MCPC Games
Gamecube Reviews

Pikmin is a puzzle game that challenges the player to collect and use little flower-like creatures in order to access items that are strewn around the play area. Every color pikmin can fight and carry objects, but they also have a specialty. Red are immune to fire, blue to water, and yellow to electricity. Yellow pikmin can also be thrown higher than the others. Two new pikmin appear in Pikmin 2, purple can carry 10 times as much as any other color, while white are immune to poison and can dig up hidden items. The game becomes a puzzle as you strive to use the correct pikmin for the correct job. Blue pikmin might wade across a stream and then build a bridge back to the other side. Yellow pikmin might then walk across and knock down an electric fence, opening up an area with a fire-breathing monster that can be killed with red colored pikmin. Pikmin can only work during the day, so at the end of every day, you must gather up all the pikmin into their ships to keep them safe for the night. In the original game, there were a limited number of days to accomplish everything, but in the sequel everything is far more open ended. You have no time limit so you can go back again and again to the same level and collect more pikmin or just take your time in solving puzzles.

The new colors of pikmin are found in subterranean levels. When you go underground, you take a troop of pikmin and must explore the entire underground system with only the pikmin you bring along. No pikmin are harvested underground. This is a nice addition to the overall game, encouraging careful planning before entering an underground area. In addition to underground areas, new pikmin colors, and a second space suited alien to control, there are now competitive and cooperative challenge modes in the game. Playing along with a friend makes the game even more fun and gives long legs to an already quality title. With all the new features, Pikmin 2 is a solid improvement over the quality original. Pikmin's largest fault was its short length, with a longer main game and cooperative and competitive challenge modes; Pikmin 2 has almost no faults at all.
(Written October 2004.)

Battles are fought between robots in a small, holographic battlefield. Before each battle, you can customize your robot's body type, main weapon, bomb weapon, pod weapons (bomb-ish weapons that tend to be homing), and legs. Once you get a robot layout you like, you enter the battlefield. It is a square field with some walls and other obstacles that will occasionally be moving or destructible. In this arena, you use your mobility and weaponry to try and damage the opposing robot. Weapons have different rates of fire, different firing arcs, as well as firing speed and homing abilities. Injure your opponent badly enough and they will be briefly knocked down and vulnerable for extra hits. Be wary, since once a robot recovers from being knocked down they are invulnerable for a second or two. Win the battle by doing enough cumulative damage, and your opponent will be knocked out from the psychic trauma of losing in the holo-arena.

The robot battles fit together with the RPG story somewhat like Pokemon battles in a Pokemon title. As you wander and meet people, you are often challenged to a battle to prove your abilities. Other times you are forced to holo-fight criminals to protect yourself or others. After most battles, you are awarded new parts to swap into your robot - hence the name, Custom Robo. Unfortunately, most of the guns and bombs are fairly similar and don't drastically affect your robot battles. While there are a few variations, you will find some guns that shoot to the left, and some that shoot starting off to the right, with no other difference between them. Taking this line of reasoning, the 50+ advertised guns (main weapons) really only provide 15 or so distinctly different feels. Perhaps the main way to change your robot is to change its body type. Some are slow and very defensive, while others are light on their feet and can dodge incoming fire but are quite fragile. Despite the shortcomings of the customization, the battles themselves are fast moving and are quite fun. Battles can be one on one, two on two, and occasionally two or three on one. The game has an arcade mode for multiplayer play, and this gives the game pleasantly long replay value. While it probably won't serve as the mainstay multiplayer game for an evening, it is a refreshing sort of arcade battle of robot titans.

The game has few, if any, faults. But it just doesn't seem to garner enough positives to make it stand out. The sound is fine, with all conversations done in text with Animal Crossing style mumbling. The graphics are actually quite nice, the fighting arenas are quite varied, and they usually give one the "feeling" of fighting in a holographic arena. The linear, slightly humorous storyline paired with the very action-oriented holographic robot battles make this game seem to be a good choice for the middle school age group. Much older than that, and the RPG story and associated robot battles begin to wear a bit thin. The collectible nature of the weaponry is nice, but isn't fully realized as many of the weapons have a very similar feel once placed into the fast-moving virtual arena. I think Custom Robo is a great candidate for a rental. If you enjoy the robot battles to wade through an RPG based around them, or if you find the multiplayer battles have got you hooked, then you can go ahead and add the title to your gaming library.
(Written August 2004.)

