“They need to review the single player and online separately, especially for 360 games, which follow the trend of 1 hour single player, 10 hour online”

–‘consolegaming’, GRcade

“Erk. This game only got 5 in Edge. Avoid.”

–‘Sabreman64′, GRcade

Best Xbox 360 Game:

Halo 3: ODST

It was quite refreshing not playing as Master Chief for a change. ODST plays like a “Greatest Hits” of the Halo series, with each flashback showing off some very polished and refined gameplay based on the series’ best bits. The atmospheric hub overworld of New Mombasa was simply brilliant. Best of all, NO FUCKING FLOOD. Read my review at Peoww HERE.

Runner-up:

Ummm…errrr…the 360 wasn’t exactly blessed with great exclusives that I liked in 2009. Forza 3? Realistic racing game = not interested. Shadow Complex? A bit bland, and became dull as fuck after a while.

Best PS3 Game:

Demon’s Souls

One of the most unique games I’ve played this generation, and one of the most punishingly difficult. An action RPG, with hints of roguelike and an unforgiving death mechanic – upon dying, you resurrect in “soul form” with less health, but more attack power and have to regain your soul in order to turn to body form. The online component is fantastic, with the ability to leave messages on the ground, summon players for help, invade their games and even playing as a boss, in certain circumstances. Add to that the fact you can see the spirits of other players online in real-time, playing through the same section as you. The whole online aspect of the came is certainly something else. A refreshing RPG from Japan that distances itself from the usual clichéd JRPG nonsense. I will review this for somewhere at some point.

Runners-up:

Uncharted 2 – Still contains some things from the first game that pissed me off e.g. the shite gun combat, but the platform mechanics are as good as ever, and it’s one of the most impressive cinematic experiences you’ll have playing a game. The not-tacked-on-at-all multiplayer mode was surprisingly good, too.

inFamous – An interesting take on the superhero story, with a hint of “Heroes” about it. The eagle-eyed enemies were a pain in the arse, but were only a quick zap away from death. Jumping and grinding around the gritty, run-down city was fun, and there were plenty of side-quests to do if you wanted a break form the main story. Read my review at Gamestyle HERE.

Best Wii Game:

House of the Dead: Overkill

Quite simply the best light gun game I’ve ever played, wrapped up in a lovely Grindhouse-inspired art-style and soundtrack – complete with an onslaught of gratuitous fucking swearing. The new game + director’s cut mode offers new paths throughout the levels, and two-player coop is a blast. The official Hand Cannon light gun is the perfect companion to the game, and arguably the best light gun shell for the Wii. Peoww review HERE.

Runners-up

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer. It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer. It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer. It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer. It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer. It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer. It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer. It’s a proper 2D Mario platformer.

Dead Space: Extraction – I loved Dead Space, thought it was far better than Resident Evil 5, so naturally I’d be interested in this. As a prequel, it does a great job in showing the origin of the necromorphs and the marker. It doesn’t really play like your typical on-rails light gun shooter, more like a guided FPS with a very cinematic feel.

Best PC Game:

Left 4 Dead 2

Bu-bu-but it’s just a quick lazy cash-in! Bu-bu-but it should have been DLC! Bu-bu-but PISS OFF. No add-on here, just more awesome. Five campaigns, one more than the previous game, and one of which is possibly the best yet – Hard Rain. New special infected, most notably the fucking annoying Jockey – basically the “headcrab enemy” of the game. a beefed-up set of firearms is complemented by the addition of melee weapons. Chainsaw and zombies? Yes please. The crescendo events and finales have seen a change, with not all of them adhering to the “fight the horde until help arrives” method. All of that, and it again has some of the best online co-op around.

Runners-up

Torchlight – a.k.a Diablo 2.5. A brilliant little loot-heavy RPG, whose creators include the co-designers of Diablo 1 & 2. It’s your typical Diablo-style gameplay, while collecting shit-loads of loot in randomly generated dungeons. The lovely art-style is reminiscent of World of Warcraft, and the haunting soundtrack fits just perfectly.

Killing Floor – An Unreal Tournament mod, It’s an interesting alternative to Left 4 Dead. It’s very impressive, with great horde-bade gameplay and online co-op. The setting (London) is interesting, and the levelling-up mechanics ensure to keep you occupied.

