Game Freaks 365's Wii Review Guide
By Kyle W. Bell
Smashwords Edition 5, March 2012
(Originally Published March 2010)
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Copyright © Kyle Bell 2012
License Notes:
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover design by Angel Cortes cortesangel@live.com
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Table of Contents
Reviews (Alphabetically Ordered)
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Introduction
You earn a check that only gets you by enough to pay your bills. Maybe you struggle to make a car payment. You really want to play the latest video game, perhaps GoldenEye 007 or Super Mario Galaxy 2, but your budget does not allow you to buy both. What should you get?
Picking good games can be hard. Avoiding duds can be even more difficult. That's why smart consumers turn to experts on the subject. Game Freaks 365 was founded to help people choose games that are worth their hard earned dollar and bypass games that are better suited for the trash can. Writing about video games is our passion. This guide aims to help the smart consumer pick the best games that the Wii has to offer.
Game Freaks 365 (http://gamefreaks365.com) is a video game news and review website that has been around since April 2003. We have covered every major console and handheld since, including the GameCube, PS2, Xbox, GBA, N-Gage, Zodiac, Nintendo DS, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii and PS3.
Nearly 100 reviews from some of the finest games on the Wii are included in Game Freaks 365's Wii Review Guide, including popular titles like Conduit 2, Disney Epic Mickey, Donkey Kong Country Returns, GoldenEye 007, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, New Super Mario Bros., No More Heroes, Rayman Origins, Resident Evil 4, Rock Band 3, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Paper Mario and Wii Sports.
So what are you waiting for? Get reading!
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Please Note: Reviews for multi-platform games may be from other platforms, unless major differences between the versions are present.
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Developer: THQ Studio Australia
Publisher: THQ
Release Date: November 19, 2006
Available On: GCN, PS2 & Xbox
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a video game on Nintendo's new-generation Wii based off of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar. The show features an “airbender” named Aang whose job it is to restore peace to the world. In the game, the Fire Nation attacks his village and takes the Water Tribe's Katara, a friend of Aang. As the airbender, you will use your skills to free Katara and defeat the Fire Nation with your friends.
Much of Avatar: The Last Airbender is of the basic beat-em-up mold. Using the Wii's controller you can make sweeping gestures down, left, right or up to create combo moves. A basic melee attack can be performed with A and a block with Z. In all, the action in Avatar: The Last Airbender is rather simplistic. A child is wholly capable of defeating the computer enemies in this game with relative ease. The challenge comes from knowing where to go and what to do.
You can play as four different characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender, including Aang, Katara, Sokka and Haru. As your characters, you must select missions, following markers on your map. Once a mission is selected, you follow the arrow on the map to where you need to go until it is completed. Once you are finished you can select from more missions. Some are optional side missions that will result in items and experience, but others are mandatory in order to move the story along.
One of the neat things about Avatar: The Last Airbender is its experience system, which you rarely see in games geared towards a younger audience. Every enemy you kill and mission you complete you gain experience points from. The more experience that Aang and the other characters attain, the more moves that you will unlock. You actually start the game with the single A attack, but additional combos are added to your melee arsenal once you earn them through experience. Focus Mode, where you draw on the screen using the Wiimote (think of Okami) will clear the path for you when it is blocked and will open certain locked boxes.
Experience isn't the only surprising inclusion in Avatar. The inventory and management system may actually go over the head of some younger players. Aang and each of his friends can wear three pieces of armor: on their head, torso and feet. They can also equip up to three different types of trinkets to upgrade health, armor, strength, chi (a vital life force that exists in all living things, according to Chinese belief).
The graphics in Avatar: The Last Airbender are an overhead third-person perspective with a camera that moves along with the characters on-screen. The game doesn't come close to pushing the Wii's hardware to the limits, but the cell-shading looks cartoon-like and the environments are all brought to life. The character models don't really match with the cartoon though. On the sound side, I found myself bored multiple times listening to nothing. I didn't realize how important sound is to a game where you run around a lot, but it keeps your mind occupied when you aren't doing much else. Avatar: The Last Airbender lacks very much music and ambient noise, but has decent voice-acting.
If you are a fan of the television show or have a child interested in it, you may want to give this a rent. For whatever reason, THQ left out multi-player. With the four playable characters, you would think that they would want you to play with friends instead of stupid computer players. This omission hurts replay value, but the game is still decent fun while it lasts.
Graphics: 7
Sound: 4
Gameplay: 6
Creativity: 5
Replay Value/Game Length: 5
Final: 5.5 out of 10
Written by Kyle
AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack
Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 4, 2008
Available On: PS2, PS3 Wii & Xbox 360
The success of Guitar Hero spawned Rock Band. Now the success of both is spawning a dizzying number of downloadable songs and packs for users to rock out to. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was the first standalone music game with a single band as the main focus. Now it's AC/DC's turn in their Rock Band Track Pack AC/DC Live. Unlike Guitar Hero: Aerosmith you only get 18 songs.
Basically AC/DC Live is a bare basic standalone Rock Band game that does not require either 1 or 2 to play. So technically I guess if you were an AC/DC fan and owned Guitar Hero, you could buy this game without having to buy the full versions of Rock Band 1 or 2. That said, there is a downside. You don't get a tour mode and you can't import these songs to either Rock Band 1 or 2. This means that you will have to play all AC/DC songs all the time or you will have to switch between discs. Below is a song list:
Back in Black
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
Fire Your Guns
Heatseeker
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
Hells Bells
High Voltage
Highway To Hell
Jailbreak
Let There Be Rock
Moneytalks
Shoot to Thrill
T.N.T.
