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.