Get off of the couch and move your arse! Yeah that’s right; I said it and when you pop in Wii Fit you will be expected/compelled do it. Nintendo pulls off the impossible in making a product that is actually fun yet beneficial.

Wii Fit is a collection of mini-games (I know try finding me a Wii game lately that isn’t) that are designed to make you put down that bag of Doritos, get off the couch, and move. Packed with the Wii Fit game is the Wii Balance Board that remarkably does a variety of things well. Not only does it detect pressure, (which translates to movement on the screen) but it can detect and record your weight and measure your balance, or lack thereof, as you stand on it.

With the Wii Balance Board Wii Fit does a great job of making fitness fun. The board itself is incredibly sturdy with a weight limit of 300 lbs. The board can handle most people and can take a thorough pounding throughout its use. The board can be used on hard or carpeted surfaces (thick carpet as well with the included leg extensions) and while it does take 4 AA batteries the draw is fairly minimal as I have had mine for over 4 months with daily use and have only changed them twice.

Starting your Wii Fit session begins with creating your profile (You can create up to 8 profiles). You can either import your previously made Mii to use or create a new one. Once you do that you will be asked to take a body test right off the bat. You will be asked for your height, weight of your cloths (given 3 options) and then you will be asked to stand on the balance board. Once you are on the board it will determine your Body Mass Index (BMI) and as it does it will make your Mii heavier depending on what your BMI is (only while using Wii Fit). Next it will then go on to determine what your “Wii Fit Age” is by taking part in two randomly chosen balance tests. Your “Wii Fit Age” is basically how old Wii Fit thinks your body is depending on your strength and balance. After this is done it will compare it to your actual age and offer you suggestions on improving it.

While obviously BMI and your “Wii Fit Age” aren’t perfect in determining your overall health these tools can help you map out your physical progress. You can set goals and track your progress on multiple easy to use graphs, (BMI, Age, Activity) logging in your activity outside of Wii Fit (i.e. gym time) and it also keeps track of which type of activities you do most (from the four categories) and lays them out in a nicely color coded bar graph. Now that I’ve mentioned all of the serious stuff, let’s get down to the games.

The collection of games are broken down into four categories; Yoga, Balance, Strength and Aerobic. Within each of these categories there are many different games that will keep you entertained and challenged all the while deceptively giving you a solid workout. Whether you’re a beginner or a gym rat (like me) within these categories there is something for just about anyone. The following is just a sample of the nearly forty mini-games that I enjoy playing so that way you have a taste of what is offered.

In the aerobic category I tend to enjoy the basic run (which in turn is broken down to short, long or Island Lap). Basically you will be running in place via First Person view while another Mii is coaching you along. This activity is done without the board as you hold the Wii-mote in a comfortable position down at your side or in your pocket if you are wearing clothing with large enough pockets to do so. As you run the Wii-mote acts as if it were a pedometer, recording the pace of your stride. The key to achieving a good score is to find a quick (but not too fast) pace that you can maintain evenly throughout the run. While the run is taking place you will follow various trails and pass other Miis you have in your system. Once you have completed your run you will be scored and ranked depending on that score so that way you can compete with your friends and family which adds another little aspect of fun to the game. On an additional note all of the Wii Fit mini-games do this.

In an another aerobic mini-game that I enjoy Rhythm Boxing makes you move your arms and legs in keeping with the beat all the while testing your coordination. Equipping your Wii-mote with its nun chuck you will be shown how to throw a series of punches, blocks and dodges. Blocks are done by getting both feet up onto the balance board, while dodges are done by moving both the Wii-mote and chuck in one direction. At that point you will have to mimic these actions, getting a point for each strike, dodge or block. You can earn double points by doing it in the correct rhythm, hence the name of the mini-game. Punching with intensity and purpose can really give you a solid cardio workout. I highly recommend it.

Balance games are a lot of fun. Each one usually consists of shifting your weight appropriately on the board or just sitting perfectly still and centered. One game that uses the board extremely well is Table Tilt. Much like an old school labyrinth game you must use your feet to tilt the board on the screen in the appropriate way to get the ball to fall into the hole before the time runs out. When you get the ball into the hole your go down to the next board and continue on. You then try to complete all the boards before the time runs out. Many times these boards have no sides so maintaining an even board is a must while slowly positioning the board to get the ball to move in the direction you desire. Each board becomes more and more challenging with more balls and more uneven surfaces to deal with. This game will test your patience and skill.

Strength training sounds exactly as it is. You are expected to do particular skills using the balance board in time with moving meters, or slowly do an activity all the while keeping your steadiness and poise. In the lunge mini-game with one foot on the board you are expected to do a lunge, all the while keeping yourself steady and balanced. Seems simple enough but as the pace continues you can really feel this working your legs. Planks, rows, pushups and lifts round out quite a diverse group of activities all designed to effectively improve your strength.

