My Wii Reviews

[Iron Draggon]

So it's about time that we all had a thread we can post our reviews of our Wii games in, and I'm starting it with a review of my own. So I hope this thread doesn't get attacked like so many of my other threads have lately. I'd much rather read other people's reviews of their own Wii games here, thanks.

Now for my review. If you'd like to post your own reviews here, please mark any spoilers with advance warning notices, similar to the one in this review.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars

Out of all the games I own so far, Mushroom Men is the best, followed closely by Nights. That's why I'm playing through it before I play through Nights and all the rest of my games. Mushroom Men is the best Wii game to date, as far as I'm concerned, and it may prove to be the best Wii game of all time too. Of course, only time will tell how popular it becomes, but I predict that it will always be remembered as one of the best Wii games ever. It's pure awesome!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

I've made it as far as Showdown in Shiitake Town now, which is littered with Miyamoto references, and I haven't gone any further there yet than where you're standing when the level starts. So I've killed Old King Mole, the Jackalope, and an attacking possum while ascending the mountain to talk to the Engineer, who never told me everything that I went to ask him about before he took off running. This after he made me do all kinds of work for him before he'd tell me anything, and left me with even more work to do for him before I could leave too! So I'm gonna kick the Engineeer's ass if I ever find him again and he doesn't tell me why I'm the only mushroom able to absorb the life giving meteorites that everyone else worships. Apparently, I'm the Mushroom Messiah, but I have no idea how to use all my powers to lead the way yet. I'm still learning those in all the levels. And I'm still hoping one will let me grow to supersize and go on a mad rampage of mushroom mayhem! But so far, just the mad rampage without the supersize, except for a few enemies. I've taken down alot of stuff 2 or 3 times my size at least already, but surely something's got to make me mutate into Mushroom Messiah soon, and I suspect I need to keep absorbing every chunk of meteorite that I can find to do it. So I've collected a ton of those, as well as a ton of other stuff.

What other stuff? I've collected a ton of odds and ends, and assembled a few weapons, but I've still barely even started on my arsenal. So I still have alot more cool new weapons to experiment with before I have a full arsenal. I've also collected a ton of ammo for some weapons that I'm not even able to build yet, and a ton of concept art. So I must be stocking up for something really big and nasty that I don't even know about yet, and I guess the concept art is to preserve whatever's left of my culture in the aftermath. Whatever the case, it's very hard to take a break and not continue playing!

So this game is all about exploration and collecting unlockables, with many typical action/adventure/platforming elements, as well as several unique new twists with motion controls. The level I just completed was very intriguing. I felt like a rat in a maze on mushrooms trying to discover my way through it. I had to look on the net for hints on killing the Jackalope, but that was nothing compared to all the work I had to do for the Engineer, while he impatiently dogged me on without giving me enough information to get it all done faster! So the Engineer is on my shit list. He locked me in a bunch of rooms with no way out until I figured out what the hell he wanted me to do for him next too. And then he ran off like a scared rabbit before he revealed my secret!

And so I'm hoping that my Showdown in Shiitake Town is with the Engineer. He did tell me that the Shiitakes were in hiding, so he's prolly in hiding with them. But who knows if I'll ever get my secret out of him, if I ever find him again. I've already found what appears to be another mushroom trapped in ice, blocking my path to something that makes my mushroom senses vibrate, and that was in a level before I found the Engineer. So I think I'm gonna end up having to do some backtracking too, before my crusade is accomplished.

Replayability? Well there's improving your high score in Turret Time so far, and no doubt trying to find and collect 100% of the unlockables. I hope I unlocked Turret Time somewhere when I played it. I got my high score up to 38, but I dunno if I'll ever beat that one. Turret Time is a real challenge!

The rest of the Mushroom Men experience is fun and funky, and filled with B-movie campiness. The Miyamoto references I mentioned are just the most interesting ones so far. There's also been references to Hello Kitty and lots of other real-world stuff. So I'm sure the Shiitakes will reveal even more to me.

That's about all I can tell you so far. I'm sure someone else can tell you more, but I hope if anyone else reveals any spoilers, we're properly warned!

[Draven]

Just some criticism: How about more of a review/less of a detailed explanation of what you've accomplished in the game. How about editing and putting in some type of standard scoring system (ex. scores for categories with 10 being the highest possible score, comparisons to other titles/recommendations, etc.). Seemed a little long-winded and short on substance (once again, my .02, no bashing here, just constructive criticism!).

