A New Platform For An Old Favorite = Gaming Perfection!
While this may be one of the latest best Wii games to hit the market, Okami has actually been around for a couple of years already on the Playstation 2. When it was released by Sony it was hailed by many reviewers as a perfect meld of graphics, storyline, and innovative interface. In a tale told through cinematic cut scenes, you take the role of the ancient Japanese goddess Amaterasu, on a quest to save the world (a hyper-fantasy Japan) from a dark evil. Up to that point, Okami seems much like many other quest-based games. But with its blend of Japanese woodcut-inspired artwork, a fluid palate of environments and cleverly rendered mythological characters, the original Okami elevated what could be simple and unoriginal into a visual treat. The soundtrack was also at the same high level, with its moody yet inspiring flow of traditional Japanese-themed music. But the most outstanding element of Okami was its interface: using an onscreen “celestial brush” to select items, options, and attacks, Okami actually made the act of doing things in a game fun.
With the “celestial brush” interface, Okami allowed you to shape glyphs and kanji-like symbols to change the game world. Power slashing through objects with a single bold stroke, or using the brush to stretch and reshape things brought a feeling of omnipotent power rarely felt in more mundane adventure games. New puzzles on each level enhanced this gameplay— for example; a simple move that shifted water from one place to another would later combine with a clever set of puzzles for moving the water between containers in a certain pattern in a higher level of play. This interplay between puzzle and unique interface is what makes Okami a standout game.
Wii Perfection
But for all of its innovation, there was a problem - it’s hard to be fluid and artistic within the confines of the Playstation thumb stick. This is where Okami for the Wii brings improvement on what is already a nearly perfectly balanced experience and creates one of the best Wii game experiences to date. By using the movement capabilities inherent in the Wii nunchuck/controller interface, the sweeping gestures and flowing brush movements that were only hinted at in the PS2 version can truly come to life. As the challenges mount and require more sophisticated use of the celestial brush—shaping bombs to open sealed doors, cutting down entire forests with a wave of the “brush,” the Wii’s enhanced ability for precise motion enhances what is already an interesting and thoroughly engaging gameplay element. Okami also encourages the player to experiment with their use of the brush and its associated spell powers. Combine wind with some attacks and you can hurl bombs towards your enemies, or raise barriers from nothing but water.
But Wait, There’s More…
Although the combination of Wii controllers and Okami’s unique brush system makes it one of the best Wii games around, this only highlights an outstanding game that retains all of the elements that made its original incarnation stellar. There’s also a large focus on character building and development; Amaterasu’s abilities and powers change and improve as the game progresses, with new power ups and ways to vary already existing powers of movement and attack.
The world of Okami is huge, layered, and complex, with paths leading in all directions. And it’s varied; beaches, mountains, jungles, temples, dungeons, and villages all await your exploration, with a smoother transition between each map than most adventure games provide. This, plus a cast of truly inspiring boss battles and unique creatures from Japanese mythology give the world a sense of grandeur and majesty equal to the godlike role you play. And at a whopping thirty plus hours of gameplay, you’ll find Okami delivers a satisfying experience that feels full and unrushed. Whether you’re an experienced fan of epic adventure games, or a new casual gamer looking to branch out from your Wii Fit experience, you’ll find that Okami is one of the best Wii games to come along in a long while, and a worthy recasting of a unique and exciting original.
If you are looking for one of the best Wii games ever, look no further than Super Smash Bros Brawl. If you’re already familiar with the nine-year-old Smash Bros. franchise, you’ll no doubt have high expectations. If you’ve never played a Super Smash Bros game before then you’re in for one action-packed, fast-paced treat. Both the original Super Smash Bros on Nintendo 64 (released 1999) and its GameCube sequel, Super Smash Bros Melee (2001), are still a hands-down favorite with many gamers, even after all these years.
For Smash Bros newbies, Brawl is a multiplayer series of fast-paced fighting games set in 2D worlds. It features an impressive cast of 35 characters (including 14 hidden characters to unlock), pulled from some of Nintendo’s most popular titles. Choose from such well-known Nintendo icons as Mario, Kirby, Link (Legend of Zelda), Pikachu (Pokemon) and Samus Aran (Metroid), as well as special cross-over appearances by Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake. Each character has its own fighting style and abilities, with customizable signature moves to learn and explore.
