GameNinjaX, Author at Video Game News, Reviews, and Art

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Posted on October 29, 2011October 29, 2011 by GameNinjaX

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been one of the better games I have gotten the chance to play lately. My boyfriend and I started playing a few weeks ago and have learned that it has quite a lot of action and different areas that you get to experience. Which is awesome because the graphics are amazing and there are many small spoofs or outtakes, if you want to call it that, which are definitely silly little additions to the storyline? Such as in the Prologue, where you are taken to the Geonosian Arena and it shows Padmé, Anakin, and Obi-Wan tied to the pillars. In the beginning it shows a little outtake of the movie where Padmé and Anakin almost kiss and then when she is tied to the pillar she is putting some lipstick on. I thought it was pretty funny, and this continues throughout the game with different characters doing silly little things.

After the Prologue in the Geonosian Arena, there are three main storylines which lead you through many of the different planets following Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku, and General Grievous. Now within each of these different storylines there are six different chapters. This totals out to 18 different planets within just those three storylines, there is also the Prologue and the Epilogue, which together has 4 planets. All together there are about 24 different places you get to go within this game, this includes the Jedi and the Sith bases, which are the giant flagships.
Throughout the game there are also side quests that you can do to get more “studs” which is currency within the game and “gold bricks” which also unlock doors and build the “Stealth Ship, “ which is good for flying around outside the flagships gathering up more studs. There are also “mini-kits” that you can gather throughout the game on the different chapters. These mini-kits create different unlockable characters that are not available through the actual game play; such as Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and more.

All in all, this game was definitely worth the rent. I almost have the urge to purchase it just to go back and fully complete all of the side quests and get 100% “true jedi” (gathering a certain amount of studs on each chapter) on each level. It also made me very interested in the other games within the Lego world such as Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Shortly after renting this game through gamefly, my boyfriend and I decided to go and check out Legoland in San Diego. Needless to say, there were some rides that we found entertaining, but by entertaining I mean how silly the ride was. It is definitely a place that is geared more for families with children. It was something that everyone should experience at least once in their life though, because it was pretty crazy seeing all the different things built from Legos.

Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Rates

Gameplay 8/10 This game is a lot of fun if your a star wars or Lego fan. It does get repetitive after a while though so keep that in mind.

Graphics 7/10 The graphics are meant to look like Legos so they don’t really matter much in this game.

Audio 8/10 The background music is from all the old star wars sound tracks and definitely fit well into the game.

Replay Value 6/10 I wouldn’t go through this game again because of the repetitiveness but it would be fun to play as some other characters.

Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion 3DS

Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion Review

Posted on October 4, 2011October 4, 2011 by GameNinjaX

Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion for the Nintendo 3DS is a nostalgic super smash brothers type fighting game that uses all the popular characters from Cartoon Network television shows. Finally, Cartoon Network brought back some of its classic cartoon characters such as Samurai Jack, Dexter, and the Powerpuff Girls (basically all Genndy Tartavosky cartoons). Playing through the story mode in this game will definitely bring back the memories of coming home from school and watching the classic cartoons for hours.

The Story mode is narrated by George Lowe the famous voice from the Powerpuff Girls, and moves the story along as if the player is watching an epic television episode that travels through different dimensions (t.v. shows) to save the world from turning evil. It’s basically the concept of the Justice League but for Cartoon Network characters.

There are a total of 18 playable characters in this game and 24 different levels. The characters list include; Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Ben 10, Chowder and Kimchi (idk what they are from), Vilgax, Dexter, Monkey, Mojo Jojo, Flapjack, Captain K’nuckles, Samurai Jack, Numbuh one, Father, Mac and bloo (stupid show), Billy and Mandy, Grim, and Captain Planet (I wonder what attacks he uses..).

The story starts you out as Ben Tennyson reading a newspaper saying that his arch nemesis Vilgax has returned. Ben is then transported to Chowders world and realizes that Chowder has been corrupted and turned evil. After defeating the evil Chowder and freeing him from being corrupted Ben is met up by Dexter. Dexter informs Ben and Chowder that the corruption is happening to all the Cartoon Network t.v. shows and they must travel through his dimension traveling machine to save the others.

