Various Formats - Mortal Kombat

Various Formats

Mortal Kombat

Oh, come on. It had to happen eventually. I had to cover one of the most controversial, bloodthirsty games of all time, the game that infuriated a whole generation of clueless parents. The game that pretty much invented the "Death Move", brought blood and guts to be standard fare in video games, and really kicked off what was just the beginning of increasingly violent digitised beat 'em-ups across all available formats.

But no-one, except Midway, made decent ones. Pretenders all were the likes of Survival Arts, Street Fighter: The Movie, Time Killers (OK, not digitised, but riding on the crest of the violence wave), Kasumi Ninja, Way of the Warrior and Vicious Circle. Mortal Kombat and its sequels seemed to be the only games of this type that really WORKED, that didn't come across as a gimmicky load of old tripe.

Right, enough of this, let's dive in.

The arcade version came along first; 7 characters, a fairly standard moveset for each (except for the specials, of course), and a back story that spawned a million (approx) fan stories and ran deeper than Advanced Lawnmower Simulator. Let's touch on that quickly (it gets more and more complicated as the series expanded), basically there is the Earthrealm and the Outworld or some such place, where there exists a fighting tournament, which some guy called Shang Tsung has corrupted. Thanks to his meddling, there now exists a rule where 10 victories in a row for Outworld would result in the Earthrealm being overrun by Shao Khan's Outworld forces. How marvellous!

Naturally, of course, it falls to the fighters of Earthrealm to stop this, especially since last year was victory number 9...

So, the characters first of all: they're a varied bunch, a couple of Ninjas, the token Bruce Lee-alike, a God of Lightning, a film star, a mercenary and a woman. Each of them has the standard moveset, which is high and low punches and kicks as standard, the leg sweep, the big uppercut, the overhead throw and a roundhouse kick. Without special moves, each character would actually handle identically.

But there ARE special moves, although usually only 2 or 3 per character. Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, Kano, Rayden and Sonya all have a "Fireball" move (ok, it might be lightning or a knife, but the effect is the same), whilst Scorpion and Sub-Zero have slightly different moves... Scorpion has a harpoon, which, on successful impact, he uses to drag the enemy in close, briefly dazed, for either a throw or an uppercut for best results. Sub-Zero uses an iceball, freezing the opponent on the spot, again with chance to get in close for a throw or an uppercut. Be careful, though, attempting to freeze an already frozen opponent will result in a "Double Ice Backfire". Oooh, nasty.

Other special moves tend to be something like a "teleport" punch or kick variant, or Johnny Cage has the "Package Check" punch, which is good for a laugh. But the big part of the game was without doubt the fatalities. That's right, upon winning your second round, you were commanded to finish your opponent, a swift joystick combination from the correct place on the screen would result in some kind of bloodthirsty finishing move, which caused outrage in some anti-video game circles, but then again, so did most games, so maybe we can't pay too much attention to that.

Your game would consist of beating each opponent in turn, then a "Mirror Match" against yourself, followed by 3 "Endurance" matches where you must beat 2 opponents. Then comes the big guy, Goro, a huge 4-armed half-human half-dragon who is not at all easy to beat, and then the final boss, the fireball-spamming Shang Tsung himself. Occasionally you'll be asked to "Test Your Might" against a variety of substances, starting with wood and going up to diamond, this little sub-game was a button-bashing frenzy to build up the power and strike. A nice little diversion, there.

You know, I'm going to be brutally honest here... Without the death moves, Mortal Kombat would probably have never "made it", there wouldn't have been a sequel, there wouldn't have been a film, and there certainly wouldn't have been so much fuss about what is mostly a fairly "average" beat 'em-up.

Hold on though, there is more... Y'see, Mortal Kombat was a sneaky and deceptive game, in that there were a few little tid-bits to deliberately keep surprises coming. First of all, on occasion a Green version of Scorpion and Sub-Zero would drop down before a match, give you a little bit of information, then jump away again... This was Reptile, and he was a hard-to-reach secret character. Once you got the clues, you then needed a little luck to find and face him anyway. You needed to fight on the Pit stage, with shadows going across the moon (I seem to remember this was a 1-in-64 chance every time you reach the Pit level), win with 2 flawless victories, no blocking, and do your fatality. Until you find that Reptile is a faster enemy combining Scorpion AND Sub-Zero's special moves, which makes him very hard to beat. But still, word of mouth spread news of his existence.

