These Look Promising...But Then Again...

The last time I played Worms on the Nintendo DS, it wasn't really an enjoyable experience. The developers did a faux pas by opting for the super old school 2D graphics of the earlier games instead of the bright colours and higher resolution 2D eye candy from Worms Armageddon. The game also lacked WFC multiplayer and to sum it up, Worms: Open Warfare was one of the more subdued games in my collection.

However, things should be looking up abit with Worms: Open Warfare 2 for the Nintendo DS. There's of course the nicer graphics, more games modes and more weapons (11 of them) along with the much coveted Nintendo WFC multiplayer. The following screen shot was grabbed from Gonintendo:
On to other things, the boxart for Ouendan 2 has been released. The picture (also courtesy of Gonintendo) looks rather gay, and if I may add, I actually prefer the boxart from the previous game, with a big 2 plastered on it for this sequel.

Preorders are open on Play-Asia for Ouendan 2. Just a little bit of trivia, if you were to look up Ouendan on the Internet, you may find that sales for the first game wasn't really good in Japan, but the international response to the game was huge. So there, get your pre-orders now folks.

Winning Eleven - When a Spade is not quite a Spade

Konami has released the English version of Winning Eleven DS in the form of Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 for the US market and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 for the European market. Essentially, all three are the same game, the only differences are superficial ones such as language, font size and header screens.

However, dig deeper and you'll find something utterly disappointing in the implementation of all three releases in terms of Nintendo WFC online play. If you bought Winning Eleven DS for cheap at Play-Asia with hopes of getting into matches with European gamers owning Pro Evolution Soccer 6, you can forget about it.

Owners of the European version of the game will not be to play with both Winning Eleven DS and PES 2007 owners despite the fact that these practically the same game. The three versions are WFC "region-locked" and in my opinion is a mistake on the part of the developers as there will be no such thing as "world-wide" WFC matches.

I guess that buying the European version of the game is the way to go. I wonder who wants to play with Americans with their US version of Winning Eleven, knowing that their idea of football is running around CARRYING a ball while wearing body armour. Body armour is for wimps, try playing rugby sometime.

Going on a Downhill Jam

For more video game reviews, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

At long last, a game review. Vicarious Vision's latest skateboarding game for the Nintendo DS, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is nothing short of a marvel. As its name implies, it is a downhill racer, with an emphasis on tricks and speed. Gameplay wise, it is very fast, and the cell-shaded graphics accentuate the feeling of speeding downhill.

The first thing that grabs you about this game is the soundtrack! Developers somehow managed to fit in several songs into the DS' capacity-challenged cartridge and I'm not talking MIDI stuff here...more like MP3! The game starts off with the character creation process, which is pretty comprehensive. I modelled my character after a certain controversial Japanese fella.

The main single player game mode would be the World Tour. You'll be skating your character through challenges and competitions, which will unlock different locations in a world map. Be sure to go through the lessons first before embarking on the Tour, or any other single player modes, otherwise you'll be like a duck out of water.

The level of customization is astounding for a handheld game. Change your character's gear (shirts, pants, hair styles and skates and use the money earned through the game to purchase more stuff. Even with the usual suspects such as a logo editor and a special moves editor, the developers put in a sound editor for players to add in their own voice cues.

I've not tried out the Wireless play but this game is WFC enabled. This means that you can race with other gamers from all over the world via Nintendo's free WFC service.

Game Previews Overdose

For more video game reviews, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

I had the opportunity to test out several Nintendo DS games last night, courtesy of a friend. First up was Metroid Prime Hunters, a first-person-shooter set in the Metroid franchise. Having started up a new game, it was rather confusing and there really wasn't any tutorial on what to do and more importantly how to move.

Some initial guess work was needed and I realized that the control scheme was similar to that of Super Mario 64 DS (stylus and buttons simultaneously). Despite this, the game does have some pretty graphics, like a grainier version of Quake 3 Arena. On a side note, first timers on the DS should really give the DS a break and not compare its graphics capabilities to that of a PSP, which has alot more horsepower.

Second up was Trauma Center. A five minute session with this game pratically banished my preconception of "being a gimmick", this game is really quite challenging. The developers have manage to subtly merge addictive gameplay (e.g. stitching people up) and an interesting premise (you are a doctor in the game).

I had a fun time pulling out glass shards and stiching up and making incisions on a patient but heaven forbid I would actually do that in real life.

I know though that my mum would be suprised that this kind of game is available and would want to play it, she works in the medical industry after all.

Thirdly, I got brief looks at Bomberman Land Touch and Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Spirit Summoner. Bomberman Land Touch didn't look like a typical Bomberman game and I pratically got lost in Yu-Gi-Oh. Yu-Gi-Oh is abit like Magic: The Gathering and apparently the Japanese version of the game is dual language and does include English language support!