At its most basic, the Gamecube edition wraps a variety of multiplayer interactions around individuals playing minigames. Players compete in minigames to accumulate cards, play an Othello-like game, blow up asteroids, and the like. While one player is playing, the others are encouraged to try to disrupt them in some way. Some games allow the slow theft of resources from the other players, other games allow players to hide sections of the screen, and there is even a microgame theme where players must use searchlights to help the person playing the microgames.

All in all, this is a fun title for multiple players. The games come fairly fast and furious and since microgames have a VERY short learning curve, most anyone can pick up a controller to play. However, this truly is just a straight-over move of the GBA title to the Gamecube with some multiplayer trappings thrown in. The microgames are drawn in a blocky, slightly blurred look simulating the screen of a Gameboy Advance. While this does add to the mood, it is somewhat disappointing when it is always compared to the excellent graphics of the Gamecube displayed between each bout of microgames. Multiplayer interaction is disappointingly low in some of the themes since most of the action is always placed on the person attempting a round of microgames. To be fair, some of the other games have a bit more interaction, even if it is fairly peripheral to the main game.

Wario Ware Inc. on the Gamecube is not going to win over anyone who didn't care for the GBA original, but it is entertaining for those fans who would like a way to compete directly against their friends. Unfortunately, some of the kitschy style of the GBA game didn't seem to make it over to the Gamecube version once its displayed on a large TV screen. There is a single player mode, but it has far less depth than the GBA game, and I can't recommend it for single player gameplay. It's a good title and is a fun little game for multiplayer parties. However, the game doesn't quite have the depth or polish that would make it the main event for an evening of multiplayer gaming.
(Written May 2004.)

The game begins with an orphaned girl and her special gem that allows her to use these spell cards. As the game unfolds, she learns of her past and begins a quest to "save the world" or at least her small part of the world. The plot is not very full of unexpected twists and turns, but it is reasonable and moves along at a good pace. Generally, its fairly clear what area should be visited next. However, at times its good to revisit old areas, particularly after new abilities are gained via a new "transformation" card. Where and when to revisit areas is not always clear, and if you accidentally skip over an important bit of conversation, you might miss out on a side-quest or two. So, if its deathly important that you finish all side-quests in the game and get the "best ending possible" be sure to advance the storyline with caution. However, none of the side-quests are mandatory to finish the main story-arc.

The combat system is quite different than most adventure/RPG style games. Casting cards takes energy from your magical power pool. Each card or spell has an experience point total associated with it. After enough experience is gained with a card, that card can be duplicated or changed into an even more powerful card. Cards can be bought and sold in the card shop, but there are several different categories of cards (like fire, wood, water, etc...) and with use, your character's ability to use those cards increase. Cards that are too powerful for your character's level with that category will require large amounts of magic power to cast.

Some might find the game too easy, but for the most part it is sufficiently challenging without getting to the point where it slows down the pace of the plot. At times, you may need to restart a level with a different set of cards in your deck in order to pass through a particular puzzle or defeat a particularly hard monster. Those who seek stronger challenges can focus on finishing one of the main side-quests where you battle the best creatures of each card category. On the whole, it's a good exploration/RPG game with a very fun combat system. Character advancement is minimal beyond the collecting of cards and improving and customizing your deck of spells, so its more of an adventure/collecting game than a deep RPG. I would recommend the game to fans of the first game, anyone willing to try out a new style of RPG combat, and those folks who enjoy collecting sub-plots to their adventure/RPG games.

The concept of Super Monkey Ball harkens back to the old table-top game of Labyrinth where a small steel ball is guided through a wooden maze by tiling the maze itself. To increase the difficulty factor, there are holes large enough for the ball to fall through liberally scattered about the maze. In Super Monkey Ball, a transparent ball containing a monkey rests on a platform. By moving the joystick, the platform tilts and the monkey ball moves. Get the monkey to the level exit and you can proceed to the next level. Fall off the platform and you have to start over again. What keeps the game fresh and fun is the sheer number of creative additions that are put into the levels. The monkey ball might have to wade through see-saws, moving floors, teleportation pads, stairways, switches, ramps, jumps, and even other large moving objects. With a beginner, advanced, and an expert mode, there is a level of play that should be reachable for everyone.

