Wii VC: Wave Race 64 Review

Wave Race is a totally fun experience simply because you get the whole feel of the Jet Ski all of the moves you can really feel you are moving exactly like a Jet Ski. The game consists of going through a direction where some balls in the course tell you. If the ball is telling you to go left you can't go right or else you will have a miss and if you get 5 miss then you are disqualified from the race. An example of the ball can be seen on the picture above where you seen and orange arrow below it there is a read ball so you must follow the direction of the arrow. The race consists of 4 racers and one of them is a girl.



The graphics on this game feel a bit dated compare to now of course. But man the water is still a beauty even on today's standard it totally feels like water is too beautiful to be true. Sadly none of the picture I found could show the really good beauty of it. The characters are pretty blocky and as for your Jet Ski is pretty well design. Well depends on which character you choose still they mostly change on color not form and for N64 standards it looks really good. The soundtrack is a masterpiece on every course really good to hear. I think that people that still own a N64 should buy this one, tough you got to buy it used is around the price of 5-10 bucks depending on the store and the country you live in. This one is a must not miss experience.

Score: 9 out Of 10

Gamecube Classics: Star Fox Assault Review

Star Fox Assault brings the classic arwing shooting missions and they are still really good with the number of enemies on screen and how fast you can kill them. All of the explosions are there and your teammates still fly around. The boss battles are pretty much the same by shooting them in specific places. You can still roll around to avoid attacks, only this time it works more then Star Fox 64. You can also do boosts to reach faster enemies, and you can also use the brakes to get rid of the enemies that are behind you. Some missions are in rail while others are free to fly around, where things change a bit. When you hop into an arwing while you are in a planet you can fly around the whole place. Sadly the planets can feel small to explore on arwing and it doesn't happen frequently.

Assault also introduces the ability to go on foot but with guns not a magical staff. You get a variety of guns including a homing launcher, machine gun, grenades, Sniper rifles and a few others. The game’s on foot stuff is basically is destroying the aparoids on your way. You mostly have to take out hatchers that make more aparoids. What feels really nice is how big the planet is to walk around. The control can be clunky at 1st specially when trying to do a roll to avoid your enemies attack but after you play the game more and more you will get into it. While you have a certain amount of weapons some of them can feel pretty useless at times. What also is a problem is when many enemies are shooting you at the same time. Most of the stuff in the environments can’t be destroy making the game feel less realistic. Some enemies have to be destroyed with specific weapons but with the homing launcher you can mostly take out anything.

There is also the Landmaster that doesn’t have his own missions but you when on foot you can hop into it and destroy enemies faster. You can give the Landmaster a boost that can throw away aparoids in the way. The Landmaster can be really helpful when you have many enemies around. On the other hand it’s hard to shoot enemies that are in the skies, but you can charge your shot so it can target the enemy. The problem here is how slow it runs and how slow it shoots. Another thing is trying to make it fit in some places. A nice touch of it is the ability to hover for a limited time with it making more possible to reach other areas.

The boss battles take place mostly on arwing adding less variety to it. But it’s the better way to defeat them. The game gives you 3 level of difficulties bronze (easy), silver (normal) and Gold (hard). The game also has a survival mode which is playing the entire game but without saving and you can play that in all of the 3 difficulties. The main game is 10 missions only, no secret missions or bonus. What you get is an old classic game Xevious that can be unlocked after collecting all silver medals. You get medals for each different difficulty; in order to receive them you must destroy a certain amount of enemies in that mission. It doesn’t matter if you beat the game in the hardest level, that’s probably where the game gives you some challenge. After defeating the game once in a day, you may not want to play it again the same day.

Star Fox assault has a nice look and feel to it with the different planets you visit and that you can walk around. Yet some special effects felt bland, like the explosions when you destroy any spaceship. While the environments do look good, not everything is destructible. The characters are very well design and they don’t have old clothes like they did on Adventures. They are some videos in the game that show a realistic look but they are very little. The aparoids on foot and on arwing should have a more varied look. Yet the planets all beautiful to look at for the most part and the characters have a nice touch that makes this one a good looking game.

