Since that time, Mistwalker have developed a range of titles, for different platforms, and their next release will be The Last Story for the Nintendo Wii, releasing 24^th February in Europe. This will be Sakaguchi’s first title as director since Final Fantasy V, way back in 1992. He has also enlisted the immense talent that is Nobou Uematsu, who also left Square in 2004. Uematsu has composed the score’s for all their games so far. Let’s take a look at what has been, and what to expect in the future.

Mistwalker initially signed up with Microsoft to produce Xbox 360 exclusive titles, of which there are two: Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Blue Dragon in particular helped boost sales of the Xbox 360 in Japan, at the time of its release (2006).

“Microsoft sold 35,343 Xbox 360s – an increase of nearly 90 per cent over the previous week’s figure of just over 4000 consoles. It’s likely that the rise was linked to the release of Blue Dragon, which was developed by Mistwalker, the studio led by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.”
– Ellie Gibson, Blue Dragon release boosts Xbox 360 sales in Japan, GamesIndustry.biz

Blue Dragon is as traditional a JRPG as you’ll ever come across. A group of heroes set about to save their land from an evil ruler, traversing a massive world and using turn-based combat to defeat foes along the way. This may well be deemed old-fashioned in the western world of gaming, but it certainly still has its fans, including myself. Blue Dragon was one of the first 3D RPGs released for this generation of consoles. It boasted the unique art style of Akira Toriyama, creator of manga series Dragon Ball and whose style is also used on video game series Dragon Quest.

Party of Five, anyone?

The game itself is indeed very long. This was the first multi-disc Xbox 360 game released, encompassing the whole adventure on 3 discs. In my opinion, although I’m still making my way through it slowly but surely, it’s JRPG-by-numbers, but still enjoyable because I knew to expect that. There were some good touches. For example, the battles are not the often-loathed ‘random’ battles from past Final Fantasy games, but instead are induced or avoided by engaging/escaping the enemies on screen. Hitting them first also gives you the first hit once a battle is initiated. Blue Dragon is nothing new, but that does it no harm at all.

Mistwalker’s next big release was Lost Odyssey, again for the Xbox 360. Boasting incredible visuals, this 4-disc epic is still a favourite among many an RPG fan, both east and west. For those waiting for their Final Fantasy fix at the time (that never came), this more than filled the gap. While there have always been varied opinions of Final Fantasy XIII, Lost Odyssey still sits firmly on my gaming shelf where Final Fantasy XIII fell off, never to be touched again. Lost Odyssey may have reverted back to random battles, but the battle trigger system (pressing within a time frame to land extra hits) is superior to Blue Dragon’s old school ‘press A and wait’ system, providing more interaction and more reward for doing so.

The story and characters are excellent, providing moments of danger, fear, action, even comedy, and giving the gamer a great sense of empathy to boot. You really feel you are following the journey that Kaim, the lead character, is taking, and will be as determined as he is to find out about his past.

Following on from the success Blue Dragon brought (more so in Japan than here), a franchise was born. An anime series was created, and 2 sequels were also developed, this time for the Nintendo DS. The first was the unimaginatively titled Blue Dragon Plus. This entrant to the series was billed as a real-time simulation RPG – much more like Final Fantasy XII – and retains the Toriyama-style visuals that define the series. Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow soon followed also, continuing the real-time strategy experience, and adopting Dragon Quest IX’s route of allowing creation/customisation of your own lead character.

Following the Nintendo DS releases, Mistwalker stayed with Nintendo, culminating in the production of The Last Story. It may also prove to be the Nintendo Wii’s swansong RPG, with the impending release of the Wii U console. It looks fantastic, and is a release I was hoping for since it was announced nearly 2 years ago.

Since that time, The Last Story has been on release in Japan for around a year now, and was long thought to be only fit for the Japanese market.

“With all the conversions, when we do it in Europe we’ve got to do the whole of Europe,” Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton told Eurogamer. “So it’s multiple languages. It has to be viable.”