Last but not least is Yoga. Strangely enough this is the section I’ve found myself drawn to the most. While I go to the gym daily, I know one of the things I’ve spent the least amount of time doing is focusing on my flexibility and balance. The Yoga mini-games do an excellent job of doing that without having to make an arse of myself by joining a group. Half-Moon has you extend your arms straight up with your hands linked together. While keeping your feet together, standing on the board, you stretch to the side. Doing this obviously stretches your side but that’s not all. While this is going on you are focusing on keeping a little red dot centered within a larger yellow dot. As your balance shifts so does the red dot on the screen. After one minute on each side your session is done. You are graded on your ability to keep balanced all the while stretching your sides. It’s truly amazing how much muscle control it takes to do these positions. With such mini-games as Breathing, Downward Facing Dog and Warrior Pose to name but only a few, there will be plenty of opportunities to work on your flexibility and balance without getting bored no matter what your skill level is.

While there are plenty of good things about Wii Fit there are some issues as well. Take the basic run I discussed earlier while the experience is fun; a gripe I have is the complete lack of any music. Surprisingly Nintendo didn’t put together any remixes of its classic tunes to keep you motivated. You will hear some ambient noise and your footsteps (which help you keep pace) but the lack of tunes definitely detracts from the experience. While I understand that the graphics are not the focal point of a title such as this the backgrounds are rather bland. Using the Miis, while clever, really limits the graphical potential of such a title. I personally like to distract myself with music and scenery while I do cardio and weights for that matter. If you are someone that needs distraction while they work out this title has a hard time providing it.

The last downside to Wii Fit is variety, or lack thereof. The fact is that if you use the title daily you will eventually fall into the routine of a group of activities that you enjoy doing more than the others, thus limiting your workout. Surprisingly with the insane popularity of Wii Fit Nintendo has not capitalized by providing downloadable content via the Wii Shop Channel. Hopefully this is something they will soon do to add more value to the title.

Buyability: For $89.99 Wii Fit runs about $30 more than other new release titles for this gen’s systems. While the board is great and can have some interesting apps down the road, right now it’s fairly limited in its uses. If you’re into or want to start getting into fitness, I can’t recommend this game enough. If not, at this point the game and board is not worth dropping roughly $90 for.

The Blue Bomber is back and for all those graphics whores out there you might as well stop reading now and get back to our forums because this game will not be your cup of tea (or cocoa…. or any other warm beverage of your choice). If you are not that into graphics, may I suggest grabbing that beverage as I’m sure you will enjoy the read.

It’s been almost 12 years since Mega Man graced consoles in the classic iteration of the franchise. Playing Mega Man 9 is almost like stepping into a time machine and reappearing in the late 80’s and early 90s with all of the joys and heartaches that reliving some classic memories through aged eyes always brings.

Mega Man 9’s story is the story that’s been told…well… 8 times previously. It’s the future and humanoid robots are used in helping society in many aspects of everyday life. While everything seems to be peaceful after Mega Man has once again defeated Dr Wiley’s evil creations, pandemonium breaks loose as robots run seemingly out of control. Not only that but this time it looks like it could very well be Dr Light’s fault. Not believing for a second that Dr Light is truly behind such a thing, Mega Man sets off to stop the robots and clear Dr Light’s name. If anyone really believes Dr Light is behind this I have a bridge to sell you. With that comment I bring on one of the few gripes I have about this game, while it’s nice that the story continues to be a throw back, you would think that Capcom could come up with something original terms of a plot. I mean it has been 12 years and while they kind of make fun of this at the end of the game it is just not enough to prevent you from groaning at the overly used premise. Thank goodness the rest of the game is top notch!

As it has been already said Graphically Mega Man 9 is not going to blow your mind and quite honestly it won’t even blow your nose. Not only is MM9 not a step forward graphically, it’s a solid two steps back from what it was 12 years ago. After the NES versions of Mega Man (1-6), the series got a graphical upgrade when it made the jump to the SNES (MM7) with new sprites and smoother and more crisp backgrounds. The series made an even bigger jump when it went to the PSone and Saturn in Mega Man 8. That being said Mega Man 9 not only doesn’t take the baton and run with it, it actually hands it back to Mega Man 6. That’s right; graphically you are looking at a late generation NES title. Does this detract from the game? Not in the least. Sure I would have liked to see a smoother flashier Mega Man but that’s not the look Capcom was going for. What they were trying to do is give some fan-service for all of those old-school gamers out there and they succeeded nicely.

