Olympia: A gold-medal winner also trained with the Nintendo Wii

Kosuke Kitajima, the gold-medal winner of the discipline 100 meter breaststroke, played
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as a preparation. After the question, what his secret was, Kosuke nonchalantly answered : " Mario does breaststroke swimming ! The perfect mental training !!"

Mario Kart Wii

The kart cult will live on !!


Ask a Nintendo fan-boy about his favorite racing game. In nine out of ten cases, a Nintendo fan would say : *Mario Kart Wii !!* Now we get to see the awesome Wii-version !!


April 11 : Mario Kart Wii was released in Europe. I went to the local electronics store. I got one of the last copies before it was sold out. Played it. Loved it. A superb online-mode, a spectacular multiplayer mode, and lots of unlockables....


Pros (Latin for good) :

• Huge number of courses, including some of the most imaginative yet
• Deeply integrated online play
• Easy to jump into for players of any skill level
• Fun and strategic trick system
• Motorcycles provide a great alternative to go-karts.

Contras (Latin for bad) :

• Nostalgia doesn't save most of the classic courses from being boring
• Items are more unbalanced than ever, especially on new tracks
• Battle modes are now exclusively team-based and timed.

One may wonder why Nintendo would add motorcycles and dirt bikes to the game series that popularized, if not invented, the genre of weapons-based go-kart racing. If you're one of the fans who balked at the inclusion of two-wheeled vehicles, a midair stunt system, and motion controls, rest assured that despite these changes, Mario Kart Wii is still very much the game that you have come to love over the years. But even if you haven't been on the receiving end of a blue shell before, the extensive multiplayer options, deeply integrated online functionality, multitude of controller schemes available, and simple gameplay make this latest Mario Kart great fun and quite possibly the most accessible one ever.

The main event of Mario Kart is the Grand Prix mode, which in you must play in order to unlock some characters, karts and more. There is the 50cc, the 100cc and the 150cc mode. You can also unlock the *Mirror Cup* , where all tracks and signs are mirrored. This is very fun, because you aren´t used to it. But this one broke the Mario Kart tradition : You can only play the Grand Prix mode solo (rather than multi-player) !!

16 new, and 16 retro tracks are available. The combination of both new and nostalgic retro levels makes Mario Kart the cremé de la cremé in track choosing. One of the major new features is the midair stunt system, which is activated by flicking the Wii Remote at the very moment you leave the ground from a ramp-assisted jump, making your racer perform an extreme-sports-style trick, such as a 360-degree spin, which upon landing rewards you with a considerable speed boost. To facilitate this new mechanic, most new tracks include huge half-pipes, rampant ramps, a multitude of moguls, and a plethora of pits, all of which are deliberately placed to encourage extensive stunt work. While this new system itself isn't flawed and in fact injects a great deal of fun and new strategy into the gameplay, its influence on course design has made certain items even deadlier, as you're that much more likely to be blasted uncontrollably into lava or other hazards due to how much time you spend in the air.

Online integration is deeper than most other games on the Wii, and you can join matches of any game type with friends as well as strangers from your local region or across the world. You have a persistent score, which is either increased or decreased by your performances, and when seeking out matches you're automatically place with like-skilled opponents revealed on a representation of Earth that uses Miis to show the approximate locations of the competition. In the event that you join a game already in progress, you will automatically be placed in a spectator mode until the round finishes and it's go time. Communication between players online is still virtually nonexistent, but while the ability to smack talk is a vital element of local multiplayer, it's not necessary for facilitating matches.

The most interesting online feature of Mario Kart Wii is the Mario Kart Channel, which can either be launched from within the game or saved directly into your Wii dashboard. Using WiiConnect24, you can compare your best lap times against your friends' and the rest of the region or the world. You can also download ghost replays to see firsthand how the top players pull off their times and send your own ghosts to friends as a challenge, and if this channel has been installed in the Wii menu, you can even do all of this without having your Mario Kart disc in the system.

