Author: Sean

Resident Evil 4

One of the first three Wii games I bought and the only one I’ve bought and sold an inordinate number of times. The controls are still pretty much the clunky rubbish of the original Resident Evil, but the over-the-shoulder camera and ability to target enemies using the wiimote nearly compensate. There are also additional game modes and after selling it I actually reconsidered the decision and bought it again used, but then part way into replaying it I remembered why I sold it in the first place: the game is just too bloody long for what it is.

There’s a reason B horror films are only 90min. long — the stories are just too rubbish to carry their flimsy plots further. After the first several hours the game just seemed to drag on and on. By the time of the 2nd major boss battle (the weird dwarf with the Napoleon-complex) I was really hoping that would be the end of the game (especially since just getting to him involved several pseudo boss battles and QuickTimeEvent sequences), but no, I then had to plod on into some lab areas (as usual). Yes they had some of the scariest and creepiest moments in the entire series, but I really just wanted the game to end by that point and the final boss was really a major anticlimax.

The Mercenaries bonus game was decent enough, but frankly given the clunky nature of the controls I’d rather play a lightgun game for that kind of action and the idea of replaying the game from Ada Wong’s perspective didn’t feel like a bonus (I gave up on replaying Resident Evil 2 as the second character as well — a crap story from one perspective is enough, cheers), so it’s history.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

I’m sure by now it’s pretty obvious I don’t think much of Resident Evil games so it might be surprising to find that I actually like this one.

This game dispenses with all the stuff I don’t like: clunky tank controls, simple puzzles, overlong story; and replaces them with straightforward lightgun action. Don’t confuse this with games like Ghost Squad or you’ll be disappointed. The pacing is slower and enemies require a little more precision to dispatch effectively. You also have unlockables in the form of diary bits that tell you part of the Resident Evil story. Really a great package overall and worth picking up even if you don’t think much of Resident Evil generally.

Space Invaders Get Even (WiiWare)

This game has deservedly gotten some great reviews and it’s one of my favourite WiiWare games. The level design is clever and playing as the Invaders is fun. This is basically a full disc release broken up into chunks. Whether or not that strategy will result in better sales for Taito remains to be seen.

On the one hand you have a small entry point of 500 points for the first couple of missions, with three other parts at 500 points each bringing the total to 2000 points (£14 as of this writing), so the earnings are pre-determined and the game was consistently in the top 20 in the UK and other regions for months after release. But the size can be off-putting and a disc release could have retailed for say £24.95 and reached a broader audience given that not all Wii owners buy downloadable games.

I’m happy with the game as-is, but I’d be willing to buy it again in disc form — especially in some kind of 30th Anniversary package that included emulated versions of the classic arcade games (Space Invaders, Space Invaders II, Return of the Invaders and Super Space Invaders ’91 for aficionados). Hey Taito, you reading this?

Super Mario Bros. 3 (Virtual Console NES)

I got this and Super Mario 64 because I figured I should try the most highly regarded Mario games of all time before playing Super Mario Galaxy.

I got to the end of the 2nd world (desert) and died many many times before throwing in the towel. Major problems were the typical endless falling to my death due to mis-judging jumps and the fact that dying in the boss fight requires playing through at least two stages and running a gauntlet before a re-match. It feels cheap and more difficult than it needs to be and it’s just not fun for anyone but masochists who like Italian plumbers.

Super Mario 64 (Virtual Console N64)

Nicer difficulty curve than SM3, but on the way to meet Bowser (I’m sure a false endgame since I had only beaten three bosses at that point) I experienced ye olde repeat fall to my death. This was aided by a crappy 3D camera (user controllable in most of the game; why not here?) that was fixed far away from Mario and obstructed at a point where I was expected to execute some kind of jump between platforms. Brilliant guys, just brilliant.

Ma Bo Shi (WiiWare)

At first I was going to skip this, but I had some points lying about and decided to give it a go and I have no regrets. It’s a collection of three simple games that interact with each other on one playfield. Features one of the only games on the Wii you can play with a single button press. Simple and fun — really what the WiiWare service was made for, and no surprise it’s from Nintendo.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

This is my first experience of the Metroid franchise. The graphics are really nice; controls are good as well (I was able to do circle-strafing FPS style and never resorted to Z-targeting). The story is a little clunky with no explanation of who the Space Pirates are or why there’s a Dark Samus, but the gameplay was good enough to compensate.

