment at http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1

Thanks for reading!

With no further ado, For Love of the Puzzle:

Do you ever stop and wonder why you are driven to play video games?  Take a moment and consider your own reasons—do you really understand why you spend hours of free time blasting zombies, rotating strange shapes into orderly columns, or leveling-up your absurdly-muscled dragon-fighting avatar?  Yes–I know video games are cool.  I’m just wondering if we might find any interesting answers by taking a closer look at some of the reasons we love gaming so much.   Given the amount of money, time and effort we spend on it, I think it’s an issue worth raising.

We spend a lot of time on this stuff...ever wonder why?

#1 The Great Escape

The simplest and most obvious reason to play video games probably relates to our human desire for fantasy, relaxation, escape.  Movies, books, sports, art . . . all of these entertainments let us shed our skin for a moment and escape the stress (or boredom) of everyday life.  Television, texts, and the internet provide access to a wider scope of human life and expand our knowledge on all kinds of subjects, but none of these media allow the user to become an active, involved participant the way video games can. Video games may be a relatively new form of art, but are also one of the most intimate.

So it makes sense that video games fit into the mental niche formerly served by travelogue documentaries or the silver screen–at the touch of a button, you can play an entire tour as a professional golf pro, or gun down enemy agents as an international super spy.  Games offer a necessary outlet for our wild imaginations by allowing us to experience the impossible, since our mundane lives will never include chances, for instance, to skydive into a volcano, survive a mutant apocalypse, or go treasure-hunting in ancient ruins.  Many fantastic game worlds are entirely beyond our real-world reach—nobody, no matter how rich or successful, will ever vacation in Hyrule or get nose-to-nose with Bullet Bill.  Thus, games serve up dreams and fantasies that are unrealizable in the dreary, workaday universe.

Better than real life, even if you have to work Saturdays

So, sure, big surprise–games give us a taste of inaccessible worlds in the same way that films about climbing Mount Everest let us “experience” something unattainable, or a Pixar cartoon explores the stuff of our dreams.  These forays into parallel universes probably appeal to our animal instincts to explore and decipher our surroundings.  If our love for games is any indication, we apparently don’t mind if the visited worlds happen to be fantastic fictional constructs, or even abstract places of pure puzzle and logic.  It seems odd to realize, but many of us even prefer it.

And yet . . . this human need for escapist fantasy doesn’t seem to explain all (or even most?) of the reasons we play video games.  For those who grew up on Atari (or earlier), recall how rudimentary those first titles really were.  Blocks represented people, blocks represented vehicles, blocks represented dangers to avoid and treasures to collect.  Hell, the box art was a billion times cooler than the game inside the package!  In spite of this, thousands of human hours were spent gobbling dots in a maze or bouncing a (square) ball against a wall of monochrome bricks.  Were these games fun and addictive because we were “expanding our horizons” or learning new information about the world around us?  Though modern games combine superior graphics and Hollywood-level production (and therefore show whole new worlds in unprecedented detail), I’m not entirely sure that killing robots in Berzerk or jumping barrels in Donkey Kong really fulfilled some higher purpose or a primal drive for knowledge.  There must be more to it.  Therefore, we should next consider

Not exactly college-level coursework

#2:  The Imaginarium of the human mind
Looking at it from a different angle, nearly all video games require us to use our imaginations, or at least our creative intellect.  Could this somehow explain our love for games?  For adults, it can be easy to forget the pure, simple rewards of creative imagination.  But while the rest of us slave away as cogs in our cubicles, the world’s musicians, painters, and authors plug away at their inventive pursuits.  They must be getting something out of it, or at least, there must be some shared human impulse that leads us to dream and build worlds of our own devising.  Are gamers scratching the creative itch by applying our imaginations to these deep, entrancing puzzle-worlds?

Until the advent of NES, games often demanded more from the player’s imagination than the game could itself deliver.  It might be inconceivable to younger gamers, but I spent hundreds of childhood hours playing text-only PC adventure games using hand-drawn maps, high level reasoning . . and imagination . . . to interpret and solve minimalist word-based puzzles.  Zork, Wishbringer, and the infamous Leather Goddesses of Phobos—these games were insanely difficult, featuring complex word-based riddles in alternate, upside-down universes.  The rewards were personal, moving experiences in which the player explored a detailed world without the luxuries of flashy polygons or colored sprites, and often felt more like interactive books than anything resembling our modern conception of “gaming”.

The extreme difficulty of many early games (text based or otherwise) required a player to apply intuition, experimentation, and constant suspension of disbelief in order to progress, much less succeed.  As computers came to offer rudimentary graphics alongside the text (think Oregon Trail or Lemonade Stand), we learned to play games in multiple dimensions, yet we still needed a good deal of creative sense to fully ‘experience’ a game.  Think about how difficult it was simply to “understand” a video game when they first arrived on the scene–what, for instance, is one “doing” in Pong?  And though Centipede may have appealed as a test of skill, the average citizen of the 1980′s didn’t have preceding context for blasting a lightning-quick garden pest among pixelated day-glo mushrooms.  The fragmentary and symbolic nature of early gaming needed a player to fill in the missing details, to envision context and to interpret clues based on unfamiliar scenarios.  In short, you needed to bring your brain to the game.  And we were glad to do it.

Truly legendary, but you still needed a pretty good imagination

So, given that the first video games often required as much cognitive investment as they offered, what, exactly, would we then say we were “getting” out of those games, and what might they tell us about the continuing appeal of gaming?  It almost seems as though the fun came out of–and still comes from–what we put into the game.  Yet this basic idea–that a mass-market entertainment might demand a lot of user input–this is the complete opposite of passive television viewership (our era’s dominant medium, at least until lately).  Even great literature, capable of inspiring self-reflection and still the best format for conveying new ideas or complex truths–even the best books don’t allow the reader to take control of the action, to seek new outcomes or unusual solutions using their own intuition or beliefs.  In short, games invoked user imagination in a way no other medium has ever accommodated.  Early, simplistic video games might be best able to demonstrate some integral truth as to “why” we game—it seems that we humans love the experience of putting our minds to work in a creative, self-guided fashion.  I’m led to wonder, are imagination and creativity a reward in themselves, or are these impulses merely servants to some evolutionary impulse?  And since not all gamers enjoy all of the same types of games, could our preferences reveal something about our own personality traits or mental aptitudes?  Fun stuff to ponder, but perhaps best saved for another day.

Having safely concluded that we love games because they let us escape into new worlds, and also because humans possess some fundamental creative drive, I still can’t accept that these are the only—or even the main–reasons that we love games.  When I press myself, searching for that one single, unifying factor that keeps me up all night playing Goldeneye 007, or led me to deposit whole paychecks into the arcade version of Mortal Kombat II, I’ve got to conclude that my own 20+ year addiction to electronic gaming is sustained by something quite different than a simple desire for entertainment or distraction.  When I get right down to it–when I strip away my mindless love for turtle-stomping and blasting virtual soldiers into pixelated smithereens–I have to conclude that what I love best–and the only real reason I continue to play–are the PUZZLES that lie at the heart of all great games.

The puzzle IS the purpose

#3 For The Love of The PUZZLE

Not all games are created equally, and we all know that some titles demand more imagination, intuition, or unique solutions than others.  For instance, imagine the difference we’d see between a neurological MRI of someone playing Tetris (a game requiring lightning reflexes but a relatively small amount of creativity) and that of a player solving complex problems in World of Goo (a game that requires a great deal of problem-solving and imaginative thought).  Both games are highly challenging and pose puzzles to be solved, though one of them allows far more room for a player’s own creativity to shape and direct the game’s progress.  But rather than concerning ourselves with hierarchy, I think we can spot enough basic similarities between all video games to arrive back at that single point they share in common–that universal factor of the PUZZLE, the thing that keeps our brains up all night, the drive that causes us to buy more games than we have time to play, that frustrating mental itch that we’ve just GOT to scratch again, and again, and yet again.

Too often, we conceive of games as a finished product, a closed circuit that only needs us—the rat in the maze—to run through gates toward the inevitable cheese of closing credits.    Even when you’re using creative tactics to fend off human opponents in COD, you’re still bound by a set of parameters established by a team of programmers.  You’re investing yourself into a closed circuit, applying creativity to a problem that has been bug-tested and solved a thousand times before.  People who dislike video games tend to see it exactly this way–what’s the point of playing a video game, especially when the ending is a foregone conclusion?  Who cares what the final scene of Metal Gear will reveal?  What possible value could one get out of slamming opponents in Smash Brothers or collecting every single spaceship piece in Pikmin?  Lately, those who would defend gaming as an intellectual pursuit received a boon in the form of popular crowdsource/creative-style games like Minecraft, Warioware D.I.Y., Little Big Planet, Blast Works, etc.  It’s still probably fair to say that the majority of games still rely on a closed-box format with defined objectives and fairly straightforward rules, but at least games that focus on user-generated content are something we can point to as a sort of explanation to the outside world.  They’ll never truly understand the thrill of questing in a winning guild or being able to brag about a record ghost time in Mariokart, but we’re making at least some progress.

All great games, I propose, have puzzles at their core and as their main attraction, even if their structures are made of rigid limits, of rules set in programming code that demand obedience.  For some of us, we derive a sense of intelligence, of self-worth by untangling these clever, artificial webs. For others, we simply love to challenge ourselves and push our brains into new, unexpected spaces.  Though the puzzles may be self-imposed, the success of solution is nevertheless a reward we love to seek.  Like bodybuilders who work toward bench-press goals for no other reason than to see if their bodies can do it, we value the process as much as the payoff.  Our minds wind through virtual mazes, seeking the way to the surface, hunting for meaning in chaotic, alien landscapes.  We’ve trained ourselves to love it, or perhaps we’re simply born this way.

I think we've got it!

Like I was saying above, some games are more “closed circuit” than others.  Some games mimic the linear flow of television (this is why I got bored with Phoenix Wright fairly quickly) while others rely on a small set of proscribed rules that shift in relation to each other and result in a wide variety of challenges.  Often, the best games combine opportunities for creative problem-solving with sandbox-style freedom (I’m currently playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 which perfectly illustrates what I’m trying to say).  But through all of these games runs that single thread of puzzle-solving in some form or another.  Gamers are addicted to the posed question, to the enigmatic riddle, to the unexpected challenge.  The puzzle is a confrontation of our own limits and a repeated opportunity to prove our worth.  The more puzzles we solve, the more often we get a chance to show the world what we’re made of.  Lisa Simpson is honest about it–she needs the validation of an A+ more than anything else in the world–so why wouldn’t this be true for the rest of us?  The grade is the goal–but puzzle-solving is more than a means to an end.   Games are the beloved knots we untangle, pleasurable in process and in payoff.  They just happen to be disguised as cartoonish platformers and bullet-hell shooters.

Me, personally–I love that video games let me develop my mind and exercise my overactive imagination toward some specific end.  I’m one of those people that proudly flaunts and cultivates my nerdy personality, not least because nerds are truly the ones who will inherit the earth.  But in the end, I’m inevitably drawn back to that compulsion to challenge myself, to seek out new ways to interface with and ‘solve’ the world around me–in short, to face down each and every PUZZLE I can lay my hands on.

I still remember much of my early childhood through scenes of the games I would play with my family.  It was the early 1980s, and video games had yet to arrive in my home.  I can see myself at the kitchen table playing Clue and Scrabble with my grandparents, or sitting on the living-room floor playing the ‘Pac-Man Math‘ card game with my dad.  I was already hooked on puzzles, and didn’t even know it.  Fast forward 30-odd years . . . I’ve finally started to realize how much my life has benefited from my love of the puzzle.  I’ve succeeded in academia, in employment, at all manner of creative and intellectual pursuits.  It’s been a part of my makeup for so long that I tend to forget where it all started.  But I’ve always been a puzzle solver, and I’m really glad that I’ve had video games to make it all a lot more entertaining.

