Mario Kart Wii

Nintendos neuester und größter Titel für das Wii, Mario Kart, wurde am 27. April freigegeben. Über der Kugel ist das Summen über, wie wundervoll dieses Spiel soll, gab mir den Eindruck, daß sein massiver weißer Kasten untold Wunder der Spielfreude halten würde. Mit Gespräch der neuen Einzelteile, der Schienen, der karts, der Motorräder und sogar des weltweiten Multispieleron-line-Spiels, wurde ich „echt“ für die Freigabe dieses Titels gepumpt. Kurz nach dem Kaufen des Spiels fing ich an, alle meine Freunde zu benennen, um für Aufspaltenschirm Schlachten vorbeizukommen, die während der Nacht unternommen würden. Nachdem sie herauf einige Kästen Pizza und ein fast endloses Versorgungsmaterial Koffein-eingespritzte Produkte ausgewählt hatten, betrugen der Mitternacht, der herum gerollt wurden und es Zeit zu laufen.

Nachdem wir unzählige Ballone im Schlachtmodus geknallt hatten, entschieden wir, den Rest der vorhandenen Schienen durch den einzelnen Spielermodus zu entriegeln. Bis dahin hatten wir gutes fühlen der neuen Einzelteile und der Träger und am wichtigsten, das Wii Rad erhalten. So zoomed wir durch alle großartigen prix Rennen und dann war es zurück zu dem Kämpfen. When we each had found the type of kart or motorcycle we liked best on our favorite Nintendo characters, we battled the night away just like we did when Mario Kart for the SNES was the newest thing.

Like most of the games Nintendo has released for the Wii, Mario Kart is an excellent party game with a oddly high re-playability rate. It is a great game for families and friends to enjoy together. The Wii Wheel works very smoothly, as long as you don’t over-exaggerate your turning. Mario Kart also works with the Wiimote only, or the Wiimote and nunchuk (the classic controller) and the Nintendo Gamecube controller - and all work quite well. It really depends on what’s comfortable for you. This makes it easy to include all your friends without having to break the bank buying lots of new controllers.

Around noon the next day, when everybody had gone home, I decided to check out the online play. After skimming through the farce that is the user-agreement, I pressed ‘Accept’ and quickly jumped into a race with nine other people from across the US. Sad to say, I was the only one from Oklahoma. The big head I had from owning my friends at the kart party quickly deflated, because then I began to learn what the word “owned” really meant. Anyway, online was still a lot of fun. I never had any lagging problems, and I never got disconnected. Everything ran as smoothly as if I was playing with these people in my home, whether I was winning or not.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been playing this game like it was stuck on self-destruct mode. Mario Kart continues its tradition of being a fun and re-playable party game. Adding the online multi-player exponentially increases the chance of me picking up the Wii Wheel again and again. Nintendo has delivered another impressive title for its revolutionary system.

Boogie

Never, in two years of writing for PTD, have I had so much trouble writing a review.? EA?s newest interactive game on the Nintendo Wii is called Boogie and it is the first game to be released that is both a dancing and a karaoke game.? For those of you who only read the first paragraph, Boogie is strictly a party game only.? I would have rather spent the money on a noose to hang myself with than play this game in single player mode.? Before I go further into the games pros and cons, let me tell you a bit about how it is played.

First, Boogie has two parts to it: dancing and karaoke.? To dance you must swing the Wiimote up, down, left or right (on beat mind you) so the game takes a bit of skill in rhythm and tempo.? Your character, which you can customize, moves and dances with the motions of your Wiimote. Combos score the most points so variety is the name of the game while dancing.? When it comes time to sing, you must pick up the microphone that EA has provided and get ready. As the words are highlighted at the bottom of the screen the game shows a scrolling panel to give you?an idea of the pitch you must match.? You score more points the closer on key you are, so all you American Idol wannabes can see how close you really sound to your favorite pop songs.

As you have probably guessed, sitting in your living room (or basement) alone, listening to yourself sing isn?t the most enjoyable thing, and?dancing with yourself isn?t as fun as Billy Idol made it sound back in the day.? What?you will?find?entertaining is watching your male 230 lb. Mexican friend sing ?oops? I did it again? and get the high score. ?Boogie is tons of fun when you got a bunch of people around trying to beat each other’s high score. This game is as fun at a party as a real karaoke machine, but there also lies the problem.? How many of you gamers out there are with a bunch of friends and you say, ?Hey lets break out the karaoke machine and make fools of ourselves??

In the end, Boogie is a glorified karaoke machine for $60 USD.? You get a fun game for about two months and a microphone that isn?t going to be used with any other game on the Wii for a long time if ever.

Ratatouille

Pixar?s latest film, Ratatouille, has been enjoyed by all? fans of Disney and Pixar. ?I would even risk stating that I believe anyone who watches the movie will laugh out loud at least once.

