It’s hard to believe it has been Six years and change since this game came out. You can still find it for sale at $29.99 NEW at places like Best Buy. How often do you see a game will selling power like this?

SSBM is the oldest title I have still for my Game Cube. The launch titles I bought were Luigi’s Mansion, Super Monkey Ball, and Tony Hawk 4. None of them remain in my collection, although SMB is because I upgraded to the two pack for the Xbox…and found it was decidedly worse on Microsoft’s system of doom.

I thought it would be fun to boot this back up and play it again as we wait for the all new Super Smash Bros. Brawl. After all SSBB is the most hyped game in YEARS and dear god, even if it sucks it will sell millions and millions of copies and be a GOTY contender.

When I first popped the disc in I checked records and noticed I hadn’t played the game since March, 2003. That means it’s been half a decade since I’ve played this game. I’ll be honest that I found both this and the original to be pretty easy/dull compared to the SNK/Capcom fighters I’ve always preferred, but that multiplayer was always amusing, if only to see people get pisses at losing to a Pokemon.

So how does SSBM hold up? We know it’s the highest selling GCN game ever (6 million copies and STILL GOING), but is it a game popular simply because it’s a fanboy mashup, or because it’s a quality fighter deserving of its reputation?

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When I say Nintendo, what comes to mind? Goofy action adventure games, big on character and amusement, yeah? Perhaps Mario, Donkey Kong, or Pokemon? Okay, what about when I say weird Japanese games? Katamari Damacy, Mister Mosquito, Mad Maestro, Gitaroo Man? Okay, so when I say to put both together, what do you think of? Mario rolling a ball around while Luigi conducts an orchestra, Link plays the guitar, and Samus snowboards down a mountain, avoiding robbers and rolling snowballs, only to jump off at the end and fly off to drain some blood from your bathing aunt?

Well, that one kind of took on a life of its own, didn’t it?

Anyway, no, we’re not dealing with that absurd example I just crapped out (thank god); instead, we’ve been granted Chibi Robo. Here’s the skinny: you’re a three inch tall stainless steel (I assume) robot who runs around the house cleaning up messes made by others. It hardly sounds like game of the year material, to be sure, but it’s certainly different, and different equals good, right? Okay, that’s not entirely true, but it’s always nice to see a company try something a little different, even if it means I’m playing as a pint size Dot Matrix. So let’s give it a spin and see if it’s a clean sweep or if it belongs in the trash bin.

God almighty, my puns just keep getting worse and worse.

The story, in simple terms, is that you are the super-wonderful Chibi-Robo, or specifically, a Chibi-Robo. You are presently in the possession of the Sanderson family, a group of people who are more screwed up than the Tanamatsuri family (no, I’m not explaining that, go look it up). The house in which you live is simultaneously in a constant state of mess, and also a location of weird happenings. Toys come alive, Spydors attack at random intervals, giant robots lay unpowered in the basement, you name it, it’s screwed up and in this house.

The story is incredibly off the wall, but also retains a highly endearing charm that will keep you interested if and when the gameplay mechanics begin to wear on you. The various characters that populate the house have actual personalities, screwed up though they are, and you grow to like them simply because, for the most part, they ARE likeable. You’ll meet everything from a talking worm-like dog toy to the Free Rangers, soldiers that look like eggs, in the Sanderson house, and each toy is more amusing than the last. And hey, it’s a Nintendo game with potential divorce as a subplot; it’s not every day you see that. Ultimately, while the story concepts are perhaps a bit basic, the actual execution of said concepts is spot on and well developed, and you’ll be hard pressed to find something as interestingly written as Chibi Robo.

Story Rating: 7/10

Well, Chibi-Robo looks cute, if primitive. The game is almost entirely presented from Chibi-Robo’s scale, so as a result, everything that is around his size looks dramatically better than anything far above his size. While this does keep the frame rate stable, it’s jarring to compare, say, Chibi himself to Mr. Sanderson, for example. Most of the game characters suffer from “mittens”, IE not having any actual opposable digits, which is slightly lame in this day and age. Clipping rears its ugly head from time to time as well.

That said, the game maintains a distinct style, even through its slightly primitive graphics, that is hard not to appreciate. The game world is stylish while still maintaining the “homey” feel that is asked of it. The various absurdities the game throws at you all seem to be in place, oddly enough, and the graphical presentation plays a part in this. I guess when you’re a three inch tall robot with a talking flying television as a sidekick, things seem less absurd somehow. Regardless, based solely on its appearance, it’s hard not to appreciate Chibi-Robo, which is probably the nicest thing I can say about it.

Graphics Rating: 7/10

The in-game music is solid, though it falls squarely into the category of “unnoticeable”; you wouldn’t miss it, but it doesn’t offend. Chibi-Robo relies more on the sound effects than the music to aurally carry the game, and in that regard, it more or less succeeds. Performing various acts produces all sorts of amusing sound effects, from the Bob Ross-esque notes that play as you scrub the floor, to the rolling notes that play when you plug in to charge up, to the melodic sounds that play when you throw out the trash. All of the noises come together to make the game an aurally entertaining experience.

The same cannot be said of the voices, however. There isn’t actual voice acting, per say… when characters speak, it sounds like a cross between Simlish and Animal Crossing speak. This, in and of itself, is fine. Characters tend to repeat the same sounds over again while talking, which isn’t usually that big of a deal. That said, the voice of Telly Vision, Chibi-Robo’s mascot/manager, is nails on chalkboard annoying. The first few times you hear it, it’s acceptable enough, but after four or five hours of that voice, you want to stick a fork in your ears.

Telly’s voice aside, the game sounds great, and assuming you can tune him out, you’ll enjoy everything else quite a bit I imagine. I did, anyway.

Sound Rating: 7/10

If you’ve played one adventure/platformer game, you’ve pretty much played them all, and the same tends to hold true here. Chibi-Robo is your standard multi-purpose hero in a world of chaos, only monsters and villains are replaced by paw prints and cookie crumbs. Chibi himself can run around, climb onto and hop off of stuff, pick up various and sundry items around the environment, etc, as would be expected. What keeps the game interesting is not what Chibi does, but how he goes about it. Instead of using guns to blast monsters, Chibi is given tools like a water squirter and a toothbrush to achieve his goal, that being, making the people in the house happy. Not that there aren’t monsters or guns; Chibi has some of that sort of gameplay throughout the course of the game, but more time is spent cleaning the floor and picking up trash than is spent shooting spider robots.

Most of your time is spent navigating the game world, however, and that’s where the fun comes in. Trying to figure out how to get to that Frog Ring up on the bookshelf, or getting a tool that makes places one could not reach before instantly accessible is half of the fun in CR. In a lot of respects, the game is like something akin to The Legend of Zelda or Tomb Raider, only inside someone’s house. The pathfinding can occasionally become monotonous, but trying to balance your power levels with the locations you want to explore is more often thought provoking and entertaining than frustrating, though your mileage may vary.

Chibi himself is fairly responsive for the most part, as are his various tools. Collision detection is solid, and you’ll rarely find Chibi falling through parts of the level or, conversely, standing in thin air. The game plays well enough, and there are all sorts of little touches throughout the game world that evoke small bits of amusement (having to turn your own plug in Chibi Doors, pull out drawers to scale shelves, or picking up your own plug to run faster). Chibi’s tools are also pretty neat; using a toothbrush to scrub up dirt on the floor or a teaspoon to dig holes and plant flowers makes perfect sense considering the scale of the game, and that all adds to the presentation nicely. And the costumes he’s given, while they do little (if anything) to change the gameplay, are pretty neat, especially the poses associated with each. Personally, I liked the body cast costume the best; watching Chibi Robo fall over like he’s dead never gets old.

Some of the elements of the game are, unfortunately, not as functional as others. The camera, while not broken, isn’t entirely friendly, and you may find yourself having to fiddle with your angles while moving lest you plunge off of a ledge (the Free Rangers banister running test is a prime example). The physical combat you engage in with the Spydors and such is acceptable, but it seems kind of unnecessary, especially since the remainder of the game is so light-hearted and silly. Also, Chibi seems to pick and choose what ledges he can pull himself up on to, and he can’t jump unless the game dictates it, both of which seem pretty stupid and forced. And, of course, there are the aforementioned Chibi Doors, which only Chibi Robo can open, as they’re secret coin-bearing areas. The Sanderson house is equipped to the brim with them, and it seems a bit much that on top of everything else, there are these random doors in the house that neither Telly nor the Sandersons know anything about. Altogether, these are minor issues, and while they may discolor your experience (or maybe not), the overall package is still pretty damn enjoyable if you can take it for what it is.

Control/Gameplay Rating: 7/10

Chibi-Robo is certainly an interesting game, but after completing the game once, there’s not much reason to return, except to find and unlock that which you missed the first time. Much like any platform-based game on the market, there are all sorts of hidden areas to access and hidden items to find, so if you miss them on your first go-round, you might want to go back and find them all. Unfortunately, the cleaning dynamic doesn’t hold up to multiple plays, so you might find yourself uninterested in returning to the game, simply because you won’t want to be bothered going through what the game asks of you once you’re done. Still, CR is an interesting enough product to play through once, and if you’re a fan of weird Japanese gaming, you might find enough here to justify multiple playthroughs.

Replayability Rating: 5/10

Chibi-Robo isn’t exactly difficult or challenging in the standard sense; the game amounts to little more than resource management (CR’s power meter) and path-finding. Attempting to figure out how to get from the nearest power socket to the location you want to get to without running out of battery power is half of the challenge of the game, and it’s executed quite well for the most part. Occasionally, you may find yourself somewhere with next to no battery power left and no outlets in sight, but this is pretty rare. The game will point out where it thinks you ought to go next, but doesn’t tell you HOW to get there, which helps to keep things interesting; having to figure out how to do what needs doing is half of the challenge, after all. Those of minimal logical thinking skill or those of younger ages might find some of the areas frustrating to complete, but if you’re willing to sit down and think things out a little to enjoy your game, you’ll find plenty of challenge here to keep you entertained.

Balance Rating: 8/10

Under the surface, Chibi-Robo amounts to little more than your standard 3D platforming adventure game, but the style and presentation presented more than makes up for it. Playing as a three inch tall cleaning robot as you use a toothbrush to scrub up dog footprints is quite beyond anything I’ve done in a video game up until this point (Indigo Prophecy notwithstanding). Between the odd play mechanics, the interesting storyline, and the off-the-wall cast of characters, CR transcends the basic building blocks on which it is created to make a thoroughly original product. It’s no Katamari Damacy, but I sincerely doubt you’ve played anything quite like it.

Originality Rating: 8/10

Chibi-Robo’s interesting presentation and style will certainly be addictive for the first few hours of gameplay, as you’ll actively find yourself looking forward to seeing what the game does next. Unfortunately, as the game progresses, it becomes more standard in its execution, akin to most standard adventure games. While fans of the genre may still find plenty to keep them coming back, those who don’t find themselves appreciating the actual genre or its conventions might not find much to keep them interested once they hit the halfway point.

