As a trivia game fan, I’ve played variations of Trivial Pursuit for years, and I will concede to be something of a purist. There’s just something about that wheel-shaped gameboard, the pie pieces and the trivia questions that used to be difficult that appealed to my sensibilities. Over the years of course, the game has broadened its horizons with a variety of themed versions, but at its core, it was always that same gameplay.

But that wasn’t meant to last forever I suppose, and now we have Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It, which keeps the pie and trivia, but adds wagering. Can I, the purist, be swayed by this new spin on the classic Trivial Pursuit gameplay? I don’t see myself ever saying that this new version is better, but it is a positive twist that maintains what’s good but adds an enjoyable new multiplayer wrinkle.

The Parent Perspective

Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It, much like the regular editions of the board game, seems geared more towards adults, as many of the questions are going to be foreign to all but the smartest teens. As a result, I wouldn’t recommend this as a family experience, but for up for four adults, it can definitely be a good way to spend an evening at home.

Plus, you might actually learn something, which is always a positive.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Review

Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It is an interesting variation on the classic Trivial Pursuit. While still being based around answering questions to earn pie pieces in six different categories, the old game board has been replaced by a spinner that chooses your category. But the biggest change is that Trivial Pursuit now includes gambling.

Before each question is asked, other players can wager on whether you will answer correctly or not. Get the question right and you’ll earn a coloured wedge and all of the money bet against you; get the question wrong and your opponents win double their bet. Wager correctly and you can rack up plenty of points, and there are several important uses for them, so you’ll want to bet wisely.

On your turn, if you land on a buy space, you can purchase any coloured wedge, or use your points to choose a different category than the one you may have landed on. If you turn the option on, you can also use your points to swap out topics for your opponents, which can make for a very cutthroat match. These new twists mean that everyone plays on every turn, creating a much better multiplayer experience. It also adds plenty of strategy, as you have to gauge just how well your friends may know a particular category.

This new gameplay also leads to a much shorter game, as things can be potentially wrapped up in only six turns, though the back and forth of wagering and stealing can make it a very intense experience.

There is a single player mode in Bet You Know It, but other than trying to cheat by learning some of the questions, I can’t imagine why you’d want to play it. I understand as developers you kind of have to put it in there, but it really just seems dumb to play a board game solo, as there’s no virtual opponents to compete against. But get up to three friends playing with you? Now you’ve got something.

The GamerPops Recommendation

Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It is a good digital representation of the classic board game and this newer variation. If you already have the board game, I wouldn’t worry about getting the Wii version, but if it’s been a while since you played any version of Trivial Pursuit, and you’re up for some trivia, this collection of new and old is fun for adults, though not exactly a kid-friendly experience.

I’d like it better if it was a $30 title, but if you plan to play a lot of Trivial Pursuit, you can hopefully get your money’s worth.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

ESRB Rating Summary

No rating summary was available at the time of posting.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn brings the beloved Belgian boy reporter to the big screen and video game consoles for the first time, combining elements of three of Tintin’s earliest stories into an epic adventure. Can Ubisoft’s new game capture the spirit and action that has made the books hugely popular for decades?

The Parent Perspective

Off the top, the most tangible positive benefit that The Adventures of Tintin offers is the opportunity for parents to introduce their children to the Tintin books. Boys especially should enjoy the comic book adventures of the young Belgian reporter, though girls could enjoy as well. With over 350 million copies in print around the world, they’ve been beloved by generations of readers, and if this game can lead a new generation to the book store, that’s a terrific outcome.

As a game, The Adventures of Tintin is best for older children. Despite the generally light tone of the game, there’s a rather surprising amount of violence in both the single and multiplayer modes. Through level after level, Tintin and company punch and body slam their way through plenty of generic villains. It’s certainly mild as far as physical violence goes, but it starts to feel somewhat out of place fairly quickly. Some enemies have guns (as do the airplanes), but the gunplay is highly cartoonish.

The biggest drawback to The Adventures of Tintin, naturally, is that there’s practically zero awareness of Tintin amongst today’s children. In fact, it’s entirely likely that most parents may have only heard the name, let alone knowing anything about the characters, stories, or history. Is there any hope that parents picking up this game for the kids will be handing the disc over to an eager audience? That’s a tough obstacle for Tintin to overcome, but at least the game is abetting by being fundamentally solid and fun. Is that enough? Frankly, it’s hard to be too optimistic, but stranger things have happened.

With the modest story mode, a full and separate multiplayer mode, and added challenges that each offer a certain level of replayablity, there’s definitely decent value in the game, though that really will be impacted by how much the gamers end up liking Tintin.

The Review

Anyone up for Uncharted Jr.? In a sense, that’s what the Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is. With a globe-trotting story, a plucky hero and his trusty sidekicks, and the promise of treasure at the end, there’s a sense of familiarity for fans of Uncharted, Indiana Jones, and countless other adventure heroes.

Secret of the Unicorn is at its best in the purely side-scrolling levels, as the lack of camera control renders the 3D sequences more annoying than fun. The side-scrolling levels mix exploration, stealth, combat, and puzzle solving across a few different locations, mixed up with the occasional 3D action set piece or section playing as Tintin’s canine sidekick Snowy. With just the right level of difficulty keeping the game challenging but beatable, this will be just right for kids 10 and up, but anyone older will breeze through quite quickly.

It’s obvious that a lot of love has gone into the game, creating a stylish and cinematic experience that mimics the film’s updated versions of the original line drawings. The story mode’s colourful visuals and the beautiful character animations evoke the feeling of the movie, while the multiplayer environments manage a similar effect, but with a slightly creepy edge to them. The orchestral music and extensive dialogue enrich that experience, especially the salty Captain Haddock, who peppers the adventure with strange words used completely out of context.

The game’s single player storyline follows the movie’s plot, travelling from Europe to the Middle East and back as Tintin pursues the fabled lost treasure of the Unicorn, a 17th century ship that was besieged on the seas. Along the way, Tintin and his dog Snowy will adventure, fly, and drive their way around. It’s a relatively short adventure however, stringing together a lot of short chapters, but the pacing is brisk and the story never really drags. Flashing back to the 17th century Captain Haddock does feel like it derails things a bit though, taking you out of Tintin’s story in a very clunky way.

If you want a truly demented treat, try jumping straight into the multiplayer experience without playing the story mode. These co-operative side scrolling platformer levels take place in the dazed imagination of a concussed Captain Haddock, and feature almost no set up as to what’s happening. For a complete Tintin neophyte, it’s inexplicably bizarre, yet zany good fun, especially when the giant masked pirate laughs at you over the game over screen,and you have no idea why. As a co-op mode it’s definitely fun, built the same way as the single player campaign with co-operative challenges that aren’t always obvious, but aren’t painfully difficult.

Challenge modes add extra value, allowing you to play swordfighting, motorcycling, and airplane flying games. They aren’t up at the same level as the main game, and are certainly not something Ubisoft would want to hang its hat on, but as an extra add-on to the game, it adds to the overall value of it.

