Reviews of Toy Story Mania! - Nintendo Wii

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At Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, the manic, wildly entertaining Toy Story Mania ride opened in 2008 to rave reviews, long lines and a lot of ecstatic, happy customers. When Disney announced production of a home version for the Nintendo Wii, fans rejoiced, but with a touch of skepticism: Could a home version possibly do justice to the amazing ride? Turns out, the answer is....yessss.....mostly....

Toy Story Mania (the Wii game) is a polished, beautifully crafted game that captures the ride's most important element--the pace and feel of the target games--perfectly. The plate-smashing, balloon-popping, hoop-tossing fun arrives intact. What's missing, of course are the giddy spinning of the ride vehicles, state-of-the-art 3D, water spray and air blasts...And the half hour waiting lines.

Writing as an adult fan of the ride, let me answer the question other theme park fans want to know: Is the home version worth a purchase?

Yes. Just keep your expectations realistic. This is, at its heart, a mini-game collection based around the themes and characters of Toy Story. All the games from the ride are represented (including the pie toss practice round), but not as they appear at the parks: That would be impossible to replicate. Instead, each of the ride's five main games are each represented by three separate, smaller shooting galleries, each filled with goals and secrets. The home version is padded out with additional carnival-style games that range from fun (skeeball and basketball hoops) to average (simon-says waggle fests). In addition to a front-and-center story mode that roughly follows the ride's progression, there are 5 additional story modes--one for each theme (Space, Western, Army, Barnyard and Bo Beep). By playing through each themed story mode, you encounter each theme's 3 shooting galleries and 2 to 3 additional games. Once you unlock each game (through goal achievements or prize tickets), you can head to the game creator area and make your own version of the game to play through. I imagine most players will immediately line up all the shooting galleries and never look at the other mini games again.

Here's the heart of the matter: The shooting galleries are pure gold. No question, they are the reason to consider buying this game. Aiming and firing with the Wii remote feels great--I recommend turning off the cursor for a truer-to-the-ride experience.

The presentation starts off beautifully, with a fully animated intro in which the toys set up the game you're about to play. This is the backstory of the ride, and it's great fun to see it finally brought to life with dazzling Pixar animation. It's right about here, however that you'll also notice one big disappointing aspect of this game: The compete lack of actual music from the films. The game's music score is pleasant (and actually very effective in the army and space sequences), but it's a bit disheartening to find that, with all the care and attention to detail that went into this game, the Powers That Be couldn't fork over a bit of extra cash to license "You've Got a Friend In Me." Cue the old hag from Princess Bride: "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" One other beef: Most shooting galleries end by asking you to shake the remote for extra points. Note to all game producers: Shaking the Wii's remote over and over is not fun. It's never been fun. It never will be fun. No more shaking!

Back to the positives: The character animation throughout is superb. The visual style of the shooting galleries is perfect. The voice work (by almost the entire original cast) is great, though there should be more (you'll hear the same gags repeated before the round in progress ends. R. Lee Ermy is his usual awesome self in the army sequences.

The game includes six 3D renditions of select shooting galleries which must be unlocked and played using the included 3D glasses. Do not expect the same 3D you get on the ride. This is the red/blue style that drains away the color. It does provide an effective, fun sensation that you're actually firing into your television screen. After a few 3D rounds, however, I came away with a headache. Still, it's a nice bonus feature. Ride-themed Wiimote faceplates are also included.

All in all, it's a fun, good-humored, visually dazzling home version of the ride. With the do-it-yourself game sequencer, you can eliminate the extra mini games and simply play the awesome shooting galleries.

Not bad at all. I recommend it for fans of the ride and anyone looking for a fun party game.

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Toy Story Mania! is a collection of carnival-type games featuring Toy Story characters and themes. It is supposed to be inspired by a Disney theme park ride, but I've never ridden it so I can't comment on how it resembles that experience. This game features a few "3D" games, which are made to be played with the included two pairs of 3D glasses. From my experience you'll want to be in a dark room with a LCD or Plasma TV to get the full effect. It didn't really make a difference with our old TV.

The game is built around 30 or so mini-games in which you earn points and tickets that are used to unlock bonus stuff. I haven't played them all, but I think I have a good feel for them. These basically fall under a few categories: "point-and-click" shooting galleries, repeating motions, and carnival type games. The shooting games are pretty simple, just point your cursor at the target and press "A". If you are playing with multiple players everyone plays at the same time. Sometimes you trigger events that require waving the remote, usually once or twice a game. At the end of most shooting games is a small "bonus stage" where you are awarded bonus points by vigorously shaking the remote.

A few games are just mirroring the motions on screen. For instance, one game has Hamm dancing and you twirl the remote around just as he is spinning. You get points for correctly following the motions. Not the greatest games, but are a nice change of pace. If you are playing with multiple players each player takes a turn.

The last type of game is where you are playing a Toy Story themed version of a classic carnival game. One has you tossing rings on the Little Green Men (the Pizza Planet aliens) and rockets, which is essentially the same as a shooting gallery just aiming at the top of the targets. Another is a Gold Rush version of "Skee Ball" (my favorite Chuck E. Cheese game!) which is good but not great.

I think the best way to describe the game structure is to compare it to Mario Party. You can play "story mode" which strings together a bunch or random games. To continue through the games, you must meet certain point goals or tasks. There is a "free play" mode where you can play games you have unlocked either by playing the in story mode and completing all the goals or by unlocking them using the tickets you earned. One gripe about the free play mode is that the interface is very confusing at first, which is very odd compared to how simple the rest of the game is. The 3D games have to be unlocked using tickets and played from the free play mode.

I was very pleased with the quality of the look and feel of the game. The animation of the characters is very good. I watched the credits and many of the voices are the same actors as the movies, including Tim Allen ("Buzz"). Woody is the most obvious voice change, but it is Tom Hanks' brother and sounds pretty close (the same as the intro to the Buzz Lightyear movie from a few years ago if you saw that). The only voice I heard that I thought was completely off was Weezy the penguin.

The game experience is basically like you are playing a carnival staffed and decorated by the Toy Story characters. Games are grouped by themes, such as western for Woody, space for Buzz, tea party for Bo Peep, and army for the Army men.

This is really a fun game. The quality use of the Toy Story characters and themes adds much to it, but in the end it is just another collection of mini-games. This creates a huge problem since many of the games are very repetitive. Shooting a cactus in a western shooting gallery and shooting a submarine in a army shooting gallery fell the same after a while.

The best value for this game is as a party game. A single player will become bored after experiencing all the games. The simple controls and interface are great to just pick up and play. My three-year-old was playing with me on most of the games with little frustration. I can see how the many of the games would be a blast with four players.

On the subject of multiple players, one thing they overlooked in the game is that you set up your players at the very beginning of the game. You can't add or change players on the fly. Additional players can "drop out" of games, but can't rejoin until after completing a mini-game.

THE BOTTOM LINE This is a very well presented and great looking mini-game collection. I think it would be great for small kids and as a family party game. The problem is that there are many, many, many similar games on the Wii from Mario Party to Super Monkey Ball to Wii Sports. This is among the best in looks and character appeal, but in the middle of the pack when it comes to games. They are fun, simple, and look great. It is a blast to play at first, but I have my doubts about long term playability because you can only play mini-games so much. I only gave it a three star review because of the similarities of many of the mini-games and my doubts about long term playability.

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If you are looking for a family friendly game that is fun for the adults and safe for the little ones, then this game fits the bill. Also, if you are totally addicted to the game at Walt Disney World or Disneyland then you will also like this game.

There are two main modes to this game, story and free play. Free play CANNOT be utilized until someone has gone through the entire story. With that said, as you complete and area of the story then the corresponding area opens up in free play. The main areas match the boards from the game at the parks with secondary games that seem to be designed to prevent repetitive motion injuries.

Pros:

Just like the game at the parks!

Fun for everyone with clear and easy instructions.

In free play you can pick and choose which games you wish to play.

