SloganYams' GameSpot Friend's Reviews SloganYams' GameSpot Friend's Reviews SloganYams' GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Mon, 20 May 2013 17:50:12 -0700 GameSpot SloganYams' GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Fri, 10 May 2013 18:51:40 -0700 Pierst179 reviewed Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-and-all-stars-racing-transformed/user-reviews/811188/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

In all of the gaming industry, there is no niche where there is a domination as huge as the one that exists on the kart racing one. All games and teams that venture into the realm know exactly what needs to be done, which is to produce a game that draws positive comparisons to Mario Kart. After all, not only was it Nintendo that created the often-copied formula, but Mario and his crew have been executing it masterfully for over two decades. During that period of time, only a very restricted number of titles – out of which Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing stand out - were able to break the monopoly, each for their own reasons and pronenesses. Sonic Racing Transformed manages to enter that select group, and it does so by fixing the flaws of its predecessor, and offering a fantastic mix of challenge, content and outstanding track design.

The first noticeable feature that makes Sonic Racing Transformed stay away from being just another kart game is exposed right on its title. The game does not focus solely on wacky automobile competitions. Instead, the races take place on the water, in the sky and on the land. It would not have been such a refreshing concept but for one detail: tracks are not based on a single vehicle; each one of them presents segments that demand different racing approaches, forcing characters to magically go from one vehicle to the other on the fly. With the exception of a few rare instances when the vehicles behave oddly in the milliseconds following a transformation, the transitions are mostly smoothly done and add a lot of excitement to the race. Aside from the fantastic visual value of, for instance, going up a ramp with a boat and watching as it turns into an airplane in the midst of a battle for a position, the transformations also have strategic value, because as flying is considerably faster than the other two options of movement, the racing tracks will offer opportunities to transform into a plane earlier, rewarding those who find ramps and taking off spots.

Speaking of the tracks, they are yet another point that heavily benefits from the blending of vehicles, and are the clear highlights of the game. Courses take advantage of that opportunity in two distinct ways: they are either built so that three vehicles are used during the same lap, or they present environmental elements that alter the path in between laps. Therefore, even though the game contains sixteen original tracks, plus four extracted for its predecessor - all of which are kart-only – it feels like much more, because as they mutate, tracks often become different to the point of not being recognizable. As if all that work was not enough, the game's tracks are also packed with alternative paths and shortcuts, which add a lot to both their already high replayability and to the element of surprise waiting within each race.

In a genre usually dominated by multiplayer-focused games, Sonic Racing Transformed brings forth a whole lot of single-player value. There are two main modes where the solo fun resides: Grand Prix and Career. The first one is nearly self-explanatory, players compete against nine other characters in four-race cups to see who ends up with the biggest amount of points. In total, there are ten cups, equally divided between regular and mirrored ones, and the difficulty of each can be chosen among four distinct options. Meanwhile, in the Career mode, through which most of the characters are unlocked, presents individual challenges that include regular races where players must finish in a certain position, time trials, boost challenges and racing duels against a series of characters. According to the difficulty chosen for each challenge, players will earn stars, which can then be used to unlock gates that are either protecting new characters or more challenges.

For a game as colorful and seemingly kid-friendly as this one, it packs an immensely surprising amount of challenge. While the high level of difficulty is extremely welcome, for it considerably boosts the time that can be spent playing solo, some of its implementation is questionable. Facing at least a portion of the game in the hard difficulty is key if players want to unlock certain characters, and open a few gates hiding some of the more advanced challenges. It is all fine and good if the player in question is experienced; youngsters, however, will most likely be overwhelmed by the many hours of practice one must go through if he wants to clear a good part of the game.

The core problem here is that practice is not the only thing required to go through the entirety of the game; patience is also extremely important. Like all games of its kind, Sonic Transformed presents an assortment of items that can be used during the race. Unlike Mario Kart, however, the items you get are not heavily dependent on the position you find yourself in. Meaning that while leaders are boosting their way through the tracks with powerful items, people in the middle of the pack might be struggling with simple powers. As a consequence, a big part of the game's result, especially on the hardest levels, relies on luck. Though those occurrences are annoying on Career mode, they can be even more frustrating during a Grand Prix, where three straight good races can be destroyed by a bad race where players - which always start at the back of the grid - are unable to reach the leaders because they are too busy being hit by an army of items. Regardless of how good a player is at speeding through the tracks, finishing 1st will usually demand many tries, and an eventual victory is most likely to come due to sheer luck of getting the right item at the right time.

In general, though, Sonic Racing Transformed is a very pleasant game to play. Not only is the game bursting with the personality extracted directly from fantastic Sega properties - including a vast selection of characters, each with very a very unique trio of vehicles - it is also a software that can be enjoyed with friends. The multiplayer gameplay is not restricted to especially designed modes. It is, instead, available in any mode of choice - with the exception of Time Trials - and, by taking advantage of the Wii U gamepad, the game allows for up to five players to battle each other on any of game's many Grand Prix tournaments, Career Mode challenges, or online matches. Whoever holds the Wii U gamepad - which on single-player works as a map display and a rear view mirror - will play on the controller's screen, which despite its average size produces very nice visuals, while those who hold the Wiimotes will share the TV. Though it is not used in any asymmetric and creative way, which is totally understandable given the nature of a racing title, it is nice to be able to avoid split-screen when playing in pairs.

While its predecessor suffered from constant frame rate problems, this is a game mostly free from that issue, and that is no small feat. The tracks are full of activity. Aside from ten racers throwing items and shoving each other, there are plenty of traps going around, scenario details to be processed at the game's relatively fast speed, and that all goes without mentioning how some of the courses suffer mutations in-between laps as a result of explosions, and other kinds of physical destruction. Throw into the bag the fact that the game looks really great, and holding it all together through the entirety of the race becomes quite a technical achievement. Besides being exciting by their fast and frantic nature, races are boosted by a nice soundtrack which is highlighted by some tunes that have been selected from games that present a very powerful soundtrack.

Often, when a good game of the kart racing genre hits a Nintendo platform early on, it tends to be labeled as a title that exists for the purpose of temporarily satisfying any racing needs that players might have until Mario Kart comes around. This time, though, the Nintendo Wii U has received a game that will not simply be thrown away once Nintendo unleashes a new installment on its longstanding racing series, but one that will be able to compete side-by-side with it regardless of how great the next Mario Kart will be. Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed has tons of content, which aside from simply racing include over 100 collectible stickers that serve as awards for the completion of achievements, a nice degree of vehicle customization, and a huge load of the undeniable charm of the Sega franchises. Put some good level of challenge in there, which is sometimes unfortunately done cheaply, and you have a lasting, fun and rewarding title.

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"Pierst179 reviewed Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the Wii U..." was posted by Pierst179 on Fri, 10 May 2013 18:51:40 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-and-all-stars-racing-transformed/user-reviews/811188/platform/wii-u/ Wed, 01 May 2013 17:40:30 -0700 Pierst179 reviewed Nintendo Land for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/nintendo-land/user-reviews/810919/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

It is undeniable that Wii Sports is one of the most successful games of all time. That statement may sound outrageously exaggerated - especially when the fact that its sales were inflated by the fact the title came packed with the Nintendo Wii is considered - but it becomes rather reasonable when we look at it as the doorway the gaming world, and those outside it, used as their entry point to motion-controlled games. In fact, the whole introductory experiment went so well that Nintendo once again attempts to capture lightning in a bottle with Nintendo Land. There is no better way to put it: Nintendo Land is this generation's Wii Sports; the first note on a brand new control scheme, and a game that offers twelve experiments and blueprints which display the system's capabilities. However, it is a game that is far more neatly produced, offers much more in terms of content and value, and has the irresistibly charming quality of being centered around the Nintendo Universe.

In the midst of all the great manners on which the system's controller is used, one of Nintendo Land's key components, perhaps its most original one, is its art style. Set in a fictional Nintendo theme park, the game features a central hub surrounded by twelve extravagant gates that lead into the attractions. Taking advantage of this make-believe scenario, Nintendo made sure to design everything as it were part of a nicely put together attempt to recreate the "real" worlds within their games. On The Legend of Zelda's attraction, the whole world is made of plush; Donkey Kong's ride uses a chalkboard as its background; and the recreation of the world of Pikmin is done with Mushroom Kingdom blocks, and robots that recreate the game's insects. Absolutely everything is exploding either from Nintendo self-references, or bits of detail that tell players nothing is what it seems.

Nintendo Land was built by giving designers the power to act as mad scientists working with a new potion, and such is the case with any experiment in creativity and insanity, some results are far better than others, but the twelve-game package is so varied that every single gamer will, at least, find four attractions he will greatly enjoy. While a player's most liked attractions will be the cause for many hours of gameplay, the least beloved ones will also warrant a visit, because Nintendo Land is packed with collectibles and achievements that are more effectively unlocked when all attractions are played. Every attraction features a number of stamps that can be acquired through the clearing of certain goals, and each one of them will also grant players a star or master rank according to the level of completion achieved.

As if that was not enough, the more levels are cleared, attractions are played, and stamps are acquired, players will gain a few coins, which can be spent in an arcade-like mini-game to unlock gift boxes hiding items featuring Nintendo icons that will decorate the central hub. There is an overwhelmingly great satisfaction in watching as your personal version of the park is populated by statues of Kraid, Ganon, Koopas and others. The quality of the games, the sensational multiplayer value that some of them possess, and the daunting challenges and levels that nearly all of them have would already be a valuable enough incentive to play the game for countless hours, but Nintendo added plenty of extras to keep players going, which goes to show that Nintendo Land is not simply a pack-in, it is a full fledged game that could be worth the full price.

The game offers three attractions focused exclusively on multiplayer. All of which take advantage from the asymmetrical gameplay allowed by the fact the Wii U uses two completely different controllers. In Mario Chase, while one player flees through a small arena others go after him. The twist here is that the player who controls Mario can see the whole map through the gamepad's screen, while the chasers have to explore the place looking for him without many visual clues. Both Animal Crossing: Sweet Day and Luigi's Ghost Mansion are slight variations of that theme: in the first, one player gathers candy around the village while the other controls, through the gamepad, two guards that move independently according to the movement of both control sticks; in the latter, one player acts as a ghost, being invisible to those who look at the TV screen, while the others must use flashlights to capture him. The three experiences are nicely balanced, and the couple of different approaches with which each of them can be experienced doubles the value of the whole thing. Playing them will surely guarantee plenty of laughter, exciting close calls.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is a group of six games whose focus is solo play, four of which are probably the weakest of the bunch: Captain Falcon's Twister Race, Balloon Trip Breeze, Takamaru's Ninja Castle and Octopus Dance. On Twister Race o, players must tilt the gamepad to control the Blue Falcon through a course divided in 16 distinct segments, all of which are times. Balloon Trip has players drawing air currents on the screen to move the character across a sky that is plagued by tons of enemies. On Ninja Castle, players must slide their fingers across the gamepad's screen while aiming at the TV to launch stars against deadly enemies. And in Octopus Dance, both of the pad's control sticks must be used independently to move the arms of your character in order to replicate the dance moves of a robot. Although those games are a lot of fun, they become the game's weakest link because their content is thin, since their value comes from the fact their arcade-like structure will have players going back to the very beginning whenever they lose their lives.

The other two single-player attractions also feature the same sort of game over system, but they have a highly addictive nature that severely diminishes any frustration caused by having to restart from scratch. DK'S Crash Course offers a ten-section obstacle course inspired in the original arcade Donkey Kong title. During this attraction, players must carefully tilt the gamepad to move a little wheeled cart across many slopes, platforms and traps that are just waiting to crush your poor Mii. Meanwhile, on Yoshi's Fruit Cart players must draw a path for Yoshi to follow and eat all the fruits in a given stage. The twist, though, is that obstacles and fruit only appear on the TV, leaving players to utilize tiny visual cues to determine where exactly in the gamepad's screen are the objects located. Like every other attraction in the game, those two keep track of best scores achieved, which makes trying to outdo yourself a very compelling experience.

As a coincidence, or maybe not, the three greatest attractions found in the game are those that allow all three kinds of gameplay: competitive and cooperative multiplayer, and single-player. Metroid Blast, the finest one in the bunch, places up to five players in one arena (where one controls a ship through the gamepad and others play as Samus on the ground) to either blast each other to death or defeat hordes of different enemies in varied challenges. The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest offers nine familiar scenarios with temples, forests and volcanoes where a group of Link-dressed Miis must down many challenging foes and bosses with swords, or with the arrow and bow. Finally, Pikmin Adventure has one player lead the way as Olimar, while the other four control large and very powerful Pikmin to aid Olimar and the regular sized ones.

What is most impressive about those titles, other than the fact that they are fun - a quality that is shared among all attractions of the game - is that they have a load of content. Aside from the regular levels that must be cleared either alone or cooperatively, they also feature extra and very challenging stages (some of which are nearly impossible to clear by yourself), and a whole bunch of different modes to be explored. Another positive point, which is equally spread across the entirety of Nintendo Land, is how well the controls work, especially the gamepad. Moving Samus' ship by working with the control sticks and tilting the controller as if it were a window with which you can better glimpse what is on TV is absolutely fantastic, and the same can be said for moving the cart in DK's Crash Course, using the bow in Zelda: Battle Quest, or getting a totally different perspective through the controller's screen in the chase-centered attractions.