Addictiveness Rating: 6/10

Do you like fruity, off-the-wall Japanese video gaming? How about obscure, original game titles? Perhaps you want something cute and amusing to fool around with? If so, this is right up your alley. Otherwise, you’re probably not going to find anything interesting here. The largest appeal problem the game has against it is the “cleaning” dynamic; several reviews have already stated that doing chores within a video game seems tedious. However, if you can look at the cleaning as it should be looked at (more item collecting, like in most adventure games these days) you’ll find it less tiresome. Overall, Chibi-Robo is pretty much the poster child for “not for everyone”, but if you’ve been looking for something new and different, be sure to check this out.

Appeal Rating: 5/10

I’m honestly not a huge fan of this kind of game, but I actually had a lot of fun with Chibi-Robo. It’s youthful without being childish, engaging without being overbearing, and complex without being confusing. If you’re one of those Gamecube only gamers out there, and you’re looking down the game list sighing at the lack of titles coming down the pipe, I’d have to strongly point you in the direction of CR, as it’s an amusing little diversion that will keep you entertained.

That said, there’s one major flaw I take with CR the longer I play it: it’s hard to explain WHY it’s so entertaining. Most games usually have simple explanations for why they’re fun/good/whatever. Resident Evil 4, for example, is fun because I like to shoot things inna face. R-Type Final, also as an example, is fun because it’s fun to fly around in space and shoot stuff. But games of this type, IE the conceptually bizarre Japanese games that have begun finding their way ashore as of recent, are much harder to define, because they do things that, when described to others, don’t sound so fun.

“This game’s great because I roll a ball around and pick stuff up with it to make a bigger ball!”

“Wow! This game’s awesome because I can use a construction shovel to ladle curry onto rice!”

See what I mean? So how am I supposed to explain to people, briefly, what’s fun about cleaning up the house of a family of slobs? It’s far more complex than one might think.

All that said, this little game has found a small but special place in my heart. I’m not going to say “run out and buy it”, but I’m definitely going to recommend renting it to all of you GC owners with a taste for the obscure. Even if you don’t like everything it does, I think you’ll be pleased with it.

Miscellaneous Rating: 7/10

The Scores:
Story: 7/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Control/Gameplay: 7/10
Replayability: 5/10
Balance: 8/10
Originality: 8/10
Addictiveness: 6/10
Appeal: 5/10
Miscellaneous: 7/10

Overall Score: 6.7/10
Final Score: 6.5 (FAIR).

Short Attention Span Summary
While it’s not for everyone, Chibi Robo does enough new and familiar stuff in conjunction that it ends up as a fun experience for more people than you might think. The concept will most likely scare casual gamers away, but if you can get past that, Chibi Robo offers up plenty of weird fun, certainly enough to justify giving it a spin. Thumbs up.

What do you get when you take Powerstone and stick Marvel characters in it? Apparently, you get Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects from Electronic Arts. Marvel Nemesis puts the player in the position of being able to answer the question: who would win in a fight between Spider-Man and Wolverine? Or how about Magneto and Iron-Man? Or maybe Daredevil and… Hazmat!

Wait, what?

For those who don’t know, Marvel Nemesis also introduces us to “The Imperfects”, a group of genetically engineered beings that are meant to give our favorite super heroes a challenge they’ve never seen before. Will these new characters be able to defeat the Marvel Superheroes? Or will Marvel’s finest defeat these new invaders? And most importantly, is it a good game? Tune in here to find out, True Believer!

Okay. No more Stan Lee for me. Let’s get down to business.

The story is standard comic book fare: evil aliens are invading the world, and only the world’s super heroes can stop them. Of course, not all is as it seems, but I bet you figured that out. Through this, you are introduced to the various playable Marvel Superheroes, assuming you know who they are; if you don’t, the game does little to introduce them to you. You’re also introduced to the Imperfects, who are on the alien side of the invasion, and have FMV sequences to explain their motivations, as they’re EA creations and not a part of the Marvel universe. The problem here is that the actual storyline contained in Marvel Nemesis ultimately evolves into a showdown between two of the Imperfects (with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, of course), which effectively leaves the Marvel characters out in the cold.

Now, without being overly fanboyish, if EA wanted to make its own super hero franchise, they didn’t need to abuse a bunch of Marvel characters to do so. Conversely, if EA wanted to make a Marvel fighting game, they should have done so without pushing their in-house characters to the forefront. It also doesn’t help matters that most of the new characters are largely uninteresting, poorly motivated, semi-generic retreads of already existing Marvel characters. EA states that the characters were created as a joint venture between them and Marvel artist Jae Lee, but I’d imagine that Lee most likely only supplied the artwork concepts, because I just can’t imagine being proud of creating something like Johnny Ohm.

Of course, if you’re a comic book fan, you’re probably used to this.

So, what you’re ultimately given is a rehashed storyline chock full of characters you might like that are ultimately wasted, and characters that are established as being important that you aren’t really given a reason to care about. This, unfortunately, is a good indication of what the rest of the experience has to offer, so at least it’s consistent.

Story Rating: 4/10

Overall, the in-game graphics are quite good, if artistically odd. For some reason, it was decided that the characters should have a shiny, semi-ethereal look to them, which does make them look larger than life. It’s also weird looking, and makes almost the entire roster look like they’ve been shrink-wrapped. Otherwise, the character models look very good, and animate as you would expect them to.

There aren’t really any frame rate issues to be had in the game, though this can be attributed to both the minimal variety (and lower poly count) of random enemies in the single player missions, and the fact that there are only two characters on-screen at once in versus matches. The game environments all look fairly solid, and are nicely destructible, though this probably has a lot to do with the fact that they’re all fairly small. In short, aside from the well-rendered character models, the visuals are mostly serviceable and attractive, but there’s not a lot to them.

Graphics Rating: 6/10

The in game music is fairly generic orchestrated music, and is slightly reminiscent of a Danny Elfman score. It’s all pretty average; you most likely won’t hate it, but it’s not going to stick with you after you’re done playing the game. The sound effects fare better though… from punches to explosions, everything sounds about as accurate as can be expected.

The voice acting is also fairly solid throughout the game, though some characters are notably better than others. Characters like Venom, Faultzone, and Wolverine have voices that are consistent with the characters, whereas Daredevil, as an example, sounds like his voice actor took the “lawyer” aspect to heart more than the “blind superhero”. The voice acting is brought down by voice distortion of the characters when they’re “evil”… most of the distorted voices sound a little silly, but when this is done to voices that are ALREADY distorted (Venom is a prime example) what you’re left with is absolutely horrendous.

I also wasn’t a fan of the Spider-Man voice actor, but that’s probably because I’ve heard something like nine different Spidey voices over the past ten years, so take that as you will.

Sound Rating: 6/10

Combat is a simple affair, and if you’ve played Powerstone or Kung-Fu Chaos, you’ll have an idea of how to play this. You have an attack button which can be mashed to perform combos, a grab button that also allows characters to pick things up for throwing, a jump button, and a block/dodge button, which are all pretty self-explanatory. You also have a “super power” button, which usually simply enhances the effects of the previous four buttons, but can allow some characters a projectile attack or the ability to grab environmental items from a distance. Also, you have a fatality-esque grapple that can be done when your opponent is in danger status that finishes them off instantly, which is done by pressing the super power button and the grapple button simultaneously. And finally, you have a super movement, or “mobility” button, which enhances your character’s movement, depending on the character (Spider-Man and Venom swing on webs, Storm and Iron Man fly, Wolverine can run up walls, etc). And that’s about as detailed as the controls get. While this does make it easier to simply pick up the game and play, there won’t be anything here to hold the attention of fighting game veterans who are used to more complex games.

The actual gameplay itself, however, renders this all moot by being so spectacularly mediocre-to-bad that only the most hardcore fighting game or Marvel fans will find anything to like here.

The single player campaign is the worst offender here, which is a shame, because you HAVE to play through it to unlock the hidden characters and stages. The camera is unresponsive at the best of times, so you will either spend your time constantly fighting to keep everything in view or being blasted from off-screen. There’s no lock-on feature in the game, so you’ll be spending a lot of your time hoping your attacks line up, only to watch your character strike at thin air. What targeting the game DOES employ is broken as well; thrown items and projectiles might go straight at an opponent, or at some random piece of the environment, which gets really frustrating.

The one-on-one fights are improved dramatically by the use of a locked camera, but the lack of lock-on still leaves you throwing things at enemies and praying they don’t aim at something else. Characters with projectile attacks are also at a highly unfair advantage; not only can they attack from far away, but if your opponent picks up an item of some sort, a simple projectile shot will cause them to drop it instantly. The game also seems to rely heavily on the use of environmental items to do damage, as throwing a barrel or a car does more damage than your fists. This would be fine if your characters didn’t drop them at the slightest touch, which has a tendency to cause your own demise. This ultimately makes fights break down to who can plaster the other person with what first, which just makes the game more of an exercise in frustration than anything else. About the only thing I can really say positive here is that when I played it online, it was stable and didn’t give me any lag problems, but the online play didn’t really make the game any more enjoyable.

Control/Gameplay Rating: 4/10

Once you’ve completed the single player campaign, you’ve seen just about everything the game has to offer. There are unlockable cards and comics you can collect, but most of them can be earned on your first play through, and none of them are really worth performing any additional tasks. The multi-player modes boil down to a versus mode which can be played on or offline, and that’s it. There’s little depth to the fighting system, and such a distinct lack of balance between characters, that I can’t imagine any but the most dedicated Marvel fan coming back to this after they’ve beaten it.

Replayability Rating: 4/10

I can sum this up in one word: nonexistent.

Missions in the single player campaign range from insanely easy to unbelievably hard with no transition between them. Except in very rare circumstances, your characters cannot regain health during missions, so you’ll find yourself dying far more often than you’d like. Several of the grunt enemies do far more damage than they have any right doing, and the airborne enemies in particular do heavy damage, and are very difficult to hit on top of that. Boss battles can be seriously cheap affairs (especially when you’re fighting against enemies that have projectile attacks) or cakewalks (when the battles are the other way around). In versus battles, aside from the previously mentioned projectile problem, some characters (IE Spider-Man and Venom) are just entirely too powerful, while others (IE Daredevil and Elektra) feel practically useless.

Balance Rating: 2/10

Licensed games are usually low on the originality totem pole, and Marvel Nemesis is no exception. The in-game story is standard comic book fare, the actual game concept has been done before, and better, by Powerstone, and the “original” characters, with the exception of Brigade (body parts from one hundred marines sewn together to make one soldier is certainly an interesting idea), aren’t really that original. Everything you’ve seen here, you’ve seen in other games, period.

Originality Rating: 2/10

The lack of depth combined with the frustrating play mechanics make it hard to really get addicted to Marvel Nemesis. The online play could keep you interested for a while, and there’s fun to be had with your friends in versus mode, but beyond that it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to play this any longer than a rental period. The single player mode is probably the deal breaker here though; having to go through the unbalanced and broken missions to unlock the multiplayer extras might put the player off of the game entirely.