Prizes that you earn are actually extra mini-games!

3D function is only in the minigames section, everything can be played in 2D.

Cons:

You HAVE to go through the story board to open up the free play.

Some of the secondary games are kind of childish. But they do give a wrist break.

The 3D glasses are the cheap red and blue glasses that have been around for 20 years. They suck. With that said you can pretty much figure out what the 3D looks like. But 3D is not mandatory to play the game.

Majorly addicting!

After playing for several hours tonight, my arm hurts but I can't wait to play some more! Way cool game!

Honest reviews on Toy Story Mania! - Nintendo Wii

Early this year Disney World debuted a new ride at Hollywood Studios named Toy Story Mania.....well this is like being on the ride from the comfort of your living room! I ordered this on pre-order and it arrived today, the day of release. It was fun for the whole family. The kids were so excited during each section of the game....they would say "Hey, I remember this part from the ride!".

Game play is simple....aim and shoot pies, balls, etc at the targets.

The 3D levels were ok.....the glasses gave me a bit of a headache, but my kids loved it.

I gave it 4 stars because it doesn't use the Mii profiles. The profiles are there so you don't have to always type in your name and to be able to keep a tally on your performance.....yet they don't do that.

As far as game play, I can see that this might get a little boring after a while and it won't be a top played game in our house after the newness wears off, but when we miss Disney and want a piece of the magic and feel like we are playing on the ride, we can pull it out and have some fun!

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I got this game for my kids last weekend. We finished in a couple of hours. The shooting gallery is pretty well done, it reminds me of the ride at Disneyland. Other then that, well... there is no other then that. The "Story" mode has no story, none at all, you just go gallery to gallery. The 3-D is non-existent, the games look much better with the glasses off. They didn't take advantage of the motion controller. You have to point it at the TV of course, but there are only 3 games that use the motion sensors (a hammer, a tilter, and skee ball). Lastly, the game isn't replayable unless you have a Wii party. Otherwise, who wants to do the same gallery over and over? The bottom line: I have a 5 and 10 year old and guess how many times they've asked to play since we finished the first day? You got it... zero.

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It does change your cable to HDMI. So you have a clean installation with one cable. But it does not output your video to 1080P. Wii is not capable of outputing to 1080P.

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Best Sly Cooper And The Thievius Raccoonus - PlayStation 2 Deals

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Don't let the title of this game throw you. Almost undoubtedly, many PS2 owners will overlook this game, thinking it's simply kid's stuff. Well, know now that Sly Cooper is the most original game to come along in quite awhile, and for kids and adults alike, it's one of the best titles out there, hands down. Everything, from gameplay to presentation, is perfect, and it's truly a rewarding gaming experience.

The game is a typical 3D platformer, with the hero, Sly Cooper, master thief, trekking through various locales in hopes of restoring the five pieces of his "Thievius Raccoonus", his family's great book of stealing. The book was torn apart by the group known as the Five Fiends, and now, it's up to Sly and his buddies to overcome the villians and steal what is rightfully theirs.

The graphics are splendid, taking full command of the PS2's capabilities with gorgeous -and fitting -cel-shading. The voice-acting, while a little hokey, has its moments, but the real prize of the game is its overall presentation. From opening credits to cut-scenes, Sly Cooper weaves a fun, truly original tale that can only beg for more sequels.

The gameplay is precise, with Sly a cinch to control. A quick tutorial mission acts as the first "stage," so novice gamers will have no problems figuring out how to make Sly climb, jump, swing, and do other marvelous things with his unique cane. Special "Super Sneaky" moves are available with a simple press of a button, and special techniques can be unlocked by finding "clues" (bottles) throughout the levels. These special techniques are fun to use and add some flavor to the game, but they're not necessary to complete your missions.

With colorful characters, memorable villains, rewarding gameplay, rich graphics, and a terrific story, Sly Cooper should find its way onto your PS2 soon. It won't take many days to finish, but the ride through is well worth it!

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I was lucky enough to pick this up used at Blockbusters for a very reasonable price. I bought it based on the reviews I had read here. My 7 year old daughter immediately began to play it and has been going at it for a few days now. She has reached 40% completion now, so it has not been a terribly difficult game up to this level, but she has had to replay several sections more than once in order to continue. The game save works very nicely and you can start your saved game up quickly with a minimal load time. The fastest I have seen so far. It also hasn't sent her back to the beginning after Sly dies, avoiding frustration. We also have Ratchet & Clank as well as Jak & Daxter, but this one seems to hold her attention more. It may be that this is a more linear game, where she doesn't get stuck wandering around on an island, wondering where to go next. With this game, you just keep going forward and the obstacles appear right there, sort of like the old style Crash Bandicoot games. This game is also a pleasure to watch as the graphics are so nice. Put this on your list of games to buy, but be patient, find a good deal on it to make it all the more enjoyable.

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Hmm... I wonder. Can I still give this game a perfect 5 stars despite the fact that it is not perfect? Sure I can! Why? Because the flaw is only in your mind!

Ok ok, now that I have you all confused, I guess I'll just have to explain myself. Everything about this game is utterly phenomenal, the Graphics drip with style and flair, the Sound is exceptionally well done, Gameplay is pure gaming goodness (my second favorite kind also, platformer), the Plot will grasp you tight, and well.. then there's the Replayability. I will break everything down individually though, so that you can see more clearly what I think of this masterpiece.

Graphics: 5 stars

For all those of you who have been living under a rock, in a cave, or on the moon these last couple of months, a new kind of graphics craze is headed to gaming, ''Cell-Shading.'' Cell-shading is a technique that makes 3d animations look like cartoony sprites, but still retains a sharp crisp look. Unfortunately, many of these games end up looking like a kiddy title because of this. Sly Cooper however is able to master this design by mixing cell-shaded characters and objects with pure three dimensional backgrounds. The result is quite astounding and you'll even enjoy watching other people play the game (but you'll like playing it more yourself). Every level but one runs at a fantastic 60 fps, beautifully sharp and quick. There is a little slowdown in the swamp level of Mz. Ruby due to the enormous amount of detail, but that hardly makes the level unplayable. With this great level of detail and a useful first person binocu-com view, you'll often find yourself staring at the beauty in amazement.

Sound: 5 stars

There aren't really any scores of music, but rather on-going dynamic tracks or themes for the levels. What I mean by dynamic is that the current situation affects the way the music is played. Many games have used this idea recently but SC&TR really masters it, creating an almost emotional result. I truly got frightened when I was seen by one odd looking guard in the haunted swamp; the music turned from its eery low flow to a blaring roar of sounds that quickly got my attention to the fact that I was in trouble. The music really also sounds like spy or thief music, which is a pretty impressive feat, it quiets down when you're in ''sneaking'' mode, and it just makes you feel like an overall badass. The main draw here I would say, is some of the best voice-acting ever done in a game. This is probably third in quality on the ps2 to MGS2 and FFX (sans Yuna). The characters voices match their personality and don't have any of the trademark videogame awkwardness.

Gameplay: 5 stars

In all honesty, I have never felt like I had this much control over a game, despite a rather simple 3 button setup. The triangle controls your specials, the x controls your jump (or double-jump), and the circle controls everything else. I have to admit I thought it was going to be too simple just using the circle button for all action, but I quickly grew accustomed to it, and was clinging on rails, hooks, and pointy tower tops like there was no tommorow. It's a very comfortable way to play a game, and an ingenious setup. The superb graphics allowed you to see the clear route along each level. The game managed to be linear but without fault as it didn't make any levels exceedingly easy. It also presented some nice variety in every boss level.

Plot: 5 stars

The plot was much, much more than I was expecting. I actually felt attached to the characters, angry at the villains, and excited to be a part of such a cool family (the Coopers). The story was basically about recovering you family's ancient thieving book, the Thievius Raccoonus, and the shenanigans along the way. That's about all I can say without giving away any spoilers, but believe me, it's very well presented. The plot is relayed through animated scenes as well as in-game cutscenes, along with some of that great voice-acting I was telling you about earlier. Without being a behemoth RPG-type game, the plot manages to keep you excited for more, and in the last level, you'll be on the edge of your seat.

