Super Mario 64 Review

Super Mario 64

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: Nintendo 64 Players: 1 Release: 1996Genre: 3D Platformer / AdventureRating: 8.3 \ 10.0: Great

Sure, Super Mario 64 is old, but it’s widely regarded as one of the greatest videogames of all time. I don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s still pretty darn good. The plot has an unusual twist— Bowser doesn’t imprison Princess Peach in his lair— instead he traps her behind the stained glass window on the front of her own castle. At the start of the game, an invitation to the Mushroom Castle is read aloud by Peach, the camera rotates around Peach's courtyard, then focuses on the ground. A green Warp Pipe emerges, and out pops a full 3D model of Mario. Back in the mid-'90s, this was mind-blowing, and I can imagine why. This game revolutionized gaming with its full-3D environments and exploration. After crossing a bridge and walking through the door of the castle, you’ll see several doors marked with stars inside, and one that’s unmarked.  The numbered doors are locked at the start of the game, but the locked rooms can be accessed once you acquire the matching number of Power Stars, yellow stars that you must collect to complete a level, equal to the number on the door. Every room has one or more large paintings inside. When touched some paintings will teleport you to the course they’re represented by. Each course has 7 missions for you to complete, such as taking down a boss, racing a foe, collecting the 8 red coins hidden throughout the course, and more. Most courses are fairly small— they’re just large landmasses. Though the courses may be contain other small islands, they’re just as hard to explore. It takes a while to discover every secret and search every nook and cranny of the course, and it feels great to explore so freely. Crash Bandicoot may have been 3D, but it was linear. One minor annoyance is that because of the mission’s brevities, dying just once will send you hurtling back into the castle. Another quibble is that the difficultly continuously rises with each mission, up to the point where you want to give up. Also, the controls can be a bit loose and overly responsive at times— for example, if you accidently run in a circle when you intended to curve in a single direction, you’re likely to have to run in a few more loops before getting back on track. But platforming pros can use this to their advantage, such as using Mario’s overly responsive jumping to scale small mountainsides and the like. A new twist in the controls is Mario’s newfound ability to punch and kick. If you rapidly tap the B button three times in a row, Mario will perform punches on the fist two taps, and a kick on the third. Kicks sometimes destroy objects and enemies that you would otherwise pick up, like  crates and Bob-ombs. In addition to combos, Mario can perform other attacks, such as lunging forward by pressing B while moving forwards. Also, minor visual glitches sometimes occur, but it's a small issue that you likely will not care about. Despite these minor problems, there’s an excellent adventure to be played through. It can be immensely satisfying to discover the games many secrets. Throughout the game, you’ll meet friendly Bob-ombs, a fleet-footed Koopa, a mother penguin who’s lost her baby, an owl who flies you over courses, and other characters. Super Mario 64 is a highly entertaining classic, and it’s not to be missed by any Mario diehard.

Ups3D-ness!!!
Non-linear
New moves
Satisfying-to-discover secrets
Unique characters

Downs
1 death means restarting the stage
Frustrating difficulty rise
Loose and overly responsive controls
Minor visual glitches (but who cares?)

ESRB: E Content: ??? Price: $10.00 (Download)

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Super Mario 64 DS Review

Super Mario 64 DS

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: Nintendo DS Players: 1 (Adventure, Minigames), 2-4 (Vs.) Release: 2004Genre: 3D Platformer / AdventureRating: 9.0 \ 10.0: Masterful