Fan-service continues with Mega Man 9’s soundtrack. While not as incredible as Mega Man 2’s, not that I know how any 8-bit soundtrack could be, Mega Man 9’s tunes will keep you going throughout the game. Solid beats and mood setting themes will keep you blasting along without getting annoying, like any good soundtrack should. Solid music, bright colors, basic enemy sprites and a distinct classic Mega Man feel completely allow one to wallow in memories of days gone by when games weren’t about graphics and production values, but instead they were about skill and perseverance.

This is where we get into the meat and potatoes of Mega Man 9 and in turn every Mega Man, its classic “Put up or Shut Up” gameplay. If you have never played them before, Mega Man games are basically a game of Paper/Rock/Scissors on crack. Starting the game you are equipped with your trusty Mega Buster (or as I like to lovingly refer to it, the pea shooter). The game is non-linear as you choose which stage you’d like to complete first (each stage is named after its robot boss). After defeating said boss you acquire their specific weapon to use as you see fit. Each robot boss is weak against another’s weapon, so discovering each one’s weakness is part of the fun (and for some really hardcore players part of the fun is beating the bosses without the special weapons).

Weapons or not, Mega Man’s gameplay is all about reflexes, timing and strategy. Navigating each stage is an adventure in jumping, blasting and weapon management as many of the weapons are needed to progress throughout the stages and especially through the final fortress. Mega Man 9’s challenge level is pretty intense, with well placed pits and rows of spikes that mean instant death, one’s reflexes have to be spot on to make your way to the final confrontations. Though tough, none of these boards ever get to the point of anger fueled frustration. While a cheap death will occur once in a great while, i.e. jumping into a bottom scrolling portion of a stage with no real amount of time to correct your trajectory before you hit a row of spikes, they are rare and easily avoidable the next time you get to that point. This type of game only works if the controls are up to par and Mega Man 9’s controls are spot on, with precise movement and responsive jumping they never make you feel like it was anything other than your fault that you missed a platform or hit a stray spike.

With such new additions as a time trial leader board (on the PSN) in which it lists the fastest run-throughs of individual stages (lists the best 20 times) and individual challenges, some of which are so crazy I’m really not sure how or if I’ll ever do them, the replayability factor is off the charts for a Mega Man title. Though truth be told, Mega Man games are one of the games you always tend to go back and play just for the sheer enjoyment of it all and the desire to better yourself.

In conclusion Mega Man 9 is that rare gem of a game that masterfully blends difficulty with enjoyment. Though it has some issues, generally speaking the “been there done that” feeling for Mega Man aficionados and no real wow factor for those use to today’s graphically amazing titles, Mega Man 9 is a great game to play to get a feel of what it was like to play games back in the day…back in the day when it took skill, patience, perseverance and even a little luck lead to you completing a game and feeling proud of your accomplishment. For $10 on the PSN it’s a must buy for any old school gamer and anyone looking for a solid challenge.

1989…who among you actually remember that year? There are many of you who were just learning how to read and write back then, maybe even one or two of you who haven’t even been born. Yes…that is a long time ago but guess what? We were gaming way before then.

TMNT came out as an arcade game that you could play in Movie theaters, Arcades, or bowling alleys. That’s where I remember playing this game. Flash back to when my parents were in a bowling league, they would hand over piles of quarters to my younger brother and I, and off we would go to find the newest game to play.

I remember fondly all the time, effort, and damn quarters we put into that game back then and I could see it happening all over again today, IF XBLA took quarters…that is. Luckily for us it doesn’t.
The cheesy pixelated cartoon characters you remember from back then haven’t changed at all 20+ years later. They are still cheesy, still cartoony, and still pixelated…even on your fancy smanchy TV you have. Talk about a blast from the past.

The controls are uber easy. You’re either moving left or right, jumping, or attacking. There is a really super complex combo of jumping and attacking but that’s as fancy as you get for this game. And yes, that was sarcasm. After each death (or loss of life?) you get to pick the Turtle (thus the weapon) of your choice to do battle with. It’s pretty straight forward.

The game itself is short, not that you would remember it that way when you’re feeding quarter after quarter into the arcade machine. That’s not the case on XBLA where you’re given unlimited free lives and given unlimited “quarters” so you’re only limited by your patience and the super quick game play. This game took me less than 30 minutes to beat it. Yes, you read that right. Less than 30 minutes.

Overall Impressions:
If you’re a huge nut for TMNT or if you really liked the arcade games from the 80s, then this will be right up your alley. I would recommend that if you’re not a huge fan but you still want to play it, to keep an eye out for it to be on sale. I picked it up for free and I’m glad that I did. 30 minutes of game play for a paid game would have made me upset normally but since it was free, I had a good time button mashing and remembering back to the good ole days.

Back in the day, when men dominated the role of the videogame hero, there was one woman who defied convention and showed the men that women were able to lay the smack down. That woman’s name was Samus Aran.

