Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Top 10 Video Games of 2010 (100th Post!)

Good evening and this is the first Top 10 of (Insert Year Here), now what I'm gonna do for these is very different from my usual Top 10s. I'm gunna have the number followed by the game and a little bit of a quick review next to it, it won't have a score, no. But just get ready for some surprises and if you've read every one of my blogs since I first started way back in January you will probably tell what the number one is & also thank you for reading since whenever you found this blog. Now remember, I'm only doing a Top 10 of the games I reviewed this year, so you'll see DSiWare games for sure and some 360 games I recently reviewed and because in January 2011 I'll have a review for Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare then you'll be definitely be seeing that game in the Top 10 of 2011. Now onto the Top 10!

THE TOP 10 OF 2010

10 - Photo Dojo (DSiWare) - If you were one of the people who downloaded this off of the DSi Shop when it came out for the low low price of FREE then this should be on any DSi owners Top 10 list of anything! This was original, creative & a lot of fun! But even if you didn't download this when it was free, then you can still download it for 200 Nintendo Points, That's 2 dollars! No matter what, you're going to have a lot of fun with this title and so are your friends.

9 - Pac-Man: Championship Edition (Mobile) - Even though I only played the demo for it at first, I fell in love with this game after the first play, and after getting it on my phone and seeing there's so much replayability in it and the love and care, this was the most fun I had on my phone so far this year. Even though the controls don't work all the time, it'll take time getting used to and this is definitely a buy for arcade fanatics.

8 - Dark Void Zero (DSiWare) - I love the old 8 and 16 bit games, and when I heard Capcom was releasing a game for DSiWare in the style of those old games, I knew right off the top that this would be a great game and it would also be challenging as hell. Even on the medium difficulty this game is challenging as hell, but for 500 Nintendo Points (5 dollars), this is a great throw back & love letter to the great games of yesteryear.

7 - LEGO Rock Band (DS/360) - If the song "So What" by Pink wasn't in this game, this would have been in the number 6 or 5 spot for sure, but it's addicting as hell gameplay and it's great soundtrack (except for 1 song) this is a great game for any music fan that's always on the go. I see this game for 20 bucks almost everywhere I go, including the console versions, do yourself a favor and rock the trip away with this game or rock the night away with the console version.

6 - Escapee GO! (DSiWare) - Like with Dark Void Zero, this is a 8, 16 bit love letter to the great games of yesteryear. This game has you playing as a girl who wakes up in a hospital and you just escape and it plays a lot like Pac-Man. This is only a 200 point game, and also the more you progress in the game, the more challenging it gets, I got the game when it first came out and I'm stuck on the last level, it's that hard.

5 - Globulos Party (DSiWare) - Extremely charming and cute as hell. If you love party mini games, and with so many shitty ones out there for the DS & Wii (downloadable or actual game), I don't know if you're going to think this is another shitty party game, you are wrong. There's 20 different mini games and they all play almost the same way but alot are better and there's only a few that aren't as fun but this is a 5 dollar game and if you like your games to have charm then by all means download this game.

4 - Mirror's Edge (Xbox 360) - When I first started playing Mirror's Edge, I thought it was really cool, stylish, original and I really loved how it brings you into the action and you feel like you are Faith at times and the really nicely done animated cut scenes were really cool to watch. The controls really need some getting used to but like I said in the review, you stick with it and you'll love it.

3 - Grand Theft Auto: ChinaTown Wars (DS) - I loved Grand Theft Auto 4 & Episodes from Liberty City and after playing it on the DS, it is one of the biggest DS games I've ever played, it gives you about 6 - 8 hours of gameplay, which isn't bad. A really awesome comic book style graphics and cut scenes, and one of the most Mature stories I've heard or seen in a while (excluding GTA4 & Episodes). All the mini games are fun to play, this is still a fun game to play and if you need a quick fix at stealing cars and getting drugs, this is your best bet. Remember: stay in school and don't do drugs!

2 - Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Brothers 3 (Game Boy Advance) - One of the few games I remember playing as a kid growing up, wasting away my Saturday afternoons trying to beat it. I never did beat it, but thanks to playing this re-release on the Game Boy, it's all great memories of the Saturday afternoons spent trying to beat it.

AND THE NUMBER ONE TOP 10 OF 2010 (OR MY GAME OF THE YEAR) ...

1 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - If you saw this game as number one, you were right and probably scrolled down but yes, this is my number one of 2010 because it was my first 10 out of 10, perfect score game, I loved EVERY bit of this game from its graphics to its controls to its music, the music to me was one of the best parts of the game. If you own a Wii then you HAVE to own this game.

Well, that's my Top 10 of 2010, and my 100th post. Thank you for reading all of my reviews, top 10s and this Year wrap up Top 10. I can't wait to see what 2011 will throw at me. I will have my first review of 2011 up on January 2nd, which I know is a Sunday, but after that I'll put up a post of what I'll be reviewing next and every Friday evening/night, there will be a review and I'm looking into having video reviews as well. I'll definitely tell you guys what my 100th REVIEW will be when I find out, I got numbers to add up and for sure after this post is up, I'll have a list of games I got recently which will be reviewed early next year when I come back. Thank you guys so much again, I enjoyed this and I can't wait for 2011. Have a Happy & Safe Holiday and see you on January 2nd!

Have a good one,
                     Mike.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Mirror's Edge (Review)

Running has never been so much fun.

Mirror's Edge came out back in 2008 and I thought it was going to be a piece of crap, but recently I played through it and I put those thoughts to rest. Mirror's Edge is an original game. Originality? Yes, originality still exists, thank God. But in Mirror's Edge there is a little, just a little bit of shooter in it, which is a little bit like Call of Duty, but guns aren't a big thing in Mirror's Edge, no, in here, you're running and with this skill of running, you are trying to free your sister. That is all the plot I will ruin for you. Play the game, this is incredible. The graphics are stunning to look at and this game is only 8 dollars! I've been to 5 or more different EB games & 1 Gamestop in Toronto, this game only costs 8 dollars! This is definitely worth all your time and money. The controls will take some time getting used to since it uses the bumpers & triggers as it's jump, duck, roll and so on, but you'll get used to them very quickly if you stick with the game. This game is also very achievement friendly (for you achievement whores out there) and this is definitely the most fun I had with a 8 dollar game. Originality & cheap, what could be better? The one really big problem I had with it were it got a little difficult at times and I didn't know what to do or where to go, even when I pushed the B button (which shows you where to go in case you didn't know). But other than that, go buy this game, get it as Christmas present from you to you. Mirror's Edge is getting a 9.5 out of 10. Really enjoyed this game, hell of a lot of fun.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

BioShock (Review)

Beyond the sea lays a beautifully creepy city.

BioShock, the first BioShock, is probably a gaming treasure. Now, I know you can get BioShock for about 20 bucks and if you're into the first person shooter adventure titles, this is right up your alley and keep reading this review. Now as I said, BioShock is a first person shooter, which is better then seeing the game as a 3rd person adventure and cause it's a shooter, expect the usual first person shooter controls, but there are some twists and turns there so it's not the exact controls of a COD game. The one main thing I LOVED, and I mean I spent minutes enjoying it, was whenever there was a window and you can look out onto the city, and see how incredible it looks. I would spent at least a good 5 to 10 minutes enjoying the view, but overall, this is a dark game and I mean that as it's a dark game like there are a lot of shadows, creepy looking people like the spider slicers, holy crap, I've never been so frigging scared playing a game knowing one of those were walking around. The worst of it all is when a Big Daddy (Look at the big thing on the box cover) is pissed off at you. They will come a running and they will kill you. I did like the choices you had to make when rescuing a little sister (The creepy little girl on the big daddy on the box cover) that it would effect the ending, I thought that was cool, and so there are 3 different endings and I only got one, the one where the splicers came up and killed everyone. I thought how lovely. But yeah, you can level up, upgrade. So if you like RPGs, this isn't that bad, I'm calling this half of a RPG, so in my life this is the closest to an RPG I've finished. I'm not much into the RPGs, the only one I will play at will is Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time on the DS, but even that game I haven't finished. I did really like BioShock, the few things I didn't like about it were the multiple save slots, I lost track of which one was mine a few times and the map, to me, was confusing as hell to read and finally my big complaint about the game. I know, the more gameplay hours in a game the better but this felt, really long (And that is what she said) but the final boss was a little easy to beat. But for 20 bucks, this is definitely worth your money and you are not beating this in a weekend, well maybe if you can pull some all nighters. The first BioShock for the Xbox 360 is getting a 9 out of 10. To be honest, I'm not really hyped to play the second BioShock, what with the development team change but I will give it a go and we'll see where that takes me, but as for BioShock Infinite, it looks awesome and this looks like the TRUE sequel to BioShock, because the original developers are working on it.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Asphalt 4 Elite Racing (Mobile) Review

Ready. Set. Don't go just yet.

So in this time of the new Need for Speed out, I wanted to get a racing game for my phone. So I got Asphalt 4 Elite Racing. The Asphalt games on DS (I haven't played the DSiWare game yet) are the best portable racing games I've ever played, if you find them, get them & love them. But onto Elite Racing, this is Need for Speed but with the Arcade-style gameplay turned up to 11. the graphics on the cars and roads are in 2D, which look really good, but the buildings, bridges and everything that isn't a car or road looks really shitty. There's a demo on the gameloft website and that looked a lot better than this and also, just about most of the areas you race in are lifeless and look abandoned. New York is half Central Park and the other half a downtown-ish area. Central Park looks like it got bombed and the downtown area look's somewhat decent, but what really pisses me off is that you could be turning, and you don't even touch the side of the bridge, and you'll crash. This happened to me alot, and I didn't even touch a thing! You can crash into trees, cars (if you're not going fast enough), bridges, and so on. There are a few modes, which is really cool. One mode, you are a cop and you for some reason got to get to the number one spot cause you know, cops always got to be in number one instead of taking out the racers. But next to racing, my favourite mode was the mode where you have to take out the other racers. The controls in this game are extremely simple, you hold your phone like a game boy, and there's a left button and a right button, in the middle bottom there are 2 smaller buttons, one for nitro and one for brakes. You get a few places to race like France, New York, so on. You get a decent amount of cars & a few motorcycles, a lot to upgrade and for some reason, you can unlock and buy women. Random. Lastly, this is another 7 dollar game. This does not need to be 7 dollars, if this was 3 - 5 dollars than ok that's better. A lot better, but Rogers, stop with the 7 dollar games & lower the prices. Asphalt 4 Elite Racing (Mobile) is a 7.0 out of 10.