Another rumour was that of more hidden characters, such as Ermac, this was in fact just the name of a counter for "Error Macros". But still, it led to false counters being introduced in subsequent Mortal Kombat games in the future.

But it was the death moves, the fatalities, that everyone wanted to see. Still my personal favourite was Sub-Zero's Head-and-Spinal-Cord-Removal, though Kano's Heart-Rip was also good. Liu Kang's was crap, though, basically a somersault kick and an uppercut, leaving no clue that the opponent was actually dead, except for the big "Fatality" bonus, that is.

Uppercutting your opponent on the pit stage would cause them to fall onto a bed of spikes, ironically Reptile's lair, which was always nice.

So, the arcade game was superb, how were the conversions handled?

The SNES version was heavily censored, and removed blood (instead replaced with "Sweat") and changed several of the death moves to less "gruesome" moves. However, it still played really well, which is always a good thing. The Megadrive version started out with no blood, but had two codes to activate it again, which of course, everyone did. Despite some slight compromising on the graphics, it retained the speed and action of the arcade game, enough to compete with the SNES, so simply for the fact of the added gore, the Megadrive version just about trumps the SNES here, although you NEEDED a 6 button pad for complete control.

The Amiga version was absolutely superb. It SHOULDN'T have worked, especially with only one fire button (I can't remember how it was done myself, but I promise you it worked perfectly), but the game was outstandingly good, and probably the most graphically impressive of all the 16-bit versions, but with disk loading times, and obviously getting used to the 1-button system, the Megadrive version would still win out, just about.

However, the PC version was ARCADE PERFECT, except for the music which was probably better. Of course, you can just play it in MAME now, but without doubt, if you're going to find a home version, the PC is the one to go for. Although with it being DOS based, you might have a few problems here and there.

The MK series got better, though, and even progressed into 3D, but the original game will always hold a special place in my heart. It's just a shame my heart is in Kano's hand and I'm on the floor. D'oh.

Handheld Games - Bombsweeper

Handheld Games

Bombsweeper

Any retro gamer worth his salt will at the very least be aware of Nintendo's famous Game & Watch range. Most of them will probably own one at the very least. But if you've never heard of them, they're a pretty simple concept: Combine the best parts of LCD-based gameplay with the features of a clock (including an alarm). Except, most LCD-based games were pretty crappy.

Nintendo, however, got some things right... Simple concepts and simple games make successful games. Well, they did back in the good old days.

Bombsweeper was one of the best LCD based games (pre-Gameboy) you could buy. And guess what... it was a simple concept.

In fact, it's kind of like Pengo or whatever variation of that you like to call it. The naughty Jack has decided for some reason to jump down into the sewer and plant a load of bombs. The policeman on hand is highly useless, but allows John Solver (that's you, by the way) to dive in after him and defuse them all.

The gameplay mechanics are simple enough... reach one of the bombs (hidden in the walls) before time runs out. This may mean negotiating a maze, or it may mean pushing walls around a bit. Simply enough, you can only push a wall if there's no wall obstructing its path. Logic is needed in abundance. The thing to remember is you only need to reach ONE of the bombs, some may just be Red Herrings.

And that really is it. Almost.

There's two variations to the game, Game A is a series of set puzzles with a 40 second time limit. These are much more taxing on the old grey matter, but generally leave you with plenty of time to complete the puzzle and gain points aplenty. Every ten levels you will then face a scrolling level, where you must avoid being crushed by walls as you attempt to reach the end and the one single bomb. No time limits on this bit.

Game B generates mazes in a random order. Each one can be completed rather simply and in a matter of 2-4 senconds. Doesn't sound like a challenge? At first, it isn't. You start off with a 40 second time limit, but this steadily decreases until you're down to just 4 seconds for each level. Oh, yes, this is a d-pad tapping frenzy from one level to the next, with NO let-up whatsoever.