From her exploits on the NES in the original Metroid, to the Gameboy in The Return of Samus and her incredible stint on the SNES in Super Metroid, Samus has been the bain of the Space Pirates existence for almost 20 years. With all of this video game history behind the Metroid series it was quite easy to understand my concern when Retro Studios (a Texas based game studio for God’s sake!) was given the reigns to one of my most beloved game series. Those fears were, thankfully, completely unfounded though as Metroid Prime emerges to be one on the best games of this, and arguably any generation.

What grips you as you land on Tallon IV after a brief intro/tutorial mode is the intense musical score. The music of Metroid Prime draws you in like few other games have, as each section of Tallon IV is vastly different, so too is the music. This provides an original experience every time a new section of Tallon IV is accessed.

Combined with the incredible aura that the music provides, Metroid Prime’s Graphics shows that the Gamecube has a lot to offer under its hood. From the wet, tropical organic landing site,to the frozen wastelands of the Phendrana Shore, to the searing heat of the Magmoor Caverns Tallon IV is an eerily beautiful backdrop. Enemies are interestingly designed, both artistically and intelligently and fluid in their movements. Not only are characters movements fluid but the game rarely, if ever, dips below 60fps, drawing one into the action completely.

While musically and graphically Metroid Prime shines, all the atmosphere in the world won’t help a game with mediocre gameplay. Mediocre though, is not an adjective I would use to describe Metroid Prime’s gameplay. The Metroid series has been built around exploration and intense boss battles. These two elements worried many gamers when the first screens arose showing the world of Tallon IV through Samus’ visor via the first person perspective. Exploring the world of Tallon IV through Samus’ visor is a treat. Not only are items cleverly hidden but many items require quite a bit of intellect and skill to obtain, once they are discovered. Coupled with the fact that there are so many items to discover and the exploration part of the game alone is enough to provide hours of quality gaming. Even though the exploration aspect is so good it doesn’t mean the combat was passed over. Weapons systems are easily accessible and the button layout, while a little challenging to get the hang of at first, is easily mastered ensuring that one can draw the appropriate weapon at the right time. This is vital due to the amazing boss battles that ensue, sometimes without warning. (I implore you to save often.) While these battles can be difficult at times, at no point do you feel overwhelmed. These battles are so engaging and well designed that you continue to try again and again until victory is achieved.

This review wouldn’t be complete if the connectivity with Metroid Fusion was not addressed. To prevent any spoiling of this I will leave it by saying it is well worth picking up a copy of Metroid Fusion and the System Link cable as it is one of the best connectivity features yet in a Nintendo title, not to mention that Metroid Fusion is a great game in its own right.

Metroid Prime is a game that no Gamecube owner should miss. If you are not a Gamecube owner it is the type of game that should make you one. Don’t hesitate, run, don’t walk, to your local game store, throw down some coin and enjoy a superb gaming experience.

Legos have taken to the water and surprisingly…they can swim, err…float. Travellor’s Tales have set their sights on the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise and brought the big screen to your home screen in their adaptation of the Disney movies. It’s a good game but it’s not my favorite. It’s solid yet the glitches, some of the puzzles, and camera work didn’t make it as enjoyable of a play through with my 5 year old son like most of the other Lego games had.

The characters from the movie are almost spot-on in the game. You’ll recognize them all without much of a problem. Most notable is Jack Sparrow. When you play him you’ll see that his arms flail at his sides, his stride isn’t all that sturdy, and the screams/throaty noises he made in the movies are all classic “Jack” in the game.

You’ll find that after collecting Lego characters from the movie that not all of them are useful or even that fun to play. After a while they become cookie-cutter images of other characters with a simple change of head gear or clothes. Only a handful of them have special or unique abilities, unlike Lego Star Wars where their vast array of Characters do different things or at least look vastly different from each other.

The game itself covers all 4 movies in the series, even though the 4th movie wasn’t out at the time of the release. Needless to say, you don’t need to have seen the movies in order to play the game. My son hasn’t seen any of the movies and he knew what was going on, what needed to be done, and wasn’t lost in the slightest. The cutscenes were amusing to him and he watched attentively.

And face it…once you’ve played one Lego game, you know what to do. You break stuff. You break whatever you can break and you collect all the Lego studs that you can. If it looks like it’s made out of Legos you best be breaking it. And it’s not just for the Lego studs either, breaking Lego items will land you some much needed items or get you on your way to collecting a mini-kit.

The graphics in the game were good. They were better than good. Some of the Lego scenes were pretty nice to look at but that was easily forgotten with glitches that occurred several times and the long load screens that appeared at the beginning of every level. Watching puppet Jack on a tongue depressor dancing around a drawn ship at the beginning of every level gets old. Granted I know that every Lego game has a load screen but this one just seemed longer and more annoying than any other Lego game I played.

