Category Archives: 9 Star Games

Hyrule Warriors Review

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It’s been a while since I played a good hack and slash game. The last title would likely be One Piece Unlimited World Red, but you could also consider that one to be more of a hybrid between an action game and a beat em up. The last big one that I played would likely be Devil Kings or the PSP version of Dynasty Warriors. It makes sense that this one would be really chaotic like the classic Dynasty Warrior games since it’s from the same people. They’re still the best at making beat em up games and I can safely say that Hyrule Warriors is the best game on the Wii U right now! (Smash Bros will change this in time, but Hyrule Warriors can enjoy the view from the top at the moment)

The plot involves an evil sorceress named Cia. She is descending upon the land of Hyrule with her dark legions and they’ve already enslaved most of the planet as well. Princess Zelda is forced to recruit one of the soldiers to help her and Impa as they fight on. This soldier is pretty courageous and his name happens to be Link. Once he dawns the legendary hero’s get up..he is ready to claim victory! The situation won’t get any easier for the heroes as the fight continues across whole dimensions. Old enemies like Zant, Dark Link, and Ghirahim show up while old allies like Princess Ruto and Agitha appear as well. Amidst all of the chaos, you can count on Ganondorf showing up at some point as well. The heroes will have to muster up all of their strength to defend the universe and luckily they have a skilled warrior aiding them by the name of Lana. What secrets is she keeping from them?

I am glad that Hyrule Warriors only has one main story as opposed to the usual format where each character gets their own adventure. The latter can get old pretty quickly and a lot of the scenes tend to be shared or similar so everything takes a lot longer to complete. This way, you can enjoy the true story and watch the heroes interact. Different stages will require you to play as different characters, but Link naturally stays as the lead for most of them. There are 17 levels in the game. Each of them can take 15-20 minutes and I usually tried to shoot for the former since that almost guarantees you an A rank in Adventure Mode. (Good practice for the future right?)

I already mentioned that the game is a hack and slash, but I’ll still explain what that means for the gameplay. You will typically wield a sword, but other characters also use magic spells and short blades. You are then launched into a giant area where you work to secure certain spots as you attack the army. You will have many allies as well who will help you secure the enemy’s territory. It is crucial to invade the strong hold of the enemy before they reach yours. There will also be sub missions during the level at times, which are typically helpful in winning the battle. Sometimes, the victory conditions will change as well so you should always be on your guard.

In essence, this means that you’ll be doing a lot of button mashing. After all, you’ll defeat over 1000 enemies in each level so you need to really enjoy this kind of gameplay. Luckily, it’s definitely one of my favorite types as it would only lose to something like Budokai Tenkaichi 3’s epic style of fighting. Of course, I tend to like most action genres so they’re all pretty high up in the ranks, but especially so in the case of hack and slash titles. Each character will have a super attack as well as a few combos to unleash during gameplay. You will be equipped with an endless supply or arrows, bombs, hookshots, and boomerangs to help you overcome obstacles as well.

There are also a lot of things to do once you beat the game. First off, you can go into Free Mode to replay the levels with other characters. Each level has 2 Gold Spiders (1 is not available until you complete the story) as well as two heart pieces hidden inside. The Gold Spiders are used to unlock illustrations, which unlock other things. (I believe that a stage is one of the unlockables) After you’ve beefed up your characters a little more, then you can hit Challenge Mode or Adventure Mode.

Adventure Mode is very long and it’s even longer than Story Mode. There are well over 50 levels to be found here and they are considerably more difficult than what you would have encountered before them. You unlock more characters, heart pieces, and gold spiders here. You also get the chance to find some great weapons and earn more rupees. I’ve only played one level here so far, but it seems to be pretty fun. Anything’s worth it for extra characters right? Challenge Mode is similar since you will have to complete several challenges during a level. It’s not bad, but I don’t see the point at the moment. It’s a new DLC that was added into the game though so they may add more incentives for playing this mode.

The rupees can be really helpful once you go to the shop. You can unlock badges for each character based off of the materials that you own. (It costs money to use them) You can make some potions, which can help during battle. (You shouldn’t waste your rupees on this in my opinion. I didn’t buy any of them since the money would be better spent on the next option) The best way to use the rupees is to level up other characters. If you only play as Link and get him to around level 50, the other characters won’t have gotten any stronger. Instead of going back to play as them, you can simply level them up with rupees. The only catch involved is that you can never level up a character past your strongest character’s highest level. Meaning that you couldn’t level up Impa to level 51 through rupees until you got Link to that level. Of course, if you played as Impa and got her to level 51, then you could just level up Link accordingly.

Cia is the big villain to debut in this game and she’s a decent antagonist. I definitely find her to be more interesting than Zant and Ghirahim. Aside from Ganondorf, she is probably the best main villain. Her magical abilities are definitely powerful and she’s probably one of the only villains to ever talk back to Ganondorf and actually surpass him in fighting ability. There are circumstances involved of course, but it’s very impressive. She has a pretty sad ending, but such is the fate for all villains in the end.

Lana is a pretty cool hero. She’s infinitely more interesting than most of the allies in this game. Her story also has a few sad twists, but she stays pretty optimistic about her circumstances for the most part. She’s a solid addition to the Legend of Zelda series and it would be cool to see her appear in more titles. I don’t care for her gameplay that much since she’s a magic user, but her attacks definitely have good range.

I’m glad that they chose the Skyward Sword version of Impa to show since that is definitely her best incarnation. It’s good to see her as a hero. I didn’t really care for some of the allies like Princess Ruto, Darunia, or Midna. They don’t really do much during the game and I think that Hyrule Warriors could have presented us with more interesting allies.

One of the newer characters from the game that I didn’t care for was Agitha. She’s definitely the kind of character that I don’t care for. She’s not much of a fighter and she’s a little too oblivious about the whole situation. I could definitely have selected a better character to put in her place, (A Wind Waker sage would be cool) but at least her role is pretty small.

We also have the two main villains that work for Cia. Wizzro is a dark magician and he seems to be pretty weak physically so he has to rely on his spells. I was pretty surprised at how confident he was when he went up against Link, but some villains just don’t realize their true limitations until it’s too late. His design is definitely pretty cool and he’s a solid villain. He would be even better if he was a fighter.