Best Downloadable Game:

Battlefield: 1943 (Xbox 360)

I lapped up the Battlefield: Bad Company multiplayer, so naturally I’d be all over this. Despite the limited selection of maps and weapons, it was definitely the best fun I had online in 2009. The classes were shaken up a little bit, and recharging health was added, but that didn’t have a negative impact on the game at all. In fact, other than the fucking shit planes-only level (Coral Sea), everything else was brilliant. Hanging back and taking out foes from afar as a sniper, while at the same time watching over and protecting your bases is an immensely satisfying experience. It looks bloody nice, and the sound design is almost as good as Bad Company, which is alright for a downloadable game.  Reviewed HERE.

Runners-up:

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (WiiWare) – the first game, reviewed HERE, was brilliant. It was definitely one of the best downloadable games I’ve played, and this  takes everything that made it great, and does it better.

Bit. Trip Beat (WiiWare) – an intriguing mixture of the gameplay of Pong, with the rhythm gameplay and visual inspiration of Rez. I loved the retro 8-bit visuals, and the clever use of motion controls.

Best iPhone/iPod Touch Game:

Canabalt

Also available online as a flash game HERE, Canabalt couldn’t be any simpler. Controlling a little running man in a suit, you must run from left-to-right over collapsing buildings, while jumping to avoide obstacles with a simple tap of the touch screen. That’s about it, really. There’s so much to love about this game, from the retro 8-bit style visuals to the intense soundtrack. I love all the little graphical touches, like the way the nameless man’s jacket flaps as he jumps, and the flocks of birds scattering as you run past them. Plus there’s the ominous War of the Worlds-esque tripods stomping around in the background. It’s only a measly £1.49, and should be  a definite purchase for any iPhone/Touch user. It’s a perfect example of what a game on the platform should be.

Runners-up:

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene – An interesting update of a retro classic. The game “evolves” as you play, with the ability to create levels based around the beats of a chosen song on the iPod. The graphics have an impressive Rez/Geometry Wars vibe to them which are very pleasing to the eye, in fact, it’s arguably the best looking game on the platform. A little bit more expensive than Canabalt at £2.99, but worth every penny. It’s one of the best modern updates of Space Invaders yet.

Flight Control – Surely everyone owns this by now? For 59p, you certainly should. With some excellent use of the touch screen, you frantically plot courses for planes and helicopters to safely land. I’m a bit rubbish at it, and tend to shit myself and panic if there’s more than five vehicles on-screen at one time, but it’s still fun as hell.

Best Visuals:

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)

What’s this? A Wii game? But it’s not in HD! A perfect example of why art-style matters more than graphical horsepower, in my opinion. The beautifully animated 2D hand-drawn characters and environments are breathtaking at times. As good as it looks in screenshots, it really has to be seen in motion for the full impact. Simply put, one of the best looking games of the generation, let alone 2009.

Runners-up:

The Beatles: Rock Band – From the amazing animated introduction, to the fantastically realised dreamscape sequences, the spirit of The Beatles, their music and their image is perfectly captured here. My particular favourite is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

MadWorld – The black & white, cell-shaded visuals contrasting with the copious amounts of red blood were certainly striking, and helped to emphasise the game’s slapstick humour – especially with the comic book-style “SPLAAAAAT” etc. accompanying every over-the-top finishing move. check out my review HERE.

Best Audio:

The Beatles: Rock Band

It’s The Beatles: Rock Band, need I say more?

Runners-up:

Halo 3: ODST – I’ve always been a big fan of the Halo series’ soundtracks, and this is probably my favourite so far. It all goes a bit film-noir and, while the trademark Halo theme isn’t present, it still contains the signature moments and sounds that makes the music in this series so memorable.

House of the Dead: Overkill – Full of what are basically parodies of sleazy 70s rock, it’s just a shame the soundtrack didn’t get an official release.

Surprise Of The Year:

Prototype (Xbox 360/PS3)

I didn’t really pay much attention to this beforehand, but it turned out to be brilliant. Probably one of the best non-licensed “superhero” games I’ve played. No other game gives you the feeling of being such an all-powerful badass, and maneuvering around the city was like a mixture of Crackdown’s platforming, and the parkour of Mirror’s Edge. Read my brief review HERE.

Runners-up:

Dead Space: Extraction (Wii) – What many thought to be just a lazy light gun cash-in game turned out to be an incredibly cinematic experience, almost in a  genre of its own.

