Gaming History: Game Cases

Although not an integral part of the gaming experience, especially nowadays with digital copies of games being sold, the packages that video games are presented in can have an impact on various parts of gaming culture. For one thing, a boxed SNES game is worth far more than a boxed Mega Drive game on average, purely because Nintendo's cardboard boxes were often cast aside when gamers were trying to get to their cartridges, whereas Mega Drive games came in plastic cases, with a storage part for the cartridge itself, allowing Sega fans to easily store their cartridge whilst not playing the game.

(Fairchild Channel F game with box and manual - 1976)

In the first generation of consoles, most systems had inbuilt modes which didn't require the use of cartridges or seperate video games. Even those that did, such as the Magnavox Odyssey tended include the cartridges with the system, thus eliminating the need for individually packaged games. The first console to have proper boxed games, as we know them today was the Fairchild Channel F with it's 27 cartridge library. Most boxes for the system featured simple pictures related to the games on the cartridge itself.

The Atari 2600 also followed this basic structure for boxing their games, although with slightly thinner and longer boxes which had more cardboard innards due to the smaller size of Atari cartridges. 2600 games also featured much more interesting artwork on both the game boxes and the cartridges themselves, although often this lead to disappointment that the game didn't look as cool as its cover.

(Commodore Plus/4 Game - Petals Of Doom and Case - 1984)

Before many of the popular 3rd generation consoles had found their feet, a few home computers such as the Commodore 16 and ZX Spectrum had games which were being released on cassette tapes, the cases for which were very similar to those that stored music. While the cassettes themselves were often a single colour, without pictures of much text even, the insert in the case featured artwork not unlike that of Atari 2600 games, and a manual as well when folded out. While tapes weren't the optimal video game format, it's interesting to note the similarities to both tapes and earlier consoles.

(Master System game, with case and manual - 1987)

           (NES game, with box and protective styrofoam - 1990)

The most sucessful consoles of the third generation took different approaches to how their games were presented to consumers; Nintendo went for cardboard boxes to house their large, flat NES carts whereas Sega decided on plastic cases with an informational sleeve underneath a layer of clear plastic as well as a place to slot the cartridge inside the case, and somewhere to store the manual. As you can probably guess, the NES boxes were widely discarded by gamers, but Master System boxes were more likely to be kept, resulting in a scarcity of boxed NES games nowadays when compared to Master System games.

(SNES game, with protective cardboard, box and manual - 1992)

(Mega Drive game, with box and manual - 1990)  

The story was much the same  in the fourth generation with Sega opting once again for plastic cases with a place to store their games and Nintendo going for cardboard boxes and protective cardboard sleeves which made games less easily accessible. The Turbo Grafx 16 stored its small card like games in what were essentially CD cases, and the Neo Geo AES stored its frankly huge cartridges in plastic boxes, much like those of the Mega Drive. 

       (PS1 game with case and manual - 1997)

(N64 game with protective cardboard, box and manual - 1998)

As Sony introduced themselves as new competitors in the video game industry, the also introduced a new type of game case for storing discs rather than cartridges. Compact and well designed, the game title could be read from the side, and the disc was held tightly in place inside of the case. With Nintendo being the only major games company not to switch to discs from cartridges their overall package design stayed very similar, with a protective plastic holder inside of a cardboard box. Sega's design for Saturn game cases featured a thinner version of the Mega Drive design to hold its discs.

(PS2 game with case and manual - 2005)

   (Xbox game with case and manual - 2003)

In the sixth generation, both Microsoft and Sony used the standard DVD case style for the game cases, with an insert for cover art/the back of the box, clips to hold a manual in place and somewhere to store the disc itself. While the PS2 case features somewhere to put a memory card (even though you'd never have as many as you did games), the Xbox case doesn't bother with this due to the internal storage of the Microsoft device. This is very similar to designs that we still see today as it's both functional and easy to produce. The only real complaint I've ever had of these is their tendency to shatter when stepped on (unintentionally of course).

  (Dreamcast game with case and manual - 2001)

(Gamcube game with case and manual - 2003)

For Dreamcast games, Sega went with a similar design to the PS1 cases although both the front and back opened with storage for 2 discs per case as well as a manual. Although these do have better storage capacity than other cases in the 6th generation, the plastic used for both the hinges and to hold the game in place is fairly weak and can break very easily. As for the Gamecube, besides the smaller space to hold the disc it's essentially the same as a PS2 case, save for the embossed "Nintendo Gamecube" text inside.

