Star Parodier – Turbografx (Hanabi Festival)

Hudson Soft’s Star Soldier series gets the parody treatment in Star Parodier, a cutesy shoot ‘em up packed with classic Hudson in-jokes. Play as Bomberman, a Star Soldier fighter or even a flying PC Engine! Originally a CD-Rom release, Star Parodier is also famous for its toe-tapping soundtrack.

Digital Champ Battle Boxing – Turbografx (Hanabi Festival)

This arcade-style boxing game, previously unseen outside of Japan, features a rare first-person perspective. Take on the world’s greatest prize fighters as you perform powerful jabs, hooks and uppercuts, controlling both of your gloves independently.

Gley Lancer – SEGA MEGA DRIVE (Hanabi Festival)

Cult classic shoot ‘em up Gley Lancer comes to Virtual Console; its first release outside of Japan! When her father is captured by alien forces, young rookie pilot Lucia takes a prototype fighter on a rescue mission, engaging the enemy across space, underwater or through claustrophobic caves.

These games join the now HUGE line-up of other retro classics already available via the Wii Shopping Channel.

Here we have a clip and some screen shots from Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People by Telltale Games. The game is due for release through Nintendo’s WiiWare service and is set to be part of a series of titles featuring the main character, Strong Bad, and many of his friends.

From the above video, we can see that the game is going to be a point and click type adventure, no doubt including some great uses for Nintendo’s amazing Wii Remote.

I’m really looking forward to this game, as I looks like it’s going to be quite funny, and I like funny!

Viva Piñata first existed as an Xbox 360 game, where the basic aim of the game is to care for a neglected garden and turn it into a piñata paradise, attracting all sorts of brightly coloured piñata animals.

The DS title is slated to be releases alongside the Xbox 360 version of the same game, and is said to feature seven new piñata species and full motion video taken from the Fox 4Kids TV Show.

Here’s a copy of the press release:

Wildly Popular Franchise Scheduled to Debut on Nintendo DS™ This Fall with THQ’s Viva Piñata®: Pocket Paradise™

Players Can Garden On-The-Go with an Intuitive Control Scheme Designed Specifically for Nintendo DS

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that Viva Piñata®: Pocket Paradise™ is scheduled for release this fall for Nintendo DS™. The game is based on Microsoft Game Studios’ highly-rated original Viva Piñata game for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise features an array of content exclusive to Nintendo DS and an intuitive control scheme designed to take full advantage of the DS touch screen and stylus, making it a breeze to navigate through the garden.

“Nintendo DS is the perfect platform for the Viva Piñata franchise because players can have direct interaction with the environment and their piñatas using the stylus,” said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. “We are thrilled to introduce Microsoft’s critically-acclaimed Viva Piñata series to an entirely new segment of the gaming community.”

In Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, players will inherit a neglected garden on Piñata Island and turn it into a piñata paradise by tending to all aspects of cleaning the garden, growing and maintaining vegetation, caring for and breeding piñatas, as well as attracting new piñata species. The game features seven all-new piñata species, each with new requirements, houses and unique cut scenes. Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise also includes twelve full motion video clips that serve as tutorial levels within the game. The videos feature the stars of the Fox 4Kids Viva Piñata TV series, including Hudson Horstashio™, Fergy Fudgehog™ and Paulie Pretztail™. The brand-new Playground mode allows players to create a lush garden full of exciting and exotic piñatas in a very short amount of time. In addition, certain rare piñatas can only be acquired by using the Nintendo DS local wireless connection, where players can transfer items from their garden to a friend’s garden.

Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise is developed by Rare Ltd., one of the world’s leading video game developers and masterminds behind some of the most popular video games in history, including multi-million-dollar sellers “GoldenEye”, “Perfect Dark”, “Banjo-Kazooie” and the “Donkey Kong Country” Series. From 2005 to 2006, Rare released “Perfect Dark Zero”, “Kameo: Elements of Power” and “Viva Piñata” for Xbox 360. Rare continues to entertain the world with the release of “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts” and “Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise” later this year. For more information on this game, as well as additional THQ titles, please visit www.thq.com.

Thanks Kotaku!

Now this game is called Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Many of you (as I did when i first saw that) are weeping because Apollo Justice is sitting exactly where Phoenix Wright should be, in the main character chair. Now HOLD IT (okay I promise ill try and stop doing that) fans of the series are probably worried that Apollo wont be as good as Phoenix, well let me ease your worries- he can handle himself.

For those who have no idea what I’m on about so far (WHY are you reading this? go buy the older games!) Apollo Justice is the 4th in the Ace Attorney series following on over 7 years after the end of the previous game in which Phoenix Wright puts his demons to rest. Now you control Apollo Justice, a rookie attorney on his first ever case defending a hero of the past who has asked specifically for him- Phoenix Wright. The washed up Phoenix Wright hasn’t practiced law in quite some time and now is by day a pianist and by night a in-house poker player with the stakes being pride and a 7 year winning streak working at a small restaurant finds himself on the defendant chair once again after his last opponent in a game of poker dies at the table.