The fighting style is very similar to Super Smash Brothers titles where you have normal punching and kicking attacks by mashing the B button. Each character has a special attack and a super jump as well. The more damage you deal to an enemy the higher chance they will have of flying or falling off the stage and therefore losing a life. There are also items that can be utilized such as ray guns, val halla’s guitar, and similar things you would see in Super Smash Brothers (I have no idea how they got away with copying almost everything in smash).
Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion Rates:

Graphics 7/10 Not bad graphics for a handheld, but I have seen better 3D effects on the Nintendo 3DS before so I know they could have done a bit better. One thing I do like is the graphics stay true to the cartoonish look of each of the characters.

Game Play 6/10 The game play is a more dull version of Super Smash Bros and gets very tedious after a while. The special moves are fun for a bit but once you have seen them all they can get annoying to use because of the long cut scenes.

Audio 8/10 George Lowe lends his voice on this game and makes it a very fun feeling as if you are watching a Cartoon Network marathon. The sounds are all similar to the sound effects you would hear on the shows.

Replay Value 5/10 Other than trying to battle your friends through the wireless network I highly don’t you will want to run through the tedious button mashing storyline again.

Overall Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion for the Nintendo 3DS is definitely worth a rent, but beware this game will bring back memories of your favorite cartoons and make you want to watch them all over again.

Shadows of the Damned Review

Posted on September 30, 2011October 5, 2011 by GameNinjaX

Say hola to the newest badass demon hunter in town Garcia Hotspur from Shadows of the Damned. Let me start off by saying this game requires a lot of crude humor to enjoy, I’m talking every sentence there is a F*** you Mother F**** or a Holy Shit! (My personal favorite). As well as your hilarious sexually oriented jokes such as his main gun being named Boner, which eventually upgrades into Hot Boner and you’re asked to blow shit up with your flaming hot boner.

Anyways, this game is very enjoyable for a zombie 3rd person shooter game. It reminds me of a Devil May Cry feel mashed with House of the Dead and it works! The story starts out with Garcia killing a few demons in his apartment and realizing that his “Angel” (think deep Spanish accent) was taken by demons and dragged down to hell. You know typical Dante’s Inferno story line. Garcia Hotspur is such a badass that he decides to unleash his wrath on the demons and zombies in hell while chasing after his girlfriend Paula. His wise mouthed sidekick Johnson is a floating skull that can transform into torches, and guns that allow Garcia to do some heavy damage.The guns are a powerful handgun named Boner, a shotgun called skullcushioneer, and the machine gun teethgrinder.

The game play in Shadows of the Damned is an over the shoulder 3rd person shooter infused with puzzles to progress through the game. The puzzles are pretty simple, but keep the game interesting because the introduced a “you can’t kill zombies while there is darkness surrounding the area, which also takes away Garcia’s health.” How do you shine light on the darkness covered areas? Shoot the mounted Goat heads on the walls of course! (Don’t ask me, but apparently Goats are a symbol of light).

Then you also have your occasional boss battles that can be fighting anything from mounted minotaur knights, to grim reapers. There is also one part of the game where you can have Garcia read a book called Stinky Crow, I highly recommend taking the 5 minutes to read the book. Not only will you enjoy what happens in the end of the book, but Garcia’s narrative that sounds like he had some serious issues reading back in elementary school. I guess Garcia got A’s in demon hunting but had a little bit of trouble in the literature department.

Shadows of the Damned Rates:

Gameplay 8/10 The 3rd person shooter had a smooth feel to the game and the zombies definitely made me jump a couple times throughout the game. Not to mention all the laughs throughout Garcia’s and Johnson’s commentary.

Graphics 7/10 Nothing special here, but nothing to really complain about. Shadows of the Damned has your average Xbox 360 and PS3 graphics which could have been improved upon a bit more.

Audio 8/10 The zombies and demons made the typical aarrhhh noises and sounds but the voice actors for Garcia and Johnson did an awesome job.

Replay Value 7/10 The only reason I would run through this game a second time would be to laugh at the jokes again, not to play through the story.

xbox-360-el-shaddai-ascension-metatron cover

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Review

Posted on September 22, 2011September 27, 2011 by GameNinjaX

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron could have been one of those revolutionizing video games for the gaming industry, but it just fell short.. very short.

I wanted to like this game for the fact that the graphics and the game designer also created Dante from Devil May Cry. The graphics were absolutely stunning in some of the environments such as this one.