(Wii game with case and manual - 2010)

(PS3 game with case, manual and special content - 2011)

In the seventh generation, Wii and Xbox 360 games remained very much like DVD cases with small upgrades from their previous designs. The PS3 cases however became smaller, like Blu-ray cases with internal art on the back of the insert as well as the front in some cases. With the PS4 and Xbox One both adopting similar design choices, possibly to save on the amount of plastic used in the cases, the PS3 set the benchmark for modern game cases, improving on the PS2 case design.

The final case I'll be taking a look at is that of the WiiU, the only 8th generation console not to adopt a smaller box. This isn't hugely surprising as Nintendo didn't adopt plastic cases or discs until the 6th generation and tend to different somewhat from the competition anyway. Essentially WiiU cases are light blue Wii cases; I can see very little difference between the two, but as with most companies, the overall design seems to have stabilised toward an optimal format. 

While Dreamcast and PS1 cases might have been more than a bit fragile and NES, SNES and N64 boxes ended up being thrown out as trash in many cases, it's hard to deny that game cases have come on a journey since 1976. While the Master System almost had it right in 1987 with plastic cases that had room for a manual and stored the cartridge tightly in a slot, small modifications and experiments on the design have brought us to where we are today.

Game Review: Sonic Unleashed

Game: Sonic Unleashed
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Sonic Team
Release Date: 19th December 2008

As the successor to Sonic 06, Sonic Unleashed had a lot of work to do amongst critics and gamers in general to repair Sonic The Hedgehog's image as a game series. Gameplay was split into two main modes; Day and Night, with Day stages featuring classic Sonic platforming with both 2D and 3D levels and Night stages playing more like a Brawler or Beat 'em up, with Sonic in Werehog form smashing his way through groups of enemies as well as solving basic puzzles to get to the next area.

Other gameplay features include some Tornado flying levels, varied boss fights as both night and day Sonic, missions from villagers in the 9 locations that you visit in the game, and challenges to be completed upon replaying levels. Scattered throughout levels and hub worlds are sun and moon medals, which will need to be collected to gain access to later levels, as well as art book and soundtrack unlockables which can be looked at/heard in the Laboratory.

The basic plot of the game involves Sonic being turned into a "Werehog" by Dr. Robotnik, draining the power of the 7 Chaos Emeralds. The nefarious scheme your tasked with stopping this time is the awakening of Dark Gaia, a creature deep within the Earth which threatens to cause havok and destruction by literally splitting the Earth apart. Sonic must collect Gaia keys to defeat the guardians of 7 temples which can restore power to the Chaos Emeralds and put the pieces of the Earth back together.

While the plot is fairly well explained at the beginning of the game, a lot of the time you're left on your own as to where you need to go (save for a hint on the world map), however some stages require a certain number of Sun or Moon medals to be collected before they're unlocked, or for you to have talked to Professor Pickle. It can be frustrating to get stuck, only to realise that you needed to go and see the Professor to unlock a stage.

In Day stages players use the analog stick to control Sonic's direction, L1 and R1 to switch "lanes" in 3D sections, X to jump, followed by the square button for a homing attack, the ring dash can be learned and used with the triangle button where needed, and square on its own will do a speed boost. The camera is controlled with the right analog stick in 3D sections and there are plenty of Quick Time Events which require the use of whichever button is highlighted on-screen.

The 3D sections of gameplay feel incredibly fast when compared to other games in the Sonic series and sometimes seem to be too fast, with Sonic stopping suddenly because of obstacles, falling down pits, and running along the edge of walls. This isn't to say that some sections aren't fun; riding along rails and Indiana Jones style getaway chases add something to the action, but a lot of the time it feels like given an extra run or two, you'd do much better at memorising the positions of obstacles.

2D sections can go one of two ways; either they're basically automated and all you'll need to do is push forwards and watch Sonic go, or there's a lot of things to react to and most of them want to kill you. Oddly these sections can be more enjoyable than the 3D ones, when done right but it's not something Sonic Team really mastered until Sonic Colours.

Night stages predominantly feature battles with groups of Dark Gaia Creatures and Eggman's Robots which lock you into a battle arena and require you to perform combos which are achieved via pressing the Square and Triangle buttons in a set order. I found myself alternating randomly between the two buttons to attack with whatever combo I'd managed to punch in, which worked just fine for the entirety of the game. This didn't make for particularly enjoyable combat, and I'm not sure intentionally using the combos provided would have been any better. There's an option to "unleash" which briefly powers up Sonic's attacks and makes him immune to some types of damage also.

