Music Video of the Day for 7/2/10

Benny Benassi - "Spaceship" feat. Kelis, Jean-Bapiste, & apl.de.ap

Treasure Brings The Pain Once Again... The Sin & Punishment: Star Successor Review

Developer Treasure has a known pedigree of memorable shooters through the years and console generations from Gunstar Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, and Ikaruga. One of their known efforts was only on the Nintendo 64 called Sin & Punishment as it never seen an official release outside Japan until its appearance on the Wii Virtual Console two years ago. Due to the success of the N64 import classic as a download, Nintendo of America decided to bring in the sequel, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, to other territories beyond Japan on the Wii once again made by Treasure. In Japan, it is known as simply Sin & Punishment 2 and continues the franchise with more shooting goodness and crazy challenge Treasure games have been known for being notoriously difficult. Even though Star Successor is not that bad in terms of difficulty compared to past Treasure games, it is still a hard game and definitely something hardcore shump fans can appreciate especially on the Wii. It turns out to be one of the Wii's better games out this year and a potential sleeper hit.

The story is what you expect out of a Japanese developer with insanity your brain can not comprehend. You play as two characters, Isa and Kachi, as Isa is trying to protect Kachi from the Nebulox. Along the way, you will encounter cutscenes between the two protagonists as the dialogue is as cheesy and weird as you expect out of something from Japan. This story is not going to win any awards as you rather focus on shooting thousands of enemies, surviving the toughest stretches, and encounter epic boss battles. You can select between the two characters at the start of the game as Isa and Kachi have separate gameplay styles of shooting. Isa is focused on manual aiming while Kachi has auto lock-on with her aiming, so separate playthroughs with these characters keeps the experience as fresh as it can through the seven stages that take a few hours to beat.

Unlike the shaky controls that were on the original game, Star Successor with the Wii controls like a dream for a shooter as the Wiimote is used for aiming and firing while the Nunchuk is for evasive maneuvers. Other than the shooting, you can tap the fire button for a melee attack as in the original as well as it works wonders against enemies up close and deflecting enemy fire such as missiles back at them if locked on by the A button. There is a charge shot as a more powerful attack, but differs with Isa and Kachi as Isa is one big shot while Kachi can lock on to multiple enemies at once when charging. The evasive maneuvers become second nature as you progress through the game as it is required to survive the crazy waves of enemies and the numerous boss battles. Timely dash dodges make you feel like a badass of sorts, but it is all about knowing enemy patterns to master evading in this game as it would take dying to learn them and trust me, you will die a lot in this game just like any other Treasure game that came before it. Luckily dying and continuing is not that bad of a penalty since the checkpoint system is pretty generous, but your score will reset to zero for every continue. The shooting does indeed feel satisfying with the Wii controls defeating wave after wave of enemies, but there are definitely difficult roadblocks in your way with the numerous boss battles. It is all in matter of having a wonderfully executed run through the game's seven stages, which doesn't take long to beat. There are three difficulties to choose from before starting as well from easy, normal, and hard as each difficulty does offer tougher enemies, you receive more damage the harder the difficulty, and more boss patterns to memorize. In addition, there is a co-op function in Star Successor, but the second player is just another cursor to fire at the screen rather than playing as the other character. I can see why the decision was made with that since the action is already crazy as is now with one character, but with two it would just make things more chaotic even though it is a little unfortunate co-op feels limited. The only online functionality the game has is leaderboards to keep your scores compare with the best of the world as these will make players stay busy and motivated for perfect runs that makes you wish there was a replay option. Despite that, this is Treasure shooters at their finest keeping your toes and reflexes intact through the game as it is filled with intense moment after another, which makes it one of the more challenging experiences out there to get this year.

There is somewhat a lack of visuals in Star Successor especially with the characters. Isa and Kachi look pretty bland compared to the rest of whatever is going on in the game as if it is early to mid Playstation 2 stuff rather than Wii graphics at this time in its lifespan. However, it is made up with a smooth framerate that rarely slows down, which is an amazing feat considering all the chaos that is going on the screen. The diverse backgrounds are the shining stars when it comes the game's graphics from underground cities, the water tunnel in the second stage, sky fortresses, and the vehicle level at the desert as you travel throughout post-apocalyptic Japan. The soundtrack is also pretty good for a Japanese shooter with tunes that fit the levels, but the English voice acting is lackluster though because of the awkward dialogue. At least there is a Japanese voice action with English subtitles which makes things seem more tolerable.