Thanks for reading.

PS. If you enjoy my style, please feel free to check out, follow, (and comment!) on my video game blog at

http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1  
Bye now!

I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE GAME TEE-SHIRTS!  Post a description or a link to your favorite gaming tee-shirts.   I’m looking for good recommendations and ideas, so your input is very appreciated.

Here are just a few of the ones I’ve been looking at.  Your input and comments are very welcome.

I saw this one at a game convention and googled it when I got home.  Incredibly cool art style and concept.  Maybe a little girly for me, but it’s almost too good to ignore.

LINK:   http://meganlara.com/projects/zelda-nouveau/

Another shirt by the same artists.  Again, just a ridiculously cool concept and visual style.

LINK:   http://meganlara.com/projects/samus-nouveau/

I am almost definitely buying this one for myself.  I’m not a huge fan of PS2, but Katamari was one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Link:  http://www.levelupstudios.com/this-is-how-i-roll

Yep--it's the power glove.

It’s not a particularly original shirt, but it’s just lame enough to be cool.  A lot like the glove itself.

Link:  http://www.80stees.com/products/Power-Glove-Shirt.asp

I just like the design of this one.  Probably not buying it, but it’s a cool visual idea.

Link: http://www.splitreason.com/product/1156

You’ve probably seen this one before, but I still find it to be a worthy tee-shirt.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/2tvv78

Pac-Man tee-shirts are a dime a dozen, but I love the image and layout of this one.

Link: http://www.myteespot.com/DJ-Ghost-Pac-Man-T-shirt-p-15880.html

Again, you’ve probably already got a shirt with some kind of Pac-Man reference.  Even so, I like the artistic concept of this shirt.

Link: http://www.myteespot.com/Neon-Ghosts-Pac-Man-T-shirt-p-10519.html

It’s a straightforward logo.  That said, I’ve always loved this game (and Dragon’s Lair) to the point of distraction.

Link: http://www.myteespot.com/The-Rescue-Space-Ace-T-shirt-p-13737.html

Another Space Ace tee-shirt.  Not particularly creative, but if you love this game, it’s pretty dope.

Link: http://www.myteespot.com/Borf-Space-Ace-T-shirt-p-13735.html

Oddly, I like the font as much as the graphic.  Don’t love the tee color, but I can probably deal with it–the shirt is really funny.

Link: http://www.myteespot.com/Keep-It-Real-Atari-T-shirt-p-12625.html

I didn’t get the joke at first.  Look at the last line.  Marty is having fun with the keyboard.

Link: http://www.splitreason.com/product/1106

That’s all for now.  Please leave me comments and links to your own favorite game shirts.  Thanks for reading!

Super Mario Galaxy 2:

If, by now, you haven’t played Galaxy 1 OR 2, I can say with confidence, deny your inner OCD completist, and just skip ahead to Galaxy 2.  Galaxy 1 is legendary, awesome, everything we could have ever wanted in a 3D Mario title.  That said, Galaxy 2 is even better.  Really.  One gets the impression that the design team for G1 just had a billion ideas left over–I imagine the team begging management for a chance to release a nearly-identical Mario title on the same platform.  Having finished 99.9% of Galaxy 1 (no, I did NOT bother to replay the whole game to collect star #121),  I didn’t expect to be blown away by Galaxy 2.  I thought I’d seen most of what the universe had to offer.  And within minutes of booting up G2, I knew I’d been completely wrong.

This is how you'll get ahead in Galaxy 2

It’s almost hard to pin down what makes G2 so refreshing.  The redesign of the world map (a much simpler, top down navigation similar to those used in SMB3 and elsewhere) makes for quicker movement from area to area.  Gone is the childish bedtime storybook of G1, ousted in favor of a stripped down, Bowser-stole-the-Princess plotline.  You’ll navigate the universe in Mario’s “faceship” (yuk yuk), and the NPC chatter is kept to a minimum.  In a major change from G1, Luigi enters the game relatively early, allowing a player to opt for the added challenge of the green brother’s slip&slide high-jumping action.  By using Luigi, you’ll unlock another new G2 feature–player ghosts, ala Mariokart, are now recorded and placed in Luigi-complete levels, allowing a player to speed-run against their own best efforts.  It’s a super-cool addition that feels natural and welcome–it almost makes you wonder why this feature wasn’t in a Mario title before now.

Challenge yourself by racing a ghost of your best performance.

Otherwise, the game mostly feels like an upgraded, supersized version of Galaxy 1.  You’ll thill again at the tight controls and intuitive gameplay, and you’ll re-experience full-tilt amazement at the sheer creativity and cleverness incorporated into each level.  As someone at IGN put it, almost every board could be the basis for an entire self-c0ntaned video game.  This is not an overstatement.  Galaxy 2 has more greatness in it’s shortest worlds than you’ll find in whole other games.  Often, you’ll be having so much fun just messing around and seeing the sights, you’ll complete the entire level and still be yearning for more challenges, if only so that you could hang out in that area a little longer.  I may not be putting it very eloquently, but this must be one of the hallmarks of a perfect video game–you care less about objectives and more about the unadulterated entertainment of stomping enemies or exploring for hidden rooms.

In trademark-Nintendo perfection, they balance the primary gameplay with optional added challenges that call for you to revisit areas you’d previously completed.   Prankster comets appear at random, turning familiar realms upside-down, adding speed challenges to a difficult world, or even opening whole new areas with new enemies and goals.  A player is free to decide if the hardest tests are their cup of tea, or if they’d simply prefer to push forward toward the inevitable World 8 and the final confrontation with his eternal turtle-dragon nemesis.

This game is not particularly easy.  Galaxy 2 is for the lifelong Nintendo loyalist, to the player who’s already faced the challenges of Mario 64 and Galaxy 1 and who is prepared for something a little more difficult (the very first world includes the Flip-Swap galaxy, a nod to one of the most difficult(!) bonus levels in Galaxy 1).  Rethinking my comments above, I’m tempted to say that Galaxy 1 might be a better place to start if you don’t consider yourself an adept Mario gamer.  But regardless of your skill level, Super Mario Galaxy 2 deserves all of the accolades heaped upon it, and is certainly worthy of IGN’s decision to list it as the 4th-greatest game on any current platform.

Do yourself a favor, if you haven’t already.  The galaxy is waiting.

If you enjoy my reviews and want to see more of my all-Nintendo game comments and writing, please check out my blog at http://www.ign.com/blogs/unoclay1 . I love to talk games, so leave comments!

http://youtu.be/w0ERL20lr1U

Thanks to A. Black for the forward.

FUNSPOT (NH):

http://www.funspotnh.com/

Ground Kontrol (Portland, OR):

http://groundkontrol.com/arcade/index.php

This game could be the poster child for the reasons gamers need to do their homework.  We all know that a ton of Wii systems belong to cooler-than-average grandmas and impulsive parents, all of whom used the system for nothing more than a days worth of Wii bowling or occasional balance board calisthenics.  It is no secret that those same Wii systems are now buried in epic mountains of dust, just waiting for the day that a well-meaning mom decides to try to sell it for $150 at her fabulous weekend yard sale.  Nevertheless, it’s a ridiculous, crying shame that most of the other, oh, I don’t know, several million Wii owners out there haven’t played a game like Muramasa: The Demon Blade.  It’s a gorgeous piece of programming that highlights the fundamental strengths of Nintendo’s core system and truly deserves more notoriety than it got.

Listen here, you ignorant whippersnappers

If I might be permitted to disgress for a paragraph or so, I’d lead off by saying that Muramasa’s original premise and kiddie-sounding title didn’t help it’s chances.  While an obscure, difficult to pronounce moniker might add appeal in Japan–or attract prepubecent boys who gravitate to things like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Dragonball Z–American audiences typically limit themselves to A: Violent shooters,  B: games that feature famous IPs or lead characters, or C: games tied to current Hollywood films.  But this tendency can serve the serious gamer very poorly, especially if what we really want is innovation and quality. Shooters are a dime a dozen, studios avoid taking significant (i.e. innovative) risks with major properties, and Hollywood-tied games are, almost always, putrid, unplayable garbage.  Complaining about this phenomenon as a Nintendo player might seem sort of ironic (we’ve been playing remakes of a small core catalog for over 20 years), but my underlying point remains sound:  Nintendo fans have a genuine responsibility to seek out the best non-Mario/Zelda/etc titles and to support the quality developers who bother to bring good games to our favorite system.

I propose a solution: If every player promised that for every Donkey Kong or Metroid title, they’d also research and purchase a corresponding non-Nintendo-developed game, our home system would be the better for it.  More dollars spent on 3rd party games means more innovation will head our way, and also sends a message to Nintendo about what kinds of games we want to see.  Too many Nintendo players opt for lazy purchases, not bothering to do their homework.  And I get it–simply whipping out your credit card to buy Mario Vs. Sonic At The Olympic Games is a lot easier than keeping track of reviews or perusing the back catalog, seeking out the really great games you missed along the way.  But personally, I’d rather spend less and get the most for my money.  Games take a lot of time to play–why waste it on less than the best?  WHO’S WITH ME?!

Whew.  Rant complete.  And now, a few words about Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade–the ACTUAL reason you clicked the link–is an intelligent hack-and-slash style game with a ton of awesome graphics and a tasty serving of Japanese-flavored weirdness.  As I age and “mature”, I have no patience for the plain old button-mashing you might find in less innovative adventure/fighting games.  Muramasa, on the other hand, leaps out of your television and smacks you in the face with an enormous, evolving roster of special attacks and a delicious sense of kill-em-all action.  Armies of disposable ninjas and cartoonishly evil monks populate every screen, each of them begging to be slashed to ribbons.  But rather than requiring the player to save your most awesome, most colorful attacks for the toughest enemies, Muramasa wants you to hit ‘em with all you’ve got, every time, no holds barred (nor encouraged).  The experience could be compared to playing a Street Fighter-inspired brawler in which Ken or Chun-Li has a finite limit on their attack power . . . but not too limited.  Each screen is a new set-piece that begs for you to attack as though the battle might be your last.  A victory often means ending the fight within seconds, classic samurai style.  Even low-level enemies attack with ferocity and can deal heavy damage, so a wise player will exhaust all resources if needed–you’ll live to fight another day, and there will be plenty of time to count your supplies when the enemy is nothing more than a bleeding corpse.  The whole concept lends itself to a delicious sense of masturbatory violence; while so many games force a player to cogitate and conserve, Muramasa revels in a twisted, cartoony brutality of action and high-energy swordplay.

A illustrative shot from the Japanese version

You’d have to suffer from severe cataracts to miss how visually awesome this game is.  Featuring an art style unparalleled by anything else on Wii, your first few experiences with this game will have you calling for your friend/girlfriend/fiance/mother to “come in here quick and be awed by the stunningly lush and colorful graphics!!” (that’s a verbatim quote I used on my own significant other).  Animated but not childish, artful without pretentiousness, you’ll cite Muramasa’s visual style the next time the old “can video games be art” argument raises it’s tired head.  From the opening sequences (staged as the film credits of an epic Asian-flavored fight film) to each and every boss battle, you’ll be constantly wowed by eye-popping comic-bookish layouts and striking imagery.  One of the main reasons to keep playing Muramasa through the final scenes is simply to see what the next boss will look like–what is the last game you can remember having that sort of appeal?

