My Wii Games

World of Goo is a brilliant puzzle game. The concepts are deceptively simple, as they are with most great puzzle games. You use balls of 'goo' that attach to each other to form beams. These beams are like stretchy bands and result in interesting structures. The physics of the game is incredible and greatly enhances the enjoyment of the game. The game consists of mini puzzles, the aim of which is to feed the required number of goo balls into a vacuum pipe. You start from one point in the maze and build your goo structures to reach the pipe.

If that sounds simple (i.e. boring) so far, perish the thought. Just building the structures can get really challenging on some levels. In other levels figuring out the right structure for the level is the real challenge while the structure is itself quite easy to build. The toughest levels combine the two. You also get different types of goo balls as you go along to help you accomplish different tasks in a level. Despite the different types of balls, the focus firmly remains on solving the puzzle and building the structures, which is all good.

The level design is exceptional. Frequently, the levels are dynamic which results in very interesting solutions. One of my favourites involves using balloon goo balls and the wind to create a structure that is literally hanging in the air. The art direction and music is top notch. All the levels look very polished in addition to the aforementioned excellent puzzle design.

Minor quibbles include the background music, which is good but gets reused on so many levels that it can't help but feel repetitive. I would also have liked a way to save the game in the middle of a level. Without it, I end up having to redo one section several times while I figure out the rest of the puzzle (and fail repeatedly). This can get annoying in some of the longer levels.

The game has been on the top of the Wiiware charts since it's release and it's not hard to see why that it. A sequel to the game is already in the works. If they can keep the same innovative level design and iron out the quibbles (or not), they will have another excellent game on their hands.

This game has all the upsides of the intuitive Nintendo game and none of the downsides. The controls are *almost* exactly like the Golf game in Wii Sports. The game adds a level of sophistication and feedback to the controls that was not present in the Nintendo version. It also adds a full range of golf clubs. The rest is great as well - more players, more holes and gold courses to play, more game modes. Not to forget - online play. This game is a great experience and anyone who loves the Nintendo Golf game *must* pick this one up too.

The control scheme for Super Smash Bros is excellent. You use the A key for a normal move, B key for special moves. The nunchuk direction controller is used to move and it's direction also changes the type of your move. It takes about 10 minutes to learn and gives you about sex different moves. Nothing complicated like pressing half a dozen buttons in sequence. The control scheme has the hallmark of genius - simplicity.

The arenas are awesome, they can be sprawling as well as dynamic. The wealth of characters with varied abilities is also impressive. There is a story mode (in addition to the standard tournament mode) that I'm playing through and it seems to be fun as well. Nintendo never ceases to amaze me with the quality of their releases.

The gameplay of Mario Kart for the Wii is eerily similar to Mario Kart 64, which I loved. So it stands to reason that I love the latest game in the series too. The game looks great, all the elements are more polished and colourful. There are plenty of new tracks and vehicles. This is an excellent addition to this excellent series of games.

The strength of this game still lies in the gameplay, not technical virtuosity. The killer addition is online gameplay. Nintendo got this one absolutely right, again.

The only thing I don't like is the power up strategy. Basically, the further up the field you are, the worse power ups you get. The best ones are reserved for people lower down. It keeps the field competitive and is great if you're trying to come from behind but the flip side is that you can go from first to sixth or seventh in a matter of seconds. Still, it's about the only quibble I have after putting in some 50 hours of gameplay.

The idea is (deceptively) simple - take a tightly packed group of boxes and throw balls at boxes, pull at them, use other boxes to hit them etc. You get points for every box that falls over, more or less, unless there are multipliers and a few other tricks. Each stack of boxes is a puzzle that you can crack in several different ways. The physics engine is *very* impressive and so are the different puzzles. It's takes 5 minutes to learn, but I'm guessing that it will take me several hours to master.

You use the Wii remote to position yourself and then point at the box and then press the A button while you swing and then release the A button to release the ball. The ball's velocity is determined by how fast you move your controller. This type of natural gameplay cannot be done on any other console. This game really does make good use of the Wii's unique capabilities.

Did I mention you can have turn based competitive and co-operative multiplayer games? And that they are insanely fun too? There, I just did.

Nintendo made the right move by bundling this with the Wii. It gets you up and running and really shows how much fun this console can be.

