Dancing Hotdogs

July 1st, 2009

By Eddy

A week ago, Divina, her sisters and I took the train to NYC because we were fortunate to be invited to the Namco Bandai Bloggers party.  Below are my thoughts on a couple of the game we previewed:

We Cheer 2

The follow up to the popular initial offering for the Wii, We Cheer 2 steps things up adding new songs (many of them I was actually able to recognize, solving one of the problems that I had with the first We Cheer.  Most of the songs for the original  were for the tween set. How is a 26 year old aspiring male cheerleader supposed to rock with his pom-poms out if he doesn’t recognize the song?).  Don’t worry tweeners there are plenty of songs from Miley, Demi and Selena etc. if you don’t recognize these first names then you are way too old.

We Cheer 2 allows you to customize your cheerleader as well as adding different difficulty levels like exercise mode.  To tell you the truth, in my experience with this game all the levels are exercise mode.  You swing and move your hand all over the place in various configuration and at a fast pace, if you add in all the jump kicks that I usually do when playing you get a heck of a work out.

 In terms of look, the games has a lot going on in the screen, the graphics don’t appear to have improved vastly, but like in most Wii games you aren’t  playing for the realistic nature of the images.  All in all, I found the game pretty enjoyable.  It was definitely a hit with all the kids and even the grown ups were having a good time playing.  It definitely leads to a lot of embarrassing pictures for those who played.

Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao

Downloadable on both the Xbox live and Playstation Network, Invincible Tiger brings us back to the side scrolling world of oldies but goodies like Kung Fu and Double Dragon.  The game takes place in an undetermined place in China during the kung fu hey day that most kung fu movies of the 70s takes place (note that I have no idea when this takes place).  In true kung fu fashion, Han Tao our hero has to run around kicking and beating down an endless line of bad guys.  While the fighting might be simple in theory with more or less two button fight but do not be mislead there are a number of special moves that add variety in the fighting as well as a dodging system..

One of the most interesting features of the game is that it can be seen in two different ways.  One takes advantage of the current crazy in cinema and present the game in 3-D. Gamers are asked to pop on the good old red and blue lens glasses and watch as much of the background action begins to pop out of the screen.  For some reason 3-D does not really work for my eyes, for those of you like me the 2-D presentation is equally as vivid with the added touch of the grainy film lines that are ever present in those kung fu movies of the past. 

For my money, I think that this game was one of the better ones that I saw, add in the fact that it will definitely cost less than a regular game and  it is definitely worth keeping your eye on.

Dead to Rights-Retribution

I was only able to play two levels in this Playstation 3 game, but let me tell you it was impressive.  A reboot of the series, we are brought back to the origins of Jack Slate and his dog Shadow. I will have to admit that I never played the older games and I was definitely unfamiliar with the game controls and other aspects of the game, but when the controller was put in my hand I was totally immersed. 

I first played as Jack Slate, the game controls while alien to me at the time soon became a little more fluid, I think if I had spent more time with it, I would have had no problem navigating my way.   For the most part, this game is a third person hand to hand combat game with a style similar to Gears of War with a duck and cover system.  Unlike Gears, Jack Slate relies more on hand to hand combat, but do not worry there are plenty of guns to shoot and grenades to launch.  While I would have liked a better targeting system (I had trouble locating and tracking on a bad guy) I am sure experienced hardcore gamers will have no problems. 

I also played as Shadow the dog, running around protecting a hurt Jack Slate, by mauling and tackling creeping bad guys. Be prepared for a large amount of blood and violence, the mature rating is well deserved.

Active Life: Extreme Challenge

The next installment in the floor pad, hyper, tiring but fun Wii series, Active life: Extreme Challenge brings us out into the world of extreme sports.  With activities such as rock climbing and base jumping, you won’t mistake this for the real thing but the entire family should have a good time in playing the game. The game allows the inclusion of Mii’s into the game which allows for more personalization.

If you are looking for a workout and can’t afford the Wii Fit, this is the game for you. Various games have you on the floor, standing, jumping and everywhere in between. These games have always been one of my favorites and it actually develops a good amount of body coordination.

Katamari Forever

For those of you that don’t know this an addictive PS3 game, that has the player rolling some ball around expansive level or world doing various different tasks. The most interesting are the levels which have you roll over various objects collecting them like a snow ball growing ever larger.  There is no real point to the game (The game is about bringing color back to the Universe after it was some how lost), but the graphics and the various whimsical elements and level just pull you right in and need no explanation or logic to them. Being on the PS3 means that it is in full 1080 HD resolution which when playing looks spectacular.  I wished that I had more time to play the game…like I said it is pretty addictive.

Tekken 6

The next installment of the series boast a even larger cast of fighters as well as including others that have not been in the series in a long time.  In addition, a new motion engine that allows for a crisper and clearer imagine during the fast action scene in the game.  All the staples of a Tekken game are present with a tournament style mode as the center piece as well as an adventure mode that includes multiplayer.  A greater amount of customization is now allowed so you can make your favorite character your own.

I was not able to play the game (the line was too long), but from what I saw the fighting was very fluid and the new moves and characters brutal.  The environments in the tournament fighting were extremely detailed and appeared to be interactive, with a number of fighters being thrown through windows.  All in all, Tekken 6 looks like it is going to be a welcomed addition to the series.