Sega Superstars Tennis

Sonic is back, and this time he’s brought some Sega related friends and some tennis gear. The latest Sega offering allows you to play tennis as of 16 Sega characters – Sonic, Dr Eggman, Amigo (from Samba de Amigo – a classic Dreamcast game, soon to be released for the Wii), even the ever-camp Tails.

There’s the usual mission and challenge mode, quick play mode and of course online play, even a viewing mode where you can watch a random game being played in the world.. should you ever want to of course. Saying that, as a spectator you can be heard commenting on the game, and the ability to wind up the 14 year old Americans who make a ‘wooo’ noise after every point is great fun. My advice – commentate on the game.

Obviously as you play through the game you unlock different Sega themed songs, arenas and characters, although it is likely they were scraping the barrel a bit when Alex Kidd was put in the game. The game play is intuitive and easy to pick up, but as you find out after your first online game.. playing against other people is completely different than playing the computer. You’ll find in fact, that playing online has the learning curve of running into a brick wall.

It is, in essence.. fun. Plus of course, it’s not a serious tennis game. Critics who missed this huge point of this game are quicker to jump at ‘unrealistic shots’ and a ‘poor physics engine’ than Rick Waller was at the deep fried mars bar. Its hard to imagine Federer throwing bananas at the opponent on centre court, or Nadal distracting others with maracas and a carnival atmosphere.. hilarious to imagine, but about as likely to happen as understanding an episode of Frasier.

Of course, the game is available on the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and DS, but with no online version on the Wii or DS, and an awkward control system on the Playstation 3, the Xbox 360 is the obvious choice. Its enjoyable, a fun multiplayer game and has a good life span. Finally, feel free to see how bad I actually am at it.

My gamertag on Xbox Live is muller7uk.

New Game Scores, 1 word sum up and buy or not to buy..

Sega Superstars Tennis - 8/10 – fun – Buy

Super Mario, Bee Mario, Ice Mario

Another day, another hosts of alter egos we didnt know existed from our friend mario. Only 5 more stars today, but i had other things to do! O and another hard work out on Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games.. with G putting extra effort into his pole vault.. (See right)

I am still, after 21 days waiting for my package to arrive from microsoft so i can send off my xbox to get it fixed. Its now getting beyond a joke, and my 360 games are taunting me. You would have thought after millions of the same fault with the Xbox 360 and the ring of death, they would have worked out a faster system of fixing the system.

O well, heres the view i get when i turn on my xbox, and roughly 55% of all xbox owners will discover at some point in their playing life..

I hate it so much. Ladies and Gentlemen, the ring of death.

Im ending the day playing NBA Live 08 on the Playstation 3. Very similar to the 07 version, but with slightly better graphics, and a much improved shooting and tactical system. The gameplay flows well, but occasionaly the ball will pass to no-one. Helpful when games do that.. American sports games always tend to be alot tighter than fifa is, and everygame is contested right to the end, no matter what team you are playing against. I have not a clue what im doing in the season mode really, just playing each game when they come along.

New Game Scores, 1 word sum up and buy or not to buy..

NBA Live 08- 8/10 - swoosh - if you like basketball, or just love multiplayer sports games - buy

Mario, Sonic, Mario, Knuckles

More Super Mario Galaxy today, and again, more Mario & Sonic Olympics. The Olympics really is a great group game, taught 2 new people to play today, in the space of about 5 minutes. The Wrists are still caining but with all great games, you play on regardless. The PS3 has really taken a back seat at the minute, Fifa 08 hasnt been touched in days!

Super Mario Galaxy... really though.. what a game. Im on 43 stars now, and im happy to replay all levels to find hidden stars. Every level is well thought out, and fun to play. Today i had to save luigi, and i continue on the trail of princess peach. Its getting hard to distinguish between the games though now, i keep trying to get mario to throw a javelin, or long jump over gaps.

Also my brain grade has risen on Big Brain Academy, im now a B. Not bad for a student with enough time to write a blog about computer games. Big Brain Academy is a fun game, as well as multiplayer benifits. The only thing is that the single player is slightly limited. The want to go back and play the same exercises again and again is doubtful. But now, a copy can be found for £15 it is a great budget game

New Game Scores, 1 word sum up and buy or not to buy..

Big Brain Academy (Wii) - 7/10 - expanding - for £15 its a good deal - buy

The Day I Killed My Wrists

Nintendo have the habit of building really addictive games, not addictive like BioShock is, in that you desperately want to find someone your looking for, or Fifa, cos you really want to score that 45yard screamer with Gary Neville (it happened!), but just the gameplay is so enjoyable.

Nintendo have a new masterpiece in Super Mario Galaxy.

The variation of the game is endless, the fact that my mate came into my room and asked me if it was still the same game speaks for itself. The controls are basic and easy to pick up, and like all Mario adventures, there is humour and a large range of activities to be found. I am not saying that you are not interested in the story line, but when was the last time you were playing a mario game and were actually concerned about Princess Peach?

They have worked mini games that are missions into the play, so it isnt just space hopping, and of course, like with all Wii games, there is a heightened sense of involvement and you jerk, spin and jump, using the nunchuck and the wii-mote. Im about 25 stars in, and once ive completed it? Ill play it all over again.

In a completely different genre, with similar characters however was Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. This is one of the most enjoyable 'fun' multiplayers since Mario Kart all those years ago. Every event can be picked up quickly, which means no-one starts whining because they 'dont get it', well almost no-one.

Along with the classic events - 100metres, hurdles, javelin, there are certain 'pimped out' events, that are called dream events. I try not to play these in multiplayer as i think they are not as good as the usual events though. Still enjoyable. Anyway, i completed this game, unlocked all the events etc in 6 hours, but with any great mulitpayer game, this is ideal as it means more multiplayer action.

I should point out my Xbox360 is currently broken, so it may be a while before thats sorted.

New Game Scores, 1 word sum up and buy or not to buy..

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 10/10 - revolutionary - you havent got this already?!

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) - 9/10 - Sociable - definetly buy if you have friends.