Almost two years ago I wrote a piece titled Five LEGO Video Game Titles I Want.

As is the standard with my lists of five, it was mostly silly.  But the third item on the list of five, the item that actually started me thinking about the list in the first place, was a LEGO Harry Potter game.  I called it a “gimme” and wondered why it hadn’t already been announced.

Then, last weekend, while digging through Wii items on Amazon.com, I came across a pre-order page linked off of LEGO Rock Band.

It was for LEGO Harry Potter – Years 1-4.

Travller’s Tales is back with a new installment for the LEGO video game franchise.

Apparently the information about this started rolling out back in June, but we were on a Wii hiatus around our house at that point.

Now though, we’ve been back and playing with the Wii a bit more and I’ve started paying attention to this sort of thing again.

LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 is slated to ship some time in 2010.  Something to look forward to.

And while we’re waiting for that, there is always LEGO Indiana Jones 2, which came out last week.

This installment, which features new levels based on the original movies plus The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls (which GameTrailers called “the worst movie in the series” so we don’t have to) includes a level editor so you can create your own adventures, as well as a split-screen mode so when you are playing co-op and go in different directions you don’t end up with the inevitable tug-of-war for the screen.

Something to put on my list for Santa.

Jako, że niedawno ukazała się druga część tej znakomitej gry, przypomnijmy co nieco o części pierwszej..

Lego Indiana Jones – gra na którą czekało wiele osób. Ci którzy nie mogli się oderwać od Lego Star Wars na pewno z chęcią zagrają w kolejną część gry z duńskimi klockami w roli głównej. Sama gra bazuje na trylogii z lat 80., ci którzy oglądali na pewno rozpoznają charakterystyczne momenty jak uciekanie przed wielką kamienną kulą czy starcia z wrogami na niemieckich ciężarówkach. Bez problemu można rozpoznać także bohaterów, jak tytułowy Indy Jones, Marion czy Henry Jones senior. Jeśli już jesteśmy przy bohaterach, koniecznością jest wspomnieć o niesamowicie animowanych postaciach. Świetnie to wygląda, gdy chyba każdemu dobrze znane “sztywne” klocki, na ekranie ożywają.

Dzieło Traveller’s Tales to zręcznościówka z elementami gry logicznej. Trzeba dużo się naskakać, ale bez przemyślanego działania się nie obejdzie. Podstawą gry są łamigłówki, eksploracja terenu i walka. rozwiązywanie zagadek zajmuje większość gry, ale raczej nie są zbyt  skomplikowane i z reguły mają proste rozwiązania, są takie akuratne. Czasami do osiągnięcia celu nie wystarczy sam Indy, będzie potrzebował pomocy osoby towarzyszącej z którą chodzi przez całą grę, lecz co epizod jest to ktoś inny. Jeśli grami sami musimy się przełączać między postaciami, aby rozwiązać którąś z takich zagadek, jeśli gramy we dwójkę, obowiązkowa jest gra zespołowa. Swoją drogą gra we dwójkę (nawet na jednej klawiaturze, choć to niewygodne) sprawia dużo więcej przyjemności niż samotne przedzieranie się przez klockowy świat. Do rozwiązania zagadek należy także uporać się z różnymi fobiami bohaterów i tak należy coś zrobić, aby Indy mógł spokojnie przejść przez rów z wężami, których się panicznie boi.

Ponieważ po przejściu całej fabuły zaliczymy jakąś połowę gry, warto wrócić do konkretnych części poprzez Free Play, ‘używając’ odpowiednich postaci, a to za sprawą tego, że niektóre zagadki można rozwiązać jedynie za pomocą konkretnych osób, np. dziewczyny wyżej skaczą, dziecko jako, że jest małe może wejść w specjalnie dla nich przeznaczone przejścia, a Henry Jones senior może odczytywać hieroglify. Oczywiście to opcja dla tych, którzy w statystykach lubią mieć complete: 100%, lub fanów Indiany, którzy po prostu muszą skompletować wszystkie możliwe artefakty. Później można te wszystkie zdobycze oglądać w salach Barnett College. Chociaż łamigłówki to główna część tej gry, to będzie wiele okazji do wykazania się zręcznością. Ciekawym jest, że w tej grze praktycznie nie można przegrać, gdy zginiemy po prostu respawnujemy się w tym miejscu tracąc przy tym kilka skrzętnie kolekcjonowanych punktów. Walka w grze została przedstawiona w sposób najprostszy z możliwych, polega na uderzaniu w przeciwnika nogami, rękami, kluczem, łopatą i wszystkim co można podnieść, np. krzesłem czy butelką, warto również podnieść czasami kuszę czy broń palną.

Minusem według niektórych graczy jest praca kamery, ja akurat większych problemów nie zauważyłem poza tym, że czasami nie widać dokładnie gdzie się skoczy, ale to raczej zawodzi bardziej moja wyobraźnia przestrzenna niż praca kamery. Recenzując tą grę nie można pominąć humoru z jakim została stworzona. Gra co chwilę ukazuje jakąś zabawną sytuację, a oglądając filmiki pojawiające między kolejnymi epizodami nie trzeba silić się na śmiech. Ponieważ grą zainteresują się młodsi gracze, warto zaznaczyć, że do poznania całej fabuły nie trzeba znać języka angielskiego, ponieważ… postacie w filmikach nic nie mówią. Wydają z siebie tylko dziwne dźwięki i chrząknięcia. Jeśli już jesteśmy przy oprawie dźwiękowej, należy wspomnieć o wspaniałej ścieżce dźwiękowej, w końcu jest to jeden z najbardziej rozpoznawanych motywów filmowych. Na koniec chciałem wspomnieć o grafice, która częściowo zbudowana z klocków, które wszystkie można rozłupać, a częściowo jest to zwykły świat z niezłymi teksturami. Co do samej gry jeszcze, to polecam ją jedynie na krótsze sesje, ponieważ przy dłuższej rozgrywce staje się nużąca.

by Andrew Donaldson

Around a dozen new titles are flooding the market on Friday, as the video game industry prepares itself for the Christmas shopping period.

With the big day only around five weeks away, many of the industry’s biggest hitters see this week as the perfect opportunity to release their flagship games.

Top of the pile is New Super Mario Bros Wii.

Nintendo’s first 2-D Mario game on a home console since 1992 is a safe bet to top the sales charts come Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, for the sport fans out there, the Wii versions of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 and Formula 1 2009 are also available from today.

But if Nintendo isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for something with a little more action, don’t worry.

Xbox 360 owners can at last get their hands on Valve’s long awaited first-person-shooter, Left 4 Dead 2 – exclusive to Microsoft’s system.

Another much anticipated sequel, Assassin’s Creed 2 from Ubisoft Montreal, is also available to pick up from today, on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Also among today’s pile of releases on PS3 and 360 are Lego Indiana Jones 2, Dragon Age: Origins and Konami’s video game adaptation of the Saw movie franchise.