Replayability: 5 stars

A perfect 5? I thought I was saying that this was the flaw with the game before. Well, to some extent it is. I could beat this game over and over and not really get tired, but that's not exactly the type of replay people look forward to. No, the replay that makes this game great is found after you beat the game for the first time, in the Master Thief Sprints. These are basically times to get through the level in as fast as you can, for a reward, mostly pride though. The reward is a dialogue about the level going on while you play through that particular area again, and some of the stuff is pretty cool to hear, especially if you're interested in making games (mostly design type stuff, which kept me interested even though I'm more of a programmer). But the flaw that I said was in your mind, and which may draw some people away from playing these Sprints, is the difficulty. For novice gamers, and on some levels, even for experts, these challenges can prove to be just that, challenging. But in the end, the feeling of pride you'll get to reach 100% will guide you through all of them. And don't worry, it's no Battletoads!

The Bottom Line: 5 stars!

Overall, I'd have to say this is definitely one of the best games I have ever played. I rented this, and kept it long enough to rack up a 7 dollar late fee, so that tells you something (if you know me). I'd suggest buying it, as I'll no doubt feel the urge to play it again soon.

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This game is a very, very simple platform game. But it's also pretty darn good. The cell shading graphics are simply amazing, and the gameplay is consistent, fun, and easy to begin with. It's a little platform game that combines elements of stealth and action. Sort of like Metal Gear Solid 2, but actually fun.

This game is a short game. It means that maybe they could have added another element, but it also means that there isn't needless repetition in any of the levels, except for the last boss.

You are this raccoon from a long line of thieving relatives. You're mission is to find all parts of the secret family thieving book, all while running away from a female cop who is constantly on your tail (I'll let you decipher the meaning of that sentence yourself).

The thing that strikes me most is the presentation of the characters. While the background consists of 3-D objects, the characters are smooth, cartoon like, cell-shaded animals. It's a nice change. It's especially pleasing since the new, unreleased Zelda is going to use this type of "revolutionary" technology.

The game itself is straightforward. You have to jump, attack, and sneak your way through levels to eventually reach a boss. Then once you realize how to defeat the boss, it's on to the next level. Nothing original at all, but then again, it didn't claim to be. The beauty of this is that you rarely go through the same level more than three times, and you don't have to refer to walkthrough to pass any of the levels.

I would recommend this, it's good, clean fun.

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At first, I'll admit, I didn't like Sly Cooper too much. My initial reaction was that this was just another ordinary action platform game. After playing it awhile, I soon realized it wasn't your 'ordinary' action platformer. Developer Sucker Punch proves you can still innovate in a genre that's beginning to get old and show its' age. By combining stealth with great platform action, you got one killer game on your hands. You play as Sly Cooper and, with the help of your two friends:Murray and Bentley, you go on a quest to find pages from your family heirloom(the Thievius Raccoonus)which is a guidebook for thieves. Rest assured, it's not teaching anything bad here as its' taking back what is rightfully yours. Everything from plot to presentation to control and gameplay, everything is dead-on in this game. Even the cel-shaded graphics compliment the games' cartoony atmosphere. No boring sleep-inducing fetch quests here...Oh no! You can collect clues to unlock new moves to use in the game but it isn't neccessary just to finish the game. Sucker Punch keeps thing fresh and simple in this game. You can tell this was a labor of love for them because alot was put into this game and that's why it is so great. I, personally, look forward to a sequel. It's easily the best action platformer on the Playstation2 thus far.

I highly recommend this game to everyone, young or old.

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This really helps keeping my PS3 and Xbox controllers charged up since I can go for a long time not playing one of the systems. However, I can't always keep it plugged in since the LEDs are rather bright in a dark room, making it a bit harder to sleep in the room.

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The product itself was great but not what I thought it was when I ordered it. I thought it was a charger just for PS3 remotes but this one was for PS3 and XBox 360. But it was a good invention.

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It comes with its' own power cord to plug into any electrical outlet. Which means you don't have to keep the gaming system on to charge controllers anymore. There are two ports for charging Xbox360 controllers + two ports for PS3 controllers. They are not interchangeable or swappable. ie you cannot charge four Xbox360 or four PS3 controllers at the same time. I should have bought one station for Xbox360 controllers and another station for PS3 controllers instead of two of these stations. The product works great and it even refreshed the batteries for the 360 controller that wouldn't hold a charge very long. It took about 24 hours to refresh the battery and charge it. Now it charges the controllers in a very short amount of time. The lights show you when the charge is complete by changing from red to blue. The HDMI cable included makes this an excellent buy.

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I got this for my husband for Christmas. It was one of his "he could use now" presents. The stand is awesome lets you know when it is charging by changing from a red to a blue light. Red for not charged, blue for charged. The controllers pop on and off easily. It required no assembly, except to be plugged in. We thoroughly enjoy it and really enjoy not having to wait on charging controllers or switching to battery backup(for the XBOX 360). He loved receiving it and was a great choice. And love that it came with an HDMI cable, never know when you need another one of those.

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Gave the HDMI that comes with it to my sister, but the charger is built for quality and it worked perfect for me.. Had two different chargers for Xbox360 and PS3 but this helped not only with one plug but keeps them all nice and easy to find..

Reviews of Speed Racer: The Videogame - Nintendo Wii

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I'm not a fan of the Speed Racer movie, or the old cartoon series, so this review is based on a Wii racing game. I have been looking forward to this game for quite a while based on the idea of a stunt racing game and screen shots of the various tracks, and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

I have gotten several racing games for the Wii system. The latest was Classic British Motor Racing, also based on the screen shots and idea. Unfortunately, the steering controls made the game impossible to play. My first concern then with this game was the controls. I give this game an A++ in that department. The controls aren't too difficult, but sensitive enough to react when needed and precise. Graphics are nice. Typical of a Wii game, but better than GT Pro Series for example. Fun tracks with loops, and awesome colors. All tracks are unique, some more fun, and easier than others.

You can choose to race in championship races, divided into 3 classes. Once you finish class one, you can move on to two, and so on. In the classes, if you finish in the top three, you unlock new characters and tracks. There is an option to form an alliance within the championship races, that help reduce the number of people that attack you. Fun stunts or "car-fu" help you gain position, and score points. You can also pick up some other aid like boosts and speed up places on the track.

You play as characters from the movie. There is dialog from the characters while playing, which adds a new dimension to the game. Easy to understand, and play right out of the box. It does take some time to learn the "car-fu" moves, and gain more skill, plus you have fun while doing it. Not too easy that you get bored. It takes some thinking, and planning to make sure you stay in the lead. Opponents can cause you to lose advanced place very quickly. And it takes some time to regain a top position.

Great stunt racing game!! Not too difficult, but challenging enough to keep me playing. Very addictive and different from most racing games on the market.

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This review is by my 7-year old son who says Speed Racer is a winner:

"It is fun because there are different cars to choose from. You get 4 cars to start with and you can get somewhere around 14 more. The tracks are cool because you do a lot of loop-de-loops and jumps. I also like the smashdown move when you jump up and land on another car."

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Speed Racer is a cross between Mario Cart and Burnout. Mario cart because the cars are characterized to the driver. They talk smack while you drive, and you give the car "powers" with the various boosts. Its like Burnout from the point that not only are you trying to win, but your trying to crash the other cars before they crash you! Now.....You DO NOT get any projectiles, but you get many different ways to smash a car. They call it "Car-Fu" I know it sounds corny, but once you start crashing cars its fun. Whatever you do, play the tutoral before you play, trust me they go over things the manual does not. The tracks are cool too, just like the movie, colorful, loops, elevated,and jumps. I say the only thing I dont like is not being able to see whats comming behind you. So if you like racing games with a arcade feel like Mario and Burnout......or you just like Speed racer products, I say its a good buy.

