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Reviews
Kirby Dream Collection: Special Edition

He may not look like it, but this year Kirby has hit the big 2-0. To celebrate the guy’s birthday, Nintendo felt it only appropriate to release the Kirby Dream Collection: Special Edition for the Wii to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the franchise. Asking if it’s worth picking up is a redundant question, especially if you have been a Nintendo fan from the very beginning. The bonus features alone can be written off as a portion of the collection’s price point. The other portion is allocated to the six Kirby adventures that you get to experience without the need of tracking down the individual hardware and software. If you’re a collector of sorts and already own a Game Boy, NES, SNES, and N64 with the games included in the collection on hand; then congratulations – this collection may or may not apply to you. For everyone else, let me break down what comes in the pink box.

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Review
Mario Party 9

The majority of Nintendo fans have strong memories of Mario Party. We’re talking late nights with friends, screaming at each other for stealing stars, and nursing our hands back to health after brutal-analogue-stick-rotating-mini-games. Those were good times; simpler times – but the good times for Mario seemed to have dried up as things went on. The mechanics became tired and over-used, the soda had gone flat, and people just wanted to get on with their lives. When the Wii was released, interest in Mario Party was piqued again because of the play mechanics the Wii promised. Sadly, Mario Party 8 showed up to the party disoriented, confused, and lifeless. Now, however, with the release of Mario Party 9 for the Wii the development of the game has been handed to Nd Cube from Hudson Soft. Does this new developer breathe life into the stagnant series? Or is Mario left with only fond memories of his former party glory?

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Review
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond

Since my prior experience with the Pokémon phenomenon was limited, my first impression playing this game was that Pikachu reminded me of the chipmunk that my neighbours feed during the summer; said chipmunk occasionally wanders over to my place to see if there are any snacks to be had. It has the same puffy little cheeks; the same glassy, dead-eye gaze, too.

Once I got past that, PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond is a seemingly pleasant game that sends our hero, Pikachu, on a series of adventures with his “pals” to rescue his friends from an enchanted theme park. Oh, and to repair the very fabric of his universe which is being torn asunder by the evil being behind the kidnapping of the Pokémon. No biggie.

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Review
Rhythm Heaven Fever

Rhythm games are, by their very nature, addictive – especially if you are musically inclined. With one of the simplest goals of any game type (to keep the rhythm), this genre is very easy to get into and is, more often than not, packed to the brim with just-one-more-song-I-swear game-play. A few years ago, Rhythm Heaven for the Nintendo DS had us tapping our feet to the beat and swearing a blue streak when we missed a cue. Now, the franchise makes a triumphant return with Rhythm Heaven Fever for the Wii; how does it stack up against the DS version? Let’s find out!

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Fashionably Late Review
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

It’s hard to forget your first moments playing a video game. There were plenty of games that I truly enjoyed as I was growing up; the one that struck a chord with me very early on was The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. At the time, the Super Nintendo was my console of choice, taking me on journeys I never would have imagined otherwise. Link to the Past was one of the first journeys I had the privilege of exploring, quickly sparking a deep passion within me that is still as strong today as it was when I was a kid. Sometimes, those first moments are pivotal.

By now it should be clear that this popular game series is something that is very important to me. For every title in the series that I found less-than-stellar, there would be one that wowed me. Initially, Skyward Sword was somewhere in between these two poles, mostly because I figured that a strictly motion-controlled experience would negatively affect the performance. Even so, I was fascinated by the fact that there were new environments (presented in a classic mood). My doubts were slightly eroded after getting a hands-on preview; but, even after my somewhat positive session, I still clung to my doubts about the finished product. I was so worried that the experience would end up being boring, repetitive and formulaic – a huge problem for many games nowadays. I was torn, so much so that it took ages to even finish this review!

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Review
Fortune Street

There have been a number if board games for the Wii. Inevitably, most usually involve moving around a board and then participating in a number of mini-games which, while fun, may not necessarily be ideal for those who want to sit back and relax. Absurd as it might seem, there are instances where playing a board game on the Wii is more fun than playing a physical version of the same game. Fortune Street (from Square Enix) doesn’t have a real physical form (that I am aware of), but it is an engaging and fun experience if you have the patience and the time.

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Review
Disney Universe

Boxing Week is upon us, which means that there are a few prime shopping days left in the year. This fashionably late review is well-timed, since it deals with a great game that the whole family can enjoy (aka: possibly a great purchase): Eurocom’s Disney Universe. Back during E3, we got the breakdown from Michelle Liem about this game; then we got to play it a few times since (once at X’11 Canada and then at Playstation Holiday). Now that we have spent some personal time with it, do we think that it will be to everyone’s taste? Perhaps not. Do we still think it is a great game? Yes. Yes we do. Read on.

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