The major weaknesses for me were having to re-visit areas and the fact that many hard-to-get items turn out to be things you really don’t need. Going through a hellacious amount of platform navigation just to get another 10 missiles really annoyed me, so I think I finished the game with %78 completion. I also didn’t enjoy a lot of the boss fights which could drag on a bit. No enticement to replay it (no I don’t care about the “good” ending), so this is another Nintendo franchise title which ended up getting sold.

Midnight Pool (WiiWare)

Everyone seems to prefer the look of Cue Sports Pool from Hudson, but I bought this first and have no regrets. It might not have the online play (complete with chirping crickets because no one uses it) or snooker mode of Cue Sports, but it does have a very nice, straightforward control scheme lifted from Wii Play 9-ball and “amusing” characters.

Okami

This game gets a lot of praise and you can see why: it’s very pretty, but actually playing the game is another matter. Using the wiimote as a brush is great; using wiimote gestures for your attacks is not. Why oh why any developer would choose to do this is beyond me. Even in Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo allowed for basic attacks to be carried out with a button press and added gestures for more major attacks which created a nice variety of moves and minimised fatigue.

The basic attack in Okami works well enough for smashing urns for yen, but against enemies there’s a delay between attacks which at first seems like a motion detection issue and makes combat the low point of the game. That control issue I could live with; what I cannot ignore, and why I left the game unfinished, is the cheap-ass refighting of old bosses that seems to be regarded among some developers as necessary for “earning” the ending and padding the game length out.

Developers, if your game is 10-15 hours long just let it be the best 10-15 hour game you can make. I don’t see a need to have filler to meet some arbitrary notion of how long a game should be in order to justify spending money on a title.

Pikmin: New Play Control!

A modern Nintendo classic. The whole presentation is great. A simple strategy game which is nicely broken up into 30 days that amount to 15 minutes of play each: perfect for the adult gamer with limited play time.

The story and tone are quite charming and encourage you to help Captain Olimar get his spaceship fixed and get home to his family. There is a degree of challenge, but it’s not so difficult that you cannot get all 30 parts in less than 30 days; even better if you do find it tough going there are five optional parts that the ship can do without and still enable you to complete the game. There are challenges I have yet to check out, so more gameplay than just bettering your score involved. A nice diversion from Nintendo’s usual Mario/Zelda fare.

Ghost Squad

I like the odd lightgun game and this is one that came out recently enough that I never played the coin-op version. It’s faithfully emulated (4:3 display mode), but adds a lot of replay value in the form of unlockable weapons, alternate outfits and hilarious play modes like the ninja one where grenades are replaced by nori-wrapped rice triangles (brilliant!). In addition there are alternate paths to unlock for each of the three levels. Combine this with cheesy dialogue which is badly written (and amusingly delivered — I have to think intentionally) and a budget price and you have a title any lightgun fan should enjoy.

House of the Dead: Overkill

Another lightgun shooter, this one tries to cash in on the Konami arcade horror franchise House of the Dead. The gameplay is good with excellent use of special effects and quick arcade action with 1 or 2 players. Sadly the story is permeated with purile, juvenile language and gross-out humour which just isn’t my thing. I traded it in after one playthrough; if you like films like Dusk ‘Till Dawn you may want to give it a look.

Kororinpa

A puzzle game with a decent following that involves tilting a platform to guide marbles to an exit hole. I purchased this on the recommendation from a fan and I’m afraid it didn’t leave much of an impression. Really it’s not a bad game; it’s just not a game that grabbed me. Probably it’s down to tilting the platform to roll the marble. I’d rather have had the wiimote move the marble alone a la Marble Madness.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

My first Zelda game. An enjoyable action fantasy title with good controls and a compelling (and at the end surprisingly touching) story. It’s longer than I normally like to spend on a game without a strategy component, but never feels cheap: bosses aren’t recycled and there’s no mandatory backtracking.