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My son and I really enjoy this game he is 5 and has legitimately beaten me several times. Good clean fun!!

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I've been waiting a long time for the Speed Racer live action movie...but even longer still, is the amount of time I've wanted to drive the Mach V or better still Racer X's Shooting Star. Now that is virtually a reality. The World Racing League and over 15 major characters from the movie are available to unlock and use on original race courses and film course reproductions. The standard stunt racers (according to the film & game) are T-180, each equipped with jump jacks (you know "unk-unk-unk-unk"), each can "Slide" thanks to their independent wheel rotation, allowing forward movement regardless of the direction the car faces. Each can reach speeds in excess of 400 MPH by riding your opponents slipstream, hitting "speed-up" squares and gaining Boost power by avoiding the sides of the track (like in the Pod-racer game of old) or by performing CAR-FU moves. Yes, CAR-FU, is car combat, maneuvers to take out opponents or simply to gain pole position. CAR-FU moves like the TAIL TOSS, the BOOST BASH ram, landing on an opponent for the SMACK DOWN, the 180 ROUNDHOUSE, spins and hyper-spins, the BARREL ROLL TORPEDO are fun and vital to win WRL races. Cars can perform front, side and back flips, which are handy and visually satisfying. The game comes with typical race game displays: ranking, progress /lap/speed meter, health and available boost power.

Available modes are single races, an essential tutorial, the time trials, championship mode, which allows for a variety of different competitions of two or more races and multiplayer for a second player to join in split-screen mode. In Championship Mode you rack up points for each race, which are tallied for an overall ranking. There are three initial race classes of increasing difficulty to choose from: slowest to fastest. You can gain extra points by your finishing place, your CAR-FU moves and by having the fastest-lap. In multiplayer mode you need only rank in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in order to beat the Championship. In a Championship race you can team-up with other drivers, agreeing not to CAR-FU them. Then there are the opposites of allies, Rival drivers who are focused on taking you out...know your rivals! The available Drivers include: Speed, Trixi, Racer X, Sonic "Boom Boom" Renaldi, Delila & Mariana Zanja, Rosey Blaze (no relation), Taejo Togokahn, Esther "Rev" Reddy, Gothorm Danneskjold, the Gray Ghost, Prince Kabala and Pitter Pat, Snake Oiler, Kellie "Gearbox" Kalinkov, Booster Mbube, Nitro Venderhoss, Denise Moble, Jack "Cannonball" Taylor and Colonel Colon. Each driver and car has their own set of stats that make them unique. These stats include: the Speed (of vehicle), Handling, Acceleration, and Strength.

The game graphics are typical of the Wii and neatly mirror the film's style. The game sound and song lists are okay. The voice talent is mostly a real cast one: Emile Hirsch as Speed, Christina Ricci as Trixie (the voice of the Tutorial), Matt Fox as Racer X and notably filling in for Snake Oiler, the great Phil Lamarr (Samurai Jack). The CAR-FU is fun, ...smashing good fun! The sometime surreal race courses although only loosely inspired by the film "locations" are still really fun and obviously created by someone who grew up watching Speed Racer or maybe just had some cool HOT WHEELS sets.

Cheap Pair of Thumbstick Bullet Nickel+Nickel for XBOX 360 Controller w

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I am pleased with my purchase with the pair of thumb stick bullets buttons for my controller. All my friends that come over and see the controller really like it also. It works great. I would recommend this to my friends. Great seller. Product was shipped and delivered on time and as promised.

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Cheap XJacKer Xbox 360 Kit Game Sound + XBL Chat With Your PC Headset on

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List Price: $14.99
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What a lifesaver! I broke my Xbox 360 headset, and thought I'd have to waste $60 on a replacement pair just to chat on xbox live. Thankfully I found this kit instead and brought my Sennheiser PC-350 back to life which sounds so much better than what most console headsets have to offer. The cable has a pretty good-quality feel, and the sound quality makes Battlefield sound absolutely Awesome! Oh, and the instructions on the side of the box are super simple. Great buy, no regrets!

The instructions don't mention it, but the cable that comes with it has RCA plugs and a standard headphone plug which means I can plug my iPod into the mix and have my own private soundtrack while I go OPB on everyone. And last but not least I could also use my BEATS Studio, or any other smartphone headset on my Xbox 360 using the "XJacKer Beats Adapter". See my step by step set-up video.

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This thing is such a no brainer! Seriously did not want to drop sixty or more on a headset that I can only use with my Xbox 360 and nothing else. With this 360 kit, I'm now using my Beats SoloHDs I got for Christmas as my Xbox 360 headset.

It works just fine and sounds great. Chat sounds fine pretty much sounds like any other Xbox headset I've ever tried. Obviously the iPod/iPhone controls on the ControlTalk cable don't work with my 360 controller, but that's to be expected.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it. My only complaint which is definitely not the kit's fault is that some games seem quieter than I would like. Halo Reach comes through crazy loud while MW2 and Black Ops are quieter.

Just found out that Xjacker has an amped version of this kit for only 10 bucks more you can boost the sound 20x loader with the amped version.

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This product will save you some good money if you're running your game on a PC monitor with no speakers. The audio is great, but quality falls slightly when you plug in the 3.5mm jack to have another audio source with your in-game audio source. The audio distorts a little so you have to turn down the volume to avoid that. This product works best when you have a headset that can control its own volume because you can turn up in-game audio while turning down your computer audio to keep a good balance. I haven't tested it with the 2.5mm jack, but the jack doesn't snap into the controller well causing the mic to slide out if you move a lot or have too much weight pulling down. Outside of that, it's a really great product to use. Plus, I think I can use the extra RCA plugs it gives to make another headset have audio without needing to split the sound (which normally sucks cause my splitter keeps going out).

To sum it up:

Make sure you have a headset that have its own volume control to get the best use out of this.

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When I unboxed this product, I was pleased to see the great quality of these cables. They are extremely solid and gold-plated! The 3 meter extended cable is very useful, especially because all audio extensions are braided into one cable. This ensures there's no mess with all the different cables. The little 2,5 to 3,5 mm jack adapter cable doesn't fit securely into your xbox 360 controller, but it's okay if you don't wiggle it too much! The set-up is easy to follow.

The audio quality through my PC headset is very good and the mic works very well on Xbox Live. The only thing you'll have to do is to change the Xbox 360 audio output to "Play through TV speakers" instead of "Play through Headset" because I use the 3,5 mm jack audio output of my TV. (If you use the RCA cables, the volume can be too low and you'll have to adjust the voice/game volume, often depending on the game you're playing and the mic quality of your friends).

It's a great and simple solution to use any PC headset with your Xbox 360. No expensive "Turtle Beaches" required! The "Beats by Dr. Dre" adapter cable is also useful for iPhones users btw ;-)

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XJacker does what it says it does, YOU will have to go into the XBOX settings though and change the settings to use it with the mic and headset.. So save yourself some cash and buy this instead of getting a new headset if don't already have one..

I highly recommend this product..

The only con is the plug that goes into the controller pops out once and in a while if you move around alot when you are playing

Midway Arcade Treasures 2 - Xbox Reviews

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This collection of Midway arcade games includes a lot of classics that haven't seen the light of day for over a decade.

Midway's website lists the following games as appearing on the collection:

A. P. B.™

Arch Rivals™

Championship Sprint™

Cyberball 2072™

Gauntlet® II

Hard Drivin'®

Kozmik Krooz'r™

Mortal Kombat® II

Mortal Kombat® 3

NARC®

Pit Fighter™

Primal Rage®

Rampage World Tour®

Spy Hunter® II

Timber™

Total Carnage™

Wacko™

Wizard of Wor™

Xenophobe®

Xybots™

I was a little disappointed not to see the original spy hunter, or the original mortal kombat. I was also disappointed that Joust is missing from the lineup. The collection remains pretty outstanding I haven't played NARC since back in the day. So if you're old enough to be playing for nostalgia's sake, this looks to be a pretty good buy.