There are a few types of enemies to encounter in these stages, and they're mostly well designed including Magician Dark Gaia creatures which heal others and should be taken out first, Gaia Insects and Robots with the ability to shoot. Battles can however get a little long, with new enemies often spawning mid battle to elongate proceedings.

Other Night stage challenges include puzzle type sections with switches, keys and platforms, which must be used to progress through the stage. While these were fairly well executed, it does end up making the Night stages drag on rather, in comparison to the day stages. Where the longest day stage is around 7 minutes, the longest night stages can take 30 or more. Also included in a lot of the night stages are balance sections which can be incredibly frustrating and slow the game play down significantly. One wrong move or slight inaccuracy can mean the loss of a life.

The bosses in the game are varied with Guardians to fight at night, and Eggman's various robotic craft to fight during the day. There are some good ideas implemented with most of the bosses featured, especially a few of Eggman's battles, the ideas of which were reused in Sonic Colours. One of the guardian bosses did strike me as rather badly designed though; it involved pushing three blocks toward an altar whilst fighting off the attacks of gaia creatures as well as the boss itself. There were also obstacles which the blocks had to be pushed around to get to the altar. While completing the battle was fairly easy, every time you'd try to fight off the Gaia creatures, the boss would move the block you'd been transporting back to the other end of the area.

The final boss of the game is by far the least enjoyable; instead of feeling like an epic battle, it's almost a drag. The player controls an amalgamation of the temples that they've visited and travels towards Dark Gaia, dodging attacks for quite a while before performing a few QTE's to get to a very short Sonic stage which is timed. Once this has been completed 3 times (the last Sonic part is almost impossible), there's a second stage of the battle which culminates in a final QTE.

Once levels have been completed in Sonic Unleashed, you're given an RPG style experience/level up screen, where you may choose how to spend your points. Although Werehog Sonic has plenty of options, like getting more health, a longer unleash phase and learning new combos, normal Sonic can only choose to level up his Speed or Ring Energy, neither of which really seem to do much.

I had a fair amount of issues with "moves" that Sonic is supposedly able to pull off in the game: Running on water proved a problem several times, as you need to be precise whilst boosting to stand any chance of survival, and several parts have places where players can easily lose lives. The wall jump is equally difficult to pull off, as initiating one can take several attempts, with the game failing to tell the difference between a standard jump and one that needs to continue.

Another issue I faced was with the in-game camera in many stages; a lot of the time you're able to rotate the camera 360 degrees around you, which is great, but in certain places it will only budge slightly to the left or right. As I would have been trying to move the camera around in these instances, it was annoying to not have full control over what I wanted to see at the time.

As you may have gathered from earlier parts of this review; QTE's are a huge part of gameplay, both in night time sections and day time jumps/boss battles. I found them to work better in the daytime, where a correctly pressed sequence could mean that the player gained a life or ran across a higher ledge than in the night time where a mistake means that the enemy regains most of its health and gets a free hit on you. This was why I mostly used the combos for fighting in the night stages.

Another problem I faced with controls came in the Werehog stages with grabbing onto ledges; around 5% of the time, the game just didn't seem to recognise my button press and let Sonic fall to his death instead of grabbing onto a ledge. This would have been fine once or twice, but the amount of times that it happened in the game did cause it to be an issue.

The level design in Sonic Unleashed is varied with some enjoyable Day stages, and others which seem to be merely concepts (one clocks in at 30-40 seconds worth of gameplay). The night time levels are rarely exciting in terms of level design, tending to be more of a slog through an almost endless corridor until you reach the goal. Some of the levels in the game are able to kill you mere moments after you start, requiring quick reactions from the player to avoid certain death.

This leads me to think that whether intentionally or not, Sonic Unleashed's day stages play much like NES era games, with faulty controls and a harsh difficulty curve which rewards players for memorising the levels. This is further supported by the fact the challenges are offered to players by the hotdog seller outside each world hub which require rerunning levels to achieve an extra goal. There's also a sizeable speedrunning community for the day stages, with world record times and shortcuts posted to websites.

Graphically, Sonic Unleashed is stunning with beautiful representations of its real world locations and HD levels and enemies. The day levels feature an excellent sunshine feel which contrasts with the glow of the night levels. Sonic also looks very nice, although his running animations for both times of the day look a little jerky in hub worlds. The music of the game is also very impressive and is possibly my favourite feature; the only complaint being that there is a single battle theme for the night time, leading me to despise the music which announces a new battle as it plays every 45 seconds or so each night level. The PS3 version of the game seems to experience fairly long load times when switching from night to day and some slowdown issues with the framerate when anything exciting is going on.