I may have already played the original Super Mario 64 via Wii Virtual Console and liked it a lot, but in some ways, this portable remake, also a DS launch title (as was Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64), is better. After you receive a letter form Princess Peach inviting Mario to come to the castle for cake, a Lakitu Bro. begins circling around Peach Castle with a video camera, and you see Yoshi sleeping on the roof. Let me get this straight, Lakitu Bros. are helpful Lakitus, unlike the spiky bug-tossing enemies you’ll encounter. Mario then pops out of a pipe near the castle, followed by Luigi and Wario. Then Luigi jumps on Wario’s head, and get the pleasure of viewing a short animated fight sequence. As the three mustachioed heroes (one being a troublesome brute) enter the Mushroom Castle, Yoshi awakens and asks the Lakitu Bro. where Mario is, thus beginning your adventure. As it turns out, Mario, Luigi and Wario, and Peach have been trapped inside the castle. Yes, it may seem like a hindrance that you can’t play as Mario at the start of the game, but after defeating Goomboss the Goomba king on a hidden course, you obtain the key to unlocking Mario from behind a door. Walking through this door changes you from your current character to Mario and vice versa (if you're playing as Yoshi, that is). Beside that door are the doors which Luigi and Wario are trapped behind. The only other way to play as another character is to dispatch the enemy wearing that character’s hat and touch it. Unfortunately, you’ll lose the cap if you take  a single enemy hit. But playing as Yoshi has its advantages. You can swallow enemies and turn them into eggs, and his famous flutter kick, makes reaching high places easy. There are four power-ups to use. There’s the Koopa shell, returning from the original SM64, which you can ride around on and plow through enemies; the Mushroom, which makes temporarily gigantic and invincible; the Wing Cap, a Mario-only power-up that allows you to soar over the landscape and reach high places; and the Power Flower, a plant that grants you a special ability depending on the character you’re playing as. Mario’s ability is to swell up and float. Yoshi’s ability is to breathe fire. Luigi’s ability is to become invisible, allowing him to pass through certain enemies and objects. And Wario’s ability is to turn to metal, making him immune and allowing him to walk on the seabed in underwater areas. If you're a player of the original SM64 and think Luigi and Wario's superpowers sound similar to the effects of the Vanishing and Metal Caps, you're not wrong. In fact, they're literally replaced by those powers-- there's now only one Question Mark Switch and  one color of item-holding blocks (the red Question Mark Block). Unfortunately, this remake brings back of the issues of the original SM64. Minor (and sometimes major) visual glitches sometimes occur, and just one death will earn you a hurl back into the castle if you're not already there. Also, the playable characters walk sluggishly, and the only way to pick up the pace without holding X or Y to dash is to walk without stopping for several seconds. Even then, you'll be wishing you would move faster. All the playable characters but Mario have different strengths and weak points. Mario is rounded, Yoshi and Luigi jump very high, but Luigi’s low on power, and Yoshi can’t even attack-- he can only swallow enemies and objects to turn them into eggs or single bursts of fire to breath. Wario lacks speed and agility (not to mention intelligence), but he's able to smash large objects and can punch enemies all the way across the screen! And I got this all from the instruction manual. One of the biggest differences between SM64DS and the original is the fact that there are 150 Power Stars to collects-- 30 more than in the original. There’s also a new room in then castle-- the Rec Room, a place where Peach used to play as a child. It not only contains old toys, but you can find a hidden star by jumping into the painting of a beach. There’s also a door that can be entered only after you’ve obtained eight stars. Behind is a room with a window with a balcony behind it and a painting of Mario. Ironically enough, passing through the painting brings you to the course in which you must battle Goomboss for the key to rescuing Mario. Also, selecting the Rec Room icon from the home menu allows you to play minigames which you can unlock by catching rabbits in the castle. As you choose a minigame, the World 1 world map music from Super Mario Bros. 3, reminding me of the good and bad times I had with that classic.  I’d already played some of these minigames in New Super Mario Bros., so they felt a bit dull, having been played by me so many times in the past but they're still mildly enjoyable, although there's also a large chunk of minigames that weren't featured in New Super Mario Bros., all of which are enjoyable. To be fair, this game was released before NSMB, but the former was the first Mario game I ever played. There's also a Vs. mode, where you and up to three DS owners can battle each other to obtain stars in a wireless free-for-all via Download Play. Although it brings back some of the flaws of the original, Super Mario 64 DS is superior to the original in pretty much every way. The gameplay, the music, although recycled from the original, hasn't aged a bit and is still amazing. The graphics have been most significantly improved. The character design, and object detail have all been vastly enhanced, although the vibrant, impressive, and smooth texture works now look blocky and ridged from some angles. This is a launch title of a decade-old system, and the visuals still rank among some of the best ever seen on the DS. This is a little sad, given that DS titles were already visually inferior to console games at the launch of the system. Another improvement that's very helpful is stage map displayed on the touchscreen. You can even move by sliding the stylus across the touchscreen. Many may argue that the original is better, but I wasn't raised in the olden days of gaming, and I'm not as used to the classics. Despite these very minor faults, SM64DS is a top-notch remake of a fondly remembered classic, a platforming masterpiece, and one of the best portable titles I've ever played.

Ups
Fun minigames
Vs. Mode
Improved visuals and sound
One of the best-looking games on DS
Touchscreen map

Downs
Not many issues fixed
Blocky, ridged textures

ESRB: E Content: Mild Cartoon Violence Price: $19.99 (Retail)

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Mighty Switch Force! Review

Mighty Switch Force!