CLUE (Mobile) Review

Can you get a clue if this is any good?

CLUE is an old board game but no one knows what the hell a board game is nowadays so developers make the old board games into new games for consoles, handhelds & phones. I've only played the actual board game once, I used to play the old PC game (you remember, where you get the CD game out of a cereal box) and then I've played this version. Is it fun? I'm about to tell you. It's graphics reminded me alot of the cutscenes you'd see in a Grand Theft Auto game on Nintendo's handhelds (Chinatown Wars & GTA on game boy advance) and instead of you are one of the characters, you play as a journalist going to a murder, and the victim is ALWAYS, in every case, Mr. Boddy. You can clearly see that this game has A LOT of creativity. You go around a house or apartment or mansion, talking to the CLUE characters and then it's the old get clues, like what room, what weapon and who. If you love TV shows like Remington Steele or if you're a fan of the board game, I think this is a fun game and you'll have about a weekends worth of fun here, it's never the same guy on one case, it always changes, which is not bad. The one main problem I had with this is the time, though it says you have 45 minutes, you really have 15 minutes, but what really pissed me off, is that walking from one room to the one across the hall can take up to 8 minutes! What the hell man! And getting a short answer from one of the characters takes up 5 minutes? What the hell! If it wasn't for the time limit, I would have given this game a higher score but this game is just for the fans of the board game or the old "who did it" entertainment. And also this is a 7 DOLLAR game! This is ridiculous, which is why CLUE for mobile is getting a 6.5 out of 10. Mystery Solved.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Spider-Man: Toxic City (Mobile) Review

Your friendly neighborhood Spidey on the go!

First off, Spider-Man: Toxic City takes place in the Ultimate Spider-Man universe, so if you like the Ultimate Spider-Man like I do then continue reading the review. Toxic City is a 2D side scrolling action adventure beat em up platformer and plays like most 2D side scrolling games like Double Dragon. To play, you have to turn your phone on its side and play it like a Game boy, which I thought which was pretty cool. There's two buttons on the right side of the phone, one for jump and one for attack, on the other side is the d-pad which can move you in 8 different directions, I had some trouble with the D-pad and I honestly think the game would have been better off with a 4 way D-pad, but what the game has is still alright, not perfect, but it takes some getting used to. Now I bet you're asking why is it called Toxic City? Well, in the game Green Goblin releases toxic gas into New Jersey. Yes. It starts in New Jersey and was suppose to get into New York and I guess the world after? He never mentioned the world, only New Jersey & New York. In the game, you come across classic Spidey villians such as Green Goblin, Rhino, Electro, Vulture. BUT when I went go to download this game, I saw screenshots of (Ultimate version of) DOCTOR OCTOPUS in the game and Spidey in the black suit. In the game, there is no Doctor Octopus. Not even a mention of him. Also, is there a black suit in the game? How the hell do you unlock it? I saw it in a screenshot along with Doctor Octopus. I loved the game Gameloft but I want answers! Where's Doctor Octopus & the black suit? The game can be beat in about 1 - 2 hours if you keep at it. The levels are pretty long and somewhat challenging. There's comics to find and unlock, achievements to earn and so on. BUT here's another downer, when you find a comic in the game, you go to your unlockables in the menu, and instead of seeing that comic cover or some sort of artwork, all you get is the comic title, number and who worked on it. What the hell type of unlockable is that?!?! That's complete bs right there and collecting comic books in the game isn't that satisfying knowing I'm not getting much out of it. In the end, this is a $7 game. Is it worth it? Yes, if you're a Spidey fan and you love playing games on your phone. This is a good way to keep your mind off of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions but with Gameloft lies in the screenshots and unsatisfying unlockables, Spider-Man: Toxic City for mobile phones is a 7.5 out of 10.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Pac-Man Championship Edition (Mobile) Review

Wokka Wokka Nom Nom Nom

Pac-Man. Classic arcade yellow circle dude that eats dots & ghosts. He turns 30 this year. Happy Birthday Pac-Man. Now on to the game...this is the Championship Edition that was released in 2007, not the new Championship Edition DX. Now, this game looks really awesome & retro, what with it's neon colours and the style, it all stays true to Pac-Man. The gameplay, is more challenging this time because there are multiple maps but there's certain times for them, for some, 5 minutes, others 10 minutes. You just eat the dots on one side and once all dots are eaten, a fruit appears on the other side of the map and once you eat that fruit, the other side of the map changes and more dots appear. Your score goes up, thus the title "Championship" and you keep doing this until either die or until the time is up. Now controls, if you have a cell phone with a touch screen like me (no, I don't have an iPhone, I have a Samsung Forever. Google it.) You slide the way you want Pac-Man to go, so you slide up to go up, left to go left, you get the picture. The audio wasn't really much for me, but the more time goes down, the more it speeds up and you're more likely to screw up. This is a 7 dollar game and there are multiple modes, maps, scores to beat, leader boards, achievements to unlock, so if you're a classic gamer, you love Pac-Man or the old get a high score gameplay then definitely download this for your phone but if you're looking for something that is not awesome then go away, this game is awesome and I think everyone should play this on a console or handheld or phone at least once. It is a fun game, it is beautiful to look at, that's why I'm giving Pac-Man Championship Edition for mobile phones an 8.0 out of 10.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

AC/DC Rock Band Track Pack (Xbox 360) Review

Read this before you get Thunderstruck

This is Rock Band, same music, hit the note at the time gameplay, but this is a track pack, so you're only getting 18 AC/DC songs that were played live. You do get classics (& some of my favourites) like Let There Be Rock, Highway to Hell, T.N.T., Back in Black, Thunderstruck, and so on...these songs go from easy to challenging to extremely challenging. No matter what, these songs are all fun to play if you're the singer, but this came out after Rock Band 2 and there's no No Fail mode, no online. All you get is 18 AC/DC Live songs and inside the manual, there's a code so you can import the songs to play with either Rock Band 1, 2 (I don't know about 3), but most likely you can. When this game came out, it was a $40 game, do not buy it at $40. Now this game is $20...still do not buy this game at $20. I bought the game at an EB games for 5 dollars. That is what you should pay for this game. If you find this game for $5, buy it. If you find it for a dollar higher then $9, put it down & walk away. Saying that, if you REALLY love AC/DC then you'll love this and buy it when you find it ($9 or cheaper). There's not much in this disk to make it worth more then $9 so AC/DC/ We salute you for rocking us with awesome tunes but ... the game should've been better. AC/DC Rock Band Track Pack for the Xbox 360 is nothing more than a 6.0 out of 10.

Monday, October 4, 2010

LEGO Battles (DS) Review

Written by Michael Dulson

Old LEGO and still Epic.

LEGO used to be space people, pirates (my personal favourite), some Indiana Jones ripoff, I think his name was Johnny Thunder, and a lot of other original sets and I used to get most of them and either have them in a city or i would have awesome adventures or have them battle it out in some weird looking stadium...continuing on with the review, this game is my childhood and if you played with the old LEGO sets, I mean space people, pirates, kingdom, etc...than this is a really good DS buy for you because it was a smart idea having the old LEGO characters as who you play, you can choose between one of 3 different types of characters, either space people, Pirates and than there's the Kingdom people. The cut scenes look really good for DS and like any other LEGO game, it's got that charm & humour like any other game, no voice over, it's all the grunts and ohs like in every other LEGO game & it's still really funny here. The controls are all used on the touch screen, you start out with 2 builders and you gotta make your way from there and kick ass. (also since  this is my first RTS, so I wasn't really into it when I first played it but I got into it eventually, I got used to it) and no I'm not being easy on it because it's LEGO, this is coming from a guy who has NEVER played a RTS game, this is a FUN game. I think the only problem I had was some parts got a little too challenging and the exploration got old after a few matches but this could be a kid's first RTS and your kid will have a problem with it at first but he'll get into it & soon, love it. This is a lot of fun, and to me, this is my childhood on the go and definitely pick this up for you or your kid or your friend. This is a must own to any DS owner, LEGO lover or RTS fan. LEGO Battles on the DS is an 8.0 out of 10. Really loved it!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Brothers 3 (GBA) Review

After all these years, it's still awesome!
Super Mario Brothers 3 is a very well known game to everyone. It came out on the NES, the NES version, to me, is the better version, and also it came out on a SNES Mario collection known as 'Super Mario All-Stars'. The SNES version is what you're getting here plus some. The game has the same 16 bit graphics that the SNES version had, and because it's on the GBA, it gets some little extra features in some of the worlds, backgrounds, and so on. There are 8 worlds, new power-ups. The levels are all the same, no changes and also the levels are still short but they will kick your ass. The music is the best part of Mario 3 and people around the world probably still hum the tunes on the way to work or school. That's how awesome the music is. Controls are simple, since it's a Mario game. A is jump, B is run, and the D-pad to move Mario or Luigi. Along with Mario 3, you also get the old Mario Brothers arcade game which is cool but you get that game with every Super Mario Advance game. What would have been cooler is the choice to play the NES or SNES version. Also there is a huge thing going on with the e-reader thing with this which means, to make levels, you gotta spend (I checked out prices on eBay) $100 on the cards & somewhere from $20 to $40 on the e-reader and you got to have two game boy advances. Wow, all that $$$ just to make & play more levels. But seeing some of them on youtube, I think this is a really cool idea and it's just a shame only the rich brats will be able to play this. But I got my copy of Mario 3 off of eBay for about $15 but I was lucky and you can find it either around the internet or in random game stores that isn't a EB games or Gamestop for $40. But $40 still isn't a bad price for a classic. Nintendo here's an idea, re-release Super Mario All-Stars on DSiWare! Back in the day, I thought this game was perfect, after playing it, it's not perfect but it's NEAR perfect. Mario 3 on the GBA is a 9.5 out of 10.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) Review

Most Epic Mario Game. Ever!
I've had my thoughts on the Wii and why it's a bad console, a good console and why can't it be good.
Than I played Super Mario Galaxy and Holy ****ing **** ***** was I wrong. This game just doesn't LOOK AMAZING but it controls very nicely, the A button on the Wiimote jumps Mario, and the joystick on the numb chuck moves you around. That's the basic of the control. Than the story, Bowser steals the castle with Peach inside it. Mario tries to save her, but ... I shouldn't ruin the story for you but it is epic every step of the way. Now the story can be completed after 60 stars have been collected but if you're hardcore, you can try and get all 120 stars after or before, you choose. But to me, the BEST part of the game was its music! This game has music nods to the original Mario game, Mario 3 & some others and has some own epic music of its own! Which is a damn good thing! This is the best game you'll ever get for your Wii, and after you beat it, there's a sequel waiting for you at the Game store to be bought & beat. This game became my favourite Mario game, it pushed Mario 3 out of 1st. True story. Saying that, Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii is in every way, perfect and I believe this is the first game that is a 10 out of 10. Huzzah! Go buy it, enjoy it & love it. 

