It’s been a busy Winter for Sonic the Hedgehog, the first episode for Sonic 4 was finally released at the beginning of the season, and Sonic Colours debuted as exclusives for Nintendo’s Wii and DS. The former title did reasonably well in reviews, maintaining a nostalgic feel to the original games while adding its own personal feel. But how does the newest entry in the main console series fare?

Sonic Colours takes place in outer-space, Dr Eggman has managed to capture whole planets and enslave the alien beings (called “wisps”) to power his “Intergalactic Amusement Park”. Sonic and Tails however have caught wind of his schemes and check the park out, It turns out the captive wisps can grant powers to Sonic, allowing him to do various things like speed boost, drilling and transforming into a sharp-shooting laser. With the aliens on side, Sonic starts his latest adventure.

Like the last major console title, Sonic Unleashed, this is a solo ‘hog adventure. But this time it’s all the usual Sonic action, as opposed to splits between with “Werehog” sections. Sonic does transform with the aid of the wisps, but these powers are temporary and match Sonic’s general pace (with a little slowdown so the powers are controllable). In addition the white Wisps provide Sonic with a speed boost gage that gives Sonic additional blistering speed (which can be used to speed up runs and get a higher trajectory on ramp jumps). Levels are split between 6 planets, with 6 acts in each area and a boss.

Eggman has to be applauded on making a pretty exciting park, there’s plenty of speed runs, platforming, and puzzles to solve during the course of the game. Some of these can be solved by Sonic doing the usual running and jumping, but lots of goodies, including the 5 red rings hidden in each level, are found with use of the Wisps and additional platforming skill. The game frequently rewards curious players for exploration, opening up shortcuts and goodies for those that take a chance on a less obvious route. These also provide good opportunities for getting to grips with wisp power-ups, at least one new Wisp is introduced per world and then available in earlier levels, opening up new areas. The score system has been revamped too, various bonus multipliers are given for special skills and good use of wisp powers alongside the usual ring collecting and dashing to the goal. As a result, players have to pretty savvy in order to get that elusive “S Rank” for every level.

Each level has a particular theme, from roller coasters right down to sweets & doughnuts. The touches added to these levels add additional charm. Sweet Mountain has doughnut rings to dash though and popping corn that pops in Sonic’s wake, while Starlight Carnival has stunning chase sequences that have a strong resemblance to “Rainbow Road” from the Mario Kart series. The music in-game is well done too, each planet having a different theme that’s remixed over the 6 acts. The Sonic Simulator levels have delightful 8-Bit renditions of each Zone theme that stand out in their own right too. In addition to this, Eggman uses a park-wide tannoy to make announcements which add atmosphere and when heard properly are actually quite funny. The new voice cast is well directed and add a touch of professionalism that’s been lacking from the series. The script is quite a gem too, though cutscenes are sparse anyway.

The only real issue with Sonic Colours is that the game is kind of short; it’ll only take about 5-6 hours solid play to finish the main game. But there are 5 red rings per level to collect that require some exploration and use of wisp powers to locate. The last few levels (particularly Asteroid Coaster) let down the game with some slightly unfair gravity puzzles but otherwise this particular title lets it’s colours shine magnificently and gives the blue hedgehog a true triumphant return at last.

Every year I get a lot of questions about buying consoles for kids (or significant others) and every year it seems to get more complicated. Even when people know what system they are in the market for, they see a bunch of different  bundles and feel overwhelmed by salespeople trying to rush them into a purchase. That’s a lousy way to Christmas shop, eh? Whether you’re a parent deafened by cries for Epic Mickey or just want to relive the glory days with Super Mario All-Stars, let me try and break it down for you with an introductory guide for Wii shopping in 2010. This has been written to help those poor lost shoppers that have never dealt with the ever shifting world of consumer electronics and games.

The Bare System

Every Wii system, assuming you are buying new, will come with the following:

Wii System
Self-explanatory. This plugs into the tv and wall. Games go in here.

Power cord
Can’t do much without one of these.

Sensor Bar
This plugs into the Wii and needs to be placed either on top or at the base of your television. It has a very long cord in case the Wii isn’t right next to the TV.

Standard Composite Cable
This has red, white, and yellow connectors. It connects the Wii to the television. It provides a non-HD feed, which is perfectly fine since the Wii is not an High Definition console.

Wireless Internet Receiver
This is built into the system, so you won’t see it. If you do not have a wireless network in your house and want to get the Wii online through a cable connection, you’ll have to purchase a separate addition for it.

A Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk
Both parts count as ONE controller. They are available in many colours.

