Super Paper Mario (Wii)

With Super Paper Mario, Nintendo has outdone themselves yet again, creating not only the best incarnation of the Paper Mario series to date, but a near-perfect amalgamation of drastically different gaming genres. Super Paper Mario combines the classic platformer that Mario has been fine-tuning for decades with a great story and some RPG elements, resulting in a hilarious and innovative product that is, above all, one of the most fun games around.

Naturally, you play as a paper-thin version of Mario, who is called upon once again to save the world. This time, he has to collect eight Purity Hearts in order to stop the menacing Count Bleck and his diabolic plans to destroy the universe using a dark prophecy. Princess Peach, Bowser, and a certain special fourth hero all inevitably join Mario on the quest, along with a butterfly named Tippi who serves as Mario's guide and constant companion. As his travels take him from base of operations Flipside to a series of different worlds, each harboring a different Purity Heart, Mario winds up everywhere from deserts to swamps to outer space. The game is broken down into eight chapters, with most containing four different segments that serve as levels.

It's the gameplay that really shines in Super Paper Mario, which manages to succeed at the impossible in this day and age: do things that have never been done before. Think of a standard Mario platformer game, where Mario runs through levels, jumping on Goombas and Koopas and collecting power-ups and coins. Add hit points to both Mario and his enemies, an inventory with expendable items, and replace points with experience for leveling up... and you've still just scratched the surface of Super Paper Mario's depth.

On top of all that, there are the puzzles, which are clever and occasionally tricky without cheating. Mario's most useful ability is to literally flip around the world, taking the 2-D side-scroller landscape into the third dimension and revealing new pathways, pipes, and enemies. Not only is the 3-D landscape beautifully rendered and fun to look at, most of the game's challenges require intelligent use of this ability, and there are a plethora of secrets which will have you constantly flipping back and forth to try to find. Mario also receives the assistance of floating little creatures called Pixls, each with its own special ability. One Pixl will let you grab and throw objects, another will let Mario use the classic hammer, and a handful of others offer a range of exciting new powers that will open up new secrets and passages to explore every time you receive a new one. Between different characters, different Pixls, and dimension-swapping, puzzle solutions require smart use of all of your unique abilities in order to get through the game.

Just when you think you've seen it all already, the game pulls a fast one. Every single level contains one surprise or another, and the RPG elements allow Super Paper Mario to do things that other platformers can't pull off; name one other game that has you explore an entire planet in order to find some toilet paper, yet does it with class. All of your regular monsters show up, from Boos to Piranha Plants, along with a good chunk of new creatures that range from frightening to wacky. Unfortunately, many of the game's levels rely way too much on unnecessary repetition, which leads to a lot of tediousness, particularly toward the final few chapters. However, for the most part, the gameplay is refreshing enough to alleviate this problem.

The Wii controller is used pretty simply in Super Paper Mario; for the majority of the game you'll be holding it horizontally like an NES controller, using the directional pad to move around and the 2 button to jump. For those players used to holding B or Y to run while moving in a Mario game, you'll have to readjust to the new controls, as the 1 button has a different function. Consequently, you might find yourself accidentally activating your Pixl power by muscle memory and producing some unintended results. The controller can get uncomfortable in its horizontal position, but you'll get used to it. Motion-sensing is used in some cool ways; status ailments like sleep require you to shake the remote in order to wake up, and some items require you to hold the remote in certain ways in order to properly activate them. You can also shake the remote while jumping on enemies in a throwback to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door that lets you impress an audience and receive extra experience points for "stylish attacks."

While the dialogue in Super Paper Mario is abundant and the game could be considered pretty text-heavy, nearly every line is well-written and punchy. Because the game doesn't take itself seriously, it makes fun of just about everything in some very clever ways. With a charming cast of heroes and villains, every single character is appealing, from a shape-shifting girl who forces you into slave labor to pay back loans to a nerd chameleon that seems to frequent the RPGamer message boards. A tribe of cavemen all refer to you as "brah" and ask for you to "hook them up," while a Goomba encounters an injured Luigi and suggests that they team up, noting "well this is awkward." Even the townspeople of Flipside always have new ridiculous things to say, and if you don't take the time to constantly talk to people, you're missing out on a good portion of the game's hilarity.

