New Super Mario Bros. Wii

   New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a platformer for the Wii from 2009. It was the first Mario game since Mario Bros. for the arcade to have simultaneous multiplayer, and the twelfth game in the series. The story is that Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach, and Mario is going to save her. Again.
   The game starts with a cut-scene. After the cut-scene, you find Mario in a standard level-select map. The game starts with a goomba coming at you with some blocks ahead of you. Jump on the goomba to kill it, and jump up and hit the question mark blocks to get coins and a power up. Goombas and question mark blocks continue to come back throughout the entire game. The first level was pretty easy, but not too easy, and the later levels were actually pretty challenging. There are 8 worlds with 9 levels, plus a bonus world you get after beating the game with 8 levels, that you have to unlock by collecting all of the star coins in a world. The graphics really couldn't be much better. It's not visibly pixely, and the cartoonish style fits the game well. There aren't any extra things added to make the game easier to replay, and I have not replayed the main story. A while later and with some help in multi-player I thought I had beat the game. Well I didn't I just unlocked a new world that is insanely difficult.

SCORES

Gameplay-9 All the controls worked smoothly, but sometimes it was a little too difficult.

Graphics-10 Everything looked perfect.

Replayability-3 Nothing extra. Not compelling enough to replay

Size-10 Many levels with plenty of difficulty make this a very long game.

OVERALL SCORE: 8

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

   Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a tactical role-playing game for the Gameboy Advance from 2005. It's the eighth game in the Fire Emblem series, and the second to be released outside of Japan. The story is that the main character, princess Eirika's homeland of Renais is invaded by neighboring country and former ally Grado, led by Eirika's childhood friend. You must solve the mystery of why Eirika's friend is invading Renais.
   The game starts with an introduction and a cut-scene. The story impressed me and the graphics were fine. After Eirika is rushed away from the castle by Renais knight Seth, the first battle begins. You control each character individually, and meet the objective of each battle. The controls worked well and the gameplay made sense. The first battle was easy, but there was a good difficulty arc. During the next battle you get some new characters. Your army continues to grow throughout the game, but if one of your characters dies, you can't get them back, and if Eirika dies you have to start the level over. Also there is a limit to how many soldiers you can have on the battlefield at a time. After a long time I finally beat the game. It was very satisfying, and the story wrapped up nicely. There is nothing you can do other than the main game, but the story is compelling enough to replay every now and then.

SCORES

Gameplay-10 The controls are great, the fighting works well, and there's a good amount of challenge.

Graphics-5 During the cut-scenes the graphics are good, but during gameplay they aren't.

Replayability-5 No extra things but compelling enough to replay.

Size-9 Many levels that take lots of time and thinking make for a large game.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.25

Kirby's Adventure

  Let's start with some background information. Kirby's Adventure is platformer for the NES from 1993. It is the second game in the Kirby series, a sequel to Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy. The plot is that Kirby, slept a whole night without any dreams. He goes to the fountain of dreams to investigate, and finds that King Dedede has stolen the power rod, source of dreams in Dreamland, and broken into seven pieces spread across Dreamland.
   When I first turned on the game I noticed that it had amazing graphics, the best I've seen on the NES. After pressing start you go to a small room with a door marked "one". After entering the door you start the first level. It's a green place with water in the background. the first enemy is pink with one large eye. Press B to inhale him and press down to take his "beam" power. Throughout the game you can use this on many enemies to take their powers. The first level was really easy, and so were the rest up until the final boss. You should be able to beat this game quickly. After beating it I haven't played it since, but there are some mini games spread around, to entartain you after you beat it.

SCORES

Gameplay-8 The copy ability is nice, and the lack of difficulty makes it a fast paced game but you don't feel like you've really done much upon completion.

Graphics-9 The graphics are really good and cartoony, but it's still an NES game so...

Replayability-4 The mini games aren't that fun, and it's not something you really want to do over.

Size-3 The short easy levels make this game a make for a very small game.

OVERALL SCORE: 6