Review: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

REVIEW
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
Nintendo DS
Nintendo


Pokemon is the best selling series in the history of video games. Starting with Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow and Green(Japan), this series has sky-rocketed to popularity. This time around, you are exploring the region known as Sinnoh. There are plenty of new Pokemon, and more adventures to explore.

Pokemon Diamond or Pearl starts out as any Pokemon adventure would, with getting your first Pokemon. This time, you get to start with either Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup, and you have your first battle with it. Professor Rowan’s daughter or son comes to tell you to stop by the lab to return the Pokemon. After you exit the forest, You spot Rowan and his child, and Rowan discovered you used the Pokemon in his suitcase. You go to his lab, and he gives you a Pokedex. You then start your fantastic journey in Sinnoh! But, there is also a secret organization manipulating Pokemon to get one of the Legendaries, and will stop at nothing to get it. You must stop them along your journey.

The gameplay is the same as the other games. If you are a veteran player, you already know about what happens in the game. For the new people coming to the series, you wander around Sinnoh, battling Trainers with your Pokemon. A Pokemon is a creature who, depending on its type, has special attacks. People use them as friends, some use them for battling. Either way, you have them, and you can do whatever you want with them.

The goal of the game is to battle and defeat Gym Leaders, the few Trainers who are chosen to battle other Trainers to see if they are fit to enter the Pokemon League. The Pokemon League is where you get to battle the strongest Trainers in Sinnoh, along with the Pokemon Champion. Early on in the game, you get Running Shoes. This makes travelling much easier, until you get your bicycle. The Sprites are bigger than the game’s predecessor, FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald for the Game Boy Advance. The buildings give off a very 3-D look, which looks very cool. It doesn’t look that different from the other games.

In battle, the top screen takes care of the action, while the Touch Screen has all the action buttons. The buttons are large enough so you can use your fingers to select the command. The battle graphics are a bit of a step up from the previous games. There are new actions for some of the attacks.

The game also has loads of other stuff you can do before and after you beat the game. There is the Underground, which is a underground terrain where you can set up your own base, and dig for treasure. Since each of you can have a base, you can also play Capture the Flag. Your friend can also lay down some traps to block you from getting their flag.

Once you get to Hearthome City, you can participate in Contests. These are the same contests that are in the previous games, but are enhanced for Diamond and Pearl. They now utilise the Touch Screen, and are a great pair. For example, in the Dress-Up Contest, you now use the Touch Screen to put some items on your Pokemon.

After you beat the Elite Four and get the National Dex, you will get to access Pal Park. Pal Park is a place where you get to re-capture your Pokemon from the previous games up to Ruby and Sapphire. When you get access to Pal Park, you just select the “Transfer from whatever game in the GBA slot”, choose your Pokemon, and go recapture them in Pal Park. The only restriction is that the Pokemon you are transferring can’t have any HM move, so you have to go to the Move Deleter in the game.

One of the biggest aspects of this game is that it supports the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Before Wi-Fi, to battle other people, you would have to go over to someone’s house to play them. Not anymore. If you have a wireless router, or a Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector, you will be able to battle or trade someone anywhere, anytime. The game recommends you have one Friend Code to go on Wi-Fi. Once you have someone, and they are on Wi-Fi the same time as you, you can Voice Chat, Battle or Trade.

Also, you can go to a building in Jubilife City that lets you trade Pokemon with anyone in the world. This is called GTS. You go into the GTS, and you choose the Pokemon that you want, and if you have the Pokemon they ask for, at the specified level, you can get the Pokemon. The only setback is that you need to see the Pokemon first before you can get it.

The game features a lot of Legendaries, both accessible and non-accessible. The accessible Legendaries are Dialga, Palkia, Heatran, Giratina, Cresselia, Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie. The Non-Accessible ones are Shaymin, Darkrai and Arceus, the god of all Pokemon.

Overall, this game is really fun, arguably one of the best Pokemon games out there. It makes great use of all the Nintendo DS’ functions, and has great replay value. Catching them all has never been this fun.