The game play is a third person action adventure, that basically ends up being a very boring button masher. In the beginning of the game, you learn the basics of fighting and eventually learn how to steal your enemies weapons. Sounds fun right? The problem is that there are only 3 weapons to use in the entire game, with very little variation in the fighting style. Let’s just say that Dynasty Warriors characters have more moves and combos than the main character in this game.

The first weapon is called the Arch, which is the most interesting weapon to pound demons heads with. It is a dual sided blade that looks more like a bow designed to stab and fight off hordes of demons from the heavens. It is also given a unique feature to help Enoch glide around the stages.

The second weapon is the Gale, which is a long ranged bow attached to Enoc’s back. This weapon is fun for about 5 minutes but then gets very difficult to keep enemies at bay.

The last weapon is called the Veil, which used to be a shield for one of your enemies but Enoch decides to break it in half and receive gauntlets. The Veil weapon is just a pound away attack that makes you feel like your character is running around with Hulk hands.

The story of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is from the book, Apocryptic of Enoch,which follows the main character Enoch as he travels the Metatron looking for the seven fallen angels to stop them from destroying the world. Enoch is consistently being guided by Lucifel who is in charge of protecting the world.

The seven fallen angels are all angels that broke away from God’s reach and heaven, with their own plans to start civilizations and rebellions of their own. It’s up to Enoch and his guardian angel, Lucifel, to Ascend through the Metatron and save the world.

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Rates

Gameplay 4/10 This was the main reason why I couldn’t continue playing El Shaddai. The game play is supposed to be action adventure, but really it is slow button mashing battle with the same actions over and over again.

Graphics 9/10 The graphics are a unique blend of cell shading animation combined with a very Japanese stylized art. At a few parts of playing El Shaddai, I had to just stop and look at the environments.

Audio 7/10 The audio is meant to sound like the background sound effects are coming from a “heavenly” voice which ties into the game plot well.

Replay Value 5/10 The game play is just too boring to keep on replaying this game.

If you are into Japanese art and experiencing a new kind of game play in video games, I would suggest renting this game at least once. It seems like the developers of this game were focused on the graphics and then realized that they needed to actually make this a playable video game and rushed it. If the developers found a way to make the game play more enjoyable, this game could have easily been a 9 out of 10.

Star Fox 64 3D Review

Posted on September 19, 2011September 29, 2011 by GameNinjaX

Just like the good ol days

Finally, another Star Fox classic remade for use at the palm of your hand. Star Fox 64 3D is the remake of the classic N64 game that made characters such as Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi go down in Nintendo history as franchise characters. From the moment I turned my Nintendo 3DS on and started playing Star Fox 64 3D, I had immediate nostalgia from my early years. Nintendo did a great job revamping this game to have the same feel and story as the original Star Fox, but with updated 3D graphics!

As far as game play goes for Star Fox 64 3D, the stages and controls are very similar to the N64 classic. You know the same old General Pepper assembling the Avengers! (I mean Team Fox) to fly out of Corneria and save the Lylat system from the evil genius/giant monkey Andross. I think Nintendo had to much of an obsession with misbehaving Monkeys back in the day with Donkey Kong, Super Monkey ball, Andross…

I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of no new alternate stages or paths to unlock that weren’t in the N64 game, but there are the original 16 missions to complete in the game.

I understand that Nintendo wasn’t trying to mess with the original game too much and only update the graphics for the Nintendo 3DS, but if you’re going to charge $40 for a brand new game, then I would expect there to be brand new content. (But we’re all suckers and pay the $40 anyways :) )

One new feature that is impressive (besides the 3D graphics), are the gyro controls while flying your Arwing. The Gyro controls let you steer the Arwing by physically moving your Nintendo 3DS around, which adds an extra fun factor to the game play until you get a head ache from spinning around to much.

Other than the 3D graphics and the gyro controls for Star Fox 64 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, I really don’t see any giant improvements to the game but I guess Nintendo felt like sticking to the old saying “don’t try to fix what isn’t broken.” Don’t get me wrong, this game is definitely worth buying if you are a Star Fox 64 fan, but when you wait almost a decade for a new Star Fox game and it literally takes only 30 minutes to beat, it’s kind of a let down. Oh well, guess its back to repeating the same levels over and over again until you start having dreams of Peppy yelling out “Do a Barrell roll Fox”

Star Fox 64 3D Rates:

Gameplay 8/10 Star Fox 64 3D is still quite fun to take control of that Arwing and shoot evil zoo animals while flying around the updated 3D environments.

