Nintendo Wii Game Review: Rayman Raving Rabbids

By Richard Southam

The Game: Rayman Raving Rabbids

Published by: Ubisoft
Developed by: Ubisoft Montpellier (France)
Genre: Platformer
Number of Players: 1-4
Release Date:
US: November 19, 2006
Japan: December 31, 2006
Europe: December 8, 2006
ESRB Content Descriptors: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief

The Premise from Ubisoft:

Hordes of crazed out-of control bunnies have invaded, enslaving Rayman and forcing him to participate in “gladiator” style trials. Help Rayman win his freedom back by entertaining and outwitting these fury foes. Use the most hilarious fighting moves imaginable. Run races on animals, fight in the arena, mesmerize the bunnies with your dance moves or use the Wii controller to throw cows, milk pigs or engage in plunger shooting madness! The possibilities for fun are endless.

———-

The Game:

Rayman Raving Rabbids will not capture your heart and mind with an amazing premise. However, the premise does its job by getting you involved in mini-games. Yes, mini-games. This is not a traditional Rayman game. Although its official genre is Platformer, it is more of a Party game than Platformer. That is not to say that it does not contain any Platforming elements, because it does. The mini-games are connected via traditional Platform gaming, and the boss fights are also done in a traditional Platforming style of play.

Gameplay:

The mini-games are, for the most part, extremely fun to play. It does have a few misses, but overall they’re great. The comedic aspect of the game is also fun, and actually quite funny. You just need to watch a trailer of the game to see what I mean. However like most games whose gameplay is almost exclusively mini-games, the single-player experience does get a bit tiresome after a while. The real joy of the game is its multi-player features. Not all mini-games can be played in multi-player mode, but there are more than enough to quench your appetite. Some of the multi-player mini-games require only 1 remote, which is then passed around from player to player. However, this style of multi-player isn’t quite as fun as the 4-player mayhem. That is, all 4 players playing simultaneously. This requires each player to have their own remote.

The Controls:

Ubisoft really hit the nail on the head with Rayman Raving Rabbids’ control scheme. The use of motion sensing technology is on full display in this game. Some games require more physical effort than others, but unless you’re completely out of shape, you shouldn’t have any problems. Simple gestures and motions are usually more than enough for the majority of the mini-games.

Graphics:

The graphics are not revolutionary. In fact, it can be compared to an above-average GameCube game. However, this does not mean that the game is ugly. It is well polished and its use of a great animated style is a plus. The levels and characters are well designed which adds a lot in terms of the overall game.

Audio:

The game has nothing groundbreaking in terms of sound effects, but they are quite solid. The soundtrack is actually quite impressive. It contains such songs as “Girls Just Want to have Fun” and “La Bamba”.

Pros and Cons:

+ Generally fantastic mini-games
+ Quirky humor
+ Great control scheme
- Although it is helped by the style, the overall graphics aren’t that great
- Single-player experience tends to get boring too fast

Overall:

8.4 / 10

Nintendo Wii Game Review:  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

By Richard Southam

The Game: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Nintendo
Genre: Third-Person Adventure
Number of Players: 1
Release Date:
US: November 19, 2006
Japan: December 2, 2006
Europe: December 8, 2006
ESRB Content Descriptors: Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence

The Premise from Nintendo:

When an evil darkness enshrouds the land of Hyrule, a young farm boy named Link must awaken the hero – and the animal – within. When Link travels to the Twilight Realm, he transforms into a wolf and must scour the land with the help of a mysterious girl named Midna. Besides his trusty sword and shield, Link will use his bow and arrows by aiming with the Wii Remote controller, fight while on horseback and use a wealth of other items, both new and old.

———-

The Game:

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is another installment of the world-famous Legend of Zelda franchise.  For the first time ever, Nintendo has released a Zelda game for a console’s launch.  This third-person action adventure builds upon the simple premise of a hero, Link, trying to save Princess Zelda.  Sound familiar?  If you’ve ever played a Zelda game in your life, it should.

Gameplay:

Like most other Legend of Zelda games, the game starts off very slow.  Nintendo does a very good job of building the storyline and its characters.  This is a single-player action adventure game; however, you will find a number of interesting mini-games within the game’s storyline.  The most popular of these being fishing.  With the addition of the Wii remote, fishing has gone from a necessary chore in older Zelda games, to fantastic fun.  You can easily spend hours simply fishing in Twilight Princess.  There are a total of 9 dungeons in this installment of Zelda, each with its own unique set of monsters and bosses.  Conservative estimates have put this installment of Zelda to be over 50 hours of gameplay for the main storyline alone.  One could easily put in over 100 hours of gameplay if you take the time to do all the quests and play the mini-games.  The game sticks to its traditional roots by not having any voice acting.  This can be quite a nuisance for some players, but I don’t find it a big deal at all.