Just a few of the friendly creatures you'll meet along the way!

Of course, the other major reason you’ll love Muramasa are the swords.  Incorporating some basic elements of an RPG, your characters (you’ll play through different sides of the same story as two different protagonists) need to earn spirit and souls in order to upgrade their swords.  The pace of the game is relatively fast; you’ll be able to earn a few new swords in a single play session of an hour or so. Blades come in two basic varieties–long and regular–which determines the speed and power of the basic slash attack.  Only three swords can be equipped at once, so a player needs to maintain a balance of quicker weapons alongside slower, more deadly swords.  The real fun, however, is the secondary attack that each sword possesses.  Again, imagine Street Fighter special attacks–some swords might create decoy images of your character, while others launch spectacular whirlwinds, meteor showers, or enemy-seeking fireballs.  You’ll level up so quickly, and acquire so many swords that you’ll hardly have time to get used to a single weapon before another more powerful option becomes available.

I could almost fault the game for overwhelming variety of weapons, a design decision that made the diverse sword selection feel slightly generic.  The special attacks are flashy and entertaining, but often less important than the basic attack power of a given sword.  As I played through both storylines, I never needed to consider my loadout very carefully; I could beat most enemies by simply using the most powerful swords, rather than spending any time weighing my special attacks in light of the enemy I faced.  This made the the swords feel somewhat interchangable, and felt like a missed chance to incorporate a higher degree of strategy into the basic gameplay action.  Nevertheless, Muramasa’s basic premise is one of bombast and brawling, not subtlety or strategy–and it largely works.  The experience of fighting enemies, grinding for souls and XP, and winning battle after battle is a really good time, if slightly mindless.  Don’t think about it too deeply, and you’ll probably enjoy it more.

The game’s glaring flaw is a definite sense of repetition that sets in about halfway through the game.  On one hand, the developers went the distance to include a significant amount of content, meaning that the game gets high marks in the “bang-for-your-buck” category.  With two separate storylines that weave a single (somewhat confusing) narrative, and a satisfyingly high number of boss battles, you can’t fault Muramasa for delivering a substantial, complete game.  On the other hand, the two storylines (which can be played separately or concurrently, a neat option) recycle all of the basic enemies and areas, so by the time you’ve played through even one character’s tale, you might be tired of slaughtering the same gangs of ninjas and cave goblins that you’ve already defeated.  The swords and boss fights are completely unique for each character, and these elements are reason enough to finish Muramasa with both characters.  I can’t deny that I’ve begun to tire of the game, just a tad, as I close in on the final bosses.

Any experienced gamer should be sure to set the game on ‘hard’ difficulty at the outset; you’ll suffer a few defeats along the way, but I haven’t encountered any enemy or boss that required more than a handful of attempts.  (Lives in Muramasa are essentially meaningless anyway, given that you’ll respawn within feet of your last encounter, and there is no limit on the number of attempts you can make).

Given that this game is easy to find and sells (used) for around $15, you have no excuse to not pick up a copy.  I predict that when the Wii is surpassed by Wii U and we’re looking back on the Wii’s complete library, Muramasa: The Demon Blade will definitely be one of those games that makes it onto every “best of” list.

Haunted by the 80s by Terry Fan

Buy it here:

http://society6.com/igo2cairo/Haunted-House_Print

I just can’t stop playing.

Or I couldn’t, anyway.  Lately, I’ve had to give it up for many reasons; a severe, pervasive case of WiiWrist (tendonitis resulting from excessive use of the Wiimote), a backlog of awesome games demanding my attention, and the regrettable need to have a life outside of video games.  But this is not to say I didn’t give it my all.  I lived, slept, and breathed Goldeneye from November 2011 through June 2011, logging over 6 days of cumulative playtime and hundreds of wins, losses, and almost all the accolades (f&*%ing ‘Improvised’ is impossible!).  At the high water mark of my addiction, I was probably devoting 3 to 4 hours of every day to killing random strangers in online multiplayer matches.  I haven’t been this dedicated to a FPS in years, but my long-repressed tendencies to HUNT and KILL (repeat x infinity) came back in full force with the advent of this title.
Just writing about it makes me want to go log a few kills. MUST RESIST . . .

Goldeneye is everything we wanted from other Wii FPS, and moreover, is simply one of the best titles on the Wii, period.  While the early games like the original Red Steel lacked the critical online component, and later games (notably The Conduit) included the online component but never garnered a sizable online community, Goldeneye delivered everything we hoped for and more.  Capitalizing on the notoriety of it’s N64 predecessor, this title launched with plenty of community attention, eventually achieving the illustrious benchmark of million-copies-sold.  Enthusiasts could buy the game with a special edition dual-analog classic controller (gold, natch) which proved extremely popular with many serious players (though yours truly is an outspoken proponent of the WiiMote’s superior point&click aiming ability).  Excellent sales numbers and popular pack-ins gave proof to the mantra of the hardcore Wii player: “if you build us a quality game, we will come in droves”.  Developers, take note.

this must be the ONLY color that N64 never offered

I am not going to mention the single-player campaign beyond this merest recognition: it’s a pretty good game.  Similar to the storyline and layout you remember from N64, you play as superspy James Bond, adventuring through a wide variety of levels and scenarios, hunting shadowy villains who plan to use the Goldeneye satellite against the civilized world.  With several difficulty levels and top-notch graphics, the single-player mode is worth the $50 price tag in itself.   Even without multiplayer, Goldeneye would still stand as one of the slickest titles on Wii.  The gameplay is intuitive without being simplistic, and the combination of stealth-gaming and explosive action is a perfect balance.  But honestly—you buy this title for the multiplayer.

Looking back on Goldeneye 007 for Wii is a truly delicious experience for me.  Though I’ve mostly stopped playing for reasons mentioned above, I was able to rise to a respectable level 38 (of a total 56) before (mostly) turning in my weapon.  Be forewarned, the XP tiers are positively enormous; a serious player should expect to dedicate many hours to achieving the next level. Not all tiers award new weapons or useful skills, meaning that the extensive grind to glory will strike some players as an endless, frustrating deathmarch.   After passing level 30 (the point at which you can truly call yourself addicted), it is not at all uncommon to spend over a week grinding out victories but receive no special bonus rewards.  Nevertheless, the allure of powerful firearms to come and improved secondary attributes (such as faster running or increased resistance to damage) may prove impossible to resist.  You won’t believe how easy it is to convince yourself that a fancier pistol or assault rifle is well worth “a few more hours” of playtime . . . fast forward to 4:30 AM on a worknight (“just one more game”) . . . and you suddenly find yourself stifling yawns during your 10:30 AM company meeting, third day in a row.  Yeah—just a few more games.   The first time you hit the field with your latest upgrade—and suckers are getting MOWED down–it will all seem worth it.  

It's all fun & games until your boss asks for your quarterly report by noon.

I mean, I love this game.  How can I say it–I was hungry for this.  I’ve been completely out of the loop on the major innovations in FPS for the last few years (hell, who can blame me–I’m a Nintendo gamer, after all!), but the various modes included in Goldeneye strike this player as extremely innovative, well balanced, and enduringly entertaining.  There are, of course, your basic matches (Conflict and Classic Conflict) where it’s you against the world, every agent for himself.  Team Conflict is 4-on-4 fighting, and of course there are more advanced modes with increased damage ratios and no radar.  The classic N64 ‘Golden Gun’ mode makes a return as well.  But the new innovations are my definite favorites: these include Black Box (one team hunts and destroys the titular box, while the other attempts to carry it to safety), Goldeneye (a base capture mode where teams vie for control), and most popular of all, HEROES.  Heroes is 4×4 team conflict that includes the ability for one member of either team to play as a major hero or villain of the Bond franchise.  Heroes have strong weapons and advantageous supplementary items, but have the achillies heel of awarding a LOT of points to the opposing team when killed.  Therefore, Heroes contains the most strategic subtleties of all the co-op modes: Do you spawn the hero and use him as bait? Do you resist the temptation to spawn heroes and fight out the match as foot soldiers?  When your team is down, will spawning a high-power hero give you the advantage you need to get back in the game, or just sink the ship more quickly?  Heroes is also overwhelmingly popular because the length and structure of the matches allows for maximum XP harvest, so new players should beware–this is the mode where the most serious agents hang out.  A note of advice to the new inductee: it is bad form to spawn heroes if you can’t walk the walk.  Violate this custom, and you’ll find other players abandoning the match.  Just sayin’……

Take a look at what you’re missing

Because Goldeneye does not support WiiSpeak or provide any way to chat with teammates, veterans of PC gaming or other consoles might find the silent team-play to be limiting, especially when facing off against your frienemies or rival clans.  My team and I circumvented the communication issue by using voice chat on our personal computers, and I went another step further by wearing earbuds (connected to my Mac) AND stereo headphones (connected to my stereo receiver).  This allowed me a sigificant advantage over other players–I could discuss strategy with my teammates while still picking up the in-game audio.  Even if you don’t play on teams, I can’t emphasize it enough: wearing stereo headphones will give you a major leg-up–you’ll hear players trying to sneak up on you, and be able to triangulate on gunfire/explosions without relying solely on the map.  Though wearing two sets of earphones might not be for all players, I found that my workarounds greatly increased both my skills and investment in the game.  Rather than whining about the deficiency, I solved it.  And won a ton of matches.

I'm telling you, it works

Unfortunately, one of the major flaws of Goldeneye has been the numerous hackers who’ve invaded the community.  The leaderboards and game room are polluted with immature trolls who’ve awarded themselves the highest rankings and insane loadouts (but never learned the basic skills).  An advanced player can rely on their superior skill to (hopefully) turn the tables on the cheaters, although some of the high-level weapons and supplementary skills make this an uphill climb that feels disruptive and unfair.  Meanwhile, the cheaters discourage newer agents from playing the game at all, as neophytes will find it nearly impossible to fight back against turdburglars who spread proximity mines all over the map, wield silencers on pistols that shouldn’t even be able to be silenced, or camp near spawn-points for a mindless XP harvest.  The problem of hack-cheating comes and goes (I’ll play for days without encountering an obvious cheater, then encounter several in the same afternoon), but is an undeniable problem for this largely excellent title.  If someone of my mid-level ranking can be so annoyed by the issue, I can only imagine what Prince Luigi, Daisy Fan, and the other truly epic Goldeneye players think about this problem (Actually, in the attached thread, PL mentions the problem in passing–and predictably, hates on the cheaters.)

Possibly even worse than the hacking issue is the omnipresent Host-Quit problem.  Goldeneye on Wii includes no statistical penalties for players who quit matches early, so a widespread tactic for stat-obsessed players is to abandon the game when losing.  Since XP and statistical achievements are only registered after the final buzzer (players receive no benefit from canceled games), this effectively means that jerkoff players can host a match, fish for easy pickings, and then kibosh the entire game if they begin to lose.  Legitimate players are bounced back to the lobby, oftentimes ready to throw their Wii in the trash—you were having an awesome match, but thanks to the host-quit, you’ve just wasted several minutes and achieved nothing.  These host-quits can really add up in terms of time and devotion, ultimately taking a toll one’s decision to stick with the grind, or give it up due to the flawed scoring system.  The best and most obvious solution is to host your own matches, though this can be problematic if you prefer one of the less popular game-modes or do your gaming during the wee hours when less players are online.

