The Geek Bros

So Wii Sports Resort came out fairly recently released by Nintendo and I managed to pick it up locally and try out the new Nintendo technology the Wii Motion Plus accessory. First may I say that consoles in this generation are getting pounded with accessories. Which could be a good, or a bad thing.

As a whole when playing through Wii Sports Resort I personally thought the game was great. The Wii Motion Plus does do it’s job the controller reacts beautifully, Whether your fencing, wakeboarding or whatever it may be. My family thought it a funny sight to see me in the couch and randomly flinging myself back in the couch while playing wakeboarding or when I really got into it while fencing specifically the onslaught of fighting lots of guys at the same time, or when I sat in the couch completely focused on getting a good score in archery, what the game lacks in graphics is definately made up in fun game play. While the game has no story the different games or mini games whatever you would like to call them definately are fun to just relax for a moment and let the stress of the day just wash off in some easy yet somewhat deep, and relaxing play. It works as a way to just tone down your stress in between high intensity games and is just overall a simple fun experience. My only complaint may be that games like the airplane flying may be a little over simplified to the point it can be frustrating. Its not a game that you go play for hours and hours either for the most part usually for half hour periods at most.

I am happy the way things turned out with Wii Sports Resort I have had really high hopes for it for a while and was very worried that it might flop but suprisingly enough the motions translate from real life to the screen very well and no lag time involved in the eqaution.

Who should buy: Practically everyone just looking for a game that’s a dang good time will enjoy this game while it’s not any super deep game with a long twisting storyline it is what it is, a fun enjoyable game.

Who shouldnt buy: Those who are looking specifically for a deep game with lots of twists and turns this game is very what you see is what you get.

Overall Score: A strong 8.3 definatelly a great game to keep on the shelves and get out every once and a while.

As you all know I usually try my very best to avoid Gamestop.  Those who have paid much attention to console gaming also know that PS3 and XBox 360 have had significant price cuts since they debuted, which the Wii hasn’t.  Let’s be honest, they haven’t needed a price cut because the systems are still selling like crazy.  However some of the first signs that a price cut may be on the way is when they start packing more things into a bundle for the same price.  Gamestop is doing just that.  Check out here the list of games that you can get for free with the purchase of a Wii through the 26th.

My recommendation would be to pick up ExciteBots of that list for a goofy and fun racer.  Or Wario Land: Shake It if you are looking for a party.  Or if you are going to be getting Wii Fit as well so you will have a balance board, then pick up Shaun White: Snowboarding Road Trip which is tons better on the Wii thaon on  other systems.

You will have to forgive me as I have been ill to start this week off, but I am certain I will be back on top of things for the rest of the week.  Just espect most of my normal articles to be delayed a day.  As for my review today, it seems like EA has really been trying hard to be the top 3rd party publishing on the Wii.  Last week I did EA Sports Active and this week brings us another title from them, Boom Blox Bash Party.  Last year Boom Blox came out and was pretty much a sleeper hit.  At first not many had heard of it but it came to grow into one of the best party games on the system.

When it comes to games to help people understand what the Wii is all about there is a very small group that people can just naturally understand.  Boom Blox is one of them.  You hold the controller and throw it like a ball to knock stuff over, it is so simple but so much fun!  Bash Party does little to change this formula, it adds tons more modes including painting, underwater levels, and space levels but the core gameplay is the same great stuff that we came to love last year.

Here is the painting levels!

Bash Party is organized this time with a theme park that has a group of different challenges in it.  Each challenge has about 6 levels, but if you really like that type you can download from the thousands of levels that have been uploaded to their servers.  This is a huge improvement from the first iteration where you could only trade maps with those with whom you had exchanged friend codes.  Now everything you upload goes to their server, they vet it and you can download anything you want.  This makes the replayability of the game nearly endless.  If you really get bored of all the maps that are there, you can go ahead and create your own.  The creator is much improved and much more intuitive.