The cherry on top of this glorious pile of content is the game's integration with Mii Verse. Aside from seamlessly allowing players to share comments in-between stages and matches, and showing what other people around the world are saying about the attractions, Nintendo Land will populate the central plaza of the park with hundreds of real Miis from other players. Aside from serving as a visual prop, it is possible to select any Mii that is walking around the place in order to check where that person is from, what attractions they have been playing, how many coins and prizes they have collected, and how is their level of completion in all of the attractions. It's something so naturally done, and it is executed with such an incredible charm, that spending time around the plaza looking at other people's comments and records is a very valid activity. Although the game does not feature any kind of online gameplay, which is a shame as some games could have benefited from it, there is still a whole lot of connectivity.

Nintendo Land, therefore, serves three core purposes. Firstly, it is an extremely well-produced game that packs a whole lot of value; secondly, it serves as a blueprint so that gamers can know what their newly acquired system is capable of, and developers can use its concepts as a source of inspiration; finally, it is a great display of how Nintendo's MiiVerse can be integrated into a game in very meaningful ways. More than a bonus that comes with the system, Nintendo Land is a game that offers plenty of challenge for lonely moments, and a huge quantity of fun when two or more friends are gathered.

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"Pierst179 reviewed Nintendo Land for the Wii U..." was posted by Pierst179 on Wed, 01 May 2013 17:40:30 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/nintendo-land/user-reviews/810919/platform/wii-u/ Wed, 01 May 2013 11:04:52 -0700 Pierst179 reviewed Assassin's Creed III for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-iii/user-reviews/810901/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The Assassin's Creed franchise is known for its size and ambitions. In fact, the franchise is so remarkably big that it took Ubisoft two games to get all of its details down, and the result was one unforgeable masterpiece in Assassin's Creed II. Coming at the heels of a series of minor releases derived from the franchise's Italian endeavor, the third major installment of the franchise feels a little bit like a step back; not because it is humbler or plays it safer than its predecessors, but because - much like the original title - while it is a triumphant success in some areas, it feels awkward and dull in others, as if the team behind the game suddenly forgot some of the lessons so effectively learned from the first game's reception. For that, while being frequently greatly enjoyable and invariably impressive, Assassin's Creed III never succeeds in rising to the stellar level of its mesmerizing predecessor.

It all starts when Desmond and his crew locate the temple that holds the secret that will save mankind from destruction. Upon finding the door, though, they discover that they are missing not only the key to open it, but the power sources to activate it. The solution, as expected, involves having Desmond relive the life of one of his ancestors in order to discover the key's location. Connor, our brave new assassin, is the fruit of the quick relationship between a British templar sent on a mission in the United States and a native woman, and he grows up to be an assassin whose targets are deeply involved in the American Revolution. Therefore, players will explore key locations of that conflict, such as Boston, New York and the little towns in its outskirts; meet historic figures; and aid the rebels in their quest for freedom. As it has become a standard for the series, the story is wonderfully told through impressive cutscenes made very believable by the game's great visuals and the good actors employed in its voice acting.

Though undeniably interesting and very exciting, the game's plot is indirectly responsible for the two biggest issues found in the game. First of all, Assassin's Creed III features, by a good margin, the most ambitious story development the series has seen so far. The game is not satisfied with simply focusing on Connor's life as an assassin; instead, it chooses to start from a point way before it all began: Connor's father, a man named Kenway, departure from Britain. Through a sequence of small hops to advance through time, we see and play as Kenway meets Connor's mother; the boy is born and plays with his friends as a child; grows up to be a leader in his tribe; and, finally, decides to train to become an assassin after he goes through a life-changing incident. The fact is that nearly half of the game's missions are spent getting things started. Before Connor is truly free to roam the expanse of the game's world, five of the game's twelve sequences will be finished. In Assassin's Creed III, gameplay serves its story; and not the other way around. As a consequence, the first five sequences are often dull and extremely restricted.

The second issue comes from its setting. As compelling as it may be to watch the revolution be born and then be a part of it, the large scale war is not exactly a scenario that is favorable to the style of gameplay the series thrives on. Assassin's Creed II shined, among other reasons, for the design of its missions, which often involved sneaking around, finding different ways to hide, and managing to kill a target silently. While Assassin's Creed III does offer a few missions like that, there are too many where Connor must either simply lead a battalion, fight out in the open or warn troops of incoming attacks. The game ends up being more about a huge conflict, than back-alley tactics that would usually be performed by a silent assassin. The war-related missions are fun and thrilling, but they do not capture the series' essence as well as the stealth ones do. It is a change of philosophy that will please some, but make others wonder why exactly such a shift occurred.

It's a shame, because in its gameplay, Assassin's Creed III - as expected - offers a wide range of alternatives that can be employed to remain anonymous. If players choose to avoid combat, Connor can rip posts off of the walls, bribe street preachers to talk about something other than his recent exploits, pay the presses that are printing the posters to stop doing so, start riots against the British, hide amongst the crowd, or use his uncannily impressive skills for climbing. Examining enemy patterns and the environment surrounding them in order to find a way to perform silent kills has always been one of the most engaging actions in Assassin's Creed games, and here they remain a clear prowess of the titles, even if those skills are not as frequently used as they should have been.

When the alternative chosen to handle some of the missions is direct combat, or if Connor's stealth skills are not sharp enough to make him invisible; then players will be treated to a fine combat system. Connor can defend opponents' attacks, break their defense, and attack. The game offers a wide variety of weapons that can be equipped - even some fire weapons - and though enemy variety isn't exactly a highlight, the battles remain entertaining and challenging all the way through the whole game.

If the fifteen-hour main quest has not remained solid in its quality during the transition between installments, the sidequests that populate the title remain quite engaging, and it feels like they have grown in numbers too. In fact, there are so many of them that according to the game's counter for percentage of completion, only about 30% of it is done once the main quest is wrapped up. Many quests that appeared in previous games of the series make a return. Connor will have to deliver letters, free prisoners, find high viewpoints in order to clear areas of the map, collect page's of Benjamin's Franklin almanac, recruit other assassins, engage in combats, find treasure, and find and break into heavily guarded forts that are hidden throughout the game's enormous world map.

In the end, more than twenty hours can be pleasantly spent simply exploring the world and finding its secrets. What is most fascinating about this sort of experience, though, is that sometimes the secrets are neither collectibles nor anything that contributes to the game's completion percentage, but small nuggets of details that show how much care was put into this ridiculously big world, which is on a level that cannot be compared to any other game out there. Boston and New York hide the old buildings and locations that are now known worldwide, or at least in the United States; while the Frontier, a forest-covered area with many hidden small towns, hides nice little places, creeks, waterfalls, mountains and people that add many layers of content to a game that is already swimming in impressive depths. Though the distance between goals might often been long, it is punctuated by little encounters that give it a lot of meaning.

Out of the numerous side missions the game presents, three are brand new and clear highlights. First of all, there is Connor's homestead. A big peaceful piece of land amidst all the chaos where Connor decides to build a small community under his protection. At first, it is an abandoned location, but little by little Connor will come across people in need of a home, and by helping them out players will get them to move to the homestead, and aid in its development and quality of life, which makes it the game's most satisfying quest. Secondly, as a native, Connor has developed the ability to hunt, and there is no better place for that than the Frontier. There, Connor can locate and kill many kinds of prey, such as hares, bears, wolves, foxes, and others. The capture of each animal requires a different approach, either direct or using traps, and capturing animals either in large numbers or by using unique techniques will fill up huntsmen challenges, which are both numerous and entertaining to perform.

Lastly, halfway through the game, Connor acquires one mighty ship, allowing him to perform naval quests behind the wheel. Those missions usually vary from navigating troubled rocky waters without taking much damage, to fighting a number of British vessels either through fire and cannonballs, or by boarding them. The ship's controls are easy to learn, and the ability to upgrade many of the ship's parts in order to be able to tackle tougher challenges makes those quests a real test of skill. In addition, they also happen to be extremely thrilling and exciting, serving as a great break from the game's regular missions.

Overall, Assassin's Creed III has more content than the average gamer is able to handle. It has a good, but irregular, central quest which is supported by an even more time-consuming set of sidequests that give plenty of life to this impressive world. Any game can claim to having one ridiculously gigantic overworld, but it takes a lot of creativity and care to fill it up with enough detail and life to give it some purpose other than padding the game to boring lengths. In spite of its flaws and the fact that it does not live up to its predecessor, Assassin's Creed III is a rare display of a game that big for a reason other than a shallow showcase of megalomania. It is a game filled to the brim with well-done characters, cutscenes, missions and great visual design; and though its sheer scope is cause for a few technical issues here and there, it is a more-than-welcome feature, because no amount of hours is enough to explore all of its fascinating corners.

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"Pierst179 reviewed Assassin's Creed III for the Wii U..." was posted by Pierst179 on Wed, 01 May 2013 11:04:52 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-iii/user-reviews/810901/platform/wii-u/ Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:25:46 -0700 Pierst179 reviewed New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-u/user-reviews/810720/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

After a lull of two generations, Nintendo has decided to go back to its roots and release, alongside a brand new system, a fresh Mario game. Differently from what other Mario games that kicked off a new Nintendo generation did, though, New Super Mario Bros. U is by no means a glorious display of what more powerful hardware can do. Instead, it safely bets on the gold mine that the sidescrolling franchise has become, and decides not to shake things up in any significant way or form. For most companies and studios, that would be a recipe for disaster, especially considering the fact that this is the fourth New Super Mario Bros. game to come out during the past few years. However, what surfaces from this new Mario adventure is a game that, through all its more than sixty stages, pulls of exciting and unexpected tricks using the same old mechanics. A game that is certainly worthy of being the opening note for a new console.

First, it is important to get the bad stuff out of the way: there is nothing incredibly mind-blowing or impressive about the bricks with which this game is built. The art has not received any tweaks, neither significant nor minor; the songs and sound effects remain as unchanged as they can be; the enemies and bosses are all incredibly familiar in their behavior, looks and weak spots; princess Peach is once again kidnapped by Bowser and his offspring; and even the themes used for the worlds are commonplace, not only in their nature, but also in their order, as Mario will start his adventure on some calm plains, move on to a desert, to a snow-covered land, and a few worlds later, wrap it all up among waves of magma. Nintendo is so aware of the repetition, that they do not even attempt to conceal it; they choose to thrive on it instead, and it is easily arguable that the mundane nature of pretty much everything about the game works in favor of the stage design, highlighting its sheer glorious brilliancy.

In its core, that is what New Super Mario Bros. U is all about: stage design. It is, once more, astounding what Nintendo is able to do with a limited set of power-ups, among which the return of the raccoon suit is the only real difference to its predecessor; and Mario's equally restricted array of moves. As usual, things start slowly and simple in the first world, but as the plumber moves on to the desert, New Super Mario Bros. U starts picking up speed, and - before you realize it - the game becomes a train of fun going downhill in full-speed with nothing in sight that can stop it. Within the same world, or even inside the boundaries of the entire game, Nintendo barely re-utilizes or recycles any tricks, making every single stage a different creature.

If there is a noteworthy change in the game's structure, that is its overworld. While not being a new concept, as it has been previously used in Super Mario World, the game features a single overworld map that presents the individual worlds in a fully connected manner; players can literally walk from stage one to Bowser's place continuously. Though equal to what Super Mario World brought to the table, it is plain to see that - in New Super Mario Bros. U - the map is far better designed. As players clear stages, especially the secret ones, the scenario will creatively shift its shape to open the way to stages and locations that are truly hidden, often opening up paths that will leave one world, go through a nearby one, only to end in some remote location in a third distinct place. It is even possible to argue that a big part of the joy of finding a secret stage is seeing how the world map will transform to accommodate it.

For those who have been rightfully complaining about the ever diminishing difficulty of Mario games, New Super Mario Bros. U is an oasis. Though simply finishing the stages isn't exactly painfully hard, going after the star coins will almost invariably lead to the need to perform complicated maneuvers that require both skill and timing. And, in a good sign that the game stays on the right side of the line separating frustration from difficulty, it does not matter how many times Mario falls to his death, players will always feel the urge to try once more. If looking for full completion, newcomers to the series will find one daunting task, and veterans will encounter a great deal of challenge, especially on the secret and special stages, which are worthy of their fame for being brutally tough.

New Super Mario Bros. U might not be an impressive technical display of the Wii U's capabilities, but it is a stellar showcase of how games can interact with Nintendo's Miiverse in an effective and game-improving way. Whenever players clear a stage while performing any significant achievement such as collecting all star coins, not taking any damage, or getting to the flag really fast, the game will automatically prompt players for comments on the stage so that they can be posted on the game's community on Miiverse so that the whole world can see them. The same will happen in frustrating situations, like when Mario loses way too many lives on a stage. In cases like this, though, the game will humorously ask players so send out warnings or angry letters to Bowser on how tough the stage is. Not only are those interruptions brief and seamless, therefore not disturbing the game's pace, but the manner with which comments are integrated into the game (either being shown in the overworld or while the stage loads in-between attempts) adds a lot to the experience.