INSERT RANT: Both of these items are so pervasive and frustrating that I’ve written to the developer (Eurocom) several times, yet received no feedback or response.  The host-quit problem could be easily repaired by simply changing the system to penalize the stats of an offending player, and I wonder if the hackers issue isn’t just a basic security hole that simply needs plugged?  I encourage fans of my blog to send a quick note yourself; this would not be the first time that player commentary has had an impact on present or future game development.  After all, we’re not asking for some obscure franchise to be rebooted, or for costly downloadable content–we’re just asking them to do a simple online repair job for a game which has made them untold sums.  

Just writing this piece made me itchy enough that I had to jump back online for a few more matches.  As I’ve mentioned, I get a lot of pain in my wrist from aiming the WiiMote at the screen, so I’m making a half-hearted attempt to use the dual-analog controller.  This is not an easy switch for me (frankly, I absolutely suck), and I sort of doubt I’ll be sticking with it for very long (that pile of unplayed DS and Wii games is getting taller by the minute), but I need to make the effort, if only to prepare for future FPS titles.  In any case, my handle on the game is Widdle Nubby (yep–the lamest, most unimpressive moniker I could dream up) and my friend code is 541 132 701 114.  If you’d like to game with me, post a message here or send me an email, and perhaps we could meet up.  Maybe I’ll even go easy on you and stick with the classic controller.

Or maybe not.

Here she is, the Nyko PowerPak+.

I’m not being an apologist for Nintendo to point out that the 3DS is a monster in terms of energy consumption.  With two screens (one running stereoscopic 3D) and a wi-fi connection, I’m not surprised that the battery life is terrible.  Most of us want to play our games with the screens set to maximum brightness and full audio volume, and only the most energy-conscious gamer will remember to toggle the wi-fi connection when not in use.  With all of these factors in play, my personal experiences with factory-installed battery were abysmal; I tended to get approximately 3.5 hours of playtime before that ugly red warning light flashed on.  In one or two cases, I only had a few moments notice before the system shut down, though I was typically able to save my game and close the system before total battery failure.

Enter Nyko; this was my first purchase from this third-party hardware developer, though a survey of internet reviews made it seems as though I was last to the party.  I’ve definitely spotted some of their products at friends’ houses (specifically their Wii ‘Wands’ and uncomfortable-looking ‘gun grips’), though I’ve mostly avoided 3rd party peripherals myself.  In any case, I was having real problems getting maximum enjoyment out of my 3DS, so I figured Nyko’s substitute battery couldn’t possibly be any worse than Nintendo’s.

I ordered my PowerPak+ from J&R.com, and the total bill came to just a bit over $20 shipped.  Delivery took about 3 business days and arrived exactly as promised with original packaging and instructions.  I couldn’t help but notice the box’s claim that the PowerPak+ ‘doubles the playtime of the original’. . . a boisterous statement that alerted my inner skeptic (as well as my inner cynic).

I’d spotted a few reviews that mentioned difficulty removing the screws from the back of your 3DS.  I encountered no such problems; the Nyko package includes a tiny screwdriver for this exact purpose, and none of the screws on my 3DS provided any abnormal resistance.  Following the provided instructions, it took only moments to remove the back cover of my 3DS and locate the faulty power cell.  I was able to lift the factory battery out of it’s casing, slide the Nyko PowerPak+ into place, and replace the few screws that secure the PowerPak+.  The entire operation required no more than perhaps 3 minutes start-to-finish and was even easier than I’d expected.

You'll barely notice the added size of the battery.

Your 3DS will be approximately 1/4″ taller and a little bit heavier after the Nyko battery is installed, but most players will not notice the difference in any meaningful way–it definitely does not interfere with your ability to hold or use the system comfortably.

Now, the verdict: battery life.  I purchased the PowerPak+ in early July 2011, and since installing the new battery, I’ve consistently played my 3DS between 5 and 15 hours each week.  Over the course of the following two months, I’ve seen a dramatic improvement in the battery life of my 3DS, and I am able to give a 100% recommendation to this Nyko product.

I give this item my full endorsement.

On average, I only need to plug in my 3DS two times per week, though one of these is usually a preventative charge when I notice the remaining battery life is dropping below 50%.  I rarely see the red warning light anymore, and I’ve yet to encounter a full system blackout.  I often leave the system in sleep mode for several consecutive nights with no problems whatsovever–indeed, sleep mode doesn’t seem to have much affect on the battery life at all.   Since installing the Nyko, I’ve taken my 3DS on a few cross-country airplane trips and never found myself running low on charge, even though I easily played at least 4 continuous hours of games on a longish San Francisco > Philadelphia flight.  I’m not claiming miracles here–I definitely took a proactive stance on recharging the system when I play it for extended periods, but my point is that the Nyko replacement works the way that the factory battery should have–i.e. you don’t have to worry about it very often, if at all.  I’ve never timed it to the minute, but I can state with authority that the PowerPak+ tends to last upward of 5 hours with no problems whatsoever. . . a very acceptable amount, in my humble opinion.

I won’t lie; I’m a bit compulsive, and often toggle the wi-fi as needed to reduce power drain (ON when I’m roaming the world, hoping for a few more Streetpass tags, OFF when I’m at home, playing Xevious or NES downloads), but I always play with full brightness and volume and especially full 3D (where applicable).  Besides switching the wi-fi, I’d say I expect the best battery life from my 3DS without any concessions or special treatment, and the Nyko replacement battery has fully delivered as promised.

The charging cradle that came with your 3DS is not compatible with the Nyko PowerPak+, but Nyko also has a solution for that problem (a necessity for players who can’t bear the thought of a non-cradled 3DS).  Myself, I opted not to spend the extra money on an additional piece of hardware and instead got myself a second AC adapter to keep in my backpack (grand total for generic 3DS wall-plug, $2.50, eBay) since I tend to forget the charger at home.

The Nyko PowerPak+ is a must-have for any serious 3DS user.  Do yourself a favor and buy one today.

A throwback to simpler times

I’m probably not the best possible reviewer for this title.  I’ve played mini-golf a few dozen times and pitch&putt exactly once (I was absolutely terrible).  I neither watch nor follow any professional sports, and I could probably count every legitimate video sport I’ve ever played on one hand, no kidding.

On the other hand, there have been a few cartoony Mario-sports style games that have caught my attention (for better or worse) over the years, though I would never count these games in the same class as the Madden or FIFA series that attract serious sporting gamers.  I’ve put in over 100 hours of Mario Strikers Charged (one of the hands-down best games for the Wii), but on the other hand, sold the abysmal Mario Super Sluggers after only perhaps 10 hours of test-play (one of the worst games to pollute the system . . . seriously, that game is fucking awful).

Anyway, Mario has a well-established history as a golfer, having hit the links on NES, N64, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, and Gamecube–he even appeared in a Virtual Boy golfing title.  NES Open Tournament Golf (1991) was Nintendo’s second NES attempt at the genre, perhaps having realized that the original black-box Golf (1985) was a pretty poor game all around.  Based on the number of official Mario golf outings, it’s clearly his favorite non-turtle-stomping activity by a long shot, tennis and kart racing notwithstanding.

So, Peach has a twin?

This 1991 cartridge clearly benefits from the fact that Nintendo had been making titles for the NES since 1985; many of the improvements (including sophisticated menus and a variety of game options) would soon become standard in sport and adventure titles alike.  But while Open Tournament definitely shows us a Nintendo who’s learned to wring maximum benefit out of their hardware, modern players (perhaps accustomed to motion controls in Tiger Woods, or real-time in-game weather effects courtesy of the internet) will likely find Open Tournament to be an antiquated take on the sport.

The improvements over the original NES Golf are many (I own it, and can attest it is a really tedious game), and I’m betting that Open Tournament pleased a lot of players in it’s day.  The most critical enhancement is the ability to save and continue one’s game, a feature that we take for granted today, but without which none of the now-standard features (such as cumulative personal stats and grueling, multi-tournament seasons) would be possible.  Perhaps most impressively, the game auto-records epic shots (birdies, eagles, etc) and allows players to replay those hole-in-one moments at their leisure.  Again, completely standard stuff in 2011, but I can only imagine how revolutionary this must have seemed to an audience raised on Atari hits like Keystone Kapers or Vanguard.  If I’d been playing a lot of sports games in ’91, I think my brain would have exploded a little bit.  Off the top of my head, I can’t recall any equivalent feature in any other NES game.

Other clubhouse options include the ability to make minor adjustments to the clubs in your bag (though the choices are really limited), and you can review statistics from previous games and tournaments.  You can also check your running total of cash, though there doesn’t seem to be any way to actually spend your winnings.  I guess money, as in real life, is the scoring system to decide who’s best. . . kind of disappointing, honestly.  I would have loved the chance to save up for a fancy golf KART or buy Mario one of those awesomely tacky golfing hats.   One suspects they might have intended to add this kind of feature, since the money seems to serve no other purpose than reminding yourself how much time you’ve wasted playing this game.  I kid, I kid!

DK moonlights as a teller in River City Ransom

In honesty, a portable system may be the perfect venue for this game, allowing one to replay the tournaments forever (and thus amass insane hordes of pointless cash winnings), while the bite-sized nature of a single hole is a perfect diversion for moments on the bus or waiting in line.  If I were playing this on NES, I’d have to play through an entire round at a sitting–and the tedium would squelch any chance of enjoying the game.

At it’s core, Open Tournament represents the lowest common denominator of standard golf sims.  The basic play is as straightforward as possible; you’ll orient your shot via overhead map, adjust for wind and hazards, choose the overall speed of your swing (this affects the distance of your drive and the speed of your swing meter), and make minor changes to the spin of the ball.  The shot itself is delivered via the standard left<->right power/accuracy meter, with the primary challenge being the delivery of full-blast swings while nailing the ball straight-on.  There are bunkers, water hazards and wooded areas to avoid; most holes range from Par 3 to 5 but are largely identical beyond the wind influence and varied placement of obstacles.  Even someone like me–definitely not a golfer–was able to get the gist of the game within only a minute or two.

You'll set up the shot on the map screen, then come down to the turf for the actual swing.

One of the more frustrating things about Open Tournament–initially, anyway–is the way you’re forced to guess how far your shots will fly.  You’ll know that a club, for instance, has a maximum range of 286 yards, but you have no easy way to know what this represents on the map.  You’re given the distance to the hole from your present location, so presumably you’re intended to estimate your potential shot based on the distance to the hole.  This can feel like needless guesswork, considering that modern golf sims provide the player with a virtual trajectory based on your club selection.  On the other hand, if you play through a few courses, you’ll become more adept at estimating distances and usefulness of the clubs, so you may end up liking this low-tech approach (though it will probably take a few hideous shots into water hazards and woody areas before you get the hang of it).

When I first set out to write this review, I was originally planning to give it very low marks.  My first impression was of a terribly boring, laughably outdated 8bit non-classic.  But I always make a point of replaying the game during the process of writing the review, and I was surprised to find myself getting oddly fond of this rudimentary golfing game.  The obvious flaws are many–the putting system is learned by blind trial and error (lacking any scientific way to gauge distances or required speed) and going out-of-bounds does not deduct a stroke from your score (this is actually very helpful to someone as terrible as myself).  However, as my skills slowly improved and I began to have a “feel” for distances (putting in particular) I was suddenly making par and even the occasional birdie.  And I was reminded again, as it always has been–and always shall be–good Nintendo titles are almost always entertaining for even amateur players.

If you just love everything that was ever published by Nintendo, or happen to be the kind of player who finds modern sport titles oppressive in their countless options and overwhelming attempts at realism, NES Open Tournament Golf may flip your switches.  I’m surprised to admit it, but it works for me.

It’s a puzzler. Meh?

