GamesRadar - Wii Reviews

Call of Duty 3 (Review)

Nov 22, 2006

The first-person shooter has hardly been the bread and butter of any Nintendo box (blah blah Goldeneye) but when the Wii remote was first unveiled, one of the big questions was how it would fare in a straight-up action game. With Metroid delayed, this port of Call of Duty 3 is our first glimpse of the remote in the FPS wild. It's a pretty impressive beast. The good news, both for Nintendo and for fans, is that the remote works quite well as a stand-in for the barrel of your gun, with precision ...

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Edition (Review)

Nov 17, 2009

Modern Warfare 2 may have received all the hype (and a good-sized dollop of controversy), but no less than three Call of Duty games were released on November 10. While PS3 and 360 owners got their hands on the latest game, and DS owners got a rejigged handheld version, Wii owners were ‘treated’ to a port of its two-year-old predecessor instead. ...

Call of Duty: World at War (Review)

Dec 1, 2008

During an assault on an enemy stronghold, one of your comrades urges you to “keep moving, keep killing”. It’s a brutally succinct war cry that encapsulates World at War’s relentlessly vicious pace. Even before you’re dumped unceremoniously into the action, Treyarch waste no time in setting the bleak tone. ...

Carnival Games (Review)

Sep 11, 2007

Mii-mingling, brain-training, virtual puppy-petting gamers concerned over the comparatively hardcore Metroid Prime 3 crashing their pick-up-and-play party can rest easy - Carnival Games has arrived to resume the minigame mayhem. Recreating all the midway-inspired staples - skee ball, ring toss, shooting gallery - Global Star Software's reasonably priced package brings the state fair home, without the creepy carnies, out-on-parole ride operators and artery-clogging corn dogs. Like most ...

Cars (Review)

Jan 22, 2007

Imagine a game like Need for Speed Underground 2, in which you can drive around in a freely explorable city, racing other drivers or just messing around as you see fit. Now, imagine it with talking cars, a tiny desert town and nearly every hint of crime or violence removed, and you'll have a good idea of what to expect from Cars. While it ties in with the Pixar movie, Cars picks up where the film left off, with cherry-red racetrack star Lightning McQueen settling into the town of Radiator ...

Castle of Shikigami III (Review)

Jun 18, 2008

Castle of Shikigami is one of those games that we really wish we saw more of these days. It's a vertical "bullet hell" 2D shooter, which basically means there are more pink death blobs in the in-game sky than there are paparazzi hanging out at Britney Spears' neighborhood McDonald's. It's challenging, it's colorful, the controls are blessedly simple (no motion-waggling required), its dialogue is wonderfully campy and wacky. It has no fewer ...

Castlevania Judgment (Review)

Dec 10, 2008

When you first fire up your copy of Castlevania: Judgment – if you’ve been perverse enough to buy it after reading all we’re about to say about this ill-advised brawler – you’ll find there’s hardly anything to do. Only two fighters will be available – Simon Belmont and Alucard. All of the other 12 must be unlocked. ...

Cate West: The Vanishing Files (Review)

Sep 2, 2009

Mystery Case Files: Millionheir was a surprise hit on DS, as the ‘seek and solve’ genre had previously been the preserve of PC-owning types with too much time on their hands. It’s not too hard to see the compulsive appeal of scouring complex images for hidden objects, but as with Millionheir, Cate West is one for puzzle fans only. Ideally, puzzle fans with short memories and superhuman sight. ...

Celebrity Sports Showdown (Review)

Dec 9, 2008

Things to see before you die: the crumbling sphinxes of Egypt, the ever-dwindling Barrier Reef, Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas trying her hand at the medieval Scottish sport of curling. Okay, not the last one. Only a brain infected with stupid syndrome would consider pairing such a perverse combination. It’s like looking out of your window and seeing bitchy pop-mogul Simon Cowell collecting trash. ...