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor is as hardcore as it gets on the Wii especially being a Treasure game as they once again bring the pain delivering another solid and challenging shooter. The Wii controls do make the game a little easier even though there are other control options with the Classic and Gamecube Controllers if you do not prefer aiming at the screen, but this game is meant for Wii controls out of the gate. It is definitely still a hard game, but finishing all seven stages is very doable with the generous checkpoints even though you still see the game over screen numerous times. Since it is a Japanese shooter, it is not as long as it takes a handful of hours to beat, but shorter if you are able to execute high scoring runs to put on the game's online leaderboards. That alone gets incentive for the game's replay value pushing players to become better as avoiding attacks and thinking of ways to rack up higher scores on the three difficulties. This is truly one of the better games out on Wii to buy now and it could be a potential sleeper hit for the year.

Score = 8.5/10

Pros:

• Controls like a dream for a shooter with the Wiimote + Nunchuk
• This is Treasure at its finest once again with its notorious challenge and delivering intense moments at a breakneck pace
• Generous checkpoint system makes the game a little more easier to beat
• Online leaderboards push for more replay value to rack up higher scores becoming better at the game

Cons:

• The story is a little too crazy for your mind to understand
• Some of the graphics feel a little off especially with the characters
• English voice acting can be atrocious at times
• Way too challenging for the casual players that play Wii Sports and Wii Fit only

Video of the Day for 6/28/10

Oh, just another video of Victor Kim being a sick man...

I Found My New Favorite Game of All-Time... The Super Mario Galaxy 2 Review

I was literally blown away by the first Super Mario Galaxy when it came out in November 2007. It was a Mario game unlike anything else going beyond what Mario 64 and Sunshine brought to the table with the whole galaxy theme along with messing with gravity. I never seen such unbelievable variety in a game ever until the first Galaxy. Nintendo seemed like they can do more with the galaxy concept with Mario, which is why Super Mario Galaxy 2 was announced as a sequel on the Wii. Not only Galaxy 2 exceeds why the first Galaxy started by expanding upon the gravity concept, it also adds a new sense of variety that is unmatched in any other game that is out today. When Nintendo is at the top of their game taking advantage of what they have, they can not be stopped as Galaxy 2 is an example of that. I never thought that the first Galaxy can never be topped in terms of Mario games for me, but Galaxy 2 exceeded my expectations in a big way to a point it is pure perfection.

The simple storyline for Galaxy 2 is what you expect with Princess Peach being kidnapped again by Bowser as it is up to Mario to save the day (I bet you know the drill by now). A Luma gets lost from her mama which allows Mario to do his spin attack that was also in the first game. In some way, Nintendo treated the story this time as if the first Galaxy did not exist with Rosalina around and her hub world to explore, but eventually there are some relations between the two games once you beat it. Galaxy 2 takes the hub world approach in a different way with Spaceship Mario, a "faceship" you travel on chasing Bowser through six worlds that consist of many galaxies you transverse on. Other than stocking up on extra lives, which the game hands out again like candy if you played recent Mario games such as the first Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, there is nothing much that Spaceship Mario offers to explore besides talking to new friends you made during your journey. Galaxy 2 does things better by straight up going boom boom through these galaxies at a quicker pace by selecting the galaxy to explore within the given world. You are still getting power stars to progress through the game as well as grand stars against Bowser and Bowser Jr. at the end of each world, but the sequel once again does a good job of allowing players to be beat the game with the minimum requirements, but those who are wiiling to 100% the game will go the extra mile to get all the stars. The fun does not stop there when you are able to get all 120 Stars as a special surprise gets thrown at you at the point the game takes a different turn with a new batch of 120 green stars to collect.

The combat mechanics of Galaxy 2 are pretty much the same as the first game with some new fun additions and power-ups. The spin attack is still Mario's go-to attack by shaking the Wii Remote to take out enemies collecting star bits and coins if he jumps on them. The platforming remains as satisfying as it has been with Mario making death defying jumps at times and also avoiding obstacles that stand in his way. Other than the core combat, some power-ups return from the first game with the bee suit for temporary flight and the fire flower, but the new power-ups are fun to use anytime they were offered in the galaxies. The Rock Suit flashes back to the Goron Suit in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask of rolling in a rock-like ball taking out certain obstacles and enemies. Mario can also hold a drill-like item to drill holes underground to reach new areas in certain galaxies. The Cloud Suit is arguably the best new addition which allows Mario to make cloud-like platforms to hop on even though there is a limit with them. Other than the new power-ups, Mario's dinosaur buddy Yoshi also gets some attention as well in some levels and it actually feels fun to control him around eating enemies, making him go crazy fast, float like a balloon, and illuminate light in certain spots. Yoshi does not feel tacked on as compared to previous Mario games, which is a good thing seeing the green dinosaur being a major factor in Mario's adventures. Luigi is also playable at some point in the game and he controls similar to what he was in the first game if you were able to unlock him in the first game.