I’d never played this one before, and I have to be honest, I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning it to me.  Looking back, I’m not surprised I missed it; the game debuted in 1992–more than a year after the launch of the SNES–and I don’t think I even had my original Nintendo hooked up any more.  Anyway, after spending just a few hours with Yoshi, it seems pretty obvious that Yoshi was intended as a pacifier for players who hadn’t been able to upgrade their console, but who’d heard about Mario’s nifty new dinosaur buddy.

Unfortunately, the reason you’ve never heard anyone lament this forgotten Yoshi game is less related to the SNES eclipsing the NES, and more the fault of the utterly forgettable, if innofensive, gameplay.  Of the ten 3DS / NES freebees, this one ranks fairly low for replay and general value, well below other simplistic titles like NES Open Tournament Golf.  Play for a few minutes, and even the most forgiving fanboys will quickly conclude that Nintendo, reveling in the smash success of Tetris on console and handheld systems, figured they could get away with a slavishly-imitative puzzle title.  Yoshi had name recognition and the falling-block genre was at the height of popularity, so why not?

A basic Mix and Match.

It will take me longer to explain Yoshi’s premise than it will take an average player to get bored with the game.  Imagine Tetris, but replace the shapes with a handful of mario sprites.  Forget the need to rotate or move the falling pieces into tight spaces.  Instead, you’ll have 4 columns that the player shuttles from side to side in an effort to match like pieces together.  See the big hook?  Instead of moving and spinning weird shapes into orderly patterns, you’re moving the piles instead.

Where babies come from.

The only (and I mean only) variation on this too-simple formula are the Yoshi egg pieces.  By placing the two halves of an eggshell in the same column, the player can grab extra points and witness some truly riviting game action . . .wait for it. . . the reunited egg will colapse the enclosed sprites and hatch an animated baby dinosaur.  Yep–it’s a cute little Yoshi, right there on your screen.  He can’t do anything, he isn’t ridable or going to swallow enemies or help you in any way at all . . . but there he is, the namesake of this wonderful game.  Advanced players are encouraged to pile additional pieces inside the egg before hatching another dinosaur, thereby yielding more points and animations of evolved forms of Yoshi (the best one has a star in his hand, hooray!).

Bored yet?

Maybe I’m the only person who behaves this way, but Yoshi is one of those games where I spent too much time playing it because I was truly trying to figure out what makes it an appealing or good game; I simply kept searching for that hidden spark of Nintendo magic.  Know what I mean? It’s that situation where your brain just can’t accept that any self-respecting publisher would put this thing on the market unless there were some redeeming quality hidden deep beneath the surface—you just need to keep digging down deeper to find it?  So…in spite of your better instincts, you keep playing it, scouring the game for that mystery X factor that will make you sit up, shout “A-HA, now I get it!”, and keep you hooked for a hundred more hours?

Save yourself some time—there is nothing down here to find. No hidden charm or secret unlockable feature is waiting around the next corner. Yoshi is a banal, over-simplistic Tetris-style puzzle game that has little to offer beyond it’s existence as a retro/NES curiosity.  Yoshi could benefit from the eventual two-player update, but I’m left with the same questions that I’ve pondered for the other 2-player NES downloads.  Will the two-player mode be restricted to local competitive play, or will the update include online support?  The addition of online multiplayer might make for a mildly entertaining experience, though we’re going to have to wait for more details before the jury can reach a verdict.  As stated in other reviews, I currently have exactly zero nearby friends who own a 3DS, so for me (and I suspect many other players), online competitive play is the only meaningful improvement that Nintendo could offer for this title.

I don’t like being overly harsh, but in all honesty, it would have been better if Nintendo let this overlooked Yoshi game lapse quietly into obscurity.  As a collector of classic NES cartridges, I would have eventually found this one on my own (after all, I already paid good money for my copy of the other forgotten NES dino-puzzler, Yoshi’s Cookie), but then I would have only myself to blame.  As it stands, I can’t help but suspect the only reason I’m playing Yoshi on my 3DS is because Nintendo promised us the magic number of 20 games, and 20 it shall be, even if they need to pack in a few stinkers alongside the quality gifts.

I'm hatched, now let me get the hell out of here

Easier than the arcade version, and nearly as good.

Some of my earliest gaming memories are of DK Jr., though I wasn’t playing it in the arcade or on an NES, but rather on the legendary ColecoVision console system.  One of my best friends had a fully loaded Coleco system, including a truly enviable collection of games that included epic titles such as Mousetrap, Pepper II, Turbo, Kaboom, Dukes of Hazzard, and Carnival.  Though it faced significant competition for our time and devotion (my friend had at least 50 cartridges), Donkey Kong Jr. was always one of our favorites, mostly due to the revolutionary platforming action and the approachable difficulty (especially compared to its predecessor).  A game with clearly defined objectives and a variety of obstacles was a real treat; so many titles of that era amounted to single screen challenges with only a vague story or premise.  Enter Donkey Kong Jr.; he’s got a father figure we love to hate, but now the tables are turned and pop is in jail. . . and get this– mind = blown  –there are FOUR different levels to tackle.  It’s no joke; we loved the game so much, we’d stage live-action DK Jr. recreations in my friend’s backyard tree, complete with cardboard monster cutouts and a dangling key to grab.  So . . . I’ve got some history with this game. . . moving on. . .

In preparation for this write-up, I went back and watched some videos of the Coleco version (I still haven’t added this system to my collection, but just wait for it). . . wow.  The contrast between the NES adaptation (albeit via 3DS) and the Coleco translation really illustrates the giant leap forward that the NES represented for video game graphics.  While the NES visuals closely mimic the lush, colorful animations of the arcade machine, the ColecoVision still rendered many sprites in blocky, single-color designs (the enemies look particularly bad in the earlier version).  Coleco represented a huge technical improvement over Atari 2600 and had a bigger game catalog than the 5200, but comparing the NES version of DK Jr. to a Coleco title designed three years earlier is not technically fair or entirely relevant.  Nevertheless, the side by side comparison was a welcome reminder of the drastic distortions that nostalgia can have on memory.

ColecoVision vs NES

DK Jr. is a fairly standard 4-screen proto-platformer, though calling it “standard” is probably unfair, since games like DK Jr. were the prototype for the genre.  First famous in arcades, this game has been ported across countless systems is one of the most enduring and popular ever created.  With that in mind, young whippersnappers may need to approach this download with a degree of forgiveness; I mean, I hadn’t played the game in years, but even on my first 3DS attempt, I was able to handily defeat the first four stages without a single Game Over.  I cringe to imagine how the simplistic gameplay, occasional flaws, and repetitive motifs appear to a player who didn’t (literally) grow up in dark, grimy arcades; frighteningly, the majority of 3DS owners probably weren’t even alive to play the NES incarnation, much less ever lost small fortunes to games like Rampage, Jungle Hunt, or Berzerk.

DK Jr. unquestionably retains a respectable degree of charm and appeal, though I am an acknowledged, ridiculously-biased retro-freak.  The NES version has entertaining (even “cute”) animations that are nicely coupled with satisfying sound effects and responsive character movement.  Scaling vines and chains with DK Jr. is a weirdly entertaining experience; the skilled player can almost achieve a sense of graceful apelike motion as you thread your way across each screen (common, use your imagination!).  You’ll slip down vines like greased lightning to escape fast-moving enemies, or use a speedy two-handed climb to scale chains and grab bonuses.   There isn’t a heck of a lot of strategy here;  like his daddy’s game, your basic goal is to reach the top of each board while scoring points and avoiding traps.  This is the simple stuff of the early 1980s–basically, just don’t let DK Jr. fall into a pit or come in contact with enemy sprites.   I tend to feel that (NES) DK Jr. is far easier to control than Mario in the original Kong; he jumps higher, moves quicker, and the collision detection definitely seems a bit fairer.  You’ll struggle to understand why a downward leap of say, 4 pixels, will not harm the adventuring ape, while a dizzying fall of 6 pixels spells instant death–but after you’ve run through the boards a few times, you’ll have a passable understanding of the game’s physics and limitations.  And if classic arcade is your cup of tea, you be having fun.

Junior hacks into the matrix

The music is pure 80s arcade, and since the ColecoVision version did not include the computer level, I’d never experienced this added challenge or the awesome, iconic bloop-bleep 70s-era sound effects that accompany it.  And no review of DK Jr. would be complete without acknowledging the presence of Mario as villain–something unbelievable to kids who only know the saccharine-sweet persona of the carpenter/plumber/hero–yet there he stands, cracking a whip over weird alligator-like toadies and looking generally nasty.  It makes one reflect on the wild ways in which video games and corporate mascots have changed over time.

Sometimes an abusive plumber

In recent years , I’ve had a couple chances to play the original arcade version (visit Funspot in Laconia, NH to try it yourself) and I can say without hesitation that this NES translation is a much friendlier, tempered version aiming to reach a wider, less compulsive (perhaps less self-abusive) audience.  Playing the upright machine, I still hadn’t passed the first board after 2 or 3 quarters, but I could be confusing it with the insane difficulty of Donkey Kong II.  In any case, since a huge number of you will be playing the NES version of Donkey Kong Jr. for free, I’d say it’s worth your time and at least a short period of obsessive vine-climbing devotion.

(Am I really chasing a condor that stole my eggplant?)

As a devoted collector of classic NES carts, I’d been lusting after this one for a while.  It’s a great feeling to be a full-fledged adult (so they tell me, anyway) who still hasn’t played all of the original ‘black box’ NES games.  I’ve intentionally saved some of these uber-famous titles for a rainy day, suppressing the temptation to pick up used copies via yard sales or eBay.  Call me crazy, but I love to save things.  I genuinely love the anticipation and sense of reward that comes with delayed gratification.  This trait extends far beyond games and includes movies, television shows, and books, but is probably a subject best saved for another post.  Given that Ice Climber came out in 1985, I thought 25 full years was probably an adequate amount of buildup.  Seize the day, right?

Smacking things with a hammer is a common motif in early Nintendo games

I always thought the title of the game was plural–or maybe I just got confused after played 100+ hours of Smash Brothers Brawl (the announcer always intones “Ice Climbers” when they join the battle).  Regardless what you call it, the game is hard as balls, serving up the masochistic difficulty that was apparently required by 1980s gamers.  The goal is simple–avoid or defeat a variety of simple enemies while climbing to the top of 32 different ice mountains.  You’ll face slippery surfaces, conveyor belts, and falling icicles as well as a variety of weird creatures that blunder into your path. At least some of the game’s difficulty could be described as ‘flawed’ by modern gamers; the hit-box for the character’s primary attack (a microscopic mallet) seems flaky and often misses the intended target even though you were aiming directly at an enemy’s ugly mug.  Other traits verge on unfair or “poorly programmed”– after losing a life, you’ll often respawn in the direct path (or directly on top) of an enemy–and you’ve only got 3 climbers to spare.  When climbing the ice mountain, be sure to pack along a surplus supply of patience.

Though not technically a flaw, the new player should be warned that your own character’s jumping abilities are the most fearsome foe in this game.  Anyone who’s ever used the climbers in Brawl will recall the oddly vertical leaps of the ambiguously-paired duo; clearly, the inspiration for their odd, parabolic leap is directly yanked from the original NES title.  The game’s shockingly strong gravity will resurrect long-forgotten curse words, and you’ll probably want to throw the controller after the tenth time you forget that your character cannot change directions in mid-leap.  We’ve been conditioned by decades of comparatively fluid, manuverable heroes, so it pays to remember that these guys are NOT Mario; the Ice Climbers possess the loft and grace of a cartoon anvil.