Overall Sonic Unleashed suffers from some poor controls and ideas throughout the game and seems to reward players for memorising its levels rather than being a "pick up and play" experience as previous 3D Sonic games seem to have been. While I've complained about most aspects of the game, I wouldn't say it's unplayable. For me, there's definitely better Sonic titles in terms of plot, levels and overall feel. I'm not sure what Sonic Team were going for with this game, but it feels like they tried to include a bit of everything with the day and night levels, RPG level up feature, missions, challenges and collectables. Some of these aspects work and some don't, but they definitely don't form a seamless experience.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Series Review: Mario Kart

To take me past 250 games reviewed in total, I thought I'd play an incredibly popular series that has both classic and modern instalments and is still going to this day. With a game from the series on nearly every Nintendo console since 1993 and almost 100 million sales in total, the Super Mario Kart series stands 16th on a list of all time best selling franchises.

Game: Super Mario Kart
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 21st January 1993

The earliest independently successful spin-off from the Mario platforming series and pioneer of the Kart Racing game genre, Super Mario Kart took Mario, his friends, and some enemies and allowed them to vent their frustrations through vehicular mayhem. The game features 8 different characters, racing on 20 unique tracks which are based off Super Mario World locations, with 9 items used to gain some sort of advantage over other players.

The player can choose to race in GP mode which consists of five laps, on five different circuits with points awarded for finishing in the top 4 positions. If players finish below this, they must retry the race until they attain at least 4th place and have a limited number of lives to do so. With 3 difficulty levels (50, 100 and 150cc), and 4 cups per difficulty level, there's a good amount of replayability for such a seemingly basic racing game.

When racing in one player mode, the screen is split into two halves; the top showing the racer's viewpoint of the circuit and the bottom showing more of an overview. In two player modes, the bottom screen is replaced by the view of the second player. The coins that a player has collected are shown in the bottom right and these make the kart go faster, up to a total of 10. The player's remaining lives and current position are shown alongside the number of coins.

The driving itself feels looser than in later Mario games; it's definitely a good idea to take your foot off the gas pedal if you're cornering (unless you plan to drift around corners). Overall it fits well with the age of the game and feels a lot easier to control than F-Zero on SNES, perhaps due to reduced speed. Players are able to jump over obstacles with the L and R buttons, as well as using them to initiate a drift.

There's a choice of two player modes; players can choose to race each other in both time trial and cup modes as well as battling to pop balloons in specially designed levels. The tracks featured in the game are imaginative and do a good job of evoking the feel of Super Mario World. Toward the end of the game there are some devilishly difficult tracks, including the first incarnation of the infamous Rainbow Road.

The items are what give competitive racing the edge over most racing games of the time; using green and red shells to slow your opponents down is incredibly satisfying and although the item selection is only small in this game, the core ideas are present. A lot of the features we see in Mario Kart games of the present day originated in this game.

Graphically the game is fairly impressive for the time, using Mode 7 graphics to emulate a 3D feel with only 2D components. The problem with this, however is that in some levels (particularly ice and lava levels) it's difficult to recognise items on the floor, as they appear flat. There's nothing more infuriating that being in the lead and crashing into a surface that doesn't appear to be in your way. The music of the game is generally enjoyable although not particularly notable.

Overall Super Mario Kart was a great start to the spin-off series, featuring enjoyable gameplay and ideas combining with good use of the technology of the time to produce a fast, fun and competitive experience. 100cc and 150cc difficulties can be fairly hard to win races on, and laps on most tracks are incredibly short, but other than these minor points, there's some good racing to be had.

Rating: 75/100
Grade: B

Game: Mario Kart 64
Console: Nintendo 64
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 24th June 1997

Four years after the first game in the series, Mario Kart 64 provided an updated look and feel for the games which is much closer to what we're used to from modern instalments. With fully 3D tracks came the ability to have changes in elevation, proper jumps and more complex obstacles such as walls and pits, even though the pre-rendered character sprites and items were still only in 2D. The game still featured 8 racers, replacing Koopa Troopa and Donkey Kong Jr. with Wario and Donkey Kong.

Making a change from Grand Prix races being 5 laps of a very short track, players now complete 3 laps of slightly longer tracks (although in some cases, the tracks are incredibly long). There are also 4 tracks per Grand Prix instead of 5. The 50, 100 and 150cc difficulty levels are retained, with an added Extra difficulty mode which allows players to race on mirrored tracks. Up to 4 players can compete in multiplayer modes, up from Super Mario Kart's 2 and Battle mode re-appears with many of the same ideas.