The Jack
Thunderstruck
Whole Lotta Rosie
You Shook Me All Night Long
I was surprised at the quality of the tracks since they used live music instead of recordings from a studio. These are still the same great AC/DC songs that you know and love, only with the added atmosphere of having a crowd. I'm particularly fond of “Thunderstuck”, “Highway to Hell” and “Back in Black”, although there is not a bad song in the entire game. Essentially you are paying for an interactive Greatest Hits of AC/DC.
I would pick up AC/DC Live for the sole fact that I am a big fan of theirs. Obviously if you are not then you probably will not be interested in this game. While the game modes support both single player and multi-player, there is no online multi-player or true story mode. It also is a bummer that you have to switch between Rock Band discs if you want to play non-AC/DC songs. Nonetheless, this is a great compilation of songs that make for a decent AC/DC Rock Band experience.
Graphics: 8
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 8
Creativity: 6
Replay Value/Game Length: 5
Final: 7.4 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Battle of the Bands
Developer: Planet Moon Studios
Publisher: THQ
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Available On: Wii
There's no doubt that Guitar Hero has been a tremendous success. The now multi-billion dollar franchise has spawned several sequels from Activision, lining their coffers and propelling them to the top of sales charts. It’s not a surprise that other publishers would attempt to cash-in on the idea. Electronic Arts released Rock Band, Disney has announced Ultimate Band and THQ is behind Battle of the Bands.
Unlike Guitar Hero and Rock Band, THQ's Battle of the Bands does not require or come with (nor is it compatible with) any guitars, drums or microphones. Instead, you use your Wii Remote to motion notes as they pass across the screen like they would in the previously mentioned music games, except all you are doing is waving your hand instead of mimicking a guitar solo or drum beats. Talk about starting on a bad note.
On the plus side there are a good number of songs to choose from. THQ touts that Battle of the Bands features 30 hits, 5 music genres and 11 unique bands to choose from. The genres range from Rock, Hip Hop, Country, Marching Band and Latin. A number of good songs make the cut as well. Among them are Feel Good Inc., Black Betty, Blitzkrieg Bop, Photograph, and Spoonman. Unfortunately, none of them are master recordings, but instead recreated by no-names specifically for this game.
As I said earlier, you use hand motions to hit your notes. You do this by waving right, left and down, as well as a jab towards the screen. The gimmick of Battle of the Bands, as the name implies, is that they literally battle each other. This is quite similar to a battle in Guitar Hero where you would launch an attack on your opponent (i.e. flip their notes). You get a number of attacks that, if inflicted, will add to your point total. The goal of the game is to finish a battle with the most points from hitting the notes correctly and scoring off of attacks.
Like the rest of the game, the game modes are relatively limited. You get a short single-player campaign mode with a corny story and no customization. You pick from the 11 bands and go to battle against other bands across the game's 30 songs. There are three difficulty levels and your experience changes slightly depending on the band you choose (such as your attacks, what you look like, etc.). One of the coolest things about Battle of the Bands is that each band has a unique sound to them. This means that when you play Miss Murder, one band might sing it to rock while another might to rap.
Battle of the Bands seems pointless for not having an actual musical instrument. The battle element of Battle of the Bands is hardly compensation for the lack of an instrument to play. The concept of multiple music genres and remixes of classic songs was a good one. Not having the original songs is a bummer and the fact that you are just moving your hand makes it about as entertaining as listening to your iPod and waving your hands around. Kids might like this, but for everyone else, stick to Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
Graphics: 6
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 5
Creativity: 4
Replay Value/Game Length: 6
Final: 5.8 out of 10
Written by Kyle
The Beatles: Rock Band
Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: MTV Games
Release Date: September 9, 2009
Available On: PS3, Wii and Xbox 360
The single greatest band to ever live. There, I said it. The Beatles are without a doubt, at least in my mind, the pinnacle of music in the modern age. You can say what you want about their talent, status as pop stars or encounters with drugs. There is no denying their impact on not just music but society as a whole. Now nearly 50 years after The Beatles formed as a band their songs have been digitally remastered and made available in the form of a video game for a new generation.
The Rock Band franchise is now in its third year. Not a whole lot has changed to the formula since the first in 2007. The Beatles: Rock Band is still about stringing together combos, scoring as many points as you can on a given song and collecting stars based on your performance. What's different is the band, the story mode and the treasury trove of unlockable content that fans of The Beatles will undoubtedly find pleasure in (such as an edited Christmas album that they released in 1963).
The story mode (which can be played with up to four people) is the heart of the experience, although it is worth noting that the developers made all of the songs unlocked from the start so that people can jump right in to play their favorite songs. The story is told through still photographs and artwork drawn up by the fine folks at Harmonix. It spans the entire career of The Beatles from their start in 1960 through the entire decade.
The order of the songs and where they are played are sequential to The Beatles history. Some of the songs are played on stage, while others are performed in studio. The early works take place at The Cavern Club, followed by an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, opened their second American tour at Shea Stadium and their Japanese debut at Budokan. Their final years were spent at their Abbey Road Studios and the rooftop of the Apple Corps Headquarters is the location of the final chapter of the game.
Aside from the various locations that the band played at, the developers at Harmonix decided to add a little fab flavor. The parts of the game that take place in the studio have “dreamscapes”, where representative images are shown on the screen while the song is playing. For instance, in “Octopus's Garden”, The Beatles are seen walking around in an underwater environment. Likewise, “I Am the Walrus” has a psychedelic feel that I think The Beatles would even admire. The dreamscapes are pure artwork and can be distracting when playing because of how breathtaking they can be. That said, the distraction is welcome, since it is all part of The Beatles experience.
