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Review Nintendo Wii - Gaming Life

Animal Crossing: City Folk Review

December 1st 2008 14:36


The original Animal Crossing game was released for Game Cube, and after the release of the Nintendo Wii, there has been talk about converting Animal Crossing from GameCube to Wii. Well, it's here and it's your decision as to whether or not it is a series video game. I mean, the game really has no end and the entire game is based on gardening, shopping, fishing, and chatting with neighbors. There's not much to it, and serious gamers probably won't find much out of the game, if you ask me.


Animal Crossing: City Folk doesn't claim itself to be a full-fledged sequel video game, but it does hint at it with its subtitle. But, for Animal Crossing fans, the game is made for those who missed out the first two times and for those people who just want a new game.

For the most part Animal Crossing City Folk, is the same thing as the original. It just has a new sub-title. Although, the typical "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" line is usually in play, with video games, there really needs to be some improvement and upgrade.

From the start of the game, you're put to work, and you have to learn the ropes. The game randomly generates a question-and-answer session on the bus trip to the village so that you can get started learning how to perform duties such as planting flowers, deliverine packages, advertising the shop, and writing letters to the neighbor.

Once you've completed your dutes, you are able to do whatever you want. But, you don't want to forget to pay your mortgage because Tom Nook (the laborer) was nice enough to get you all set up in your own home, and you will need to pay him back using the monetary system of bells, which are earned by selling fish that you've caught, selling fruit you've grown, and selling items that you've collected.


Once you start learning the little nuances of the village, things will start to open up and you will need to visit the village more times each day. Villagers will send you on tasks that you must perform before a certain hour, and you'll need to adjust to climate changes and your duties. IE during colder weather the number of fish you catch will not be the same as during warmer weather; plus, you'll want to try to find fruits and whatnot that are not normal for your village, as you'll get top dollar for them.

Animal Crossing City Folk offers online play which is important because as you play in your village, you'll find that there are a number of others who are doing the same thing, working on different clocks and calendar settings than you, which means that they are able to grow different fruits than you because they are on different weather patterns.

The Wii version of Animal Crossing is pretty much the same as the DS version of the original, in terms of online gameplay, except the Wii improved a few things: the villagers now stay in their houses and wander around as if you weren't online, and the Wii Speak support enables you to voice chat. The voice chat does enhance the online gaming because you can find buddies in the Animal Crossing village.

One slight enhancement that you will notice is the widescreen support, Wii remote motion control, and an upgraded art program enabling you to create shirt textures. If you have the DS Animal Crossing game, you can even transfer your character over to the Wii.

For the most part, though, Animal Crossing City Folk for Wii is just a blend between the GameCube and DS games. The Wii version offers a larger village scale and smoother framerate than the GameCube version, but that's about it. You won't get much new out of the Wii version of Animal Crossing.




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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Virtual Life, Nintendo Wii
   


Tomb Raider: Underworld Review

November 28th 2008 00:12


Lara Croft is one of the most known game icons in the world. She is by far the most popular heroine that you will find, as she explores various ruins, fights human and supernatrual threats, and solves numerous puzzles while she becomes one of the best and greatest archeologies in gaming.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is another game in the Tomb Raider series with Lara Croft, and with the most recent addition to the series, there are more hopes for expansion.

For the most part, you will find that Underworld is a continuation of the original storyline. There will be a quick summary and recap of the players as a refresher from Legend. But, Underworld will start as Lara Croft explores the coordinates that lead her to the Mediterranean Sea. She will investigates, she makes an interesting find.

The storyline of Underworld is pretty good, so if your a gamer that enjoys a good story, you'll find Tomb Raider: Underworld entertaining, to say the least. And, you'll find that the blend of cutscenes and exploration will keep the game moving fast.

The pace of the game is caused by a few adjustments and refinements in the game's mechanics. Where in Legend, you were given a large amound of flexibility with a lot of freedom for your agility and speed, it is pretty retained in Underworld. Althouth, you can still manipulate Lara's acrobatics and scale walls, the creators attempted to build on the basics with the gameplay.