Overall, this game is one game that belongs in your library.  Everyone understands how to throw baseballs, bowling balls, bombs, launch cannons, and shoot lasers.  I am happy to show this game to friends and play with groups.  The competitve and the co-0p modes are both fun, and The Wife and I enjoy both.  In addition, it has an MSRP of $40 and Amazon has it for $36.99.  It is worth every penny!

Who should buy:

Anyone looking for a great game to play in nearly any group

Someone looking for a good value title because of its near infinite replayability

Who should pass:

Gamers who never have any one else play with them

Overall: 9.5/10

We have yet to review a full Wii title since the inception of The Geek Bros but that is going to change today.  The first one to receive this high honor is EA Sports Active obviously by EA.  It is pretty obvious what they are trying to do, capitalize on the market that has been newly discovered by Wii Fit.  This class of games has seen a huge rise in the past year, and I think this is the true successor to Wii Fit of a title that is actually worth it.

EA Sports Active centers around the 30 day challenge.  Essentially the trainer from Oprah gives you pep talks about living a more active lifestyle.  You then have a series of 20 workouts to do that it wants you to do in 30 days.  The workouts are good, and they address a huge problem that was in Wii Fit.  Too often in Wii Fit I felt lazy and so I wouldn’t select a harder exercise like the push ups.  With an organized workout this problem is avoided.  In addition they do the work that a real trainer would do by grouping exercises to focus on specific muscle groups.  In addition, the range of exercises is a bit more Western focused with more strength building exercises and less of the Yoga and balance, this will obviously appeal to some and ruin it for others.  The other thing I would like to note about the exercises is they didn’t feel full body, they focus a lot on your thighs and butt, again appealing to some and ruining the experience for others.

Packaged in with the game are two extras that apparently raise the price to a $60 game.  First is a resistance band that to put it bluntly is pretty cheap.  The resistance it provides is minimal and for men it really isn’t enough to make most of the workouts feel like you are doing much.  The first thing most people do is to fold the band over some to try and increase the resistance.  After I did this for a few days I notices that on one of my handles, the band is starting to break.  Next I borrowed one of the resistance bands that The Wife used to rehab her shoulder and that was a huge improvement because I took her strongest band.  The second pack in is an leg strap that is used to hold the nunchuck to your leg.  Again it feels just a little cheap, in order to make in not slide off my leg, I had to pull it pretty tight, then I noticed some of the stitching was starting to look a little weak.  That is when I decided to try a tight pair of jean shorts that I have and put the nunchuck in my pocket.  It wasn’t perfect but it was better than having to chase after the band twice and exercise.

After you complete the 30 day challenge, another strange thing about this game is there are very few other workouts programmed.  This is one place I wish the Wii had downloadable content because it would be so cool to have $3 for 10 workouts programmed by some famous trainer, give me Bob from the Biggest Loser or something.  You can start another 30 day challenge on a different intensity, and I would recommend starting doing all medium then moving up to intense.  After you complete that you can make up your own if you like, but I don’t feel like I have enough knowledge to create a good workout.  I tried it and it is alright.

Overall, I would have to recommend this game even despite its weaknesses.  I wish I could take a few things I really liked out of Wii Fit, like getting my weight daily, and combine it with some of the things I really like from EA Sports Active, specifically programmed workouts though I wish there were more,  so that I could have a great workout game.  There were quite a few days that it made me sweat which is something I rarely got out of Wii Fit.  Both have their frustrating moments and I think these fitness games with benefit greatly from the Wii Motion Plus.  Now if you will excuse me I still have some more squat jumps to do.