Addictiveness Rating: 4/10

Anyone who’s a Marvel Comics fan will definitely find something to like here, as a lot of Marvel’s franchise players are available in the game. It’s also notable that most of the playable characters also happen to be in successful motion pictures, with the exceptions of Iron Man (who has a movie on the horizon) and Venom (who is rumored to be in Spider-Man 3). This will probably sell a lot of Marvel movie fans on the game as well. I don’t expect that too many people will be sold on the Imperfects, but with Spider-Man and Wolverine on the front cover, they won’t need to be.

Appeal Rating: 7/10

It seems a little lazy to me that, with most of the characters in the game having been through two or three costume changes in their careers, not a single one of those costumes could have been rendered into the game as secondary outfits. I also find the “evil” outfits to be lacking; taking the same costume design and turning it green, blue, black and/or gray is not “evil”, it’s cheap. Overall, that annoyed me, so I figured it deserved a mention.

I’d also like to point out that you’d probably be better served finding a copy of Marvel v. Capcom 2 for your console of choice and spending the $50 you’d have shelled out for Marvel Nemesis on that instead. You’ll have a lot more fun, and the X-BOX version supports X-BOX Live, so you can even play it over the Internet.

Miscellaneous Rating: 2/10

The Scores:

Story: 4/10
Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 6/10
Control/Gameplay: 4/10
Replayability: 4/10
Balance: 2/10
Originality: 2/10
Addictiveness: 4/10
Appeal: 7/10
Miscellaneous: 2/10

Overall Score: 41/100
FINAL SCORE: 4.0 (POOR).

Short Attention Span Summary
It’s a shame that Marvel Nemesis turned out the way it did. Given the right amount of effort, this could have been an amazing game, but simple controls and a poor single player mode will put off all but the most determined. This feels like a cash-in, plain and simple.

Developer: Genius Sonority
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Turn Based RPG
Release Date: 10/5/05

Can you believe it’s actually been ten years since Pokemon first came out? In a mere decade, this turn based RPG filled with cock fighting seizure monsters has became the best selling game franchise of all time. It’s even replaced Mario as Nintendo’s overall cash cow, something no one thought would ever happened. Sure it gets the label of “kiddee” or “too cute” from some gamers, but those are the type that put graphics before gameplay and often rave about how cool the Tomb Raider games are, so really, as soon as the sentence “Pokemon is for kids” comes out of someone’s mouth, you know that you can pretty much tell nothing or credibility is ever going to be spoken by them.

It’s kind of sad though, as Pokemon XD is most likely my last Game Cube purchase. I bought my handy old Game Cube on launch day pack in 2001, and although I still have more titles for it than any other system, this past year and a half has seen me review only three games for the system: Ribbit King, the horrible Day of Reckoning 2, and now Pokemon XD. After this, there’s nothing else coming out for the Cube that even remotely interests me. It’s a melancholy feeling I’ve had while playing through Pokemon XD, as I can still remember my first day purchasing the Cube and picking up Tony Hawk 4, Luigi’s Mansion, Super Monkey Ball, and Acclaim’s Baseball offering for that year. Of those 4 release purchases, not a single one remains in my collection. Kind of telling, isn’t it? Still, if the Cube has to have a final purchase from me, I’m very happy it’s a Pokemon game. Pound for pound no series has had the consistent level of excellence that Pokemon has, from sales to quality gameplay, to even innovation and trying new things with the characters.

So how does XD hold up compared to the rest of the series? Is this latest Pokemon game a letdown like Pokemon Emerald where Game Freak showed itself to be resting on its laurels ala Capcom with Street Fighter, or is this game worthy of the reputation Pokemon has earned over the past decade? Let’s find out.

Let’s Review

1.Story

Pokemon XD is not just Pokemon’s second foray onto the Nintendo Game Cube, but it’s also the second time the region of Orre has been visited. This level of continuity hasn’t been done in the series since Pokemon Gold & Silver came out in 2000, allowing you to visit Kanto after you had beaten the Johto part of the game. You’ll be encountering familiar characters and locations that remind you of how great Pokemon Coliseum was, and just WHY it was such a breath of fresh air for the RPG part of the series.

Unfortunately, in addition to encountering familiar places, you’re getting a familiar plot as well. For the most part the plot of Pokemon XD follows the plot of PokeCol. Cypher is back, turning Pokemon into instruments of evil and it becomes the main character’s job to “snag” (catch) these Shadow Pokemon from their reprehensible trainers, and then rehabilitate and purify them. You’ll also have the same predictable “look who turns out to be the main bad guy” twist you had in Pokemon Coliseum as well. Genius Sonority made an excellent and captivating story first time around, but for the most part, it appears they only have that one story in them.

What saves the game from being merely a mediocre rehash plotwise are the new characters. Your main character’s sister is well written and comes off sounding and acting like a very young girl. Chobin is amusing, and his master’s inventions o’ doom never failed to make me shake my head and laugh.

What else is worth examining are the heads of team Cypher. As you go through the game, you’ll see the main Cypher characters you meet (not including the grunts) have very unique personalities and reasons for doing evil deeds. Usually in Pokemon games only the absolute leaders of team Rocket/Magma/Aqua have been flesh out at all, but here some consideration has been given to the thinking processes of various characters. In other words, the bad guys finally have a real back story. Which is a nice touch.

Finally, although XD has a lot of story rehash, it makes sense in context of the game because Team Cypher has basically up their plans from last game. Same Scheme, loftier goals. As you’ll see from the opening CGI scene of the game, Cypher has captured a LUGIA, one of the rarest and most powerful of all Pokemon, and turned it into a Shadow Pokemon. Team Cypher plans to find a way to permanently turn Pokemon into Shadow Pokemon, thus make them evil slaves of Team Cypher forever. And like I said earlier, it’s your main character’s job to the bad guys from achieving their nefarious goal.

Pokemon XD has a good story with some of the best characterization the franchise has ever seen. However that same good story was done almost to the letter by Genius Sonority in Pokemon Coliseum and so Pokemon XD feels like Teen Wolf TOO to PokeCol’s Teen Wolf: Decent if you haven’t seen the first one, a strong feeling of Deja Vu if you have.

Story Rating: 6/10

2. Graphics

Pokemon has never looked better. A lot of the background graphics are exactly the same as they were in PokeCol, but with a different camera angle. But the graphics that ARE new are amazing. Some of the character designs (such as the Team Cypher heads) are very well done and original. And it’s cute to see a consistent rip on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the game with a certain set of sextuplets. Pokemon look sharper and crisper, and it’s been a while, but many, if not all of the attack graphics look completely redesigned as well.

Early on in the game you’ll get to travel to an eccentric inventor’s house and I have to admit, that the first view of the home with all the effects around it made my jaw drop. This was by far the best looking thing I’ve ever seen on the Gamecube hardware. The lighting, the Groudon statue, and the whole eerie effect was perfectly sublime. That may sound silly to some of you, but seriously, go put in the game and take a look at the visuals here. It’s only 30 minutes into the game after all.

And the level of graphics may occasionally dip down back to Pokemon Coliseum levels, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, seeing as how amazing that game looked itself. Back in March 2004, I said PokeCol was the best looking Pokemon game ever made. Well, 17 months later, I stand corrected. Pokemon XD is a step above its ancestor, which makes sense considering the amount of time between the games. And hell, I’m looking at my collection of 2 dozen other Game Cube games right now, and graphically, XD blows every one of them out of the water.

If you’ve ever wanted to see your Pokemon look more realistic than they ever have before, you’re going to want to by this game. Generally when there’s a conversation of a classic 2D game with superior gameplay into 3D, it takes a massive stepback. I’m happy to say Pokemon XD looks as good as it plays. I honestly can’t think of a better looking game on the Game Cube than Pokemon XD

Graphics Rating: 10/10

3. Sound

I’m still disappointed that Pokemon XD doesn’t have actual voice acting in the game, as it would be so easy to port over the voices from the cartoon for the Pokemon. I want Pikachu to say “PIKA PIKA!” damn it! It’s part of the adorableness of the whole Pokemon package. I’ll never understand how they could get voice acting onto Pokemon YELLOW released 6 or so years ago, but nothing for the Game Cube Pokemon games.

That being said, the music in Pokemon XD is the best I’ve heard in a Pokemon game and far better than the music we had in PokeCol. There’s remixes of the classic Pokemon songs that have never failed to stick in the cranium’s of anyone who has heard them. I’ve seen people who swear up and down t o me they hate Pokemon, but after hearing just one song from the game, will catch themselves singing/humming the songs a few hours later.

The new tracks for the game are wonderful as well. My personal favorite song is from when you are using the Pokemon Purify Chamber. The song is so upbeat and happy; you can’t help but find it catchy. It’s just too bad you’ll rarely ever hear it while playing. It’s the first song since the classic Game Boy days that I would love to see added to recurring familiar tracks of the series.

Pokemon XD has the best soundtrack attached to a Pokemon game since the original RGBY games made ten years ago. They enhance the game rather than distract you or make you want to mute your TV and turn on your stereo instead. Again, I’m disappointed there is a complete lack of voice acting and that all communication is text only, but it’s something I can live with thanks to the great music on the game.

Sound Rating: 8/10

4. Control & Gameplay

If you’ve played any Pokemon game even once, you know how the battle engine of Pokemon XD works. You have a team of six Pokemon, with each Pokemon having 1-2 types out of a possible 17 types. These types range from fire to ice to poison to dragon. The game basically works like a gigantic version of Rock/Paper/Scissors, where you try to give your Pokemon a move set that allows it to survive against Pokemon it is usually weak against and flourish against hose they are strong against.

Generally, Pokemon battles are one on one elimination affairs that continue until one team is utterly exhausted. In the Orre region, Pokemon battles are primarily tag team affairs. This changes the dynamic and strategy of battles significantly without really changing the gameplay at all. Now because there are 4 Pokemon on the screen at once, there can be up to EIGHT different types on the field. There are also attacks that can hit both enemy (or both of your) Pokemon at the same time, basically giving your team 3 attacks to the opponent’s two. Finally there are also moves one Pokemon can use that increase the abilities of its ally, such as Helping Hand. Having a game of primarily tag team battles shifts how one raises their Pokemon and what move sets a player chooses for their Pokemon. It’s turning the strategy for the series on its head, while still feeling familiar and not alien to long time players.

The Purification process that debuted in PokeCol adds a new level of gameplay as well. When you catch a Shadow Pokemon, they are only able to use two shadow moves, which are actually quite strong. They also end up having a line made up of four bars showing how closed off the hearts are. There are various ways to remove the shadow casing of the Pokemon. You can walk around with one, use one in battle, call out a Pokemon’s name when it is going berserk, spray them with perfume, or put them in the all new purification machine. As the Pokemon is free from the shadow casing, they can remember other moves, regain their personality and eventually start earning experience points again. Eventually you free the Pokemon by taking them to a Relic infused with Celebi’s power or using non Shadow Pokemon in the Purify Machine to unlock their heart. Again, this adds another level of gameplay as Shadow Pokemon may be stronger than their regular counterparts with their shadow attacks, but they can’t level up. So its up to a trainer to decide how and when they want to remove the Shadow aspect of their Pokemon.