Thankfully, the game is viable for Europe. Considering how well Monolith Soft’s JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles has done on the Wii, The Last Story is certainly marketable. Like Xenoblade, it is a console exclusive. Details are still forthcoming, with no European version reviews emerging just yet, but UK magazine Edge did review a Japanese copy, which even for them is usually unheard of. From what reviews I have read, The Last Story is promising to be the most cinematic game the console has seen, with full voice acting throughout, beautiful cut scenes, and a narrative packed with action, romance and betrayal.

It also promises to have a game length that is more flexible; unlike most JRPGs that last 60 hours plus, the main story is around the 20-30 hour mark, but, should you choose to complete side quests, this can easily double that. This, along with co-operative AND multiplayer deathmatch modes, Mistwalker are certainly trying to innovate the JRPG, more so than Final Fantasy XIII ever could, in my opinion. This could indeed be Sakaguchi setting the trend once again, as he did with the original Final Fantasy all those years ago.

The Last Story will be released only on Nintendo Wii in the UK and Europe, on February 24^th.

Why do you play games? If you said for fun then you can pin that gamer lanyard on to your chest and wear it with pride. There were only a handful of games last year I would have counted as fun and Rayman Origins is right at the top of my big list of Games That Did Gaming Right.

Rayman Origins drags us kicking and laughing right back to the bare roots of platforming. There is a screen and it scrolls to the side as you jump around avoiding enemies or happily punching them in the face with your giant white fists. Why? Because Rayman and his pals were attacked by a mean witch-lady and her shadow minions. They were making too much noise with their snoring. What more do you need? Worlds include underwater caves, floating sky castles made from musical instruments and even see you flying through red hot kitchens on the back of a mosquito.

The art and sound direction of Rayman Origins is one of its main attractions. Beautiful cartoon graphics blend seamlessly with a soundtrack that sounds almost as frivolous. Every world has its own feel beyond the unique enemies or powers you gain from the rather well endowed maidens in distress you save. Often I revisited a level just to hear the music again.

Along with the straightforward reach-the-finish style of gameplay you expect from the humble side-scroller you have a horde of extras including unlockable characters earned by collecting the respective number of lums, medals and trophies for collecting high number of lums or beating time challenges. For the super-hardcore among you there is even a set of bonus levels that sees the difficulty skyrocket if you can find the required items to open the way. What’s that? It also has multiplayer, so now you can have fun with your friends. The wonders of gaming technology today.

Rayman Origins is pure, simple, unadulterated, brightly coloured fun. The type of fun that tickles you instead of punching you in the face with your own fist and telling you to stop hitting yourself. Unless of course you hate FUN or COLOR, reading this and all its mentions of FUN and COLOR must have been painful, I hope you hate yourself, you tyrant. The best part is, if my ramblings haven’t convinced you then go download the demo on XBL and try it for yourself.

The US title, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land, and even Japan’s Kirby of the Stars, sounds far better. Return to Dream Land in particular would resonate with gamers around the world, as the original Kirby’s Dream Land is a classic.

So, terrible title aside, is Kirby’s Adventure Wii *shudder* any good?

The gameplay returns us to the familiar formula of the original Kirby’s Dream Land on Game Boy, but with some additions. The platforming is standard left-to-right stuff, and uses the Wii remote, with the shaking motion the only Wii motion control on offer. The controls are really simple and take seconds to pick up, leaving you to plough on with the fun stuff: copying abilities.

This wasn’t present in the original Kirby’s Dream Land, but has been a key component in Kirby games since and is certainly the best feature of this game. Not only can the rotund, pink puffball suck or swallow almost everything and everyone, some enemies of the game will pass their abilities on to Kirby. There are also ability stars throughout the game, which provide the same abilities, and are usually an indication they are required for an upcoming boss.

Some of the abilities are excellent fun; ‘sword’ in particular pays homage to Link from the Zelda series, with Kirby donning a Link hat and sword, or the ‘fighter’ ability, where Kirby instead wears a red bandana and can perform mid-air dragon punch uppercuts to enemies. Copying abilities is a fundamental part of the gameplay of Return to Dream Land Wii Adventure. Tou will spend more time with an ability than without and some areas are inaccessible without them.