As is expected with a game of this nature each character has his or her (or its) own strengths and weaknesses, and players get to strategize how to best protect themselves while taking advantage of their opponents’ flaws. Also, throughout the many and varied fast-paced battles, special items will spontaneously appear on the battlefield, up for grabs for whoever can reach them first. Some of these are weapons you can use against your opponents while others will repair your sustained damage.
Combat can include up to four players at a time. Each brawl takes place on a stage with a different theme taken from somewhere in the Nintendo Universe, a favorite being the classic layout from the original Donkey Kong arcade game, complete with flaming barrels. Each battle takes place at a frenetic pace, keeping even the most serious and battle-hardened players glued to the screen. Brawl also makes a perfect party game because everyone can join in and tournaments are easily set up by team or individual. The built-in tournament mode can keep track of up to 32 players on a single Wii, and it features a rotation mode for up to 16.
Brawl also makes new ground by providing online multiplayer battles. Play your friends or complete strangers halfway across the world. While you do have to tolerate those pesky friend codes, the otherwise unavailable options that open up on account of using them will make it all worthwhile. Usually a major problem with online fighting games, any lag that occurs in Brawl is infrequent and short-lived at best.
Brawl also offers the single player a challenging day of gaming by choosing Classic mode. Pitted against the sinister Master Hand, you must complete specific challenges to move on. Each time you play this mode, the rounds will change in minor ways so you never really play the same game twice. Single player mode also offers you an adventure that combines all the characters as they battle against a mysterious enemy. Hilarious cut scenes blend the challenges together into a fluid story line.
Come Get Some!
One of the best aspects of this game is that it is so engaging and frantically-paced and challenging that seasoned veterans can enjoy it for months or years as they learn all the strategies, while complete newbies can win a battle out of the blue and build their way up to being part of the Smash Bros hall of fame. Brawl is one of those rarities that appeals across the board to everyone. You’ll be impressed with the animation and design of the characters, as well as the magnificent soundtrack that contains over 100 songs. This is, without a doubt, one of the best Wii games of 2008, and will continue to be a well-loved and well-played addition to any Nintendo gamers’ arsenal for years to come.
The Nintendo Wii is a great new system for youngsters and adults alike. The motion sensitive controllers allow for complete 3-D movement which allows the most real game play yet. The Wii, although revolutionary, has had a problem gearing itself towards more adult gamers. With releases like Wii Sports, Mario Party, and All Star Cheer Squad, it is no surprise why the Nintendo Wii has been typecast; leaving the adult gamer wanting more. Suda 51, teaming up with the Grasshopper team attempt to put an end to the stereotype that the Wii is only for children. Combining their powers, they created No More Heroes – a release that is already being touted as one of the best Wii games around.
No More Heroes doesn’t fool around with long intros or messy story set-ups. Rather, it launches you right into the game almost immediately, allowing you to take control of protagonist Travis Touchdown. Travis Touchdown is a horribly nerdy anime/wrestling fan. I must admit at first I didn’t like Mr. Touchdown, but he grew on me quickly and soon I found him an extremely likable character. This makes the game all the more fun. The story shows that Travis buys a “Beam Katana” off of Ebay. With his new Katana (which resembles a light saber in more ways than one) Travis proceeds to kill someone who turns out to be one of the top assassins in the world. This puts him on his way to becoming the top assassin himself and with a little help from a sexy and mysterious French girl named Sylvia, Travis proceeds to hunt down the top 10 assassins and kill them methodically, rising up the ranks of the assassin leaderboard.