Johnny Bravo Data-A-Rama (DS) Review

Oh Mama, it's bad, it's real bad.
Johnny Bravo, is a TV show I grew up with and loved as a kid. As I got older and Johnny Bravo stopped airing on Teletoon, it made me sad to hear they took out, one of my favourite TV shows. Fast forward a few years, and in 2010, I realized they made a Johnny Bravo game, on the DS. The game is that Johnny is on a dating show and him & another guy are going at it at, yes, mini-games to win the heart of a woman. This game was most likely a flash game. The graphics show that. The audio is kinda cool, true to the show. Same voice & art style as the show but its all audio clips that were most likely from the actual show. Why a mini-game game show DS game? why not a XBLA or PSN action adventure title? Controls are very crappy and a few times didn't even work for me. This game is a disappointment to such an awesome show. Mama, even you can't redeem this game by any means whatsoever, I've seen this game in Wal-Marts at the discount bin for $19.99 and believe me, you can spend your money on alot of crappy soda pop and be satisfied with that than you will with this game. Johnny Bravo Date-A-Rama on the DS is getting a 2.5 out of 10.

Top Gun (DS) Review

Even the Angry Video Game Nerd would be pissed.
Top Gun on the DS is a bad game. It looks like crap, sounds like crap, controls are, in the words of J.K.Simmons as J.Jonah Jameson from the first Spider-Man movie, it's "Mega-Crap", don't buy this game ever, don't show it love, just kill it and bury it. Top Gun on the DS gets a 0.5 out of 10.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Mario Kart Super Curcuit (GBA) Review

Mario on the go!
The first Mario Kart (on the SNES) is my favourite and in my opinion, is the best Mario Kart game ever. Fast forward a couple years, and Nintendo comes out with the classic franchise Mario Kart on the gameboy advance. In Mario Kart, it's the same old, same old classic Mario Kart awesomeness, the graphics reminded me alot of the SNES classic and that's a good thing. You get to pick from 8 characters, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong or Wario. I only played as Luigi or Yoshi and Mario once or twice. There are 3 different modes, 20 different tracks, only some of the tracks are worth playing over again. The audio is pretty cool but not worth listening to all the way through. One thing I hate about the audio is Luigi sounds too much like Mario, hey, it just may be only be me. L button shoots your weapon, A is accelerate and left and right moves your kart. I do love this game cause it reminds me of simpler days, but these tracks aren't worth praising...that's why I'm giving this classic franchise that was given the portable treatment a 6.5 out of 10. Worth checking out if you can find it cheap.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Namco Museum DS (DS) Review

An Arcade Buff Heaven!
Namco Museum is a collection of Namco games on one disc, cartridge, what have you and Namco have been doing the Namco Museum since the PlayStation One (yes, there was a PlayStation One) back in 1995! Fast forward about 12 years and BAM! Namco Museum DS is released upon the world and it's awesome. In this collection you get Pac-Man, Dig Dug 2, Mappy, The Tower of Druaga, Galaga, Galaxian & Xevious. Plus the old versions of Dig Dug 2 & Super Xevious are available as unlockables. For multiplayer, this is where the game is worth it, there is a Pac-Man Vs. which is where one player is Pac-Man and four or five (I'm not really sure) play as the ghosts, as Pac-Man, that player gets to see an 8-bit full of colour map (there are 4 or 5 of them). The players that are ghosts must look at the top screen for action, find Pac-Man, kill him and they become Pac-Man. This was a crap load of fun when I was playing it with the one or two friends I have with a DS. This would be so much better on Wi-Fi and feels like Namco screwed up here. But in the end, you get a jukebox mode and is possibly one of the most useless things I've ever seen in a game. That's Namco Museum and how it plays on the DS. If you love your arcade classic games like I do, you'll love this and you'll want to find friends so Pac-Man Vs. can be played. Did I mention single-cartridge multiplayer & the price of this game is around $17 to $20! I wanna love this game but there's not enough games but the ones in here are classics I really enjoy. If there were MORE games in say ... a sequel to this and there was Wi-Fi for Pac-Man Vs. and there was no jukebox mode, than that might be DS Game of the Year for me. But until then, I got Namco Museum DS and I'm giving it a 8.0 out of 10.
 

Green Day RockBand (Xbox 360) Review

Punk Band
Green Day RockBand is the second game from rockband to be based ONLY on a band.
Here you will find only Green Day songs, where as in a Guitar Hero game based on a band...it's a lost cause.
Unless it's Metallica, that's the only good one. But as I was saying, I'm not a huge fan of Green Day, I only like a few songs from them, and it was fun to play those songs here. I mainly played the guitar for this game and was it fun, some songs more challenging but the ones I knew, and some songs off their new album are really fun to play. Playing or singing Boulevard of Broken Dreams will never get old for me. The graphics show that a lot of love and care went into making the game unlike the Guitar Hero band games (excluding Metallica), you get to see the band from they first started out playing in only one of three places, a warehouse to play their earlier songs, them playing on stage for a huge concert for around the time American Idiot came out and a theater for their new album. You see them young, what they look like a couple of years ago and what they look like now. I was really disappointed to see that they didn't do dreamscapes for Green Day's songs. Whenever I think Guitar Hero band games, I think crappy and the band playing places they played live, for Rockband, I expect to see dreamscapes, I can do a Boulevard of Broken Dreams dreamscape if I was given the chance. But either way, it's okay. You get 47 songs, 2 full albums & some extra songs in there. The 6 Green Day songs from their new album that became available for download on the Rockband store are the only DLC this game will see. That's pretty much Green Day RockBand. If you love music games, you might like this, but if you love Green Day, this is your game. I'm giving Green Day RockBand on the Xbox 360 a 7.5 out of 10.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Super Black Bass Fishing (DS) Review

Something smells fishy.

This game sucks! The graphics are crap, the fish are lined up right next to each other, not moving around (you know, like REAL FISH!) controls suck worse than Lady Gaga and her music. If you like fishing (I like it, but I will never take my fish off the hook) and you own a DS...than do yourself a favour and the person holding or looking at this game, tell them it is crappy and throw it half way across the room. Not worth your time & money. I'm giving (the not-so) Super Black Bass Fishing on the DS a 0.5 out of 10.

Space Bust-A-Move (DS) Review

Another DS Classic!

I say this quite a bit in my reviews now, but I'm gonna have to say it again and I'm sorry but if you own a DS, you should own Space Bust-A-Move. it's pretty much the same old lovable game play of upside down 3 balloons and they pop tetris ripoff and the controls are the D-pad moves your shooter left or right and the A button shoots the balloon. The graphics look like the game is a SNES port (which it isn't) and that's usually a GOOD thing with me. The audio is cool but not catchy. a crappy story but modes & multiplayer save it. I don't know how much this game goes for, but if you can find it, you'll love it! I'm giving Space Bust-A-Move on the DS an 8.5 out of 10.

N+ (DS) Review

Addictive & Cheap!

N+ is a flash game and was brought to Xbox Live Arcade, the PSP & the DS. I don't know what the xbox live or PSP version is like but I DO know that if you own a DS, you have to buy this game, it should be about 20 dollars now. You play a ninja starting at some point in a level and you got to get to a switch so you can get to the door so you can get to the next level. As simple as it sounds, the levels get harder, extremely harder, but still beatable, I beat the game once two years ago and I beat it again recently and it's still one of my favourite DS games. the controls are simple, the D-pad moves, the A button jumps, simple. Audio kinda sucks, but I wasn't really paying much attention to the audio. Oh and did I mention there's Wi-Fi & user created levels? Lots of stuff to unlock & get. Enough said...N+ is a damn good & addictive DS game and this is a classic and if you can find it (I've seen it for $20.00) buy it. I'm giving N+ a 9.5 out of 10.

Friday, July 2, 2010

M&M's Kart Racing (DS) Review

Candy & Racing is a bad mix.
M&M's Kart Racing is an M&M take on Mario Kart and does it suck?
Yes. Yes it does suck. It's like I said about Battles of Prince of Persia, it's one of those "Everything about this game sucks and you should stay away from it at all costs, even if you find it in a flea market for a dollar." games.
So stay away from this "game" if you want to call it a game, I'm giving M&M's Kart Racing a 0.5 out of 10.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Battles of Prince of Persia (DS) Review

Just stick to Pokemon
This is one card game I could not get into, I played it only 3 times before giving up on it.
The only thing I think was good about it was the art style, other than that, this game is a pure stay away from.
The main problem I have with this game is that it's a CARD GAME. That's why I'm giving Battles of Prince of Persia a 1.5 out of 10. Don't even buy this if you see it for $5.

Prince Of Persia (Xbox 360) Review

Once I saw the Prince of Persia movie, that's what made me want to try some of the games. I give credit to one of my friends for letting me borrow the game and play it (you know who you are). Now about the game. I like the games cel-shaded graphics, they look cool & the game runs smoothly. The game's audio is sort of a hit & miss because some of the Prince's lines are funny and are entertaining but when it comes to a scream or a lot of repeated screaming...the audio will get to you. I mean this repeated screaming by the way when you're falling to death and the princess saves you and there's usually a scream coming from the prince. This problem comes a lot from the camera. It doesn't stay still at the area you need to get at, and I ended up turning off the game multiple times because I couldn't find a way to get to the other side or because the prince's girly scream for help really got to me. Don't get me started on the controls, it was another hit & miss, like the running across the walls to jumping from pole to pole, that worked but some of the fighting was weird and didn't feel right. I wanted to like Prince of Persia, but it turns out I didn't. I'm giving the Prince of Persia a 6.5 out of 10. Oh and the story was really "out there" too.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Top Ten Songs With Keyboard or Piano That Should Be In RockBand 3's Setlist

Well, what with all the RockBand 3 information that got loose these past few days, we now know there's now a new plastic instrument heading to living rooms everywhere this holiday season. So to let the new plastic instrument it's welcome, here's a list of the top ten songs that has a GOOD keyboard or piano part in it and should be in RockBand 3's setlist. It was kinda hard because half the songs I know with piano or keyboard are Beatles, but don't worry. There's no Beatles in here.

