Release Archives: WEEK OF MARCH 15, 20053.15.2005 Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat *Game of the Week* Dev. Namco Pub. Nintendo MSRP: $54.99 Systems: GC Yay! How happy it makes me to give a Gamecube game the week's highest honors. I was lucky enough to have access to an import copy of this over the last couple of months, and let me tell you: it might just be the best Gamecube game. It's a shame that most people will pass it up from fear of not wanting to buy the bongos, but hopefully you're not one of those fools. The game is pure, unabashed joy. It plays similarly to the SNES' Donkey Kong Country series, but instead of a controller, you bang on those bongos to control everybody's favorite ape; right moves you right, left moves you left, both makes you jump, and a clap performs dozens of miscellaneous actions. It's incredibly intuitive after about two minutes, and there's a ton to do in the game even after you've unlocked all sixteen levels (which takes longer than you'd think). It looks and sounds incredible too, but that's irrelevant - it's some of the most fun you'll ever have in front of your television. Cold Fear Dev. Darkworks Pub. Ubisoft MRSP: $49.99 Systems: PS2, XBX Resident Evil on a creepy boat? Without a lightgun? Sure, why not. While the setting, story and characters aren't particularly "cool" or "interesting", per se, the game mechanics actually look decently original. Not only do you always have to take the motion of the ocean into account, but enemies have specific hit zones and the environment can be used to great, non-scripted, effect. It's definitely a poor man's Resident Evil 4, but hey, at least that man is a fisherman. Phantom Dust (Yes, again. Don't ask). Dev. Microsoft Pub. Majesco MSRP: $19.99 Systems: XBX What's this, a game developed by Microsoft but not published by them? Heresy, you say! Misprint, you proclaim! Well, shut up. It's just a game that they created for the Japanese market and decided not to bring over here themselves. So, Majesco did the honors - and for $20, it's definitely worth checking out. If it's anything like the Japanese version (which I've played), it's fast-paced, anime-styled street-fighting, complete with lighting bolts and blue energy balls. Online play is the main draw, where you'll throw down against all sorts of uppity folk - run around, grab the power-ups, let loose with your various magic powers, etc. There's not all that much to it, but it will kill an hour pretty nicely. Super Monkey Ball Deluxe Dev. Sega Pub. Sega MSRP: $29.99 Systems: PS2, XBX If you're not buying this game based on it's title alone, you're clearly a boring, terrible person. And if you already own one of the previous versions, fear not - there are 46 new puzzle boards in addition to the original 254, a new difficulty-ramping challenge mode, and, well, that's about it. But the original games were incredibly fun and challenging, and this is pretty much both smushed together, complete with all the great party games such as Monkey Pool. Oh, and for those completely unfamiliar with this series, and thus, fun itself, you're a monkey in a ball, and you roll through various stages figuring out how to get to the exit of each. It gets INCREDIBLY hard in expert mode, but that's half the fun. Buy. Yoshi's Touch & Go Dev. Nintendo Pub. Nintendo MSRP: $34.99 Systems: DS There has never really been a true sequel to Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2, but I'm glad they're still somewhat revisiting the formula. In this particular iteration, you draw cloud paths for Yoshi and Baby Mario to glide down using your touch screen, while avoiding baddies, popping balloons and collecting stars. There's also some light platforming and egg-shooting if you get bored of fall forever downwards. It's a fairly simple game, but the touching aspects fit it very well, and it plays smoothly. Hey, I'm sure you bought a DS for SOME reason, and until that reason comes along, it's probably a good idea to pick up Touch & Go. - Nick |