I didn’t like the fact that I had to consult walkthroughs at a couple of points (that lame statue puzzle — you know the one I mean) and the final boss battle went on longer than I thought was necessary.

Considering I only bought this game to install the Homebrew Channel on my Wii, I’m quite pleased I took the time to play it; I just don’t see any replay value in it.

Little King’s Story

Possibly the best 3rd party game on the Wii right now. A great little light sim/strategy game where you take your little king and a small pool of followers and try to conquer the world. The controls are simple and works well, resembling the controls in Pikmin on the Wii. The look and feel are charming with dark, wry undertones (could that be a subtle critique of war I’m seeing?) and the whole package is simply excellent. Fantastic effort from the devs and we have Rising Star to thank for bringing it to us in the UK — cheers guys!

Dr. Mario/Germ Busters (WiiWare)

During the brief time I had an NES a friend gave to me post-University (before I sold it, much to his chagrin) Dr. Mario was the only game I played on it. The Wii version adds brilliant pick-up and play online modes and a new Germ Buster mode, which, while not as addictive as the original, is still compelling. A great launch title for WiiWare and still a big seller on the service.

Equilibrio (WiiWare)

For 500 points you’re getting a good bit of fun if you like playing games with your balance board. It’s a simple bit of puzzle action where you need to tilt the play field to guide your disk/ball (it looks flat to me) past obstacles to a goal through dozens of levels. The balance board works quite well with it and it’s a fun diversion after a bit of yoga. Not brilliant, but I like the look and the sound (very nice soundtrack) and for 500 points you really cannot complain.

Excite Truck

A solid racing title that even people who don’t like racing games like me can enjoy and the controls are excellent. I’ve sold it on because Excite Bots actually looks even more mental and fun (though sadly only available in North America and Japan) – I don’t like racing games enough to have two that are so similar so I consider it an upgrade.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

I cannot say I’ve been a fan of turn-based RPGs in the past what with all the walking around and chatting to people. Thankfully this game strips that stuff out (for the most part) and is a simple series of chapters with the focus on small unit combat — it’s like playing a pen and paper wargame against a clever opponent.

The in-game tutorial is deep and quite excellent, the story is nicely done and the world is compelling and well-developed. Definitely one to check out if you’re a fan of turn-based strategy games; frankly I’m impressed Nintendo published this and hopefully we’ll see more titles like it in the future.

Geometry Wars Galaxies

I actually got this for a budget price at release time, then I sold it because I found my attention diverted elsewhere. Then I decided I shouldn’t have sold what is really an excellent game with a retro-arcade feel and bought it again. Great use of motion controls that shows how well the wiimote can replace rotary/dial controllers. The lovely vector-styled colourful graphics and frenetic gameplay that reminds me of Robotron:2084 crossed with Tempest makes this a must have.

ActionLoop (WiiWare)

Great varient on the Mitchell PuzzLoop arcade games which I first experienced through MAME. Lots of single-player modes and local multiplayer make this the definitive version of the game. Mii use is amusing; especially when the marbles get close to your launcher! Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

Alien Crush Returns (WiiWare)

Worthy follow-up to the Alien Crush PC Engine original (but different enough that it’s still worth having that as well). You get three different tables (with a fourth unlocked recently) and regular unlocks of different special balls downloaded from Hudson. This game features online play and leaderboards, all sadly neglected by fickle gamers who just don’t realise how awesome a good game of pinball is. Buy it and play it online!

Boom Blox Bash Party

EA’s first Boom Blox title was great, but had a few issues in terms of level editing and level sharing, namely that the editor clearly wasn’t as full-featured as the one used to create the built-in levels and sharing was limited to people who you traded friend codes with.

This follow-up fixes all that and includes a ton more content; it’s really the definitive Boom Blox game. The only thing keeping this title short of perfection is the lack of online play. Hundreds of levels are included with new characters, new play modes, new toys for smashing and throwing blox, new physics in underwater and space levels, the editor used to build all the levels being included for player use and a seamless online contribution area where you can try out and assign ratings to levels before downloading them as well as upload your own.

Simply one of the best games on the Wii; now with 1-4 player multi-player. Thanks EA!

