Mario and Sonic’s Olympic Games game if you know what I mean sold like the proverbial hot cakes. Not only did it tap into the spirit of the Olympics but it also brought together two gaming greats as they competed along with their friends and enemies over track and field events – see what we thought of that back in our Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games review. Now they’re back competing over snow and ice but does the game get a chilly reception?

Well, the good news is that this game improves on the last one. You’ll notice straight away that all the events are unlocked from the start which is great news in terms of accessibility. The controls are also tighter and seem less random but this does mean that sometimes gameplay can be a bit too simplistic.

Events vary from figure skating and speed skating to ice hockey, curling and of course racing events as you hurtle down slopes and tunnels on skis, snowboards or even in bobsleighs. Of course, this one’s aimed very much at party play for the casual gamer so expect this to appeal more to non-gamers than the hardcore.

Once again, Sega have tried to implement gestures that fit as closely to the real thing. When curling you ‘brush’ the stone towards the target just like in the real game and when speed skating you thrust your arms to-and-fro to get your speed up. You can even use the Wii balance Board if you have one to distribute your weight left and right in the slalom or lie face down on the floor when doing the skeleton. You’ll need some space in your lounge to do this and it may prove just a little bit too much effort for your Nan, best she just uses the remote then.

On a negative note, it’s a shame there isn’t any Wii Motion plus support. Sega say it’s because they want the game to appeal to as many Wii owners as possible and that’s fair enough, but it would be nice to also support the thousands of gamers who’ve got the peripheral and can only currently use it on a couple of titles.

This game isn’t aimed at the likes of me but I know that families who own a Wii just for party games and the like will enjoy this one. It’s not my cup of tea but if you’re in the casual games camp then you’ll be pleased to know I’m giving it a very good 7 out of 10.

Get Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games now
New: Buy Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our Godaddy coupon codes for November 2009 to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our GoDaddy coupon video for more details, using the CCS discount code valid for November 2009 ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping with any order over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ will get you 15% off any order over $75, use our November 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games review, Beijing Olympics video game review, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review

Tags: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Wii, Mario and Sonic, Olympic Winter Games, Mario, Sonic, vancouver, DS, Nintendo, Winter Olympics

I had my first experience of 3D cinema the other day when I watched Up. Once my eyes had adjusted I was initially impressed but then I sort of got used to it. It’s the same with videogames. Next-gen machines come out and everyone goes ‘whooo’ but then the bar has to constantly be raised in order to impress. It’s a pity then that not only does Up have average graphics, but it’s also a very average platform game that’s of little interest to me.

You mainly play the game as Carl and Russell as you move round the 3D platform levels attached to your floating house. Similar to the Lego games, you can play with a friend and must work together to get round the environment. For example, Russell can shimmy along ledges and use Kevin the bird to reach new heights, while Carl can use his cane to climb up ledges and keep wasps and spiders away with the screeching of his faulty hearing aid. In single player mode you hit a button so switch between them which sometimes works and can sometimes be frustrating when the AI takes over and moves characters precisely where you don’t want them.

Most of the time you’re just platforming and collecting coins and artefacts as you go. Combat is extremely limited to swinging your cane at things or picking up items to use against the inhabitants of the forest. Occasionally you also get a boss fight but the action throughout is all rather slow and cumbersome. What do you expect from controlling a geriatric and a boy scout?

To break things up a bit you can also take to the skies and literally dogfight with the talking dogs. For some reason this is also the first thing you do in the game which is odd as it’s set in a scene right near the end of the movie.

Young children may enjoy playing as the characters from the film but this doesn’t offer anything for the older gamer. It’s an average platform game so it gets an average score of 5 out of 10.

Get Up now and get Up
New: Buy Up videogame from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Up – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our Godaddy promo code for November 2009 to save money on web hosting and domains – watch the GoDaddy coupon code video for more details, using the CCS discount code valid for November 2009 ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping with any order over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ will get you 15% off any order over $75, use the Squarespace coupon ‘WEASEL’ for 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: G Force review, Wii Christmas party games, Youtube Up review

Tags: Up, Up, disney, pixar, THQ, platformer, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, DS, Mac OS X, Windows, Single player, 2 player, co-op, multiplayer, Youtube Up review

Buy a Nintendo Wii now
New: Buy a Nintendo Wii from Amazon.com
Offers: Use our 2009 Godaddy.com promo code to save money on web hosting and domains – watch the GoDaddy promo codes video for more details, use the CCS coupon ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30, use our November 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Wii hardcore games, Nintendo Wii buyers guide

Tags: Wii 2

Charles Martinet recently joined us for a chat and explains what it’s like to be the voice behind the oldest and most recognisable video game character of all time – Mario. He’s also behind a whole host of other Nintendo characters who’ll be appearing in the forthcoming New Super Mario Bros for the Wii which we’ll be reviewing soon, make sure you order your copy in time for holiday season for what’s sure to be a Christmas hit for all the family.

Preorder New Super Mario Bros now
New: Buy New Super Mario Bros from Amazon.com
Offers: Use our Gamesweasel Godaddy coupon codes to save money on web domains and hosting – watch our GoDaddy discount code video for more details, use the CCS discount code ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ for 15% off orders over $75, use the Squarespace coupon code ‘WEASEL’ to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account.

Related: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games review, Mario Kart review

Tags: Mario, Charles Martinet, New Super Mario Bros, interview, Wii, Nintendo, DS

Top Wii games for children

Any one of the following titles should be great fun on Christmas Day and beyond, we’ve linked each kids game for the Wii to Amazon.com to help you find the best deal:-

• Wii Sports Resort Special Edition is the fantastic sequel to the original Wii Sports title which comes with a new twist. This time you can become even more immersed in the experience because it comes bundled with Two MotionPlus units which provide a more lifelike motion control experience.
• Active Life Outdoor Challenge brings all the fun of playing outside on Christmas Day without having to go out into the cold weather and risk catching Swine Flu.

• The Beatles Rock Band Special Value Edition gives you a guitar, drums and microphone ready for some 1960’s loving Christmas fun. If you’ve never played a music game before then this Wii title is the best introduction – watch our comprehensive review of The Beatles Rock Band and see just how good this game will be at bridging the generation gap this Christmas when it has 5 year olds and granma singing along to some of the best hits from the fab 4.
• American Idol fans will no doubt love this Karaoke Special Edition American Idol Encore 2 game with free microphone, it features 40 well known pop songs spanning from the 70’s to some tunes of today.

• Diva Girls Ice Skating features all the pretty elements of Ice Skating with none of the broken ankles and expensive Ice Skates.
• Petz Dogz 2 will keep any children’s puppy wanting urges at bay for a little longer, and it doesn’t poop on your carpet. A dog is for life, not just for Christmas – Dogz for the Wii sits neatly in the DVD shelf all year round and works out around $1000 cheaper.

• Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel dispells the myth that motor racing isn’t all about Nascar or Indianapolis 500 you know, the whole family can enjoy kart racing here. Tons of fun Nintendo characters and themed tracks allow all to compete on the same level due to its clever item distribution system which could see Grandpa beating the kids to the finish line. The game comes with a free steering wheel too, extra official Nintendo Wii Wheels can be purchased separately for $9.99 if your family prefer the addon controller that comes free with the game.
• Wii Fit Plus is a great tool for a healthy family who want to keep track of their fitness as a group. Being able to see everyone’s fitness progress is a great way for family bonding and can be good encouragement for all to stick to the happy lifestyle you want to lead.

Offers: Use our December 2009 Godaddy coupons to save money on hosting and web domains – watch the GoDaddy coupon codes video for more details, use the CCS coupon code ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30, use the Squarespace coupon code ‘WEASEL’ to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account.

Buy a Black Wii now
New: Buy a Black Wii from Amazon.com
Offers: Use our Godaddy coupon codes for December 2009 to save money on hosting and web domains – watch the GoDaddy coupon video for more details, use the CCS coupon code ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30, using the November 2009 Squarespace discount code ‘WEASEL’ at checkout will get you 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Best Wii games for hardcore gamers, Christmas Wii buyers guide

Tags: Nintendo Wii, Black, Wii Remote, Wii Motion Plus, Wii Nunchuck, Wii Sports games

Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4; The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood sees the Marquis De Sade finally get his hands back on Guybrush only to be robbed of his prize specimen by a baying mob. They want Guybrush to answer for crimes he’s supposedly committed and simply drag him off to the local courthouse to face trial and punishment. To say much more could easily spoil what is probably the most intriguing episode in this Pentology so far.

What I can say is that this adventure felt a little shorter this time around lasting about four hours, compared to the five to six of the previous episodes. I believe this is because the fifth episode will likely be a longer and more complex affair. I did get seriously stuck at one time and nearly had to resort to searching Google for the answer but as usual; after walking around and trying everything I managed to solve that one really tricky puzzle. Nevertheless Episode 4 features plenty of stomping around the Flotsam Island previously visited in Episode 1; many of the characters that you met before are still there as well as some new ones including the infamous Salesman, Stan from the original Lucas Arts games.

Because it uses the same engine as all of the other episodes, Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4 looks and sounds just as good as the rest; the quality of the dialogue is once again great with many laugh out loud moments. Die-hard fans may spot some more classic references and smile, sweet.

I award yet Another 8 out of 10 for Monkey Island here folks.

Get Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4 now
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Rental: Rent Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4 – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our November 2009 Godaddy coupons to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our godaddy discount coupon video for more details, using the November 2009 CCS coupon code valid for November 2009 ‘AFGAME15′ gets you 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping on orders over $30, use the Squarespace coupon ‘WEASEL’ for 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3 review, The Secret Of Monkey Island Special Edition video review

Tags: Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4, Tales of Monkey Island, PC, Wii

Top 10 best Wii games for adults

Here are some of the favourite hardcore games for the Wii available from Amazon.com right now. With other core titles such as Metroid Other M, Red Steel 2 and The Grinder coming out in 2010 at the same time Sony and Microsoft are releasing their own casual motion sensing devices. As it’s looking the Wii could be the system of choice for hardcore gamers in 2010, here are a rundown of some of the top 10 best wii games for adults:

• Madworld is one of the most over the top and gory Wii adults only games of all time.  You just know that the Wii boys will love slicing people up with chainsaws and watching blood splatter everywhere – you can find out what we thought of the ultimate Wii hardcore game in our Madworld review where we gave it an excellent 8 out of 10.
• House of the Dead Overkill is an adult wii game from Sega which recently broke the world record for the amount of cuss words in a video game. Combine this with zombies, blood, gore and sexual references and this is a Wii title to make any hardcore Wii gamer take note. We played this back in February 09 and gave it an almost perfect 9 out of 10 – watch our House of the Dead Overkill review and see why.

• Resident Evil comes to Wii once more in the Darkside Chronicles.  Another light gun esque game which uses the Wii Remote’s infra-red capabilities to brind the arcade feel to your home TV.  Play though scenes you know and scenes you don’t from previous Resident Evil games and find out what happened between the parts of the story you already know.
• The Conduit is the Wii’s most popular first person shooter.  It’s full of Aliens, Science Fiction and guns.  It also features some of the best graphics on Wii and a brilliant online battle mode – head to our review of The Conduit to see exactly why we gave it an impressive 7 out of 10.

• Madden NFL 10 is just the ticket for Football fans who want to score touchdowns without having to join a college team.  A perfect game for boys who want to be men, and men who want to be real men – read our full review of Madden NFL 10 where we gave it a very good 7 out of 10.
• Dead Space Extraction was a hit on PS3 and Xbox 360 and this exclusive prequel brings the horror to Wii in this classy on rails arcade style shooter. We recently got our hands on the game and couldn’t put it down, see our Dead Space Extraction review for the Wii where we awarded it an outstanding 8 out of 10.

• Excitebots comes with a free Wii Wheel (just like Mario Kart) and is a more serious stunt filled affair.  It looks like it’s for kids but to actually do well you’ll need to be great at pulling of stunts and big air.
• Muramasa the Demon Blade is a real 1980’s Metroid style old school hack em up featuring sword swishing in abundance and enough collection to keep an OCD sufferer happy.  Oh and and its rock hard too.
• Star Wars The Clone Wars features all of the stuff a Star Wars geek could want, Lightsabers , Star Wars and excellent cell shaded animation.
• New Super Mario Bros for the Wii – the hotly anticipated follow up the the best selling Nintendo DS game of the last few years.  Go back to the original days of Mario before 3D took over the world.  Any half decent gamer should play this game if they want any credibility in 2010 – cutesy but impossibly addictive.

We also recommend the Wii Sports Resort Special Edition – the fantastic sequel to the original Wii Sports title which comes with a new twist.  This time you can become even more immersed in the experience because it comes bundled free with two Wii Motion Plus units which provide a more lifelike motion control experience and can be used on other compatible titles. It may seem casual at first but dedicated players will find many secrets and appreciate many core mechanics to be found.

Hardcore Wii gaming accessories

Hardcore Wii gamers will also love some of the accessories on the market that don’t try to emulate tennis rackets and golf clubs but instead enhance their gaming experience.

• The Quad Remote Charge Station takes away all the hassle of battery changing because it comes with 4 battery packs that will give hours of playtime.  Save money on batteries with this useful and cool looking base station that will charge your Wii Remotes with no hassle, built in LED indicators show when charging is taking place.

• The Wii Classic Controller is compatible for certain games that aren’t quite suited to motion sensing and those purchased via the Wii’s Virtual Console online download service. Also Wii hardcore games such as Super Smash Bros Brawl support the classic controller for the best gameplay.

• A Wii Zapper is a great way to emulate that crossbow / shotgun feel on Wii and it comes with a free Zelda themed Links Crossbow training game. It’s perfect for titles such as Resident Evil, House of the Dead and Dead Space on Wii.

• Owners of Guitar Hero and Rock Band will appreciate the Dual Guitar Holder which keeps those guitar accessories stored neatly in the living room or bedroom. See our recent run-down of Wii guitar accessories for more ideas of what to get fans of Rock Band and Guitar Hero for Christmas.