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THE SHORT: The ridiculously cheap price is worth spending on some of these games on their own, let alone in a double digit package. But while most of the games run great, there are some slight issues here and there that make some of these games not quite arcade-perfect.

THE LONG: I love Mortal Kombat II. Adore it. I always have, and though the SNES version was great in 1994, no console has ever had an accurate version of it. That's why this was an exciting releaseit promised arcade accurate versions of this game as well as a bunch of other good ones. And if you're just thinking about getting this now, then you didn't have to go through the debacle of having the original Mortal Kombat removed from the package and thrown onto the more cost-prohibitive MK: Deception.

So I checked out message boards and waited for the game, and once it came out and I chatted with others, I noticed a disturbing trend: no one console had a release of this collection that was entirely flawless. The PS2 supposedly had trouble with, I believe, Hard Drivin', and the Gamecube had sound problems or something. The Xbox version was supposed to be flawed in some way too, but I honestly can't remember what that was supposed to have been. All I know is that I was a devoted MKII fan to notice some fanboyish inaccuracies. I won't go into them all here, and while there aren't a lot they are noticeable: stuff like flickering shadows when a character jumps, and screams that go on past death when a character lands in the Pit, etc.

But for every thing the programmers somehow messed up, there are ten it gets right. MKII, as with all others on the disc except for the somewhat muffled MK3, has sound so crisp I'd forgotten how much better it was than past console offerings. The graphics are sharp and the colors bold, and the animation is fluid and correct to how I recall it. Nothing is left out, not even something that a great deal of players never knew about MKII: The computer fights more lazily and gets worked into patterns more easily when using controller 2. This strange, small trick, as well as others such as Shang Tsung's Sub Zero freeze/ fatality skin glitch, were emulated perfectly.

But that's the thingthere are still disappointments despite these best intentions. In making the game, someone neglected to re-map the start button. In MKII, pressing start was part of two tricksselecting a random fighter and accessing hidden character Smoke, but since pressing start in this collection brings up the main pause menu, start is rendered obsolete in-game so apparently these details are inaccessible. That's probably the biggest mistake, and while it doesn't make the package suck, it'd definitely worth mentioning.

Otherwise, the collection is pretty fine. Most of these games are well suited to the Xbox or PS2 controller's simple layout (The GC controller is absurd for the fighting games) and more importantly, the rest of the games seem about the same as I remember them in the arcade. Like with me and MKII, it would take a devoted veteran to notice any changed details that aren't egregious. More so than the original Midway Treasures, this disc has some great titles90's classics such as Narc, Primal Rage, Total Carnage, and of course MKII and 3 are on a disc that by this point costs less than twenty bucks. At that price, imperfections and all, it's hard to pass up on such a modern collection of proven greats.

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Warning, this is does *NOT* work on the Xbox 360!

I saw a recent nostalgia article on several of the games, and picked up this collection expecting to play it in emulation mode on my 360, and it does work. Now to drag the xbox out of the closet...

Honest reviews on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 - Xbox

Enjoyed old memories as well as creating new ones with my son. CyberBall rocks!

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Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is a sweet collection of old school arcade hit titles. The collection of arcade hits are at a very low, low cost and worth a buy for those missing games of yesterday. May people are grippin' over the loss of Mortal Kombat 1 (who cares, its packed with MKD Kollectors Edition). There are other sweet games included in this package like MK2 (my favorite 2D fighter to Street Fighter 2), MK 3, Pit Fighter and Rampage World Tour. I hope in the next collection Midway adds MK3 Ultimate and MK4, so gamers can complete the Mortal Kombat collection on there xbox's. So, get toasted and play this game at parties, happy gamin...

Cheap Skinit LA Lakers Kobe Bryant #24 Action Shot Vinyl Skin for 1

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I'm warning you!!! I thought that I would become an NBA god with this. I mean, I didn't think this would make me a 2K Jordan, maybe not even a Kobe or Lebron, but COME ON!!!!! At least a Melo? A Noah? Curry? No? Okay....

But yeah.... I still suck at 2K... Did not improve one bit with this. My friends still call me 2Krappy.

But, I found that if I changed the settings to rookie and boost all the players on my team's stats, then I can pretend I am a 2K God!!! And it all works out. =)

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I bought this as a gift for my friend who is a big Kobe fan. I didn't realize that all it was is just an actual sticker for your controller. I guess if you wan a sticker then that's ok, I guess I just expected more for the price I paid for it.

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I didn't expect this to be a shiny basic sticker rather I thought it would be more like an actual vinyl type of texture that look better in quality but it was okay. Just wish it was more like how it was described in the description box.

Review of Infamous 2 - Playstation 3

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Infamous 2 has a pretty big set of shoes to fill after the success of the first. It seemed like it would be hard to improve upon the mechanics of the first game. Yet Sucker Punch studios managed to find a way, and produce a worthy sequel to Infamous.

GAMEPLAY

If you have played Infamous then you will feel right at home with Infamous 2. Not much has changed gameplay wise from the original except for loads of polish. Your character will keep his powers, avoiding a Metroid or God of War scenario, and earn additional powers throughout the game. Climbing mechanics, aiming, melee combat all feels more fluid and lively when compared to the original. You will explore a brand new city, take side quests and missions, find dead drops and shards... its all here all over again just with a new coat of paint. On top of new powers to unlock, Cole now has access to THE AMP which allows him additional combat moves especially with melee. To top it all off the map now has some destructible elements which add a nice bit of devastation to Cole's attacks, and goes along exceptionally well if you decide to take the EVIL path.

One thing that does put a damper on the gameplay however is the camera mechanics. This time around the camera got in my way a lot more than it did in the first installment, especially when it came to melee combat with the amp. The camera gave this really nice comic book effect sometimes, giving nice low angle close ups to the fight but it also cut off my view of oncoming danger; and sometimes when jumping would go behind a building or wall leaving me blind to my position. While not a major problem it does put a tiny damper on the gameplay

GRAPHICS

A big time improvement over the first game, and overall the game looks great! The graphics are rendered exceptionally well, and the effects of Cole's powers never looked better. The best part of all is the new city. It looks magnificent when compared to the previous. There is a lot more activity and visual effects going on that really do make the city feel more alive. It is a major improvement over the first title I feel.

SOUND/STORY

Sound wise, the game is very lively. Cole's powers have a lot more effect to them and overall the game just sounds great. Voice acting is of high quality in my book. The new voice actor for Cole at first might seem out of place, when compared with the original, but it grew on me over time. Story wise the game has a decent story, on par with the first game. Like in the original you can chose to be Good or Evil depending on your actions making for two endings and in a way; Two story arcs each leading to different sets of skill upgrades and storyline elements.

REPLAY/LENGTH

Depending on how obsessed you get with collecting shards, dead drops, side quests etc the game should take you anywhere from 14 17 hrs. Replay value is exceptionally high! Not only do you have both a Good and Evil storyline to complete, but shards, dead drops, side quests all return and then some. If you loved the first you will have no problem playing though this game twice with ease.

There is also an online element to Infamous 2 which allows you to create and play user created maps/content. While the controls and implementation of the creator do need some work (in my opinion) the level of creation available is high. Given some time expect to see some wild user-generated content online!

OVERALL A... 90%

Infamous 2 does the original game justice. It doesn't change the formula much, instead just improving upon what made the original a greatest hit; while also giving it a nice face lift graphically. Throw in new super-powers, user-generated content and online, and you have yourself a winner. While Infamous 2 is not a perfect game, it does more than enough to make itself out to be a powerful, high quality title well worth the price of admission.

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'Infamous 2' is the best video game I've played all year. It's a sequel that takes the strengths of the original game, polishes off the rough areas and injects a heavy dose of color and personality. The gameplay's more exciting, the setting is more appealing, and not since 'God of War' has there been a game that makes you feel like a super-powered badass!

