Nintendo Wii Reviews

SimAnimals

SimAnimals, the latest Sim video game from Electronic Arts, lets you explore a vast forest of wild animals and make it your own. With over 30 species of animals spread out in the woodlands, swamps, and more, this game will reveal secrets about the wilderness and teach you what it takes to survive in the wildlife.

Use the Wii remote to interact with dozens of animals. View larger.

Plants and animals will habitat differently depending on your actions. View larger.

Beavers can create a dam to trap water. View larger.

Engage with Your Favorite Animals
Whether you like bears, foxes, badgers, squirrels, or owls, SimAnimals lets you touch, move, and play with them and other animals from the Northern Hemisphere. Using the Wii remote, you can pick an animal up and bring him to his friends, feed a bear, and touch just about everything in the forest, including trees and flowers.

Depending on how you treat the animals, they will either trust you or fear you, which in turn will affect how they evolve. How the forest ends up is up to you, but remember that you can only unlock new forest areas and explore into areas such as the swamps or castle ruins when the animals are happy. There are a total of 11 areas that need to be unlocked one at a time.

Interactive, Dynamic Environment
All of the areas in the forest are connected, and what you do in one area will cause changes to happen in another. For example, if the beavers build a dam, it will create a lake on one side of it while removing the water on the other side. This in turn can create a large amount of ducks in the lake, but plants that needed water down the river might die out. You’ll have a lot of fun watching all these changes in the world occur in real time.

Solve Different Challenges and Discover Forest Secrets
SimAnimals provides players with different challenges to solve in order to live happily in the forest. You’ll have to figure out which plants grow better when near water, which foods different animals need to live near, and more. As you get further into the forest, you’ll meet animals with special abilities and one-of-a-kind objects.

Play Together in the Forest with your Friends
You can have up to three other friends to play with you in the forest, interacting with the animals all at once. Your idea of a good forest might conflict with someone else’s, and you’ll see interesting results every time you play.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Game is probably fun for kids
The game is pretty boring. It is the same concept over and over.

All you do is the same at every area. It works like this:

You are new to an area and have to grow plants to draw an animal in.

Once the animal is in you have to have it mate. Then when there are more of the same species, some predators come in. You have to let animals eat and mate faster then the predators can eat them so you can advance to the next level. Each level you deal with bigger animals and bigger predators.

Whether you play with mice or elephants, the idea is exactly the same.

This is the same as World of Warcraft. In WoW you have to kill things that make you stronger so you can kill stronger things. The ratios will be always the same, so the gameplay never changes from level 1 to 1000.

5 Stars Great game!
Hi I’m a ten year old Wii lover and I just want to say, “This game is great!”

Even though bears, raccoons, weasles and wolves can kill other animals, if you collect water and drop it on them, the fight will stop. Overall a very fun game!

2 Stars Unintentionally creepy
We picked up this game to play with our daughter who loves animals but has this love somewhat tempered by an understanding of the cycles of life and death in the animal kingdom. The game starts out benignly, with the player learning how to interact and befriend animals. Skills are picked up and areas become open as tasks are completed. You have many quasi-realistic systems such as animals needing a certain type of food to be successful desiring to live in an appropriate environment and find a mate. Pollution is in some of the areas and can be cleaned by the player. As you proceed, Sim Animals starts to add some strange parts that get more twisted as they play out in the game world.

As mentioned earlier, you befriend animals and they become more comfortable with you. They get used to your interactions so much that you can put them in your backpack and move them to other areas. Cute, a neat game mechanic. You can even name them! Timmy the Squirrel for instance. Then you get missions to get animals to befriend one another. “Get Timmy the Squirrel to be friends with a Deer.” A bit strange but manageable in the name of animal cuteness. Timmy’s playing with a fawn, awwww!