Secret of the Unicorn supports 3D TVs, though I don’t have one so I can’t comment, but you can see a few instances where the developers have designed the game to potentially showcase the 3D effects. PlayStation Move controls are also optional, but as is often the case (especially considering the simple and tight controls using the standard controller) “optional” is best read as “you have the option not to use it as well”.

And finally, it’s worth mentioning this just because it’s unique: the game gives you options for French, English, Portuguese, and Spanish, though the fact that French is the first option should give you an indication of just who exactly the game is meant for.

The GamerPops Recommendation

Ultimately, its success will depend heavily on the success of the Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson film, and that’s too bad, because there’s definitely a fun and spirited adventure to be had. However, much like the recently reviewed Rayman Origins (another Ubisoft title with strong European roots), The Adventures of Tintin seems destined to succeed in the European market, but end up in the bargain bin in North America. On its merits, the game deserves better than that, as it delivers an experience that largely captures the spirit of the source material and most importantly, has fun with it.

Hopefully, the new movie and perhaps the game can be successful enough to drive children to the wealth of classic Tintin comic stories, and if it can do that as well as it delivers a fun game experience, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn would have to be considered a success.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

ESRB Rating Summary

Rating: Everyone 10+

Content descriptors: Cartoon Violence

Rating summary: This is an adventure platformer based on the movie The Adventures of Tintin. Players assume the role of a young reporter looking for a sunken ship’s lost treasure. As players run and jump through each level, they can punch human enemies and/or slam them to the ground, resulting in “dizzy star” effects. During some sequences, players use slingshots, swords, and explosives to dispatch nearby thugs or pirates; characters/vehicles blink when hit, and may disappear amid small explosions when defeated. In a handful of sequences, characters use guns to fire “cartoony” projectiles at adversaries that run, jump, or fly across the screen.

Monopoly Collection for the Wii collects EA’s two most recent Monopoly titles in one value package, presenting an undeniably attractive experience for fans of the board game.

The Parent Perspective

If your children are able to play and understand any of the Monopoly board games, they’ll have no problems with any of the Monopoly games in this collection. There is plenty of potential for a fun family game night, either in a traditional game or the included minigames.

As with the board game though, these games are best for adults and older children who can understand the relatively advanced gameplay, especially since the rules are as “flexible” as they might be in the board game (aka letting the kids win).

The Review

Monopoly Collection includes two complete Monopoly games, previously released individually on the Wii. First up is good old Monopoly, which can be played by the traditional rules (including property auctions) featuring boards including the classic and World editions, plus a handful of fantasy editions. These extra boards are unlocked by collecting stamps in your passport, which basically means playing the game and trying to land on every space on each board.

Families will have the option to play with up to 4 Wiimotes, or a single one shared by all players, and if you don’t have four players, the Wii will play up to three opponents against you, with varying definable skill levels.

The game plays quite quickly thanks to a relative lack of bells and whistles, and even with three Wii-controlled players the games move along at a smooth clip. With auctions enabled, property gets snapped up extremely quickly, switching the game from property buying to property management in a hurry.

Aside from the main game, there’s also a slightly zanier version called Richest Edition. Richest Edition changes things up by taking cash out of the equation and instead creating minigame-based gameplay. Monopoly purists will be revolted, but as a minor diversion from the standard edition, these 30, 45, or 60 minute matches offer decent, albeit somewhat less interesting options.

While Monopoly is the classic version of the game, as a video game it pales in comparison to Monopoly Streets. As we outlined in our review of the Xbox 360 version, the 3D visualizations of the game really change up the experience, doing about as much as possible to create a video game version of Monopoly. Other than lower resolution graphics, there’s a negligible difference between the version we reviewed originally and this Wii edition, meaning on either system, Monopoly Streets is thoroughly and completely entertaining.

As a value collection, I can’t help but feel it would have been preferable to package the superior Monopoly Streets with another family-friendly game from the EA library, to provide a better kind of value, but as a package targeted exclusively to Monopoly fans, this collection hits the mark.

The GamerPops Recommendation

If there are Monopoly fans in your family, EA’s Monopoly Collection for the Wii is probably a must own. Between the classic Monopoly, the Monopoly Minigames, and the more recent Monopoly Streets, there are enough variations on the game to keep your interest, though truth be told Monopoly Streets is the one that most deserves your time and attention. I can’t say as I would have naturally put these two games together in one collection, as there is obviously significant overlap, but as the most complete version of the game available on the Wii, it presents a lot of value to Monopoly enthusiasts.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

ESRB Rating Summary

Rating: Everyone

Content descriptors: No Descriptors

Rating summary: This game is based on the classic Monopoly board game in which players compete to become the wealthiest by buying, selling, and trading properties on the game board. Players can navigate the street levels of a full 3D city, managing properties such as world landmarks and traditional Monopoly locations.

The My First Wiimote from Performance Designed Products reshapes the traditional Wii controller, making it more kid-friendly in style and appearance. Available in both Disney Princess and Pixar’s Cars versions, each My First Wiimote comes with four paper inserts that can be swapped out beneath the removable top cover to let kids customize their controller.

What’s odd is that because this is a children’s Wiimote, you naturally expect it to be smaller than a standard Wiimote, but it’s surprisingly not. It’s only about a half an inch shorter (or one centimetre for our metric friends), not quite as tall, and on average about the same width. What makes it work is the slight contouring  (rounder at the top and bottom and narrower in the middle) and the repositioning of the buttons to fit younger hands. The A, 1, and 2 buttons have also been increased in size, while the D-pad has been enlarged and more countered. All in all, it’s well designed for younger hands.

The My First Wiimote has the standard plug for the Wii Nunchuk, though there is no matching Nunchuk accessory from PDP. The regular Nunchuk is sized appropriately enough to fit the hands of all gamers, though a My First Nunchuk would be equally welcome.

Because of its different feel, it’s great for kids, and maybe even moms, in the standard waggle grip or held sideways, but it’s not going to be usable by anyone with man hands, so while this is a great choice for youngsters, it won’t replace a Wiimote for most adult gamers.

With a suggested price of $30, the My First Wiimote is at least $10 less than the normal price of a Wiimote Plus, though this one doesn’t have have the Motion Plus technology. Of course, the odds that any child who would be right for the My First Wiimote would be playing that many games requiring the Motion Plus are rather low, but it’s still a consideration.

If your family has young children who are eager to play Wii, especially if they are Disney Pixar fans, the My First Wiimote seems like a great alternative to the standard Wiimote, or a good purchase if you haven’t already bought a full set of Wiimotes. The price is reasonable, and I would not be surprised if the My First Wiimote can be found for less, which makes it even more appealling.

A My First Wiimote was provided to GamerPops for review.

Rayman is back. After a reasonably successful run on his own series of titles, he was shoved aside by his own co-stars as the Raving Rabbids become the stars of a recent series of titles. But now after a few years in semi-retirement, Ubisoft have brought back the limbless hero in an all new adventure.

Developed by Ubisoft Montpelier, Origins is that beloved rarity: a side scrolling platformer that does so many things well. In fact, Rayman Origins does almost everything just right. Except for one, slightly crucial thing. But, we’ll get to that in a bit. First let’s bask in all the great things that the game does. Because there are quite a few.

