Introduction
Sega’s maraca based rhythm game Samba De Amigo took pride of place as the cover star for issue 24, with the slightly upgraded Dreamcast game getting a full preview on Wii. Everything from the Dreamcast version was carried over, which unfortunately included the graphics. The Wii did a good job of showcasing the maracas however.
Elsewhere, there were plenty of games previewed, with both Wii and DS getting several new titles. The latest Lego film tie-in to Indiana Jones was the biggest, along with horror games Deadly Creatures and Alone in the dark. There was also coverage of the latest Mario sports title - Mario Super Sluggers, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Telltale’s story based Sam and Max Season One and Trauma Centre 2 and RPG Sonic Chronicles on DS.
The biggest news this month was that Smash Bros Brawl was less than a month away from its European release, and with E3 close by, there were plenty more Wii and DS games to come in addition to the ones previewed. The Online Desk also looked at the DS’s Mario Kart, with plenty of information about how the online mode worked.
The big feature this month looked at The Lost Nintendo Games, basically games that had been in development for Nintendo consoles, which never made it to store shelves and were lost to the depths of time. This included games like Earthbound 64 which never escaped development hell, beta versions of games, such as the on-rails original version of Goldeneye 007, tech-demos like Super Mario 128, as well as rumoured games that ended up on other consoles like Final Fantasy VII.
Okami was the biggest review this month, as the cult Action RPG from the PS2 finally made it to the Wii. Martin scored it at 91%, with praise across the board. The only problem pointed out were the difficult controls, as they were a little difficult to get used to. Spielberg influenced Boom-Blox was also scored at 87 by Martin, quirky japanese RPG Opoona scored 85% and Race Driver: Grid scored 80% on DS, which improved on last year’s Create and Race with several refinements. There were plenty of duds this month, Sport’s Island was Konami’s attempt at a Wii Sports alternative - although it only scored 70% - with plenty of bad comparisons to their Nintendo published alternatives.
There was plenty going on in World of Nintendo, as it looked again at Mario Kart Wii and how the team were faring with the game and how the almost missed their deadlines because they were too busy playing the game! There was also coverage of Capcom’s Ace Attorney case maker, an interview with Camelot’s lead developers and the results of the Destroy all Humans alien creation competition from issue 22.
In Download this month there was a history lesson on Kirby, looking at his origins on the game boy, all the way to his latest appearances in smash bros.The classic levels series looked at almost the entirely of Super Mario Land 2, looking at all the different zones of this amazing game from the Game Boy’s early days. They also looked at Startropics, which was a Zelda-like game on the NES.
Articles
Features
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The Lost Nintendo Games -
Mario Kart Wii: Two Months On -
Brothers Gonna Work it Out -
Do the Wright Thing -
Aliens Among Us -
History Lesson 21: Kirby -
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Previews
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Samba De Amigo -
Deadly Creatures -
Mario Super Sluggers -
Guitar Hero Aerosmith -
Sam & Max Season One -
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures -
Perfect Prosecutor -
Line Rider 2:Unbound -
We Love Golf! -
Big Beach Sports -
De Blob -
Wall E -
Alone in the Dark -
Trauma Center 2 -
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood -
Wii Bubble Wrap -
Pirates: Duel on the High Seas -
Lol -
Family Game Night -
Monopoly -
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People -
World of Goo -
Spogs Racing -
Lock's Quest -
Moon
Reviews
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Okami
Author: Martin Kitts
Country: Uk
Score: 91 -
Boom Blox
Author: Martin Kitts
Country: Uk
Score: 87 -
Opoona
Author: Rich Stanton
Country: USA
Score: 85 -
Battle of the Bands
Author: Martin Kitts
Country: Uk
Score: 55 -
Secret Files: Tunguska
Author: Matthew Castle
Country: Uk
Score: 63 -
Obscure: The Aftermath
Author: Alex Dale
Country: USA
Score: 50 -
Baroque
Author: Matthew Castle
Country: USA
Score: 55 -
Namco Museum Remix
Author: Martin Kitts
Country: Uk
Score: 50 -
Death Jr: Root of Evil
Author: Matthew Castle
Country: Uk
Score: 40 -
Sports Island
Author: Nick Ellis
Country: Uk
Score: 70 -
Target: Terror
Author: Michael Gapper
Country: Uk
Score: 14 -
Dream Pinball3D
Author: Martin Kitts
Country: Uk
Score: 50 -
Race Driver: Grid
Author: Martin Kitts
Country: Uk
Score: 80 -
Bokura Ha Kaseki Holder
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Jap
Score: 65 -
New International Track & Field
Author: Andy Hartup
Country: Uk
Score: 65 -
Spitfire Heroes: Tales of the Royal Airforce
Author: Alex Dale
Country: USA
Score: 51 -
Matchstick Puzzle by DS
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Jap
Score: 70 -
Double Sequence: The O-Virus Invasion
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Uk
Score: 34 -
7 Wonders of the Ancient World
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Uk
Score: 63 -
Tantei Saburo Jinguji DS: Kienai Kokoro
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Jap
Score: Wah...? -
Doctor Who: Top Trumps
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Uk
Score: 53 -
Detective Conan: Kieta Hakase to Machigai Sagashi No To
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Jap
Score: 61 -
High School Musical: Work this Out
Author: Alex Dale
Country: Uk
Score: 44
Staff
- Martin Kitts Deputy Editor
- Kim Bissix Designer
- Matthew Castle Staff Writer
- Andy McGregor Art Editor
- Nick Ellis Editor
- Charlotte Martyn Operations Editor