If you are a fan of The Beatles, or at least appreciate their music, there is a good chance that you will enjoy The Beatles: Rock Band. The entire setlist is dedicated exclusively to The Beatles. Only the most obsessed fan would find the $250 Limited Edition set to be a justifiable purchase. Everyone else should be more than happy with the standard version of the game. I highly recommend that you pick up The Beatles: Rock Band. While the 45 song set list is rather short and quick to play through (you could easily beat it in one sitting), the quality of the songs more than makes up for it.
Graphics: 9
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 9.5
Creativity: 7.5
Replay Value/Game Length: 9
Final: 9 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Big Beach Sports
Developer: HB Studios
Publisher: THQ
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Available On: Wii
There seems to be a Wii game for every sport these days. Whether it is Madden, Tiger Woods, Tony Hawk or Winter Sports, you can pretty much find any sport imaginable to play on the Wii. Of course Nintendo started it all with Wii Sports. The follow-up, Wii Sports Resort, will resemble more like Big Beach Sports than anything else. So, for an early taste of what you are in store for, read on in my review of THQ's latest Wii title.
There are six different sports that you can play in Big Beach Sports. These include Bocce, Disc Golf, Football, Soccer, Cricket and Volleyball. Oddly enough, I have never heard of anyone play a game of soccer or cricket on a beach, but I guess they figured there are not a ton of sports for them to choose from and had to pick some that might fit in. Unfortunately, cricket is not that game. No one in America has any idea of how to play this British pastime. The same can be said with Bocce, which at least you can get the hang of pretty quickly. It involves throwing a small ball and then two people throwing a set of balls to attempt to get closest to it.
I would say that the best ones are the more familiar sports of football and soccer. Football goes by quarters and you don't get first downs. If you fail to score a touchdown, the opposing team gets the ball. There also aren't any field goals or extra points. Instead, if you intercept a ball you get points for that. There is only a quarterback and a receiver on each team. The soccer is more simple as well. They have you playing in almost a hockey rink sized area as opposed to the large soccer field. Nonetheless, it works, at least compared to the other games. I found that Disc Golf was particularly bad and unresponsive. Volleyball was just boring, seemingly involving more luck than skill.
Like almost all games on the system, the “advantage” of Big Beach Sports on the Wii over other sports games on more traditional consoles is in the controls. Gestures range from pretending to hit in cricket or serving a volleyball to flicking your wrist with a frisbee. These, of course, can be hit and miss. Some are better than others. Add to the fact that you do not control the computer AI on your team and the luck factor that I previously mentioned is amplified in whether your computer ally feels like cooperating with you or not. One wrong step in volleyball can easily cost a point.
The Wii has become a playground for crappy games. THQ's Big Beach Sports is no exception. I could not, in good conscience, recommend this game to anyone. There are far too many flaws, far too few entertaining events and a whole lot of mediocrity. The controls will have you wincing more than once and the graphics will give you nightmares. In fact, if you are crazy enough to get your friends to play this game with you, they probably won't be calling you "friend" for very long.
Graphics: 4
Sound: 5
Gameplay: 5
Creativity: 5
Replay Value/Game Length: 5
Final: 4.8 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: June 11, 2007
Available On: Wii
When Big Brain Academy came out last summer, it was following in the footsteps of fellow DS brain-teaser, Brain Age. Together the brain games birthed a new handheld trend and made Nintendo’s DS and DS Lite the hottest units on the market. It only seems appropriate that such a phenomenon should appear on Nintendo’s brand-new worldwide hit, Wii. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree brings more mind-bending games to the table, but is the living room experience the same or better than the handheld one?
Wii Degree is almost identical to Big Brain Academy at heart, but its presentation is different enough to make it feel new and exciting. When you start up the game, you’ll notice that Professor Lobe has returned. You are prompted to “enroll” yourself and any friends who plan on “testing” at the Big Brain Academy; by doing so you integrate your Mii as well as a few other details about yourself. From here you can begin practicing the 15 brain games or jump right into a Test, which is essentially an increasingly-difficult practice mode that forces you to play all 15 games without stopping or taking a break. Testing is how you’ll sum yourself up (no pun intended) and see how you rank in the Big Brain Academy. You’ll earn a grade based on how quickly and accurately you finish the test.
All 15 games are more or less entertaining, and are broken up into the same five categories as they were in the original DS game. Computing games (“Whack Match”, “Fast Focus”, and “Species Spotlight”) require you to think and see things very quickly; for example, “Fast Focus” takes a white screen and gradually the screen fades into the image of an animal. You are given four options and you have to quickly choose the correct animal. Memorization games (“Covered Cages”, “Face Case”, and “Reverse Retention”) could have been renamed “Pay-Attention Games,” because all three of them ask you to focus sharply. For example, in “Covered Cages” you’ll see which cages contain birds and then you’ll watch the birdcages swap position. It is your job to choose which of the covered cages contain a bird. On harder difficulties, this gets especially challenging, as the patterns that the cages flip around get much more complex. To make it even more difficult (and increase your score) you can hold a button to speed up the cage-flipping!
Analyze games (“Match Blast”, “Speed Sorting”, and “Block Spot”) allow the player to take in the visuals that he or she sees on the screen, but that doesn’t mean the player can take his or her time! “Block Spot” is similar to a previous Brain Academy game, but rather than counting the blocks that make up the structure, you choose between four similar shapes on the bottom of the screen and choose which one is identical to the one on the top of the screen. This can be incredibly difficult, as the blocks rotate and change color. My favorite games, Computing games (“Balloon Burst”, “Mallet Math”, and “Color Count”), were actually the ones I had the hardest time with. In “Color Count”, a basket sits in the middle of the screen and catches blue and red balls that fly from all sides of the screen. It is the player’s job to count how many of each color ball fell into the basket, but since ties are possible, a lot of attention is required. Finally, Visualization games (“Art Parts”, “Train Turn”, and “Odd One Out”) give the player the most time to concentrate, but again, that doesn’t mean one can dilly-dally! In “Train Turn” the player has to finish a train track so that the train can scoot to safety, but when the difficulty increases, the on-screen grid rotates, making it even more difficult to choose the right turns and track directions.