That is why Volga is the superior minion. He’s works as a rival to Link and while he is evil..he does have honor. Volga wants to defeat Link in a fair fight and he is one of the more powerful Link villains. He has everything that I could want in a villain and that’s why it’s safe to say that he’s easily in my top 5 of all time. He’s probably even higher, but I haven’t really gone back to think of all of the opponents that have appeared before. Needless to say, he’s a pretty great character. Hyrule Warriors did a good job of making the new characters likable as I enjoyed Cia, Lana, Volga, and Wizzro and Agitha is the only one that I didn’t like.

An assortment of bosses also appeared briefly, but they didn’t really get to stay around for character development. Ganondorf is as tough as ever and this game definitely portrays him pretty accurately. He never retreats and he continues to dominate his opponents with pure power. He takes over a good chunk of the land with ease and it doesn’t take him long to bend Ghirahim and Zant to his will. His new character design really works as well. You get a sense that he is definitely Link’s biggest threat and while he may have suffered defeat by the game’s main villain, he definitely comes back from that. His true form is as tough looking as ever, but I still prefer him in humanoid mode.

Link is pretty true to character. He started from humble beginnings and eventually showed Princess Zelda and the others that he is a true hero. I still say that he’s much more heroic than Mario and he really could be the most heroic character of all time. Of course, it certainly helps a lot that he never talks. He does have a moment where the Master Sword’s power goes to his head, but I can’t say that I disagreed with his actions. I think Link made the right move in attacking the enemy fortress by himself since he is the most skilled hero. Even then, Link never gave up until the bitter end.

Princess Zelda also looks pretty good. I’m glad that she didn’t just hide in the castle and decided to infiltrate enemy lines as Sheik. Sheik’s character design was pretty sleek here and I think the graphics did a good job of depicting it. She’s one of the few characters that I’ve played as aside from Link. (The only others would be Lana, Impa,(Maybe…I’m not positive) and Ganondorf) I do like Sheik more than Zelda, but they’re technically the same character so they’re both pretty good. Zelda is just suck in her leadership role more than Sheik so it limits her actions. Sheik is really free to do whatever she wants.

It’s easy to see why this is an all star title. The developers put a lot of effort into it as they added many easter eggs for the series. Compared to the average Dynasty Warriors game, Hyrule Warriors is lacking a little in content, (Especially the character roster) but that’s okay. It only looks bad when compared to that game. Compare it to almost any other title and Hyrule Warriors really looks good. Counting all of the modes, there are well over 60 levels and there are many other replay value factors to consider. Gathering all of the heart containers, Gold Spiders, and maxing out everyone’s levels will still take a very long time. This game easily has over 30-50 hours of content within it and the developers continue to add more. Challenge Mode only has one level in it so far so we can be pretty confident that more will be added in the near future.

The graphics are pretty solid for the game. Obviously, you shouldn’t expect Final Fantasy levels of animation here since a hack and slash game is typically known to have worse graphics than an RPG title. That’s because of how many enemies are constantly loaded onto the screen. We still do get a few big cutscenes that look really good. I definitely would say that the graphics are 2014 worthy and you won’t be wincing at anything. You can really take in the scenary and enjoy your visits to the various universes relating to the franchise. Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, and Skyward Sword levels are all featured in one game. I doubt we’ll ever see that again. (Unless this game gets a sequel, which would be pretty cool)

Naturally, this is a Legend of Zelda game so the soundtrack is very good. A lot of the tunes are very fast paced to keep up with the action and that’s what I like to hear as I shred the armies that stand in my way. You’ll hear many tunes that you recognize from older titles and the atmosphere will make you feel like you’re in one of the main titles for the series.

The only thing that could come close to a negative would be that the game’s opening level is a bit of a tease. We get a pretty grand cutscene that makes the game feel like an RPG. It almost hints at character development for everyone and a grand story. We do get a story of course, but it’s more of a backdrop to the fighting. It would be comparable to a Tekken story, but a little deeper than that. It’s still not the next Final Fantasy there. We only get 4-7 big cutscenes after that and the game became more of a hack and slash through and through. I still did enjoy the story a lot, but the first level really had an RPG feel to it and it will make you think about the next big LoZ title. Hopefully the tone is more like this game’s opening than the last few games. (Meaning that the enemies get to attack right away and the hero is already a pretty good fighter) I still wouldn’t call this a negative though since I did enjoy the story and just got a glimpse of how it could be even better.

Overall, I definitely consider this to be the Wii U’s top title. It had everything that I could want in a hack and slash title. I wouldn’t say that I had any real negatives with the game. Everything performed to my satisfaction and it’s an all around complete title. The gameplay is the smoothest that I’ve played in the genre although Dynasty Warriors Gundam is still my favorite since the moves are more devastating and colorful thanks to all of the explosions. Hyrule Warriors is currently one of the only true hack and slash games that I’ve gotten to experience and it’s nice to see how a brand new, 2014 one fares. This game also gave me a chance to dust off the Wii U and give it all of the new updates. I definitely recommend this title and I actually enjoyed it more than the main installments. (That being said, I will always remember Wind Waker as the greatest Legend of Zelda title due to its replayability and the sheer joy of playing it) If you’ve been waiting to buy a Wii U due to a “lack of games,” I would suggest picking one up now. (Hopefully this inspires Nintendo to really do a big crossover story with the Legend of Zelda series)

Overall 9/10

Madden 2013 Review

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It’s definitely been a while since I got to play a new Madden game. In case you are not aware, I am a huge fan of the Madden franchise. I’ve played almost every one of the titles since 2002 and they were all rock solid. I’ll admit that Madden 2010 may have slipped a little, but it was still a blast. 2011 and 2012 were also enjoyable experiences so I was all set to grab this one. I didn’t realize that it had already dropped to 6 dollars so it was a steal! Madden 2015 just came out so I’m sure that this game’s online days are numbered. That being said, I’m really glad that I finally got to try the online experience because it is amazing! This is easily the best Madden title for the PS3!

I also know that I need to make this one last because I likely won’t be getting one of the newer Madden games anytime soon! There is no Madden 2014 because they decided to come out with the special Madden 25 package. I’m looking forward to playing it, but it’s still going for 25! I love these games, but I always wait for the price drops since they’re so frequent. I wouldn’t expect to see another Madden review on this site for even a year, but maybe I’ll surprise you guys and get one of the few titles that I missed for Christmas!

Back to the game! Madden 2013 uses a lot of elements from the past games while changing things up. I know that everyone has already heard the stories and some are still upset that EA refuses to change the formula with any drastic measures. There’s no need to change a system that is already great and EA still does provide a unique experience each time. In this game, the defense is probably the most notable change, but the whole game is really impacted. Is it in a good way? It depends on the effect. I won’t really explain the rules because I’m sure that you are familiar with the NFL. If not, it’s an easy game to figure out.