The Parent Perspective

Rayman Origins isn’t so much a game for kids, as it is a game that kids can play along with their parents. With its four player co-operative gameplay, with just a hint a competitiveness, it’s ideal for families to play together. A key goal in each level is collecting enough coin-like characters as a group, but you are allowed to punch and kick each other along the way in pursuit of those riches. As a side scrolling game in the vein of Super Mario Bros. Wii or the recent Kirby’s Return to Dream Land, it’s also in some ways an easier fit for those under-10 gamers who haven’t quite mastered 3D platforming, and the simple controls are as responsive as you’d like them to be.

The game is reasonably difficult, but especially forgiving in multiplayer; when a character dies, they puff up like a balloon and float across the level, and need only to be deflated by another player to be brought back to life. With three or four players, there should be no expectation of defeat in any level. Multiplayer is drop-in, drop out, which is ideal of course when playing with children whose attention spans don’t make it all the way through the level.

But is this something kids will want to play on their own? Once they get introduced to the game, perhaps, but Rayman and friends have almost zero awareness among the younger set (and quite possibly not even among parents), so this is more of a title for parents to love and to encourage the kids to join in on.

There is a rather busty fairy (or at least I think she’s a fairy) and some mildly off-color humor, but otherwise the content is largely acceptable.

The Review

First and foremost, Rayman Origins is one of the most visually stunning games of this generation. The digitally painted backgrounds and characters are gorgeous, utilizing the new UbiArt Framework graphics engine. I don’t typically get into the “games as art” discussion, but the visuals in this game are undeniably artistic, with a distinct sense of style that runs through all the different environments. But it’s not a static world, and the way the characters and elements within the worlds move are beautifully smooth and filled with a cartoonish zeal. So much so that it almost feels like this could be hand drawn animation, it’s that lovingly rendered and detailed.

Second only to the graphics is the audio. Because of the wacky sound effects and the subtle background music, the audio drives the overall goofiness of the game in a way that’s very Mario-esque.

As gamers, we are all largely familiar with the Japanese aesthetic and the North America version, but what we rarely seem to get are games that feel distinctively European. Rayman Origins is one of those titles; it’s hard to put my finger on exactly what it is, but there’s just something at work here that feels European to me. There’s just something here that brings to mind the adventures of Asterix and Obelix. Maybe I’m the only one who will see that, but there’s just something here that says “I’m not exactly the style you’re used to” and that’s a great thing.

Gameplay? Also very strong, with the game being equally fun in any configuration from one to four players. Levels feel just right in length and difficulty, with plenty of puzzles and challenges (many of them optional). Controls are very simple and wonderfully reminiscent of the good old days of side scrollers, though as a minor quibble, it would have been nice if holding down the jump button went straight to glide, rather than having to release and press the button again. There’s also a nice completist element at work here, with hidden crates to be found in each level, as well as speed run and collection bonuses and plenty of playable characters to unlock. Plus, you can just go back and replay the levels to look at the beautiful art.

So, we’ve documented all the great things about Rayman Origins. What’s the one thing it doesn’t do?

It doesn’t make a lick of sense.

Literally. I have no idea what was going on at any given point in the game, because I’m not a Rayman fan. So, there’s this guy with no arms and legs. His name is apparently Rayman. He has friends of various shapes and sizes. There are these floaty things he likes to collect. And this is his origin story.

Or something.

Who’s the fat guy with the giant smile? Who’s the little dude? Who are any of the characters you can unlock and play? Why doesn’t Rayman have arms? All questions you may be asking yourself. If you’re a long time fan of the Rayman games, hopefully this will all make sense, but ultimately, it’s a testament to the strength of the gameplay and the experience that you don’t really need to care or understand what’s happening. As long as the game keeps up a steady stream of action and beauty, it doesn’t really matter, but it feels like a real opportunity was lost to introduce people to the characters and welcome a new generation of Rayman fans.

The GamerPops Recommendation

Rayman Origins has everything going for it, except perhaps name recognition. With so many other franchises dabbling now in four player co-op/competitive gameplay, Rayman Origins is a worthy entry, and could even potentially be the best of the bunch. That said, with so many other higher profile contenders out there, it feels like Rayman and friends could be resigned to the hidden treasure status. But without a doubt, this is a game that gamers of all stripes should play. Even if they have no idea what’s going on.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

ESRB Rating Summary

Rating: Everyone 10+

Content descriptors: Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence, Suggestive Themes

Rating summary: This is an action platformer in which players assume the role of Rayman, a “cartoony” character that must help his friends defeat evil beings in their world. As players run, jump, and fly through each level, they must avoid hazards (e.g., fireballs, lightning bolts, lava pits) and defeat a variety of creatures (e.g., birds, shrimp, fish, robots, dragons). Most enemies disappear into puffs of smoke when hit. During the course of the game, players must rescue female nymphs that wear revealing outfits (e.g., moderate amounts of cleavage). The dialogue occasionally contains comical remarks and/or references to bathroom humor: “[N]obody ever wanted to share my Boogers on a Stick!” “Stop ogling me,” and “They force-fed you farting beans . . .”

When Disney Universe was announced, much was made about the fairly obvious similarities to the LEGO games developed by Traveller’s Tales. In fact, Traveller’s Tales design director Jon Burton wrote a few tweets to this effect at the time. It certainly looked like Disney Universe was borrowing heavily from the successful formula established by the various LEGO titles, a favourite of ours here at GamerPops. Humour, lots of characters, drop-in drop-out co-op play, playing through movies, it certainly looked the part. But now that the game has been released, is Disney Universe the rip-off it’s suspected of being, or does it do enough to stand on its own as an enjoyable gameplay experience?

The Parent Stuff

So, yeah, about that drop-in drop-out co-op part? Not so much. This turns out to be one of the bigger disappointments of the game. Eurocom ends up doing something similar to what Insomniac did with Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One in that the game does competitive co-op. You’re playing together, but you’re also competing at times for gold, level ups, etc. At the end of the level, stats are displayed for each player in terms of gold collected, enemies killed, stars collected, and respawns and players are ranked. This is fun for families or friends that want a little competitive aspect to a fun game. The issue is that it doesn’t allow people to come and go from the game as they please, requiring restarting a level to change the number of players. When you have younger gamers with shorter attention spans, you’d like the option of dropping them out. When a couple of kids are playing and want a not-busy-at-the-time adult to join in, you can’t until they finish their game and essentially restart. It’s annoying and as mentioned, a real disappointment as we find this to be a staple of a good family game.

By the way, speaking of those levels, they’re fairly long. Each world has three different episodes in it, but those episodes have three levels each, and you really have to play on an episode-by-episode basis, not level-by-level. This requires a bit of a time commitment which you don’t always have. I would have preferred to see the game let you go level by level so that it could support shorter gaming sessions.

Okay, maybe bouncing on the bellies of Axiom residents isn't the nicest thing...