'Infamous 2' puts you in the role of series protagonist Cole MacGrath, a person with electric superpowers who's done great good or evil (depending on how you play) for his home town of Empire City. After losing a battle with a super being known only as 'the Beast', Empire City is destroyed and Cole and his allies flee to New Marais (think New Orleans) to upgrade. The story is pretty straight-forward comic book fare with Cole getting involved in the conflicts of New Marais while powering up for his rematch with the Beast. The comic-style cutscenes from 'Infamous 1' are back and sharper than ever, but the real joy is the improved in-game cutscenes which seem movie-quality thanks to the engaging main characters. The cutscenes and story do change a little in 'Infamous 2' depending on whether you're a hero or villain but it's mostly towards the end of the game. The story DOES assume you've played 'Infamous 1' so interested gamers will want to start with the original game first.

The graphics in 'Infamous 2' (with a few exceptions) are excellent. While the actual graphics are a little more detailed in texture than in 'Infamous 1', the improved motion-capture makes Cole and other characters move naturally giving them an organic look. The setting of New Marais is also a big improvement over Empire City as each location looks fresh and varied with excellent use of color and details to make the town come alive. It's no Liberty City (and is a bit smaller than Empire City) but it suits 'Infamous 2's comic book world perfectly!

The audio in 'Infamous 2' is also a treat with more Bluegrass-inspired tunes to compliment the New Orleans-themed setting. The voice-work is top-notch with new voice and mo-cap actor Eric Laden (of 'Left 4 Dead 2' fame) making the character of Cole his own! Nika Futterman is also a standout as the fire-powered 'Nix'.

While 'Infamous 2' is aesthetically an improvement over 'Infamous 1' the basic gameplay is very much the same. You're still running/jumping/climbing/flying across buildings and covering and shooting with your powers. The side quests are much more varied than 'Infamous 1' but still not that complicated. The dead-drops (which I all but ignored in the original game) are now essential if you want to flesh out more of Infamous 2's story and characters. There are some racing-type missions (or 'overload' missions) on rooftops but they take a back seat to more super-powered battles in the streets. I personally liked this change as battling against other super-powered beings was my favorite part of Infamous 1 but some gamers might be put off with a more 'shooter'-minded approach. Also, the camera does get stuck sometimes (especially during the melee attacks) and while I never died as a result it did become a hassle.

The major gameplay change in 'Infamous 2' is your powers. You still need EXP to upgrade abilities (which get unlocked as the story goes), but to actually obtain a power you have to pull off certain stunts and moves with your current abilities. This makes the game much more involved in my opinion in that it makes you experiment with each power before upgrading. There's also a LOT more powers to obtain in 'Infamous 2', so much so that you have to go into your menu and assign different upgrades to different buttons. The Good/Evil powers are much more varied as 'Good' powers focus on precision and 'Evil' powers focus on destruction. For that reason alone the game is worth playing through twice!

While 'Infamous 2' won't impress detractors of the first game, it does just enough different and does it with more excitement and thrills that it'll easily entertain series fans! I want to stress that you DO want to complete the first 'Infamous' before diving into this sequel as certain story-elements may not make sense ( and hey, Infamous 1 is still a great game...which will hopefully make one kick-ass holiday bundle!!). Fans of Infamous 1 and empowering sandbox games, this is a must buy!

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...you will LOVE Infamous 2! Infamous 2 improves on Infamous 1 in almost every way.

Simply put, Infamous 2 is fun. Fun! Why?

-Satisfying combat

--The new combat system is much improved from Infamous 1, essential giving you a huge arsenal of unique powers to choose from. You will unlock different bolts, blasts, grenades, rockets, and ionic attacks (think lightning storm). You can only equip one of each type of attack at a time, but can switch which is equipped on the fly. I should point out Good and Evil paths unlock different powers.

--Combat is more difficult than Infamous 1 (I'm playing on hard), which is a heartily welcomed improvement. Enemies are tougher and your wounds don't heal as fast when you exit combat. Also unlike Infamous 1, you can challenge yourself by your selection of powers. I see myself going back and completed the game again with just weakest powers for an additional challenge.

--Stealth can play a larger role because enemies don't notice you as easily, which is nice.

--The amp! Melee combat is a blast thanks to it

--Interaction with environment means lots of ways to take down enemies

-The parkour platforming elements means traversing the city is never boring, and can be quite enjoyable

-Many many side missions to complete

-Many many blast shards to collect

-Many many powers to unlock

-Improved karma system from Infamous 1

-More random city events than Infamous 1

-User generated content. Although limited at the moment, seems to have much potential.

Negatives:

-The camera can be a bit wonky at times

-Cole sometimes falls through objects unexpectedly while climbing

-Side missions can become repetitive (but hey, there's 60 of them, what do you expect?)

All in all, Infamous 2 is an awesome blend of FPS, action/RPG, and platformer. I highly recommend it as one of the best games for PS3. But play Infamous 1 first so you know the story!

Honest reviews on Infamous 2 - Playstation 3

Just buy this game. I was a fan of the first infamous, but I felt like it just never was what it should be. THis game is the game it needed to be. THey have improved on every single aspect of this game. The beginning intro is right up there with the God of War 3 intro, and it sets the tone for the entire game. You are reminded every now and then just how far the Beast is, and hes coming for you! So many times when I was playing it, I just had to look around and take it all in. Thing is beautiful man. And the pre order dlc I got is pretty cool, the gold amp, sly cane, caveman stick, and samurai sword. WHats cool is that for all the other "amp" skins, they have their own unique electrical field when you use it. This game is a beast yo. No pun intended

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For the purpose of the review, I've played the standard edition of the game.

The game starts up with giving you an option of continuing a past inFAMOUS storyline. (As either good or evil, and will also import blast shards. I've had to format my hard drive since last beating the first game, so I'm unsure of how well this feature works) Once you've decided to continue your storyline or begin a new game, you're thrown in to a very exciting opening scene. From here on, I'll separate each major piece of the game into separate sections.

Graphics The game looks really good. The shadows glitching on the faces from the first game in the series is gone. Cole, as well as other characters have updated looks (and voices). The animations are really smooth as well. Power special effects are also really cleanly done. I have absolutely no complaints about the graphics of the game.

Audio The soundtrack to this game has a sort of overarching main melody, but is pulled off to play during separate feelings of emotion, and I have on more than one occasion gone to find the mission on a youtube video to hear the music again.

As mentioned before, Cole has a new voice actor. This is because they (Sucker Punch) have decided to do motion and facial capturing for scenes, whereas Cole's original voice actor did not have the physicality for the part. It took a few missions to get used to the new voice, but I find that it fits in just as well.

Audio effects for powers and firearms are also well done.

Controls For the most part, they are spot on. I especially love the addition of a powers quick change button. The only moments of 'wonkyness' I've experienced are in hand-to-hand combat while civilians are around. I was playing through as a good character, and on more than one occasion in a karma boosting side mission, I've hit the civilian while intending to hit the crooks. That aside, climbing controls, movement controls, and menu controls are great.

Gameplay This is the most important part, and it works incredibly well. The game's tempo runs similarly to the first one, but the substations charge differently, and in my own opinion, it is much more fun to do.

The power-ups are plentiful, and the side missions are many (60 in total!)

Part way through, you also receive an additional element as a power for Cole as well. These powers compliment an attribute of Cole's own arsenal. There are many Blast Shards and Dead Drops to find within the game, too. 306 Blast Shards, and 29 Dead Drops.

Throw this in to the fact that you can also play through at least twice, one for each karmic branch, as well as the addition of User Generated Content, and you have one really replayable game.

(Side note, while I don't agree with User Generated Content as a game attribute, it does work well with the game for extra experience and things to do. I feel as though developers using UGC as a means of adding in to a game really pulls away from the main story, or additional things that could also be fun to play with)

Total 94/100

I really do love the inFAMOUS games, and this one is a great enhancement on the first one. I find they've really fixed some things I may have had a small problem with from the first one, (Static Thrusters, to name one) I just feel as though there are some things that could have been fine-tuned (combat targeting civilians) and karma-choices lock out and potentially make a powers tree invalid if you choose incorrectly within your own game.

