ZombieAxeHero

The Wii U has been home to a lot of weird pairings that somehow work, and Pokken Tournament is the latest example. A Tekken game with Pokemon as the playable fighters. An off-the-wall idea that has all the right bells and whistles to be its own thing, and make no mistake. In a number of places, it succeeds with flying colors, but on the other hand, I can't help but think that this could have been one of the truly great fighting games if it wasn't so light on content. Visually, Pokken is stunning. Pokemon have never looked this good in any other game, let alone in 3D. The fighting is just as polished as Tekken yet possesses all the flash we expect from Pokemon, letting you beat down opponents with as many crazy attacks as you can muster. The stages are just as gorgeous as the fighters (though they could stand to be more interactive like in Tekken or better yet its sister series Soulcalibur), topped off with some fantastic music. Sadly, that's where my praise ends, as everything else just left me scratching my head and wondering if they really gave it their all during development. For starters, there's only 16 characters. For me, the sweetspot for fighting game rosters is between 20 and 25, and out of over 700 Pokemon, you'd think they're be more. While the single-player campaign is lengthy, it gets so repetitive that by the end I felt like I was just forcing myself through it. The paper-thin story peppered within it involving Shadow Mewtwo sadly doesn't help much, and in all honesty, I would have much preferred Ferrum League shortened into a basic Arcade Mode and the Story Mode lengthened to be more substantial while adding in other basic stuff like Survival or a sound test. Instead, what do you get for unlockables? Titles and avatar gear that in no way affect gameplay and outfits for the most irritating partner character this side of Zelda. Yes, you can turn of Nia's advice and mute her voice, but that didn't change her irritatingly happy-go-lucky personality, and by the time I stopped playing, I was sick of looking at her. Yes, there's stages and support Pokemon to unlock, but they unlock way too fast to feel truly rewarding, and without any real layout changes, all of the stages feel the exact same just with different backgrounds. That doesn't mean I think you shouldn't look into this game. you should at some point, but it might be a better idea to wait for a price drop or find it used. Hopefully by then they'll have released some more substantial content. This honestly feels like the Wii U's version of Street Fighter V, but at least the online is stable

I realize I'm a year and a half late with this, but I can say this game was exactly what I was hoping for. I know there's a whole bunch of crazed Melee/Project M fans lurking around saying this game is just as bad as Brawl if not more so (Brawl wasn't a bad game, by the way), and I can agree it's not the big fast competitive thing that Melee and other EVO-certified fighting games are. I can also agree that I'm disappointed there's no story mode this time, clones are still a thing (though Melee was quite frankly worse for that), and Classic Mode while given an interesting new spin isn't quite what I'd hoped for. But giving this game a low score because it's not as competitive as Melee? Sorry, but I honestly take offense to people that quite frankly have no idea what a 3 out of 10 game is really like. Trust me, I played Sonic Boom and Meme Run.

I love Zelda, and I love Dynasty Warriors, so when I figured out the two were coming together, you could hear me singing with joy from a million miles away. My fanboyism aside, there are a few things in this game that could have been done better, most notably the story. It certainly wasn't terrible and story doesn't matter as much in the grand scheme of things with this kind of game, but I can't help but feel the story was rushed. There isn't a whole lot of time to develop any characters aside from Cia and (debateably) Lana, and it practically relies on you already knowing who the other characters are. There's also several things to nitpick about it: where did Volga come from? Why didn't Ganondorf get more screen time? Why do they think they can surprise us by revealing Sheik's identity when anyone who played Super Smash Bros. or Ocarina of Time already knows? And most aggravating to me, why is Link still a silent protagonist? I get that it's for immersion purposes, but that immediately backfires because he has an iconic appearance and something of a personality. There's also the common complaint about these crossover games: it needed more characters from other Zelda games since only Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword are covered (though Majora's Mask is added through DLC). That, and it seems that some parts of the game were cut out and reserved for DLC like all the different costumes. Then of courses there's what many have touched upon: there's no online multiplayer. Don't get me wrong. There's plenty for you to do on your own, but there were definitely times when I wished I had a second player helping me out through some of the Adventure Mode battles. Now onto the positives, which there is a lot of. Gameplay-wise, it's mind-numbing and senseless, but satisfying as all hell. Mowing down wave after wave of enemies with just a few short combos makes for the ultimate power fantasy, but I also like the addition of the Weak Point Gauge which sometimes forces you to use strategy to deal maximum damage to your enemies. Strategy is a key feature of this game thanks to the keep system: lose a keep and you lose some of your defenses to your enemy and leave your base wide open to attack. Lose your base or a vital ally, and it's game over. This game forces you to multitask, and it's a perfect way to keep you on your toes as well as break up the monotony. The graphics are very nice and character designs are all really nice, and the characters themselves are perfectly tuned. There are no bad characters in Hyrule Warriors (in terms of gameplay); just characters that might take some time to get used to like Zant, Fi, and Agitha. Let's also not forget the fact that this game has a ton of stuff for you to do with both Story and Adventure Mode (and now Challenge Mode thanks to the most recently released DLC pack). And of course, like all Warriors games, the music is just bloody AWESOME!!! Now, is this game as good as some other Dynasty Warriors games? No. Hell, I still think Warriors Orochi 3 is better if only for the story and wider variety of characters. Is the upcoming Zelda for Wii U going to blow this game out of the water? Probably, but is this game going to help you eat away the days to that game much faster? Absolutely. It's not for everyone, of course, but I highly recommend that any Zelda fan at least give it a try. Have fun, and here's hoping for Hyrule Warriors 2 one day!

