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Mario Kart Wii, GTA IV Among 2008's Top Sellers (Editorial)

Zach Lott — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:20:56 -0600

Over at Joystiq they're reporting that the NPD, Enterbrain, and GfK Chart-Track numbers for software sales from the past year have been compiled, revealing the industry's top-selling titles for 2008 in the U.S., U.K. and Japan:

Mario Kart Wii - 8.94 million
Wii Fit - 8.31 million
Grand Theft Auto IV - 7.29 million
Super Smash Bros. Brawl- 6.32 million
Call of Duty: World at War- 5.89 million

Also, according to the report, the U.S. and U.K. markets both saw significant gains in sales at 15 and 26 percent, respectively, and the Japanese market took a big dip, dropping 13 percent.

It's not surprising that the best-selling games were either first-party Wii titles or established core games that appeal to a broader audience, seeing how creativity hasn't lent itself well to high sales figures over the past few years.

Overall, though, the industry is doing better than ever from a sales standpoint, but whether it's in good condition or not is a highly debatable topic depending on how you feel about the impact of the casual player upon gaming.

Many of these gamers aren't the kind of people that are willing to take risks on innovative new titles that aren't from an established franchise or developer, opting instead to stick with name recognition. However, there's a growing number of core gamers who are doing the same thing, and this is stifling innovation and creativity in the gaming community.

Of course, part of that is the fault of the gaming media, because we don't always give enough time and space to games that don't have that name recognition that demands attention from gamers. We have to do a better job of letting everyone know about fresh and exciting games coming down the pipe, but it's also fair to expect gamers to be willing to take the chance on a new game that may not get much press coverage but seems like it's doing something innovative.

If these kinds of games don't sell, then their developers either have to shift focus to something more bland and played-out or shut down, and that's not good for the industry, for us as gamers, or for anyone else. So please, take a chance. Be willing to support creativity in gaming, because this great cornerstone of design is quickly being lost.

Nintendo Denies Mario Kart Disc Error Allegations

Zach Lott — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:04:50 -0500

Rumors stating that Mario Kart Wii suffers from the same disc-reading errors as Super Smash Bros. Brawl have been denied by Nintendo, who told Eurogamer that they haven't heard anything about the problem.

Nintendo also told Eurogamer that the same rumors' claims that Mario Kart Wii is on a dual-layered disc are also false, as the game is on a single-layered disc.

Like Brawl, Mario Kart Wii is Experiencing Disc Read Errors

Zach Lott — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:21:39 -0500

If you're amongst the rabble of gamers that came home with a copy a Super Smash Bros. Brawl in tow only to have it not work or freeze while playing, then you might want to get ready to riot. GoNintendo is reporting that Japanese gamers are having the same problem with Mario Kart Wii.

The issue once again stems from the Wii's inability to read dual-layered discs if the disc drive lens is dirty.

If you discover that your Wii is in need of cleaning, you can send it in to Nintendo through a repair form that is available for North American residents via Nintendo's official website.

Update: Nintendo has responded to these rumors, stating that Mario Kart Wii is on a single-layered disc and that they are unaware of any problems regarding disc-reading errors.

Nintendo Updates US Release Schedule for 2008

Shiva Stella — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:00:56 -0600

Nintendo has updated its Wii/DS release date list for the US market covering the first half of 2008, and while some of the hottest games lack a specific date, it's better than nothing. Happy highlights are in bold. Take a gander below. As usual, all dates are subject to change at Nintendo's merry whim.

See the whole list after the jump.

Wii

Jan. 7: Kidz Sports Ice Hockey from Destineer
Jan. 8: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law from Capcom
Jan. 15: SAMURAI WARRIORS: KATANA from KOEI CORPORATION
Jan. 15: Furu Furu Park from Majesco Entertainment
Jan. 21: Endless Ocean from Nintendo
Jan. 22: One Piece: Unlimited Adventure from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Jan. 29: Bomberman Land from Hudson
January: No More Heroes from Ubisoft
January: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence from Ubisoft
Feb. 8: Kawasaki Jet Ski from Destineer
Feb. 11: Go Diego Go!: Safari Rescue from 2K Play
Feb. 12: WWII Aces from Destineer
Feb. 12: Dream Pinball 3D from SouthPeak Games
Feb. 18: MX vs. ATV Untamed from THQ
Feb. 25: Agatha Christie And Then There Were None from DreamCatcher Games
Feb. 26: Baroque from Atlus USA
Feb. 26: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors from Square Enix
Feb. 27: Kidz Sports Soccer from Destineer
Feb. 27: London Taxi: Rush Hour from Destineer
February: Garfield® Gets Real from DSI Games
February: Yamaha Supercross from DSI Games
February: Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore from Konami
February: Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 from Ubisoft
February: BALLOON POP from UFO INTERACTIVE GAMES
March 3: Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed from THQ
March 9: Super Smash Bros.® Brawl from Nintendo
March 10: Worms: A Space Oddity from THQ
March 25: Okami from Capcom
March 25: OPOONA from KOEI CORPORATION
March: MiniCopter: Adventure Flight from Aksys Games
March: Alone in the Dark from Atari
March: Ninja Reflex from Electronic Arts
March: Obscure: The Aftermath from Ignition Entertainment
March: Target: Terror from Konami
March: Nitro Bike from Ubisoft
March: Emergency Heroes from Ubisoft
March: HEAVENLY GUARDIAN from UFO INTERACTIVE GAMES
March: Rebel Raiders from XS Games

April 15: Castle of Shikigami III from Aksys Games
April: Pro Evolution Soccer from Konami
April: Wild Earth: African Safari from Majesco Entertainment
April: THE MONKEY KING-THE LEGEND BEGINS from UFO INTERACTIVE GAMES
April: Super Pick Ups from XS Games
May 6: Speed Racer from Warner Bros. Games
May 13: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian from Disney Interactive Studios
May: BlastWorks: Build, Trade, Destroy from Majesco Entertainment
May: King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga from SNK Playmore
May: THE DOG Island from Ubisoft
June 8: Wonderworld Amusement Park from Majesco Entertainment
June: Catch of the Day from Electronic Arts
June: Ford Racing Off Road from Empire Interactive
June: Cooking Mama Cook Off 2 from Majesco Entertainment
June: Rygar: The Battle of Argus from Tecmo, Inc.
June: DeBlob from THQ
June: Wall-E from THQ
Spring: Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel from Nintendo
Spring: Major League Baseball® 2K8 from 2K Sports
Spring: Don King Presents: Prizefighter from 2K Sports
Spring: Top Spin 3 from 2K Sports
Spring: Kung Fu Panda from Activision
Spring: LEGO: Indiana Jones from LucasArts
Summer: Deca Sports from Hudson
Summer: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from LucasArts
Summer: Active Life: Outdoor Challenge from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Q2: Wii Fit from Nintendo