The game play is GTA-style, allowing you to fully explore the city of “Santa Destroy” either on foot or on Travis’ souped-up motorcycle. The innovative graphic style is truly eye-catching, with fantastic rendering and shadows giving the game a distinctly graphic-novel look about it. It’s certainly a refreshing change from the regular block-head-style graphics of other games in this format. There are tons of mini games to play and people to fight, the action and characters getting more and more outrageous as you go along – but this is absurdity on a crazy-cool scale and you’ll relish the wildness abandon that the game play story takes you on. The mini games allow you to upgrade Travis’ physical attributes and you can also take on odd jobs to get a little extra cash and buy new weapons and equipment. Where the game really shines is in its combat. No More Heroes has a great blend of using the standard game pad with the Wii motion sensors. Regular hacking and slashing is controlled by the gamepad, while finishing moves and special attacks rely on the motion controllers. If you’re really in the mood for taking someone down with style, stunned enemies can have wrestling moves, along with kicks and flips, performed on them before you put them out of their misery once and for all.
The game really comes alive when you encounter the 10 assassin bosses. Each one has a unique style about them, making each boss significantly different and more challenging. Also, you may notice that each boss represents a societal problem that the world faces, especially the United States. The good game play, matched with the clever satire and zany characters makes this rollicking violent extravaganza all the more worthwhile.
This is truly a fun, albeit strange game. Although it has a few bugs and the object boxes are bigger than the pictures they hold, it really doesn’t affect game play. This game finishes in about 12 hours, but the combat alone would make anyone want to play this game over and over again. One of the best Wii games ever? Let me put it this way. If you are looking for more mature, strangely funny and clever games to play, then this is the game for you.
Nintendo has definitely outdone itself and created one of the best Wii games with this Super Mario adventure. The graphics alone are example enough of what a great gaming experience is all about. When Nintendo created the character Mario, gamers all over the world fell in love with him right away. With each new Mario game, came a newfound love for Nintendo and Super Mario Galaxy is no exception. This game requires the use of the Wii controller as well as the nunchuck so you can have a unique gaming experience – getting up and moving around rather than just sitting on the couch and staring blankly at the screen.
This game falls along the same lines of the regular story line for the Mario saga. The Princess has been kidnapped by the evil Bowser and it’s up to the fearless Mario to save her. What separates this game from other Mario adventures, however, is that it takes place in a 3D outer space universe with each world that you visit having its own goal and villain that you have to defeat. There are so many interesting twists and turns that you will be pleasantly surprised and equally challenged with each new part of the journey.
Since the game is in space, Mario can go in all different directions, as gravity is different on each world you visit. The 3-dimensional Super Mario Galaxy gives you some things fresh and exciting around each and every turn, with fun to be had just from making big jumps and letting the slow gravity glide you down somewhere on the other side of the planet. In most Mario adventures you have to go through each chapter exactly before you can move forward to a new area, however with this game you can go play in different areas of the galaxy as you wish. This allows you to do so much more, and saves you getting frustrated at being unable to pass a harder part of the game.
Along with the mission to save the princess, you are also restoring life to the stars in the galaxy with a separate mission to find 120 Power Stars. 120 might not sound like a lot but this can actually take you awhile to accomplish so you can be sure to have hours and hours of game-playing fun along the way. You also have many mini challenges to complete while you collect Power Stars in each galaxy, to help you move on to the next galaxy. The more you find, the closer you are to getting Princess Rosalina’s ship up and running again – and once you fix her ship, you can travel to the center of the universe where you will have the final battle with Bowser and his son.
This game also gives you plenty of chances to earn 1ups (extra lives) as you can find green 1up mushrooms hidden in bushes all over the place. If you collect 50 tiny star bits, you also get 1ups so you can be sure to stay alive for a long time in the game. Be sure to stock up before you do battle at the end of each galaxy. Nintendo has truly created the ultimate Super Mario game ever. This is truly one of the best Wii games that all ages will fall in love with. It will be interesting to see what they will come up with next for Mario and the gang and if they can top this 3-dimensional wonder world of Super Mario Galaxy.
If you are new to Metroid Prime and its sequel then here is a brief run down. You play as Samus Aran, armor-plated beautiful blond bounty hunter of the galaxy in this first-person “so much more than just a simple shoot-em-up” shoot-em-up. Your missions basically have you exploring vast, three-dimensional environments, taking care of business against an array of foe and big boss foe alike, while solving various puzzles along the way to open all manner of hidden goodies and advance further along on your quest.