Little King’s Story (Wii) – Came out or nowhere. Basically an RTS/RPG/adventure mish-mash full of charm and character. Shame about the curious lack of pointer controls, though.

Disappointment Of The Year:

Resident Evil 5

A hilarious attempt to “Westernise” the franchise by beefing up Chris Redfield with steroids, and adding forced co-op resulted in a disappointing entry in the franchise. The whole “can’t move while shooting” thing just feels archaic now, especially after playing the superior Dead Space. It wasn’t that it was a terrible game or anything, it just wasn’t good enough. While it did have it’s good bits, it plays like a poor imitation of Resident Evil 4.

Runners-up:

Killzone 2 – Allegedly the Second Coming of Christ in terms of visuals, it turned out to be nothing more than an above average FPS with good graphics. Your squad mates being a group of clichéd, “bro soldiers”,  shouty cunts didn’t make the game any more enjoyable, and neither did the lethargic controls – it felt like wading through treacle half the time. the online multiplayer was great, though. Review, complete with pathetic fanboys in the comments sections is HERE, with a follow-up article by me HERE.

FIFA 10 – The laziness appears to be creeping back into the franchise again. Full of silly bugs and glitches present in the last game which EA only bothered to fix with a patch a few months after release.

Pile Of Shit Of The Year:

Damnation:

Started off as a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, and evolved into this shitefest. It tries to be a mix of Gears of War (to the extent of outright copying its menu system and HUD) and Prince of Persia. The scale of the levels is impressive, the scale of its awfulness is astonishing. Reviewed HERE.

Runners-up

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad – I actually scored this one lower than Damnation, but the presence of zombies shunts it into the runner-up slot. Still shite, mind.

Turtles in Time: Re-Shelled – A remake of the TMNT SNES game. Horrible graphics, awful fighting mechanics and awkward controls. Biggest waste of money I’ve spent on XBLA.

Best Multiformat Game:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

I was cautiously optimistic about this. The series wasn’t making any progress with its “infinitely respawning enemies until you pass a certain point” tactic, and the enemies themselves were devoid of any AI whatsoever. Thankfully, most of that has been fixed. The singleplayer has some of the best setpieces around, and the story is surprisingly good for what it is. Of course, the multiplayer is as brilliant as ever. The perks have been shaken up a bit, and the new killstreaks and introduction of deathstreaks have made things much more interesting. The maps are also more varied this time, they aren’t as flat as before and there is more “verticality” this time. All in all, a fantastic FPS. Prestige edition was ace, too.

Runners-up:

Assassin’s Creed 2 – Pretty much all of the countless problems with the first game have been fixed. No more tedious, repetitive side missions. It now flows more naturally, with plenty of variety in the main missions and an engrossing story to go with it. Double wrist-blade kill from a rooftop? Yes please,

Batman: Arkham Asylum – A good licensed comic book game? Bloody hell. The story was great, and it has some of the best third-person brawling action I’ve played in a long time.

Overall Game Of The Year

Demon’s Souls

I gushed about this above, this game really is brilliant. Many seem to be put off by the game’s tough difficulty, but it’s very rewarding if you stick with it. Sadly it doesn’t seem to be getting a PAL release, but it’s region-free, so importing shouldn’t be a problem at all – you might even find a copy in your local indie if you’re lucky.

Runners-up:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

House of the Dead: Overkill

Game Of The Decade:

Resident Evil 4

One of the most complete games ever made. It redefined the survival horror genre, and set a template for action games to follow – none of which have done it better. Who can forget that cabin seige bit? Or the raspy breathing of the regenerators? Or the fight with the lake monster? Or the chainsaw-wielding maniac? I could gon on and on, it’s just that there is so many memorable moments in this game.

Runners-up:

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – My favourite Zelda game of them all. Very different to the others in the series, it’s much darker, and more “mature”. You can read my thoughts on it in this feature at Gamestyle.

Super Mario Galaxy – The best platformer ever made, bar none.

House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)

It’s the best light gun game I’ve ever played, frankly, and it’s release was accompanied by that of the meaty official handcannon which made playing the game much more sweeter. A typical light gun game wrapped up in a Planet Terror-inspired grindhouse aesthetic, tongue-in-cheek humour and with a memorable funky soundtrack to boot. The foul-mouthed Detective Isaac Washington stole the show with his constant swearing, but there were plenty of other memorable characters, such as the stripper Varla Guns. Each of the levels are perfectly paced and just the right length, with plenty of gripping set pieces that leave you wanting more. It’s without a doubt one of my game of the year contenders, and out can read my review at Peoww HERE.