Who should buy:

People who have grown tired of Wii Fit

Gamers who haven’t been off the couch in weeks

Who should pass:

People looking for an all around workout (sorry you still need the gym)

Overall: 7.5/10

It’s been a while since any Wii title has seriously hit me strongly that it’s a good game, but then I heard about Swords and Soldiers. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to download it and spend my ten dollars on it.  But considering World of Goo and the great experience I had with that game and the Wii’s downloadable content I figured I might as well risk the purchase.  So bright and early Monday morning I downloaded it.  What can I say, the game was a blast!  I played through the single player in two full days which isn’t at all bad for a downloaded game. Never in my life did I think I would find an RTS on a console that actually worked but lo and behold Swords and Soldiers works beautifully with the Wii and it’s motion control, due to the 2D graphics and simple controls.

When I first bought the game a friend had just come over so I loaded it up and we played for a hour. The game wasn’t to complicated and very easy to just jump into. I had gone into the game without playing at all before and yet everything worked well I didn’t have to go through a long tutorial to try and figure at what the heck I was doing!

Over the next two days that I played I began to appreciate the art style and just how well the game flowed. Such a simple game with so much depth in some areas is great.

Not everything with this game is perfect though, some areas of the game lack sense, I remember going through levels finding mines and having no clue why there is extra mines on the map at all when to the best of my knowledge I had no way of using them. The AI in the game tends to be a little bit stupid sometimes, when you kill his workers he never buys more.  The story is short only day or so of play, and the graphics aren’t like something on the 360 or ps3, but are decent considering it’s on the Wii.

Overall, this game was a great play and it had me into it for a few hours. The mechanics of it worked fantastically and the whole game flowed pretty well. As far as games that are great with multiplayer this one is awesome, the replay is not at all in the single player but in the multiplayer oppurtunities.

Who Should Buy:

Anyone looking for a fun quick play

Those looking for an RTS on a console that actually works even though the game is 2D.

Who should pass

Those looking for a very in-depth game with a long story.

Score 9/10

Of course E3 is some of my favorite times of the year, and this season appears to be no different.  These Lego games hold a special place in my heart, as my brother can confirm, I have an entire room dedicated to my Lego addiction.  My 7 year old and I can sit down and burn several hours pretty quick, in fact about 6 months ago he decided we needed to unlock all the characters on Lego Star Wars, and since then we play to get 100%.  So with Lego Rock Band coming out we were not expecting any new major releases and of course they give us this teaser trailer.  So watch it and enjoy and expect a review from me as soon as it hits the shelf.

Okay so it isn’t exactly a New Play Control title.  (To quickly clarify, New Play Control titles are Gamecube games that Nintendo re-releases on the EA enhanced to work with the Wiimote.  It works because Gamecube sold so terribly and the Wii has sold great!) Metroid Prime  1 and 2 were announcded in Japan as New Play Control titles, but it has been revealed today that Nintendo will be releasing the Metroid Prime Trilogy (3 was an early Wii title) together on one disc in August.  This will retail for the standard $50 so if you are a fan of first person shooter games this is going to be an excellent deal for you.  I personally didn’t play it on the Gamecube and I’m really looking forward to picking this up to play through all three.  It is going to be an incredible value since each is a 30 hour game and you are getting 3!

This week we saw the release of Punch-out! for the Wii which so far is getting great reviews and I am still waiting for my copy to come.  In addition Nintendo has announced that there is a new “A Boy and his Blob” coming sometime in the future.  This is great, but there are a few franchises that I am still waiting to see sequels for sometime in the future.

10. Battletoads- So if I remember right this franchise was created to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but in all reality I liked this one more when it came to the video game world.  I wouldn’t mind if they brought the crossover back when they mixed it with the Double Dragon characters.

How can you go wrong with main characters names Rash and Zitz?

9. Chibi-Robo- Again another excellent game that came out for the Gamecube.  In Japan it is part of the New Play Control Series meaning that it was enhanced to function with the Wiimote.  I think we deserve an all new version of this game that was so strange but so much fun!

More Happy Points Please!

8. Star Tropics- I know, we did get a sequel for this in Zoda’s Revenge, but I think it is high time we revisit it.  It was a great game that acted as an action game but had tons of great puzzles in it.  The Wii motion control could create some awesome puzzles opportunities for a new generation.