For those who prefer to do their gaming on the move however, today sees the unveiling of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky for Nintendo DS.

What will be in his stocking come the 25th?

But which game will prevail as the Christmas number one?

A spokesperson for the high-street retailer, Game, said: “So far we’re selling more copies of Assassin’s Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 than the new Mario game.

“We had a lot of pre-orders for Left 4 Dead 2 and expect it to sell a lot over the next couple of weeks.

“Although we’ve sold a decent number for Lego Indiana Jones, we currently sell it as part of a console bundle, so it’s hard to tell if people are only buying it because it’s part of an offer.”

by Andrew Donaldson

Around a dozen new titles are flooding the market on Friday, as the video game industry prepares itself for the Christmas shopping period.

With the big day only around five weeks away, many of the industry’s biggest hitters see this week as the perfect opportunity to release their flagship games.

Top of the pile is New Super Mario Bros Wii.

Nintendo’s first 2-D Mario game on a home console since 1992 is a safe bet to top the sales charts come Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, for the sport fans out there, the Wii versions of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 and Formula 1 2009 are also available from today.

But if Nintendo isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for something with a little more action, don’t worry.

Xbox 360 owners can at last get their hands on Valve’s long awaited first-person-shooter, Left 4 Dead 2 – exclusive to Microsoft’s system.

Another much anticipated sequel, Assassin’s Creed 2 from Ubisoft Montreal, is also available to pick up from today, on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Also among today’s pile of releases on PS3 and 360 are Lego Indiana Jones 2, Dragon Age: Origins and Konami’s video game adaptation of the Saw movie franchise.

For those who prefer to do their gaming on the move however, today sees the unveiling of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky for Nintendo DS.

But which game will prevail as the Christmas number one?

A spokesperson for the high-street retailer, Game, said: “So far we’re selling more copies of Assassin’s Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 than the new Mario game.

“We had a lot of pre-orders for Left 4 Dead 2 and expect it to sell a lot over the next couple of weeks.

“Although we’ve sold a decent number for Lego Indiana Jones, we currently sell it as part of a console bundle, so it’s hard to tell if people are only buying it because it’s part of an offer.”

I mentioned on an earlier post that LEGO was coming out with a build-on LEGO Star Wars Nintendo DS Lite Case with printed tiles and it only makes sense that it wouldn’t be a one off product.

The new LEGO Indiana Jones DS Lite Case is just as cool with an equally awesome tile picture on the front. It looks like both cases will be sold wherever Nintendo DS accessories are available, although I did check Gamestop.com and I didn’t see either one available (at least not yet).

Both Toys R Us.com and StarWarsShop.com have the Star Wars Case available, it looks like Toys R Us is the only one selling the Indiana Jones one at the moment. For some reason its for “pre-order” at the Star Wars Shop, but “in stock” at Toys R Us.

My only problem with Toy R Us is that the cases cost $16.99 there instead of the $14.99 at the Star Wars Shop!

Toy R Us is often more expensive than other toy retailers, a fact that is blatantly obvious if you do any sort of price comparison. However, if the cases are available at my local Toy R Us I just might have to make an exception for these (because when you factor in the shipping costs, it would be about the same) and I don’t even have a DS Lite!

Ett första raderna om Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones och Legoa Star Wars the complete saga får bli en rankning där första plats är det som gillas bäst.

Agnes (Gillar inte Legospelen speciellt mycket överhudvudtaget):
Lego Batman
Lego Indiana Jones
Legoa Star Wars the complete saga (Har bara provat lite)

Felix:
Lego Batman
Lego Indiana Jones
Legoa Star Wars the complete saga (Har bara provat lite)

För Felix bör tilläggas att Indiana Jones låg ett mycket länge tills han upptäckte att man kunde köra både bil och båt i Batman så eg. ska Lego Indiana Jones och Batman dela hans första plats med en viss övervikt på Lego Indiana Jones.

Mamma:
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Batman
Legoa Star Wars the complete saga (Blä)

Alla av oss gillar Legoa Star Wars the complete saga absolut sämst, den är rörig så man måste nog stendigga Star wars som vuxen eller barn för att gilla den… På andra plats i rörighet kommer Lego Batman och för oss är det flygaplan av olika slag som gör att spelet inte kommer på topp, för att citera Agnes:  det är apsvårt och trist!

Lego Indiana Jones gillar både jag och Felix, den är lagom svårt och går faktiskt att klara från början till slut utan att man behöver slita ihjäl sej över svåra banor, den är helt klart lagom svår och inte rörig på samma sätt som Lego Star Wars och Batman. Man får i Indiana Jones också slå på mer saker än vad man får göra i Lego Star Wars och Batman vlket är ett plus om man är barn eller vuxen som gillar att krascha saker av alla de slag ;O)  (Felix som är 5 har klarat spelet från början till slut minus ett par banor där han fick min hjälp)

Summering, vill man prova ett Legospel och inte har provat nåt förut, börja med Lego Indiana Jones, lagom svårt och lätt att komma igång med. Spelet går ut på att du ska ta dej från punkt A till punkt B på flera olika banor och på vägen slå sönder saker, kämpa mot fiendelegogubbar, klara hinder och lösa gåtor/problem av olika slag och hitta gömda skatter.

Man kan med fördel spela två stycken och hjälpas åt vilket är väldigt kul då man som förälder kan vara med! Dock kan påpekas att det krävs lite tålamod då du som vuxen kanske vet extakt vad som ska göras medans din son/dotter abslout vill gå åt andra hållet för att slå sönder en buske och se vad som finns där. Man kan inte  gå åt varsitt håll hur som helst utan hindras då av spelytan och den andre så man måste följas åt och sammarbeta vilket gör att du som vuxen får lov att gå till X antal buskar, träd och stenar innan ni går åt rätt håll

Lego Indiana Jones är minst lika bra på Nintendo DS, vi har också provat Lego Indiana Jones på Playstation 2 men alla tycker att det var bäst spelupplevelse på Nintendo Wii.

Ett varningsord, köper du spelet Indiana Jones och ditt barn gillar det… räkna med att du får köpa lego med Indiana Jones tema också

Trailer för Lego Indiana Jones

Godispoäng:

Lego Indiana Jones: 4½ godisar Det står från 7 år på spelet men den är absolut inte “farligare” än de andra legospelen som det står från 3 år på!

Lego Batman: 3½ godisar, det som drar ner är alla flygningar som är för krångliga… tråkiga…

Legoa Star Wars the complete saga : 3 godisar… rörigt men säkert ett höjdarspel om man gillar Star Wars

Inget av spelen är på Svenska utan är på Engelska alt. Danska… men för barnen spelar det ingen roll, det går utmärkt att spela ändå.

Who doesn’t love LEGO Star Wars and Nintendo DS Lite? Well with this latest DS case you don’t have to choose.