Is this game as good as the last one? Unfortunately, no, and I can say why for a number of reasons. Firstly, while the graphics are good, the pop-in is dreadful and frequent (though buildings thankfully remain untextured for only a fraction of a second). I have mixed feelings about the Hero or Menace system. On paper, it sounds unique but it falls just short in the fact that there is no real incentive to stay in the Hero bar unless you just want the in-game Task Forces off your back. It would have been far more innovative to create multiple endings and tie it in with this system, say getting a bad ending if you're too far into the Menace bar. The story, while interesting, is sadly convoluted for the same reason people say Spider-Man 3 is: there's too many villains. There's Shocker, Kingpin, Black Cat, Kraven, the Green Goblin, Electro, and Carnage. Had they removed Electro and Green Goblin by perhaps making this game take place after the film, there would be more time to focus on the other villains and develop them better (maybe even have multiple battles with them). However, there is still much to enjoy in this game. Despite what I just said about there being too many villains, it was still nice to see them all, Kraven and Carnage in particular (as well as another brilliant cameo from Stan Lee himself). Like most Spider-Man games, there's a lot to unlock from audio recordings to readable comics to (best of all) alternate costumes. These new games based on the new films can also be credited for combining two elements from **** Dimensions: stylish combat and interesting stealth segments. There's always something else for you to do in the game, and while I would give the game more like a 7.5 if the rating system let you give decimal scores, I still think this game is worth playing at some point. Maybe after a price drop or if you find a used copy. Just don't go into it expecting the next Arkham City.

Well, this game's failure to sell single-handedly killed the series, so let's see what went wrong. In actuality, nothing really went too wrong. The basic game is the same rocking good time we've come to expect from Guitar Hero, this time with a soundtrack more focused on rock and metal. That's cool in my book, but what are the problems? Really just all the little things that Activision either forgot or ignored. Really, that's all I can do: just rant about what they did wrong. Firstly, let's talk about Quest. I applaud them for trying to create an epic if overblown story, but that's the problem: there really isn't a story to speak of at all. Basically, you get the first four rockers together and transform them into these REALLY cool Warrior forms, you play Rush's 2112 song in its entirety to get the Legendary Guitar (cool segment. Not enough to make the mode worth all the grinding), you recruit the last four rockers, then you go fight the Beast. That's it. Compare that to Guitar Hero III, and you can't help but be disappointed. The Spirit forms? There's no reason those should even exist, and if they do, make them alternate costumes, not separate characters! Now the soundtrack. I think the soundtrack was really well selected with a large assortment of songs by great bands, but I can't help but feel that they picked the right artists but the wrong songs. Why give us "Cryin'" by Aerosmith when we'd much rather have "Dream On"? Also, the charting on some songs is just weird. "Bohemian Rhapsody" I believe needs no introduction, but then there's "Wish" where the charting makes the song very near to unplayable. As with most Activison games made for the Wii, the graphics leave much to be desired (though they're much better than World Tour or Smash Hits). From there, it's just a whole bunch of questions: why can you still only make twenty characters in the Rocker Creator? Why can you only have twenty songs from GHTunes? What happened to Guitar Duels? Where are the real-life rocker cameos (having Gene Simmons voice the Demigod of Rock is cool, and so is Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson narrating the 2112 segment, but why do you think Guitar Hero III sold so well?) I still love this game, though. It may be more of the same, but the same is great. You'll have a ton of fun despite forgetting or ignoring all the little things. If you haven't bought the game yet, go down to the store and buy a brand new copy of the game. That's the only way we're gonna get Activision to bring the series back: if the demand and sales numbers are there. Not to mention I think there's still some Soundgarden CDs lurking around in them. Long review, eh?