In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, our fair haired heroine awakens from a cryogenic sleep to land on the military ship, the S.S Olympus. There her quest begins as a mysterious virus threatens to corrupt everything. Beyond that, I won’t go into the storyline, so as to save on spoilers, but anyone familiar with the Metroid Prime series will know what to expect from the third installment in the trilogy. For those new to the series, strap yourselves in for a high-octane sci-fi adventure. In fact, to label this as a first person shoot-em-up may give people the wrong impression. Metroid Prime 3 is so much more than just a FPS (First Person Shooter) – it is more on par with the Zelda series, only in space. However, no matter which way you want to slice it, MP3 most definitely ranks as one of the best Wii games available.
And what a space it is! The designers have really outdone themselves with this latest installment. As Samus travels through the galaxy on her quest she passes through all manner of weird worlds and spacecrafts, each one lovingly detailed with some of the best art work seen on the Wii to date. Whether it be exploring the claustrophobic confines of an enemy ship – complete with strobe lights and steaming vents of gas – or zooming across a planet surface deep with lava or falling particles, the production value is top-notch, with each level surpassing the previous in terms of quality and art direction. As with all previous Metroid games there is a certain amount of re-traversing to be done in order to make your way through the game but we’re happy to report that not only is this done a lot less in Metroid Prime 3, but the visuals are so spectacular you’ll be happy to do some backtracking just to get another look at the amazing structures and detailed machinery.
It’s safe to say that the switch to the Wii’s unique controlling system is the icing on the cake for Corruption. While previous Metroid adventures sometimes felt a little too structured in the control department, Corruption positively radiates under these new tools. The aiming and turning duties are handled by the Wii remote, while moving and attacking are dealt with by the Nunchuck controller - and the responsiveness of these two working side-by-side is outstanding. Using your nunchuck to move through your various environments, while aiming with the Wii remote is possibly the most comfortable feeling you can experience in first person gaming. There are even 3 sensitivity settings, from Standard to Advanced, to help you get used to the controls – although this is totally unnecessary as the set up feels so natural you’ll have no need to use anything but the very precise and quick-response Advanced mode. Anything less will just bog you down in frustration as you struggle with the far less-fluid settings. Other functions handled with ease are the switching of visors, the very cool grappling lasso, and Hypermode. Never before has a Wii game made such good use of the motion-sensory equipment than here on Corruption. Throughout the game you will need to press buttons, turn locks, pull levers and more using the Wii remote – with the gestures involved working so smoothly you’ll almost believe you’re doing these tasks for real. Samus’ grappling lasso is handled with the nunchuck and is great fun to use as you take aim, lock-on and throw the lasso, then pull panels off walls, rip apart an enemy opponent and other useful acts of destruction with a simple throwing motion. Compared to the previous two Metroid Prime outings this is a much easier-to-maneuver affair, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s an easier game. With the variety of challenges and puzzles to complete, as well as increasingly tough bosses to defeat before moving on to further levels, Corruption will still have your palms sweating and your heart racing from the action.
Downsides? What Downsides?
As far as downsides, Corruption has very little. The only one of note is the occasionally slow load time when it comes to moving to a new section. This is undoubtedly due to the increased production value adding to the workload and therefore making the transitions a little slower – sometimes. Quite a minor pick but worth mentioning only because when you’re pumped up and itching for battle a 5-7 second delay in a door opening can seem like a lifetime. Some people have also said that the mere fact that the game is a sequel, and therefore familiar in its game play, works against it. I disagree. I think the familiarity is a plus – like revisiting a place you love. If you haven’t played a Metroid Prime game before then it won’t be familiar at all necessarily. If you have then you won’t have to waste any time getting to know the gaming system. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption has about 20-ish hours of game play to complete the main storyline, and much longer if you go about doing every little thing to achieve a 100% completion rating. The scanning mode adds even more game play value, as objects you uncover on your travels can bear anything from puzzle clues and unlockables, to missiles and energy tanks – with each find adding to your overall percentage. You can also earn various medals for performing certain tasks successfully. These medals allow you to purchase various add-ons such as concept art, a screen capture tool to send pictures of the game to friends online and a little bobblehead doll for Samus’ cockpit, to name but a few.
