Pikmin makes a return on the Wii.

Back in the Gamecube era, I never got to get a Gamecube, which caused me to miss out on this masterpiece. When I began playing this, it made me want to get Pikmin 2 right off the bat. I've played it non-stop ever since I rented it, and it was one of the best moments of my life... ever. of my life. This game may not be perfect, but it is very good.

The soundtrack is one of the best in any video game. It sounds very peaceful and makes you want to just dream your worries away. The main theme, Ai No Uta, was actually released in stores in Japan and immediately became a best seller. The sounds that the Pikmin make are just adorable and helpful at the same time. If you're far away from Pikmin that are in battle, their cries for help will remind you to save them. If a Pikmin starts to drown, it'll alert you immediately.

The gameplay is much like games like Halo Wars, only better. You can have about 100 Pikmin with you, possibly more. You can give each of them different commands, whether it's picking something up, destroying a wall, or pulverizing an enemy. You may think that throwing your Pikmin doesn't do anything, but it does. It can be an attack against an enemy, or if you throw it near an object that they can pick up,they'll immediately pick the object up an carry it to their ship, which will take the object and make Pikmin from it. Depending on how many Pikmin you command to carry something, they will go either fast or slow. Blue Pikmin, however, have much better strength than Red or Yellow Pikmin, and carry objects 2x faster.

The story is actually surprisingly creative, in which you have 30 days to obtain your ship parts and meet some 3 kinds of Pikmin: Red, Yellow, and Blue. You play as the astronaut known as Captain Olimar, whom has a family of one wife and two kids. During the day, you explore the planet you have crashed on in search of ship parts, and during the night, you will get into the ship called the Dolphin, and your gathered Pikmin will get into their own ships called Onions and blast with you into the sky in wait of dawn, while the Pikmin you left behind will fight for their lives against the wild, and eventually lose them. Depending on what you did during the day, Captain Olimar will write in his diary about what he observed. He'll usually write about his Pikmin or about how many days he has left to get off the planet.

The graphics haven't improved much from the original Pikmin on Gamecube, but they're still pretty good. There's a lot of detail throughout each level and the textures look very neat. The whole environment feels fresh and full of color, with nothing too bright or too dark. Even Olimar looks like he lives on the planet, and the same goes for his ship.

At first glance, this game may seem weird and strange, but that's beauty of it. It IS weird and strange, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you have a Wii or Gamecube, then by all means buy this game. I strongly recommend this game to anyone in search of something different in gaming.

Mario is back and better than ever.

Super Mario Galaxy is everything Super Mario Sunshine wasn't, and nothing Sunshine was. Everything about this game is simply wonderful, and adds up to a great platformer that perfectly fits on the Wii. The beautiful graphics and the insanely fun gameplay will leave you breathless.

Galaxy still sticks with the same story as other Mario games: Beat all the big bad Koopas and save the princess. But only this time, your in space. You must travel across different worlds and gain as much Stars as you can and confront Bowser for the final showdown. During the story, you meet little star creatures called Lumas, and their mother, Rosalina. And there is also a significant difference in the story from other Mario games. Remember sweet ol' Luigi? The one you've been dying to play as for years? Well Nintendo has finally answered your wishes. Once you collect all 120 stars and defeat Bowser, a message pops up and tells you what you've wanted to hear: "You can now play as Luigi in Story Mode."

The gameplay is very similar to that of Super Mario 64's, but with multiple twists. When you see a star launcher during a level, you can jump into it and blast through the planet. This is probably the most satisfying part of the game. To collect far away Star Bits, you must point the Wii Remote toward them, and they will automatically come to you. The game is also known for defying the laws of gravity. You can run around the planet as much as you want, and some planets even allow you to change the gravity direction. While some levels can be frustrating, some can be very simple to complete, and the final boss is one of those levels, though it's is still an entertaining fight. The level design is also what makes this game very special. The planets are very different from each other with their own wacky little tricks. But the gameplay isn't perfect by any means. You will occasionally experience frustrating camera problems, and multiplayer feels like something that was just slapped on to the game at the last minute. And while you'll probably have a blast playing it, there's a 99.5% chance you'll never pick the game up again once you unlock everything and beat every level.