The story is driven with small cut-scenes and on-screen text and wasn’t bad at all, with a strong finish. At its most basic, the story mode clocks in at around 9-10 hours. However, I struggled to stay interested beyond an hour at a time, due to the repetitive nature of the levels and gameplay. This isn’t a bad thing as such. It makes for an enjoyable hour.

Easily the best areas of the game are the ones which are different; hidden warps found in some levels take Kirby to areas which are black and white, except for Kirby, any enemies, or the purple, jelly-like barrier chasing you. The aim here is to make your way through obstacles without being caught by the barrier, which will flatten Kirby between surfaces. Each of the areas is harder than the last and these sections are vital for anyone willing to obtain the full quota of 120 energy spheres.

There are minor issues, however. Cosmetic differences aside, the levels can get very repetitive, as can the gameplay. The platforming itself is sound but never really difficult. This was a game with the younger/less experienced gamer in mind. Bosses, as frequent as they are, are nearly all identical, and most can be beaten with the sword or spear abilities in seconds, just by button bashing.

Another issue with Kirby is the TV display. I cannot believe, in this day and age, there is a video game with widescreen borders. They take up a THIRD of the screen! Street Fighter II on the SNES springs to mind. For all its charm, it looks like a disproportioned DVD ratio.

This leads me to the multiplayer. Much like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, up to 4-player multiplayer is available at any time during the story mode. Unlike NSMBW, the horrendous borders mean it’s just too narrow for more than one player and, as both lives and power ups are shared, there is more falling out than teamwork. You can however jump in/drop out at any time. There are also unlockable game modes such as Scope Shot, or Ninja Dojo that offer additional single and competitive play outside the main quest. Between that and collecting the energy spheres that unlock them, there is good replay value to Kirby.

Title aside, Kirby’s Adventure Wii is a very fun game. It may not appeal to more hardcore platform gamers, but will more than please younger, maybe less experienced gamers, or those just looking for something a simple. The main quest is a good length, collecting all the Energy Spheres will keep many coming back and some are quite challenging to find/obtain. Whoever picks this up will certainly get their money’s worth, and you will want to consume it all.

Kirby’s Adventure Wii is available now.

It’s with this in mind that we cast a slightly bloated eye on a new videogame incarnation of the popular dance/fitness craze known as Zumba. The high energy, Latin based-dance has made its way back to the Wii in the form of Zumba Fitness 2.

Supplied with the game is a belt that you strap around your waistline just above the hips, with a pocket right on the hip for the Wiimote. The concept is simple: choose from one of the 32 already unlocked tracks and get your groove on to the guy or girl depicted on screen. The more accurately your moves match what’s occurring in front of you, the more points you earn. Your rating can range from ‘Cool’ to ‘Hot’ all the way up to ‘Zumba’. The more ‘Zumbas’ you obtain then the more stars you have by the end of the track. The next dance move is shown on the right hand side of the screen, so you’re ready to get into the right pose to get the highest points, much like in Kinect’s Dance Central.

Don’t expect Zumba Fitness 2 be a walk in the park, though. Things can get very tough, very fast. Gone are the difficulty levels from the previous game to be replaced by a more familiar mechanic of having the tracks you can dance to going from slow to fast paced, depending on your competency (and fitness) levels.

However, just because you’re getting hot under the collar as the tracks gets faster doesn’t mean that Zumba Fitness 2 is low on fun. It’s got it by the bucketloads. Shaking your booty and working muscles you never knew existed is a brilliant laugh, especially when you’re so out of breath by the end of it. Above all there’s a warm fuzzy feeling that it’s done some good, too.

There’s plenty of variation on offer in Zumba Fitness 2. Dance styles can vary from a hip-shaking Mambo to a sultry Flamenco and beyond. For the sequel, Majesco as also thrown in new styles such as Pasodoble and even a Bellydance, should you feel adventurous. Zumba creator and all-round dancing legend, Beto is represented in all his digital glory showing off the latest moves to vainly attempt as you stumble around the living room trying to master the Merengue.

