Wii

Sid Meier’s Pirates! (2010)

October 18, 2010

Reviews / Wii / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

I love Sid Meier’s games. Civilization is a long-time favorite, and Railroads! is always a good time. Pirates! is another favorite of mine. Sadly, the Wii version showcases the game’s age and the motion-control minigames don’t add enough to the title to warrant an additional purchase.

First, Pirates! is no longer an attractive game. The graphical presentation is a downgrade from the PC version that was released back in 2004. Sound effects and music both hold up in the Wii port, and the gameplay is largely as you remember it from any other release Pirates! has seen over the years. You’ll take your pick of five difficulties, five eras, and four nationalities. After that the story begins, the crew mutinies, and you’re in charge of a ship. From here your destiny is up to you. Do you chase rival pirates and steal their treasure? Do you take the governor’s daughter to a fancy ball? Or do just sail around the world map and take in the scenery? Whatever you choose, Pirates will give it to you. 

If you choose to pursue a romantic relationship then you’re going to spend a lot of time playing the dancing minigame which highlights everything that is wrong with so many ports to the Wii. Motion controls are shoehorned in and they lessen the experience. Dancing on all platforms is a rhythm-based minigame but only on the Wii is it painfully unresponsive flailing. No matter how much you think you nailed that simple move (flick the remote up, down, left, or right) your flails will match your pirate avatar’s and both of you look and feel foolish at the end of the sequence.

Ship-to-ship combat is simple. Approach any ship you see and engage in battle. There is strategy involved, but it is fairly light. Ensure that you have more crew available than your enemy and choose the right type of shot to tear up the hull, shred the sails, or think out the crew available to the opposing captain. You’ll only want to ravage the hull for so long though – a sunken ship is impossible to plunder. This means that most ship-to-ship combat ends with a duel between you and the enemy ship captain. Dueling, like dancing, is bogged down by unresponsive motion controls. You’ll wave the remote to move your sword and the buttons to jump, duck, and counter. On paper this sounds like a good way to handle sword-fighting with the Wii remote, but sword slashes don’t always pick up properly and when the motion controls do work there is a noticeable lag between your motion and your pirate’s attack in-game. If you eventually win your opponent will fall off of the ship and her bounty is yours.

There are two minigames exclusive to the Wii version. Bombardment starts when you try to enter a port owned by another country that you’re not friendly with. This, in stark contrast to the dancing and sword-fighting, actually works well. You point the Wii remote at the screen and use it as a reticule for your ship’s cannons in order to blast your way into town. The second new minigame is lockpicking which you probably won’t see a whole lot of since it is only available after you’ve been arrested. You’ll tilt the remote to move your pick into the proper position, but the catch is that you don’t want to be caught by the patrolling guards. It works well, and it makes sense within the context of the game, but unless you’re a terrible pirate you won’t get arrested a whole lot.

Pirates! is a classic, and everybody ought to play it, but they shouldn’t be playing it on the Wii. Unresponsive minigames absolutely kill the fun of the game since they plague the two things you’ll be doing on a near-constant basis – dancing and swordfighting. If all you want to do is sail a boat on the Wii then Pirates! isn’t a bad buy, but if you want to actually take part in any piratical activities then you should pick it up on a platform without motion controls.

Pros: Two new minigames

Cons: Unresponsive dancing and swordfighting minigames

 

NBA Jam

October 12, 2010

Reviews / Wii / by Graham Russell Make a comment! / Tweet it!

There are defining installments in game series. With most, there’s a rise to greatness and a fall from grace. Somewhere in the middle is the game’s peak, where the right elements fell together in the best combination. For Midway’s basketball games, this effect was more pronounced than most. The original title, Arch Rivals, had that special something, but it was a rough title that lacked polish. Then there was NBA Jam. After that, the series tried and failed with new ideas in Hangtime, Showtime and the disastrous Hoopz. 

So now that EA has revived the Jam moniker and gameplay, we have a lot of attempts to compare it to, and a lot of cautionary tales.

So let’s get this out of the way: the game’s amazing. 

EA Canada worked hard to become students of the original, duplicating as many elements as possible that made that version special. The core is the same: two-man teams face off with crazy dunks, frequent blocks and a bit more pushing than is allowed in the actual sport. They brought back the obvious structural elements like going “on fire” and turbo shoes, but it doesn’t stop there. The team signed many of the players in the original title as unlockable “legends” (including secret characters like the Clintons and the Beastie Boys), added many of the powerups and Big Head Mode and signed Tim Kitzrow as announcer.

Kitzrow’s return was huge for the title’s nostalgia factor. Now that he’s less restricted by memory, he can go on a little longer and with more variety, and it works well. As for the rest of the sound, well…it’s adequate. The soundtrack won’t wow you. It’s unobtrusive, though, and it’s better that way. The visuals are crisp, with everything running at 60 frames per second and the styled graphics polished up to look nice at any resolution.