Nintendo DS

Jan. 21: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin from Nintendo/Intelligent Systems
Jan. 21: Mazes of Fate DS from Graffiti Entertainment, LLC
Jan. 22: Mega Brain Boost from Majesco Entertainment
Jan. 24: Aquarium by DS from Bold Games
Jan. 24: Fantasy Aquarium by DS from Bold Games
Jan. 29: Pet Pals: Animal Doctor from Majesco Entertainment
January: N+ from Atari
January: Barnyard Blast from DSI Games
January: Command & Destroy from DSI Games
January: Miami Nights: Singles in the City from Ubisoft
January: Brain Challenge from Ubisoft
Feb. 4: Paws & Claws: Pet Resort from THQ
Feb. 5: Homie Rollerz from Destineer
Feb. 5: Nanostray 2 from Majesco Entertainment
Feb. 10 (street date): Professor Layton and the Curious Village from Nintendo/LEVEL-5
Feb. 12: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney from Capcom
Feb. 12: New Zealand Story Revolution from Ignition Entertainment
Feb. 12: Dream Pinball 3D from SouthPeak Games
Feb. 19: Spitfire Heroes: Tales of the RAF from Destineer
Feb. 19: Zoo Tycoon II from THQ
Feb. 25: Bratz: Super Babyz from THQ
Feb. 26: Bubble Bobble Double Shot from Ignition Entertainment
February: My Horse and Me from Atari
February: M&M'S® Kart Racing from DSI Games
February: Garfield® Gets Real from DSI Games
February: Yamaha Supercross from DSI Games
February: Insecticide from Gamecock Media Group
February: Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery from Ubisoft
February: Assassin's Creed Altair's Chronicles from Ubisoft
February: Petz® Wild Animals: Tigerz from Ubisoft
February: Puppy Palace from Ubisoft
February: Real Soccer® 2008 from Ubisoft
March 1: Project Exile from Graffiti Entertainment, LLC
March 3: Let's Ride: Friends Forever from THQ
March 4: Diary Girl from Konami
March 4: Go Pets from Konami
March 4: Disney Friends from Disney Interactive Studios
March 4: Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest from Majesco Entertainment
March 8: Plushees from Destineer
March 8: River King: Mystic Valley from Natsume Inc.
March 8: Harvest Moon DS Cute from Natsume Inc.
March 11: FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: Rings of Fate from Square Enix
March 11: Lost in Blue 3 from Konami
March 11: Pro Evolution Soccer from Konami
March 25: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword from Tecmo, Inc.
March: Alone in the Dark from Atari
March: Drone Tactics from Atlus USA
March: Double Sequence from DSI Games
March: Ninja Reflex from Electronic Arts
March: Myst from Empire Interactive
March: Naruto: Ninja Destiny from Tomy Corporation
March: Petz® Bunnyz from Ubisoft
March: Imagine Figure Skater from Ubisoft
March: Commando from XS Games
April 15: Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys from Ignition Entertainment
April: Super Dodgeball Brawlers from Aksys Games
April: Rondo of Swords from Atlus USA
April: Quick Yoga Training from Ubisoft
May 5: Crosswords DS from Nintendo
May 6: Speed Racer from Warner Bros. Games
May 8: Organize It from Summitsoft Corporation
May 13: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian from Disney Interactive Studios
May: Winx Club: Mission Enchantix from Konami
May: Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles from Aksys Games
May: Garfield® Fun Fest from DSI Games
May: 1 vs. 100 from DSI Games
June 8: Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness from Natsume Inc.
June: Shining Stars® from DSI Games
June: Catch of the Day from Electronic Arts
June: PipeMania from Empire Interactive
June: Wall-E from THQ
Spring: Sid Meier's Civilization® Revolution from 2K Games
Spring: Don King Presents: Prizefighter from 2K Sports
Spring: Top Spin 3 from 2K Sports
Spring: Kung Fu Panda from Activision
Spring: LEGO: Indiana Jones from LucasArts
Spring: The World Ends with You from Square Enix
Summer: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from LucasArts
Summer: Tamagotchi Connection®: Corner Shop® 3 from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Q2: Bangai-O Spirits from D3 Publisher of America
Q2: PREY THE STARS from KOEI CORPORATION
Q2: Pokemon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time from Nintendo
Q2: Pokemon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness from Nintendo

[GOTY] Best Adventure Game of 07: Super Mario Galaxy

Solomon Lee — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:00:36 -0600

Our Review (*****)

Why It Won: Super Mario Galaxy is, quite simply, the best Mario platformer to date. Since Mario 64, many fans have eagerly anticipated Marios next 3D adventure as Super Mario Sunshine essentially received mixed reactions and reviews from the media and gaming community. Mario Galaxy is a testament to the lasting influence that Mario still has in the gaming industry today and considering the red plumbers history, this is no small feat.

Mario Galaxys innovative gameplay, breathtaking visuals and epic soundtrack provides an immersive experience for both casual and hardcore fans alike. With numerous galaxies to explore, planet-sized bosses to fight and 120 stars to collect, the gameplay feels refreshingly new and manages to retain the nostalgia charm of earlier Mario titles. Each and every galaxy is unique with its own puzzles and challenges that theres rarely a dull moment. The orchestral soundtrack manages to effectively transcend the players experience of seeing Mario soar into outer space with a sense of awe and wonder.

After the first few hours, it is evident that Mario Galaxy is extremely polished. So much attention to detail is visible in the character designs and environments that even the most casual observer would stop to take notice of this game. The controls involving the Wii remote and nunchuk are intuitive and manage to blend seamlessly with the overall gameplay for a smooth but enjoyable Mario adventure.

Why You May Disagree: One of the issues about this game involves the use of Marios transformation powers. When flying in a Bee Suit, you easily lose your powers simply by touching water if your flight gauge meter is empty. Similarly, certain areas can only be reached by utilizing one of Marios special powers that once lost, creates repetition in forcing you to go back to snag the necessary power-up to attempt the challenge again. Furthermore, additional quests such as collecting 100 purple star coins and the fact that certain galaxies need to be revisited often feels like a chore.

What we say: These issues raised with the game are minor as Mario Galaxy is the best Mario platformer to be released in a long while that exceeds expectations. Even after the game is completed, youll want to revisit the game just to explore the different galaxies, collect more stars, retry the mini-games and bask in the stellar soundtrack one more time. Mario Galaxy effectively demonstrates the real potential of the Wii system and what a truly innovative platform game should be. Period.

New Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Screenshots

Solomon Lee — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:17:05 -0600

Sega has published new screenshots of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the DS. The game will also be released for the Wii and is scheduled for 2008 release.

Hit the link to view more images.

Spike VGA 2007 Award Winners

Tim Grube — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:47:04 -0600

The 5th annual Spike Video Game Awards show doesn't air till tonight at 9pm EST, but the winners have "somehow" made its way into my inbox this morning. The show is being held in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Resort and Casino. I honestly thought Halo 3 would hit the Game of the Year, but I never expected Skate to be in the best Sports game category.

But anywho, check out the full list below!

GAME OF THE YEAR
BioShock

STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Harmonix

BEST SHOOTER
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)

BEST RPG
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios/ BioWare)

BEST MILITARY GAME
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)

BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME
Skate (Electronic Arts/ EA Black Box)

BEST HANDHELD GAME
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo/ Nintendo)

BEST GRAPHICS
Crysis (Electronic Arts/ Crytek)

BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE OR TV SHOW
The Simpsons Game (Electronic Arts/ EA Redwood Shores)

BEST RHYTHM GAME
Rock Band (MTV Games/ Harmonix)

BEST DRIVING GAME
DiRT (Codemasters/ Codemasters)

BEST ACTION GAME
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo/ Nintendo)

BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME
Madden NFL 08 (Electronic Arts/ EA Tiburon)

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Rock Band (MTV Games/ Harmonix)

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
The Orange Box/ Portal (Valve/ Valve)

BEST XBOX 360 GAME
BioShock

BEST WII GAME
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo/ Nintendo)

BEST PS3 GAME
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (Sony Computer Entertainment/
Insomniac Games)

BEST PC GAME
The Orange Box (Valve/ Valve)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
BioShock

BEST MULTI-PLAYER GAME
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)

MOST ADDICTIVE VIDEO GAME FUELED BY DEW
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)

CBS GameCore's Holiday Gift Guide 2007

Tim Grube — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:40:30 -0600

Our good friends over at CBS GameCore just posted their annual holiday gift guide that features everybody's top 5 along with the top 10 overall listings. Some of the games in the top 10 include:

What are your picks for this holiday season? Post them in the comments of this story! For the time being, head over to GameCore's website for the full listings.