Even if you’re not too hot on the moves as they show up, there’s a neat training mode to help you pick up the steps at half speed, before breaking them out on the dance floor. You can tackle dances one at a time, or if you’re feeling adventurous or really energetic you can go in for the classes.

These are split into three different workouts, (short, medium and long) of which you choose the tracks you want to dance to. Don’t be fooled by the ‘short’ class though as it’s five dances long. Even if you’re a beginner it can be a bit of a hard slog. Unlockables can be obtained by completing the classes and/or getting a certain number of stars on the dances.

Zumba Fitness 2 isn’t without its flaws and niggles. Menu navigation is controlled by the Wiimote in your hand as normal, however the dancing focuses on your hip movements, so has to be placed in the side pocket during play. How tight you wear the belt can mean the difference between the track starting before you had chance to put the Wiimote in its place and having the belt around your ankles by the first move. Removing the ‘mote can be an equal struggle just to navigate the menus and choose and different track. The belt could have been modified so it you can clearly see the buttons through the holster and use the D-pad rather than motion controls to change songs. It all seemed a bit unnatural and stunted the flow.

When playing a track on Zumba Fitness 2 the moves show on the right hand side so you can see which one is coming next. However, this doesn’t always happen. There are times where moves are hardly explained as they are performed, leaving the player confused and in danger of losing the flow. In other games of this ilk, each move is displayed even two steps before it happens so as a player you’re ready to hit the next one.

Overall, the game nails a lot of the moves it sets out to. Instead of sitting on your ass, you can shake it to some of the most intense tunes out there, or you can slow it down to a slow and groovy salsa. It might not make you a better dancer in the real world but it’s one of those few Wii titles that doesn’t condescend or judge. Zumba Fitness 2 rewards your efforts in a way few games in this genre can. Yeah, it’s not perfect but it does utilise moves and steps you didn’t think you could in a fresh and fun environment. You can create your own class without the embarrassment and pressure of a real Zumba class surrounded by people a lot fitter than you.

So don’t worry about all those extra stuffing balls you polished off over Christmas. With Zumba Fitness 2, you’ll be shaking off them and all manner of other things. Just think, that resolution just might hold up this year.

The very kind folks at THQ stationed several Xbox 360s and PS3s with WWE ’12 for people to get stuck in straightaway and it didn’t disappoint. It was instantly noticeable that the speed of the series has been turned up a notch, not only in the movement of characters, but also when completing moves and moving on the next. it’s clearly a more fluid experience. The matches themselves, from a simple One on One to a Ladder Match, capture the essence of WWE TV near perfectly. The most impressive new feature seen in action (against me I might add, by Sam from Ginx TV), is the Comeback system.

Being squashed by your opponent? Missing every counter opportunity? Have no fear, the match-turning Comeback system is here. It consists of a small set of QTEs which, if successful, not only leaves your opponent in a crumpled heap, tipping the scales, but also with a finisher ready to use. In video games, that might seem as fair as the blue shell in Mario Kart, but this system works perfectly in recreating the tug-of-war style matches that often occur in WWE.

Ultimately, the games’ designers have taken fans of the Smackdown vs. Raw series’ comments and criticisms, and done something positive about them. The presentation is the best ever seen in a WWE video game, with some really nice touches to the in-game cameras, and if you were to place a snapshot of a live Raw show alongside a shot of the game, there is very little difference. It’s that good.


But there are minor gripes. Portions of the controls have been altered from the last game, yet there is nothing to declare so. There are tutorials and help menus to digest these changes, but as gamers, we just want to get in there and have a game, and are willing to take a quick control pop-up menu to assist on the first go. As such with this year’s FIFA 12, when you load the game up, there is a brilliant, brief video that explains any new controls. This would have been more welcome in WWE ’12.

All in all, WWE ’12 is turning out to be an excellent game. As a fan of the franchise myself, I know I will lose hours and hours alone or with friends and family. Just bring it!

WWE ’12 will be out on 25th November for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii

As a child of the late 70’s I grew up with Tintin – not in English mind you, but in French – so I was looking forward to the movie but dreading the video game. Why? It’s rare to find a video game that’s a movie tie-in and multi-platform that’s any good. Unfortunately, they tend to look like they were developed for the lowest common platform (yes, I’m looking at you Mr Wii).

