Game Review: Mario Kart 8

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Genre: Racer

Platforms: Wii U

Website: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Wii-U/Mario-Kart-8-765384.html

Age Rating: 3+ (PEGI)

When I got my Nintendo Wii U, I bought a copy of Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed to go with it. I’d learnt people involved in making games such as Split/Second, Blur and one of my favourite racing games of all time, Project Gotham Racing 4, had migrated to Sumo Digital after their old studios had been unceremoniously shut down by Disney and Activision respectively.

In Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, Sumo Digital made a fantastic kart racer that was imaginative, balanced and varied which was not only a lot of fun, but good enough to challenge the all-time master of the kart racing genre; Mario Kart itself.

Mario Kart 8 has a lot to live up to, not least of all as many people still need a reason to actually buy a Wii U. Can Mario Kart 8 live up to the enormous challenge before it?

Game Review: Batman Arkham Origins

Developer: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment

Publisher: Warner Bros Games Montreal

Genre: Action

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC

Website: 

Age Rating: 16+ (PEGI)

Who is the Batman? Why is he here? What forged him? What drives his lust to destroy the corruption of

Gotham City? What sort of man dons a mask to go out at night like that?

Batman is one of the most iconic super heroes there is and in the world of video games, by far the most successful. Rocksteady’s Arkham series has provided dark and flawless opportunities to control the Dark Knight himself as he hunts down familiar and lesser known threats in a beautiful combination of action, stealth and puzzle solving.

After two successful games, Rocksteady seems to have their sights on the next generation, so Warner Bros has enlisted their own studio to develop the latest entry in the series, a prequel to Arkham Asylum.

Game Impressions: Titanfall Beta

Developer: Respawn Entertainment

Publisher: EA

Genre: Shooter

Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

Website: http://www.titanfall.com/

Age Rating: 16+ (PEGI)

Xbox One’s gotten off to a very rocky start. It’s stripped out DRM and not exactly stellar hardware has made it the butt of many online jokes and many of its games aren’t quite as stellar as they could be.

In walks Titanfall, a game with an interesting history as the guys who created it once created the shooter that defined the previous generation of games: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. They were famously ousted by Activision as the series went into it’s downward, annual release spiral and have since started Respawn Entertainment and gotten into bed with EA (because Activision wasn’t bad enough, apparently).

Out of all the games shown for the new systems so far, Titanfall has gained the most attention, probably as it’s a Xbox One exclusive from EA, of all people. Having been invited to the closed Beta (which became an open beta the next day for no apparent reason), I thought I’d give it a go and see what all the hype’s about.

Console Impressions: Microsoft Xbox One

Long ago in the mists of time where lies the year 2002, I happened to be at a relative’s house for a Christmas family get together. My cousins were all upstairs, playing four player on Halo: Combat Evolved on the Microsoft Xbox. Being a PC player living in the middle of nowhere with terrible internet access, I rarely got the chance to play with more than one other person (and that was only if the network between our two computers was in a good mood).

I’d played console multiplayer plenty of times in before on Nintendo 64s, Playstations, SNES’ and NES’, but never owned one as parental logic dictated I didn’t need one as I had a computer. At 16 as I was that year, I had my own money to buy a games console and took advantage of the slightly clueless Woolworths to get an Xbox with three games (Blinx: The Time Sweeper (which was rubbish), Sega GT 2002 (which was ok) and Jet Set Radio Future (which was awesome)).

Through Halo, Crimson Skies, Ninja Gaiden, Project Gotham Racing, Rallisport Challenge, Amped, Conker Live & Reloaded (a good port if you only play the single player), Dead or Alive Ultimate, Jade Empire, MechAssault, Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus (a pretty cool beat ‘em up), Splinter Cell and Unreal Championship 2, I came to love Microsoft’s black block and with the Xbox 360 bringing fantastic games such as Kameo: Elements of Power, Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Gears of War and Shadow Complex to name but a few, it seemed the X marked the spot for greatness.

Fast forward to 2013 with the release of the Xbox One and I’ve only got one major thought in my mind: What on earth happened?

Game Review: Super Mario 3D World

Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo

Publisher: Nintendo

Genre: Platformer

Platforms: Wii U

Website: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Wii-U/SUPER-MARIO-3D-WORLD-765385.html

Age Rating: 3+ (PEGI)

I made a bold statement not long ago that Rayman had knocked Mario off his perch. In all honesty, that’s only half true, with Rayman being the best 2D platformer while Mario still reigns supreme in the 3D space. I mean, look at Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii and Super Mario 64 before that on the N64. Sublime games with plenty of imagination and silky smooth controls that seem to get better all the time.

With the Wii U now a year old, a full scale Mario game is slightly overdue and somewhat needed in the face of the Xbox One and Playstation 4, but the fact it seems to be a somewhat upgraded version of a fine Nintendo 3DS game hints at potential imagination bankruptcy. Is Super Mario 3D World the game the Wii U needs?

Game Review: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

Developer: Nintendo EAD

Publisher: Nintendo

Genre: Action/Adventure

Platforms: Wii U

Website:  http://www.zelda.com/windwaker/

Age Rating: 7+ (PEGI)

There are many great debates in this world, each with their own points and counter points to be made. This being the internet, however, debates tend to turn into unreasonable, scathing attacks on each other’s sexuality for some reason so I’ll just throw this statement out in the open: Wind Waker is the best Zelda game there is.

If you’re not seething with fury and preparing statements filled with name calling instead of punctuation, willing to listen to my argument or just have plenty of free time on your hands, hit that ‘read more’ button and I’ll tell you why.

Oculus Rift Impressions

There are moments in all entertainment mediums that stop you dead in your tracks, mouth hanging open in pure, awe struck amazement. I usually think my standards are slightly higher than most as while I considered Quake, Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Assassin’s Creed very impressive to downright amazing, I didn’t sit, stare and go ‘wow’.

The first time I saw something in a video game and said ‘wow’ was watching footage of Super Mario 64. It was certainly impressive, running around a fully realized environment so fluidly, but the moment I went ‘wow’ was when Mario jumped into a painting and seeing it ripple like water from the point he jumped in.

Physics and details tend to be the things that really get me going wow. The next time I felt such a ‘wow’ moment was playing Unreal Tournament 2003 in Bombing Run Mode. I scored and immediately fell down a pit directly underneath the goal and watched in awe as my dead character bounced off all the poles spread across said pit as he fell, bouncing off each and every one. Next came Half-Life 2, which wowed me twice with fully expressive and realistic characters and fantastic water effects. 

Now, I’m adding a moment in iRacing.com while using the Oculus Rift.