Mario's new adventure is quite aesthetically pleasing, with intricately designed levels and bizarre background shapes and images. The graphics of Super Paper Mario are clearly meant for the Gamecube, but they fit the tone nicely, and the 3-D transition is smooth; it's hard to expect much else from a game like this. There are a few noticeable slowdowns when flipping at times, but the different perspectives are well-rendered and very attractive -- there's a certain 3-D railroad ride that is stunningly gorgeous despite its simplicity. Aurally, Super Paper Mario is pretty appealing, remixing old tunes for a good portion of its levels. Many of the new songs are pleasant while others can get repetitive and annoying, but there's nothing quite like the nostalgia of hearing classic Mario music, even if it has been rehashed a million times by now.

Super Paper Mario is an easy game for the most part. It's easy to accumulate damage fast, but since you can hold healing items and use them at your discretion, it's rare to see the Game Over screen. Mushrooms, Starmen, and Fire Flowers are all in but do completely new things; mushrooms give HP, Starmen turn you into a giant 8-bit version of yourself for a few seconds in order to crush the entire level, and Fire Flowers cause coins to fall from the sky. There are other power-ups that are both neat and surprising, and since they're found frequently, most battles are easy to defeat. Bosses are way too easy despite looking cool, and most will leave you wondering "is that it?" upon their defeat.

The normal story will run you about 20 hours, but there are things you can do to extend the gameplay, besides the myriad secrets and conversations you can have all throughout the worlds. There are minigames in the form of a video arcade, including a cool Boo shoot'em'up using the Wii-mote as a pointer. There's also the infamous Pit of 100 Trials, which allows you to challenge yourself and attempt to get through 100 levels of increasing difficulty with no save point in between them.

Super Paper Mario will hopefully set a new standard for games, both on the Wii and otherwise. The hybrid of platformer and RPG is something that should definitely be used again, and it's refreshing to see that game designers can actually create a game that is completely unique (despite continuing all the classic Mario trends) and hasn't been done at all before. Of course, the game has its flaws; it's short, easy, and can get really tedious when levels force repetition. However, the sheer amounts of hilarity and fun Super Paper Mario provides makes it a must-buy for any Wii-owner.

Sam & Max Episode 5: Reality 2.0 (PC)

Sam & Max are back for yet another episode, and are even funnier than ever! In Reality 2.0, the Internet, online gaming, and the history of computers are all fodder for the writers. The result is truly hilarious.

Again, it’s up to Sam & Max to save the world from itself. In the last episode, Abe Lincoln Must Die!, Max was elected President of the United States. He promptly moved the Office to his office, and is merrily conducting national affairs. But, duty calls, when Sam and Max are informed that computers all around the world have suddenly crashed. They immediately set out to discover the cause and help get America back online.

The whole setup is rich with material, with jabs taken at MOP games, beta testing, game designers, game geeks, and of course, the ubiquitous Internet, which is portrayed by a robotic female avatar. Bosco is too funny as a half-elf, his chosen avatar in the online gaming community. Sybil is also present again, and this time her career of choice is as a beta-tester. My favorite joke was the one where Bosco reveals that his online banking password was deleted from his memory, but instead placed on an unnamed part of his anatomy for security purposes. I found this hysterical, given my own husband’s obsession with security and other issues of Internet privacy.

The puzzles appear to be a bit more challenging in this episode, although still not overly difficult. They just require a little more thought than previously. Part of the game is centered on the alternate world of Reality 2.0, a virtual online community. Sam & Max will travel back and forth between this virtual world and the real world to solve many of the puzzles.