BUT once again, the simple and frantic gameplay pays dividends. It's a marvellous little hand-held game. If you see one at a car boot sale, it's worth a punt. Trust me.

SNES - Rock 'n' Roll Racing

SNES
Rock ‘N’ Roll Racing

If it wasn’t for the musical score, this game would play in near silence, and would simply be called “Racing”.

Yep, there’s nothing Rock ‘N’ Roll about the game itself, but the choice of music on offer while you race is spectacularly good. Of course, just as graphics alone do not a good game make, neither does a soundtrack.

Luckily enough, then, this game was pretty good, at least for a while. Taking a kind of isometric viewpoint, the graphical style is reminiscent of Skidmarks, or even RC Pro-Am, and the handling’s fairly similar too. You will find yourself skidding quite nicely round corners, and the whole thing moves at a fair old whip.

Let’s get some semblance of order to this review. You get to choose one of various racers to take through some kind of racing league, where you must earn a set number of points to progress to the next division. The racers you choose from have their own benefits, some accelerate better, some handle better, some have a higher top speed. Leagues are held on a series of planets, and in order to be competitive you will need to upgrade your vehicle when you can.

There is, as you might expect, hidden characters in the game, one is Olaf from The Lost Vikings, the other is a mysterious shadowy character, and they both have the benefit of improved stats above anyone else. Whilst Olaf is accessible through a button combination on the character select screen, “The Shadow” is only accessible through a password.

And so we’re off to our first planet, and the races begin. The first set of tracks are very uncomplicated efforts, which is a good job as your car’s handling isn’t up to much at this stage. For that matter, neither are your power-ups. With each race you’ll earn points, and you need a certain number of points to progress to the next set of races, or indeed next planet. However, as you earn money in each race, you’ll probably not want to move on early, maximising your money for upgrades or new cars.

Upgrading your car is simple enough, there’s the usual components that can be upgraded; the tyres, engine, and armour, for example… but then there’s the weaponry. No futuristic race game is complete without some form of weaponry, right? The actual weapons used depend on your vehicle, but you can increase the amount of ammunition you carry… which is magically replenished each lap.

So the weapons then… there’s 3 categories of weapon, your “Forward” weapons, “Rear” weapons and “Boosts”. To begin with, they’re all pretty crap, you’ll get weak little bullets to fire forwards, “Slipsauce” to drop behind you, and a Jumping ability which can be used to cut corners, but is more likely to cause you to fall off the track than give you any real benefit.

They get better though, missiles and “Sundog Beams” (imagine fireballs with homing capabilities) will become available, as will nitro boosts (far more useful than “jumping”!), and various types of mines to drop behind you.

Trying to stop you conquering the game are Rip & Shred, they’ll always be two of your opponents in every race (except if you’re playing a 2 player race, obviously.), the other will be the current planet’s resident champion.

Gameplay aside, then, the “Rock n Roll” aspect of the game came from the music. And what a great soundtrack it was… With tunes like the Peter Gunn theme, Paranoid, Born to be Wild and Bad to the Bone, it tied into the game very nicely, but became a little on the repetitive side after a dozen races... as did some of the races.

Thankfully the gameplay and track layout remained varied enough to keep you interested, whilst Larry, the in-game commentator, will repeatedly tell you who’s “about to blow”, or who finishes a “weak 3rd” in the race.

Whilst I doubt I’d have the inclination to play the whole game through again, I’d enjoy playing through the last planet or something, and I’d certainly recommend giving it the time of day. If you’re a fan of sliding your way round corners at breakneck speed to a great soundtrack, you might just get drawn right in.

Nintendo 64 - Goldeneye

Nintendo 64
Goldeneye

Ssssh. Calm down. I know, it’s difficult not to mention this game without feeling a trembling of excitement, even now, but we’ve got to try and be sensible about this. It’s a game, an old game by today’s standards and nothing more.

WHAT??!? AN “OLD” GAME??!? ARGUABLY THE MOST DEFINING MOMENT IN FIRST PERSON SHOOTER HISTORY, AND YOU REFER TO IT AS NOTHING MORE THAN AN “OLD” GAME???!