Although there have been other DS cases and stickers for both LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones this is the first time that the case actually had LEGO elements on it. And what’s even sweeter is the awesome tile mosaic of the classic Star Wars scene.

# Protective carrying case for Nintendo DS Lite has two buildable LEGO surfaces for extra fun!
# LEGO surfaces work with any LEGO blocks
# Play-Thru design: play games while the system is protected in the case

Available at StarWarsShop.com It retails for $14.99 UDS, ships worldwide (except Mexico, sorry for those of you South of the Boarder ) and is currently available for pre-order (product ships in November, just in time for Christmas).

Hopefully (fingers crossed) they are printed tiles and not some lame stickers that you have to put on. I’m not a fan of stickers versus actual printed LEGO elements.

Thanks Ace over at FBTB for pointing this out!

Ich habe im jüngsten Urlaub die Lego Video Games „Star Wars“, „Indiana Jones“ und „Batman“ durchgespielt und es hat einfach Spaß gemacht. Dabei kam die PSP, Nintendo DS und die PS3 zum Einsatz an der Spielefront.

Obwohl das Spielprinzip in allen drei Spielen das Gleiche ist, wurden die Games nie langweilig. Dabei muss ich gestehen, ich bin sowohl ein Fan der bunten Steine aus Dänemark, als auch ein Fan der genannten Filme. Ich bin mit Lego aufgewachsen und hab ganze Welten aus Plastiksteinen gebaut. Ebenso war es mit den Filmen, wobei die natürlich auch die Comics von Batman aus dem Ehapa-Verlag als Kind verschlang. Die Comics von Frank Miller entdeckte ich erst viel, viel später.

Dennoch gibt es Abstufungen bei den Lego-Games: Star Wars“ und „Indiana Jones“ orientieren sich an den Drehbüchern der Filme, wobei der Dreiteiler „Eine neue Hoffnung“, „Das Imperium schlägt zurück“ und die „Rückkehr der Jedi-Ritter“ für mich am besten umgesetzt wurde. Wahrscheinlich liegt es daran, dass die Geschichten um Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader und Han Solo mir in Fleisch und Blut übergangenen sind. Die neuen Verfilmungen, die ja zeitlich und inhaltlich vor diesen drei Teilen liegen, haben mich emotional nicht so berührt. Bei „Indiana Jones“ ist es ebenso, wobei die Lego-Version die ersten drei Teile umfasst.

Etwas enttäuschend ist die Lego-Version von Batman. Dabei liegt es nicht an dem dunklen Rächer über Gotham City, sondern vielmehr an der Geschichte des Spiels. Hier haben sich die Macher nicht an die Originaldrehbücher gehalten, sondern haben eigene Geschichten mit den Schurken wie Joker oder Two Face entwickelt. Hier merkt man dann aber auch die Schwäche von Videogames: Die Story ist zu dünn. Es reicht eben nicht, nur ein paar bekannte Helden zu nehmen und sie in ein Spiel zu packen.

Mamma läste att spelkonsollerna hänger sej och dummar sej men det har inga av mina gjort. Det sotd om Nintendo Wii och den har aldrig krånglat för mej!

Sämsta konsollen är Nintendo Ds, först gick pappas sönder i en gångjärnet och sen gick min sönder på samma ställe! Nu slår den ihop sej så man får den stängd över fingrarna! Inte smart eller bra! På spelaffären säger dom att det är en trasighet de vet om och att det är vanligt men varför säljer dom grejor som dom vet går sönder så här, dumt tycker jag!

Mamma ska ta kort sen och visa!

Jag har föresten varvat Super Mario Galaxy på Wii, två gånger! och det har inte min storebror klarat tihi! Jag spelar just nu Super paper Mario på Wii, svårt i bland men kul! Lillebror spelar bara Lego Indiana Jones på Wii och mamma Lego star wars

Här är artikeln om dom konsoller som hänger sej och dummar sej mest:

http://www.metro.se/2009/09/03/81217/sa-ofta-kraschar-din-spelkonsol/

So I haven’t actually BOUGHT one of these games but I always wondered how they were.  At first I balked at them simply because at first glance they appear to be video game representations of some great pop culture franchises (Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones).  They still are just that however they also have a lot more to offer gamers of all ages if you are a fan of any of the franchises mentioned.  

I decided to go on a hardcore LEGO demo run so I downloaded demos of all three games mentioned above.  You know what?  They’re really fun.  Sure the controls are simple and so is the game play but it’s refreshing in a way.  In some of my early articles you’ll notice I talk a lot about how old games (and in this case simple games) can be a blast because they’re just not that complicated.  You only have to worry about your health, a few buttons at the most, and the task at hand.  I’ll admit the LEGO series takes this to the extreme for the sake of younger gamers but it’s still playable.  It’s just a lot more like the games you played when you were young yourself.

LEGO Indiana Jones take you through the first three movies in the series.  This is great because you know before you even pop in the disc you’re going to get your money’s worth and experience some great moments.  The familiarity with what you’re about to partake in is worth it’s weight in gold.  The demo was essentially the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark (you know, the golden idol and the rolling boulder).  

In all the LEGO games you’re never more than one button press away from switching between characters.  In this case you can switch between Indy and the guy who follows him into the cave (the guy who played Dr. Octopus……work with me here).  Indy can do his usual like use his whip to swing across chasms.  The other guy is used for his shovel which can unearth buried treasures.  Along with the other LEGO games the demo exemplifies what a developer should offer when releasing such content:  It was lengthy and you left the experience knowing EXACTLY what the full version would offer.  In the case of LEGO Indiana Jones they even added a couple scenes that didn’t take place in the movie.  Overall a fun experience, but let’s see what the other two titles have to offer.

LEGO Batman is the newest of the bunch in this series.  You get to fight crime as Batman while switching to Robin when necessary.  I felt like the character switching in this game felt more natural than Indiana Jones.  Everyone knows through Batman’s legacy and especially the endless toys that he and Robin have a ton of gadgets and different suits.  The developers took this and ran with it and I must say it works well.  Batman’s suits seem a little more practical whereas Robin is left the more wacky ones (magnetic boots that let him walk up walls, etc.).  It all comes together though because you feel like your characters are working as a team moreso than in the other LEGO titles.  

You can also play a campaign as the Joker and Harley Quinn but I have to say this part of the game confused me.  You start in a fun house of some sort with no discernable objective and at one point after flipping a bunch of levers to pass through a few walls it’s really unclear what you’re supposed to do next.  Eventually I discovered a dark doorway I was supposed to go through and that led to a dilapidated roller coaster where I proceeded to get stuck again.  Oh well.  The Batman part of the game still showed a lot of promise, and I would give this game the edge over LEGO Indiana Jones for this reason and also the fluid cooperation between the characters you control.