In some ways, Ice Climber feels just a few steps above a game-and-watch title.  It’s a platformer of the most basic type, and the limited set of enemies and challenges have that early 80s flavor in which a few basic elements are repeated in an increasingly speedy and crowded layout.  The programmer, Kazuaki Morita, has said that IC was a warmup exercise that preceded his work on Super Mario Brothers.  For a warmup, this is not a bad effort–one can spot elements of Donkey Kong, Kangaroo, and the original insect-flipping Mario Brothers.  Just don’t download this one expecting a volume of gameplay variations or profound plot development–hell, the framing narrative is (apparently) the theft of an eggplant(!?) by a scary-looking condor!

He's got my favorite aubergine!

Since Nintendo doesn’t bother to provide you with one, Here’s a link to the original NES manual, which includes a priceless section titled “Rules and Suggestions” that includes such gems as (I’m not kidding), “Be sure to read the “tips” in this booklet”.  That’s right–the manual reminds you to read the manual.  Am I the only one who finds this hilarious?

At the time of this writing, the two-player co-op patch/3DS update has not occurred, and some surfing around the internet hasn’t helped me figure out if this multiplayer option is going to be local-only, or perhaps (dare I dream?) an internet-friendly co-op experience.  Frankly, I don’t have a single close friend who owns a 3DS (though many have admired it), so I don’t know if a local-only option would be of much use to me.  On the other hand, I’d leap at the chance to work through this title with an anonymous stranger, preferably some ridiculously obsessed player who’ll take care of the hard stuff and let me fumble around, doing my best to not die.

Every stage ends with a bonus round and a chance to catch the condor.

Regardless of some flaws and the abusive difficulty, I would still recommend Ice Climber as an entertaining platformer with some solid entertainment value for the nostalgic retro gamer.  The graphics and gameplay work well even on the small screen of the 3DS, and I can think of few titles that better embody the pure essence of early NES.  You’ll probably be frustrated before you ever reach level 10, but since you’re allowed to choose which mountain you start on, a player could theoretically surmount the final peak without ever having attempted any other boards.  Given the difficulty of even the early stages, I sincerely doubt this is possible.

Sin & Punishment is no secret anymore; the launch of the US sequel (Star Successor) generated rave reviews from critics and fans alike.  I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of praise.

Shooters, especially ones that hearken back to arcade-style bullet hell onslaughts, are familiar to almost any gamer of a certain age.  I’ve ignored the genre for years, probably because I grew up in an era when spaceship shooters like Defender, Gradius, Lifeforce, Xevious, and their countless identical siblings were an overwrought (even tedious) format cramming every corner arcade and home system.  If the reviews for Star Successor had been any less glowing or universal, I’d probably have missed it.

You may be wondering why I’m mentioning high-octane space shooters in a review of a game that utilizes on-screen humanoid avatars and a behind-the-back camera angle.  Star Successor looks nothing like the games I’ve mentioned, and to be perfectly technical, I should probably refer to it as a “bullet-hell rails shooter” (whatever THAT means).  Whatever label we put on it, I can’t help but feel that the side-scrolling galactic adventures of the old days share a lot of common ground with the truly unique experience of Sin and Punishment….except that Star Successor grabs the volume knob, turns it up to eleven, and headbangs like a methed-out teenager.

SS doesn’t fall squarely in any category, but instead combines a wildly entertaining mix of different ideas and styles.  First in the mix, players are thrown head-first into a bullet-dodging shooter that never pauses for breath.  All the best parts of the genre are here: an insane amount of incoming fire, score-multiplying for successive enemy hits, and screen-dwarfing boss fights that leave you clutching the controller in a dead-man’s grip (really, I get white knuckles!).  But rather than sticking to a conventional top-down or side-scrolling perspective,  SS utilizes a third-person on-rails viewpoint (aka ‘rails shooter’) and throws a cascade of stunning visuals straight at the player’s head…again, and again, and again.  The key word here is hyperactive: unlike many on-rail games (such as the plodding pace of Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, or the methodical progress of COD), the camera wheels wildly, pirouetting and turning every few seconds, constantly forcing the player to recalculate potential targets or approaching threats.  The blistering pace leaves virtually no time to marvel at the sheer awesomeness of the above-average graphics–but make no mistake, this game ranks near the top of the pile of all Wii titles.

A Side Scrolling Moment

Thus, the basic components of a bullet-hell game are spun into something far more entertaining–you’re never allowed to get too comfortable with one mode of attack, yet you never feel restricted by a computer-controlled camera.  One moment top down, next moment 45-degree isometric, next moment from below the character’s feet, you’ll be sweating bullets just trying to know which side is up (did I mention you’ll occasionally need to fight upside-down?).  And since SS is focused on protagonists who can fly, the programers were able to cram the entire game with dizzying, gravity-defying visual effects that could only occur in a fantastical flight simulation.  You’ll be bowled over by the game’s sheer visual excellence and the reckless joy of a game that rockets through the sky with no regard for earthbound physics, onscreen sprite counts, or ammunition limits.

Down the rabbit hole

The main character, Isa, can move anywhere on the screen (behaving much like a player’s spaceship in the shooters of yore), or can land to hack and slash as needed.  Dodging is an integral part of the action; whether in flight or on the ground, Isa can perform a rolling escape that provides a split-second of invulnerability.  And though dodging lets Isa avoid damage, the angle and timing of your escapes must be used with pinpoint accuracy, the goal being to dodge through tiny holes in the endless barrage of missiles, machines, and the occasional gross tentacle.

Thankfully, character control is highly responsive and genuinely entertaining.  This might be the make-it-or-break-it aspect of Star Successor–once a player has mastered the controls, you realize you can (with practice) achieve the precision you’ll need to survive the onslaught.  This is where the fun really begins; learning to zip and dodge around the screen is pleasing, fluid, and addictive.  Great games often have that x-factor (try to explain why Super Mario Brothers is so purely fulfilling, even when you’re just busting blocks) and SS manages to capture that ineffable aspect of a good title–a really great control mechanism that hits all the right notes and is rewarding in itself.  Flying around the screen, dodging and blasting baddies, giant explosions, crazy enemies and stupid, over-the-top plots…isn’t this why we got into games in the first place?

Try blasting something, it's fun!

During the process of writing this entry, I finished the game on normal difficulty, and have been revisiting some of the earlier levels to see if I can get some decent scores onto the online leaderboards (hell yeah, 414th highest score for level 2 on the USA local boards!)  Overall, the difficulty is an interesting topic;  checkpoints are frequent enough that you’ll rarely need more than a handful of attempts to pass most areas (some bosses are an exception to this rule) but the real challenge seems to be in completing whole levels while ratcheting up the all-important score multiplier.  Get hit by an enemy (even once), and the multiplier plummets.  Get through each barrage with minimal damage, and your score starts to go through the roof.   This isnt to say the game isnt hard–it is.  But since the player can set the difficulty (easy, medium or hard), I think SS is designed to be accessible to even entry-level players who might find the visually-overwhelming style to be a challenge in itself.  You just won’t be finishing levels with a respectable score or all the hidden bonuses.  And then you’ll find yourself itching to replay a level.  Just one more time, and I can get a better score.  Positively itching….i’ll be right back.

I haven’t had a chance to try the game with the two-player co-op mode, but I’m really looking forward to it.  Perhaps I’ll update this entry once I’ve had the pleasure.  Stay tuned.

Developer Treasure was clearly aiming to replicate the boisterous, explosive visuals of a golden-age arcade title, and perhaps this is why I love it so much.  Star Successor is an unapologetic testosterone-filled shooter that fell through a timewarp from the heyday of upright machines.  Here’s to a third sequel for Wii U or 3DS–I’ll be waiting.

In spite of being a lifelong fan of the Metroid series, I didn’t race out and purchase a copy of the latest installment.  I was fairly busy at the time it launched, and the initial reviews were mixed, so I stashed the game on my “To Do” list and moved on with other projects. Months after release, a good friend loaned me his copy with a fairly strong recommendation, though with the warning that the game was a bit on the short side.

There are a ton of save-points in this game (you can hardly go five minutes without encountering one), so I ended up playing Other M in short installments over the course of about a month. This method worked perfectly for me, especially after I noticed that longer sessions made the combat mechanics feel repetitive and occasionally boring.  This is not to say that the battles or controls are not entirely thrilling or well-designed (they are); just that almost all encounters involve similar actions of quick dodging and blasting away via autotargeting, and the process gets a little redundant after more than an hour or so.  Taking breaks between each session allowed the incredible design and unique, well-crafted controls to keep their appeal right up to the end credits.

Full Disclosure Regarding Prime:
I should state that I was (like everyone else) blown away by the first installment of Metroid Prime. MP1 was such an incredible reimagining of the Metroid universe—not to mention an excellent video game in it’s own right–it would be hard to find a self-respecting Nintendo fan who doesn’t hold it in high regard. I skipped the second Prime (Echoes) but later played the third (Corruption), though it took me more than a year to finish.  Frankly, I tend to become bored with sequels that employ identical engines and gameplay, and Prime 3 was no exception. The combat was far too easy and I was constantly frustrated with the clunky handling of the 3D mapping system.  I was more than ready for a new take on Metroid, a feeling which definitely informs my view of Other M.

(with that off my chest….back to the review at hand….)

There are two things that every review of Other M are required to mention: the unique hybridization of first and third person action, and the frequently-nauseating plot. I’ll cover the good one first, and only briefly mention the lame one.

Some players may not love the game’s conception as a alternating first and third person shooter; I’d argue that these gamers are overlooking the Nintendo-styled creativity and pure entertainment value of this new mechanic. The game employs a creative use of the Wiimote’s pointing abilities to achieve an entirely new style of action/adventure; when running, jumping, and exploring, the player holds the Wiimote on it’s side akin to the classic NES controller and views the game via automatic 3rd-person camera.  But instead of relying solely on camera angles and autotarget run-and-gun, the game includes an additional layer of immersive interaction by allowing the player to enter first-person view at any time, merely by pointing the Wiimote at the screen.  The user is instantly zapped into an in-helmet view that is virtually identical to the Prime games.   From this view, you can examine your surroundings, deploy heavy artillery (such as missles), and scan nearby objects for useful information (though thankfully, the chronic object-scanning of Prime is not required here).

The transition between views is seamless and awesome, and provides that vital sense of classic Metroid exploration. The auto-camera regularly “hides” certain nooks and crannies that can only be found by entering first-person view, so a good deal of the puzzle-solving and item collection employ a mixture of visual and reasoning puzzles that require use of both camera modes. Nearly all of the tougher enemies and bosses require the player to alternate between views; practice is therefore encouraged.  A player might dodge enemy attacks in third person view, then flip over to the first person to aim and launch a salvo of missles, then swing back to the third person to reposition Samus for another attack.  The player’s viewpoint is a fundamental part of the gameplay and makes battles feel fast, frantic, and furious.  It is incredibly entertaining (and genuinely freaky) when you switch out of a distant third person camera into first-person view and find yourself starting face-to-mandible with a hideous space-insect.  As a result, combat encounters feel both lightning-fast and intensely intimate by combining the best aspects of a run-and-gun with an FPS.  It will take a few minutes to master the technique of flipping the remote from sideways play to aiming mode, but I didn’t feel like the learning curve was onerous at all.  Really, like any other Wii title that uses point-and-click Wiimote action, the player just needs to maintain a clear line of sight with the sensor bar, and remember not to wave the reticule off the screen.  If you can master those basics, you’ll really enjoy the functionality of Other M’s control interface.