The story stays in tradition with the Ace Attorney franchise and is simply sublime, the team of writers who have created this masterpiece (and the localization team who worked hard to get it to make sense in English) should really take a stab at some UK soaps, they might be able to make them worthy of my time as well. Each of the cases (4 in all) flow so well and have amazing stories which intertwine to make a fuller, more convincing plot which is all revealed just at the right time so that at 11pm just after you think ‘I should get some sleep’ you instead keep playing to find out more about the mystery just revealed. As always, the story is the reason you will love this game.

Unfortunately the character list is not a reason to love this game, especially if you’re fond of the older games. Most of the main characters from the previous Ace Attorney games do not appear in this game in any way, make note of this now to save yourself the disappointment that myself and so many other Apollo Justice players felt. For fan boys and fan girls who haven’t played yet I wont give out a list of who is and isn’t in this installment but I will however say this NO MAYA, NO EDGEWORTH. Taking over from Maya is Trucy, who is a magician in training and Phoenix’s …urm… I’ll let you find out about that bit. Trucy and Apollo’s relationship just screams Phoenix and Maya, no doubt players will feel comfortable with the duo but I prefer Maya over Trucy personally. Taking the prosecutors bench is Klavier Gavin (yes, I know its a dumb name) lead singer for the ‘Gavineers’ and twin brother to your boss, Kristoph Gavin. Both of Gavins have a less prickly demeanor to previous mentors and oppositions in the series.

In the place of the other older main characters are a gaggle of new characters all ready to fill their shoes (..wait that didn’t sound right) each doing an adequate job of keeping up the comedy but there is a distinct lack of identity that all the characters suffer from. Some of them you will come to remember, others you just wont and that’s part of the problem in Apollo Justice, I do feel this will be addressed in the next games which will build on the characters already in place in a similar way to its predecessor but in this title its a definite problem.

Graphically the game has had an overhaul, all characters, animations and backgrounds have had a spit shine and high-res versions made which look crispy and vibrant. Some older fans of the series may not like the new look for characters as its lost part of that ‘anime’ look it previously pulled off so well, but it really isn’t a huge issue, the game still looks great, just a little more grown up. I will say I’m happy with the pixel increase to the environments as they look nice and clear.

Another helpful graphical change is the ability to look at items in 3D via the court record, something the final case of 1st game did and we haven’t seen since. Unfortunately this isn’t used as much as it should in the game and when it is used it’s usually for a pointless gag which will make you go ‘heh’. I really wished they had put this idea to better use in cases.

It’s a shame, but Capcom not only dropped the ball with the 3D item feature, but several others including finger print scanners, luminol (blood detection), sound mixer and an assortment of other gadgets. These are all used in the game, and their use isn’t boring or pointless in fact they are a lot of fun to use each time and they really do add to a case or can help in making vital evidence. The problem is they aren’t used enough and usually only used once in the entire game. A simple piece of kit like the finger print scanner should be used throughout the game and simply isn’t. I hope in the next game they spend a little more time trying to get the most out of the DS and its features rather than doing it once and leaving it.

Now that Phoenix is no longer the main character the previous ability with the Magatama players are used to during investigation have now gone. Luckily Apollo has a ‘gift’ of sorts with the ability to ‘perceive’ peoples nervous twitches during testimony periods. This like many others features of the game only gets used a small amount in each case (usually once). It’s a pretty nice feature and using it is definitely fun, but it lacks the freedom that should go with the ability. The game chooses which testimony it should be used on, making it a lot easier to know what your suppose to do. I’m happy to report the ‘Objection’ and ‘Hold it’ buttons are still there as is the rest of the familiar menu people are custom to.

Sound wise everything sounds similar to previous but has a new funky feel to it. For the first few hours of play I really didn’t like the soundtrack very much but it slowly grew on me. There is however one point in the game which I feel the sound team was being lazy, however, at one point in the game a song is played by a band and rather than have lyrics it’s just noise. On the GBA these kind of things are ignored as its all the GBA could handle but the DS is a full MP3 compatible machine, it can and will handle more complex sound, so why didn’t they go the full hog?

Closing Comments
Whenever a new Ace Attorney game was available to me, I live and breathe it until the credits. Apollo Justice made me do the same thing, but on a much smaller scale. The game is fantastically written and the new characters work well, but fans of the series may find themselves wishing for the characters of past games.

Apollo Justice is a damn good addition to the Ace Attorney franchise, but unlike previous games, this DS only game could of used a lot more features than it eventually did and while the story will keep you involved until the end, a few days after you’ll sit and wonder why the team didn’t add in more DS functions. until then, its one hell of a ride.