Driving definitely feels a little different from Super Mario Kart with more of a sliding dynamic to cornering and less places where it's necessary to take your finger off the A button. While this style of control is less precise, it works well with the analog stick of the Nintendo 64 and the 3D graphics of this instalment. The players view whilst playing the game in one player modes is slightly changed, as the map no longer takes up a whole half of the screen.

Grand Prix Mode is fairly easy on 50cc difficulty, 100cc can be challenging on the harder tracks and 150cc cranks the rubberband AI up to a level which is very hard to beat. On all levels of difficulty, the AI's programming means that they'll catch up with your kart quickly, even from shell and banana attacks. Another factor that increases the difficulty is the way that the character who is first (or second if you're first) in the ranking table after Race 1 of each Grand Prix will be your toughest competitor in the next rounds, securing victory in the Grand Prix overall for the AI unless you win at least 3 races and place well in the other race.

Most of the items from Super Mario Kart make a return in 64, with only the coins and feather taken away, and the Boo item re-purposed to steal an item from another player rather than turning the player invisible. New items that appear in Mario Kart 64 include the blue shell, which travels along the floor to halt the progress of the player in pole position (although not as devastatingly as in later installments), fake item boxes and multiples of pre-existing items such as bananas, green shells, red shells and mushrooms.

Battle mode is fun and arguably better than in the original, with the use of the new items and 4 player capabilities. There's 4 courses to battle on, as well as the ability to race without any AI players against other human players on any track from the main game. This is the first point in the series where the games feel geared towards the multiplayer experience as one player mode is plagued by the rubberbanding AI and hugely varied difficulty levels.

Graphically the game's tracks are impressive for the most part, and even the 2D character and item sprites are bearable. It's an improvement on the Super Mario Kart's ground based obstacles which were hard to see and thus avoid. The game also is better musically with some memorable themes which are remixed for stages in later games; particularly the theme for Rainbow Road.

Overall Mario Kart 64 is an enjoyable racer, just like its predecessor; there's good competitive action most of the time, and excellent multiplayer modes. Although there's less laps in this installment, some races last far too long, especially on Wario's Stadium and Rainbow Road, with the latter's 3 laps lasting around 8 and a half minutes. The difficulty is also a bit off with 50cc mode being far too easy, and 100cc mode a bit too challenging when the rubberband AI is factored in. It's a small improvement on the SNES version in my opinion.

Rating: 76/100
Grade: B

Game: Mario Kart Super Circuit
Console: Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 14th September 2001

The first handheld instalment of the Mario Kart series, Super Circuit plays like an updated version of Super Mario Kart featuring the same sort of 2D graphics for the tracks, with features of the game more akin to Mario Kart 64. With 20 new tracks as well as all 20 original tracks from Super Mario Kart as unlockables, it has the most playable tracks of any Mario Kart game. The same 8 racers return from the previous instalment and no new characters have been added.

The tracks, sprites and items are all in 2D, although there are some nice scenery and background effects which give the game an edge over the original. The items featured in the game are the same as those in Mario Kart 64, with the Golden Mushroom removed. Single player mode features Mario GP, Time Trial and Quick Play modes, and 2 Player is achieved through a Link cable. Surprisingly, Super Circuit can be played with others who don't own the game, and is one of only a few Game Boy Advance games to make use of this, although it's a stripped down version due to memory limitations.

Driving in this game feels like a mixture of both preceding games; the controls are fairly tight and it's less drifty than Mario Kart 64, but the circuits have a little more influence from the later game. It handles well on the whole and the difficulty issue with previous games has been fixed. 50, 100 and 150cc races are all potentially winnable, but with each rise in difficulty there's a steady rise in challenge also.

The tracks themselves could be a little more original; some of the new ones are based on courses from Mario Kart 64, and the game features all of the courses from Super Mario Kart. That said, it's still a lot of fun and  later games have indulged in classic cup features also. The game retains the 4th or better to continue dynamic in GP races, for the last time in the series, as well as the 9, 6, 3, 1 point scoring structure.

Graphically the game doesn't look great when inspected up close, but on the Game Boy Advance's small screen, there's not a whole lot wrong with it; in fact it can look pretty nice at times. There's a marked musical improvement also with funky basslines and some enjoyable music to race to. The voice clips are very similar if not identical to those used in Mario Kart 64, but with the same roster it's to be expected.

