PixlBit

Well after a well rested weekend I'm back for more bloggin' Enjoys today's batch of games!

First up is Deap Space Extraction and it's a fairly enjopyable on rails shooter. It's not quite the Dead Space experience that other consoles got, but it's a fairly solid spin-off/prequel that even if you don't have the original wii version... they also had a PS3 move remake. It's got a fairly enjoyable story and some jump scares as well as solid shooting mechanics.

Death Jr. Root of Evil is a very under the radar 3rd party platformer and an enjoyable one as well. Developer Backbone Entertainment really managed to create a pretty decent game for the most part. Sure the combat is uninteresting, and there are camera issues, but it was fairly good. And even though it's a sequel, you don't have to play the original to enjoy the game. Well worth the $3 I payed for it

Dewy's Adventure is a pretty interesting platformer. That's about the best compliment I can give it. Dewy's adventure is by far hampered due to one key element... the controls. In Dewy's Adventure you slide the hero Dewy across the maps and levels collecting Eaus (the helpless residents trapped by the bad guys) The overall experience is one I think could be a lot more enjoyable if not for the slippery controls. There's a saving grace in that the jump mechanic isn't assigned to shaking the remote (thankfully it's assigned to the 2 button), but it's a small victory considering how often you'll watch Dewy fall off the map. There are some good ideas in Dewy's Adventure, but it's more often frustrating than it is fun.

Diabolik: The Original Sin is a game I covered in my last BaD as I went through the worst of the worst Wii games. Diabolik looks alright, but it's not really worth importing. The game came out only in Europe and the only thing I remember about Diabolik is the cartoon show that came on Saturday Mornings back in the day. The game is fairly bad. It's a point and click puzzle adventure (no surprise...you're going to see a lot of them throughout my BaD) The problem with this game is that I played much better titles in the genre. The story is alright, but the game can be downright dumb. On one occassion I can recall I couldn't open a door until I observed a key even though I had said key.

Disaster: Day of Crisis is B movie the game. If you want context to this imagine a typical B movie. Something like Ice Tornadoes or Sharknado may come to mind. Well that's pretty much Disaster's plot. You play as the unlucky hero Raymond Bryce who is literally having the worst day ever How you may ask? Well poor Ray has to deal with earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tronaoes, and volcanic eruptions. Not only does the Earth hate Ray, but terrorists have kidnapped Raymond's dead best friends sister Lisa and a scientist, but they're also threatening to nuke the U.S.A. The plot is about as all over the place as it's gameplay as you'll switch between 3rd person action adventure platforming, time crisis style shooting segments, Quick time events, rpg upgrading mechanics, and drivings the worlds most undrivable car that's rivaled only by Alone in the Dark's driving sections. It's over the top, all over the place, and an absolute blast to play. I can't even figure out why. Maybe it's the absurd nature, maybe it's the alternate ending which puts Ray up in space shooting a giant meteor hurdling towards earth, or maybe it's the fact that this game was Monolith Soft's first title released for Nintendo since being acquired by them that wasn't an rpg.

Disney's Epic Mickey is an example of hype and hope. Warren Spector is a nice guy and I'm sure he had the best of intentions. He touted an edgy, darker turn for the mouse, and some elements of Epic Mickey are very dark (mostly due to some muddy graphics and desolate designs) but the game didn't have that light/dark mechanic many wanted. In theory you could go purely for a paint thinner pathway, but you miss out on various quests and collectables. The same goes for a purely paint path. And the game never really penalizes you for flirting between the two save for a few occassions, but it doesn't affect the overall ending of the game. I think that Epic Mickey was ambitious, and in ways it can be pretty fun. At the very least...it's better than the sequel...which I had, played, and quickly sold because it somehow wound up to be worse.

Disney's Guilty Party is one I covered extensively as a bargain bin buy. I still really enjoyed the game. The humor, the mini games, the various locations...All of it was so much fun. If only you didn't have to unlock all the multiplayer stages in order to play them.

After many long years, after many attempts. Donkey Kong returned for the Wii in a big way. I love DK64 and Jungle Beat as much as the next person, but it had been a long time coming for DK to get back to his side scrolling roots. And for all the negativity it gets for no DK coins, no king k rool or kremlins, the lack of animal buddies, and lack of David Wise music. It brought back DK to his roots more or less, but added in some cool things like Diddy's rocket pack. It was a fairly solid game and the sequel even gave us more. So even though we don't have more animal buddies or kremlins just yet. I'd say it's only a matter of time.

Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaich 2 & 3. Both of these games are really fun, though 2 is a bit rough being a wii launch title. With 2 there was a steep, comprehensive learning curve in the controls. But once you get a hang of it, pulling of Kamehameha blasts are a breeze and absolute blast to do. Plus each has a very lengthy story mode and multiplayer options. 3 added a Wi-Fi mode, but I hardly found anyone to play with. Still it was a nice touch!

Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire is terrible. It's a hack n slash game mixed with rpg aspects and it's an example of 3rd party shovelware. It has repetitive gameplay, outdated  N64/PS1 style graphics, control issues, bland levels and a bad plot. Even at $3... not worth it... not at all

Dragon Quest Monsters: Battle Road victory was released exclusively in Japan, but I'm a collector and a DQ nut. The gameplay is pretty simple. Battles take place in a coliseum and monsters can be chosen from either the game or cards the player can insert into a machine. The combat is very simple and only uses a two-button system.The machine gives the player a free card at the beginning of a match. These cards can then be used in battle and if the player has one of the rarer cards, a special attack becomes available to be used in battle. It was mostly wi-fi oriented, but going through the game was pretty simple as well collecting various monsters and cards. It's not the most accessible game, but can be played, if you understand Japanese.

 Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors is a long title, but not a very long game. In fact it's not even a traditional Dragon Quest title. It's more of an arcade style on rails rpg. If you are wondering how that works...it does somewhat. The controls are tank-like. You use the remote only so you control with just the d-pad. The swings that you make in Dragon Quest Swords is done entirely based on the movement of the way you swing the remote. Thankfully the devs added a lock-on, but even that only helps so much.  Swords is enjoyable, but the controls often hamper that experience. If anything I enjoyed the characters such as your drunken father Claymore and the ever so french accented, ever so flirtatious, ever so "not dressed at all" for her job profession nun in training Fleurette.

 And finally comes Drawn to Life: The Next Chaper. While Scribbblenauts innovated with writing anything you can think of to bring to the screen, Developer 5th Cell also had a similar series in Drawn to Life. Where anything you draw can become a reality. Serving as somewhat of a precursor to Scribblenauts. There are ideas here that have Scribblenauts inspiration or perhaps vice versa. It's an okay game. Not nearly as innovative as Scribblenauts, but still respectable in it's own right.