Posts tagged ‘Wii Games’
Wii – Kung Fu Panda Review
Kung Fu Panda Review
Kung Fu Panda on the Wii manages to capture the look and feel of the movie it’s based on–but shallow, repetitive gameplay, inconsistent visuals, bugs, slowdown, and a short length are sure to disappoint. The game is intended primarily for those who have seen the film and want to live out Po’s adventure as both the bumbling fool and the unlikely Dragon Warrior saviour. For this reason, those who pick up Kung Fu Panda on a whim may find that the character introductions are a little thin and that their experience suffers as a result.
While not impossible to follow, the story can certainly be a little confusing, especially in regards to intercharacter relationships. If you haven’t seen the movie, the game comes across as slightly disjointed, and while it can be played like any off-the-shelf beat-’em-up, don’t be surprised if you find yourself struggling to make connections to the story at times.
You’ll roam the plains of Peace Valley, going head-to-head with the Croc, Boar, and Ninja Cat gangs trying to capitalize on Tai Lung’s return. It’s no real surprise that you’ll play Kung Fu Panda mostly as main character Po, but you’ll also assume the role of his sensei, Master Shifu, as well as Furious Five members Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Crane, and Viper. Each has a unique skill set; for instance, Shifu is capable of skull-hopping between groups of foes, and Monkey can scale structures to climb to otherwise unreachable areas. You should be able to rip through the single-player campaign in around four hours, even less if you complete only the minimum-requirement objectives rather than taking the time to do advanced tasks, explore, and find rare items. It is worth noting that though content is almost identical to that of the Xbox 360 game in places, several levels are missing entirely in the Wii version. Collectibles take the form of jade coins that unlock the game’s multiplayer modes, playable characters, and short video montages of the characters in action taken directly from the film. Some of these are only a few seconds long, so they hardly justify replaying stages if you didn’t find them the first time around.
You’ll use the Wii Nunchuk’s analog stick to move your character around the screen, while your basic attack is performed with the B button. A more powerful attack is available by swinging the controller horizontally. Double jumping and snapping the controller downwards performs the Panda Quake ability, an area-of-effect knockback move which uses Po’s chi, the game’s form of energy for special attacks. Defeated foes drop orbs that, when collected, restore chi, while smashing and consuming the contents of dumpling baskets restores health. Gold coins can be collected and used in the game’s store to upgrade Po’s health, chi bars, and attack power. Unfortunately, the relatively small amount of chi used for specials at the easier difficulty levels and plentiful refills mean the best approach is to pump all your coins into maxing out your Panda Quake ability, lure and corral groups of targets, and then body-slam them into oblivion. It’s an effective but incredibly repetitious way to finish the game, and it’s usable all the way to the end, with the exception of the boss battles, which often incorporate quicktime remote-waggling events.
These battles become more frequent as you progress, with the number of movement combos you’ll need to perform getting higher toward the end of the game. In line with the game’s gentle learning curve, if you fail to perform them you simply restart at the beginning until you get it right. There’s no penalty for failure, but multipart waggle sections strung together with unskippable cutscenes become frustrating, because one mistimed swing will send you back to the beginning. Because the camera is manually controlled with the C button on the nunchuk, you’ll spend much of your time screen-scrolling to stay focused on the action. While it’s easy enough to snap back, don’t be surprised if your limited field of view means you get hit from behind a lot as you try to find your next target.
Kung Fu Panda’s multiplayer mode only supports offline play, and while it’s available straightaway, you’ll only have around half of the minigames available out of the box. You must find jade coins in the single-player mode to unlock the remainder. Depending on the minigame you’re playing, you’ll be able to battle alongside up to three friends. The minigames include a shameless Super Smash Bros. Brawl clone, a cooperative team survival game that has you racing against hordes of enemies and a timer, a tile-flipping picture matching game, and Hong Kong, which is a competitive icon-matching column game complete with a levelling system. The SSBB minigame ends up being the most compelling of the bunch, and uses the same fighting techniques as the main Kung Fu Panda game. Unfortunately this means it also doesn’t graduate from the mindlessness of one-button pressing with the occasional waggle thrown in for variety. It’s a nice bonus once you’ve completed the short single-player story mode, but it’s certainly not enough to keep you coming back for more.
The game captures the feel of the film very well, all the way down to the lush jungle villages and furry tufts on Po’s character model. Unfortunately, while some sections look quite good, others are prone to texture popping and artefacting. Frame-rate slips are common during action sequences when multiple enemies are onscreen at once. Audio is one of Kung Fu Panda’s strong points, and it helps deliver the snappy quips with great success (when it works). While the game doesn’t have the same all-star cast as the film, the Jack Black impersonator who narrates the game’s story does a good job and is convincing enough to be the real deal. However, the same can’t be said for Jackie Chan’s character, Monkey, who comes across as wooden. Sometimes the voice-over dialogue disappears during a cutscene and is replaced by looping background sound effects. A console restart is enough to fix the problem each time it occurs.
Kung Fu Panda is an admirable attempt to bring the fun, humour, and feel of the film to the Wii, and in these areas it succeeds. Unfortunately, the entertainment is short-lived at only around four hours in length. Repetitive brawler gameplay, inconsistent voice acting, and flaky visuals make it a hard sell at full price for all but the most hardcore fans of endangered-species martial arts.