One of the ways that Madden seems to have changed is how fiercely the cornerbacks will go after the ball. It is essentially impossible to throw a deep ball anymore. You can still do it of course, but you’ll be forced to watch your receiver get shoved out of the way as the cornerback snags it for a pick 6. Sometimes, your receiver will just stand there and wait for the football while the cornerback jumps up for the steal. They can jump extremely high by the way and they aren’t opposed to catching the ball with one hand in a rather fancy athletic movement. One way to stop this is to quickly take control of your receiver and turn around to grab the ball. Of course, this is a Lot trickier than it sounds and it requires perfect precision on your part. More often than not, this won’t work. Once in a while, your player will actually catch the ball, but you’ll have already thrown a lot of interceptions by that point.

It’s great for the defense and I’ve always enjoyed getting an interception. It’s pretty thrilling and it’s one of my favorite plays along with kickoff/punt returns. On the flipside, it makes you hesitate to throw the football. You’ll find yourself relying on basic screen passes and other short throws because you can’t risk going downfield. Throwing it into the centerfield for your tight end is usually a decently safe throw, but I miss the days where I felt comfortable throwing to any part of the field. You can definitely forget about slants unless your receiver is in a great position. So, this is definitely a mixed bag.

One area where the game really excels at is how realistic the hits are. It’s great to see your player get tackled or to record a sack on your own. You really feel the hit and it’s usually interesting to see how your player will go down. Sometimes the game will even revert to slow motion although that could just be the frame rate hitting the ball. This is more like the Football that we’re used too!

The graphics for the game are always pretty solid and that doesn’t change in this installment. You can clearly see all of the players and every option available on the field. You’ll never find yourself squinting to see something and the field looks as real as ever. I definitely have no complaints with the game on this front and the commentary is also good. There are some obvious mistakes like when they say that there are 15 minutes left when only 6 are on the clock. Some of the lines can get a little old when you hear them so often, but I actually enjoy it. It really makes the game feel professional and it means that I won’t have to listen to any (awful imo) music like in some of the other titles. Remember NFL Street? Great game, but the music was pretty terrible. I’m not a fan of EA’s music so the commentary means that the music has to go away. I don’t think it plays at all during the games anymore and that’s fine by me!

The game does have one annoying cutscene that plays after every timeout. If you call a timeout, your opponent’s player will meet up with one of the staff for a drink of water. The trainer will get him the water and the player always stops the guy from leaving so that he can get a second drink. This happens every single time and it gets old rather quickly. The character models are constantly chewing as well although I believe that it’s supposed to depict them talking to each other. Trust me, you’ll wish that it wasn’t there after a while!

If this game had one big weakness, it would be how they’ve made every action a lot more complicated. Gone are the days where you only needed to worry about running and where to throw the ball. Now there are so many buttons to press! You have to remember to hit a button so that you don’t fumble, there’s a button to sprint as per usual, but you can also tilt one of the joysticks to bring your head down and charge. There are like three different ways to juke and you really need the hit stick on the defensive side or the opponent will just break your tackles. I don’t think the game really needs to be this complex. It wouldn’t be so bad either if your player wouldn’t fumble all the time. Never run right into the opponent player without pressing something or you’re almost guaranteed to fumble. So much for my wild charges into the crowd eh?

Franchise mode is long gone and now we have the Connected Careers mode. It’s essentially the same thing so it’s all good. You can play as the Coach or as the players. I only use the latter of course and you can even add yourself to the game through Gameface. The EA account is actually pretty handy since it really does a good job of recording your online stats. The online ranked battles are really where the action is at. It’s almost hard to go back to the classic offline battles when you can fight such talented players online. (Almost is the key word! Regular matches are still a blast.) My current record is 5-4 as of this writing and I already scored over 150 points, which netted me the first few online trophies. The highest one is at 600 points and that is likely where I would stop online gaming for this title. It’s a blast, but I have so many other games where I need to accomplish that I wouldn’t have time for it anymore. The offline world is another story since there are more trophies to get there.

The trophies are pretty fair for the most part, but I think that EA is asking too much for the offline ones. You would basically have to play over 10-20 seasons if you wanted to snag them all unless they expect you to start simulating all of them. There are many workarounds to grab a lot of the trophies, but adjusting sliders and such, but that doesn’t seem right. Thus, I am doomed to have a relatively low trophy% in this title, but I’ll still do my best to snag as many of them as I can. At least there are more trophies to be collected in this one than in the previous Madden titles!

I almost don’t even need to bring up the replay value. The trophies alone can last for weeks or even months. This Madden also has quite a few different modes to play. You can relive famous moments in NFL history and try to complete each of them. The Connected Careers mode can go on for as many seasons as you want and you can play it from the coach’s point of view or from the player’s. The replay value to this game is essentially endless and the servers are actually still up so you can have fun online or offline. The game is really a bargain at 6 dollars and it would have been well worth the original 60 dollars if I had bought it then too. It just goes against my buying code to do that. I only go that far for Smash Bros at this point in time.

Finally, it’s worth noting that EA has done a good job to really make the games feel alive. On the main menu, you can actually see the scores for the current NFL 2014 Pre Season games. Not to mention that there are Facebook and Twitter options inside of the game so that you can post your scores and stats throughout the season. Everything is completely up to date, which is pretty fun. You won’t lose touch with the real world by playing this game and their Origin system helps you to link your account through all of their titles. EA may have a very bad reputation with the average person at the moment, but one can’t deny that their games are great!

Overall, This is an excellent Madden game. As mentioned earlier, I would say that it easily clobbers Madden 08-12. It’s tough to take on the Gamecube ones, but this is easily one of the best installments. I do believe that the game has gotten a little too complicated in some areas, but you can still choose to simplify things based on your playstyle. I got used to it after a game or two and the only troubles that I’m having now are with the audibles. It’s hardly something that will really cost you a game since audibles are pretty rare. I highly recommend getting this game and you’ll have fun for dozens of hours. Madden is one of the only games that can compete with the new Super Smash Bros for how much time you can pour into it! It’s going to be tough for Madden 25 or the new Madden 15 to keep up with this one!

Overall 9/10

One Piece Unlimited World Red Review

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I currently own most of the One Piece games that have come to America, but none of them have really stood out. I don’t own the Wii installment, which is supposed to be pretty good and I just had the GBA and Gamecube games. Luckily, this one is a few leagues ahead of those and it’s definitely the definitive One Piece game. As Budokai Tenkaichi 3 revolutionized DBZ and Ninja Storm Generations helped Naruto, Unlimited World Red is currently the ultimate One Piece experience.

