Tag Archives: Wii

[Game Review] Disney Epic Mickey (Wii)

Posted on by
Reply

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Junction Point Studios
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Release Date: November 25, 2010
Genre: Action Adventure

I can’t tell you why, but something about this game had me more than just a little bit excited before its release. It was very strange, because I’m not generally interested in anything Epic Mickey had to offer. I’m not really a huge fan of Disney. I’m not one who cares greatly about decision/consequence gameplay. And the game’s biggest selling point to hardcore gamers, having Warren Spector behind production, didn’t excite me in least because I had no idea who that even was.

Still, I couldn’t help but getting hyped up for what I had convinced myself was going to be the next great Wii game. And then it actually hit store shelves, and the flood of reviews stating it was merely “average” or simply “good” caused my interest to wane immediately, and the game fell off of my radar until Christmas, when I received it as a gift from Santa Claus.

I can now confirm that the game is merely “good,” as many other critics have stated, but there is something special about Epic Mickey that makes the experience much more satisfying than I had expected.

Continue reading →

[Game Review] Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

Posted on by
2

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Platformer

The Donkey Kong Country series is, without a doubt, a staple memory for just about anyone who owned a Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The gameplay was rock solid, the music was outstanding, and the graphics were the absolute best you could find on any system. If you were old enough to play Donkey Kong Country when it came out, it probably still stands as one of your top SNES titles.

We’ve been waiting for a follow up to the series for quite a while now, and it is finally here in the form of Donkey Kong Country Returns. Nintendo has been bringing back a ton of old franchises lately, with games like New Super Mario Bros, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Goldeneye 007, and the upcoming and highly anticipated Kid Icarus game for the 3DS. It’s only fitting that DK should get the same revival, and who better to helm such an important project than Retro Studios, the team that put gamers behind Samus’ visor for the critically acclaimed Metroid Prime trilogy.

Continue reading →

[Game Review] Goldeneye 007 (Wii)

Posted on by
2

System: Wii (also on: Nintendo DS)
Developer: Eurocom
Publisher: Activision
Genre: FPS

Fans have been clamoring for it for ages now, and it’s finally here. This game is a remake of the classic Goldeneye 007 video game released on the Nintendo 64 in 1997, and without a doubt revolutionized the FPS genre on home gaming consoles forever. It was that N64 game that would lay the framework for titles like Halo and Call of Duty, paving the road for their success.

And now, in the form of this Wii game by the same name, Goldeneye 007 exists again, modernized and completely rebuilt from the ground up to take advantage of the Wii hardware. Developed by Eurocom, most known to Wii games as the devs who crafted the excellent Dead Space: Extraction, this modernized classic can be one of two things: a cheap cash in, or the real deal. Ladies and gentelemen, I’m here to tell you that not only is this game genuinely great, it may even be the best FPS the Wii has to offer.

Continue reading →

[Game Review] Metroid: Other M (Wii)

Posted on by
4

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Team Ninja/Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Action

It hasn’t been since Super Metroid’s release on the Super Nintendo that we’ve gotten a console Metroid title developed by anyone but Retro Studios. Having finished up their highly acclaimed Metroid Prime Trilogy at last and moving on to tackle other projects, Nintendo shifted the series from Retro and handed it to a team that no gamer on Earth could have anticipated: Team Ninja.

Awesome.

Team Ninja is best known for the likes of Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, and putting a ridiculous emphasis on virtual tits and ass. But guess who else would be there leading the project forward? Yoshio Sakamoto, the man who crafted Super Metroid, the finest action-focused Metroid game in existence. With a team like this, it’s hard not to have high expectations for a game. Does Other M manage to live up to the ridiculous hype it garnered?

Continue reading →

[The Top Five] Reasons Not to Dump Your Wii Just Because Nintendo Announced the 3DS

Posted on by
2

The title pretty much says it all.

Ever since the announcement of the 3DS, some Nintendo fans have been bringing up a silly argument in message boards. They feel, for whatever reason, that because the 3DS has 3D, superior graphical capabilities, and tilt and gyro control just like the Wii, that Nintendo’s current home system is inadequate and deserves to be pulled from their entertainment system shelves and tossed in the garbage.