Overall Mario Kart Super Circuit is a great mix of features from Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 which offers a whole host of new gameplay as well as all of the tracks from the original game. While I couldn't play the 2 player modes due to lack of a link cable I'm sure there's a lot to offer, and the ability to play others who don't own the cartridge themself is a bonus.

Rating: 79/100
Grade: B

Game: Mario Kart: Double Dash
Console: Nintendo Gamecube
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 13th November 2003

Double Dash, the first truly 3D instalment of the Mario Kart also changed up the formula and gameplay significantly. In this game two racers are in each kart; one to drive and the other to use items, the points system has been revised to reward the first 7 finishers rather than just the first 4, and players no longer need to retry races if they finish below 4th. There's a choice of 20 characters to play as, and a larger and more dynamic choice of karts, representing racer's individual styles and colours.

As with previous instalments of the series, the main GP mode features 50, 100 and 150cc difficulties as well as a mirror mode once all championships have been won. Players can choose to race as a team or competitively with up to 4 players (or even 8 with a LAN cable for Gamecube). Multiplayer Battle mode also returns with new courses and modes. Although all of the normal items which feature in the game were in Mario Kart 64, there are new special items which are individual to specific characters and are a good addition.

The controls for racing and using items are fairly similar to those in previous instalments, although they can now be separated out when playing co-operatively. There's an improved drift mechanic and the ability to shift the kart left or right when playing with a friend on your team. Driving in this game feels pretty tight, and the option to drift around sharp corners is an advantage. The difficulty is similar to other games in the series, with 50cc being incredibly easy, 100cc presenting a small challenge, and 150cc being willing to cheat you out of entire championships with items and AI finishing positions.

There's a real focus on multiplayer in this instalment of the series, even more so than before. I'd certainly recommend the Mario Kart games for parties and hanging out with friends than as a single player experience but if you can deal with AI that's geared towards beating you and using items to stop you from winning at all costs and take racing as a fun arcade experience then there's enjoyment to be had.

Graphically the game is huge improvement on everything before it in the series, with fully 3D tracks and karts which are more detailed than before. Musically too it's impressive and features some enjoyable track themes. Although there aren't too many new features in the game as a whole, the 2 person per kart dynamic works well and expands the two player gameplay.

Overall Double Dash is another slight improvement on past instalments, upgrading parts of the game like graphics and drifting, whilst removing the ability to hold items behind you in a game that's set the AI to target you above all other competitors. It's definitely better as a multiplayer experience but 100cc races in single player are also good fun.

Rating: 80/100
Grade: B

Game: Mario Kart DS
Console: Nintendo DS
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 25th November 2005

The 3rd best selling game for the Nintendo DS, Mario Kart DS introduced several features such as a single player mission mode, Retro Grand Prix, a Bullet Bill item and a Wi-Fi connected multiplayer mode. There are 12 playable characters, each with their own themed kart and a personalised version of the simple kart. The other available gameplay modes remain largely the same, with Grand Prix, Time Trial and Battle modes.

Grand Prix mode now contains 8 championships, with the addition of 4 Retro sets featuring remade courses from the previous games in the series. All of these are available at 50, 100 and 150cc difficulties. Completing a set of 4 Grand Prix at any difficulty will unlock different playable characters, karts and mirror mode, depending on which Grand Prix is completed. Players are also able to compete online via Nintendo WFC but I was unable to use this on my DS for some reason.

With the addition of the second screen, players have a slightly different view of the race, with the classic 3rd person rear viewpoint on the top screen and an overhead view displaying simple face sprites to represent players, but also highlighting upcoming items and hazards, and showing what items other players have aquired. It's possible to race whilst looking at either screen, although a combination of the two with more focus on the top tends to work best.

The racing is similar to that of Double Dash with a slight change in that players are able to hold items behind them for protection once again, and the D-pad is used to control the kart as there are no analog sticks on the DS. While the difficulty is also similar, 50cc mode is insultingly easy at times, but the other two difficulties are made harder by items more than the AI. In 100cc races, I was averaging 2-3 blue shells per race whilst leading which seems excessive.

Battle mode has been improved with 6 courses available from the beginning as well as 2 to unlock. There's also the option to play against AI opponents in Balloon Battle and Shine Sprite modes. The new inclusion of Mission Mode adds challenges for players to complete over 7 difficulty levels with a boss at the end of each. This adds some inventive single player gameplay outside of the Grand Prix mode, which the series was in need of.

One thing that the game does seem to be a little obsessed with is grading your performance. In every Grand Prix, you'll receive a grade from 3 stars to F for the time it took you to complete, regardless of your finishing position. In Mission Mode you're also graded on the time you take, irrespective of the fact that you've completed the objective. While there's no need to get the best grades to complete the game, it might annoy completionists that the standards for the best grades are very high.