The plot: the less said, the better.  Other reviewers (and any of your friends who have played Other M) have already driven this point home:  the storyline of Other M, in which Samus’ backstory is fleshed out (and in which she speaks aloud for the first time, and all too often), is detestable hogwash.  Samus comes off as a pouting, empty-headed girl, struggling with trite psychological conundrums such as:  “I don’t like bossy people” and “I simultaneously respect and reject authority figures in my life, a tendency which causes me emotional confusion”.  If you’re like many players, you’ll find yourself wishing that Samus had kept her silence and maintained the awesome dignity of an ass-kicking one-woman assault force, rather than descending into JRPG-styled introspections that pollute the game’s cut-scene mini-movies.  Which is a real shame, because the movies themselves are well-rendered and graphically excellent. . . Samus’ personality is just unbearable.

To end on a high note, I’d really give Other M a positive review.  The atmosphere and gameplay are almost everything you’d hope for, and it’s really cool to see what creative innovations Nintendo can bring to a more serious, mature title (Eternal Darkness 2?).  The plot is a big flub, but the flavor of the game itself is classic Metroid: an eerie space outpost, overrun with aliens, brimming with mysterious puzzles and layers of secrets.  Sure, the game is a little on the medium-easy side and indefensibly short, but I would give the game my personal recommendation, albeit with the reminder to keep some earplugs handy for when Samus launches into one of her whiny diatribes.  She’ll shut up soon enough, and you’ll be right back to blasting those infernal brain-sucking space leeches.

Some comments beyond this point may include minor SPOILERS:

As of this writing, I’ve completed the main game but ran right back for more.  When you’ve finished the primary campaign and the end credits have rolled, Samus can re-enter the Bottle Ship on a quest to locate “something that was left behind.  Something irreplaceable. . .”.  Like many great Metroid games, the fun now becomes the OCD collection of every last energy tank, missile pack, and tertiary item.  The map indicates the general location of the missing booty and is a welcome help with this process, so you’re not merely wandering aimlessly through corridors of easily-defeated enemies (really, with your loadout entirely complete, you’ll roll right over almost everything in your path).  If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself humbled by how many things you overlooked on the first go-round.  On the other hand, the “irreplaceable” item isn’t terribly hard to locate and unlocks an additional ending to the game.  And even if getting every last hidden object isn’t your cup of tea, I’d propose that the final battle and escape sequence is still worth the extra half-hour of your life, so just follow the blinking icon on your map and wring a few more minutes of fun out of this solid Metroid title.

As I close in on the coveted 100% complete, I’ve been reflecting that even though I don’t always fall prey to these “catch em all” scenarios, the obscure puzzles of Other M inspired me to feel new love for the game.  I am genuinely enjoying the process of chasing down these final items, a process that allows me a worthwhile second chance to appreciate the game’s intensely detailed artwork and the occasionally impossible puzzle (how the f*ck am I supposed to grab that missile pack at the top of the tower in main sector residental quarters???).  It might be fair to imagine that the game’s designers saw this ‘completionist content’ as a way to keep the main game accessible to newcomers while throwing the compulsive hardcore audience a few hours of extra Metroid action.  It isn’t a perfect solution, but I’m having fun with it, and I’m going to walk away from Other M with a positive bank of memories.

Additional update, additional SPOILER alert:

I sat down for about 3 additional hours and completed the game with 100% of all items.  I was a little disappointed that the only reward for the ultra-dedicated player is the option to begin a new game in Hard mode.  I certainly don’t regret the experience of a few extra Metroid hours, but I doubt I’m going to play through Other M again in the near future.  Too many other games are demanding my attention, and besides, I’ve had this game on loan from a friend for months.  Maybe sometime I’ll pick up a used copy and test my mettle, but it’s definitely going to wait.

Have I said enough?  Review complete?

What–you want me to elaborate?

Like everyone else, I’d heard a lot about the downloadable sequel to Shantae (Game Boy Color). Given that my trusty FAT DS endured 6 years of extremely heavy use without a single problem, I never made the leap to DS Lite, and therefore couldn’t take advantage of the DSiWare service.  Considering how many excellent cartridge-based games continued to arrive on DS, I never felt like I was missing much.

Then I played Shantae: Risky’s Revenge.

S:RR is a true platform adventure gem in the ‘metroidvania’ style, and, quite honestly, lives up to everything I’d been expecting. As a proud owner of a shiny new (black) 3DS, this title was among my first eShop downloads. Though the cost is relatively high for a downloadable title, after only 2 hours of playtime, I can say that Risky’s Revenge is worth the investment.

Humorous, polished, and truly retro in both subtle and obvious ways, S:RR delivers everything that an experienced player wants from a classic platforming title. The graphics are colorful and vivid, the action and controls are straightforward, and the story doesn’t get bogged down in boring narrative trivialities. There is plenty of outlandish, LOL-inspiring dialog within the first few minutes (the female villain comands her male underlings to lift her up, and advises them to ‘Put Your Back Into It’), and the story is witty and compelling without becoming annoying or self-important.  I was hooked by this game within moments of first power-on.

At the start of her quest, Shantae has only an exceptional jumping ability (an absolute must-have for any self-respecting platform protagonist) and a deadly purple ponytail (used for whipping enemies and treasure chests alike).  Using one’s hair as a weapon might sound too girly for a macho male gamer, but Shantae never comes off as anything other than a complete ass-kicking action hero, ponytail or not.  Her ‘hair attack’ feels satisfying and delivers that rewarding “smack” effect..strangely reminiscent of the whip  in the DS Castlevania adventures.

Defeating enemies earns jewels which are used to buy secondary attack items.  In a rewarding twist (or perhaps because download games are much shorter than cartridge titles) the game doesn’t require the player to grind through hours of play before powerups are available (I had 3 new weapons in my arsenal after only 90 minutes).  An excellent variety of items are available right at the get-go, and it is refreshing to be able to choose the order and type of upgrades, rather than following a predetermined schedule (ala Metroid, Zelda, etc).

I came to S:RR with little knowledge of the game or it’s predecessor (other than vague impressions of rave reviews).  It was an excellent surprise when, an hour into the game, I discovered yet another of the game’s most important features.  Shantae’s most distinctive skill is to shapeshift into different creatures.  Her first avatar is (spoiler alert): a tiny purple monkey who can scale walls, move slightly faster, and jump a little bit higher than the humanoid Shantae.  But to complicate things, the monkey has no attack skills, so the player must either dodge enemy attacks or make quick shifts back into your more powerful human form.  As soon as you’ve acquired the monkey dance, observant players will immediately begin to notice new types of obstacles that imply future skill-sets (for example, the sudden presence of giant chasms makes me wonder if I’ll eventually learn to perform ceiling grabs or short flights).  Playing as the monkey is both useful and entertaining, and switching between Shantae-human and Shante-monkey is as easy as the press of a button.  The shapeshifting game mechanic really lends an entertaining spin to an already well-crafted platform adventure, and keeps the player interested to see what other surprises lay ahead.

The music is worth special recognition (and a paragraph all its own).  Unlike far too many DS titles, the music is catchy, well composed, and perfectly reflects the areas and ethos of the game itself.  Given that Shantae herself is a genie, the game is framed in a Persian motif with complementary music.  The tracks change frequently (avoiding the biggest problem with game music–death through repetition) and are among the best soundtracks I’ve heard in quite a while.  Since playing this Shantae sequel, I’ve visited the composer’s personal website, and was equally blown away by his tracks for the original GBC Shantae.  Check them out here:  Jake Kaufman

I’ll add a bit more commentary when I’ve finished the game, but my final thoughts for now would be that platformers of such clever excellence only come along once in a while.  It is neither new or surprising that phenomenal games get shamefully overlooked, especially if they lack a famous mascot or movie tie-in (Henry Hatsworth for DS comes immediately to mind), but I’d propose that serious gamers owe it to themselves, much less the industry, to be on constant watch for games as good as this one.  Fortunately, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge seems to have captured a lot of fans, including me.

I had high hopes for the release of RE: Mercenaries 3D.  The Mercenaries concept arrived as the bonus content of RE4 (one of the high-water moments in series history–if you haven’t played it, stop reading now, smack yourself in the face, and accept that you have failed at life).  Combine this formidable pedigree with long months of mounting anticipation (the announcement of this title was all the way back in September 2010, giving Mercenaries more than 9 months of lead time), and you end up with a reasonably perfect combination of fan service and desirable series continuity.

I picked this one up on launch day (28 June 2011) as a reward to myself for a really busy June.  As a player who likes to make his dollars count, I usually scour the reviews before investing in a brand new title.  Unfortunately, I let my desire for a substantial 3DS title get the better of me, and I pulled the trigger as soon as possible, assuming that the overall quality of the RE series would insure my purchase.

Not to beat around the bush, but I was immediately reminded as to why I should always wait a few weeks–and for the word to get out–before throwing down my hard-earned cash.  I’d only had Mercenaries unwrapped for less than an hour before I understood that I might be holding a turkey.

Things looked great for the first few minutes; my first impression was amazement at the game’s slick, high-resolution graphics.  The 3D effect wasn’t as intense or overwhelming as one finds in a title like Pilotwings 3DS, but the menu images and over-the-shoulder FPS were surprisingly flashy and sharp for a handheld system.  During battle, the camera zooms in and out with no noticeable slowdown, and though the enemy animation is occasionally framey (for instance, when their heads are exploding from a shotgun blast, or when they are stumbing around in the background), almost everything looked really good for a handheld title.  I’ll admit that I might be a cheap date in this department–I’m still getting adjusted to how much more powerful the 3DS is compared to my loyal and trusty “fat” DS (that’s right, I never even upgraded to DS Lite).  Regardless, the menu interface and vivid character models included cool 3D presentation and catch your eye with a flashy, modern appeal.  Post-play (and following my resale of the cart on Ebay), I’d still admit that the general visual presentation of RE: Mercenaries remain one of the title’s strongest attributes.

My positive impression began to dissolve as I played through the first several missions.  At first, I assumed that the ridiculous simplicity of the assignments were simply meant to warm up the casual or inexperienced player.  It did seem odd that the second tier of missions were still staged as training events–hadn’t I already completed my newbie lessons in level one?–yet the gravelly-voiced in-game announcer kept treating me like a boot-camp grunt, talking to me as though the game hadn’t even begun yet (it certainly didn’t help that the unseen commander sounds like a cheesy hollywood drill sergeant, but not in the lame-yet-funny-RE-horror-movie sense of cheese).  Later, I realized that the “training theme” was actually a confusing attempt at originality on the part of the designers.  Rather than include an all-points “how to play” mode, Capcom framed Mercenaries (at least the early levels) as some kind of war camp for would-be zombie-hunters.  Color me disappointed–I’d rather have gotten my training all in one place before being set loose to test my slicing-and-dicing skills.

Thus, the Mercenaries concept (as envisioned here) became quickly tiresome to this player, especially when I realized that most levels, even at their longest, tend to last less than 3 minutes–and the goal is to become good enough to finish missions in mere seconds.  Either way, one ends up spending a fair amount of time in the menus and lobbies rather than exploding the undead (this aspect is even more annoying in online co-op mode).  As the levels become harder and you inevitably fail some missions (usually due to the clock running out–I rarely died in any of the first 3 unlocked zones) , you’ll discover that your invisible mentor shouts the same tired commands on each go-round, the enemy creatures attack in nearly identical patterns (the levels aren’t expansive enough to allow for much AI freedom), and you, the player, begin to wonder when, exactly, will this game live up to the greatness of a typical Resident Evil title.