[Iron Draggon]

Just some criticism: How about more of a review/less of a detailed explanation of what you've accomplished in the game. How about editing and putting in some type of standard scoring system (ex. scores for categories with 10 being the highest possible score, comparisons to other titles/recommendations, etc.). Seemed a little long-winded and short on substance (once again, my .02, no bashing here, just constructive criticism!).

Because I don't put much faith in numbers, and it's difficult to describe how awesome this game is without revealing some of the things that I've done in it. I may review other games differently in the future, but you really need to know some of the story to know just how cool it really is. It's more of an adventure/puzzle game than an action/platformer, but it's actually both. You end up looking for clues and tools to help you advance, because the dialogue never makes it obvious. And you realy have to watch the cutscenes for hints on what you're supposed to do and where you're supposed to go next... if you miss one, you'll have to quit and start over if you can't figure it out... and that could cost you a repeat of some things if it hasn't saved for you yet

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Last nite I survived the Showdown in Shiitake town, and made it through it with an upgrade. I can now take more damage, and inflict more damage too, but I'm still just a puny little Mushroom Man, not even a match for some of the other Mushroom Men. After I proved to the Shiitakes that I was worthy of attempting to rid them of a nearby Amanita infestation, I had to enter the Amanita's lair and free the Cactus King being held prisoner there so he could take care of the Amanita General for me. I was no match for him at all in hand to hand combat, so I had to figure out how to reunite the Cactus King with his two missing severed arms and free him from his bonds, then I had to outwit the Amanita General while the Cactus King held him at bay for me. Prolly the coolest level yet, especially the ending. But I won't reveal that. Let's just say you really have to see the Cactus King in action for yourself!

/END SPOILERS

This game screams that it's first-party Nintendo, and yet it's a third-party game from a 2 year old developer that never made a Wii game before. So Red Fly games are looking like THE Wii games to get so far. They've totally nailed what makes a first-party Nintendo game so great, to the point that you'd swear Red Fly is really a super-secret studio for "official" Nintendo games. They really are that good, or at least they were with Mushroom Men for sure!

[Iron Draggon]

After beating Mushroom Men, I have to say it's still the best Wii game yet! I still haven't finished it yet though. I ended up with only about half the stuff! So I still have half an arsenal of weapons to collect and construct, and I still have half a gallery of concept art to collect as well. Time for a walkthrough!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

After the Showdown in Shiitake Town and freeing the Cactus king to defeat the Amanita General, I freed the turtle and then moved on to the trailer, where I assembled a rocket to take me to another part of the trailer, after collecting all the pieces to buid it. Then at last it was time for the final battle with Pester, the Lepiota leader, high atop the disturbingly weird Robot Wife! Apparently the man of the trailer constructed her for companionship! SCARY!

/END SPOILERS

My next review will be for Nights: Journey of Dreams. Look for it here soon!

[Iron Draggon]

Nights: Journey of Dreams

Now I remember why I never played all the way through the original Nights: Into Dreams. Like the original, Nights: Journey of Dreams looks cool as hell, but it's hard as hell to play. So it gets 2 thumbs up for its graphics, but 2 thumbs down for its gameplay. The story and concept are cool as hell, but the controls are too difficult to master at the flying speeds required to meet all the goals within the time limits. Without any time limits, this game would rock, but with everything in a hurry like it is, I'd rather be playing Sonic the Hedgehog. Nights was always just a Sonic knockoff that wanted to be cooler than the blue blur anyway, but it only succeeded in having cooler graphics. I'm sure I'll get attacked for daring to make such a statement here, but that's how I feel about it. I'm digging it, but I'm just not enjoying it. As with the original game, it's something I own because the average collector would expect me to own it, not because it's something I really wanna get that into. I like flying around, but I hate all the crap you have to do just to keep flying! At least with Sonic games, you can run balls out through all the levels and never fight the controls to do so, but with Nights games, this just isn't the case for me. The faster I go, the more my steering sucks. And they don't want me to miss flying through any rings? Then why is it that the more rings I fly through in a row, the faster I go through them, thus increasing my chances of fucking up the more my speed increases? Nights needs to slow down and quit trying so hard to be better than Sonic. Why not just let us enjoy flying him around, without rushing us? Flying fast as hell is cool as hell, but the timer takes all the fun out of it. Timers in games are like timed tests in school. Nobody really wants to take them unless they're forced to. So lose the timer already and give us the freedom to just explore the awesome levels!