Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - Read!

The wait was long and relentless, leaving millions of veterans salivating at the prospect of a sequel.

A sequel to what?

only the best smash-em-up, Super Smash Brothers.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl has finally reached all game-savvy Wii owners..
..in the US..
Thanks to some first-rate importing and royal mail, (oh god i love you), I have managed to be one of the first in the UK to Brawl.
was my year-and-a-half-of-religiously-checking-the-official-website-for-updates wait ever so slightly worth it?

read on!



If you're familiar with the previous games, the overall concept doesn't differ particularly in basic objective - Fighting other players on themed stages and rack up points by smashing opponents out the ring.

The tradition of newcomer characters from other games from Nintendo is upheld, but this time with a few exceptions (i'll explain later). Every character uses unique Smash attacks, specials, and techniques, (previous installments had move sets which means a couple of characters using the same moves as each other). The use of Items that spawn randomly help you fend off your title as head brawler, like guns, bombs, slashing or throwing items, or special ones.

If you are smash veteran, such as yours truly, all that should be obvious. There are so many differences!!! Not too many to ruin the game, but enough to enhance and preserve the integrity, playabilty and smashability. Certain things i'll elaborate on more such as Final Smashes, Stage Builder, new items, the Subspace emissary and most importantly, the addition of some of the coolest characters possible!

In reference to new items, one of the most notable is the Assist Trophy - (summoning a player from another game to assist you and fights your enemies for a short period, includes: Andross, Shadow the hedgehog etc).



And now the important matter of Smash Balls and the Final Smash. These are basically a massive attack, possibly smashing all on-screen competitors - very awesome.



Veteran players will notice subtle differences in veteran characters, in subtle ways. Nothing major, but still cool.

Trophies. these are an already established part of smash bros where the trophies are collected and sport endless Nintendo Trivia and history. Trophy Designs vary form pat/present characters, items, vehicles and even the trophy base is a trophy.... geddit? collecting them all is a dauntin, but fun challenge. there are around six hundred, nearly double the amount in Melee! Also, Instead of a "slot machine" to gain more trophies, the 'Coin Launcher' makes a debut. A fun mini-game in which you shoot coins at passing by trophies and targets obtain them, and also coin bonuses.



Along with trophies, stickers are now another excuse for mindless collecting! They can be used in Brawl's Subspace Emissary (like Paper Mario's many badges).
not entirely necessary, but still aesthetically pleasing.



Brawl boasts the only Full story mode of any Smash Bros. to date, the Subspace Emissary, boasting surprisingly good graphics for a Wii title.
Full to the brim with awesome, the SSE is almost like one long, playable movie, alternating seamlessly between cutscenes and side-scrolling adventure or brawling. Above the hierarchy of easily-smashable goons are bosses that span a wide spectrum of already established, powerful characters, such as, (without spoiling too much), Rodley of Metroid fame, Rayquaza from Pokémon, and the fearsome Petey Piranha.



If the Puzzle-esque feel of Zelda Games tickles your fancy, then SSE caters for you too! It is not only fun, but also a great way to discover most of the hidden characters without going through other, long alternatives.

One of the most tantalising points to this game is of course, the Amazing amount of Characters to collect! What I love is how all the new characters bring a certain flare and their own unique play styles, which considerably makes the whole SSBB experience so much richer. The Pokémon Trainer, a new character who utilises three different Pokémon during the match, like a rotation. Captain Olimar (Pikmin) who is fearfully assisted by many Pikmin creatures, is another addition.
those are just two.

And I don't want to spoil.

But the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake are characters that will surely entice.





The Brawl Soundtrack is one of the most amazingly ground-braking soundtracks of all time, with no exceptions. The line-up of musicians span some of the most innovative composers and musicians, who have all worked on previous nintendo classics. Nearly all the tracks are fully orchestrated, without a MIDI tune in sight - (well, you musn't include the classics.. although - many of those have been remastered and now sound even better). You can collect the songs as you go, they'll apear in stage like this:



Lets talk Wifi. the online mode is extremely good, boating a friend roster, and it's even possible to play home run contests with friends! for those (like me) bieng too far ahead of the game to know anyone else with Brawl - (thought a quick and subtle boast was needed.... nyeh nyeh), there is a "fight against anyone" selection. Slight lag occasionally creeps in, which can be the difference between victory and defeat, but there should be no substitute for skill!