In my opinion LEGO Star Wars is hands down the best game in the LEGO series.  Maybe it’s a little unfair because as popular as Batman and Indiana Jones are there may be no franchise in the history of pop culture that is as consistent of a juggernaut as Star Wars.  Just being able to play through A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi on the same disc is enough to make you take notice.  Fortunately LEGO Star Wars also boasts the most diverse lineup of characters.  Jedis can use the Force in various ways, droids are used to open otherwise inaccessible areas, and there are also bread and butter Han Solo-type characters that simply sport and old-fashioned blaster.  

The demo takes you through the Mos Eisley sequence towards the beginning of the movie that started it all in 1977 and ends with the escape within the confines of the Millennium Falcon.  Much like Indiana Jones there’s been some additional sections spliced in to give the game more depth.  The added sections also work well in this game.  Again they don’t happen in the movie but you feel as if they’re extrapolating on the original content instead of simply tacking on extra fluff.

There are two things that make all three of the games more fun than you would expect.  Throughout each of them you’ll find piles of LEGOs that can be put together.  In these cases you’ll always build something that helps you move forward in the campaign or a vehicle that you remember the first time you saw it.  The latter is where it gets really fun.  There’s something that reminds you of your childhood and gets you excited when you can see your creation will soon be constructed into something as recognizable as the Batmobile.  Then you get to jump in and drive!  The Indiana Jones game is probably the weakest of the three simply because there’s not much from that franchise to construct LEGO-wise.  

The other selling point for me is all the characters you can unlock and play as.  So many memorable characters can be taken through the campaign just like the big hitters you start the game with.  I found a door in LEGO Star Wars that could only be opened by stormtroopers so I switched my character to one and discovered it was an Imperial day spa!  Bits of humor like this keep the games fresh as well and give them a life of their own apart from the franchises they use as inspiration.  In the end if you’re looking for straight-forward fun that makes you feel like a kid again pick up your favorite of these three.  I recommend Star Wars but if you go with your gut you’ll be happy regardless.

Source: Variety

Your eyes do not deceive you. Yes, a LEGO movie is in the works and the studio bringing the movie to the big screen is Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers has licensed some of its characters (i.e. Batman) to the Lego franchise and in 2007 bought in with TT Games, the video game publisher, who are responsible for producing the popular “Lego” video game line including “Lego Star Wars”, “Lego Indiana Jones”, and “Lego Batman”. According to Variety, the film has been in development for more than a year and Dan Lin will be producing the film through Lin Pictures.

Leo has made direct-to-DVD movies before, but can a theatrical release for LEGO’s and LEGO people be successful in terms of domestic and world-wide box offices? Who knows…perhaps we may be seeing a Sims movie not too far behind.

Lego-spelen är fantastiska. Har spelat igenom hela Lego Indiana Jones och idag siktar jag på att bli klar med Lego star wars – The complete Saga… Bara lite Free play sen för att plocka alla achievements. Jo, jag verkligen älskar dom. Att det är lite svårstyrt och knepigt att spela co-op på grund av konstiga kameravinklar gör egentligen inte allt för mycket eftersom det är så roliga pussel och trix man ska göra. Det hela ser så fruktansvärt charmigt ut i 3D. Dom små legogubbarna är så söta att jag blir alldeles kär. Vet inte hur jag ska kunna vänta ända tills nästa år för att få spela Lego Harry Potter:

Jag blir till och med sugen att köpa en massa legogubbar åt mina kids nu. Så tanken med legospelen fungerar – spelen är svinbra reklam för Lego.

Måste skaffa Lego Batman snarast

If you love lego as a child, now you can relive your child with Lego Indiana Jones.

Head off on the adventure of a lifetime take the role of the world’s most famous archaeologist in LEGO Indiana Jones.

In this game you will revisit locations from the Indiana Jones movie trilogy – uncovering ancient secrets and laughing in the face of danger.

Featuring the movies of The Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade.

Use Indy’s whip to attack or disarm foes, activate levers or swing over gaping chasms as you embark on a quest.

Buy Now with Amazon – Wii

These are, obviously, gaming plans.

I plan on making more “What if?” Achievement lists, starting with Zelda: MM, and moving on from there. I want to branch out from Nintendo soon, so that I don’t get stuck in a rut. I’m thinking of either God of War or one of the Final Fantasy’s.

As for my X360 plans, I’m planning on 100% completing a total of five retail games and five XBOX Live Arcade games. Currently I’m at Banjo-Kazooie and Dash of Destruction for XBLA, with The Simpson’s Game, LEGO Indiana Jones, and Assassin’s Creed rounding out my retail completions.

So what will I finish them off with? I’m two Achievements away from finishing Iron Man, and I’m roughly half way through completing them. They’re those two pesky Achievements about beating the game on Normal/Hard mode. Thankfully, they’re stackable, so when I finish this Hard (or Formidable as the game calls it) run I’ll get them both. After that, or maybe it’s more realistic to say during, I’ll be playing Bully: Scholarship Edition. I’m in Chapter 4 of 5 (not counting Chapter 6: Endless Summer) and I have only 15 of the 38 Achievements left to….achieve. Damn that sounds lame, but I needed to get it out of my system. So theoretically I could have both games done by the end of the month if they are the only games I play.

Other options for the two retail completions are LEGO Batman, LEGO Star Wars: TCS, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

As far as the XBox Live Arcade games are concerned…I need three to complete. I need only one more Achievement in UNO and Banjo-Tooie, so those could be knocked off fairly quickly. That leaves one left. The only other games I have on my harddrive are Castle Crashers and Hexic HD, both of which offer nothing but time-consuming Achievements to finish them off. I am planning, however, on picking up Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes when it comes out on July 29th, and while the online-based Achievements will cause some difficulty for me, that at least gives another option for me in filling out that third spot. There’s also the option of grabbing Wallace & Gromit, which I know my wife would love to play, but that’s a very unreal possibility.

That’s all for now, but I’ll update the plans section on the first of August. I’m going to try beating Iron Man now, or at least another level or two before switching to Bully. I don’t want to let this blog go for another eight days without a post, so expect something soonly.

A produtora LucasArts anunciou nesta segunda-feira (6) que vai relançar parte de seu catálogo de jogos clássicos – desde os “adventures” dos anos 90 até jogos da série “Star wars” mais recentes. Os jogos serão vendidos via download pelo serviço Steam, mantido pela Valve.

A etapa do “resgate” acontece nesta quarta-feira (8), com o lançamento de dez jogos: “Armed and dangerous” (2003), “Indiana Jones and the fate of atlantis” (1992), “Indiana Jones and the last crusade: the graphic adventure” (1989), ”Lego Indiana Jones: the original adventure” (2008), “Loom” (1990), ”Star wars battlefront II” (2005), “Star wars republic commando” (2005), “Star wars starfighter” (2001), “The dig” (1995), “Thrillville: off the rails” (2007).