Just as the announcing benefited from technological advances, the gameplay can too. Added to combat the effectiveness of blocks, pushes and steals are pump fakes, spins and crossovers. It’s subtle, but it makes the game a bit less abusive to the new player. Also added is an alley-oop, but it feels right at home in the Jam festivities. There’s Classic Controller support, but the slight motion controls work well enough to recommend using them. Shooting and blocking use flicking motions, and while that’s usually obnoxious, it’s implemented well, and the arm movements make a dunk or block just a bit more satisfying.

The game has two campaigns: Classic Campaign, modeled after the old title and consisting solely of vanilla two-on-two matches, and Remix Tour, which shakes up the formula pretty radically. Remix Tour has five game types: Elimination, a free-for-all scoring competition where the low scorer is eliminated each round; 21, another free-for-all where the winner is the first to score that number;  Backboard Smash, in which the boards have hit points and more violent dunks do more damage; Remix 2v2, which adds powerups to the base Jam game; and Domination, where teams try to control points on the court by being the last to score there. The three half-court modes (Elimination, 21 and Domination) are interesting minigames but hold no long-term potential.  Remix 2v2 is not that much more interesting than normal Jam, but can be fun. Backboard Smash is a cool change to the gameplay, especially if you’re frustrated by goaltending. None of them are clear improvements, though. All in all, Remix Tour was a nice try, but it was smart for the team to set it aside in its own mode.

A few gripes: Tag Mode is gone (though you can still tell opponents to shoot and pass), there’s no online (though the HD versions later this year should have it) and the team didn’t implement quite as much password record-keeping as was in the arcade classic. 

Ultimately, you want this game, and you should play it with three friends. It’s not an epic title to play on your own, but there are other games that do that. This is tailor-made for groups, and it works as well as it did in 1994. 

Samurai Warriors 3

October 5, 2010

Reviews / Wii / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

There have been a ton of Warriors games, and if you’ve played one then you have a great idea of what to expect here. Tons of characters, a short campaign, and local coop that is just as tired as the single-player are the name of the game here. If you’re in love with the various Warriors games then Samurai Warriors 3 won’t disappoint you, but if the last time you played Warriors was Dynasty Warriors 4 on the PS2 and you thought “this is all right, but I don’t need 12 more” then you should steer clear of Samurai Warriors 3.

Samurai Warriors 3 features two narrative modes. It doesn’t matter which one you pick as they play exactly the same and your experience carries across all game modes. Regardless of what you choose you’ll be mashing on two buttons to kill low-res nameless goons and occasionally square off against a named officer. What Samurai Warriors 3 does right, however, is character customization and leveling. As you play you will find weapons on the battlefield. Before each new mission you will be allowed to select the weapon you take into battle and upgrade your equipment at the blacksmith. If the combat weren’t so derivative these upgrades and choices would matter, but Koei is taking steps in the right direction.

Samurai Warriors 3’s missteps are many. First and foremost is the lackluster combat. If you’re going to develop an action title with tons of enemies then the combat needs to be entertaining. Story can continue to be nonsensical, but I’ve got to be having fun battling throngs of enemies. Dead Rising 2 pulled this off exceptionally well. I don’t rightly care why I’m running around not-Vegas killing zombies – I care that it is tremendously fun to do so with two chainsaw duct taped to a kayak paddle. Samurai Warriors never really delivers on the fun that it so desperately needs.

Samurai Warriors 3 features multiple control schemes (something I wish more Wii games did – especially those that do not make use of motion controls). You can slaughter the masses with the Wii remote and nunchuck, the Classic Controller, or the GameCube pad. All options are on equal footing as all you need is an analog stick and two attack buttons, but it is nice to have the choice of picking up my old Wavebird. Samurai Warriors also supports online play. For those folks out there that want to team up with a friend and take over Japan during the Warring States period this seems like a great addition. Unfortunately the Wii Speak peripheral is not supported so your ally had may as well be controlled by the game’s AI. In a game like Mario Kart I don’t mind multiplayer silence, but in cooperative play it makes sense to talk throughout the game, and it baffles me that Nintendo’s official online-enabled chat device is not supported here.

Samurai Warriors 3 is a current-gen game in visuals only. Player character models are nice, environments are detailed, and flashy combat effects are great. Sadly, the remainder of the package is stuck in the PS2 era. Sound effects are tinny, combat is shallow, and the online offering is barebones enough that the whole package would feel more complete without it. If you’re already a fan of the Warriors franchise then Samurai Warriors won’t disappoint. Everybody else, though, has already played this game and likely has neither the need nor the desire to go back to it.

Pros: Multiple control schemes, light RPG leveling and weapon upgrading

Cons: lackluster online, shallow combat, carbon copy of previous games in the series

 

Ivy the Kiwi?

September 29, 2010

Reviews / Wii / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

It is rare to see new IP. It is even rarer for that new IP to be a two-dimensional platformer. That is what we have though. Ivy the Kiwi? is the newest game created by Yuji Naka, the man responsible for Sonic the Hedgehog. Ivy the Kiwi? is not just a reskin of the Blue Blur though. Sonic is about momentum, speed, and multiple paths through the level while Ivy is self-propelled (think Bit.Trip Runner or Canabalt). You can cause her to jump, but she’ll always be moving to the right through gorgeous environments that look hand-drawn and invoke the same sense of childlike wonder found in Yoshi’s Island. 