On a P-Wing and a Raccoon Tail: Super Mario Bros. 3 Revisited

Eric Jonathan Smith — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:20:00 -0600

There's no doubt about it - Super Mario Galaxy is the finest Mario game in years. It's easily the best out of the current three 3D Mario platformers, evolving beyond the genre-defining nature of Super Mario 64 and the uh...water-spurting innovations of Super Mario Sunshine. However, the game pays tribute to more than just Mario's 3D outings.

The first time a third Mario game was the best of its series happened way back in 1988, with the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. Yes, 1988 - it's not often known that the game was originally released that year in Japan. Americans likely had to wait due to Nintendo not wanting to cannabalize sales of the then newly-localized Super Mario Bros. 2, released the same year. After the seminal preview in 1989's abysmally cheesy cult film The Wizard, Mario 3 finally hit US stores in February 1990. It was worth the wait. Featuring huge stages and innovations, like the ability to fly, Super Mario Bros. 3 was all a pre-pubescent mind could hope for - and more.

My memories of Mario 3 fresh in my mind due to the Mario high I achieved from Galaxy, I decided to revisit this nearly two-decade old title to see just how well it held up. While the game has seen resuscitation on the Wii's Virtual Console, I already had my Super NES hooked up so I settled for my old Super Mario All-Stars cart - you know, the one with Super NES enhanced ports of Marios 1-3 and the suicide-inducing Lost Levels. Once I found the cart in a bin amidst the gutter trash of my Super NES collection (the Beethoven movie game? seriously?) I popped it in my 16-year-old console and flipped the switch. Nothing happened. I calmly removed the cartridge and gave its pin connectors the long and hard blow usually reserved for NES carts. Worked like magic. I selected SMB 3 with haste, my only lament being that I didn't have the original SMB 3 Nintendo Power Strategy Guide at my side like I would have if I were still that fat nine-year-old kid.

Once I breezed through the first of the eight worlds, its king once more grasping the magic wand serving as a thinly veiled plot device for his impotency, I realized the most simple and perhaps most important of Mario 3's traits: it's still fun. Fun in the good, "I can't wait to play more" kind of way. Yeah, I know, right? I can see you from here, you two distinct camps: the one that grew up with the game and who slapped their collective foreheads at how obvious this statement was; the other, well, that's anyone who hasn't played this game. It really is a game that can be enjoyed by anyone and that's due to how it controls its fun: by keeping a challenge level that's fairly high but rarely frustrating.

It's a well kept secret that these old 2D Mario games aren't actually cakewalks; one can easily assume that the 'kiddy' graphics equate simple gameplay. This isn't a challenge in the vein of Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden where simple mistakes punish you; Mario 3 is particularly lenient in its distribution of 1-ups and controls precisely enough such that any mistake you make you will feel is your fault and not because of an untimely placement of a floating Medusa head. And with the exception of one fortress level in world eight whose design is vague and aggravating, most of the hurdles in the game are easily conquered through an abundance of power-ups and other tools that allow you to take them head-on without fear of repercussion.

Somewhere around world three, something about Mario 3's design hit me again. There are these little bridges that, if you're lucky and they are accessible, allow you to skip ahead a stage. Huh. Is that even a big deal? I was intent on playing through the entire game, level by level, so I didn't take advantage of this shortcut. I was making the game a linear one by choice. But then I beat the world, in turn receiving a letter from Princess Toadstool/Peach, with some item attached to it. Great. Just some other useless item to fill up my inventory, along with the other stuff she's given me like that item that lets me skip a stage...huh? Bam. Those shortcuts on the map, the little cloud item that lets you skip an entire stage of your choice, P-Wings that allow you to fly infinitely over an entire level, those confounded warp whistles - all of these serve to give Super Mario Bros. 3 the most basic sense of open-endedness. Just like in more modern games like Grand Theft Auto where there are multiple ways to take on any mission, in SMB 3 there are often multiple ways to take on each stage, and that in turn keeps the game's replay value high and its appeal fresh. This is in the most basic sense of course - but it remains to be said that Mario 3 gave you the choice to use these items before a stage begins to give you the advantage you want.

As a whole, Mario 3's worlds cover all the bases of classic gaming stage cliches: the desert stage, the ice stage, the water stage, the lava apocalypse stage. In fact, these may be some of the lowest points of the game; the desert world in particular is somewhat of a drag. But the moment you start thinking that way, the game does things. It tweaks its design ever so slightly that you'd swear the game was channeling your own emotions. Take the desert world, as said. In the middle of the world, after being subjected to mostly the same challenges from the first world only with a different aesthetic, you're hit with a whammy of a stage: an escape from an angry and vengeful sun. But that's just one example. It's nothing to say of Giant Land, a world made up of super sized enemies, or the sheer variety of offensive options Mario has available, from the legendary Tanooki (Raccoon) Suit, the hardware-tossing Hammer Bros. Suit, and the ultra-pimp and ultra-rare Kuribo's Shoe. This variety present within Super Mario Bros. 3's stage design and gameplay twists complement the game's aforementioned open-endedness perfectly.

For a game that's as easily gushable as Super Mario Bros. 3, it might be better to turn attention to the game that has as good a chance as any to be just as praise-worthy twenty years down the line: Super Mario Galaxy, of course. While the approach to its challenges is decidedly more linear than Mario 3's, Galaxy is no slouch when it comes to variety and fun. But a week, or even a year, is no accurate judge when predicting the real impact Galaxy will have on making a lasting impression. However, most of that generic "wonderment" that Disney likes to cash in on from week-long all-inclusive family packages to Disney World is present in a positive fashion in Galaxy. Make no mistake - now is the perfect time to join the Wii nostalgia wagon for that once in a lifetime chance to download Super Mario Bros. 3 and buy Super Mario Galaxy to see just how well one complements the other. I say this not as paid PR for Nintendo (trust me, I'm not), but as a gamer who understands the decades of Mario history. You won't regret it.

GB Review: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Eric Jonathan Smith — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:24:50 -0600

Blast off into space in Mario's latest and greatest adventure.

Super Mario Galaxy is the game that Wii owners have been waiting for: it delivers on all fronts and has been worth the wait. This is quite simply one of the best games Mario has been in - 2D or 3D - and given his impressive resume, this is no light statement. This is a game anyone can pick up and play and if you've been on the fence about Nintendo's waggle machine, it's as good of a reason to pick up a Wii as you are going to get in the near future.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

The purity of something is most often measured in physical and quantitative terms. Say, for example, the number of carats in a diamond and the percentage of fat in milk. These are real, concrete objects that are easily compared to other similar objects of varying purity. But how then does one measure the purity of the abstract and metaphysical? Only by comparing the feelings and memories of emotions can we assign values to concepts like love and hate. Pure love may be reserved for that special someone; pure hate, that school administrator who seemed bent on making your life a living hell. These opposites can be measured against one another to form some kind of personal, pseudo-numeric value.

Fun is another one of those vague, almost existentialist concepts. Logically, fun can be examined against its opposite, boredom. The purest of fun experiences then, is one devoid of boredom. Normally, a fun experience is restrained to the layered abyss of memory in your brain, there to reside until it is called upon in a melancholy time of need. Your least bored memory could therefore be the one of purest fun.

Er, well, that's how it used to be anyway. The purity of fun has a new benchmark - and its name is Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Galaxy sees Mario return to top form in the three-dimensional realm. As can be immediately concluded from the title, this game has Mario soaring in the cosmos attempting to - what else - save Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser. Along the way he'll defy gravity with the help of a seemingly Peach replacement space "princess" named Rosalina. Rosalina and her gaggle of star people called Lumas inhabit the hub world that Mario will use to explore the galaxies that make up the gameplay of Super Mario Galaxy.