10 - In My Life by Ozzy Osbourne

9 - Superman (It's Not Easy) by Five For Fighting

8 - The Future Never Dies by The Scorpions

7 - Time Of The Seasons by The Zombies

6 - Dreams by Van Halen

5 - Love Reign O'er Me by The Who

4 - Tiny Dancer by Elton John

3 - Come Sail Away by Styx

2 - Hold The Line by Toto

1 - Layla by Derek and the Dominos

Thursday, June 10, 2010

AlphaBounce (DSiWare) Review

Two genres in a blender. The outcome is alright.
They are mad over there at Mad Monkey Studios. AlphaBounce is the DSiWare title where the game is the old block breaking, arkanoid game but with RPG elements. It's only 500 points, and the developers are claiming there is over a million. But either way if there's hundreds, thousands, whatever. This game is decent. I'm not too hardcore about the whole RPG but it sold me at it's two genres in one and I'm always in too try a game if it's multiple genres blended into one. Take a look at Brutal Legend. But what happens in AlphaBounce is you are a prisoner and with you can choose between one of 3 prisoners (The third one is hard and you have to unlock him) and a few problems I had with this game is it gets really out of control, like some of the power-ups, one of them is Whiskey, and it turns the ball (balls is you have multi-ball going on) and there's a yellow line behind them and they fly all over the place like they're drunk! I loved this power up but one thing that pissed me off is it got too hard too stop all of them. Like any RPG, you can upgrade your ship, yes the paddle is your ship. You go through levels, upgrade, crap happens, and I still haven't beaten the game yet. One day I will. But for now I like AlphaBounce. I don't love it, I like it. I think the good people over there at Mad Monkey Studios should make another game with two games in the blender and see what happens. Maybe a Mortal Kombat and RockBand ripoff blended game....or maybe not. But for now, I'm giving AlphaBounce on the DSi a 7.5 out of 10. Or maybe a Grand Theft Auto & a Mario blend....nevermind.

The Oregon Trail (DSiWare) Review

Are we there yet?
The Oregon Trail has been on the DSi Shop for a while and I finally got around to playing it and it is a pretty awesome surprise. It looks like it popped out of a Looney Tunes cartoon and you start out on the east side of America with 5 family members. You got to make it to the West side of America. The controls are really simple, it's all touch based and there are options on what you want to do. You could rest for 1 - 3 days, you could run, walk or power-walk. Your family will get tired and you will have to stop, you can get food by playing mini-games, or if your wagon breaks down, another mini-game. Some of the mini-games are fun while others feel like there unplayable. There's some voice work and a wild west tune that repeats. You could either hear it very fast when you run or very slow when your walking. But don't walk it all the way, you have one of 3 months to start in, either March, May or June. If you start in June, then don't be taking your time. You got to make it to the end before November. I played this twice, I started in May, made it in November. The second time I started in March and my whole family died. I started a new game recently and I started in June and I know I'm not gunna make it in time for November, but then again I shouldn't have walked it so much. For a game that feels small, you get a lot of replayibility. You could play this over and over again and it'll still be fun. You can take photos whenever you get to a certain point on your journey, you talk to some of history's most famous like Abraham Lincoin. What's even cooler is that this is based on a real trail that actually existed in America back in the day and on some of the loading screens, which take to long to load, there are facts about the trail and some of the famous people you meet on it. For 800 Nintendo Points, this is a pretty awesome package. Yes, it does have a few downs, but it makes up for it in how much fun it is. This is probably the closest thing to Red Dead Redemption that the DSi Shop or the DS will see until Rockstar games makes a portable Red Dead or someone makes a Mature rated Wild West game like Red Dead for Nintendo's handheld. But until then, The Oregon Trail is getting an 8 out of 10.

Split/Second (Xbox 360) Review

If Michael Bay played with Hot Wheels.
To me, Burnout Paradise is the greatest racing game ever, 10 out of 10.
Split/Second isn't the next Burnout Paradise but it is pretty damn close. The graphics are beautiful and it's amazing to look at. Even the crashes are always fun to see. The controls are simple, the left stick moves your car left & right, the right trigger is your gas, the a & b button sets off powerplays. Powerplays can either be earned during a race by either drifting or drafting. One type of powerplay can destory the competition, the other switches routes. It is always awesome to see towers come down, planes crashing down. Always fun. Possibly one of my favourite things about Split/Second is the achievements you unlock, there's the decal of it on your car. You get a 12 episode season (because Split/Second is a TV show) and the whole it's a TV show to me is getting old, I mean alot of games, some recently, have done this and it's getting old. Alan Wake, Alone in the Dark, Split/Second, and there's more to name. But in each episode you get 5 different races or mode to do, there are a few different modes, Survival, Air Strike, Air Revenge, Elimination, Race. Air Revenge is the best one, which is where you and a helicopter go at it and you have to bring down the helicopter. The offline two player split screen is also fun as well and will keep you & your friends playing for a while. Hopefully there will be a second one and there will be more tracks that don't intertwine like the tracks in here. Split/Second is a lot of fun, and for those who like either a good racer, Burnout Paradise or a Michael Bay movie, will love Split/Second. I'm giving Split/Second a 9.0 out of 10.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Brutal Legend (Xbox 360) Review

It's a long way to metal.
Brutal Legend is possibly one the most awesome games ever thought up by anyone. It blends together game genres like action/adventure, real-time strategy, rhythm. The real reason why anyone should get this game is for it's audio & story. This games audio is just about perfect. When you're doing a mission, there is a song playing and it fits perfectly with what's going on. Or if you're driving around you could just play what's on the in-game radio. The better part of the audio is the voice work, not only is Jack Black funny and entertaining in the game, the rest of the characters are entertaining and the voice work is just about perfect. The story starts out at a concert for a band that Eddie Riggs, the character you play, and it all goes to hell when Eddie's blood is leaked onto his belt buckle and this hellish looking creature takes him to the heavy metal world. The opening I think is the best opening to any game. I really liked the games graphics, they're awesome and while playing some of the story missions, I swear I've heard a story like this before, but near the end there were turns I didn't see coming. But yes, if you haven't played this awesome mix of humour, amazing audio & a good mixture of gameplay from 2009, what are you waiting for? This game is INCREDIBLE!!! I'm giving this headbangin' good time a 9.5 out of 10. The only problem I think I really had with this game was it got a little challenging near the end.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

A Topsy Turvy Life: Turvy Drops (DSiWare) Review

An upside down D.I.Y. Tetris.
A Topsy Turvy Life is possibly one of the most weird but interesting games I've ever played.
It's pretty much tetris but you hold the DSi upside down, which is kind of cool and on the top screen (which is now the bottom) you have rows of sqaures and some gaps making their way up. You use the touch screens to make sqaures and fill the gaps. After you got the squares you need on the touch screen, you push any button on the D-pad or any of the buttons and the squares go down to clear the row. The faster you clear all the sqaures on the top/bottom screen (depending if you turn your DSi upside down or not) you make it to the next level. Clearing levels is pretty easy, I made it to level 24 before failing in about 30 to 35 minutes but that's on endless mode. You get only 2 modes, endless & puzzle. We've all seen those modes in other block puzzle games.The graphics are simple but awesome. It's got some cool music. The few things that I think are bad about this game is that maybe the upside down idea was a bad idea, but even still, the game is still playable with the DSi not upside down. As weird as DSi games get, this one is a decent one and hell, if you come back to it, don't be surprised. This was a decent surprise. I'm giving A Topsy Turvy Life: Turvy Drops on the DSiWare a 7.5 out of 10. 

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Top 10 Classic Arcade Games

Since Frogger has returned a while ago on the DSiWare & WiiWare, I said in the review "Frogger is one of my all time favourite classic arcade games." So I took that saying a little too seriously and now I'm giving you readers my Top 10 Classic Arcade Games. Now because I didn't grow up in the 80's (I wish I did though) I never got to play these in an arcade, unless you can count the arcade at a mall. But I did play most of these arcade classics by video game compilations (eg Namco Museum), or in remakes that came out on the Playstation 1 that included the original arcade classic (eg Pong, Asteroids, Space Invaders, etc....). Well, here's the list.

10 - Rally X by Namco from 1980

9 - Donkey Kong Jr. by Nintendo from 1982

8 - Sky Kid by Namco from 1985

7 - Dig Dug by Namco from 1982

6 - Super Pac-Man by Namco from 1982

5 - Galaga by Namco from 1981

4 - Frogger by Konami from 1981

3 - Pong by Atari from 1972

2 - The Tower of Druaga by Namco from 1984

1 - Donkey Kong by Nintendo from 1981

For those older readers, did most of the games on this list bring back memories of those Saturday afternoons where all you would hear is Loverboy's Working for the Weekend and had a pocket full of quarters? and for you younger readers who don't know classic arcade games....google them. play them online and see what your parents got to grow up with. They had no Xbox 360s, Modern Warfares, Natals, Wiis, touch screen games. They had the classics is what they had. Also, download the Xbox 360 Game Room. It's awesome!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Frogger Returns (DSiWare) Review

