Archive for the “Wii Reviews” Category

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the heroine eats a cake to grow larger, drinks a potion to grow smaller and meets all manner of extraordinary characters. It’s an interesting starting point for a videogame and when focused through the prism of Tim Burton’s imagination, even more so. …

Ladies, gentleman and small prickly rodents, welcome to the most exciting kart racing event of 2010. In pole position is a portly plumber with years of racing experience and plenty of miles on the clock. New to the grid is Sonic in his first karting game. …

Like Doshin the Giant and Electroplankton before it, the western release of Endless Ocean was one of those somewhat inexplicable Nintendo moments. They’re all games that could quite easily have remained in Japan without anyone being particularly bothered, and when they were launched over here – relatively unheralded, considering their first-party status – hardly anyone seemed to notice. …

The end is here, the series that could so easily have been a thundering disaster has turned out to be a pleasant surprise, on the whole. Despite having perhaps some of the lowest lows of any major Telltale series, it also has the highest highs, averaging out somewhere in the “ah, that was nice” zone when you finish all five episodes. …

It’s the bit where he breakdances with an astronaut on the moon. Wait, no, it’s the part where the salaryman in Tomena Sanner uses a bowling ball to topple a line of Frankensteins in Hell. Actually, it’s the section where he dropkicks a man in a giraffe suit, dances with a schoolgirl, befuddles a robot, then slaps a Mexican wrestler in the face. …

There have been enough of these dedicated rhythym-action games to give devs an idea of what makes a good one. Here’s our checklist: first, take a group with plenty of memorable hits that are fun to play on multiple plastic instruments. Then add a selection of tunes by bands that have been influenced by said hits. Thirdly, stuff the remainder of the disk with audio/visual memorabilia that’ll delight fans. …

Having started out as a very original arcade game that then mutated, via an astonishingly difficult sequel, into a fairly gimmicky collection of multiplayer minigames and – surprise! – the odd bit of monkey balling, it’s always interesting to see just how far Sega’s simple, classic Super Monkey Ball has rolled from its hardcore gaming roots. …

Who doesn’t want to see a dancing polar bear in a tight Speedo gyrate around to thumping techno and bright flashing colors? If you recoiled in horror after that last sentence, then hold on to your biscuits, because Namco has just served up one of the most bizarre WiiWare games we’ve ever played. …

It’s hard to pin down exactly what makes No More Heroes so damned appealing. The combat’s fairly simple and repetitive, the protagonist’s a filthy, selfish idiot who’s always on the toilet, and the plot concerns an association for assassins who apparently have nothing better to do than constantly duel each other to see who’s best. …

Even though we adore Street Fighter IV, it didn’t make many concessions to gamers who were new or just returning to the fist-meet-face genre; complicated combos demanded perfect timing and spacing, and we dare you to find anyone on your friend list who actually completed all of the excruciating trial challenges. …