The Controls:

The Wii remote and nun-chuk are on full display for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  Link is controlled using the nun-chuk attachment.  A simple flick of the wrist let’s you use your sword, and the combination of both remotes lets you use your bow in the most satisfying way of any video game ever.  You simply aim, pull back the remote, and fire.  The controller also emits the arrows’ sound from its internal speaker.

Graphics:

Of all the Nintendo Wii launch games, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has by far the best graphics.  Although it is basically a direct port from the GameCube version, which is scheduled for release later in the year, the graphics are superbly well done.

Audio:

Twilight Princess has a fantastic musical score with many classic Zelda chimes.  The sound effects are also well done.  The internal speaker on the Wii remote is often used and adds a lot to the overall experience.

Pros and Cons:

+ Fantastic story
+ Great puzzles
+ Great level design
+ Incredible graphics
+ Very long
- Very long

Overall:

10 / 10

Nintendo Wii vs. Sony PlayStation 3

By Richard Southam

It has been a long time coming, but finally both these gaming consoles have arrived.  The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) was released on November 17th, whereas the Nintendo Wii was released 2 days later, on the 19th.  So which of the 2 systems is better?  Which should you buy for Christmas?  Who has the better launch?  Read on to find the answers!

Launch by Numbers

PlayStation 3:
After numerous delays and production problems, Sony was finally able to release its PlayStation 3 in time for the Christmas holidays…Well not quite.  Sony was indeed able to release the system; however the shipment numbers are laughable.  It is estimated that only 500,000 units will be shipped by the end of the year.  This means trying to get your hands on a PS3 before Christmas will be nearly impossible.

Wii:
Although it may be also difficult to get your hands on a Wii at the moment, Nintendo plans to ship over 4 million units worldwide by the end of the year.  This easily dwarfs the PlayStation 3 number of 500,000.  A steady supply of Wiis is being shipped weekly to retailers thus making it easier to get a Wii with each passing week.

Winner: Wii

Games:

PlayStation 3:
When it comes to the PS3, it is generally thought that there are no games worth getting at this point in time.  I have had the privilege of playing the PS3 and most of its games.  The only game that held my interest for more than 15 minutes was Resistance: Fall of Man.  It is obvious that better games will make their way to the system, but I would not suggest holding your breath for them.  Games like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 13 are expected to come out in late 2007 or early 2008.

Wii:
For the first time ever, Nintendo is releasing a Zelda game at a console launch.  This launch title is without a doubt the best game available on the console.  In fact, it is widely believed to be the best Zelda game ever.  Another thing to take note of is the variety of games available.  Nintendo and its third-party developers have covered all the bases.  Whether you like sports games or shooting games, there is plenty to choose from.

Winner: Wii
Graphics:

PlayStation 3:
Although they don’t even come close to realizing the full potential of the PS3 in terms of graphics, the launch games are much prettier than those of the Wii.

Wii:
Nintendo has taken a different direction this generation and is less concerned about graphics.  Although that doesn’t mean that the games look bad.  You certainly won’t get the same level of realism that you would get on the PS3 or XBOX360.  The Wii’s graphical power is a little stronger than that of the original XBOX.

Winner: PlayStation 3

Price:

PlayStation 3:
The PlayStation 3 comes in 2 different versions.  You have the $499.99 version and the $599.99 version.  No, I did not make a typo with the prices.  Although both systems are similar, the $600 version comes with, among other things, a bigger hard drive.  It is estimated that over 80% of the PlayStation 3 consoles shipped will be the $600 version.  All this makes the $500 version fairly obsolete.  Both versions are able to play BluRay discs.  One remote and the necessary cables are included in the box.

Wii:
Currently, the Nintendo Wii retails for $249.99.   Included in the box are: the Wii game console, all the necessary wires and adapters, Wii Sports (a game featuring 5 different sports), the regular Wii remote, as well as the nun-chuk attachment.

Winner:  Wii

Final Score: Wii – 3 vs. PlayStation 3 – 1

Verdict:
The Wii is the obvious choice for all gamers right now.  The cheap price, great launch games, and fantastic innovation make it the console to get this holiday season.