Showing its movie credentials, the game starts off by throwing you straight into a flying plane before giving you the title sequence. There doesn’t seem to be any real warm-up to the story but this appears to be a classic children or young teens game, so jumping straight in to the action works well.

Now, being a children’s game, Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn been designed to appeal to the largest possible audience. It’s not a first-person shooter thank god, there are too many of them around these days. The game has a mixture of play types; the old school 2D sideways-scrolling platformer, 3D driving and flying, and a few areas that are 3D third person.

The thing is, the 3D sections are very much on rails and you can’t control the camera. They do feel a little out of place since the majority of the game is spent doing the platform levels. Especially annoying was the flying sequences – it’s easy to get lost and try to fly out of the route that’s on rails. In a canyon for example, you can’t just fly out into the sky. Instead you are forced for no real reason to fly through a maze. Another area has you hunting down planes but I’d used boost and had no idea where the planes were once I’d shot past. Took ages of flying around to finally track them down.

Now there are some fun features in the game that really seem if they just jumped out of the comics. While doing the side-scroller parts of the game you have to take out the bad guys. Instead of just straightforward punching, the game has some amusing alternatives. You can use a beach ball to take down a butler by bouncing it off the walls or even just hitting them with it.

Another great move is to hide in a barrel. Tintin will sneak around inside the barrel, approach a bad guy and hit him with the lid. All the different ways to take out the bad guys are pretty cool – you can even stealth attack one guy and use him to take out another if they are standing nearby. Of course being Tintin, no one actually dies. Instead they get knocked out, as shown by the classic burst of stars circling their head.

One of the biggest let-downs of the game had to be the cut scenes. The first time one appeared I thought “Wow, did they even look at this?” The cut scenes showed heavy artifacting on the PS3, probably due to either heavy compression or low resolution rending in the first place (hence my previous dig at Mr Wii). In-game graphics are fine. Although the graphics are basic they do work for the game, and had a hint of the styling from the graphic novels. It’s just a bit of a let-down when you compare them against games from even just a year ago, let alone the graphical masterpieces being released today.

There are some other little bits to nitpick on. Tintin says “We’re completely out of gas” yet Tintin is from Belgium. Surely it should be “fuel” rather than an Americanism? Later in the game when I was driving for some reason Tintin told Hadock to “hurry up and drive” (sic) yet he was sitting in the side car shooting at the bad guys. Sure they are minor, but they were so glaringly obvious that I had to mention them.

So what would Georges Rémi think of the game? That’s a tough one. It’s stayed true to Tintin in storyline, but I felt the developers tried to please too many people and mixed in too many different types of play style. All said though, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I really did enjoy the game and actually played it straight through in two sittings. That’s not to say it’s short. The main story line is not taxing but there’s plenty extra to do afterwards. I’ve yet to convince someone to come over and help with the co-op modes however you can also play these by yourself. I won’t spoil the extra game play by saying what takes place. It’s still a platformer and gets a bit whacked out.

Would I recommend it? Yes if you are a massive Tintin fan, and liked the movie, or you are buying a game for one of the younger generation. It also really works for casual gamers since there’s no real difficulty and it’s an enjoyable experience. On the other hand, if you are gamer it’s a lot harder to recommend when faced with the current release of games, and even more so at the retail price. In my opinion they should remove the non-platform parts, improve the cutscene graphics and re-release as a PSN/XBLA downloadable game.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn is out now for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC and 3DS.

We Sing UK Hits has a good range of musical genres with duets, ballads, rap, 80′s pop and even a little ska courtesy of Madness. These titles don’t have any DLC available so the only way to add to your track listing is to buy an entire new game, for me this is a massive black mark as I’m quickly bored and want to try new things. The library is searched easily using a star rating to denote difficulty, also allowing you to see which songs the game thinks you’ll have a harder time with. Though let’s be honest, if you like a song you’re going to ignore any poxy rating and get stuck in regardless.