The designers had a lot of fun with the Reality 2.0 virtual world, with some great artwork! The virtual settings mirror the actual settings, but in a bizarre manner. Bosco’s store has been transformed into an elven-themed store, similar to the type that would be in a fantasy RPG. There is a “hot rump” skewered on a spit on the counter, and a list of goods for sale items hanging on a wooden board. Of course, Sam & Max need to buy a needed item from Bosco, and this time it’s a “long sword of incredible longness” on sale for 5 gold coins in Reality 2.0. Of course, this requires they find and collect these coins while in Reality 2.0. At the same time in the real world, they need to cough up a billion dollars for a biological weapon.

As in previous games, there is a humorous song parody, this time sung by a group of obsolete computers, game machines and output devices. The song is their motivational song for their support group meetings. The song itself isn’t all that funny, but the reaction of Sam & Max to this song is priceless. Players will need to keep getting the machines to sing more verses to get the full effect. The end of the game is too funny, as well, with a look back at text adventures straight from the world of Infocom.

This is the fifth episode in a series of six, and they just keep getting better! I can’t wait for the next and last episode. If people have waited this long to experience the new Sam & Max, I would advise to buy the whole set of episodes for $35, which is the best price anyway. The episodes themselves are each only a few hours worth of gameplay, but as a whole unit, this game will offer many hours of fun.

It’s truly a difficult task to take a product that has a large fan appeal and a solid reputation and resurrect it successfully many years later. I have been disappointed many times before with similar games that just didn’t meet the bar set by the original game. Telltale has done a splendid job with Sam & Max, although I don’t like the episodic formula as well. However, Telltale is a business and hopefully this particular business model is bringing in profit, so they can continue to make great games.

Test Drive Unlimited (PC)

Test Drive Unlimited somehow managed to sneak up on me when it arrived on the Xbox 360. Now it's arrived on the PC and is every bit as impressive as its 360 debut. Eden Games' ambitious sounding racing game isn't the easiest to understand. It's not that the concept of racing is something new; it's that this is more than a racing sim - it's a racing, lifestyle sim. You won't truly get a sense of what the game is all about until you start playing, arriving in Oahu with $200,000 in your back pocket, ready to spend on a swanky pad and new car. Of course, you'll need something to potter about in before hand, so you hire a car from a rental place, giving you the chance to cruise around in some impressive rides right from the start.

Once you're in Oahu that's it; other than a New game/Load game option when you boot up, everything else is handled entirely as if you're a real person living the high life on a tropical island (albeit a person that can't walk). Everything is seamless, and the sim aspect really shines through in all areas of the game. You need to buy a house for somewhere to live, but also so you can store more cars, so the obvious thing is to drive to the real estate agent - and that's what you do. If you want a new Ferrari in real life you wouldn't buy from a menu, you'd head over to the show room and have a look for yourself, and the same is true in TDU - complete with the option to inspect each car and go for a test drive.

Everything about the game is immensely slick, even the characters. While you don't get an abundance of options, you do get to choose from a number of model-like characters, both male and female. Clothes stores are also scattered about the island (which you strangely need to win tokens for, as they don't accept cash), so you can play dress-up, but plastic surgery isn't an option. This simple approach to customisation carries through to the cars themselves.

Cars bought can be upgraded by purchasing upgrade packs from part dealers, but customisation is very limited. If you're hoping to 'trick out' your ride, this isn't the game for you, and it's not for performance tweak experts either, as it's all handled in a simple, streamlined fashion - upgrade kits increase car stats in certain areas and that's it. The driving experience can be tweaked a little though, with seat height, steering sensitivity and driving assists all being changeable. You'd think this lack of detail in an area so important to simulations would be a weakness, but it's nowhere near as much of a problem as it sounds.

TDU isn't about spending hours in the garage tweaking the gear ratios on your new TVR; it's about buying that new TVR, kiting it out with some upgrades, and then cruising around the island. Of course, there's more to the game than that. In fact, there's an awful lot more, both for the solo player and for people online, although the line between the two experiences is somewhat blurred.

Oahu is a huge island in the context of a video game, and dotted around its roads are plenty of challenges. These take the form of standard races, time trials, speed challenges, elimination races, hitchhiker missions, deliveries and more. There are hundreds of them, and winning a medal in each will earn you cash (or clothing store tokens) and increase your in-game rank. Some events come with car restrictions, while others are open and favour the player with a fast car. It's not always just about speed either; numerous events deduct winnings or penalise time if you damage your car or stray from the road. It's more than a little annoying to wave goodbye to a perfectly good time by hitting a lamp post on the final corner, but it adds a sense of risk and reward to proceedings.