Além desses lançamentos, recentemente a LucasArts anunciou novas versões de “Monkey island”, mas eu queria mesmo era o FULL THROTTLE !! Jogo rOx ! (quem nunca jogou, não teve infância também.. =] ).

Lucas Arts

So, as the previous post stated, LucasArts was going to release some “amazing” news on Monday, that old school fans would enjoy. All started from the tweet made on lucasartsgames. So the announcement is that a plethora of classic Lucas Arts games are being rereleased on Steam, for the next month or so.

According to lucasartsgames tweet, LucasArts is partnering with Steam for some “Digital adventurey goodness”. The first batch of games headed towards Steams service will be available July 8th.

LucasArts says that they’re trying to introduce the current gaming generation to some of their classic games. Also for a way to allow games to be acquired long after they’ve been taken off of shelves. Seems like any gamer who has been a fan of classic games would love this announcement. But me personally, it doesn’t interest me that much. For those of you who were hoping for a KOTOR 3, my sympathies go out to you, heh. This must be bad, or disappointing news to you, to say the least. This is LucasArts latest attempt at releasing their older classics. But I can see how this would be good though, many people, my bro included, love to play classics.

The first batch of classics to hit shelves July 8th are:

1. Armed and Dangerous
2. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
4. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure
5. LOOM
6. Star Wars Battlefront II
7. Star Wars Republic Commando
8. Star Wars Starfighter
9. The Dig
10. Thrillville: Off the Rails

So those of you classic LucasArts fans watch out for July 8th for these games to hit Steams on demand service.

These days game based on films, TV shows, childrens’ toys and even film/toy cross overs are pretty common.  Generally speaking these games seem to fair quite badly as far as the reaction from critics and hardcore gamers goes, but as long as the film/TV show/product they’re based on is popular they will always sell well enough to make a healthy profit.  I guess the same goes for films based on computer games, generally speaking they’re considered to be pretty awful and yet they keep making more and more of them, so someone must be making money.  So I started thinking, are there any really good games based on films or films based on games?  The Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones games were pretty cool, but one could argue that it’s the Lego-ness of them that makes them so much fun.  I was also thinking about the strangest game tie-ins I’ve ever come across and was reminded of the truly weird Frankie Goes To Hollywood game I had on the Amstrad.  To this day I have absolutely no idea what it was about.

Anyway, over to you guys…

Oj, vad lite bloggat det har blivit i några dagar. Haft besök, sommar och varit sjuk. Men nu är jag tillbaka

Och något jag faktiskt har hunnit med är att spela en del. Lego Indiana Jones är fantastiskt. Hur kul som helst att spela Coop även om man inte är en liten yngling!

Jag tyckte inte alls att Lego Star Wars var lika roligt när jag provade det förut. Men grejen kan vara att man måste spela det co-op för att det ska bli skojigt. Jag är förtjust i spel där man ska lösa pussel(som Lode Runner t ex.), och det får man verkligen göra i det här spelet. Plus det där “samarbetet” som jag alltid verkar tjata om. Här måste man göra en massa sånt.

Det enda minuset jag ser är att man inte kan spela Co-op online. Det borde dom fixa till framtida Legospel…

É sabia que já estão fazendo outro? Eu não! Mas o que importa! este é um dos games mais divertidos em versão Lego e agora vai ganhar mais quebra-cabeças mais fases e mais diversão, confira:

O jogo é previsto pra sair até o fim do ano para todas as plataformas ativas no mercado e PC’s. O nome é LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues e deve seguir os outros filmes da serie (pelo que eu vi).

Vamos ficar de olho para mais novidades, continue por aqui!

Wait, this isn’t Wednesday, stupid DeLorean.  Sorry it’s late folks, had a busy night and thought it was worth waiting and doing this right.

About time I got around to mini-reviewing my Wii collection as well.  As before, no scores but they are in order from least to most favourite.

I got this game free with a magazine subscription, and whilst I wouldn’t write it off completely it’s definitely the least favourite in my collection.  I’m not a big fan of puzzle games, I enjoy puzzles in games, but games that are built solely around puzzles are rarely fun for me.  It wasn’t so much the puzzle difficulty with Mercury Meltdown Revolution as the controls, there are two options first to use the Wiimote on it’s side and tilt in all directions, this was the most fun but I found it hard to be accurate, particularly racing round corners whereas the classic controller isn’t as fun and just simplifies the game.  These are actually minor niggles, my main concern with this game is the lack of variety, all the levels are different but after a while it all felt too similar and I had little incentive to continue.  As a cheap bargain you might have some fun with this, if you like puzzle games your interest should also be higher but ultimately it’s a little limited for most people.

To be fair to Geometry Wars, I haven’t had chance to have a proper play, and a lot of my opinion is based upon the style of game rather that how it actually is.  Which is a shame because it’s probably the best of it’s kind I’ve ever played, the controls are smooth and there is a nice selection of options.  Along with your spaceship, you have a little partner who can be set to different jobs which you unlock through the game, once set in a job it gains experience so switching a lot isn’t a good idea.  The enemies are simple but that just makes them easy to identify, the main focus of the game being keeping an eye on the changing situation.  The 2D plane on which you move can be deformed by certain things, such as gravity wells sucking everything into their gaping maw.  Your lasers also has a nice feel to it, with a variety of power-ups changing it’s spread creating massive storms that devour all of your enemies, it is very satisfying.  There is a nice addition in the ability to transfer a demo over to a DS, and if you have the DS version of the game you can unlock an extra galaxy in each.  Not enough to encourage you to buy both but a nice bonus if you do.  If you’re into space arcade games (maybe you’ve played it’s sister game retro evolved) then this is a good game and you should ignore my pessimism.

I haven’t played many football games, International Super Star Soccer for the SNES is the one I’ve played the most and then only because there was an easy way of tricking the AI.  I’m not much of a sports person, preferring a small game with people I know than watching.  Well, I wouldn’t want to play this sport, Mario Strikers Charged Football is a blend between Football and American Football traditional goal setup but with more close-quarters action.  Shaking the Wiimote sends the currently selected player into a brutal collision with anyone nearby.  Teams are made up of five players, the goalie, main striker and three backups.  The Strikers take the form of Mario characters, each with their strengths and weaknesses and special moves.  The backup players are the various underlings that normally get squashed under Mario’s feet, but they still play a big role in the game.  The hard tackle I mentioned is fine if the victim has the ball but if not then the opposition get a powerup such as banana skins that trip up players and various other super powers, all in the Mario style.  The ball builds up energy as it’s passed around, this encourages less holding and more action as the ball gets faster and harder for the goalie to stop. There are a lot of stadiums available some of which have interesting extras, the windy level for example sends debris and even cows across the pitch temporarily disabling any players hit, my favourite has to be Crystal Cannon, at the start of every play a random number of players are hit with a laser that knocks them out of the match until the next play, this adds a nice tactical shift to a match.  Singleplayer is fun enough with a traditional ladder and special challenges but multiplayer is where the main action is, if your looking for a laugh with friends\relatives then local is great, if you want more of a challenge then online will will fit the bill perfectly.  Up to four players can play together, since there are obviously only two teams some players will share a team as in traditional football games and can cycle between the available players.  Sadly my one time online saw a brutal defeat and I never went back to it.  I like having Strikers around though, it’s nice for an occasional play and is good fun with other people.  If you fancy a less serious form of football then this is a good choice.