Disaster Day of Crisis

This is a game viewed with envy by North Americans because it has yet to get a release over there despite being a Nintendo produced title released everywhere else.

Is it a brilliant game? No, but it is a fun game. The closest thing to it I can remember playing is Die Hard Trilogy on the Playstation, but unlike that this is a single game that switches between modes rather than being three different games. Parts are action platforming where you need to save people or navigate hazards, parts are lightgun shooting where you need to battle baddies and parts have driving where you’re trying to chase down baddies or escape disasters. There’s enough variety that it never gets dragged down by its weaknesses and ends up being pretty fun. There’s skill-levelling and guns to acquire and power-up along with different difficulty levels which all add to replayability.

Despite the overblown plot and cheesy dialogue the voice acting is actually quite good and the story is interesting enough that I’ll definitely be having another go at this.

Namco used to be such a normal video game company and then we get The Munchables and now Muscle March — what’s going on? Well, whatever it is I hope it keeps happening because games like Muscle March make me feel that the WiiWare service captures the essence of the very dawn of console gaming when wacky ideas could be packaged up and sold to people in cartridge form.

Muscle March was originally tested as an arcade game with two giant two-way control sticks used to create moves for the in-game bodybuilders. After failing to get beyond the prototype stage it got switched to a WiiWare project and history was made!

First pick a body builder (or a Polar Bear — he’s from Norway and wears swim trunks so it’s okay) from a selection of people representing different nations sporting unusual accessories: twirly mustaches, a top hat and a rose between the teeth for the Spaniard; swim goggles and a crazy topknot for the Japanese body builder; or — best of all — a giant afro with a rubber duck sitting on top for the man from Ghana. Whilst making your selection you can view the highlighted body builder (or bear) in all their glory dancing to a Japanese pop-techno beat courtesy of some quality motion capture.

After choosing a character you need to pick a stage: City, Edo (medieval Japan), or Mirai no Futsuu (a future space city). All of the stages play the same with the differences being scenery and the thieves you need to catch. Before the game properly begins a thief is identified and the game begins. The 1st and 2nd thieves differ between stages, but the 3rd is the same for all three: a body builder wearing a skin-tight metallic blue bodysuit with a flat disc on a stalk coming from the top of his head riding on a hoverboard.

The basic set-up is that someone has stolen the protein power belonging to the body builders who then pursue the thief single-file as he races through the stage smashing through walls along the way. You’re at the back of a queue of your fellow body builders and need to match the pattern of the thief in order to follow successfully; if you fail, you’ll smash through but get slowed down. You get a total of five failures before the game ends. The people in front of you will gradually fail and bounce away — telegraphed by showing them slipping on a banana peel just prior to the event. When you’re the last one the action will get more frantic until you’re close enough to chase him down and tackle him. At that point the powder bottle will launch into the air to be caught by someone else and the action will restart with a new queue until the 3rd opponent is nabbed.

The controls are simple and entirely motion-based using both remote and nunchuk. There are four stances used: both arms up, both arms down, left up/right down and right up/left down. You perform these motions by moving the wiimote/nuchuck into the correct position. The sensitivity is good enough that motion is detected quite well, although at the endgame the 3rd thief will start changing motions before smashing through the wall and the transition from left up/right down and the opposite can take long enough that you’ll miss it just because of the signal delay. For the most part the game compensates by allowing for a split second delay right when hitting the wall, but otherwise it’s best to get into the habit of keeping both arms up or down for a quicker transition. Pattern recognition is aided a bit by having unique coloured outlines for the shapes smashed through the walls.

When you’re close enough to catch the thief the game switches from an over-the-shoulder view to side-on and you need to alternate shaking the controllers up and down to race faster and catch him. If you fail to do this there’s more frantic wall smashing until you can get another try.

If you manage to catch all three you’re treated to a scene of your character dancing with the three thieves — definitely worth working for! Helping you out are unlimited continues, but the game doesn’t get any easier so you need to ensure your reflexes are sharp!