What?

Here are just five reasons why everyone who has made that argument needs to step back, take a breath, and reevaluate their stance.

Continue reading →

[Game Review] Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)

Posted on by
7

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Shooter

The original Sin and Punishment, a fast-paced Arcade-Style shooter-fest for the Nintendo 64, never made it stateside for some reason. The game was originally voiced in English and dubbed with Japanese sub-titles, making it essentially ready to be shipped oversees for American gamers to enjoy. In fact, it wouldn’t be until several years later that the world’s fattest nation would get the chance to experience one of Treasure’s greatest achievements through the Wii’s Virtual Console.

Luckily for us, someone decided that it would be a good idea to not let that happen again, and the events were set in motion to bring the lightning-fast twitch shooter to the hands of American Wii gamers hungry for pain, frustration and punishment.

Continue reading →

[Game Review] Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

Posted on by
3

Mario Galaxy 2 US Box artSystem: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Platformer

I have been writing reviews on this site for coming up on two years now, and I have never awarded anything a perfect 10. I’ve reviewed books, video games, energy drinks, movies, food, tech, and music — a very wide scope of products — and never experienced one single item that deserved a score of perfection. Never. I don’t know why, but I’ve just never experienced anything that I truly thought existed without some flaw, some merit of quality detraction.

That streak has come to an end, as I have finally experienced something truly perfect. No blemishes, no flaws, nothing to detract from the experience offered. Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Wii is truly perfect in everything that it does. Of course I can’t just say that without offering something to back it up, so if you feel you need further convincing, then by all means read onward dear gamer. If, however, I’ve already swayed you, then I suggest buying the game right now if you don’t already have it in your library. This is an interactive experience that shouldn’t be missed.

Continue reading →

[Game Review] Red Steel 2 (Wii)

Posted on by
5

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: FPS

Ever since the Wii was announced, gamers have been dreaming of using their Wiimote to control a sword. Picking up on that early anticipation, Ubisoft started development of a game called Red Steel. The title was a Wii exclusive first-person shooter, built from the ground up for the system, where players could not only blast foes into oblivion, but they were also given the ability duke it out in one-on-one sword fights. Nintendo fans were ecstatic.

But when the game finally arrived right next to the Wii hardware, it was just plain awful. The controls were painful, the story was bad, there was no online multiplayer, and worst of all the swordplay was atrocious. It was nothing like Wii gamers had hoped it would be. Now Ubisoft is back with Red Steel 2, a dramatic reboot of the entire series, ditching anything that would relate it to the first game besides the namesake. This time around, the game kicks ass.

Continue reading →

[Game Review] No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Wii)

Posted on by
1

System: Wii (Exclusive)
Devloper: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action

I have always wanted Quentin Tarantino to make a video game. The way he makes his films, with over-the-top violence, plenty of sex, ass loads of awesomeness, and way too much dialogue would make the perfect video game script.

However, that’s not likely to happen any time soon. So instead, us gamers have to look to Suda 51 and Grasshopper Manufacture to get our overdose of interactive bad assery, and Suda’s latest masterpiece, No More Heroes 2, is more than enough for any gamer craving something out of the ordinary in the best way imaginable. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Trivial Pursuit (Wii)

Posted on by
3

System: Wii (Also on: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, iPhone)
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Board Game/Trivia

Few games capture the desire for people to show off exactly how intelligent they are like board game staple Trivial Pursuit. The game is both simple and complex all at once, as you circle a spoked wheel game board acquiring pieces that encompass a variety of subjects. With this game, you can truly prove just how many obscure books or 3 AM History Channel specials you’ve watched.

When I stumbled across a version for the Wii, I was incredibly curious and not just because I have a kitten that enjoys swatting any and all game pieces from a board at every crucial moment. But because I have actually had a good experience with board game based video games. Ironically, it’s the exact opposite of film based video games, in that the developers keep the heart of the game true to the base of the board game. Continue reading →