And that ends up being New Super Mario Bros. U greatest victory. While the stages are astonishing, the graphics are smoother than ever, the multiplayer can range between cooperative (with two players) to maddeningly chaotic (with four players), and the game is packed to the brim with extras such as time trials, coin-collecting, and enemy-defeating challenges that extend the game's twenty-five hours of adventure into a package that can last for over forty hours of fun; all of those aspects are trumped by the novelty of the game's social factor. Sharing our achievements, failures and angry outbursts is a lot of fun, and the constant reminder that there are tons of people around the globe going through the same ordeals that you are experiencing somehow makes the whole game a lot more fun, and it will certainly motivate players to look into every corner of the game for every secret or achievement that is possible to find or accomplish.

At first glance, New Super Mario Bros. U does not seem to do justice to the past Mario games that debuted alongside a new Nintendo system, because it is devoid of any visual leaps or visible gameplay improvements, but in the end it is certainly worthy of carrying that legacy forward, as even though it is not completely built around Miiverse like Nintendo Land, it manages to integrate it very nicely to a genre where, initially, such connection would be hard to develop. As it is usual for a Mario sidescroller, New Super Mario Bros. U shows gaming at one of its purest and funnest forms, where everything exists for the sake of gameplay, but this time it comes packed with a delightfully fresh new component. It feels like a new generation has indeed started.

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"Pierst179 reviewed New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U..." was posted by Pierst179 on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:25:46 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-u/user-reviews/810720/platform/wii-u/ Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:05:18 -0700 Blueguy93 reviewed Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/paper-mario-sticker-star/user-reviews/810541/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

I have a bad habit of reviewing games I got for Christmas in April. Better sooner than later! Anyways, as a huge fan of the Paper Mario series, I got Paper Mario Sticker Star for Christmas, and have never been so disappointed with a Nintendo game in my life.

Sticker Star returns to the series roots with its "go anywhere" style, and the battle mode is back. This time around, you have to collect stickers that can act as power ups, and this is key to beating bosses and various enemies. You can collect new pages for every boss you beat, and you can use an innovative "paperize" mode to put certain items in front of things to help you out. For example, in the windmill level, you can plant flowers in a garden with the paperize mode to get cool items. It's a very awesome feature, and is very critical in pretty much every situation. A new "Battle Spinner" lets you choose how many attacks you can have, and the amount you can get depends on how many of the same icons you can match up. The goal is when you get a sticker star, and I like how you can get coins after you beat it.


Sticker Star had all the promise in the world, but falls completely flat of being a classic. In the first three Paper Mario games, they featured interesting worlds to explore, plenty of cool and funny partners, and a progressively dark storyline for every new game. In Sticker Star, you don't get partners, the storyline is practically non existent, and the bosses are lame. Basically, Mario (back in paper form again, go figure) has to save Peach (again) from Bowser (yet again). This is pretty much the last you'll hear from Peach and Bowser until the game, and the fact that you can't play as Peach or Bowser this time around is a crime, considering the first three games let you do those (the first Paper Mario didn't let you play as Bowser though). Your sole partner, Kertsi, is a silver crown who can help with paperizing and your battles, but she's annoying as hell.

As well as a lack of storyline/different characters to play as, Sticker Star's battle mode is weak as well. For some reason, you gain no experience points or level up during these battles, and the only thing you get out of it is coins. Great. No flower points or badge points. While the battles are nicely designed, it feels unnecessary most of the time to battle, especially since you use up a lot of your stickers for nothing. The boneheaded designers also inexplicably required you to get stickers for your NORMAL ATTACKS!!! That's right, even if you have a normal jump and hammer, you still need stickers for these, otherwise you can't attack at all. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!!!!

But what really kills this game from greatness is the fact that exploring every single inch of the game is REQUIRED. In the forest world, you are forced to go through all 9 levels just to find a stupid Wiggler. It's one thing to explore every inch to find all of the secrets, but for some reason some of the branching paths are critical in finding key items to advance to the next level. WTF?!!! You'll have to travel all over the kingdom for what this game calls "things", and you'll never know which item you have to use because the game doesn't give you any hints. How was I supposed to know I had to use a GOAT TO EAT GARBAGE?!!! Better yet, the bosses become tediously long fights to the death if you don't have the right item to use, so it's very fortunate that you can even run away from bosses this time! I can't say how many times I've had to search for FAQ's for every level. Speaking of which, when you do try to run away, it does it at random. There's no meter you have to run pass this time, the games decides whether you can leave or not. It's a total pain in the ass. Also, how come the game has SIX WORLDS?!! SERIOUSLY?!! The first three had at least 7 in each, so how come they downgraded it here??? The final level is lame, and fighting Bowser as the final boss is torture. The build up for the final battle can't even touch what the previous three games did!

As flawed as Sticker Star is, it still somehow packs a punch in terms of fun. The levels are imaginative and I love using an overworld map to travel from place to place. One new feature I like is finding heart points hidden in various levels, allowing you to gain more heart points. I also love the branching levels, so you can find different goals in each level that are hidden. Some of the levels are very memorable, such as the waterfall level where you try to escape from a giant man eating Cheep Cheep. The door items are also cool, as they can get you secret items and even hidden spots. It's very fun to collect new "things" and activate them in battle, as you'll have no idea what to expect. You can even try and grab Luigi in a few levels, though it adds to nothing in the end. Some of the uses of the items are clever, such as using a bowling ball to knock pins (with a cool replay feature I might add), and using a baseball bat to knock out a giant Pokey.

Graphically, Sticker Star is the best I've seen in the series. The framerate is a little slower, but the levels are nice and colorful, and the 3D effect makes levels more fun to explore, and even helps determine your position. Come to think of it, Paper Mario is perfect on the 3DS because it reveals a more paper like world with the 3D effect on. I like the jazzy atmosphere of the music better than Super Paper Mario's music, and while most of the tunes are great, some just suck.

Overall, I was hooked at first, but Paper Mario Sticker Star isn't even as fun as Super Paper Mario, let alone the N64 and Gamecube versions. It's ambitious in some respects but totally derives from some of the things we've come to know and love about the Paper Mario series, like the story, ability to play different characters, the battles, and the exploration. It feels like a rush job in the end, and not being able to tell what to do next 99.9% of the time is disappointing. The humor is watered down and it just feels unsatisfying. Paper Mario Sticker Star, at the end of the day, is a quality game, but its design flaws prevent it from reaching the classic status of the first three games. For the best RPG fun on your 3DS, stick with Fire Emblem Awakening.

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"Blueguy93 reviewed Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS..." was posted by Blueguy93 on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:05:18 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/paper-mario-sticker-star/user-reviews/810541/platform/3ds/ Sat, 06 Apr 2013 13:48:12 -0700 Pierst179 reviewed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/user-reviews/809947/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Differently from every single home console released by Nintendo up to that point, the Nintendo Gamecube did not feature a major Mario adventure among its starting lineup of games. Coincidentally, the system that usually stands as the black sheep of Nintendo's hardware collection - if you exclude the virtual boy - kicked things off with an often overlooked character: Luigi. Appreciation for Luigi's Mansion would steadily grow over the years, and for a game that originally appeared as an average launch title, the franchise ended up with a surprising and deserving amount of voices supporting an eventual return. More than a decade later, Dark Moon comes around to expand on the concept of the first game and give it a heavy infusion of the clumsy personality that Luigi has gained during the past few years on his RPG incursions. The result of it all is the very best game the Nintendo 3DS has to offer up to this point in its lifespan.

The game, seemingly eager to display its glorious blend of eerie environments and slapstick humor, shows its nature from the get go. Luigi sits at home watching TV when, suddenly, Professor E. Gadd interrupts the signal to summon Luigi to yet another creepy quest. The ghosts of Evershade Valley had been exhibiting a very peaceful behavior in recent years. Unfortunately, during one apparently normal night, the spirits begin to act up; destroying everything in their surroundings and haunting the abandoned locations of the valley. An awfully frightened Luigi tries to hilariously deny the invitation for an adventure, but the Professor promptly transports Nintendo's second plumber to the valley and - thankfully, for us - sends him ghost-hunting around the valley.

Instead of featuring one large mansion where the whole adventure takes place, Next Level Games cleverly decided to split the game in five distinct manors. The geographical separation of the houses allowed the developers to create one overall theme for each one of them, and that wider potential for creation was very well explored. While the first location is your average haunted house, the others go on to explore themes like ice, plants and clockwork; the last of which strays away from the regular assortment of Mario themes and ventures into a theme that is fantastically adequate for a haunted universe. The mansions are throughly impressive in both their visual and structural design and they never cease to amaze: every turn and corner hides the possibility of a surprise and the rooms are packed to the brim with objects and contraptions that Luigi can interact with, which often generate some truly funny results.

The amount of stuff that can be pushed, pulled, sucked, and moved is enough for the mansions to receive many accolades for stellar attention to detail, but while Next Level Games was clearly worried about the finer grains of the mansions' environments, they also took excellent care of how they were built. Set up in ways that tend to remember some Zelda dungeons, moving around the mansions becomes a puzzle in its self. Invariably, during the game's missions, the location that serves as Luigi's current destination will be neatly highlighted in the map. Getting there, though, is usually not as straightforward as the map will let on, as it will involve deep exploration of the surrounding rooms, puzzle solving, the finding of keys, ghost encounters and other events. Once they are cleared, the mansions will not seem like they are enormous, but the game is so densely filled up with mystery and riddles that at least three hours are required to clear each one of them.

In respect to the game's handheld nature, Next Level Games took a decision that certainly causes diverging effects. The game is completely structured around missions, usually featuring six for each house plus a boss battle and a mindless ghost hunt against the clock. The benefits of such an approach is that, besides making it possible to play the game in short bursts, the game gains a lot of replayability because players are awarded a rank for each missions based on money acquired, ghosts captured, time spent and health lost; and the mansions go through some significant changes between missions. However, as Luigi has to return to E. Gadd's lab every twenty minutes, the game loses a bit of its haunting immersion - slightly harming the company's environmental work - and occasionally does not allow players to go into certain areas of the mansion during the course of some missions, which goes against the natural urge players will get to explore the very well-done locations. Also negatively affecting the game's sense of isolation is the fact that E. Gadd is often calling up Luigi in order to give him details of where to go and what to do. While the interruptions do diminish as the game advances, they remain an issue through the adventure.

Those flaws, though noticeable, are ridiculously tiny compared to the game's flooring qualities. Everything in Dark Moon is nicely done. The controls are tightly done and make battling ghosts a huge thrill; a positive factor that is multiplied by the nice variety of ghosts that the game throws at Luigi. The simple controls and Luigi's limited set of instruments - he only packs his trustworthy glorified vacuum cleaner and a flashlight that either makes environments brighter or reveals hidden objects - are used to an incredible degree, and the quantity of different puzzles that the developers were able to come up with having only a few tools at the character's command is beyond remarkable. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is one of those games that amaze every step of the way, and whatever issues individual players may encounter during the adventure will be easily overshadowed by everything else.

If on the creative front Dark Moon is spectacular, its technical departments shine equally bright and set new high standards for the system. The game's visuals are absolutely astounding. The fact that the game takes place in tiny rooms instead of open environments allowed Next Level Games to go all out with textures, effects and details without fear that the game's rendering performance would suffer. Few Nintendo games have ever offered such detailed scenes, and delicate precision with each lights and shadows have been implemented - a key factor for a generally dark game - is quite a sight. The music and sound design are also very well done. Taking advantage of low-key compositions and punctual sound effects, the game crafts one tense environment which has its darkness balanced by the cartoonish sounds emitted by ghosts, Luigi's always amusing voice tonality and the fact that he often likes to hum along with the tune that is playing on the background.

Where Luigi's Mansion is most impressive, though, is in its animation. Anyone who stops to pay attention to the way Luigi moves will certainly burst out laughing at how he walks, runs and looks around in ridiculous fright. The highlight comes around in the small custscenes that punctuate the exploration. The mansions are full of holes in the wall through which Luigi can check out what ghosts are doing when they think he is not looking. Those little peeks into their behavior tend to be accompanied by comical cutscenes of their wild interactions with each other and it is easy to lose a few minutes looking at what they are doing while taking in the cleverness of it all.

If an adventure that can stretch out for over fifteen hours - especially if players decide to go after the collectible gems and boos - is not enough to satisfy the needs created by more than one decade of waiting, then the game packs a very solid multiplayer mode. In it, four players explore mansions that can range from five floors to twenty-five in three different modes that share the same goal: finding a way to get to the top of the mansion by unlocking doors, capturing ghosts and enduring the many challenges of working as a team. The mansions in the multiplayer mode are randomly generated, which adds a good deal of value to the whole experience even if there is a limited set of rooms from which mansions are created. However, as the fun comes from working together with other Luigis, capturing ghosts and defeating a boss every five floors, the multiplayer remains a strong and alluring option either as a break from the main adventure or as a source of fresh fun after the game is done.

Two years into the 3DS' life, Luigi's Mansion is, by one considerable margin, the best and most complete game to show up on the system. If more than a decade ago the lack of a Mario game on the Gamecube's launch lineup was a reason to delay the purchase of the system, this time around Luigi trumps his brother and becomes the ultimate reason why owning a 3DS is worth it.

