An Unpolished Gem

Those Wii owners who have waited with bated breath for a "mature" game (though the definition varies by person, a quick running version might be a game in which one or more people/creatures/life forms gushes blood at some point) will be glad to know that the wacky but gifted Suda 51 and co. have delivered an awesome action experience for the Wii, one that sheds any notion of kiddiness within the first five seconds of gameplay. The most impressive aspect of the game has to be its character work: generic baddies and bit characters are fairly rote, but both the protagonist, Travis Touchdown and his liason to the fighting-for-cash scene, Sylvia, are larger-than-life. This is to say nothing of the bosses, battles against whom are epic in scope and downright fun, though honestly in later levels you simply want to carve up cardboard-cutout generic baddies as quickly as possible and complete the mini-games in all haste to reach the far-more-satisfying fights against ranked assassins. The overworld could stand a little more variety, as there are only a handful of spots worth venturing to, and those mainstays tend to offer up repetitive events, but the quest for random items such as the orbs with which you can gain additional powers or the many new outfits with which to adorn the game's hero tend to be enjoyable excursions more often than not. In short, No More Heroes is greater than the sum of its parts, and the story truly shines during the memorable boss battles. Here's hoping for a new brand of Wii game: Far More Like This One!