If I were to individually rate the games, the only ones I never seemed to enjoy were “Odd One Out,” “Match Blast”, and “Mallet Math”. Of course, I got a load of enjoyment out of “Covered Cages”, “Balloon Burst”, “Color Count”, “Train Turn”, “Art Parts”...you get the point, I had a lot more fun than anything else. My Test results were similar to my results from Big Brain Academy, so I feel like the Testing accurately represents my actual skill. Since Wii remote control consists almost entirely of pointing and pressing the A button, the control feels spot-on and avoids the undelivered motion-based annoyances of some other Wii titles.
Unfortunately, similar problems that plagued Big Brain Academy make a reappearance in Wii Degree. The visuals are much better than they were in the DS version, with bigger sprites and more little details (like the balloons popping), but they’re still very basic. The lack of widescreen support (and, like in Mario Party 8, the use of annoying borders to compensate) is disappointing. The sound effects are recycled quite a bit, but perhaps the most annoying part of Wii Degree is the use of the Wii remote’s speaker. I was never one to complain about the speaker before, but Wii Degree uses the grainy sound of the speaker a lot. In fact, at the start of every practice, you’ll hear some sort of aural clue that you really don’t need. If I’m playing a Visualize game, I don’t need to hear someone telling me to "visualize!"
It was a very nice notion to add three multiplayer modes ("Mind Sprint", "Mental Marathon", and "Brain Quiz"). For example, in "Mind Sprint", two teams of up to four players can compete to answer questions as quickly as possible. The annoying part about multiplayer is that players on teams share a remote, so a lot of remote-passing is required to play. Of course, people who only own a single Wii remote will find a lot less to complain about!
Overall, Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is equally as good as its predecessor. While it fails to deliver some console-quality aspects, like graphics and sound, it most certainly offers an entertaining, brainy experience that fans of the DS brain games will absolutely not want to miss. As a final comment, it is a bit of a shame that Nintendo released Wii Degree at a $50 price point–part of Big Brain Academy's influence was its low price, and it would have been really special if Wii Degree was $10 or $20 cheaper. Still, I bought it, I enjoyed it, and I'm not complaining.
Graphics: 6
Sound: 6
Gameplay: 9.5
Creativity: 8
Replay Value/Game Length: 8.5
Final: 8 out of 10
Written by Cliff
The Bigs
Developer: Blue Castle Games
Publisher: 2K Sports
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Available On: PS2, PS3, Wii & Xbox 360
In the fall of 2006, with the release of Wii across the United States and world, it looked as if Nintendo's new home console would revolutionize the way we play sports video games. Wii Sports showed us just what time of potential there was with baseball, tennis, golf and boxing. EA Sports showed us what potential there was with football in Madden NFL 07. Yet no publisher has stepped up to the plate for a simulator baseball game. 2K Sports had a chance and they passed it up with their MLB 2K7 release, instead leaving room for The Bigs in June 2007.
The Bigs is to baseball games what Arena is to the NFL. It is much faster paced, higher scoring and over-the-top. That kind of game would seem perfect for the Wii, a casual gaming system whose audience might find traditional baseball too slow. Unfortunately, due ironically to the controls, the Wii version actually is more challenging to get used to than its counterpart on PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360. All of the versions, however, suffer from a game mechanic that puts too much emphasis on hitting homeruns.
The sad thing about The Bigs is that I would rather play Wii Sports than this more fleshed out version of baseball. You have pitching, you have hitting, defense, and team management. All of the essentials of baseball, two of which Wii Sports left out, and they get it wrong on the execution. For starters, Wii Sports has a better batting system in place. There is not 1:1 hitting in place. That is, the movements done off screen will not match on-screen like Wii Sports nearly does. Instead, a flick of the wrist will either hit or miss the ball.
The controls are also my biggest gripe on defense. To pitch, you have to do a certain motion, of which the Wii will not always register it correctly. All they really had to do was combine the pitching motion and velocity with a button press (A or B, for instance), and you would have had a better system. Throwing can be just as unintuitive, as you have to flick your Wiimote in the direction of the base. This is fine for first or third base, but when it comes to throwing to second or home, the game will sometimes get the two confused.
The game has both multi-player and single-player, but no online play. It is safe to say that playing with your friends is the most enjoyable experience (1 to 4 players), but if you want to play single player, there really is not much to offer. There is no “season” mode like most baseball games. Instead, you play as a rookie and make your way into “The Bigs.” It has become a popular model in sports games lately, going from a nobody to a super star. This is no substitute for a true season, as all you will do is face challenges from mini-games to actual games that can be retried if failed.
Overall, my impressions of The Bigs slant overly negative. What could have been a fun and appealing title to non-gamers and the hardcore alike is an overly complex and involved experience of what is supposed to be an arcade game. A simple control makeover would be sufficient to address these issues, as well as adding both season and online play. As it is, The Bigs is a disappointing effort at what could have been a more realistic alternative to Wii Sports.