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"Pierst179 reviewed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS..." was posted by Pierst179 on Sat, 06 Apr 2013 13:48:12 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/user-reviews/809947/platform/3ds/ Sun, 24 Feb 2013 14:32:54 -0800 Blueguy93 reviewed Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?! for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/adventure-time-hey-ice-king-whyd-you-steal-our/user-reviews/807951/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

I happen to be a big Adventure Time fan. The show combines bizarre and outrageously funny humor with surreal fantasy animation. What's even better is that this 3DS game not only captures the spirit of the show, it's actually one of the best games on the 3DS!!! Everyone I know has Adventure Time merchandise, from a hat of Finn the human or a Jake The Dog t-shirt. If you think Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!! is a generic beat 'em-up or a generic 3D plat former, you really need to think again. This actually plays like a Zelda II tribute, which is refreshing considering every other Zelda inspired game takes from Link to The Past or Ocarina of Time.

The game's hilarious plot involves Jake and Finn trying to get their garbage back from the Ice King (duh). To get it back, you'll have to travel all across four different kingdoms, including the Candy Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom. Unlike some of the more recent Zelda games, Adventure Time on the 3DS does NOT hold your hand throughout the game. There are hints scattered throughout the game, but you have to find everything on your own, which is a nice change of pace in today's age of gaming and harkens an old school vibe seen in the 80's and 90's. At first your main attacks are with your fists, but once you find your sword, this is where the fun begins. The hack and slash action is satisfying as hell, and I love how you can attack enemies in the sky by jumping and slashing, as well as applying low slashes to small enemies like the singing worms.

Exploring this game seems overwhelming at first, but as it turns out, it's pretty straightforward. Like Zelda II, you travel through kingdoms via an overworld (there's even those annoying enemies on the overworld that force you to battle if you touch them), and the game goes to a 2D point of view when you travel dungeons, or in between kingdoms. Unlike Zelda II, however, the game allows you to level up your speed, attack, and health, via certain treasure chests scattered throughout the levels, which is an innovative and cool feature! Also, you can store items in the bottom screen, and you can even combine some of them! Just make sure you know that you will gain so many items immediately. I also love how you can save at "fountains" with babes right next to it. After you beat bosses, Jake will be able to learn cool moves such as FARTING to destroy giant walls, or stretching himself out to form a bridge (much to his dismay).

This game really succeeds in the exploring department. It's fun to solve problems for people, including saving a baby from one million years Lemongrab's dungeon, which is UNACCEPTABLE!!! Also great is finding Princess Bubblegum's pantyhose (????). The dungeons are some of the best moments in gaming history, with excellent ominous music in the background. The dungeons include some fun puzzle solving and new moves for Finn to learn. The memorable boss battles include fighting a chainsaw wielding bear, fighting 100 clones of the Ice King's best friend Gunter The Penguin (with the last clone being the toughest to beat), Marceline the vampire who attacks with her guitar, and finally the Ice King (and later Lumpy for the final boss, spoiler alert).

The graphics for Adventure Time are very understated and old school, and are very faithful to the show. Some of the layering of the background and foregrounds are very impressive. The 3D effect is also a plus, giving the game a nice popped up feel. The music is lo-fi, but is amazing, some of the best I have heard on a handheld game.

If I had one complaint, it's that the game is pretty short, and the bonus quest is the same, except with tougher enemies, but it's no big deal. Adventure Time on the 3DS has a ridiculous title, and a great one at that. The game is challenging and very fun. I haven't really played a game as addictive and unique as this in a while. If you are an Adventure Time fan wanting to purchase a great game based on the show, then this is the most math game you will ever play!

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound:10/10
Value: 9.5/10

Final Score: 9.6/10 (A)

(NOTE: This game is also on the DS)

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/adventure-time-hey-ice-king-whyd-you-steal-our/user-reviews/807951/platform/3ds/ Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:48:31 -0800 Blueguy93 reviewed Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/pro-evolution-soccer-2011/user-reviews/806778/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

I have never played too many soccer games, but I know a good one when I see it. And this 3DS edition of Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (which was released as one of the launch titles for the system) isn't just good, it's amazing! Seriously, I absolutely love how this game was ported on the 3DS, and it's one of the best games I've played on the 3DS.

Obviously, this is a soccer game, and if you didn't realize that, you need some counseling. My copy of the game came in a 3D holographic label, which is pretty cool, and reminds me of the same cartridge label on Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64). When you turn on the game, you can choose exhibition, a tournament mode, and some online modes. And wouldn't you believe it, Konami squeezed hundreds of actual soccer teams on to a tiny 3DS cartridge! My favorites are some of the obvious ones, the USA, England, and South Africa. Really, we all know England's the best, because they have Wayne Rooney, who's fast as hell in this game! In some games he was the only guy that scored on my team, and he only scored a measly EIGHT TIMES!!!!

Right off the bat, this game is addicting and fun as hell. It has a nice arcade quality the more realistic Fifa games from EA lack, and really no matter what team you use, it's always easy to pick up and play. Scoring is abundant in this game, and executing all the crossovers, one time shots, headers, and long kicks is a breeze (I've played soccer for years, and my college at Akron has a really good soccer team . I really can't explain in enough detail how much fun it is to score in this game, and the fantastic replay system that kicks in right after you score a goal lets you revisit your spectacular goal. Even better is when your opponent misses a close goal, and the replay humiliatingly shows him missing. The touch screen is dedicated to a little map of the field, as well as some strategies for your players (similar to the 3DS edition of Super Street Fighter IV), such as pressuring the offense. As you might guess by now, the controls are excellent, and though some of the player movements are stiff (such as running from an angle), there's really not a lot to complain about. This is soccer gaming at its finest.

As great as the game already is, it truly shines in the tournament mode, where you'll get to use all the kickass clubs form each country. I haven't checked if Manchester United is in here, but the next time I play this, I will. Anyways, it's addicting as hell to climb to the top in the tournament mode, and my defense was so good, we only allowed ONE GOAL TOTAL in the tournament. Nothing is more awesome than winning the championship in the tournament mode, and I mean nothing (well maybe Katherine Webb, but that's a secret between you and me).

The graphics themselves are nice. Some of the cutscenes between the game are choppy, but in general the game looks great and some of the player celebrations look very realistic. I also dig the look of the stadiums, especially Wembley Stadium, and it's fascinating to play in many of these stadiums with the city skyline in the background. The house music on the menu is good, but even better is the commentating in the game. Though repetitive, Konami clearly hired some experts, and we have Jon Champion and Jim Beglin. Champion's lines are very amusing, and include gems such as "Oh dear oh dear it's beginning to look more and more like shooting practice," and "He scored, and even the manager is now smiling at the touchline." It's very entertaining after you score a goal, and it adds to the realism. Hell, they even point out a goal scored by THE OPPOSITE TEAM ON THEIR OWN GOAL!!! How cool is that?!!!

If there's one complain I have, it's that penalties are sometimes called where your player is offsides, but it doesn't look anywhere close to that on the replay's view, even when they highlight it. What's that all about? But Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D is a fantastic game. If you haven;t played the other two 3DS PES games, you need to start out with this game first, and it's totally worth it. In fact, this game is so good, it makes me want to get back into soccer again!!!

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Value: 10/10
Final Score: 9.6/10 (A)

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"Blueguy93 reviewed Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D for the 3DS..." was posted by Blueguy93 on Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:48:31 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/pro-evolution-soccer-2011/user-reviews/806778/platform/3ds/ Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:49:20 -0800 Blueguy93 reviewed Heroes of Ruin for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/heroes-of-ruin/user-reviews/806748/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

It's refreshing to see a game like Heroes of Ruin, in other words, something that isn't a remake or a sequel (not that that's a bad thing), but rather a new game. And this comes from the Gods of the RPG genre; Square Enix (Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger, etc.), in a Diablo-esque adventure. And it's actually a blast to play!

Heroes of Ruin basically deals with you trying to save this dude named Ataraxis from a horrible curse, in which he looks like a giant lion on acid or something like that. You can travel to four worlds through the WORST LOOKING HUB WORLD IVE EVER SEEN IN A VIDEO GAME (AKA Nexus)!!! Seriously, this place literally looks like a dump! It's not even the least bit fun to explore itself, unless you're looking for potions, items, or side quests. The levels themselves are maze like, and thanks to your map's "draw in," going through each level requires trial and error, which is annoying, even though you can find side quests and other characters here. You get four levels in all the worlds (except the last one), and later on you have to visit them all a fifth time. Joy!!!! The storyline itself sucks, and at the end of the game, there are a few twist endings (in a row I should add!!!!) that aren't anything special.

You'd expect a game like this to suck based on what I've previously stated, but in fact this is a really fun game! It's satisfying as hell to destroy all the enemies, which include walking crabs, grim reapers, and goblin scientists. Adding to replay value, you can choose one of four characters, including a vindicator (lion), a gunslinger (dude), an architect (elf), and some weird savage guy (beast, duh). Each has their own unique abilities, but I enjoy using both the vindicator and gunslinger the most, because their special weapons are the best to use. Speaking of which, once you level up, you can buy new attacks such as curative magic, spinning attacks, and bullets that fire everywhere. These are really fun to try out and use, and you customize your attacks on the main four 3DS buttons at any time. Thanks to the enemy variety and crisp controls, fighting is always fun and never boring. I love the sidequests too, and (I swear to God) one of them is named "Save our Swag." I kid you not. What, did Soulja Boy make this game?!!

The best part about the game are the boss battles. These are very memorable and some of the openings took me off guard thanks to their impressive 3D effects. These boss fights include a giant water snake that fires deadly toxic water across the battlefield, a freak ghost, and a bear that catches on fire. These encounters are challenging and make this game very fun. Checkpoints are also evenly spaced, so that's a good thing. Each level also has secret treasure passages that allow you to get some cool weapons. You will find a lot of armor, so make sure you trade and sell some so your capacity isn't overfilling. The game also has a sick sense of humor as well!

The graphics in Heroes of Ruin are a mixed bag. The forest and snow levels look interesting, but the caves and floating castles look boring. Also some of the scenery looks flat and uninteresting. At first, I thought the 3D effect was lame, but actually does a great job, giving the game some depth and making some of the set pieces pop up. Hell, dripping water and shining lights pop up with a very impressive 3D effect! Still, it makes the game very choppy and many points (especially Nexus), and it's better to just turn it off when there's so much clutter on the screen. The music is nice and the voices are hilarious. I love the vindicatior's lines such as "Taste steel," "I AM HEEEAALED!!!" and "Evil has no need of this." It's the little things that count (that's what she said to you), and Heroes of Ruin has plenty.

I've heard many people say this game is too easy, but don't believe it. In fact, during many of my fights and boss battles, I used up many of my health and magic potions when I was almost out of life, and you'll go through it quickly because you'll receive so much damage! Heroes of Ruin is challenging and fun, and a great addition to the 3DS library. It's short, not really varied in terms of places to go, and has some flaws, but it's still that good of a video game for me. Besides, that's what sequels are for.

NOTE: this game has multiplayer, and I tried it but didn't get enough detail of it.

Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Final Score: 8.6/10 (B)

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"Blueguy93 reviewed Heroes of Ruin for the 3DS..." was posted by Blueguy93 on Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:49:20 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/heroes-of-ruin/user-reviews/806748/platform/3ds/ Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:21:37 -0800 Blueguy93 reviewed LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/lego-pirates-of-the-caribbean-the-video-game/user-reviews/806563/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

The Lego video game series has been around for quite a while, but I don't think it's gotten any better than Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. Think about it; the Lego games usually involve collecting, and pirates are associated with collecting treasure. And since I enjoy the movie franchise, it's even a sweeter bonus! This 3DS edition is especially great because it's a bit easier to pick up and play, and the 3D makes it look even better.

Lego Pirates features gameplay from all four movies (!!), so basically you get 16 levels in total (do the ridiculously complicated math to see how many levels are in each movie). As you might expect, the game is extremely faithful to all four films. You get the fight scene with Jack Sparrow and William Turner from the first movie, the wheel from the 2nd movie, the final fight with Davy Jones from the third movie, and the hunt for the holy grail from the fourth movie. And in between, there's plenty of puzzle solving, fighting, and treasure collecting. It's always fun to solve puzzles and see the outcome of what happens next. For example, in the first level, riding a donkey in a circle will reveal a path that goes to a fight against Jack Sparrow. Each character also has unique abilities, such as Will Turner climbing walls with two swords, or his dad going through holes in the floor (which for some reason look like BOTTLES), and even Elizabeth swinging across gaps with her trusty catapult hook. I also love occasionally swimming underwater to solve even more puzzles.

As I stated before, Lego Pirates is heavy on item collecting, and for good reason too! It's a pirate game, DUH!!! One red block is carefully hidden in each level (unlocking cool cheats such as huge heads and banana swords for you to buy in the hub world), and getting some of the other items might require you to row boats, control toy boats, and roll dice (the last one is really boring). There's a lot to explore in this game, and there are a few side-quests such as collecting ducks, crabs, pigs, and even destroying totem poles. At first, the 3D didn't do much for me, but in retrospect, it makes the game look a lot better and does help in terms of judging your position, since this is a 3D action adventure game. At first, some of the items and areas are locked, but once you unlock new characters, you'll be able to use their abilities to get there again. My favorite is Jack Sparrow's "cursed mode," where you go under mysterious looking light and use it to break down strong barriers. You even get to use animals such as a dog, monkey, and a bird to get items you couldn't normally get.

The game is extremely faithful to the franchise, and even makes fun of it in a few situations. For example, in the ending cutscene for Dead Man's Chest, Jack Sparrow grabs a hairbrush (!!!) and jumps into the Kraken (where in the actual movie the Kraken attacked first and he had a sword), and then the ship is hilariously sunken into the sea so quickly that I was literally rolling on the floor with laughter. The cutscenes are pixelated and hard on the eyes, much unlike the console versions, but let's be thankful they're here in the first place.

