JAWS: Ultimate Predator Coming In November

 Are you missing your old Xbox version of Majesco’s Jaws Unleashed?  If so, you will be able to take to the water once again, but on the Wii and 3DS with Jaws: Ultimate Predator.  For those unfamiliar with the premise – you get to play as the shark and swim around snacking on swimmers and other sea-life.

“Majesco Entertainment announced today that JAWS: Ultimate Predator will be available at the end of November for both Nintendo 3DS™ and Wii™. Based on the iconic Steven Spielberg movie franchise, JAWS: Ultimate Predator is a re-envisioning of the world’s most famous and deadliest predator the ocean has ever seen.”

“Players take the role as JAWS– hunting and killing prey, exploring the depths of the sea and battling fearsome new bosses. The game is loaded with hidden collectibles and upgradeable special abilities. Players will have more than a few ways to rip their foes apart. JAWS: Ultimate Predator is riddled with combos, finishing moves and deadly special attacks – including intense rage attacks!”

Oddly, the game has been rated differently on each system.  For the Wii it is rated T for Teen while on the 3DS it is rated M for Mature.  I guess 3D blood is more shocking than 2D blood, but in the words of Marty McFly, “The shark still looks fake.”  Sorry Bruce.

Check out screenshots from both the Wii and 3DS versions below in the gallery.

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Go Vacation Review (Wii)

Game Review: Go Vacation
Release: October 11, 2011
Genre: Family Entertainment
Developer: Namco Bandai
Available Platforms: Wii
Players: 1 – 4
MSRP: $39.99 US
ESRB Rating: E10+
Website: www.NamcoBandaiGames.com

Go Vacation has redefined the term “All Inclusive Vacation”. Take a virtual trip to Kawawii Island, where if you can’t find enough to keep you busy, you’re just not looking hard enough. The island is divided into four, huge, un-creatively named resorts: Beach Resort, City Resort, Snow Resort and Mountain Resort. While the names may be lame, each resort is packed with mini-games, activities and NPCs to keep you busy for a very, very long time.

The game opens at the Beach Resort where the main modes of transport are Jet Skis and ATVs, but there is always the option of walking and swimming in the resorts. Transportation is needed because the resorts are vast and spacious with a bit of a commute needed to get from one activity to another. This open-world feel allows you to wander and explore or follow the recommendation of your guide who will point you in the direction of the next activity. Each beach themed activity, such as volleyball, squirt-gun fights, parasailing, jet ski racing, etc. earns a stamp in your passport ,even if you do not win, and earning just four stamps will unlock the next area, the City Resort.

Each of the following three resorts each require four more stamps to unlock them, so earning just twelve stamps will unlock all of the resort area. But wait – there’s more. Get twenty stamps and get your own villa where you can make the two-story home-away-from-home your own by arranging furniture and décor to you liking. There are hidden treasures, clues and quest to be found in each resort, some of which will have you chasing from resort to resort, others are as simple as just kicking back and enjoying the scenery on a train, boat or helicopter ride. Rewards include everything from new clothing for your Mii to wear or new equipment or items for your villa. Did I mention this game was huge?

Scattered all over the island are photo opportunities where you can get your picture taken alone, with the other players in your game and your AI companions and pets. Yep, if you are playing alone, another Mii from your system will show up and you can invite them to tag along with you. There also seems to be several trusting individuals who will loan you their dog to tag along with you also. The collection of “stuff” to do goes way beyond mini-games and borders on a virtual life experience. You can even watch “vacation video” replays of any event before leaving that event.

The best thing about this game is that there is something here for everyone. All of the usual suspects are here: racing, tennis, skiing, shooting, carnival games, etc. but it is the unlikely activities that give Go Vacation that extra push to place it above other mini-game collections. Surfing, Capture The Flag on Skateboards, White Water Rafting and Scuba Diving stand out as being unique and fresh.

With all of these games and activities, there is some switching of controls frequently, such as adding and removing the nun-chuck. I understand having some consistency through the game helps make it an easier learning curve, but using the same controls for horseback riding, ATV racing, jet skis and skateboards feels like an opportunity was missed to make each special and less generic. Unfortunately, the controls are not editable.  All of that aside, Go Vacation supports nearly every accessory you can connect to your Wii or Wiimote including the Wii Zapper, Motion Plus and the Wii BalanceBoard.