Cripes, my split personality has decided to grace me with his presence for this review. And for once, I have to agree, he’s got a point. I can’t remember a game before Goldeneye where the enemy reacted so realistically. Except maybe Hitman:Codename 47.

BUT THIS CAME OUT YEARS BEFORE CODENAME 47 GRACED OUR SCREENS WITH HIS BARCODED BONCE!

Yes, this is true, hence Goldeneye was years ahead of its time. If I could be allowed to continue without such frequent interruption? A nod will suffice…

Right, so in a big step away from the old formula of James Bond games (which, if memory serves, Gremlin Graphics had the rights to them all and were supposed to be releasing them at a rate of 1 a year), Rare brought us this frankly staggering epic for the Nintendo 64, and boy was it popular among both the casual and hardcore gamers alike…

CASUAL AND HARDCORE?

Ahem. Yes. In a bold progression in FPS history, Goldeneye dropped you into the world of James Bond, a world made up of polygonal enemies with texture-mapped faces, a high frame rate and amusing animation, half-decent enemy AI, and oodles of fun. With the 4-player split screen multiplayer mode, much fun was to be had sniping and killing your friends, but it’s the single-player game that worked so well on its own that helped in the quest to be a massive hit.

Let’s be honest, the one thing above all else that let down the FPS genre was a distinct lack of intelligence on the part of the enemy. It’s why online FPS games have been so popular, the skill of humans tends to be infinitely higher than that of any complex algorithm used to aid the computer-controlled enemy. Although much has changed since then, and things are undoubtedly much better now, Goldeneye paved the way forward with enemies that react more realistically than had ever been seen before.

TALK ABOUT THE STEALTH! TALK ABOUT THE STEALTH!

Alright, yeah, I’ll get to that now. Without a shadow of a doubt, the highlights of the piece were the stealth sections. There weren’t many, but it was very often better to creep along and not disturb the guards instead of charging in all guns blazing. In fact, for some levels, it was essential. Getting into a firefight, especially on the harder difficulty levels was not a sensible option.

Whilst we weren’t talking Metal Gear Solid levels of stealth, we were talking the kind where silenced weapons wouldn’t disturb a man from his duties. Memorably, climbing through a vent into the toilets on mission 2, and shooting the guard in the head, only to find you’d actually just shot his hat off, and he hadn’t noticed! Now that’s stealthy…

NO GAME’S PERFECT! STOP GIVING GOLDENEYE A HARD TIME!

Whilst Goldeneye had a lot of things, well, not exactly WRONG with it, but you know what I mean… There was a hell of a lot more right with it. But I’ll tell you what really hit the mark for me… after you complete the game, on a hard enough difficulty level, you open up a couple of extra missions. With the addition of Moonraker Lasers and the Golden Gun, these are a fitting tribute to James Bond movies as a whole, not just Goldeneye. But the ultimate moment was the unlocking of 007 mode.

Basically you could play the game completely customised according to how good you thought you were. Sliders allowed you to completely customise the accuracy, health and awareness of the enemy, and this resulted in being able to set yourself a whole new challenge. If you found the game a bit too easy in the main (There’s a good challenge there, sure, but if you complete it, then surely you need to make it slightly harder for the next time?) notch up the challenge a little bit with some improved accuracy or enemy health.

WOW! THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN AMAZING FEATURE! WHY DON’T MORE GAMES FEATURE THIS STROKE OF GENIUS?

Do you know, I really don’t know. And for what it’s worth, the other cheat modes that can be activated are genius too. To unlock them you have to complete missions within a time constraint and on a certain difficulty level. Some of these are especially difficult to achieve, but so worth the effort, especially the cheat that gifted you all available weaponry. Whilst you could carry an impossible amount of arsenal, the varied range available is very impressive and a lot of fun. The weaponry cheat also revealed a few weapons that you wouldn’t otherwise see (for example the standard shotgun, or taser)

HAVE YOU EVEN BEGUN TO TALK ABOUT THE GAME YET???