Score 8.8

+ More fantastic story
+ Improved graphics and sound
+ New characters breathe life into the series
+ No fan girls screaming about Edgeworth

- Some new characters are just plain boring
- DS functions not used enough
- Some sound and graphics seem to be from the GBA days
- No fan boys screaming about Maya

It would appear that Frontier, the developers of the forthcoming (or recently released if you live in the US) WiiWare game, LostWinds, already have plans for a sequel. In plain view on their website, about halfway down the page, is this little tidbit of info:

Click here to REGISTER FOR ADVANCE INFORMATION on Frontier’s forthcoming LostWinds sequel containing amazing new gameplay as Toku and Enril’s incredible adventure to save Mistralis continues - Frontier is registered under the UK’s Data Protection Act and won’t use your details for any other reason.

So there you have it! Before we can even get our hands on the game (although there’s only 7 days to go!), we can expect that somewhere further down the line we can expect to be playing LostWinds 2!

Thanks GoNintendo!

The big day will happen on 20th May across Europe, with a strong line up of 8 games, compared to the 6 which were available at launch in the US yesterday, and the 9 Japan had available way back in March.

Although details of the prices of games (in Wii Points) was not released, we can hope and guess that they will be the same as those already available across the world, which range from 500 to 1500 Wii Points.

Here’s what we can expect:

• Dr. Mario & Germ Buster (Nintendo)
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Square Enix)
• LostWinds (Frontier)
• Pirates: The Key of Dreams (Oxygen)
• Pop (Nnooo)
• Star Soldier R (Hudson)
• Toki Tori (Two Tribes)
• TV Show King (Gameloft)

As already mentioned, these games will not all be available when the service launches, and we’ll have some more details of all of these games in the coming week so check back soon!

Our friends across the pond have today seen their Wii Shopping Channel now supply them with some funky WiiWare games to spend their Wii Points on.

For those who have been living in a cave for the past few months, WiiWare is the name Nintendo has given to a line-up of exclusive games which are available to download using their WiiConnect24 service and the Wii Shopping Channel. The games are said to be exclusive to the console, and make use of some or all of the great Wii remote controlling schemes. They are also a platform for some of the smaller (indie) developers to get their games published to the masses, and will hopefully lead to some real gems being made available.

The US has had to sacrifice their normal Virtual Console Monday update so it does not overshadow the release of WiiWare, and so far they have 6 titles available:

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (1500 Wii Points)
• LostWinds (1000 Wii Points)
• Defend your Castle (500 Wii Points)
• Pop (700 Wii Points)
• V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack (700 Wii Points)
• TV Show King (1000 Wii Points)

This can only be the start of something which will get bigger and better in time, and hopefully find Nintendo their own smash hit equivalent to Microsoft Live Arcade’s Geometry Wars.

Source: Joystiq

In January 2004 Japan was treated to the final GBA installment of the great Capcom series, Gyakuten Saiban. in 2007 Japan and America where treated to the final installment of the Phoenix Wright series on the DS. Now, we bring you the review of said game, its just a shame Capcom wont tell us when Europe can get their hands on it!

Let me first off say- sadly the gameplay of this Phoenix Wright has not had a massive boost. While the game hasn’t lost any features from its previous outing, it hasn’t added anything new either. You have the same health system from the previous game, psyche-locks are still in the game and everything else the previous games had to offer in the way of game mechanics or features, but this works in the games favor in a way as it has allowed the team to focus on the story, which is by far its strong point.

PW3 is the final chapter of Phoenix Wright’s story in the Ace Attorney franchise. The story is set over several years explaining the back story of the characters in the Ace Attorney universe. The 4 cases in the game are split between the 2 main characters Phoenix and Mia which works really well. I must also add that compared to the previous titles PW3 has the most interesting 1st case so far in any of the games not to mention superb longevity.

The first case explains how Phoenix got into the courtroom for the first time, not as the attorney but as the defendant. Defending this young Phoenix is Mia Fey. a name well known to fans of the series. In this instance Mia is a rookie attorney on her 2nd case in the courtroom with her own story and reason for defending phoenix, the plot plays out nicely in the game with bits and pieces coming from every case which the player can piece together towards the end of the game. It has a very similar appeal to the TV show ‘Lost’ which many people watch each week to try and piece together the story. Writing in the game could easily be considered as the best in the series as its well produced and will keep players interested.

Keeping in tradition with other Phoenix Wright games, PW3 introduces new character Godot in the courtroom. as the new main ‘baddie’ in absence of previous prosecutors Edgeworth and Von Karma. Godot is a great addition to the character list in the Ace Attorney series, he has a great look, an obsession with coffee bordering on romantic and some kick ass theme music. Much like the prosecutors before him, Godot has his reasons to oppose our ace attorney and don’t despair his back story will come out in the end. While Phoenix, Mia, Maya and Godot are the main characters in this installment several older faces make appearances in each case, this made me give out a little fan-boy smile i must admit. I think it really helps the games story a lot and will make the 10+ hours of gameplay enjoyable rather than laborious.

The games graphics once again see no change from its previous outing, this isn’t surprising as Capcom have never made many changes to the Ace Attorney series other than those expected. Still, there are some new areas to explore and comb for evidence and as always the graphics are neat, tidy and fit in nicely.