This is all about the board really, nothing particularly special about the games just the way they’re implemented using the board.  The exercises have a nice range and are no doubt useful but still fairly limited and the exercise program has a lot of nice settings although could have done with a bit more fleshing out.  It falls into the same position as Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training, it’s not much fun carrying out the tests every day, and unless you are trying to lose weight or using it as part of an exercise regime you will eventually just stop doing it, much to the boards disgust.    There is still some fun to be had with the games though, Ski jump is a lot of fun and great for showing other people, but you’ll eventually hit a wall where you cannot best your top score and then there’s little point in playing.  The same goes for Slalom and the Stepping games.  The running game has much more long term appeal, and if they’d included the ability to take different paths it would have been much better, as it is the island is a nice place and maintaining a good rythm whilst jogging on the spot can leave you out of breath on the ‘Round the Island’ course (but that may just be my lack of exercise).  The island is simple but still beautiful, with lots of features and detail along the way, the addition of your other Miis running round at the same time makes for a very decent package.  Tightrope walking is a little difficult to get the hang of, your not actually walking just leaning from side to side, but once you get going it’s interesting enough, it’s a good laugh when you watch someone else have a go and accidentally leap off.  The others are reasonably fun, Table Tilt in particular can be quite a challenge, gentle shifts in your body are required.  As of yet I haven’t bought any other games that make use of the board and of those I have seen they don’t use the board in a very interesting way.  Given the price I probably wouldn’t buy this myself, if you’re into exercise this could be a nice alternative to the dance mat.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (sorry, it had to be done) there was a game, a lego game, and it was brilliant.  It had appeal for both adults and children, the gameplay was simple enough for anyone to get through whilst also having a lot of depth for more skilled players.  It is also one of the best examples of ‘pure fun’ in a game, not childish fun, not jokes or silliness just…fun.  Lego Indiana Jones sadly does not live up to the Star Wars version, it’s good and offers a unique twist but it will always live in the formers shadow.  Which is a shame since it’s a pretty reasonable game in itself, it has a tendency to go a little off-track with the levels this doesn’t follow the story strictly.  The idea of hats (basically disguises) is fun for a while but ultimately feels a little silly, and having to use certain items at certain times just ends up with the player either backtracking through the level, or wait for new enemies to spawn.  The first level is very good, and manages to extend the story time without going too far away from the script.  Indiana Jones is great, and the game does a lot to include the secondary character (such as give them a shovel), and the combat has a nice ‘punchy’ feel to it without being too violent for younger ones.  The headquarters you go to between missions has a lot to explore, but is a little confusing at the start finding out which room you need.  The game is much less fun in single player, so if you can find a partner it becomes a lot more fun.

Wii Sports’ less popular cousin, as a series of games it’s pretty average, however since the game comes with a Wiimote it makes the price much more appealing.  The nine games that make up the package vary quite widely, some are very limited and have little replay value, others however could have been fairly successful if expanded and sold on their own.  The highest quality game is Billiards (when will people learn…), the visuals are very good with just the table and balls in an unlit room helping you focus on the game.  Learning when to let go of the button took me a while but once I’d worked it out things went a lot better.  All of the traditional control options are present, the direction controls change the angle, the pointer allows you to hit different parts of the cue ball controlling backspin and the like, and to strike you draw back your hand and thrust forward allowing you to control the pressure.  Sadly there is very little to the game, you simply play till you sink the balls and get awarded a score.  Shooting range features some of the best controls, many people have wanted the traditional Duck Shoot games on the Wii as the pointer suits the style very well, this game does a good job of meeting it, various challenges appear such as shooting clay pigeons, playing keepy-uppy with a can and saving helpless Miis from an alien invasion.  Gameplay is very smooth and is a lot of fun with a second player, sadly it doesn’t support a four player game.  Tanks! is the most complex game putting you in control of a tank you have to take out the enemy with direct shots or rebounds.  There are two options for control, either the direction pad and the pointer or nunchuk and pointer, the latter being the best by far.  More structured than the other games, there are a series of levels with more enemies and restrictions on movement.  Two of the games make use of the Miis stored on your console, Find Mii is a blend of Where’s Wally and spot the difference puzzles, the levels are randomly generated and have various conditions such as find the duplicates or people moving at the same speed.  As the difficulty rises things can get very challenging and I had a lot of fun with this game.  The other game to use Miis is called Pose Mii, bubble fall from the top of the screen and you have to move a Mii character to fill the space, rotating the Wiimote to fit them at the correct angle, as things get hard you have to switch between three different poses, things got a little too complicated for me and I enjoyed the early levels a lot more.  The award for most artistic game goes to Charge, it’s a simple game that has you turn the Wiimote on it’s side and tilt as you attempt to steer a bull down the course, the bull and ground are all made of stitches, quite why I don’t know but it’s definitely interesting.  The last three games aren’t very good however, Table Tennis is nothing like Tennis from Wii Sports, you simple move the paddle from side to side and the game hits the ball for you.  Laser Hockey could have been pretty good, with a nice visual style, however the controls sometimes jump and can frustrating allow shots you blocked to enter the goal.  The controls in Fishing are okay, but the game itself is simplistic and a a little confusing at times.  Overall though this is a good package and since it retails around the price of a Wiimote you should buy it anyway simply to give you something to play in between other games.