There are two ways to play the main labyrinth-style game. One is the story mode where each level in the game is encountered in sets of ten. After each set of ten levels is cleared, a storyline progresses. The storyline itself does not have much depth, but the cut scenes basically describe the four monkeys in monkey balls pursuing the evil genius monkey who has stolen all their island's bananas. The second labyrinth game is the challenge mode. Choose beginner, advanced, or expert mode, and you go through sets of 10, 30, or 50 levels respectively. See how many levels you can get through with a limited number of lives and game continues.

Super Monkey Ball would be a fun, but no better than an average game, if it was only the main labyrinth style game was included. However, Super Monkey Ball (the original and number two) can be considered to be in the party game genre. This means that there are a large number of other games available to be played, most of them requiring very few controls to master, and almost all of them designed for multiplayer game play. Super Monkey Ball 2, like the original, has modes where multiple players can play the labyrinth-like game in turns, or all at once. In addition, there is a race mode where players control monkeys racing around a racetrack running inside their little balls. Powerups are provided which make the race more interesting. However, one of the best parts of the game is the set of minigames. These range from bowling with monkey balls, to minigolf, to pool, or even a little boxing match. The six party games from the original Monkey Ball are included, as well as six new party games that can be unlocked by playing one of the two main game modes. The new games include soccer, baseball (like on old time arcade baseball hitting machine), a shooting game, and others. This is the heart of long term Monkey Ball play. When multiple players get together the party games are a blast to play. All the controls are fairly easy to learn so new players are not at much of a disadvantage. While not as fun, when few or no other human players are around to challenge, the game does provide the minigames with computer opponents to fill in for any lack of human opponents.

To sum up, Super Monkey Ball 2 is an excellent sequel to the original. With all six original party games, and six new ones, it is a strong contender for any gathering of friends. The solo challenge mode is very creative and should keep one absorbed for a good while when there is no one around with which to enjoy a good party game. It is almost exactly the same as the original game, so stay away if you know that wasn't your cup of tea. However, if simple but challenging games interest you, or you know you have a cadre of friends with which to play video games, this title gets a high recommendation.

The games basic premise surrounds the development and growth of a small virtual town. By checking the Gamecube's internal clock whenever the game boots up, the town grows and changes, even when the game is turned off. Seasons come and go, as well as some of the villagers. The player begins by moving into town from just off the train. The local merchant loans you money to buy a house and the game begins. Now you have to begin to set your own goals. Will you try to collect things? You can collect fish, insects, fossils, and paintings and donate them to the local museum for all the villagers to enjoy. Fishing for fish and catching insects are minigames in their own right. Certain bugs and fish only appear at certain times of day, seasons of the year, and in certain kinds of places. Collecting them all can be time consuming. Fossils are discovered by digging them up when you see a telltale mark on the ground, and paintings can be collected primarily by purchasing them from the local shopkeeper. Almost anything you collect or harvest from the local trees can also be sold for cash to the shopkeeper. Earning cash not only pays off your loan and allows you to expand your home, but helps you to purchase new furniture.

Furniture collecting can be a goal in its own right. There are all sorts of furniture items to collect. Wallpaper and floor covering set the mood for your little house, but then you can decorate with entire themes of modern, ranch, rustic, fruit-shaped, and many other styles of furniture. Or, you can decorate with a hodge-podge of whatever piece of furniture turns your fancy at any given moment. Some furniture is also useful, playing in-game music, performing little dances to background music, and you can even place old NES games in your home as furniture. Many old NES games are hidden within Animal Crossing as furniture items. If you obtain them, you can go to them and play the original NES game right on your TV using your Gamecube. Characters are able to give and receive presents through the mail as well. Using password codes based on the items, the receiving player's name, and the receiving town name, two characters can exchange mail just by giving each other pass codes which are then typed into their respective Gamecube. If that's not enough for you, a player can take their town memory card (the save game takes up a full memory card but the game comes supplied with one) and hook it up to a friend's Gamecube so that their characters can visit each other's towns.

If you want to do something with Animal Crossing on the go, the game makes use of the Gameboy Advance using the Gamecube connection cable. Connecting up a Gameboy Advance will allow a character to visit a special island in the game. This island can then be downloaded onto the Gameboy Advance so the island is accessible while away from the Gamecube itself. The island minigame even has a powersaving feature that turns off the GBA screen to save battery life. After playing with the island on the GBA, it can be downloaded back into the main Gamecube game and any changes will be permanently saved on your memory card. If you are jealous of a friend's island, you can actually trade islands using the Gameboy Advance link cable if both GBAs are running the Animal Crossing island minigame. If this is not enough, Animal Crossing also interacts with Nintendo's new e-Reader. Special Animal Crossing cards are available that unlock songs, presents, and other toys when read into the GBA while the Animal Crossing is linked up.