Ratatouille,?the game, is enjoyable if you realize that you are about to play a game based on a movie intended for younger viewers. ?Don?t load the game expecting a lot of blood, cursing, violence, and explosions surrounding a deep plot with a lot of twists.??This is a third-person adventure about a rat.? If you?ve seen some screenshots of the game then you might think that you may not like the idea of looking at a rat?s butt the whole game.? However, you won?t actually worry about it once you are scampering through weeds, being launched from catapults, and performing some amazing acrobatics.

Because of the young target audience, you won?t have a lot of options during the game. ?You can choose not to complete some bonus levels every now and then, but overall the game is quite linear. ?I will say that the missions you must complete aren?t exactly a walk in the sewer, so when you do complete them you?ll feel a sense of accomplishment. ?Of course, I tend to set games on their highest difficulty setting for that reason.

The adventuring gameplay is decent, and the Wii controls make the role of a rat who loves to cook quite fun. The uses for the Wiimote and nunchuk are very well thought out. ?It doesn?t take long to master the controls, but that isn?t because they are simple. ?I?ve never enjoyed controlling a rat this much in my life. ?You can run, jump, swing, float, and do just about anything else you would imagine a rat could do. ?Because of these controls I can honestly say that this game is much more fun on the Nintendo Wii than on the Playstation 2 and Xbox 360.

To really sum the game up though, I would say that it is probably fantastic for any little gamer up to fourteen years old. ?For some of us older gamers, however, I think Ratatouille ranks overall average for an adventure.

Chicken Shoot

I imagine that the developers of Chicken Shoot thought that it would be a great idea to take a mediocre flash game and put it on the Nintendo Wii. I imagine that everyone involoved were in hopes that the Wiimote would make shooting chickens an outrageous amount of fun. After essentially porting the game over, they made sure to slap a $30 price tag on it in order to say that it?s ?better? than the online game. I would also assume that after they finished this project they promptly returned to their ?think lab? and resumed hitting themselves on the head with hammers.

Chicken Shoot is, in fact, an online flash game available at www.chickenshoot.com and recently made its debut on the Wii. The purpose of the game is to shoot as many chickens as fast as you can. You aim your Wiimote, shoot to kill, and after a few rounds, you reload. There are four guns: the pistol (unlimited ammo), two machine guns, and a shotgun. There are twelve landscapes and eight difficulty levels.

In all honesty, the game is entertaining, funny, and enjoyable for about the first two, maybe three, levels.

At first I found myself laughing sinisterly at the various sounds of dying chickens and the blood that they would spill right after my cross-hairs had squarely lined up with the poultry?s posterior. Then the second level loaded, and it was all the same except with different scenery. After twelve levels, I was ready join the fate of the chickens.

This game clearly lacks variety and replayablility in the worst possible way. Making somebody pay for this title is a lot like making someone pay $30 for the free food sample at Wal-Mart. Renting this game would be ok. Once.

Some of you may be trying to argue that it would be good for a little gamer to ?cut his/her teeth on?. After all it?s full of cute clucking chickens right? The answer is NO. This game is just too violent for the little ones, and once they are old enough to actually play they will get bored too quickly to enjoy it.

Chicken Shoot is best left on the shelves.

Mortal Combat: Armageddon

Most of you have, of kourse, seen Mortal Kombat: Armageddon on a different konsole. Therefore, I will begin by saying that the only real difference of playing this title on the Wii is that your fighter?s ?special moves? (i.e. Sub-zero?s ice-ball or Scorpion?s Hellfire kick) are done by pressing the ?b? button down while making 1 of 8 different motions with the Wiimote. That?s about it. Read more

Mario Party 8

Well, it seems Mario has thrown another ?party? and if you ask me, I think it?s time for Nintendo to get a thesaurus. Mario Party 8? Seriously, by now you would think Mario would give up on the party and throw a Mario Bash or a Mario Box Social, but nope, another party. All antics aside, Nintendo enthusiasts have anticipated this game due to the Wii?s ability to entertain a party. With all of its excellent minigames, Mario party has been known as a fun multiplayer game in the past. If you?ve ever played any Mario Party then you know the basics. If not, I?ll give you a quick run-down. Read more

Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars.

A good RTS arrives only once every few years. There are many who attempt to be great but never make it. Electronic Arts, however, doesn?t disappoint. With their latest release, Kane returns in the highly anticipated Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Read more

Prince of Persia: Rival Swords

Bittersweet. That is the perfect way of describing the ?new? PoP game. When word reached my ears that Rival Swords on the Wii would be the exact same game as The Two Thrones, I had my doubts. I mean, surely Ubisoft would be smart enough to at least add a few new areas or something. Sadly, I hoped in vain. PoP: Rival Swords is the exact same game as The Two Thrones. Read more

Medal of Honor: Vanguard

Medal of Honor: Vanguard is the pioneer first person shooter for the Wii. Red Steel doesn?t count because it was a big disappointment. Read more

BOTS!

Acclaim?s latest and greatest is BOTS!, a free online multiplayer game. It features customizable bots that you control to defeat evil viruses, defeat your friends, or defend your base. Read more

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