The game that everybody has (except those that sold it), Wii Sports helped to introduce a lot of people to the console, and today you can find teams that play bowling as an actual sport.  Of the five games on offer the weakest one is the boxing, aside from bumping up the age rating the game itself also has very little depth, there are strategies to it but it mostly becomes an arm punching exercise.  I remember the early days when I used to become exhausted simply playing through a whole fight.  The next weakest in my opinion is the Golf, the basic course is okay for quick games but not so much fun if you have a little more time on your hands, and the nine hole game can actually be a little too long at times.  It would have been nice to have a few more options, although I realise that goes against the design of the package.  Otherwise it’s a nice option to have, simplified in all the right places to make playing easy.  The final three are all very good in my opinion, different people will have their favourites and none of them can be knocked.  Bowling has the widest appeal, both as a general game and as part of Wii Sports, very few people do not know the rules of the game, roll the ball down the track andhit as many pins as you can.  There is a lot of depth to this one, as well as moving from side to side (or strafing) you can angle the direction you bowl in and give it spin.  But the most fun from this game is found when you accidentally let go of the ball throwing it behind you, all the players and spectators leap into the air with a yelp.  The spectators are one of the nicest touches in the game, only appearing in Bowling and Tennis (also playing in Baseball), any Mii characters you happen to have stored on your Wii will randomly appear watching or even playing along side you.  For some people this will be slightly strange, but as someone who mostly has relatives it’s a lot of fun pointing out those in the crowd we know.  Tennis probably has the second widest appeal, more active than Bowling this isn’t for everyone but for those looking for an active exercise regime this is a good choice.  As Bowling the game has been simplified so that it’s easy to start but gains difficulty the deeper you get, although I’ve never worked out what causes a power hit, you can put a lot of curve onto a ball possibly tricking your opponent.  The last game was actually a surprise favourite for me, I’ve never been interest with Baseball as a sport but had a lot of fun with the game.  This is mainly a game of timing, too early or late and you’ll miss the ball or possibly send it off in a strange direction, once I settled into this I played a lot of single player games.  Wii Sports is mostly a social game, having other people share in your triumphs and mistakes adds to the game, not so for me in Baseball, I had more fun working my way up the ladder.  This mini-review is getting awfully close to being a full-blown one so I’ll bring things to a close here, but I just want to mention the challenges, whilst the ‘exercise program’ is fairly weak the challenges put a different spin on the games (literally in some games) and are fun in their own right as well as teaching you how to play the main game better.

This game is almost exactly the same as my favourite my DS collection, so why is it lower?  Firstly, while the Wiimote is a very good tool, it doesn’t give the same physical sensation as the stylus.  The former is very much like a scalpel but the Wiimote adds a barrier between full immersion.  That said it’s still the same game, with a few extra operations thrown in and now you can change the difficulty so that hopefully it won’t be anywhere near as challenging as the DS version.  All of the characters haven been redrawn in a higher resolution and the colours are much more varied, despite still being limited by the Wii’s hardware this game looks great, the 2D artwork combined with the simplistic 3D bodies works well.  The game uses both the Wiimote and nunchuk, this provides quicker access to the different tools once you’ve memorised the directions.  An interesting idea I’ve read suggests that you can extend the game into pseudo-multiplayer, one player operating the instrument (Wiimote) the other being the assistant handing over tools (nunchuk), that said the game was crying out for co-op.  As you’ve read, I’ve compared this game to the DS version a lot and that is perhaps why I have rated it lower.  If you haven’t played the DS version then this is a very good game and well worth playing, however wait until you read on before making a final decision…

As I’ve mentioned I’m not a fan of puzzle games, which makes this selection rather surprising.  That is actually a good way of summarising Zack and Wiki, ‘rather surprising’, it takes the traditional point-and-click adventure game and gives it a modern, more hands on twist.  Something that suits the Wiimote very well, this game doesn’t use the nunchuk and you feel freer for it.  The basic story revolves around two characters Zack, who aspires to be a pirate, and Wiki, his faithful flying monkey who are off on a quest for treasure.  Each level is a quest for a chest which contains one more part of the treasure once belonging to the Great Pirate Barbaros.  The levels also gives points for each individual element you complete, all of these add up to your overall Pirate rating giving you an incentive to go back and try topping your score.  All the challenges are solved using tools, for example if there is a tree in your way you need to cut it with a saw, once you activate the tool you are then shown the manoeuvre you need to perform to use it successfully, so for the example you move the Wiimote back and forth this has a direct effect in the game.  It’s not just a simple trigger, moving your hand faster moves the tool faster in the game, this was a breath of fresh air around the time the game was released.  This game has been on sale several times for a very reasonable price and I recommend you pick up a copy if you’re a fan of adventure games, and if you’re not it still may be worth a go, the execution is very high quality and the characters are good for a laugh.

I don’t know which of these to rate higher, so I’m just going to place them together.  The second is more free-form, but that just means the first is more structured.  The tenuous grasp on Rayman is lost in the second and looks non-existent in the next, the focus here are the Rabbids.  The Wii has a lot of mini-games compilations, but I think these are good enough to stand out on their own, the dark streak of humour and good variety edge the series above the rest.  The first also had a slightly different world, particularly in the skipping and hammer-throw games, which didn’t appear in the sequel as the Rabbids went to the real world.  In the first you play as Rayman, captured by the Rabbids and for each round you win you gain a plunger which you attach to the tall wall that leads to a window and freedom, in the second the games are divided up between continents giving them all a different style.  As well as a random selection of mini-games there is also a more developed plunger shooting game, again I don’t know which I prefer more, the first uses standard 3D levels which offer lots of variety and gives the developers free reign on the events whereas the second uses real-life video capture of the various countries and then applies the Rabbids on top with fairly convincing visuals.  The other stand out section is the music and in this the second wins by a mile, the first had a simple dance-rhythm game where you shake either the Wiimote or the nunchuk, the second however is similar to Guitar Hero, Rock Band etc.  You get a choice of four sections (guitar, drums, base, vocals, keyboard, etc.) and then again shake either the Wiimote or nunchuk as their symbols pass down a line, the great part comes when you move on to the next difficulty, when you miss a beat it doesn’t play it in the track ramping up the immersion.  Of the rest of the games they’re a mixed bag as you’d expect, some are great fun and could be played again and again (mobile in the cinema, skydiving) while others are overlooked once they have been played to unlock other games.

I’ve never played the previous Super Smash Bros. games, so I was heading into unknown territory with this one, but having heard lots of good comments I decided to give it a try.  The series is a twist on the traditional beat-’em-up, rather than health bars you have to knock your opponent(s) off the stage in order to score points.  Based in a fictional world where all of Nintendo’s greatest characters meet gives you a lot of choice and helps you find a favourite quickly.  As I said the players don’t have a health bar but they have a percentage, the more times you hit a character the higher it goes, and as it rises your hits send them further until eventually they blast miles away from the stage.  The main focus of SSBB is the multiplayer, however I though the singleplayer campaign was a lot of fun, a very basic sidescrolling platformer it wouldn’t win any awards on it’s own but it’s just one small element within a greater game.  As you progress through the storyline you meet up with more characters and unlock them for the multiplayer, this is annoying for those who don’t enjoy the the singleplayer as they have to play it if they want all the characters, a different way of unlocking them would have been welcome.  But as I said, I enjoyed the singleplayer, you travel through a series of worlds, each based on a Nintendo game.  I say Nintendo but in this latest outing some third-party characters were introduced, mixing things up a bit.  All of them have their own personality and set of moves, offering wide ranging ways of playing from brawler to long range attack.  There are a lot of extras in the game, many new stages to be unlocked, special challenges to be completed and it’s all brought together in a wall of squares, once you unlock something it’s tile is revealed but it also reveals what you need to complete the tiles around it giving you something to aim for.  Offering both online and local four player matches with lots of customisation, the only way I could see this game not suiting you is if you really dislike fighting games, and a lack of blood and gore just increases it’s market.  With hundreds of collectables and even samples of Virtual Console games this one box will keep you occupied for a very long time.