The music of Star Fox has always being orchestrated and this game is no exception of that. The musical score fits in nicely with each stage and are very nice to hear. The music can be intense but is also not annoying. The voiceovers on the game are pretty adequate with each other. Falco’s voice sounds weirder and less manly compared to his voice in Star Fox 64. Andrew Oikonny has a more cartoon voice instead of being a strong one like all bad guys. The other voices from other characters are nice enough. The Sound effects are also a nice touch in this game. The explosions sound great, the arwing sounds very impressive and the machines and robots sound also very nice.



The game features 3 types of controls but they change mostly the on foot and Landmaster controls. The Dual stick is better for on foot because aiming is easier with c stick and you shoot with the R button. On the other hand Single stick is better for Landmaster because is easier to move, because with the Dual Stick controls you move left and right with the c stick making it very irresponsive. The on foot controls can get tricky at 1st but once you play more stages you will get more into it. The arwing won’t give you that much trouble to control since it uses less buttons.

The main game is 10 missions long and yet it does offer a few challenges trying to collect all medals, but what makes this game more fun is the multiplayer. Up to 4 people can play in and battle each other by going on foot and hoping into and Arwing or Landmaster at any time. If you want only Arwing then just choose the arenas that only feature arwing. You get all of the set of weapons and you can also unlock new ones by battling a number of times your friends. The arenas are the same planets and places that you visited in the main game. There is also a number of different modes to play in that add more fun to it.

Star Fox Assault is a fresh shooter that mostly Star Fox fans will enjoy. If you haven’t play the other games then you might be confuse a bit in the story. Is hard to recommend Assault simply because it’s not a shooter for everyone, nut is best to rent it 1st and see for yourself if you like it or not.

Score: 9 out of 10

Disney Hide and Sneak (GC) Review

Hello is time to play stealth with Mickey Mouse. The story is so dumb with either Minnie or Mickey is the same thing. One day Mickey and Minnie got outside for a while then they saw a big mushroom then either Mickey or Minnie sitting in the mushroom but then the mushroom fly away with either Mickey or Minnie. Yes you can play as Mickey or Minnie if you choose Mickey you save Minnie and if you choose Minnie then save Mickey. In the game have to sneak from this little bots hide in boxes and make sure they don't notice you and if they touch you the game is over. You can hide in boxes and much other stuff. But simply is the same thing and is just so boring. I do not recommend to young children or even people who enjoy magical mirror, magical mirror while easy, was a nice enjoyable adventure for children.

Score: 4.5 out of 10

Bionicle (GC) Review

Most movie adaptations fail to deliver fun gameplay for the fans of the movie. The problem is that the developers do not take enough time to make the gameplay original and addictive. They make them simple because the game sells quite a lot of copies around the world because is based on something very popular. Then there is Lego that has quite made a few videogames. They have had many failures but some of his games ended up pretty good. So now Lego tries this time with his legendary robot creations the Bionicle. But does Bionicle offer something original to establish a new franchise in the gaming world or does it end up in the trash like most adaptations? Read on and find out.

Mata Nui the world where every living thing is a robot. The legend of the bionicle has been told many times through out Mata Nui, yet the islanders soon discover that the legend did come true. In Mata Nui lives Makuta the master of darkness that wants to turn the island into a dark world. He has created many robotic creatures to destroy the islanders. But the islanders trust in the 6 Toa, the protectors and warriors of Mata Nui. Each Toa has their own specialty: water, rock, ground, air, fire and snow. Yet mysteries say about a 7th Toa that has the power of light and that should destroy Makuta forever. After Makuta discovered these secrets he sends all of his troops to attack every village on the island. So the Toa must fight against the powers of the darkness and find this 7th Toa of light.

In Bionicle you get to control all of the different Toa’s. Each of them will be play in a specific order, that makes things feel a bit linear. Yet despite the fact that they are different from each other most of their missions contain pretty much the same gameplay. The other problem is that each Toa has only 1 mission to do. Each character has a staff that shoots a blast of elemental energy to shoot at enemies. The game will actually help you by targeting on the enemies without pressing any button to make sure you do not miss the shot. Yet you cannot go wild and shoot crazy because you a have an energy meter and it goes down with every blast you make. By holding the B button that makes a shield, you can also recharge your energy with it. The shield is very useful, since it protects you from enemy fire but it also absorbs that energy and refills your energy meter. Yet the game can get very tricky without having control of the camera to target and use the shield in perfect timing.