Pokemon XD is a very easy game to learn how to play, but it takes a very long time to master. With so many Pokemon to catch and snag, each with very different stats, types, and move sets, the combinations and possibilities for your team feel endless. Pokemon defines exactly what a turn based RPG SHOULD be. Too many turn based RPG’s can be played by a monkey or three year old, and lack any strategy at all. Thanks to nearly 300 species of Pokemon that can be fought in XD, almost all in tag battles, one does have to think about who they will use on their team and what moves they will be giving their specific Pokemon. It’s hard to imagine a turn based game that can even allow half the strategy Pokemon does. And the little battle engine that could is still amazing ten years after it was first released. Rock on Pokemon.

Control & Gameplay Rating: 10/10

5. Replayability

Here’s one of the few flaws of Pokemon XD. The game is so mind numbingly linear, that it’s hard to recommend more than one play through. After all, once you’ve beaten the game you should have captured and purified all the Shadow Pokemon and then transferred them to your Game Boy Advance carts to fill out your Pokedex. After that, there’s really not much left to do. There is Mt. Battle and a few Pokemon Coliseums in the game, but as Pokemon Emerald taught Game Freak and Nintendo, setting up something like the Battle Frontier (lots of lots of battles with several gimmicks to make them feel original or interesting) bombed badly, as it turned out only a very tiny fraction of Pokemon gamers wanted something like that. The vast majority wanted a new original storyline and to complete their Pokedex. Game Freak forgot that ten years they had been hammering it in to Pokemon fans that the game is about facing other human opponents, and then they gave us lengthy and blase battles against CPU’s.

Thankfully Pokemon XD didn’t give us this problem, by making the Coliseum/Frontier type battles optional parts of the in game story and not a totally separate mode that had been done to death in Stadium/Stadium 2/Coliseum/Emerald. However where PokeCol was an RPG and Stadium mix game where you could play either mode, Pokemon XD is 85% RPG and 15% Coliseum mindless battling.

Multiplayer battling is still available here. If you and a friend want to play against each other with 3D graphics on a TV screen instead of via your GBA SP’s, simple use the a GBA-GCN connect cable and voila! You’re playing against each other. Up to four people can play against each other. And trust me, group Pokemon is always a blast. Especially if you have 4 different carts.

Ironically in GS cutting out the Coliseum Mode from XD and focusing sheerly on a straight RPG/story mode, they’ve also cut out some of the Replayability. Part of this is of course due to making such an amazingly linear story, but those are the breaks.

Unless you’re a massive Pokemon addict, Pokemon XD is going to be a one time only playthrough for most gamers. If you do want to complete everything there is to offer in the RPG Mode, you might find some very interesting things after you’ve beaten the game and purified everything…

Replayability Rating: 5/10

6. Balance

Usually the RPG/Story mode of Pokemon games aren’t well balanced. CPU’s tend to stick to one specific type of Pokemon due to the set up of Gym’s and their specialization of particular types of Pokemon. This makes it very easy to build teams that will have little to no trouble against the computer controlled teams. Generally the hardest part about Pokemon is catching the rare Pokemon that only appear once a game.

Well like Pokemon Coliseum before it, Pokemon XD is the only other Pokemon game that gives you an actual degree of challenge. See, In Pokemon XD, you CAN’T catch them all. In fact, you can only catch a small number of Pokemon. Less than one-third of all possible Pokemon, even though the number you will be fighting is many times that.

Because you mainly only use snagged Pokemon (although there are a few you can catch by leaving food out for wild ones), you are limited to what you will use. For example, one Pokemon is Ladyba, who you would never use in one of the GBA games, because quite frankly, he sucks hard. However, considering he knows a psychic attack and never miss flying attack once you purify him, he can be quite good considering your other choices. Same with Spheal. I would never use him in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, but being the only ice using Pokemon you get for most of the game, he becomes quite helpful, especially with his second water type. Sure there are also the big guns like Houndoom who you will use for most of the game due to his stats and Fire/Dark types, and some of the more common “uber Pokemon” that you will use consistently towards the end of the game, but overall, you’re trying to make a bunch of midcarders into Main Eventers, and that gives you a real sense of challenge and accomplishment in this game.

As well, you’ve got some nasty Shadow Pokemon to face eventually. The Legendary Bird Trio from Red/Green/Blue/Yellow and Lugia await you. And you NEED to catch them rather than beat them, which as any Pokemon trainer can tell you, is easier said then done.

Really, it seems to me, Pokemon XD is the best overall balanced Pokemon game out there. The GBA ones are too easy, and Pokemon Coliseum was made a lot easier that it should have been thanks to being able to have the three starters from Gold/Silver, as well as two Evee’s. Pokemon XD is still easy for a lot of the game, but it’s the most challenging Pokemon game yet, especially when you look at your lineup. Wow. A Hoppip. Yay.

Speaking of Evee, here’s a hint for you all. There’s lots of fire, water, and dark Pokemon you’ll collect in the game, but very few Psychic and Electric types, and those that you will get aren’t that good. My advice, evolve Evee into Jolteon or Espeon, and truthfully, Espeon is a better overall Pokemon thanks to being a Psychic type that knows a Dark attack (Strong against Psychic types). Nine times out of ten, an Espeon can take out a Mewtwo (the most powerful of all Pokemon) when both are at the same approximate level. Espeon also can heal itself, and you’ll eventually get the best Electric Pokemon in the entire game in Zapdos towards the end, making Jolteon useless. So go with Espeon.

Balance Rating: 8/10

7. Originality
Even though Pokemon XD might as well be Pokemon Coliseum 1.5, there are some new changes to the game. You can catch a rare select few wild Pokemon, there’s a new way to purify Pokemon, and Shadow Pokemon has many types of Shadow moves they can get, instead of the single “Shadow Rush” attack in PokeCol.

The story IS somewhat different and there are new locations and things to do, but for the most part the game is still “Young boy takes on the villainous Cypher organization in order to save Pokemon from being turned into mindless death dealing drones of evil.” It’s nice to see Genius Sonority continuing the story from Pokemon Coliseum, but it’s way too much of a rehash for my tastes.

Saving XD’s hash in this category are a lot of the unique extras in the game that I’ll talk about under Miscellaneous. These include Battle CD’s, Pokemon Bingo, and the most original post game subquest ever offered in a Pokemon game. Without these, XD’d be looking at a 3 in this category.

Originality Rating: 5/10

8. Addictiveness

Although there is a lot rehashed as mentioned above, there’s so much about this game to love. Old friends, old enemies, old locations. It’s like coming home again. I can’t tell you how many times I smiled when I heard familiar music, saw characters I haven’t seen in a year, or revisited locals and watched how they had changed. It wasn’t quite the same as when I took my kid from Kanto and ruined a date between Misty and Ash, but it was darn close. It’s kind of the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario for XD. It rehashes a lot, but also gives that feeling of Nostalgia and remembrance, but if it didn’t rehash, the game would feel hollow. The plot and trappings of XD hurt it in Story and Originality, but help it in Addictiveness & Miscellaneous. Everything balances out I guess.

Purifying Shadow Pokemon is fun as well. It’s addicting as hell to see what moves your Pokemon rediscovers as it loses the shadow binding. And with each battle, you find yourself going “Oh please don’t let THAT one be a Shadow Pokemon.” Or “Bagon! Please be a Sha…oh rats! It’s not.” The whole snagging of Shadow Pokemon is a wonderful contrivance that helps get long time Pokemon gamers re-enthused about the series, and adds many levels of strategy and gameplay that does not exist outside this version of the series.

I can’t tell you how many times I was amazed at how much time flew by while playing this game. “11pm? Already? Holy Crap!” was a common utterance for me on weeknights.

After the miserable experience that was Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon XD shows how to make a rehash entertaining and addictive instead of “I did this 8 times before!” Perhaps it’s because XD is only the second version of this style of Pokemon gameplay, but it’s still and amazing amount of fun to me, and it was quite hard to pull myself off of this to write this review.

Addictiveness Rating: 8/10

9. Appeal Factor

There’s two types of gamers in the world: The sad horrid kind that would rather a game look good that play well, who feels games should be full of tits & ass or blood & gore rather than anything close to the games they played growing up that made them develop a life long love of the genre, or that can’t handle any sort of challenge in their games. You know the type. The people who will play something because PR companies TELL them too. Resident Evil? Horrible controls. But it has ads on TV and it’s violent! Let’s pick that up instead of the far superior Fatal Frame or Clock Tower. Final Fantasy! Amazingly beautiful game that requires no skill at all to play and is pretty much still the exact same it has been since it’s SNES days. Let’s hold this up as the standard even though there are literally hundreds of better turn based RPG’s, from Persona to Shining the Holy Ark. Ugh. As you can tell, it’s those kind of gamers that make me ill to my stomach and glad that I have neither their sheep like mentality nor their social retardation.

The other type of gamer is that who knows is that how the game plays is more important than it looks. The type that still finds enjoyment out of Adventure for the Atari 2600 even though the dragons look like ducks. The type that knows just because a game is 10 years old doesn’t make it less cool or enjoyable than anything on a new platform. It’s the type of gamer that likes to try all genres, even ones they suck at because hey, it’s something new.

And it’s that latter type that will fall in love with Pokemon XD. Especially if they’ve never played Pokemon Coliseum. XD had wonderful character, an enticing story, excellent gameplay, and superb graphics and sound. It’s not the best in any of these categories, but it’s quality across the board, and that’s more important than being perfect in 1-2 sections and average or crappy in the rest. It doesn’t matter what type of gamer you are, there is something you will find and love about Pokemon. Unless of course, you’re the kind of person that willingly shells out 50 bucks for the next Madden game even though there’s only 5 dollars worth of new content compared to the one they put out the year before.

Appeal Factor Rating: 8/10

10. Miscellaneous

Although the straight up Coliseum mode is missing from XD, there’s a lot here to spend your time on. There’s new Battle CD’s which give you logistics challenges. With Battle CD’s you fight a simulated Pokemon battle in which you must use a specific attack or series of attacks in a certain order in order to beat the CPU controlled Pokemon. It’s a lot of fun and something I wish had been enabled before XD, but I’m thankful its here now. These types of sim battles remind me of Pokemon Puzzle Challenge for the GBC, where there are specific puzzles you have to solve in 3 moves or less. Fans of games like Still Life or Myst will really enjoy these, which you can find and access about a dozen hours into the game.

There’s Pokemon Bingo, which is far easier played than explained here. But it’s a lot of fun and a good replacement for Pokemon slots that you find in the handheld versions of the game.

After you beat the game, you can complete the “Lucky Egg Quest,” which involves Pokemon going mute. It’s time consuming and involves very little battling, so it’s a wonderful change of pace to keep the game feeling fresh after all the battling and purifying you’ve already put into the game.

One of the best treats is that Pokemon XD is the first time you can use one of the two Pokemon revealed for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, that Pokemon being Bonsly. You can only use him in one battle and in regards to Pokemon Bingo, but it’s still a great thrill for Pokemon addicts.