Publisher: WayForward Developer: WayForward Platform: 3DS Players: 1 Release: 2011 Genre: Action / 2D Platformer Rating: 7.2 \ 10.0: Good 


Mighty Switch Force! is a combination of a platformer and a run-and-gun game. In it, you play as Patricia Wagon, a robotic law enforcer who must stop the evil Space Hooligans who have hid throughout the game's futuristic setting, Planet Land. The sprite-based 2D graphics are very impressive-- they, too, seem futuristic. The gameplay is nice and the action is solid, but this downloadable title does have its flaws. Being 21 stages long, the game is fairly short. The goal of each stage is to track down all 5 chained-up Hooligan Sisters, who are part of the Space Hooligans gang. The stages are full of environment-based puzzles, most involving blocks. Some of the blocks are solid, and others appear faintly in the background. The press of a button activates Patricia's Siren Helmet, causing the move the background blocks to move to the foreground, and vice versa. While this strategy is mostly used to solve puzzles, you can also use it to smash enemies into the screen.
The brain-bending puzzles sometimes frustrate me, making all deaths caused by blocks to feel undeserved, making it so there's nothing in the game that's less amusing than accidentally smashing yourself into the screen. I think that laser-gun-based firefights are far more enjoyable. I get into them a lot, and I have the most fun when I'm battling. Some puzzles really set me off, such as on Incident .06, where there are red and blue blocks with body heat-activated locks. When locked, these blocks can't be shifted. The nice stage design makes up for the somewhat high difficulty and frustrating puzzles.  In fact, the stage design lead to some high levels of entertainment in early stages, encouraging me to never stop trying. Mighty Switch Force! is a fun game, but I slightly overestimated it.

Ups
Impressive sprite-based visuals
Fun firefights
Neat premise

Downs
Very difficult

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Fantasy Violence and Suggestive Themes Price: $5.99 (Download)

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Rayman Origins Review

Rayman Origins

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier Platform: Wii Players: 1-4 Release: 2011 Genre: 2D Platformer Rating: 9.4 / 10.0: Excellent

I have always somewhat thought of video games as a form of art, but this is the game that made that perfectly clear to me. The first thing you'll notice about Rayman Origins is how bizarre yet beautiful it is. The cover art implies that this isn't exactly the most normal game you'll ever, and the plot reinforces this— Rayman, the limbless star of the game and his pals are resting in the Glade of Dreams, and there loud snoring annoys the residents of the Land of the Livid Dead, thus starting a war. The excellently designed levels are chock-full of strange enemies and hazards. This is especially noticeable in the Desert of Didgeridoos, a music-themed world where you'll bounce on drums, ride a sentient flying flute, avoid waves on violin strings, and more. If you're a completionist, than I wish you luck in rescuing all 246 groups of captured Electoons, the impish inhabitants of the Glade. Electoons are required to unlock new characters which are found at the Snoring Tree, the home of the Bubble Dreamer, the being who dreams Rayman’s world into existence.

You gain a new ability the first level of worlds one through five freeing a Nymph, a magical resident of the Glade. You gain the ability to attack in the first world, the ability to hover in the second, the ability to fit through small passages by shrinking in the third, the ability to dive underwater in the fourth, and the ability to run up walls by sprinting in  the fifth. After completing the fifth world, you gain access to four more areas which are essentially harder versions of the lands you've already traverse. In addition to being a large surprise, this is perfectly fair, as by the time you've overcome the previous challenges, you'll be well prepared for what lies ahead. Because you've obtained every power, you'll also see some new obstacles in environments where you wouldn't have before. You must defeat a massive boss at the end of each one thus, freeing the world’s king. Beating the first four special boss levels, Poor Little Daisy, To Bubblize a Mockingbird, My Heartburn’s For You, and Murray of the Deep, gives you access to the tenth and final world, Moody Clouds. I’ve got to the final level, The Reveal, and I won’t spoil who the villain is. But that's still not the end of the game! The main thing I don’t like about Rayman Origins is that  the game is very difficult but has no way to save your progress mid-stage, which is why I recommend this to advanced gamers. When stuff gets tough, I commonly take a suicidal dive into a pit just so I can restart from the previous checkpoint with more a magic heart to shield me from an extra hit (you have unlimited lives). The short Treasure Chase levels in which you pursue a sentient, sentient, cyclopean treasure chest through a deadly gauntlet add to the challenge, but also to the fun. By completing these stages, you will obtain a red gem that is apparently a tooth of a strange elderly creature that resides in the Bubble Dreamer's tree house. Collect 'em all, and you'll get a surprise that will truly test your skills.

