GameCube In-depth Reviews

1080° Avalanche is the sequel to the excellent 1080° Snowboarding, released for the Nintendo64, way back in 1998. But how does the GameCube version fare? It was developed by Nintendo’s in-house studio NST and published by Nintendo in 2003. Read More…

When presented with a movie tie-in one normally sighs deeply, simply because most of them lack the substance to be something other than a substandard game, however with Disney/Pixar: Cars one may be pleasantly surprised. This game follows the story of newly released movie of the same name, with players able to experience some of their favourite parts of the movie and aim to win the coveted Piston Cup. Read More…

Chibi-Robo is the latest Nintendo release on the GameCube and has to be one of their most original ideas on the format to date. After Donkey Konga, Animal Crossing, Odama and  other such titles, Nintendo have one again become renowned for bringing new and interesting games to the industry, and they have done it again with Chibi-Robo.

Read More…

Look about the Internet for Barnyard and you will generally come across two main facts; the film isn’t particularly good and most of the male cows, a large part of the cast, have udders. As you may know, male cows don’t have udders; they have horns, a fierce territorial nature and, although in-fact colour-blind, an assumed penchant for all things red. However, if the “bulls” in Barnyard didn’t have udders, they wouldn’t be able to don sunglasses and squirt racoons with milk all to the sound of George Thorogood and the Destroyers 80’s classic Bad To The Bone. Some people might say that’s worth the RRP right there, but given the history of THQ’s kids titles, caution is advised.

Read More…

           In the midst of summer generally console releases tend to slow down to a trickle, where movie-tie ins become a more frequent occurrence whilst we wait for autumns big releases such  as Reservoir Dogs and Saints Row. We have recently seen Disney/Pixar: Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest so it no surprise we have a tie-in based on the latest children’s film release Monster House. Read More…

Sonic has seen a lot of wacky action outside of his regular videogame activities over his sixteen-year career, such as Racing, Pinball and Fighting. Sonic Riders attempts to cash-in on the Racing genre, correcting the mistakes of the lack-lustre Sonic R in the process, perhaps in another  bid to usurp Nintendo’s Mario Kart as the pinnacle of the light-hearted Racing genre, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon.

Read More…

As any parent could tell you, Disney’s latest animated adventure Chicken Little will shortly be gracing big-screens near you. Following form its arrival has been preceded by the multi-format release of a tie-in Platform title. Platformers have been around since time immemorial, and whilst the  years have seen many changes and groundbreaking innovations in the genre, these have seldom been the territory of Disney motion picture tie-ins. That said, many of the Disney titles have provided hours of enjoyment to young fans of the related films. Chicken Little is a game primarily aimed at a young audience, and the pockets of their parents. The key question about Chicken Little is how well it appeals to this younger audience, and how long it is likely to hold their attention, thus justifying their parents’ investment. Read More…

War is a very sensitive subject in the gaming industry. For those involved in the actual battles depicted so convincingly by the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor series’, the fact that thousands of gamers choose to fight these battles in virtual form for fun  may seem a little insensitive. However, these titles, especially Call of Duty, do attempt to bring the horrors of war to the gaming world in a serious and thoughtful way, provoking the gamer into appreciating the terror of facing a tank or the loss of comrades to enemy fire. But death and destruction is not Nintendo’s bag, Mario wouldn’t approve. Nintendo’s Wars series started on the Famicom in 1989 and was originally only available in Japan. In 2001 the first instalment of the series was released worldwide for the Game Boy Advance. This incarnation, known as Advance Wars, received a great deal of praise on release for it’s simple yet highly strategic and addictive turn-based gameplay. The series has since had a second release for the Game Boy Advance and, most recently, a NintendoDS title known as Advance Wars: Dual Strike, both of which have upheld the high standards set by the previous episodes. The series is instantly recognisable for it’s distinctive cartoon style, a far-cry from the gritty ruins and battlefields of Call of Duty. Originally entitled Advance Wars: Under Fire, Battalion Wars is the spiritual successor to Advance Wars and is not only the series’ first foray into 3D, but also into real-time.

Read More…

Geist is another GameCube release of few from Nintendo this year, and there has been a lot of people highly anticipating its’ coming. It’s another one of the games this year that’s really pushing boundaries right from the conception of it. Other Nintendo releases like Nintendogs, Mario KartDS and Battalion Wars have had a huge reaction on release; but Geist has had a large following since the first mention of it in late 2003.

Read More…

            Having launched on the PlayStation2 and Xbox in April, 2005, it’s now the GameCube’s turn to receive LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game. Welcomed to much praise by the gaming press, both versions fared rather well at retail, especially when considering the subject-matter and the way in which it is portrayed to a mainstream audience. In fact, the title located itself with both press and public in higher-esteem than it’s Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith counter-part.

Read More…