The Best Accessories for the Xbox 360

For any gaming console, there are two kinds of accessories: the ones you really need to get any joy out of the system, and the extras that are just for fun. With their usual marketing savvy, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 with everything you needed to use the system available, and then over the last year, drip-fed the pure toys onto the market.

This year’s Christmas present for the Xbox fanatic is the Xbox Live Vision Camera. It’s available in two packages. The Standard Kit, at US$40, comes with a month’s Gold subscription to Xbox Live, a wired headset, and Uno and Totemball from the Xbox Live Arcade. The US$80 Gold Kit comes with all that, a year’s Gold subscription, 200 Microsoft points, and Robotron: 2084. A fully-functioning webcam, Xbox Live Vision allows video chat and personalised avatars. Games like World Series Poker use ‘digimask’ technology, that uses the camera to map the player’s actual facial expression onto their avatar. It also allows for gesture-based gaming, promising the ability to, say, direct troops with a few finger-points, just like in the movies.

Filling the same functions for audio is the Xbox wireless headset. Given how much players thrash around in pressure situations, going wireless is worth the US$60. The headset, like the wireless controllers, works up to 30 feet from the console, which can support four headset-controller combinations at once. The headset allows for both in-game and private chat, as well as supporting voice-command-based gameplay. The headset is lightweight, fits over either ear, and comes with two sets of removable ear grips. It has an eight-hour battery life and comes with an AC charger.

If you’re spending a lot of your gaming time immersed in Project Gotham Racing or Need for Speed,  you’ve got to have the new wireless force-feedback racing wheel. Demonstrated at the 2006 E3, the system features standard gamepad buttons on the wheel itself, and floor-mounted accelerator and brake pedals. At US$150, it’s at the top end of peripherals price-wise, but it’s a top-quality product and comes with a copy of Project Gotham Racing 3. The game contains the drivers for the wheel: if you already own PGR3, you’ll still need to install what’s basically an update. There’s a detachable clamp section so you can secure the dashboard to a desk, or just rest it in your lap.

With all the wireless peripherals, charging is a major factor with the 360. You want to be able to do it quickly and without losing playtime. There are two options for this. The first is the ‘play and charge’ kit. For about US$20, this allows you to charge your controller through the USB port, while you’re using it. It takes longer for the controller to recharge, but on the other hand, you still get to use it. Or for US$30, you can go for the Quick Charge Kit. It’s easy to use and even quite styly, and recharges batteries in about two hours.

If the Xbox 360’s own 20Gb hard drive (which doesn’t come as standard but should) is creaking at the seams on your system, you might want to consider getting an XSATA. At a reasonable US$40, this allows you to transfer files from your Xbox 360 to your PC, as if your Xbox was a USB drive. You can clear space by shifting saved games and cinematics to your computer, so you can load more fresh content onto your 360 without losing anything.

If you’re looking for something for an Xbox gamer and they have ‘everything’, then any one of a plethora of licensed faceplates and controllers might just go down a treat. Whatever your style of gaming, it will be a while before you run out of new toys for your 360.

Buyer Tips When Purchasing A Used Xbox 360

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has been out for a year now, and with the PS3 and the Wii bursting onto the market in time for Christmas, this is the perfect opportunity for the smart budget-conscious gamer to look at buying a second-hand 360.

The best place to start looking is eBay. Now that 360s are no longer scarce, the over-inflated prices are gone, and with a bit of persistence, you’ll probably be able to pick up quite a good deal. It pays, though, to be very careful you know what you’re getting. If the price is suspiciously cheap, there’s going to be a reason.

Make sure you know whether what you’re bidding on is a Core System or a Premium Package. The core system initially retailed for US$300, the Premium for US$400. The easiest way to tell which one you’re looking at from the photo is that the Core comes with a wired controller, and the Premium with a wireless one. It’s really not worth buying the Core system, because it doesn’t come with the 20Gb hard drive. Without the hard drive, you can’t access Xbox live, save your games, or even play your old Xbox games. If you’re looking at buying a second-hand Xbox 360 core system, you’ll need to find out how much the hard drive is going to cost you and factor that in to what you’re prepared to pay for the system.