The new music tracks are a welcomed change in PW3, with a mix of older tracks which have been re-worked and messed with a little to bring them a little more up to date, you also have some new tracks which are just absolutely fantastic. Some of the tracks from the series 2nd outing have been removed entirely and been replaced with the original tracks which is in my opinion much better as the 1st games music really fitted with the scenarios, luckily they do the same here.

Closing Comments
While it doesn’t try to pull any punches which aren’t obvious, Phoenix Wright 3 is one hell of a game not only in the series but within its own right also. the elements aren’t fresh, new or revolutionary,but who cares? not this gamer. when you have a game that looks, plays and feels like interactive story all you need is a great tale to tell, luckily, Phoenix Wright 3 doesn’t disappoint.

Score - 9.4

+ Great story
+ Music back on top form
+ Good cases

- Nothing new
- No seriously, absolutely NOTHING new
- Only 4 cases

Here we are again kids! One spikey haired, blue suited, ace attorney shouting objection and getting scolded by the judge for stupidity while getting laughed at by a purple suited, ‘is he gay or not’ neck-tie wearing prosecutor. Welcome once again to the world of Phoenix Wright.

Most families have that one kid who everyone rolls their eyes at, the one that’s a bit of a outcast. Maybe yours only has nine eyes or something else equally odd like 16 fingers on one hand(that kid is going to be pro at Guitar Hero one day) and in the game world, major series have them too, Halo had Halo 2, GTA had San Andreas and Devil May Cry had Devil May Cry 2. Say hi to Phoenix Wright’s family version, Phoenix Wright: Justice For All.

For those of you who ignored my above instruction to go back and read my previous review (or better yet, go buy the game complete it, make a cuppa and then come back and read this) the game let’s you once again take control of Phoenix Wright almost a year after his first game on the DS, following in the same quest for justice. Phoenix and Maya (his sidekick, but you know that) go round helping the innocent prove they aren’t guilty of murder while the player enjoys the weird and wonderful journey that ensues.

The writing in each case is absolutely brilliant and you really do get a feel for the majority of main characters, most cases do lead up to a good ending point, which will leave the player satisfied with what has taken place and unlike the original you wont always have the answer to the case until the very end. Even with this fix of the originals rather easier cases it’s still not enough of a improvement to beat the originals wit and genuinely funny moments.

Like any other franchise worth its salt, new characters make their appearance. Pearl Fey, Maya’s cousin and loyal servant (not in a weird twisted way though) and Franziska von Karma, the daughter of the mighty Manfred von Karma in the previous game, takes the place of fan favourite Miles Edgeworth on the prosecutors bench. Once again the writing really helps bring these characters to life, but Franziska using her whip and having verbal diarrhoea with the word ‘fool’ doesn’t hurt either.

Being a port from the Japanese only GBA game Gyakuten Saiban 2 (try saying that 3 times drunk) this reviewer is a little dissapointed that the DS outing had no DS exclusive content or extras. That’s right, apart from the obvious DS upgrades of touch screen use and microphone support, there is no additional content (unlike the original with a extra case to play through)

Being a GBA port it carries with it the same graphics and same visual novel style of gameplay that the 1^st game had. They aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible either. They work and in a game which is about story that’s all you need. I suppose its more important to have something simple that works great that something extravagant that lags and barely work, at least that’s my take on it.

While the graphics from the original have been kept consistent, the music has had a bit of a change with new tunes and music going through the investigation and trial parts of each case. The soundtrack does a good job but just falls short of the originals fantastic songs.

Pschye-locks are big addition to the game play a major part in the investigation times of each chapter now. Given to you at the start of chapter 2, the Magatama reveals the locks on peoples and given the right evidence get them to reveal the truth.

Along with the new pschye-locks, the health bar has had a bit of a re-model with the ‘!’ gone and in its place is an actual health bar! This makes the game a little more interesting as it forces you into situations sometimes where answering wrong can make you lose your entire health bar. It’s a nice addition along with another smaller addition of being able to show character profiles as evidence, which sounds pointless but is stupidly helpful when it comes to pointing the finger to the culprit.

I know so far I haven’t exactly been overly kind to PW2 and many of you can guess I’m not giving it the shining review I gave the original, but that’s simply because all the things I’ve mentioned so far haven’t been anything different, in fact they’ve taken one of the best bits of the original out, a additional chapter. But the game isn’t terrible it just hasn’t had as much of a improvement as I think it should of.

Closing Comments

While the game is still great, I don’t know if it’s a worthy successor to the Objection crown. The game has taken the great base that is original and made a damn good sequel with great dialog, fantastic characters and tremendously enjoyable gameplay, but with only 4 cases (compared to the originals 5), still no multiplayer component (even the ability to transfer a demo to other DS’ would have been nice) and no outstanding changes or features this one is great for fans of the series but not good for newcomers.

Score 8.7

+ Same great characters
+ Same great writing
+ Psyche-locks are cool
+ Good continuation

- No major changes to writing or characters
- Lots of text
- Music not up to scratch
- No multiplayer of any kind

According to Nintendo of America’s big boss man, Reggie Fils-Aime, there’s some fresh new content coming to the Wii in the second half of this year, including a “big game for the holiday that gamers will want”, but we won’t hear about any of it until this year’s E3.