Now the game introduces carnivores with missions of their own. Suddenly you have a weasel that needs two squirrels to be happy. So what do you do put Timmy and Tommy in your backpack and drop them off in Happy Acres with Mortimer the Weasel? Yup. Bloodless carnage ensues. Our kid is pretty smart but was feeling very manipulated and sad. She even got sad that she could zap the predators with lightning to drive them away! All in all the mix of “realistic” ecology and warm fuzzies did not go over well with us. The pacing of the game was dull and the landscapes and situations were uninspiring. At the same time the game got crazy in a lame way as you have to look all over the map for the bear who’s mauling all your little buddies.

Overall a big disappointment for big and little gamers.

Brian

3 Stars I LOVE Animals Games BUT…
SimAnimals is not what I thought it was going to be. The game controls are kind of difficult with having to move around so much and change angle views. It’s hard to get a lot of the animals to trust you no matter what you do. Heck I can’t even get the regular house cat to trust me and to come to me. I didn’t realize when I purchased the game that the animals eat the other animals if you don’t watch them. I wasn’t expecting the house cat to eat my squirrel. I also wasn’t expecting that I would have to keep the animals out of fights with each other and keep them from literally killing each other. Granted I realize in real life that is how the cycle works but I didn’t think that they would incorporate it into SimAnimals. I don’t buy animal games to watch the animals get hurt and killed. I buy animal games because they are cute, fun, and entertaining. The gameplay also gets a little boring after a while when you can’t get anywhere with it.

I gave it three stars because the graphics are awesome and the animals look so real. I could also get the squirrels to trust me so that was another plus. lol.

Overall SimAnimals isn’t the game I thought it was going to be. The previews are a lot better than what the game ended up being. Again I am a HUGE animal lover and animal game lover and I was disappointed with this game.

4 Stars Fun but made my daughter CRY!
My daughter got this game for her 7th Birthday and today she finally took some time to play and loves it.. that is until the weasel came along and ate 2 of her rabbits and one of her squirrels, she was crying, i felt awful! So if you have a sensitive kiddo who loves animals it might be good to explain to them first about the cycle of life before hand!

Otherwise it is alot of fun, she was jumping up and down every time she got a new animal unlocked!

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Popularity: 16% [?]

Balls of Fury

Welcome to the unsanctioned, underground world of ping-pong tournaments. In this game based on the 2007 movie, down-and-out former professional ping-pong phenom Randy Daytona is sucked into this maelstorm when FBI Agent Ernie Rodriguez recruits him for a secret mission. Randy is determined to bounce back and win, and to smoke out his father’s killer — Feng, a dirty ping-pong competitor who leaves a trail of bodies along his road to greatness. As Daytona, gamers must train for the big face-off with the help of several characters from the movie, including Master Wong and his niece Maggie, before being transported to Feng’s jungle compound where their skills are tested in a tournament against such competitors as Karl Wolfschtagg. In “Arcade” competition players can choose from eight different characters and play through a several challenges as they attempt to achieve high scores and the status of a ping-pong legend! ESRB Rated E10 for players age 10 and above.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars not as bad
I bought this game for my brother and it’s not that bad. It’s fun and it’s a typical ping pong game. The graphics are not that great, but I really believe that it is recieving way to much flack.

1 Star Balls of Fury not a good game
I purchased this game hoping it woud be similar to the table tennis that is on the Mario & Sonic Olympics game. Boy was I wrong….This game is cheap, and the graphics are horrible, if I would have known this game was so terrible, I wouldn’t have purchased it. I think that the Wii Sports disc has better graphics than this game! I do not recommend this game, unless you just want to see what its like, but its definitely not worth $28.99 that amazon is selling it for. I bought it when it was $19.99 and I think that price is too high.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Need for Speed Carbon

In Need for Speed: Carbon, what starts in the city is settled in the canyons. Risk everything in the world’s most dangerous and adrenaline-filled form of street racing. As the police turn up the heat, the battle ultimately shifts to Carbon Canyon, where territories and reputations can be lost on every perilous curve. Represent your car class, your crew, and your turf in Need for Speed Carbon, the next revolution in racing games.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Crap
Game sucks.

Need to be able to use the classic controller with it like you can with Underground and it would be better. Hubby begged for it and played it for a whole five minutes. Waste of money!

