Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (15)

Platform: Wii
Verdict: Zombies? Guns? Great!
Rating: 3½/5
Despite feeling rather undead due to a mutation of the common cold, the chance to play Umbrella Chronicles lit my eyes up, not unlike the post-midnight zombies in Dead Rising. If only it could induce similarly increased vigor too, just without the thirst for flesh.
For years the Resident Evil series has been king of the survival horror genre, sticking rigidly to its fixed camera take on 3rd person action and odd puzzles (stick the unicorn medal into the police station fountain?). Until Res Evil 4 redefined the series, the only real striations from routine were the weak Resident Evil: Survivor games which were compatible with a light gun for first person shooting hijinks. Umbrella Chronicles stems from this branch, stripping it down to a House of the Dead style on-rails shooter and pumping it full of lovely Res Evil 4 graphics.
Using the Wiimote as a gun, controls are basically point and shoot. Simple and effective. RE:UC also allows you to switch weapons, throw grenades, pick up items and slash like a nutter with your boot knife (waggle away!), all of which can be done with just the Wiimote. For those wanting a little more flexibility the nunchuk can be attached to spread the load or they can be slotted into the Wii Zapper for a chunkier experience.
Aptly titled, Umbrella Chronicles revisits previous games in the series (with some disappointing omissions like most of Res Evil 2), allowing you to relive the creeping horror and boss fights with the satisfaction that you'll never run out of ammo this time.
The pacing is great and the series lends itself well to the on-rails genre (you shoot zombies, course it would) but it's let down by being all too brief and the fact that apart from waggle features, it really does nothing new.
As a polished game that allows you and a friend to shoot waves of zombies, giant scorpions and mutated monkeys, it's an absolute blast, re-tread or otherwise, and it's certainly nice to see a game on the Wii for a maturer audience.
Now if only the pharmacy sold blue herbs.

Super Mario Galaxy

Nintendo Wii
After the disappointment (for some) of Super Mario Sunshine, Galaxies is Nintendo’s long awaited true sequel to the ridiculously good and rightly revered Super Mario 64.
Topping perfection is an unenviable task and while Galaxies doesn’t have the jaw dropping switch from 2D to 3D that Mario 64 revelled in, it certainly attempts feats of the same magnitude.
Set in space, in and around tiny planets and wildly imaginative worlds, Galaxies takes the notion of up and down and throws it into a blender with some dysfunctional laws of gravity. The result is a game full of mind bending, upside down platforming and pure reaction based gaming that shows the world Nintendo can still make proper games and that Mario is undoubtably still king of the Mushroom kingdom castle.
10/10

Alien Syndrome

Platform: Wii, also PSP.
Verdict: Warrior needs food.
Rating: 2½/5
While building a new life in a new city, there’s nothing like playing a 4-player game on your own to make you miss old friends. Thankfully the 360’s online services help bridge that gap - as the makers of the rather imminent Halo 3 are well aware of, playing a game with friends is almost always better than on your own. Alien Syndrome may not have the online components of this year’s pre-destined hit but it does at least have 4-player co-op too. Beyond that though, it’s bragging rights rapidly diminish.
Remaking their popular 1987 shooter, Sega have attempted to update its simple old school formula by increasing the amount of players that commit alien genocide and by adding stat crunching RPG style elements. Playing more like a dungeon crawler than a frenetic shooter, Alien Syndrome has you blasting your way through an alien filled space ship of repetitious design while upgrading your abilities as you progress.
Updating the twee graphics of yester-year to a 3D vision of the generically gritty industrial future, Alien Syndrome is an ugly, dated looking game that suffers from being a port of a PSP title and is disappointing considering the Wii’s more than capable abilities.
Elsewhere, Sega have tried to justify it’s presence on the Wii by introducing motion controls for melee combat and special moves. While not unwieldy, button presses would more than suffice, making the controls feel unnecessary. What does work well however are the twin stick style controls – using the left stick to move and the Wiimote to point and aim is an intuitive setup and in the right game (like Geometry Wars: Galaxies) could work wonders.
After reading this my friends will probably be thankful we live miles apart because although some fun can be gleaned from this uninspired shooter it’s time that’ll be better spent playing online Gauntlet through rose-tinted spectacles, or Halo 3.