The level design is Super Mario Galaxy 2's biggest feat especially when Nintendo is at the top of their game. It is unrivaled compared to games and the variety once again increases tenfold like the first game. Sure, some elements from the first Galaxy return, but you are always doing something new every ten minutes. It is as if they give a tease by messing around with a new item, but they stop focusing on it to move on to something else, which makes the experience more fresh than it should in the first place. At one point, you're riding Yoshi around, then you're flying with a bird that changes the Wii controls up a bit, and revisiting a classic level from a previous game. There is never a dull moment where repetition kicks in as the new ideas keep flowing and flowing at every hour, which is an amazing feat of its own. Also like the first Galaxy, you feel like you can not stop playing because of you wanted to see what is next or what would they throw at you next even though they will tell you to take a break here and there. It makes you wonder how crazy the developers are when they were making these levels by pounding in new idea after new idea. Boss battles are also fun to play even though the similar formula of three hits still works, but the ideas keep flowing to them as well. Sure as in any other Mario game you have played over the years, the frustration of trying to make certain jumps or dealing with the prankster comet challenges, also returning from the first game, will indeed kick in at some point, but luckily the extra lives will come in handy. It also borrows some sense of a Super Guide from New Super Mario Bros. Wii in which they will do the level for you as you end up with a bronze star if you die too much.

The graphics for Galaxy 2 is among the best the Wii can offer so far with lots of variety of backgrounds Mario explores from haunted houses, jungles, space stations, and so on. Sure, there are the obligatory lava, ice, and water levels that appear at points during the game, but the level variety is still out of this world and it makes you say OMG when you see these backgrounds and the amazing level design working together as one. As expected with other Nintendo games, this game performs at a constant 60 frames per second and no obvious glitches. The camera also was handled very well with rare cases of it becoming a problem, which is a good improvement. With the top notch effort Nintendo has done with the graphics on the Wii for Galaxy 2, the same can be said for the music and sound as well. Super Mario Galaxy had one of the best gaming soundtracks in recent memory with an epic mix of orchestral and remixed classic tunes as the sequel is no different continuing the mix. Some of the orchestral pieces are indeed the best I have heard in any game in a while and while the first game gravitated to more Super Mario Bros. 3 tunes, the remixed BGMs borrow from Super Mario World, specifically the Ghost House music reappearing again, and even Super Mario 64. The sound effects remain unchanged for the most part if you played the last game too, but the soundtrack as a whole is nothing but amazing stuff from beginning to end.

I never experienced something as special as Super Mario Galaxy 2 especially in this current generation of consoles. Even though it is a sequel to an amazing game, it still lots of things new to the fold that also caters to the astounding level design. The game is also beautifully paced well that players will be happy with whether if they want to get through the game as fast as they can meeting the 70 star requirement to take down Bowser for the last time or being a true completionist collecting everything in the game from comet coins, green stars which makes the game twice as long for those that are willing to accept the challenge, and more. In addition, Galaxy 2 looks as good as if better than the first game on the Wii and the soundtrack is once again among the best in the business. Nintendo's magic once again delivers as if they never missed a beat through these years with Galaxy 2. It is funny to me that Galaxy 2 is now in a special place in my heart as my new favorite game of all-time, but indeed it is beating an elite group of games I have played over the years. This is something any gamer should not miss on at any cost as you must play this game.

Score = 10/10

Pros:

• Pure perfection as it is Nintendo at its finest once again
• Level design remains unmatched compared to everything else out now
• Soundtrack is among the best in the gaming business today
• A great mix of old and new from past Mario games with the amount of variety offered
• None of the new additions feel as tacked on as Yoshi is actually fun to play as in he appears in certain levels

Cons:

• None at all! My highest recommendation to go out and play this game as soon as possible.

Finally, A Kart Racer That Can Compete... The Modnation Racers Review

Modnation Racers feels like a breathe of fresh air for the kart racing genre that is dominated by the Mario Kart series. It also takes the genre to new heights under the Play, Create, and Share formula made famous by LittleBigPlanet. All the customization elements allow players' imaginations to go through the roof or just attempt to replicate what has been popular in other games from characters, karts, and even the tracks. While it brings some new things to the table, it suffers from lingering flaws from other kart racers, specifically Mario Kart. Other than that, Modnation Racers is a solid start for a new kart racing franchise to stand toe to toe with the rest of the competition.