Well, no. Not really. Most of the game follows the plot of the film, although there are a couple of unrelated missions (the excellent Frigate mission, for instance). Each mission contains several objectives that must be met, on the harder difficulty levels there are usually more objectives to complete. For some, stealth is the order of the day, for others there’s the chance to get involved in a bit of an altercation, but one thing is for sure, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got some cover if you want to survive the harder difficulty levels.

These days, the game probably does look a little dated. But it has to be said, the game stunned the gaming press at the time, and even now it’s considered one of the benchmark titles. Hence the impending re-release of the game (in enhanced form) on the Nintendo Wii.

CRIPES. HOPE THEY DON’T F*** IT RIGHT UP.

We shall have to wait and see. I don’t know how they can make a mess of it, the winning formula is there, it just needs bringing up to date. And the multiplayer taken online.

But still, you should play the original, see where the FPS as we know it finally came of age, with serious and realistic graphics, serious gameplay, and serious amounts of fun.

I’M OFF NOW. GOODBYE.

Thank God that’s over.

Nintendo Wii - Resident Evil 4

Nintendo Wii
Resident Evil 4

Scary games have been around since the early 80s, probably one of the most famous was the TI99/4A hit, Hunt the Wumpus. Back then, the tense atmosphere created by the element of surprise made the game seem more sophisticated than it actually was… Almost as though the game was plotting your demise from the very beginning.

Fast forward a few years, and there’s System Shock 2, a game so incredibly dark and atmospheric, you almost can’t help but scream when approached by nasties from the shadows. Playing the game with the lights off was a sure sign of utter hardness, an example of “man at his most man”.  The game as a whole was well executed, and once again it seemed as though the game was planning to scare you senseless from the very beginning.

Which kind of brings me nicely round to Resident Evil 4. Once again, a game where every section has a perfectly orchestrated scene involved designed to terrify and frighten you to the point of breathlessness. And it’s done so well, I’m going to stick my neck out here, and make the boldest statement I have probably EVER made. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is gaming perfection, and strongly contests for “Best Game Ever” in my book.

OK, so now I need to back that up. 

First of all, the backstory. Ashley Graham, the President’s daughter is missing (hold on, is this a 1980s videogame?) and one man has been sent to find her; Leon S Kennedy, A.K.A… you. In your quest you will find yourself immersed in a world of the undead, the zombie-like Ganados are hiding Ashley somewhere, and it’s not long before they’re trying to eat your brains to prevent you completing your mission.

The game begins with some of the most difficult sections of the game (mainly because you haven’t “hardened up” by means of weaponry or increased health bar, which I’ll touch on in just a moment) where you first of all find yourself checking out a house on the outskirts of a village, then being attacked by the inhabitant, and then surrounded by several more of the brain dead outside. 

Once you escape this first little skirmish (although you’ll feel like that was actually a bit of a battle with your ammo so scarce, the truth is you didn’t have much to contend with there at all in comparison to later sections) you’ll head to the village, where you will in fact be chased into a building, repelling enemies from windows and the stairs, and just as your ammo is fizzling out you’ll be wondering how on Earth you’re supposed to survive this onslaught… And probably feeling really genuinely terrified because they just DON’T GIVE UP.

You haven’t seen the half of it yet though, believe me. This is a game of so many parts and sub-sections, it’s an epic adventure of gargantuan proportions. To give you an idea, I thought the game was nearly over and escape was nearby as I approached the big castle, only to find that in fact I had just finished ONE THIRD of the game, and had two equally huge levels to complete. And in that time you have some truly HUGE enemies to dispose of in any way you can. 

I mean, the first time you run into one of the Chainsaw-wielding zombies is bad enough (the ones with the bags on their head). With weak weaponry, he’s a real challenge to escape from, never mind kill, and it really is a case of running for your life as he’s not opposed to lopping your head off if he gets close enough. The grisly cut-scene does not disappoint, graphically depicting the sequence of events that occur in the event of contact between human neck and active high-powered chainsaw. (Just in case you’re not sure, it begins with pained expression on Leon’s face as chain begins to rip through his flesh, through excessive amounts of blood as the jugular and other blood-carrying lines are severed, to head being completely disconnected and lifeless body slumping to the floor. It’s intense and somewhat disturbing, but it really brings home the fragility of human life).