Yep. He's back.
Frogger is one of my favourite games of all time, so when I heard the WiiWare game "Frogger Returns" is coming to the DSi Shop. I was excited. But after actually playing it, its decent and the old PlayStation 1 games were better. Why you ask? Well, for graphics, it's the WiiWare game just toned down but even on the DSi it looks pretty good. Cel-shaded graphics look really good for the game and suit it nicely. The only thing bad about its graphics is that the camera is in a Grand Theft Auto ChinaTown Wars perspective and this leads to a lot of cheap deaths. For the games audio, I love it, the sound-fx more than the music. Some of the level themes are cool & catchy but the game really shines in the sound-fx for me. As for controls, you could either use the D-pad, the buttons or the touch screen. This is such a waste. In the Playstation 1games, you used the D-pad and the buttons were either ribbit, use your tongue. The controls are simple, REALLY simple, but a waste. For 500 points, you get a bang for your buck with the modes in here, you get Arcade Mode which is classic Frogger, 3 lives, going from level to level. You also get Time Trial, Score Attack & Free Mode. There are 4 levels, which really sucks, but if you played the original and expect short levels, you are wrong, the levels here take a while to beat. Along with a stupid camera, another stupid thing in this game is the freeze traffic button, which is in the 1st level, where you jump on it and yes, all the traffic & dogs stop. This defeats the purpose of Frogger and is another waste. What is fun are some of the power-ups. There is invincibility, freeze enemies, more time, and there's about 1 or 2 more. Finally, if the only background art is going to be the classic arcade frog, why not have the actual arcade classic an unlockable thing or already unlocked? I was playing this in class and one kid came up to me asking me "What are you playing?" I told him "Frogger" and he asked "What's Frogger?". So if the next game you make has "Return" in the title, you make sure you have the original in there so people know why he's returning. But after a lot of cheap deaths, a crappy camera, average controls. I did have some fun with Frogger and it's good to see that he is making a come back after those crappy weird PlayStation 2 Frogger games. I say only download Frogger Returns if you played (& loved) the classic arcade or Playstation 1 games. If you like the Wii version, sure get this. But if you want to try Frogger first, just Google Free Frogger or something and play an online flash version. I'm giving Frogger Returns on the DSi a 6.0 out 10. Hopefully this reboot to one of my favourite arcade games of the 80s can make a sequel.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Photo Dojo (DSiWare) Review

Photo-Finish Him!
Photo Dojo, the long-awaited DSiWare game finally became available for download FREE in the North American DSi Shop May 10th. If you're reading this before June 10th 2010 than go download the game right now. It's free until then. After June 10th, you got to pay 200 points. But even for 200 points this game is worth it. In Photo Dojo, you get to take around 13 photos of you and 7 other friends (so a total of 8 fighters) and take 10 recorded sounds of you and your friends (eg, taunts, kicks, etc...) and you can take 8 more photos and those 8 pictures are your backgrounds. The end result after is awesome. You get two modes, single player mode, in which you go through 100 people (you beat up your 1 to 7 friends over and over again) and then there is the multiplayer mode, in which player one gets the D-pad and the L button, while player two gets the buttons and the R button. The controls for multiplayer suck but you can get used to them. The controls in single player are so much better though, the D-pad moves your guy left and right, down is duck, and up is jump and you could either use the buttons for kick & punch or the L & R buttons for kick & punch, which ever works for you. In the end, the whole thing (graphics & audio) is a damn good laugh. The layout works really nicely, but its just the controls in multiplayer & I wish the multiplayer was better. But still this is a very damn good DSiWare game and it's getting an 8.5 out of 10.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Ferrari GT: Evolution (DSiWare) Review

Outrun with more Ferraris on the go.
Ferrari GT: Evolution is another 800 point racing game on the DSiWare & it's a nice racing game. The graphics are really good, you get a crap load of ferraris to choose from, but not alot of tracks to race around. But the tracks you do get, are decent and can one lap can last around less than a minute to over a minute. and unlike AiRace, you can't reverse the track. The audio isn't much here, you'll be pushing the volume button faster than the race that's going on. The career mode is extremely long since you're going back and forth from race to race or from errard for a friend to a quick race. It's just a very long and boring career mode, unless there were more tracks. Controls are the usual for this racer, D-pad moves your car, A button is accelerate, B is brakes & the L button lets you look behind. Thing about this is I was winning half my races in 1st place. Almost race after race, but where as in AiRace on the normal difficulty, you're not always gunna come in 1st. AiRace is just the better racing game. So if you're looking for a racing game to download off the shop, you're best off downloading AiRace. It's worth your 8 dollars. This is not. I'm giving Ferrari GT: Evolution on the DSiWare a 5.5 out of 10.

Guitar Hero 5 (Xbox 360) Review

Smells like a decent game.
Guitar Hero 5 was one of the thousand music games that were thrown at us back in 2009. I played it and it was decent. The graphics are very beautiful to look at, even though you're supposed to be hitting notes. Everything about Guitar Hero graphics are here and should stay (coughGuitarHero6cough). The only thing bad I think I can say about the graphics is what the hell happened to Clive Winston? He looks like a freak. He should look like he did in World Tour. Gameplay of the full band is still there but this time, you could play with either 4 drums, 4 guitars (or bass) or 4 singers (don't ask me how that works). Plus I think Activision is "whore"ing up the idea of a band. If you play any song, you play with 2 or more people, some notes will come down and they are on fire. Everyone in the band hits those fired notes perfectly and boom...a band moment has happened. The soundtrack in here is a hit & miss. You get GOOD songs like Under Pressure, Runnin' Down A Dream, Sympathy For The Devil,  All Along The Watchtower, Kryptonite, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Why Bother, and there are the few other songs I play. When I mean few, I mean few. I played almost all the songs, not all of them are good. They have the same old DLC going on. A music maker, some more online stuff and some extras like a No Fail mode and a Free Drum mode. Guitar Hero 5 is a decent game, it shows off some very nice graphics while only having some good songs. Hopefully the graphics can stay the same for Guitar Hero 6 and hopefully they can fix up Clive Winston and get a better soundtrack. But until Guitar Hero 6, I'm gunna give Guitar Hero 5 for the Xbox 360 a 7.0 out of 10.

RockBand 2 (Xbox 360) Review

Let there be Rock!
RockBand 2 is one of those sequel games that get the job done that you'll wonder why they are making a RockBand 3. Rockband has the same entire band gameplay from the first game, no change at all. The only thing that has changed is more stuff for the customization, more places to go in Career, & a few changes here and there but it's all for the better. The soundtrack in here is unbelievable, usually a music game has about somewhere from 40 - 70 songs, but in RockBand 2, you're getting somewhere from 80 - 90 songs, I don't know the exact number, but somewhere from 80 - 90 songs. Plus weekly DLC, so you're just adding on to the soundtrack. You got songs such as Alive, Anyway You Want It, Carry On Wayward Son, Man In The Box, Pinball Wizard, Shooting Star, Let There Be Rock, & believe me I play almost less than half the songs every time I put in RockBand 2. Better online, better soundtrack, the graphics look more brighter in RB2. RockBand 2 is a sequel that every music rhythm note hitting game fan will love until RockBand 3 (Or Guitar Hero 6) comes out later this year. I'm giving RockBand 2 on the Xbox 360 a 9.5 out of 10.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Guitar Hero: World Tour (Xbox 360) Review

Sweet Home Alabamy.
Guitar Hero: World Tour is the first entire band in the game for Guitar Hero and it does kick ass. The graphics got a lot better from where we last saw Guitar Hero (with Aerosmith). For the graphics, I prefer RockBand, but I prefer the customization in World Tour though. Soundtrack includes songs from Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Lynyrd Skynyrd, R.E.M., Willie Nelson, The Doors, Van Halen, even Michael Jackson. I love this soundtrack, but there are a few songs I think that should have been early DLC for the game. Gameplay is the same but for the Guitar (and bass) players, you got to worry about hitting more notes known as slider gems, which are clear coloured notes you can hit on the slider part of the new Guitar Hero guitar. So, for World Tour, an amazing soundtrack, beautiful graphics (but not as good as RockBand), awesome customization, and some new gameplay, DLC & more. I'm giving Guitar Hero: World Tour a 8.5 out of 10. It would have been a 9.0 if Sweet Home Alabama wasn't a live recording.

RockBand (Xbox 360) Review

When we got up on stage and got ready to play everybody'd listen.
Rockband is the first of it's play with a band kind of gameplay. You pick one song at a time, hit notes, unlock songs, customize characters, downloadable songs every week. Also the Big Rock Endings, which are only in some songs, where you can tear up the instrument you are on and add up to your score. It's just a crap load of fun, every time. I'm not gunna lie, between Guitar Hero: World Tour & RockBand, it's very hard for me to pick a favourite soundtrack. But in RockBand, you'll be playing classics such as (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Paranoid, Gimme Shelter, Foreplay/Longtime, and with these classics, you can play with some of the hits from this decade like Dani California, Welcome Home & When You Were Young. Plus like the Guitar Hero games, you get some bonus songs, which is an awesome little extra to the soundtrack. All the songs sound amazing, even the covers are really damn good. The only thing I'll say bad about the soundtrack is I don't like Aerosmith, so the cover for the one Aerosmith song they have in RockBand is a turn off for me. But other than that I really love RockBand. Hell, it's graphics are better than Guitar Hero. Since Guitar Hero is changing the way it looks every 2nd or 3rd game while RockBand looks the same after how many games? Plus with downloadable songs flowing in every week, pick yourself up RockBand for your Xbox 360. I'm giving RockBand for the Xbox 360 a 9.5 out of 10. Next Music Game: Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits (Xbox 360) Review

It's more of a hit & miss.
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits promises a "good mix" from Guitar Hero 1 to Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
The few good things I will say about this is that it's graphics aren't that bad, it looks almost like World Tour, which is a good thing because this came out after World Tour and before Guitar Hero 5. I'm looking at you Guitar Hero: Van Halen. The soundtrack is pure hit & miss. You will find songs you remember playing from one of the old Guitar Hero games but this time, it's the master recording and not a cover. For me, my first Guitar Hero was Guitar Hero 2 and I remember playing Sweet Child O' Mine & Surrender for hours. Those songs aren't in here. The songs that are in here that shouldn't be include songs like Barracuda by Heart, Cult of Personality by Living Colour, Hey You by the Exies, Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters, No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age, Raining Blood by Slayer, and I can go on & on, believe me. There are few songs I had a crap load of fun playing again like Mother, Cherry Pie, Them Bones, Killer Queen, I Wanna Rock, Heart Shaped Box & there are a few others. The "storyline/career" in this game is so boring that I didn't even bother to finish it because you have all the songs unlocked from the start. If this is a Guitar Hero game with the best Guitar Hero music, let us unlock the random songs from bands we didn't know before, or some more Freezepop. Give us some of the old venues, not new. I don't mind some of the new ones but it would have been nice to see what some of the venues from Guitar Hero 2 look like now. Also, why not as an unlockable bonus or cheat, let us have a choice to either play the master recording or the cover from the games. I wanted to like Smash Hits, I really did but no old venues, not all the real hits, no Ziggy Stardust. I'm giving Guitar Hero: Smash Hits a 6.5 out of 10. P.S. just plug in your old Playstation 2 and play the covers.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Top 5 Game & Watch Games From The DSi Shop

Well, for a while Game & Watch is been on the ol' DSi Shop. The last 3 Game & Watch games to come out are the last of the Game & Watch titles ... for now. This list is just showing you the best of the 9 and also instead of wasting 1000 Nintendo Points on Thorium Wars, these are the five 200 point games you should download. Oh and if you've read some of my Game & Watch reviews. You should know for a fact Game & Watch: Vermin will not be in this list.

