"By the power of Hyrule Castle...I have the power!"
The Wii has had a roller-coaster of a ride. Launching in 2006, the Wii brought a new life to the world of video games with motion-controls, the likes of which have since been “borrowed” by its competitors. Nintendo also found new audiences with this hardware, but others felt alienated by the often long gaps between quality titles and the lack of third-party support. And while a number of the Wii’s premiere titles are among Nintendo’s all-time greats, they have been surrounded by lesser games that just couldn’t figure out how to best utilize the hardware. Read more
Rayman has had an interesting history. His first game was a critically applauded 2D platformer in the mid-90s, while his second outing (released back in 1999) is widely considered one of the best 3D platformers. After that, Ubisoft’s unofficial mascot had a little trouble finding his way. Rayman 3 had some praise go its way, though maybe the fact that Rayman’s original creator, Michael Ancel, had little to nothing to do with it prevented it from reaching its full potential. Then enter Raving Rabbids, a game that was originally to be a vast 3D platformer that was to take advantage of the Wii’s capabilities, but ended up as nothing more than a hash of (uneventful) mini-games after rushed schedules (which led to another Ancel departure). While the Rabbids went on to success in their own series, Rayman himself was left in the dust, appearing only in the countless remakes of Rayman 2.. This is what Rayman Origins, which sees Ancel’s return to the series, hopes to rectify. But is Origins the boost Rayman needs to get him into the realms of relevance? Or does the limbless hero not have a leg to stand on (couldn’t resist, sorry)? Read more
Pushmo is Intelligent System’s puzzle game available through download on the Nintendo 3DS that looks to take advantage of the handheld’s 3D abilities. But is Pushmo a puzzler to be praised? Or is it another novelty in the quickly-flagging downloadable gaming scene? Read more
Okay, I know I previously promised my Yammy Awards would be “sometime in the earlier parts of January,” and obviously the earlier parts of January are past. But I still hope to have my video game portions of my Yammy Awards ready by the end of January or beginning of February. Though before that’s done, I should not only have my Top 10 Disney Villains list done, but hopefully reviews for Rayman Origins and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword as well! I will continue my movie reviews afterwards, and hopefully in not too long I’ll have my movie awards done as well. So yeah, there’s some stuff.
Sonic Generations serves as SEGA’s “20th birthday present” to their most iconic character, Sonic the Hedgehog. To celebrate these twenty years, Generations looks to combine elements from Sonic’s glory days in 2D with those of his 3D games of inconsistent qualities. Recent Sonic games have been picking up steam after years of hedgehog mediocrity, but does Generations continue to bring Sonic back into the spotlight for a memorable 20th anniversary? Or is it a repeat of the blue hedgehog’s 15th anniversary “present?”
Mario Kart 7, the most bluntly named entry thus far in the series, is the 3DS’ iteration of one of Nintendo’s most popular series. But just how well does Mario Kart 7 stack up against its predecessors? Does it race to the finish? Or have Mario and friends hit a bump in the road? Read more
WWE ‘12 is the newest game based on WWE, and looks to ‘reboot’ the WWE video games after years and years of the Smackdown vs. RAW series. But does this reboot bring all the right tools to breathe new life into the series? Or did it take a few too many chair shots?
Although this isn’t entirely new news, this information having originally surfaced in July of 2010, not much was heard of it since then, leaving some to have believed it to be mere rumors. But yesterday, Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has stated once again that he is working on a brand new, original game. That is to say, a game that isn’t in one of his established series, and his first new, original, character-based game since the original Pikmin in 2001!
And this is on top of the already announced Pikmin 3 and Super Mario Wii U titles, meaning those rumors that were floating around of Miyamoto’s retirement were greatly exaggerated. Also like those games, nothing is really known about them other than the fact that they are being made.
What new gaming experiences and innovations does the world’s most acclaimed game designer have in store? I guess the answer to that will be a test of patience.
With 2011 coming to a close (and still a number of reviews to catch up on) it’s time to look onward to 2012 and what it has in store (which hopefully includes those reviews I need to catch up on), and one of the first things I have planned for the new year are my annual “Yammy” awards!
I decided to do things a little differently this year, and will start with my video game awards (which will hopefully get done in the earlier parts of January) and do my movie awards a little later. Of course, the video game awards will be split in two, with the first “half” consisting of the majority of awards, and part two being a top ten countdown of my favorite games of 2011 (Game of the Year).
So there’s something to look forward to real soon…assuming anyone reads these blogs well enough to care. So stay tuned for the 2011 Yammy Awards!