The creators fof Tomb Raider Underwold removed the quick time elements and replaced them with Situational Adrenaline, that will give you the feeling that you need to react in order to avoid a particular threat.

They also made minor adjustments to combat. Where Lara Croft still retains her agility for tumbling and firing, she now has the ability to aim and fire at two enemies at the same time, which is rather useful if you are taking out swarms of bats or other creatures. But, at the same time this new ability hampers the progress of other enemies that attempt to close in on you and perform melee attacks.

In Underworld, Lara Croft has sticky grenades that go off in a specific location, which cuts down the frustration that was in Legend.

You are able to trigger the adrenaline at any time throughout the game, which will slow down the actions of your enemies and make your shots stronger. ou are able to store your adrenaline until you've maxed out your holding, to which you are then able to get close to any enemy and bounce off of them in attempts to a one-shot kill.

There is one main concern with the adrenaline system. It makes a large number of the battles way too easy because you are constantly refreshing your adrenaline, which allows you the ability to move quickly, giving you an edge over your opponent. You can still alter the game's difficulty.

Lara Croft comes with a sonar map that will guide you anywhere in the game, which allows you a 3D picture of everything at all times. This is pretty cool, I guess.



You will also find that Underworld has Field Assistance where if you find yourself stumed, you can access hints through your PDA. This is a nice feature for those who have problems visualizing where they need to go.

The game has slowdown and framerate drops that happen a lot throughout the game, which sucks as it is rather distracting. Although, the point is to be a little distracting to get you out of the visual and aural presentation, but the level of them just pop in and snap into place with odd shadows and flickers of light.

Another of the main concerns with the game is that there are a number of clipping and object detection issues. Lara Croft will frequently move into or through walls or blocks, which will sometimes force her into an animation loop as the game attempts to reconcile movements and areas that she shouldn't be in.

And of course the camera is a pain becuase as you move through the environment, the camera will zoom, pan, and tilt on its own accord without your instruction or direction. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a concern, except the camera will stay in place making it hard to figure out the right jumping angle or location to move.

You will find taht the Xbox has downloadable ocntent, which you won't get with the Playstation 3, which gives the Xbox a slightly better edge.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the graphics and sound quality.... They are pretty good. The animations are well done, and the voices are pretty good.

The game is an average action game, that Lara Croft fans will probably get some good gameplay out of, but personally I find there are a good number of technical concerns with the game.

Check out just a few of the scenes that you will encounter.





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WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Review

November 11th 2008 00:12


Yes, there is another wrestling game, much less another SmackDown VS Raw game... But since it's been released and since we're all playing it, I'm writing a review for those who haven't played it yet.

SmackDown vs. Raw seems great, and in a way it's a little impressive with over 60 wrestlers and 14 different one-on-one matches, but when you get down to actually wrestling- punching, grappling, and slamming, it's not the most impressive.

Don't get me wrong SVR 09 is fun, but there's not much improvement from last years game. The basic controls are still there, but they've added a few minor touches like "Signature Move" when you set off a stored special and the ability to enter the ring via steel steps.

Otherwise, the game is reversal heavy, but it does sotre Finishers, break up pins in tag matches, and it'll give you some run for your money.

You have sliders to adjust the game's thinking if you're not 100% happy with the AI. Basically, adjust how effective the Finishers are, how much the computer reverses, and modify momentum rates. You can customize the sliders.

Using the game's Roster Editor, you can actually mold the WWE as you want by changing what brand people are on, giving and taking championships, and deciding who's clean or dirty. This is actually a pretty cool feature of the game, if you ask me.

You will also find alternate attires for some characters such as CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, and a few others.

There are 19 arenas that you can play in, not to mention that you can unlock the WCW brand and classic championship. You'll also find that you have a few gimmick matches such as the Inferno Match, Falls Count Anywhere Match, Parking Lot Brawl, KO-only match, and a few others.



There is also emphasis on the tag team scene. I won't give you many details, but let's say that there is something a little different about it. You'll just have to check it out and see for yourself.

