One of the best features of Nintendo's Wii is the Virtual Console, a downloadable library of more than 200 classic games.
It's
a great resource for young gamers who want to see what they missed and
for geezers who wonder if old favorites were as great as they remember.
What
the Virtual Console lacks is anything new. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Xbox
Live Arcade and (to a lesser extent) Sony's PlayStation Network have
delivered a consistent supply of fresh software.
Such games –
usually, casual titles such as "Uno" or "Lumines Live!" – may not
warrant a full commercial release but can be well worth a $10 download.
WiiWare
is Nintendo's attempt to deliver brand new games online. None of the
six games in the WiiWare launch lineup is as addictive as, say, "Puzzle
Quest" or "Geometry Wars," but there are many more offerings on the way.
"Final
Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King" (Square Enix, $15): For
all the baroque mythology that has built up around "Final Fantasy," the
games share one essential element: fighting monsters. Take that away
and you get "My Life as a King," a flat management sim in which a young
ruler is trying to rebuild his kingdom.
You can build a few
houses to start, but then you have to send your subjects out to gather
resources. They do all the dungeon exploring while you stay home and
chat with the citizenry.
You can build a respectable town fairly
quickly, and if you get hooked, you can buy more content online. But
it's hard to escape the feeling that all the real fun is happening
offstage.
Reviewer's rating: 2 stars out of 4.
"LostWinds"
(Frontier, $10): In this 2D adventure, you wave the Wii remote to
control gusts of wind. The breezes help your character jump higher and
farther, or can be used to solve puzzles or trap enemies.
"LostWinds"
looks prettier than many full-priced Wii games, although it only takes
about three hours to finish. The wind controls are innovative but
frustratingly imprecise, making it hard to pull off basic moves just
because the wind doesn't act the way you expect.
It's an interesting experiment, probably worth the $10.
Reviewer's rating: 2.5 stars.
"TV
Show King" (Gameloft, $10): Here's a decent trivia quiz for your next
party. Up to four players compete to answer multiple-choice questions,
with everyone choosing their responses at the same time.
Gameloft
says 3,000 questions are included, and there's enough variety to
balance out different players' strengths. Each round ends with a spin
of a roulette wheel that can add or subtract money, which adds a little
too much luck but gives some hope to players who aren't trivia buffs.
Reviewer's rating: 2.5 stars.
"Defend
Your Castle" (XGen Studios, $5): Villagers are storming your fortress,
but it's easy enough to defend: Just pick them up and hurl them into
the air. That's just for starters, though, and eventually you'll need
to convert some of the attackers into defenders. You'll also need to
fortify the castle and beef up your weapons with bombs and magic spells.
"DYC" builds slowly into complete chaos and benefits from clever graphics that look like the scrawlings of a bored schoolboy.
Reviewer's rating: 2.5 stars.
"Pop"
(Nnooo, $7): Who doesn't love popping bubble wrap? That's the not-bad
inspiration behind "Pop": Bubbles float across the screen, and you
point the remote at the screen to burst them.
Some bubbles give
you more time, some give you more points, and if you chain bubbles of
the same color, your score is multiplied.
It's much too simple to hold your attention for long and just doesn't have the addictive quality of the best puzzle games.
Reviewer's rating: 1 star.
"VIP
Casino: Blackjack" (High Voltage, $7): Honestly, I've never gotten the
point of gambling video games. Where's the fun if there's no actual
money on the line? "VIP" doesn't offer anything more than a barebones
game of blackjack: There's no tournament play, no online competition
and not much in the way of visual distraction.
Continues : http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/
It's
a great resource for young gamers who want to see what they missed and
for geezers who wonder if old favorites were as great as they remember.
What
the Virtual Console lacks is anything new. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Xbox
Live Arcade and (to a lesser extent) Sony's PlayStation Network have
delivered a consistent supply of fresh software.
Such games –
usually, casual titles such as "Uno" or "Lumines Live!" – may not
warrant a full commercial release but can be well worth a $10 download.
WiiWare
is Nintendo's attempt to deliver brand new games online. None of the
six games in the WiiWare launch lineup is as addictive as, say, "Puzzle
Quest" or "Geometry Wars," but there are many more offerings on the way.
"Final
Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King" (Square Enix, $15): For
all the baroque mythology that has built up around "Final Fantasy," the
games share one essential element: fighting monsters. Take that away
and you get "My Life as a King," a flat management sim in which a young
ruler is trying to rebuild his kingdom.
You can build a few
houses to start, but then you have to send your subjects out to gather
resources. They do all the dungeon exploring while you stay home and
chat with the citizenry.
You can build a respectable town fairly
quickly, and if you get hooked, you can buy more content online. But
it's hard to escape the feeling that all the real fun is happening
offstage.
Reviewer's rating: 2 stars out of 4.
"LostWinds"
(Frontier, $10): In this 2D adventure, you wave the Wii remote to
control gusts of wind. The breezes help your character jump higher and
farther, or can be used to solve puzzles or trap enemies.
"LostWinds"
looks prettier than many full-priced Wii games, although it only takes
about three hours to finish. The wind controls are innovative but
frustratingly imprecise, making it hard to pull off basic moves just
because the wind doesn't act the way you expect.
It's an interesting experiment, probably worth the $10.
Reviewer's rating: 2.5 stars.
"TV
Show King" (Gameloft, $10): Here's a decent trivia quiz for your next
party. Up to four players compete to answer multiple-choice questions,
with everyone choosing their responses at the same time.
Gameloft
says 3,000 questions are included, and there's enough variety to
balance out different players' strengths. Each round ends with a spin
of a roulette wheel that can add or subtract money, which adds a little
too much luck but gives some hope to players who aren't trivia buffs.
Reviewer's rating: 2.5 stars.
"Defend
Your Castle" (XGen Studios, $5): Villagers are storming your fortress,
but it's easy enough to defend: Just pick them up and hurl them into
the air. That's just for starters, though, and eventually you'll need
to convert some of the attackers into defenders. You'll also need to
fortify the castle and beef up your weapons with bombs and magic spells.
"DYC" builds slowly into complete chaos and benefits from clever graphics that look like the scrawlings of a bored schoolboy.
Reviewer's rating: 2.5 stars.
"Pop"
(Nnooo, $7): Who doesn't love popping bubble wrap? That's the not-bad
inspiration behind "Pop": Bubbles float across the screen, and you
point the remote at the screen to burst them.
Some bubbles give
you more time, some give you more points, and if you chain bubbles of
the same color, your score is multiplied.
It's much too simple to hold your attention for long and just doesn't have the addictive quality of the best puzzle games.
Reviewer's rating: 1 star.
"VIP
Casino: Blackjack" (High Voltage, $7): Honestly, I've never gotten the
point of gambling video games. Where's the fun if there's no actual
money on the line? "VIP" doesn't offer anything more than a barebones
game of blackjack: There's no tournament play, no online competition
and not much in the way of visual distraction.
Continues : http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/