Mario Strikers: Charged Football

Platform: Wii
Verdict: Football but not as you know it.
Rating: 3½/5
After years of rescuing Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser and various other nefarious villains, it feels slightly wrong to start shoulder barging her into electrical fences but in the case of Mario Strikers: Charged Football, attack is definitely the best means of defence (and you're more than likely to be on the receiving end of her studded pink pumps anyway).
Taking football as its starting point and adding a dash of Americanised shoulder pad aggression then chucking most of the rules out of the window, Charged Football is a surreal and explosive take on the (allegedly) beautiful game that plays more like a cute version of the classic Speedball than Beckham's favourite past time.
With an emphasis on aggressive gameplay and oodles of special moves, football as you know it has been transformed into a scrappy but entertaining romp in the Mushroom Kingdom, filled with familiar faces from Mario's history and packed with multiplayer fun.
Alongside the traditional football staples of pass, shoot, tackle etc, Mario Strikers adds new strategic elements such as power-ups and pass charging. Power-ups allow you to drop bananas, become a giant or fire out shells (with obvious benefits) and pass charging makes the ball more accurate and powerful with every successive pass between your players.
If you find yourself on the losing end (or just want to increase your lead) Megastrikes are available which, if the shoot button is held long enough, allow you to fire a volley of successive balls at the opponents goal. Success is determined by a golf style power meter and can land you with five goals at once but for those worried about balance, it is easy enough to prevent but entertaining to do.
As a single player game, Mario Strikers feels slightly lacking but remains fun nonetheless. At its heart it's a multiplayer game and that's where it excels - as the first online game for the Wii it showcases a robust and intuitive service and provides hours of slapstick entertainment between friends round the TV or online.
Now that's what I call beautiful.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2

Platform: Nintendo Wii, also PS2.
Verdict: My hands are on fire!
Rating: 3½/5
With a grand and slightly incomprehensible title, the latest game in the Dragon Ball Z franchise aptly suggests much complexity yet beyond initial Wii based control changes and a comprehensive charting of the Dragon Ball sagas, there lies a very simple fighting game.
Seemingly attempting to be the definitive Dragon Ball Z experience, Budokai Tenkaichi 2 thankfully eschews any attempts at padding the game out with ill advised RPG adventures and remains true to the series’ hook - huge explosive battles between super charged martial artists, aliens and androids.
Alongside straight up tournament modes and Vs matches, DBZBT2 (to abbreviate) charts the entire saga of the Dragon Ball Z manga and anime series in a stunning 3D cartoon style, allowing you to participate in every key fight along the way with your fighter showing wear and tear as he battles on.
Of course, being on Nintendo’s quirky Wii console, things aren’t quite that straight forward. Those familiar with previous PS2 outings will be in for a shock as the Wii’s motion sensing controls become centre stage to really mix things up.
With the Nunchuk attachment in place, controls are at first glance familiar - movement is on the analogue stick and attack, charge and blast functions all have reasonable button placements. Motion however controls flight around the massive arenas, dodge moves and special attacks.
Shaking the Nunchuk to fly or dodge takes quite a while to get the hang of but patience bears many Zen points and the special attacks fit right into the new scheme as you mimic fireball blasts by throwing your hands out towards the TV.
It can be confusing and fiddly at first, requiring a lengthy tutorial but ultimately becomes satisfying, fun to master and the relatively simple combat never asks too much of you.
As engaging as the motion controls are, they’ll never be a match for the speed of button presses and to those completely alienated by the rampant hand flailing, respite lies in the appreciated (but dull) support for the Classic or Game Cube controllers.
Thankfully, on a list of things to do before i’m 35, ‘Throwing fireballs with my own hands’ has now been ticked off.