Remakes are usually cheap lazy cash ins. Not so in the case of Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3 ****) which offers oodles of brutal far Eastern hack and slash action. Our over eager censors might have cut out the lopping off of heads, but this action/ adventure title offers loads of fun, despite being simply a remake of the Xbox original. Easily as good as Lost Planet and Crackdown.
With the PS3 online store finally seeing some action, Super Stardust HD (PS3 ****) packs in more action that its £5 price point really should. At heart just a simple shooter controlled with the two analogue sticks – one to move, the other to fire in any direction – you’ll be hooked on continuously upping your high score. As enjoyable as Geometry Wars, you need to pick this up as soon as possible.
As well as not getting off to a great start with its almost immediate recall, Mario Party 8 (Wii **) can’t hold a candle to its older brothers. It might pack masses of mini games that make use of the Wii’s innovative control method, but none of them are any fun. Almost half of them consist of just shaking the Wii Remote for ten seconds and where on earth’s the fun in that? For drunken multiplayer Wii larks, pick up WarioWare instead.
Us Europeans finally get our hands on the incredible Elite Beat Agents (DS ****). It might not consist of much more than tapping and rubbing in time to the music, but damn it’s good fun. The licensed tracks aren't as enjoyable as the Japanese originals, particular with the likes of Avril Lavigne offering ‘teenage rock’ aplenty, but there’s no hiding its addictive qualities. If you can't get the Japanese original Osu! Tatake! Oendan! then this is your next best bet.
POSTED...
Thu 19 Jul 2007 at 6:46am