Despite these shortcomings (and in the context of what we’re looking for in a family game, they are not insignificant), the kids got a huge kick out of Disney Universe. Even with some of the omissions, the formula is still a winning one, plus it involves familiar and well-loved Disney settings and characters. The kids simply loved being able to play through their favourite Disney movies, as their favourite characters. The gameplay is fun and easy to pick up, and kids seem to love the chaos. And chaos there is, to the point where three and four players on the screen is almost overwhelming. But it really is a fun choas, and we still have kids coming over wanting to play Disney Universe, so it must be doing something right.

The game itself isn’t too hard, though I found it inconsistent with dealing damage. While it makes sense that lower minions and bosses deal different amounts of damage, the one-hit kills get a bit annoying after a while. Luckily, respawns are infinite and only cost gold, some of which you might be able to collect again before it disappears (or gets nabbed by your buddies, of course). Plus, Disney Universe isn’t shy about holding your hand. Large blue arrows are only all too happy to point you to your next objective and provide direction. After the occasional ambiguity of other similar games (LEGO can be bad for this), the lack of subtlety is actually welcome, at least as far as kids are concerned. And of course I’ll mention, as always, that a lack of camera control on a 3D platforming game in two dimensions rears its ugly head again. Expect to fall a few times to your doom. Each character does have a circle underneath of them to indicate where you are, but it only shows up when there’s ground underneath of you.

There is, of course, a fair amount of cartoon violence in Disney Universe as characters possess weapons which they use to beat up the various evil bot characters you will encounter. If you’ve played similar games, there will be nothing new here. There are areas that require some teamwork and co-ordination to complete, though there are also times when it’s every player for themselves.

You must avenge my death Kimba, I mean, Simba.

The Review

Disney Universe has a rather fun premise. Disney have opened a new virtual attraction that lets you experience some of the company’s most famous movies by putting you in that world and letting you dress as your favourite character. You can interact with various bots that mimic characters from the movies, and you have a virtual tour guide (a floating blue square) at your side who in the introduction goes to great pains to tell you that nothing bad could possibly happen. Repeatedly. Luckily, this gave me an opportunity to teach the boys about foreshadowing. Shockingly, things go wrong and an evil red tour guide takes over and starts using the bots to wreak havoc in the virtual world. He’s also captured a number of guests and you’ve been asked to help free them.

The game supports up to four player competitive co-op play. There are six worlds (each with three episodes with three levels in each) you can play in, although Pirates of the Caribbean is the only one available at the start. Eventually you can also unlock Aladdin, The Lion King, Wall-E, Monsters, Inc., and Alice in Wonderland. There are also a number of characters (more specifically, costumes) available for you to choose from, though many more are unlockable either by purchasing them with gold you collect or by beating particular episodes (in some cases twice). Costumes can be leveled up to make them more powerful by collecting stars, usually hidden in locked chests, throughout the episodes.

As mentioned before, you collect gold in the game, which is used as currency. Gold can be accumulated by killing bot enemies, smashing destructible objects, or just collecting what’s lying around. Gold can be used to buy certain characters (the ones you don’t unlock by completing episdoes) or to unlock the other worlds. I will take a small issue with this. After playing through all three episodes of the Pirates world in a four player game, we didn’t have enough gold to unlock any other worlds. With all the chaos, and with younger gamers involved, we’d frequently die and lose gold we’d accumulated without getting it back in time before it disappeared. If I played the game on my own, it wasn’t an issue and I’d have more than enough gold. I don’t like the thought of finishing a world and not being able to move on. Perhaps more gold should be available for higher numbers of players, or you should have longer to get back your lost gold on death, I’m not sure. But it seems unusually harsh to keep you locked out of levels so early in the game. Perhaps an escalating cost for opening up worlds would have been a compromise here.

Gameplay is the standard beat-em-up, smashy-smashy style you’re accustomed to in similar games, and it feels just as good here. Controls are fairly easy to get into, and although the box on the Wii version says you need a Nunchuk for everybody, my four year old found a way to play using just a Wiimote when his borrowed Nunchuk wasn’t working. That’s a nice undocumented feature, though you might want to check for yourself to be sure. The kids were able to pick it up relatively quickly, and you can get by fairly easily with just button mashing if you’d like. One fun thing added for this game is that sometimes an arcade machine will pop up in a level which allows you to play a minigame in that particular spot. Enemies and objects disappear and you have a little arena to play your game, which varies. Sometimes you’re all working together to avoid a hazard, sometimes it’s every man for themself, and sometimes it’s a combination of working together and against each other. If you succeed in the challenge, differing levels of gold are rewarded depending how well you do. It’s a fun little way of breaking up the action.

Another fun twist is that your tour guides will show up every so often in a level to help/hurt you. Blue Tour Guide will give you temporary power ups to help you defeat enemies while Red Tour Guide will curse a player if he touches you. The curses and powerups vary, but the curses can be just as much fun as the powerups sometimes. Big heads, chickens, bomb heads, it all almost makes you want to get cursed and provides for lots of giggles.

Insert obvious "Didn't LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean just come out?" joke here.

The level design deserves a good amount of praise. The different worlds do a fantastic job of recreating the movies. Whether you’re playing in the Door Factory in Monsters, Inc., the Axiom from Wall-E, or the totally-not-drug-inspired world of Alice in Wonderland, it’s really easy to get lost in the worlds you’re playing. It’s really the highlight of the game, and makes me wish that a real life version existed of this, but the game is good for now. I do wish the lighting was better, though. Some of the levels were particularly dark, to the point where it made seeing key objects very difficult.

Finally, value-wise, there’s actually quite a bit in here. There are loads of unlockable costumes, and there is inherent replayability as you need to play worlds multiple times to unlock the characters. You have the equivalent of 54 levels too, so you won’t run out of first-pass gameplay anytime soon. I also like how the game spells out exactly what you need to do to unlock your favourite character’s costume with a comprehensive costume list and their unlock criteria. You can also unlock music and tips for beating certain bosses.

The GamerPops Recommendation

Playwright Wilson Mizner once said, “If you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism. If you copy from two, it’s research.” Is Disney Universe derivative? Certainly. It borrows liberally from other games for its core gameplay mechanics. The LEGO series, Ratchet & Clank, and even LittleBigPlanet come to mind right away. But it doesn’t crib one particular game and adds just enough of its own touch and charm to stand well enough on its own, even if the similarities aren’t nearly as subtle as you might see elsewhere. The novelty and fun of Disney Universe make it a terrific game for kids to play with friends or even with their parents and the competitive co-op will satisfy the more competitive families without devolving into a turncoat free-for-all like other games with this feature end up becoming. Only the missing drop-in, drop-out co-op, the lack of granularity of the episodes, and occasionally poor visibility hold it back from being truly great. But that won’t stop Disney fans from wanting to pick up this game, as well it shouldn’t.

Although we reviewed this game for the Nintendo Wii, if you have the option, you might want to check it out on the PS3 or Xbox 360 for the improved visuals and the option for costume (already coming out) and hopefully level DLC. The game is set up to easily add levels and costumes, and fans might want to take advantage of these options as/if they become available.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops by the publisher.

Crossover marketing, Disney Universe has got it.