Along the way, you can save your progress by means of the typewriters scattered around the maps, something utilised since the original release back in the days of the Saturn, which might not earn any points for realism, but then again neither does the plot (although it does a good job of trying to convince us THIS COULD HAPPEN). One or two other features of the game are a little less convincing, but still don’t detract from what is a superb experience.

Feature number 1 is the Merchant. These guys are scattered throughout the map (sometimes in the same place as a Save Point), and they’re your one-stop shop for all things weaponry related, as well as a couple of other bits and pieces, such as a larger inventory, treasure maps and first aid sprays. He’ll also buy things from you, such as any treasure you might find (some treasure can be combined to make more valuable treasure, such as gems in a head-dress) or any ammo you’re not going to use. He’ll also tune up your weapons to make them more powerful, faster to reload, faster to fire or even just chamber more rounds at once (Again, perhaps a slight misjudgement making a sub-machine gun capable of holding a 250-round magazine).

You’ll want to toughen yourself up too, though. Along the way you’ll find herbs with healing qualities. Green herbs are the most common, and each one restores a good chunk of health. Mix them with a red herb, and they’ll completely refill your energy bar. Mix a green herb with a yellow herb and your maximum health is increased. Mix all three herbs together and get both your health bar increased and boosted to its new maximum.

Feature number 2 is the sub-games. The pendant-shooting game is fine (and you can understand / appreciate some sort of magical/mythical link between the pendants and what’s going on), but the shooting gallery moments feel like they were only put in to simply take the mick. They don’t really belong, and although there’s a nice bonus for collecting all the “prizes” and getting the top scores, they do feel like they shouldn’t be in there.

The main reason is there’s a massive game here already (50 hours of play time it took for me to finish it the first time!), but once you complete the game, you’re actually sorry it’s over, and you’ll want to do it again. Luckily, you’ll have unlocked “Professional Mode” (I think it’s supposed to be harder, but I can’t really tell), Separate Ways (Where you take the role of Ada Wong in all the parts of the story where she actually crosses your path through the game as Leon), Assignment Ada (another Ada Wong mission) and the Mercenary challenges. This, for me, is the pinnacle. The mercenaries missions basically form the premise of throwing you, kicking and screaming, straight into one of the hugely intense mega-battles from the main game (e.g. the first village) but this time REALLY with no end in sight, a time limit and high scores to challenge. Attain enough points and survive to the end of the time limit and unlock another character. There are 4 mercenary missions and 5 mercenaries to choose from.

There are several rewards for completing the extras, for example new costumes, but also new weapons you can receive or buy. For example, the “Chicago Typewriter” (a powerful machine gun) or the “Handcannon” (A Magnum variant that can be upgraded to 99 times as powerful as a standard handgun.)

Look, there’s not much more to say. This is an epic, and a classic. I’m going to say it once again, I’m a STRONG retro-head, firm in the belief that until this game, nothing had a hope of EVER being as good as Chaos, Sim City 2000, Pyro II, and so on.

This game has dominated my evenings of gaming completely, and even after completing it, I’m gasping for more, something that has NEVER happened before, except with Chaos.

If you don’t play this (on the Wii, the way it was MEANT to be played), and you miss out on many hours of some of the finest gaming to be had since the dawn of the electronic era.

Bloody play it. See for yourself. NOW.

There’s no excuse. None whatsoever.

You still reading this? Then go and buy a Wii and Resident Evil 4 now and immerse yourself. Do it.

Nintendo 64 - Super Mario 64

Nintendo 64

Super Mario 64

If ever there was a game series that was going to last forever, or at the very least die trying, the Mario games are precisely that.

Mario’s appearance over the years has barely changed. Alright, he’s joined the realms of 3D since his first appearances in Donkey Kong, but he is still the recognisable game sprite even today.

But his first foray into 3D was on Nintendo’s 64 bit console, and the game was received very warmly. So warmly, in fact, it is still considered as one of the best games of all time by many gamers, and regularly tops the “reader’s charts” that appear periodically, even above Super Mario Kart, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Ocarina Of Time, although sometimes Ocarina Of Time does jump above it.

