Super Mario Bros (DS)

Hi its Yuuki here to bring you a blast from the past so to speak. Today I present you with the new Super Mario DS. In Basics its just like Super Mario 3 with a bit of tweaking. Yeah so let’s get started.

Gameplay: Same as the old one you have a simple button scheme. The typical run, jump and duck physics. A few new addons like some new items and the ability to store an extra item which you can recall at will, which isn’t even all that new. Some of the new items are mushrooms to make you tiny or ones to make you giant letting you access new parts of stage or rack up more points. 3/5

Story: It’s Mario so the story is basically the same as always…only Baby Bowser has taken Peach rather than the main man King Bowser himself. This is really nothing special or original in my opinion. There’s not a lot to say. You go thru a couple worlds and its over. 1/5

Graphics: Even though its just a DS game and a basic remake the graphics were nice. I must say it did stand out and brought back old memories rendered in a new 3D style. I do applaud Nintendo for that. 4/5

Audio: Classic Mario music and bit of the new, definitely a good blend here. Being able to hear Mario’s “yahoo” and such gives the plumber and classic hero some new depth. Again there’s not a lot to say as its most just a lot of rehashing. 3/5

Replay: The game itself isn’t long even unlocking the extra worlds doesn’t add more than a few hours to the game. Totaling at 15-20 hours max with nothing attention grapping to bring you back its really not worth it. 1/5

Overall: Okay let me put it this way. If someone gets you the game or if you happen upon it dirt cheap get it…otherwise I’d just say download or get Super Mario3 its better in almost every aspect anyway. There is something to be said for it being new and shiny and also portable, but not enough to really warrant even getting the game. 2/5

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (PS2)

Reviewed by Kit

Hello, boys and girls, Kit here to do a review of this fighting game for you all. Now, I haven't played this as much as Yuuki, though I did play this enough to kick his *** with Shikamaru plenty of times. I'll give you as good a review as I am able, and see maybe when Yuuki is available, he can republish this review with new notes.

Edit: Ok, wrote the review with Yuuki around, so basically his two cents are here as well.

Story: The game is based off the popular anime series by the same name. The show follows naruto on his journey to become the greatest ninja of his village. There is a mission mode, but there isn't too much that actually has a plot. 2/5

Graphics: The art style is similar to that of a comic book, which works out well since Naruto was originally a manga. In fact some of the scenes before the manga are taken directly from the manga. Other than the manga styling though, there wasn't much going for the graphics either way. 3/5

Audio: As you might have noticed, neither Yuuki nor I are terribly impressed with the American voice acting of Naruto. Sadly you are stuck with the American voices because there is no way to turn on the Japanese voices, at least none we found. The background music is from the Amercian version of the anime (which Yuuki tells me is different than the Japanese music). It's not bad, but it's not great. 2/5

Gameplay: Basically you hit buttons to jump, attack, throw weapons, build up chakra, use chakra, or block. Maps usually have multiple layers so you can move back and forth through these. You have three levels of chakra, and you can use one, two, or all three levels. If you have your chakra in use and hit your opponent, you then go into a special move screen. You and you opponent must hit the indicated buttons If you are successful you can do the next special attack, or if you are defending you can decrease damage taken from your opponent's attack. You can purchase special items for collecting if you want. Use points you earn from battle to attempt to win these items from a slot machine. The game is simple to utilize, but no too simple to throw off hardcore fighters. 4/5

Replay: With all the unlockable characters and a good group of friends, the game should keep you occupied for a while. Like any good fighting game, you keep playing until you're so good no one will play with you anymore. 4/5

Overall: With good gameplay and high replay value, Naruto is a good choice. However, with second-rate voice acting, something is lost. Still, visually it works, and I would recommend if you like Naruto and fighting games. 4/5

Update again

Yuuki's having some family problems, and I just got back into town. Reviews should be coming soon. I'll attempt to review Naruto: Ultimate Ninja for you tomorrow, but it won't be as good as Yuuki's since he played it more. After that it will take me some time to see if I can fill in the slack, maybe I'll outsource a few reviews. I know some are owed to me. Anyway, just keeping you updated.