I never used to be much of a fan of first person shooter-type games, but the first two Metroid Prime games caused me to start thinking differently. Metroid Prime 3, however, has me totally converted (at least to MP3), and I think for the most part it comes down to how comfortable and natural the controls feel throughout the game itself. If you’re at all like I was then I recommend you give Corruption a go, simply because of how much more this game has to offer than a regular FPS. To me, all the aspects of what make a great game are satisfyingly supplied in spades here. Fantastic graphics and art design, ease of movement and functionality, brain-boggling puzzles to solve, a gripping storyline and some big ole nasties to bring down along the way. I haven’t gone into all the features available here as I don’t want to give everything away – but suffice to say that if the above review has whet your appetite for more then you’re looking at the best fun you’ve had on a gaming console in ages. Mark my words, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will go down in history as one the best Wii games of all time – and the best right now. Now go and buy it!
If you’re a Nintendo devotee, or if you’ve come to the Wii via PlayStation 2 you may have already heard of and possibly played Resident Evil 4 on one or both of those consoles. Both previous releases had their own individual advantages and disadvantages but the Wii edition of Resident Evil 4 has the best of both of them, making it not only one of the best Wii games on the market, but also THE best edition of RE4 available on any console. If you haven’t experienced this game on either consoles before then you’re in for a wild time - an all-encompassing suspense-filled thrill ride!
Resident Evil 4 reunites us with Leon S. Kennedy (from Resident Evil 2), now a highly trained government agent sent on a mission to rescue the President’s daughter. You know those days when you think you really shouldn’t have bothered getting out of bed? Well Leon is about to have one of those x 1000. His search takes him to a small Spanish village where he soon finds that all is not as it should be. For one, the villagers don’t appear to be all together human - and for two, they are trying their hardest to kill him without so much as an explanation! No sooner does the opening sequence get you up to speed on where you are and why you’re there, than you are set upon by a crazy, axe-wielding maniac (as opposed to a sane axe-wielding maniac?) - followed by a horde of villagers (you’ll find no slow-moving zombies in this town) who trap you inside a cabin in an effort to finish you off - and this is all within the first 5 minutes! There’s no time for pondering, you gotta think fast - there’s no time to panic but that’s all you can think to do at this point. You’re disorientated, you’re confused, you have menacing locals bearing down on you from all sides…and this is just a taste of things to come. There is definitely a heightened sense of adrenaline-pumping fear in Resident Evil 4 that is a step up from previous Resident Evil releases, which makes this game truly frightening. It’s less a case of something suddenly smashing through the window as you make your way down a creepy, dimly-lit corridor and more a case of frantically trying to escape the relentless pursuit of increasingly stranger, vicious and more difficult-to-defeat attackers. As you may have gathered the pace of this game is frantic and it really doesn’t let up. You’ll literally be wiping away the sweat in the rare moments you do get to catch your breath. The frenzied nature of the game adds a whole new level of terror, something previous releases in the franchise lacked. However those who like their scares the old-fashioned way will not be disappointed, as there are still plenty of sudden jumps and scares when you least expect it, to keep you on your toes. No more is this exemplified than when you play as the President’s daughter, Ashley who, with only a flashlight at her disposal, must silently creep past all manner of crazed weirdos, and act fast in her tasks to avoid detection, capture and death.
Monsters Galore!
So let’s talk about the beasties you’re up against then. Gone are the dim-witted zombies that trundle towards you at such a pace you’re able to have a shower, shave, shoe-shine and a shag before loading your gun, taking aiming and blowing them away. In this town you have the smart and quick footed villagers (complete with burning torches and pitchforks), creepy cultists, giant ogres-like creatures and a jaw-droppingly impressive (and scary) lake monster. Not to mention other increasingly difficult, weird and imaginative-in-their-appearance bosses you come across as you advance your way through the storyline (you get the idea without me having to give too much away). All the characters in this heart-pounding blood-fest have been created with an attention to detail never before seen on the Wii, which only adds to your ability to get fully immersed (and therefore fully frightened) in this white-knuckled, suspense-filled tale.