Tahu (Toa fire) pretty much must solve a few puzzles of platforming and battle all of the dark enemies along the way. There is quite a lot of jumping by trying to avoid falling in the lava. There are also a lot of enemies at the same time that can get you a bit crazy with the camera issues. At the end you will meet up with around 3 or 4 Bohroks to battle with. After that is Kopaka’s (Toa of Ice) turn. With him you will snowboard through mountains chasing the bohroks (dark enemy) to destroy them and save the village. They will be one part where a big snowball is chasing you. Similar to Sonic Adventure, you must continue going front before the snowball reaches you. With the bohrok you must get very close to him and use your shield to make him go to the air and while he is in the air you can start shooting at it as much as you can until you save the village. But they are obstacles along the way that will try to make you go far from the bohrok.

With Gali (Toa of water) you will be fighting lots of enemies along the way and solving puzzles like the Toa of Fire. The only difference is that Gali will spend most of her time swimming through the water by entering on secret holes underneath. You must also rescue the matorans (villagers) that are scattered through the area. With them you operate machines that bring you to the next part of the level. In the end you will have once again a confrontation with the bohroks for the last time. Next is Pohatu (Toa of earth and ground) in which you will not be doing any typical platforming or battles with enemies. Instead he will be riding in a mine cart activating the locks to open a door. Yet the track is full of obstacles like towers, and statues that move their hands. Also your energy will be decreasing so you have to refill it with the green objects you find.

Then you play as Onua (Toa of rock) that travels underground in the mines area. In here you will be once again beating up all the enemies around the area and jumping through platforms. The only difference is that he must push near by rocks to locks and open doors. You will also have a boss fight against a dark enemy that can be defeated by pushing the rocks into vents that will shoot back to the enemy until the machine falls into him and dies. Then you pass through the jungles with Lewa (Toa of Air and grass). Lewa is pretty much the most interesting one in terms of gameplay. 1st you must grind through tree limbs and rescue the trapped matorans. After that you get the ability to glide for a limited time, so you will be continuously gliding from platform to platform. Later you get a boss fight against another dark enemy in which you have to destroy the parts of the floor he is standing in so he can fall in the green liquid.

After that comes Tahu once again, only this time he will be chasing a dark enemy through lava surfing. But this won’t be simple surfing as you must reach the village 1st then the dark monster. There will be many obstacles in the way that will try to stop you like falling spikes and squishing machines. The problem is that the way you are surfing through feels very slow, and the monster does not fall in the traps, only you. So you have to constantly shoot at him so he can lower his speed. The last is with the Toa of Light against the evil Makuta and his minions, this one will not be spoil, but this is just battle after battle no more adventure exploring. As you can see Bionicle is very short package. Even with the varied gameplay on each character, not all characters are fun to play with. The camera is a big problem for targeting enemies. The boss fights are pretty simplistic and mostly uninspired. The combat system feels plain dull and the platforming is not really hard at all.

Bionicle does a fair job in the visuals department with the nicely different worlds to explore. Most of this beauty can be seen in the jungle and the water village. Yet they are not many characters to see around the environments. The characters are a great port of the toys, yet the animations make the robots look elastic instead of metal. The special effects are pretty decent with the mix colors but no big explosions or any magnificent power to see. The camera is also a problem since you cannot take control of it. The camera annoys mostly trying to target enemies. The framerates can go very slow when having many enemies at the same screen.

The music is pretty decent with some orchestrated scores that fit in nicely with each world. But the really good scores happen when there is big action against a boss. The problem is that the music is in a very low volume. The voiceovers sound pretty much the same they did on the movie “Bionicle: Mask of Light”, which is a great idea that will appeal fans. The sound effects are very repetitive and the quality feels a bit low, but they fit in with the experience you are getting.

Bionicle offers a very short experience that can be beat in around 2 hours or less depending the way you play the game. They are quite some interesting goodies like short cut-scenes and information about Mata Nui and all of the characters that appear in the game. There is no multiplayer or co-op that could have been nice with at least a few minigames. Bionicle is certainly not the best game out there, but fans of Bionicle should find some interest by playing with all of the Toa characters. But if you have no interest on Bionicle then is recommended to ignore this title.

In my opinion Bionicle is quite a very hard game to recommend to the videogame audience. The gameplay is too simplistic and the battles are not quite intense as they should be. The game himself is a very short package too. Is overall a decent game for the fans, everyone else should look elsewhere.

