Hawkee's Product Reviews

Online Scores and Tribes make the Difference

I just started getting into this for their tribes and online top scores. This really makes the difference as you are competing with real people. I like that you can shoot for spots on the daily, weekly and all time charts. That way you aren't trying to beat impossible all time scores. The gameplay is quite enjoyable and offers a solid challenge. The scenery changes as you progress so you get a sense of accomplishment as you progress to lesser-seen levels. It's a great quick 5 minute game that's sure to keep you entertained and satisfied each time you play.

Entertaining and Humorous

I had the pleasure of playing through this whole game in coop mode with my wife. We both really enjoyed it and played all the way up to 100%. The graphics were quite nice and the humor was spot on. It certainly brought back memories of all the classic Indiana Jones movies and even encouraged us to watch them all over again. My main complaint is it's a tad too short. We blew through the stories in just a few hours, so we spent most of our time collecting treasures and mailboxes. It wasn't too hard to reach 100%, but it was a good time none-the-less. It's probably not worth $50, but easily worth $40 or less.

Just like the Real Thing

This game looks great, especially with the new scenery they added on the latest update. It's very well done and includes a challenging Championship mode that gives you a sense of accomplishment once you've unlocked some cars and tracks. That being said it's just not all that entertaining. Once you fall behind it's really tough to catch up and you usually end up falling off the track more times than you'd like. Maybe I just need to give it more time to grow on me, but it really is well done and I'm impressed with the quality of the work they've put into it.

Classic and Modern Fun

I just finished this game and it was quite an experience. The first 20-30 stars went slow, but once I got some momentum it really grabbed me. The gameplay is just plain fun. Most levels play like Mario 64, but there are several moments where you get that classic 2D platform feel which is great. I had a tough time on a couple of the later challenges, but that just made the experience that much more rewarding. My only complaint is the overworld is a bit too open and small. I enjoyed exploring the castle in Mario 64 as there were parts you don't see until much later. Here you can pretty much see it all from the start. Overall it was great fun though.

Makes you Think, but not too Hard

This is one of my favorite iPhone apps. They're constantly adding puzzles and I've yet to complete even a fraction of what they've got in there. The puzzles are challenging at times, but not so hard that you'll get frustrated and never pick it up again. Once you figure out the more difficult ones it's very rewarding. Definitely a must-have.

My First iPod Touch Purchase

I was looking for a good game for my Touch and this had the best reviews in the App Store at the time. I purchased it when it was still in the first version, so no music and only a single level. Despite that it was still a great challenge and a perfect time killer. I played several times trying to reach level 100 on hard mode, but with little luck. I think I got as far as level 65, but I usually died by level 40 or 50. But this kept me going for some time.

Later when they added the sound I was really excited and had a bit of a resurgence of game time. I enjoyed the new map quite a bit more than the first, but what ruined it for me was endless mode. I unlocked this new mode on the second map and played on easy mode to level 150+. I had the game on auto-pilot. I set it down for 20-30 minutes and came back with no damage and 20 more levels passed. I really don't like that endless mode sends the same set of enemies wave after wave once you pass level 100. It just gets boring.

Overall  more

Finally Online Mario Kart!!

This game is fun. The online play makes every race intelligent and challenging. While the traditional single player is a great challenge it's extremely difficult because the computers cheat. Of course they've always cheated since the original Mario Kart, but this time they cheat even worse.

Now the online play is what makes this game great. You can always get anywhere from 7 to 11 competitors at any time of the day or night. These people are tough, but it's always a blast ramming and slamming them as you race for the finish. Its so much more real when you get those pesky computers off thet track. You ram them and they feel it in their hands, it doesn't get better than that.

The way the online play is set up is very slick. Nintendo picks players from either your country or around the world. They introduce them to you as a Mii waving in their locality on the globe. Sometimes you might race the same people 10 times in a row so you've got that opportunity to make it personal.  more

Best Zelda Yet!

This game is amazing. I came in with high hopes and was not disappointed in the least. I played through every inch of the game and took my time finding everything. As a result it took me about 50 hours to finish it. Now that's a nice long adventure. The environments are beautiful and almost surreal in some cases. Despite the fact that it uses Gamecube graphics it still looks better than many Wii games. They just focused so much on the details that it really doesn't matter that it was originally made for Gamecube.

Now something that really surprised me here was the story. In the past I've been more impressed with the Zelda worlds than the story, but in thie case it's a toss up. Both were impressive. They did a great job of integrating the story into the gameplay with the twilight and the wolf form. While it may be somewhat predictable, the ending doesn't disappoint. It's well worth your time.