Graphics: 6
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 5
Creativity: 7
Replay Value/Game Length: 8
Final: 6.4 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Boom Blox
Developer: EA Los Angeles
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: May 6, 2008
Available On: Wii
Somewhere in that crazy and creative mind of Steven Spielberg there are... blocks. More specifically Boom Blox. From the three time Oscar winner that brought us Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and E.T., Spielberg ventured into uncharted territory (at least for him) in the realm of video games. He directed dozens of movies, created his own cartoon series (Animaniacs) and is now playing the role that is best known for people like Shigeru Miyamoto and Will Wright.
So with talent like Mr. Spielberg on board, EA would inevitably be going for an epic title with a beefy budget, right? Actually, the folks at EA Los Angeles quite possibly put something together that is less likely to disappoint for a first offering from a “noob” to the industry. Boom Blox is not a game that would win any Academy Awards - if there were any for video games. It is, however, a game that is incredibly fun to play with friends and family.
The concept of Boom Blox is simple, and I will persistently use Jenga as a reference point, as that is the best example I can give. Essentially, it will be your task to destroy, rescue or otherwise manipulate a bunch of different blocks that resemble that of Jenga. There are long blocks, small blocks, big blocks, fat blocks, explosive blocks, blocks that disappear when touched, chemical blocks and so on. There are a number of different objectives throughout the game, which I will go into greater detail a little later on in this review, that differentiate the game substantially from anything else on the market.
As this is a Wii exclusive, the Wii Remote plays the pivotal role in executing the necessary moves. EA is calling Boom Blox a physics-based puzzle game and it is obvious why when you play it. While not quite as impressive as most next-gen physics engines found on systems like PS3, the Boom Blox on Wii manages quite well to mimic real-life reactions. Pulling a block with a shaky hand will correspond to a shattering of a delicate tower. Other instances may have you throw a baseball bowling ball or “bomb ball” to actually knock down blocks. Simply press A to target and throw the ball with a swing of the Wii Remote forward. While the camera angle (controlled with B) and target reticule are sometimes off, it works well most of the time.
There are three straight-forward game modes to choose from: Play, Party and Create. Within the first two are multiple different types of play. Play is the Single-Player element of the game, which is broken into five various categories: Training, Explore, Adventure, Explore Challenge and Adventure Challenge (the latter two are locked until you beat Explore and Adventure). Party allows you to compete against friends or cooperate with each other for interesting puzzle and shooting opportunities. The Create mode is where you can test your creative skills with the unlockables from the single-player modes that you earned.
The single-player Adventure mode is a relatively short, but worthwhile undertaking. This is where the limited story plays out in short fairytale-like sequences. It involves sheep blocks protecting jewels, a gorilla protecting its babies, cows and kittens. It all sounds very childish, but the gameplay is probably too difficult for most kids. It requires a certain level of sophisticated thinking that most children would lack. I personally find the game to be a charming relief from the blood and guts we see in almost all games these days.
The graphics of the game, while certainly not cutting edge, get the job done well. There are jagged edges and a bit of slow down when a lot of explosions take place, but that is almost to be expected from Wii games. Since the Wii is a system of limited horsepower, the physics engine took up much of the power that could have otherwise been put into sprucing up the graphics a little bit more. The tradeoff was the right choice. There are still a number of different themes and backgrounds, from a desert cowboy to a haunted house, medieval and jungle theme.
Where Boom Blox really shines is in its multi-player. As I said earlier, you can play with up to four other people in competitive or cooperative play. I played with my friend Andrew through several of the cooperative modes. These varied from challenges where you throw the baseball at coin blocks, trying to knock them off the towers while avoiding negative coin blocks to a Jenga-like challenge of removing blocks without dropping a platform on top. As it got progressively harder, they started adding little baby cows to the platforms which if they fall off, you lose. It is a fun and at times hysterical challenge.
EA is often criticized as being a company that rarely pushes new IP, instead betting on the safe yearly franchises like Madden and Need for Speed. Recent games like Crysis, Rock Band, Army of Two, Smarty Pants and now Boom Blox all have broken this trend in the six months between fall 2007 and spring 2008. Boom Blox won't get the advertising campaign, media coverage or sales of most of these others, yet it should not be overlooked. Steven Spielberg has both reinvented and revolutionized the puzzle genre.
Graphics: 7.5
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 9.5
Creativity: 10
Replay Value/Game Length: 9.5
Final: 9 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Brave: A Warrior's Tale
Developer: Collision Studios
Publisher: Evolved Games
Release Date: August 4, 2009
Available On: Wii & Xbox 360
I know a bad game when I see one or play one. It didn't take very much playing to figure out that Brave: A Warrior's Tale was one of these types of games. From the outdated last-generation graphics to the voice work that was seemingly hired off the street, Brave does not hold up well against other platformers on the Xbox 360 and Wii. Read on to find out what you are not missing by avoiding this game.
Brave is a sequel to the underwhelming 2007 platformer Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer for the PS2. As you can guess from the title, you play as Brave, a Native American boy whose story you will follow as he becomes a warrior. The sequel introduces a new character, Courage, who gets tasked with defending his village. Pretty basic storyline even by platforming standards.
Things go downhill from here. The combat is both tedious and monotonous. You run around the levels with a tomahawk, eventually getting a bow and arrow to go along with it. There really is no aiming system to speak of other than a lock-on ability that basically does the work for you. Brave is filled with rudimentary platforming elements and boring combat. There is very little variety to speak of except for lame flying missions and boat paddling.
One element that could have been interesting is that you can possess animals. This seems like a good idea given the theme of the game yet they managed to screw it up. One of them has you running around as a rabbit with the sole purpose of reaching glowing checkpoints before a bar runs out at the top of the screen. What is this a racing game? Another has you possess a bear, which you would think could be cool, except he can't really die. Again, lame.