This game is an enjoyable romp solo, but you can bring up to three pals along for chaotic New Super Mario Bros. Wii-style co-op that lets your group slap each other silly with little consequence. I could never quite put my finger on what was just so appealing about this game when I first played it, but I've figured it out. As I mentioned earlier, this game is a visual marvel. Thanks to the powerful UbiArt engine, Origins sports beautiful hand-drawn graphics and even better animation. Everything's just so flowing and smooth— it's hard to explain, and this game would make an excellent cartoon. The music is one of the most important elements of the silly, cartoony vibe. It's a joy to hear the high-pitched acapella present in many tracks, but much of the music is legitimately catchy and enjoyable. When an orchestra is thrown in, it isn't simply generic stock-sounding tunes, it's epic and inspirational. Incredibly hard or not, Rayman Origins is simply fantastic! It's a platforming masterpiece, and one of the must creative and humorous titles I've ever played.

Ups
Fun multiplayer madness
Very creative and humorous
Chaotic co-op with literal slapstick humor
Gorgeous hand-drawn visuals and animation
Silly, catchy, and occasionally epic score
Tons of variety

Downs
Very difficult with no mid-stage saving

Also available on Xbox 360, Xbox One (via backwards compatibility), PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, 3DS, and PC.

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence, and Suggestive Themes Price: $39.99 (Retail)

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Super Mario 3D Land Review

Super Mario 3D Land

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo / Brownie Brown Platform: Nintendo 3DS Players: 1 Release: 2011 Genre: 3D Platformer / Adventure Rating: 9.8 \ 10.0: Masterful

Above is one of the game's airship stages
 

If you want a fantastic linear 3D platforming experience, look no further-- Super Mario 3D Land is for you. A large amount of effort was clearly put into developing this game-- the soundtrack is fantastic, and the 3D visuals are very impressive, though close-up images appear far more pixilated than they appear when playing the game. It’s a rare occurrence to view a cut-scene in this game, but the few that are seen are very well-rendered. Another one of the many reasons it’s so good is the fact that it takes many cues from the 1990 NintendoEntertainment System classic, Super Mario Bros. 3. The story is the same as usual-- Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach-- though this game is a perfect blend of the finest elements of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 64, and the New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy games, making it feel like a best-of compilation of everything great about Mario. This entry brings back the iconic Super Leaf-- a power-up that grants you the raccoon-like Tanooki Suit. It no longer grants you the power of flight as it did many years ago when it first appeared in SMB3, but it now allows you to slowly flutter through the air, which proves. The Super Leaf’s return continued in Mario Kart 7, which was released soon after. Also brought back from SMB3 are airship stages, which are far easier than they were the last time they were brought back in 2009 and included inNew Super Mario Bros. Wii. Even Boom Boom of SMB3 fame returns as a recurring miniboss. That’s not to say nothing is new about 3D Land. There’s a new boss: Boom Boom's sister, the boomerang-throwing Pom Pom. There is also a handful of new power-ups: The Boomerang Flower, which grants you the shell and helmet of a Boomerang Bro and allows you to throw boomerangs; and the Statue Leaf, a stone Super Leaf that allows you to turn into a near-invincible statue temporarily by pressing L or R in midair. There are two other power-ups that only appear if you’ve died many times during the same stage: The Invincibility Leaf, which grants you a Tanooki Suit and everlasting invincibility, and the P-Wing, which warps you to a spot near the end-of-level flagpole (AKA, Goal Pole). There are also many new enemies, such as Prongos, Wallops, Coin Coffers, and many more. You’ll even see Goombas, Thwomps, Bullet Bills, and Boos sporting a Tanooki tail, which is easily explainable because all the Tanooki leaves blew off a tailed tree and spread out across the Mushroom Kingdom during the game’s first cut-scene. Some tailed enemies even drop a Tanooki Leaf upon defeat! (On normal worlds, they drop a regular Super Leaf. On special worlds, they’re likely to drop a Statue Leaf.) There are even new blocks! First, there are Warp Boxes. These cubical teleportation devices warp you to a different part of the stage. The other new block type is the Super Note Block, a wide rainbow cube that causes you to fly straight up to a secret area made up of clouds. Although it's related to the Note Block from Super Mario Bros. 3, it’s still new. There’s even a new type of Question-Mark Block that’s the length of three normal blocks-- they normally releases three coins when struck, and sometimes two coins and a power-up. And there's a new way to obtain power-ups-- there are randomly generated Mystery Boxes. In them, you have ten seconds to defeat all the enemies within, and you'll be rewarded with a shower of coins and a Star Medal. Additionally, there are Toad Houses. Like in other Mario games, these fungus-shaped shacks houses contain power-ups, and in the case of World 3, a photo album. You can also receive them from other players via 3DS StreetPass. The difficulty level is steady, but can be mildly frustrating-- the game starts out as a cakewalk and starts becoming very challenging. There are even a whole new batch of catchy tunes, with only several recycled from previous titles. One of the game's greatest inclusions is the focus on the hardware features. There are gyroscopically controlled cameras in some stages and a heavy focus on 3D effects. There are two different 3D depth options-- Standard and Extended, as well as secret rooms with 3D illusions that are revealed by stepping on a plate. Mario is the king of 2D platforming,  and this game feels similar to his side-scrolling outings due to its linear design. While previous 3D Mario platformers have been focused heavily on free-roaming exploration, while Super Mario 3D Land retains the feel of Mario classics that just makes everything click perfectly.  And also, while previous Mario platformers have contained themed worlds, Super Mario 3D Land mixes things up with tons of completely varied stages that show how creative the game can be. This is not only one of the greatest Mario games I’ve ever played, but one of my all-time favorite video games, and I very highly recommend it. I doubt there will ever be a better reason to own a Nintendo 3DS.