That doesn’t stop IGN’s Matt C opening his big mouth and shouting about Kid Icarus on IGN’s latest Nintendo Voice Podcast.

During the ‘cast, Matt says: “Of course [Nintendo is] going to have some E3 surprises. You know, Kid Icarus, for crying out loud, how many times do we have to say Kid Icarus? Kid Icarus is coming for crying out loud”.

He has been known to be well-in with Nintendo, and knows about a lot of things that are coming before most people, so maybe this less-then-subtle hint could be more of a heads-up from the magical things that he has seen behind the scenes.

Either way, I think it’s pretty inevitable for the big N to bring back Kid Icarus as it’s a franchise they haven’t touched in a long while, and with the capabilities of the Wii-remote, it seems to make a lot of sense to me! Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

Source: Joystiq

Here’s what we’re currently looking for:

News Writer

Duties for a news writer include keeping the site up to date with the latest news and gossip from the wonderful world of Nintendo.

Wii / DS Game Reviewer

The main duty for this role is to keep the site up to date with the latest game reviews for Nintendo Wii and DS platforms, as well as editing user-submitted reviews.

Virtual Console Game and WiiWare Reviewer

Duties for this role include reviewing the latest Virtual Console and WiiWare releases and keeping the site up to date with Virtual Console and WiiWare related news.

If you would like to apply for any (or all!) of the above positions or think you can help out in another way, please drop a line to writers@wiids.co.uk with the following details:

• Your Name
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• Your previous writing experience (including an example where appropriate)
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We hope that we can find some like minded Nintendo fans to help keep the site alive and current, and are looking forward to reading all applications that we receive.

… Wait … huh?

Phoenix Wright is a remake of a Japan only Gameboy Advance game placing you in the shoes of Phoenix Wright, a rookie lawyer looking to defend the innocent and punish the guilty. He’s a bit like Frank ‘The Punisher’ Castle, except without the excessive violence, facial stubble and tight trousers. Phoenix (or Nick to his buddies) is led by Mia Fey, an older and wiser attorney who has a taken Phoenix under her wing.

The style of the game is very similar to that of a visual novel or interactive cut-scene and is a little reminiscent of old PC point and click puzzle games (and the newer Zack and Wiki) presenting in 2d, you are mainly in first-person with the top screen depicting the events unfolding while the touch screen allowing options and current choices, where to move, talking to the person in front of you, searching the area or presenting evidence.

Each of the 5 cases in the game follow a similar pattern (apart from the first case, which is a tutorial) you spend each day either in court fighting your case or in the outside world looking for clues, puzzle solving and trying to progress the story.

The story truly is the heart and soul of this game and you can easily tell the localisation team did an absolutely stellar job. Each mood is set perfectly and jokes are actually ‘laugh out loud’ funny, not to mention the anime-esque facial expressions and scenes. The language in the game has adult themes, not in a abusive/swearing kind of adult more the murders and big words kind of adult. Its obvious from the start that this game isn’t for kids.

As touched on before, cases are split up into trial time and investigation time, investigations are simply point and click affairs. Sometimes it can be a little tedious to search for that one piece of evidence you’re looking for and can’t find but on the whole it is good fun and keeps you interested. You go to different locations by clicking ‘Move’ and its instant travel, this solves the problem of getting annoyed of going all over the place with no idea what to do. Most people have 3 or 4 different conversation topics which then lead you to go to different places or new items. It’s also quite good because you get to see characters outside the courtroom, not that they aren’t funny in the trial time…

Trial time is great with you against a prosecutor who in this game is mainly a character called Miles Edgeworth who has history with Phoenix (but Ill let you find out about that in-game). Edgeworth is known for never losing a case and will do anything for the win. When you and Edgeworth go back and forth arguing their cases you get some great stylized Japanese anime-esque cut scenes with blue flash in the background and huge face close-ups, it really adds to the character of the game and really makes you feel like the case is building up. The usual setup is the prosecution will call a witness and give a testimony, you in-turn then have to find the holes and lies in the testimony by using the evidence you have collected to prove your defendant not guilty. There is a very nice touch using the internal microphone allowing you to shout ‘OBJECTION!’ And ‘HOLD IT!’ in the court which feels great, however don’t forget where you and shout it on the bus… people think you’re crazy. The game really shines in the courtroom and the dialog keeps you engrossed and interested. Unfortunately sometimes you have all the answers in your head before the game lets you prove it.

