- Publisher: Namco Bandai
- Platform: Nintendo Wii
- MSRP: $39.99~
We Cheer 2
“We Cheer 2” is one of the few surprise hit Wii games this season. While the original “We Cheer” was a pretty big hit in its own right, it had a few shortcomings which have since been addressed in the sequel. “We Cheer 2” is obviously aimed at young girls… and cheerleading loving boys… and allows them to be an aspirating young cheerleader in command of their own squad. The play mechanics are fairly simple, you dance and shake your virtual pom-poms around to kid friendly anime inspired graphics and soundtrack. Graphically, it doesn’t really compare to some of the harder edge games, but for games of this nature and its audience, it was impressive and vibrant. The game is also customizable, so you can design your own character. It comes with many unlockables and several fun modes involving inflating balloons, dancing around doing actual cheers, and the game can be played alone or with up to four players. “We Cheer 2” will have you moving and dancing around more than the Wii Fit and it’s perhaps one of the more fun Wii games to hit this market this year.
Get yours today at Target.com
- Publisher: Namco Bandai
- Platform: Nintendo Wii
- MSRP: $36.99~
Food Network Cook or Be Cooked
This is what the world needed, a video game for foodies. No seriously, this is a pretty fun game and you’ll pick up a lot of really great cooking tips by working through the 30+ real recipes that you can simulate. It is a lot of fun to play especially if you’re obsessed with food and watch the Food Network religiously (like everyone here). You get to chop, dice, cut, mix, stir… it is all the fun of cooking without having to actually clean up at the end. The game works like most cooking games, however, instead of button mashing you wiggle and move your Wii remote. The cooking process and the game is a blend of motion control and careful planning. When you prepare a meal, you have to prepare it as if you were actually cooking. That includes: basic preparation such as chopping and dicing to more complex cooking styles such as browning and the speed in which you cook. You are eventually scored based on technique and time. As fun as cooking may be, it is also kind of stressful as you are constantly working against the clock rather than at your own leisure, which I guess is the point of cook… “Cooked or Be Cooked” also features several multiplayer modes where you can work in a team or head-to-head. Ultimately, “Cooked or Be Cooked” is an extremely enjoyable experience especially for those wanting to learn basic recipes or get started with learning how to cook.
Get yours today at Amazon.com
- Publisher: THQ
- Platform: Xbox 360
- MSRP: $34.99~
UFC 2009 Undisputed
Mixed Martial Arts and particularly the UFC has been all the rage this decade and THQ has been hard at work trying to capture and bottle all that raw excitement into a video game. This isn’t their first attempt by any means, but it’s definitely their best attempt to date. “UFC 2009 Undisputed” is a great game but it comes at a price. It has a steep learning curve and a lot of buttons to learn. Once you learn it however, it’s a whole lot of fun particularly against another human opponent (because quite frankly the CPU was kicking our butts). The character models are all fantastic and are good representations of the actual fighters. The character roster is fairly comprehensive with many of your popular fighters as well as some not as well known and a few legendary fighters. Game play was a bit slow for my taste, but if I had a real complaint it would be the transition animation which felt robotic. Don’t get me wrong, the moves and the animation are fantastic alone. But when you begin to string them together it leaves something less to be desired. “Undisputed” comes with several modes and an adequate career mode where you will probably spend most of your time in. It comes with a create-a-fighter option as well however, it was rather limited. This isn’t new, and has plagued previous UFC games since the Dreamcast days. Overall, “UFC 2009 Undisputed” is a solid fighter that’s extremely fun and challenging. By no means is it the best fighter currently out in the market, but as the only next gen MMA game (until EA’s MMA comes out) it’s worth a try especially if you’re a UFC or MMA fan.
Get yours today at Amazon.com