In addition to the arcade mode there’s challenge mode where you chase a gold-suited equivalent to the end thief from the arcade game through a series of walls accelerating in speed after each series from 5kph to ??? (the best I’ve managed is 65kph). Your path is a rainbow spiralling up around a giant beanstalk through the clouds and into space — simply amazing. When playing with more than one player the same controllers are used and just handed off to the next player in line. At the end everyone’s score is rated and an aging bodybuilder with a bald head and long white beard gestures frantically at the first place winner’s position in the leaderboard (no initials and no online rankings, sorry).

The visuals are a mix of 3D for the primary characters and environment with a backdrop consisting of 2D bystanders and backgrounds — often with comedic effect (at one point in Edo you’re running through a bamboo forest only to smash through parts of it as if they were brick walls). The soundtrack is crazy sounding J-Pop/club music that speeds up as the gameplay gets faster.

The gameplay is simple and fun with a ludicrous sensibility. Thieves run the gamut from American football players to a samurai wearing a neck ruffle like an operatic Italian clown. It simply must be seen to be believed. If you have the means to get it do so!

Starting up the game it’s clear that Contra ReBirth is an homage to both the original Contra arcade games and games from the consoles of the 8- and 16-bit eras. Contra ReBirth is presented in 4:3 aspect — which is framed for widescreen displays, though it has black pillars rather than flat-panel friendly grey — and has only three menu options: 1 Player Start, 2 Player Start and Options, all in English text just like many classic Japanese console games.

Available options include switchable difficulty and number of lives as well as audio controls and the ability to fully re-map the button actions. You’ll definitely want to adjust the difficulty and number of lives; just like the arcade originals this is an extremely challenging game and despite unlimited continues all but the most seasoned Contra player will need some extra help.

After an intro which shows our hero(es) are on some kind of spacecraft controlled by the evil Kontora organisation/army, you can choose your character from either the American Bill (“Let’s Party!”) or the Japanese Yagyu (“Something in Japanese!”) dressed in blue and red trousers, respectively, but both sporting the signature red headbands Contra heroes are known for. The game is entirely played in a side-scrolling manner with a couple of vertical areas; dispensing with the overhead and over-the-shoulder segments of previous instalments. Run, jump and shoot your way through five stages using either the wiimote, Classic or Gamecube controllers.

An important strategic change from the arcade is the ability to hold two weapons (though this is not the dual-wielding of Contra III on the SNES). The default control for switching between them with wiimote controls is a wiimote shake, but this can be changed to a button press if desired. Special weapons won’t survive a player death in any but the Easy difficulty and there are three besides the stock machine gun: homing missiles, blue lasers and the ever-popular spreader.

All levels of difficulty provide some challenge with more enemies and additional boss attack types being added as difficulty is increased. All stages have at least one sub-boss and then an additional boss. The first two stages aren’t too bad, but the difficulty curve takes a noticeable upward turn at the 3rd stage, which saw me upping my stock of lives from 3 to 7 just to ensure I could clear the Stage 3 boss!

Although five stages may not feel like much content there are two playable characters to unlock as well as a further difficulty level, meaning playthrough of all three difficulty levels at a minimum. The arcade game similarities mean players who like to pursue scores will have their work cut out for them: in the best arcade tradition scores are zeroed out by continuing, though you’re unable to sign initials and there are no WiFi leaderboards to post your scores to. There’s also a 2-player mode that supports simultaneous play to further extend gameplay for people with friends.

The presentation is excellent graphically. As with Gradius ReBirth there is a mix of nicely detailed sprites and 3D rendered objects with sprite-like textures, all of which create the feeling of a late 80s-early 90s arcade game or 16-bit home console game. Music and sound are also complementary with techno-rock tracks that feel perfectly suited to the action.

It really is a nice tribute to a classic gaming franchise which will undoubtedly show up in PAL and NA Wii Shops. Fans of the Contra series and classic arcade gaming generally should be sure to check it out!

The Japanese have a reputation for producing bizarre videogames from time to time and Let’s Zenryoku Hitchhike!!!!!!!!! (yes, nine exclamation points!) is a perfect example of one.

At its heart this is a virtual board game, a genre that appears to be well-represented on the Japanese service. In fact as of this writing a WiiWare version of Game of Life has been the number one downloaded title for a few weeks now and an original board game title with a pop-up book format is also in the top 20 download list.