If you actually bother to pick up this game you will run into a ton of glitches throughout the world. I had a problem falling off of ledges without any reason other than being close to the edge. Another glitch occurred when I was fighting wolves in the forest. One of them glitched through a rock and into another part of the map, which meant that I had to backtrack to find him. Which reminds me, there is a lot of backtracking in this game.
The graphics look decent at times, but when the camera pans in the textures are both blocky and blurry. Some parts of this game look competently next-gen while others remind me of Nintendo 64 graphics. The camera can be an issue as it gets jerky. Don't be surprised if you die on account of the camera at times.
There is no ambient sound whatsoever. You get basic sound effects from attacking enemies and such, but the complete lack of music throughout much of the game makes the experience that much more tiring. Audio issues arise quite a bit with choppy noises cropping up a lot and overall low sound quality. The voice acting is equally bad. They sound nothing like Native Americans, either. Brave sounds more like a whiny suburban white kid.
I am honestly hard pressed to find something that I liked about this game. The gameplay is bad, the graphics remind me of platformers from ten years ago, the sound quality is off and the camera is jerky. The concept at least was decent enough. The execution is where things went wrong. This $40 “budget” title would have been $20 just a few years ago and even that would be asking too much.
Graphics: 4
Sound: 2
Gameplay: 3
Creativity: 2
Replay Value/Game Length: 2
Final: 3 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Cars
Developer: Rainbow Studios
Publisher: THQ
Release Date: November 19, 2006
Available On: GCN, PS2 & Xbox
Disney Pixar's Cars was a bit of a surprise summer hit. The movie was about....cars. Cars with faces, personalities and interaction with one another. There are no humans. Leave it to THQ to pick up a licensed property and bring it to every platform imaginable. Even though the storyline takes place after the movie, most of the characters return. Thankfully the graphics and sound are pretty well done with the likeness and voice of each character generally matching the individual characters quite well.
You play as Lightning McQueen, a racer with potential that hasn't quite hit the big time. To do that, you need to win some races. Cars sets you out in an open world environment where you can cruise around collecting things and enjoying the ride or you can select races at specific points on the map. The only problem with the open environment is it isn't very interesting or enjoyable at all. Neither are the mini-games, such as the tractor tipping which attempts to divert attention from the racing a bit.
Basically all Cars is is a collection of mini-games and races with intermittent open environment segments. The environment isn't a very large area, and the game prevents you from traveling on all of the open land. It largely seems like an unnecessary addition. In fact, the combination of the map and open environment leads to some confusing situations where you aren't sure what missions you have and haven't done.
The races are as straightforward as in any other racing games. You play on offroad tracks, courses that take place through the town and oval NASCAR-style races. The races are all fine and good, but the main complaint I have about them is that they drag on and are excruciatingly slow. Considering that this is a kids game, I can forgive the developers for this, but it is a big departure from the likes of Need for Speed and Burnout racing games, or even the Wii's own Excite Truck
As far as the controls go, they aren't as solid as you would hope. 2 accelerates your car and in an unusual move, A acts as the brake button. 1 seems like a more appropriate and comfortable alternative, but A is what you get. The bigger complaint is the steering, which is controlled turning the Wiimote. Rotating the Wiimote like a steering wheel is the most effective means of control, it just turns ridiculously slow at times. Considering this is the only reason you would even buy Cars on the Wii, it certainly does not help the package that they aren't as responsive as they should be.
Overall, Cars is an honorable attempt at converting a children's movie property into a working racing game. The developers had the right ideas in place, they just weren't executed as well as they could have been. The open environment serves little purpose other than going from point A to point B, the controls (supposedly the Wii's strongest asset) are difficult to get acclimated with and the tractor tipping (while cute) is both frustrating and not very fun. I would cautiously give a thumbs up for parents to buy this for their kids, as long as they can get acquainted with the controls.
Graphics: 7
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 6
Creativity: 6
Replay Value/Game Length: 7
Final: 6.5 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Cars 2
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Release Date: June 21, 2011
Available On: PC, PS3, Wii & Xbox 360
The Cars movie franchise was a surprise hit when it was released in 2006. A Walt Disney and Pixar venture, the film was about a hot-shot race car named Lightning McQueen who ended up in the run-down town of Radiator Springs, accidentally tearing up their main road and being forced to fix it before he can make it to a race in California. The original game unsuccessfully attempted to use the movie’s material in an open-world experience. This latest title, Cars 2, features scenes from the movie in a more streamlined game.
You start off Cars 2 with a C.H.R.O.M.E. training facility, the spy agency from the new movie, giving you pointers about how to use the controls and various moves. It’s quickly obvious that Cars 2 will be a Mario Kart clone substituting Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser for Lightning McQueen, Mater and Finn McMissile. Not that this is a bad thing, especially if you like kart racing games. Power-ups are a big part of the game as well with oil slicks, machine guns and rocket launchers, among others.
The game modes vary from traditional races to arenas of destruction where you try to build points by taking out small “lemon” cars. I found the single-player experience to be a pretty boring and lonely experience. There just is not enough excitement to keep anyone but a kid amused for extended periods of time. Thankfully, there is a multi-player element where you can drop-in and out for up to four players on one system. There unfortunately is no online multi-player to complement the experience.
One of the more unique parts of Cars 2 is the way that you build up your boost ability. Most games have you drift, slipstream, etc. to build up your boost. Cars 2 lets you do that too, but it rewards you for special moves such as driving in reverse, flipping on your side and driving on two wheels, performing tricks in the air, and sidestepping to avoid obstacles. At the very least, these are worth some Achievements/Trophies for those interested.