Graphics 8/10 The graphics definitely make this game worth the $40 to shell out for a remake, especially if your a fan of Star Fox.

Audio 9/10 The only reason I’m giving the audio a 9 out of 10 is because Nintendo kept the “Do a barrel roll Fox” phrase in the game.

Replay Value 7/10 The replay value could have been much higher if Nintendo added in some new stages but of course, they didn’t.

Now that Nintendo has released two of its classic N64 games Zelda Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 3D, one can only hope that more classic games such as Super Smash bros or Star Wars pod racers eventually will come out on the Nintendo 3DS as well!

Super Smash bros Announcement for the Nintendo 3DS

X-Men Origins Review

Posted on September 15, 2011 by GameNinjaX

X-Men Origins was a very interesting spin off of the Origins movie about Wolverine. It followed most of the storyline from the movie but there were some significant differences. You start out in the jungle when Striker and his team were searching for the adamantium. He still has his bone claws but he is just as BA as ever.

After you do a few quests here it jumps forward to the present time when he has the adamantium. This is where it starts getting kind of annoying and confusing because you have to follow certain paths with your feral senses, which cuts out a lot of the graphics because you constantly have to have the senses turned on.

I really did like how they made it somewhat easier to find out where you have to go that way though because it is extremely easy to get turned around and lost. I loved the different special abilities such as lunge and the claw spin, those both did a lot of damage. This game seems great but it was somewhat frustrating to me because it kept switching back and forth between the jungle and the present day, I wish that it had just been in sequential order but I guess the parts they added that were separate from the movie made it somewhat necessary.

There were certain parts I didn’t agree with much as well because of the way he meets the characters. As the game progressed it seems EXACTLY like the movie, but then it throws you off because when he meets back up with the old team mates from Africa you meet them completely different and then you have to fight them. I will admit fighting Fred “the Blob” Dukes was entertaining because at one point you hop on him and start to ride him through shelves to get his health down.

In X-men Origins fighting Gambit with Wolverine was also somewhat frustrating because you have to climb a giant construction site to get to him and it seems to take forever because there are other enemies along the way. The initial ending fight with him is somewhat interesting, but unless you are good at blocking and quick attacks (I’m not entirely good at that haha), it may take a few minutes to really get him.

X-Men Origins Rates:

Gameplay 6/10 just because it followed the movie well, but I didn’t particularly like the side stories it kept going through and how it kept switching back and forth from the past to the present so quickly. I would have liked to have gone straight through.

Graphics 9/10 It had amazing visuals and as Wolverine got injured you could see right down to his bones and it was extremely gory. You can watch him regenerate as well which was pretty cool.

Audio 5/10 The audio was kind of a letdown because there wasn’t too much music and it was mostly just the effects (gunfire, injury sounds…) I think it would have been a lot better with more background music and maybe even a few good songs in the fight scenes could have made a difference.

Replay Value 5/10 I would never spend the money to buy this game. It is extremely slow in the beginning, yes it ends up getting quicker after a while but it just has a lot of repetitive monsters and you don’t really see a fluctuation of different enemies other than fighting the other member of the team (ex. Gambit, Deadpool, Victor…)

Oh, just a hint for all of you World of Warcraft fans out there… I found an extra achievement that comes up as “WoW!” hahaha… the picture is below… do you recognize that sword?

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Review

Posted on September 13, 2011September 13, 2011 by GameNinjaX

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 3DS is an amazing remake of the classic N64 video game. Playing it on both consoles, I noticed a lot of differences within the gameplay and graphics that changed it drastically. Let me start off by saying that it is a whole lot better in 3D. I have not put it down since I bought it three or four days ago. The 3D effects really help to bring you into the storyline and the way you can view what is around you and move the gameboy around to do so is awesome.

The storyline is obviously exactly the same as the Nintendo 64 version, but I feel as if the controls are a lot easier than with the controller. Not only that but I feel as if it is easier to play on than the console. I have far surpassed where I left off on the console while playing on my 3DS. My favorite part would have to be going through the game as young Link and learning all of the songs for the Ocarina, the songs are exciting and its very upbeat.