Club House Games was up next and despite the so-so presentation, casual players should have a blast with it as it is chokeful with mini games such as Solitaire, Chess, Bowling, Biliiards, Texas Hold' Em and many more.

Last but not least, I had a blast playing Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. A downhill skateboarding game in the lines of SSX3, I was hooked. The graphics are cel-shaded clean and the sense of speed delivered by the game is nothing short of amazing. This game is really fast and the ability to challenge other players on the WFC makes a very attractive acquisition.

Some of the games that I demo-ed feature WFC connectivity and most, if not all of them feature some form of local WiFi play. The replayability value for these titles can be described as good to high and even though some of them are no longer available as new copies, potential buyers should be able to find them in the second market by scouring forums and auction sites. Click on the pictures above to purchase the games in Play-Asia, should they be available.

Getting Some WFC Action With Winning Eleven DS

So you decided to get Winning Eleven DS, more for its price (you can get it here) rather than the fact that the game is in Japanese. Having experienced the single player game, you feel ready to head online and trash some real opposition but before you can do so, you hit a snag. How do you go online in the first place, given the screens are in Japanese?

Don't fret, here's a guide that will have you playing online in no time (maybe). For starters, it might be helpful to note that my descriptions precede the respective screenshots..so remember, description first then followed by the screenshot.

1. Go to the third option in the main menu of the game:











2. This will bring up the list of sub options, go for the 2nd one, labelled Wi-Fi:











3. This will bring up a new menu, with three options. The first option is to proceed with connecting to the WFC, the second one shows you your friend code and allows you to add friend codes to your game, and the last option allows you to setup the game's wireless settings used to connect to the WFC.











4. The last 2 options are pretty straight forward, so lets proceed with the first option, connecting to the WFC! Selecting this will bring you to a confirmation screen, just hit the first option on that confirmation screen and the game will connect to the WFC











5. Once the game is connected to the WFC, you'll see a new menu with 3 options. Option 1 being Friend Code play while the two other options are either Worldwide or Regional play (I'm not too sure). WFC play on Option 2 seems to feature more lag compared to that of Option 3 (or is it the other way around) but both are better alternatives if you do not have any friend codes added to the game:










For my original review of Winning Eleven DS, click here

Football's Winning Ways

Playing football on a handheld console is a pretty good time killer but most of the time, you'll be stuck playing on your own against the game's AI which might lead to a not so fun time. With Winning Eleven DS, you can take your game on the road (or to the local cafe) and challenge people via local wireless connection or via the Nintendo WFC if a hotspot is available.

There are a variety of game play modes available in the game but since I purchased a Japanese version of the game, I might be wrong in some of my descriptions. First up is the Exhibition mode, where you can select a team and play in an exhibition match or in a penalty shootout.

The penalty shoot out mode is interesting in a sense the player utilises the touch screen to determine where the shot is made and where to block the ball.

The World Tour mode, is well, a World Tour which is self explanationary. The Konami Cup mode provides some knock-out tournament experience for those itching for it. Basically the player can choose to have 4, 8 or 16 teams in the tournament. There is as well a customize your own team mode, a training mode, a mind-your-progress mode as well another mode which I still can't make out.

Graphics wise, I bought this game without expecting much knowing that it is a Nintendo DS title but it does serve its purpose. I liken the graphics to that of EA Sport's FIFA games in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and although its nothing to shout about, it is in 3D. Before I forget, the game suffers from an invisible referee, the man in black is no where to be seen but you can sure hear him whistle.

Sound wise, the game does have some nice touches such as the crowd's noise in the stadium and the nice music in the menu screen.

Despite its shortcomings, Winning Eleven DS makes up with its gameplay, which I makes for quite engaging matches. There are a number of gameplay options that I have not explored, simply because of my inability to read Japanese. The replay feature has this great camera panning system to give a more TV like feel to the replay.

Getting onto the WFC was pretty easy once I had sorted out which menu does what and I have had 2 WFC matches since. The experience so far has been 50/50 with my first game experiencing heavy lag and the second one played out smooth as silk.

To get your very own copy of Winning Eleven DS from Play-Asia.com, click here! For a guide on how to get the game going on WFC, click here.

Driving in a Kart with Friends

I got the chance to race on the WFC using the Friend Code system on Mario Kart DS earlier this evening and it was pretty ok, except for the later part where it got abit wonky with four or even three people trying to get a game going.

It was maybe a busy night for the service and this might happen to anyone attempting to play a game with friend(s) over the WFC, so patience is the keyword here.