• We found the official Wii lens cleaner is the best option to fix problem Wii discs when we did a recent rundown of Wii lens cleaning kits – the Wii hardcore game Super Smash Bros Brawl was known to cause problems when playing with certain Wii consoles due to it’s intense disc activity.

• A Wii HD Link Component Cable will allow up to full 480p visuals to those with an HD television set, great for LCD and Plasma screen gamers who want to get the very best visuals the Nintendo Wii can display.

Special offers: Use our Gamesweasel Godaddy coupon to save money on web domains and hosting – watch the GoDaddy coupon codes video for more details, use our CCS coupons to get money off orders and free shipping on orders over at CCS.com, use our Squarespace coupon code to get money off the lifetime of your account.

Dead Space was one of my surprise favourite games last year so I’ve been looking forward to Dead Space Extraction on the Wii – a prequel which charts where all the horror on the cracked planet and in the mining vessel the Ishimura began.

It’s an on-rails FPS but before you think this is just like Time Crisis or House of the Dead, let me explain to you why it’s very much not. Extraction has a much more considered approach in that there are times where you don’t shoot anything whilst the atmosphere builds as you’re taken for a ride through the eyes of a number of survivors in different chapters. You crawl up ladders, shuffle across service hatches and even make leaps of faith through zero gravity. The mining equipment from the first game is in use again as you hack limbs off the monsters and you’ve also got access to pistols and pulse rifles. You can also slow down enemies and the world around you at times using stasis and fetch weapons, ammo and items using a sort of sci-fi tractor beam type thing.

There are 10 chapters to play through and as you go, you unlock new challenge mode levels and comic books to watch complete with sound effects and voice acting. It may be short but it really is a new gaming experience for me and something I couldn’t put down until I finished the story mode. There are also choices of paths to take from time to time which may encourage playing through the story again and you can play the game in co-op mode and shoot the Xenomorphs with a friend.

The game’s got the best graphics I’ve seen on the Wii and although the action slows down occasionally when there’s lots on screen, it certainly doesn’t wreck the game. Another small complaint is the crosshair. Info about your guns and a Gears of War-style quick reload system are incorporated into it and as a result it’s rather large, sometimes obscuring what you’re actually trying to shoot. Still, it means there’s no HUD on the screen which all adds to the atmosphere.

If you want a game that really sucks you into the action and gives you the creeps at times, give this a go. You’ll definitely enjoy it.

Dead Space Extraction gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

Get Dead Space Extraction now
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Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for November 2009 Godaddy discount codes – watch the GoDaddy coupons video for more details, use the CCS coupon ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30, use our November 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: House of the Dead, Time Crisis, Youtube Dead Space Extraction review

Tags: Dead Space Extraction, Dead Space, Extraction, Wii, on rails, shooter, Dead Space: Extraction, horror, EA

Once again it’s time for another EA Sports game with a new number on the end. This time it’s the turn of FIFA. When you first look at the game it doesn’t look much different but you’ll soon realise that they’ve ironed out all the things that made 09 great to make this version excellent.

First of all there’s the 360’ movement, meaning you’re no longer running at 45 degree angles. This makes for a more realistic movement of the players and coupled with the improved ball physics, some truly interesting and freakish goals that are sure to make you shout out or hold your head in your hands.

Manager Mode is the main season mode where you play through a number of seasons and make transfer and squad decisions. Be a Pro mode is back where you play as an individual and now you can make your own Virtual Pro. Using EA’s Game Face technology which is currently broken as I review the game due to high demand, you can put your face right into the game and level them up RPG style in custom games and even in the arena.

Following on from the Adidas Live Season comes Live Season 2.0 where you can download the latest games your club’s played and try to replicate or re-write history. It’s a shame you have to pay for this after a 5 game demo but hardcore fans will find it worth the extra spend. There’s also a set piece creator where you can modify and save set pieces for use in games. Again, only the hardcore will probably go this deep into the game but it’s a nice touch.

As ever, presentation is slick with some great player likenesses and some good ad-libbing from Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. I usually say not to bother getting the new version of an EA Sports game if you’re enjoying last year’s, but once again, FIFA’s come up trumps. Over to you Pro Evo. FIFA 10 gets 9 out of 10, if you know what I mean.

Get FIFA 10 now
New: Buy FIFA 10 from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent FIFA 10 – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our November 2009 Godaddy coupons to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our godaddy discount coupon video for more details, using the November 2009 CCS coupon code valid for November 2009 ‘AFGAME15′ gets you 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping on orders over $30, use the Squarespace coupon ‘WEASEL’ for 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Fifa 09 review, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 review, FIFA 10 review

Tags: FIFA 10, FIFA, football, soccer, FIFA Soccer 10, EA Sports, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, PC

A new bike peripheral is set to come out for the Nintendo Wii. The Cyberbike will encourage people to get fit using 18 circuits and an array of ‘impossible’ machines. It’s out in January and is sure to end up in the spare room to hang washing on.

Buy a Nintendo Wii now
New: Buy a Wii from Amazon.com
Offers: Use our November 2009 Godaddy.com promo code to save money on web hosting and domains – watch our GoDaddy coupon code video for more details, use the CSS free shipping coupon code ‘AFGAMEFS’ for orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75, use our November 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Wii Fit review, The Cyberbike

Tags: Wii, Cyberbike, Nintendo Wii, exercise bike

If you don’t like The Beatles you won’t enjoy this latest iteration of Rock Band. However, if you’re a massive fan or even know a little about them and think they’re pretty cool, you’re going to have a blast playing this.

Chronicling their rise to fame from playing in Liverpool’s Cavern Club right through to playing on the rooftop of Apple Corps, this game provides a magical mystery tour of the Fab Four’s career with some beautifully crafted visuals and of course most of the classics you know and love.

Playing the game is standard Rock Band apart from the 3-part vocal harmonies you can attempt with two other friends. You also don’t have to repeat playing songs to move onto the next chapter in the story mode. Between each chapter you’re also treated to some fantastic visuals as the scene is set for your next batch of songs to play through.

My favourite songs to play were the Abbey Road recordings, not necessarily for the songs but for the dreamy music videos that accompany them. Play through I Am The Walrus and Yellow Submarine and John, Paul, George and Ringo are transported from the studio into their Sgt Pepper uniforms and into some rather trippy sequences. They’re so good they actually distract you from looking at the fret board which can result in mistakes in the song.

And as a reward for getting five stars for each song you get bonus photos you can look at and little video extras. You can unlock more by then completing the challenge modes.

I play Rock Band on hard mode and usually fail the later songs as they’re quite a challenge. I never failed once with The Beatles Rock Band and that’s partially down to the fact that they never really hammered their instruments enough to make their fingers bleed. If you’re looking for a challenge, look elsewhere. If you want a lovingly created game that creates nostalgia in you, even if you weren’t around at the time, get this. You won’t be disappointed. It gets 9 out of 10.

Get The Beatles Rock Band now
New: Buy The Beatles Rock Band from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent The Beatles Rock Band – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for November 2009 Godaddy discount codes, using the CCS discount code valid for November 2009 ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping with any order over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ will get you 15% off any order over $75, use the Squarespace coupon code ‘WEASEL’ to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account.