Possibly the most tiresome–and most obvious–problem with the Mercenaries appears to be the lack of substantial content.  I was already sensitive to this issue given that other major 3DS titles have failed to deliver $40 worth of game, and Mercenaries didn’t help matters at all.   In an exhausting attempt to stretch the experience, the player is expected to complete every mission with a variety of unlockable characters (a total of eight) using their various armaments.  This repeat challenge can be fun in short (read: 15 minute) bursts, but it gets boring pretty quickly.  The levels aren’t varied enough to keep a player going for long, and the brief framework of each mission means that even an hour-long session of Missionaries exposes the player to a significant portion of the game’s content.  The different weapons carried by each character make it mildly entertaining to revisit challenges, but once the thrill of mowing down baddies with a machine gun, or popping their heads off with a long-range rifle become too familiar, it won’t be long before you start to wonder what, exactly, is the game’s core attraction.  Not a good thing to be wondering, only two hours into the experience.

I’ve seen some reviews that called the brief level structure “perfect for the iPhone generation”.  In response, I’d propose I didn’t spend $250 on a system, and another $40 on a game so that I could play the equivalent of a $2.99 iPhone game.  I want content.  I want depth.  And though some may disagree, I don’t want iPhone-style games on my 3DS.

The game’s easy default setting is another strike against Mercenaries; I didn’t find it particularly hard to get “A” ratings or above (S or SS) with most of the characters (at least up to the end of level 3, when I called it quits).  Achieving high grades with some characters is tougher than others (Chris Redfield, for instance, relies on a comically weak pistol), but the impetus to finish a level with a tough character is weakened when you’ve already passed the same board several times with your more heavily-armed (i.e. easier) characters.  Admittedly, I sold the game before delving into the later levels (which presumably contain more interesting enemies and challenges), but this is telling in itself–I was bored enough with the overall gameplay and mission structure (after only a few hours of playtime) that I simply didn’t care to stick around.

Some games are saved by their multiplayer mode; I won’t even waste your time by describing this one in more than a few sentences.  Playing in co-op, you’re set loose in the same missions you’d encountered in single-player, no added challenges or special features.  In other words, now you have two players gunning down zombies, but you’re doing it faster than ever before, so you’re actually decreasing the amount of time you’ll actually spend playing the game before being dumped back into the menu area.  Couple this with the need to menu-seek a co-op partner between each mission (searching…..searching…..), and you’ll quickly become as bored with the multiplayer experience as you did with the single-player campaign.  It didn’t seem to add anything at all to the title.  It just felt boring.

I really wanted to like Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.  I really tried.  I hope whoever bought my used copy on Ebay enjoys it more than I did.

If, like me, you’re an experienced gamer who doesn’t get the kick you once did from fighting games (i.e. Street Fighter), the number of serious choices available at 3DS launch was really, really small.  Plus Cats?  Another Lego game?  Seriously, don’t tempt me.   Really.

In all honesty, I was pretty psyched for Steel Diver.  IGN NVC (Nintendo Voice Chat) podcast had described Miyamoto’s secretive hints regarding this title (hand gestures and an inexplicable “sploooosh” sound), so, I bit into the hype.  The big boss was excited enough to hype the game, and though submarines may not be everyone’s ideal concept for a launch title, I thought it sounded like an awesome, original concept.  One of my very first games for my first personal computer (Apple IIGS) was a surprisingly-advanced submarine simulator, and I played the hell out of it, in spite of not understanding a thing about the controls or underlying strategy.  I’ll always vote for originality and creativity in game design over familiar or tired concepts.

Steel Diver, unfortunately, does not live up to my expectations.  I’ll try to be gentle.

It isn’t that Steel Diver is a bad game; but now that launch has come and gone, the truth can be stated plainly: the game is light, short on content, rushed into service–however you want to say it, Steel Diver is simply too little game for too much cash….and far too forgettable to merit the privilege of being a Nintendo-published launch title.

If I had to take a guess, it seems likely that Nintendo chose to roll out Steel Diver for one simple reason–the gyroscope/periscope missions.  Like Pilotwings’ inherently 3D flight visuals, the periscope concept is simply perfect for showcasing the system’s tech and graphics.  But–and this is why I’m bewildered that they went to press with it–this single feature isn’t nearly enough to sustain more than a few hours of entertainment.  The basic experience is surprising, exciting, and yes–fun.  If one sits in a rotating desk chair or stands in the center of a room, spinning in circles, torpedoing enemy ships that hang in 360º 3D space around your head…brilliant.  Hilarious.  The kind of thing you show off to your friends and allows you to grin as their jaws drop.  But do I really want “look at my cool new toy” games?  Wouldn’t it be better for Nintendo to release deep, entertaining games that include showy features as a part of an extended play experience?

I think Nintendo was genuinely hoping to achieve the latter with Steel Diver.  The problem is, as stated above, a lack of depth (bad idea for a submarine, right?).  The periscope missions are designed to serve as an item-bonus round that follows the completion of a main mission, but only last about 30 seconds (the time limit is an obvious attempt to prevent the player from realizing how shallow the concept really is).  I mean, you do end up wanting to play the periscope mission again (I could have HAD that battleship if I’d had time for one more shot!!),  but it feels like a cheap way to squeeze extra fun out of a good-yet-limited concept.  You can play periscope missions by themselves via the main menu (in a non-campaign, time attack/score-oriented mode), but you won’t earn any of the tacked-on, mostly useless bonus items that you earn in the campaign-mode periscope.  Plus, main-menu access just means you’ll just get tired of the periscope concept even faster than otherwise.

I haven’t even mentioned the main missions yet; the reason is that there isn’t a whole lot to say.  I did enjoy playing them….all seven of them.  If these seven levels included, say, 20-30 minutes of action, you might be able to forgive the fact that the game tries to stretch content by requiring players to complete each mission with 3 separate, largely similar submarines.  Alas, almost all missions (including the final boss battle) can be finished in 10 minutes or less, and until the final board or two, I rarely died at all.  It cannot be understated–forcing players to go through the exact same missions 3 times with nearly identical vehicles is not a recipe for an epic play experience.  The missions themselves were light fun, mostly consisting of timed races through enemy-occupied waters, capped with the odd boss battle.  But since the ticking game clock and timed-based leaderboard encourages rapid completion of each mission (mainly so you can hurry up and finish the same board again with a different submarine), the wise player ends up dodging enemies and avoiding battles at all cost, meaning that truly good players get even less entertainment than those who don’t care about high scores.  There is literally no impetus to explode enemies or use your torpedoes.  Fun stuff.  I love games that don’t want me to blow things up.

I genuinely don’t mean to come off completely cynical toward this game; I did have fun playing it, and given how repetitious the overall structure really is, I’ve been playing it at an intentionally-measured pace over several weeks.  The graphics, though not overwhelmingly “3D”, do look fairly sharp, and the control scheme is unique and engaging (almost all interface is via touchscreen levers and dials, which respond with entertainingly submarine-like clunkiness).  The momentum of your ship and deep-sea physics are your primary enemies, though a skilled player can virtually master the basic concepts and controls in a few hours. Besides the periscope concept, this is probably where the game most accurately hits its intended target–even when you’re an experienced player, you still regularly overshoot your mark and accelerate right into an enemy torpedo or a jagged sea wall.  These hair-raising near-miss moments are actually pretty fun, creating the impression that the player is actually in charge of an unwieldy, gigantic metal beast sailing beneath the waves.

Summary:  Consumed in small bites–and with middling expectations–Steel Diver can be a worthwhile, albeit overpriced, diversion.

UPDATE:

Given the scarcity of software for the 3DS system, I went back to Steel Diver after a couple weeks in dry dock.  As your standard semi-compulsive gamer, I finished off all the remaining missions in the primary campaign–and was, I admit, pleasantly surprised to discover that the game includes an “expert” mode that is unlocked for the intrepid sea-captains among us. (I wasn’t really expecting anything more than a “Great Job!” and another repeat of the closing credits, so perhaps my excitement was a bit naive).

Having now played about halfway through the expert mode, I’m of two minds about the added content–first, it isn’t really ‘content’, per se, but simply the same 7 levels with ramped up difficulty.  On the other hand, for an experienced gamer, these levels do present a significant challenge compared to the ridiculous ease of the ‘normal’ stages.  Instead of sailing right past enemies and straight to the goal, you’ll be forced into strategic maneuvers and calculated risks that involve careful torpedo shots and timed avoidance of aerial bombardment and enemy torpedoes.  There are a lot more enemies, and this time around, they actually seem hell-bent on sinking your sub.  Suddenly the power-up decals (earned badges that let the player make minor adjustments to your submarine’s statistical deployment) actually serve a purpose–do I need more speed for my torpedoes, or heightened resistance against depth charges?  In other words, the Expert mode actually edges the game toward a more mature, full-fledged gaming experience.  It is regrettable that by the time the Expert mode is unlocked, most players are probably fairly tired of the game itself.

Picked this one up on launch day (27Mar11) along with Steel Diver. Nintendo clearly picked this franchise as a featured launch title due to the obvious possibilities for vivid, showy 3D experiences.  I suspect that the decision to recycle the Wii Sports Resort locale had something to do with it as well; this familiar backdrop provides a sleek bridge between the console and new handheld while conveniently shortening development time and lending personality to a game that was formerly devoid of personality.  I’m not some die-hard Mii fan; I mean, I like the concept, and the execution is distinctly “Nintendo” (i.e. cute, entertaining, and fun for most ages) that I’m generally ok with the idea.  I didn’t really see the need to “mii up” the Pilotwings universe, but as I wrote in my Club Nintendo commentary, I’d probably have voted to do the same thing, had I been in charge of development.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time covering the basic gameplay; the Pilotwings franchise is light-flight-sim that aims to entertain, not emulate anything approaching a “realistic” flying experience.  This particular iteration focuses primarily on light plane, hang-gliding, and a cartoony rocket-pack.  There are other vehicles to unlock, but they are few and far between, and underused at that.  Plan to spend most of your time in these three modes, all of which are well made and are varied enough to keep the player engaged.  I was very disappointed that skydiving was not included as a primary mission.  It was one of my favorite modes in the original Pilotwings, and stands out as an unforgivable omission.  I can’t even think of a single reason for skimping on it.

The gameplay is good.  Pure Nintendo.  The controls are easy to pick up, but the scoring system and subtle nuances of each vehicle allow for a significant refinement of skill.  A poor player can still complete missions and pass ahead, but the adept gamer can spend a fair amount of time perfecting their skills and going for a perfect mission score.  Overall, the difficulty is a bit easy.  I regularly achieve 3-star ranking–the highest–on only my second or third attempt of a particular mission, but the majority of missions require repeated (numerous even) playthroughs.  Whether this appeals to you or not is a personal thing–I can understand how some critics see the game as light on content, given that it isnt difficult to “pass” a mission with a middling score.  This is one of those titles that relies on your willingness or desire to get REALLY good at piloting each vehicle in a variety of situations.

I am the kind of gamer who enjoys casual titles, even if they aren’t the sort of thing I’ll be placing on my “best ever” list.  Some games expect the player to sit-down-and-grind-for-hours; others, especially handheld experiences, are intended to be played while you wait in line, ride the bus, or take extended bathroom breaks at the office (currently one of my primary 3DS-playing-locations).  Pilotwings for 3DS is definitely one of those casual experiences intended to be consumed in short bites.  It doesn’t have the depth to sustain lengthy devotion, but as a game I play for 20-30 minutes a day a few times a week, I’ve gotten my money’s worth (though I do feel that the current prices for 3DS titles are a little higher than I’d ideally expect to pay).