Modspot is the main hub world for Modnation Racers where you can access single player and multiplayer offerings, look at what is hot in the community in terms of user created mods, karts, and tracks, and the studio itself where your creations can be built. Even if you can drive around to those locations, you can still access those areas just by the pause menu. The single player offerings consist of the career mode, standard races, and time trials. The career mode does have a storyline, but not something to get crazy about even though it gives you a reason why you are racing to get at the top of the ladder. It is pretty much a series of races with optional challenges to complete. You can still perform the minimal requirements in these races to progress in the career, but at some point, you gotta win in order to move on to the series. As similar to other racers like Mario Kart, the computer AI can be ridiculously cheap especially in the later races where winning can be impossible as it takes some crazy amounts of luck to win. This allows for many moments of frustration and numerous race restarts when everything is not going your way, which is why positioning and timing do matter in terms of being successful in this game. The career has five series of races that can be beaten in a matter of hours and of course luck, but the fun doesn't end there.

The core gameplay is pretty simple if you played other kart racers before. There are weapons to get in the item circles from missiles, sonic bombs, thunder bolts, and boosts. These weapons can be saved for upgraded versions when you come across another item circle for more powerful attacks, in which there are three levels. Strategy does get put into consideration when dealing with these weapons in terms of usage of whether to save up for a powerful attack or use them now to hopefully get a quick lead. Usually, the level 3 weapons are pretty useful in the races from a warp that goes beyond what a regular boost can do those a storm of thunderbolts on the racers ahead of you. Also similar to other kart racers are obstacles to avoid as well and big jumps to do tricks for more points and boost meter, also can be gained by drifting as well. Usage of this meter is also crucial to success and it can used to boost and also as a shield against weapon attacks. When these systems all get put in together, Modnation Racers is indeed a solid kart racer, but sometimes it makes you wish there could be more weapons to use other than the normal four.

Even though the racing component of Modnation Racers is solid yet flawed, the creative aspect is where the game truly shines. Pretty much the major parts of the game are customizable from the mods you play as, the kart you drive, and also the tracks. New mods, karts, and tracks can be made in mere minutes thanks to the simple mechanics of customization being offered, but those with a big creative mind can also take their sweet time to make something really cool for the community to see seeing all the timing pay off. Then again, most of the popular customizations that were made are characters you are familiar with from all the famous IPs in existence from other games, movies, television, etc. The majority of the customizations are in fact from these IPs and no wonder there is not any copyright issues yet with any of this stuff like what LittleBigPlanet had to deal with when it came out even though those issues weren't much a problem there either. It does show though that the Play, Create, and Share formula can go beyond than just a platformer with Modnation Racers.

The online component is also another shining element in Modnation Racers as all your creations and others' can be shared and downloadable for everyone to use. There is even a rating system of which are the hottest tracks to drive on even though most of them are for trophy whoring purposes and replications of past games, characters to play as, and so on. The racing part also offers some modes for players to be able to race against from regular races, a five-race series, and time trials. There is also an experience system that combines your racing performance online and your creations into one for a big reputation in the community. For the most part online peformance seems solid pending with your connection, but if you are not online in the Modnation servers, you are missing out on the majority of the whole game. Tracks, karts, and mods can be downloaded in seconds as well.

The major flaw in Modnation Racers is its abysmal load times. It takes a couple of minutes at most to load up a race both offline and online even with the game's mandatory install. Loading up the Modspot is not that bad compared to the races, but it makes you question why would Sony put out a product like this in 2010 with horrendous loading. Other than that, the game performs at a solid framerate with rare cases of slowdown. However, there can be numerous situations where you go off track for no reason at all with no instant get back on the track button unless you're completely off course. Graphically, Modnation Racers looks fine with colorful characters that they give you, but the customizations do make the game way more diverse than it originally was. As for the sound, it is nothing much than just generic tunes despite some decent voice acting with the characters. The commentary can also get a little annoying at times too especially if you have replaying a race over and over again in the career mode.

I still enjoyed my time with Modnation Racers despite its setbacks from the absurd rubberbanding of the cheap A.I. and the long load times. It is great seeing all the creations that the community has made so far as well as feeling satisfied with some online victories. In addition, it is nice to see another kart racer other than Mario Kart make a statement in the genre and also taking it to new heights with all the customizable elements being offered. Online does matter in a game like this, but playing in offline means you are completely missing the whole point of this game. Modnation Racers is off to a solid start to something great if this becomes a franchise as I see a bright future for it since the community seems to be going crazy with all those creations online.

