Room 785: Games Reviews
Any regular Room 785 viewer will know what an amazing 'gamer' Mike is. Amazingly BAD, that is! But he's very enthusiastic, bless him, and we applaud him for never giving up...despite being rubbish!
Here are his...ahem...'expert' views on the latest console games he's had his grubby little mits on!
Forget that cramp in your hands - GAME ON!
Mario Power Tennis(Nintendo Wii)
Being a massive fan of Nintendo's iconic mascot Mario, I instantly liked this game - as the characters, graphics, game-interface and sound effects had all the classic hallmarks of Nintendo's previous moustachioed-Italian-plumber offerings, of the last twenty years.
This game is extremely addictive and intuitive to play yet reasonably challenging - even on the "beginner" difficulty setting - ensuring that even an aspiring Roger Federer should get a fair amount of mileage from it, before dust begins to settle on your weary game wrack.
Whilst training and accuracy modes, requiring players to score points by carefully returning high-speed serves and smashes from opponents through virtual hoops, give this game a certain degree of depth... my only, but highly significant, criticism would unfortunately be that it all gave me a categorical sense of déjà vu. Sadly this game is all too reminiscent of Nintendo's very own Wii Sports offering, which comes free with many Wii packages! Admittedly, this is considerably better... but underneath the cute characters, twee graphics and whimsical music - the basic pemise and handling are virtually identical.
Fun, addictive and visually impressive.... yes.
Original, groundbreaking and genre defining... no.
Fantastic... if you don't already own Wii Sports.
Monster Jam(Nintendo Wii)
The description listed on the back of this game's case made it sound exciting... masive monster trucks... high-octane stunts... and mud! Unfortunately - I was very disappointed.
The graphics are incredibly mediocre... and the vehicle handling is next to impossible. As a result, playing this game is not an enjoyable experience - it is very frustrating and, in turn, infuriating. The trucks are virtually impossible to control and navigate around the demanding race tracks.
Perhaps this game would be fun once you have mastered it's demanding controls... but to do so would take an extremely long time... and for the small reward of simply being able to beat your friends and smile smugly... it hardly seems worthwhile investing the time.
I'd rather do maths revision.