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LEGO Batman Review For PSP

LEGO was part of my childhood, it was and still is an innovative toy. When you combine LEGO with Batman, the result is an extremely addictive game with so many features to keep you from turning off your PSP.

I have never played LEGO Star Wars but I’ve played LEGO Indiana Jones (demo). I think LEGO Indiana Jones is an average game, probably because I am not a huge fan of the series. On the other hand, I’ve always loved Batman series so its only naturally for me to love LEGO Batman as well.

Story and controls
The story is no brainer, all your well known villains are in this game including Penguin, Poison Ivy, Joker, Riddler, Clayface and Mr.Freeze are here terrorizing Gotham City. Your job obviously is to clean up the mess. The controls are very simple with jump, punch and switch between the two characters etc. Anyone will be able to figure out the controls almost immediately. Tips will show up when you are near key areas so most of the time you will know what to do and how to get to a particular area. Player friendly is one of the reasons why I think this game is worth the money. Auto aim also exists so that your character will punch whatever is breakable (if in range).

Game play and graphics
As I mentioned the controls are easy to get a hang on, this also makes the game play more enjoyable because you can actually PLAY the game instead of constantly trying to figure out what is what. I assume because the target audience is kids since its rated E for everyone. When you destroy objects, you will get LEGO pieces, those are actually your money that you can spend on upgrading your suits and other “toys”. This greatly increases the replay value of this game because of the unlockable and upgradable items. After the first chapter, you are given either to continue to next chapter or back to the Batcave. Instead of picking continue which will load the next chapter, you can save the game and enter your Batcave.

After finishing the first episode as Batman/Robin, you can then play as Riddler/Clayface by unlocking the option in the Batcave or you can choose to continue with the other two Batman episodes.

The Batcave is amazingly designed with detailed textures (when comparing to PS2 graphics) and the cave is really big separated by different areas. The main area will allow you to pick one of the 3 episodes using one of Batman’s vehicles which are made of LEGO. You can jump from episode to episode and don’t have to play them in order. You can also go back to the mansion and check your trophies from your accomplishments.

Aside from having detailed buildings, the characters all have detailed facial expressions as well which make the cut scenes so much more fun to watch (the cut scenes are hilarious by the way!).

Sound
The Batman themed music is pretty much from the Batman movies starred Michael Keaton (personally I think he was the best Batman) if not exactly the same. The music is so good that as I’m writing this review, its still in my head playing non stop. But I’m guessing I might get bored of it sooner or later.
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The Top 5 Best Selling Nintendo Wii Games For October 2008

1 - FIFA 09 - Published by EA Sports

• Polished, Refined Game play: Featuring 250 additions and enhancements to core game play, including new animation technology that creates more responsive first-time shooting and passing, faster and more controlled dribbling, and improved trapping, and new player momentum physics that delivers realistic player collisions, authentic jostling for the ball, and more variation in tackling.
• Custom Team Tactics: Become a first-team coach with the power to tune and balance 11 tactical sliders for 140 attacking and 40 defending options (more than 50,000 combinations) so CPU players and your team perform just like the real-world team or how you think the real team should play. Save your tactics to make strategic decisions to exploit your opponent’s weaknesses during the game. Plus, share your strategies with friends online.
• Be A Pro - Seasons: Pick or create a professional player and test your football ability over a four season campaign. Master a single position and develop your skills - passing, shooting, positioning, marking - to ultimately become a national legend.
• Improved Goalkeeper Intelligence: Goalkeepers position themselves more intelligently, react to shots more realistically and recover from saves faster.
• Customised Controllers: Create your own bespoke controller configuration, save it and even take it online effortlessly. Assign actions to the buttons exactly how you like them for complete control.

2 - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 “All Play” -Published by EA Sports

• EA SPORTS All-Play - All new swing type allows gamers of all levels to play together taking the guesswork out of setting shots and showing gamers exactly where their ball will end up before every shot
• Wii Exclusive Golf Party Mode - Battle your family and friends in up to 15 fun and challenging mini-games including ball juggling, range cart showdown, shooting gallery and speed golf, that keep the competition fierce long after you finish your round
• New Online Mode - All-new 4-Player Online Simultaneous Play allows you to compete in a four person round in the same time it takes to play single player. No more waiting for your buddies to hit their shot. You will see ball trails from each of your playing partners as the foursome plays the hole at the same time
• Performance Coach – The TOUR pros have their coaches and now you do too. Tiger Woods’ real life coach Hank Haney will guide you through your career right from the start and help you improve your confidence. Haney is constantly watching your performance and assessing areas for improvement. When you’re having trouble he’ll provide you training events to help increase your confidence
• Tune Your Clubs to Maximize Your Swing – With the all new Club Tuner you’ll be able to tune your wedges, irons, woods and driver to customize your bag and get the most out of every club. But strategy will come into play as you must weigh the risks of club performance versus ease of use. So tune wisely!
• New Courses and Golfers — New challenges await with exotic new locations including Gary Player Country Club in South Africa, Wentworth Country Club in England and more. International stars join the action in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 with Se Ri Pak, Darren Clarke, Nick Dougherty and Rory McIlroy challenging you as you make your way through your career.