Graphically Mario Kart DS doesn't look as sharp as Double Dash due to being confined to the small screen of the DS, but it's not far behind. I did manage to mistake a Goomba for a mushroom powerup at one point but that might say more about my eyesight than the graphics. The music of this game is almost exactly what you'd expect from having heard the soundtracks from the rest of the series. It's never mind blowing but it gets the job done.

Overall Mario Kart DS introduces some good ideas such as the new Mission mode and Wi-Fi based multiplayer, but can suffer at times from item induced difficulty with blue shells being far more common than in previous instalments. The inclusion of a retro Grand Prix makes for a good look back on the series, and makes for a large roster of well designed tracks. Also R.O.B the robot is included as the final unlockable, which made me smile.

Rating: 83/100
Grade: B

Game: Mario Kart Wii
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 11th April 2008

The final instalment of the series that I'll be reviewing is Mario Kart Wii, which has the largest roster of any Mario Kart game, with 24 characters in total as well as 32 tracks, 3 new items, 6 new battle stages and 5 karts and bikes for each driver weight class. Looking back to the first Mario Kart game, this is a huge expansion of options whilst keeping many of the same gameplay ideas.

The modes remain much the same as on the DS version of the game, with the exception of Mission mode, which has been removed; Grand Prix is the main single player event with 4 Grand Prix on all new tracks and 4 Retro Grand Prix which take stages from all previous instalments. Time Trial, Online races and Battle mode can also be played in single player with AI making up the rest of your team as well as your opponents, or with friends as an alternative to multiplayer Grand Prix and VS Race mode.

The biggest change in racing terms is the inclusion of bikes in the game; 50cc races are competed with only karts allowed, 100cc allows only bikes, and 150cc and Mirror Mode allow both karts and bikes. Players can control their kart with either the Wiimote, used like a steering wheel, Wiimote and nunchuk (using the nunchuk to steer and the Wiimote for accelerating) or a Gamecube controller to make things more similar to Double Dash (although the buttons are slightly different). Using just the Wiimote on its own can be a little imprecise, but the other two control methods both work well to give the player a choice of at least 2 ways to race.

Three new items have been added since Mario Kart DS; the first is a large mushroom, from New Super Mario Bros. which makes the users kart much larger and faster for a short while, the second is a POW! block from Super Mario Bros. 2 which causes all other racers to spin out and lose all speed, and the last new item is a Raincloud which makes the receiver small via a bolt of lightning after a short time, unless they manage to pass it onto another racer.

Another difference from previous versions is that races now consist of 12 competitors instead of 8, which makes for a slightly more chaotic experience. Items seem to dominate the racing more than the previous rubberbanding of the AI, and although the amount of times blue shells are used per race seems to have fallen from Mario Kart DS, there's plenty of use of the POW! blocks and lightning items. All of the difficulties in Grand Prix mode seem to have got a little easier, with 150cc and Mirror Mode being difficult but not impossible to come first on.

Online Mode makes for the most difficult challenge with a busy and alive scene even today, 6 years after the game's release. I was able to find a game with 11 other players within around 10 seconds and there was a mixed standard of ability. Players start with 5000 race points to their name and gain/lose points for doing well/badly in races. Due to Mario Kart's chaotic multiplayer nature, it almost feels as if this is what the series had been heading towards. I rarely won races online but they were all fun and tightly contested.

In addition to the online multiplayer, there's also local multiplayer for up to 4 players, with racing, balloon and coin battle modes. These are mainly team based, but the AI will fill any empty slots. With a good selection of battle courses and all of the circuits featured in the main game to race on, this makes for a rich local multiplayer experience to match the online and single player modes. Any of the battle modes can also be played purely against AI opponents in single player mode also.

Unlockables in Mario Kart Wii are slightly different to other games; some require staff time trial laps to be beaten, whilst others need specific star ratings in all Grand Prix of a certain difficulty. This means that players have to work hard to unlock every character, but does give the game some replay value. Whilst R.O.B the Robot isn't included in this instalment, there's plenty of new additions to the roster to give new choice to players.

Graphically Mario Kart Wii is the nicest looking of the games I've reviewed in the series, with crisp stylised locations, characters and karts in full 3D, with bright and vibrant colours. There's a good sense of speed throughout the game which adds to the feeling of chaos within races. The soundtrack is enjoyable also, with many new tunes as well as remixes for the Retro Grand Prix stages. Voice clips and other sounds are good and help to add a sense of personality to the racers, especially those who haven't been in the series before.