So how is the fighting action? Not very good. In fact, it's boring somewhat. Sword fighting is basically limiting to hearing clanks of swords and then your enemy finally going down with one hit. Some characters have guns, which is more fun to use, but the controls for aiming are slippery and you'll often get hit trying to shoot down foes. And if it's one thing I absolutely despise about this game, it's the boss fights. These appear more appropriate for a Disney on Ice show for God's sake!!! There are quick timing button presses, but these fights go on for far too long and I'd rather skip them if I had the option! In most cases, you'll have to fight the same enemy twice (Crap!)!

Graphically, this game is a beast. There's some slowdown with the 3D on (such as the fort level in Dead Man's Chest), but in general with or without 3D, the framerate does an excellent job. Complimenting the smooth framerate is fantastic scenery taking you from tropical jungles, to the beach, to foggy forests, caves, and even underwater! These are fascinating to explore, and even better to look at in 3D! The music is lifted from the films, and it's freaking awesome. The only problem I have with the otherwise excellent audio is that when Jack is moaning, it sounds like he's thinking about SOMETHING ELSE....I'll leave you to debate what I meant by that.

Despite a few flaws, I really enjoyed Lego Pirates on the 3DS. The game is generally easy. In fact, there are hearts scattered everywhere, but you almost never need them! I guess the easy difficulty makes the game more compelling to play, and it does. It's really fun to play, and if you ever need a game to play on the go where you can say "This is the day you'll remember as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparow," then this is your game. No questions asked.

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Value: 9/10

Final Score: 9.2/10 (A-)

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/lego-pirates-of-the-caribbean-the-video-game/user-reviews/806563/platform/3ds/ Tue, 25 Dec 2012 16:00:24 -0800 Pierst179 reviewed Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/professor-layton-and-the-miracle-mask/user-reviews/805158/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

The Professor Layton series reaches its fifth installment in as many years, and - differently from many other famous franchises of this day and age - the professor has somehow manage to stumble upon a weird formula which combines constant releases, and little to no gameplay changes, and mixes those two ingredients to form games that are seemingly immune to criticism. It might be awfully easy to negatively point out how Layton has offered us over a hundred hours of eerily similar gameplay, but - as a contrast - it is just impossibly hard to ignore the glorious strides that the folks at Level-5 are able to take in creating settings and stories that turn everyone of the Layton games into odd mysteries that delicately float in the border of the realms of the plausible and the outlandish. Miracle Mask follows the tradition and delivers the finest gaming adventure of the Nintendo 3DS' early life.

Two elements are key in pushing the Professor Layton games beyond the label of a glorified puzzle package: setting and plot, and in Miracle Mask, specially aided by the 3DS' powers and capabilities, they are more impressive than ever. This time around, the picturesque location of choice is Monte d'Or: an entertainment oasis located in the middle of a bare desert. Mostly populated by the marveled tourists who stay in the city's many luxurious hotels, the city is a delightful clash of the European vibe and architecture that is so vividly present in the Layton series, the lights and colors of Las Vegas and the French-influenced carnival celebrations that take place in New Orleans. The combination turns Monte d'Or into a believable confluence of styles, and, in the meantime, places the city into an inexistent earthly geographic location. A match of tendencies that plays right into the hands of the Laytonesque plots that so often combine the possible with the far fetched.

Monte d'Or is not just bizarrely interesting, it is also gloriously beautiful. Visually, the Layton series has went through an incredible overhaul, and the result are scenarios and characters that pop out of the screen in full life, and not solely because of the game's wonderful use of 3-D effects. More purist players may be disappointed to learn that the pure cartoonish sprites have been replaced by cell-shaded 3-D models, but truth is that at no point the game loses its charm. On the contrary, the visual leap forward is extremely beneficial to the game both in its storytelling, and - even more strongly - in the development and growth of its setting. No other location ever explored by Layton offered so many details, people and life, and for that reason players are instantaneously drawn into the many wonders of this paradise in the middle of the dunes. While the fully hand-drawn past of the series has provided very remarkable locations to explore, this new blend of drawing and polygons is a welcome change that makes Miracle Mask stand out from the get go.

As alluring as the usual Layton locations might be, one thing is always certain: if the professor is on site, it means that something wrong is going on, and thankfully this is no exception. Built by a childhood friend of his, Monte d'Or has been under attack. A masked man in an impeccable white suit has been making public appearances in crowded places and making dark miracles happen right in front of the tourists' eyes. A town that thrives under flashy shows and casinos is suddenly being threatened by a twisted man who enjoys putting on shows himself, such as turning passers-by into animals. Watching as the economic health of this tourist wonderland is in danger of turning into dust, Angela summons the professor to investigate the happenings.

The story is as well-told as expected. The game alternates silent dialogues, voiced exchanges and full-blown drawn cutscenes, depending on how crucial the moment is to the plot as a whole. Comparatively, this game's plot offers as many twists and unexpected turns as all the other Layton games do, which brings a great balance between the puzzle-solving and the story development; something that makes the two factors complementary to one another, instead of turning one of them into a little accessory, and hence highlighting the brilliance of both the storyline script and the puzzle design. However, differently from the most recent Layton game - The Last Specter, Miracle Mask as a whole has developments that are more grounded in feasible reality, even if it is some sort extravagant view of what is real and what isn't, which makes the whole quest for truth much more satisfying for players.

From that point on, the game is Professor Layton as we know it. In point-and-click fashion, the professor must wander around the streets of the city, talk to its residents to gather either random information or new important leads and solve a handful of puzzles along the way. As usual, the city is populated by quite an assortment of curious and unforgettable characters that start being missed by players as soon as the game's credits begin to roll. The game's dialogue remains as sharp as ever, turning every little character interaction into one enjoyable experience that further adds layers to the remarkable Professor Layton universe. Though 3-D models are used in place of straight cartoons, the designers were still able to pull off some likable but bizarre designs that seem to have come out of a Saturday morning cartoon.

The puzzles remain very solid. For those who are familiar with the series, the first few riddles will certainly be quite a breeze to figure out, as more experienced players are already quite high in the scale of true gentlemanliness, but as the game progresses, puzzles grow truly challenging and some of the adventure's many hidden puzzles can take quite a while to figure out. Though most of the puzzles follow the traditional static structure displayed in the previous Layton games - where static text and a charming little goofy image are all that is shown to players, some of the puzzles here offer brand new more interactive interfaces, such as a few occasions where a little sprite of the professor must be moved around in order for him to defeat threatening enemies in a very logical way.

All in all, the game comes packed with 150 puzzles, with an additional will be made daily available by the Nintendo Network. If players just want to blast through the story and get to the bottom of the Masked Gentleman mystery, the game will last for about fifteen hours, but anybody who wants to become a true gentleman and solve all puzzles will find a game that will deliver over thirty hours of very satisfying gameplay. Once the case is solved, after many mind-blowing happenings, there isn't much reason to replay Miracle Mask, such is the nature of a story-centered game, but its gigantic collection of puzzles and the already traditional extra mini-games, that contain dozens of puzzles within themselves, will certainly make this one game worth at least another a hundred, due to how rewarding they are.

In the end, the Miracle Mask undoubtedly stands out among the Layton series due to its visuals, while its gameplay and plot remain true to the series' traditions, which is not bad at all. Five games, and one handheld system later, it comes off as a huge statement to the tight quality of the Layton series that the professor still amazes as strongly as he did when he ventured into one curious village with a equally curious secret. As veteran gentlemen, we have come to expect and nearly foresee all the amazing turns that the plot and puzzles will take, but even in the face of our trained brains Level-5 simply never fails in pulling off surprising tricks. We have grown mentally addicted to asking our favorite gaming franchises to change and transform, but, after playing Miracle Mask, we become even more certain that, when it comes to Layton, all we should ask for is: keep coming, and stay the same.

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"Pierst179 reviewed Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask for the 3DS..." was posted by Pierst179 on Tue, 25 Dec 2012 16:00:24 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/professor-layton-and-the-miracle-mask/user-reviews/805158/platform/3ds/ Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:13:00 -0800 Blueguy93 reviewed Steel Diver for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/steel-diver/user-reviews/805100/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

I remember when Steel Diver was bashed by critics and audiences upon its release as a launch title, mainly because it was based on a tech demo for the original DS. It's undeserved, because not many people give this game a chance, because it's actually a neat little addition in my 3DS collection.

Steel Diver is a 2D action game where your goal is to simply guide your submarine to the end of the level. Of course, there is a plot, and like most action games, it's absurd! Anyways, you actually don't control your sub using the circle pad or the d-pad. Instead, Nintendo demands you use the touch screen controls to determine how fast and where you are in the water, which is a cool idea. As a result, this game has more in line with a simulation game than an arcade style shooter, which will turn off gamers with shorter attention spans.

So how is the actual game itself? It's good but not great. I enjoyed the challenge of the game, especially when you're trying to avoid the sea floor, mines, and fight off enemy subs and bosses. The levels aren't so bad once you get the hang of the controls. You get three subs to choose from (each adding to the replay value). I chose the tan colored sub because it's the easiest to control, and considering what type of game this is, that's saying a lot! Also cool is how sometimes you can use the stylus to "plug" in leaks. Pretty innovative!

I found this game somewhat compelling, probably because of the underwater theme. I also enjoyed the varied scenery, including the middle of the ocean, underwater caves, jungles, and even a volcano! You also get some fun periscope bonus challenges after you beat a level, where you need to sink as many enemy ships as possible. This takes place in a first person mode, where you can use the 3DS gyroscope to tilt your handheld to find enemy ships to sink. It's very well designed, and I love unlocking some of the power-ups acquired by sinking these ships. There's also a time attack mode as well, and I can say that it's certainly tough to beat some of the later records.

The main problem with Steel Diver is that its replay value is limited. You can shoot enemies, but your missiles take forever to get to the enemy, and the fact that you need to fire two missiles to sink them is especially annoying. I really also wish there could've been some shortcuts to spice up things a bit, because the levels do get old after a while. And you'll die a lot, by the way. Worst off, when you die, you start from the beginning of the level (sorry, no checkpoints)!!!

Graphically, the game doesn't look bad at all, but it's not up to the standards I've seen with the 3DS. Still, I enjoyed the scenery, and the 3D effect is nice and gives the game some depth, especially underwater. The audio is perhaps the best aspect of the game, with some excellent music and amazing audio effects. Earphone approved, my friends.

Steel Diver isn't the most addictive game on the 3DS, but this is a fun game that is unfairly turned down. Given a try, you might find something to like here. There are better action games on the 3DS, but this is one I'll probably pull out from time to time just to play once more.

Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Final Score: 7.4/10 (C)


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"Blueguy93 reviewed Steel Diver for the 3DS..." was posted by Blueguy93 on Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:13:00 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/steel-diver/user-reviews/805100/platform/3ds/ Sat, 22 Dec 2012 12:52:48 -0800 Blueguy93 reviewed Banjo-Tooie for the Nintendo 64... http://www.gamespot.com/banjo-tooie/user-reviews/805061/platform/n64/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

I absolutely love Banjo Kazooie (N64, 1998) like crazy. It played just like Mario 64 but with more of everything; bigger levels, dynamic music, great humor, awesome secrets, fantastic graphics, and pure exciting gameplay. As you can imagine, I really wanted to play the popular sequel, Banjo Tooie, which was released two years after Banjo Kazooie. My friend Jon fortunately has a copy of the game, which I rented for a little while. At first I didn't really enjoy it at all, mainly because I was so confused on where to go. Once I finally figured out, however, and once I finally started collecting the Jiggy's (which you must give to a Jiggy monk to unlock later levels), I was having a ball.

Getting the plotline out of the way; Gruntilda the witch is back (and she doesn't rhyme anymore!!!), she wants to kill Banjo and Kazooie, and she kills Bottles (who comes back to life at the end of the game) to show that her evilness is back.

Banjo Kazooie brought us more of everything from Super Mario 64, and Banjo Tooie gives us MORE OF EVERYTHING from Banjo Kazooie! Banjo Kazooie's worlds were big, but the ones here are TWICE AS BIG. The first level, Mayhem Temple (appropriately Mayan themed), kicks the crap out of Mumbo's Mountain (first level in Banjo Kazooie) in terms of size. And it doesn't just beat it in level size, it beats it in moves learned. As well as all the moves from the first game, you get to learn a bunch of new moves from Bottles' military involved brother Jamjars (speaking in hilarious sergeant gibberish), and you can even separate both Banjo and Kazooie so they can walk around on their own! You even can have the option of traveling to each world via a train. This feels like a gigantic RPG than a 3D plat former!

Mumbo is back, but he doesn't give you spells this time. He is a playable character that can cast spells on certain parts of the scenery, such as making a Mayan statue walk around breaking huge doors, and even increasing the size of dinosaurs! This time, though, the spells are given to you by Wumba, a female Indian who gives these spells to you if you bring her Glowbos, conveniently located around her huts. You can transform into a Taxi to deliver a fat polar bear (one of the kids from the original game by the way), a stone statue, a submarine, and even my personal favorite, a T-REX (little or giant)!!!

