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.