Once you’ve had a good rummage around the UK Hits song listing it’s time to figure out exactly how you’re going to scare the neighbour’s pets with your raw, undiscovered talent. It’s a little overwhelming at first as there’s a multiplicity of modes available. Menu navigation here is nicely designed and intuitive, my only gripe is that on the Wii version the angle at which the controller is being held will spin each menu due to the internal gyrowotsit. This is fine once you realise but I spent an infuriated ten minutes swearing at the television whilst trying to get the menu to stop moving so I could select my song.

Should you have the kind of family who don’t enjoy a good singalong then you’ll need to stick with single mode which will allow you: Karaoke Mode, Singing Lessons and Solo Mode. Karaoke and Solo modes are exactly the same bar one thing, Karaoke will remove pitch bars and the artist(s) voices allowing you free reign. Solo mode on the other hand is a judgmental bastard. Games like this are best when there’s a challenge and you mostly do well, they’re not so fun when you’re told you’re “Bad” every other sentence. I know I’m no X-Factor winner but come on! Who wants to pay cold, hard cash to be told they’re a bit naff? That said, the pitch mechanic works in the same way as other games in the genre with points scored for hitting the line, extra points for fiddly bits and an overall score at the end to show off to your mates.

Moving on to the singing lesson mode. A bit of a novelty I believe as I don’t recall having seen this on Lips or the like. Let Down City I’m afraid, you don’t advance to the next lesson till you’ve mastered the last and the early lessons consist of just holding a note at the pitch it deems is Doh, Ray or Mi. I genuinely can’t think of how this could be fun and mostly feels like the developers are trying to add value.

Where We Sing pulls itself out of being below average is with the multiplayer offerings. It’s the range of games that makes this part a little special with: We Sing, Versus, Group Battle, First To, Marathon, Pass the Mic, Blind and Expert. Even though they’re all variations on a theme with the theme being make a prat of yourself, it’s good fun. Versus and Group Battle are the same with Versus being a one on one face off and Group Battle taking the challenge to group level. The We Sing mode allows you to sing along as a group, letting you take a different artist or sing as the artist together. First To simply involves attempting to beat your friends to a specific total of points, Pass the Mic is probably self explanatory but can be a logistical nightmare with the corded microphones supplied and the Blind game will sporadically remove sound and lyrics leaving you somewhat adrift and very conscious of how much you were getting in to the swing of it.

My favourite mode was Expert, I was fully expecting to dread it but after a few drinks it’s actually a lot of fun to just get on with the singing without pitch bars and lyrics and only find out your score at the end. Whilst I enjoyed playing through the different modes I can’t see that this will be a game that will hold people’s attention for a whole evening.

I really wanted to enjoy this game, I love singing along to things and it’s even better when you get points and awards for doing so. Sadly though it just didn’t grab me in the same way competing titles have. What I originally thought was an awesome track listing turned out to be a bit more limited because so many involve rapping (I’m yet to play karaoke with someone who can actually rap). Then without being able to download further songs it got stale quite quickly, realistically there’s only so many times I can sing “Creep” before someone cuts the microphone cord. The multiplayer options whilst being novel are again limited by song choice and the overall package just feels a little average.

For around £40.00 with two microphones included (a nice touch as I hate having to hunt down required peripherals) or £25.00 for just the software it’s not terrible value for money and if you don’t have other consoles then it’s definitely worth the buy. For my money though I’d go with a more polished title like Lips and spoil your inner diva with downloadable content and bowls of M&M’s with all the blues taken out.

Super Mario 3D Land:

Nick: The four level demo featured tons of classic Mario gameplay all rendered in fantastic stereoscopic 3D. The power ups available included the Tanooki raccoon suit last seen in 1988′s Super Mario Bros. 3, super mushroom (giant Mario), star (invincible Mario) and fire flower (Mario fires fireballs). I had a great time toasting enemies with fireballs. Best power-up ever. The rest of the time I spent collecting coins, trying not to fall off the many perilous platforms whilst trying to find the end of level flag before the time ran out. The occasional boss fight punctured the level exploration, all of which followed the tried and tested rule of three (i.e. three knock-downs to kill).