Related: Rock Band 2 review, Using a Wii Guitar Hero controller with Rock Band, Youtube The Beatles Rock Band review

Tags: The Beatles Rock Band, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Rock Band, The Beatles, Rock Band, The Beatles Rock Band review

As you may remember, Episode Two ended with Guybrush on the trail of the Sea Manatee and the Giant Voodoo Sucking Sponge. As usual Guybrush didn’t exactly know what was in store for him because soon enough; his crew, his ship as well as himself are all swallowed and therefore trapped inside the belly of said Sea Manatee. Without wishing to spoil the four or five hours of playtime to be had here I can say that in this adventure you’ll bump into the Voodoo lady’s old flame Coronado De Cava who was previously on the trail of La Esponja Grande. After years stuck inside a Manatee you’ll understand that he’s not quite as sane as he once was.
If you’ve enjoyed the first two episodes then of course you’ll love to see how the story is progressing.

Just as with the first two episodes both the graphics and voice acting are a treat and as crazy and imaginative as usual. The whole series so far is a treat for point and click fans everywhere and I’m really engrossed in this series and can’t wait until Episode 4 is ready. Another 8 out of 10.

Get Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3 now
New: Buy Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3 from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3 – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for November 2009 Godaddy discount codes, using the CCS discount code valid for November 2009 ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping with any order over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ will get you 15% off any order over $75, use the Squarespace coupon code ‘WEASEL’ to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account.

Related: Tales of Monkey Island Episode One, Tales of Monkey Island Episode Two

Tags: Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3, Lair of the Leviathan, Chapter 3, Tales of Monkey Island, Episode 3, Telltale, Wii, PC, Monkey Island, Guybrush, Point and Click

So Guitar Hero 5 is available in the shops and the good news is this doesn’t feel like just some more songs to jam along to slightly repackaged. It is in fact quite a leap forward for the game both in terms of graphical style and the way the game plays.

First of all let’s cover the track list. There are 85 songs on this and as usual, some you’ll know, some you won’t, depending on your musical taste. Queen, Muse, Nirvana and Garbage all appear amongst others and you can even unlock guest characters such as Shirley Manson, Santana and Kurt Kobain and then add them to your customised band line-up.

It’s also never been easier to get into a game. Party Play mode lets anyone just drop in or out of a song at any difficulty without interrupting the song which really adds to the accessibility of the game.

The on-screen graphics have also been streamlined. Gone are the big meters which crowd the screen. They are now incorporated into the fret display and the whole look of the band and venues looks a lot more authentic. They’ve copied the grainy look of Rock Band and the character animation and lip synching is really a sight to behold. Another great touch is the ability to play Guitar Hero 5 as your Xbox 360 avatar. You look a little out of place as you’re a lot shorter than everyone else but you can also customise a completely new character to look like you in the character creation mode.

It’s also great that you can play any song from the off in quick play mode and in career, you unlock new venues and songs even though you haven’t played all the songs in the previous category. You can also get more stars by fulfilling criteria mid-song like finger tapping all the tap sections of whammying the sustain notes.

Apart from there not being enough modern tracks for my liking, Guitar Hero 5 really is the ultimate band experience so far. Neversoft have really pushed things forward this time around and it’s tricky to say how they’d better this.

Guitar Hero 5 gets and almost perfect 9 out of 10.

Get Guitar Hero 5 now
New: Buy Guitar Hero 5 from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Guitar Hero 5 – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for October 2009 Godaddy discount codes, use the CSS free shipping coupon code ‘AFGAMEFS’ for orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75, use the Squarespace coupon ‘WEASEL’ for 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: play Guitar Hero 5 as your Xbox 360 avatar, Using a Wii Guitar Hero controller with Rock Band, Youtube Guitar Hero 5 review

Tags: Guitar Hero 5, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 5 review

Just because a game’s for kids doesn’t mean it has to be hurriedly put together. Luckily, it seems that quite a bit of care and attention has gone into making Mini Ninjas which means kids are going to have a fair amount of fun with it. In the game, the land has been ravaged by violent storms and the leader of the town has sent his best ninjas one by one off to solve the problem. The problem is, they never came back so it’s up to Hiro, the youngest of the ninjas, to find his buddies and stop the terrible storms and the samurais from burning down the villages.

Combat’s a simple case of hitting, blocking and stunning enemies if they choose to block you. You also have Kuju magic available which can be used to find secret shrines or fight enemies with fireballs or tornadoes. You can even possess the little animals around the land to sneak past samurais or even attack them. Hiro also has a big white hat which can be used to guard against arrows or as a boat. It’s all very cute and colourful and running about the land feels very fresh if you know what I mean.

There’s also a fair amount of platform gaming as Hiro shimmies along ledges and balances on beams.

Once you find your fellow ninjas you can then hot-swap them into the battle and use their abilities. There’s a big chap with a hammer called Tofu or something and a little girl with a flute amongst others.

My problem with this game is, even though it’s for kids, it just feels a bit shallow and easy. Combat is rarely difficult unless you’re later in the game and haven’t levelled up enough so there’s no real sense of danger throughout the game. You sort of go through the motions albeit very slick ones with tight controls and smooth graphics.

It would also have been nice to have some extra 2 player game modes in there for more family fun. Still, it’s a good game and even though there’s swordplay, no-one dies. All the enemies you fight turn into frogs, rabbits and foxes etc when defeated. Mini Ninjas gets a good 6 out of 10.

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Related: Ninja Blade review, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword review, Youtube Mini Ninjas review

Tags: Mini Ninjas, Mini Ninja, Eidos, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, Mini Ninjas review

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Tags: Wii Internet Channel, Wii, internet channel, free

Another year sees another roll-out of all EA’s sports franchises such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Madden NFL 10 is no different. Here we see a couple of new gameplay innovations along with the ones which worked from previous years.

First of all, let me say that the game’s presentation is fantastic. It really feels like you’re watching a football game on a Sunday and the player models and graphics make for a really great game atmosphere. It’s a shame the commentary doesn’t shape up so well but to be honest you can choose to ignore that, much like a member of your family trying to turf you off the console because they want to watch a rerun of friends.

I also like the fact there’s no calendar system in Franchise mode. Some of you will miss the opportunity to train your players between games but all I want to do is play the game so for me, this works.

When on the gridiron play’s also been slowed down a bit so it’s now a bit simpler to see a defender charging towards you and make a pass or dive out of the way in time. There’s also the new Pro-Tak system at play which basically means multiple players can now go in to take down a player and you get even more realistic action on the field.

SuperStar mode is also back so you can create a player and play through a whole career with your big muscle man.

If you’re new to Madden games you’re also going to have to look for the holographic training section in the game. Last year you had to play through it at the start, now it’s hidden in the menus. It is there though so if you’re not sure of the rules or how to play, check it out and get with the programme dude.

Online play has also been refined. There’s an online franchise mode and online co-op and everything’s been sped up to make sure your opponents don’t spend ages browsing through their plays before finally snapping the ball.