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Review)

Jul 2, 2008

It’s such a familiar quandary – there you are in your local games store, crisp note in hand, looking for a new addition to your collection. There are a few caveats, though: one, you want it to be a linear adventure mainly based around flicking switches and collecting shiny things; two, you’re also very keen for it to have a Christian subtext; oh, and three, there simply has to be a homicidal dwarf involved ...

Classic British Motor Racing (Review)

Mar 24, 2008

There are bad games, there are "so bad, it's kinda good" games, and then there are "Dear God, how did this shit even happen? Can this be legal?" games. The Wii version of Classic British Motor Racing - which appears to be a port of a budget PlayStation 2 game released in the UK in 2007 - lands squarely in that last category. ...

Cocoto Fishing Master - WiiWare (Review)

Jul 21, 2008

In ye olde Wii launch days, one of the few things that really showed off how well the remote and Nunchuk could work together was Twilight Princess’ fishing minigame. It was awesome – a great display of control finesse. Cocoto Fishing Master, a port of an old PS2 title, takes similar-ish controls and aims to strap them on to a more fully featured game. That should be a recipe for success, right? Unfortunately not. ...

Code Lyoko Quest for Infinity (Review)

Nov 15, 2007

Nov 15, 2007 Kids today clearly have a greater capacity for absorbing information from their Saturday morning TV - Code Lyoko is confusing as hell. Data clusters, sentient viruses, X.A.N.A., replica sectors - heaven knows what any of it means. And while the game is too mean to ease you in, its greater crime is betraying what is clearly a dense mythology with generic game ...

The Conduit (Review)

Jun 23, 2009

If you’re reading this than we’ll assume you’re a seasoned gamer who knows his or her shit. So, you’d be completely within your right to say that most third party Wii developers have all but abandoned fulfilling the needs of traditional gamers, and left it the exclusive dumping grounds of dog-and-pony fashion shows, talking candy, and Majesco. ...

Contra ReBirth (Review)

Sep 10, 2009

There are many words to describe Contra ReBirth, most of which are just four letters long. Without baiting the censors, let’s just say it’s hard. And we mean HARD! Not that that’s a criticism. There’s nothing we like more than a challenging shooter with that feeling of triumph when we finally beat the boss on level three… ...

Cooking Mama: Cook Off (Review)

Mar 27, 2007

We cant help thinking that Cooking Mama was best suited to the pocket-sized DS, not the full-bodied Wii. The idea is that the Wiis functionality is perfect for the game, letting you use the remote to closely simulate chopping real peppers, cracking real eggs and stirring real soup. You know, like every real night of your life, right? Wrong. At least on DS you had the touch screen to create some sensation of resistance while you carried out your cooking tasks; on the Wii theres not even the ...

Cooking Mama World Kitchen (Review)

Feb 25, 2009

Part of the charm of the original Cooking Mama on DS was Mama herself, with her cheery advice that would turn to fire-eyed anger at the drop of a spoon. The cutesy presentation helped too, yet the game was fundamentally about cooking.

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Coraline (Review)

Jun 3, 2009

You know exactly what you’re in for when a game’s first move – its way of drawing you in to the rest of the adventure – is forcing you to slowly drag a box around the kitchen. Then making you say hello to the neighbours. Then getting you to prepare tea. Basically, everything you don’t enjoy doing in real life. ...

Counter Force (Review)

Dec 11, 2007

Dec 10, 2007 Shooter enthusiasts, look away. Budget gamers, avert your eyes. Gundam fans... haven't you been hurt enough already? This laughable attempt at laser-guided thrills ain't what you're looking for. Years from now, its epic awfulness may be the stuff of legend and we'll be able to share in a hearty chuckle at Counter Force's expense. Its presentation is a fascinating blend of generic and ugly. The soundtrack features a mercilessly wailing guitar of God-like electro-cheese, seemingly ...

Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant (Review)

Oct 31, 2008

Last time we saw him, in Crash of the Titans, Crash Bandicoot was a brainless chump, lacking both charisma and charm. The game wasn’t much better either. But things are definitely better forboth parties this time round. ...