The levels were amazing back in 2000, and they still look spectacular today. I actually learned that the Mayan scenery of Mayhem Temple was supposed to look dark and take place in a forest. And yes, it looks big, and awesome (that's what she said). Witchyworld takes place in a theme park, and the boss fight with the giant inflatable dinosaur Mr. Patch is one of the game's more memorable moments. At first, Jolly Roger Lagoon is restricted to a small pond and a bar, but once you become a submarine, you'll discover the other 75% of the level (I think) is underwater! While the game is choppy at moments, it looks way better than Banjo Kazooie did, with even better lighting effects and much, much more detail in the scenery. There are loads of surprises here.

The level objectives are even improved here. Notably you can use Kazooie as a gun in first person shooter mode to fight the boss of Mayhem Temple! Since the levels are at least twice as big as those found in Banjo Kazooie, there are now warp pads that can take you around the huge worlds. The game is also slightly more forgiving, as the duo now has infinite lives this time around. As if this weren't enough, the game gives you a full MULTIPLAYER MODE!!!

The graphics and sound rank as some of the best I've experienced on the N64. The game looks so good, despite some framerate issues, and it doesn't even use an Expansion Pak at all (the game is bigger than some of the games that REQUIRE THE EXPANSION PAK!!!), a testament to the greatness of Rare. As good as the soundtrack to Banjo Kazooie was, the music in Banjo Tooie is even better. Really it doesn't get much better than this.

All in all, like the game, this review of Banjo Tooie is huge. There is just so much to do in that game, and the game at least ranks in the top ten for N64 games. My only complaint comes from the level design. Sometimes I had to pull out a FAQ! But overall I had a blast with Banjo Tooie. The game is darker, funnier, the puzzles are more intelligent and clever, the gameplay is more varied, the graphics are amazing, the music is awesome, and the game is huger. Banjo Tooie is one of the many reasons why Rare had a spectacular track record from the mid 90's to the early 2000's. Everything they touched turned into something more than gold. If the first Banjo Kazooie game was an A, Banjo Tooie is an A+. And that's an understatement at best.

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Final Score: 10/10 (A+)

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"Blueguy93 reviewed Banjo-Tooie for the Nintendo 64..." was posted by Blueguy93 on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 12:52:48 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/banjo-tooie/user-reviews/805061/platform/n64/ Sun, 09 Dec 2012 08:02:07 -0800 Pierst179 reviewed Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/paper-mario-sticker-star/user-reviews/804449/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

They say you don't change a winning team, and it is incredibly hard to find a team more successful than the first two Paper Mario games. Born in the shadow of the doubt that surrounded Nintendo's ability to produce a worthy sequence to Super Mario RPG, the two initial installments in the Paper Mario saga were nothing short of stellar; featuring great combat mechanics, fantastic plots, undeniable and irresistible charm, and very sharply written dialogues. Super Paper Mario abandoned the amazing combat mechanics in exchange for the simplicity of a 2-D platformer, but kept the other qualities nearly intact. Paper Mario: Sticker Star takes Super Paper Mario's stripped down level progression as its starting point, and from there it proceeds to change the series to its core, making both good and very bad decisions along the way, and leaving us with a title that is easily dwarfed by all of its better predecessors. Paper Mario: Sticker Star is neither boring nor without charm, but it lacks two core things that made the series so fantastic: a heart, and a purpose.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star begins during an annual Mushroom Kingdom holiday when its inhabitants gather in a square in order to celebrate a festival to witness the coming of the Sticker Comet, which is said to grant wishes. Naturally, Bowser promptly shows up to take control of the comet, and since the Mushroom Kingdom is plagued by poor security planning, the big beast obviously overpowers the three Toads protecting the piece and crashes into the thing. The comet then splits into six pieces: five that end up falling all over the kingdom, and one that lands right on top of Bowser's head, making him ridiculously powerful in the process. As it has been the case with all Paper Mario games until this point, the silly simple central plot is supposed to serve as a trampoline to an underlying number of storylines and mysteries that Mario will have to unwrap in order to reach each of the pieces he is after. Sticker Star, however, in a mind-boggling poor design choice, is extremely thin in the plot development department, as each of its chapters feature no storylines whatsoever.

Both story and dialogue have always been a central element to the success of the series, as they worked as masterful supports to the great gameplay of Paper Mario. Their sudden removal leaves players solely with one heartless central tale, and branching chapters that play more like a New Super Mario Bros. game than another entry in the Paper Mario series, due to their one-dimensional nature born from the sole exclusive focus on gameplay. Encounters with weird and well-developed supporting characters are so rare they border on being null. As a consequence, dialogues become infrequent and stripped down, and the locations players will visit are neither curious nor surprising, as they are simply paperized versions of settings found in all other Mario games, such as a desert, a jungle, icy mountains, a beach and a volcano. As it turns out, a Paper Mario without its plots becomes as hollow as a book that exclusively contains scenario descriptions, and forgets that those scenarios would gain a lot if they had been populated with easy-to-love beings.

Without the plot, the game's spotlight ends up falling solely on the shoulders of its gameplay. Sadly, though, in spite of the fact that its gameplay utilizes concepts that, more than any other game in the series, embrace and make use of the paper-nature of its setting; Sticker Star's playing style presents way too many holes in it, which stop it from fully rescuing the game. The game features chapters which are divided in a series of levels which can be navigated through an overworld of Super Mario World qualities. All of the levels are relatively short, and some of them even provide secret exits that are either optional, opening up paths to hidden locations, or mandatory, blocking the way to proceeding stages. It's an approach that neither does the game any good nor harms it in any considerable way, but that aligns itself quite well with the underlying gameplay.

The biggest conceptual change in Sticker Star, as its title points out, is the presence of stickers, which adds a lot to the great charm of the game and provides a whole new level of thematic cohesion. Mario no longer will battle foes with a predetermined set of attacks. Instead, it is imperative that players collect stickers in order for them to be used in battles. The nature of those consumable attacks is nothing new, as they include different kinds of jumps, hammers, fire and ice flowers, POW blocks, Koopa shells and etc, and the ways on which they must be used keep the battles very engaging, as players need to interact with the usage of those stickers by pressing the action buttons in a timely manner to increase the power of the stickers or protect Mario from enemies' attacks. Collecting and using stickers is undeniably a lot of fun, and in addition they provide an extra strategic element, as players must do some inventory management in order not to be without more powerful stickers once the time to face stronger enemies comes.

However, Nintendo's choice to make stickers more powerful as the game progresses has completely nullified the need for a level system, and - as a consequence - it was naturally removed. Unfortunately, that removal causes a bit of a conceptual problem to the game. As level points are no longer acquired or necessary, the sole reward for battling comes in the form of coins, which in turn are used to buy more stickers. This create the odd situation where players are battling to defeat enemies, to get coins, which are then used to buy the very same stickers that were just used to defeat those enemies. Once players notice that futile cycle, and they most certainly will, one thing becomes quite clear: in Paper Mario Sticker star, battles have no purpose. And when an activity comes with either no reward or a pointless one, which is the case here, performing it becomes one extremely dull affair. As fun as using stickers and pounding enemies is, it will lose its charm after a few goes, as players will just be overwhelmed by the pointless nature of it all.

In addition, the battle system features yet another problem: it has no difficulty balance. When it comes to regular enemies, given how stickers are everywhere just waiting to be plucked from the walls, Mario will more often than not be completely overpower those foes, blowing them away in a few turns. Things become even easier given that Mario can increase the number of stickers he can use in a single turn by spending a few dozen coins, which are also very commonly found in the game, in order to spin a roulette that can grant him the power to use up to three stickers in a single round. In the end, the equation is quite simple: add the unshakable feeling that battles are blatantly pointless with the fact that most of them are a piece of cake, and you got a great engaging battle system that was not very well executed by the folks at Intelligent Systems. While the attempt to change the series is certainly commendable for both how addictive it is to pluck and collect stickers, and how the concept falls right into place with the game's paper world, it is impossible not to see that it was not perfectly implemented.

Boss battles do not suffer from the same lack of challenge, yet they present a different flaw. Bosses are ridiculously powerful, possessing HP bars that are invariably in the hundreds, and defense stats that make most stickers have their power of attack reduced to one, which means that defeating a boos through traditional methods would require almost as many stickers as Mario can carry, incredible defensive abilities by players and a lot of luck. In other words, it is almost impossible, but doable. The alternative is figuring out what is the boss' weakness, which means finding a "Thing Sticker" that will harm it in a significant way. "Things" can be found all throughout the game's stages, either in plain sight or very well-hidden, and their nature is completely random, ranging from objects like a fridge, a radiator, a lucky cat to a goat. When used in battle each will cause a curious, sometimes easy-to-deduct, effect - for example, the fridge will freeze enemies in place - so players must find out which "Thing" will properly work with the boss and cause him huge amounts of damage, turning the battle into a winnable affair.

The problem is: sometimes it is not quite clear which sticker must be used, and - in addition – there is always the chance that, upon coming across a boss battle, you haven't found the right "thing" yet, which will mean Mario will have to face him taking tiny chunks of HP little by little and extending the battle for over twenty minutes, or backtrack and aimlessly look for the "thing" that is just right. The same problem occurs in certain parts of the game's stages, where Mario must use a "thing" sticker to overcome an apparently impossible obstacle. Sometimes the usage of those sticker is obvious, like using a heat-based sticker to melt ice, but on other occasions it is random and nearly impossible to figure out.

Needless to say, in Sticker Star, flaws and issues are as aplenty as stickers. However, the game still manages to be enjoyable to a certain level, and that is mostly due to its level design. The game, when outside battle, offers a nice mix of the traditional Paper Mario exploration and puzzle-solving with interesting platforming sections. Mario will interact with the world in a quite unique way, going into paperize mode, which will allow him to either slap stickers onto scenario elements, allowing him to proceed with his exploration, or plucking pieces of the scenario and scraps in other to glue them in another angle or place. Those puzzles are smartly designed, and quite rewarding to figure out, providing players some truly impressive moments. Other than that, Mario's ability to stick and pluck builds an interesting bridge that connects scenario and gameplay into one cohesive package where gameplay elements walk side-by-side with the game's very charming paper world, which here is presented as gorgeously as ever, especially given the addition of the system's 3D effects, which fall perfectly into place in a world consisting of paper pieces.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star is by no means comparable to its predecessors in terms of quality. Not only are some of its gameplay elements flawed to the point where the game feels underdeveloped, such as in the poor difficulty balance and the lack of purpose on the battles, but it is also lacking tremendously in the storyline category, as none of the characters, settings or mysteries that made the previous Paper Mario games can be found in this installment. Its world, as a consequence, ends up being extremely paper-thin, featuring no sidequests - aside from a museum where a collection of all of the world's stickers can be displayed - and barely no characters that can be interacted with. The game is, however, still worth a try due to its full embracing of its paper-made world and because a few of its newly found gimmicks are interesting, even if it is for a little while, and its technical aspects are absolutely stellar. As part of a series that has been nothing short of spectacular, Sticker Star is still quite a disappointment, though.

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"Pierst179 reviewed Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS..." was posted by Pierst179 on Sun, 09 Dec 2012 08:02:07 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/paper-mario-sticker-star/user-reviews/804449/platform/3ds/ Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:15:49 -0800 Blueguy93 reviewed New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-2/user-reviews/803871/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The New Super Mario Bros. series has received a bit of criticism for not being as innovative as the 80's and early 90's 2D Mario's, as well as the 3D Mario's from the mid 90's to the present. If you're one of those people, New Super Mario Bros. 2 will do little to change your mind. In fact, it feels like DLC to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which is surprising when you consider the innovation of most Mario games. Still, this IS Mario, so it has to be good. And it is.

What New Super Mario Bros. 2 DOES do differently is focus a lot more on coin collecting. You can turn enemies into gold by passing through golden rings, throw golden Koopa shells to create lines of coins, and even become gold. The brand new Golden Flower is one of the coolest power ups ever, because anything can be transformed into a coin. Making it even more special, it's rare in most levels until you beat the game. The Tanooki Suit is back as well, and unlike 3D Land, you can fly in the air! There's actually plenty of secrets in this game, and I love finding hidden pathways leading to new levels, and it seems to occur a lot more in this game! You can also use cannons to go between levels, like before but this time you need to run through an obstacle course, making it a lot more challenging than usual.

The coin collecting aspect results in more 1-ups and easier gameplay, but even at that this is still great. The trademark hop and bop gameplay feels good on the 3DS, though not as comfortable as the Wii Version in my opinion. A Coin Rush mode is included, and while I dismissed it before, it's actually a hell of a lot of fun, and I enjoyed using streetpass to compete with other Mii's.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is also disappointing, however. This feels exactly like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, though not as fun. Showing this claim is music that is COMPLETELY RECYCLED from New Super Mario Bros. Wi and Super Mario 3D Land, with extremely annoying "bah bah bah" music. Usually I enjoy Mario tunes, but not when it was clearly stolen from a previous Mario title. The levels aren't nearly as imaginative, and feel like outtakes from the DS and Wii versions. Bu worst of all, this doesn't even feel like a 3DS game. Super Mario 3D Land worked because it felt like one. This doesn't. Nintendo could have added some of the elements of 3D Land into this game, but they didn't, which is a crime in my opinion. Even the final boss fight seems uninspired.

The graphics are generally good, and the visuals are smooth and a lot faster than 3D Land. I actually like the 3D effect, unlike most people, and I like how it blurs out the background, as if the focus was on the foreground. The music, however, sucks.