Once again, as I always say with EA’s sports games, the game’s good but I’d only buy this over last year’s Madden NFL 09 game if you really, really like American Football games.

Madden NFL 10 gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Tags: Madden NFL 10, EA, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, Madden, NFL, Youtube Madden NFL 10 review

Anyone old enough to remember the G.I. Joe cartoon and toys? Well if you do, you may or may not be excited about the new movie. This is the game of the movie of the cartoon and as you’d expect it’s actually a load of watered-down rubbish so I’ll be quick.

As you can see, the game almost plays like Commando or Contra in that you just run into the screen and shoot everything in front of you. This wouldn’t be so bad if the game played like Gears of War but it actually plays a bit like the 80s game Commando which of course is unacceptable. You can play alone or co-op and if you’re playing single player you can swap between characters mid-level, however, they skate around the environment like the 3rd person mode in Fallout 3 and the cover system isn’t worth using at all. So, you just end up strafing all over the place and shooting stuff. And if you do have to backtrack, the camera doesn’t move so you run blindly into the edge of the screen.

Character models are shoddy, environments are boring and the whole game feels like something you should download from the Xbox Live Arcade. If you want some good run and gun action instead, pick up Gears of War 2 – it should be pretty cheap now. G.I. Joe gets an awful 2 out of 10.

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Related: Gears of War 2, Bionic Commando review, GI Joe The Rise of Cobra review

Tags: GI Joe The Rise of Cobra, GI Joe, Rise of Cobra, G.I.Joe

Now heading back into the present day TellTale Games are here and bringing us a brand new five part Monkey Island adventure for the PC and WiiWare. I’m not strictly sure if this counts as the fifth game in the series but what I do know is that it continues the storyline where it left off.

Just as with the previous games you take control of the mighty Pirate known as Guybrush Threepwood; you don’t start on Monkey Island this time but on your ship. You are travelling on the high seas to rescue your wife Elaine from hands of the evil Pirate Le Chuck. The first scene is a short introduction which also acts as your training mission and trains you to use the new inventory menu and control scheme. It starts with you just a few steps away from finally banishing Le Chuck to hell forever. But things go wrong (I won’t spoil how) and you end up unconscious floating towards Flotsom Island which is where your adventure really starts.

Soon after washing up on the shore you meet some of the inlands inhabitants who are generally quite friendly considering they’re pirates; they inform you of the island’s freak weather system which traps everyone who lands upon it. It seems the wind constantly blows towards the island and doesn’t ever change thus preventing anyone from being able to sail away. Even if they wanted to sail away the island only has one ship in port and it’s never been sailed on the open seas. The Screaming Narwal has been built from scraps found on the island and from previous Shipwrecks, not exactly a fine example of shipmanship. I don’t want to spoil anymore of the storyline here because it would be easy to tell you too much of this short but jam packed 6 hour chapter and it’s so much better if you experience it for yourself. All you need to know is that as Guybrush you will have to uncover the secrets of the Island in a very funny and lovingly created adventure with plenty of characters, item finding and puzzle solving. There are quite a few references to the original games which I’m sure will raise a smile to anyone who’s played them.

Telltale has managed to capture the essence of Monkey Island with the help of the original creators Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman. Whilst I was a little nervous about heading into this brand new 3D Voice Acted style of point and click game I’ve been won over, I really enjoyed all of the time I spent with this episode, yes even all the time I was stuck wondering what to do (probably one hour out of the six). Gameplay feels fresh and plays a little like the recent Strongbad and Wallace and Gromit games also from Telltale but features a slightly revamped control scheme. Rather than the traditional point and click which I used to love; Tales of Monkey Island introduces Point and Drag.

Instead of using your mouse cursor and clicking where you’d like Guybrush to walk you can now hold the mouse button down and drag in the direction you’d like him to walk. Personally I don’t like this change and instead chose to make Guybrush walk using the arrow keys on my keyboard, I felt I had greater control and accuracy this way. The new graphic style took a little of getting used to for me because mentally I was coming from the original 16bit games; everything looks lush with lots of attention to detail. All of the characters are really well voice acted and become instantly memorable; hopefully we’ll bump into them in future episodes. Veterans will recognise lovely new renditions of the classic Monkey Island soundtracks too!

I whole heartedly recommend Tales of Monkey Island and can’t wait for the future episodes coming every month up until November 2009. I know it seems unusual to purchase a game for $34 right now and receive it in five separate six hour chunks but Chapter one scores 8 out of 10. Bring on Chapter 2!

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Related: The Secret Of Monkey Island Special Edition review, download the Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwal demo

Tags: Tales of Monkey Island Episode One, Monkey Island, Amiga, Strongbad, Telltale, Adventure, Xbox 360

We all know that most movie licenses are very bad but Disney’s G-Force actually bucks the trend and delivers a satisfying action adventure with high production values and tight controls. In the game you play as Darwin, one of the G-Force team, as you try to put a stop to electrical appliances that have come alive thanks to a virus.

In a change from the swine flu stories in the news at the moment, this time a virus is making irons, microwaves, toasters, shavers and headphones come alive and start attacking humans. Of course it’s far-fetched but these appliances provide suitably-sized opponents for your little guinea pig to fight with. Darwin has a plasma gun which can be upgraded, a quick-fire blaster rifle and a saber whip for melee combat. You’ll also have to employ some strategy with some of the appliances as some of them only show their weak spots at certain times or need to be destroyed in some other cunning way.

You also have the help of your housefly friend Mooch who you can control to squeeze through grates and slow down time to make it past fans and lasers to open doors and hack security for you. It’s really fun flying around the rooms and finding a way to get Darwin further into his mission.

Of course, the game’s very linear as you’d expect from a title like this and unfortunately there’s not too much variety in the game. Apart from a couple of levels when you’re in your hamster ball vehicle, all the environments look very samey and drab and most of your enemies can be killed by moving and shooting until they explode. Still, in short doses this game is great fun to play with high production values and responsive controls.

The game also comes with 3D glasses and you can switch this mode on in the options. To be honest though, I wouldn’t bother. The game doesn’t look much more 3D than it does in normal mode, everything looks washed out and it gave me a headache. Disney G-Force gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Related: Lego Indiana Jones review, The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian review, Youtube G-Force review

Tags: G-Force, GForce, g force, Darwin, Disney, guinea pig, hamster, Mooch, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation Portable, PSP, iPhone OS, G-Force review

Guitar Hero 5 on the Wii is going to support your Miis. So if you’ve made funny versions of Michael Jackson, Hitler or Ed Gean they can now jam along to all your favourite hits.

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Tags: Guitar Hero 5, Mii, Wii, Guitar Hero Mii support

There’s been quite a lot of talk about The Conduit due to the fact that it’s a proper First-Person Shooter for the Wii and looks mighty good too. Well, the good news is that it does look very good but what’s it like to play?

In the game you play as Agent Ford, a man handy with weapons who’s working for an agency to stop a terrorist organisation and a bunch of aliens. Of course, as you play, things aren’t quite as they seem and you uncover a web of intrigue that although very clichéd will still hold your interest.