Fans of the Cars universe are sure to find the Cars 2 video game to be a worthwhile investment. This makes for a great game for kids of all ages and potentially as a bridge between father and son. A ton of the characters from the movie, over twenty in all, make appearances in the game. This will undoubtedly please kids looking to play as their favorite characters. The Mario Kart inspired gameplay is a big improvement from the original Cars video game. Overall, this is a must-have for kids and adults may even get a kick out of it too.
Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 8
Creativity: 7
Replay Value/Game Length: 8
Final: 7.6 out of 10
Written by Kyle
The Conduit
Developer: High Voltage Software
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: June 23, 2009
Available On: Wii
In need of a good First Person Shooter for the Wii, High Voltage went to work on one. It was unveiled at E3 2008 as The Conduit, although it lacked a publisher at the time. It quickly gained attention of the gaming media as a Wii shooter that could satisfy hardcore gamers. Now that The Conduit is finally out, does it live up to the hype?
The storyline is certainly out there. It reminds me somewhat of the X-Files in the conspiratorial nature of the plot mixed in with sci-fi. An alien invasion is taking place in Washington D.C. and your job is to stop it. The game takes place across the city with a number of different landmarks being featured as levels in the game - everywhere from the Library of Congress to the White House and Pentagon.
There are nine missions in all spread across these various landmarks, as well as the base of the invaders. Some of them remind me a lot of GoldenEye in their design. A part of the Pentagon seems a lot like the Control Room with floods of enemies coming at you as you hack computer terminals (instead of protecting Tanya you have to protect yourself). Others seem to have a clear Perfect Dark inspiration, particularly the later levels.
Most of the enemies seem to be inspired by Halo and Perfect Dark. They even make noises that are similar to the Covenant. There are also human enemies that look like FBI agents, special forces units and these Moonraker looking spacesuit guys known as the "Trust". Some of the little alien guys are one shot kills, although most of the enemies take 2 to 3 solid shots. The enemies can regain their health just like you, so you have to keep constant fire on them. There is a lock-on ability with Z to help you with your aim. This button also tells you the health of the enemy.
The game supports "achievements", although not exactly what you get on the Xbox 360 or PS3, since it is strictly specific to The Conduit (i.e. no gamer score). You can unlock a number of cheat codes that you can turn around and use in single-player, which can be pretty neat and add some replay value to the game. A couple of them include a one shot kill and unlimited ammo, among others.
The game runs in 480p if you have component cables. I highly recommend that you drop the $15 that they cost as the resolution is roughly twice as good. I played through most of the game with composite cables on my 1080p HDTV and it looks like garbage. The component cables help bring out the ambient lighting, bump mapping and just generally provide better clarity.
Most of your replay value is going to come in the form of the online multi-player. I have to say that this is definitely the best done online multi-player game for Wii. Not only does it support Wii Speak voice chat, you can stick with the same lobby of people throughout, as well as vote on different game elements. You can play with Friends, Regional or Worldwide in three game modes: Free for All, Team Reaper and Team Objective.
Free for All is of course just you against the world in game types such as Deathmatch, “ASE Football” (similar to capture the skull in Halo) and others. Team Reaper is a team-based mode where you just do the same game types with other people on your team. Team Objective of course incorporates various objectives into the mix. The game connects you with people that have similar rank as you do. It is fair to say that this is the Wii's Halo, at least as far as the multi-player is concerned, as the two are quite similar.
The Conduit mostly lives up to the hype that preceded it. The single-player story only lasts about five or six hours, but can be replayed on higher difficulties. Which reminds me, the AI in The Conduit is absolutely brutal. Of the five difficulties offered, I had trouble just getting through on the second easiest. The online multi-player is where most of the replay value is though. I have one thing to ask High Voltage and Sega: please release a sequel on a platform with HD graphics! I can only imagine what this game would play like on a true next-gen system like the PS3. I am all for motion controls, but the Wii does not have enough power to compete with the likes of Killzone 2 and Gears of War 2. The Conduit proves that it can hold its own, but not much beyond that.
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 8.5
Creativity: 8
Replay Value/Game Length: 8.5
Final: 8.3 out of 10
Written by Kyle
Conduit 2
Developer: High Voltage
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: April 19, 2011
Available On: Wii
Developer High Voltage Software and Sega give it another go at the first person shooter genre on the Wii with Conduit 2. In 2009, they released The Conduit, a game that many considered to be the best place for online multiplayer on Nintendo’s current home console. Despite criticisms of the single player mode, The Conduit was praised for its excellent multiplayer offerings and for High Voltage’s commitment to the platform. Has High Voltage improved upon their 2009 offering with Conduit 2?
The story of Conduit 2 is fairly simple. It picks up immediately where the last ended. Those new to the series will be left without a clue, though that will not prevent you from making sense of the campaign. The story is kind of a wacky affair overall. The first Conduit game’s story was about an alien invasion of Washington D.C. involving an alien disguised as John Adams, alien conspiracies throughout history, and portals known as conduits. In Conduit 2, you are tasked with trailing John Adams through a few locations around the world.
Conduit 2 is a mixed bag when it comes to graphics. The character models for Michael Ford and Andromeda are fairly detailed and even cool-looking. A few areas look almost like current gen graphics in standard definition, while other levels look like early last generation graphics. Overall, Conduit 2 is a very generic-looking game. The voice acting is a bit like a Saturday morning cartoon. Michael Ford is no stranger to cheesy one-liners. Everything else sounds alright though nothing really stands out. The limited edition of Conduit 2 comes with a 44-page art book but, sadly, the game does no justice to the quality of the artwork found within.