Ups
Reintroduction of the Super Leaf
Incredible visuals
Eye-popping 3D effects
Tons of new features
Super Mario Bros. 3 references
Focus on hardware capabilities

Downs
Occasionally unsteady difficulty level

ESRB: E Content: Mild Cartoon Violence Price: $29.99 (Retail / Download)

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Kiby's Return to Dream Land Review

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: HAL Laboratory Platform: WiiPlayers: 1-4 Release: 2011 Genre: 2D Platformer / Action Rating: 9.3 \ 10.0: Excellent 

 

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is an amazing multiplayer platformer. The plot is fresh for the Kirby games-- an alien named Magalor crash-lands his ship, the Lor Starcutter on Kirby’s home planet of Pop Star, and you must recover the ship’s five missing pieces. The graphics are impressive, the visual effects left me staring in awe, and the gameplay is fantastic-- you explore detailed 2D environments, copying enemy’s abilities-- at least for player one. Player one is always Kirby, and players two, three, and four can play as Meta Knight, King Dedede, Waddle Dee, or even a different color Kirby (if you're a Kirby fan who hasn't played this game, let me just say Meta Knight, Dedede, and Waddle Dee are teaming up with Kirby for reasons unknown). Of course, only  Kirby can obtain Copy Abilities, but inhaling enemies isn't the only way to get special powers. You can now get Copy Abilities from levitating crystal orbs with one inside, and there are also several new ones to obtain, such as Water and Whip. There are environment-based puzzles that can only be solved with certain Copy Abilities, adding strategic elements to the game. Also new are the extremely destructive Super Abilities. The Super Abilities are Ultra Sword, which, with a tap of the 1 button, gives you a massive blade that can destroy large objects; Monster Flame, which lets shoot a massive burst of fire in the form of a dragon with a press of 1; Snow Bowl, which allows you to roll up into a massive snowball that you roll by shaking the Wii Remote gets larger as it rolls of enemies; and Grand Hammer, which grants you a gigantic sledgehammer that defeats crushes large objects and nearly any enemy. When activated by pressing 1, you can enlarge the hammer by shaking the Wii Remote before striking the ground, unleashing a deadly shockwave. There’s also a new challenge: collecting all the Energy Spheres. Energy Spheres are spheres with small gears inside them. Energy Spheres can be found in hidden areas, or if you discover a portal, you would get some Energy Spheres after defeating Sphere Doomer, who is fought at the end of every portal stage. The portal stages are auto-scrolling and almost entirely gray, and you must avoid being crushed against the wall of dark matter. And for gamers seeking a challenge, Energy Spheres unlock Copy Ability Challenge Rooms, which can be accessed aboard the Lor Starcutter, in which your skills are put to the test through an obstacle course that you must clear under a tine limit using a specific Copy Ability, its challenges fitted to the ability. There  are even a couple of minigames which are playable through the file selection screen as well as the Starcutter. The first minigame, Ninja Dojo, you shake the Wii Remote to throw a Chinese star at a target, and in the second minigame, Scope Shot, you must aim a reticle and shoot electric orbs at large robots that resemble Kirby characters in attempt to destroy them. The time limit makes some battles frustrating, though. Once you beat the game, you unlock another activity, Arena, in which you must battle every boss and miniboss from throughout the game. I hated losing against the final boss, though. Completing the game also unlocks the difficult Extra mode, in which you must re-complete the game with a smaller health gauge and battle powered-up bosses. one small complaint is the fact that every player shares the same life count, making it more likely to get a game over with multiple players rather than when playing individually, and when player one dies, so does everyone else, encouraging players to protect him / her. When another player dies, he / she doesn't end it for everyone else but still loses everyone's precious life. But the good thing is, when one player collects a piece of life-restoring food, they can share the health with another player by hugging (awww!), a feature carried over from the 1996 Super NES classic, Kirby Super Star. Another half-quibble is that rather than using a Wii Remote-Nunchuck combo, you hold the Wii Remote sideways like an NES controller to play, and the Classic Controller and GameCube controller aren't compatible, but that's just a nod to the classics. The gameplay elements of KRTDL make it, in a way, a soul sequel to the 1993 NES classic, Kirby's Adventure, one of my favorite classic Nintendo games. Though it's flawed in minor ways, none of these issues derail Kirby's Return to Dream Land in any major way, and it's an incredible game that no Kirby are platforming enthusiast alike should miss.