Little King’s Story (Wii)

Full of character and charm, this took many people my surprise. An RPG/RTS/adventure hybrid in which a young boy is whisked into a mystical land and is immediately crowned king. You have to expand your kingdom by employing citizens to do the dirty work and join them in exploring the land to unlock new areas and building possibilities. As well as the main quest, there are plenty of side quests which offer some unique rewards and treasures. It looks great, particularly the oil painting-style cutscenes, but behind the “child-like” visuals lies a surprisingly deep mature game. While LKS received almost universal critical acclaim, it unfortunately didn’t sell as well as it deserved. Peoww review HERE.

Punch-Out!! (Wii)

I bought the NES game on the Virtual Console a while back, and this is more or less a remake. It doesn’t play like a traditional boxing game, instead it’s all about watching and learning your opponents attack pattern and reacting accordingly. You once again play as Little Mac, and the roster of opponents is assembled from Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out. Naturally, motion control where you hold the remote and nunchuck in each hand (with the balance board being a further possible inclusion) but the game definitely works best using the classic NES control scheme. The cel-shaded visuals are among the best on the Wii, and the remixes and re-arranged tunes from previous games fit perfectly. Definitely one of the best retro updates I’ve played, and it also produced one of the best promo videos ever. Read my brief review HERE.

Prototype (Xbox 360)

This one took me by surprise, it wasn’t really on my radar until a few weeks before launch. Going by what I had seen up until then, I was much more interested in inFamous on the PS3, but this ended up being one of the best sandbox games I’ve ever played. It’s one of the few superhero games which actually makes you feel like an all-powerful badass. The platforming, while not as solid as Crackdown, is immensely satisfying and the free running is reminiscent of Mirror’s Edge. The chases between you and military strike teams are particularly exhilarating. The entirety of Manhattan is open to you from the start, and watching the city slowly descend into chaos after the virus spreads is just brilliant. There is so much going on in the streets in the latter stages of the game it’s baffling how anyone could call it dull. I spent so much time just simply leaping around the city, picking fights with the infected citizens, or trying to beat my best times in the side missions. This has so much replay value, and the new game + mode was a nice added bonus. The Review is HERE

Battlefield: 1943 (Xbox 360)

I bloody loved Battlefield: Bad Company, so naturally I’d be all over this like hot sauce. A multiplayer-only game, it is pretty similar to the one seen in Bad Company, except from a few notable differences. Recharging health has been added instead of a health meter, and all guns have unlimited ammo – obviously an effort to make it more appealing to more casual players. The three ground maps are fantastic, especially Iwo-Jima, but the planes-only map released soon after launch, Coral Sea, is pretty fucking awful It provided the same thrills as BC and I still prefer that and 1943 to Halo 3 and COD4. Sniping is still as satisfying and rewarding as ever, and the other two classes have seen more playtime than I was expecting. It still has many of the same problems as BC, particularly the shit and ineffective splash damage from nearly all explosives, but it’s more than the sum of it’s parts, and one of the best multiplayer experiences around. It could do with a few new maps soon, though. My Peoww review is HERE

Worthy contenders:

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin – much preferred this over the hilariously over-rated and over-hyped Killzone 2. Despite the lack of scares in the latter half of the game, it was a very solid FPS with a singleplayer campaign that surpassed my expectations,

MadWorld – a brainless brawler with a unique and striking black & white cel-shaded visual style. It was also a good example of how to do motion controls right, with the gesture-based commands activating the brutal and satisfying finishing moves.

EA Grand Slam Tennis – the first game to showcase the Wii Motion Plus peripheral, and it did a great job in replicating the feeling of playing tennis. While the singl player might me slightly lacking, the multiplayer is very well put together and the online puts most other Wii game’s efforts to shame – no fannying around with friend cores here.

Wii Sports Resort – sword-fighting and archery are without a doubt the stand out events here, but golf and bowling make a welcome return with much-improved control thanks to Motion Plus. The skydiving and plane events are pretty reminiscent of Pilotwings and gives a good idea of that a Wii version would be like.