The core gameplay within Galaxy has not changed since Mario 64. If you have any previous experience with the Nintendo 64 title or its sequel, Super Mario Sunshine you will be able to pick up the Wii Remote and Nunchuck and jump, triple jump, and wall jump like it was old hat. Stomping on Goombas and Koopa Troopas is as visceral as ever thanks the to tight, responsive controls.

The genius of the game, however, is in how effortlessly it challenges your expectations of the familiar. This comes in the form of the game's main "gimmick": the planetoid structure. Most galaxies are made up of a myriad of planetoids. Some of these spherical (or not-so-spherical) wonders are so small you can jump clear around them; others so large they constitute an area parallel to the size of the worlds present in Super Mario 64. With a waggle of the Wii Remote, Mario can launch himself from planetoid to planetoid in the race for stars. For some individual stars, you can realistically tread on nearly a dozen planetoids, each with their own bite-sized objectives to complete before moving onto the next. And to make something perfectly clear: just seeing Mario flying through space from one planetoid to the other is satisfying and fun in and of itself. Not only does it showcase the scale and scope of the levels, it also often centers on one of the subtle ways in which Nintendo has utilized the Wii Remote in the game by using the Remote as a pointer to collect Star Bits, little candy-like items that serve as both currency and ammunition. Whether flying through space or even on a planetoid, subtle touches like the collecting of Star Bits gives Galaxy that extra bit of polish that separates it from its ilk.

But that's not to say the entire game is composed exclusively of planet-hopping; the game displays a staggering variety of ways to collect stars. Familiar underwater stages are present along with new ones such as the beehive-themed galaxy. Speaking of bees, variety abounds in Mario's multitude of powers such as the new Bee Suit or the classic Fire Flower. You will never collect a star in exactly the same way as the other. That is, with the exception of the awful Purple Coin stars, where you have to hunt down 100 purple coins in order to collect your celestial prize. These kinds of item collecting quests are by and large absent in Galaxy and for good reason - their slow pacing and repetitive nature are, well, boring. Thankfully, you can avoid the Purple Coin quests if you just want to beat the game normally.

Mario Galaxy has enough guts to visually impress, despite being on the "underpowered" Wii. As Mario flies from one planetoid to the other he dives under spewing lava or by giant toy robots. Despite the aesthetic variety, this game is so stylistically coherent that you won't notice it doesn't have the pure polygons of an Xbox 360 or PS3 title. Some subtle light bloom completes the game's soft, rounded look. The game also runs at a constant 60 fps with no slowdown. Audio is no slouch either; some of the game's music is orchestrated, but all of it sounds either majestic if not uncharacteriscally epic for a Mario game. Some classic themes can also be heard as well. Touches of fanservice abound in Galaxy - musical cues are just one example.
Super Mario Galaxy is quite frankly the best 3D Mario platformer yet - and by extension, one of the best ever crafted. It is so easily accessible and so varied that the fun you get out of it will have as varied a definition as the planetoids you'll traverse along the way. Mario himself has a history of establishing genre standards, paving the way for imitators but the utter uniqueness of Super Mario Galaxy's structure is one reason why this is one polished diamond that's sure not to lose its purity any time soon.

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release: Nov 12, 2007
MSRP: $49.99
Everyone
Winner of GameBump's Best Adventure Game of 2007

First US Consumers Line up for Super Mario Galaxy

Shiva Stella — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:05:14 -0600

And the winner is... Julio Sarmiento. And Mario, of course.

Nintendo has published a few images of some of the first consumers to pick up Super Mario Galaxy at launch from the Nintendo World store in New York. Here's the excerpt published Nov 11, 2007:

Kicking off the holiday shopping season on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 11, a multitude of Nintendo fans lined up at New York's Nintendo World store to be the first in the country to buy Super Mario Galaxy, the highly anticipated new game for Nintendo's Wii system. True to its heritage, Super Mario Galaxy continues the legacy of fun and joyful Mario games. Every few years, a Mario game sets a new standard for the video game industry. That new era began tonight.

Have a peek at two others at the jump. To those who picked up the game: what do you think?

Parker Higgins, of New York, dressed as Nintendo's Mario, waits to be among the first in the U.S. to purchase Super Mario Galaxy for Wii, early Monday, Nov. 12, 2007, at Nintendo World store in New York.

Aaron Lunning, 11, of New York, reacts as his mom Rachel Cohen-Lunning is among the first in the U.S. to purchase Super Mario Galaxy for Wii, early Monday, Nov. 12, 2007, at Nintendo World store in New York.

Nintendo Invites YOU to Stand in Line for Super Mario Galaxy

Shiva Stella — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:00:00 -0600

You know you want me.

Nintendo has issued an invitation to all North American gamers residing in the New York area to stand in line at the Nintendo World store to be the first to purchase Super Mario Galaxy at midnight.

Activities are planned to begin at 8pm Sunday, Nov. 11 and include kiosks displaying the game (so fans can play it immediately prior to purchase), a DJ with dancers, prizes, a velcro wall, and a bungee run. Gamers of all ages are encouraged to join the festivities, especially if they're dressed up in Nintendo costumes.

Here's the address for the Nintendo World store:

Nintendo World
10 Rockefeller Plaza (between 48th and 49th Streets)
New York, NY 10020

Mario will be waiting.

Here's an updated score listing.

Xbox 360 Slightly Surpasses PS3 Sales in Japan, Both Owned by DS

Shiva Stella — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:13:53 -0600

Media Create has posted the latest sales figures for the week ending November 4, and (surprise!) the Xbox 360 has pulled ahead of the PlayStation 3 by a close 200 units, although both consoles and the Wii are still being (pardon the colloquialism) royally spanked by the Nintendo DS - someone explain that one to me.

Here's the chart for hardware sales, Oct. 29-Nov. 4 as courtesy of Media Create and Next Gen.

Nintendo DS - 78,599
PSP - 59,714
Wii - 37,617
Xbox 360 - 17,673
PlayStation 3 - 17,434
PlayStation 2 - 10,209
Game Boy Advance SP - 206
GameCube 155
Game Boy Micro - 113

View further details and software sales at the jump.

Apparently Japanese gamers are currently going crazy for Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, which sold 80,000 units over launch week (also the week ending Nov. 4). Here's a quick rundown of what your friends wayyyy over gaming yonder are picking up:

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 251,000 / New
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Xbox 360) - 77,000 / New
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) - 51,000 / 193,000
Super Robot Wars Scramble Commander The 2nd (PS2) - 21,000 / New
DS Bungaku Zenshuu (DS) - 18,000 / 72,000
DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou - Satsui no Wana (DS) - 18,000 / 115,000
Wii Sports (Wii) - 16,000 / 2,182,000
Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS) - 15,000 / 676,000
World Soccer Winning Eleven DS Goal x Goal! (DS) - 15,000 / 44,000
Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon: Time Expedition Party (DS) - 14,000 / 552,000

I definitely get why Super Mario Galaxy grabbed the top spot, but I'm clueless as to why Ace Combat 6, Super Robot Wars Scramble Commander, and Flash Focus are selling so well. Granted I'm biased against air planes...

New Super Mario Galaxy Screenshots

Shiva Stella — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:40:00 -0600

Maybe I've been giving the plumber a little too much attention lately, but anyhow here's a new batch of screenshots up over at GameSpot.

Curiously the GS launch center contains new imagery and video footage (not to mention the Mario layout - look what great coding money can buy) but has yet to introduce a review. Maybe they can't put down the controller long enough to do actual work?

Hit the link to be taken to the screens. You can also visit the center here.