5 Stars Yet another great game from EA!
When I was looking on Amazon for a great racing game, I went straight to Need for Speed. Originally I was going to purchase Most Wanted because I thought Carbon was just a racing game like Prostreet: No Pursuits, no freeroam, just cars and racing. Then I did some research on Carbon. Carbon has nearly EXACTLY the same features as MW with the exclusion of helicopters (I didn’t really like them anyway), Drag Races are replaced with Drift racing, returning from Underground. Drift Racing drives me insane. Fortinately, they aren’t required to continue the career, but you will have to do one to get Tribal vinyls.

Then there’s the canyon. (dramatic music here)

Canyon racing can be both awesome and annoying at the same time. The dangerous part is on some turns there are yellow walls that break when touched. If you fall off, you lose, of course. Three types of canyon are in career: Canyon sprint (can’t fall of, both N2O and SB), Canyon Drift (Can fall off, N2O) and Canyon Duels (Can fall off) Canyon Duels are the best way to decide who’s the best racer at like a party or something.

Now to Career mode. Remember the BMW from NFSMW? The wicked blue and white one? You get to drive it for approximetly 30 seconds before you crash it into a truck. There are three catagories to choose from at the beginning after you totaled one of the coolest cars in the world. The catagories are Tuner (High turning, low speed) Muscle (High Accel, low turning) and Exotics (High speed, low accel can be easily fixed.) I went with Exotics, and I will never regret it. Of course, you can buy other types, too. The territory system is a major part of career. You and your crew(explained later) must concur the four main parts of Palmont City: Fortuna, Downtown, Kempton, and Silverton. Each are mostly owned by the four big boy street racers. Fortuna is owned by Wolf, leader of T.F.K., exotic (No idea what that stands for) Downtown is owned by Kenji, leader of Bushido, tuner, Kempton is owned by Angie, leader of 21’st Street, Muscle, and Silverton is owned by ???? (If I said the name, it would spoil the entire game.), leader of Stacked Deck, Mixed. Occasionally, you will be challenged by smaller crews to a race on your territory. If you accept, you race. If you say no, they get your territory. Now to the Crew system. In a race, you can have a crew member help you in a race and believe me, you want to. Trust me. There are three types of crew members: Blockers, drafters, and Scouts. Blockers, when activated, will ram the nearest car to him, sending him 95% of the time to last place. Drafters, I don’t know what they do, but they’re useless. Scouts find the fastest route around the track, and that includes shortcuts. Some crew members have outside race abilities, like unlocking Autosculpt (again, more on that later) parts, getting discounts on parts and cars, and lowering the zone heat level.

And what’s Street racing without the 5-0?

The pursuit system is nearly like the ones in Most wanted, without helicopters. Pursuits can happen in the middle of a race, or in Free Roam when you cause destruction and mayhem. In a pursuit, you are chased by the police, while you have to outrun -and outsmart- them. There is an Evade/Busted meter at the top that tells you how close you are to the two. You can total the cops by hitting there car a bunch of times, hitting them so hard they fly up in the air, or by pursuit breakers. Like most wanted, the higher your heat level, the more aggressive the cops are. Level 1 is Civic cruisers. Level 2 is Undercover Cruisers, and they will deploy Roadblocks, which you can easily get through with Speedbreaker. Level 3 is State Pursuit Vehicles, AKA Pontiac GTOs, and Roadblocks. Level 4 is when things get real tricky.There are Undercover Pursuit Vehicles. In Roadblocks, there will now be spike strips. If you drive over one, you lose your tires, and then your life will suck. Level 5 pursuits will be over in less than 30 seconds if you have a Tier 1 car. The 5-0 will throw everything they have at you: Federal Pursuit Vehicles, AKA Corvette Z06, Roadblocks, and Spikeys. Oh, one more thing: If you get Busted, you will be charged fines depending on the carnage you’ve caused. If you pay your fines, your car will get an impound strike. If you get three Impound strikes, it’s bye-bye to your car. If you lose your last car, or you can’t pay your fines, you are put in jail, and it’s game over, buddy.