Then there are a couple of questions you need to ask the seller. Was this one of the systems that crashed to blue screen of death straight out of the box? Was the 2006 Fall Update installed? If it wasn’t, you won’t be able to access Xbox Live until you download it. If it was, did it make the console brick, as it did about one percent of 360s?  Has it ever been shipping back to Microsoft for repairs? Is there any warranty left on it? Retailers like EB Games offer excellent warranties on the consoles they sell for a small extra charge. You still have to be able to return the console to the store, though, and if that store is in Los Angeles and you’re in Chicago, you may find that the shipping cost is dangerously equivalent to the price of a brand new Wii. The same goes for shipping a faulty Xbox back to Microsoft for repairs.

Then you need to look at the accessories you’re getting with the bundle you’re buying. If someone’s offloading their console, they’re probably getting shot of their games, too. What you really need to look for, though, is the 20Gb hard drive, and at least one extra controller - unless you have no friends. Every system should come with a composite-video/stereo audio A/V cable, and second-hand Premiums should have a component HD AV cable and an ethernet cable. Most premium packages came with the headset, though some came with the media remote instead. That last is a handy wee item that makes it much easier to use your Xbox for playing DVDs and music. All the accessories that you’re going to need without getting into things like steering wheels would cost you up to US$200 to buy individually, but will probably get thrown into a sale package for only about US$50 more.

Remember to factor in the cost of shipping, too. With something this big, that could end up being a hefty  portion of what you pay. Look for a console close to home.

There are other avenues to try, too. Look out for places like EB Games and GameStop taking trade-ins - that means they’ll have second-hand stock for sale. And while the normal retail price of the Xbox 360 hasn’t budged from launch, if you keep an eye out, you might be able to find a bargain. Amazon.com ran a brief promotion where they sold band new 360s of US$100. If you’re prepared to put in a bit of time and in no hurry to buy, you can save yourself a lot of money on your gaming experience.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the sequel to 2002’s Morrowind, a game whose lack of direction made it a bit of a disappointment for many RPG fans. So what is it about Oblivion that’s raised it above the mire in a saturated genre to be an award-winner and one of the Xbox 360’s biggest-selling titles?

Partly it’s the graphical quality, both the PC and Xbox 360 versions taking full advantage of the hardware. The game uses the Havoc physics engine for combat and True HDR graphics with the SpeedTree Technology system adding depth and realism to the backgrounds. The flip side to this is frequent pauses for loading and occasional crashes, but at least the game is lacking the sometimes fatal bugs of its predecessor.

Mostly, though, it’s the balance between freedom and direction. There’s a solid, large-scale main quest revolving around the murder of the Emperor and securing the succession for his son. The voice work, featuring Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, Terrence Stamp, and Lynda Carter, is excellent and almost completely lacking in cheese. Aside from this, though, you’re free to explore a vast world full of side quests, guild quests, shopping, and a phenomenal amount of chat.

That’s where Oblivion really jumps the RPG rails. All the NPCs are individuals, with their own goals and traits. (In initial game testing, the NPCs’ freedom to pursue their own ends led to some hilarious anarchy.) It feels like a world full of people, not mannequins. Again, the voice acting is solid, though like most RPGs, all the women sound exactly the same.

Your ability to customise your own character matches that depth too. After selecting your race and designing your appearance, you go through the first scenes where you become involved in the Emperor’s escape attempt. Unlike Morrowind, you’re straight into the main adventure. After making your way through a sewer system, the game analyses how you’ve played up until this point and suggests a character class. If you’ve been charging screaming into every battle, it may be that ‘thief’ is not the class for you. You still have the option, though, to pretty much ignore class and just design your character the way you want. Levelling up will lead to gaining significant new skills, not just becoming incrementally better at the old ones.

In keeping with making it easy to stay on task, the quest management system in Oblivion is excellent. Your journal tells you exactly what you need to do, and once you’ve selected a particular quest to be your main objective, your next port of call will appear on your map and you’ll get a compass telling you where to go. You’re never wandering around lost and frustrated.

Combat is less simple than some RPGs, so there’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s not heinous. Generally you’ll have a ‘hit’ button and a block button and another for casting spells, with eight ‘hot keys’ - always a system harder to manage with a d-pad than a keyboard. You don’t need to be too precise with your aiming, but getting hit will knock you round, and in melee combat that can be a real problem. Allies will get majorly pissed at you if you keep cutting them up by mistake.

There is no online or multi-player mode with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In a way, it doesn’t really need that, because the world is so immersive, detailed, and well-peopled. It will feel a bit odd for MMORPG fans to be dealing with guilds made up completely of NPCs, though. Still, there’s more than enough gameplay here to keep the most avid dungeon-crawler happily immobile for hours.