The camera on this game was the worst I’ve dealt with in a while. It seems like it’s constantly off and because of that you’re falling off cliffs/bridges/water and losing your Lego Studs. My 5 year old son who doesn’t get frustrated easily at games did with this one several times and would hand over the controller for help. That is unheard of for him. Gaming is natural for him and for him to need help, that’s saying something.

Overall Pirates of the Caribbean is a good, solid game. If you’re a fan of the Lego series or a fan of the movie series, you’ll have fun playing through this. It’s not an overly long game but it easily frustrates you with some of the puzzles, the shoddy camera angles, and getting lost without any clues as to what to do next. We enjoyed playing this game but we aren’t going back anytime soon to replay it.

Sixteen years after Final Fantasy III released in Japan, Square Enix finally introduces us to a remake of this classic title. Before we get to the meat of the review, lets clear up any confusion that may still be lingering over the numbering of the games in the series.

In Japan, Final Fantasy I-III were released on the equivalent of the N.E.S.. Until relatively recently, II and III were never released in the United States. Instead Square opted to release Final Fantasy IV & VI on the Super Nintendo under the titles of Final Fantasy II and III. Now that Square-Enix finally has gotten around to the releasing of FF III for us FF junkies in the U.S., lets see how this title stacks up.

Final Fantasy III centers around 4 young heroes. Luneth, Arc, Refia, and Ingus as they are on a quest to restore balance to the world, after a great evil has been released. In that one sentence I’ve now given you pretty much every single plot development, enjoy. Character and plot wise FF III is surprisingly lacking. While Final Fantasy II took strides in creating fairly memorable characters, even with minimal back-story, Final Fantasy III really made no improvements upon it in any discernable way. Thankfully there are other improvements to be had.

Gameplay is quite different from Final Fantasy II, but not for the reasons you may expect. Combat wise, battles are the same as they have been all the way up through FF XI, turn-based, menu driven fair. During combat, command options of each character include the standards like Attack, Guard, Flee, Equip (yes you can change equipment mid battle) and so on. The main difference in the options is perhaps the greatest strength of this game and that is for each character class (job) you choose, there is a special ability which appears as an option in the menu. These options can be typical, such as “White Magic” (If you are a White Mage) or odd such as “Study” (If you are a Scholar) but all add something to the strategy of battle.

While the original Final Fantasy may have started the trend of choosing character classes, Final Fantasy III blows away all previous iterations by allowing a whopping 23 various character classes (one hidden) each with a specific battle ability. The level of customization allowed by this guarantees much replay value. Other additions such as Moogle Mail, a mail service that allows you to not only email characters in the game to get a little more plot and uncover some neat little secrets, it even allows you to email your friends whom have FFIII as well, will continually have you logging a few more hours into the game. With such a time commitment it is a good thing that the graphics of Final Fantasy III are such a treat to look at.

Graphically Square Enix has done an amazing job with FF III. From the beginning cinematic (which I was blown away by) to the great 3D character models used during combat and cut scenes (which easily surpass the FFVII’s map 3D models) you will at times forget you are playing a game that originated on the NES. The music on the other hand, will have you wishing you were playing the NES. It is not that the music is painful to the ears; it is just that it’s incredibly uninspired. Normally the Final Fantasy series excels in creating just the right score to flow perfectly with the mood that the game is trying to convey. Too bad the same thing cannot be said about this installment.

Overall Final Fantasy III is a must own for any fan of the series. With a wide variety of customization and many secrets to be found, hours can easily be swallowed up in this quality title even with its flaws. For DS owners not familiar with all things FF, it is definitely worth your time though you may find yourself asking, “That’s what all the fuss is about?” Yet if you take this title at what it is; a remake of a classic step in a greater series and you will not be disappointed.

The Darkness has you. It will empower you. It will oppose you. It will take you for a ride that you will never forget.

Story (minor spoilers)
First thing I have to say: This is not taken directly from the comic book. Yes it’s based on it, and yes Jackie Estacado is still the “hero” of the story, but the creators started the story from scratch and gave it a more moviesque/cinematic feel to it.

It honestly felt like I was playing a movie, that’s how smooth the story was. Is it on, say a Final Fantasy level of story telling? No. It’s a story similar to that of “The Crow” in terms of character and plot development.

You start out in the backseat of a convertible with two of your fellow goon members on the way to do a hit. After a high speed chase that ends with one member down and the other one dying, Jackie Estacado decides that he’ll do the job as ordered by his Uncle Paulie.

I’ll let you experience the rest on your own. The story starts out strong and there’s an event that will really blow you away fairly early on. As the story carries on, it does a pretty good job of keeping things simple yet interesting right up until the finale. Once the game ended I felt complete, it was a story that I wanted to see end, and I’m glad I did, the ending in my view, fit perfectly.

