Bejeweled 2 (Wiiware) Review
Topic: Game Review
Game Details
Cost: 1,000 NP's (~$10)
Size: 124 Blocks (~15.5 MB)
# of Players: 1
Control Style: Classic Console, Wiimote + Nunchuck & Wiimote Only (Horizontal & Vertical orientations)
Mii Channel Supported
WiiConnect24 Enhanced

For those who have been living in a hole / cave / maximum security jail cell OR otherwise been living offline for about decade & the first place you visited in my little black hole call NESlog... YOU'VE SERIOUSLY MISSED OUT ON SOME GREAT GAMING! Bejewled was created by Pop Cap as a match-3 game that game all the rage in the early 2000. Following their success, they released Bejeweled 2 in 2004 that expanded on the original by adding power gems. It was later succeeded by Bejeweled Twist (2008) & Bejeweled Blitz (2010).

The gameplay of Bejeweled 2 is very simple. Just select a gem & swap it with a nearby one in the cardinal 4 directions to make a line of 3 or more gems to clear them from the board. Clearing 4 in a row (or clearing in an L or T-shape) makes a power gem that explodes & destroys all nearby gems when cleared. Clearing 5 in a row makes a hypercube that allows you to destroy all the gems that you swap with the hypercube. You pretty much just keep playing until you run out of moves. Bejeweled 2 comes with 4 game modes: Classic (untimed), Action (timed), Puzzle & Endless (great for those who want to relax). UNFORTUNATELY, Pop Cap decided to cut corners with their WiiWare development by dropping all the unlockable (like Hyper & Twilight) & hidden (like the original Bejeweled) game modes that made the PC version great! I know that the unlockable game modes are missing since I've surpassed the unlocking thresholds for them.

Graphics are a clean as ever. While usage of the Mii's are a nice touch, it's nothing more than a novelty thing. Music is very good, but has been modified a bit from the PC original. The controls are excellent & HIGHLY FLEXIBLE as you can switch between control styles on the fly, but you'll most likely want to stick with the Wiimote only options as the vertical orientation is the most user-friendly option with the point-n-click controlls. However, whenever your arm gets tired, you can easily flip to horizontal orientation & use the control pad to move the on-screen cursor that appears & use 2 to make your swaps without having to pause the game. The only complaint I have with the controls is that they can periodically be a little too sensitive & cause some bad moves, which can hurt you in action mode. However, this is only a minor complaint as I sometimes get ahead of the game while the gems are falling.

FINAL VERDICT: Buy with SERIOUS Reservations -- While it's like THE puzzle game of the 2000's (like Tetris was THE puzzle game of the 1990's), it's available on practically EVERY GAMING PLATFORM AVAILABLE! Pop Cap made a fashionably late entrance with the WiiWare version, you may not be inclined to buy this version when you have the PC, DS, DSiWare, iPod, iTouch/iPhone, iPad, XBox 360, Plug-n-Play TV &/or Mobile versions. The other major reservation is the lack of the unlockable extras, which made the PC version even better, which gives you a basic "light" version of the game. If the price was set to $5 (DSiWare price) instead of $10 (PC price), it would have countered my reservations. HOWEVER, if your a fan of the game, you're going to buy it regardless of my recommendation.

In short, if already have another version of the game... you can probably resist the temptation here. Otherwise, go ahead & buy it so you won't have to fight others (Friends, Siblings, Parents, or even your Grandparents) to play the game.

Mega Man 9 (WiiWare) Review
Topic: Game Review
Game Details
Cost: 1,000 NP's (~$10) + Premium DLC
# of Players: 1
Control Style: Wiimote ONLY, horizontal orientation
WiiConnect24 Enhanced

 

It's been 15 years since the Mega Man series departed from the NES era, but Capcom for some reason decided to return to it's 8-bit roots it 21st anniversary in 2008 with Mega Man 9! While the game is available for all modern platforms, I reviewing the WiiWare version... just because I have a Wii.

While it's been about 20 years since I last played one of the original Mega Man games (the last one I remember playing was Mega Man III), I can say this: Capcom has NOT lost their touch when they made this contraversial decision to go totally retro on practically all aspects of the game! The only "new" things added to the classic formula are save files (since the turn of the millenium & replaced the old password system), online support & Premium Downloadable Content.

For those who've played any of the old Mega Man games on the NES, then prepare to relive your childhood for a bit. The guy's at Penny Arcade perfectly sumerize the experience with their strip "Kid Games". The experience is that strong! I will warn you that Capcom holds no punches & will use nearly EVERY CHEAP SHOT known to frustrate you. So you'll either need to be a masochistic or a VERY PERSISTENT gamer (however, being both doesn't hurt).