ESRB Rating Summary

Rating: Everyone 10+

Content descriptors: Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor

Rating summary: This is an action platformer in which players assume the role of bobble-headed Disney characters that must defeat a villainous hacker. Players solve puzzles, rescue characters, and use “cartoony” weapons (e.g., swords, cannon turrets, hammers) to defeat roaming minions. Combat is accompanied by whimsical impact sounds; enemies usually blink when hit, and disappear when defeated. In some sequences, players use pellet guns to shoot at opponents in fast-paced battle. During the course of the game, a pig character performs a flatulence attack, which is accompanied by green gas-cloud effects.

Jimmie Johnson is a multi-time NASCAR champion who knows success. He’s always said that you can race anything with an engine, which is the inspiration for his new racing game Jimmie Johnson’s Anything With An Engine. You’ll race all sorts of strange vehicles on all sorts of strange tracks. But while he’s enjoyed lots of success in stock cars on the oval tracks of NASCAR, how will he do in the even more cutthroat world of kart racers?

The Parent Perspective

Let’s put it this way, I went in looking at this game using the Family Game Metric, but after playing, I’m treating this as a Core Game. Teenagers are okay to play this game, and from that perspective, if that’s the age of your kids, then you could partake of Anything With An Engine with them. Even though the game carries an E10+ rating, the ESRB Content Descriptors pretty much tell the story. It starts when you meet your announcing crew, with consists of an older guy who is inferred to be a bit of a drunk and a pervert, and his sexy colour commentator who wears a revealing outfit and has just a hint of valley girl to her. Shockingly, he hits on her, with one of the worst lines I heard being, “Are you from Tennessee? Cause yer the only 10 I see.” Wow.

Beyond that, there’s a little bit of language and potty humour (one character rides a toilet, try to guess what his exhaust is). There’s also a lot of weapons involved, including “mines” (which are actually just cute props that fit your characters, like a rubber ducky or a golf ball) and missiles. There’s quite a bit of exploding going on as well, and a lot of contact between vehicles. Again, old hat for teens, but another reason why you’re probably not going to let single digits play this one.

But the biggest issue might be the difficulty. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, a somewhat seasoned kart racer will find it tough sledding. The AI opponents are super aggressive and weapons are flying all over the place. The time trial modes have brutal goal times that likely will take repeated attempts to beat. And the Jimmie Johnson boss battles are what you would expect them to be when you’re squaring off with a NASCAR champion, a non-stop battle (though the fact that they’re cheap makes them more Kyle Busch-esque). This isn’t a quick and easy kart racer by any means, and that may be the biggest reason why kids won’t enjoy it as much. My wife may have put it best when she said, ”It looks like the kind of game that you play when you get too old for Mario Kart.”

Best enjoyed with friends. And perhaps alcohol.

The Review

Speaking of my long-suffering wife, she may have described the overall nature of the game best as “Mario Kart for hillbilly frat boys.” The game is entertaining enough, and aims to be an over the top kart racing experience. The characters all have specific personalities, with vehicles and weapons to match, like the golfer riding the golf cart, the guy riding a toilet, the granny riding the shopping cart, and others. They all have their little one-liners that come out when they do something good or get attacked. The tracks themselves also feature a lot of variety and various hazards to contend with.

Controls on the whole aren’t too bad, and the karts handle fairly well, but not quite as good as other arcade racers I’ve played. For whatever reason, there just wasn’t that sense of satisfying speed at times either. It might be the boost mechanic, which sees your boost replenish over time, but is unusable until fully charged and then it is used all at once. Whatever it was, it felt like the game tends to skew more towards the combat than pure racing and speed, at least in races. And combat you will. With missiles, mines, and side hitting at your disposal and a lot of bots in single player races, expect a lot of bumping, grinding, and shooting. Almost too much. Although this presents another piece of strategy, as your vehicle takes damage as you take punishment. You have a life gauge for this and the only way to replenish it is to drive through the pits and button mash to recharge. If your car blows up, it’s the same as if you went off the track and you lose some time respawning. The penalty probably should have been steeper here, especially because of the absolutely atrocious rubber banding that goes on which turns it into a small penalty at best. Seriously, the rubber banding is terrible, maybe the worst I’ve seen in a racing game in some time.

The powerup mechanic involves driving over various circles and performing things like drifting, which wins you votes from the fans. Winning votes will provide and power up your various weaponry throughout the race, which you’re certainly going to need. It works fairly well, but it comes back to an de-emphasis on speed, making you focus more on precision in races that use them.

The courses certainly are eccentric, like the characters.

That said, there are a refreshing number of options for race types, and they’re spread out nicely through the single player campaign, which consists of a number of races towards different Cups, all of which culminate in a one-on-one, best-of-three, enragingly cheap boss battle with Jimmie Johnson himself in his souped up… whatever that thing is he’s driving. You have standard races with powerups, time trials which require you to beat a certain time racing on your own (with the benefit of a superimposed racing line to help you), elimination races where the last place vehicle is dropped after each lap, an endurance race of a higher number of laps where you accumulate points depending what place you were in at the end of each lap, and one of the more interesting race types I’ve seen, the Matador. In the Matador, the field is split in half, and each half drives in different directions on the track. It certainly makes for an added challenge when both halves of the field meet each other midway through the lap, and adds to the large amount of chaos that already exists.

Presentation is actually well done overall for the most part, with the notable exception of the terrible introduction sequence. With such a high level of polish in other places, having what look like cardboard cutouts of the commentators and Jimmie Johnson discussing the start of each season sticks out like a sore thumb. No, really, while there’s talking going on, the characters only change poses every few seconds. It’s borderline horrifying.

The GamerPops Recommendation

At $30, there’s enough content in the game to make it a decent value play actually. Just know that it’s not really going to be good for kids, and even racing fans might not take to it for too long. It’s probably best enjoyed with a couple of buddies after a few drinks with its over the top nature, crude humour, and soul crushing difficulty. I think it will appeal to a more limited audience and though it tries to do some neat new things, there’s just too much chaos going on in most events to be enjoyed as a racer, even of the kart variety where you expect this kind of thing. It’s not terrible, it’s not great, I’m not even really sure it’s good. I applaud the amount of content in the game, so it’s certainly not throwaway shovelware, and for the price you could certainly do worse, but I think at the end of the day they tried to do too much, and ended up with a total cluster-you-know-what of a game, and not in the good sense.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

More fun than a NASCAR pitstop.

ESRB Rating Summary

Rating: Everyone 10+

Content descriptors: Alcohol Reference, Crude Humor, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Mild Violence

Rating summary: This is a kart-racing game in which players drive unconventional vehicles in combat-style races. During races, players can use a variety of comical projectiles (e.g., lawn gnomes, bananas, rubber ducks) to knock out opponents. Action is highlighted by crashing sounds and realistic explosions; drivers sometimes fly into the air when hit. One racing level depicts an oversized pterodactyl releasing bird droppings onto the track; one character emits flatulence sounds and gaseous clouds. A female character is depicted in a form-fitting outfit that exposes some cleavage, and the dialogue includes a few lines of suggestive innuendo (e.g., “Now to get my wife in a teddy!”). In the character bio section, one racer’s hobby is “distilling moonshine.” The words “a*s,” “damn,” and “hell” can be heard in dialogue.

