Link has 52 chronicles

1. Best and Worst: Capsule reviews... (Wii)
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Jan 01 2009

   The following is an unpaid presentation for: the BEST AND WORST WII TITLES (INCLUDING WII-WARE) OF 2008. Enjoy! Let's start with the Three BEST titles of this year.
   
   Boom Blox
   
   In July of 2007, EA announced that it would be collaborating with Oscar-winner Steven Spielberg to create video games. The
   famed director said, "I really wanted to create a video game that I could play with my kids." The first game to be born
   from this partnership, Boom Blox, succeeds in that endeavor. The single-player mode can get tedious and a few of the play
   styles would have been best left on the cutting-room floor, but Boom Blox is an enjoyable puzzler whose flaws are least
   apparent when played with friends or family.
   
   Review 8.5
   
   This game succeeds in drawing anyone in for some great family fun, and some great usage of the wiimote controls. Most certainly one of the better games of 2008.
   
   Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World
   
   Yea, I know I've already reviewed this one officially, but if it wasn't apparent enough from my original review, this is most definetly one of the best games of the year. It is one of the best RPG's I have ever played, but what else would you expect from the Tales franchise, which only seconds in gameplay and story to the Square's Final Fantasy series. The story [Dawn of a New World] picks right up two years after where the GameCube [Tales of Symphonia] left off. You are able to enjoy this game just as much, even if you haven't played the original.
   
   Rating 9.1 (again...)
   
   
   World of Goo
   
   World of Goo is a game about blobs -- black blobs, red blobs, sticky blobs, and dead blobs (among others) -- and it's the first brilliant original title for Nintendo's WiiWare service. Naturally, it's not the blobs themselves that define World of Goo but what the two-man team at 2D Boy has done with them, crafting increasingly devious challenges that combine the sense of wonderment and boundless creativity of LocoRoco with the brainy play approach of Portal.
   
   The core concept of creating sturdy structures out of elastic, joinable balls of goo won't melt the brain -- at first. You start out with simple towers and bridges, attempting to connect your structure to a metal pipe to transfer a specified amount of unused goo balls and complete the stage. The Wii Remote is an apt tool for such a challenge, allowing you to expand your structure simply by aiming the pointer at the screen and dragging the blobs at will.
   
   Review 9.5
   
   For a dowloadable title, I was impressed. World of Goo is one of the more original games I've seen in some time. From the physics to the music, this is truly amazing. Hopefully, we see more from 2D Boy. One word to describe this game would be... THISGAMEISREALLYCOOLANDYOUSHOULDGODOWNLOADIT
   
   Now it's time for the WORST of the WORST of the shovel ware that Nintendo and other publishers have put you and many others though this year.
   
   Ninjabread Man
   
   I believe that every game has at least SOME redeeming value to it. Even Wii Music has maybe one reason to play it... that being you or your loved ones being soooo far off the rhythm spectrum that you have an inability to play guitar hero... (sorry Silent Bob and Boobacca's family...) This game was completely unplayable, and should not even exist. The level designs were absolutely hideous, the controls were broken in ways not even Far Cry: Vengeance could not even begin to grasp, the enemies are epicly too powerful, and the gameplay itself was just overly tedious to play
   
   Review: 3.2
   
   When I rented this game... I fpund myself in a state of awe as i was literally living the world of a character made out of gingerbread... who happened to be a ninja. Then as I began to play through a bit of the story mode... i realized the game had a severe case of leprosy, when it sat up, welcomed me to it's world, then drowned itself in its own urine!
   
   ROFLcopter goes ROFL, ROFL, ROFL in the sky....
   
   
   
   
   Pong Toss: Frat Party Games
   
   Pong Toss is derived from and formerly named Beer Pong, a game apparently enjoyed by fraternities, but certainly not exclusive to them. I'm sure most of you know what this is, or have played it yourself... but for those of you who have not... here is the game in a nutshell. A pyramid comprised of cups filled with beer rests on the end of one table and players attempt to bounce a ping pong ball into the cups. If successful, opposing players or teams will have to consume the respective ball-sunk beer. Interestingly, shortly before the title's release and under pressure by community groups opposed to glamorizing underage drinking, JV Games changed the name and downplayed the beer component. It's kind of ironic because the single point of beer pong (or pong toss, as it were) is to drink beer and accelerate the process of getting drunk.
   
   As I mentioned in the Ninjabread Man capsule, every game should have ONE this going for it. Beer Pong, sorry... "Pong Toss", is technically playable. You need only the Wii remote to control it. You merely manipulate a virtual hand in the process of tossing a ping pong ball into nearby cups filled with -- well, maybe not beer, but some form of yellow-gold liquid; perhaps urine. That's allowed, right? Kids can drink urine if they want. No law against that. To throw, you align your angle with the Wii remote's D-pad, set your trajectory by angling back or forward with the controller and then motion to toss the ball. It all works well enough, even if it feels a little mechanical. And since this is technically a party game, it supports up to four players. There's even a speed mode.
   
   Review: 2 (That's right... WORSE than Wii Music!!!)
   
   Six-pack of bottled domestic beer: $10? (sorry, don't drink) Package of 20 16-ounce cups: $1.79. Not having to pay 800 Wii Points for a terrible game: priceless.
   
   
   Wii Music
   
   What would a list of the worst games of 2008 be without the one thing Nintendo was essentailly banking on for this year. From promotional advertisements, to about a quarter to a half of their presentation at E3, Nintendo basically put all thier eggs in one basket and said! Here world! Enjoy giving us your money for your children who demand that you purchase this game for them or they will hold thier breath and then you buy it and we only get away with it and then we sell you more crap and then we go out and roll around in your money because you will never see it again because it went straight to Japan. (Yes, I know that was a massive Run-on... FOR COMEDY. )
   
   Review: 3
   
   Really... I really cannot find any good redeeming factors for this game, except for those people who can't follow a beat at all... and frankly, when I played this game, I found that wildly flailing my hands throughout a song actually boasted me MORE points than actually trying to stay on rhythm.
   
   
   And That about does it for the best and worst of 2008! Enjoy 2009 everyone, and have a happy new year!

   
   

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Link has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. BEN
   Posted On Jan 01 2009

   I enjoyed these short bursts of video game reviews. I also DUGG this Chronicle, so I could share it with others around the web