There’s also special Pokemon you can get as rewards in this game. If you purify all Shadow Pokemon, you have a chance to snag a Shadow Dragonite. if you beat Mt. battle you get your choice of Johto starters complete with an elemental hyper beam that could only be learned by the starters in Fire Red and Leaf Green.

The plot of Pokemon XD might be a rehash, but it’s with new games, activities, and a great post game subquest to play through that really helps XD come into its own. Definitely a wonderful game that continues the Pokemon legacy of well rounded enjoyable RPG’s.

Miscellaneous Rating: 10/10

THE SCORES

Story: 6/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Control & Gameplay: 10/10
Replayability: 5/10
Balance: 8/10
Originality: 5/10
Addictiveness: 8/10
Appeal: 8/10
Miscellaneous: 10/10

Overall Score: 78/100
FINAL SCORE: 8.0 (Great!)

Short Attention Span Summary
Pokemon Coliseum got an 8.5 from me, XD gets a 8. Why? Because Coliseum was new and original, while XD lacks the originality and Replayability of PokeCol. However, the music and graphics are superior in XD, and although it lacks the Coliseum mode, it does have Bingo and Battle CD’s to make up for it. Really, it comes down to what you as a gamer are looking for. PokeCol is older and thus cheaper, so it might be the game to get if you’re new to Pokemon and want to see why this has been so successful for the past decade, but Pokemon XD does offer you a better RPG mode, along with better sound and graphics. On a leveling playing field to someone who has played neither, I’d give XD the nod, but if you’ve played Pokemon Coliseum at all, you will realize that there is a lot of rehashing in XD, but at least it’s excellently done rehashing.

As you might imagine, this was not a game I planned to review. After the horrible disaster that was WM XXI for the XBOX, I was very pessimistic about picking up another WWE wrestling game ever. WMXXI not only received the lowest rating I’ve ever given a game, but was universally considered the worst wrestling game ever made, even receiving a lower overall score at Gamerankings.com than WCW Thunder…which surprise, surprise, was ALSO a THQ published wrestling game.

Granted, it wasn’t THQ’s fault, as they just published WMXXI. It was Studio Gigante, which I doubt THQ will ever let near the WWE license again. Day of Reckoning 2 was made by Yukes, who designed the greatest wrestling game ever made. No, not No Mercy you WWF fanboys, although the Aki staff members who made that game did/do work for Yukes now. Yukes was responsible for Touken Retsuden 4 for the Sega Dreamcast, which is the most realistic wrestling game ever made. Sure it may feature NJPW’s roster from 2000, but it’s still better than any lag filled multiplayer ladder match lacking any semblance of AI that a certain Nintendo 64 game has.

So the two balanced each other out, and when THQ sent me Day of Reckoning 2 to review, I was more than happy to put the hideous experience of WMXXI out of my mind. However, reading fellow IP staff member Matt Yeager’s review of the first Day of Reckoning filled me with a little apprehension. THQ has been published wrestling games for ten years now, and their track record is pretty muddled in terms of quality. Indeed, I’ve considered their WWE games to be slightly above average at best, and the last wrestling game by this company that I’ve enjoyed was NWO/WCW World Tour, which was their second to last WCW licensed game for the N64. So to be on the safe side, I brought in some to help me review this game. Someone who helped me review that unspeakable disaster that was WM XXI. “The Macho Man” Randy Savage!

Ooooh yeah brother! Dig it, dig it dig it! The madness is running wild throughout Inside Pulse one again brother!

Since most of you loved Randy’s Macho Man Diaries, I felt it was only fitting to bring him back for a second time. Or until you email me telling be to stop beating a dead horse.

There’s a dead horse around brother? The Macho man will be happy to take Mr. Ed of your hands since he hasn’t worked in a few years. Oooooooh Yeah!

So, without further ado, let’s “snap into” Day of Reckoning 2.
That was my line!

Let’s Review

1. Story

OOOOOH YEAH! I’m the WWE Champion again. The Macho Man is on top of the hill! Wait. How did I become champion again? I haven’t been in a WWE ring in ten years. I guess Vince woke up and realized that I was doing the rap gimmick before John Cena, and I’m certainly more imposing than Deacon Batista. I mean, I doing a flying elbow brother. ANYONE can do a power bomb. Little skinny Chris Jericho did three in a row as a normal move back when he was wrestling Syxx in WCW, and did HE ever go on to be anything? I rest my case.

After 15 minutes of screaming to Vinnie Mac, Vince just says to me, “Randy, what on earth are you babbling about? Did you hit the coke again? For god’s sakes, it’s 3am!” I told him all about how I turned on my TV and was WWE champion and then lost it in a cruel stroke of fate. Vince then explained to me I had just been playing a video game and that I wasn’t REALLY the world champion. Then he hung up on me swearing to get a restraining order if he woke up tomorrow with all his potted plants smashed like last time I had a narcotic induced freak out. Idiot. LAST TIME I was on acid. In retrospect, I still think Hulk Hogan was behind my not being champion any more.

Day of Reckoning 2 is typical for story modes in US based wrestling games. It’s a good idea on paper, but in practice, it’s pretty lousy. It’s nice that Day of Reckoning 2 is a continuation story wise from DOR1, but it one fell swoop, THQ manages to ruin the entire concept by not letting you import the wrestler you played with in DoR1. Instead you’ve got to make an entirely new wrestler. Supposedly, this is because the new graphics used for DoR2 aren’t compatible with DoR1. I say that’s stupid and shows exactly what’s wrong with wrestling games as a whole and how out of touch the once impressive Yukes and THQ are with their own audience. Ask some gamers if they’d rather be able to import their old CAW (create-a-wrestlers) and be able to use them again, or have slightly, ever so subtly improved graphics, and the odds will be heavily in favor of the importing. Instead we get the same basic rehashed WWE story mode we’ve had through pretty much every WWE game spread out over all three consoles this generation. You climb the ladder, you make some alliances, you get betrayed, and you walk over the exceptionally inept AI on your way through a plotline that even Vince Russo would say “Wow, that’s worse than my Oklahoma idea.”

My big problem here, is that we’ve had story modes for about 5 years in wrestling games, starting with the first Smackdown on the PSX. And there has been very little improvement over the years. Don’t get me wrong, if you compare DOR2 to Smackdown, it obvious there has been some evolution. But if you look at the 9-10 games that THQ has published with a WWE license this generation, the story mode has grown stale and stagnant. Yukes is very lucky there’s no competition right now in the US wrestling video game market, because any company with some fresh ideas on a season/career mode, would leave them in the dust.

For most of you who are jonesing for the newest wrestling video game to hit US shores, you’re be satisfied with the claptrap that is presented to you here with a 50$ price tag. But then look how many wrestling fans continued on like lapdogs after the “Katie Vick” angle or the “Gene Snitsky aborts Lita’s fetus” angle or the “Double J gets to main event for years even though no one would care if he got hit by a truck” angle. Oh wait, that last one’s a TNA angle.

I really hope that a career mode that isn’t insulting to a wrestling fan’s intelligence gets made for the next generation of consoles, because after RAW 1, Raw 2, WM XIX, WM XXI, and Smackdown for RAW one thing is for certain: THQ knows they can make third rate wrestling games at full price, and the average wrasslin’ fan would scoop them up like the mindless fan boys they are.

Pretty bad if only because this story mode shows Yukes just doesn’t care any more.

Story Rating: 3/10

2. Graphics

Visually. DOR2 is pretty impressive. It’s the best looking wrestling game on the Game Cube, and it IS true that the graphics are better than DOR1, but only slightly.

Many of the characters, especially during their entrances looks nearly alive. This worries me a bit because this means a lot of gamers are going to make their home rather messy when say, Stacy Keibler or Trish Stratus shows up on their screen. However, there are some exceptions to the graphics. Carlito Colon and Big Show look pretty bad in terms of rendering, as do most of the “WWE Legends.” Hulk Hogan is the exception here as he looks like he’s about to step out of your screen and legdrop you.

Of course he looks the best brother. Hogan’s a slimy weasel. He’s always crying to Vince or Eric Bischoff if he doesn’t get his way and refuses to job. Hell, he won’t even face the Macho Man in a fight. He’s scared I’ll break him in two. Oooooh yeah.

Oookay…. Moving on then.
The Titantron contains actual entrance videos and stock footage of WWE wrestlers. It’s a nice touch, although it is jarring when you compare the video game character to the actual footage of their real life selves. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s still one that stands out.

The in ring action is pretty smooth. there’s very little lag or slowdown in the graphics, and even then it’s only when you have more than a one on one match going on. All the moves are straight out of whatever imaginary grappling textbook you want to invent.

Poffo’s Primer?

Sure Randy.

DOR2 is pretty, I’ll grant the game that. But like so many games this generation, there’s a focus on style over substance, and for every visual ah DOR2 gives us, it earns a gameplay UGH.

Graphics Rating: 8/10

3. Sound

There’s no voice acting for DoR2. I just want to get that out of the way. Supposedly Yukes had a choice between realistic ring entrances and voice acting. Which is funny, considering the last DoR game didn’t have voice acting either. Again, this reeks of cutting corners and choosing to make a quick and sloppy product over something of quality.

Instead of voice acting we’ve got badly written dialogue that runs across the screen. I guess Yukes is so used to people being fine with no voice acting in console games from a generation ago, they thought it’d be fine to actual back pedal in terms of progress. or they just didn’t realize that in the US, mike work is as important to getting wrestlers over as their actual in ring ability. Case in point: JBL and…that guy who I can’t name or Randy will go nuts.

Hulk Hogan! You stinkin’ pansy! Whorin’ out your daughter on VH-1 so you can have some more spotlight. Well, if the Macho Man had a daughter, she’d not be my media puppet. Ooooh yeah. Man, I wish I had my Slim Jims contract back…

The WWE theme music of each wrestler featured in the game is also available in the game, and is faithful to a note. There’s also some generic rock and metal tracks that are easily forgettable and only worth a footnote here in the review.

Once again, there’s no advancement or improvements over the original DoR, and in many cases, the game is worse in this area than games released a generation ago. I mean, Akklaim’s WWF War Zone had several speeches for each character recorded. And that was a PSX disc. Yukes and THQ can claim the game Cube Discs weren’t big enough to hold any voice acting, but I can’t believe that considering a PS1 CD could hold a few dozen minute long speeches.
Another check in the disappointment column for this game. Same rehashed sounds we’ve had for years. And now, we’re lacking voice acting as well.

Sound Rating: 4/10

4. Control & Gameplay

If you’ve played one Yukes/Aki made WWF (or WCW) game in the past 9 years, you’ve played this one. From WCW vs the World to Day of Reckoning 2, the controls are pretty much the same through and through.

That’s not to say this is necessarily bad however. After all, these same controls made the N64 wrestling games super popular, and WM 2000 and No Mercy became actual system sellers. However, considering so little has changed in the gameplay, it irks me that the cost still remains 50$ for the same reason I’m bothered by sports games selling at full price when there is minimal change in the game from year to year.

So what is new in the DOR2 engine? Well, the counter system has remained the same, the same basic gameplay is intact. How hard you press a button still determines what type of move you will do, and the control layout is the same basic format as in previous Game Cube WWE games.