5 - Game & Watch: Chef

4 - Game & Watch: Manhole

3 - Game & Watch: Helmet

2 - Game & Watch: Mario's Cement Factory

1 - Game & Watch: Donkey Kong Jr.

If you're looking in the DSi Shop for cheap, fun & classic. These games are that. Just stay away from the other 4 Game & Watch games. (Game & Watch: Judge, Ball, Flagman & Vermin).

Monday, May 3, 2010

Aura-Aura Climber (DSiWare) Review

For 200 points, this game is a steal!
In Aura-Aura Climber, you play as this little star thing called Aura-Aura and the idea of it is you jump up use Aura-Aura's stretchy arm and get to the top. This is very addicting. The controls are very simple, use the D-pad to make Aura-Aura move around while the A button is used to stretch out Aura-Aura's arm. The audio is really cool, kinda catchy. The graphics are really awesome. The game runs really smooth, no matter how much action is going on. For replay, this game is amazing. You got medals (upon medals, upon more medals) to unlock, lots of modes, 10 levels, alot of fun & addicting but it is also extremely challenging. Like I said earlier, for 200 points, this game is a steal. If you own a DSi, you got to have Aura-Aura Climber. It's that good! For a cheap price, you get a hell of a game! I'm giving Aura-Aura Climber for the DSi a 9.0 out of 10.
If it wasn't as challenging plus maybe some offline multiplayer and this for sure would have been a 10 out of 10. But for sure, this game is definitely in the running for the best DSiWare game for 2010.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Game & Watch: Donkey Kong Jr. (DSiWare) Review

A portable taste of Donkey Kong Jr.
The original Donkey Kong is one of my favourite classic arcade games and seeing that Donkey Kong Jr. is now available in the DSi Shop for only 200 points. I downloaded right away. In Donkey Kong Jr, you play Donkey Kong Jr, no duh, and you got to get Donkey Kong free from the clutches of Mario. The graphics are the usual coloured background and for the characters or whatever moves is in black. For a game that uses one background, this is the most action you'll see in a Game & Watch game. The audio is the usual one sound when something moves. But this title stands out from most of the other G&W titles in it's gameplay. You have the D-pad and the a button is used for jumping. You start at the bottom left of the screen, move left, jump over these things that look like mini alligators and dodge birds flying at you. When you get to the top half of the screen, you move right and you try to get to the key to free Donkey Kong. Get the key 4 times and Donkey Kong is free. Get high scores, game a & b & since it's a Game & Watch game, you also get the time. I believe Donkey Kong Jr, Flagman & Ball might be the last of the Game & Watch titles Nintendo will put up on the DSi Shop for now. But until then this is probably the best Game & Watch title next to Game & Watch Helmet or Mario's Cement Factory. This will just give you a taste of what the full game is and hopefully Nintendo will release the original Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. up soon. But until then, definitely download this classic piece of portable gaming action. I'm giving Game & Watch: Donkey Kong Jr. a 8.5 out of 10.

System Flaw Recruit (DSiWare) Review

Where's the game?
System Flaw Recruit feels more like it should have been a 200 or better yet, free app. This doesn't feel like it should cost 5 dollars. The idea behind System Flaw Recruit is that it uses the DSi camera and turns the environment into the playing ground and add in some Space Invader look alikes. The L or R button shoots and moving is just moving the DSi around. The top screen shows you the map, health and ammo. The bottom screen shows you the action. If you want to call it that. The Space Invader look alikes are either really easy or really hard to kill. Sometimes they will just hover there and take in death, where as the ones really hard to kill will move as fast as they can so it makes it impossible to shoot them while 3 or 4 other Space Invader look alikes come up to you and kill you faster. The health goes really fast when you only have 2 Space Invader look alikes shooting at you and trying to avoid you shooting at them and when you can get them killed. Sometimes you'll get some health or ammo out of it. I downloaded this game thinking this was a really cool idea for a game, but it turns out this should have been a 200 point app. Not a 500 point wanna be game. I'm gonna give System Flaw Recruit for the DSi a 4 out of 10. A really cool idea turned out to be a piece of crap.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Car Jack Streets (DSiWare) Review

What looks promising really isn't.
Car Jack Streets is a Grand Theft Auto clone and it does a lower than average job at doing it.
Graphically, this game isn't that bad, you get a pretty big city, top-down view (like in GTA & GTA 2). Instead of playing an immigrant or a biker, you play as a normal guy, who owes 1 million dollars to the mafia. So you do little jobs to pay off your dept over time. The thing is the only jobs I could do were pizza deliveries and taxi missions, I eventually ran out of time or crashed my car but when I wanted to do other missions, I went to them and walked around in this red circle which I thought would start the mission the moment I walked through. The mission never started, I pushed every button, nothing happened. I played at 4 different times (One in the morning, afternoon, evening and very late at night) and the circle was always in red and I could never do the mission (It was the same mission I was suppose to do for one of the guys). One mission that randomly came up, told me to stop this guy, but when I got to a intersection, it said I failed to stop the guy. The controls are decent and take time getting used to and the GPS is a really screwed up way of getting around since there's much to know on how to work it and how it works. It's audio is pretty cool, you get some songs when you get into a different car but I never heard no classic rock songs or classic rock rip off songs. So I wasn't that pleased with music. For 800 points, this game has really cool ideas, like the way the game uses the real date & time, it's graphics are decent for a DSi downloadable game, controls aren't that bad but it's just the fact that I couldn't do any of the missions, and I was killed by the mob 3 times before I wrote this now and I downloaded this game the day it came out (March 15th, 2010). Yeah, this is one game I don't think I can beat because I can't get into the missions. If the mission would start when you walk into the circle, I would like this a lot more and if there would be a...oh what's that called again? A STORY!!! Tag Games, if you're reading this, please eventually make a second game, I would like you too, and have a story in that game and please have a button start the missions! Until that second game is done, I'm gonna have to give Car Jack Streets on the DSi a 4.0 out of 10. Please Tag Games,  fix the issues and then make a second & better game.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

AiRace (DSiWare) Review

AiRace: Tunnel was 200 points. AiRace is a different game and costs 800 points.
At first you must be thinking 800 points, a second game, it must suck. Wrong, this game is easily becoming a favourite game of mine. In AiRace, you get 6 different courses to race around and you can race around the same track but in reverse. Each track is beautifully detailed and huge, for a DSi downloadable game. My personal favourite is split between the City Streets & Storm Drains courses. You can choose between 9 different types of planes, 3 of which are slow, 3 are fast and the other 3 are very fast. The opening cinematic randomly reminds me of those old PSX opening cinematic. That is a good thing. For controls you could use the stylus and buttons or mix it up, but for me I used the D-pad & buttons. If you use the buttons like me, then the game is another pick up & play. The audio was cool but it wasn't anything special. In championship mode, you can upgrade your plane and you can customize your plane but I don't think there's no point in customizing the plane because when I raced, 2 of the 6 planes looked exactly like my plane.You get some really cool power-ups in this racer, even though most of them end in the plane you're shooting at or you're plane crashing. Most of the power-ups are missiles anyway, but they do different things, like one can turn off your plane and you'll just die. Which is my favourite, another spins your plane out of control and crashes. You also get speed booths. Sometimes the A.I. is easy to beat and other times it's a little tricky, considering I had it on normal the whole way through Championship mode.  You do get multiplayer, only 6 player offline. I want to know, why this doesn't have online multiplayer? AiRace: Tunnel was the practice and this game is the 'Put your skills to the test racing game' and I think you should check out this one before you check out the first one. Even though there's no online, this game is a hell of a lot of fun, it's addicting, and it's just awesome. I'm giving AiRace for the DSi a 8.5 out of 10. A must download for any DSi owner.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Guitar Hero: Van Halen (Xbox 360) Review

What happened Eddie?
Now I love the music rhythm genre of games, and I love Van Halen. Now when I heard Guitar Hero: Van Halen was coming out. I was hyped, I thought of seeing interview videos with the band like in Aerosmith & Metallica. You get no videos with the band. The graphics look like Guitar Hero: World Tour but crappier. Even Van Halen looks crappy, the only good things I can say about the graphics is that, it is really cool seeing Eddie play his guitar with a screwdriver and foot. This can only be seen while playing "Intruder / Oh, Pretty Woman" and the way the animations of Eddie & David next to each other on some songs are okay like "The Cradle Will Rock..." and the animations of the singer & guitarist while playing Master Exploder is really funny to watch almost every time. Can someone say "Create custom Jack Black & Kyle Gass players?" One of the other things I liked about this game are the loading screens and pause menus, very Van Halen-ish. The song list is disappointing. To those people who love classic & hard rock music, this game is not for you unless you want to play through "Stacy's Mom" just to see more Van Halen. Hell, all you do in career mode is the usual play through songs, get more, but in this one. You get 5 songs, you get stars, unlock more songs, in a way where it's 5 songs from Van Halen and than 5 other songs from the other bands. What I don't get is why are most of these songs from this decade when Van Halen is a band from the 80's? The only songs in this game I can understand being here are Queen's "I Want It All", Deep Purple's "Space Truckin'", Foreigner's "Double Vision" & Billy Idol's "White Wedding". 4 songs that are classic / hard rock while the other songs don't fit. When I think Van Halen, I don't think Foo Fighters. Why aren't these songs in Guitar Hero World Tour or Guitar Hero 5 as DLC? Why doesn't this game look like Guitar Hero 5 graphically considering this came out after Guitar Hero 5. Where's all the modes? Why downgrade graphically & mode wise from Guitar Hero 5 to Guitar Hero World Tour? Why do you play as the current Van Halen with Wolfgang Van Halen as bassist? Why is it just David Lee Roth songs? Where's Sammy Hagar? Where's "I Can't Stop Lovin' You" or "Little Dreamer"? Why do you have to go through the career to unlock the classic Van Halen with the tight pants & long hair? Why is Wolfgang Van Halen dressed up like he was in the group in the 80's? The only fun in this game is playing the Van Halen songs you get & some of the other songs but most of them are already in Rock Band as DLC or in the actual game. Why play it in this disappointing piece of crap? Even though this game was a really big let down for me, the only fun I had was playing most of the Van Halen songs, Queen, Billy Idol & surprisingly Tenacious D. I think if you love Van Halen when David Lee Roth was singer, you'll love this game but if you're like me and you love Van Halen and you think Eddie should deserve MUCH better. Stay away from this game. Stay far away from this game & buy a music game based on a band that was made with care, go get either The Beatles: Rock Band or Guitar Hero: Metallica. I still love Van Halen, I just wish their game was given more care & love. I'm giving Guitar Hero: Van Halen for the Xbox 360 a 5 out 10. I think there's a mercy point or two in there because I really thought this idea would have been awesome.