--Kit

Kit's Rant #3

Hello one and all. Currently I'm out of town, spending time with the family. Who know they would be so kind as to bring a laptop for my use with them. Anyway, let's get on to what I want to talk about tonight. That would be G4. This is a TV station that I have never watched because I've never gotten it before. Who would have guessed it would be part of basic cable here? I mean, we don't even get USA. But that's not the point. The point is that I've been watching this station that I thought was all about videogames. I was wrong. There are only a few shows about games, and those aren't great. From what I've seen, only three shows are that interesting: Cinematech (videogame trailers), X-play (game review show), and Star Trek 2.0 (Star Trek with web interaction). I am also somewhat interested in their coverage of Comic-Con, I'm hoping they'll show some of the web comic authors.

My rant today would be about X-Play. They were reviewing Legend of Heroes 2 for the PSP. They're main dislike about the game was the graphics. They felt that, though it was a remake of an older game, the graphics should have been beefed up for today's capabilities. Now, I know that graphics today can be outstanding, but they should not be the aspect that makes or breaks the game. We should all know that better graphics does not mean better quality (FFX-2 vs FFVII, Xenosage vs Xenogears, Star Wars 1 2 & 3 vs Star Wars 4 5 & 6). If the nice people had had better arguments for the failing of the game than poor graphics and strange monster names (poison squirrels, how cute is that!) than I wouldn't be so upset. But to denounce a game for its graphic capabilities, I find that extremely annoying. So that would be my rant today. X-Play, graphics are not the game.

On that note, I'd like to mention Cinematech a bit more. It is basically a show that runs trailers with no hosts or anything (no stupid people acting like they know something). Watching it I saw a trailer for a SNES Enix game that I had never heard of before that looked very cute. Also I saw a trailer for the greatest zombie game ever (at least it looekd like it). This game was called Dead Rising, and it will be out for the 360 in a few months. While there are tons of zombei game out there, none looked as great as this. Anything, and from what I could see, I mean anything can be used as a weapon. I saw the protagonist cut zombies in half with garden shears, swatting at them with a cactus, and throw melons at them. Now, I can't saw if this will be a good game or not, but so far it looks very entertaining.

Update

Hey, Kit here to give you some idea about what's coming up in the next few weeks. I will be going out of town quite a bit during the next few months. Yuuki will be trying his best to keep things going, but things might get behind at some points. Towards the end of the month there will mostly likely be some delays as Yuuki and I are moving to a new apartment. Anyway, that's about it. Enjoy.

Puzzle Challenges: Crosswords and More (PS2, PSP)

Reviewed by Kit

A crossword puzzle game? Is this serious? Yes, yes it is, and the game is quite entertaining. How entertaining? Let's find out.

Story: No plot, it's a puzzle game. 1/5

Audio: Music plays in the background while you solve the various puzzles, but it's not particularly great. Very repetitive. 1/5

Graphics: As a puzzle game, graphics are not really important. Some of the puzzles could benefit for being slightly larger, but overall they're suitable. Nothing fancy besides your choice of backgrounds. 2/5

Gameplay: You have a variety of puzzle types to make solve. Crosswords, word searches, cryptics, and so forth. There are a set number of each type of puzzles, usually about 100. Puzzles are manipulated by using the shoulder buttons and both of the thumbsticks. It takes a few tries to get everything flowing smoothly. Depending on how quickly you solve puzzles will affect how many points you get. As you get more points you can unlock more backgrounds and more background music. The game is easy to control, and the puzzles are entertaining, if you like this sort of thing. 4/5

Replay: The game is fun to play multiple times, at least until you've solved all the puzzles. Then you can start all over if you want, or lend it to another person. 3/5

Overall: This game is exactly as advertised, a bunch of puzzles. Somehow though, it is also a great party game. Get a group of friends together and see how many people can shout out what the answer is at once. However, if you would rather a game for travelling, pick up the PSP copy. If you want to enjoy group puzzle-solving, grab the PS2 version. Either way, it's a great choice if you like word puzzles. 4/5