Nintendo Wii Fever - Games

 

 

 

 

There are probably plenty of people out there who are upset that the Wii hasn't gotten any "real" Final Fantasy titles yet. The only appearances that Square Enix's classic series has made on the system have been a WiiWare-exclusive strategy sim and now this, a sequel to a nine-year old PS1 game that nobody played.

Of course, those complainers are the ones missing out. My Life As A King is a fun little game, and Chocobo's Dungeon is one of the better dungeon crawlers to see a U.S. release. For those unfamiliar with dungeon crawlers, they're quite a bit different than your standard RPG. Also known as "roguelikes," this game belongs to the same genre as titles like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Shiren the Wanderer, and Izuna. Like most RPGs, you wander around the world, talking to NPCs, collecting items, and swapping gold for more powerful armor and weapons. It's the dungeons where things get a little different.

 

 

 

Roguelike dungeons are randomly generated, allowing you to replay them multiple times to find new challenges and items. All movement inside the dungeons is turn-based, meaning that for every step you take, any wandering enemies also take a step. There are no elaborate menu-driven battle sequences here -- once you're within range of a foe, it's time to start tapping away on the "attack" button to whittle down its hit points. You can, of course, opt to use items or special techniques to aid in your fight. In fact, you'll need to become proficient with managing these elements in battle as it can be tricky to flee from a fight after it's begun (most enemies will chase after you).

This genre isn't for the weak of heart, as you're usually severely punished for dying within a dungeon. Typically, a death boots you out of the dungeon, causing you to lose any experience you gained within and stripping you of any gold and items that you were carrying. Like, permanently. Luckily, storage facilities give you a place to stash your cash and valuables before entering into a new dungeon, but this often results in players neglecting to use their best items for fear of losing them. Chocobo's Dungeon eases up on the penalties a bit by allowing you to keep your experience and any equipped items when you die (although you still lose your cash and any non-equipped goodies).

 

 

 

This seemingly minor concession does a great deal in making this notoriously hardcore genre a bit more accessible to newcomers, and the difficulty level ramps up quite nicely. The first few dungeons are somewhat of a cakewalk, and the challenge steadily grows as the story advances. For an added challenge, some dungeons have special conditions like forcing you to go in with no special weapons or items or giving you (and your enemies) only one hit point. Although you'll probably end up getting booted from a fair share of dungeons, the deaths never feel frustrating. The game is balanced so that you always feel like you can clear the level by adopting the proper strategy.

In the game, you control one of those adorable chocobos, the ubiquitous chicken things from the Final Fantasy universe. The cleverly named critter (he's called Chocobo) and his (human) pal Cid are treasure hunters, and they've been teleported to a town called Lostime where a magical bell robs the townsfolk of their memories every time it rings. It's up to our heroes and a mysterious child named Raffaello to restore everyone's memories and uncover the town's secrets.

 

 

 

As the story advances, Chocobo can learn different jobs, which not only changes his appearance, but grants him new stat modifies and abilities. Choosing the right job for a dungeon becomes very important, and each one can be leveled-up to earn even more powers. When you need a break from the main game, there are a couple Wii Remote-centric mini-games to play in addition to Pop-Up Duels. These duels will be quite familiar to anyone who's played Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales for the DS. Throughout the game you'll find cards that can be used to build a deck to play this variant on the old "rock-paper-scissors" formula. Strangely enough, the graphics during these battles look like the DS game, and they're not nearly as impressive on a big screen. You can even play Pop-Up Duels online, but given the luck-based nature of the fights, they quickly grow tiresome.

 

 

 

Outside of the Pop-Up Duels, the game's graphics look fantastic, and the wide range of music is also quite memorable. The voice acting is pretty good as well, although most people will probably grow very tired of hearing Mog's high-pitched voice, kupo! You may also get a tad dizzy from the camera, which doesn't seem to know what to do with itself when you wander around town. That problem doesn't show up in dungeons, luckily. Chocobo's Dungeon isn't a traditional Final Fantasy game, but it's still loads of fun and very addictive.

 

7,0 Gameplay
8,0 Graphics
7,0 Sound


2D platformer fans have had a hard time in recent years. Since 3D became all the rage the simple side-scrolling platformer seems to have become a relic from yesteryear, forcing old school gamers to get what they can from retro re-releases, remakes and compilations. Wario Land: Shake Dimension must look like a tropical oasis in the middle of a desert to these gamers, with its slick cartoon-like visuals and classic platform jumping gameplay. It would be relatively easy to let a fairly uninspired platformer waltz in and dazzle us, but thankfully Nintendo knows better than to dish out disappointment.

The Shake Dimension is in trouble. Queen Merelda has been imprisoned by the Shake King and the bottomless sack of coins has been claimed by the tyrant. A pirate going by the name Captain Maple Syrup (only in a Nintendo game could this person exist) wants the bottomless sack of coins for herself so sends Wario a way in to the Shake Dimension so he can ransack it of its gold. Thankfully one of Merelda's subjects escapes and convinces Wario to help the Queen and your adventure through the strange Shake Dimension begins.

 

 

 

What's initially most striking about Wario's latest game is how good it looks. The opening cartoon is well made and unusual to see in a Nintendo game and the in-game visuals look great too. Wario himself is bold and well drawn, the backgrounds are simple but clean and enemies have the kind of charm that isn't seen all that often these days. Bosses must get particular praise though, often filling the screen and easily looking on par with foes seen in children's TV shows. It's a shame Shake Dimension only runs in 4:3 (no widescreen here) and obviously isn't HD, but it's still a breath of fresh air.

Shake Dimension is split into five worlds, each comprised of a set of stages - fairly typical of a 2D platformer. As such it's not the biggest game you'll ever play (we managed to reach the end in around six hours), but it's packed full with classic 2D platforming gameplay. There's no Wii Remote pointing here, or Nunchuck action, with the game played entirely with the Wii Remote on its side. Wario can jump, charge, slam the floor to move objects, pick up and throw things, shake things for items (mainly coins), slam through hard surfaces and drive vehicles. It's nothing we haven't seen before, many times over, but it's been so long since the last quality 2D platformer that it somehow feels quite fresh.


There are a couple of goals in Shake Dimension. Each level requires you to reach one of Merelda's imprisoned subjects, shake it free and then race back to the start point before your time runs out. Early on this is a fairly simple task, with enemies rarely being placed in awkward positions and Wario having an almost free run to the finishing line. As you move through the game this becomes far harder and the rewards given out for finishing within a certain time are harder to come by.

 

 

 

Your more overarching goal is to collect coins. Coins are required to buy items from the store (new hearts for your health, etc) and to buy level maps - level two requires 50,000 coins, level three requires 100,000 coins and so on. By simply trying to complete each stage you'll gather a lot of coins but from time to time you'll have to re-play stages in order to collect more coins so you can afford to buy a new map and move on to a new level. This feels ever so slightly like a way to artificially extend the game's running-time, but as long as you don't blitz through each stage without thinking about what you're doing you won't have to replay stages too often.

Wii owners expecting a motion controlled tour de force will be quite disappointed. For the most part you play as if the Wii Remote is a standard controller, only using its special abilities when you need to shake something, aim a throw or steer a vehicle. Some clever Wii Remote usage wouldn't have gone amiss and would have given a fairly old school game a modern feel, but its absence doesn't hurt the core gameplay. If you go in expecting a well made, good looking platformer that doesn't do a great deal to move the genre forward, you'll find Wario Land: Shake Dimension to be a highly entertaining six hours of retro fun.