The main thing that impressed me in the game is the way you can completely customise the controls and even HUD display. Don’t like the button configuration or sensitivity? You can change it until you find something you’re happy with and the result is a very smooth FPS experience as you point the remote at the screen to turn and aim.

There are a variety of pistols, machine guns and alien weapons to use in the game and a nifty device called the All Seeing Eye or ASE for short. This can be used to find nodes to unlock doors, uncover hidden messages that unlock bonuses and cheats and to detect invisible mines.

Apart from that it’s a pretty standard run and gun experience. It’s definitely something new if you only own a Wii and are used to Wii Fit and Wii Sports but if you’ve ever played Half Life 2 etc you’ll be left wanting. The AI of the limited enemies is also questionable at times. Sometimes they duck for cover and try to flank you and other times they just stand there asking to be shot in the face with a high-powered rifle.

So is it worth getting? If you only own a Wii and are chomping at the bit for some FPS action then I recommend it. For everyone else, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before on the more powerful consoles or a PC. The main game will take you about 7 hours to play through and there’s a nifty multiplayer mode in there too to keep you busy for even longer.

The Conduit gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Related: Madworld review, House of the Dead Overkill, Youtube The Conduit review

Tags: The Conduit, conduit, Wii, Wii FPS, Wii first person shooter, Youtube The Conduit review

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Tags: Jazzy Jeff, Activision, DJ game, turntable

It’s that time of year again when Tiger Woods returns with another game with a higher number than the year before (see our Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 review for a look at last years). This is Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 which stands for 2010 and there are some fundamental changes this time around.

The main thing I noticed about this new title is there’s no Tiger Challenge mode. This was the only real mode I played on the game and now it’s been replaced by the Tournament Challenge mode which sets you a number of tasks based on real life previous golfing events over all the courses. For me, it’s not as fun but those of you who play the Pro Season mode as their primary game mode won’t really care that much.

Online is much improved though. You can play simultaneously with other gamers as before, but now you can also enter tournaments and try to beat the course well under par in your own time. When the tournament closes, if you’re the best, you’re the winner.

When it comes to controls there’s still the real-time swing or the three-click modes to choose from and the real-time feedback displayed as you strike through the ball. The main difference is in putting. You now set your putting power and angle and then use a new meter which appears on screen to judge your shot and accuracy. It takes a bit of getting used to if you’re used to the old system but eventually you get the hang of it.

You can also turn on live weather which aims to reproduce what’s actually happening in the skies wherever you choose to play. It’s a little gimmicky but a nice addition nevertheless.

Unfortunately Hank Haney’s still in the game to train you in-between rounds to improve your stats. I didn’t like this last year and don’t like it this year either. The training rounds are dull but you have to play them if you want to seriously improve your golfer’s attributes.

If you’re really into playing Tiger Woods online then the new Tournament mode is probably worth getting the game for. Likewise get it if you’ve missed out on the last few and want a good golf sim. For me, there’s not enough in here to warrant the purchase so I’m going to give it 7 out of 10.

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Tags: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Tiger Woods, PGA Tour, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Golf, sport

I haven’t seen the movie yet but braved reviewing the game on the Wii nonetheless even though it of course contains spoilers. I won’t go into the plot of the game or the movie here but it’s safe to say the game features lots of running about Hogwarts as you uncover another mysterious plot that always comes back to Voldermort.

Being on the Wii, you use the nunchuck to move Potter round the environment, but then use the remote in what boils down to three games throughout the main game to either pilot your broomstick in games of Quidditch, mix potions, or cast spells around the castle and when duelling opponents. Unfortunately, apart from running around the castle to trigger the next cutscene, that’s all you really do. Anything else just seems like a lengthy tutorial, even hours into the game.

Let’s start with Quidditch. Basically the game goes on around you as you concentrate on catching the snitch. The action’s on rails here as you follow the snitch and point the Wii remote at the screen to steer Harry through stars that keep you on target to catch it. Keep hitting the stars and you win the game.

Potion making is probably the most fun but not once you’ve done it 20 times. Here you press A on the remote to pick up a potion then you tilt it to pour it into a cauldron. You also shake the remote and nunchuck to heat the pot and can also stir the mixture all using gestures. This works really and translates what you do with your remote almost exactly on screen.

Finally, there are the duels which you’d hope you would be able to employ some strategy in. Unfortunately, all you really have to do is get as close as possible to your opponent and blast them repeatedly as fast as you can until you beat them.

Unfortunately, that’s all there really is to the game. The likenesses and voices are good but the frame rate struggles most of the time and cutscenes (of which there are many) appear a bit rushed. If you’re a Harry Potter freak there’s something here for you. For everyone else, it’s just very, very average, like a Muggle. Harry Potter gets 5 out of 10.

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Tags: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter, Half Blood Prince, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince review

I don’t often play darts unless the person I’m talking to in the pub is really boring. However, it might be a fun experience on the Wii using the remote as an over-sized dart. The good news is, if you’re a darts fan, the game sort of works. The bad news, at least for me, is it’s probably cheaper and more satisfying to just play the real thing. This time developer Rebellion are making the game and the control system has been reworked to use just the Wii remote. You hold the remote a bit like a pen and keep the A button pressed down to lock your aim. You then use a throwing action and let go of the A button to release the dart. Your aim is down to getting the quick-moving power meter to stop at the right place.

So, if you’re a darts fan, does it recreate the experience of being a top-flight player? Well, it’s certainly got the official seal of approval. 18 top players are in there including Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor and Sid Waddell provides an amusing and sometimes annoying commentary on the highs and lows of the game. Player likenesses, however, are a little bit ropey and all look a bit ‘lumpy’.

And if you don’t just want to play the standard game of darts there are some party games in there for two to four players including my personal favourite, Round The Clock. There’s not really much more to say about the game. It’s darts but without the need for securing a dartboard to your wall and making lots of holes in the wall and getting told off by your Dad.

As I said before, my real problem is if you’re into darts you probably play it anyway and own a dartboard. If you’re not, you really won’t care to get your hands on it in the first place. It’s not my cup of tea so PDC World Championship Darts gets an average 5 out of 10.

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Tags: PDC World Championship Darts 2009, PDC, World Championship, Darts, 2009, sport, Phil Taylor, Wii, Sid Waddell, PDC World Championship Darts 2009 review

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Wimbledon’s just about wrapped up here in the UK and as a result there have been a couple of tennis games out recently. One is Virtua Tennis 2009 which I reviewed a fortnight ago, the other is EA’s Grand Slam Tennis which is the first game to use Nintendo’s new Wii Motion Plus controller. Unfortunately Nintendo haven’t sent me one so I’ll have to review the game based on the standard remote and nunchuck. As with previous tennis games on the Wii, if you play with just the remote, the game controls the player so you can concentrate on your swing. Hitting early, on time or a bit late changes the direction of your shot, whilst pressing A or B whilst taking your shot will either do a lob or a drop shot. You can also move to the net or the baseline by tapping up or down on the d-pad.