I found New Super Mario Bros. 2 to be a wash, but if it's a wash, then it's a wash worth waiting in line for. No matter how much I criticize it, notice that this is still a high quality title that kicks the crap out of most of the modern 2D platformers. Nintendo should have done a lot more to this game, but in the end, it continues the hot streak of classic Mario titles. The coin rush mode boosts the grade by a little for me, by the way, because it's so damn fun!

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 4/10
Value: 8/10
Final Score: 8.8/10 (B+)

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"Blueguy93 reviewed New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS..." was posted by Blueguy93 on Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:15:49 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-2/user-reviews/803871/platform/3ds/ Sat, 24 Nov 2012 10:38:43 -0800 Pierst179 reviewed Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/disney-epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two/user-reviews/803688/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Sequels always carry some degree of intrigue. If they are the continuation of a memorable title, they present a remarkable challenging of not only achieving, but trying to find a way to surpass the game that preceded it. However, if they come on the heels of a underwhelming, or even bad, gaming experience, they provide an unusual positive situation. After all, with the reading of the many reviews across the press, and the listening to fans' complaints and suggestions, the developers are faced with a clear drawn path right in front of their eyes, and, if they follow the suggested recipe, the outcome will most likely be a clear improvement over what came before. The original Epic Mickey had to live up to high hopes, and rightfully so, since it was the work of the devotion of one of the greatest game designers of our time, and featured Mickey Mouse and other Disney icons trying to reclaim the high level of praise directed towards Disney platformers of the 90s. The game, however, ended up suffering from a few punctual mistakes that stopped all of its pieces from coming together nicely.

Epic Mickey 2, then, sets out to fix those issues and finally deliver the game we all have been waiting for, and, initially, it starts off quite nicely. If Mickey and Oswald were, during the biggest part of the last game, clear antagonists, this time around the mouse and the rabbit join forces to find out the truth about mysterious earthquakes that have been plaguing and destroying the recently recovered wasteland. Watching Mickey and Oswald interact with each other, and with other famous Disney figures, on the game's very well-done stylish cutscenes is quite a sight, and the fact that Junction Point decided to turn the game into an occasional musical fits right in with the overall goofy humor the game successfully conveys. Even if the game's plot is less inspired and more predictable than the great tale told in the original, it is still a very good story considering the average standard of the platforming genre.

The fact that Oswald and Mickey are now working as a team obviously expands the gameplay possibilities, as the two of them need to frequently combine their powers in order to surpass the many platforming and combat obstacles. While Mickey uses his paint and thinner to either restore or destroy the world around him, Oswald carries a remote controller with which he can unleash electrical attacks or hack devices. The stages are packed with opportunities for both of them to work together, whether it is by using Oswald as a tool to powering Mickey's jump or activating switches simultaneously. In fact, cooperation is so vital that even the sidescrolling stages that are based on Mickey's old cartoons and that server as a link between major locations have been designed to give both players the opportunity to simultaneously traverse the same stage following different routes, something that often produces some quite amusing results.

However, the whole concept of a team is sadly undermined by both bad AI and questionable design choices when it comes to combat. Oswald is not as smart as a partner should be, and while he does not get stuck on any objects, Mickey will frequently have to wait for him to arrive at his current location if the two of them are to activate an object at the same time to follow. Some players might even fail to notice that shortcoming, but if there is one thing that cannot, by any chance, be missed, is how ridiculously annoying combat is. Most of the enemies in the game are big armored beasts, meaning that Mickey and his brush is not able to beat them by himself. Therefore, when adventuring alone, players must wait for Oswald to attack the bad guys before Mickey can go in and do the real damage. Unfortunately, Oswald occasionally misses his chances to attack, which turns simple battles against regular minions into something that extends for a little bit too long.

While the last game suffered from poor camera implementation, Epic Mickey 2 is clearly free from that issue, which means that full-blown glorious platforming can be enjoyed without any technical issues. The problem is that Epic Mickey 2 never quite succeeds in producing great stages or environments, and its level design is clearly worse than that of its predecessor, failing to produce any truly engaging moments, with a few clear exceptions. It is hard to point out what exactly it is that stops Epic Mickey 2 from featuring locations as good as those on the original, but a good guess would be the game's setting. On Epic Mickey players had to explore a dark sinister place that had been torn apart by some bizarre corruption of ink, but on Epic Mickey 2 a huge part of the gloom and mystery is gone, replacing artistic darkness that put a great twist on familiar Disney-happy environments with places that have been devastated by earthquakes. If Epic Mickey looked like a steampunk Disney painting, The Power of Two features levels that almost invariably look like a cluttered mess of Disney references and memorabilia, being closer to an unorganized dirty bedroom than something that is tarnished, but, at the same time, intriguing to look at.

Sad to say, aside from story, overall good use of Disney licenses, fun little sidescrolling levels and solid controls, the only things left to admire on The Power of Two are concept and ambition. Once again, but this time around in a much more pronounced way, Mickey stars in a game that does not live up to everything that it could be. When looking at the great number of sidequests, something that is very unusual for a platformer, it is plain to see that Junction Point was determined to build something big and significant. The goals of those sidequests range from taking pictures of locations and "hidden Mickeys" - regular objects in the scenario that are arranged to form the silhouette of Mickey's head to collecting treasures in certain locations, and most of them hold good value, whether it is by providing players with significant rewards either in the form of a nice reference that will make Disney fans very excited, or a valuable a collectible; or by pushing gamers to find some of the secrets hidden in the game's environments.

Even if the game's artistic direction pales in comparison to what appeared on the last game, The Power of Two is a game with nice visuals, especially when it comes to character models and animations. And its visuals even come to the aid of gameplay every once in a while, because - much like in the original title – using the paint to slowly reconstruct the pieces of the scenario that have been damaged by the earthquakes brings some degree of reward. In addition, and rightfully living up to the very high standards established by Disney's cartoons in the musical department, it showcases a few great tunes that are either newly composed or reinterpretations of classic Disney songs that are imprinted on the minds of anyone who has watched one of the company's animations.

When it is all said and done, The Power of Two does what not a whole lot of people expected it to do: it fails to surpass the original and, in a bad turn of events, it winds up being considerably worse. Gone is the darkness that made Epic Mickey so remarkable, and in come messy environments whose elements are not cleverly used to produce noteworthy levels. Disney fans might get some moments of rush either by seeing their favorite characters interacting with each other in the development of a nice story, or by sinking their teeth into the Disney collectibles available that include old Silly Symphonies or Mickey Mouse cartoons that become available to be watched. However, those who have a lesser degree of admiration for the company will find a game that is uninspired and that feels rushed due to the fact that it falls so far away from its predecessor. The eight hours of adventure are, sadly, neither intense nor unforgettable. They are, though, an awfully sad sight, because as far as being a gamer goes, there is nothing sadder than watching a game with good heart, intentions and ambitions fall flat on its face.

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"Pierst179 reviewed Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two for the Wii..." was posted by Pierst179 on Sat, 24 Nov 2012 10:38:43 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/disney-epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two/user-reviews/803688/platform/wii/ Tue, 20 Nov 2012 08:32:14 -0800 Pierst179 reviewed New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-2/user-reviews/803465/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

What started, in the Nintendo DS, as a nice little homage to Mario's glories of the past, has suddenly developed into a best-selling series of games that proves the strength and relevance that sidescrollers still posses. The New Super Mario Bros. series is a nostalgic look into the past adventures of the famous fat Italian plumber, but it refuses to sit lazily on the name of its brand, which by itself would guarantee a few million copies sold. Instead, it keeps pushing the boundaries of Mario's 2-D stages, offering elements and gimmicks that provide a refreshing approach to a gameplay style that has been explored by dozens of games. Whether or not Nintendo has been milking this new-found cash cow a little bit too excessively is certainly debatable, but one thing is for sure: New Super Mario Bros. 2, the latest entry in the series, may not be up to par to the very best platformers of the franchise, but it certainly does a great job in entertaining and surprising with stages that are very creative and nicely designed.

It would be no exaggeration to say that this is the same old Mario you have come to know over the years. After all, the game starts with Princess Peach being kidnapped by Bowser and his army of charming Koopalings; Mario, as usual, proceeds in chasing the hoodlums through stages featuring already familiar themes, such as forest, snow, desert and others; and elements like power-ups and the three star coins that can to be found nicely hidden in every stage are all here. However, New Super Mario Bros. 2 attempts to shake things up by putting a never-seen-before emphasis on the collection of coins. If during the 80s those coins were relatively rare and signified the difference between life and death, here they are everywhere. They show up in hundreds when Mario hits switches, they drop out of enemies who are eliminated by the plumber and there are seas of coins in secret locations all throughout the stages.

What that addition means is that now, more than ever, lives are not a matter of concern. Instead, collecting a hundred coins - which, results in an extra life – happens so often, that the game encourages players to climb their way to obtaining 999 lives. Some people may see that as a huge offense to what Mario platformers originally stood for. However, the truth is modern game has long abolished the concept of lives, and turning them into some sort of collectible ends up actually being a nice little twist that provides extra incentive to collect even more coins. In addition, it is important to note that, even if lives are plentiful, the game remains nicely changing at some points, because, when it is all said and done, the difficulty of Mario games does not come from the fact lives are short, but because the stages are occasionally devilish designed, and star coins are deviously hidden, to make players pay for poorly performed jumps, and New Super Mario Bros. 2 manages to do those two things quite well.

The game's stage design remains its strongest prowess. Even though it starts slowly, like always, the game starts to pick up speed by the second world, and by the time the title reaches its halfway point it soars very high above its predecessor and somehow close to the Wii version in terms of stage brilliancy. However, it is worthy noting that the game offers some sort of strange contradiction. In spite of the fact that the game announces coin collecting as some sort of huge shift in gameplay, that dramatic change is never really felt in a consistent manner. It is true that the stages have a large amount of coins waiting to be picked up and that a few elements here and there provide significant gameplay additions aided by coin-collecting. However, there are only a few remarkable stages that truly embrace the disclosed idea of turning the game into one insane treasure hunt where the loot is pretty much everywhere. Those few stages clearly stand out from the crowd, and while they are neither better nor worse than the great more traditional stages, they are more aligned with the game's overall intention.

The result is an absolutely great Mario game that still managed to be very engaging, but that offers a weird bland of well-designed stages that have tons of coins and incredible stages that put a huge focus on acquiring them. It is a characteristic that, at no time, harms the game in any significant manner. What it does is occasionally giving players the feeling that some levels are not as bold and crazy as they could have been, which makes it visible that the title and the stage designers could have used an extra push to go completely wild in order to be able to turn New Super Mario Bros. 2 into a game that completely fulfilled its marketed purpose. Some people will be affected by that trait in a negative way, while others will just be a tad disappointed in concluding that it could have been much better and fresher.

After being done with the adventure, players still have quite a bit to get out of New Super Mario Bros. 2. The game comes packed with a Coin Rush mode where three stages are randomly selected and players must them attempt to clear all of them collecting as many coins as possible. For each stage Mario will be given a Golden Flower power-up, which also shows up on the single-player mode in a few occasions, with which he will gain the ability to shoot golden fireballs and turn every single block into a nice shiny coin. It is a fun little mode, and it offers nice incentive to those who want to play the game's fantastic stages a bit more, it, however, ends up having its value somehow diminished because Nintendo simply failed to implement any kind of online leaderboards where players could compare their scores to those of other people around the globe. The same can be said about the single-player mode's coin counter, which sums up all coins you have ever collected. Both Coin Rush and the counter could have gained a lot if Nintendo were more keen in promoting competition among its fans.

In the end, New Super Mario Bros. 2 is undeniably a great title and a worthy purchase to all Nintendo 3DS owners. It has great visuals and music, despite the fact that Nintendo could have chosen to add new visual and musical artifacts instead of simply reusing the same old ones, and - most importantly – absolutely fantastic stages that are constantly surprising and often challenging. Had it truly embraced its coin-collecting antics, it would have a great chance at being a very remarkable Mario title, but in its overly safe approach it winds up as yet another solid entry in the franchise.

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"Pierst179 reviewed New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS..." was posted by Pierst179 on Tue, 20 Nov 2012 08:32:14 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-2/user-reviews/803465/platform/3ds/ Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:43:31 -0800 Pierst179 reviewed No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle/user-reviews/803281/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

In a way, designing a game, like building pretty much anything from the ground up, comes down to doing a lot of little things right - or wrong - and then finding a way to integrate them nicely - or poorly - to form a single glorious - or disastrous - package. That is why, more often than not, the difference between a great game and a poor one is in the tiny details that in conjunction rescue the game from the bargain bin and lift it straight into the list of critically acclaimed best-sellers. No More Heroes 2 is a classic example of that concept. Though its bare bones reveal a game that could have ended up being labeled as generic or monotonous, the items and decorations added to that structure end up catapulting the game into much higher grounds. Suda 51 has found a way to craft one of the most outrageous, dirty, provoking games to ever make its way to a home console and, ironically, it landed on the family-friendly Wii.

At its core, No More Heroes 2 is annoying straightforward. Aimed with a laser sword, your character seems to have an ability to make enemies a little bit too easily. Hence, the game is nothing but a 3-D version of the old-school beat 'em up games that populated arcades in the early 90s. You walk into a room, a large horde of enemies comes, you beat them senseless, or headless, with your sword while producing very gory results (including water fountain-like torrents of blood coming out of decapitated bodies) and then you are either attacked by more enemies or receive the green light to move onto the next room to face the next group of bad guys. Sure, the character has a few varied moves to be used during battle, but they are not enough to break the game's mold at any times, meaning that No More Heroes 2 could be a game blindly walking into a dark pit of rinse-and-repeat gameplay.