Overall Mario Kart Wii is in my opinion the best game of the series so far as it expands the racing experience to 12 players at a time, has a great online experience and single player offline Grand Prix, and loses the blatant rubberbanding AI of previous instalments to make way for a more balanced approach. While races can get chaotic with the use of many items one after another and the new items being fairly powerful, I think this is the way Mario Kart was intended to be.

Rating: 87/100
Grade: B

As you can see from the fact that I've given every Mario Kart game in this review some kind of B grade, all of the series titles are enjoyable 'pick up and play' racing games with an element of luck as well as skill. Whilst the idea of rewarding those in later positions with better items may not seem appealing to hardcore racing game fans, it's a nice way to even up the stakes when playing with friends or anyone who hasn't played the games before.

As for the difficulty of each title in the series, many people seem to have their own opinions on which is hardest. Having played each of the games in succession, I'd say that this order is about right for difficulty of winning the 150cc Grand Prix races with any ranking;

Mario Kart 64  (most difficult)
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Super Mario Kart
Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Mario Kart Wii  (easiest)

With so many games sold across the entire series, it's safe to say that most people have played at least one of the titles. Just like discussion of which is hardest, an intense debate rages over which game is the best, which begs the question; which is your favourite Mario Kart game, and why?

Game Review: Project Rub

Game: Project Rub
Console: Nintendo DS
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 16th November 2004

Project Rub, or "Feel the Magic: XX/XY" as its known in America is a minigame collection released by Sega which tells the story of a main character who falls in love with a girl and resigns himself to making her notice him, asking her on a date and then saving her from a crazy kidnapper multiple times. Each scene of the story has 1-3 minigames that must be completed in order to progress, with heart points awarded for winning and taken away for failure. Once the correct amount of heart points has been attained, players can move onto the next scene.

The story of the game is fairly surreal and humourous with many of the minigames depicting crazy situations, including removing goldfish from a man's stomach, playing a few frames of 10 pin bowling with people at a bus stop as the pins and distracting security guards with cats while you sneak into a secret base. Each of the minigames must be completed a number of times before progressing; the more complex ones require just one try but other games take up to 5 repeats of increasing difficulty to pass.

Between each scene, the story is laid out in a 4-koma style comic detailing the rough idea of each situation. While the plot isn't something that stands out as brilliant, these fit well with the surreal minigames and go a little way towards explaining why we're doing what we're asked to. Tapping in the correct place on the comics will reveal a "rub rabbit" and unlock new outfits for the female love interest.

The game makes heavy use of the touchscreen on the DS as well as a having few games which are based around the microphone feature. There's good variation between touchscreen games; requiring players to tap, rub, steer, and paint their way to success, although with each game needing to be repeated a number of times, you could argue that Warioware Touched! has a better variation for a minigame collection on the DS.

The touchscreen games are well made and work very well, with responsive controls and enjoyable gameplay elements. I only had trouble with one boss battle where letting go of the screen and touching it again caused the main character to lose a life from walking into part of the boss. The microphone based games are a little less responsive; at one point the game was on full volume and heard itself, thus failing the level for me. There's also a level where you're asked to make as much noise as you can which seems impractical when you consider that the game is on a handheld console. If you're in any public place, the last thing you'll be wanting to do is shout at your DS.

The final few levels seemed to be a little out of sequence with a "last" boss battle showcasing some of the most difficult gameplay of the game, followed by an incredibly easy "final" battle where you rub the screen quickly for a while, followed by a touchscreen/microphone combination game which is fairly difficult but nowhere near as the "last boss" battle. In this way the game seems to fade out rather than going out with a bang.

Graphically Project Rub is fairly simple and uses shadowed figures of characters without any facial detail to represent its characters. The environment and other objects are fairly nicely drawn and overall the game retains a comic style. In terms of music, there's only a few tunes featured in the game but they fit well with the style and are quite enjoyable if a little repetitive.

Overall Project Rub is a refreshingly quirky minigame collection that makes good use of the features of the Nintendo DS, but can become repetitive when you're asked to repeat games on increasing difficulties. There's not a whole lot of replay value despite "Hard" and "Hell" modes being included, as it's exactly the same games, but harder and the entire game can be beaten on normal difficulty within 3-5 hours depending on your skill level. It's definitely worth a play but there's also better minigame collections for the DS in Warioware Touched, or Rhythm Heaven.

Rating: 78/100
Grade: B