Given the niche genre this game occupies, it needs to be evaluated a little differently than your normal videogame. After all there are no scores and no leaderboards, any more than there would be for a game of Monopoly or Cluedo: you play until you win, full stop.

The premise (keeping in mind I have next to zero comprehension of spoken Japanese and my reading comprehension is good for kana pronunciation and transcription only) seems to be that a group of four people were having dinner together when suddenly dinosaurs and UFOs showed up out of nowhere. Leaving quickly (as you would) they neglected to pay their tab and the enraged (and psychotic) restaurant owner/chef is pursuing them through a series of four areas.

At the start you choose your character from a selection of people (all of whom have cubes for heads for some reason): a girl with ginger hair in pigtails and an extremely whiny voice, a woman with green hair and three red pom-poms, a young black man with a purple pompadour, a 70’s era sports coat and flares and a middle-aged balding man with a bad comb-over.

The game board consists of a start and goal space linked by a series of face-down “cards” which are turned over after every move. Your character moves one space at a time at which point the game shifts to hitchhiking mode since this is the means of getting to your destination (presumably the diners left their own cars behind in their haste).

After a couple of turns the chef will show up on the board and pursue your character at a rate of one space per turn. If he lands on the same space as your character (or vice versa) it’s game over (though you can restart the level); so your hitchhiking becomes more about fleeing him than getting to any particular destination.

Hitchhiking consists of two parts: using the pointer on the wiimote to choose some form of transport (choice varies from area to area), each of which has a rating in stars which reflects the number of spaces you will travel if you succeed in hitching a ride. There’s a time limit of a few seconds to select from the number of transport options and the transports have small target areas for displaying their stars rating, so you need to choose quickly. After making a choice your transport will move over from the background towards your character.

At this point your character will mime an action with the wiimote and you will have a few seconds in which to try to duplicate that action three times. Each time you get it right you’re assigned a success percentage which causes a gauge to fill under the stars rating for the transport. Your highest rating out of the three attempts will be chosen to reflect how impressed your chosen ride was with your movements. The higher the rating, the more stars fill up and the further you travel. Transports range from 1-5 stars and the wiimote actions vary in difficulty. Of course all this is compounded by wiimote motion detection issues generally, but it works pretty well and means there’s always a bit of uncertainty as to your performance.

After success (or failure) you return to the board view and your character moves ahead (or not). In addition to normal spaces, you may turn up one of two card draws: move card draw and event card draw. In either case you have a choice of five cards to select with the pointer. A move card will result in your character moving forwards or backwards from 1-5 spaces or not moving at all; other cards will either stop the chef from moving or move him an extra space. On an event space you may turn up dinosaurs or UFOs which will then appear in the next hitchhike attempt and get in the way of your pointer when trying to flag down a vehicle.

Reaching the goal means going to the next area and repeating. There are four areas in total: farm, Japan, Dinosaur Island, Moon and the transition is accompanied by a cut scene with dialogue showing the group running to the next area. Each area has different transport choices: trees, cows, tractors and 70s muscle cars on the farm, rikshaws, taxis and police cars in Japan, styracosaurs, tyrannosaurs and pterosaurs on Dino Island and Space Shuttles, UFOs and Ultra Man on the Moon. Reaching the Finish means another cut scene which shows that somehow you’ve won a cash prize; the chef apparently gets paid and in the completion of the circle you’re back in the restaurant and everyone’s happy. The final scene is that of the chef looking psycho again, so is everything truly okay?

The actions in the game range from simply holding the wiimote vertically and thrusting it out in front of you to spinning around 5 times. Clearly the game is going to work best with more than one person and the card draws differ with human opponents: some move draws allow you to move your opponent, whereas one of the events allows you to “paint” the screen during your opponent’s next hitchhike attempt, obstructing their choice of vehicle.

Completing the starting level unlocks an additional difficulty level and completing that one unlocks a 3rd. Each increase in difficulty adds extra spaces to the game board and more challenging motions in the hitchhiking section as well as causing the chef to appear on the board earlier and giving him extra movement spaces. Your game can be saved between areas enabling a game to be picked up later via a choice on the initial menu screen. Furthermore you can play any of the individual areas by themselves on any of the difficulty choices.