Now to my Favorite part: Cars and Custimization! They have nearly ALL the cars from NFSMW and more. Some classics like the Gallardo and Mercedes SLR Mclaren return, along with new cars, like the Audi Le Mans Quattro and the Koenigsegg CCX. Even the BMW M3 E46 GTR returns! I can’t name all the cars, but go to [...] to find a big list of most of the cars. Custimization time! First, you can add a coat of paint to your car. You can get Matte, metalic, candy, iderescent, Chrome, and more in any color in the universe. Some more of the things you can add and autosculpt are vinyls, spoilers, rims, rim paint, roof scoops, window tint, hoods, ride height, and, in some cars like the Corvette, Chop Tops, and more. There are well over a million combinations of cars and colors and parts. Using much of your money you win from racing, you can upgrade the nitrous, engine, suspention, transmission, and more to make it faster and better than any car.

Now to the small flaws in Carbon. The Drift races are hard, but some people are naturally great, so this isn’t much of a flaw, just a lack of talent on my part. 2: There are only four bosses in this game. I was hoping to see more like a blacklist sort of system. 3: The whole game takes place at night, so it’s hard to see the curves in Canyon until it’s too late. 4: This game lacks online play, but it has multiplayer.

Overall, this game is nearly perfect, able to satisfy speedaholics everywhere. If you just want to race, or be on the edge and live like an outlaw, Need For Speed: Carbon is for you.

5 Stars Great Game
Bought this for my kids and they love it and could sit and play it for hours

3 Stars Love the game but…it has a glitch!
Yeah love the game, was really surprised at how much fun it was, love that you can customize your cars. I wish you could sell them though. I accidentally bought the same car twice and would love to be able to sell the extra car. Anyway game is fun but I was so upset to find that there is a glitch and I can’t get past a certain part. I am only about 65% through the game and now can’t get any further. Everytime I beat the race (one of the boss races) the game freezes and then I have to turn it off.

5 Stars Awesome game, worth any amount of money
This is by far one of the best games in the NFS series yet. Good controls, easy interface and so much fun. The races are great, drifting is much harder that in NFS: Underground 2, but it’s still fun, cop chases are HARD. For those who have played Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, this is MUCH harder than those chases. Even the 5 star chases are easier.

The one downside to this is the controls. The setups are not all the same as in Underground 2 and Hot pursuit 2 (the two I have besides this one. I’ve played more, though).

This game is worth whatever amount it’s being sold for.

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Popularity: 16% [?]

Mini Action Pak A for Nintendo Wii

This Mini Action Pak A comes with (1) Wii package: A/V Cable for Standard TV Connections, Nunchuk
Controller, Wii Stand, Wii Sports, Nintendo Wii Console, Wii Remote, (2)Red Steel, (3) Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, (4) Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, and (5) Extra Wii Nunchuck Controller and Remote.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star that alot of money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i can’t believe that this amazon would let this seller rip people off like this… you could go to game stop and buy a used system with a year warranty for about $230.. you could also buy the games very cheap here on amazon… buying used games is the best in value…

5 Stars Great package at a decent price
I don’t get why the other reviewers are complaining. They must be from a time when this package was more expensive. If you add up the original prices of all the stuff in this package…a Wii, 3 games, and an extra remote and nunchuk, it’s about $500 after tax. This is about the price it is currently being sold for on Amazon. Considering that it’s often difficult to find a Wii in stores, these prices are fair.

As for the games in this package…perfect for a teen. Zelda is the best game of the bundle and takes a long time to beat. Red Steel is a little hard to control sometimes, but not a bad game. Tony Hawk is really fun if you’re into the skating games. We still play Wii Sports, included with the Wii the most though. The whole family even joins in!

1 Star What?
Good luck finding a core wii system, all the fan boys bought them all so now we all have to pay ridiculous prices for one, well i got lucky and got mine for 250

1 Star bad prices
the onyl reason im writing negitive the system it self is great but these retailers on amazon are charging murder prices i cant afford 400 dollars and i dont know any one who can right now they have to be out of there mind i hope they never sell it im going to get my system at the nintendo store in new york for the correct retail price were i can afford it dont buy it from independent sellers on amazon the;ll just rip you off its a waste of time. id recommend ebay over these third party sellers any day

1 Star This bundle is a ripoff.
You can get the 3 games at 49.99. The rest of the package is just a nintendo wii, which you can get for 250 retail.