Submission wrestling has changed however. Instead of the same old button mashing bonanza that we’ve come to see once a leglock or figure four is place on a wrestler, Yukes has focused on use the Game Cube’s C stick to be the submission wrestling focus. Pressing the C stick in any of the four directions creates a different results for your attacking grappler. You’ve got rest holds like the reverse chin lock which do little damage, but allow you to regain some health. You’ve got a taunt (god knows why they consider this a submission move, but they do in this game) which gets the crowd behind you more. Then you have two submissions moves, one which drains attack power, and one which drains their health. Personally it’s only these latter two that you’ll ever really use against the computer. Even in multiplayer matches, you’ll just use taunt and rest holds to be a dick to your friends.

Now this would be interesting, except that Yukes added a second layer which rather ruins it. At least against the computer. While you are being put into a submission hold, you can move your C stick to guess which of the four choices your opponent is going to do. If you are right, you break the hold. I won’t ruin this for you, but when you play the computer, due to the amazingly poor and repetitive AI, you’ll be breaking the holds about 7 out of ten times after playing a half dozen or so matches. Basically Yukes has made it even easier to slaughter the computer controlled opponent. And trust me, these games have never been difficult in the first place.

Generally the controls are good. I’m glad to see SOMETHING new was added to the gameplay in DoR2, but the end result with the submission aspect is far more suited to multiplayer action than against the computer.

Still, the old adage is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And Yukes certainly has feel comfortable enough to rest on the laurels of gameplay they introduced a decade ago to US gamers.

Control and Gameplay Rating: 7/10

5. Replayability

Well, the story mode in Day of Reckoning 2 is only a one-shot. Once you beat it, there’s no point in playing it again. But there’s more to DoR2 than one simple linear mode.

There are 45 wrestlers to choose from in this game, even though it’s not a full WWE Smackdown and Raw roster. However, again we’ve got back pedaling. Games like WCW mayhem held 56 wrestlers, and that was on a PSX/N64 platform. Even THQ’s own 1997 WCW/NWO World Tour held 44 wrestlers. Are we honestly saying in 8 years, we only found the ability to cram one more guy onto a next-gen console? Again, I have issues with this. Still, 45 is very good compared to say, the Genesis’ Super Wrestlemania with a whopping 8 guys.

There’s also only ten match styles on DoR2. We’ve got things like Hell in the Cell, Cage matches, Last man Standing, Tag matches, and so on. But again, nothing new has been added in a long time. Remember when wrestling games allowed SURVIVOR SERIES matches? I do, because they were back on 16 Bit systems. Where’s War Games? or the Elimination Chamber? How about an Inferno Match? Or a barbed wire ring like Akklaim’s ECW game had. A Lumberjack match, Coal Miner’s Glove match, six man tag matches and more are all real matches that could be added to a wrestling game. Instead, we once again get the same old, same old hackneyed repeats we’ve had in our poor WWE games for years. Is it really that hard for developers to try and add something new to a wrestling game.

In truth, DoR2, like most WWE games this generation are a graphical upgrade and a throwback in regards to everything else. Sure you can play the same old match types and have the same matches against the computer using different guys, but there’s only one way to get any replay value out of this game, and that’s multiplayer. Your friends can actually think and don’t fall into the same patterns 100% of the time, so it can be fun and challenging.

There’s also the WWE Shop Zone where you can earn money to unlock stuff, but that gets boring fast.

There’s little reason to play DoR2 more than a weekend. You’ll have gotten everything possible out of the game. Unless you’re a diehard wrestling fan boy, this game is a rental only.

Replayability Rating: 3/10

6. Balance

Remember back when wrestling games had actual AI. I can. Games like All Japan Pro Wrestling vs Virtua Fighter, Fire Pro Wrestling: Six Man Scramble, and even WWF Attitude had some sort of depth to what the computer would attempt to do to you move-wise.

The computer makes Eugene look like a Machiavellian politician in terms of strategy. It will never use the momentum shift on you, it will attack sporadically and often nonsensically. It is passive on the highest difficultly level, and all but invites you to beat the snot out of it.

After an hour, you will be able to predict the exact layout of your match. The computer is that vapid. Really the only thing that separates out the difficulty levels is how often the computer reverses your moves.

DoR2 is a cakewalk. There’s no way you should lose a match, even on the highest difficulty, if only because the computer is that much of a pushover. Call it telegraphing, call it following the same repetitive cycle, call it a shoddy programming job. Just don’t call this game difficult at all, because it’s anything but.

Amazingly pathetic single player mode. That’s as nice as I can be.

Balance Rating: 1/10

7. Originality

OOOOOH YEAH! The Madness is…

Oh screw it. WM XXI was such a slap in the face to every game on the planet, wrestling fan or not, that I had to make fun of it with the Macho Man gimmick in order to not going insane and butcher the families of everyone involved in with the development of that piece of crap. Here this game is just bad enough that I know it could have been something decent had Yukes actually tried instead of giving us regurgitated pabulum. It’s too good to make fun of, but far too mediocre to enjoy. And that just makes me angry instead of witty and sarcastic.

Aside from a new submission style gameplay, there’s not a single lick of originality in this game. DoR2 is pretty much the same wrestling game THQ has been publishing for Yukes and/or Aki since WCW vs. the World. I’ve pretty much had it with the entire genre due to developers not thinking outside their box or daring to give us anything more. I’m also pretty sick of other review sites who try and pretend there’s anything innovative in the latest batch of wrestling games. And most of all, I’m sick of gamers being that pathetic and sheep-like to whip out their check book or credit card and pay 50$ for the same damn game they’ve bought a half dozen times before, albeit it with a slightly different roster. Just this year alone we’ve had a nearly unplayable game in WM XXI, and now this. At least DoR2 can be enjoyable on some level, but it’s mediocre and bland.

Thank god the new Smackdown vs Raw game for the PS2 will add at least one new match type with Buried Alive matches. So in five years we’ve gotten two new match modes. Wow. Yippee.

Come on Yukes. TRY and make something innovating like you used to last decade? PLEASE?

Originality Rating: 1/10

8. Addictiveness

Even with all my bashing of this game so far, one thing remains to be true. Wrestling games are fun. At least for the first hour or three you play them. I got sucked into the story mode until I realized it was par for the course. I enjoyed watching the entrances and seeing how real they seemed, until I’d watched a dozen and realized it was pretty boring.

Single player mode you will get sick of in a single day. But multiplayer mode? That’s what makes this game a fun weekend rental. You just smack talk your pals while piledriving and suplexing each other till the cows come home. In this regard DoR2 can be a lot of fun, although the momentum shift is annoying for everyone involved when it happens to them.

If Yukes could work on the AI for their games, this would be worth coming back for. But that won’t happen as long as the crap keeps on selling.

Addictiveness Rating: 4/10

9. Appeal Factor

Because the average wrestling gaming fan is now starved due to only one federation being active in the US (Remember ECW and WCW games?) with a video game contract, THQ could release a game filled with stick figures that danced around saying “We knew you would buy this. Ha ha ha.” And it would sell. And you KNOW IT. You’d buy it because you desperately want to play a wrestling game and god knows you won’t import the good stuff from Japan because the wrestlers have slanty eyes or you’ve never heard of them before. You’d rather have a mediocre game emblazoned with HHH’s face on the cover than a game with some depth and challenge with names like “Onita” or “Don Frye.” Even the ol’ Giant Gram is a better wrestling game than anything released stateside in years. I’m not one of those Puro freaks who assume anything with Misawa or Stan Hansen or W*NG Kanemura is an automatically better game. I prefer American wrestling. I Grew up on WCCW, the AWA and the UWF. But I am willing to admit to you, that Japan has better wrestling games that are more worth your money and time. So what if you have to import. Isn’t the key thing to get your hands on a quality game? You can always DESIGN your Rocks and your AJ Styles.

Oh…screw it. I’m probably just wasting my breath and fating myself to emails from people who thought Austin flicking everyone off every 60 seconds was genius.

Like Madden, you’re going to buy this game no matter what if you’re even remotely a fan of the genre. So go buy it. Enjoy your sense of Deja Vu while you’re at it. God knows it’s not like there’s a monopoly on the genre in the US or anything…

Appeal Factor: 7/10

10. Miscellaneous

Mediocre game done by a mediocre developer. The sad thing is WWF games used to be great. Yukes used to be a great developer too. Now they’re just shadows of the past clinging desperately to an outdated legacy hoping their millions of zealots won’t notice.

This isn’t a bad game at all. It’s just an obvious rush job to meet the now yearly WWE fix for each system. If you have DoR1, there’s no point in buy this. If you have Wrestlemania XXI for the Xbox, then this game will seem like a sweet release into Utopia for you. Trust me, I’d rather play DoR2 and no other wrestling game ever again, than have to go through even a chapter of story mode in the crap Studio Gigante suckered people into buying.

I’m highly disappointed that nothing new has been, and probably ever will be done with wrestling games for the near future. Sure there may be 1-2 miniscule updates each year, but in the end, they will be so minor the advancements will only seem noticeable compared to a game from the generation of consoles before.

Yay for appealing to the lowest common denominator I guess.

Miscellaneous Rating: 5/10

The Scores
Story: 3/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 4/10
Control & Gameplay: 7/10
Replayability: 3/10
Balance: 1/10
Originality: 1/10
Addictiveness: 4/10
Appeal: 7/10
Miscellaneous: 5/10

Overall Score: 43/100
FINAL SCORE: 4.5 (Slightly Below Average)

Short Attention Span Summary
This is a rental ONLY. And only for a weekend when you’re going to have a get-together with your fellow wrestling friends. Story mode is okay if this is your first time with a wrestling game, or you’re coming back to them after a long hiatus. Otherwise there is nothing in this game you haven’t experienced before. If you’ve already got a wrestling game for a console this generation you enjoy, then there is no point in wasting a hard earned fifty bucks on this. Still, I recommend this a thousand times over WM XXI. It’s just sad to see that it’s been years since a quality WWE game, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be waiting a few more years until we have one again.

Some people might shy away from reviewing a game like TMNT: Mutant Melee if they were in my position. I have certain loyalties to 4Kids but on this occasion, I was NOT afforded a free copy of this game, I instead decided to pick it up at the store. What can I say, I\’m a sucker for the $20 bargain games and I\’m always looking for a reason to pad my Gamecube collection.

Anyway, TMNT Mutant Melee takes the current TMNT graphics engine used in the first two and squeezes it into an arena fighting game, loosely reminiscent of Power Stone. However, as Power Stone and its sequel featured deeper gameplay, super interactive locations and superior graphics, Mutant Melee keeps it super simple, with button mash gameplay and limited environments. Although it offers little in the way of new gameplay innovation, and the gameplay does get repetitive quickly, there is still something to be said for taking control of the Ninja Turtles and kicking some ninja ass.