Nintendo has also written a great guide detailing how to hook up your system once you get it home. Before we get to the bundles themselves, there are a few points you need to know to look for.

It used to be that all Wii Consoles game with the original Wii Sports. Now that its sequel, Wii Sports Resort, came out in mid-2009, some bundles choose to include only that version.  The original Wii Sports features tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing. Wii Sports Resort includes an updated versions of bowling, swordplay, wakeboarding, frisbee, archery, basketball, table tennis, golf, bowling, power cruising, canoeing, cycling, and air sports. The most important distinction between Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resorts comes down to the controller.

The original controller that launched with the Wii in 2006 looks exactly the same as the controllers now in play, but Wii Sports Resort included a little dongle, the Wii MotionPlus, to add to the base of the Wii Remote. This added a gyroscope for more accurate and in-depth motion tracking. All copies of Wii Sports Resort required this dongle to play, which led to them being sold together. It would be incredibly frustrating to bring home a new game and discover that you’re missing a critical piece of it! The MotionPlus let you accomplish movements that were previously undetectable by the Wii. The Wii Sports Resort version of bowling is considered harder than the original because it now tracks any spin of the wrist, too. Shots that were previously perfect strikes may now end up in the gutter since you can’t ‘cheat’ the angles of your throw.

All new Wii units and bundles have built-in Wii MotionPlus units. To distinguish them from the older controllers, these controllers are called Wii Remote Plus and you’ll be able to check that it’s listed as such on the front or side of the box. As long as it’s a Wii Remote Plus, there’s nothing you need to add to it.  The Bundle box will also include a nunchuk, which remains unchanged since the system launched. As I mentioned above, both of those components count as a single controller. If you want more than one person to play at once, you’ll need to purchase a separate Wii Remote Plus and nunchuk.

Frankly, you’d be hard pressed to find the old style Wii Remotes anywhere these days, especially with new products, but now you know the difference.

The Bundle Packs

Now we get to the part that tends to overwhelm new buyers, the bundle packs. Every country and every store seems to be offering their own mix of products and you should be aware of what you’re looking for before you set foot in the shop or click ‘purchase’ online. As a Canadian, I’m quite staggered by the amount of bundle choices UK gamers have. There’s no wrong bundle; it all depends on what types of games you like to play. Or which store you have gift certificates for.

Super Mario Bros.25th Anniversary Edition: The newest bundle available is the Super Mario Bros.25th Anniversary Edition. It’s the first red Wii, with a red Wii Remote Plus and nunchuk. It comes with the original Wii Sports and New Super Mario Bros.™ Wii (note that this is different from Super Mario All-Stars. Also supports up to 4 players at once). It also has Donkey Kong: Original Edition pre-installed on the hard drive. You won’t have a disc of it, so no bringing it to a friend’s house, but you will see it when you turn on the system.

Note for Amazon buyers: this edition is not sold by Amazon directly and is instead available from many third party companies. Make sure to check the seller’s feedback ratings and shipping policies before you make a decision. It is also available from Best Buy

Wii Sports Resort Pack: Sold by Amazon.co.uk directly (with free UK shipping), The Wii Sports Resort Pack give you the console, Wii Sports , Wii Sports Resort, and a Wii Remote with MotionPlus dongle (not the all in one controller) and the nunchuk. If you’re all about the sports games, this is the one for you.

There is also a Black Version available from Best Buy.

Wii Fit Plus Pack: Black console, black Wii Remote Plus, black nunchuk, Wii balance board, and Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports as the games. Looking to get in shape? This is the bundle to get you started. You can later look at adding the EA Sports Active titles if you want more exercises to do.

This can be found from Amazon.co.uk directly or at Game.co.uk.

Mario Kart Wii Pack: Black Wii, Wii Remote, MotionPlus dongle, black nunchuk, black steering wheel attachment, and Mario Kart Wii and Wii Sports as the bundled games. Also comes pre-installed with the Original Donkey Kong on the hard drive.

This bundle is available from Game.co.uk, or a third-party Amazon.co.uk seller.

With those basic bundles out of the way, you can always check the rest of BestBuy.co.uk’s extensive offerings – note the delivery dates as some are out of stock or won’t arrive before Christmas – and your other favourite shops to see what they’ve got in stock. Don’t forget to grab an extra Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk if you want more than one person to take part! No one needs fights on Christmas morning.

Jenn Cutter is best known for her gaming blog and show, OpenAlpha.tv, and is the gaming editor of Hak5. If you have any last minute console buying questions, feel free to email jenn@openalpha.tv.