A Very Wii VC Update: Super Mario Bros. 3 and Something Else

Shiva Stella — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:55:34 -0600

To celebrate Nintendo's release of Super Mario Galaxy, the company has included one of the plumber's all-time best performances for this week's virtual console update: Super Mario Bros. 3. Just saying the name brings back fond memories of flying around in the raccoon suit with my littler brother critiquing my virtual moves (he was just mad because he always got stuck with Luigi).

The two other titles for this week include Alien Soldier (Sega Genesis) and Power Golf (TurboGrafx16). Pales in comparison to Mario but you can't win them all.

Hit the jump for a game break-down and point cost.

Excerpt:

Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Remember when no one had ever heard of a Tanooki Suit or knew that Bowser had a clan of Koopalings? The game that made these things common knowledge is also considered by many to be one of the best ever made. Bowser and the Koopalings are causing chaos yet again, but this time they're going beyond the Mushroom Kingdom into the seven worlds that neighbor it. Now Mario and Luigi must battle new enemies, returning favorites and a new Koopaling in each unique and distinctive world on their way to ultimately taking on Bowser himself. Luckily for the brothers, they have more power-ups available than ever before. Fly above the action using the Super Leaf, swim faster by donning the Frog Suit or defeat enemies using the Hammer Bros. Suit. Use the brand-new overworld map to take the chance to play a minigame in hopes of gaining extra lives or to find a Toad's House where you can pick up additional items. All this (and more) combines into one of gaming's most well-known and beloved titlesare you ready to experience gaming bliss?

Alien Soldier (Sega Genesis, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older Fantasy Violence, 900 Wii Points): As Epsilon-Eagle, you are an alien soldier who has been genetically engineered to produce maximum intelligence and strength. You were once a member of the criminal organization Scarlet, but when you decided to break from the group, you were forced into a showdown with Scarlet's new leader Xi-Tiger, who kills a hostage in his attempt to destroy you. Now it's up to you to take revenge against the bad guys in this side-scrolling action game! Choose from six different weapons and battle the bosses of Scarlet until you reach the final confrontation with the ultimate secret weapon!

Power Golf (TurboGrafx16, 1-3 players, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Power Golf sports a perfect combination of simple-yet-realistic controls and beautiful graphics. Swing away on 18 lush holes in one of three different game modes: the single-player STROKE PLAY mode and the multiplayer MATCH PLAY and COMPETITION modes. Enter tournaments as one of three different charactersbeginner, intermediate and advanced. Wind strength and the slope of the green add extra challenges to each hole. Compete against other players in the standard NORMAL MATCH or ante up one of your clubs in the unique CLUB MATCH. Up to three players can play in COMPETITION mode, and a handicap feature is included to help novice players pull off breathtaking shots just like their advanced rivals.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) Review Scores In

Shiva Stella — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:33:57 -0600

Review scores for Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy - set to launch on November 12 for the Wii console - are beginning to trickle in, and so far the numbers look good (if you're the numbers sort, anyhow). Here's the run-down on the current scores; we'll be adjusting the story to accommodate new reviews as they're added.

Current average: 97%

100 - Deeko: "It's rare to play through a perfect game or one that nears perfection, but Galaxy definitely fits that mold."
100 - GamePro: "Super Mario Galaxy raises the bar in terms of what can be achieved on the Wii."
100 - EuroGamer: "Where Galaxy matches "Mario 64" is not quite in its quality of execution... but in its confidence and originality."
100 - PALGN: "Super Mario Galaxy is without doubt the finest game Nintendo have produced this decade."
98 - GameTrailers
98 - GameInformer
97 - IGN
97 - Official Nintendo Magazine UK
95 - 1UP
95 - GameSpot (video review here)
95 - Computer and Video Games
90 - games(TM)

New Mario Galaxy Screenshots

Solomon Lee — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:50:51 -0500

Nintendo has published new screenshots of the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii. The new screens reveal Mario and his ice sculpture transformation as well showing the red plumber battling his old nemesis, Koopa. Hit the link to find out more.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Screens

Shiva Stella — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:32:38 -0500

Sega has released new images of its Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the Wii. It's good to see that the gaming industry is capitalizing on the Olympics like everyone else. You can look forward to your own Olympic events starring the usual Nintendo and Sega cast on November 6. Hit the link to view the shots.

Super Mario Galaxy Screens and Release Date

Aaron Dunlap — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:56:00 -0500

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor.

At their press conference today, Nintendo announced the release date of Super Mario Galaxy as November 12th, 2007.

A few screenshots released today are below.

Super Paper Mario Gameplay Video

Shiva Stella — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:41:00 -0500

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

In celebration of Super Paper Mario's impending launch we've snagged a gameplay video showcasing three of the game's more popular characters (Princess Peach, Bowser, and - of course - Mario). Enjoy. Super Mario goes Paper on April 9.

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New Mario Strikers Charged Media

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:43:00 -0500

Nintendo recently published three new screenshots of its Mario Strikers Charged for the Wii console. The title features online play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, new abilities, and (of course) Wii remote functionality. Mario Strikers Charged is slated for release sometime this summer. Originally written by Shiva Stella

Mario Hoops 3 On 3 Screens Dribble In

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 14:50:00 -0500

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Evan Lahti.

Nintendo just shot over some brand new gameplay images from Mario Hoops 3 on 3, several of which show off the title's stylus-centric control scheme. For more info, check out our E3 preview of the game.

Nintendo Produces Mario/Miyamoto Podcasts

Shiva Stella — Tue, 23 May 2006 12:21:00 -0500

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Those of you who missed the Mario/Shigeru Miyamoto interviews produced by GoTV have a second chance to view them, as Nintendo has made these interviews, along with their Nintendo DS Lite content focused on in other episodes, available as free podcasts. You've helped him run far, jump high, drive like a maniac and participate in more sports than you can remember. But now it's time to get personal. For the first time, the most popular video game character in the world, Mario, sits down for a one-on-one video podcast interview to discuss his new game, New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS. Mario's exclusive interview is one of a series of four episodes designed to give viewers the inside look at some of Nintendo's biggest superstars. A copy of the podcast schedule follows:Monday, May 22 - The first episode to kick-off the series is an interview with legendary video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, the man responsible for creating Mario, Zelda and countless other popular Nintendo franchises.Monday, May 29 - A review of New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS. The classic Mushroom Kingdom action gets revamped classic look, and Mario shows some sweet new moves.Monday, June 5 - An interview with the one - the only - Mario. What makes this guy tick? How does he pull off his cool moves? And what's the deal with Princess Peach getting kidnapped all the time?Monday, June 12 - A review of the lighter, brighter Nintendo DS Lite, which hits stores on June 11 priced as low as $129.99 at retailers throughout the United States. It has two super-bright screens to make all your DS games look good. You can subscribe to the feed by clicking here, or open the feed in iTunes by clicking here. Enjoy.

GH Preview: Mario Hoops 3 on 3 (DS)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Fri, 12 May 2006 03:01:00 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Evan Lahti.

As Nintendo continues to tour Mario & Co. through nearly every athletic event in existence (we're still waiting on word of Mario Rugby and Luigi Super-Cricket), it looks like our red-hatted friend will be making a basketball-inspired pit-stop on the DS, aptly named Mario Hoops 3 on 3.

Planned for a mid-September release, and developed by sports-games specialist Square-Enix (that's a joke, kids), we got our hands on a basic multiplayer version of the game at E3 this year. Sitting at a booth of networked DS Lites, we first chose our trioed-team by dragging characters with the stylus and into the respective "1P" and "2P" hoops. The standard cast was on hand: Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, Daisy, Yoshi, Peach, DK, and Bowser Jr., and there may be others that weren't revealed. Once we had our squad picked out and our high-tops laced, our characters hit the court.