This game takes place after the long time skip and the Strawhat Pirates are in the New World. They stop by an island to resupply and let Pato go home. Luffy goes to get some food, but that’s when Pato breaks the news. Luffy’s comrades have been kidnapped and Luffy will have to find all of them. Pato seems to be pretty happy about this and he follows his master’s orders without question. That’s just the kind of guy that he is. Luffy isn’t thrilled about this and he’s also a little skeptical since his comrades are supposed to be tough. Nontheless, Luffy begins his journey and sets out to save all of them. Guarding his friends are most of the big fighters that Luffy has met in his travels and it’s odd how they have all appeared. Are they real or are they fake? It doesn’t matter since Luffy plans on winning either way!

Meanwhile, the game also has a Colosseum Mode. This acts as a separate Story Mode which covers the current arc in the manga, but very loosely. Luffy and Law have formed an alliance and they need to win the large tournament to take down Doflamingo once and for all. Doflamingo mostly seems to be amused by this and he allows the two fighters to stay in the tournament. Will they be able to defeat all of the challengers as well as Doflamingo? The journey begins!

The gameplay is one of the main highlights since it is a classic beat em up. Picture Dynasty Warriors, but add a little more substance to the attacks. It’s not a straight fighter like Naruto or DBZ, but it does take some of those elements and ends up incorporating them into the beat em up style. Because of this, most enemies won’t go down so quickly. The health of the minions is pretty formidable and while they won’t pose a threat, it is wise to use combos to take them out as soon as possible.

I do think that beating the minions can be a little time consuming at first, but it gets better as you level up. I have not attempted hard story yet so I cannot say how much tougher they get, but I do plan on completing that mode soon since it’s necessary for a trophy. The boss fights are really fun since you’ll need strategy alongside your button mashing. You are given the option to dodge (Like Luffy) or block (If you’re Zoro) an attack right before it connects. This holds true for most final smashes as well, but there are exceptions as seen with Shanks and Doflamingo. You don’t want to use too many power attacks in a row since it can eliminate the option of dodging or blocking an attack.

You can equip words, which act as your equipment. They can from something to help in battles like an attack boost or something more subtle like extra money or exp. I highly recommend going for the EXP option since that’s just about always worth it. Having some items at the ready can also be the difference between a victory or a loss since those healing potions are crucial. Typically, you’ll be fighting in a group of 3 members. Even if one member dies, you can just switch to one of the other two. One key thing to know is that your partners never lose health while the computer is controlling them. In light of this, you should never let one of the members die and just make sure to switch when you’re at low health. This way, you’ll still have two partners draining away at the enemy’s health. It’s a pretty solid strategy!

One part that makes this game stand out as a cut above the rest is the fact that the developers really went all out with the story. We get many cutscenes throughout this mode and some of them feature actual fights. We get to see Red take on the crew and we get a brief glimpse of the fight between Lucci and Luffy. Scenes like that are just great because I always love to see a good fight. Even if you’re a video game, there is no excuse not to have an animated fight. Currently, it is still pretty rare so the game did a good job of including these scenes. Luckily, the graphics are solid so the fight scenes work really well. I would definitely say that the characters are drawn in more detail than the average game and this one definitely looks like a modern PS3 game. It’s not at Final Fantasy levels, but one could argue that it’s intentional since One Piece is supposed to be colorful and fun to look at. I’d say that the game managed to show this perfectly.

Naturally, this game has trophies. There are more of them in the game than usual as it contains 57. I have amassed around 35 of them so far and I’m lightly aiming for the Platinum. It seems to be a little on the time consuming side, but I’ve already posted around 30 hours so I may as well go all the way. None of the trophies are unreasonable although finding all of the strong words will take a while. A lot of the trophies are simply grinds like rocket jumping 500 times or slicing a bullet 100 times. The trophies are not very difficult and you should definitely get the Platinum if you purchase this one.

The soundtrack for the game is decent. There aren’t a whole lot of tunes in the game, but the ones that are present as decent enough. It definitely does have Soul Calibur feeling to it and it compliments the gameplay. I would have liked some really fast paced music as well, but you can’t have it all in one game. Otherwise, the others wouldn’t look so good.

Red is the new villain who was made up for this game. He’s known as one of the legendary pirates since he could fight on equal grounds with guys like Gold D Roger and Whitebeard. He’s decided that he needs to be immortal and he sets off on this quest while mocking the heroes. He’s a very formidable foe and he’s easily one of Luffy’s strongest opponents. I definitely respect his raw power, but I can’t say that I care for him all that much as a villain. Towards the end, he never became one of my favorites, but he is decent and he definitely beats some of the other fighters as well as the other two game original characters.

Pato is a raccoon who was with the Strawhats prior to this game and he ends up revealing that he is working for an unknown master. This destroys a lot of the trust that the Strawhats had had in him and it was definitely a low move by Pato. I never cared for him by the end because his heart may have been in the right place, but I just couldn’t take him seriously. He doesn’t have enough power to back up his tough talk and his personality was really similar to Chopper’s. I don’t know, we could have had a better fighter.

There’s also the shop owner. She doesn’t get a whole lot of screentime, but we know that she’s decently tough since she stands up to the thugs at the beginning of the game. She mostly lets us know which parts of the town should be built first and it’s a noble sentiment. That being said, she just doesn’t have much of a role in the story and she didn’t really change any of the events. Things would have played out with or without her.

The Strawhats are interesting to see since they’re in their New World forms. I still can’t say that I’m a fan of most of the changes. Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Robin are all right. I don’t dislike their new forms, but I can safely say that I do prefer each of their old forms. Brook is beyond saving from before the timeskip so it’s really Usopp and Franky that are a little hard to take in. They’re all still in character besides that and the banter between them is good. With the exception of Brook, this group is one of the stronger Shonen Jump casts and they’re far more interesting than the Genin 11 and Ichigo’s pals. It should be noted that this game was not dubbed so everyone is talking in japanese. That shouldn’t really affect the game for you since the text is still in english and it’s fun to hear how they sound in their original voices.