Wii – Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip Review
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip Review
Shaun White Snowboarding on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 offered an unfocused and often boring rendition of the popular winter sport. Featuring sprawling mountains that looked pretty but provided little in the way of content, the game spent more time forcing you to hunt for coins hidden across the expansive environments than letting you take part in actual snowboarding competitions. Thankfully, the Wii version is a completely different experience. The wide-open mountains have been replaced with well-constructed paths down chilly slopes, the inane quests for secret coins have been scrapped, and the emphasis has been placed on pulling off wicked jumps and crazy tricks. More importantly, the controls have been revamped and now take full advantage of not only the motion controls of the Wii Remote, but the Wii Balance Board as well. Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip is a satisfying re-creation of snowboarding, and though the lack of diversity limits the replay value, it’s still fun to hit the slopes for a while.
The controls are the most impressive aspect of Shaun White Snowboarding. There are two different control options available: the Wii Remote all by its lonesome or the remote combined with the balance board. With just the remote, you’ll tilt to turn your rider, flick up to jump, and twist the remote around to pull off some fancy moves once you’re airborne. The motions are logical, and your movements are responsive, reacting to even a slight twist of your hand. Carving a path down an icy slope is satisfying, and pulling off gravity-defying tricks can be thrilling. You can hit buttons to control how fast you tear down the slopes or to adjust your move set while in the air, but everything else is motion controlled, which does a great job of sucking you into the experience. The balance board is a little trickier to get the hang of, but once you figure out how to lean into corners and adjust your weight to do flip tricks in the air, it becomes second nature. You’ll only need the remote to adjust your move set for tricks; everything else is controlled by your feet. The controls in Shaun White are extremely rewarding, replicating the outdoor experience for people reluctant to put up with the unrelenting cold and ugly bruises the real sport entails.
The titular Road Trip has you flying all over the world in search of Shaun White, who seems to think it’s funny to leave for a new country just after he asks you to join him. You’ll control members of his eager posse, each with unique attributes. The difference between the riders is noticeable. If you select Jasmine, you can get ridiculous air off of jumps, but you’re pretty slow and will have to line up your board nearly perfectly to land gracefully. Gordon is all about speed, and you’ll notice his ineptitude in other areas when you’re trying to pull off tricks. There are enough unlockable characters to cater to everyone’s needs, but the lack of customization is disappointing. You can’t upgrade your favorite rider with more attribute points, and you don’t even have the ability to alter your riders’ clothing. The lack of customizability hurts the personality of the game, making you play as a stereotypical snowboarder rather than your own creation.
You’ll travel across five different countries in search of the elusive Shaun White. Each mountain resort has a few different slopes to tear down, along with some very creative halfpipe tracks. There are only three objective types, and the lack of variety is tiresome after a while, but at least you’ll be focusing on crazy snowboarding antics the whole time. Scoring a lot of points is the most common goal. You’ll sometimes have to deal with a time limit, but you’ll usually be able to take your time, using the whole mountain to milk the points. A ticking combo meter urges you to continually pull off moves, which means you’ll be grinding and doing little bunny hops between the big ramps. There are also racing events, which pit you against either the clock or other eager snowboarders. When going against other riders, you’ll usually earn a new playable character for your group, with new attributes to take advantage of. The final objective in the game is to collect things. This is actually fun in the Wii version thanks to the more confined, accessible level design that stands in stark contrast to the sprawling mountains featured on other consoles. The collectibles are almost always located at the beginning of a ramp or along a grindable rail, so you’ll be pulling off cool moves while you grab the prizes.
There are a number of multiplayer modes, both competitive and cooperative. In co-op, you’ll take part in a campaign separate from your single-player progress. Here you’ll ride down a mountain with a buddy, and your cumulative score determines if you take home a gold medal or retry with your tail between your legs. In multiplayer, you’ll compete either in single events or in a cup to determine who the best virtual boarder is. You’ll be able to play with up to three of your friends in both competitive and cooperative multiplayer. Though having the screen quartered limits your viewing area, the camera is able to give you a good look at your surroundings, so you’ll be prepared for big jumps and be able to swerve away from trees well in advance. There isn’t much diversity in the multiplayer events, though, so like the single-player experience, it will get old before long. Still, the controls are so intuitive and fun that it’s easy to pick the game up for a few races.
The cartoony aesthetics are vivid and eye-catching. Though the tracks are rather confined, they are populated with a wide assortment of trees, ramps, and rails to make every slope look unique. The draw distance will give you a good view of your upcoming obstacles, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare what sorts of moves you want to pull off. The most satisfying aspect of the visuals is how the crashes are represented. These are some painful-looking wrecks. Riders will slam forcibly into the ground, tumble awkwardly, and then rise from their failure covered in snow. Shaun White is not the most technically impressive game, but smart artistic decisions have made it pleasing to the eye.
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip nails the controls, taking full advantage of the unique opportunities offered by the Wii. While the objectives can’t match the creative control scheme, movement is so enjoyable that you’ll gladly replay the same goals over again just to tilt and twist your way back down the slopes. With a clean aesthetic and engaging multiplayer modes, this should satisfy those looking to hit the slopes from the safety of their own home.
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