…but I’ll have to. Now that it’s over and I’ve had a good amount of time to digest all the information, I thought I’d write some stuff up about it. It was a hell of a lot better than last years underwhelming, down-sized event and was a return to the E3 of old. Rather than boring summaries of each conference, I’ll just talk about the games that I’m most interested in. Click below for the good stuff.

Halo 3: ODST

I’ve been interested in this one since day one. The prospect of a Halo game where you don’t play as Master Chief, but instead as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper is very intriguing. The lack of the Spartan’s resilience and strength makes for an interesting concept which will hopefully require the use of more stealth and tactics. The way the story is handled with flashbacks where you assume the role of your team mates and discover their fate is a welcome departure from the previous games. The multiplayer is surely going to be just as good, with the Horde-like “Firefight” mode, along with the traditional Halo 3 multiplayer containing all of the map packs to date. Definitely one of my most anticipated games of the year.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is one of the best games on the PS3. While the combat was rather shoddy, the game had a perfect blend of Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia-style adventuring and platforming. It also introduced the charismatic Nathan Drake – one of the best computer game characters this generation. The war-torn towns and slums seen so far in the sequel are a radical departure from the lush jungles and ancient ruins of the first game. Among Thieves also seems to be a bit more heavily combat focused which worried me at first given how it was what I least enjoyed in the first game, but hopefully Naughty Dog have taken the criticisms on board and fixed it. The addition of a multiplayer mode raised a few eyebrows when it was first announced, but after playing the multiplayer beta it’s actually surprisingly well put together. The whole game looks to be shaping up to be every bit as good, if not better than the first.

Left 4 Dead 2

Firstly, all the boycotting,  moaning, protesting, petitioning whiners upset that this should be DLC for the first game should just get a grip. The first Left 4 Dead was an almost unparalleled co-op experience and Valve have used the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” formula. While keeping the same fundamental gameplay elements, they have introduced a new setting in the Dirty South of the United States, as well as a new roster of survivors each with a different back story. The AI Director has been improved to alter more features such as weather conditions and lighting. New melee weapons such as the Team Fortress 2-inspired frying pan and the trusty chainsaw – a zombie-slaying classic. The new infected types, especially the “Wandering Witch”, sound interesting and are sure to keep things fresh. Despite this seeming very un-Valve in releasing a new game within a year of the last and given how much fun I had playing online co-op in the first, this is definitely a day one purchase for me.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Despite being teased pretty much leaked on the day of the show through photos of Nintendo’s booth, this still came as a surprise. I was expecting the next NSMB game to be on the DS due to the impressive sales of the first, but a version for the Wii is a clever move. The four-player co-op looks like it could offer the same thrills that LittleBigPlanet provided, but I was massively disappointed when it was announced there would be no online co-op at all, for whatever stupid reason. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the DS game and it’s fresh take on a 2D Mario so hopefully this will be just as good. I’m just hoping that it won’t be too heavily focused on multiplayer and that it won’t affect the singe player gameplay too much. A 2D Mario platformer is always a good thing.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

This came as a bit of a surprise. The first time there’s been a sequel to a 3D Mario game on the same console. For me, Super Mario Galaxy is the best game of the generation so far, and arguably the best platformer ever made. Some may mock Nintendo for supposedly churning out a quick sequel, but there were plenty of new features to be seen in the trailer – particularly the welcome return of Yoshi. There was the genuine question of “where next?” for the next game in the series after Galaxy. It was as close to perfect as you could possibly get so sticking with the same winning formula is the sensible choice for now.

Metroid: Other M

Now this one came out of nowhere and was definitely my biggest surprise of the show. Mentally crossing off Nintendo franchises as I watched the trailer. Stormy sea, a new Zelda?! No. Camera flying in the clouds, Kid Icarus?! No. Space, which obviously means Starfox! No. Blonde woman in a blue sui..ZERO SUIT SAMUS. A new Metroid game by Team Ninja, of all people. But aiding them are Nintendo’s R&D1 department who have basically made the entire Metroid series, barring the Prime games which were made by Retro Studios. This was also my favourite trailer from the show. It looks as if Other M will be some sort of “Samus Chronicles” game which revisits key moments in her past, including the battle with Mother Brain in Super Metroid as seen above, and will hopefully continue on after Metroid Fusion. It also looks like there will be a mix of gameplay styles, with the trailer showing a mix of 2D, 3D and first-person sections. It’s going to be really interesting to see what elements Team Ninja brings to the Metroid series, but going by how uncharacteristically brutal Samus is in the trailer, the game will surely be influenced by their Ninja Gaiden games. I’m a big fan of the Metroid franchise and for that reason, along with Other M looking fantastic, this is by far my most anticipated game. It’s just a shame I have to wait till 2010.