There are few video game franchises with a history as rich and storied as the Legend of Zelda. 25 years ago on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, a young boy clad in green pixels, started what would be an unparalleled tradition of excellence and innovation throughout video game history. It’s good to know that some thing’s never change.

Almost 13 years ago to the day of Skyward Sword’s launch, The Legend of Zelda: the Ocarina of Time took the video game world by storm and forever changed the way we would battle the opposition in adventures to come. Skyward Sword doesn’t quite take the industry and jump it into what will be the next standard like Z-targeting did, but it does show that motion control, when done right, is THE way to play a game of this genre.  Nothing you have ever played on the Wii, or any next gen system for that matter, comes close to the experience provided by Nintendo.

So is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword the greatest Zelda game ever made? In my honest opinion, the answer is a resounding yes. From the game changing controls, to the amazing arsenal of new and classic weapons, to the bump in difficulty, to the absolutely beautiful world you will traverse, to maybe the best story ever written in the Zelda universe – if you’re even the slightest fan of the unlikely hero Link and his adventures in Hyrule, you absolutely need to play this game.

The Parent Perspective

As a the parent of a 5 year old who seems to inch closer and closer to being more competent than his own father at most recent video games, I have to decide just what is going to be appropriate for my son. I was brought up with almost no shield on what I was able to see and play but those were different times. 8-bit graphics didn’t have quite the same realism that today’s big budget blockbuster games do. So, my wife (who is also a big gamer) and I have decided that we really do need to be sure of what he’s playing and that he understands what he sees. I know that there are ratings on a box for a reason but in all honesty, I don’t always abide by them. I really don’t have a problem with my 5 year old playing Ghostbusters and bringing down slimer even though the box says he should be at least 10. It’s up to me to make sure he knows what’s make real life and that he doesn’t see people getting hurt or inflict pain on other real people represented in games. This is why I didn’t have a problem with him watching me play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

If you are at all familiar with the Zelda series, you will know it is just as much about solving puzzles and using your brain as it is swinging your sword to take out the bad guys. Even when you DO need to take out some bad guys, none of them are real people. Most are just pretend made up creatures and monsters like skeletons, blobs of electric jelly or something resembling a giant spider. The only inclusions of “real” people to the story are ones you are trying to help and / or rescue. Both things I’m more than happy to help teach my son.

There is no blood shed, as enemies just blink or glow when hit and then *poof* evaporate into thin air. You collect rupees as currency and other small stones, bugs, relics and feathers as items you can use to upgrade your current equipment. Speaking of equipment, the only thing you get that’s even remotely dangerous besides the sword you start with is a sling shot, and when you hit something or someone with a sling shot they get a couple stars above their head for a moment as they are stunned and then return to normal.

The Legend of Zelda is a Nintendo branded video game. This usually means it’s going to be just fine for the whole family. I really do think the Big N has continued with that tradition with its newest entry into the Zelda series.

The Review

Presentation

It should be obvious that this would be the best looking game in the Zelda timeline given that it’s the first game designed and developed from the ground up on the Wii. What you might not expect is this is one of the most grand and charming worlds ever created. The impressionistic watercolour style of the world both above and below the clouds is magnificent. It’s like nothing you’ve ever really seen before. Think of a perfect hybrid of everything you loved about the worlds created in both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess and you have a pretty good idea of the wonder that awaits. In a time of games being set with apocalyptic, war-torn and destruction filled city back drops made up mostly of brown, black and red colour palettes, it’s refreshing to see Nintendo go with their strengths and actualize a world that’s so full of life and colour. The forests are a lush green with the perfect assortment of flowers and bugs strewn throughout the area. The mountains are an awesome mix of natural stone and vibrant red flowing lava. Even the desert is splashed with colour by the various plant life, structures and enemies scattered throughout.

A very large part of the Zelda series’ appeal over the years is not only the landscapes Link journeys, but the characters he meets along the way. There have been so many memorable interactions with the people that inhabit the Zelda universe; it’s tough to pick a favorite. After playing through Skyward Sword I can assure you it’s not going to get any easier. There isn’t a single character you interact with that doesn’t fail to impress. If I could come up with one gripe that I really hope is addressed in the next Legend of Zelda game, it’s that there are more people to interact with. After more than 40 hours of playing it would be nice to see more than the 30 or so faces contained in this game.

As I said before, the story in Skyward Sword is one for the ages. Nintendo really went for it this time and finally gave us the origin story we have all been wanting since what seems like forever. It’s great they didn’t take the easy way out and make a generic tale about a young man destined for greatness who happens to have a crush on a girl that has a habit of getting kidnapped. Instead they take a much darker, more grown up approach and really flesh out the how and why. To tell you any more I would have to jump into spoiler territory and I won’t do that to you. This is a story that you need to see and experience for yourself. Even with the lack of voice acting for the majority of the game, Nintendo has managed to use music, facial and body animation to convey emotion and feeling in a way not many games can match. Nintendo also really takes it to the next level in the cinematics department. All of the cut scenes are a joy to watch and really give you the feeling of watching a great movie. I would have to say this is their largest and most complete game to date. This Zelda story is something every single fan of the series has to experience. While the game does take a couple of hours to really pick up and get through all the tutorial based events it’s very much worth the time and effort.

Gameplay

I’m going to start off this section with a negative. It’s really a shame that this game has come out at the end of the Wii’s lifecycle. I say that because if Skyward Sword had of been released in the infancy of the console’s life, I honestly and truly feel the Nintendo Wii would have a totally different game library and history than it does today.

After having played through this entire game with motion controls, something I honestly wasn’t looking forward to judging by the rest of the software in the Wii’s library, there is no doubt in my mind we may never play a button mashing Zelda title again for a non handheld system. Motion control just works. It works perfectly. If you slice up, Link slices up. If you slice on a diagonal from top right to bottom left, it’s mimicked perfectly on the screen. Fighting and defeating bad guys has never given me the feeling of accomplishment that this game has. When you’re one on one or even five on one, enemies will block, evade, try and trick you into hitting them where they appear weak only to block the attack and knock you flying. Taking a full heart off your life bar for good measure. Make no mistake about it, this game is not an walk in the park. In fact, I’ve died more than a few times because I got lackadaisical or didn’t take an enemy seriously. Zelda: Skyward Sword is not a game you can play when you’re feeling lazy and just want to sit back and relax. You really do need to be ready for an adventure.

There are both brand new items never before seen in the Zelda collection of games as well as some classics. At the risk of revealing a small spoiler here, I don’t want to blow your mind or anything but, you don’t ever get a boomerang. Not once. Not for the entire game. How’s that for taking the series and turning it on its head? Obviously I’m being a bit over dramatic here but it really is great that Nintendo decided to switch things up a bit more than usual and give people something new and cool to experience. In fact, one of the first items you get in the game, the “Beetle” is maybe one of the best items I’ve seen in the series. It’s so versatile, fun to use and just plain handy. I love that in a series that’s 25 years old they are still able to come up with new and exciting items.

