Reviews: May 2007 Archives

"It's-a-MEEE Wario!"

The easiest, simplest way to start explaining Warioware is with the words 'mini-game mayhem,' which sum up exactly what Warioware is all about. For anyone who's played the DS version of the game and is used to using the stylus to draw on screen, this Wii incarnarnation works in a slightly different manner. Utilising a variety of different 'forms' (i.e. ways of pointing the remote at the screen), intuitive player interaction is made possible. Some of my favourite forms include 'the elephant,' 'tug of war,' 'samurai' and 'handle bar,' but you'll have to discover for yourself how they differentiate. Because of all these different forms, you're never just doing one thing such as bouncing a ball; you're doing hundreds of things.

This version is very similar to the DS in terms of presentation and style, but equally faultless. It's worth noting that Warioware also features some of the best in-game music tracks I've heard for a long while. Since the music is perfectly suited to each themed stage, the fact it's so good has to be a big plus. So what do you get? Japanese themes for Ninja characters, upbeat disco for a 70's styled afro guy and techno dance for the scientist whizz. My favourite though has to be a Britney Spears inspired, cheer-leading theme ...How sad I am (We agree - Ed).

Special mention should also go to the cut-scene animations which are as funny and amusing as they are brilliant. Although they don't add anything to the game in terms of game-play, they give an impression that the mini-games are happening for a reason. It also provides adequate opportunity for the player to prepare him/herself for the next set of challenges.

At the end of each stage (or set of mini-games) you have to beat a boss game in order to open up more areas & challenges on the town map. One such game involves directing traffic for a steady stream of male/female characters all desperate for the toilet. Males must go one way and females the other, but on a harder difficulty they'll trip up and overtake each other.

As for mini-games, there's 200+ which range from sawing tree logs in half, shooting missiles at a Godzilla wannabe and picking the odd one out, to throwing shuriken stars at ninjas, slicing logs with a samurai sword and shoving people over (Ken's favourite). Once a mini-game's been unlocked it can be practiced seperately. Whilst most of the games are fun, it could be argued that some are a bit too basic for older players. It's also a shame that Warioware doesn't support four players, since this is the kind of game you'd really want to play at a party after several beers. We're expecting Mario Party 8 to answer that challenge, though.

At first glance, I wasn't convinced Nintendo could ever make money by appealing purely to a gamer's sense of fun, but Warioware is one of the most senseless games I've played in ages. It's addictive, it's fun, it warrants repeat playing for high scores, it's pick up and play and doesn't take long to get into. You'll be humming those tunes in no time with little encouragement.

Spider-man, Spider-man! Does whatever a spider can?

Games based on movie licenses have never been recognised for amazing production values, have they? But every now and then, a movie tie-in release comes along that pleasantly surprises even the most jaded games reviewer. Such was the case with Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man, which were all released with a welcoming sigh of relief onto Sony's PS2.

Here comes Spider-Man 3 on the Wii. A game which on the surface looks passable, but underneath the shiny exterior suffers from poor level design, a distinct lack of innovation, repetitive combat and shoddy graphical errors. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself - let's cut this open and take a look ...

Being fair, the title/menu screens are well presented and easy to navigate. A new game begins automatically and the player is casually guided through a handy control tutorial. So far, so good even with Bruce Campbell's narration comically berating you throughout.

The Wii controls do take some getting used to especially when it comes to web-slinging through the city, but once you've got the hang of it, you'll find yourself lured into a false sense of security. Hey, it's a Spider-Man game, web-slinging should be fun right?

After a few hours of story mode and exploration, certain fundamental flaws quickly become clear. For anyone who played the far superior Spider-Man 2 game on PS2, this isn't anywhere near as fun, and by comparison Spider-Man 3 (at least on the Wii) looks and feels half finished.

But there's more to game play than slinging through the city. Graphically, the collision detection is bog-standard awful. Why can Spidey pass through solid objects such as walls and vehicles? Is this the same New York that featured in Spider-Man 2? If so, major landmarks are missing; including the Twin Towers, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan Island. Sightseeing is no longer fun because there's no real diversity between different areas of the city.

Some sections actively reminded me of playing games from yesteryear, graphically. I also noticed broken textures around the city - something that should have been picked up at beta testing level. Okay, so there's a story to play through, but it doesn't even directly follow the events of the film. Whilst some parts are momentarily fun, it quickly gets bogged down in repetitive play.

I could go on, but it'd be best to mention what was (for this tester), the biggest no-no any game could possibly commit. SPIDER-MAN 3 CRASHED OUR WII, and though the Wii does crash sometimes, this was the first instance this one had ever crashed on us. Pulling out the mains cable was our only way to solve the problem.

In closing, all I can say is I'm off to play Spider-Man 2. Why should publishers be allowed to get away with releasing games six months too early? If you want a decent Spidey game, one which does the licence justice, sadly this isn't it.

Vicarious Visions can do better and if Activision were pushing them for an early release, this game doesn't deserve to sell. Maybe your ten year old cousin will enjoy playing it for an afternoon or two, but don't count on it. For anyone else, they'll more than likely feel ripped off by the £30-£35 price tag.

Frustrated Reviewer - Ben Daniel

This week's Virtual Console releases for the Wii saw the usual batch of retro titles, with most hailing from Sega's Mega Drive along with Shockman (PC Engine).

We've been playing Wonderboy in Monster World for hours, and in true blog tradition, we'd like to tell you why you should be playing this too.

Graphically simple and straightforward in 2D, you take on the role of young lad Shion and it ss your task to free the world from Monsters who've decided to make it their favoured place to stay. The history of the original game is somewhat complex; this is actually the fifth game in the Wonderboy line and part of the Monster World sub-set of games. Graphically for the day it was released, it's awesome.

In terms of game play, this game will hook you from the start with a cunning mixture of platform gaming (walk along horizontally most of the time and progress through the game in levels) and role playing (upgrading your weapons, magic and equipment whilst learning new things to search for and do by speaking to towns folk).

The game can be played on your Wii using any controller; the Wii remote, classic pad or the Game Cube pad. We'd recommend using the classic pad though, to produce a close example of the original type of pad you'd have been using back in the day. It's also the easiest to handle, we think.
The game plays excellently all the way through, giving you a constant stream of alternative directions to try to travel in and new things to do or look for. If you complete an area, often there will appear a new way to teleport straight there in the future, cutting down the labours of plodding endlessly through field after field of bad guys; a problem that plagues many modern RPG games. Nice to see this classic title handling boredom and slam-dunking it!

At no point were we bored. The challenges are enough so that anyone can have a go at it, but there will be points where some quite accurate game play and determined skill use will be the only way to progress. In the traditonal way, items are your way into new areas and so you'll be able to roam quite freely ... but at the same time find your path directed for you by what you need to carry on.

The different sectors of the game are varied; desert land, ice, jungle etc. You can save your progress but only in Inns scattered through the game's villages. This will cost you a small fee.

As you improve your weapons and armour, Wonderboy's actual armour and so on will change, giving you a feeling somewhat of satisfaction. It's annoying when playing an RPG and the armour doesn't change depending upon what armour you're actually wearing.

All in all, this is well worth the 800 Wii points that you'll have to shell out to get it. Even if you played the Mega Drive/Gensis release, we say play it again Sam! It gets the firm thumbs up as this week's one to watch out for. Although ... we'd love someone to explain the connection between ceramics and ice to us. Ahem.