The biggest change that you will notice is with the Superstar/Diva's Fighting Abilities. With SVR 09, the broad styles have been replaced with specific abilities. Every character has 6 fighting abilities that will give them special advantages in the ring, which makes them unique and varied. For example, Santino has the Dirty Pin ability so that he can use the ropes for leverage when going for the three count, whereas Big Show has the Hammer Throw ability which allows him to hurl his opponent over the top rope with a strong Irish whip.

Other than that, SVR 09 has Road to WrestleMania, which is probably one of the best storylines that you'll come across in a wrestling game. You get to choose to play as one of seven playable Superstars and take to the grappler into his original storyline. Chris Jericho, Triple H, the Undertaker, CM Punk, John Cena, and Rey Mysterio/Batistia all have angles that are unique to their own thanks to original voiceovers, branching storylines, cutscenes, and more. Each show starts with fireworks and an announcer's summary of what's going on and then ends with the WWE copywrite logo and the usual dramatic scene that you'd expect from a WWE program. Jericho has to figure out who the masked man that keeps attacking him is, Triple H has to choose between DX and Evolution, and Cena needs to figure out how to contend with MVP's new world order. And although this mode is only open to 7 characters, you'll find that once you get started, you'll be having loads of fun unlocking entrances, characters, and creating superstar pieces.



If you decide that you're not a fan of the Road to WrestleMania mode, you can always fall back on the Career mode. Unfortunately, though, the Career Mode is just the barebones. No matter who you choose, you'll start out with a pitiful rating and you'll have to choose a championship path- Cruiserweight, World Heavyweight, WWE, WWE Tag Team, World Tag Team, Intercontinental, Women's, United States, Hardcore, and ECW championships. When you get the required stars, challenge the number one, and unlock the next match, you can go face the chapmion, win the title, and then choose another career path.

There is more to the Career Mode, but you'll have to play it to find out all of the details that surround the mode.

Another new addtion to SmackDown vs Raw is the Create A Finisher, which allows you to create a finisher that is all yourse. There are supposidely over 500 moves that you can choose from, but as you begin to choose the options you become more and more limited as to what you can really do.

But, in all seriousness WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 is for the most part the same game that we see every year. There are a few upgrades, but it's really just a remake of last year's game.

But, you will never know if you will like the game or not until you try it. You can purchase SmackDown vs Raw 09 in the following consoles if you think that you can handle it...

Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
PSP
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
Xbox 360

The IGN rating is 7.8

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Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Review

November 9th 2008 18:41


The first Madagascar was probably one of the better animated films of the year, but with the second film, it's not as great, if you ask me, but anyway, we're all here about the Madagascar Escape 2 Africa video game, not the movie. Although, if you are looking for a purely entertaining family friendly movie, Madagascar Escape 2 Africa is definitely it.

As for the video game, this is a likable and action packed romp through Africa with fun and larger than life characters that you can't help but love.

Throughout the game, you'll encounter diverse and interesting gameplay that will offer enough fun and contentment to keep you busy for a while. Although, if you are looking for serious action and thrilling scenes, Madagascar Escape 2 Africa probably isn't going to be your game of choice.

This video game is a happy go lucky game that is crammed with fun gameplay for even your youngest gamers.



You get to hope through canyons hunting monkeys, drive jeeps, play musical chairs, roll up garbage, and chase down runaway cubs, which all in a hour long segment of a middle level in the video game. You never know what all you will encounter thoughout the full game, but you will have hours of fun packed into one disk.

Just remember if you get bored or in a rut, you can always just swit to a different level for a break.

The one feature that you can't help but to enjoy is that the video game is designed to look just like the movie. But, unfortunately, the video game doesn't feature the same voice overs as the movie. The stand-in voices do the trick, but the it's just not he same, since your characters are spot on doubles from the movie.



Although, the video game is aged for 10 and up, you'll find that there are a few innuendos, gambling, and mild cartoony violence, that not all parents will want their 6 year old playing around with, but for the most part (as for the innuendos at least) the average child will miss them.

There are loads of mini games and even a four player tournament that the whole family can get involved in. So overall this is a pretty good video game that is packed with fun. Just remember if you're a hard core gamer, it may not be the game for you.