The price of 1000 points seems a bit steep for a title that has no more replay value than a game of Monopoly and less possible outcomes, but for the sheer novelty value alone I think it’s worthwhile.

Puzzle Bobble stands alongside Tetris and Puyo Puyo as one of the most iconic puzzle games of all time. It’s had five arcade installments and numerous iterations on consoles and handhelds, so it comes as no surprise to see Puzzle Bobble make an appearance on Nintendo’s WiiWare service.

The core “match 3” goal is simple to grasp and the requirement for precision added by having the player shoot coloured bubbles at patterns of other coloured bubbles makes for a challenging and addictive game. Taito has played it safe and not mucked about with this game as it did Rainbow Islands and the result is much more satisfying for it.

The presentation is the same as with past Puzzle Bobble outings: your character is one of the dinosaurs from Bubble Bobble and you begin at the bottom of an inverted triangle of levels indicated by letters of the Roman alphabet. This means that whilst there are a total of 26 levels you’re only going to play through a half-dozen in a single session — if you’re good enough — which keeps the game fresh upon subsequent replays. If that wasn’t enough there’s a battle mode for playing against another human or against a series of 8 AI players represented by the baddies from the Bubble Bobble game and the option to unlock a further two sets of levels for 200 points each.

After choosing your level you play through a series of boards using one of three control methods (wiimote+nunchuk, wiimote on its side or Classic Controller) to aim a bubble launcher and launch coloured bubbles at ones hanging from the top of the screen arranged in various patterns. The goal is to match three or more of one color which causes them to burst. There are sometimes other objects these bubbles are attached to which may need to be destroyed (by clearing attached bubbles, natch) to clear a level or simply acting as an obstruction.

Clearing levels rapidly grants time-based bonus points and clearing many bubbles at once by clearing bubbles others are hanging from also grants bonus points. After clearing five boards your total score for the level is shown and you’re returned to the level select screen where your dino advances to the spot you chose previously and you get to pick from the next branch of two levels.

In addition to the coloured bubbles you’re trying to match (in a nice touch they all have various Bubble Bobble baddies inside them which can be seen moving about) there are three special bubbles: a rainbow bubble which sticks to other bubbles and changes to the colour of any attached bubble that bursts (useful in creating chains), a flame bubble that destroys any bubbles or other objects it touches and a star bubble that busts all bubbles matching the colour of the one it touches. All of these add to game strategy as does the ability to bounce bubbles off of walls billiards-style to get your bubbles into just the right spot.

Of course the game starts out at a leisurely pace, but each shot is timed; if you take too long the bubble will launch of its own accord. In addition some levels begin with bubbles quite low down and precision is required right from the outset. If you’re unable to make chains that remove bubbles from the playfield you’ll find bubbles extending down to the bottom where your character is. If the bubbles extend below the line at the bottom the game is over. In addition to the other pressures indicated, the platform the bubble are attached to at the top of the screen will slowly descend over time for added challenge.

Battle mode is a best of three match with changeable parameters that control the number of colours featured, whether or not bubbles automatically decend from above over time or are added from below when your opponent clears bubbles (or both), and whether or not the level starts out with special bubbles or non-bubble obstacles. For the single player the AI opponent can be quite challenging; the game automatically progresses in series through the different enemy characters giving the opportunity to change the conditions to enhance the difficulty before each bout. Given that Puzzle Bobble games featuring more than two players have been produced in the past, it seems a bit odd that the Wii of all platforms only has a two player mode, but possibly this is to avoid too much overlap with the Puzzle Bobble disc game.

The weakest part of the package is the high score tables. For a game that puts so much focus on score (your score resets if you dare to continue a game) not recording player names or even providing profiles seems a glaring omission. The top 5 scores and the level reached (or opponents defeated in the Battle Mode ranking table) are all recorded; it would have been nice to at least be able to put your name up, let alone have a WiFi leaderboard like Bubble Bobble Wii does.