Sunday, April 11, 2010

Top 10 - Songs that should be in a Guitar Hero or Rock Band game/DLC

10 - Heaven & Hell by Black Sabbath
9 - I'm Burning for You by Blue Oyster Cult
8 - Gaslight by The Ugly Ducklings
7 - Games for Days by Julian Plenti
6 - Down on the Corner by Creedence Clearwater Revival
5 - The Good Die Young by The Scorpions
4 - For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield
3 - You & I (Acoustic Version) by The Scorpions
2 - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
1 - Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty (Not Another Live Recording, I want the actual song)

Songs that should have been in Guitar Hero Smash Hits

Okay, so I've been playing Guitar Hero Smash Hits on the 360 for the past while and one thing I know about this game, its song list is 50/50. Because there are going to be too many songs in this list, that is the main reason this is not a Top 10. To me, this should have been the songs that should have been in the game from the start. If you see a song that is in this list that is in the actual game, it's there because I'm fine with it being in the game but the other songs should have been in there as well with them.

- Iron Man by Black Sabbath (Guitar Hero 1)
- Killer Queen by Queen (Guitar Hero 1)
-  Smoke on the Water (Guitar Hero 1)
- Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie (Guitar Hero 1)
- Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas (Guitar Hero 2)
- Cherry Pie by Warrant (Guitar Hero 2)
- Crazy on You by Heart (Guitar Hero 2)
- Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd (Guitar Hero 2)
- Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana (Guitar Hero 2)
- John The Fisherman by Primus (Guitar Hero 2)
- Killing in the Name by Rage Against The Machine (Guitar Hero 2)
- Message in a Bottle by The Police (Guitar Hero 2)
- Strutter by Kiss (Guitar Hero 2)
- Surrender by Cheap Trick (Guitar Hero 2)
- Sweet Child Of Mine by Guns N' Roses (Guitar Hero 2)
- Them Bones by Alice in Chains (Guitar Hero 2)
- War Pigs by Black Sabbath (Guitar Hero 2)
- Woman by Wolfmother (Guitar Hero 2)
- Barracuda by Heart (Guitar Hero 3)
- Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson (Guitar Hero 3)
- Lay Down by Priestess (Guitar Hero 3)
- The Metal by Tenacious D (Guitar Hero 3)
- Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones (Guitar Hero 3)
- Paranoid by Black Sabbath (Guitar Hero 3)
- Rock You Like A Hurricane by The Scorpions (Guitar Hero 3)
- Slow Ride by Foghat (Guitar Hero 3)
- Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses (Guitar Hero 3)
- Through The Fire & Flames by DragonForce (Guitar Hero 3)
- Heat of the Moment by Asia (Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s)
- I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls (Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s)
- I Wanna Rock by Twisted Sister (Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s)
- No One Like You by The Scorpions (Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s)
- Crossroads by Cream (Guitar Hero 1)
- Sunshine of your Love by Cream (Guitar Hero 3)
- All The Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople (Guitar Hero Aerosmith)
- I Hate myself for Loving You by Joan Jett (Guitar Hero Aerosmith)
- Jordan by Buckethead (Guitar Hero 2)
- Less Talk More Rokk by Freezepop (Guitar Hero 2)
- The Light that Blinds by Shadows Fall (Guitar Hero 2)

I just listed 39 songs that should have been in Smash Hits. An actual review of the game is coming soon.



CrossworDS (DS) Review

For the crossword puzzle fanatics out there.
CrossworDS is a game full of Crossword puzzles. Go figure.
But not only do you get just hundreds of crossword puzzles, you also get
Anagrams, which you get a small amount of numbers and you have to make as many words as you can.
Word Searches, which you look around for the word and circle around it and cross it off the list and that's it.
3 different games, all word based. You just turn your DS so you're holding it like a book, and you use the touch screen for all the letter-writing action. I've played one of each, but more of the crosswords, and one thing I don't like about CrossworDS is when I write in a letter, the friggin' thing mistakes it for another letter, example, I write on the touch screen a (Capital) G and it will appear up as a small e. What the ****!? This happened alot and it really got to me. The word searches got to me after the areas got to big. It was fine when the area fit the screen and a little moving around is okay, but when the search area got too big, that got to me and Anagrams...I had no to little fun with that. I always had, always will. I can't really stand Anagrams but I do like a good crossword puzzle now and than and I did like the crosswords, but hated the anagrams. I'm giving CrossworDS for the DS a 7.0 out of 10.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Geometry Wars: Galaxies (DS) Review

Geometry Wars: Galaxies is a sequel to the first Geometry Wars, which was originally included in Project Gotham Racing 2 as a bonus game on the original Xbox. The gameplay to Geometry Wars is you play a ship, a space ship, like from Asteroids and you move around the area, shooting bad guys, avoid dying & getting high scores. There is a single-player mode, a lot of multiplayer (offline & online) & Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved as an added bonus and online leaderboards. For controls, you can mix it up anyway you like, either have the D-pad to move/shoot, touch screen to move/shoot or the buttons to move/shoot, which ever floats your boat, which is really awesome, but the best control scheme is the D-pad to move and the buttons to shoot. The graphics are all retro, neon, bright light graphics and it all looks good, from the bad guys exploding to your ship. The multiplayer is also really cool, the offline & online work well, even though I only played it with someone online ONCE! But at least there is offline and online leaderboards. If anyone plays this game online. I think this game is really friggin' awesome and should be owned by many. Considering, it is a lot of fun, it's really cheap, and there is multiple online & offline multiplayer action and along with some good single player gaming. For Wii owners who own the Wii version of this game, you can link the DS & Wii versions of the game and unlock more planets in the single player game in the DS game. But I heard the Wii version isn't that good anyway but if I get it, I'll see how it is from the portable version. But for now, this really cheap, awesome little arcade shooter that could is getting an 8.5 out of 10.
G

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS) Review

Rockstar knows how to do a damn good game even on a system they've never made a game on before.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, has you playing as Huang Lee, the (spoiled) son of a murdered Triad boss, who arrives in Liberty City with Yu Jian, a sword his dad won in a poker game and has to bring it to his uncle Wu 'Kenny' Lee. The graphics in this game are cel-shaded and it does the game good. The camera is another amazing thing in the game, the camera is always on Huang which is awesome. If you can't seem to find him, just press the L button and the camera goes straight to him. Gameplay in this is the same as any other Grand Theft Auto, you steal cars, do jobs, make money, and in this one deal drugs. Dealing drugs on a Nintendo handheld? Yep. You can deal drugs. A mini-game where you buy & sell drugs. This is one of the most fun mini-games I've ever played cause when you got the right stuff to the right people, you can make a lot of money out of it. Controls seem to switch between the D-pad & buttons to the touch screen alot but it was a good mix of the two controls. You can upload your stats to the Rockstar Social Club with Wi-Fi which is cool. The audio isn't much but there is some music in the game. One of the few flaws I did find in this game is the story, it feels like I've read or seen this story somewhere else before. Other than that, I think this is one game every DS/DSi owner should have. I'm giving Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS a 9.0 out of 10.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Top 10 DSiWare Games So Far This Year

We're well into 2010 and I've gone through some good to decent and a few bad DSiWare games. But what are my favourite Top 10 DSiWare Games So Far This Year? Let's Count Down! (P.S. The 2 freebies - Flipnote Studios & Nintendo DSi Browser Don't count!)

10 - Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (500 Points) - The best, most realistic, portable pinball game you'll ever play from the people who brought you Metroid Pinball & Super Mario Pinball.

9 - Flipper (500 Points) - An awesome little indie game that could & did. A sequel there should be!

8 - Bomberman Blitz (500 Points) - Online Multiplayer of Bomberman? Hell Yeah!

7 - Dr. Mario Express (500 Points) - It's always good to see the good Dr. Mario is in.

6 - Trajectile (500 Points) - Retro graphics, cool music, kinda crappy controls though.

5 - Globulos Party (500 Points) - A party you should NOT miss out on your DSi.

4 - Dark Void Zero (500 Points) - Old school, 8-bit shooter that should have been on the NES.

3 - Game & Watch: Mario's Cement Factory (200 Points) - Nintendo's Game & Watch series started out strong releasing this one first.

2 - Game & Watch: Helmet (200 Points) - My personal favourite of the 6 Game & Watch games available on the DSi Shop.

1 - Puzzle League Express (500 Points) - The best, most addicting game I've ever played. It's a game I always play when my DSi goes on!

So, Puzzle League Express is the best so far of 2010. Obliviously the list will change when ...
... The Next Top 10 DSiWare Games Available in 2010 ...  which will go up in August.
Than finally: The Top 10 DSiWare Games of 2010 (Which Really Counts) will be up near the end of December.      Nintendo...Release Photo Dojo SOON!!!!

Clubhouse Games (DS) Review

A very organized mini-game collection.
Clubhouse Games was one of my first DS games when I got it back in 2006, and it's still fun 4 years later. Clubhouse Games is a collection of 42 games to play and with 42 games, there are 8 categories which include:
single-player games, action games, card games, board games and so on. There are 3 different modes to play: free play, stamp mode & mission mode. In mission mode, you're playing through 30 games that have you doing tasks. Some of these tasks include get 3 strikes in a row in bowling, get 200 points in darts and so on. Stamp mode is a mode that has 3 levels of difficulty (easy, normal & hard) Beat the game in Stamp mode and you can unlock it in Free Play. Don't worry, this only applies to some of the games, not all 42. There is multiplayer and you can either play it offline or online. In online (or offline) you can have up to you & 1 to 7 other players play which is a crap load of fun. A little competition is always good. Controls are all touch based, which is cool. Rules which can be changed, graphics also can be changed and by that I mean you can change the way you play bowling, you could have paper graphics on and it'd all look like it was drawn in a notebook or you could have it look like tron. All this is awesome. 42 games, you're bound to be playing the ones you love, some you've never played before and will have a good time with it and than there are the games that you will hate and think "Why is this game in here?" For me those games are Mahjong, Solitaire, yes I hate solitaire, sue me. Dominoes, Backgammon, and a few card games. Don't worry, I love black jack and I always will. This collection of mini-games should be one of the only mini-game collections you own for your DS/DSi. I'm giving Clubhouse Games for the DS an 8.5 out 10.