Ups
Fun multiplayer
Great graphics
Awesome Super Abilities
Fun minigames
Feels a like Kirby's Adventure soul sequel
Arena and Extra modes

Downs
Player one is always Kirby
Players share lives
Sometimes difficult
 

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Mild Cartoon Violence Price: $39.99 (Retail)

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Sonic Colors Review

Sonic Colors

Publisher: Sega Developer: Sonic Team Platform: Wii Players: 1 (Story), 1-2 (Eggman's Sonic Simulator) Release: 2010 Genre: 3D Platformer / Action Rating: 9.4 \ 10.0: Excellent 

Sonic Colors is my all-time favorite Sonic game. The 3D environments are remarkably detailed, the level design is excellent, the cut-scenes, complete with solid voice acting, are beautifully animated, and the gameplay is excellent. The plot has Dr. Eggman inviting Sonic and Tails to his interstellar amusement park to prove he's given up his evil ways. SPOILER ALERT: He hasn't. He's harvesting the essence of alien creatures known as Wisps to power his park, and Sonic and Tails must free them. Eggman will, however, spout out some of the most humorous amusement park-related jokes you'll ever here. Sonic, on the other hand, will deliver cheesy quips that go to show how much more kid-oriented this entry in the series is . There are seven worlds and a bonus world. The bonus world, Eggman’s Sonic Simulator. This takes place inside an arcade machine, which lets you play seven old-school-arcade-style worlds as a digitized Sonic. You can even play the Sonic Simulator as your Mii (with Sonic’s body), and a second player can join, but not in the main game. The partly orchestrated soundtrack is spectacular, as are the other tunes. This game introduces Wisps, small aliens that give you a powerful ability with the shake of the Wii remote when rescued. They’ve been trapped inside capsules by Dr. Eggman, who is planning to harness their power. There are a variety of Wisps: cyan Wisps, which allow you to streak forward with sound barrier-breaking speeds; yellow Wisps, which let you drill underground and freely speed around underwater without running out of air (at least until the ability wears off); orange Wisps, which rocket you into the sky, followed by you down slowly; Blue Wisps, which cause you transform into a cube and slam to the ground, converting blue blocks into blue rings and vice versa; green Wisps, which allow you to float upwards by repeatedly tapping the A button; pink Wisps, which allow you to morph into a pink, spiked ball and dash up walls, plowing through all enemies in your path; and purple Wisps, which allow you to transform into a purple shark and eat normally indestructible objects. Unfortunately, as you progress, you'll find that the difficulty level is inconsistent. This isn't a very challenging game most of the time, but then there's a handful of mind-numbingly difficult stages that have drastically hindered my progress. This game is almost nothing but fun (and occasional frustration) and I can’t recommend it enough to Sonic fans. Sonic Colors is one of the best experiences available on the Wii, so if you're not a Sonic fan, this is a great place to start.

Ups
Great gameplay
Amazing graphics and music
Excellent design
Awesome color powers

Ups
Those dang difficulty spikes!

ESRB: E Content: Cartoon Violence Price: $49.99 (Retail)

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