January 2008

It looks like American gamers will have to wait a while longer to get their hands on the new Smash Bros. game for the Wii. According to a new notice on the [url=http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/index.html]official Web site[/url], the release of [i]Brawl[/i] has been pushed back to March 9th in the U.S.

The game also received a short delay in Japan, to January 31.

The many [i]Brawl[/i] delays have been especially painful since the company began building anticipation with daily updates from creator Masahiro Sakurai.

What’s the last Lombax in the universe to do when a pint-size tyrant wants to eradicate your species? Grab your wacky guns and wrench to battle the hoards of robots, while hopping from planet to planet. Along the way you stumble across the long lost Lombax secret, but will it help you in your quest or will it hurt the universe instead?

Picking up on the wildly popular Ratchet and Clank series, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction successfully jumps the next generation console gap adding more fun and destruction, while fully utilizing the enhanced SIXAXIS control scheme of the PS3. Everything looks and plays better on the PS3 and even though the plot isn’t the most engaging the cast of characters and situations help elevate this to one of the best games available on the system. Right from the get-go you are introduced to the action and level of humor used as a basis for RACF: TOD that will undoubtedly make this game a classic.

The Ratchet and Clank series has always been about the guns and this entry is no different; from the tornado gun to the energy whip to the penguinator there is no lacking of a wacky arsenal to choose from. Add to that the version increases from V1 to V5 as you use the weapons and the buyable upgrades and you have a plethora of killing options available to you. Devices also return as you buy or find them, including the wildly popular disco ball which causes all of your enemies to burst in to dance. This is worth it just to randomly throw it out there to see how different enemies react including your major bosses. Even the Clank solo missions use a new Zoni interface to manipulate puzzles and slow down time to accomplish the areas Ratchet can’t go to.

Using the SIXAXIS was a high point of RACF: TOD. Whether it was used to steer thrown obstacles as you drop through the sky, flying through the level or guiding your tornado from your tornado gun, the uses seem intuitive and natural opposed to other PS3 games which attempted to use them just because they have to. Flying even seemed to be improved over Lair, which suffered from sensitivity issues. And while the ship levels don’t use the SIXAXIS they still remain fun separately aiming and flying at the same time.

Another thing that RACF: TOD excels at is the extra content and achievables that are rewarded from faithful exploration. Harder to find golden bolts make their return where you must search every corner to pick them up, and turn them in for different skins. By completing certain objectives in the game such as collect every device or land on the head of every dinosaur you can acquire skill points which go towards even crazier extras like having a super-sized head on your character. Overall these add to the replaying of levels and are a welcome diversion from the standard plot line path.

Graphics and sound are beautifully rendered on the PS3. The cartoony environments look plush and full of color, and different levels achieve contrasting feels superbly. Voice work is top notch with awesome details being placed in the background as secondary characters are given great lines during arena matches or over the security system. The production quality was not spared during the development forming a nice well-balanced package.

Overall RACF: TOD is a well-crafted and highly entertaining experience that fully utilizes everything the PS3 has to offer. Some might say that the additional mechanics detract from the core gaming presented, but I say it helps break up any sort of monotony the game veers towards. Ratchet and Clank Future is bound to be a classic and it is only a matter of time as to when you play it.

Geometry Wars is a little game that just keeps growing. The series, which started as a minigame in Project Gotham Racing 2 and grew into a Xbox Live Arcade classic is now seeing a full-version release on the Wii and DS. The new release, titled Geometry Wars: Galaxies, offers a deep one-player mode and a new multiplayer experience.

The Galaxies single player mode features different-shaped levels with different waves of enemies, as well as an upgradeable sidekick with different behaviors. The different levels manage to feel varied and uniquely challenging.

The real challenge for the series was porting to a system without dual analog controls. The Xbox version relied on this setup, with the second stick controlling the shot angle. The DS version uses the touch screen to indicate shot angle, and lets the D-pad control movement. While the new control scheme takes some getting used to, it serves as an adequate replacement and a reasonable use of the second screen.

The sound effects in Geometry Wars are trance-inducing and fit well with the experience. The bright, chaotic visual style is part of the charm, and everything that made the first game fun is still here.

The only difference between the Wii and DS versions is the visual detail. To keep all of the gameplay, developer Kuju removed the animated, fluid nature of the grid background. This is understandable, and of everything that could be removed, this takes away the least from the enjoyable nature of the title.

The multiplayer works well for a game that wasn’t designed to have it. Co-op play shares bombs and scores, and versus play has both trying to rack up more points while shooting the same enemies.

Galaxies would have been a successful title if that were the only content, but Sierra and Kuju included more. The entire original game is available to play, and there also is an extra galaxy available to those who link up the two versions of the game. Both allow downloading a demo to any DS, as well.

For players that enjoy Geometry Wars and similar shooters, Galaxies is a deep package with more of the fun you’re used to. For people that have yet to experience the gameplay, it has all you need in an easy-to-get-into package. Definitely give this one a try.

This week’s Rock Band content has been announced as follows:

“Action” made famous by Sweet (cover) [Video]
“Last Train to Clarksville” made famous by the Monkees (cover) [Video]
“All the Small Things” by Blink 182 [Video]

Each song will set you back $1.99 or 160 MS Points. Wampa-One also let us know that there are 3 upcoming songs in the February issue of Official Xbox Magazine.

Bang Camaro by Rock Rebellion
Count Zero by Shake
Freezepop by Sprode

With the post holiday gaming lull in full effect, only 2 new additions are headed to the Wii Shop Channel this week: Pac-Attack (SNES) and Riot Zone (TG-16). Pac-Attack is a quirky puzzle game featuring Pac-Man in a rare appearance outside his typical maze environment and Riot Zone is a standard early 90s side-scrolling fighter game.

Both titles will be available today at 9am PST for 800 Wii Points. Hit the jump for a full summary of this week’s titles. READ MORE