The whistle blew, and after winning the tip-off, we started to get a feel for the game's controls. Like other DS titles, Mario Hoops requires what's commonly referred to as the "monkey grab" configuration, where players hold the portable in one hand as they trace the bottom screen with the stylus in the other. Considering that all of the dribbling, passing, shooting, and movement was controlled between the stylus and directional pad, it was a little tricky to master, but fun nonetheless. Swiping the pen across the screen horizontally passed the ball to teammates, while drawing upward and releasing performed the shots, layups, and dunks. On defense, pulling the pen downward performed a steal. The controls seemed a little unresponsive, but considering we're expecting the game in late Fall, we'll probably see some fine-tuning.

Visually, the court view is captured from a behind-the-back perspective. The camera is closer to the ground than most traditional basketball sports games, and flows north-south as the ball moves about the floor. Item boxes decorate the playing surface, and as players ran over them in multiplayer items like green, red, and blue shells, bombs, banana peels, and the other standard Mario equipment sprung from the court for use.

Mario and a few of his friends just can't seem to get in shape after playing hours of tennis, golf, soccer, and baseball let's hope Mario Hoops 3 on 3 will help them drop a few pounds. We've only seen the multiplayer, but if the game can pick up a solid single-player mode along with some minigames, it could be a slam dunk for basketball fans.

Mario Party 7 Top Seller At Amazon

Tim Grube — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 22:50:00 -0600

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

This year has been a great year for sales in major retailers. One retailer who is online based, Amazon, mentions that shoppers bought more than 108 million items between Nov. 1 and Christmas. The busiest day was Dec. 12, when customers ordered 3.6 million items.

The company also mentioned that that the most popular videogames were Mario Party 7 for GameCube and Sid Meier's Civilization IV for PC. Im quite surprised Mario Kart DS wasn't a hot item this Christmas.

We will have an update as soon as other retailers release sales info.

GH Review: Mario Party 7 (NGC)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 21:25:00 -0600

This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Even with the GameCube treading on its last legs and Cube owners starved for new games worth buying, Nintendos uber-mascot, Mario, continues to show up everywhere, including in some EA games, most notably SSX On Tour and NBA Street Vol. 3. Theres also the upcoming Mario Strikers, but probably the most popular multiplayer Mario game is the seemingly never-ending Mario Party series and now were given another serving of it in Mario Party 7.

The Mario Party franchise has been around since the golden days of the N64, so if you havent heard about the games or have no clue what theyre about, youve done a fairly good job of avoiding Nintendo like the plague. The basic premise of the game is a bunch of minigames slapped together in the form of a board game. The objective of the game is to finish the game, which is ended after a set number of turns of your choosing, with the most stars. Stars can be earned in different ways, but the most obvious one is to land on a spot where a star is sitting. Getting to where the star is, however, is where all the adventure lies.

Those of you familiar with the series will feel very comfortable with MP7 since its relatively unchanged from the previous entry as the microphone is also bundled here. The biggest difference is that there are new minigames to tackle including new 8-player ones. The other difference is that the game takes place upon a cruise ship, which sets up the story. Mario has invited all of his friends to go on a cruise with him, including Wario and Waluigi. Bowser is angered at being left out and decides to crash the party. This, of course, explains why Bowser is on the board to give players such a hard time. As players rotate through their turns, a meter will slowly fill and when it does, prepare for something nasty from the big boy. Hell steal some coins (and in some cases force you to buy something, which is 95% of the time totally useless) or take away a turn or move you back a few spots; the worst thing he can do is steal a star from you. Trust me when I say that hurts sometimes, especially when it knocks you into a tie with someone or creates a situation in which its impossible to recover. What hell do is random, so some luck is required when that meter fills.

Earlier I mentioned that there were new minigames, 86 in total, with the addition of 8-player minigames. How is that possible when there are only four GC controllers? Simple, teams of two share the controller, each taking one side of it. These minigames will take quite a bit of coordination and communication amongst teammates. If youve played the co-op mode in We Love Katamari, then you know exactly what to expect bouts of fighting with each other because you cant work together followed by copious amounts of yelling. That isnt the case all the time and when you have a full 8-person party going on, its definitely fun to watch each other struggle. The addition of the 8-player games is great and up the party value of Mario Party 7 exponentially. The biggest problem is even if you dont have 8-players and decide to keep those games included during gameplay, you could always control both sides of the controller yourself. But come on, wheres the fun in that?

The minigames themselves arent overly challenging, usually only requiring the use of three buttons at most the analog, A/B, and the occasional shoulder button. Their simplicity, however, is their greatest strength as it makes it an easy pick-up-and-play, which would most likely be the case for some people when gathering four or more players together. And thats also not to say that the simple nature of the minigames is boring. Considering the frequency at which the minigames pop-up, youll quickly grow to appreciate it. And if you want, you can totally bypass the whole board game part and just binge on minigames if you want in the arcade mode. But without the board holding it all together, just playing the minigames gets monotonous after going through a couple of them.

The problem with all of this is the fact that it really is more of the same. Even with the novelty of the microphone introduced in MP6 and new minigames to play, its still the same thing weve seen for the last five years or so. And the variety in the minigames gets old after a little while because some of them are the same game, just with altered instructions. For example, a 1-vs.-3 minigame where the one is on the offensive and the three are on the defensive is switched around and is considered as another minigame counting towards that total of 86.

Another thing is the graphics. Now they arent horrendous, per se, but they havent progressed through each entry. It suffers from the same problem as the gameplay its stale. It seems like theyre just churning out Mario Party games like a machine with no regard to actually trying to do something new with the series. The addition of the mic was good, but they did that with MP6 already. At this rate maybe well see a camera for Mario Party 12 on the Revolution.

Finally, as with the other games in the series, it just isnt fun as a single-player game. Yes you can play the board game and the minigames against AI controlled opponents, but it isnt any fun. Even with two people it isnt all that great. This is really meant to be played with a handful of people. But, if/when you do get the max eight players, it definitely becomes the ultimate party game.

If youve skipped out on the last few entries in the Mario Party franchise and always have a group of friends to play this game with, then by all means go on and get it as you and your buddies will have a blast. However, if youve played Mario Party 6, or even 5, or would be playing this single-player most of the time, then you may not want to consider shelling out the dough for it. Mario Party 7 looks, feels, and plays exactly like every other Mario Party ever made. The new 8-player games, new boards, and new minigames arent enough to differentiate it from anything else youve seen served up by the pudgy plumber and friends.

Easy to pick-up-and-play which makes it the ultimate party game for a group of people.

A little cleaner than the previous ones, but in general, still looks like them.

Same deal as with the graphics the same bloops and bleeps you all know.

When there are 3 or more players, its off the charts. As a one-player game, its pretty boring

Youll come back to play the 86 minigames and other boards as long as its not just you playing

Super Mario Strikers Ready For Release

Tim Grube — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:55:00 -0600

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Nintendo informed us earlier today that they are ready to release Super Mario Strikers next week on December 5 for the GameCube. Up to four players can battle in aggressive five-on-five soccer matches and features classic Nintendo characters.

"People have described this frenetic game as soccer meets Super Smash Bros .," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Soccer remains one of the most popular sports in the world, and Super Mario Strikers gives players the tools they always wished they could unleash on their opponents."

The game rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

Rare Working On Two DS Titles

Tim Grube — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 11:57:00 -0600

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

The latest EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) magazine is reporting that Rare is working on two Nintendo DS titles. The report stated that one of the titles will be a platformer based on Banjo Kazooie. This is a rumor, but EGM usually is correct about many things.

We will report back on any other further developments.