While the games story is the main course in the banquet of greatness, the music is definitely the dessert. The games soundtrack is fantastic and hits all the right points at the right times. While in the courtroom trials you’re hit with hit speed music which makes you feel great, while in investigation mode you are given easier lighter music, shady characters have a gloomy track while main characters all have their own themes. I would definitely class Phoenix Wright’s OST as one of my favourites in videogame history. There are definitely some more gamers out there who agree with me due to the orchestral gigs coming up in Japan (more on that in the history of Ace Attorney)

The 5 cases of the game (the last of which is a brand new case Ill talk about later) take around 12/13 hours to complete overall. It’s no shocker there is no multiplayer as this is a basic port from its GBA predecessor, the only change is the 5^th case. The 5^th and last case is all new to the DS using some of its more useful features and is a taste of what the future games in the series will hopefully be like, still playing as Phoenix, you help a young girl named Ema Skye prove her sisters innocence. Ema (who appears in the 4^th game in the series but lets not confuse you for now) is training to be a C.S.I. and has all kinds of useful and new tools for the out-of-date Phoenix, namely a Finger Print Kit and Luminol. The Finger Print Kit is fairly obvious and is used nicely on the DS, simply select the kit and brush over the evidence you wish to find finger prints on using the touch screen. Once the object is covered in the powder, blow into the microphone to get rid of any excess. Luminol works well too, it’s used in the investigation mode and on evidence to find bloodstains that have been wiped away. These are displayed as red patches on screen and definitely add new depth to the game.

In addition to these nice extras is the ability to view any piece of evidence in 3D which is something the game was definitely lacking, this proves to be useful in cases and works well but I won’t give an example as not to spoil any puzzles for you.

Closing Comments;

Every few years a company brings out something really original, not nessecarily innovative but just really different from anything before it, Phoenix Wright is one of them. I have owned my DS since its release way back when, and Phoenix Wright is one of those titles that every DS owner should buy because it’s fun, involving and most importantly a good game. Although it’s a GBA port, it’s a great base for a good series. You won’t hear any objections from me about picking this up.

Score 9.3

+ Great story
+ Great characters
+ Excellent music
+ A truly original game for a original platform
+ Anyone can pick and enjoy

- 2D GBA port
- Lots and lots of text
- Needs a lot concentration

Thursday
Day 0

It all starts in the morning i take a quick trip down the shop and buy some supplies for the day. beer, coke and my fav energy drink relentless. I get a good nights sleep in prep for the next day.

Friday
Day 1

4/11/2008 9:46 AM
So I arrive home, unbox and pop it in. it asks me to create a license which is basically a profile. The menu is shiny and the music is pretty nice in the background. I go through to single player and I’m presented with 4 options Gran Prix, Time Trials, VS Race and Battle.. What no mission mode? I load up Gran Prix, 50cc and I see a large selection of characters already (12) I pick the OTHER fat plumber (Wario) and get on my way.

4/11/2008 9:50 AM
I start the first race of the first cup, the track is alive with Mario characters and Mii’s all cheering on while we race, all looks very nice.

4/11/2008 9:53 AM
I’ve finished the first race, I came in second (god damn blue shell) getting to grips with the WiiWheel is quite hard, at the moment I’m not sure if I like using it. Onto the next race!

4/11/2008 9:56 AM
Second race (moo moo meadows!) felt quite short, came in 1st, Wii Wheel still not performing the way I would like it to.

4/11/2008 10:01 AM
3rd race down, I seriously got screwed by the WiiWheels controls this race. Maybe I’m not tilting it correctly… either way I would rather not disclose what position I finished in, lets just say.. Not in the top 3.

4/11/2008 10:05 AM
Final race of the first cup and back in first place, where I belong. Thanks to some nifty item throwing (my double dash specialty). I ended the cup number 1, but didn’t win anything. The game has a grading system like the DS game giving you an overall grade on performance.

4/11/2008 10:07 AM
Wow was just looking around, found how to put the Mario kart channel on the Wii so I can check and update it without having the disc in. also noticed the WiiWheel has a hole so the remote can still aim at the TV, very clever.

11/04/2008 10:10
Start the grand prix again on 100cc, Bikes only, to see the different in bikes. Wish me luck, I’ll probably need it.

11/04/2008 10:14
Did the first race again, WOW there is such a difference between kart and bikes with regards to how they drive. It could just be the vehicle types as the stats are different for each machine, but I found that a lot easier to control. That could also be because it was going faster. Onto the next race!

11/04/2008 10:17
The 2nd race is over, ok starting to like using the WiiWheel now. Not sure if it’s the bikes precision or just the stats of the bike. I came in 2nd and it was my own fault. Oh also figured out tricks… well I say figured out, I mean I move the wheel like I’m having some kind of attack and Wario does a move.

11/04/2008 10:21
OK so I decided I don’t like one of the tracks (one with the bouncy mushrooms) because of the lack of controls you have in air… maybe I just haven’t figured something out yet.
3rd race finished, 2nd place again.

11/04/2008 10:25
DAH! Last race and the worst happens, 3 blue shells. What a joke. Blue shell of justice my arse. I finish the cup in 2nd place but I enjoyed it this time around a lot more.

11/04/2008 10:38
After a quick break I head back on the game, so fair quite pleasantly impressed with what the tracks has been so far. I’m heading for 150cc and the classic courses this time around.