Also, not new to the series, but very much more fleshed out, are your item pouches. Now you will have to decide as the game goes on what items are most important to you as you move forward and what things you want to check at the item desk for use later. It seems Skyward Sword has moved a bit closer to the “RPG” side of it’s “Action RPG” moniker these days. Between having to decide what times to carry with you, to being able to change and upgrade shields during your campaign to finding items, relics and bugs along the way to help you upgrade your equipment, Nintendo has really started to open up the customization of your hero more so than ever before. One other great surprise is that there are actually things to spend rupee’s on this time around. Gone are the days of having a full wallet for ¾ of the adventure with nothing to purchase. I won’t tell you what it is exactly you will have the opportunity to buy, half the fun is finding out for yourself.

Gone are the days of walking from one area on the map to a dungeon, playing said dungeon to completion, exiting to the main hub world, messing around for 15 min and then back into a dungeon. Now, your quest to find the next dungeon is as much of a test of skill as actually playing it. This is a great change of pace for anyone that was hoping for something a bit different than the usual formula. Some of my favorite parts of the entire game are just adventuring and finding secrets when moving from area to area. It’s a nice change of pace. While the world in Skyward Sword is a large one, there is a fair bit of going back to places you’ve already been. On paper that might sound like a bit of a problem but it’s really the complete opposite. New areas open up as you progress and gain new abilities. Never does it feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over again, they have found ways to keep it all fresh and new. Quite a feat really if you consider it’s a 40 hour game.

The GamerPops Recommendation

I could go on and on about the amazing world Nintendo has created with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The game truly is a masterpiece. It does everything better than every Zelda before it and manages to push the series into a new direction along the way. I really hope that motion controls are here to stay with the franchise because after experiencing them done right, I can’t imagine going back. Just the feeling of accomplishment you get when defeating a bad guy or boss with that perfectly placed swing, delivering the knock out blow, is enough to make you not want to put the controller down. Boasting an origin story, truly worthy of the series it sets up for all adventures to come, is something any true Zelda fan can’t miss out on.

There was a lot of pessimism surrounding Skyward Sword during its development cycle. How was it going to deliver solid motion gameplay when nothing before it was able to? With the Wii’s limited system resources how is Nintendo going to be able to create a game that lives up to the standards of today’s AAA titles? After missing more than a few launch windows, was this a game that was just never going to be what was promised? It’s safe to say that all these questions have been answered in the form of one of the greatest video games ever made. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a true classic and a stand out in a linage of games unparalleled by anything in the video game world today.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

ESRB Rating Summary

Coming Soon

If there’s one thing that the Wii doesn’t have enough of as it approaches the end of its life cycle, it’s minigame collections. Sarcasm aside, it’s a genre that has gotten quite stale as everybody’s tried to get in on what was a successful formula. You really need to do something different at this point to have any chance of standing out. Namco are trying something a little different with Go Vacation, and it helps its case to a degree, but it faces an uphill battle.

The Parent Perspective

Go Vacation will be a good game for little ones to enjoy, for the most part. The minigames are basically what you’d expect, very simple and more often than not easy to control. There are a few games we tried that didn’t work out so well, especially for the younger ones, so expect a measure of inconsistency. Instead of picking games from a menu, you actually have to navigate to them on the map somehow. This we found to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, riding ATVs, SeaDoos (not licensed in the game), rollerblades, and other modes of transport can keep your family occupied enough on their own. On the other hand, it could get tedious after a while, and navigation isn’t as easy as it needs to be for younger gamers. Fortunately, it only takes one person to navigate where you need to get to, so a parent can make their way over to the destination while the little ones play around.

There’s no objectionable content here, unless you count being able to run into people with vehicles. However, they react by getting back up, showing a little cursing icon above their heads, and continuing with what they were doing. Everybody on the resorts are way too happy all the time, but that’s standard fare for games appealing to younger ones.

You’ll need to be able to read for this game, as many instructions and interactions are text heavy. You might get the odd “Yay!” or “Hey!” out of a person, but that’s it. Your tour guide basically sounds like the teachers in Charlie Brown cartoons when she’s talking, except higher-pitched and faster.

While I love a good beach volleyball game, this one's a bit too simplistic.

The Review

Go Vacation features over 50 different minigames in a wide variety of activities. And I mean wide. To name just a few, there’s beach volleyball, surfing, bungee jumping, triathlon (in this case, Jetski, Running, ATV), watergun fighting, dancing, and others. You certainly won’t get bored as the variety is really commendable. Execution wise, some activities will work better than others, of course, and you might find the variety a bit daunting. Fortunately, the game provides a “stamp dash” which encourages you to sample a particular activity if you’d like a bit of a tour guide.

One really nice aspect of the game is that it supports a number of peripherals and control methods. You know, things like the Balance Board, the Zapper, and the Wheel that you might have bought and used a handful of times and are now, to use a cliche, collecting dust. It’s nice to be able to pull out those old favourites, though the switching back and forth between Wiimote and Wiimote and Nunchuk could get a little annoying after a while.

What really sets Go Vacation apart is its setting and open world implementation. There are four different-themed resorts for you to wander and play in. There’s a beach, city, snow, and mountain, all featuring specific sports/games that fit the setting. And instead of the typical menu-based navigation of most minigame collections, everything is done via open world navigation. Sure, there are shortcuts available, but half the time you could spend just cruising around the various resorts and be just fine. It’s a surprisingly big world for a game of this type, too. In fact, the sense of exploration probably saves the game somewhat as the minigames themselves are fairly standard stuff just done in different ways to varying degrees of success. Rollerblade around the city a while and explore all that’s there before you jump into an activity. Jetski on the beach and find different paths through a river. There’s actually a surprising amount of things to do, and good value.

It also means that this game could have been so much more. A few sports maybe could have been deeper (eg. let me move my player in Beach Volleyball), and a few coats of polish visually could have made this game even better. It does have the look of Wii games from closer to launch instead of late in the cycle. There could have maybe been some more voice work to make for a more immersive experience, and being able to interact even just a little bit with all the NPCs littered about the world would have been a nice touch. It might be nitpicking at this point, but since a lot is done pretty well, it makes you pine for what could have been.

Who needs Modern Warfare 3?

The GamerPops Recommendation

Go Vacation doesn’t score points so much for being a minigame collection, as this has been done to death on the Wii. Even with the sheer number of activities, they’re still minigames at heart. I’ve always contended that you need to bring something else to the table. Perhaps an overarching metagame, or a coherent story that somehow ties it all together. Where Go Vacation separates itself is in the implementation of the open world that you are free to explore together. It might not impress the adult who’s played a few open world sandbox games, but as a gaming parent, I’m impressed that this level of depth is available for families to play in. It’s not up to Toy Box mode in Toy Story 3 by any means, but it’s still quite competent. The current $40 price point makes it a decent value proposition, but if you can find it for $30 or even $20 at some point, you could do a lot worse.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

Much safer than real White Water Rafting.