STORY

There isn\’t much of a story to speak of in Mutant Melee, but the premise is pretty cool on paper. It\’s a mix of the Ninja Turtles themselves, Master Splinter, Arch Nemesis Shredder and a few other TMNT supporting characters. Although it seems like there are a huge amount of unlockable characters, they are primarily reskins, like bikini April O\’Neil or Bad Ass Casey Jones. It would have been nice to see some new or fringe turtles characters like Usagi.

There are two primary modes to Mutant Melee. One is a single player Adventure mode, where you take control of one of the four turtles (with many other character Adventures unlockable) and proceed through a multitude of single player challenges, like 3 on 1 turtles or an onslaught of Foot Ninjas. Along the way additional characters, Adventure modes, stages and more are unlocked, meaning that the single player modes must be completed to unlock everything in the game. Some Adventure mode levels are quite fun and challenging, but others feel more like tedious marathons, defeating hoardes of low powered enemies for the sake of doing it.

The Melee mode is a multiplayer free for all, resembling a fighting game. There are always four characters as part of the Melee, so even if there are only two players playing, there will be two computer controlled opponents as well. Depending on the rules of the Melee, these could go very long, because a high number of KOs could take a long time with many human players all playing.

Story Rating: 4/10

GRAPHICS

Cell shaded graphics were all the rage a few years ago, but times have changed and what was once cutting edge now seems passé. In this case, the cell shaded look isn\’t even that well executed, with a largely blocky appearance for the characters and fairly stiff animation. It seems as if the graphic quality of each TMNT game has gone done, as the first console TMNT game was promising, but it took a large step backwards with 2004\’s Battle Nexus. Now in Mutant Melee, the models are even blockier and the animation seems stiffer.

The environments are also limited to mainly small rooms, with the bottom wall invisible. Scattered around are various uninteresting items like crates or oil drums, along with some weapons. Sometimes in a fast paced matchup with all four players moving around and some items are flying, there is slowdown and other graphical glitches to mar the action.

The camera is fixed on the bottom of the screen and points upward in a unique perspective on the field. Sometimes the players get caught behind an obstacle or item and become invisible to the camera, which is not so moveable.

Graphics Rating: 2/10

SOUND

TMNT Mutant Melee features voice soundbites of all character recorded by the same voice actors who do the new cartoon on 4Kids TV. However, they are somewhat limited and become incredibly repetitive after time, especially on long Adventure mode tasks. There are also the requisite box smashes, and kick and punch sounds, and they do a fine job of conveying the message.

The music in the game is very weak, consisting of low volume instrumental tunes that don\’t add much to the gameplay experience.

Sound Rating: 4/10

CONTROL

Controlling characters in TMNT: Mutant Melee is a straight forward affair. The main attack is done by pressing the A button, and the B button is used to block. A and B can be used in various combinations to execute combos, but it\’s usually a matter of just pressing both A and B repeatedly and seeing random combos executed and working.

The Y button is used to pick up various items laying around the environments, which includes throwable objects that can be hurled at opponents, and powerful weapons. The weapons are similar to those in Power Stone or Smash Brothers, such as giant swords or rocket launchers.

Unfortunately there is not much depth to the gameplay outside of the button mash combos and random item generators.

Control Rating: 4/10

REPLAYABILITY

There are about a dozen single player Adventures that can be played, starting with the four turtles and moving into other characters such as Casey Jones as they are unlocked. Each adventure has about 15 levels of increasing difficulty, with rewards along the way. It actually will take a bit of time to complete all of the single player Adventures, if the game itself is appealing enough to go through them all.

Replay Rating: 8/10

BALANCE

The difference between the various characters in TMNT: Mutant Melee is negligible at best. The four turtles each have different weapons, but that amounts to a slight difference in range. All of the characters control about the same as well, with jump, 2 attacks and the ability to pick up and toss weapons. The single player mode does have a moderate challenge, because the quantity and cheapness of the AI opponents does get harder as the game progresses.

Balance Rating: 5/10

ORIGINALITY

Four player arena fighting has been done many times before, and most of the time better. There are even a bunch of them for Xbox (Kung Fu Chaos, Loons: Fight for Fame), and there is nothing new to be seen here.

Even the inclusion of the TMNT universe on top of a fighting game isn\’t original, as it was first done as a 2D fighting game during the 16-bit era, with TMNT: Tournament Fighers appearing on both Genesis and Super Nintendo.

Originality Rating: 1/10

ADDICTIVENESS

For fans of TMNT, there is some enjoyment to be had with Mutant Melee. It\’s not the disaster that Battle Nexus was because it keeps the gameplay simple and doesn\’t promise too much. By coming out at the $19.99 value price, it lowers expectations, so the somewhat shallow gameplay is excused. There are enough unloackables to make the single player adventures worthwhile, although the gameplay can get repetitive at times.

Addictiveness Rating: 6/10

APPEAL

The Ninja Turtles have appeal, especially to fans of the old or new cartoon series. It\’s unlikely that anyone besides Ninja Turltes fans would even buy this game or know about it, because it\’s being released with zero fanfare and a budget price.

Appeal Rating: 7/10

MISCELLANEOUS

Ever since Power Stone first appeared on Dreamcast I\’ve been waiting for the ultimate followup. I was disappointed in Power Stone 2 and despite the fact that Capcom announced that Power Stone was a trilogy, a third game has never seen the light of day.

TMNT: Mutant Melee is does a decent job of creating a manic four player fighting game, but the small environments and unimpressive graphics don\’t do much to differentiate it from the pack. While it seems like there is a lot to unlock, most of the secret characters are reskins and most of the Adventure modes get tiresome.

Misc Rating: 4/10

Final Scores:

Story: 4/10
Graphics: 2/10
Sound: 4/10
Control: 4/10
Replayability: 8/10
Balance: 5/10
Originality: 1/10
Addictiveness: 6/10
Appeal: 7/10
Miscellaneous: 4/10

Overall Score: 45/100
FINAL SCORE: 4.5 (POOR)

I remember back when the first Resident Evil game came out I used to sit around with friends passing the controller back and forth among ourselves taking turns killing zombies and all of us jumping at things like when the dog jumps through the window right at the beginning of the game. That was the first survival horror game I had played and loved it and played several more. Only thing I hated was the control system. After awhile other survival horror games realized that the game could still be scary without forcing you to fight with the controller, but the Resident Evil games continued to stick to stick to an outdated system.

Until now that is. Not only have they gotten rid of that control system they\’ve also rid Resident Evil 4 of Zombies, and the main enemy is no longer Umbrella. No Zombies, Umbrella, and I don\’t have to rotate around any longer? Are you sure it\’s a Resident Evil game?

The story starts with Leon Kennedy, the unfortunate guy who started his first (and last) day as a police officer trying to escape Raccoon City in Resident Evil 2. He explains right away how the Umbrella Corporation went bankrupt after government contracts were withdrawn and their stock plummeted due to what happened in Raccoon City. It is now 6 years later and after extensive training over the years Leon is now a government agent who is currently in a small town in Europe looking for the Presidents daughter, who has been kidnapped and believed to have been seen in the area.

And that\’s all I\’ll say about the details of the story. Part of the reason the story is interesting is because trying to figure out what is going on is such a mystery. Now that you know the Umbrella Corporation is not behind this, who is? Why do they want the Presidents daughter? Why do the all the villagers hate you? For this reason I\’m glad that they decided to give someone other than Umbrella a chance.

The story itself isn\’t extremely complicated or full of in depth character development, and it doesn\’t have to be. Much like most action movies out there is enough of a story to keep you watching and set up the action sequences, but it never gets in the way of the game or leave you wondering what that was all about after you\’ve turn the system off. It is a very good balance between keeping the story interesting while never slowing the action down. The game tells the story through cutscenes and through notes lying around in the game. I know that all the Resident Evil games have notes like this laying around, however you have to start wondering about the intelligence of the bad guys when they leave interoffice memos lying around that have titles like \’Our Plan\’ for you to find. The cutscenes are well done though some of the dialogue is pretty cheesy.

8/10

Has to be one of the best looking games I\’ve played on the Gamecube, if not one of the best looking games I\’ve ever played. The cutscenes look great, and the best part? The rest of the game uses the same graphics and it looks just as good when you are controlling Leon. It is all done seamlessly with a minimal amount of loading throughout the game. The character models are all highly detailed, from the small details of the character costumes to the buckets of gore. Often there will be several enemies on screen all looking to take you down and the game doesn\’t slowdown or choke on any of it, even when there are enemies that will take up half of the screen. The areas in the game are also impressive, both in size and in design. When going from the village you start out in to other areas of the game, each has a unique design that makes it enjoyable to just gawk at. When going from one of these large areas to another there\’s only a very brief moment of loading as well. We\’ve come a long way from the door-opening screen.

The game is done in a widescreen view with small black bars that cover the top and bottom screens, but these are almost unnoticeable and offer a wider peripheral view. There is a small amount of clipping sometimes when an enemy drops right on top of Leon or with some of the breakable boxes but it is something you will barely notice and doesn\’t affect the game at all.

9/10

The game supports Dolby Pro Logic II and is full of sounds that will make you need to change your pants.

The music is great and nerve wracking. The music will swell when surrounded by a horde of enemies making a tense situation even more intense. At one point I calmed down a little after the music went away thinking that meant I had defeated all of the villagers, until and ax ended up in Leon\’s chest. The music is perfect for the situations it is used in and will leave you even more on the edge of your seat, just don\’t start thinking you are safe just because there isn\’t any music playing.

The voices of the villagers are a mixed assortment of grunts and groans with a mix of Spanish thrown in. You will really have to hear the their grunts and the sound of a pitchfork missing you by inches, or a head exploding to really appreciate of creepy the sounds in the game are. Speaking of voices, what happened to Leon? Over the last six years he must\’ve been taking classes in witty comebacks since our hero is now a gun toting wise cracking government agent. While some of the dialogue seems heavy handed, it\’s hard not to appreciate Leon swearing under his breath when encountering overpowering odds or throwing out an overconfident remark to the leader of all this mess.

10/10

Amazing. After waiting years for just a RE with analog control they up and change the whole system. No longer do you have to worry about a fixed camera or rotating your character around, now the camera follows closely behind Leon and now it is much much easier to control. Movement is made with the joystick and you draw out a weapon with the R button. When a weapon is drawn the view will zoom in close to Leon shoulder in an almost first person perspective, while zoomed in a laser sight will help you aim whatever weapon Leon is holding. Realistically the sight moves around a bit while aiming making it harder to hit farther away enemies while still easy to hit closer enemies. Shooting is done by holding R and pressing A and you can reload at any time by holding R and pressing B. Holding the L button will have Leon draw out his knife which is useful to break boxes and in certain situations. Y will bring up the inventory quickly and Z will bring up the map quickly. The C stick lets you move the camera slightly and to zoom in and out with the rifle. X is used during the times that you are with Ashley (the presidents daughter) in order to make her follow you or stop. You can make a quick 180 at any time by flicking the control stick back and pressing B.