I was really impressed by the 3D as it added a lot of depth to the levels. Although I did find it harder to jump into floating powerup blocks on the odd occasion. The graphics were very Super Mario Galaxy like too. Bright and colourful. The demo had clearly been built to show off features rather than levels from the game but it has made me more excited to play the finished game as a result. Much like Mario Kart 7, this Super Mario 3D Land has rekindled my love of Nintendo’s mega-franchises that was on the wain during the Wii years.

Rhythm Heaven:

Debbie: Rhythm Heaven is a quirky little Wii game whose very simplicity belies the level of concentration you need the play it well. It’s a series of mini-games that rely on sound cues for you to do well. The three that I played were:

• A viking stabbing a fork into his peas
• A samurai guarding a cave entrance from emerging monsters
• A dog in an aeroplane rallying shuttlecocks with a cat

Yes, quirky.

I don’t know if this is the case for all the mini-games but these three all involved single-button gameplay; listen to the rhythm and time your presses. It’s a nice idea that quickly becomes mind-bendingly complex when, as the defending samurai, you struggle to remember that THIS sound means a single red-eyed monster is coming to be dispatched with a one press while THAT sound indicates an incoming horde that needs six rapid blows. What more, a fog will occasionally descend, covering the visual cues and forcing you to pay close attention to the music.

Stylized cartoon graphics make the game look good on the Wii and playing it is certainly fun if you have a sense of rhythm. I like it.

Kirby’s Adventure Wii:

Nick: I’m quite into Kirby games at the moment with the excellent Kirby’s Epic Yarn and the bat-shit crazy Kirby Mass Attack dragging little ole Kirby back into my affections. Kirby’s Adventure Wii which goes by the name Kirby’s Return To Dream Land in the US and Kirby Wii in Japan is due to reach these shores just before Christmas 2011 and will probably be the last Kirby game to be released for the Wii.

Kirby’s Adventure Wii is a more traditional side-scrolling platform game. No soft and squishy quilts, patches or yarns to be found here. Instead Kirby has to scour his less squishy home planet of Pop Star in search of pieces of a crashed Spaceship. I used Kirby’s signature skill – inhaling indefinitely – as my standard attack, swallowing or propelling any enemy or object that came close to me. Kirby has a serious pair of lungs on him along with an insatiable appetite making him a tough little cookie.

Kirby had other tricks hidden deep inside in his squishy pink body. When he inhaled certain enemies he would also take on their special powers. During the game I had my Kirby spewing fire, water and even welding a giant sword. When Kirby inhaled a glowing special enemy he went completely nuts and started welding a giant ultra sword. Yeah, the ultra sword of ultra devastation! Drunk with sword-power I carved away massive chunks of the level including many unsuspecting baddie bystanders. Hehe. These special abilities were breathtakingly fun to use as well as being invaluable during boss fights.

Kirby’s Adventure Wii also supports up to 4-players on screen at the same time. When you add in the super abilities to each of the players the screen is soon filled with technicoloured carnage. I also got to play the game with one of the Nintendo reps. The 2-player game worked in a similar vein to Kirby’s Epic Yarn with simple controls making it a real pick and play type of game. I also managed to avoid throwing my team-mate to his death. Win!

Kirby’s Adventure Wii is yet another brilliant Kirby game and one you should look out for in Dec this year.

Rhythm Heaven Wii is due for release early 2012 with Super Mario 3D Land and Kirby’s Adventure Wii due out on the 25th Nov 2011 and 2nd Dec 2011 respectively.

But hey, another dance game on the scene from September! This one uses the Wiimote AND the dancemat for added coordination hilarity ;) Here’s a trailer by “leading video producers” Rob Chandler and Chris Brown (not the domestic abuser).

We Dance features a great mix of classic tracks like The B-52s’ Love Shack and unfamiliar songs that I presume the cool kids listen to. Fedde Le Grand’s Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit, anyone? Also, no Poker Face to further confuse my routines. I love the song but enough, already. Here’s the full We Dance track list if you’re interested.