Perfect Dark Zero

One thing game developers know is that girls and guns is a killer combination. Guys like scary aggressive kick-ass women, and girl-gamers like them too. Perfect Dark Zero features Joanna Dark, a gorgeous red-headed bounty hunter, and some of her favorite high-caliber friends.

Perfect Dark Zero is a prequel to the Nintendo 64’s Perfect Dark. This is the story of Joanna and her father before her involvement with the Carrington Institute, battling evil uber-corp dataDyne. The word ’story’ is used very loosely, like most first-person shooters. Basically, the plot framework is just a couple of planks nailed together to justify arming up and going out on ‘missions’. Every now and then a plot point is thrown in only to be left dangling unexplained when the mission is finished. The lack of attention to storyline comes out in the voicework too, which in some places is just cringe-worthy.

Typically for games like this, you work your way through several different weapons as your missions become harder. But PDZ is refreshingly different in that you don’t get to the Big Gun and then cuddle it lovingly for the rest of the game. Each weapon has a secondary capability that makes it more useful in particular scenarios, so you’ll keep on changing weapon.

The game’s AI isn’t too flash. Some of the hardest missions are the escort ones, as the people you’re supposed to be protecting wander straight out into a barrage of enemy fire and stand there until they fall down. Your opponents are often almost as stupid, relying on the trusty old tactic of running straight at you shooting. They will occasionally take cover, but they’ll also obligingly come charging through doors so you can blow their heads off. You yourself now have a roll and a melee attack, and also the ability to take cover, though oddly only in designated areas, when you’ll get a screen prompt.

As you complete a mission on one difficulty level, you unlock the next. Beating the game on Perfect Agent will unlock the fiendishly tricky Dark Agent level. Within that, though, you can choose your difficulty level for each individual mission, which is a nice touch.

Perfect Dark Zero offers a two-player split-screen version. This also departs from game conventions by sometimes starting the two players in different places, with different objectives and obstacles until they get together. The Xbox 360’s headset mikes mean you don’t actually have to be in the same place anyway.

Where Perfect Dark Zero really takes off is in its online multiplayer function. Xbox Live offers a combat arena and four different modes of play: typical Kill-Count and Capture the Flag play, as well as Onslaught and Infection. Infection is particularly fun, as when your team-members are killed, they become infected and change teams. In some areas, you also have jet-packs and hover-crafts available to mess with, letting you get some mileage out of your 360’s wireless racing wheel.

Perfect Dark Zero is very pretty to look at. Well, if lovingly-rendered small arms can be called pretty. It’s sharp, light and shiny and uses sweeping wide-screen panoramas to good effect. Lighting is generally excellent, it’s just that the game has that odd seventh-generation-console game tendency to make absolutely everything shiny and smooth. Being a sci-fi setting, that mostly works for this particular game, but there are times when it’s definitely out of place. Perfect Dark Zero more than makes up for this by letting you shoot bits off your enemy’s armour.

Perfect Dark Zero is a fun gaming experience. Guns go bang with satisfying loudness, the graphics are excellent and the music is mostly appropriate. Online content means you’ll get countless hours of play out of the game even after you’ve done all the solo missions. It’s about killing things, not character development.

Tomb Raider: Legend

This offering from Crystal Dynamics is the seventh installment in the Tomb Raider series, and it’s hard for fans to explain the franchise’s appeal - mostly because they’re too busy watching Lara’s breasts bounce up and down. For those less interested in mammaric polygon development, Legend is a great game with plenty of other things to enjoy.

Somebody seems to have noticed what the game’s predecessor, Angel of Darkness, did wrong. Legend goes back to the tried and true for Lara, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s a stylish but minimal back-story about Lara’s missing mother and - shock horror - an artifact in pieces scattered across the world that needs reassembling. So it’s off to Peru, Tokyo, Kazakhstan, Ghana, etc, to jump, run, and swing your way through tombs and ruins. The game makes full use of the Xbox 360’s higher graphical quality, and especially in HDTV it look stunning. The exotic locations play up the 360’s strengths, but the game throws in a bit of variety, too, such as an abandoned research facility. The level of detail in the backgrounds makes it well worth just standing and looking for a couple of minutes - as does Lara’s lovely stretching ‘idle’ animation.