Sound
The sound quality is excellent, from conversations going on with the npc’s to the voices to the sounds of shots going off. They did a really top notch job here that can’t be denied. It helps to immerse you deeply into the game world on a level that matches its cinematic presentation.

Graphics
As a 1st generation PS3 multi-platform title, it looks solid enough, but beware! Jaggies everywhere! Well not everywhere, but they are noticeable some of the time. Annoyingly so? No. The lighting effects are done well, and based on the title, they did a good job of making the dark areas look good yet maneuverable. Your summoned minions (yes! You have MINIONS! More on that later) models look good, not anything mind blowing, but solid as does all the characters you run into.

The artistic direction fits the theme of the game well: It’s a dark, gritty rough world. Well, it is based in New York after all! (most of the time anyway…) Will it win awards for its graphical precision? No, but it does its job of immersing you into the world of “The Darkness.” Plus smoke can be seen coming from a freshly fired gun, now that’s cool.

Game play
The controls are solid, you can adjust the look/turn speed for those that like a quicker/slower response than what the game defaults to. It’s not a constant gunfight either as you do walk around New York City and talk with some of the people to get side missions as well as to move the story along.

The Darkness while a FPS, adds powers into the mix. Powers you ask? There are quite a few of them in fact. 1st First there are the minions, 4 types in all:

1.  The Berserker that runs and physically attacks your enemies.
2. The Gunner whom comes equipped with a Gatling gun an fires upon anyone in range.
3. The Kamikaze which, you guessed it, runs into your enemies an blows himself up, hopefully taking them with him.
4. The Lightkiller is different, unlike the others whose main objective is offensive; the lightkiller does exactly as his name implies: he kills any light source in the area (more on why this is valuable later).

To summon the fiends, you will have to be in Darkness mode and you will need to be near a summoning pit. Have no fear, they’re placed all over the place, so rarely will you find yourself hunting one down.
You also get 4 four unique powers as the game progresses.

Early out you will acquire the “Snake,” you see through the eyes of the darkness snake and can get into small tight places that Jackie himself could not get into. This power allows you to take a bite to kill your foes and in quite a few situations, it really proves its worth when you’re pinned down under heavy enemy fire.

Next on the list is the tendril which can be used to push/pull objects as well as impale your enemies and throw them around.

The third power you get are the Darkness guns. In the “other” world these can come in handy, but overall I didn’t find much use for them an the drain a good chink of your darkness power.

The fourth and most awesome power, the Void. Here’s how it works: You stroll into a room filled with enemies that are shooting away, you can use the void, a black hole appears and tosses everything around, enemies caught in it are killed.

Alas, as with most good things out there, there’s a catch. The name of the game alone being the most obvious hint: Darkness. Light drains your power, so expect to spend a lot of your time shooting out light bulbs and lurking in dark areas to replenish your power. In Darkness mode, you can take more damage, but take too much and you’ll be plain old Jackie again until you can find a nice dark area to soak up some dark.

Now for the downside of things: The powers you have for the most part work well, but what about the minions? They tend to get hitched behind doors, walls, or just plain don’t follow you at times. There’s nothing as frustrating as summoning one of these wretches, thinking you have some extra help, only to run in a room and get taken out because your “backup” is still standing in the same spot you summoned him.

The enemies can be challenging in certain areas, but overall it’s just a matter of figuring out the best method to advance.

Replay
If you get all the secrets from your first play through, there’s not much worth going back for, unless you really liked the game & story.

Online
Extremely tacked on and limited. You can play as the imps or mobsters, but the experience wasn’t thought through and it shows.

Overall
While not perfect, the game is enjoyable and let’s face it, the telling of the story as well as the overall presentation of the game is done very well and really drags you into the dark world of Jackie Estacado.
The creators wanted you to experience what it was like being a super character and they accomplished it. The main downside is that well, you rarely feel like you’re in an intense shootout, if I got in a tough situation, it really wasn’t because of an intense shootout as it was more the layout worked to the enemies advantage and at that point it’s really just a matter of finding the best way to continue. There’re only 2-3 moments where I felt I was in a real huge gun battle an not just a mere environmental disadvantage.

The Darknes is really a solid adventure with a great cinematice presentation that will take you for a good 8-12 hour depending on your style of play. This can be considered a great ‘B’ rated game.

Haven’t you had enough of Legos? NO! You ask my son that question and that would be your answer. He loves the Lego franchise and this game is no different. He may be 4 and a half years old but he is one serious gamer. He knows what he likes and what he doesn’t like and Legos is definitely a must for his collection, and therefore mine as well.

Lego Harry Potter: years 1-4 is just that. You play through the first four books/movies in the series. It’s not necessary for you to have read or seen the movies in order to play. I’ve read the books and I’ve seen the movies and the game made sense to me so I knew what was going on. My son hasn’t seen any of the movies and obviously hasn’t read the books yet and he didn’t have a problem at all understanding what was going on or what he had to do.