You can find Madagascar Escape 2 Africa at low prices, for the following game consoles:

Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
PC
PSP
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
Xbox 360

The IGN rating is 8.2


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Super Mario Galaxy

June 20th 2008 14:25
Released in November of 2007, Super Mario Galaxy is probably one of hte best Mario games out there to date. The game makes use of Wii's features without abusing them and making them old and played out, which is great as the game is no where near gimmicky. There are genuine motion controls using the Wii remote, where in some of the levels you need to travel right, move your Wiimote right or if you need to go left, turn left.



The layout and design of the game is not your simple Mario 64 world. You'll encounter random galaxy debri as well as random spheres, cylinders, random space structures that add to the larger planets that you hop between.

The designers of the game definitely improved the camera and it's angles and views. The new auto-camera adjusts to appropriate angles no matter what position Mario is in. It automatically pulls back to show you the full scope or to show you specific points that you need to progress to within a level.



This Wii version of Mario is probably the most animated and graphical version. Each character, planet, and galaxy is well animated and detailed so that each is one on its own. For example, no two galaxies are the same; each has it's own debri and planet designs. You'll see floating grassy planets, lava worlds, ice worlds, space meteors, ships, deserts, water worlds, giant mechanical contraptions, all of which define the different worlds and galaxies.

The one disappointment, so to speak, is that with any traditional Nintendo game, the lack of speech is continued through to Super Mario Galaxy. In many situations the theme music cancels out any audio that is present.



Super Mario Galaxy for Wii actually rates pretty high, almost a 10.0 actually.

The IGN rating is as follows...

Presentation: 9.5 An unnecessary side-tale contrasts with a traditional story. Otherwise, very slick menus and production values, not to mention WiiConnect24 support and a coop mode.
Graphics: 9.5 Outstanding on Wii. The first Wii title that looks like it's really pushing the console. Great art combines with great tech for stunning results. Runs in 480p and 16:9 widescreen.
Sound: 10 Normally, we'd harp on the lackluster voice acting, but whatever -- the orchestrated music is so totally amazing that it obliterates any other aural shortcomings.
Gameplay: 10 Mario 64 in space. Phenomenal platforming and a huge variety of galaxies to see and explore. Doesn't get any better.
Lasting Appeal: 9.5 40-plus galaxies -- all vastly different and filled with unique challenges. 120 stars to collect. Plus, a two-player semi-coop mode. Send your accomplishments to friends over WiiConnect24.

You can check out cheats for Super Mario Galaxy HERE.


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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Action, Nintendo Wii
   


LEGO Indiana Jones

June 8th 2008 20:07
Released in the US on June 3rd, LEGO Indiana Jones has been a big hit in the gaming population. THe game is a great game for kids of all ages, but that doesn't mean that the game is just for kids. Anyone can find enjoyment out of playing LEGO Indiana Jones.

You can find the game in all sorts of game consoles, including Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, PSP , DS, and PC


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Mario Kart Wii

May 24th 2008 15:15
Mario Kart Wii was released in April 2008 to Japan, Europe, Australia, and the United States. The game brings back Mario and his friends and their racing machines back. Since the release cheats have been released to help you further yourself in the game; in a way it takes out the fun, but the cheats for Mario Kart Wii can be helpful.

This time there are 3 different control styles and steering with the Wii wheel, which is included with the video game


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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Review, Driving, Nintendo Wii
   


Wii Fit Release, Review, and Cheats

May 20th 2008 15:07
So Nintendo will be releasing the Wii Fit tomorrow, May 21st. It's already been released in Japan, Europe, and Australia, and has already exceeded the 2 million mark in sales in Japan, with over a quarter of a million in the first week alone. It's expected that the sales in the U.S. will exceed those in Japan.

Nintendo has broken the mold with so many video games, already, the Wii Fit just continues the streak. It's a fun way to exercise by playing 40 different activity games, ranging from various yoga positions, muscle workouts, aerobic exercises, and balance games


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Posted By: Whitney - Category: Cheats & Tips, Review, Sports, Nintendo Wii
   




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