Generally, the game is easier to drive than some of its predecessors. There’s no more pixel-pushing to get a jump just right on the fifteenth try. As long as you’re pointed in the right direction, Legend makes it easy for you, even if you end up clinging by your fingernails. Lara has something called a Remote Analysis Device which lets you know which bits of an environment you can interact with, so actually finding the puzzle is easier. Gun play is completely simplified: left trigger aims, right trigger fires, keep firing until everything falls down. Some people will find the lack of finesse annoying, but the trade-off is a very shallow learning curve. There are still odd problems with camera angles and not being able to get a good look at a jump, but you wont be spending too much time stuck looking at Lara’s beautifully-rendered shorts.

Crystal Dynamics have added a grapple tool to Lara’s arsenal which does add a different dimension to the gameplay. They do get their mileage out of it, though, and the novelty wears off. Likewise, you have the ability to leap off an enemy’s head and shoot him in loving cinematic slow-mo, which everyone should do at least twice and not many times more - it’s painfully slow. There are a couple of motorcycle sequences too, which is the only place where the game physics get seriously dodgy. Lara also has a chest-mounted torch, because… erm… a girl needs her hands. Yeah.

The biggest problem with the game is that there simply isn’t enough of it. There’s unlockable content in Croft Manor, and a Beat the Clock version, but even with all that, it’s still just a weekend’s play. Partly, that’s because with more save points and less pixel-pushing, you’re repeating yourself a lot less. And while the game is visually sumptuous, there are a few times when the frame-rate drops to a frustrating crawl.

Still, overall, Tomb Raider: Legend is an experience worth having. Whether you’re awed by vast jungle panoramas or the way Lara’s skin glistens when she pulls herself out of the water, Legend makes it worth having all that grunt in your console. Lara might even be worth buying that new wide-screen for.

Nintendo Wii Game Review:  Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

By Richard Southam

The Game: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

Published by: SEGA
Developed by: SEGA
Genre: Action
Number of Players: 1-4
Release Date:
US: November 19, 2006
Japan: December 2, 2006
Europe: December 8, 2006
Australia: November 19, 2006
ESRB Content Descriptors: Cartoon Violence

The Premise from Sega:

AiAi and friends come to the Wii! An action-packed extravaganza of unique new puzzles and madcap multiplayer gameplay, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz takes the ground-breaking Wii controller and shows the world exactly what it can do. Players will be able to make their characters jump for the first time in the Super Monkey Ball universe with a simple upward flick motion using the Wii controller. A barrel-load of thrilling new party games, including Whack-a-Mole and Ring Toss, will keep the party rolling for hours.
———-

The Game:

Like other Super Monkey Ball games, this installment let’s you control a monkey trapped in a ball thru various courses, picking up bananas on your way to the finish line.  Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz also features over 50 unique single-player and multi-player mini-games.

Gameplay:

The single-player mode consists of over 100 new puzzle boards.  Unlike previous Super Monkey Ball games, Banana Blitz allows you do jump in your ball.  Each board is fresh and unique, and there is never a feeling of repetitiveness.  Boss fights have also been added to this rendition of the game.  While the single-player mode of the game is very fun and will keep you busy for weeks, the game also features over 50 multi-player mini-games.  Some of these mini-games are Super Monkey Ball classics, while others are brand new.  The mini-games add an entire new dimension to the game.  This allows for a near infinite replay value.  One of this game’s only flaws is the lack of camera control.  This can get quite frustrating at times, especially during boss battles.

The Controls:

The basic control scheme for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is very intuitive.  You simply move the Wii remote around where you wish to move your ball.  Although the basic control scheme is easy to get used to, it can be quite difficult to master.  Some of the puzzle boards are incredibly complex.  However there is a nice balance between difficulty levels.  The control schemes for the mini-games are also well done.  Some of the mini-games will require you to use the nun-chuk attachment.  Multiple remotes are required for the majority of these mini-games.  The ability to jump, using the A button, is also a new edition for this series.

Graphics:

It is quite hard to judge graphics on a new console, as we don’t know what the console is capable of.  Having said that, the graphics look much better than the games’ previous installments on the GameCube.  The cartoon graphics are well done and give the series a much needed graphical boost.

Audio:

Some of the monkey sound effects get repetitive and annoying after a while, but the game’s soundtrack is very upbeat and improves upon older games in the franchise.

Pros and Cons:

+ Great use of the Wii remote
+ Fantastic for multi-player
+ Great variety of mini-games
+ Infinite replay value
+ Addition of the jump feature is very nice
- Lack of camera controls can be frustrating
- Although fun, the mini-games can get repetitive

Overall:

8.2 / 10