The Lego part of this game hasn’t changed. The formula has worked in the past and it works in this game as well. Just as in previous games you run around and you destroy ANYTHING that looks like a Lego creation or build with pieces that you see lying on the ground. Doing this yields Lego studs which helps with achieving the “true wizard” title at the end of each chapter or buying unlockables in the Leaky Cauldron. And just like in other Lego games, you can lose these studs by dying or falling into the abyss.

The graphics are up to the Lego franchise. If you’ve played any of the other Lego games then you know what you’re looking for and what to expect. The back drops are all nicely done and the Lego pieces look like they should. Most of the characters are spot on except for Hermione Granger who could have used some help. Where everybody else looked like they should, she looked like a generic Lego female, her clothes and her wand the only thing giving you a clue as to who she is.

The audio was also well done and enjoyable to listen to. There are some games that we play that we’ll turn the sound down or off but this wasn’t one of them. We enjoyed the background music, the sounds of spells being cast, the Lego grunts and mumbles, and the battle scenes were fun as well. Turn up the sound and get immersed in the game!

One of the added features of Lego Harry Potter are all the spells you get to learn and use. There’s also the “student in peril” that you can save in each chapter and exploring Hogwarts is a must as well to solve puzzles and learn new spells. Another neat feature of the game is that if you’re lost, you simply follow the Hogwarts ghost and his trail of ghost Lego studs and he’ll lead you to where you should go.

This is the first game that I’ve encountered a local multi-player split screen. It was odd at first but I got used to it pretty quickly and it was a nice feature, especially considering I was playing with my son. He would go off on his own looking around and destroying Lego pieces and I was able to go off and do what I needed to do without being pulled across the screen or dropped into the Lego abyss and dying.

The drop in and drop out feature was also nice for this game. There were a couple of places that my son got a little frustrated because he couldn’t make the jump, figure out the right spell to use, or figure out the puzzle so he would drop out until I figured it out and then would drop back in like nothing happened. I do have to say that the areas of frustration were few and far between. This Lego game had less than any other one in the franchise and that made it that much more enjoyable for both of us.

This was one of the better Lego games we’ve come across and that’s saying a lot seeing as though we’ve played through just about all of them in a short span of time. We both had a lot of fun with it and were sad to see it come to an end. We are both eagerly awaiting the release of Lego Harry Potter: years 5-7 this coming November.

It would seem that Mario is a man of many talents. From his 2D origins, to this current incarnation Mario has just about been apart of every gaming genre known to gamerkind. (I’m sure it’s only a matter of time till the highly anticipated Survivor Horror/FPS game titled Peach’s Mansion of Blood makes its way to store shelves.) While some of Mario’s recent outings have been less then stellar, yeah I’m looking at you Super Mario Sunshine, it was only a matter of time until he decided to head back to his 2D roots for a quality gaming experience. Undoubtedly a quality gaming experience is exactly what you are going to get when you play Super Paper Mario.

The best way to describe Super Paper Mario is that it is a 2D platformer with Role Playing Game tendencies. As you progress through the various themed chapters, defeating enemies will provide you with points that go towards your score. While this in itself is nothing new, (ie Super Mario Bros for the NES) what is new is that when your score reaches certain increments your character’s stats increase. With every level up your strength either goes up by one or you gain 5 hit points. Yet these are not the only RPG inspired elements to be found in the game as you can stay at inns, talk to non-playable characters, buy items to both replenish your health or attack your adversaries; even inducing status ailments. Like most RPGs you will put together a party to help you progress through the game, each party member has his or her own special attributes and it is only by mastering these that you will be able to complete Mario’s quest.

Even after mastering their abilities you will have to navigate your party through the 8 chapters (worlds) of Super Paper Mario. (Not to mention the optional challenges.) To veteran Mario players, or 2D platform players in general, you will quickly feel at home with the basic concepts and easy controls. Holding the Wii-mote sideways so that it resembles the classic NES controller, you use the D-pad to move Mario through each level primarily left to right and while this is a Wii game there are very few uses of the Wii-mote and all of them feel natural. (Such as shaking your controler to wake up a sleeping (or frozen) Mario or using it to find hidden items by pointing it at the screen.)

Like all other Paper Mario games Mario is 2D, seriously 2D as in paper-thin 2D (as is the rest of the world around him) but what separates this Super Paper Mario from the rest of the pack is Mario’s ability to switch from 2D to 3D at any time. Come up to a really tall pipe that you cannot get past? Flip to 3D and step around the paper-thin pipe. Enemies barreling down a hill towards you? Flip to 3D and step aside to let them pass. There are so many ways to use this ability, finding passages, hidden coins, and treasures. If you can think of it, odds are you can do it.