GH Review: Mario Superstar Baseball (NGC)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 16:22:00 -0500

This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

With Mario starring in seemingly every sport out there, its no wonder that he hasnt had the time for a follow-up to Mario Sunshine. His latest foray into sports is in Mario Superstar Baseball from Namco. Much like Marios other sports titles, its easy to pick up and play, but unlike the previous Mario sports titles, its not a great game that will occupy hours of your time. It can be fun for a few hours, or when played against friends, but overall its underwhelming in many ways.

Mario Superstar Baseball has a standard array of gameplay options. You can play a quick game against a friend, or you can take on three buddies in some minigames. These are simple games like homerun derby, and others that involve base running and pitching. Theyre fun for a little while, but theyre hindered by the games poor controls, which will be discussed later. The meat of the gameplay is in the story mode, where you must defeat teams led by Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Wario, and others recruit beaten players, and then take on Bowser.

Many people feel that baseball games have gotten too complex, or they feel the games take to long. Anyone who falls into that category will enjoy the simple gameplay mechanics and the short (usually three or five) innings of a full game. Obviously if youre into stats and realism, this isnt the game for you, but Mario Baseball makes no pretense of being a realistic baseball experience. The action is viewed from an elevated point of view behind the plate; much like 8-bit games of the olden days. Hitting is done via the A button, and all youve got to do is figure out if the pitch is inside or out of the line, move your batter and time your swing properly. Pitching is just as simple, with A throwing the ball, with control being done after the ball is released.

There are over 50 characters from the Mario universe in the game including Mario, Wario, Luigi, Goomba, Koopa, Donkey Kong and more. As they do in Mario Kart, they all have their own unique strengths, animations and personalities - Wario will turn his back and tap his backside a few times to taunt the other team, and Mario will perform his trademark jump after a big win. If anything, there are too many characters, as youll be stuck with some of the lesser (pretty much anything from Mario Sunshine) characters for quite a while. Its also a stretch to see Petey Piranha standing at the plate trying to hit a ball with one of his leaves.

The games stadiums are a mixed-bag. Along the way youll play in a traditional stadium like Marios, as well as parks that borrow themes from other Nintendo franchises. The Donkey Kong stadium has a jungle theme, and even a moat that runs along the base paths, while Warios stadium is outside his castle, with chain chomps in the outfield. The stadiums become hit or miss, however, when you consider all the various hazards and quirks they feature. Its cool at first to see Chain Chomps or Piranha Plants in the outfield, but after getting hosed by them knocking balls away from you, or swatting your hits foul, they get a little frustrating.

The visuals are right on par with all the other Mario-themed games. If youve seen Mario Kart, Mario Strikers, or Mario Tennis, you know exactly what to expect from Mario Baseballs graphics. They are bright and colorful, with lots of personality, but they wont win any awards from a technical standpoint, as they are hardly pushing the system.

The music is primarily remixed tracks from classic Nintendo themes, which is never a bad thing. Its virtually impossible to tell the difference between the voice samples in this game and Mario Kart, so if youve played that, you know what youre getting here.

Mario Superstar Baseballs biggest problem is that its just not a whole lot of fun. Everything about the game feels sluggish. Its a chore to navigate menus, find challenges, run the bases, throw the ball, field, and upgrade your team. The whole concept of impressing players to get them on your team is interesting, but because you dont get them unless you win, you end up playing games over and over because you couldnt score runs with your pathetic team. Which leads me to the next problem; a lack of scoring. For an arcade-style game, there is a dearth of scoring. Sure its fun to manufacture runs here and there, but thats not why people are playing Mario Baseball. If its possible to go through the first ten games without hitting a homer (like I did), then the balance needs to be adjusted.

A huge problem with Mario Baseball is its poor controls. The biggest issues are running the bases and fielding, but even hitting has its problems. First off, charging your hitter up before the pitch by holding down the A button is incredibly pointless. It seems to do little more than cause fly-outs, and its hard to do if youre playing against someone that pitches quickly. Its actually not hard in the sense that pushing the A button is difficult, but if you swing and miss, your batters animation takes a long time and doesnt give you ample opportunity to adjust your position at the plate and charge up before the pitch comes. Hitting is also frustrating because youll swing through balls that you know that you hit. Even if you have perfect timing and the ball lined up just right, lots of times youll just swing and miss. It feels like the developers had to find some way to make people miss the ball every once in a while, so instead of making a greater difference between pitch speeds or making the ball break more, they decided to make the ball go right through the bat. The special pitches are another cheap way that the game uses to get you out. For example, Yoshi has a pitch that turns into an egg and bounces on the ground, often ending up two feet away from the plate, but even if you dont swing at it, the pitch is called a strike. Thats called cheap and its not fun.

Fielding is a victim of poor camera angles and slow player speeds. As soon as the ball is hit, the camera zooms out, but it does it so quickly that youll have trouble following the ball and figuring our what player you are controlling. A sharply hit ball up the middle almost always gets through because you never know if you are going to get the second baseman or the shortstop robbing you of valuable time to get to the ball. Throws are also weak and sluggish like something out of R.B.I. Baseball on the NES.

Base running is an absolute mess. The runners are slow, and the radar on screen doesnt accurately reflect your position on the base paths. Runners that look like theyre just feet from the bag end up being thrown out before they can even get the chance to slide. Your runners all take off on contact, and they are very slow to react to your button presses, which means that any sharply hit ball will result in a runner getting doubled off a base. You can turn on auto-base running, but when youre issued a challenge to steal a base, the computer wont do it, so youre kind of out of luck there.

The only bad thing about the audio is the horrible, horrible sound of the umpire shrieking STRIKE! after every strike. Its nothing short of unbearable.

Its really hard to pinpoint exactly what Mario Superstar Baseball is missing. It has all the characters and play modes youd expect from a Mario sports title, but the bottom line is that its just not that much fun to play. The action on the diamond is rather boring, and theres a frustration factor that you dont often have to deal with when playing one of these arcade-style sports games. Its worth a look as a rental, as you can certainly have a good time with the game over the course of a weekend, but its flaws keep it from being worthy of a purchase.

Its okay, but its nothing great. Underwhelming.

Nintendos getting plenty of mileage out of these character models.

Nintendos getting plenty of mileage out of these sound clips.

Its fun for awhile, but its frustrating and lacks depth.

If you can squeeze more than a weekend out of it you're special.

GH Preview: Mario Superstar Baseball (NGC)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Mon, 23 May 2005 22:50:00 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

GameCube owners actually have two baseball games to look forward to this summer, the sim-like Pennant Chase Baseball, and the arcade-style Mario Baseball. I got some hands-on time with Mario Baseball at E3, and had a great time. Its easy to learn and fun to play, just like every other Mario sports title out there.

Mario Baseball is designed to be accessible to casual sports fans, and the game combines an intuitive hitting system with easy-to-learn fielding and pitching controls making it an arcade-like experience that will appeal to baseball novices and hard-core fans alike. The fields will be a mixture of realism and fantasy, as you can choose to play in traditional stadiums, as well as parks that borrow themes from Nintendo franchises. The Donkey Kong stadium that I played in has a jungle theme, and even a moat that runs along the basepaths.

There are over 50 characters from the Mario universe in the game including, Mario, Wario, Luigi, Goomba, Koopa, Donkey Kong and more. As they do in Mario Kart, they all have their own unique strengths, animation and personalities. A personal favorite of mine was when after striking someone out, Wario turned his back and tapped his backside a few times to taunt the other team.

The visuals were right on par with all the other Mario-themed games. If youve seen Mario Kart, Mario Strikers, or Mario Tennis, you know exactly what to expect from Mario Baseballs graphics.

Mario Baseball also has a challenge mode, where you will wander the land clearing baseball-related trials. Another mini-game is the toy field, where youll try and hit balls at targets in the outfield in an effort to earn prizes. I wasnt able to play any of these mini-games at the show, however, they all sound promising.