400 is the actual retail price for this (assuming you buy all the games new, and get the wii at regular retail price.)

DO NOT BUY THIS OR ANY BUNDLE IT IS A RIPOFF>

Buy/More Info

Popularity: 21% [?]

Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock Wireless Bundle PS2

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Awesome deal!
I bought this for my step-son for Christmas. We weren’t going to purchase this for him, as he’s not at our house much and thought it would be a waste of money. Boy, was I wrong. Not only did I do an online search for the best deal but also watched local sales ads, and found the best deal with Amazon. This game has been so much fun with my step-son and his friends. Even when he’s not here, my husband and I have spent hours competing against each other. This is fun for the entire family, young and old.

4 Stars Great game, Great price
This is a really great game fo PS2. The wireless controller makes it a lot more fun to play since you can move around where ever you want without worrying about pulling the cord out. It has a nice catalog of music and enough difficulty levels for players of any skill. I’m glad Sony continues to put out quality titles for the PS2 even though Microsoft has quit making games for the original Xbox. Also, I’m glad Amazon remains very competitive on game prices.

5 Stars too much fun
This is so much fun! The guitar is well built–since we have bought other guitars that aren’t as sturdy–this one has held up well! What more can you say about having fun together as a family playing rock-and-roll!

4 Stars Pretty Cool!
I just bought this game this morning and it is everything I expected!!! This is my first guitar hero game, and I got the controls down pact in about 6 minutes!!! The Career mode is cool. You get signed to show up at different gigs, and you have to play 3 out of 4 songs to advance to the next gig. So far, i have had no problems from my Guitar controller. All the frets are working fine, and there are no defections. Overall, this is a cool game. I think im gonna try Rock Band next.

5 Stars Tons o’ fun
This product is awesome!

I love it and I haven’t had any problems with it!

Wanna get World Tour now…

Buy/More Info

Popularity: 12% [?]

Spongebob Squarepants Creature from the Krusty Krab

SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab brings the hit kids’ show to your Nintendo Wii! See Bikini Bottom through completely different eyes — introducing never-before-seen art styles and brand new gameplay mechanics that will change your perception of Bikini Bottom forever! Jump into the bizarre and unusual with Spongebob and his friends.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Sponge Bob
This is a little advanced for a 4 year old. The driving is especially hard. But overall, any sponge bob fan will love it.

5 Stars Great Gift
This has amused my nephew for days, and he trys to teach his granda to play it also.

4 Stars Sponge Bob with a twist to the tale
Having a 4 year old that loves the series, this is a great way to keep him entertained. The first 2 levels are hard for him to get witht he driving and finding of parts and items needed, but some of the others he could do on his own. I myself got into the game with the driving section so it was a good father son moment. Once you get the hang of the controls it is an easy game to finish. Unlike some that get shelved and forgoten after a few levels.

3 Stars Disappointed
I bought this game for my five year old nephew to play while visiting. Waited for his next visit before opening, big mistake. This game took my 20 something year old daughter, and my nephew, both experienced in gaming, two hours to get to the point where the game was semi fun. Tears and fits were had by both. It was not a pretty sight. Needless to say, if I had it to do over, I would pass on this game.

4 Stars Good for a 6 year old
My daughter wanted a box from Amazon so much that I found this game and got it for her. Its ok. For a 6 year old it great. A few tough spots but that is why dad is here to help her and I just tell her I dont know how to play video games (not much of a lie). I would get it for a kid again.