Point And Shoot - More Than Just A Wii Bit Better
Where the Wii edition of Resident Evil 4 stands out against the other console releases of the game is in its use of the unique Wii controllers for aiming and shooting the huge variety of nasties that mean to do you harm. Using the Wii remote, you can simply and effectively point at the target on screen with a speed and accuracy unmatched on other consoles. Here you can aim at the various body parts of your attackers with ease. Shooting at the legs of insane villagers is a cinch - and something you may find necessary when you’re low on bullets. Making a head-shot will be a walk in the park - albeit a gory one. When you are out of bullets (or any time you feel like getting “up close and personal”) your Wii remote becomes Leon’s knife, and you can slash away in the comfort of your living room, watching Leon on screen slice up some local nasties. A cool little feature is the addition of sound effects from your Wii remote speaker - so that the slashing of your knife or the reloading of your gun takes on an all more “realistic” feel.
Amazing Attention To Detail
Another major standout are the graphics. Everything from the buildings and landscapes to the towns “citizens” and the increasingly imaginative monsters has been created with blood-drenched attention to detail, giving this game the most consuming feeling of atmospheric suspense ever encountered in a survival horror game. Capcom, who is really the Godfather of the survival horror genre, have outdone even themselves with the look and feel of this epic horror action-fest. When this game was first released on GCN and PS2 a couple of years ago it really was breathtaking in it’s rendered beauty. By far the best looking game on the market. Sure, there haven’t been any improvements to the look of the game in the last two years, despite the Wii’s increased memory and processing speed, but that doesn’t detract from the game itself in the slightest. It is still stunning to look at, with some of the creatures you come up against simply mesmerizing in their brilliance. If you’ve played this game before on another console you’ll be so impressed with the fantastic use of the controllers and the other enhancements that it will almost be like playing it for the first time again (and even more so if you’ve only played this on GameCube, as the Wii edition contains the Ada Wong “Separate Ways” storyline that was only released on the PS2). If you haven’t played this before then you’ll just be impressed all round. Period.
No Bones To Pick, But Plenty Of Flesh
I really couldn’t find anything to pick at with this game. I’ve already mentioned above the lack of graphic improvements from the 2005 releases, but I never felt it in any way detracted from the overall experience the game presents, as the graphics from 2005 are still well above that of other games in this genre and certainly above any other Wii games. The sound is brilliant - creepy, atmospheric music and head-explodingly real special effects add even more depth to this already abyss-like release. The game play is an amazing 15-20 hours long (not counting the great replay value), and at the reduced retail price for the Wii that makes it tremendous value for money. All that being said, this game is certainly not for the squeamish - and if the sight of copious amounts of animated gore and violence is off-putting to you then you should definitely steer clear of this release. However if those things don’t bother you - or indeed if you find them an exciting prospect - then Resident Evil 4 is a must have, still managing to be one of the best Wii games after two years.
Anyone familiar with Nintendo Game Cube’s Super Mario Strikers will instantly feel at home when they first strap in to this screwball sequel. Anyone who has not first had a taste of “Soccer, Mario-style” will probably not know what hit them. In both cases, however, you’re in for a wildly entertaining, deliriously crazy, action-packed fun fest. It’s the sort of enjoyment you almost feel guilty having, simply because you know not everyone out there is willing or able to partake in this sort of riotous romp…but you’ll notice I did say you’ll ‘almost feel guilty’. The fact is you’ll be so caught up in the non-stop insanity of Mario and his pals you won’t be thinking of much else except dodging tackles while attempting to perform Mega-strikes, and thrashing your opponents. It’s safe to say that Mario Strikers Charged is one of the best Wii games released in the (so far) short life of this exciting game console, and if you don’t get immense pleasure from playing this game then you really shouldn’t own a Nintendo Wii at all.