The core game itself is solid and hasn’t been altered in execution. The numerous branching paths, choice of three difficulty levels and Battle Mode means you get a good amount of play for the initial 800 point investment; the unlockable content effectively adds two more single player games making it excellent value for points. Wi-Fi would have been nice as would the Story Mode and numerous characters from the arcade games, but hopefully we’ll see those in the Virtual Console Arcade someday. Puzzle Bobble Wii is a classic puzzle game that anyone should be able to enjoy and I’m sure many people will be looking forward to a release of this title in North America and PAL territories.

Every once in a while I see something new on the Japanese WiiWare service and feel it’s worth a punt. Something about it just grabs me. It was true of Pole’s Big Adventure from Sega and it’s even more true about this game.

Immediately I was struck with a little bit of deja vu: the overall look and “vibe” of the game reminded me of a game I enjoyed, but had forgotten about on the Sony Playstation called Intelligent Qube, though really other than a superficial design similarity and the fact they both involve cubes they have nothing in common.

The central goal of You, Me and Shape is to throw little men and women onto a cube whilst keeping it balanced. Like all great puzzle games this simple mechanic has layers of complexity built upon it that makes it challenging and small details which resolve into a compelling package.

There are a total of six levels in the game subdivided into six stages each of which is a series six cube challenges (we’re courting dark forces here…dark forces of puzzle addiction!). The game is played using three core actions:

1. Shake the wiimote to “load” the people into it — only two at a time (in two player mode it’s one each)

2. Use the pointer to select where to place your person and confirm with the A button (repeat for the second one — the other player does this in two player mode)

3. Flick the wiimote in an overhand fashion to fling the people at their target locations (both are launched at once; in two player each player launches their person separately).

If the people land perfectly balanced a female voice will tell you you’ve made a “good move” and Kewbie (the cube with a face in the top centre of the screen) will smile. If your move was less than good the cube will start to tilt and the little people will lose their footing and start to slide off the cube surface. Every one that falls off subtracts five seconds from your timer — the total time and number of people required on the cube to complete the challenge is indicated at the start of each challenge. If you still need more people on your cube you need to repeat the actions above to put more people on the cube. If balanced people land near unbalanced ones they will help them to their feet or pull them up from ledges.

Each cube challenge in a game adds another cube to the existing single one that every stage starts out with. You need to have at least one person on each cube surface regardless of the total required to end the challenge. This will be highlighted if you meet the required number but have one cube surface vacant by the vacant surface glowing red. When you meet the target number of people required for the challenge the symbol in the upper right portion of the screen will say “JUDGE” and a 3 second countdown will happen. If none of your people fall off the cube during the countdown the challenge is over and the cube will rotate 90 or more degrees so the current surface will now become the side.

Any people who have their balance will sit down on the surface and stick to it as it rotates. Any that don’t have their footing will fall off into the surrounding void with a little squeak. The people on all surfaces after the sixth challenge will turn into white doves and fly away and represent your point total. This is then recorded along with the date and indicated on the stage selection screen via a box within the box representing the stage which will be larger or smaller depending on how close it is to the goal for each stage. Clearing all stages in a given level results in some visual special effects and music. The effect of the stage select screen with its neon moving squares is quite pleasing and is part of the attention to detail that makes this game so appealing.

Adding to the challenge of the levels is being forced to periodically throw a shiro (white) ninge into the thick of things. The shiro ninge will attempt to shove your red and blue people off the cube or otherwise destabilise them until you can send other people over to eliminate them.

Finally, there are special cubes which appear in higher levels:

1. cubes with numbers on different sides which represent the maximum number of people that can be on that surface (attempt to add extras and they all bounce off)

2. cubes with a trampoline section in the middle that people will bounce off of if flung there

3. cubes with a moving green interior section that will cause all people on the entire structure to bounce once if people land on that part

4. cubes which have a yellow electric pulse that shocks people that land on them during the pulse (knocking them off if they’re close enough to the edge)

5. cubes which have a pink pulse that bounces people off of them if they land during the pulse

6. cubes that freeze everything for a few seconds when a people lands on them.

7. small cubes that rotate around others and push people aside in their path.

All told there’s a lot of gameplay and two choices of subtle ambient music for background. Developer Fyto have delivered a game I’m sure many will enjoy on the Wii when it finally appears in North America and PAL territories. Despite calls by fans for franchise sequels I’m happy Nintendo is publishing original content like this on the Wii.