However, long before the game falls to its doom, it is readily rescued by the many layers of personality added on top of the formula. Travis Touchdown, a former assassin and inhabitant of Santa Destroy, suddenly sees himself in a situation where he must go back to his former bloody life when one of his closest friends is murdered by the top-ranked assassin in the city. Since confrontation with the killer, and sweet revenge, can only be achieved by climbing up the ranks, Travis rejoins the assassin guild with a strong urge to fight and slice his way to the top of the list. However, his way up the ranks will demand a lot of work as, since the guild has become increasingly popular and Travis is re-entering it from the bottom, he ranks in the meager 99th spot.

Although he does not fight 98 assassins, Travis' journey up the ranks will put him in confrontation with some absolutely ridiculous - in the good sense of the word, of course - figures. The game's many stages take place in different locations across town such as a stadium, a university and etc. and in each of these locations Travis will come across assassins that not only fit the theme of the place perfectly, but also often work as exaggerated caricatures of the people that would inhabit those places. What is truly great about No More Heroes 2 is that you simply do not know what to expect next, and due to that the game constantly keeps players on their toes and wondering what maddening insanity they will find at the next location they have to visit. There is only one certainty; whatever is there to be found, it will most likely be either offensive to a part of the population or simply disgusting.

The game's personality obviously extends beyond the assassins. It overflows Santa Destroy and contaminates everything Travis does or says, and all the people he interacts with. Santa Destroy reveals itself, either through the development of its story or through the minor side-encounters, to be a true concrete jungle where people are selfish, reckless and have no regard whatsoever towards common sense or public opinion. Travis himself is the very extreme portray of a geek that loves games, wrestling and mangas, and has politically incorrect thoughts of woman as frequently as he slashes somebody's throat open. He is a man that sits on the toilet in order to save the game, undertakes any kind of job in order to collect some money, uses foul language in every sentence and only shows true affection towards his overweight cat.

Speaking of the jobs Travis takes, they are possibly one of the highlights of the game. No More Heroes 2 is a game filled with old-school gaming references, to the design of some of the game's graphics to the beeps that occasionally appear among its sound effects, and that 8-bit-gaming homage becomes full-blown in those jobs. Whether he is removing giant bugs from a house, cooking a steak to the requested point, making deliveries in his motorcycle or collecting coconuts, player will be accompanying Travis on those activities through 8-bit mini-games divided in many levels that could very well have been full-fledged NES titles since they are so fun and addicting. There are about ten of those mini-games, including the ones Travis must perform in the local gym to increase his stamina and attack power, and even though money is not an extreme necessity on the game, at least on its easiest levels of difficulty, players will most likely be spending many hours - literally - performing those activities while they take a break from the constant killing.

Outside the 8-bit realm, the game's visuals are perfectly suited for the world the software tries to convey. No More Heroes 2 features a highly-stylized cell-shaded art direction, giving the characters the ability to broadcast their over-the-top emotions and ideas with great precision and allowing developers to take some rather extreme and ideal steps when it comes to the violence shown in battles. Most importantly, though, the visuals nicely go along with Travis' love for HQs, making the whole No More Heroes 2 feel like it lives inside a very bizarre nearly-apocalyptic comic-book setting where humans are about to destroy themselves due to sheer insanity.

No More Heroes 2, though, does have a good number of flaws that work against its many qualities. The game's sound effects, more specifically the words uttered by characters during battle, is so limited that players will be hearing the same exact cries for mercy or help once every five seconds. Another considerable issue is the game's camera, which often fails to show the best angle that the action demands, creating some rather frustrating situations. Finally, the repetitive nature of the battles could have been solved by bigger enemy variety, but that is not the case as even though the groups of enemies differ in their composition and number, they are usually formed by less than ten different sorts of enemies that can, pretty much, be all defeated in the same way.

Overall, No More Heroes 2 is a great title. It could have gone wrong in a number of ways, but through its sheer disregard for all things naturally human it manages to find a many ways to succeed. The adventure lasts for about eight hours, discounting the time spent on the mini-games, and there are nice extras - such as a few challenging difficulty levels – that serve as good incentive for players to come back. No More Heroes 2 shows that videogames are at their very best when they are set free from the constraints and rules that make hour real world so dull and mundane.

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"Pierst179 reviewed No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for the Wii..." was posted by Pierst179 on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:43:31 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle/user-reviews/803281/platform/wii/ Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:46:53 -0700 Blueguy93 reviewed Mario Tennis Open for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/mario-tennis-open/user-reviews/802252/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Critics have shown big disappointments for Mario Tennis Open, but I don't think it's all that bad. Granted, I'm a huge fan of Mario Tennis (N64, 2000). That game nearly perfected arcade style tennis gaming, and lining up your character for a smack was pure fun. With the exception of Virtua Tennis, no other Tennis game could even touch it. Surprisingly, I still prefer the original by far, but even so, Mario Tennis Open is a trip.

The annoying power shots from Mario Power Tennis are gone, replaced by chance spots. These are the same from the N64 version, except now you get chance shots for lobs and soft serves. Hitting one of these spots while pushing the correct button makes your shot more powerful (shot could be faster, higher, softer, or even curve at an amazing rate). These make the game a riot at first, but then you realize lining up to these eliminates any skill. The original N64 version worked perfectly because you actually had to skillfully get the shot past your opponent. No such case here.

Even so, Mario Tennis Open remains fun. Why? Because the control scheme is awesome, and the matches, though based less on skill, are intense. There's two styles of controls. You can use the touchscreen or the buttons. I prefer the buttons, but I would occasionally use the touch screen to control my chance shots. Like the original on the N64, your player's stats vary, but surprisingly not as much. I really enjoyed unlocking Metal Mario (my favorite character in the game) with a secret code, but the other ones are awful (different colored Yoshi's?!!!). The tournament mode is awesome, and you get 8 championships to play in. The stages themselves are standard Mario like courts, ranging from the sandy courts of the desert, Bowser's Castle (actually a court, not a mini game), and an icy court. The second variation of the Galaxy Arena court actually changes its shape depending on what shot you use. All these are quite good, though not as much fun to play on as the ones in the N64 version. You can also get another camera mode by holding the 3DS closer to you (from right behind Mario), but it's useless because it moves for you, and the 3D effect is turned OFF (worst idea ever, Nintendo).

Mario Tennis Open get's bonus points for its customization (unlocking all the stuff is freaking awesome) and mini games, primarily Super Mario Tennis. This game is highly original: combining tennis with the original NES classic. It's a hell of a lot of fun, and I prefer it to the actual game! The mini game with Luma is also awesome, because you have to hit on the squares that don't lead to the black hole, and take risks by collecting star pieces to get more points! Like I said, the customization feature (similar to Mario Kart 7) lets you buy extra gear from the store for your Mii (sorry, not for Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, etc.), enhancing the replay value.

The graphics look nice, but the 3D effect is terrible. I'm not sure what Nintendo was thinking, but there's barely any depth at all, and I could hardly tell the difference. It is tennis, but it would've been nice to have 3D that doesn't suck. It's the main feature for your handheld besides gameplay, and you choose not to use it? Nice one. The music is excellent, and even features a remixed song from Wario Land 3!!! Most of the sound effects are recycled from the Gamecube version (yawn).

Mario Tennis Open would be a huge letdown for me, but thanks to the customization mode and mini games, it's better than it should have been. Without it, I could've given this game at least a 7/10. It's a shame Nintendo seemed to not put any effort in the core gameplay. Still, the tournament mode is great fun, and the extra modes of gameplay breath new life into this 3DS title. Overall, an enjoyable trip.

Gameplay: 8/10 (Thanks to the extra gameplay modes)
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Final Score: 8.1/10 (B-)

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"Blueguy93 reviewed Mario Tennis Open for the 3DS..." was posted by Blueguy93 on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:46:53 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mario-tennis-open/user-reviews/802252/platform/3ds/ Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:06:24 -0700 Pierst179 reviewed de Blob 2 for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/de-blob-2/user-reviews/802214/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

There are many kinds of dictatorship: there is the kind that tries to control the press and stop any criticism towards the government from being published; there are the ones neatly disguised as a democracy that supposedly fights for the well-fare of its people and allows their voice to be heard and considered; and there are the ones that are blatant, brutal and oppressive. Regardless of how they are implemented, they have one thing in common: they all take away something that is of vital importance for its population. In the case of De Blob 2, that item of key importance is color. What was once a colorful world full of life is put under a black-and-white dictatorship that turns once lively beings into colorless soldiers, workers or zombies; and what were pulsing suburbs and districts into ugly concentration camps. Their only hope is a group of fearless astute rebels led by a blob that is full of attitude.

Not many games present such a sensible marriage of theme and gameplay as De Blob 2, and its predecessor do. The game takes place in a city that has had its personality completely robbed by an authoritarian figure that has managed to reach power, and being put in the middle of those landscapes, in a rather exciting fashion shown through cutscenes, with a character that has the ability to color everything he touches makes players feel like a toddler that has just been put inside a completely white room with a handful of buckets of paint. It is virtually impossible not to be at least a little bit pumped by the fact that you are about to be the one responsible for turning boredom and blandness into a huge riot that looks more like a street party.

The game's positive value of progressive restoration is further increased by an absolutely glorious sound design. When players first go into a stage, De Blob's world will be a music-less place, but as the first buildings are painted, the game's songs will slowly go in a crescendo until they reach their full blasting capabilities when the area you are is completely transformed. It all starts with a few shy horns and out of place beats, but before you know it - given how naturally the transition is done – you will be listening to a fantastic jazzy tune that, much like your colors, seems to give life back to a once dead city. If De Blob's sense of rebellion is somehow not enough to get you thrilled, its music will certainly get the job promptly done.

De Blob's gameplay is rather simple. Players need to find sources of paint, which are more than plentiful, and fill the character up with as much ink as possible. After that, it is all a matter of mixing up colors as you go and painting signs, trees, buildings, monochromatic citizens and pretty much everything else while dealing with the armies of oppression. The character's movements are restricted to rolling around town, jumping - which, thankfully, this time around is mapped to the A-button - and ground pounding enemies into oblivion, but the game does offer a few extra mechanisms that increase the number of ways on which De Blob can move around, including jumping pads, which provide Spider-Man-like moments of swinging from one building to another; gravity buttons; and electromagnetic walls that allow him to climb up a few buildings seamlessly.

The game offers a dozen absolutely huge stages that feature no loading time whatsoever. Fans of the first game will certainly remember how frustrating the lack of checkpoints was. However, that problem has been wisely solved. Therefore, players can stop playing stages, that usually last from forty minutes to one full hour, and be able to keep all of their progress up to the last checkpoint they walked by. Another nice little addition is the fact that, when De Blob goes inside an important building to transform it, the game takes a sidescrolling perspective. While there is nothing mind-blowing or new about it - as it is pretty much the same game, only in a different perspective - the sidescrolling areas offer a few interesting design choices that the wide-open outside world does not, such as the ability to build mini-dungeons or puzzle situations where the players need to find certain colors and combine them in order to open a locked door and rescue citizens.

De Blob also offers a good amount of value for those who feel like spending a few extra hours with the game. Clearing each of the levels is simply a matter of fulfilling a few key objectives, like painting a few buildings in a certain color, defeating a horde of powerful enemies and eventually restoring a signature structure to its former glory. However, each stage packs much more than that, and gives incentives for players to keep exploring even after they are finished with the area's main goal. There are literally dozens of collectibles on each stage, and there are nice rewards for restoring all the trees, saving all the citizens, painting all the signs, coloring all the buildings, clearing all the missions and destroying all objects belonging to the government. In fact, De Blob is such an engaging experience that, chances are, players will feel like doing all that stuff in a single playthrough, as there is a great feel-good reward associated with fully restoring the part of the city you are in.

The game is not without its flaws, though. Some stages, despite the good scenario variety, are a little bit too long for their own good, and by the final sections of a few of them it is possible that some players will be burned out over the whole coloring affair. There is also a big amount of handholding going on through the adventure, as all mission objectives are clearly pointed out to players and all items - trees, signs, citizens and others, with the exception of the collectible items – can be tracked down a little bit too easily by using an in-game compass that guides De Blob to the location of what is missing. It might be a welcome addition to some, as the stages are huge and tracking down those minimal objects would be a pain without any instructions, but the feeling that directions could have been given in another, less specific, manner just cannot be helped.

In the end, De Blob 2 is yet another great platformer for the Nintendo Wii. The game does the punctual adjustments that are expected of a sequel, and offers more of the same gameplay with a few twists and turns here and there. The game's strengths have been preserved and further polished, including the game's vibrant visuals and its hilarious slapstick cutscenes, and even though some flaws have been inherited from its predecessor, De Blob 2 is definitely the best out of the two. For those who have played the original and feel a sudden urge to paint some more, it is a more than welcome game; and for those who are naturally intrigued by its premise and concept, De Blob 2 will be a fresh and very rewarding experience.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Pierst179 reviewed de Blob 2 for the Wii..." was posted by Pierst179 on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:06:24 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/de-blob-2/user-reviews/802214/platform/wii/