Maybe the first game I was addicted to

7. NBA Jam- We know there was technically NBA Jam TE too and a few other spin-offs but lets talk about the original.  The over the top play of this game was excellent.  The problem is when I go to play the game now all the players on it no longer play in the NBA.  Wouldn’t this be great to play with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, or Kobe Bryant?  BOOM-SHAKALAKA!

All I'm asking for is players that are actually on the court now

6. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars- I’m sorry the spiritual successor of Paper Mario doesn’t cut it for me.  Nintendo needs to partner with Square Enix again and let them do an excellent 3-D RPG like this one.  In fact I guess I don’t even need the whole thing I would like to see an adventure for Geno and Mallow who were awesome characters but only seen in this one game.

True gamers know who Mallow and Geno are

5. Snowboard Kids 1&2- I know am probably going to take heat for this one, because it was just a cute game, but this game seems a lot like Mario Kart the downhill racing style.  You grab power ups and try to get down the fastest while trashing your opponents.  A DS version came out but it was pretty terrible that I couldn’t keep playing it.  I remember spending lots of time with this one with some of my friends, and loving it.

Looks cute but it was fun!

4. Base Wars- This one is pretty obscure, but it was awesome in the days of the NES.  It had a simple premise of in the future baseball owners thought players were costing to much and so they decided to play the game with robots.  You used the money won from winning games to upgrade your robots.  There were also no forced out, instead you would have to actually fight for the base.  I burned way too much time with this one.

Hoverbots fight tanks, need I say more?

3. Luigi’s Mansion- This game for the Gamecube was actually one of the great gems for that system.  The biggest complaint was always that it was just a little on the short side.  Wouldn’t it be great to use your Wiimote to operate the Poltergust 3000?  It seems to me like this one should be obvious to create a sequel.

The best Luigi starring game ever

2. Donkey Kong- Seriously I don’t know how this one could be overlooked.  I loved it on the SNES but probably my favorite game on the N64 was Donkey Kong 64.  The game was just stellar in the amount of time that it took to try and do everything with all 5 characters.  This one should absolutely find it’s way to virtual console and I want a Donkey Kong for the Wii that isn’t some silly rhythm game.  Give me a serious platformer.

One of the few reasons the N64 was worth it

1. Earthbound- This was one of my favorite RPGs when it came out on the SNES.  It is also one of the few games that I would recommend that anyone that play it take it on with the strategy guide because otherwise it can be really difficult.  I think had I not included this I would have been mauled because it really still has a cult following here.  In fact the fan following is still huge and you can check some of their stuff out at www.starmen.net.  It seems like Nintendo should at least give us access to the other two games in the series and a new one on the Wii would be stellar!

No other game has the same level of nostalgia for me!

After a long time with no major releases that interested me, the Nintendo Wii has a major week of interesting titles.  All coming out this week we have:

EA Sports Active- $59.99 It seems kind of like the big brother to Wii Fit, it has full work out routines which for me was something missing in Wii Fit.  Also comes with a leg pouch to hold the WiiMote to track leg movement and a resistance band that could be useful for work-outs after you have given up using the game.

Boom Blox Bash Party- $36.99 The sequel to one of the surprises of last year.  Boom Blox was created by EA with Steven Spielberg and adds a zero gravity and underwater mode along with lots more.  When it comes to party games this is looking to be one of the best for the year.

Punch-Out!- $39.97  What can I say?  When we were little, Little Mac was one of our heros.  It was like getting the opportunity to play the Rocky movies.  With all the characters returning I am looking forward to this one big time.  My biggest fear on this is that it will be a bit short.  With me looking always for value and only one character added, I hope there are sufficient additions to last a good while.

Hopefully with E3 coming up (the big game developer’s conference where all the studios announce what they will have coming out) and a few other cool games coming I will get to spend some quality time with the Wii again.