ESRB Rating Summary

Rating: Everyone 10+

Content descriptors: Cartoon Violence

Rating summary: This is a simulation game in which players engage in a variety of themed activities at a tropical resort. Players compete in mini-games such as ATV racing, skateboarding, horse riding, and bungee jumping to earn resort upgrades. In the Water Fight, players use a crosshair target to fire streams of water at bobble-headed opponents that blink and fall down when their power meters are empty. In the Sword Fighting mini-game, players swing a laser sword from a first-person perspective to deplete opponents’ health; matches are highlighted by impact sounds and colorful light effects.

When EA dropped the NASCAR license after its sim series ended with NASCAR 09 and the decent but unspectacular NASCAR Kart Racing, there was a legitimate reason to believe that it might be a while before another publisher picked it up.

So it came as a complete surprise that Activision, not necessarily known for their racing titles, picked up the license and here we are a little over a year later and Activision has just delivered it’s second title: NASCAR Unleashed. Whereas the first title, NASCAR The Game 2011, was more of a racing simulator, Firebrand Games’ NASCAR Unleashed is the one that mixes everybody’s two favorite things about NASCAR: rubbing and racing.

The Parent Perspective

NASCAR Unleashed has its flaws, but there’s more then enough positives here to make this game a good choice for NASCAR families. Gamers that don’t have an affection for NASCAR will probably feel left out here (thought they should certainly give it a try), but the experience will be at its best for families that enjoy watching the races together.

Unleashed presents pure, high-octane arcade racing action supported by a deliberately physical form of racing. Winning is still the objective, but the game takes rubbin’ to a whole new level, turning each race into an amped-up high speed game of bumper cars, encouraging racers to collide and smash into each other. That means that no matter the skill level of gamers, unleashing your inner Kyle Busch is always a fun option.

However, where skill is involved, there’s a noticeable unevenness that can frustrate gamers of all ages. Opposing drivers will either ignore you or attempt vehicular homicide, and that seems to be regardless of whether a racer is designated as your rival.

The career mode features single player racing or two player co-op, while the quick race modes offer head to head racing. A four player option would have rounded out the pack nicely, but hopefully that will arrive in next year’s iteration. Value is a tricky proposition, as it will ultimately depend on how many head to head races you want to engage in beyond completing the career mode. There is also no on-line racing option, so all multiplayer is limited to your living room.

Finally, as my colleague Jeff would say, the game hands out Achievements and Trophies like candy. So much so that you’ll periodically need to check the list to see what you just did to earn an award. But younger gamers should get a kick out of the constant rewarding that the game offers.

The Review

NASCAR Unleashed is kind of like Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career. All the pieces are there to field a winner, but it just doesn’t manage to put it all together to win the race.

There’s a definitely a great idea here, and that manifests itself in a largely fun experience, but the execution needs some tweaking to create a consistently enjoyable and rewarding game. The biggest problem is that NASCAR Unleashed is equal parts fun and frustration. It’s just as easy to boost your way up 10 or more positions as it is to slightly miss a turn and see 10 cars whiz by you.

Oddly, if you’re actually able to get ahead of the pack, it’s almost like the game gives up, and so long as you can drive reasonably well, you may not even see your opponents in the rear view mirror. But if you don’t get to the head of the pack, you’ll quickly find that every race turns into a Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski grudge match. Bang an opposing driver too many times and they’ll become your rival, meaning they will aggressively attack you at every opportunity.

The game does deliver a good sensation of speed, especially when you get to fire off a boost with some open air around you. In spirit, NASCAR Unleashed is closer to arcade racers like Daytona USA, rather than a kart racer. That means no power ups, no minimal silliness, save for the occasional oil slick, fallen tree, or ridiculously banked curve.

The game features 6 officially licensed tracks, though the only actual track you get to drive is Daytona. Each of the other races starts you off on the final turn accelerating towards the start/finish line. Then, one right turn later you are off the track and racing through the city, the countryside, or a number of other locales roughly based on the track locations. That means Chicagoland sends you into the city, Homestead Miami puts you out to the harbor and Martinsville tosses you into the woods.

The upside to this idea is that it manages to break the cars away from the standard ovals, and of course, includes both left and right turns. There are some inspired moments in the track designs (Chicagoland’s were a personal favorite), but there are also too many tracks that feel bland and tame by comparison. It feels like the track designers perhaps weren’t allowed to really unleash their creativity and create tracks to match the potential wildness of the racing action.

Tackling those tracks are 15 of NASCAR’s most popular drivers including Jimmy Johnson, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and everyone’s favorite non-winner Dale Earnhardt Jr, along with multiple skins of each of their vehicles.

Other than the career mode, there are time trials for each track and a quick race mode that allows you to string together one or more races into a makeshift season. With each race, you’ll earn points based on your finish position and success in secondary objectives. Those points then unlock new paint schemes for each included driver as well as a number of generic Activision & Firebrand Games themes to fill out the 20 car field. The career mode, with several smaller cups to unlock, takes a decent amount of time to complete, but beyond that, the value of the game is in the amount of head to head or co-operative matches you choose to undertake.

Besides the unevenness of the racing experience, there are some issues that, while minor, ultimately detract from the experience, and yet are completely fixable if there’s a NASCAR Unleashed 2.

With the vertical changes in some levels, there’s not a camera view that puts you at the right elevation above the car to see what’s going on, nor can you move the camera up and down with the right stick to give you a better view of the road ahead.

Given the amount of collisions, banging, and the occasion roll going on, it’s too bad there’s not enough parts flying off the cars. You’ll see your car getting beat up over time (specifically, the rear fender) and engines will smoke after enough damage, but the hardware is certainly capable of presenting more dynamic and explosive collisions, and that would have significantly improved the smashiness.

The game also features drifting, but it’s not as tightly executed, feeling a little more sim than arcade. Times like this, I harken back to Burnout Paradise, and encourage every racing game designer to revisit Paradise City to see arcade drifting at its finest.

The GamerPops Recommendation

As a NASCAR fan, it’s great to have had not one, but two enjoyable games released this year. As the more arcade oriented of the two, NASCAR Unleashed feels a little light on content and features, but the $40 price tag feels right on, and there’s plenty of violent but fun racing action inside. NASCAR Unleashed is an enjoyable choice as a mid-range arcade racer, but should appeal to race-loving families. Much like Activision’s other NASCAR title though, NASCAR Unleashed feels like it takes steps in the right direction, but the real rewards will arrive in the next iteration of the game. Let’s hope Activision gives it another lap.

A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

ESRB Rating Summary

Rating: Everyone

Content descriptors: Mild Violence

Rating summary: This is an arcade-style racing game in which players compete against NASCAR drivers through fictional tracks based on real-world raceways. As players navigate around each track, they can earn points for bumping or colliding against other racers; cars sometimes flip into the air and/or emit clouds of smoke, with occasional slow-motion effects. Crashing sounds and vocal encouragement are heard throughout the game (e.g., “Wow, taking out that many cars, that’s crazy good!” and “Nice! Smash ‘em outta your way!”).