Mario Kart Wii features a cast of 25 characters, over half of which must be unlocked through various accomplishments in single- or multiplayer modes. The ability to race as one of your Miis is perhaps the most notable new feature, but as great as putting Chuck Norris or Dr. Gregory House behind the wheel is, some of the newcomers like Baby Daisy and Dry Bowser are underwhelming and disappointing. Unlike Mario Kart: Double Dash, characters don't have items specific to them, but they do have up to 12 personalized motorcycles and go-karts to select from to determine racing stats.

Graphically, there isn't very much of a leap between this latest Mario Kart and its predecessor on the GameCube, but there are a lot of little details that add to the experience. Crowds of onlookers are populated by your Miis, and posters or statues throughout the levels can feature them as well. Lighting is vastly improved, and there are a number of nice environmental effects. Electricity crackles around you after you've been blasted by a lightning bolt. However, there is a considerable degradation of graphical quality in split-screen multiplayer--especially with four players--and character models are unnaturally shiny.

*Which controller should I use ?*

Wii-Remote (With Wii-Wheel) ★★★/★★★★★

This controlling method is recommendable for casual gamers. So you can drift better, Nintendo built in a big button on the back side. Negative points : Professional gamers wouldn´t like the Wii Wheel. It´s to imprecise for the harder levels. 3 out of 5


Wii







The best Wii tracks are :

• Luigi Circuit
• Mario Circuit
• Mushroom Gorge
• DK Snowboard Cross
• Wario Mine
  

The worst Wii tracks are :

• Daisy Circuit
• Moo Moo Meadows

The best Retro tracks are :

• GCN Waluigi Stadium
• N64 DK Jungle Parkway
• GCN DK Mountain

The worst Retro tracks are :

• N64 Sherbet Land

Super Mario 64: 1.0 Review

Super Mario 64

1.0 Review
2.0 Secrets/Alternatives WARNING:THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS
3.0 DS Version Differences To N64 Version WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS

1.0 Review

"Mario always will be our favorite plumber."

The year 1996, the SNES is on its to extinction and Nintendo releases out their next-gen console called the "Nintendo 64". What game did they show with the system? Super Mario 64. This game alone single handedly took the industry and made everyone drop their jaw in awe of how amazing it looked and played. Mario's franchise had just made the biggest impact from 2D to 3D in gaming. Super Mario 64 is fully in 3D absolutely nothing about this game is done in a 2D way of viewing. You have full control of what you want to do and how you want to play. A completely non-linear Mario game that allows you to just jump around in this expansive world of the Mushroom Kingdom and have fun while doing it.

When you actually pick up the controller and play this game you are just in amazement at what this game features for you . Since you play as Mario you will obviously be able to jump to your hearts content whether it is through the trees or just running back and forth hopping blissfully. Mario also is given a wide array of jumping abilities in this game, for example, if you run forward and pull back on the control stick Mario will perform a side-jump. This is taller than your usual jump allowing you to access other areas that you might have not been able to before. When playing you'll notice the genre this game falls under really sticks out like a sore thumb, platformer. Like all Mario games most of the time you'll be jumping your way through lots of platforms and objects. One of the new abilities however is the ability to do a punch, punch, kick combination. Other than jumping this is one of your only ways to attack the enemies that scatter the levels.There is also a special triple jump,which I will explain further to you in the chapter 2.0.

The main point of Super Mario 64 is actually kind of different from prior games. Princess Peach has given Mario a letter and asked him to come to the castle because she has baked a cake for him. When he arrives he hears an eerie voice saying that Peach has been captured and the stars have been stolen! I actually think Mario tries to save the cake,not the princess !!!!

It pretty much setups for the theme of the game, which is to collect the stars and restore the power back to the Mushroom Kingdom along with rescuing Peach. Collecting stars is actually a very innovative idea when you look at previous Mario games. In order for you to reach a new level you have to obtain a certain amount of stars, these stars will unlock the door and painting that you need to enter. The amount you need isn't anything extravagant either since there are eight stars per level.

Within each level there is a "mission" so to speak that you have to complete. For example, the first level requires you to make your way to a summit of the mountain to take on King Bob-omb. You don't have to follow the guidelines or mission you are in but you will not be given any hint as to where other stars are until you've completed the objective before. This doesn't hinder the gameplay by any stretch of the imagination and since the worlds are so massive this is actually very helpful. This could be compared to their being a world and a sub-level in each world.