Gameplay: 9
Story: 6
Graphics: 8
Controls: 9.5
Re-playability: 9
Tilt: 8

Spikes17’s Score: 9.5/10

Labels: June, News by Sorixas, review

posted by Sorixas @ 5:40 p.m. , ,

Review: Wii Play
Thursday, May 3, 2007

REVIEW
Wii Play
Wii
Nintendo

Everyone who has bought a Wii, or anyone who knows about the Wii, knows that it came bundled with a game called Wii Sports. This game showed off the wonderful things that the Wii remote can do. This time, Nintendo has put together 9 minigames, put it in a box with another Wii remote, and shipped it off to the mass market. This jamboree of fun minigames is called Wii Play.

The start-up is the same, the wrist strap warning, the start-up, press a-b to continue, the Mii set-up, the whole nine yards. Once you’ve done all that, you are presented to the Wii Play menu. Your Mii that you have chosen stands in the middle of the screen, surrounded by game choices. There is Shooting Range, Find Mii, Ping Pong, Pose Mii, Laser Hockey, Billiards, Fishing, Charge!, and Tanks. Staring with Shooting Range, you have to play each minigame until you have unlocked them all, but it doesn’t take much time. Once you have them all, you can start earning medals. The medals range from bronze, silver, gold and platinum.

The games are actually fun, sometimes. I when I say sometimes, I mean things like sensing errors that make the games kind of annoying. In billiards, you have to pull back the Wii-mote, while holding the B trigger. After that, you have to make a forward gesture to shoot the ball, while letting go of the B button. The stick doesn’t go back all the way, and when you try to shoot, it only inches, resulting in a foul. It get really annoying, and takes away from the good experience.

The rest of the games are the same, just as the names suggest, except for Charge! You have to ride a cow down a speedway by tilting the Wii-mote forward and left and right to go, well, left and right. I haven’t got used to the controls yet, so I can’t comment on that game yet.

Multiplayer is actually pretty fun. You chose your characters, and as you win or lose, your character shrinks, depending if you are winning or losing.
The games are actually funner with 2 people, just like it always has been with multiplayer games. The games change according to the players playing.

Wii Play plays and feels like a tech demo from E3, but funner. The games get harder as you progress, and the gameplay helps you understand the Wii Remote more.

Gameplay: 7
Story: 0
Graphics: 7
Controls: 8.5
Re-playability: 9
Tilt: 7.5

Spikes17's Score: 8/10

Labels: May, News by Sorixas, review, Wii

posted by Sorixas @ 7:52 p.m. , ,

Review: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

REVIEW
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red and Blue
Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance
Nintendo

Pokemon is one of the most popular and well-known series in the world. As you know, the object is to beat all of the Gym trainers by leveling up your Pokemon and gaining new ones. The latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red and Blue, Red for Game Boy Advance and Blue for the Nintendo DS, strays a little bit from the Pokemon franchise.

The story starts out with a kid who is somehow turned into a Pokemon and is thrust into a new world only inhabited by Pokemon. Another Pokemon comes up to you and helps you out by becoming your friend. Then you hear of some disturbances from a mother Butterfree saying that her child fell down a hole. You and your friend go to save the child. You find out that ever since you have been here, there have been some reports of Pokemon getting trapped in caves. You and your partner decide to become a Rescue Team, to help other Pokemon in need.

The game play is much different than the real Pokemon games. At the beginning of the game, the game asks you questions that will lead to a Pokemon. If you don’t like it, then you can go back to see if you can get the Pokemon that you want. You can choose from Bulbasaur, Charmander, Chikorita, Cubone, Cyndaquil, Eevee, Machop, Meowth, Mudkip, Pikachu, Psyduck, Skitty, Squirtle, Torchic, Totodile and Treecko. For your partner, the list differs, but the characters are still well-rounded. If you work hard, you can get all of the Pokemon in the world, all 386 of them.