Sue me for all I care. I personally think this game is better than Melee. Don't get me wrong: I love Melee, but I would be lying if I said I didn't love Brawl even more. Why? One word: content. Brawl has at least twice as much content as Melee. The addition of the Subspace Emissary mode was a brilliant one on the developer's part, and while people whine about it having pretty much no story, they probably had fun playing it whether it had a story or not. Boss Battles mode is very challenging, Stage Builder (while a little bare-bones) is a great idea, stickers and CDs will keep completionists like me busy for months, and do I even need to talk about Final Smashes? As for everything else that's an improvement on Melee, Brawl just gives us more. More characters, more stages, more modes, more trophies, and pretty much just more things to do. Was there anything really bad about the game? Well, not really bad, just annoying. The ability to unlock every character just by playing through Subspace Emissary I think wasn't a good idea (maybe if you just unlocked ROB, Snake, and Sonic as milestones), and the online mode is really laggy, though not enough to stop you from having a good fight with folks online. And yeah, there are a couple characters I would have loved to have in the game, but I won't hold that against the game. Every single crossover fighting game that exists suffers that problem. As for the lack of L-canceling or wave dashing or other crap like that, look at it this way. Most of the people who play Super Smash Bros. probably don't play it competitively (including me though I'm a die-hard fan of the series). This stuff doesn't bother me in the slightest, and if you're still kicking ass without those mechanics, it shouldn't bother you either. Bottom line is that Brawl is a fantastic fighting game. It's one of the best games I've ever played, and no one will change my mind. Is Brawl going to become somewhat obsolete when Smash Bros. 4 comes out for 3DS and Wii U? Of course it is, but for now, if you have a Wii or Wii U and don't own Super Smash Bros. ****, my good sir or ma'am, are out of your mind.

While it's undeniable that a few more months in development could have made this game far better, what's here is seriously a lot of fun. I'll start with negatives, though. The first problem is (of course) the graphics. The environments are rather bland with a few exceptions, and the character models vary from good for the game's playable characters to downright terrible for generic enemy and NPC models. Not to mention that the draw distance is very poor in this game. There are also several design choices that don't make a whole lot of sense, like being unable to jump, not including every story arc from the original manga, and having most of the coolest content as DLC. Maybe Koei's pushing for Ken's Rage 3, but who knows. Now for the positives. The gameplay (while monotonous) really brings out the inner man-child in you when you're killing twenty guys in a single combo in a fantastic and bloody display. The characters are very likable (even royal **** like Raoh and Kaioh were really cool once I learned more about them). The story is great (though I can't credit Koei for that since it's based on a critically-acclaimed and, like I said, they don't include every story arc), and even had me nearly tearing up from time to time when important characters died. And the music? Good God, is this game's soundtrack freakin' awesome!!! This game is certainly not for everyone and it's a little overpriced (not helped by the fact that it's download-only), and don't get my praising it wrong: it's nowhere near as good as Warriors Orochi 3. But for any fans of Fist of the North Star or the Dynasty Warriors games, this is a must-own.

Though it's certainly not as good as Metroid Prime, Other M is still a worthy entry into the series and I feel it's the most underrated game of the seventh generation. The story isn't quite as exciting as I would have hoped and has a few glaring plotholes (what was the point of the Deleter if we never found out who he was?), but it's still worth looking at. People complain to no end about the gameplay, but here's a newsflash for you: this game has roughly the same controls as the modern Ninja Gaiden games (having played Razor's Edge, I know what I'm talking about), though I will admit it's not as immersive as the first-person view Prime gave us. Regardless of that, it felt pretty awesome jumping around and shooting things the way you could, and the bosses were just epic. The graphics are some of the best you'll see on the Wii and the voicework really makes this game more movie-like as a result. And about Samus. While her narration isn't very enthralling, the rest of the time she speaks makes me feel like she's a human being. After all, that's what she is: a human being. Humans cry and get scared just like she did in this game. So she's not a silent protagonist anymore. That's a good thing! It means she's not an emotionless robot like Master Chief or Gordon Freeman anymore! She has layers, for God's sake!(Admittedly though, it wouldn't kill her to smile every once in a while.) Bottom line is that this game has been judged very unfairly and it's worth a second look. G4 and angry fanboys have complained to no end about this game, but I say at least give it a rent sometime and give it a chance. I don't think you'll regret it.