That aside, I definitely recommend this game to anyone with a Playstation 3.

Primal Rage - Nintendo Super NES Review

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Talk about an incredibly fun game with unlimited eye candy and incredible realism. I am not one of those "Jurassic Park" buffs, but this game seemed so fresh after I played it multiple hours a week for the past five years. IT JUST DOESN'T GET OLD! A real, true, blue classic. The dinosaurs appear so fascinating and move so quickly and smoothly, and the challenge isn't that bad. The gore in "Primal Rage" is enjoyable: it relives the environment more than just the violent blood. What a great game.

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This is a Mortal Kombat clone, with huge amounts of blood, and two fatalities for each competitor. The only difference with this game is that all of the fighters are pre-historic! Two apes, a big dinosaur, a fire breathing legendary dinosaur, a raptor and much more. The gameplay is much like Street Fighter 2, and the gameplay is very slow, because you are fighting as dinosaurs! Another interesting feature is that for those who like to use the same move over and over again, the game laughs at you. Pretty cheap game, rent it before you buy it.

Best Deals for Primal Rage - Nintendo Super NES

This is a really fun game, and is one of the better fighting games for the SNES. You play as one of 7 beasty Dinosaurs/prehistoric beasts and battle each one 2 the death on a different continent, when you win you take that land, and when its all complete you gotta work on those tail jabs and kicks, chow down on some half naked worshipers, and sharpen does teeth for the Final battle! And face all of your enemies in one final MEGA round 2 become ruler of the new EARTH! I will say its a good game but it has a lot of cons, but some pros when compared to other ports

For one thing this port has some of the worsed animation I have seen, the Genesis version has superior game speed and higher frame rate for the animation so it looks way better and plays better as well. Some of the backgrounds also look pourly desighned when compared too other ports as well. The music is also kind of weak as well. The one stand out area though for the SNES version of this game is the SOUND! Some of the sounds of the dinos roars to the sound of pounding kicks, flesh ripping bites, and explosions sound like the arcade.

However, I would have too recommend the Genesis version of this game, or the Playstation/Saturn versions also. But this version is ok, its still a pretty fun game overall.

Honest reviews on Primal Rage - Nintendo Super NES

This game is great, not the best looking of entertaining game ever but it is hard and very cool playing two player. The game could use more fighters. Other then that the game is a very different fighter and if you are into those games this one is great for any collection.

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I am terrible at the game, but it is still an awesome game due to its concept. You get to play as giant dinosaurs and other beasts and fight to the bloody death, juggle a few humans, and your victory claims you that piece of land and your new batch of worshippers. The game plays somewhat like Mortal Kombat, but one would have to look online for a move list, since there isn't a move list or a tutorial for the game. It has an arcade mode and 2 player versus, but that is understandable for the era in which it was released, and the limited space on the cartridge. What sells the game for me is its totally metal concept of becoming giant monsters and doing gory Midway things.

Review of Myst V: End of Ages - PC

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As _Myst V, End of Ages_ opens, you find yourself in the K'Veer section of D'Ni, in the room where Atrus was trapped all those years ago. Nearby, you find a strange device. You approach the device and ZAP! Yeesha, Atrus's daughter appears. She tells you of a tablet with mysterious powers. She once was the keeper, but failed to use it properly. Now it is your destiny--as a friend of the family you *do* keep getting involved--to release the tablet and put it to its proper purpose.

Sounds like the set up for a pretty good game, doesn't it? Unfortunately, EoA takes a that concept and falls flat on its face when it comes to execution. This game is boring at best, annoying at worst and to get through it I had to resort to a technique I'd never before used: printing out the walkthrough and following it step by step.

I'm not the kind of gamer who demands the latest bells and whistles in sound and graphics, but even I saw a lack in EoA, especially coming after the exceptionally animated worlds of Revelation and Uru. The Ages we experienced here were pretty enough but quite static. We saw a few fireflies and falling stars here, but aside from that the environment didn't do anything much--and I think at this point in the history of gaming technology, there's no excuse for that. And I have to ask myself, what's the point of real-time 3-D if nothing happens? What's the point of freedom of movement and 360-degree panning if there's nothing to experience and nothing to see?

In addition to being boring, the ages were tiny. Compared to the huge areas of previous games, which took days to explore properly, these ages seem like a marketing demo: an example of "something that could be expanded on if we got the proper funding." One of them you could view from end-to-end by standing in a single spot. I suppose this wouldn't have bothered me as much if the puzzles had actually been interesting, but once again, compared to the age-spanning puzzles of previous Myst games, the puzzles in EoA were... just plain stinky. Each Age had about the same purpose: carry an object from one end of the Age to the other. So that's wasn't so dissimilar from other Myst games, where you had to solve an Age and return to a central point. Here, however, the concept failed in numerous ways. First of all, there wasn't anything interesting to see along the way. Second, whereas in other games in the series you have to accomplish a number of integrated tasks to reach your goal, in EoA each Age essentially contained one puzzle. Third, the puzzles were just bad. I've heard a number of people say they were too wasy; that wasn't my experience. In fact, I found the puzzles so arbitrary and confusing and full of just stupid requirements that I literally could not have got through the game without following a walkthrough (I've solved every other Myst game with a nudge or two). Here were levers you could manipulate, but no way of telling what the heck they did: no view from which you could see the results of your work, no movie showing you the effect that might be happening in the next room over. There were arbitrary obstacles galore. For example, in order to solve one puzzle, you had to do something that resulted in haqving your vision impaired to the point that you couldn't see what you were doing, and so you had to repeat the process over and over again, hoping you'd solve the puzzle by luck. Every single major puzzle was timed, in that you created a necessary event that lasted only a limited time and only during that event could you solve the puzzle. So there was no ability to explore an Age at your leisure and figure it out, as the effect of your event might only be apparent at the other side of an Age. Also, a particular game device required an inordinate amount of back and forthing. All in all, if not extended by artificial means, most of these Ages coul be solved entirely in five minutes or so.

A lot of the neat stuff from other Myst games was missing. There was no animal life and no animation, as I've stated before. There were no nifty rides and slides. There weren't cool machines that did amazing stuff. You got to go up and down in an elevator once, and that was about it. Instead, you got an annoying companion on your "quest." This guy popped up at intervals, usually just when you started to explore something, and gave you long pompous speeches which, though beautifully voiced by David Ogden Stiers, merely made you want to push the character over a cliff at the soonest opportunity. While I'm on the subject of character, let me add that nothing in this game made me feel any sympathy for any of the characters who appeared. By the end of _Revelation_, I felt something for both Sirrus and Achenar (a major accomplishment in character development and back story). But Yeesha here just struck me as a whiny fanatic who couldn't get over herself.

I don't have as much objection to the story (such as it was) itself as some others have had. However, I missed the personal touch of previous games. You helped Atrus because you liked him and cared about his family, and because the events of the games affected that family. I couldn't really get how the story of EoA was important to anyone but Yeesha. From some of the events of Uru, I get that it *was*, but the developers failed to convey it in any way that made me care. Even the ending failed to move me, filled as it was with melodramatic speeches and bad character animation (and yes, I failed to mention that EoA also lacked the FMV movies of previous games and that this was a major bummer).

I was really surprised when EoA was announced so shortly after _Revelation_ and the release date was less than a year ahead. Well, the rush shows. This game is barely worth playing and is certainly not worth the inflated price it was issued at. I've been playing this series since MYST and I even loved Uru. But take my advice, leave this one on the shelf. The ending of _Revelation_ is way more satisfying.

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This is almost insulting. I'm outraged.

I've been a fan of the Myst series since Riven, always eager to immerse in the stunning, utterly beautiful sceneries, and there to push switches and pull levers, to tackle the mind-boggling puzzles that would lead me to more dream-like places.