Conduit 2 supports two control schemes. The first is the standard Wii remote/nunchuk controls with Motion+ support and the second is the Wii Classic controller scheme. While you can play Conduit 2 without Motion+, I would not recommend it. The standard remote/nunchuk scheme without Motion+ is a jittery motion sickness-inducing mess. I found the classic controller scheme to be the most familiar way to play a FPS, with all the caveats, but alas the classic controller lacks the rumble feedback and feels far too lightweight. Playing with the Motion+ is probably the best way to play Conduit 2 as you get the more natural Wii controls with the precision and stability of the Motion+.
Conduit 2 is by no means a challenge. The AI is fairly predictable and sometimes downright oblivious to your presence. The single player campaign maxes out at 8 hours if you take it more seriously but it’s more of a 6 hour deal. Online multiplayer is really where all the meat in this game is. Conduit 2 features an online multiplayer component where you can dive right in a play a matched game or make your own. Playing a matched game is fairly easy and streamlined. Conduit 2 gets you online with practically no fuss.
In Matchmaking, you select from the following playlists: 8 player “Hardcore Team Games”, 8 player “Free for all Grab Bag”, 12 player “Big Team Grab Bag”, 6 player pure deathmatch “Hardcore Free for All”. You have three multiplayer modes, ten maps, five rule sets, and a variety of fine tuning options to mix and match to your heart’s content when creating your own game. The game servers seem to be fairly populated for the moment and can be an enjoyable experience for multiplayer fans. You can add your buddies to a Friends list using the not so handy friend code. Conduit 2’s multiplayer offers nothing new or original but at least it is a solid multiplayer offering.
I do not mean to be overly critical of High Voltage since the Wii seems to be reaching the status of abandoned hardware. They tried some neat things on the Wii and Conduit 2 is probably the best place for FPS online multiplayer this spring on the console. Alas, the game’s campaign is short and underwhelming and the graphics are generic. Multiplayer can be fun but it brings nothing new to the table. You might want to get in on it before everyone moves on to something else. If you’re interested in playing Conduit 2, I highly suggest that you rent before you buy.
Graphics: 7
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 7
Creativity: 7
Replay Value/Game Length: 7
Final: 7 out of 10
Written by Angel
Crash of the Titans
Developer: Radical
Publisher: Sierra
Release Date: October 2, 2007
Available On: PS2, Wii and Xbox 360
With each passing year, there seems to be a new Crash Bandicoot. In fact, there have been. Dating back to 1996, Vivendi has released Crash Bandicoot 1, 2, and 3 (96, 97 and 98), Crash Team Racing (99), Crash Bash (00), Wrath of Cortex (01 on PS2, 02 on GCN and Xbox), Crash Nitro Kart (03), Crash Twinsanity (04), Crash Tag Team Racing (05), Crash Boom Bang (06) and finally, Crash of the Titans (07). In case you haven't noticed by the sales charts, Crash fatigue set in a long time ago.
To the credit of the folks at Sierra, Crash of the Titans is a refreshing reprieve from the kart racing and mini-game shenanigans that we have been putting up with for the past several years. The last respectable Crash platformer, Wrath of the Cortex, was released seven years ago. Since then we have been stuck with what can be described as nothing more than kiddy fare. There's nothing wrong with that, except that an iconic PlayStation character is being pimped for profit.
Actually, I think it is fair to say the past eight years have been rougher on Crash Bandicoot than even his platforming rival Sonic. As a colleague of mine likes to tell me, no one likes to play a Sonic game only to play half of the game as his “shitty friends”. The same can be said for Crash, and it also extends to the kart racing that has been pushed on us. Leave Mario Kart to Mario Kart.
That said, Sierra did an honorable job of redefining what a Crash Bandicoot game is. In many ways Crash of the Titans returns to the roots of the franchise. No more karts, no more adventuring around for items, no more “shitty friends”. What we are left with is an enjoyable game, yet flawed with a lack of difficulty and variety. Basically you are tasked with rescuing your sister Coco, who was kidnapped by none other than Dr. Neo Cortex. Surprised?
Unlike the past few Crash games, there are not many places to adventure or items to collect. You attack enemies with a few basic attacks (Crash's traditional spin attack, a light attack and a hard attack). You still bounce on crates (far fewer than in previous games), collect Mojo and Wumpa fruit. The Mojo is used to upgrade your attacks, as well as give you extra lives after every 25,000 collected. Wumpa fruit gives Crash health.
The platforming itself is a lot more reminiscent of Crash of yore. You attack brain-dead varmints, collect Mojo, jump on crates, jump from platforms and follow a linear path. The linear path is a distinction worth noting as it has always been a hallmark of the franchise. The “rail platforming” was in many ways popularized by Crash Bandicoot. Crash of the Titans embraces this with the full splendor of three-dimensional graphics and HD support for Xbox 360 owners.
The catch to Crash of the Titans is that you actually don't play as Crash the whole time. Instead, you use Crash to control titanic beasts. In order to do this, though, you have to stun them while avoiding their attacks. Most of the time there is a simple button combination that you can repeat over and over to stun them. Many have lethal attacks, though, if you miss. From sharp claws, to projectile attacks, rolling enemies and lava rock titans, you will take control of a slew of different creatures. Best of all, you will bust up a lot of stuff while you do it.
It is undeniable that the amount of destruction you will wreak can be a lot of fun. The downside is that it can get old quick, and the game will end not long after you lose interest, anyway. The platforming is solid enough; a welcome return to an old formula, but it certainly does not stand out with the likes of other major players in the genre. The combat system is nice, if overly simplistic. I like the concept behind the titans, even if it gets stale pretty fast. I have to admit, though, that I enjoyed playing this for a while, something I can't say for many other Crash games. You can also play with a friend in co-op. As for what I recommend, this would make a great rental. Definitely not worth a purchase.
Graphics: 7