As you’d expect, you don’t always pull off what you intend when you swing your racket but nevertheless the game is great fun to play thanks to some great presentation.

Play Grand Slam mode and you compete in exhibition matches and all the big tournaments on varying surfaces. As you beat star players you also gain their attributes and slowly increase the stats of your player. And the star players are varied and all drawn in a unique cartoon style which works much better than Virtua Tennis. Andy Murray, Nadal and Federer are there along with the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova, but also older greats like Natratilova, Pete Sampras, Pat Cash and even John McEnroe. Sharipova’s grunting is even in there along with McEnroe’s outbursts which blare through the remote’s speaker if he drops a particularly bad shot.

A word of warning, the AI players are incredibly good, even on easy, and this game really comes into its own when you play with a friend in the same room or online. Matches can get really tense and there’s enough shot variety to send opponents all over the court before you finally win a point. Online is also very smooth and you can play singles and doubles in ranked or unranked matches. Throw in a calorie counter, some party games and of course the WMP support which I read makes the game even better, and you have probably the best tennis game of the year.

Grand Slam Tennis gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Related: Wii Motion Plus controller, Virtua Tennis 2009, Grand Slam Tennis review

Tags: Grand Slam Tennis, Wimbledon, sports, tennis, Wii, Wii Motion Plus

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Nintendo’s Wii Fit along with its Balance Board was a very popular piece of software, aiming to be a gym in a box complete with a personal trainer and calendar which would keep track of your targets and hopefully motivate you to stay fit at home. To be honest, my balance board is now gathering dust so now it’s time to see if EA Sports Active can get me jumping up and down in front of my TV again.

In the box you get the software, a leg strap which you use to holster your nunchuck during some exercises and a piece of smelly elastic which you tie to two handles to use for resistance exercises. It’s also compatible with the Wii Balance Board to add some extra features into some of the exercises.

When you load up the game you give it your usual stats and then you’re away. You can get straight into separate exercises which tone muscle groups and help with cardio, or you can access the calendar which gives you a 30 day routine which varies day to day to keep you motivated and keep you trim.

Where Wii Fit had some exercises and yoga and lots of mini games that got you fit whilst you had fun, EA Sports Active takes things a little more seriously. Basically, it makes you do the sort of exercises you’d do in an aerobics class and the personal trainer does a good job of keeping you motivated and also gives you advice as it keeps track of what the nunchuck strapped to you leg is doing (which, incidentally, can slide down your thigh if you’re wearing loose-fitting clothing, best to wear short shorts and strap it round your skin). You jog and walk around a running track to warm up and cool down, then do squats, lunges, bicep curls, rowing, boxing, tennis etc to work you upper and lower body.

I prefer this to Wii Fit, however, the game is slightly unbalanced. The resistance band is too stretchy and won’t really work your arms unless you’re very weak, however the lower body and leg workouts are absolute killers. My bottom hurt for two days after first trying the game out!

However, no pain, no gain, as they say. If you’re serious about toning some muscles alone or with a friend if you buy an extra leg band and resistance band, this is probably the best way to go, We’ll see what Wii Fit Plus has to offer in a few months.

EA Sports Active gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Tags: EA Sports Active, sports, Wii, Wii Motion Plus, resistance band, personal trainer, workout, routine, EA Sports Active review

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3 years ago I saw a rather good looking Indiana Jones game which had some dynamic fighting using their new Euphoria engine. So far, that game hasn’t surfaced and what we get instead is this latest adventure on the Wii, Staff of Kings. This time Indy is looking for the Staff of Moses and once again has to fight thugs, Nazis and mystical forces along the way.

Being on the Wii, LucasArts have decided to eek out every last bit of motion control. You use the remote and nunchuck to punch with your left and right fist, and by holding down the B button and swinging the remote, you can unleash your whip to disarm enemies, pull them closer for a handy headbutt or swing around the environment. You even get to use it as a joystick as you fly a plane and as a light gun during shooting sections.

Although it’s quite novel using the controls in this way to fight at first, it soon gets a bit frustrating. You can’t always pull off the moves you mean to do, not that that matters because your enemies mostly wait around for you to hit them or dodge their attacks. The fighting is fun though as you pick up objects and smash them into tables, fish tanks etc and does feel quite meaty as Indy’s punch-ups often look in the movies.

Unfortunately the game’s also very glitchy and feels rushed and unfinished. Tutorial sections and cut-scenes can’t be skipped so if you happen to die during them ,you have to sit through long sequences before you can try again. Although the Indy sound-alike is very good, audio skips and jumps as the game loads new areas, and even animations jump and skip as you fight and move around.

There’s also a co-op multiplayer mode in there if you fancy it as Indy and his Sean Connery Dad run about together but to be honest, this is pretty throw away too.

It’s a shame I enjoyed the old graphic adventure Fate of Atlantis and the PS2 game Emperor’s Tomb more than this one. It may be better on the PSP and PS2 thanks to a less convoluted control system but if you want a tomb-raiding action adventure, get the recent Tomb Raider instead. Staff of Kings gets an average 5 out of 10.

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I was a massive Ghostbusters fan as a kid and still have a soft spot for it, so I was looking forward to playing the new Ghostbusters game complete with the official likenesses, voices and music from the film that’s dear to a lot of people’s hearts. The good news is that if you’re a fan, you can’t help but be swept along with their latest adventure with a huge smile on your face every time you laugh out loud at a joke and of course fire a proton stream or trap a ghost. The bad news is, this is more of an interactive experience rather than a proper game which leaves me stuggling to score it.

At the start of the game, a big ghostly explosion engulfs Manhattan originating from the Gozer exhibit at the museum. This lets loose all sorts of nasties so you as a rookie and the four Ghostbusters go and investigate and explore hotels, museums, sewers, office bl ocks and even a parallel universe to ‘bust’ everything.

Playing this game really is the closest you will ever get to being in the movie. You get to trap and destroy old favourites like Slimer, Stay Puft and the Grey Lady from the library, the music is identical, the jokes are actually laugh out loud funny and even your proton pack rattles as you run about. It really does a fantastic job at recreating the 1984 classic whilst keeping things fresh with a new story and some additions to your proton pack. Of course you get to trap ghosts using your proton stream but you can also fire shock blasts, boson darts, slime and blast things with a meson collider. Button combos can be a bit tricky using the d-pad to select the right weapon for the right ghost but it’s something you get used to fairly quickly.

The reason I say it’s not a gamer’s game is the fact that it’s very linear and you feel like you’re being led through the game by the other principal characters. If you’re a fan you won’t mind this and may overlook the fact that combat is actually rudimentary as you just shoot and stay on the move and there’s no real way to avoid taking damage apart from using a dodge button that’s not all that effective. You also have to use your PKE meter regularly to play ‘hit or cold’ to find ghosts and artefacts. Bizarrely, the game switches into an unnecessary first-person mode as you view information through your paragoggles and it feels restrictive at times.

There are also a few glitches in there. I had to restart a checkpoint at one point because the Ghostbusters didn’t move the story along after a boss fight and just stood there, and one of the cut-scenes had the dialogue out of sync with the picture. The frame rate is also very disappointing and even slows down occasionally when there’s not that much happening on screen.