I look for Go Vacation to be a hit for families this holiday season. It is priced reasonably and literally could provide hundreds of hours of game play. My family has latched on to this during my review and we have played nearly twenty hours and I feel we have barely scratched the surface. This is a relaxing and frustration-free game that is fun for family members of all ages.

• Huge open world to explore
• Fresh new games and activities mixed with old favorites
• Great value and great fun
• Controls are a bit repetitive
• No helmets or safety equipment on Kawawii?

Final Score : 9 out of 10

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Sega Bass Fishing Review (XBLA)

Game Review: SEGA Bass Fishing
Release: October 05, 2011
Genre: Fishing / Outdoor Sports
Developer: SEGA
Available Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
Players: 1
MSRP: 800 MSP or $9.99 US
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Website: http://www.sega.com/games/sega-bass-fishing/

Bass fishing is not the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking of video game content, but I do like to see games that stray from the highly saturated genre of shooters. So I loaded up Sega Bass Fishing, packed a lunch with a fried Spam sandwich and returned to the fishing trips of my childhood from the comfort of my living room sofa. Strapped into my virtual Bass Boat, I take to the lake to see if anything is biting.

Here is what Sega has to say about the game:

“In SEGA Bass Fishing, players can cast their lines at eight different fishing holes, utilising 14 unique lures while battling realistic weather conditions that affect fish behavior. Players also have the opportunity to master their angling techniques to catch as many fish as possible in four tournaments, where the best of the best cross fishing rods! In addition, exclusive to the PlayStation 3, you’ll be able to get that realistic fishing experience right in your living room with the PlayStation Move motion controller. Cast off and reel in with a simple flick of the wrist.”

At first glance, the game’s graphics will not knock your socks off. This is not a remake, but a port of the original Dreamcast game with some tweaking for HD widescreen. Once you cast your line into the water and see first hand how the control of you poles and speed of reeling effect the lure in the water, you will be hooked. It really feels like fishing – even if the fish always tend to be hungry – which makes for the best fishing trips. Am I right?

The game breaks down to three modes: Arcade Mode, Original Mode and Practice Mode.

• Original Mode puts you through a series of tournaments where you have limited windows of time in which to fish. Score is kept by the weight of you catch and placing in the (pre-determined) top 10 earns your progression to the next series. As you progress through the tournaments, additional lures are unlocked as rewards.
• Arcade Mode is exactly that.  This operates as if you walked up to a machine in an arcade and dropped in a quarter.  You begin with two minutes and must earn additional time by catching fish and meeting weight goals.
• Practice Mode is just kickin’ back and fishin’; no competition or time limits. This is the closest thing to a relaxing day of fishing, just jump in the boat, pick a time of day, a location and the preferred weather. This is my favorite mode.

The game mechanics are the star of this game. With the left stick you control the direction of your pole. The right trigger controls the speed of reeling. Combine this with the accurate rumble feedback and it’s not to hard to imagine that you are actually fishing. Getting a fish on the line is made truly enjoyable by the lure-cam, giving you an underwater view of the action. Getting the fish in the boat is a completely different challenge – just like real fishing. A meter constantly shows the amount of tension on the line – and if it is too slack the fish will get away, too taught and the line could break. The fight to get your catch in the live box feels just right.

Even though the game mechanics feel spot on, Sega should have gone further with the graphics. Even though this is an HD version (port) of a classic game, it would have been great to see the graphics completely overhauled with more detailed models and recreated menus and pictures. Many of the menu screens are just stretched to the HD aspect ratio unless the Display Mode is set to “Wallpaper” rather than “Full screen”, then they are displayed in 4:3 with a pad around the edge.

While this new HD version of Sega Bass Fishing is not all that much of an improvement over the original, it remains a fun-to-play game that is a pleasant departure from shooting stuff.  At 800 Microsoft points ($9.99) this is not a bad deal, but there is a better deal to be had.   Sega Bass Fishing is part of the Sega Dreamcast Classics for Xbox 360 (with three other games) at a retail price of $19.99 US (Amazon has it now for about $15 US).  Sega Dreamcast Classics also includes Space Channel 5 Part 2, Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure, so if you are also interested in these Sega remakes, this may be the way to go.