3 - Mario Kart - Published by SEGA

• The Wii Wheel transforms the Wii Remote; controller into a steering wheel that feels natural in anyone’s hands, while the Wii Remote and Nunchuk; controller offer a classic control style for the Mario Kart veteran. In either configuration, players can perform speed-boosting tricks with a shake of the Wii Remote.
• Players can race as their favourite Nintendo character, or even as themselves! Mario Kart Wii lets players race with their personalized Mii; characters. And racers will see other Mii characters they have created cheering from the sidelines on some race courses.
• Players can compete with up to three friends in their living room. Or challenge up to 11 opponents via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in the biggest Mario Kart race yet. All tracks and modes of play are available via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and players can visit the Mario Kart Channel to compete in tournaments, check rankings, see when their friends are playing and download ghost data.
• Cruise new tracks and arenas or tour classic courses from Super Mario Kart;, Mario Kart; 64, Mario Kart;: Super Circuit;, Mario Kart;: Double Dash!!; and Mario Kart; DS. Tired of riding on four wheels? Bust out one of the new motorbikes for special tricks and techniques.

4 - Star Wars : The Force Unleashed - Published by LucasArts

• Confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader in addition to new adversaries such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians
• Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice’s four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
• Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible: Secret Apprentice won’t just Force push enemies into walls - he’ll Force push enemies through walls, and will Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground
• Visit locations such as Episode III’s Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk and the floral Felucia, the junk planet Raxus Prime, plus an Imperial TIE fighter construction facility
• Decisions made by players throughout the game will determine the path of the story, including multiple endings that will rock Star Wars continuity as they know it.

5 - Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games - Published by SEGA

• Compete in stylised Olympic venues with authentic sports and events to choose from, including athletics, archery, skeet shooting, table tennis, gymnastics and more.
• Select your favourite playing style from the all-star cast of Mario and Sonic characters with four player types to choose from: all-around, technical, speed, and power. For example: Mario (all-around), Peach (technical), Yoshi (speed), Bowser (power), Sonic (speed), Knuckles (power), Tails (technical), Amy (all-around).
• Game Modes: Try out each event individually with Single Match mode, compete for the highest overall score in a series of events in Circuit Mode, or take on challenges created specifically for each character in the Mission Mode. Up to four players can play together on the Wii. DS allows up to four players to compete via wireless connection.
• Unlockable stages where familiar items from the worlds of Mario and Sonic enhance the challenge of each unique event.

Robert McEwan is a games & entertainment journalist who specialises in writing reports and reviews relating to the DVD, gaming and entertainment industry in the United States and Europe.

For access to a large selection of Nintendo Wii games downloads and resources please visit :

http://www.electrostrike.info/wii-downloads.htm

Review - Burnout Revenge For Xbox 360

EA’s latest installment in the Burnout series, Burnout Revenge, comes to the Xbox 360. While it has been redone for the next generation platform with more game play, different boards, more routes and incredibly crisp graphics it doesn’t forge any new ground from the Xbox version. I remember the first time we put the game in because our minds were really blown by the killer graphics that this game has. The cars in general maintain the same arcade like feel that the other Burnout games have had without a real noticeable difference to handling of the cars just the speed of the game play. I had played all the way through this game on the Xbox and graphics aside the most noticeable difference between the two versions was the difficulty level. The Xbox version is considerably harder than the Xbox 360 version. It can be frustrating if you are trying to bust the achievements.

The rough thing about most racing games is the fact that the achievements are geared to a lot of game play. The higher ones tend to be achievable only after you’ve really mastered the game. That is certainly the case with Burnout Revenge. It may even be tougher than most when you consider you have to perfect all of the events at each level. This could take quite a few real time hours. This can be a good or bad thing depending on what you’re looking for. If you are looking for easy achievements you will not find them in this game.

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