No doubt the games going to be tons of fun if youve got someone to play against; the Mario sports games are always great with friends. Its not going to provide the endless depth that traditional sports games typically have, but that's not what it's trying to do.

GH Preview: Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (NGC)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Mon, 23 May 2005 22:49:28 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

GameCube owners looking for a Dance Dance Revolution fix have been out of luckuntil now. Konami and Nintendo are teaming up to bring Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix to the GameCube this October. The game was playable at E3, and I risked embarrassment to bring you the following impressions.

All you really need to know about the game is that its Dance Dance Revolution. If youre a fan of the original or any of its many sequels, then you know exactly what youre going to get with DDR: Mario Mix. Your job is to tap the arrows on the dance pad that correspond with what is happening on screen, and do it in time with the music - and thats it. As the game gets tougher, the arrows will move faster and the patterns get more challenging. The game will have five difficulty levels, the easiest being accessible to even those with two left feet, and the hard being reasonably challenging for seasoned veterans of the series.

There are also going to be several mini-games to play that dont involve dancing. Some of the games are:

Punch Up
Hidden Treasure
Coin Collection
Note Pickup
Flagpole Leap
Banana Storm
Avalanche

DDR: Mario Mix has over twenty five songs, including many re-mixed classic Nintendo themes, like songs from Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart Double Dash, Mario 64, Wario World, and many more. Some of the songs that were playable on the floor include:

Starring Wario!
Here We Go!
Hammer Dance
Roller Coasting
Frozen Pipes
Boo Boogie
Fishing Frenzy
In the Whirlpool.

DDR tends to be a game that hardcore gamers enjoy, and most of those people already have it on the PlayStation 2 or Xbox. Sure, there are casual people that play the game, but they usually arent the ones that go out and purchase it; they go and play it at a friends house. DDR: Mario Mix seems like a good game, but its hard to figure out who exactly it is supposed to appeal to, and who is going to buy it. I guess well have to wait until October to find out the answer.

GH Preview: Super Mario Strikers (NGC)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Sat, 21 May 2005 13:29:00 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Hes a star at tennis, a pro at golf, a fearsome slugger, and even made an appearance in the latest NBA Street, so why not give Soccer a go? Everyones favorite plumber is lacing up his boots to take on all comers in Nintendos upcoming take on the worlds most popular game.

Super Mario Strikers doesnt have a scheduled release date, and the version that was playable on the show floor felt like it was pretty early in its development cycle, but it was still enough to tell that the game is going to be fun. All of the favorites from the Mario universe are present, with Marios team consisting of him and a bunch of Toad characters, as well as a crocodile for a goalie.

The game feels much like Sega Soccer Slam, with plenty of slide tackling and goals to keep the pace moving. The controls were very simple and very responsive. You could use the R shoulder button for turbo, and the L shoulder button was used in conjunction with other buttons to modify certain moves. For example, holding L and the pass button would lob a pass, and holding L and the shoot button would result in a lob shot, which was great for getting the ball over the head of a keeper that strayed too far out.

Im not sure how you earned them, but there were several power ups that could be used during the action. By pressing the Y button I was able to leave a trail of bombs on the screen, which needless to say did a nice job of impeding the other team. At a later point in the game a giant Chain Chomp made his way around the field, taking out his frustration on my team. The current AI was pretty bad, and the game was rather easy, but its such an early version of it that its not a cause for concern.

The graphics were very simple but the animation is smooth, and it's easy to discern the players on each team. Every cutscene after a goal featured Mario celebrating, regardless of who scored the goal, but this was most likely just a placeholder animation and should be replaced before the game is finished.

Only quick play was available, but there were a few cup modes listed on the games main menu. Super Mario Stikers doesnt feel like its going to be very deep, so having one cup mode, and another that is the same thing, only harder doesnt make it seem like there is going to be tons of replay value. Granted, the game will support four-players at once, so those of you with lots of friends will have a blast, but Id take a wait and see approach if you plan on playing it alone.

GH Preview: Mario Kart DS (DS)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Sat, 21 May 2005 12:58:00 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Mario Kart coming to a Nintendo system is as sure a thing as the sun setting. The DS is poised to get its first taste of kart racing action, with Mario Kart DS, which is set to be release during Q4 2005.

Mario Kart DS plays just like, well, every other Mario Kart that has ever been released. The big addition to the DS version is that players can race and battle with up to eight karts at once, regardless of whether everyone has a game card. The usual cast of characters includes Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser and Toad. The game features more than 30 courses drawn from every Mario Kart game. That's right players will tour courses from Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Mario Kart: Double Dash, not to mention brand-new tracks and arenas.

The bottom screen seems to only be used to display a top down map of the action on screen, and its pretty worthless. Races are too fast-paced to be looking down at where you are in relation to the other drivers, so it doesnt add a whole lot to the experience. The rest of the racing is just what youd expect its hectic, and the rubber band AI makes for some very close and exciting races.

The graphics are on par with Mario Kart 64, with plenty of bright colors, and the trademark Nintendo feel to the course backgrounds. The framerate seemed to be consistent, and was pretty fast to boot. It was too loud in Nintendos booth to hear the music, but there isnt likely to be any major shakeup with the games audio. If youve heard one Mario Kart game before, youve likely heard what this one will sound like.

It seems to be a major theme at the Nintendo booth this year established franchises are going to sell well, regardless of the system or release date. Nintendo doesnt seem to be making any major changes to the formula, nor are they taking any big risks, so if you think the series is played out, Mario Kart DS doesnt look like its going to change your mind. On the other hand, if youre dying to shoot your friends with red shells while away from home, Mario Kart DS is going to be just what youre hoping for.

GH Preview: New Super Mario Bros. DS (DS)

The Gaming Horizon Archive — Sat, 21 May 2005 12:57:00 -0500

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

One of the best games of E3 was actually one of the hardest to find. Tucked away behind the massive lines for Mario Kart DS was the New Super Mario Bros a 2D return to the series roots. While the masses simply walked unknowingly past the game, I was able to spend quite a bit of time with it in both the single and multi-player modes.

First things first New Super Mario Bros. is a working title, and certainly wont be the games final name. Secondly, there isnt even a tentative release date for the game, and from what I was told, the three levels that were shown on the floor were incomplete as late as last week, so its not going to be any time soon.

Now, on to the juicy stuff. The gameplay is classic Mario, with side scrolling action where you stomp Goombas and Koopas, as well as picking up mushrooms and fire flowers. Of course, Mario has learned plenty of new tricks, including a wall jump, a butt bounce, and using a super mushroom, can now grow to nearly half the size of the screen. There are also ropes for Mario to swing on, mushrooms that sway when landed upon, and tornados that can be ridden to get big air.

The game does a great job of mixing old school gameplay with new technology and new game mechanics. You can still run up the steps at the end of a level in an effort to land at the top of the flagpole, and you can even skip sections of dungeons by running across the top of the screen.

The game makes use of the touch screen in a couple of ways. You can store up to three powerups, and use them by tapping the screen, which causes the item to drop from the top of the screen for Mario to retrieve. When you use a warp pipe, the gameplay moves from the top screen to the bottom, helping to make it feel like youre headed underground.

The two player mode is a cross between the original Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros, and Mario Kart. It takes the head to head action of the original, places it in side scrolling levels like Super Mario Bros, and then adds in power ups, including lightning to turn things into a crazy battle across a level. This mode was a blast, though the games often got lengthy due to the excessive amount of warping back and forth, but this is certainly something that will be tweaked before the final release; it seemed to just be showing off the concept.

Theres no doubt about it this game is going to be huge. Everyone that played the title seemed to be having a blast, and the manager of a local GameCrazy that was playing the game mentioned that he already had 47 pre-orders for the game. Not too shabby for a game that doesnt have a release date or an official title.