In terms of gripping game play features, Animal Crossing has very few. What it does have is many tasks and events focused around collecting, trading, and interacting through simulated email. With each town able house up to four different players, players might find it interesting to watch the effect of the other players on the townsfolk and the town itself. Animal Crossing is a game unlike any other. Its real-time connection to the seasons, holidays and weather and the player to townsfolk and player to player email, all make the game about interactions. The game itself loses something if its only going to be played by one player, however the wholesome nature of the game, and its simple controls make it a great candidate for a family with younger children. They can email each other or even have parents play a character and thus have a videogame promote person to person interactions rather than reduce them. Stay away from the game if you are a video game action freak and need something fast-paced, but if you are into collecting and other milder social interactions, it is a game that should be given serious consideration.

The games starts as Mario and friends land their plane on a vacation island that has been tormented by a Mario-looking imposter. The Mario-imposter has messed up the island and now the island accuses Mario of the crime and Mario has to clean it up with the help of his water-spraying jetpack friend. Controls are slightly more complex than the old Mario 64, since Mario is now able to hover using his water jet-pack and he also can use the water spray to clean off the Mario-imposter vandalism.

As in most platform type games, you collect things in order to advance the game. In Mario Sunshine, you collect coins to heal Mario and to reach high scores, but what drives the storyline are the little SHINE fairies. Collect enough and you will, presumably, save the island since the island relies on the Shine Fairies to attract tourists and to supply their power works. Like Mario 64, there are many compartmentalized little worlds that offer exploration and adventure. Hop into a world and a brief hint is given as to what goal might reward the player with a Shine fairy. When that goal is achieved, you are rewarded, the game is saved, and you are sent back to the main town where you can reenter the previous area or choose a new area to explore. Each area has a number of different tasks that each reward you with a Shine token. Unlike Mario 64, the animals and items found in an area sometimes change significantly depending on which task is selected when you enter an area. With about eight tasks per area and a large number of areas to explore, the game has considerable depth.

As mentioned, Mario is usually easy to control, with occasional difficulties since you might be trying to squirt water with your water-pack in one direction while you run around avoiding incoming objects. However, the controls themselves seem to work well and it is usually just another learning curve to get the hang of any new maneuver. The graphics are bright and happy, as you might expect. One of the most pleasant surprises was the sound. The sound quality is high with very few annoying background tracks. A particular treat for old Mario fans are the excellently remixed old Mario themes that are sprinkled throughout the game. My personal favorite is the acapella jazz choir rendition of Mario's theme when you are sliding down the Mario Sunshine slide challenges.

Mario Sunshine is a high quality game, as is expected for a Nintendo flagship game. It lacks some replay-ability since it does have a beginning and an endpoint, however you can replay any Shine task to collect a "shadow shine token" just for the pleasure of it, or to improve your coin high score. Mario Sunshine is a must-buy game for fans of Mario 64, a must buy for fans of platform games, and a very highly recommended game for anyone else owning a Gamecube.

The primary game mode is the solo mode where you test your skill at maneuvering your monkey around floating platform mazes within the time limit. As you earn points in the solo game, you can use credits to unlock three party games: bowling, mini-golf, and billiards. These three games are in addition to the basic party games of racing, boxing, and ramp-jumping. All in all, the game has something for almost everyone. Most of the games only require the use of a joystick and the "A" button, making the game accessible to game players of all levels. However, the solo mode can be quite challenging at times, giving veteran videogame players a good test of their skill. The graphics and sound are all about being cute which fits perfectly into the theme. This is not a hardcore gamer's game with totally impressive visual effects, but it is perfectly targeted at the casual gamer.

There are so many different styles of games all packed into this one package. A solo mode will keep you occupied when no one is visiting, and when friends do come to visit they can choose from among a Mario Kart style racing game, a Mario Party "Bumper Balls" style boxing game, standard bowling, billiards, or mini golf, or even a ramp game that might be best described as Monkey Ball hang-gliding.

Super Monkey Ball, (with a possible sequel on the way) should be THE game of choice for anyone with a large number of casual gamer friends. Each game is fairly easy to learn so that new players aren't at too much of a disadvantage, and the many styles of games available guarantee at least one of them will prove to be popular for a particular crowd.