• Realistic Lure Use
• Varied Locations and Time of Day
• Three Modes of Play
• Blend of Crisp HD Port with Outdated Models and Graphics

Final Score: 8 out of 10

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Space Channel 5 Part 2 Review (XBLA)

Game Review: Space Channel 5 Part 2
Release: October 05, 2011
Genre: Music / Rhythm
Developer: SEGA
Available Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3
Players: 1-2 (Off-line co-op)
MSRP: 800 MSP or $9.99
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Website: http://www.sega.com/games/space-channel-5-part-2/

Up, down, up, down, chu, chu, chu.  If this resurrects memories of infectious club music and dance combat then you are no stranger to Space Channel 5 Part 2.  Who else would you choose to save humanity from invading aliens but anime dream girl, and dance reporter, Ulala.

Here is how Sega describes the game:

In Space Channel 5 Part 2, follow Ulala, a dancer and reporter from Space Channel 5, on her quest to take down the Rhythm Rogues and their leaders, Purge and Shadow. The dancing Dreamcast diva must prevent them from creating the all-powerful dance-control weapon and ultimately end their pursuit of world domination. Along the way, enlist the help of Space Michael, based on the King of Pop himself, to prove Ulala’s prowess in rhythm and rescue Space President Peace!

The gameplay here is easy to learn but difficult to master.  Dance moves are represented by buttons on the controller.  The D-pad is used for up, down, left and right, the A button is “Chu” and the B button is “Hey”.  Battles consist of running into groups of aliens and doing battle through these dance moves.  First the aliens perform a dance routine then you need to repeat it using the correct keys at the correct time.  The difficulty ramps up quickly with longer and more complex dance sequences making the game fun and challenging.

If you can’t clap your hands or tap your feet to a beat then you should probably just move along citizen as this game will only frustrate you and make you miserable.  The sequences have some fairly complex rhythms and you are expected to not only press the correct buttons in the correct order, but you also need to get the rhythm dead on.  There isn’t much room for error.  I have been a drummer most of my life and I still found this game to challenging at times.

The great thing about this dance game is that you don’t have to stand in the middle of the living room, flailing around.  Your dancing is all done via the game pad so you never have to leave the comfort of your couch.  Having Ulala showing off her moves in HD is always a plus and is a welcome update to this classic game, even if the character models are still very noticeably blocky and angular.

Even though the game is being marketed as being in HD now, the absolute minimum has been done to get it there.  It appears all of the original character models are still being used, so don’t expect graphical miracles here.  Also, it would have been nice if Sega would have invested the time and effort to re-render the cut scenes in HD, but they are all still in fuzzy SD and have a 4:3 aspect ratio.

While this new HD version of Space Channel 5 Part 2 is not all that much of an improvement over the original, it remains a fun-to-play rhythm game that doesn’t require you to buy into the recent wave of motion controllers.  At 800 Microsoft points ($9.99) this is not a bad deal, but there is a better deal to be had.  Space Channel 5 Part 2 is part of the Sega Dreamcast Classics for Xbox 360 (with three other games) at a retail price of $19.99 US (Amazon has it now for about $15 US).  Sega Dreamcast Classics also includes Sega Bass Fishing, Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure, so if you are interested in these Sega remakes, this may be the way to go.

• Infectious soundtrack
• Easy to learn / Difficult to master
• Not for the rhythm challenged
• Recycled SD cut scenes

Final Score: 7 out of 10

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BurgerTime World Tour Being Served On XBLA 11/2

Xbox 360 owners will get to step up to the grill first for their serving of BurgerTime World Tour.  This re-imagined classic will appear on PSN, WiiWare and PC later this year.  No specific date for these additional platforms has been announced yet.  Check out the trailer below for a peek at the new game-play.

The new BurgerTime experience introduces fresh and meaty additions to the franchise. With challenging platforming elements, online multiplayer, avatar support and boss characters, this is a BurgerTime experience unlike any other. BurgerTime World Tour will be affordably priced at 800 Microsoft Points.

“MonkeyPaw Games has always believed that classic gaming experiences should transcend their original space and evolve into a larger world for the current gaming generation,” said John Greiner, President of MonkeyPaw Games. “We’re thoroughly excited to bring a maturation of a classic game like BurgerTime and give fans a taste of our recipe for retro evolution.”

The New Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer for BurgerTime World Tour 

Check out www.burgertimeworldtour.com and www.monkeypawgames.com for more info.

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