The graphics in Mario Galaxy are absolutley gorgeous , they are just beautiful to look at. Instead of being a dark game with a lack of color, Galaxy is one of those games that make just about every color a sight to see. The water graphics are simply outstanding, not just a paint of blue you can float in. Even underwater, everything is very clear, the water not making it difficult to see at all. The characters look very well-made with a bright shine of colors shining off them. All in all, this may be one of the most beautiful and colorful games on the Wii.

If your a Wii owner desperately in search of games, then look no further than Super Mario Galaxy. If the graphics won't "wow" you, then the gameplay surely will. No Mario fan should be caught dead without this game in their collection. Now only one question remains: Will the next Super Mario game be just as great as Galaxy?

With a little more work, this title could've brought Sonic back from the dead.

From the team that brought you Sonic and the Secret Rings comes it's sequel, Sonic and the Black Knight. Was it worth the wait? For the most part, not really. I look back on Secret Rings and can't help but feel it did things better than Black Knight. Oh look, you get a talking sword as your weapon. Is this really necessary? Lately, it looks like Sonics' trying to be a hedgehog version of Link, what with his similar wolf form and now a sword. Customization in the game is very limited, not even allowing you to change Sonics' sword.

The opening cutscene looked great, but that's pretty much the only cutscene that looked great. The rest are just lame storybook cutscenes that looked ugly compared to the opening cut scene. C'mon, Sega. Why can't you drop the whole "storybook cutscene" thing and actually make good cutscenes, like Sonic Unleashed. Even if this is called the "storybook series", that doesn't mean you can't have high quality cutscenes. Sure, they move better than Secret Rings', but still, that doesn't make up for the lack of color and feeling.

The menu gives you pretty much the same things that Secret Rings gave, with a few extra things. Adventure, Multiplayer, Ranking, Gallery, and Options. The bad thing is, you can't face A.I.'s on multiplayer, so if you want to play multiplayer, you'll have to get a friend to play it with you. Other than that, multiplayer is a great option in this game, but it gets boring and repetitive right off the bat. Even with a lot of different modes, they all still feel the same and have the same shallow gameplay. At least it's not a rip-off of Mario Party.

Adventure was....well.... it was packed with flaws, but still an overall good experience. The story is way too short, but it's still very cool. The combat got repetitive VERY quickly, because all you do is swing the Wiimote around, and when your Soul Gauge fills up, hold down the B button while swinging the Wiimote around, which really isn't much of a difference. As stated before, customization in the game is too limited, so if you want to equip a non-talking sword to Sonic, you're screwed.

Gallery features much extra content like pictures, songs, etc. Much like Secret Rings, you unlock these extra things by doing certain things in Adventure mode. Some very useful contents that I found included walkthrough videos, so if your stuck on a level, these videos will probably help. There's also an alarming amount of crap that you unlock, so beware. Another little quirk in the main menu is sharing scores with each other online, so that deals with some competitive rivalries. Options menu is just as restrained as the game itself. There's only about three certain things you can change, and they usually don't even matter that much.

The overall game is a very welcoming experience into the Sonic series, but some fans that play this game may be yearning for something more.

One of Link's greatest adventures.

No one could forget the screams of joy when Twilight Princess was announced at E3. The fans could not believe that their beloved Zelda series was starting to get better. As a Zelda game, Twilight Princess pretty much has it all. A great story, superb graphics, and of course, the lovable characters from the Zelda franchise. Add all of that up with excellent gameplay, and you've got your self one heck of a game. What more could you ask for?

The story is similar to that of previous Zelda titles. Travel around the land of Hyrule, defeat all of the temple bosses, defeat Ganondorf, and rescue the princess. Your new partner, Midna, also plays a significant role in the game. There's also a new villain: Zant. As you progress through the game, you will notice the story get deeper and deeper until the end. Another positive is that Midna isn't as annoying as Navi or the King of Red Lions. Instead of repeatedly saying "Hey" or "Hurry", Midna simply tells you what to do without making you feel like punching her in the face.