And I was a bit disappointed when Uru came out, with its real-time, third-person interface, because it wasn't exactly was I was expecting, graphically. But then, it was advertised as a side-quest, so I didn't mind too much, especially when Myst IV: Revelation came out with its good ol' QuickTime VR and video-overlaid characters.

So when I heard that Myst V: End of Ages was coming out, and that it'd be the last episode, I really expected the series to end with a flourish. Admittedly, I was slightly surprised by the rather short, one-year gap since the previous instalment, but I trustfully put it down to technical progress.

Well I was wrong.

Visually, Myst V: End of Ages is closer to Uru. Again they traded the QuickTime VR for a first-person navigation that allows you to look around as you walk from point to point. As you might deduce, this real-time rendering implies models with a lower polygon count, and lightmaps. What is gained in movement fluidity (which, by the way, is not required to solve puzzles à la Myst) is lost in image quality, putting the whole trademark atmosphere in jeopardy.

Same story for the characters you meet throughout the game, who are now CG with a video mapped on their face. It's ugly. The Motion Capture hasn't been corrected, or not enough, and the characters' feet are either sliding or entering the ground. They also tried to impress us with cloth movements, but with such a low polygon count you can often see it go through the characters' legs. Really, what were they thinking?

As for the puzzles, even though a couple of them were a bit tricky (but mostly because the symbol I drew on the tablet wasn't quite accurate), they were for the most part repetitive and unchallenging. Proof is, I finished the game in one day.

This is such a letdown.

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A new and irritating aspect of Myst V are puzzles that must be solved before your 'timer' runs out. Different puzzles have different 'timers' but the plays the same set the timer, try to solve the puzzle, if not then go through the whole process again of resetting the timer. Grrr... This really detracts from the classic Myst experence it turns it into an action game. The game is worth purchasing but be prepared for aggravation not relaxation.

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I wanted to like this game. Really, I did. I mean, it's the first one by Cyan since Riven, and I wanted to let the original creators have the final word. But compared to all the previous games, End of Ages is a huge letdown.

Okay, first things first. The game engine. I understand that Cyan was desperate to conclude the series. Their Uru endeavor failed and they were in financial trouble, so they had to use the real-time 3D engine made for Uru because they couldn't afford to make Myst 5 from scratch. I can get past that. I wanted to get past that.

I have played Uru, and I didn't like it at all. That game centered on journey cloths, jumping puzzles, and kicking objects around with your feet. (All that attention to photorealistic detail, and yet the player can't pick objects up or climb low ledges.) No sense of mystery, no story to discover. Just a long-winded D'ni history lesson as you move through linear ages by solving blatantly artificial (and often illogical) puzzles.

The fun of Myst-the whole point!-is to believe that this is happening to you right now. It is an alternate reality and you are part of the story. You are Atrus' friend and have earned the privilege to be part of the family. Uru made all of that false. It separated the player from this beloved viewpoint. Someone in the distant past helped Atrus and now you are really exploring the ruins of a long dead civilization. It was way more fun when we were part of the story instead of just witnessing the ruins of its end. Cyan destroyed their own world by taking it out of the context Myst established.

On a more intangible level, the DNRC's presence ruined the atmosphere. I felt like I was exploring ages that had already been charted. Everything had already been discovered and I wasn't doing anything new. Esher's presence in Myst 5 creates this same feeling. Many have been on this quest before, so you are not doing anything special. (I wonder how the others failed. It wasn't *that* difficult.)

In all these ways Myst 5 suffers from Uru's engine. The graphics, while fluid and faster-loading, are lifeless compared to the beautiful pre-rendered landscapes of all the previous installments. The ages are tiny and horribly linear--there's no free choice in how you explore each age. You must stay on the path to move the slates and there's no room to look elsewhere. Like the journey cloths in Uru, the slates and pedestals are just inconsequential object hunting. Instead of discovering a story through exploration and problem-solving, moving slates is the goal. It doesn't feel like a Myst game at all.

Puzzles in Myst have always been part of the environment and story. They have logical reasons to be there, and when solved they mean something. And even if a few are artificial, they still serve some sort of purpose to the story. That's what makes Myst games so unique. The puzzles are not there just to delay the player, but to enhance the story. Not here. Puzzles are dropped in your path *only* to keep you from carrying the slates to the other side of the age and finishing the game in ten minutes. It's probably an attempt to recapture the feel of page-hunting from the original Myst, but even that rewarded you with another piece of the story and made you want to explore more, find out what happened. Moving slates is the goal of Myst 5, and it's a goal unto itself. It doesn't accomplish anything, so it's unsatisfying when you finally achieve it. If anyone wanted to make croquet into a puzzle game this is how to do it.

But there is some good here. With the exception of the elevator outside the arena in Laki'ahn, the puzzles are logical (even if arbitrary). In all fairness, the observatory age is the best of the four with gorgeous scenery and a brilliant set of puzzles that are satisfying to solve. The power of the Bahro is used for an impressive task in that age.

Elsewhere the Bahro are used to help you solve one puzzle in each age, which is obviously contrived so that it can only be solved in this way. It's an awkward use of the power because it all feels like a setup. This setup feel worked in Exile because it was there for a reason (you were forced to jump through the hoops the villain set up for you). But here it's not called for. This is supposed to be an epic quest, not a staged game of "Let's Move the Slate." Did the D'ni have to wait for a hurricane every time they wanted to use the winch in the last age? How contrived and pointless can a puzzle get?

About that elevator...it's just plain stupid that you can't run off it as it lowers. There's no barrier that holds you back, so running to the platform while the elevator lowers seems natural because you do something similar in a previous puzzle. Why stop us from doing it here? Alas, an invisible barrier keeps the player from doing something that by all visual cues is quite logical. I hate it when games use methods like this to make puzzles.

But I think all the above is nitpicking. The story is the real problem. Since my first day playing Myst, I was under the impression that the D'ni wrote all these things into existence. Every game (including Uru) has presented and underscored the breathtaking power of the Art to create anything by writing it. So where did the Bahro come from? Why did the D'ni need an enslaved race to do their building when they had the Art? They were never mentioned in the previous games and no back story is given to explain or give weight to their purpose. Even if they're mentioned in the Myst novels it does no good because it contradicts everything we've come to know and love about the D'ni. Again, Cyan spoiled their own world by putting this in there.

Without a solid story to discover, there's no Myst game. I could've overlooked all the puzzle and graphical shortcomings if the story had been good. But the journey is not worth it and the ending can't save it.

In Myst, Riven, Exile and Revelation, the endings leave you with a deep sense of achievement. You not only solved the puzzles and got to the ending, you earned the privilege to understand the story. Don't expect End of Ages to have this feeling. It'll leave you scratching your head and rolling your eyes.

The ending is supposed to be dramatic, but the unnatural, jerky movements make it impossible to take seriously. Cyan did the best they could with what they had, but these computer animated characters just can't replace live action actors. The CGI Atrus is especially laughable. Speaking of that, you better have a fast computer or the voices will be out of synch, making it even more awkward. At least live action is in synch no matter how fast or slow your system is.

Cyan destroyed not only Myst 5 but the whole concept of the D'ni when they made Uru. It destroyed Cyan itself as well. I weep for the loss of an otherwise wonderful series.

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I can't believe after buying the Limited Edition which came with the Prima strategy guide I still can't get the slate drawings to work. You have to have them absolutely perfect or you'll spend hours redrawing them. This is the most frustrating game I've ever played. I finished all the other Myst games in a few days. And enjoyed them mostly. I've spent 3 days and numerous game guide sites trying to figure out how to draw a symbol in Todelmer good enough to move along. If it wasn't for the startegy guide I would have assumed I was on the wrong path. I was able to get the first few slate drawings to work only after multiple tries. Never did see the difference from one that worked and ones that didn't. Any one want to buy this before I throw it the trash? I wouldn't even take your money. It's that bad. Also emailed Help at Ubi and they were absolutely no help. But of course, what did I expect.