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Launching December 8th for the Wii and PC, Chapter 5, the story so far finally comes to an end with Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God. The artwork is amazing, and the trailer is totally entertaining. Experience it, or suffer at the hands of LeChuck. Or maybe Guybrush?

“Less plunder more bunny please!”

Posted on December 4th, 2009 at 7:11pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: News, Nintendo Wii, pc

Astro Boy (the movie) is a delightful reboot of the 1960’s cartoon of the same name. Dr Tenma loses his son in a tragic accident while testing a giant robot powered by the red core – a power source made of negative energy. Grief stricken, he recreates his son in robot form, and powers that new robot with the far more stable blue core, which is made of positive energy. Astro spends the rest of the movie searching for his place in the world. Some stuff happens, some lessons are learned, and there’s a giant alien monster at the end that doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of the movie – what more could you ask for?

Astro Boy (the video game) attempts to recapture the magic from the movie, but never quite hits the mark. The game takes the basic story, and attempts to expand it with additional foes for Astro to fight, and a slight reworking of some of the scenes from the movie. These changes pull some of the impact from the story. In the movie, Astro works to keep his robot heritage a secret from his new flesh and blood friends. In the game, Astro runs off frequently to fight off dangerous robots, which might tip off his human friends, unless of course they all have some sort of learning disability. Despite these changes, the game sticks more or less to the plot of the movie.

The game switches back and forth between two types of levels: platformer and side scrolling shoot ‘em up. The platforming levels feel uninspired and a little lazy. There’s just one path to take, and the game walks you down that path holding your hand the whole way. While most platformers have you collect coins, bolts, or something similar to trade for upgrades, Astro Boy just cuts out the middle man, and puts the upgrades and cheats in lazily hidden secret rooms throughout the world. While this makes the game accessible to very young gamers, and very casual gamers, it also helps to keep intermediate and advanced gamers of all ages from enjoying the experience.

The side scrolling shoot ‘em up levels feel a bit more polished and enjoyable than the platforming levels. Astro soars through the sky dodging enemy bullets and missles in order to make it from point A to point B, all the while shooting down a wide variety of enemies. I actually felt challenged by a few of these levels, and felt a sense of accomplishment when I reached the end of them.

Throughout both types of level, Astro has the same set of power ups at his disposal. These include a dash attack, a super big laser beam, a butt gun blast that sprays bullets in every direction, and the ability to regenerate some health. Each of these comes in handy in specific situations. The game is way too generous in handing out special moves. You start each life with ten available, and you earn points toward additional uses each time you kill or damage an enemy. Casual gamers and small children willhave an easy time with the game thanks to that generosity, but anyone who’s spent more than the smallest amount of time gaming will be turned off by the lack of challenge present in a game where you can regen some health at the press of a button whenever the need arises.

Astro Boy is a great game for small children who fell in love with the movie and just can’t get enough of it. Unfortunately, older kids, and even some younger kids who happen to be avid gamers will feel let down by the lack of challenge present in the game.  If your kids want to go see the movie three times a week, this game might be a good investment for you – as long as those kids aren’t terribly good gamers.

Posted on November 20th, 2009 at 2:36pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: AstroBoy, Nintendo Wii, Reviews, featured

Capcom announced today that super attorney Phoenix Wright will be leaving his comfy home on the DS and crime solving his way onto WiiWare..  This will be Phoenix’s first venture onto a home console, but don’t expect anything new from the series.   In an attempt to keep up with other game series on WiiWare, the original Phoenix Write series will be chopped up and placed into episodes for quick and easy chunks of crime solving goodness.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright  Ace Attorney: Justice For All, and Phoenix Wright Ace  Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, are all getting a port over to the Wii, so this may not be something appealing to hardcore fans of the series who have already worked their way through these cases. But for those who have yet to experience the wacky adventures of Phoenix Wright, this is a must buy.  No word yet on whether or not you can yell “OBJECTION!” into the Wii controller, but my fingers are crossed!

Phoenix Wright got his first shot at popularity in Japan, but quickly gained fame in North America, selling over 3 million copies worldwide.  You play as Phoenix Wright, a greenhorn lawyer just out of law school, looking to sink his teeth into some major cases.  To solve the crime you must gather evidence, build a case, and discover holes in the evidence provided by the persecution.  The stories are funny and suspenseful, and the puzzles will have you brain working for hours.  Look for the first episode of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney to hit WiiWare in early 2010.

Posted on November 20th, 2009 at 10:51am by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: News, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, WiiWare, phoenix-wright

We have the third video developer diary for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game.  This video is all about the choice players make at the start of the game.  Decisions, decisions, how we all love those tough decisions!

Look for Avatar: The Game to hit major platforms on December 1, 2009.

Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 12:40pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: 360, News, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC Gaming, Playstation 3, Previews, Sony PSP, Video Diary, Xbox 360, pc, upcoming games

Formula One fans, get those thumbs ready.  Codemasters newest title, F1 2009, is now available on the Wii.  F1 2009 is the first in the series to feature all drivers, teams, and circuits from the 2009 racing season.  Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are making their first F1 series debut.  F1 2009 also includes new circuits such as the Singapore night race, Yas Marina in the United Arab Emirates, and FIA Formula One Constructors’ World Champions Brawn GP.

With game modes like GRAND PRIX weekends, 17 round Championship, three-season Career, and a variety of mini-games, there is a lot for F1 fans to enjoy.  All game modes can be enjoyed in a competitive or co-op split screen setting.

UK gamers, look for this to be in stores November 20, 2009.  Those in the PAL territories, it will be in stores on November 19, 2009.

Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 11:27am by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: News, Nintendo Wii, codemasters, f1 2009, new release