If this game didn’t have the official Ghostbusters licence behind it, it would be a rather short, disappointing action adventure but because it’s so superbly crafted for the fans, if you’re a fan, you’ll absolutely love it and play through most of the game grinning from ear to ear. I’m a massive fan so I give Ghostbusters an excellent 8 out of 10.

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Related: Ghostbusters the videogame interview, Ghostbusters Xbox 360 release date, Youtube Ghostbusters videogame review

Tags: Ghostbusters videogame, Ghostbusters, Gozer, Slimer, Stay Puft, Atari, Xbox360, PS3, Wii, Youtube Ghostbusters videogame review

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Virtua Tennis is back and if you’re expecting anything truly brand new with this 2009 rendition you’re going to be a bit disappointed I’m afraid. Yes we know that Virtua Tennis as an almost perfect arcade tennis game which is very easy to pick up and play but also possible to master if you play it enough, letting you beat all in your path. However, for me, the series hasn’t moved on enough since VT3 to be worthy of a purchase – that is unless you haven’t bought the last one, then maybe it’s worth a look.

The first thing you’re invited to do is make a player with some improved editing tools to change the facial features, body type and play style of your player. Then you’re presented with the globe that’s all too familiar where you can scroll to tournaments, rest at home or play mini games that improve your skills.

If you’re already a good VT player, unfortunately the tournament mode is going to bore you beyond belief as you smash your way through easy opponents until you eventually reach the star players such as Nedal, Federer, Sharapova and Murray. But then it just seems like they hit back everything you throw at them because of course, the console knows exactly where you’re hitting the ball when you play it. Also, the player models look good when not making expressions, but then look like they’ve been made by Skynet or something when they pull robotic celebration faces. Graphically, it’s a shame things haven’t moved on in 2 years when you see the level of detail games such as UFC have gone to.

Strangely, the mini games can actually be more fun than playing tennis. There are games where you have to sink pirate ships, games where you earn combos for smashing coloured bricks out of a wall and a pool game to play. There’s also a weird game where you have to run over piles of money whilst avoiding large tennis balls which doesn’t work so well. It’s a pity loading times slow things down between these short rounds too.

The most fun you’ll have with VT as always is multiplayer. You can play singles, doubles and of course take it online but do be warned, players who are already practised cab take their maxed out custom character online and will spank you into the middle of next week.

Oh, and it’s also not a good idea to have the charisma-deficient Tim Henman to tell you what to do. Let’s be honest, he was never that good in the first place.

This game’s still fun but you get the feeling Sega should mix things up more next time. Virtua Tennis 2009 gets a good 6 out of 10.

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Related: Review of Virtua Tennis 2009, Smash Court Tennis 3, Youtube Virtua Tennis 2009 review

Tags: Virtua Tennis 2009, Virtua Tennis, sports, 2009, Xbox360, Wii, PS3, Nedal, Federer, Sharapova, Murray, Henman, tennis, Sega, Virtua Tennis 2009 review

After such a long wait we can finally look forward to the upcoming blockbuster movie and accompanying video game releases of Harry Potter’s 6th adventure; Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Electronic Art’s have spent many months and worked very hard to make this the best Harry Potter video game to date and promise to keep as close to the storyline of the film whilst making the game fun and interactive for the player.

This time around Harry Potter faces his darkest and most terrifying battles yet and will need all of his magic skills and cunning to defeat the evils brought on by Lord Voldemort. You will need to help Harry, Ron and Hermione protect Hogwarts once again in the sprawling and detailed game which is jam packed full of exciting things to do which include;

• Competing in the exciting Quidditch Cup
• Learning new magic duelling skills and taking them into battle
• Creating exciting magic potions
• Taking part in cool and stealthy night time adventures in Hogwarts while everyone is asleep
• Exploring brand new magical areas outside of Hogwarts such as The Burrow and Horcrux cave

No matter what system you own you can look forward to Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince because it’s coming out for Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, PS3, DS and Mobile phones. The Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince release date for North American fans is June 30th and the release date for Harry Potter 6 in the Europe is just 3 days later on 3rd July.

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Related: The Lord of the Rings Conquest review, Iron Man review

Tags: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter 6, Quidditch, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, PS2, PSP, DS, Wii, Mobile, movie, film

Rather unusually for a series of action figures, G.I. Joe (or Action Man for British Readers) actually started off as a toy and then moved into comics, a cartoon show and now the upcoming blockbuster movie G.I Joe The Rise of the Cobra. As most of you will probably already know, GI Joe is a tough action hero who can adapt to any scenario and learn any skill necessary to stop bad guys from the evil Cobra Organization. You could say he’s a tougher version of James Bond although I wouldn’t like to commit and say who would win if pitted against each other.

Hasbro have entrusted EA to develop the heavily anticipated tie in video game and from the looks of the latest GI Joe Video Game trailer it seems that was a jolly good idea because it looks full of action, guns and melee combat. G.I Joe The Rise of the Cobra video game is coming out on all platforms including 360, Wii, PS2 and PS3 and we’ll bring you more news as we get it.

The G.I Joe The Rise of the Cobra Release Date is August 4th in North America and 31st July in Europe.

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Related: GI Joe Video Game trailer, Bionic Commando review

Tags: GI Joe, Rise of the Cobra, G.I. Joe, release date, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PS3, DS

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Last year’s Boom Blox was a surprise hit and one of the best games yet for the WIi developed by a third party. Well, Spielberg and EA are back with the sequel and it’s more of the same only with some improvements which make it a much better game than before.

The game revolves around you knocking blocks over to achieve whatever goal objective is being given to you at the time. Each level is a one-off puzzle which you must complete in order to move to the next stage. You throw bombs, baseballs, pull on blocks, sling them into each other and now even fire cannonballs at them to bash them into oblivion, and it’s all done using gestures of the remote. This time though, there’s more variety in the stages.

There are levels where you must throw paintballs to match colours and make them disappear, levels set in space where blocks float off into the dark stuff, underwater levels and other themes including the jungle and one that kids love so much, pirates!

There are over 400 levels to play but because they’ve included a level editor and the ability to upload levels to EA’s servers, you can upload and download new levels from EA and other gamers very quickly and keep the experience going as long as you want.

There is also a co-op mode in there where two people can work together and a versus mode where you have to score more points than each other or play a more hardcore version of Jenga.

Boom Blox Bash Party is yet another successful family game for the Wii which all ages will love. It’s varied and even if you get stuck, the new Boom Bux currency system means you can unlock stages further into the game with money you’ve won for completing achievements earlier on.

It gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

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Related: Boom Blox review, Jenga World Tour review, Boom Blox Bash Party review

Tags: Boom Blox Bash Party, Boom Blox, Bash Party, Nintendo Wii, Jenga, Wii, Spielberg, EA

Nintendo have announced Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii Fit Plus, Metroid Other M and the Wii Vitality Sensor which senses the user’s pulse and other bodily signals.

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Tags: Nintendo, Wii, E3, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii Fit plus, Metroid Other M, Wii Vitality Sensor