Because money is so vital and new cars must be bought to calm your desire for new things, you get hooked. Delivery missions are great to earn huge chunks of cash, even if they take a lot of concentration. Delivering a car to its destination isn't about speed, but what condition it arrives in. Driving a Ferrari 15 miles in traffic might sound easy, but when every bump reduces your earnings you're not going to be moving at top speed, so they're tense, rather time consuming missions. Get it there undamaged and you'll get a nice bonus too, meaning, perhaps for the first time in a video game, you'll want to stop at traffic lights. Racing at high speed is more than a little hairy, with slightly nervy twitches causing some unpleasant out of control spins.

Driving around the island itself is fun and the GPS means navigation is never a problem. The overview map lets you set waypoints and target certain events or buildings. If you're feeling lazy you can even teleport straight to a location, assuming you've been there before. Filters can be applied to show where real-life online players are cruising, but this is only part of the online integration.

It's not technically an MMO, but TDU certainly has similar elements. If you're online you'll see other drivers on the roads (although you can't see everyone), and a simple flash of your headlights sets up an instant challenge. You set the destination point and you're off. Other locations on the map are already set up for online races, and there's a great system that lets you create and enter user-created challenges. For example, you create a time trial event, but other players need to pay to enter, with the winner taking a big prize and you a small cut. There's also a nifty club system (which of course costs money) and the ability to trade cars online. It really does feel like you're part of an exclusive car loving community.

But it's not just cars - you get to buy and race in bikes as well, and these can be mixed and matched in online races. It might be a personal thing, but I found the bikes a little awkward to control. In fact, control in general will be the biggest area of concern for most gamers. TDU uses a somewhat realistic driving model so finding out how far you can push the vehicles will cause more than a few spin outs for the first few hours. Tweaking the steering sensitivity and turning off the driving assists helped improve things, but at times you'll wish you were cruising around in cars that handled a little more forgivingly.

For a free-roaming open world game, TDU looks rather beautiful. The island environment is one of the most pleasing to the eye ever seen in a video game, and when bathed in sunlight it looks truly stunning. Car models are equally impressive, with some fine attention to detail on the exterior and interior, complete with working dashboards and animated gear changes. You'll need a pretty powerful PC to get the most out of the visuals, but it's worth it.

Maniacs will be disappointed to hear that crashes have no affect on your car, either performance or appearance wise. NPDs (non-playing drivers) get into all kinds of trouble though, and their cars aren't immune to the laws of physics. After a rather badly timed overtaking manoeuvre you can ram headfirst into an oncoming car, which will react and dent petty realistically. We're not talking Burnout levels of destruction, but the effect is more than good enough. Sadly, the NPDs frequently demonstrate near suicidal levels of intelligence, turning blindly into traffic or simply ramming into each other for no reason. If you're a motorway driver you'll also find their incessant lane changing a nightmare, especially during the high risk delivery missions.

Little details go a long way and TDU is full of them. The radio can be controlled (not advisable while at high speed), the GPS is complete with voiced instructions by a calm sounding lady, animals can be seen in the forest areas, you can get tickets from the police and spend time in jail, and stats are tracked for just about everything. The one thing that's missing that worked brilliantly in the Xbox 360 game is Achievements. These were implemented brilliantly on the console and their absence here makes prolonged play a little less satisfying.

The strange thing about Test Drive Unlimited is that it grows on you without you really noticing. Before long you'll own numerous properties, be part of a club, be thinking about buying your tenth car, and you'll have clocked up a thousand in-game miles. Its faults are there to be seen and some - like the lack of tuning options - could be seen as game breaking faults, but if you're not bothered about the technical side to driving, Test Drive Unlimited is simply wonderful. It's a breath of fresh air to the racing genre and features some of the best online integration to date.