• 7Jul 08

  Super Paper Mario (Wii) Review

  

  Reposting this I accidentally deleted the blog post for it. I also made blog posts for some old reviews, so if you haven't read those go check them out. I'm about to start working on some new reviews. For real, this time. ^_^
  

  The highly acclaimed Paper Mario series has been praised for its artistic and creative innovations. The first two games were unique in the fact that they were role-playing games, but fused with some light platforming elements of traditional Mario titles. Super Paper Mario takes it one step further by being predominantly platforming, with a few features taken from RPGs.
  
  The most notable highlight of the Paper Mario games is that almost every tangible object is paper thin, hence the title. In the first two games, the player could move in a 3D space in almost all directions. This time around, you can only move left and right, in a side scrolling fashion, similar to the 2D Mario games. The major innovation this time around is the ability to flip the world 90 degrees into a full 3D view, allowing you to find hidden enemies, treasures, and switches.

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  You can continue reading the review here. Remember to recommend.

  • Posted Jul 7, 2008 7:10 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 7Jul 08

  Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (DS) Review

  

  This is just an old review that I never made a blog post for.

  Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl are the latest entries in the handheld series, and bring plenty of new content to the table, while still giving players the same Pokemon they've experienced time and time again for the past ten years or so. The most notable additions to the series are touch control, voice chat, about 100 new Pokemon, and of course, online battling and trading over Nintendo Wi-fi Connection.
  
  Let's start with the basics, though. The graphical sty|e of Diamond/Pearl is essentially the same as it's always been; an overhead view of the world map with the player and his/her surroundings. But, with the hardware of the DS, the developers were able to add a few 3D items into the mix. For example, you'll be walking through a field of grass going about your adventuring routine, and you'll pass in front of some windmills. You, and the grass, will all be in 2D, but the windmill's blades will be rotating and will seem to pop out at you. This is a very nice feature and works remarkably well on the little handheld. A few other 3D pieces include trees, houses, and skyscrapers.

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  You can continue reading the review here and here. Remember to recommend! (Both please!) ^_^

  • Posted Jul 7, 2008 6:57 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 7Jul 08

  Elite Beat Agents (DS) Review

  

  This is just an old review that I never made a blog post for.

  Some of you import crazy gamers will know of a Japanese DS game by the name of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. In Ouendan, you play as three cheerleaders who go out and solve people's problems by dancing. You have to hit on-screen markers in time with the music to get points. Consecutive hits result in combos for higher scores. Some markers required you to hit the marker then drag it along a path, and occasionally backtrack across said path, while keeping the stylus on the moving marker at all times. The premise Elite Beat Agents is essentially the American version of this game, with some minor (and a few major) differences. The real big difference is the soundtrack. Instead of keeping a J-pop only soundtrack like Ouendan, they've decided to use covers of popular English songs. Other differences noted are that you play as secrets agents who's leader is the very enthusiastic Commander Kahn.
  
  The audio in this is game extremely well done for a handheld game. But because the DS's speakers still aren't the greatest in the world, it is still recommended that you use headphones for best sound quality. The soundtrack, on the other hand, isn't very memorable or moving. As mentioned before, it's comprised of covers of popular English singles. Some of the artists included are Ashlee Simpson, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne, and Earth Wind & Fire. Some of the most original sounding tracks are Makes No Difference (Sum 41) and YMCA (The Village People), while many others are quite honestly just plain bad, most notably La La (Ashlee Simpson) and Sk8er Boi (Avril Lavigne). It's not that the original versions of these tracks are bad, it's just that the people who cover them don't exactly seem like they should be on American Idol.

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  You can continue reading the review here. Remember to recommend!

  • Posted Jul 7, 2008 6:50 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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