I think the only reason the user score for this game isn't any higher is because there's some idiots out there who think this is the same game that came out for the 360 and PS3. How wrong they are. Having never played Ninja Gaiden before, I had no idea how big of a treat I was in for when I played this game. The first thing that needs to be mentioned is the gameplay. The last time I had such a good time with a hack-and-slash game was with No More Heroes 2, and not only is this game faster than it, it's also a lot bloodier than it. The story is very engaging and I felt like I really wanted to save the world from these **** who are tearing the world apart just to prove that ninjas are outdated (they're wrong, anyway. ;D). With the bonus Ayane levels, the Chapter Challenge Mode and the online modes, I've dumped almost thirty hours into this game and I still haven't found everything. That shows you just how engaging it is. It's safe to say that Team Ninja definitely brought their A-game to this remake, because if you haven't played it, don't listen to me ramble on about it! Go buy it! Just try not to throw your control at the screen because while this game is incredibly fun, GOOD GOD IS IT HARD!!!

What this game lacks in graphics it more than makes up for in mostly every other area (I'm no graphics-before-gameplay guy but the jaggies in this game are pretty bad). Swinging around NYC with or without HD is just exhilarating to say the least, and like any open world game, there's plenty to see and do. The gameplay feels like someone took Arkham City and slapped Spider-Man's face on it...which is actually a good thing in this case because beating up Oscorp grunts and hostile infected is extremely fun. Collecting the little pages scattered around the city actually unlocks full comics for you to read later on, and as any late version **** should, all of the DLC from the 360/PS3 version is on-disc, including the Stan Lee Adventure Pack. Top it off with a solid story and great voicework and good God, the effect is intoxicating. It's not quite on the same level as Ultimate Spider-Man, but it gave me what I wanted: a great return to the open world of New York courtesy of our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

I really wanted to like this game. I really did. There are some great things about it, but the negatives really outweigh the positives here. For starters, the fact that this is a port **** originally for Kinect will instantly drive people away from it. The controls, while functional, just don't really seem to fit, and I can definitely say this would have been much better as a standard 3D fighter. And of course, there is a serious lack of content. There's no worthwhile story, and while Ubisoft did manage to **** together a large number of well-known Marvel characters (and they look pretty good in a celshaded art style), they overlooked other famous ones like Deadpool, Juggernaut, Carnage, Ghost Rider and Cyclops in favour of characters like Scarlet Witch who most people have never even heard of. And locking content on the disc and making us pay for it as DLC? Really, Ubisoft? I thought you better than that.

While it's certainly true that most of the games that Tecmo Koei makes nowadays are exactly the same thing with the only difference being characters and setting, that doesn't mean that they're bad, especially not when they deliver to an audience that hasn't had a good dose of their best. The Wii U version of Warriors Orochi 3 is different from the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions being that it has four extra characters (Seimei Abe, Shennong, Rachel and Momiji) and a new Duel Mode that is surprisingly an interesting addition. The core gameplay is the same hack-and-slash routine we've come to expect, but it's done so well that it almost doesn't matter,making you feel like a total badass when you cut down about thirty enemies with a single combo. The most pressing issue for this game is that it doesn't look quite as good as its counterparts and the enemies suddenly popping in when it looks like you have a clear path is really annoying. That, and quite a few of the characters aren't exactly balanced (Some characters being way too weak and others being way too strong or having combos that go on for too long), thus making fighting them in the Duel Mode seem a little unfair. Regardless of that, this is probably the definitive version of this game and I highly recommend it. Not to mention you can play as Ryu Hayabusa. Come on, that's cool.

When I first bought this game, I was really hoping for a great RPG experience like the one I got from Tales of Symphonia. Sadly, that's not what happened. Granted, I had a little fun with strategic combat that the game provided and the graphics are quite nice (for the Wii, anyway), but as I played the game longer, the faults began to surface. While I did enjoy the combat system, it seems that console-based RPGs are more suited to real-time. Second is that while standard enemies are no problem, the bosses are unforgivable and force you to grind levels to even stand a chance agianst them. The last two things, however, are what really killed it for me. The story (for the most part) is very shallow and too similar to Tales of Symphonia to be bragged about, and I couldn't find one character in this game who wasn't either irrelevant to what was going on or just cliche as all hell, especially Adele and Ryfia. And of course there's what everybody else has touched on: the English voice acting is absolutely horrendous (not helped by the fact you can't change it to Japanese). The bottom line is that if you're looking for a good RPG on the Wii, Arc Rise Fantasia isn't the last game to look for, but it's certainly not the first.

Being that this was my first Tekken game, I thought it was just going to be Soulcalibur with fists instead of swords. Turns out it's a lot more that that. From the great graphics, many colorful characters, and powerhouse fighting, there's never a dull moment in this game. Whle the Nintendo outfits are hit or miss, the news modes like Mushroom Battle are good fun if you get a second player in on them. The only complaint I have lies in the controls as they take a while to get used to if you're brand new to the series, especially the blocking. Otherwise, go grab it. It's worth your time to the fullest extent.