One thing that Super Mario 64 didn't have was bosses; strangely the only boss in the game was your old fiend Bowser. There were some "mini-boss" type people in some of the worlds but nothing that really gave you a blow away kind of experience. Although there was a lack of bosses that didn't interfere with the quality of SM64 at all. The "mini-bosses" complimented the loss quite nicely in each of the "sub-levels" of each world.

Musically this game was an absolute masterpiece; featuring the work of Koji Kondo this had a very, very atmospheric type of score. There was the bouncy like, happy music of the snow level, the more Arabic sound of the desert world, and the eerie sound of the Haunted Ghost House. Most of the tracks in the game rarely repeated themselves and changed every time you enter a new portion of a level. To compliment the music is the sound of Mario finally speaking words; Mario has plenty to say in this adventure. He has grunts and "Yippees!", "Yahoo!", "Wha ha ha!" when he jumps into the air. It is a perfect representation of Mario's personality as an optimistic, fun loving kind of guy....

Something that was truly unique to the Mario series was the addition of a life bar. Instead of you getting a mushroom and being able to be hit twice, Mario had a small pie of life. Blue indicated Mario was fully healthy, green meant he had been damaged, yellow meant he was approaching danger, and red meant he was about to die. The only way to recover your health was to get coins, one coin would recover one little slot of your life. This inclusion was most likely due to the lack of power-ups in the game. I will give you further tips in the chapter 2.0.

Nintendo had strayed away from such items as the mushroom and fire flower instead giving Mario three different kinds of caps: Wing, Invisible, and Metal. Aside from those Mario couldn't obtain any sort of upgrade from his normal self. With the Wing Cap he would be able to grow wings out of his hat and fly, with the Invisible Cap he could walk through walls and enemies, and with the Metal Cap he became encase in metal plating.

Quite possibly the best thing about Super Mario 64 was the massive and extremely varied level design. You had a grass level, buildings, haunted houses, deserts, snowy areas, oceans, lava, etc. Nintendo captured every possible type of level format and put them into SM64. What really just sent this over the edge was the amount of depth that every single one of them had. There was just so much you could do in every level and they were so big that you could really go into one and spend hours upon hours trying to find stuff. They could be vibrant and full of color or dark and dreary to give you a tense way to approach things. All of them were scattered with platforming obstacles, enemies, large pillars, even tornadoes. Nintendo had managed to take the old 2D worlds of Mario and transform them into 3D.

With all the things to do in Super Mario 64 you may wonder just how long a game like this is. There is just so much you can do between collecting a total of 120 stars, exploring the vast levels, finding many secrets scattered across the levels, and even just jumping around. The games length runs you through a whomping 20+ hours of total gameplay. Unlike Mario games of the past, this one pumps up the length, for a comparison Super Mario World was around 10 hours for completion. This game more than doubles that in the time you spend playing, making this truly one of the best Mario experiences out there. To further add to the length is the upped difficulty and replay value. Attempting to comeback to the game and give it a whirl at collecting all 120 stars or trying to find well-hidden secrets by Nintendo. It makes you comeback time and time again.

So in closing what Nintendo had managed to do was create more than just another Mario game, but a totally unique gaming experience as a whole. The game that revolutionized the industry, set a standard for 3D gaming, and pushed us in the right direction was Super Mario 64. It truly is one of the best games ever created and because of such it scores no worse than a 10. It doesn't matter what you are a fan of whether it be RPGs, FPS, platformers, etc. you absolutely cannot miss out on playing Super Mario 64.His brother Sunshine just was a tick crapier,but I still recommend Super Mario 64,Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy

Final Score: 10.0

Graphics:10.0

Sound: 10.0 for Marios legendary Yiippiii,Wa-ha-hu !,and Yaaahhhooo !

Gameplay: 10.0

Other: 10.0

Lots of games just sucked after the change to 3D,but Mario broke the trend,and will live on for EVER

to be continued with chapter 2.0.....