There is certainly a lot of replay value present in the game. The story mode takes around 4-6 hours as there are 9 levels and each one takes around 30 minutes. Aside from that, you are also tasked with building the city and it can take a while to get all of the necessary parts. After that, the trophies require you to buy 100 things from just about every store. There is fishing to be done, insect catching, running a museum, planting, etc. We also have the alternate story mode, which is about as long as the main one and there are many bonus challenges to do in the Colosseum as well. I’ve clocked in around 30 hours and I still have plenty of things to do. I’d say that this game will last you at least 50 hours and that’s definitely a lot of content. You certainly can’t say that this game was empty.

Overall, This is easily one of the best games for the PS3 and one of the best ones out there. The gameplay is nice and smooth. It doesn’t get repetitive after playing it for a long time. The trophies will take a long time to get, but they are achievable so it’s a fun goal to work towards. (No online trophies so no worries about servers!) I highly recommend this game and it’s a good way to get into the One Piece franchise. You’ll be able to meet the characters and see how strong they are. It may be a beat em up, but I wouldn’t call it a complete button smasher thanks to the depth. I highly recommend checking out Colosseum mode as well as the normal story mode because you get to play as some of the stronger bosses. Whitebeard, Doflamingo, Shanks, they’re all in it! So, this is a golden opportunity to play as the strongest warriors around. Hopefully, all One Piece games will reach America starting with this one.

Overall 9/10

Dragon Ball Raging Blast Review

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DBZ has had some terrific games in the past! Even the ones that did not hit it out of the park were generally very good so I had high hopes for this one. After all, Raging Blast is known as a (sort of) successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi series, but with PS3 graphics and a large chunk of the roster being thrown aside. I knew that I was going to be in for a treat! I had actually been meaning to get this game for years and years, but it always got beaten to the punch by other games. Well, now I finally got it and the wait was worth it!

This is usually where I would talk about the plot, but it’s DBZ. You already know the plot! It covers all three arcs of the manga along with the Bardock OVA and the Broly films. Beyond that, we also have some good ole What Ifs. Unfortunately, the game plays it very safe with the What Ifs so they aren’t very interesting. Having Vegito battle Gogeta is a good concept, but they make you play it twice so that both characters can win. Talk about a cop out….Nontheless, the game has over 100 levels, which makes for a very extensive Story Mode! At times you may wish that it was shorter, but that’s not my main complaint with it. I don’t like…The Red Star system!

In this game, Red Stars are used to unlock just about everything from costumes to music to levels in Story Mode. Earning Red Stars is the annoying part. Basically, you have to replay a level that you’ve beaten and there will be 3 missions. You get one Red Star for beating the level on Hard Mode and two others for doing certain actions during the fight. This could have been acceptable, but you can’t get the Red Stars from the get go. This means that you have to play each level at least twice and most of them will need a third play through since getting all three in one shot is extremely difficult. Considering that there are over 100 levels….you’ll be playing over 300 fights! (Not counting that some levels have up to 5 fights in them) That was more than a little tedious and I don’t think that the developers did a good job on that one. I’ve earned about 50 Red Stars so far, but playing through those levels so much can get old very fast.

Luckily, not everything is purchased through these Red Stars. You also have the classic D Points and you use them to buy items from the shop. This feature is in just about all of the DBZ games and it’s a good system. The items aren’t unreasonably priced and you should have a good chunk of them by the end. Going to Shenron and getting the D Points multiplier is a must if you’re in a hurry.

To collect the 7 Dragon Balls, you must compete in a Super Battle Trial. This will open up a Dragon Ball fight. After one battle, then it closes and you have to rinse and repeat. This is another tedious part of the game because you have to do at least 14 battles to get the 7 Dragon Balls each time. That’s a little long, but not extremely long. It’s just a bit of a bother. The Super Trials have several modes like Survival, Team Battle, Punch Machine, etc. They’re pretty good and extra modes means extra replay value!

I mentioned that the roster got a lot smaller, but it’s still decently large with at least 50 fighters. We have most of the big characters from the series, although the exclusion of Mystic Gohan is not cool. For that, I would have preferred that they kicked out Videl or Chiaotzu. Mystic Gohan is essential! The game mostly ignores the films, so Broly is the only extra character. Still, I’m glad that they chose him since he’s a Must in any DBZ game. Some of the hype for the game also revolved around the Super Saiyan 3 form that Vegeta and Broly got. It’s definitely fun to play as those guys and it’s a fun addition to the game. I’m hoping that they’ll be mainstays in future DBZ titles although that does not appear to be the case. Hopefully in the next big DBZ game for PS4.

Time to get into the most important aspect of the game…the gameplay! I must say that it is a solid step down from Budokai Tenkaichi 3, but I suppose that was bound to happen. The problem is that you don’t feel the blows as much as you did in that one. Also, it’s tough to link combos to each other because some characters simply cannot do it anymore. You’ll finish a few hits and the character will pause. By the time you can launch the next attack, the fighter is on the ground and your combo is lost. Most of the techniques and combos are similar to BT3.

It took me a while to get the hang of the game, but now I’m pretty confident in my skills. You’ll find yourself using the super attacks a whole lot since they’re so easy to use. Not to mention the fact that it’s a lot safer to just spam them against enemies once you’re playing on hard difficulties. At first I was definitely not crazy about the fighting style, but it grows on you. You just need to give the game a chance and playing through the tutorials may not be a bad idea. (Trophies…) I forgot how to transform, which is too bad, but it’s easy to find out with a quick Google search. Once you feel like you’ve brought your A game, then it’s time to try out your skills online against real players. That’s one of the great things about Wifi. It can definitely add to the experience of a game and the servers are still open, which is pretty amazing! It’s hard not to compare the fighting style to BT3, but once you get past that…then it’s pretty incredible!

Graphics are not ultra important, but they’re always worth noting. They look really good in this game and the character models hold up well. I find Goku’s Super Saiyan character to look the best from the whole cast and his Super Saiyan hair is great. It captures the golden look while also appearing yellow. It’s hard to describe, but it’s how I want a Super Saiyan’s hair to look. The rest of the animation is basically what you may expect from the Budokai Tenkaichi games. The models have less black lines across them and they seem more streamlined. I definitely have to give the graphics a big thumbs up!

The soundtrack isn’t the greatest as far as DBZ games go, but it’s good enough. The tunes can come across as a little generic, but there is a decently large selection so you’re almost guaranteed to find at least one song that you like. The opening is pretty catchy when the game first boots up and the dying Namek stage theme is pretty good. The game won’t be losing any points in this area!