Oh, and no Mass Effect 2 because I’m trying to stay as unspoiled on that as I can.

]]> http://hegotgames.com/2009/06/10/e3-the-games-im-looking-forward-to/feed/ 1 Matthew E3 ODST Uncharted 2 Left 4 Dead 2 New Super Mario Bros. Wii This is actually a screenshot of Super Mario Galaxy 1, by the way Metroid: Other M http://hegotgames.com/2009/05/28/random-gaming-irritations-228/ http://hegotgames.com/2009/05/28/random-gaming-irritations-228/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 20:54:08 +0000 Matthew http://hegotgames.com/?p=962 ]]> Wii games that still require you to use pointer controls in the menus, despite your chosen method being holding the Wii remote sideways NES-style. I’m looking at you, PUNCH-OUT!!

Fast-forward fifteen years or so and I have 800 spare Wii points on the Shopping Shopping channel. while browsing through the available Mega Drive games I came across Earthworm Jim and decided to buy it, remembering how much I had enjoyed it previously all those years ago. A few minutes later and I find it to be a very frustrating experience. The movement and controls in general felt clunky and awkward. The enemies annoying and cheap, the first boss in particular was a right pain in the ass and just seemed to soak up the damage I was doing to him. The visuals and sound effects (especially the whipping noise) were still as good as I remembered, but on the whole, it wasn’t the brilliant platformer I loved back in the day.

Of course back when I first played it I was a hell of a lot more forgiving for all the negatives previously mentioned, and very naive. Looking back on the game, and from what I’ve got after playing it again, it’s just an average platformer living off it’s impressive visuals and quirky characters. I wonder how well received a similar game would be today on  XBLA or WiiWare, for example. Would people be as forgiving now as they were back then? Surely not. I also played the sequel on the Mega Drive but my memory of that is rather hazy, all I remember was a section where you became a blind cave salamander for some reason or other. Incidentally my experience with this game on the Virtual Console has probably put me off of buying the sequel when it is inevitably released. Also, it’s worth adding that the Earthworm Jim cartoon was fantastic. Pokemon aside (that was in a league of its own, obviously) this was probably the most faithful game-to-cartoon adaptation I ever watched, the theme tune was great.

Little King’s Story

I bought this after reading pretty much universal praise from everywhere that mentioned it – 9/10s from Edge, gamesTM, GameCentral and Eurogamer. Playing like a cross between Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Pikmin, your aim is to expand your kingdom by defeating enemies and taking  over their land. As well as this, you must keep your citizens happy and occupied by assigning them various jobs to do such as farmers and guards. There is also a decent story element to the game and you are given plenty of quests to do. I’ve put around four or five hours into it so far and definitely enjoying it. I’m getting vibes of the same charm that made Little Big Planet’s characters so likable.

World of Goo

I tried out the demo of this on Steam way back when it came out at the end of the last year, it was alright bit didn’t blow me away. That was probably due to me buying Peggle around the same time and being glued to that. Fast-forward to now. I had spare points burning a hole in my Wii Shopping Channel and had yet to buy a WiiWare title so I decided to give this a try. The Wii pointer controls are perfect for this game, in fact it makes me wonder why there hasn’t been a Peggle game released yet. The object of the game is to get the little goo balls to the exit by building bridges and other structures to get them there, and physics play a big part in this. There is also an extra mode with an online leaderboard of sorts where you try to build the highest tower possible. It’s got Peggle-levels of addictiveness about it.

Bit.Trip Beat

I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. It’s a rhythm game that plays like a mash-up of Pong and Rez. You control the paddle on the left of the screen by tilting the Wii remote, and you have to hit the blocks coming from the right. It starts off with a simple beat but as you progress the complexity of the music and blocks gradually increases. It can get pretty tough but it’s great. I also love the retro 8-bit visuals and the music perfectly complements it.. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it being motion controls-only but quickly found out that these offered a lot more accuracy than simply using an analogue stick or d-pad. It’s only 600 points, which is just dearer than a NES game on the Virtual console and it definitely comes recommended at that price.