Then there is pressing different buttons for context sensitive situations. There will be times Leon can jump over a fence or through a window by pressing the A button. This is extremely useful during different fights to push objects in front of windows or push down ladders and it is always important to remember that you have the option to do so. This is also used outside of the fighting as well and it is important to remember to NEVER PUT THE CONTROLLER DOWN. Even during cutscenes you will not be safe from danger as there will be times that you will be required to push different buttons to escape danger. Don\’t think you can just remember these combos if you die either since they are random and will change. I learned this the hard way from putting the controller down for a second to stretch after a boss fight and ended up dead.

The control system is not without a few problems. When you have a weapon drawn you cannot move and do not have the option to strafe. At the same time many of the enemies move slowly so it\’s never really an issue. Aiming and turning feels kind of slow compared to what I\’m used to from FPS but is never that big of an issue and the ability to do a quick 180 really helps. The biggest issue is how much I wish they had included a quick weapon select on the game pad so I wouldn\’t have to access the inventory so many times during the game. Overall there are some things that I wish I could do in the game that I can\’t do like aim faster or strafe, except none of that affects the gameplay at all. I honestly can\’t wait for other shooting games to take this control system and see what they can do with it, almost surprising that this kind of control scheme hasn\’t been thought of before.

9/10

In many ways this game is a Resident Evil game. Also in many ways it is not. Almost the entire game is shooting and there is very little of the backtracking or Phoenix Key for the Dragon door type of puzzle solving that has been a part of the series. This game is much closer to an action style game like Devil May Cry than it is a Resident Evil game. Just because the game relies heavily on the action does it make it a brainless shooter? Not at all. One of the best things about the game is how much strategy is actually involved in taking out hundreds of these villagers. Head shots are fun so you can watch their heads explode, but when you are surrounded knee deep in enemies who are throwing explosives at you and dodging head shots aren\’t always the best option. This is where Resident Evil really shines. In seconds you might have to decide who is the most dangerous and shoot their knees out so they\’ll fall to the ground so you can take care of the less dangerous guys first. With a variety of weapons at Leon\’s disposal there are different ways of tackling groups of enemies.

These enemies aren\’t your run of the mill zombies either. At first I was pissed to hear that the zombies were gone but not anymore, these villagers are ten times worse than any zombie. They\’ll dodge, throw weapons and explosives at you, try and surround you, and those are just some of the first type of enemies you\’ll encounter! There are several different types of enemies that you will encounter as you go along that all have their different strengths and weaknesses. And the boss fights, oh the boss fights. Resident Evil 4 unmercifully throws at you some of the biggest and baddest bosses you can think of, and occasionally will have you face one almost right after another.

As you might be able to tell, RE4 is not and easy game. No one will ever play through this game the first time without suffering at least a couple deaths. Still it isn\’t a game that is unbearable hard either, I\’ve known people who have had hard times with previous RE games on easy beat this game. Even when you are almost out of ammo or health with a little bit of searching you should be able to find either, or wait till the enemy drops some. S you go along and harder enemies are introduced the game balances this by providing you with the ability to purchase health, weapon upgrades or completely new weapons with money that you find from killing different enemies or finding it located in crates. Overall the game does a great job with keeping the difficulty at a level where you will believe that Leon is facing overwhelming odds and still not feel like throwing the controller out the closest window. There are very few games like this that provide as much of a challenge without making it frustrating, and if you find it too easy then a harder level is unlock after beating the game.

10/10

After you\’ve beat the game Capcom has given you several reasons to keep coming back. Once you\’ve beaten the game you can play again with all the weapons and health that you ended the game with and with some additional weapons you can purchase, one of which is an infinite rocket launcher that costs more than you might be able to afford the first time through. Other than that there are also some parts of the game and a couple of alternate routes that I know I missed the first time through that I plan to play through again to see what I missed. Also there are mini-games! Two mini-games are unlocked once you\’ve beaten the main game. There is also a shooting range type mini-game in the game near most merchants.

Operation Ada- You have to use Ada on a short mission to collect 5 samples. Except you have less health than Leon did at that point of the game and take less damage. Inventory management is more crucial and Ada does not have a knife which makes some situations a lot harder. For those looking for more of a challenge after the end of the game look no further.

Mercenaries- An arcade style RE mini-game? That\’s right, in this game you try to earn the most points on four different maps. At first you start with one character and can unlock more with different abilities. The goal is to kill as many Ganados (villagers) as possible in a certain time limit. You can gain combo bonuses for killing several in a row and time bonuses as well. However in each level there is at least one enemy that is difficult to kill that is determined to chase you down and kill you.

These mini-games are really fun and will keep you coming back.

8/10

This game doesn\’t just break the mold for Resident Evil games, it is going to help change the survival horror genre. Some of the parts of Resident Evil are things lifted from other games, like how enemies drop health and ammo and the merchant/upgrade system will be familiar to fans of action games like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry, but the combination of the new control system, the addition of the action buttons and the above merchant system while keeping some of the game standard makes this the most innovative game of the series and one of the most innovative games I\’ve played recently.

9/10

This game will appeal to fans of the series as well as bring in fans of action games. Really if you have a Cube and are over 18 then you should give this game a shot since it is one of the best Gamecube games to come out recently. However this game is a big gorefest. With extra gore. Head exploding, things popping out of necks, people burning, rotting bodies, bodies exploding into a rain of guts, Leon swearing, believe me this game earned it\’s M rating.

8/10

It is hard to believe when you sit down and play this game how much time flies. I played this game for over an hour and it only felt like minutes. That\’s how addictive this game is. Half the time I wasn\’t playing the game I was thinking about playing the game.

10/10

Just to touch on this part of the game it is amazing on how different this game is from all of the other Resident Evil games, but in many ways is still a Resident Evil game. In some ways it is just cosmetic like the typewriters and green herbs, but mixing in other characters from the series and the atmosphere of the game makes it feel like a Resident Evil game even with the dramatic changes to the gameplay. Instead of just making some minor changes to a game that would likely sell well by the name alone Capcom really has gone above and beyond to create an immersive experience that takes the series in a fresh new direction. It was a bold move, but I\’m glad they did it and now I can\’t wait till Resident Evil 5.

10/10

Story: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
Control: 9/10
Balance: 10/10
Replayability: 8/10
Originality: 9/10
Addictiveness: 10/10
Appeal: 8/10
Misc: 10/10

Overall Score: 91/100
Final Score: 9/10

Like every other year over the past 6 years Mario decides to hold yet another Party. In fact it was a year ago when I sent in a submission review to the 411games section that would eventually move over to insidepulse, so this more than just a review but an anniversary for me. Yeah I know you don\’t care, let\’s move on. (Editor\’s Note: I care Matt… Happy Anniversary! *thumbs up, smile with teeth showing*) Mario Party is back, but now facing more competition than ever with successful party games like WarioWare or XX/XY Feel The Magic, is it still champion in the minigame world?

If you bought Mario Party 6 for an intriguing story you will likely be disappointed. But who the hell buys a Mario Party game for its story? It\’s a video board game, that would be like sitting around and debating about the finer points of the plot in Scrabble. There is somewhat of a story to be found, apparently the Sun and the Moon were arguing over whose was better and it lead to some harsh words being spoken about one of their momma\’s or someone sleeping with the others wife. I think. Basically just a set up for the day and night cycle that effects the board and games.

As far as modes go there are a couple of different ones:

Party Mode- The meat and bones of Mario Party. Here you play with other people or against computer controlled opponents on one of six themed boards. Like every other Party the goal on each board is to gain as many stars and coins through whatever means possible, with coins being used to purchase Stars and items.

Single Player Mode- One of the biggest changes is that the single player mode has been completely refined. You used to face computer opponent on the boards available in the Party Mode, this time there are boards that are only available in single player, these boards are slightly different in that they are linear with an ending point. These boards are mainly used as a quick way to gather stars and unlock mini-games to use in the Mini-Game Mode. There are also 4 Rare Mini-Game that you can unlock that are always located on the last space of these boards. Go past them and you loose all of the mini-games and stars that you\’ve collected. Land on the space and you get the stars and games plus the rare game, and you can also quit the game at anytime to save the stars and games, but you\’ll miss out on the mini-game. MUCH MUCH better than the slow and boring single player of the past games. While it\’s not good enough to buy the game if you plan on only playing alone, it at least is playable.

Mini-Game Mode- Play any of the mini-games you\’ve unlocked outside of the board game structure. You can play each one individually or play through a couple with a few options on how to play, like tournament style.

Mic Mode- A whole mode centered around the microphone that is included with the purchase of the game. In this mode you can play any of the mic mini-games (about 5 in all) at any time or one of the other modes. One of the modes is a jeopardy style game where you choose a category and try and answer a question. If you fail someone else can take the question. The other mode is a sidescrolling mode where you use the mic to move the character. The voice recognition is pretty good for this. Not always spot-on but if you speak clearly it works well.

Star Bank- Unlock items, boards and more with Stars you\’ve earned from the other modes. More on this later.

Overall less gameplay modes than what Mario Party 5 had, but some of the modes in number 5 weren\’t that great. The modes in number 6 are more improved even if the improvements aren\’t that much, like how the single player mode doesn\’t suck this time around. The Mic Mode is mostly a gimmick than a revolution in the game, but it\’s a fun gimmick so who cares?

7/10

The graphics haven\’t been improved over the last game but they still do a good job. Every thing is done in bright colors in a cartoonish fashion, the character models all look good though almost all of them were recycled from Mario Party 5, and each board has a distinct theme to it that have small animated details like snowmen popping out of the ground on the ice board.

While not much of an improvement as far as graphics go, Mario Party 6 as a board game looks great.

7/10

There isn\’t much in the way of sound here. There\’s some unobtrusive and lighthearted background music that doesn\’t make you want to mute the TV or that you\’ll catch yourself humming to. There\’s also some assorted sound effects but again nothing I\’d say was great or annoying, which is an improvement over Mario Party 5 at least. The only annoying sound effect is the character specific taunts, but they\’re meant to be annoying so that\’s okay.

5/10

One of the best parts of this game is that just about anyone can pick up a controller and play the game. One the main board A and B control just about everything that you do. The mini-games are also very intuitive and generally don\’t require more than two buttons to be pushed. Considering that there are over 75 mini-games, I\’m impressed that not one of the mini-games I\’ve played had control issues. The mini-games seem to have made a switch to include more platforming style games and more games have the option to screw with an opponent or a teammate.

9/10

This is the hardest area to question because either Mario Party is overbalanced or completely unbalanced. The game requires about 30% skill and 70% luck and chance in order to win. I guess it depends on how you\’re looking at it. For a video game, there\’s no balance. You could win EVERY mini-game and still lose. But as far as board games go, they\’re almost always chance. Battleship? You yell out different letters and number and hope you hit something, even if you develop a strategy it is still mostly luck. That\’s Mario Party in a nutshell.

There are a couple of difficulty levels for the computer AI opponents including Very Hard and Brutal. For the first couple difficulty levels the computer is like any kid on a short bus, retarded. When you are against the computer this isn\’t so bad, but for any where you might end up teamed up with the computer it\’s a frustrating pain in the ass. For the Very Hard and Brutal difficulties the computer will pull its head out of its ass, at least part of the way, and will put up a fight. Still it is best to play with other people than get stuck with any computer opponents.

Mario Party 6