Of course, by the side of story Rescues, there are also Jobs. Jobs are rescue missions that will give you stuff like gummies and Poke Dollars and other prizes. The places where the Pokemon that have joined your Rescue Team, either from winning a boss battle, or defeating them in a dungeon, reside in areas called Friend Areas. Depending on where the Pokemon is from, they will go to their own Friend Area, with other Pokemon from that area. The dungeon are also scattered in the Pokemon world, each different from another and each time you go into one. Only rarely does the same dungeon repeat itself. There is also a place called Pokemon Square, where you can buy or deposit items, store items, buy Friend Areas, re-learn moves and deposit and retrieve money. Also there is a place for evolution, but you have to beat the main game for that to happen.

In dungeons, there are basically tunnels that lead to stairs that either get you to the top or bottom of the dungeon, it depends on which dungeon it is. Lots of Pokemon reside in these catacombs. The battling mechanism is very different from other Pokemon games, because you can battle in real time. The main attack is basically a Tackle move. In addition, you have Moves and PP, and also items. In most dungeons there are boss battle, which are mostly Major Pokemon, like Rayquaza and Groudon and Kyogre.

Of course, you can also faint in a dungeon. Well, what do you do? Whenever you faint, you lose most of the items that you have collected! And what if you are at a high level of the dungeon that can go up to 99 floors? Well, since you can link up the GBA and the DS, or GBA to GBA and so forth, you can rescue someone from the dungeon! For the GBA, you have to use passwords, but with GBA to DS, you just load the GBA into the 2nd slot on the DS, and you can go save them. This is very cool and easy to use, although typing in passwords can be a lengthy process, especially if you mess up, and have to re-type it all over again.

The replay value is not very good, especially when you have beaten the game. Once you get all the Pokemon, all you can do is run around the dungeons and battle enemies and get stronger. It is pretty cool playing as one of the Legendaries, but that effect wears off pretty fast.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a good game, with some room for improvement. It can provide hours of fun, and is very colourful and lengthy.


Gameplay: 8.5
Story: 7
Graphics: 7
Controls: 6
Re-playability: 8
Tilt: 7

Spikes17's Score: 7.5/10

Labels: Game Boy Advance, March, News by Sorixas, Nintendo DS, review

posted by Sorixas @ 9:31 p.m. , ,

Review: WarioWare: Twisted
Saturday, March 24, 2007

REVIEW
WarioWare: Twisted
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo


Wario is back, in a new micro minigame frenzy, this time using amazing new Gyro technology is his new game, WarioWare Twisted! Hang on tight, this will be a rollercoaster of fun!

The storyline is that Wario wakes up from a good night’s sleep. He has his trusty Game Boy Advance at his side, and starts to play it. He loses at the game, gets angry and chucks it at the wall, which clocks him in the head. He sees that his Game Boy is all broken, and goes to see Dr. Crygor to see if he can fix it. Crygor throws it in this washing machine type thing called the “Gravitator”. In a second, some white-oval type things with a single screen start to pop out of the machine. Wario looks at it. He tries to play it, but he can’t. Crygor says to spin the game to play it. Wario tries it again, and he likes it. Mona and 9-Volt suddenly pop in, and discover the game. They start playing the game, and love it. Wario, once again, has a sneaky idea to sell this new inventions and, once again, get big bucks.

The main menu has 4 places to go: Spindex, Story, Souvenirs and Options. The Spindex is where all the games go. The story, souvenirs and the options are self-explanatory. The storylines are still random: Wario has a mouse problem, Mona has a Pizza Dinosaur problem, Jimmy T. has a cell phone problem, and so forth. Everyone from the past games has a stage, with the addition of the Wario clock, which is basically all of Wario’s games with a time limit. The Elevator this time is a monkey. There is Surprise Tower, Twitchy Tower (the games start out fast) and Survival Tower (with one life).

The games are always super-fast, with the exception of Orbulon, whose games are double the speed of the other games. Wario Clock’s games go on as long as you have time still on the clock. This game does not make use of the control pad, but it makes use of the new Gyro sensor. This Gyro sensor can pick up movement, so if you twist the Game Boy, the game will react to it. It also has rumble that you can turn on and off from the Options. The game is very fun just because of the tilt sensor, but like all WarioWare games, it does get a little boring. Though this game is a bit of an exception. I find myself going back to it even after I’ve beaten the whole game. It takes a little bit to get all the games, and you have to beat all the games in the Spindex to get a special prize, but its still fun.