(US Box-art)

I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews about New Blood, I don’t know why because I think it’s better than the previous Trauma Centre, simply because of the addition of co-operative multiplayer.  You can now perform surgery with a friend, and it’s a lot of fun.  The storyline is less caricatured than the first, more down to Earth at the start before building up later in the game.  Since it has multiplayer there are now two surgeons, which you can choose between when you’re on your own.  Nothing has changed regarding the surgical tools, they were so good to begin with why change them?  The procedures however have changed, some becoming more complex to make-up for the lack of change.  It was however a nice feeling to experience one treatment that was exactly the same from the last game, as soon as the name was mentioned both myself and my sister knew what we had to do.  A feeling missing from a lot of puzzle games, but present in real life surgery, adapting a standardised technique to an individual situation.  Some of the surgeries in the previous game were very difficult, and this game is the no different, however one of the great things about the new multiplayer is that you can now call in a friend to help, no need to use a separate profile, if you really get stuck you simply switch over to co-op, perform the surgery and then you can change straight back.  You don’t have to have played the first game to get into New Blood, there are a lot of references though for those who have and the training stages have been split off into skippable levels so they won’t waste any of your time.  New Blood is also fully voiced, both in cut-scenes and during surgery, the characters are mostly well developed.

Here we are almost at the end, Super Mario Galaxy was bound to feature somewhere and high up at that.  I’m not a fan of 3D platformers, I still prefer Super Mario World but SMG still has a lot to offer.  One of the most anticipated Wii games, early footage left people’s mouths open wide, everything flows so well and the flying taps into the childhood fantasy of soaring through the air.  Each level is made up of a series of planets, which each have their own gravity field allowing you to run, jump and whoop your way round to the other side.  It’s a little disorienting at first but pretty soon you will understand how to move instinctually in all directions and between heavenly bodies, knowing just when the pull of one planet stops and the next begins.  By far my favourite part are the star boosts, jump into them and shake the Wiimote to boost your way around the level, it’s not complete freedom of flight but you won’t mind.  We can always count on Nintendo using it’s hardware to great effect, and SMG is no different, as well as traditional platforming controls (and a few extra moves thrown in) the pointer sees a lot of use, ‘Star Bits’ are scattered through out the levels and you collect them simply by pointing, you can then shoot them to stun enemies and unlock extra areas.  As in previous Mario games you don’t have to beat all of the levels to win the game, but you’ll still want to, each level having multiple layouts that offer a completely different way of playing but in the same style.  The suits aren’t as good as previous Mario games, they each have a purpose but are often to specific, unlike the leaf, flower and feather of old.  The Bee suit is nice though and allows limited flight on certain levels.  There’s little point in recommending this game to fans of previous Mario games since they almost certainly have it already, for those who don’t have it, Super Mario Galaxy is a wondrous experience and easy enough for most people to eventually win the game.

If you ask most Wii gamers (as opposed to Wii owners) they will almost certainly have both this and Super Mario Galaxy in their top five, if not their top two.  Which they would rate higher however is open to a huge range of opinions.  Part of my reason for rating TP higher is because I enjoy RPGs so much, it doesn’t have the stats but it has the involving storyline, friends kidnapped, world to save, new and interesting lands to explore.  The Zelda series is pretty easy to recommend, if you’ve played one before and you did not like it, chances are you won’t like any of the others.  They all revolve around the same series of ideas, just in a different order, with different characters and slightly more refined tools to help you on your way.  The main part that I enjoyed was the bow and arrow, surprisingly very little of the ‘Wii remote as a pointer’ games have actually impressed me, oh they’re good enough and I would probably rate it over game pad for accuracy and ease of use but they rarely impress me, TP was different.  There was one section in particular that did it, without spoiling the game, those who have played it will know the caravan escort section.  In the Ocarina of Time I got pretty good at the bow trials, where you had to hit gems to win a prize but I never really got the hang of doing it on horseback, TP was completely the opposite shooting on horseback was actually more fun.  The Wiimote was so accurate and quick that you could easily let loose several arrows before adjusting your course (my one quibble being that you can’t steer at the same time), the wind rushing past, enemies riding at your sides, everything just flowed so well for me.  The Zelda series still has some things it needs to clean up, and I would most likely rate OoT higher, but Twilight Princess did so much right that it is my favourite Wii game.

Pictures from Wikipedia.

Rating: 8 Out of 10

Lego Indiana Jones brings the 3 Indiana Jones movies to Lego form. This game has great offline coop play, fun puzzles, and tons of replay value in a very funny format. However, there is lousy friendly AI and the enemies respawn. Overall though, if you enjoy the Indiana Jones adventures and want to try something new then I suggest you try this out.

Pros:

+ Great offline cooperative play

+ Fun puzzles

+ Tons of replay value

+ Very funny

Cons:

- Lousy friendly AI

- Respawning enemies

Extras:

# Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Cheat Codes

Mark these dates on your calendars kiddies.  Thanks to Kotaku putting this list out for the masses.  Here is an official release scheduled as provided in the Nintendo press kits at E3.

Courtesy of:  http://kotaku.com/5280956/the-great-wii-release-schedule-caper

The Great Wii Release Schedule Caper

Tucked away at the foot of Nintendo’s E3 press kit is an exhaustive list of the known (and in some cases unknown) release dates for what looks like every single announced Wii and WiiWare game.

The list covers both first and third-party releases. Can’t find a game you’re after? Take it up with Nintendo. We’re just the messengers.

Nintendo Release Schedule

Meu Deus do Céu…

Aparentemente, a LucasArts acaba de confirmar o desenvolvimento de mais um jogo da franquia Lego, tão frequente quanto Guitar Hero, o LEGO Indiana Jones 2.

“A LucasArts e a TT Games continuam a evoluir o nível para a nova geração de entretenimento para a família, com a franquia LEGO Indiana Jones,” disse Darrell Rodriguez, presidente da LucasArts.

“LEGO Indiana Jones 2 mostra um lado diferente para todos. Os pais vão gostar do lado de humor em momentos clássicos nos seus filmes favoritos, e seus filhos vão ter a oportunidade de ver a mais autêntica experiência de LEGO, construindo seus próprios níveis.”

“Está sendo muito satisfatório trabalhar com a LucasArts em um personagem ícone. Indiana Jones encorpa o espírito de aventura que encaixa perfeitamente no mundo de LEGO,” disse Tom Stone, diretor da TT Games. “Indy também nos mostra momentos cinemáticos memoráveis e maravilhosos.”

LEGO Indiana Jones 2 sai para Wii, DS, PSP, PS3 e Xbox 360, sem data definida.