11/04/2008 10:42
Getting to grips with a double dash track on 150cc is fairly simple. I think I’ve got the knack of the WiiWheel, but I’m eager to try a normal pad or Wiimote/Nunchuck combo. I finished 1st place with ease this time, but think that’s because I know the course quite well.

11/04/2008 10:45
Wow, it appears tracks I know are pretty easy to get around, but that’s pretty obvious, I won in first place without seeing anyone else on the course after the 2nd lap. I really prefer the bikes and may have found my vehicle of choice already.

11/04/2008 10:48
Finished the 3rd race on a SNES track I’ve never played before but I know from seeing my friends play, I come very close to bottom and cry.

11/04/2008 10:51
Another track I’ve never played on the 64 but luck smiles upon me and I make it through to first place, I’m starting to think that when it comes down to the punch the WiiWheel will take A LOT of practice with to be able to win in a pinch, make no mistake you can pick up the WiiWheel and play straight away but don’t expect to win every time with it. Now, to ponder this with a fish finger sandwich.

11/04/2008 10:55
While waiting for my fish fingers to become cooked fingers of fish, I sneak into the Mario Kart Channel, when you first go in you need to join the ‘Mario Kart Service’ this downloads all the latest data from friends ghosts to rankings etc. you can then select loads of options and upload all of your own ghosts and ranks to Nintendo and friends. The connection to Nintendo Wifi seems a lot faster than before. There are 4 online options in the Mario kart channel which are view friends, track or download ghost data, see rankings and join competitions. I hope Nintendo host some comps in the future.

11/04/2008 11:07
I go for another cup on 100cc. With the WiiWheel, it’s the speed I’m most comfortable at. After this and a fish finger sandwich I will be trying the Wiimote/Nunchuck combo. First race, first place.

11/04/2008 11:33
After enjoying a short break to eat a fish finger sandwich and wash it down with a nice can of Relentless (pro) I get back to some Mario karting! 100cc obviously.

11/04/2008 11:49
I’m starting to get much better with the WiiWheel, it’s taken some time but it’s getting there. I’m playing through a cup I just unlocked and I’m quite enjoying these tracks more than previous new ones especially one called Maple Woods. 100cc still.

11/04/2008 11:58
Ok just played another new track, that may become one of my favs of all time, on a volcano that’s falling apart as the race goes on, very very cool. Oh and got 1st place.

11/04/2008 12:07
Wow, some of these later tracks really are good, a lot of environmental items to be wary of, but they are really enjoyable. The last track I played reminded me of the bridge race on MK:DD but with a lot more vehicles. Plus its nice seeing your Mii’s around the stages on billboards and ticket booths. 100cc

11/04/2008 12:20
I = fail @ rainbow road.

11/04/2008 12:22
Ok, I’ve changed over to the retro controller now to see if I can control this a little better. Ill let you know once I’ve done a grand prix

11/04/2008 12:45
After getting stopped by my sister because she’s unsure to pick up the case and an extra wheel I finish off a grand prix and decide I love the retro controller. The drifting is excellent compared to it but I don’t think I can do tricks with it but I can drag items behind me, something I don’t think I could do with the WiiWheel.

I also find out some of my friend codes have been Ok’ed by whoever ok’s them and I can now play against my friends online, more on that later.

11/04/2008 12:58
Now I’m getting used to the controls and tracks, I’m noticing the smaller touches Nintendo have put in, watching the players animation as they throw a weapon off, listening to the radar style beeps as a red shell is incoming just to let me know I’m in danger. For a game that’s been made pretty quickly there are some nice smaller touches.

11/04/2008 13:23
Me + Retro Controller x Rainbow Road = Epic Win

11/04/2008 13:32
I thought I should take a moment to say that although drifting was ‘removed’ I still use it just as much as I used to, it hasn’t really changed at all and truly skilled players will have no problem with what’s happened to it, if you ask me. You have to be more skilled to use it this way. I also want to say the bikes handle superbly. After using them now for nearly 2 hours they move exactly the way I want them to on the retro controller. I honestly mean that.

11/04/2008 14:01
After taking on all that 100cc has to offer I push up to 150cc again and change the controls to Wiimote/Nunchuck, the game recognises that I’ve changed it already and notifies me of the change in controls.

11/04/2008 14:26
Playing with the Wiimote/Nunchuck is probably the best option, although its taking me some time to get used to it, you can have the bonuses of the wheel and retro controllers so you can do tricks using motion controls and drag items behind you.

11/04/2008 19:28
After picking my girlfriend up, I’ve completed 150cc and 100cc, seeing how my girlfriend enjoys it now. I really have to say that I think W/N are the best combination of controls so far, the wheel works for the most part but its hit and miss and while the retro controller is fine, it isn’t easy to do tricks.

11/04/2008 20:06
Ok people I’m calling it a night with Mario Kart. Tomorrow I’ll be tackling multiplayer mostly (hopefully if it works). not many games can make me play this much by myself, i really think that shows how good this game is. pic included to show my time on Mario Kart today.

Saturday

After sending out several friend code messages (talk about those in a minute) last night I left my Wii to update with Mario Kart codes to play some online today.