Game & Watch: Vermin (DSiWare) Review

What a boring waste of time and money.
Game & Watch: Vermin for the DSi is the 6th Game & Watch title released on the Virtual Shop and my god is it boring as hell. You play as another stick guy (Or Mr. Game & Watch) and you move left & right hitting moles. You move left and right by either the left & right on the D-pad or the Y & A buttons. You don't even need to push a button for the guy to hit the mole, he does it himself and the game is so easy that the only way I lost was not to hit a mole and they do nothing to the stick guy. So why is this guy hitting innocent moles that are doing nothing to him? Because he's an asshole, that's why! Graphics and sound effects are the same in every other Game & Watch game. So save 200 points and stay away. This is one Game & Watch game only die hard old schoolers will love, other than them, no one else should have this. I'm giving Game & Watch: Vermin for the DSi a 4 out of 10.

Game & Watch: Manhole (DSiWare) Review

It's fun but god is it slow.
Game & Watch Manhole has you has the stick man (or Mr. Game & Watch, whatever you like to call him) and there are four holes, 2 on the top road and 2 on the bottom road. You just have to cover one hole when a person walks over it, miss the person, they'll fall into some water and after 3 people fall, you lose. Now I thought this would have been the most fun but after seeing how slow it goes, it's only fun on game b which is the harder difficulty. Sounds, and graphics are the same as in any other Game & Watch game. 200 points, same deal being offered but this time as Manhole. This game can get fun but you just got to wait for the people to hurry the hell up. I'm giving Game & Watch: Manhole for the DSi a 7 out of 10.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Game & Watch: Helmet (DSiWare) Review

Again for 2 dollars a piece, you can go back in time.
Game & Watch: Helmet is one of three of the newest DSiWare games to hit the shop.
In helmet you play in a construction site and you got to get the stick guy from the site to the office without being hit on the head 3 times. For controls you could use the left & right on the D-pad or the Y & A buttons, or mix it up. Again for graphics, you're dealing with plain backgrounds, coloured buildings & tress and everything else is black. As for sound, it's pretty much the same old school sounds you'd expect to hear. You get Game A & B, time, more high scores to set. Even though this G&W game plays almost like G&W Chef, this one is more addicting and this one gives you a bit of a challenge because you have a door from the construction site to the office and the office door opens and closes at random, and when it's closed, you're going to have to make sure you don't get hit in the head by any falling tools. More fun is had in Helmet than in Chef. I'm giving Game & Watch: Helmet for DSi a 8.5 out of 10.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Puzzle League Express (DSiWare) Review

The most addicting puzzle game you'll ever play!
Puzzle League Express is another one of Nintendo's Express titles. Which means if you can't get the full DS cartridge but you have 5 dollars on your DSi, download this same game but with things from the full DS game gone. Puzzle League Express is another Bejeweled-type of game where you get 3 or more gems, jewels, diamonds, whatever in a row. They disappear, points rise, etc. But in Puzzle League Express, you hold your DSi like a book, like when you play games like CrossworDS or Hotel Dusk. The music is cool, but annoying after about 20 - 25 minutes. The graphics are awesome. When I first played this game, the graphics reminded me of The Next Tetris for the PlayStation 1. You get 4 or 5 different backgrounds and 4 or 5 different types of squares. Which is cool. The menu screens are nicely done. They look cheap but a good cheap. There are button controls and touch screen controls, this game plays best with it's being played with the touch screen controls. For 500 points, awesome addicting gameplay, awesome graphics, very good touch screen controls. This is becoming one of my favourite DSiWare titles. I'm giving Puzzle League Express a 9 out of 10. Also Nintendo, the DSi Shop needs more variety in games & genres than just puzzle games & Express games.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Top 10 - Spider-Man Related Media

Since the Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions Debut trailer was released a while ago. I'm going to do a Top 10 of my Favourite Spider-Man related media...In other words, the best of the best games, movies, music, comics & TV series.

10 - Spider-Man 3 (The Movie & The 360 Game)
9 - Hero by Nickelback
8 - The Spectacular Spider-Man TV Series
7 - The 1960's Spider-Man TV Series
6 - The 1960's Spider-Man Theme Song
5 - Spider-Man 2 the game (PS2)
4 - Spider-Man The Movie
3 - The Ultimate Spider-Man Comics
2 - Ultimate Spider-Man the game (PS2)
1 - Spider-Man 2


Glow Artisan (DSiWare) Review

Glow Artisan is a colourful puzzle game from DSiWare for 500 points.
I had some fun with this game, so it's not that bad. The graphics are pretty much colourful neon squares and you got to make the bottom screen match the squares on the top screen. Its really hard to explain, but it's like paint, you get 3 main colours: red, blue & yellow. You can mix them up by moving the red over the yellow and making orange but you can only do that on the grid. There are easy ones at the beginning but after 2 or 3 it gets very difficult and you're thinking "How in the world of **** can this be done?" Luckily there is a button in which the puzzle can be finished for you. Controls are all touch based and work nicely. There is also a mode where you can make your own puzzle. Take a picture with the DSi camera and BAM! You have you're own puzzle to let your friends deal with. This game is fun for puzzle fans but this is a little too much considering I like puzzle games but not difficult puzzle games. This one is a little too challenging, but it's nice graphics, good controls & mind-bending puzzles are good for only those who LOVE puzzle games and like a challenge. I think there needs to be some other genres in the DSi Shop other than mostly puzzle and express titles Nintendo. Do something about that. Until some other genres come in, I'm giving Glow Artisan for the DSi a 6.5 out of 10.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Top 10 - DSiWare Games of 2010 So Far (Notice)

Well, we're well into 2010 and the DSi Shop gets stronger (and sometimes weaker) every Monday to North America when we go into it's DSi Shop. This is why Today (Tuesday, April 6) I'm going to post the Top 10 DSiWare Games of 2010 So Far. I will do a second one in August and one final one in December. The one in December really counts though. These two are just for fun & to let you know what's the best in the DSi Shop...in my opinion. I would have loved to put Photo Dojo in this one coming up but since it wasn't in Monday's Downloads, it will for sure be in the second one.
Best of Luck and hopefully the game you enjoy most is in this Top 10.


Game & Watch Judge (DSiWare) Review

The 3rd Game & Watch game I downloaded off the DSiWare shop & played. This is my least favourite of the 3 because of it's gameplay. But everything else is good. The graphics are 2 stick people with signs over their heads and their holding hammers. You play the stick person on the right and whoever has the higher number on their sign hits the other person before they back off. It is pretty much Rock, Paper, Scissors but with numbers & hammers. The audio & controls are simple and not much. You get high scores, time, game & 2 difficulties. But it's gameplay just isn't that fun. I'm giving Game & Watch Judge for DSi a 5.5 out of 10. Just get Mario's Cement Factory out of the three.

Game & Watch Chef (DSiWare) Review

For the 2nd Game & Watch game I downloaded. This is fun but disappointing at the same time.
In chef, you play a chef and you got to keep the food in the air without it touching the floor, mess up three times & game over. It's fun, controls are simple, graphics are the same, but this is the second Game & Watch game I think that should have an update in graphics. You get the same deal here as you do in Mario's Cement Factory. A game, 2 difficulties, time, high scores, 200 points. I'm giving Game & Watch Chef a 7 out of 10. Good but not good enough.

Game & Watch Mario's Cement Factory (DSiWare) Review

The 1980s are back...for 200 points a piece.
Game & Watch was a line of electronic handheld games through the 80's. It included a game, a clock and an alarm. Game & Watch. Three were released not to long ago on the North American DSiWare Shop. So first up is Mario's Cement Factory. In Mario's Cement Factory, you play...Mario...obliviously and the object of the game is to get the cement from the top of both sides into both trucks, there's no end so you just keep going until you lose and the cement is all over one of the truck drivers. The gameplay here is addicting and fun. There are high scores. The audio & graphics make the game feel like you're in the 80's. It's no 3D, colourful game. All it is, is 2D mostly in black. You get 2 different modes, Mode A and B. B is just more difficult than A. You do get the time in here, but not while you're playing the game. Which sucks. One thing they should have included in this game is an update in graphics, so you see a 2.5D (Look at New Super Mario Bros. for DS) view of things. But one can only dream. 200 points, this is my favourite Game & Watch game so far. I'm giving Mario's Cement Factory for DSi an 8.5 out of 10.


Sunday, March 21, 2010

Globulos Party (DSiWare) Review

A surprisingly charming party.
Globulos Party is a mini-game collection on the DSiWare shop which you can download for 500 points.
I first thought this game would have been another bad mini-game collection, but it's got 20 mini-games in it, which is alright, considering some are alot of fun while some of the other games make you think why is this here?
If you think you won't like this game, you can head on over to the website ( Globulos.com ) & play all the games from the DSi version and play there. But because I grew to like some of these games, I wanna play them on the go, so obliviously I'll be playing some of these mini-games again. The controls are touch only, you get a team of 3 of your round little balls and you make them go around the arena, depending on what sport you're playing, you do different things, but a few of them play out the same. But it made it simpler and each sport did a decent job at making it fun. It's audio plays when you're going around in the menus and made me feel like I was playing a Kirby game, but when you are playing the actual mini-game, it's audio is all nature sounds, I heard dogs barking, frogs ribbiting, and so on. You do get multiplayer which is a nice touch, you get 2 players on the same system, DS download play & DS wireless play. But as I say about alot of DSiWare games, I wish there was Wi-Fi multiplayer and I would have loved this game alot more. So let's see: charming, colourful graphics, simple controls, it's audio is a little under average, 20 mini-games, 5 bucks. I'm giving Globulos Party on the DSi a 7.5 out of 10. Go to the website to see if you like it. I was charmed, maybe you will be too.