The best part of Mario’s version of soccer is that it barely passes as soccer at all! Sure, you play on a field and you kick a ball around, but that’s pretty much where the familiarity ends. You can start by throwing realism out the door - as turtles and toadstools chase you around the field looking to constantly knock you off the ball. Then you can throw the rule book out the window - there are no referees or red cards to be found here, just plenty of weapons, power-ups, tackles and other random acts of arcade-game absurdity. It comes as almost a surprise then, perhaps, to find an underlying depth to the game, as it uses more strategies and tactics than we’re used to in the Mario universe. You ‘kick things off’ by selecting your team captain, and there are 12 to choose from such as Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Wario, etc. Each character has his or her own strengths and weaknesses - so while one may be a fast runner, they may not be so good at passing the ball. It’s up to you to determine which captain is right for the game strategy you’re planning. Mario, of course, is the best all-rounder. Then you choose 3 team mates from a second line-up of characters including Toad, Boo, Monty Mole, Shy Guy, Birdo and more. These too have their own individual strengths and weaknesses, and you can get many varying results based on the combined team you choose. Each Captain also comes with their own Mega-Strike shot - a unique power shot that the goalie usually has a tough time dealing with. Your team mates also have their own individual skill shots - which can send anything from a swarm of hammers to a giant ball of electricity at an opposing goalie to throw them off.
Mega-Meaty-Mario Action!
When it comes to scoring goals, it’s the Mega-Strike that matters most. When pulled off, a Mega-Strike will send anything from 3 to 6 balls at the opposition’s Keeper, with the number of balls and speed of delivery determined by how well timed your button pressing is. If you happen to be on the receiving end of a Mega-Strike, the point of view will change to that of the Keeper, and you’ll use your Wii remote to point at the screen as the balls come flying at you, with good aim and well-timed button pressing the key to making saves. It’s a frantic little mini-game that comes as a clever addition to the hectic hi-jinx of the rest of the match. Be warned though, creating a Mega-Strike shot is not as easy as it sounds when you have multiple opponents, not to mention giant red shells and chain chomps bearing down on you from every angle looking to rearrange your intestines! On top of that you’ve got the pitch to deal with, with 17 different stadiums to choose from, many with their own unique hazard to add to the complexity and difficulty. Hazards such as raging winds, lightning bolts, Thwomps and giant balls that destroy everything in their path are just some of the obstacles that await you should you dare to play one of the booby-trapped playing fields. If it feels like man and God are against your team then you could well be right - all these factors make for a very challenging game of Mario soccer.
Multi-Player Is Where It’s At
Mario Strikers Charged really comes into its own, however, in multi-player mode. Single player is still definitely fun to play, with standard “versus” mode, challenge mode (players have 12 tricky challenges to overcome) and Road To Striker mode (round-robin tournaments to obtain various victory cups), but there’s nothing like playing against real people and having up to 4 players competing at once is a wild blast. Here you have the choice of offline or online modes, and for most people the online mode is the deal-clincher for Mario Strikers Charged. While you still have to deal with the controversial Friend Codes when it comes to playing against specific people, you can choose to skip that and just launch into ranked matches against random opponents from all over the world through the power of WiFi (Wireless networking). Here you get a roster keeping track of your friend’s online status and game progress, a leader-board with daily and amassed stats and easy to use notifications for match requests with other online players.
Not All That Glitters Is Goal!
While there isn’t much to fault at all with this fast-paced thrill ride, I would be neglect in my duties if I didn’t say it isn’t all gravy. The most notable is the Single player mode. While the single player modes are indeed fun to play, there are simply too few of them to create lasting appeal in this area. Also, the computer opponents tend to either be way too easy or way too difficult - a change that can come at the drop of a hat and can get a little frustrating after a while. Maybe the makers are trying to push everyone to use the multi-player/online features by offering sub-standard single player modes. To some degree I see the single player modes as being a tack-on, nothing more, as the majority of people who play this game won’t be interested in single player mode at all, other than to perhaps get accustomed with the game before trekking off to play online gamers from around the globe. The only thing that may sadden some people with the online gaming is there is no voice chat available. Depending on who you are this may be a good or bad thing, as I’m sure some of you wouldn’t have minded a little on-field sledging during play to help thwart your opponents attempts at scoring.
But that’s it really, nothing more I could see to pick at - and believe me I looked. The sound effects and music are great, the graphics are what you’d expect by now from anything Mario. No huge advances here, but then they certainly haven’t slacked off in this department either. All in all Mario Strikers Charged is a fast-paced, action-packed feast of entertainment, which will no doubt have you wondering where all the hours have gone (especially in online mode), and is well deserving of the title of one of the best Wii games on the market.