So you can’t control which direction Ivy is going or how quickly she is getting there, but you have more options than jump and not jump. In order to avoid environmental obstacles you will need to use the Wii remote to draw vines for Ivy to run on and jump off of to avoid spikes, pits, and anything else that would do the titular birdie any harm. Drawing vines for Ivy turns from an act of necessity to an act of strategy. Only three vines can exist at any given time. If you go to draw a fourth the first will disappear even if Ivy is currently standing on it. You’ll need to plan ahead, but the action can still be hectic with the vine limit.

When enemies join the game’s spikes and acid you will need to use vines for more than level traversal. You can either use vines to block enemies away from Ivy or you can use the vines to bounce Ivy up into the air and then down again to use a spin drill move to take the enemies out permanently. And you’ll need to get good at the drill technique as it is the only way to get past the breakable blocks that show up in later stages. Ivy the Kiwi? does a good job of introducing concepts slowly so you won’t ever feel overwhelmed. As soon a you’ve mastered jumping over spikes you will move on to keeping acid from falling on Ivy’s head, and after that you’ll start encountering enemies. Eventually you’ll need to throw rocks at obstacles which is difficult since you can never stop Ivy’s movement, but the physics are sound – when a throw doesn’t work properly it isn’t because the game cheated you, but trying the same section over and over again can be frustrating nonetheless.

The unique mechanics presented here make Ivy the Kiwi? look like a platformer but play like a puzzler. You’ll need to figure out what to do and when to do it since Ivy’s constant forward motion imposes a time limit on the short but numerous levels. If you are looking for a family-friendly game on Wii whose challenge ramps up as the game progresses making it appropriate for younger gamers and older gamers alike.

Pros: Good progression of techniques, Gradual difficulty curve

Cons: Throwing is tricky due to lack of direct interaction with the environment

Arc Rise Fantasia

September 22, 2010

Reviews / Wii / by Andrew Passafiume Make a comment! / Tweet it!

This console generation hasn’t seen too many quality Japanese RPGs, or many JRPGs in general. Arc Rise Fantasia is here to remedy that and provide a traditional RPG for Wii owners. If you can look past some of the very obvious problems, you’ll find a surprisingly deep RPG with a lot to offer.  

The story and characters in Arc Rise are nothing that you haven’t seen before. Your overall goal in the game is to, as expected, save the world from some kind of overwhelming evil that is beginning to take form. Now the world of Fulheim itself is a very beautiful place, but you never get any ensuing sense of danger. It’s a basic, predictable “save the world” story you’ve seen in most JRPGs. 

The characters are nothing special either. Each character seems to have one very predictable personality trait that slightly sets him or her apart from the rest, but aside from that, there is nothing that really distinguishes these characters from each other. None of them seem to have any real personality, and they seem to do the dumbest things without any rhyme or reason. Just when you think you have figured a character’s motivations out, he will do something that seems completely out of character.

The game itself looks gorgeous and the music is brilliant, but there is one major problem that holds this game back: the localization. Not only is the game poorly translated, it also has some of the worst voice acting I have ever heard in a video game. It completely takes you out of the experience and it never seems to get any better. Some actors don’t even sound like they are trying most of the time. You’re going to want to turn the voice acting off as soon as you start playing.

Despite all of those complaints, Arc Rise Fantasia does have something good going for it: the gameplay itself. A lot of RPG fans play for the story and characters above all else, but I feel like the battle system alone is enough to make this fun little adventure. It has a pretty traditional battle system, but with enough twists in the already proven formula to make it a more exciting experience for veteran gamers.

You have a three party team and a single AP (or action points) meter shared by all three characters. As you perform various attacks, it empties, and once it hits zero you must end your turn. You can just have one particular character use all of the AP, or share it among your three party members. It leaves a surprising amount of room for strategy. Combine this with the many different magic spells, as well as different monsters you can summon and you have a battle system with a lot of variety in terms of combinations of attacks. 

The game can also be pretty difficult, but not unfairly so. As with most JRPGs, there is a bit of level grinding involved, but it never gets old or feels like you need to do it more than a few specific times during the game. Combine that with plenty of variety in the enemies, dungeons, and a fairly lengthy game length and you have an enjoyable game for those Wii owners dying for a new RPG.

Despite the terrible voice acting, horrendous translation and very lackluster story, Arc Rise Fantasia is a solid RPG with plenty to do and a very enjoyable battle system. If this game looks like it may appeal to you, it is at least worth a rental. Look past the flaws and you will find yourself with a solid and lengthy adventure that may surprise you in more ways than one.

Pros: Colorful presentation with great music; very fun battle system; a lengthy adventure that should hold over any RPG fans for a while

Cons: Atrocious voice acting and a terrible translation; forgettable story and characters

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