The gameplay is very intuitive and comfortable. You won't get tired slashing  more

Best way to play if you've never played Far Cry

This is a tough game to judge. Fortunately it's got a long standing reputation as a quality adventure game. But unfortunately the Wii version doesn't live up to the graphical hype everybody had been hoping for. The graphics aren't impressive, but the green and blue environments make up for it. You'll see a lot of foliage and grass popping up as you move along, but if you dealt with it 5 years ago on the N64 you can deal with it now.

The play control is the best part about it. I love using the remote to aim and turn. It's very fluid as you move around the screen. You can strafe with the nunchuk analog stick while you point your remote around corners and towards bad guys.

Coming from somebody who has never played the game before, it's quite refreshing. I was getting tired of space station and post apocalyptic environments. I always demand a game with a lot of depth and a lot of color and this game delivers with both. I'm glad I waited because it seems to be a big disappointment  more

Wii Remote's Little Brother

The Wii Nunchuk is a very solid piece of hardware. It might seem cheap and flimsy at first glance, but the analog stick is very well done. You can tell it's a quality piece because the stick snaps back to the middle instantly and fluidly upon release. I've used quite a few analog sticks in my time and this one really takes the cake. Very much unlike the original N64 analogs that lost their snap after a while. The nunchuk also features the revolutionary accelerometer technology that you can also find in it's bigger brother the Wii Remote. So when you're boxing in Wii sports you've got control of both fists. For only $20 you get a lot of bang for your buck.

The only problem is it doesn't have a rumble feature. Now that would have been cool, but it would have probably sucked the batteries from the remote much quicker. The nunchuk features two buttons, the Z trigger and the C button. In Zelda the C is used to toggle between camera mode and movement mode. And of course Z is for  more

Next Generation of Controllers

This is the most fun controller I've ever used. When I first heard about it I thought the mouse pointer aspect would be clunky, but it's actually turned out to be the best part about it! I just love pointing my bow and arrow at monsters in Zelda and the clawshot is a ton of fun. The internal speaker really adds to the gameplay as it puts the weapons and items in your hand and not on the screen. For example when link puts his sword away you hear it on the remote rather than the screen. When you shoot an arrow you hear the bow string stretch in your hand.

There are two aspects to this device: the mouse cursor and the accelerometer. The mouse cursor utilizes the Wii sensor bar that you place above or below your TV. The sensor bar is nothing but a series of the same IR sensors you find in a typical TV remote. The Wii remote uses these to know which way is forward and to know where the cursor should be on screen. This aspect to the Wii remote is very fluid and responsive. There  more

Great Mindless Mayhem

This game is a blast to play. You can use just about anything to slice and dice some zombie butt. Shopping mall bench? Sure, shove it into a crowd of zombies. Maybe drive through a sea of zombies with a sports car. Just don't think you'll get anywhere slashing zombies with a toy sword or hitting them over the head with a teddy bear. Obviously knives, guns and bats are going to be effective, but you'll be happily surprised with the carnage brought about by everyday yard tools.

The story is very detailed and intense. You'll reach points where you absolutely cannot make a mistake. Just losing 5 minutes somewhere may mean game over, so be careful when you save. You've got quite a few timed goals and they come one after another. It's actually a bit of a relief when you've got some additional time to tour zombies around the underside of a lawnmower.

After completing the game you'll unlock some additional modes that give you the opportunity to slay zombies to your heart's content.  more

Surreal

This game sure is surreal. You'll be on the edge of your seat with constant surprises and peril. The graphics are wonderful and really push the envelope in first person shooters. While they do offer innovative features like portals and spirit walking, they don't necessarily change the way we play first person shooters. It really just comes down to the gameplay. Fortunately this game plays very well and it's a joy to run around blasting baddies.

The environments aren't too impressive in my opinion. I prefer a more natural environment while this mostly plays out in the standard space station environment. I realize it's more difficult to create organic settings, but it's well worth the trouble. For this reason I'm not giving Prey a 5/5. I like a good variety and this has it, but not enough.

Back to the Tired and True Formula

I love playing this game. It reminds me of Super Mario Bros. 3 crossed with Super Mario World. The gameplay is excellent and I'm very happy Nintendo decided to go back to the 2D platform style. The graphics are all in 3D, yet shown on a 2D plane. It really offers a unique and beautiful gaming experience.

The worlds are varied and lots of fun. The star coins offer quite a bit of replay value, but I was a little disappointed that finding them doesn't result in a special ending. I think the large mario is fun, but he's a little too large for many levels. You really have to know what level to use him on. The same can be said about the micro Mario. He's a bit tricky to control but is key to many secrets. I would have liked some suits like Mario 3 had, but that can be forgiven.

Overall, this is a great addition to the Mario family and is strongly recommended to anybody who's a fan of the franchise.