The souvenirs are plentiful. There are over 50 souvenirs to collect. The categories are Records, Instruments, Figurines, Games, Doodads, Toys and Other. You can collect souvenirs after you beat the bosses or get to a certain point in Monkey stages. Some are there for music, other are there for entertainment, and others are there just randomly. I occasionally go back to these souvenirs just for the music. The other souvenirs are kind of fun, but some are just pointless.

Overall, I think that WarioWare: Twisted is a really good game. It makes great use of the Gyro sensor, and is among the best in the WarioWare series.

Gameplay: 9.5
Story: 7
Graphics: 6
Controls: 9
Re-playability: 8
Tilt: Yes/ 10

Spikes17’s Score: 9/10

Labels: Game Boy Advance, March, News by Sorixas, review, Spikes17

posted by Sorixas @ 9:01 p.m. , ,

Review: WarioWare: Touched
Thursday, March 15, 2007

REVIEW
WarioWare: Touched!
DS
Nintendo


As most of you know, Wario and his bunch of wacky characters have been scheming and making up microgames the world over. They are usually short, but incredibly zany. Well, I’ve got a review for this crazy and fun game.

Basically, the game starts out with Wario buy-ahem-stealing 2 Game Boy Advance systems, and what does he do? He trips and chucks them down a manhole. A creepy old man pops up from the manhole, and asks Wario if he had dropped the 2 game systems, or this totally bizarre one. Of course being Wario, he steals both of them. He looks at the bizarre one, and sees that it has 2 screens! He tries to play it, but it has no buttons! He gets angry and shakes it up and down until this “stylus” type thing pops out of it. He pokes the bottom screen, and he has a blast playing it. He decides to go and sell this new toy and get big bucks!

The storyline is basically the same as the previous WarioWare games. The same characters, with 2 new ones, named Ashley and her assistant named Red, and Mike the Robot. As always, 9-Volt and 18-Volt have retro games, accustomed to the Touch Screen. Mike’s stages all use the DS’s microphone for input for these games. The games range from unrolling toilet paper to blowing balloons to splitting a log in half. As many people know, the microgames last from about 5 to 10 seconds. The games also blend 2-D and 3-D. Most of the stages are 2-D with some 3-D stages. The graphics are still pretty good, for the DS. The game doesn’t make use of the DS’s true capabilities, though. On the main menu, all the characters that you have unlocked walk around on a blue background, until you tap them to play the microgame, or tap "arrange" to make the icons line up in neat lines. Orbulon doesn't have his own stage, but he does pass by to drop off new souvenirs and to drop off souvenirs that you have plucked onto the main menu.

The game has a really good replay value, if you want to go back to play it. It kind of loses its appeal after a while of playing it. The microgames are still crazy, no matter how many times you play it.
The games kind of get boring after a while, and doesn't have that same "wow!-what's-going-to-happen?" kind of feeling that you get when you first play the game. You know what happens in the game, whether it comes as surprise, or you know what is basically happening. The music is weird, in the sense that sometimes it kind of questions if the music should go with the microgames. If you think about it, you sometimes think that the microgame wouldn't go quite well with another song.

As always, WarioWare: Touched comes packed with souvenirs and gadgets. One of the gadgets uses the mike to mimic you, just like a parrot. Coincidentally, the gadget is a parrot! The souvenirs range from a yo-yo, to a piano, to a metronome, to a party tooter. The souvenirs are wacky, and random, just like the games. Sometimes I feel that the souvenirs are a little weird and kind of... pointless? But overall, the souvenirs are just little time-wasters to have fun with.
The game does not have a multiplayer, much to the disappointment of many people and me.

Overall, I think WarioWare: Touched is a well-rounded game with a few quirks and flaws. It has an average replay value and great use of the Touch screen and the microphone.

Gameplay: 8.5
Story: 7.5
Graphics: 7
Controls: 9
Re-playability: 8
Tilt: 9

Spikes17’s Score: 8.5/10

Labels: March, News by Sorixas, Nintendo DS, review, Spikes17

posted by Sorixas @ 12:38 a.m. , ,