Strange, they’re all Nintendo games. Well, it’s no secret that Nintendo consoles have been blessed by more than their fair share of classics. With the advent of Super Mario Galaxy, then, are we going to see another regular chart topper?

I don’t care, it’s not a retro game. Super Mario 64, on the other hand…

Quite simply, you need to play this game. It’s one of those that grabs you by the scruff of the neck, drags you in kicking and screaming, and refuses to let go until you reach a particularly tricky level, and then lets you make a choice; do you give up, you sad, pathetic wuss? Or, do you keep having a crack until you finally complete the game?

Well, in my case, I waited about 5 years before returning to it and finishing it off, but even then there’s plenty left to do.

Let me explain a little better. The object of the game is to find the Power Stars hidden around the castle. Most of these are in the individual levels, and obtaining them requires completion of a specific task, such as beating Koopa the Quick in a race to the top of the mountain, or beating the penguin in a downhill sliding race, or even just reaching a certain location. As you obtain more and more stars, doors in the castle unlock, opening ways to new levels. Each level has at least 8 stars to collect (There’s bonus stars available, such as collecting 100 coins or all 8 of the red coins on each level), and there’s also some hidden stars around the castle too.

Once you’ve collected enough stars, you’ll get the chance to take on Bowser in the final battle, and release Princess Peach from her imprisonment. But even then, there’s more to see as you will need EVERY star in the game to open the cannon to shoot you to the castle roof. I never did manage this, but I’m not one of these people who needs to see EVERYTHING a game has to offer, so I’m not right fussed. Actually, always having that little bit extra to achieve adds to the game’s longevity, so as far as I’m concerned it’s all good.

The important thing here is that Mario didn’t lose any of his charm as a character and indeed as a playable game through the transition to 3D, and thankfully Nintendo got it spot on. Amazingly the game feels as natural as the best 2D platformers, the analogue stick was simple and intuitive to control and the finer points of Mario’s acrobatics are explained by reading signs around the castle. And trust me, you’ll need them all as you try to collect all the stars available.

Mario’s finest moment, then, or at least it has been regarded so until the recent Super Mario Galaxy game. If ever you get a chance to play this on a real Nintendo 64, grab it with both hands.

Nintendo Wii - Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Nintendo Wii

Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Ever since the days of the Amiga, I can’t think of another game of this genre since Life And Death 2 (the one where you do brain surgery), so when the Trauma Center series arrived on these shores, I was instantly attracted. I think the DS version was the first to arrive, but then this version for the Wii proved to be one of the games I would get with the console.

Reviews marked it highly, magazines recommended it, surely it was going to be pretty good?

Absolutely. It was a fresh challenge of steady hands, quick reactions and a nice difficulty curve. Well, until you get to the final missions, that is.

The magazines raved about the steep difficulty level, but to my experience, it wasn’t all that hard to complete the main game. The final levels (the ones where you basically found out WHY the main diseases in the game had been created) were awfully hard, but rewardingly so. There was a reason why they were saved to last, and why you didn’t need to complete them yet still feel you’d beaten the game.

So, how easy is it to don the gown and surgical gloves and start slicing your way to someone’s innards?

Pretty straightforward. Grasp your remote in one hand, nunchuck in the other, use the nunchuck joystick to select your tools, and direct the pointer on screen with the remote. Pressing the A button will utilise your tool, so if it’s the scalpel, you’ll start slicing your way in. Occasionally you will need to use the defibrillator, on these occasions you must actually move toward the screen and time your charge to get the heart going again.

You do also have what’s known as the “Healing Touch”, but I won’t give away too much, you need to play the game, follow the story (which, by the way, is brilliantly delivered by way of lots of cutscenes and dialogue) and you’ll understand what it is, what it does and how it benefits everyone.

As you complete some missions, you’ll find a secondary story going on in the background. Once the main game is completed, the two storylines converge, building up to a not-entirely surprising ending.

Trust me, if you haven’t played this game yet, you have steady hands and like a nice challenge (and I stress, NICE challenge. It’s not as difficult as some magazines make out), invest in this title and begin operating on everybody who comes through Hope Hospital’s doors. Or do what I did at first and see how many times you can stab a heart with a scalpel before it gives up.