Before I start off let me talk about Wii friend code messages. This is Nintendo’s best idea for the awful plague upon Wii’s around the world…friend codes. In Mario Kart (or the Mario Kart channel to be precise) you have a small banner at the bottom which cycles through messages, talking about downloading ghost data, joining competitions and making friend via the message board. Wait… What? That’s what went through my head. Clicking the link brings up your Wii console address book, the big list you’ve had since you first got the Wii. With this list you can send a message to any of your friends inviting them to become friends with you on Mario Kart. That’s pretty cool right? It gets better.

Once your friend has the message they can press ‘accept’ at which point the Wii will load up Mario Kart (if you have it in the drive obviously) and AUTOMATICALLY put the friend codes in. This happens on both consoles and after a short wait (like always) you can play online with your friend. No inputting lines of numbers! Yay!

Now I’m not saying Nintendo have made this right finally, because they shouldn’t of done friend codes in the first place but this is better than nothing right?

On with the diary!

Day 2

12/04/2008 09:51
After getting a coffee a sit down in my leather chair and boot up the Wii, my sole intention this morning is to get more experience with the multiplayer both offline and online. I load up Mario Kart and go into Nintendo Wifi to check my friends list.

12/04/2008 10:06
Ok, my friends have all been enabled, when I click on then I see their Mii’s the globe behinds them spins to their location and it says what they are doing (unless they are offline obviously). One thing I don’t like is the fact it doesn’t show the name I have called them, just what they want to be called. For instance my good friend Dave (everyone’s got one of them right?) uses Mr. Miyagi (probably spelt wrong) from the Karate Kid movies of the 80s, so his name is Mr. Miyagi not Dave. Now if 2 people used the same Mii, how would I know who’s who? I ponder this with some toast and tea.

12/04/2008 10:20
After finishing the toast I get into some online matches with a few friends, I load up a room and they tell me they can see me doing that straight away (I’m talking to friends over Skype while playing.. no voice or text chat in-game) and join in. We can select from 25ish pages of preset text lines such as ‘Yay!’ and ‘Wow! You’re all so fast!’ it makes me hurt inside as I want to shout ‘LOLZ DUDE YOU GOTZ PWNED! GG’ but can’t.

12/04/2008 10:30
First 4 matches end with some friendly banter over Skype. I come in 1st overall and gloat like a beast to my friends, the online is smooth and without ANY lag even though all of us are not online with the Wii but with a PC and Skype also. So far online seems to be a triumph.

12/04/2008 10:50
After a few more rounds of online play (in grand prix mode) I can see the online is barebones, but works really well. I’m really happy with what they’ve done and for Nintendo it’s a great success. My friends and I chat about ghost data, the hacks and try sending each other some. We don’t get it.

12/04/2008 11:13
We try out some online battles rather than races, first we go for battles with balloons, these have been drastically changed in the way that even if you lose all your balloons, you can still live and fight afterwards. Its also only team based, not impressed.

12/04/2008 11:19
Next up is coin runners, not as fun as races but definitely better than the balloon matches. Coin Runners and Balloon Battles use the same maps. Some of them are pretty rubbish.

12/04/2008 11:27
We go back to Grand Prix… its far more fun.

12/04/2008 11:52
I decide to jump into some worldwide online matches, I can’t remember if I mentioned it before, but when you play with the WiiWheel it shows that on the score board after every match. The people using the wheel never come in first….

12/04/2008 12:43
After playing worldwide for a while I see some of the things Nintendo don’t want me to see, I see people appearing and disappearing. I get one disconnect due to everyone disappearing (or maybe that was just me). It doesn’t happen often, but often enough to get annoying.

12/04/2008 12:59
I hop back into some single player to re-acquire my self esteem after losing several times in worldwide multiplayer. I’ll admit I looked online how to unlock a few extra characters that I wanted to try out.

Final Comments
After playing Mario Kart for a few more hours on Saturday, I came to my conclusion. Mario Kart Wii is a fantastic game with the same qualities I loved about the DS game. There are certain problems like Ghost Data hacks and certain bouts of problems with online modes, but I can’t say it bothered my experience with the game a whole lot. I love the single player and multiplayer, the both perform very very well. Overall I’m glad this game is made the way it is. I’m sure that before Mario Kart came out, I was upset about another game.. can’t remember what it was called, think it was Brawl something? Either way, I think Mario Kart is one of the best games to date on the Wii so far.

As for that other game I cant remember.. Brawl something? I’d rather have Mario Kart who knows, maybe the online mode in the other game is broken….

Fin

We’re bringing back the Virtual Console ‘Hanabi Festival’, featuring games that were previously unreleased in Europe; this time courtesy of our friends at SEGA and Hudson Soft.

The Hanabi Festival is named after the Japanese holiday season that is famous for its fireworks.

Turbografx (600 Points)

• Gradius II Gofer No Yabou- Japanese Version.
• Final Soldier- Japanese Version.

SEGA Mega Drive (??? Points)

• Columns III: Revenge of Columns- U.S Version.