Your ability to flip is not the only new wrinkle in the Paper Mario series. Super Paper Mario brings us new companions in the form of “pixls” these little helpers are acquired throughout your adventure. Some are needed to progress through the game. Others are hidden and can be gained by completing certain tasks. Pixls give Mario (and every other party member) specific abilities that they can use to complete their adventure. Some pixls turn into bombs, others allow you to pass over spikes and some even allow you to turn sideways making you invincible since you cannot be seen as you are the width of a sheet of paper. Mastering both your inherent abilities and those given to you by pixels are vital in making it to your final confrontation with Count Bleck.

The story of Super Paper Mario revolves around the mysterious Count Bleck and stopping what seems to be his single mission in life; the utter destruction of the universe. While by no means deep, I must say I was pleasantly surprised of the lack of saving princesses and even more satisfied with the amount of memorable character you meet along the way. In all honesty is nice to see some new blood in a Mario game.

Graphically Super Paper Mario is fairly solid in its presentation. The art style fits with the concepts of the game and is very bright and colorful. Be warned though nothing about the game’s graphics will blow you away. This title was originally developed for the Gamecube and while the graphics do not take away from the adventure, they definitely will not make you toss you 360 to the curb anytime soon. The same can really be said about the music as well. There are snippets of remixed Mario themes and other tunes that blend right into the Mario universe and once you notice them they will completely put a smile on your face. Unfortunately those moments are few and far between as more times then not you will completely tune out the sound as you play as most the soundtrack is pretty forgettable. But lets face it, I’m not sure there are but a handful of people on the planet that play a Mario title for the music.

We play Mario titles for those moments that put a smile on our face. The moments that make us remember what it was like when we were younger plugging away on the NES or even the SNES at all hours while trying to convince our parents to give use just a few more minutes. Super Paper Mario does just that. Many times throughout the game you will catch yourself grinning as you figure out a puzzle or some little piece of fanservice the Nintendo has decided to sneak into the game. Truth be told there are actually some moments you will catch yourself laughing out loud because of the clever writing. (Peach’s conversation with Francis is classic.) All in all Super Paper Mario is a great title for a fledgling system and should hopefully be a wake-up call to all game developers everywhere that 2D is far from dead. I recommend this title to any fan of 2D platformers and anyone looking for some fun.

Microsoft’s addition to the movement world in gaming has a name…the Kinect. What makes it different from the Wii or Playstation Move? The fact that you can’t get away with just moving your hand or arm to play the games or use the Kinect. The Kinect tracks your whole body movement from your head down to your feet, so you better get moving or you might as well get a controller enabled game.

In Kinect sports you can choose from track and field, soccer, bowling, table tennis, and volleyball. In each of these games you can play as a single player or as multiplayer with friends and family. The amount of space needed isn’t much but if you’re going to be playing with friends and family in the real world, plenty of space is suggested. Well…plenty of space that the Kinect can register.

There were several “problems” and “adjustments” that we were making while playing. There were several times when we were told to get into the Kinects field of vision, or move to the right or the left, or that the Kinect couldn’t see the floor. Often times these moments were easily fixed and play continued but there were other times when the game seemed to pause, the music stopped, and everything waited on the player to get in the right spot. The more this happened, the more irritating it got.

Bowling had these problems where my son always had to adjust where he was at the beginning of each turn. Boxing had lagging issues where we would be throwing punches but they weren’t showing up on screen. We would be standing there wondering what happened and suddenly the avatars would catch up to our motions and several punches would be made while we were just standing there scratching our heads.

The graphics are colorful, bright and look pretty much like the avatars on the dashboard of your Xbox. If you have a profile set up you’ll see a resemblance between player one and the dashboard “you” that you made. That’s pretty cool. But some graphics are cheesy, some a little simplistic so it won’t cut the mustard for everyone but if you don’t mind it…it still can be pleasing to the eye.

The audio can get repetitious but most games do. The announcers are pretty funny and some of their remarks are spot on whereas others are over the top and make you laugh because they don’t make sense or they are being sarcastic. The sound effects were pretty spot on as well, so that sold the “action” of the games you were playing.

It’s pretty cool how the Kinect moves to size you and your opponent up and then puts avatars on the screen. My mom found this a little eerie how the Kinect seemed to be “alive” and scanning the playing area. Watching her “freak” out was pretty amusing. But she enjoys the Kinect which I’ll talk about in another review.

Overall Kinect Sports is a good entry level game for people new to the Kinect and it’s movements. The games are fun, multiplayer is great with friends and family, and there’s enough to do in the game that you will be coming back for more. Glitches, lagging, and adjustments aside this is a pretty cool gadget and I can’t wait to see what’s in store.