To be honest, I’m slightly afraid of dance mat games. You know how when you’re learning to roller-blade for the first time or ride a bike and you have a bad fall? The next few times you go, even the slightest wobble sends your whole body into panic mode. I played Dance Dance Revolution with a soft mat on wooden floors way back on the PS2. On a particularly energetic landing, the mat slipped out from under me, I slammed down onto my hip and almost passed out from the shock. Luckily I didn’t break anything and I know that kids all over the world use them all the time but still… dance mats are scary. Loads of fun! But scary…

What balance is there between the driving and on-foot sections?

Drew Hahn: NFS: The Run is at heart a racing game as the whole on-foot out of the car sections make up less than 10% of the game. The purpose of having on-foot in the game is because we really wanted to keep you in the action while telling you a story at the same time. With past games like NFS: Most Wanted and NFS: Carbon you’d race, you’d race and race and all of a sudden the movie would come up and you’d put down your controller.

With this one we still wanted to tell you a story but keep the controller in your hands and keep you in the action, which is why were are doing the out of car sections. It really makes up less than 10% of the game. You are in the car for the vast majority of the game.

Eeek, it's the Cops. Run away!

DH: It’s any time you want to push the story forward and witness another key feature within the story. You’re Jack who is trying to get from San Francisco to New York at all costs. He’s a desperate man in desperate times. In this one your Mustang gets totalled and you really need to get another car so you run and steal another car. In other situations, there’s going to be other reasons throughout the race, for example in New York where you’re going to have to get out of your car. We haven’t gone into too much detail yet but we’ve got some really cool moments lined up throughout the race.

Is there a new version of Autolog in the game?

DH: We aren’t going this is “Autolog 1″ and “Autolog 2″ etc. In this one you are still going to have comparisons, recommendations and the galleries. The whole point of the race is you’re going to be in sections where you’re not only racing the AI in the other cars and the environment. What Autolog does is that it allows you to race friends.

On a much bigger scale you might find yourself coming into Chicago in the main game and 6 minutes behind one of your friends, in which case you can go back and try to make up that time. So that’s one thing that Autolog is going to be doing. There’s a whole bunch of other cool features that we haven’t talked about right now, so stay tuned for more information.

What about people without loads of friends online? How is the game going to work for them?

DH: It will still be the cross-country race. It’s still gonna be a grand story that you’re going to have to get through. Autolog is not essential to the game but it really enhances the gameplay experience when you do have friends and you take full advantage of Autolog.

What game engine are you using?

DH: The engine is actually Frostbite 2 the same engine as Battlefield 3, which gives us a lot of advantages over what we used before. Its got amazing rendering, superb audio and full destruction of the world as you can see here in this [E3 2011] demo. Cars can be really heavily damaged to the point where they are totalled and see as the helicopter is shooting at you, You see pillars explode, roads getting torn up and cars exploding. There’s going to be some really big epic moments with environmental destruction that’s really going to change the way that you’re going to have get through your races. You can look forward to that.

Police in helicopters. Rats.

Will there be an iPhone app for the game like the NFS: Hot Pursuit one?

DH: The game itself is going to be available on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii and the 3DS. It’s also going to be available on iPhone, iPod, iPad and in terms of the Autolog app; the existing app will be updated for this. We aren’t going say what exactly what we are going to do but it will be updated.

Thanks for your time.

I had mixed feelings about NFS: The Run after playing the E3 demo. Whilst it was filled with roads bustling with cars and street furniture, I wasn’t overly impressed by the sluggish car handling or the numerous in-race “events”. Everything was a too scripted and too predicable. After a single play-through you knew what events would happen throughout the race; when the police helicopter would attack, which cars to avoid and so on. I was expecting more of a dynamic driving experience which can be found in the recent NFS games like Hot Pursuit and Shift 2 Unleashed.

I hope that my reservations about the game are simply the by-product of EA’s desire to show off the power of the Frostbite 2 engine and race-changing events to the action-hungry E3 crowd. I’m still very keen to see what the rest of the game is like to play. If it’s less scripted with more dynamic racing then NFS: The Run could be one hell of a road trip across America. Here’s hoping…

Need for Speed: The Run is due for release on the 18th Nov 2011 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii and 3DS.