Nintendo Wii

Super Smash Bros Brawl

Cobros — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Well I see you have joined me for my surprise, a full 2 page NON spoiler review of Super Smash Brothers Brawl:

Before I start I would like to make this very clear: I do own a American NTSC copy of brawl, a PAL Wii, and a PAL Freeloader. I do not own or agree of any modifications to a Wii console. Right now that's out of the way I can start, This is a non-spoiler review (that I have been whipped to do) so there will be no characters or stages that will not be available at the start (except Snake and Sonic).

Brawl, Epic, Need I say more (Strange voice: "Yes") What?... fine. Super Smash Brothers Brawl Is the third Instalment from the famous Super SmashBbrothers series. From the small 8 starting characters of the original to 21 starters In brawl (If you are picky 25 If you count Sheik, Zero suit Samus and Pokémon Trainer) This game all ready boasts greatness, even the graphics tidy look can rival galaxy.

This Game combines all the things you know and love and just tops it off with more characters, stages, items, music, extras and more. since I have said that I might as well talk about them in separate sections.

CHARACTERS:
Old favourites such as Mario and Link are here along with new characters such as Pit and King Dedede(dedededede) all of them have around 6 different costumes (Such as Dark Link or a Fire Mario suit) many people will find a new (If not old) style. A big hit for brawl Is the third party characters, although they are not available at the start, If you try, They can be unlocked in hours. Snake uses a lot of military stuff like grenades and guns, and Sonic? Fast. He jumps high and moves fast with a array of spin attacks.

STAGES:
Battlefield and Final Destination are back (And a relief this time as starter stages) with new stages such as the Halberd and Delphino Plaza, But unfortunately for some, only the odd stage is really big, A bit like the Temple in melee. And speaking of melee, six stages have returned, Like I said, The Temple, Rainbow Ride (nooooooooo) And Yoshi's Island to name a few.

ITEMS:
Items, probably one of the most important elements of this game, most of the old items are back. Like the beam sword, and for hardcore smash fans the envy of all, the bumper. I think there are 2 new Items you should look out for, the Smash Ball (of course) and the Assist Trophies. Many people think these are like pokéballs but I think they actually do something, like Kate and Anna, they fly across the screen dealing damage several times over. But back to the smash ball, it is funny to see everyone running for it, but if you ask me, it’s a great chance to get all the pokéballs and assist trophies, Severely damage, if not KO opponents, then run off with the smash ball and deal more damage.

MUSIC:
Most possibly my favourite feature in this game, with a whopping 258 tracks to collect, and every single one of them, are either ripped from a classic game, or remixed by awesome Japanese composers. Every song I feel is great, and the option to chose how often it appears is great, this was one thing badly needed by both the original and Melee.

EXTRAS:
Unlike Melee where there was only one real extra, trophies. This game has a whole area devoted to extras. The vault, a suiting name I think, has all the trophies, along with stickers, classic game demos, challenges, a stage builder, and more. Really I cannot fit enough into this review, I suggest going to http://www.smashbros.com/en_uk/index.html or even youtube to find out more,

Smash bros is a game that Is bursting at the seems of Nintendo goodness, but I must say when I had my first brawl, melee (and like me, even original) veterans, prepare to play a whole new game.

+ Great Gameplay
+ Nintendo Goodness
+ Third party characters
+ Loads of extras
+ Brilliant music
+ Graphics rival Galaxy

Cobros's Score: 98%
For a Wii game you can't really beat It, this game is a must have, even if you are a new gamer.

Images taken from the Game's Snapshot Mode

All Hail The Hedgehog

Where'd that gooey bomb go?

Boo

Brick, Brick, Goomba, Brick, Brick.... WAIT?!?!?

Ghost Squad

Cobros — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ghost Squad is what the Wii has been asking for, a good arcade port. It is a light gun game that can be controlled with either the remote or the zapper. The game is split up into 3 modes. Arcade is just the arcade port with data slots but more about that later. Party is a mode designed for 4 players and is just a tweaked version of the port, but with two hilarious comedy modes: paradise and ninja. Ninja sees you with your gun shrunken and grenades changed to sushi, but the best is that all the enemies are now ninjas. Paradise is essentially the same idea but, your gun is turned into a dolphin water pistol, and knifes to bananas. This time enemies are changed to girls in bikinis (but the thing the developers left out was to change all the male sound effects XD)

The final mode is training and sees you either with 10 bullets, picking off one target as quickly and as accurately as you can - a normal gun picking off targets in different stages (a bit like Link’s Crossbow Training I suppose) - or a standard run through a basement in a time limit.

There have been a lot of people complaining that it is too short, but they didn't count on one thing: Replay Value. As I mentioned earlier, the "saved data" isn't just your high scores - you gain experience like an RPG and level up. Levelling up gives you access to more and more weapons, and costumes. Despite being a on rails shooter doesn't mean it has to be serious. Like I said before the ninja and paradise modes are funny but the costumes can be even funnier, imagine seeing a government squad being lead by a bloke in a panda suit. I have also heard a lot of people say "What's the Wi-Fi then" well unfortunately it is just an online leader board. Despite this it is still a great game.

+ Good port
+ Good Shooter
+ Hilarious at times
+ Replay Value
- No online Co-Op

Guitar Hero 3

Cobros — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Right I'll come out with it: £70. £70 is what you pay to get the game and a nifty controller. But I think it's worth it and here is why.
After setting up your guitar you can navigate the Wii menu with the joystick and green button. Anyway on the menu you use the strum bar to move up and down, and different buttons to, select, go back etc. When you load a song in quickplay or career, a guitar neck shows up and the difficulty depends how fast the notes come and how many strings you use. For example: Easy, 3 strings, quite slow; Expert: Insanely fast, all 5 strings. There are three types of notes just to really get you confused. Long, Short and Chords. Long notes are notes you have to hold, short notes you only have to hit, and chords can be long or short and consist of two strings.... or more.
As for the relevance from the notes to the song? Well actually quite good. It sticks to the beat and if you miss a note, your Wii remote yells at you and the guitar element of the song stops until you hit the notes again. For a £70 game, it's worth it. But take my advice: shop around - after a little while I found it for £55 in HMV.

+ Nice controller
+ Good Song List
+ Good Note - Song relationship
+ ALOT Of offers around
- £70