Deceptive Game Trailers.

I came across the below game trailer for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games which mainly showed the 100 meter dash with all the Nintendo characters. I have played the game on the Wii and the the trailer did not show one bit of the the actual game play. I feel that this sort of advertising is extremely deceptive. Imagine buying a game based on a trailer like this and then when you get the game it is nothing like the trailer. I am sure the cut scenes may be similar but actual game play is no where near what is shown.

If this trailer was for a Nintendo movie about the Olympics and the movie was done with people in character suits instead of a CGI movie, there would be an uproar at the box office as the movie was advertised as a cartoon and was not. Some game makers put actual gameplay in between the cut scenes in their trailers but they were non-existent in this one. Buyer beware.

Speed Racer - DS

Imagine playing Mario Kart 5 times faster and have no risk of falling off the edge.

3, 2, 1, Is the normal start to most racing games and Speed Racer is no different. What makes this game different is the high speed twist, turns and upside down driving action. Car battles are a lot more interesting than dropping banana skins out the back of your car.

Gameplay - 9/10
The object is obvious which is to come first but there is a side challenge of obtaining fans of your driving skills. Unlike most racing games which unlock cars and tracks based on your outcome position in a race, some of these things can be unlocked by doing stunts during jumps and big drifts thrilling the crowd into becoming one of your fans.

I found that the controls take a little getting used to as every button on the DS is used. With a bit of practice this is not an issue. Opponents are taken out in many ways. You can simply spin when they come up beside you, use a super turbo and slam them right off the track or play the car fu mini game which gives you a chance of performing a death from above maneuver.

The cars handled very different depending on which character you play. You have a choice of being fast, have good control or being an all rounder. Drifting was made harder by using a car that was rated as fast therefore having less control.

Graphics - 7/10
The DS is capable of displaying 260,000 colours and I think they have used them all in this game and sometimes on the same screen. Tracks a very detailed and the driving line is often marked in a brighter contrasting colour. Each vehicle is very different from the next in shape, colour and texture. There are no fog or weather effects but other cars can be seen in detail in the distance. The tracks surroundings are very busy with buildings lights and signs. Other details I liked were the car headlights which could be seen on the darker tracks or going through tunnels and spark effects when hitting objects.

Sound - 8/10
Music during the menu's is very inspiring super hero type music. Music during racing cannot really be heard over the revving of the engines, roar of the turbo and banging of the cars against each other and track objects.

Conclusion - 9/10
I really think that this game will be as big as Mario Kart. I was unable to try the Nintendo wireless as this had not been switched on as yet. The fast play action is addictive and the desire to earn fans to get unlockables gives this game real replay value.

Call of Duty 4 DS - 8/10

"Action packed handheld version of a popular series of game"

Story - 8/10
You play a character named Parker (no rank given) who is flung into a search and disarm mission of nuclear warheads held by terrorists in the Persian gulf. Its a basic story with a couple of turns but no big twist. The story line is linear with no side missions at all.

Gameplay - 9/10
The maps are absolutely huge and loaded with baddies who are brandishing an array of weapons. Once an opponent is killed they drop their weapon allowing you to exchange it for one of yours. I normally got rid of my pistol. Weapons varied in accuracy depending if you had an uzi or a rifle and also distance and your stance varied things. Looking down the rifle greatly improved your hit rate. I liked playing with the shotgun as it was great for indoor area's at close range. Instead of firing 15 bullets with an automatic rifle, one bang with the shotty and it was game over for the enemy.

The maps have the usual crates to hide behind and way to many barrels of petrol which does make the game slightly easier. Some missions you do alone and others with a squad who happen to be very good shots for AI players. The enemy AI are very predictable but do duck down behind things instead of just sticking out to be fodder for you. Once an enemy runs out and hides they stay where they hide and do not run again which was a little disappointing.

Apart from running around and shooting you also get to ride on jeeps and helicopters usually manning a big gun. There are also other big guns scattered around the field that you can take over and control. Some of the maps are challenging and will take a little thinking to get through them.

*Controls*
The main criticism I heard about this game was the control system. Firing with the left shoulder button and moving around with the D-pad in one hand and looking around selecting weapons with the stylus in the other gave people cramps. I use a gripper and a thicker stylus so I did not have any problems playing this for hours.