I especially enjoy having Epona as older Link because not only do you get places faster but I feel as if I am unstoppable while fighting on the horse. I had some doubts about getting it at first because I wasn’t sure how I would like it considering I never finished the game the first time around. I also thought about the 3D part wondering what that would bring to the table and if it would be worth me spending that much to get the Gameboy.

I can honestly tell you that it was $200 well spent and that I do not regret it at all. I now have three other classic games on my GameFly list that I am itching to play because the 3D aspects of it and the fact it is in a handheld console makes it that much better. I think it would be awesome if they made a new storyline for the 3DS like they made Twilight Princess for the Wii. A Zelda game specifically made for 3D would probably be extremely cool. All in all, this game was definitely worth buying and I suggest buying a 3DS as well because there are quite a few games that will be coming out soon that look amazing.

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Rates:

Gameplay 7/10 The game play is exactly the same as the original, and I feel as if it was a fantastic storyline and I have always loved the different mini quests that you can play throughout the game.

Graphics 9/10 The graphics on the 3DS really enhance this remake of the Legend of Zelda. Especially, while you play songs on the Ocarina.. instead of the usual flowing colors around Link, it looks like it is popping out at you which is actually really cool. The details are so vivid and the colors are amazing.

Audio 9/10 I love, love, love the soundtrack to this game. The songs for the Ocarina and the background music throughout the story and cut scenes is just perfect for the game and it makes you feel the exact emotions for the point in the game where you are so it matches perfectly with the visuals.

Replay Value 6/10 I wouldn’t give it a very high replay value for the fact that I feel as if after I finish the game I will not want to go and re-do the entire thing over. Yes, this game is a classic and it is really good but once you complete it (unless it’s maybe a year or later) it is kind of pointless and annoying in a sense to go through it over again.

Overall I would definitely recommend buying this game though, because it is a timeless classic that never gets old. You can pick it up at a later time and go over it all again.

Madden NFL 2012 Review

Posted on August 31, 2011September 27, 2011 by GameNinjaX

Madden NFL 12 is here on time as usual, just enough time to get excited right before the season begins. There are some noticeable upgrades compared to last years madden that make the game play a lot smoother and takes out all the WTF?! moments. By WTF moments, I mean the times where Darren Sproles would run right over and truck Ray Lewis for a touchdown (which would never happen in real life). The developers over at EA focused on eliminating, or at least minimizing, this issue by implementing a feature that takes into account a players force and where they are being hit.

On all the previous Madden games, when you tackled another player in the chest or from the side, the opponent would just fall backwards. In Madden NFL 12, the opponent will actually fall corresponding to the location of the hit. Not only that, but they implemented a new feature that takes into account individual force, because we all know most punt returners cannot truck a middle linebacker. So if you see Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher in the back field staring you down, you better hold RB and tuck that ball for dear life.

The Graphics have somewhat been improved from Madden 2011, but not by any significant amount. This was a little disappointing because it tells me that Madden is at its full potential on this generation of consoles. Even though the graphics already look so detailed, that my dad will walk in and think there is a game on, why should we keep purchasing the same game over and over again? I think EA will have some trouble in the next few years trying to sell Madden if the only difference is roster updates.

Another feature that I enjoy is the sound track on this years Madden NFL 12. Snoop Dogg, Common, Rise Against, and many other artists made there way on the Madden NFL 2012 soundtrack and make you feel like bull dozing a few bodies into the ground.

The best thing I enjoyed about this years Madden, is the fact that on my first game I stomped the Raiders with the Chargers 28-0, and unlocked 4 different achieves for doing so.

Chargers > Raiders

Madden NFL 12 rates

Gameplay 8/10 The game has been improved over and over again, for more than a decade now. There is no wonder that there are T.V. shows just about winning this game in tournaments. Madden 2012 just adds more features to making a video game feel as real as possible.

Graphics 8/10 I can’t complain about the graphics because it does fool older people into thinking there is a game on T.V., but the difference in the graphics from last years game are minimal.

Audio 9/10 This years soundtrack is a very nice addition to the overall feel of the game. When I’m leaving the menu screen on just to listen to the music, then you have to give the publishers kudos.

Replay Value 8/10 I will be playing Madden NFL 2012 for the entire football season, my friends will be playing Madden NFL 2012 for the entire season, and you will be playing Madden NFL 2012 for the entire season.

I recommend buying this game if you are a fan of football and video games. If you are a casual gamer wanting to know what the Madden craze is all about, then I suggest renting it on GameFly