In summary, if you have a Wii, this is a must. there's nothing better.
For the general public i'd say 97%.
Personally, 100% wouldn't do it justice..

The Warriors (PS2)

Can you count suckas?

Playstation 2 is old news, it has taken it's obligatory role in the history books as one of the most versatile 2nd gen consoles. This is not to say, however, that the games aren't good. I still buy old (ish) PS2 games and still have immense fun, just for around a tenner per game.
Before I divulge my opinion on this game, I must ask the following:
1- Have you watched the movie?
2- Have you played/ do you enjoy the Grand Theft Auto series?
3- looking for big maps and versatile game-play?
4- Gangs & violence your thing?

Even if the answer to all of these is no, it's still worth checking out.
Stealing car radios, gang-fights, muggings, drug-taking, tagging.. this is madness! It manages to incorporate all the fun aspects of GTA, but has a more down-to-earth, gritty, sluggin-it-out-on-the-street-corner-to-build-our-rep kind of flow.
This makes for a more petty-crime, vandalism and drug-induced game, which is true to the movie.

The controls are easy, analog running, square and X attacks and triangle to pick up items and perform various tasks. My favourite is circle, which sees your character fling his body towards an opponent to tackle them to the ground, (useful for muggings)!

There is a vast wealth of characters, around 10 gangs with many members and nearly ANYTHING can be used as a weapon, from bottles to bins and bats and even people!

As you might have guessed, the graphics are a PS2 standard, but it does not deter from the fact that the game play makes up for it. big time.

I have not tried out the co-op story as of yet, but I presume that just means more fun to be had, eh? I have, however tried my luck with the brawl arena, which is basically a slugfest, in which you choose your own character to fight with.

For the price, (around £10 nowadays), this is worth giving a look. If it is not your cup of tea, then i'm not sure what to say - (this is a must for GTA fans)

And with that, i'm left with the score to deal with..

A fair, 89%. Can you dig it?

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Super Mario Galaxy, lets start with the bad news.
It makes every other game you've ever played, crap by comparison. I mean, since the last True Mario platform experience, (that title belonging to the one and only Mario 64, 10 years ago), what have we been doing? Im sure the majority of the gaming population slipped into a dull fixation with mediocre video games and gruellingly savage button bashers.

If what you have seen of it so far confuses you, here's all you need to know: it's Super Mario 64, back to basics. Of course there are minor changes, no attack button etc, but they are by no means set-backs of any sort. This the rightful successor to the N64 classic's throne. Scepter and all. The basic formula remains the similar: you'll go into a world, find the hidden stars, unlock new areas and missions, and inevitably thwart Bowser's plans to rescue good ol' Peach.

The game play is nothing short of revolutionary. The levels, or 'galaxies', consist of a huge network of buzzing planets to explore. The go on forever. Some planets built solely for the purpose of one joke or one puzzle, e.g one the shape of Yoshi's Head. I would never dream of spoiling any more of this game for you, as it would be essentially robbing you of the delight and crys of excitement that will break your skull on exit when you first experience this true classic. Preppare to meet all the sling pods, sweet sweets, junk toys, loopdeloops & melty molten spaces that you can shake a stick at.

Until your first delightful romp on this game, you will never have experienced the true meaning of gravity or the third dimension, (and probably the fourth)!

Can you imagine the immense pressure Nintendo must have been under? I mean the initial challenge of making an adequate follow-up to Mario 64 is enough to make any hardcore gamer weep. That's the traditions of two decades of Mario games and the expectations of millions of dribbling, anticipating fans we're talking here.

This is a mind-bogglingly unique masterpiece but it seems a shame that another decade might need to go by before we'll know whether it will come to be as revered as 64 did. Until then, guess what i'll be playing?

99%. I mean COME ON!!!!!!