Graphics - 7/10
Most of the outside maps look the same. Desert and dirty buildings. Some buildings are very detailed but others are just plain. Some of the textures have been very well done for the DS. The metal looks good on the ship and most interiors look believable. I did find that most of the rubble was repetitive. The bullets hitting the dirt from the chopper look good and sparks when hitting metal were a good effect. The underpowered DS did not have any weather effects, no fog and very little smoke. Occasionally when there was extreme action the screen would freeze for a second.

It was all good but the only thing I would have liked to see would be more shootables... You know windows, bottles, bushes etc.

Sound - 8/10
The sound track was varied and changed regularly with the mood of the game. Surfaces that were walked on sounded different depending on whether they were dirt, metal, or wood. Most of the automatic weapons sounded the same but the shotgun and a couple of other weapons have their unique sound. Instructions from commanding officers were spoken instead of typed on the screen which kept the flow of the game going. You could still stop and review the objectives if you wished.

Conclusion
I enjoyed the game immensely. You can get through this game in about 6 hours on easy. The harder levels were not that much harder they just had more men to shoot so you had to conserve ammo more. The game has some replay value by playing the harder levels. Local multiplay is available with multicard and single card download play but I did not give this a go. Multiplay features different game modes apart from deathmatch, it has capture the flag and holding points on the map etc.
Nice portable version of the game.

Gottlieb Pinball Classics is up my alley

Most people that know me know that I love retro gaming. See I grew up playing Space Invaders while waiting for my fish and chips to be cooked. Before video games there was pinball. Metroid pinball for DS that I reviewed last month, is a good pinball game on a handheld that is perfect for pinball.

I have since obtained Gottlieb Pinball Classics for Nintendo Wii. Talk about retro gaming. The tables on this game are true to the original down to a tee. One machine called Black Hole is one that I remember very well. It features a playing area below the playing deck with its own set of flippers. Each table has a full set of instructions which tell you what to hit and when to hit it to maximize your score.

One of the best things about the game on Wii is the control system. The wiimote is your right flipper and the nunchuck is the left. Then the control system touches virtual reality. Waving the Wiimote nudges the ball to the right and waving the nunchuck moves the ball to the left. Move em too much and "TILT" the machine goes dead until your next ball just like the real thing. My favorite table is an old one, Big Shot (1974). It is a billiards themed table that has challenging targets to hit even thou it is a simple layout. I may do a full review down the track but I just wanted to blog my initial thoughts.

Wii Pole Dancing Game.

One of the current affair shows recently went over the top (like usual) regarding young people doing pole dancing. It was recently announced that the portable pole dancing company PeekAboo is trying to find a partner to license a game for the Wii. I personally can't see a problem in this. The DS is flooded with brain training games and the Wii will be about helping with fitness. The Wii gets you up and moving so games may as well be developed to help you move the correct way to tone the targeted places.

I am really curious as to how they will integrate controls for this game?? Will the balance board be used in some manner or will it just be like an instructional DVD.

The Moon Books Project

Those of you that have unleashed the full potential of their DS by adding a flash cartridge, may have discovered an application called Moonshell. Moonshell allows you to play music, movies read electronic books, look at pictures and run DS ROMS straight from a neat skinnable menu.

The Moon Books Project (http://moonbooks.net) is a site that gives DS users classic content to use with the Moonshell application. They have classic Moonshell ready books from authors such as Charles Dickens, Brothers Grimm and one of my favorites H.G Wells. The movie section is extensive. The comedy section has some classic Three Stooges flicks and the Horror section has everything from 1910 Frankenstein to The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The cartoon section is a little light on but there is some classic Merry Melodies.

The Moon Books Project also has some news, tutorials and forums but their forte is classic content.

New game coming soon - Its Bad.

Don't know how many times I have read an assessment of an up and coming game and the author has thrown the game to the wolves and said it is rubbish. I am not sure how anyone can judge a game firstly that they have not played and secondly that hasn't even been finished yet. A lot of the time they have not even seen screen shots and are just commenting off of a press release. Who cares if it is a sequel and the first one was no good. Maybe the development company has learnt from their mistakes or it was the first time on that platform and they have ironed out some flaws. It just bugs me that people can recommend or not a game that is still in development and sight unseen. The only thing I find worse than this is a released game that has been reviewed by someone who obviously has not played it. They pick up on the vibe from the big sites and run with that. I will not review a game until I have played it to death or go as far as I can until bored and in that case I would review it as boring.