Holiday Review Guide: Part 3 - Nintendo Wii & PSP Games

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Sony Computer Entertainment, High Impact Games
Available for PSP and Playstation 2

Jak and Daxter are back and on a mission to save their world from the brink of destruction due to Eco shortages. Along with Jak’s girlfriend, Keira, they speed to the end of the world to search for a new Eco source and happen upon new characters, locations and a whole new adventure.

The Lost Frontier lives up to the successful Jak and Daxter franchise with tons of fun platforming levels, new vehicles to ride around in and more. There are lots of new power-ups to explore but you won’t be able to switch back and forth between Dark Jak and normal Jak like the previous game. Dark Jak does make an appearance once in a while though.

This makes a great holiday buy either on the PSP or PS2 and I know fans of the series will be impressed with the new instalment.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Rockstar Games, Rockstar Leeds
Available for PSP and Nintendo DS

Now I’ve reviewed at Chinatown Wars before on the Nintendo DS, but now there’s a version for the PSP and I know Sony fans want to know if the game is worth the coin. The game still focuses on Huang Lee and his quest to return his stolen father’s sword and seek revenge on the people who took it. You will join up with the Triads and do all the usual car stealing and gun shooting missions you find in GTA games but in this version, the screen is wider, the radio station selection is bigger and there are more missions to complete.

The controls don’t exactly translate well over from the Nintendo DS version to the PSP and the multi-player mode only allows for 2 players on the PSP but overall, this is still a fun game. Fans of the GTA genre will find the same excellent Rockstar flare and humour here as the big console games.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Rent it!

Little King’s Story
Xseed Games, Cing & Town Factory
Available for the Nintendo Wii

Little King’s Story puts you in the role of a young boy, Corobo who is the newly crowned King of a whole kingdom. You must return your new kingdom to its former glory by training your subjects and defending your borders. Taking a page from the book of Pikmin, you must control your groups of soldiers, builders and more by pointing them towards their tasks.

Don’t let Little King’s Story’s childish exterior fool you into thinking this is a kid’s game because this title will have you massively frustrated after the second boss or so. Remember to save often and expect to die a lot. Achieving upgrades and exploring new areas will have you addicting to this title in no time.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Rabbids Go Home
Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montpellier
Available for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS

The rabbids have finally tired of their party life and want to go home. Believing they live in the moon, they begin to steal tons of junk from around the world to build a tower that reaches their home. You need to help the rabbids race their shopping carts around and collect all the junk needed to complete their tower.

Moving away from the normal rabbids mini game genre, Rabbids Go Home has you racing through levels collecting items on a list and scaring humans in the typical rabbids’ humour. There isn’t much of a story here but the need to help the rabbids collect their items and complete their mission will keep you on your goofy path.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Rent it!

Review: Secret Agent Clank

Secret Agent Clank
SCEA, High Impact Games
Available for Playstation Portable.

While James Bond fans have to wait patiently for their new videogame, Quantum of Solace from Activision to come out, I have another super slick spy to keep their trigger fingers busy.

Secret Agent Clank, which is set in the Ratchet & Clank universe after Size Matters, but before Future: Tools of Destruction, pokes fun at the Bond franchise as you follow Clank, the robotic agent with a license to kill, on a secret mission to save his superhero partner, Ratchet.



Clank while on a mission to halt a major jewel theft at the Boltaire Museum, witnesses his buddy Ratchet fleeing from the scene of the crime. Ratchet though is quickly found and arrested for the jewel theft and you as Clank must track down the missing jewel in order to prove your friend innocent and spring him from jail.

Unlike other R&C games, Clank's gameplay is now more like Ratchet's in that you can attack enemies and use weapons and gadgets. Clank also has the ability to sneak through areas, take down enemies or dance for his life by repeating a sequence of buttons on the screen.

Clank's arsenal of weaponry in this game reads much like a list of Q's favourite toys. From tie-a-rang to a blowtorch briefcase, Clank has a little of everything to play with from the vault of the Bond gadgets. Clank can even upgrade his Clank-Fu moves throughout to help him take down bigger enemies.

Having never played a Ratchet & Clank game before, I was quite impressed with the game's humour and great game play. The controls were easy to pick up and I love taking down enemies with Clank's cool little gadgets.

Throughout the levels, you change between playing Clank, Ratchet and Captain Qwark who each have their own type of challenges to complete. Clank's levels were more platforming, puzzle solving and follow the button sequence challenges, while Ratchet's levels were just arenas filled with tons of enemies trying to kill him and Qwark's levels were based on the adventures he regales to his little reporter friend. One of his levels had you battling a giant Godzilla monster after Qwark magically grew in size.



While the Qwark and Clank levels were quite fun and addictive to play through, Ratchet's levels felt repetitive and impossible to complete. I died more often in those levels than any other. The enemies tend to come at you way too fast and Ratchet is soon overwhelmed before he can even get to a health orb.

The 3D animation style graphics are perfect for games like this and really add to fun in the game. Best of all, despite the cartoon style of the game, both young adults and adults can enjoy this series because it has such great game play, wonderful storylines and such charming characters. Clank especially works so well as the James Bond type character.

The voice acting in the game is quite delightful and it makes the characters all the more interesting to play through the game with. Clank’s voice such has a neat intellectual sound to it and when he makes those clever Bond remarks, it fits so perfectly into the spy character. The James Bond type theme playing throughout the game really adds to the whole Bond parody and makes snowboarding away from the enemy's secret lair all the more fun.

While I couldn’t wait for each of Ratchet’s levels to finish, I must admit the rest of Secret Agent Clank is a fun and addictive game. Bond fans might get a kick out of the few references to the famous spy series and enjoy taking down bad guys will razor sharp bow ties. Each level in the game is short enough too that it makes for a great on-the-go game. Ratchet & Clank is definitely another classic franchise that I am glad to have finally played and would recommend it as an excellent purchase.

Rating: 8 out 10
Buy it!