Score: 6 out of 10

Gamecube Classics: Animal Crossing Review

Animal Crossing takes you to an Animal world where animals act like humans. The game never ends and there is a lot of stuff to do like: pay your house, decorate your house with a wide variety of furniture and even Nintendo stuff, help animals, see special events, send letters, etc. Plus you have a museum, were in order to make a real museum, you must collect and bring fossils, insects, paintings and fish to the museum.

The graphics look like well a n64 game, but they didn't look extremely bad, it’s just simply a style, and on the N64 it wouldn’t look that clean visually. The music was ok and the animal voices are ok, goes very nicely with the mood of the game. It's a game that you can play by a long time. The thing is that sometimes you get bored doing stuff again and especially when no events have been done. And even if you’re not playing the game plays by himself no matter if the GameCube is turned off.

Overall anyone who is looking for a game where you can live your life for the GameCube, then it is a perfect choice and is not kiddy at all. But the game play sadly it's not for everyone.

Score: 8.5 out of 10

Gamecube Classics: Pikmin 2 Review

The Concept of the Game:

Pikmin 2 keeps the same gameplay from the first game, In which you control little ants called pikmin. You command them to lift things and take them back to their ship so you can get more Pikmin in your control. They will also help you collect the important objects Captain Olimar needs to earn money. Depending on the weight of the object, you will have a certain amount of pikmin to send them so they can pick up the object. And you can also send them to attack dangerous creatures that will try to eat or kill them in different ways.

The Objective:

In the first game you needed to find all the parts of your ship so you could return home and you had only 30 days to find them. Now in this sequel you have all the parts of the ship, this time you will be collecting different objects to be able to reach a total of 10,000 coins, luckily, you don't need to find them in only 30 days, you can take as long as you want.

The New Additions

2 new pikmin races, purple and white that can be created by transforming your normal blue, red or yellow pikmin into a purple or white one. The purple ones have much more strength and the white ones can resist poison and find underground treasures.
And you also have a new partner called Louie that can help you make 2 separated militaries, but unfortunately no co-op. Other stuff include the piklopedia where you can see info on all the creatures you have seen and the treasure you have found.

You still have the day and night system so when is night you must gather your pikmin because the creatures come at night and they can eat you. You also now have a lot of caves to get into, and when you are inside one you don’t have the day and night system which is good so you can stay inside as long as you want. Most of the time at the end of the caves you will fight a boss. Creatures from the first game return and new ones arrive, with different types of difficulty.

Visuals

The first Pikmin had some beautiful environments that includes the nature of ground, water, grass, and this one is no exception. The light of the sun in the morning looks very real. The water is amazing, you can see and feel that you are walking in it. The creatures also have great details, specially those that have fur. Yet I still think Olimar and Louie look a bit weird, but it's a style of cartoon.

Sound Composition

Pikmin 2 doesn’t offer that much to hear in terms of complex music, its just a nice soft ambient music that fits perfectly with the experience. When your fighting a boss the music gets a bit more intense, so it has his variations according to what is occurring in the game. Sound effects such as you walking in the water and hitting enemies, sound pretty well and the pikmin talk in quite a cute adorable way, its hard not to like them. There is not a big deep story here, it has one, just not one with constant cutscenes, this means there is no need for voice overs for olimar a Louie.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer can be a hit and miss at the same time, its innovative, but not one that will last. Basically you must get 3 yellow orbs before your opponent does or get your opponents orb. What is interesting is that the pikmin go against each other like crazy. Plus if you find a cherry, a slot machine will appear in a corner of the screen, that will decide the traps you can put for your opponent. It's definitely fun and a nice experience, but it's just not one that you will go back to after a few tries. You also have co-op but only in challenge mode where you can find lots of treasure for your record, on the story it would have been much more exciting. Single player can be fun playing again and offers a nice difficulty, you can go back to the game once in a while.

Conclusion

For the fans of the first pikmin, this game will be an excellent experience and excitement with all the new additions and how they removed the annoying time limit from the first one. So if you didn’t like limited days in the first one, then you can enjoy this second one. Others can easily give it a rent to see if it's their type of game because its not a style of gameplay that everyone can like. One thing for sure, Pikmin 2 is an example of how good can you make a true sequel. It's simple, you can keep the same gameplay but add new things to the already established formula, and you have another superb game.

Score: 9 out of 10