This game has trophies and they’re pretty reasonable for the most part. I don’t care for the online trophies and I never will. Online trophies aren’t practical since the servers will eventually close and you’re doomed if people aren’t playing the game anymore. Beyond that, I’ve gotten a decent amount of the trophies, but I don’t intend on getting the Platinum. Not really worth the time and effort, but the trophies are still reasonable for the most part.

Overall, this was an excellent DBZ game and easily one of my favorites of all time! It’s my third favorite in the franchise behind Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3. We have a solid cast of characters and a really large story mode. With all of the collectibles and modes to try out; Raging Blast has a huge amount of replay value. You’ll be playing this game for countless hours and I recommend it to all 3D fighting game fans. Also, what’s cooler than the thought of playing as a Super Saiyan 3 Broly!?

Overall 9/10

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations Review

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I have to say that I had been wanting to get this game for years. It was right up there with Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast as the highest game on my list. It took me a few years to finally get it and I can say that it was as good as I expected. This is definitely one of the greatest games out there and now I’ll talk about why it’s so great.

First, I just want to explain why it took so long to get this game. I have loads of games on my list and while this was the highest one, it was also more money than some others. Why get Naruto for 30 dollars when I could buy 4 other games for that same amount of money? It’s the whole quantity vs quality debate. I admit that I usually go for quantity in that case because it’s fun to have a lot of options. Still, I finally got this game for my birthday with a few other games. (You can expect to see reviews for them at some point. I will say that DOA 2 Hardcore was also one of my Birthday games)

This isn’t the first game in the Ninja Storm series so you may already know the gameplay, but I’ll explain it just in case. It’s a 3D battle style, but don’t mistake it for Xmen Legacy or Iron Man 2! This is a deep 3D battle style and each character has a lot of attacks and combos that can be used. When you’re hit by an attack, you have to option to quickly turn into a log and stop the combo. You can’t do this forever as there is a new meter that prevents people from spamming this function.

You can use close combat techniques or launch a projectile jutsu and see how it fares. The gameplay is really fun, thanks in part to the large cast of diverse characters. This is one game where you may not spam final smashes quite as much as in other games because some of them can be pretty easy to dodge, which leaves you vulnerable to attack. You can play 1 on 1 battles or use the team system, which equips you with two other characters that you can summon as backup. It’s essentially the same system as in Marvel vs Capcom in that respect. Some characters also have an Awakening mode, which drastically amplifies their attack power and you sometimes get a whole new moveset. They’re really fun to use and they make sure that you feel every hit while in those forms. I suspect that the sound effects are increased during that time period to really get you ready for some action.

The graphics amplify the gameplay because they are pretty great. The attacks stand out and the colors are very flashy. You’ll notice this a lot if you play as the 4th Hokage since almost all of his attacks have yellow energy around them. This game also has fully animated cutscenes that look really good. You’ll think that you’re watching the TV show when they come on. Each Story episode typically has two big animated cutscenes and you can tell that they put a lot of work into this game.

The soundtrack is pretty good for the game, although it’s definitely not as strong as it could have been. You really won’t be paying much attention to the music while you’re fighting, but I would have liked some more rock themes. In Gaara’s opening, we get an incredible piece of music, but it never appears again and I can’t seem to find it online. Beyond that, Story Mode has a pretty catchy tune, but it basically shows up for every battle so it may get a little repetitive after a while. I would say that the music is average, but that’s still not bad. It definitely could have been a lot worse.

Story Mode is a mixed bag for me. Instead of going through the whole plot like the games usually do, this game decided that a few characters would just get their own story. It’s basically an Arcade Mode with an intro/ending as well as a short cutscene before each fight. The problem is that the story doesn’t really make a lot of sense this way. It’s enjoyable and you’ll still get what’s happening, but I would have preferred the traditional approach. One thing that you will definitely pick up is the fact that Naruto and Sasuke are the two most important characters. They have a big role in just about every story and you’ll realize that they’re basically invincible. Killer Bee gets his own story as well, but it’s basically filler and more of a homage to the character than anything. He doesn’t get any big cutscenes, but we get to see him rap and dance…that’s something I suppose. (Not a Killer Bee fan!)

Unlike some of the other games that I’ve been reviewing lately, this game has a lot of extra content that will keep you playing for a while. There are about a dozen tournaments to enter and completing them all gives you various titles and unlockables as well as a decent amount of money. Next, you’ve also got over a dozen levels of survival mode to play and unlock more content as well. Then we’ve got the traditional two player mode and you can have fun in team battles or standard play.

Replay Value is definitely not something that Generations is lacking. There are many things to buy at the shop and you’ll need to get a lot of money if you really want to buy them all. Getting some things to unlock in the shop requires you to play as all of the characters and use their final smashes. It may seem like a daunting task, but the gameplay is so fun that you probably won’t even mind.

Naturally, this game also has trophies to earn and boost your user profile. I haven’t acquired the Platinum this time, but the trophies don’t seem outrageous. There are some difficult ones in there, but none that I would consider unfair or pointless. Beating all tournaments and survival modes is a reasonable trophy since it’s something that you would be inclined to do anyway. Plus, as a customer, you want to get the maximum value for the game that you just bought right?

I suppose that it’s not a surprise that this game is so great. Naruto’s had an excellent track record as far as video games go. The first Ultimate Ninja Storm was great and the Clash of Ninja series has always been one of the better fighters. Ultimate Ninja is great and those games had a lot of characters and even the Dragon Blade spinoff was decent considering that the controls weren’t the best. Naruto is just one of those franchises that really knows how to make a top of the line game.

Overall, I highly recommend this game! It’s extremely fun and there is a lot to do. The character roster is pretty large so you shouldn’t have a tough time trying to find someone to play with. Story Mode may not be very clear, but you can still experience the story through various characters and its pretty fun. If nothing else, it can help you become a fan and start reading the manga or watching the anime. This is one of the select games that I can confidently call and All Star. There are very few games that beat this one so I would recommend buying it when you have the chance!

Overall 9/10

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review

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Final Fantasy is a legendary video game series and you can expect that every game in the franchise will turn out to be very good. From all of the (main, aka numbered) games that I’ve played, I can say that they’re all Great. Not just good or very good, but great! Final Fantasy XIII was a solid game and I dare say that it may even beat FFVII. Could the sequel be as good, since Lightning is no longer the main character?

