Okay, I’ve already rated World of Goo. But this WiiWare game - set to hit Europe in the early part of next year, in disk form but with an extra level - deserves every bit of promotion it can get.
Which is apt, as so does indie games show Consolevania, now in its fourth series, and featuring two of Scotland’s finest games writers in Rab Florence and Ryan McLeod. Season Four offers a wealth of bite-sized nuggets of gaming reviews, features and comedy skits, and you could do a lot worse than venturing over to the official site to check out some more (non-Nintendo-related) from the guys.
Be warned, though: it’s perhaps not something to have on with kiddies in earshot, as there are a few wee swears littered throughout.
It’s not the presentation, because that’s great - it’s a little more vibrant and interesting than Sports or Fit, with a much-needed dash of colour everywhere making for a brighter, livelier look, while it’s oddly satisfying to see your own take on a tune spin into CD form, and then tuck itself into an inlay you’ve made for it with your Miis.
It’s not the tutorials, because they’re thorough and helpful (yes, even in Japanese), giving you all the necessary info in text form with a few helpful pics to clarify things - particularly handy for me in this case.
It’s not the MIDI sound, which, while sounding a bit naff for some instruments, works perfectly fine for the most part. Particularly when you’re in orchestra-conducting mode, and hearing a whole wealth of sounds at once.
My issue with Wii Music is the controls. It’s not that moving them up and down to drum or bash a glockenspiel isn’t fun. It’s not that it’s not enjoyably daft to faux-bow an invisible violin. It’s just that if you want to create something listenable, you need the kind of rhythmic precision that the remote and nunchuk just don’t always allow. Playing the saxaphone, recorder and trumpet is fine, because you just need button presses and the occasional volume-adjusting tilt for successful tones there - but when you’re beating out a fine percussive backing to the Zelda theme, it’s inordinately frustrating when a slightly weedy shake produces no sound, or a faintly aggressive up beat adds an extra thwack to the soundtrack.
Would MotionPlus make a difference? Hard to say, but certainly the drum kit would benefit from that - as, while the balance board kick pedal works a treat, pressing a number of different buttons to whack specific pads or cymbals doesn’t feel as satisfying or intuitive as it would if you were controlling the stick position with your hand movements.
With the US version on its way, I’ll be giving Wii Music a more thorough playthrough to discover more of its intricacies, and to see if I can get past this slight control issue. One thing’s for sure - this is likely to surprise a few people with how much fun it is to play, even on your own.
1. Beg, borrow or steal the money to pay for a Wii Points card, or to add 3000 Wii Points to your account.
2. Clean out your ‘fridge’. Get rid of channels you don’t need, game saves for titles you don’t play any more, that sort of thing. Free up around 500 blocks.
3. If you’ve not done so already, download Art Style CUBELLO and Art Style ORBIENT from the Wii Shop Channel.
4. Now spend 1500 points and download World Of Goo.
5. Ignore the other games for now; they can wait.
6. Load up World of Goo.
7. Play.
8. Enjoy.
9. Be amazed that this is a WiiWare title and not a full-price release.
10. Marvel at the amazing level design, the clever mechanics, the simple and tactile controls, and the brilliant goo physics.
11. Keep playing some more and see how much better it gets. Clue: even more so.
12. Petition Nintendo to get more games like this on the WiiWare service.
13. Petition Nintendo to buy up 2D Boy so they can create more works of genius on Wii (and maybe even DS).
14. Look at the score below.
15. Realise this is the first five-star rating I’ve awarded since I started writing for this blog.
16. Stop wasting valuable Goo time and get back to playing it.
Wow. Americans have clearly done something right - or Nintendo is overcompensating for the lack of Disaster: Day of Crisis - because it’s got a cracking week of WiiWare and Virtual Console goodies. Besides Art Style: CUBELLO (mentioned in the post below this one), the much-hyped World of Goo is on there, as is classic SNES adventure Secret of Mana.
The latter’s one of the most eagerly-awaited retro games on VC, and given Square-Enix’s predilection for re-releasing enhanced versions of its old games, it’s a bit of a surprise to see it at all. Meanwhile World of Goo is almost certainly the highest-profile WiiWare release since the service launched - it’s 1500 points and a whopping 321 blocks, but early word is absolutely stellar. I’ll be giving it a go tomorrow, so expect some more impressions then. SoM will just have to wait until silly season is over, I’m afraid.
As PES struggles to establish its current-gen credentials on rival consoles in the face of an ever-improving FIFA (this year’s being probably the best yet), the Wii game is clearly the best the franchise has to offer this generation.
Until now, that is. Because PES 2009 looks set to improve on the Wii original in numerous ways, one of which I particularly like the sound of.