The gameplay has changed somewhat from Wind Waker's. There's no sailing or "wind waking" involved. Instead, you get to play as the new Wolf Link (Okami, anyone?). When you reach an area covered in Twilight, you must turn into your newly-acquired Wolf Form. Outside of Twilight though, you must defeat enemies and conquer temples in your human form. To attack, you simply swing the Wii Remote and Nunchuck in your hand, though sometimes controls can be unresponsive or Link can attack when you don't want him to. Twilight Princess also introduces Horseback Sword Combat, which no other Zelda game has done. Of course, once you acquire the Warping ability, you probably will find yourself saying bye-bye to your trusty steed, Epona. The difficulty, in certain aspects of the game, is not as hard as Ocarina of Time. Heck, some are so easy that all you have to do is keep swinging the Wiimote. But who said difficulty makes a game special, eh?

Surprisingly enough, the graphics engine is the same exact engine used on Wind Waker, with a few polishes. On the Wii, the graphics are nothing the Wii can't handle. The games graphics were meant to bring out as much graphical power possible from the Gamecube. The Wii version is also a mirrored version of the Gamecube one, with Link's sword being in his right hand instead of his left. Though the graphics look pretty, there are a few rugged textures here and there, but most of the graphics are clear and impressive. The expressions on Link's faces don't look painted on at all, either.

If you're a Wii or Gamecube owner desperate for a good game that will last you a long time, then look no further than Twilight Princess. It's probably the best Gamecube game out there, and one of the best Wii games, too. You definitely don't want to miss out on this masterpiece.

The best FPS on the Wii.

It's always been a mystery as to why the FPS genre is severely lacking on the Wii. The controls would be suitable, online wouldn't be that bad, and the sales would be pretty good, too. Some companies, like Ubisoft, have tried, but ultimately failed in the end to make a really good shooting game just for Wii. While they're history of games isn't impressive, High Voltage Software was smart enough to realize the lack of shooters on the Wii and gave us this nice-looking FPS.

Unfortunately, The Conduit doesn't bring any thing new to the FPS genre. Like most shooters nowadays, The Conduit is basically a run 'n' gun game. Shoot, run, shoot, then run again. Thankfully, the ASE drives some attention away from the senseless shooting. With it, you can find hidden messages, discover secret passageways, unlock certain doors, and even hack into technology. Some enemies even need to face the power of the ASE in order to be defeated.

While it has it's moments, the story is most of the time dull and uninspiring. The length of the story doesn't help matters, either. You play as Agent Michael Ford, and fight for your life to fend off the alien invasion of Washington D.C. The aliens are known as "The Drudge" by the humans. You also must stop a special group known as the "Trust" from taking over the whole state.The voice acting in the story is actually spot-on. Each voice matches the personality of the characters perfectly. Some of the plot twists are interesting, but the keyword in this sentence is "some".

The design throughout the game doesn't hold much hope either. You'll encounter tons of hallways and rooms with practically nothing in them. The furniture and other stuff in most of the rooms can't even be destroyed or tipped over. The character models are a different story, though. They actually have alot of detail within them, especially The Drudge. Whenever I looked at The Drudge, I kept thinking I was playing a Halo game. Heck, they even sound like the aliens in Halo.

The music throughout the game also has some similarities with the Halo games. Both soundtracks focus on what the level is like, and play to fit the environment. I adored the song from the Multiplayer trailer, so I was disappointed when I didn't hear the full version at all in the game, but I soon forgot about it once I heard the rest of The Conduit's soundtrack.

Now for the The Conduit's strongest point - the controls. The motion controls are excellent, especially since you can control how well they respond. The controller layout is satisfying, too. As with motion controls, you can change the full controller layout to your heart's content. Don't like how you throw grenades? You can fix that. Don't like how you zoom in? You can fix that, too. Whatever you don't like in the controls, you can easily fix without any worries.

Another strong point in The Conduit is the online multiplayer mode. With thirteen different game modes, seven maps, and up to twelve players in one match, one must wonder how someone can't absolutely love the multiplayer mode. The only problem I encountered was that I sometimes got booted from online matches. Other than that, online is an enjoyable experience for any Wii owner.

Compare The Conduit to the rest of the FPS's on any sysyem this generation, and you'll find The Conduit to be just another generic shooter. Compare The Conduit to all of the Wii FPS's, and you've got yourself the best shooting game on the Wii.