Well, the game starts off with one of the greatest cutscenes of all time! I dare say that it Is the greatest cutscene of all time. Lightning and Caius have an epic (Quicktime) battle where buildings are being destroyed and Valhalla is on the brink of ruin. Not only was I thrilled to see a really cool villain, (The first major threat since Sephiroth) but the series was definitely getting more climatic. This was the perfect way to start off the game and you got to play as Lightning. who’s far superior to Serah

How did Lightning become a warrior of Valhalla? Well, since she made the ultimate sacrifice in FFXIII, it makes sense that Etro would want her to be the leader. Considering how powerful Caius and his army of monsters are, it’s good that Lightning is there. It’s also nice to see the monsters from the first game, take on Caius’s army. It was definitely intense. Interrupting this battle is Noel, who falls from the sky. After seeing how useless he was in the fight, Lightning just ditches him in a portal and proceeds to fight. Unfortunately, the plot continues from Noel’s point of view.

This Is a Final Fantasy game, so I’m not going to take the time to explain everything. The plot would take many paragraphs and it’s something that you should experience firsthand. That being said, I will talk a little more about the plot since that was all just the (Epic) protloge.

After her resurrection from FFXIII, Serah is now at a peaceful village with some minor characters from the first game. She’s now a teacher and she works to make the world a better place. Lightning’s Moogle can become a Bow and Arrow which Serah uses to defend herself. The world is pretty crazy and aliens appear out of nowhere. It would seem as if the world was ending! Noel comes to help, but he just adds more questions to the mix.

Serah and Noel must travel across time and space so that they can undo the evils that Caius has wrought. The time stream is very dilluted and things are happening that shouldn’t have. Along the way Hope decides to go to sleep for 500 years in a time travel test. I just figured that I’d throw that out there since the original FFXIII characters don’t really do anything in this game. They travel to many worlds and see futures as they may have been. They also get to travel to the past, the only weird part is…Lightning is gone! She’s not in the past anymore and she’s not in any of the futures. Caius must have done something!

The climax of the game is definitely awesome and is one of the best in Video Game History! Caius makes for a perfect villain and he basically embodies darkness itself. Plus, if he has truly destroyed Lightning…can anyone defeat him? Odin…..let’s just say that he went up against the wrong Bahamut!

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The game only took around 21 hours, but it will feel like a lot more. That’s definitely in a good way and you experience a lot of plot. Throughout the game you will have traveled to dozens of planets and I recommend trying out the Chocobo races. There are many weapons to get and once you have the Ultima, you’ll be good to go. Choosing what battle formations to use can be a critical part of the game.

The gameplay is pretty good and basically plays out like the first game. This time you only have two humans at a time, but you get a monster to help out as well. The leveling up system is definitely intense and you can get up to level 600! I got Serah and Noel to around level 305 before I completed the game. Getting level ups isn’t very hard so you won’t need to worry about that. There are fragments to be found throughout the game and they do pay off. You can buy items for a lower cost and get more EXP per battle. Who wouldn’t want to get those fragments!?

There is a Lot to do in this game once you complete it, so you may find yourself playing this game for many hours once you have finished it. It sounds like a lot of fun and once I’ve finished most of the games in my backlog, I may go back to finish it all. The game’s a lot of fun and the gameplay never gets old, so why not right?

The music in this game is also very good. The theme against the minions is a cool rock song for some of the battles and the climax is filled with a lot of good songs. The last song is pretty great because it’s very emotional and fits the ending. The ending is also a spectacular ending and one that should be put in the record books. Not only does one of the two main heroes die, but there’s an after credits scene. Let’s just say that one of the characters didn’t have a change of heart!

I’m psyched for the sequel because there’s a lot of potential. The remaining hero seems to have turned into a villain and it may be time for Lightning to become the hero once again. The next game is called “Lightning Returns” after all! Serah and Noel were decent heroes, but I am definitely ready for a new lead. Aside from Lightning, Noel, and Caius, the rest of the cast wasn’t extremely interesting. The monsters were epic, but none of the human characters were really cool. I don’t really mind since they can be ignored for most of the game.

I should also mention the graphics. I doubt this will surprise anyone, but the graphics are some of the best that I’ve ever seen in a game. Imagine the Advent Chidren film, but in 2013 and set in an apocalyptic time. The intro reminded me of Cloud’s fight against Sephiroth and it was definitely similar. Another hero against a hero who turned into a villain. There are definitely a lot of parallels in the games.

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I highly recommend getting this game. It’s one of the best games I’ve played and it has passed Kingdom Hearts II for my favorite RPG of all time. This is one game that you definitely will not want to miss. You don’t even need to get the original game first since this one works as a stand alone, but you will appreciate the cameos more if you do get the first one. This game definitely increases the danger and epicness of the game and is the best Final Fantasy game to date. I’m not sure if the final game in the trilogy can possibly top this one, but it is Final Fantasy, so I won’t deny that it has a chance. When a game has the best intro, one of the best endings, and possibly the greatest after credits scene, how can you not buy it!?

Overall 9/10

Super Smash Bros (VC) Review

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Super Smash Bros is a very intense battle series. After only having 3 games in the lineup, it has already attained a huge fan base. This game is what started it all. Melee finished the job that SSB had started, while Brawl helped to remind everyone why we love the game. With a new Smash Bros game coming out, it was time to check out the original.

The character roster is a lot smaller than the older games, but it can’t be helped. We still do have 8 characters right off the bat, plus 4 unlockables. Seeing that “Challenger Approaching” sign for the first time probably shocked and mystified just about everyone. It was such an epic moment in everyone’s life after all. Mario characters take up a decent chunk of the roster with 33% of the cast. (Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, DK) Pokemon gets 2 fighters, (Pikachu and Jigglypuff) so teaming up, the two series make up half of the cast. Metroid, LoZ, F Zero, Kirby, Earthbound, and Star Fox. Fox McCloud is still my favorite character to play as. but Link is also solid. His sword attack has a pretty good range.

The stage count isn’t huge, but considering that there aren’t many characters, I’d say that it’s enough. We have the classic Corneria, which is much bigger than in the sequels. The Pokemon stage was very fun to play on, while the LoZ stage is so nostalgic. There is also an unlockable stage that I recommend you try out. It’s a stage that every video game fan will likely remember. Final Destination is actually not available for multiplayer mode, but it’s the original, so they had to make some mistakes.