So what do we get? Well, on top of the ‘point and click’ style system used last time around for guiding your current player and his team-mates into space and controlling passes much more accurately, Konami has introduced a more traditional control scheme for those struggling to get their heads round the new mechanics.
More significantly, you’ll now be able to better close down attacking players by holding down the Z button, while ’shake to shoot’ is out, replaced by a targeting system which allows you to position your shots much more accurately. There’s also a wider range of set-pieces, which is good news, while opponent AI is improved, making for a faster-paced game than before.
However, arguably the most exciting addition of the lot is the new co-operative play mode - which sees one player orchestrating tactics with the new Wii control scheme with a second player adopting more traditional PES control with the remote on its side. Think of the opportunities - you’ll be able to guide your player with the remote while your team-mate runs into space, ready to receive an instant pass when you highlight him with your cursor. It’s highly unusual to have a co-operative mode with two entirely different control schemes and good players will really have to work as a team to play quality football.
It sounds like a terrific idea to me, and it seems that the game’s producer, Akiyoshi ‘Greyhound’ Chosogabe (why do they all need animal nicknames?) has overtaken Seabass as the master of Konami’s footy division.
Unfortunately we’ll have to wait longer for the Wii version than its HD counterparts, with the game not due for release until Spring. But if that’s the price we have to pay for a much better game, then it’ll be worth it.
Soon set to be the videogame of choice for both Fred Astaire and Pingu, Let’s Tap is the brainchild of Sega’s Yuji Naka - you might remember him as the man who programmed the original Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s the game widely reported as so simple that it could be played by penguins, and the above video shows why, as someone rests the Wii remote upside down on the console’s box, and taps away either side to make a wire-frame man run and jump, remove a tile from a precariously-balanced pile, and swirl water and paint around.
It shows the remarkable sensitivity of the Wii remote when people bother to program for it properly, and is possibly the weirdest control method I’ve seen for a game since Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. A game where you don’t actually touch the controller? The revolution is here!
Indeed, it would arguably be the perfect way to make up for the lack of bongos in the forthcoming re-Wiilease of EAD Tokyo’s palm-blistering platformer, but I bet good money it’s not included as an alternative control scheme, more’s the pity.
I’ll bring you more details of this fascinating game as I get it. Interest well and truly piqued.
And no, it’s not the oft-touted Crystal Bearers, but something else entirely. A return to Nintendo’s much-vaunted connectivity experiment of Pac Man Vs and Four Swords Adventures (not to mention the original GameCube Crystal Chronicles), if you will.
Yes, the next spinoff from Japan’s most popular RPG series is set for release on both Wii and DS in January of next year. It’ll be called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, and the two consoles will link up in clever and amusing ways.
For starters, you’ll be able to play online with owners of either version, while obviously the controls will be slightly different. The story revolves around a character named Charlotta and a mysterious - aren’t they always? - crystal, and you can import your Mii into the DS game. Which looks a bit weird from the tiny shot I’ve seen, but is a fun addition nonetheless.
Though an almighty pain to set up, the original Chronicles was a hoot when played ‘properly’ so hopefully this will be just as much fun and a lot less hassle. It’s only just been revealed for a Japanese release - we’ll probably see more at TGS - so naturally there’s no news of it coming westward just yet.ÂÂ
While we all still wait patiently for Rhythm Heaven to arrive on US and European shores, Japanese fans are already hard at work on their own spinoffs - this video shows Karateka Mania, which sets the rhythmic pugilism of one of Tengoku’s most celebrated minigames to a J-Pop soundtrack. It looks a little more complicated than Tengoku’s fairly straight rhythms, though perhaps not quite as exacting.
Rhythm Tengoku Gold remains in the Japanese top ten, and is a recommended import, although not as much as the superior GBA original. It’s expected to reach western gamers in the first or second quarter of 2009.
“His Majesty is aboot tae make an announcement tae youse all. Simmer doon and listen noo.”
No, I’ve not suddenly turned Scottish. This is a genuine line from Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen, out tomorrow on DS. I can’t say too much about the game, as I’ve reviewed it for another publication, but suffice to say, the translation is something very special indeed.
The game itself - as the title hints - is split into chapters, during which you’ll control five different characters, all of whom join the party of your self-styled hero avatar at the end to save the kingdom. But while the structure’s a little different from your average RPG, it’s the dialogue that stands out, with each section getting its own regional accent. It shows a rare attention to detail, and for that Square-Enix’s localisation team should be applauded. It really adds flavour to the script, and makes the characters that much more memorable, Of course, if simple turn-based combat isn’t your thing then it might not be your cup of tea, but I admire a game that really makes an effort to engage in a different way, and so Chapters of the Chosen comes highly recommended, should you find yourself with £30 burning a hole in your pocket tomorrow.
 
 
 
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