Score = 8/10

Pros:

• Play, Create, Share formula definitely works for a kart racer
• Customizable elements are simple to use, but it does takes time to make something truly remarkable
• The kart racing feels solid with the handling, weapons, and variety of obstacles to avoid
• Online support is fantastic, but pretty much mandatory to enjoy the whole game

Cons:

• Abysmal load times both offline and online
• Computer A.I. even at normal difficulty can be cheap and frustrating especially with the rubberbanding
• More weapons would of been nice
• Sound didn't do much for me and can be annoying at times.

The Hip-Hop Game War Commences...

This fall will see two music games going head to head for your monies worth with DJ Hero 2 and Def Jam Rapstar.

I think I said this earlier when DJ Hero 2 is announced before E3 that I'm liking the new additions to this game making it more complete than the first one with more modes. We'll see if the song selection of mixes will also hold up as there will be some hits and some stinkers, but I can see why DJ Hero 2 is becoming better for the party atmosphere in your living room with more multiplayer options like vocals and two player turntable duels. Considering the first one bombed in terms of sales and now cheap to get, will the sequel have better success? Who knows with the rhythm genre in general these days even though DJ Hero has proven to be a great game to have around. Every time I play DJ Hero at my cousin's house on Hard, I have gotten pretty good at it even though I barely touched Expert, so if I get DJ Hero 2, I'll be likely making the jump this October.

Def Jam Rapstar, as you probably know already, is pretty much Singstar with obviously rapping. Likely the game will come out with radio edits of all the songs that will appear in the game from "Ain't Nothin But A G Thang," by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop, "Juicy" by Notorious B.I.G. (I know someone that would go crazy with that lol), "Push It" by Salt 'n Pepa, and many more. The social elements of this game will be interesting stuff with the 30 second quick clips like Singstar and the customization as well. I'm pretty sure people will find something that would rap, or in other words there's something for everyone in this game whether or not they like rap music. I still wished they would have dirty versions of the songs, but it ain't happening which is expected. Def Jam Rapstar is also coming out in October for the PS3, 360, and the Wii. (Giant Bomb has a clip of the E3 demo with Method Man and Redman's shenanigans too below)

Both DJ Hero 2 and Def Jam Rapstar do focus on hip-hop music as it is a sub-genre that feels untapped until now will those Guitar Hero/Rock Band games around. DJ Hero 2 does have more genres of music at its disposal besides hip-hop with the house/clubby stuff, but for those that just want to rap in their own living room, there's Def Jam Rapstar for that. You can probably throw in Harmonix's Dance Central to the mix too even though it is more of a dancing game than something with a hip-hop focus. I am indeed looking forward to both games and hope they do well this holiday season as they have the catered audiences ready to enjoy them. Then again, why not just get both to have around in your house parties especially after some drinks perhaps for more hilarity.

And Once Again... Lady Gaga wins E3!

If there was a honorable winner of this week's E3 show, it has to be once again Lady Gaga for her crazy influences across the whole gaming sphere. Last year, her influence has led to what is now the Playstation Move controller, or from some of us including me, I would still personally call it a disco stick because of the fact it change colors in certain cases. This year, Gaga has made games more popular again like Rock Band 2 with that DLC package that came out in March. Now, she is in DJ Hero 2 and Harmonix's Dance Central along with being downloadable in the current European versions of SingStar on PS3. However, now that the Playstation Move received positive buzz this week, the FPS Bodycount developers referring to her to how to deliver craziness, and Dance Central being arguably the killer app for Microsoft's Kinect, Gaga has put her stamp in the gaming world. I'm only focusing on Dance Central for this post because "Poker Face" is now stuck in my mind once again since that song is in the game as you dance away with your full body (okay usually fist pumps for now). I also blame the Giant Bomb guys for making that song relevant this week as well in their E3 coverage from podcasts to their amazing videos. Like I said earlier, I would buy a Slim 360 with Kinect ready along with this game hopefully in the future. In the meantime, more videos of people dancing to "Poker Face" at E3 2010!

Okay, skip to halfway in the video above for Dance Central craziness even though the Just Dance 2 part is just as nuts too with all those people dancing (also featuring G4's Patrick Klepek!). For the video below, it is pretty much throughout the video about four minutes in (also if you like E3 coverage of other games, but it is definitely Gaga-ified).