~P

Two Worlds (360)

In this day and age its a fact, Games being created now are getting better and better, Graphics wise, gameplay wise and an immersive experience. So why oh why have the German producers of this game decided it would be a good idea to leap back five years to original xbox standards.
mind you this game isnt all bad i will sum up its good point in a sentence, Its an RPG with swords and monsters. there thats about it.
now onto the considerable list of terrible things about this game, graphics looks like they have been ported from an xbox version of Morrowind (great game) then cut, shredded, repasted and churned into something that if you squint resembles a steriotypical [insert RPG character of choice here].
The voice acting is often a joke with the creators thinking lets try ye olde english in a hope that this will make it resemble medieval times, with such words as forsooth, verily, and rickerbound its hard not to cry when playing this game.
This game could of been so much better, as the hype would have you believe it was the next Oblivion, but unfortunately for the studios hype is often your worsed enemy. If this game may of just arrived in shops i may have enjoyed it more thinking it was just another bland adventure rpg but know it tried to be the next big thing.
Steer well clear of this game at all cost even if you are a rpg nut like me just leave it be and maybe the world will swallow it up and it will be forgotten like a nasty dream.

Positives:
It makes me laugh.

Negatives:
Do i need to continue?

Overview: A waste of time and money, dont even play if given for free as its contents may soil the beauty of your console.

Score: 15%


Forsooth and such (WHY OH GOD WHY?)

~D

Find me in The Club.

The Club, where do i begin. this is a multi format game for PS3 and Xbox 360 although most of my reviews will be on 360 as that is what i play 'em on. Bang straight from the go the club hits you like a smack round the mouth, its hard punching adrenaline taking fun!.
now The Club is not your usual FPS or Ghost Reacon - protect the country, have a good storyline blah blah blah. this is old school arcade fun at its greatest.
it might not be for everyone as its mainly down to stringing combos together and racking up high scores, mostly done by killing an enemy get points for head-shot run kill next enemy before combo meter runs out, dive through window get more points. It drives you to get gold in every event, There's 8 characters to choose from 6 at the beginning, and 2 to unlock, each with there strengths and weaknesses - so if your attempting insane difficulty level for the first time, its best to use Dragunov, the huge russian tank - slow, but packs a punch, or Adjo the Rasterfarian hitman with a lot of stamina. Choose a character that suits your play style and go for it. This is a no holds barred hardcore experience.
Dare you enter The Club?

Positives:
Addictive score chasing fun.
Tons of replay value.
Unique characters.

Negatives:
Not everyones cup of tea.
if you can't handle pressure and fast gameplay steer clear.

Overview:
grab a coke, sit down and let your trigger finger do the talking.

Total: 86%

~D

Spiderman 3 (Wii, PS2)

Much Like GTA, but with web-slinging & no real violence, comes Spiderman 3.
Having not owned either 1 or 2, I was driven to purchase 3 solely out of curiosity and boredom, and after much deliberation, sided with the Wii version over the PS2, being the only consoles I owned.
This is how it panned out, having played for nine minutes.

minute 1. New game, anticipation, ok, reading the instructions.
minute 2. Oh god these Movie sequences are horribly rendered, if at all.
minute 3. TUTORIAL MAN NEEDS TO CHILL
minute 4. running around, now to try web slinging.
minute 5. You mean I have to literally swing my arms to web sling..?
minute 6. My arms are sore and I cant work this out
minute 7. First Glitch, the sky is on the floor.
minute 8. My arms have fallen off, this is horribly put together.
minute 9. ready to trade in.

this horrified me somewhat, as i have never tried a game so rushed and unthoughtover.

I think this is the one problem with the Wii: Games Developers believe that the motion-based controls should somewhat take part fully in how you play.
A great example of how it should be sees Zelda: Twilight Princess take the limelight. you flick your wrist ever so slightly to do regular sword attacks. that excersize I CAN DO.

So, After reluctantly flailing around like many-a-headless chicken for nine excruciating minutes, I listened to my logic and opted for the PS2 version.

Telling the assistants I hadn't touched the game, but was considering trading the formats, they where swift to oblige and set me on my way.

Now this I liked, button bashing to take out the many, many, many... many thugs and police warnings thrown my way.
It was all like this:

Graphics: Very good for PS2 I thought.
Gameplay: Consistant, mainly because you see yourself repeating the many menial tasks set by the NYPD.
Story: Having to beef up the enemy bench significantly meant excruciatingly random camios and attempts at an intertwining story line.

In conclusion, a justified 12% on Wii, and 58% on PS2.

~P

WELCOME FROM DPG

well hello there guys gals, gamers and non gamers (if your not a gamer why your on here is bizzare really) anyways.
check it out for our view on games, whats hot and whats plain old sucks!
and basically a rating system based out of 100%
my my my arnt we clever, anyways thats it.
DPG Out.

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