random.geek() » Wii

No More Heroes

Ben Coleman — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:44:33 +0000

No More Heroes is a Wii game directed by Suda51 and devloped by Grasshopper – the same team that did Killer7.

This game is a shambles.

If you stop for a second, and look past the wannabe pop art stylings, the “crazy” dialog, the fact the game thinks it’s being dangerous and different, you will find…
An incredibly poor game underneath it all.
If this wasn’t a Suda 51 game then it would have been panned.

It plays, looks and feels like a 3rd rate budget Dreamcast game, or some fan made GTA clone with a sub-standard fighting engine tacked on.

100% pure style over substance.

I can see now why it got a 9 in Edge, and no that doesn’t mean it’s any good; the total opposite. It’s just the sort of arty wank they lap up.

Geometry Wars Galaxies

Ben Coleman — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:18:38 +0000

First impressions…

The Wiimote control scheme is a bit rubbish – far less precise than the dual stick method. I mean you can get by with it, but soon as things become hectic (and lets face it – this game is all about hectic) it falls down. Thank god for the ability to use the Wii Classic Controller. I read somewhere that Sierra have claimed to get their best scores with the Wiimote control method – I find that very hard to believe.

It also suffers slightly from the lower resolution of the Wii. Part of the appeal of Retro Evolved on the Xbox 360 was the ultra-crisp vector like graphics. Now it all seems a bit of a “smush” at times (again when it gets busy)

But the game is still fun – of course, but overall it feels like the Wii wasn’t the natural home for this. I’d have been much happier to have seen this released on the 360…
Still can’t complain too much for £18.

Kororinpa

Ben Coleman — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:34:02 +0000

Just finished Kororinpa on the Wii. No great achievement; as the game is fairly easy and very short. But that’s no bad thing. I bought this game knowing it wasn’t an epic, and so what – it’s a superb little game. It’s kinda like Marble Madness mixed with Super Monkey Ball, the game is controlled by tilting the Wiimote which in turn tilts the maze. Sat in the maze is a ball – roll the ball to the exit, collecting crystals as you go. Simple as that, it’s not going to win any awards for story or originality but it’s fun to play, the levels are very well designed and well it’s just nice!

Sometimes you need little games like this, fingers crossed for a sequel.

Mario Galaxy – Finished

Ben Coleman — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:46:09 +0000

I completed Super Mario Galaxy the other night, well when I say completed I defeated Bowser; which requires getting 60 stars, and there are 242 in total to find!

Anyhow, since finishing it I’ve grown a lot fonder of it. I can sort of look back at it now and see all of the magic they packed in. Still not completely bowled over by it, but I think I’m going to be looking back on this in a years time with a much more affectionate view than I had when playing.

Dunno how much I’ll persevere with getting all the extra stars, I’ll see how I feel.

Super Mario Galaxy

Ben Coleman — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:02:15 +0000

Bit behind the pack on this one I know….
Well I picked up the game on release, at the “special” release event in Oxford Street (which was basically a queue to buy the game and little more) but I held off starting the game until just before Christmas as I wanted to save it.

It’s a fantastic game, amazing in fact (in comparison to most of the drivel out there) but I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed. A lot of people are raving about this game and claiming it’s the best game ever, lavishing it with masses of praise and superlatives. It’s good, it’s very good – but is it “best game ever” material? well hmmmm, sadly I’m not getting that vibe from it.

Take Zelda: Ocarina of Time (generally regarded as one of the greatest games of all time) this game has really stuck with me, I remember it very fondly, the whole game seemed epic, had a legendary feel to it. You were part of this amazing story.

Super Mario Galaxy is great fun, and it’s polished to sheen, but at times it feels like a series of mini-games; lots of 10 minute blasts of concentrated fun, but where is that “epic” feel?

Wii – Great console apart from the bugs

Ben Coleman — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:06:05 +0000

I got a Wii shortly before Christmas and it’s a great little machine, with lots of sweet features; one being the “Virtual Console”. This is essentially an emulator for the NES, SNES, Megadrive and PC-Engine with games you can download at a small cost. Nice.

However this brilliant feature doesn’t work on many people’s TVs when using the component cables (as any HDTV owning person should be). It seems when the Wii emulates certain old systems the signal being sent to the TV isn’t compatible and the TV refuses to show it. It only affects PAL models of the Wii (that’s why the internet is not aflame with reports of this) so far Nintendo Europe is ignoring the problem. Good work guys, a potentially brilliant feature ruined by poor and lazy implementation.

This forum thread has lots more details – http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=147964