Classic Mode is a little different in this game. There is a set lineup, so you always fight the same characters. It’s actually a clever idea since it feels more like an Arcade Mode. It’s a very fun mode to play and who doesn’t remember taking on Metal Mario? The music is really cool and Metal Mario is pretty tough to knock out of the ring. I wish they had kept him in for the sequels, but maybe someday he will be back. During one of the events, we have a minigame where you need to get to the end of a 5 floor area. Several opponents will attempt to stop you, but it’s very epic. There’s a sense of urgency and the atmosphere gets pretty tense. In the 2nd final battle, you take on the Fighting Polygons! Those guys definitely mean business and they’re classic. My favorite villains of the Master Hand are still the Multiman (Melee), but these guys are a solid step up from the Multi Man. (Brawl) The idea behind them was definitely epic and they’re pretty cool to battle.

Master Hand is the final boss of course. He still strikes fear into the hearts of many, but with an intro like that, who wouldn’t be afraid!? The Master Hand is definitely awesome and he packs a punch. I’m not sure who thought of putting him in as the final boss, but it was definitely a good move. I still think that the Master Hand could be one of Mario’s gloves. It looks very similar after all.

Super Smash Bros had a cool mode that was called “Board The Platforms!”. It was pretty good and I dare say that it’s more fun than Target Test. The object of the game is to land on all of the platforms. Admittedly, it is pretty easy, but I’m sure that they could make it tougher in a future installment. We also have the usual Target Test mode, which was better than usual. Each character gets a unique Target Test course, which makes things a lot more interesting. The mode can be short at times, but it’s definitely exciting.

Of course, we have Vs. Mode, which is where you will probably spend most of your time. The gameplay is nice and fast. You’ll constantly be on the attack, unless you want to be attacked. The items are pretty fun to play with, and it’s nice to see the retro pokemon. The Ray Gun is a lot better than in the old games and it actually paralyzes the opponent. Not bad eh!? The C stick won’t work in this game, so we won’t have any spamage. It’s time to use pure skill to unveil your Smash Attacks.

Super Smash Bros was the start of a legendary series. When it first came out, I’m sure that everyone was in an uproar. It was unthinkable to crossover so many series and also give it such a great form of gameplay. When this first came out, I would have given it a 10. Things have changed and it has a lot of competition nowadays, so that is no longer an option. Still, it’s an incredibly fun game and I would still give it high marks. While it is a lot older than the other two Smash games, it is superior in some ways, while it can’t keep up in others. The music in the game is incredible and it still lives up to this day. I can’t think of a single “bad” song in the entire game. The animation is also pretty great and it’s definitely nostalgic. It reminds me of the N64, but maybe that’s because it started out on that console. It’s the best N64 game and also one of the best video games of all time. I don’t think we’ll ever forget Super Smash Bros.

Overall 9/10

Super Smash Bros Brawl Review

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The Super Smash Bros. series is easily one of the most popular game series of all time. The concept of bringing together Nintendo’s most popular characters from various franchises into one game was definitely a genius move. The first two games became living legends right away so there was a lot of pressure on Brawl to deliver. I’d say that SSBB definitely did a solid job and delivered everything that I could have wanted in the game.

Brawl had a pretty solid array of game modes to play around with. Classic Mode has stayed true to formula and is definitely the most traditional mode for the series. All Star mode lets you challenge all 35 Smash characters in a long marathon of battles. Boss Battles mode is a new choice that debuted in this game. There are 10 bosses to challenge and completing this mode on intense difficulty is truly an impressive feat. There are many other modes including the Homerun Contest, Event Mode, Break the Targets, and Multiman Brawl, all of which have a co-op option as well as the normal single player version. SSBB is definitely rich in content and you will find yourself playing it for hours. If you want a break from brawling, there are now other modes to appease your gaming needs. Coin Launcher is a mode where you use your coins to shoot at trophies and objects that drop stickers. It’s a pretty fun minigame and definitely an improvement from the lottery machine in Melee. With 700 stickers and over 500 trophies, you’ll definitely be using this mode a lot! A unique feature that was added to this game was the stage builder. It is pretty fun for a while, but eventually you find yourself wishing that they had added more objects and background to customize with. Brawl is the first game in the series to add Challenges. Meeting the requirements for each challenge unlocks a trophy, stage, or CD. They’re definitely fun incentives to make sure that you play every facet of the game and none of them are outrageously long or difficult. (The 100 hour of vs mode gameplay may seem daunting, but you’ll likely have played that much by the end anyway)
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Let’s get on to Brawl’s story mode: The Subspace Emissary. (Which you can play with a friend using the co-op feature) The other modes which I’ve already mentioned were great and very fun to play, but the Subspace definitely blows them out of the water. Brawl’s story mode is what earned the game it’s place as the 2nd greatest game of all time. The story mode was perfectly done, featuring many of the characters that were playable in the game. The characters all set about to stop the Ancient Minister and the Master Hand from destroying all of the worlds. The game did a good job of making the story into a very compelling and deep one that made you want to keep on playing without stop. Some subplots may have not been too exciting (Like Pokemon Trainer and Lucas’s) but others will keep you on the edge of your seat (Samus and Pikachu) Once the climax begins, the heroes all rally together to stop the ultimate enemy The Master H-Tabuu! Tabuu is a character made exclusively for Brawl’s story mode and I’d say that the game did a great job with him. Having the appearance of a cosmic entity and an aura of mystery, Tabuu quickly showed off his power as he managed to defeat Nintendo’s all stars. Things definitely appeared dire for the heroes, but to learn the ending you’ll need to buy the game for yourself.

The core gameplay of Brawl is pretty similar to Melee’s, but there have definitely been some changes. The gameplay has been slowed down and the characters are actually able to trip now. I’m not sure if I agree with either change, but I am glad that the developers took some initiative to make sure that it wasn’t just a copy of Melee. Brawl contains 10 more characters than Melee with the most notable of them being Sonic The Hedgehog. The characters are decently balanced (but good luck using a power type to take on someone quick like Fox or Captain Falcon) and all of them have their unique abilities. Many of the characters seem to be weaker than their melee incarnations, but it helps to balance out the game. The animation definitely holds up to this day, but I would say that it’s a bit of a step down from Melee.

In the end Super Smash Bros Brawl is definitely a solid addition to the Wii’s lineup and a must buy for any gamer. It is currently my 2nd favorite game of all time and it is unlikely to be passed by anything (Aside from future Smash Bros titles) anytime soon.

Overall 9/10 Replay Value 9/10

Achievements
Beat Game
Beat Classic Mode with everyone
Unlocked all characters
Unlocked all Stages
Got all music
Beat All Star Mode with everyone
Beat Boss Battle Mode
Beat Classic Mode, Story Mode, Allstar Mode, and Boss Battle Mode on all difficulties

Things to do
Get all stickers
Get all trophies