For those who are new to the ORIGINAL Mega Man series or haven't kept up, here's the gist... The futuristic world (sometime in the 21st century), there are robots that are designed to handle nearly every job so that humans can be safer & live better lives. The most famous robot designer is Dr. Thomas Light, who created two special robots to be companions: a male robot named Rock & a female robot named Roll. HOWEVER, around a rival designer named Dr. Wiley has more sinster aspirations... namely World Domination. In order to defeat Dr. Wiley & save the world, Dr. Light has modified Rock to become a defender who would be known as "Mega Man". In Mega Man 9, some of the Robots that Dr. Light designed has suddenly turned against human. Dr. Wiley leaks a report to the press WITH a bit of video tape that villanize Dr. Light. Dr. Wiley claims that he can save the world from these revolting robots & the plans of Dr. Light with the donations of the public to his Swiss Bank account. Mega Man decides to investigate into the matter himself as he doesn't buy into Dr. Wiley's outrageous claims, considering his past track record, & tries to clear Dr. Light's good name.

When you actually start the game (by selecting "start game" from the game menu), you'll be presented with stage select screen with 8 different robots that you must defeat. While you can choose the order in which you attempt the stages, the secret is trying to find the optimum order since each robot you defeat gives you a special weapon & each robot has different strengths & weaknesses. Each stage themselves have different obstacles that you have to face as well. As you complete the stages, the storyline will unfold. Once you defeate all 8 robots, you'll open up the final stage, which is comprised of 4 stage parts. As already warned you before, all the old school cheap shots are unleashed upon a new generation of unexpecting gamers. Cheap shots like enemies coming out of the hole that you were planning to jump over for starters. Tricky jumps & those annoying block-jumping patterns over a cavernous void or a pit of insta-death spikes that the series is famous for inflicting upon players. There are also a few new cheap shots added, just to keep you on your guard.

Mega Man 9 does take a step back by removing the slide move (introduced in Mega Man 3) & Mega Buster Charger (introduced in Mega Man 4), but they added an item shop. Players now collect screws while they play through the stages that they can exchange for helpful items like Energy Tanks & single-use,anti-insta-death items that can help players get through some of the frustratingly difficult areas. While obtaining screws isn't easy, they do carry over from stage to stage & from game to game (assuming you save). While hardcore Mega Man players may scoff at the item shop, lesser experienced players will want to utilize it to help make the game a little more bearable to play.

The graphics & the music, while totally 8-bit old school, is practically perfect for the game. Capcom has even included the "legacy graphics" option, which truely emulates the original NES by having some of graphics flicker as the system tried to keep up with the action. While it's a nice idea, I prefer to keep it disabled just because it's a legacy of a bygone era that will likely annoy more modern gamers as the game isn't taxing the system's processor. Gameplay is SPOT ON to a fault. While you'll need to hold onto the Wiimote like a NES controller, the controls are responsive just like the old NES games. However, this can be a drawback in some situations where you need to be precise with your movements... but that's normal for the Mega Man series & you'll pay dearly for your mistakes.

The gameplay is the same quality & difficulty of the NES Era games. What the main game lacks in quantity (with only 13 stages), it makes up for with challenging difficulty that gamers use to pay $30-$50 for. However, the premium DLC helps extends the game for very reasonable prices. There's Hero (Hard) & Super Hero (Very Hard) modes that are guarenteed to serve your ass on a silver platter in half the time. There's Endless & Time Attack modes for those who like to see how far they can go or how fast they can complete a challenge. However, the best buy for DLC is Proto Man mode, where you get to play the game as Proto Man. The main difference between the normal game & Proto Man mode is that Proto Man has a shield (which he used while he jumps) & slide, but Proto Man takes more damage than Mega Man & you don't have the item shop to help you. Since this is a "modern" game release, it wouldn't be totally complete (or at least for XBox 360 users) if it didn't have an achievements list to keep players coming back. I know it's a cheap trick to extend gameplay, but there are some achievement whores out there that will try to obtain every single achievement in the game for bragging rights.

FINAL VERDICT: BUY IT!!! -- If it was released during the NES era, people would be spending $50 on this game that you can buy for only $10! While the overall price would be closer to $20 after buying all the premium DLC, but that's still a great value for a game that will challenge practically everybody! This is as about as close as kids will get to the games that their parents grew up with WITHOUT actually pulling out the old consoles (or buying the Virtual Console version).