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus

The Guilty Gear series launched an entirely new style of fighting games, and it is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the most complete and definitive version of the game to date, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core. Follow the stories of 25 of your favorite characters who have returned with new fighting moves, as well as their unlockable original moves. In addition, the Wii “Plus” version makes the experience even better with new modes and other playable features. Old and new fighting moves. View larger. New features including Story Mode. View larger. 25 Guilty Gear characters. View larger. Gameplay Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus like all the previous iterations in the Guilty Gear series is a 2D fighter. Gameplay consist of one-on-one match ups between Japanese anime inspired characters utilizing multiple possible kick and punch combos attacks, as well as slashing attacks via your chosen character’s signature weapon. These signature weapons are one way that XXX Accent Core Plus stands out from other games in the 2D fighter genre. Although players will see a bevy of familiar blunt and bladed weapons, they will notice that many characters wield off-the-wall items that have to be seen in action to be believed. Just a few examples of these are a pool cue, a talking life-sized key and an extendable pink teddy bear. Special Attacks and Defenses Although true to the aggressive-oriented gameplay that has made the Guilty Gear series a player favorite for ten years, XX Accent Core Plus strikes a balance between offense and defense through “force break” attacks and “slash backs.” Force break attacks are powered-up versions of characters’ special techniques used to enhance individual offense strikes as well as combination attacks. On the defensive end, players can turn defensive tactics offensive with the “slash back,” which with a little practice allows characters to consistently come out of a defensive animation quickly, giving you an opportunity to more safely counterattack from a defensive position. Characters Just in time to take advantage of high resolution 480p graphics, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus features the return of over 25 beloved characters from the Guilty Gear franchise, including Kliff, Justice and many more. In addition to the shear number of available combatants, fans of the series will be pleased to find that all of their favorite characters are unlocked and ready for use right off the bat. And included with each is a brand new, never before seen story to be uncovered in story mode. Game Modes Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus features an assortment of different game modes designed to provide players with alternative play options and increase the life of the game. These modes include: mission mode, story mode, training mode, survival mode, free play and more. Key Features: Celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of most influential fighting game franchises in video game history. Discover the back story to all of your favorite characters in the Guilty Gear mythos, with fully voiced dialogue. Accent Core Plus marks the return of fan favorites Kliff Undersn and Justice, rounding out the cast of 25 playable characters. Create a three-man team in Versus Mode to find out which characters are the ultimate Guilty Gear team-up. Level up your character’s abilities and traits in the re-tuned Survival Mode.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Dust off that arcade stick!
If there is one type of game that the Wii has been missing it’s good 2D fighters. With the exception of the the previous Guilty Gear release, King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown collections there aren’t any solid 2D fighters for the system. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core was great but severely lacking when stacked up against the rest of the series. The biggest reason was the lack of story or mission modes, the story mode has always been one of the best features of Guilty Gear. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus is what the last game should have been, the definitive Guilty Gear in my opinion. Story and mission modes return, along with the mighty Kliff Undersn and Justice. Now, Kliff and Justice were taken out of this series for good reason, they are both completely unfair and ridiculously unbalanced when it comes to tournament play…..nothing wrong with beating on the computer with them of course! The rest of the characters have been rebalanced, thankfully Order Sol is still unstoppable if you know what you’re doin On the Wii the game displays in widescreen at 480P if you have the connections, the resolution has been cleaned up a bit compared to the last one too. Even after 10 years of Guilty Gear the graphics are still pleasing, the soundtrack is great as always and the gameplay is second to none. As always, the voices are in Japanese with English subtitles…which is a turn off for some (for some reason), I can’t imagine this game in English and I don’t want to. You absolutely positively MUST have a classic controller or arcade stick to really appreciate this game, I’m sure that anyone reading this already has that taken care of. Guilty Gear XXACP has so much depth and replay value that it could seriously keep you occupied for months, it’s great just to pick up and play too. A bonus soundtrack cd has been included for the fans, won’t last forever though as it’s only packaged with the first run of this disc. As Aksys has now moved on to Blaz Blue, this will almost certainly be the last Guilty Gear game, if you’ve been missing out for the last 10 years now is your chance.

4 Stars the wii’s fighting edge
finally a fighting game on the wii that’s really good it’s got lots of action not to easy not to hard the only thing keeping this from being a 5/5 is cause there’s no online oh well the game is still fun

Buy/More Info

Popularity: 6% [?]