I rarely play RPGs, but... this is *Lego* Star Wars, after all, and all six episodes of it too. So far I've played (and finished) Episode I. The game play is ... easy, even by my low standards and the focus is more on getting through the levels rather than the action. It's a lot of fun to play. When you mix Star Wars *and* Lego, how could it not be? The action is fun too, it's awesome to wave your light sabre around and use the 'force' to move your opponents. You have to use the 'force' to get through all the levels by solving mini-puzzles. It's totally awesome, it really is. Clearly, they have aimed this at a younger audience and for the older Star Wars fans (yours truly included), anything works anyway.

I was led to believe that the game consists of meandering around the ocean aimlessly. To my surprise, it's actually more fun than that. As you dive, you discover newer fishes and newer areas of the ocean. It's the new areas that interest me the most. So far, I've come across a forest of huge corals, an underwater cave and a hundred foot deep trench. The music is very good and changes with the area you're diving into. I still have to dive at night and it's supposed to look rather different, can't wait to get into that.

There are also small 'missions' you can accept, like being a diving partner for some tourist, helping find fishes for an aquarium, take photos underwater etc. They keep thing varied.

People who want a conventional 'game' should probably keep away from this one. Other people (like me) who want an interesting experience, beautiful visuals and a good background score will like this 'game'.

I haven't played any guitar hero game before this one and I went in expecting a lot. I wasn't disappointed - to a point. The gameplay is easy to pick up and it is consistently fun. Ultimately, the game lives and dies by the music selection. This is where it falls short of perfection, for me, at least. I like most of the songs available but not all of them, your mileage may vary. Still, lots of fun to play and unique in my game collection (till I grab Rock Band).

This is more like a Guitar Hero add-on than a new game since nothing has changed from Guitar Hero III except the song list. It's always good to have a new set of songs to rock with but it's not worth the full price. Grab it used or at a discount bin and rock on some more!

The last CSI game I played was on the PC - CSI: Three Dimensions of Murder. That was a very good game, engrossing and varied in it's cases. It also had very good game play, which never got in the way and added to the fun. Based on my previous experience, I got this game for my Wii, hoping to have another fun experience. I was *bitterly* disappointed.

They have basically made a rather clunky port of the PC game. The graphics are essentially similar to the last game. which look very dated three years on. They have kept the interface exactly the same as the PC game without bothering to update it or create something that uses the Wii's capabilities. It doesn't translate well to the Wii and is difficult to navigate which ends up detracting from the fun. Add to this, there's numerous visual and gameplay glitches. Have I mentioned how cheap this whole game feels?

Unless you are a hard core CSI fan and *must* play every game with CSI plastered on it, avoid this game. And if you must play it, try the PC version, it might offer better game play. And if you must play it on the Wii, rent it before you throw away any money on it.

Barely a game. Definitely not worth than the ten dollars you pay for it.

Disclaimer: My opinion of the game might be tainted by my natural disinclination for playing RPGs.

The innovative gameplay is the highlight of this Wiiware game. The idea is simple - you control the power of the wind and it moves everything it touches. You move your character around and perform other tasks with the wind. You control the wind by waving the Wii remote around. The learning curve is almost flat, you're up and running within minutes. The game looks good for the most part, the Wii doesn't have mind blowing graphics anyway but the game looks pretty.

The problem is that the game gets tedious within a few hours of playing. I'm 4 or 5 hours in right now and I don't think I'll replay it once I'm done with the story the first time around. It might be because I don't like RPGs that much or maybe the game isn't the best around. Probably a combination of the two.

The only reason I'm even playing this is the innovative gameplay. This makes good use of the Wii's capabilities. I'm sure developers will be looking to re-create and even improve on this game. So it does show the way but doesn't completely deliver. The game does provide good value, since it's a cheap Wiiware download. So I don't mind just playing it once and being done with it.

Works with just the Wii remote and you don't even have to move your hand while playing. It's basic blackjack, so replay value is basically infinite, Blackjack has probably not changed since it was invented. The game adds 'achievements' which are milestones you achieve while playing like winning a number of hands on the trot or getting a certain sum of money in the bank. They don't add or detract from the game. The only gripe I have is the sluggish dealer, wish there was an option to turn that off.

Tetris has always been an awesome game and there have been multiple versions of it on every conceivable platform. Tetris finally comes to the Wii in the form of Tetris Party. The 'party' bit is the usual gimmick with Wii games to emphasize their multi-player and casual nature. These new modes are fun, especially the co-operative mode with a doubled play area. The graphics and sound are mediocre at best. In conclusion, it's a reasonable (and cheap) way to get the classic Tetris on your Wii.