Are you looking for some light, untimed, and unstressful logic puzzle goodness? Score Studio’s Piczle Lines will slowly take over your iPhone and your free time. With a clean user interface coupled with simple mechanics, it hits the puzzle gaming sweet spot.

Piczle Lines caught my attention since it was from the studio created by the author of the Japanmanship blog, something I — and lots of people looking for the inside scoop about how Japanese gaming studios worked from an English perspective — read with great interest back in the day. I’m not usually a puzzle game fan, especially if numbers are involved, but Piczle Lines completely works for me. Puzzle games often get dismissed from my systems quickly once I hit a problem I cannot solve. Here I never feel out of my depth and the visual nature of the game plays well to my strengths. If you can count to 20, you can play this game. Puzzle games often fall into a trap of hastily throwing together a story, as an excuse for people to want to progress. Piczle Lines presents Professor Matrix and his dilemma as unobtrusively as possible, so you won’t even notice him if you don’t want to, and it takes no time at all to get to the meat of the game.

Grids of various sizes are presented with coloured numbers scattered about the board. Each number corresponds to how long the line has to be to connect with its matching coloured number. As you use up more and more grid space to create lines, a picture starts to emerge. Like all good puzzle games, the mechanics are simple to grasp and later used in frustrating ways to make you think. Puzzles are presented in packs, numerically, with higher numbers resulting in more complicated puzzles. Early boards have numbers laid out in obvious pattens and, for example, if there are four 5s near each other, two will be of a different colour to make the solution obvious. Later boards will have you trying multiple combinations of lines in order to work out the correct path when there are bunches of 11s to place just right or your progress will be halted since you’ve run out of space. Even though I’ve had to redo some of the later story puzzles from scratch a few times — I was too confused by my own strategies that I found it easier to just wipe everything rather than remove lines randomly here and there, unable to see bigger picture — I never felt frustrated enough to quit in anger. There are also local trophies for you to chase, but they only cover the typical ‘beat these levels’ and ‘do ___ number of puzzles’ basics.

The free download is not a typical severely-crippled demo. While there are six Story chapters in total and only the first is free, there are twenty puzzles in there and another twenty non-story ones available. Oh, and another twenty in a free starter pack. Now there’s also yet another twenty available in a free Halloween pack. For people that truly cannot get enough, there are many more downloads available at 99c a pop. There’s the 120 other story puzzles, 80 non-storyline ones a big booster bundle, 80 in a wildlife-themed expert pack, and 80 more medium ones in their Activities bundle. Developers that respect the player get bonus points from me, and Score Studios gets props for creating an addictive game with a sparkling clean interface and zero unskippable nagging BUY ME NOW screens. The perfect puzzle game doesn’t even have to smack you in the face to keep playing, you just do. Eventually you realize that hours have passed and it doesn’t bother you at all.

There are a few drawbacks that merit mentioning. iPhone games are always simple to control, and this is no exception, but the screen does not flip when you rotate the phone. I certainly wish they offered the ability to design our own puzzles, even if it was a paid feature. Looking at random images on the internet and thinking, “hey, that’d make a great piczle!” is a sure sign that it has entered my consciousness on a deep level. I tell myself I’m not addicted, but it’s a lie. I often reach for it instead of continuing deeper DS or 360 games when I know I don’t have time for an extended session. Whether you go on to buy all the extensions of just putter about with the free content, Piczle Lines is absolutely worth the download.

Jenn Cutter is best known for her gaming show, OpenAlpha.tv, and is the gaming editor of Hak5.

When Square-Enix announced Dragon Quest XI, it was a bit of a surprise for many that the newest entry in the core series of the game would be on the Nintendo DS. Normally handheld iterations of a series are spin off titles or side stories, so it was considered a bold move to begin with. Not to mention this new title boasts a multiplayer co-op party for the main game.

The game sets up the player as a “Celestrian” – an angelic-like race that live above the human world. Where all train to one day become a guardian and gain goodwill of their human charges, which menefests itself as an energy that can be used to power the towering tree that powers the Celestrians temple. Things go awry however, and the player ends up crashing to earth, losing their halo and wings in the process. Then begins a quest to figure out what happened and how to regain what you lost, helping people along the way.

On first impression, the graphics for the game are quite stunning for a DS game, the entire game world is in 3D, and while it’s still low-polygon graphics, the lovely textures and designs of each location more than make up for the graphical power the DS lacks. The world is also set into sizable chunks and isn’t too hard to navigate, there are no really nasty surprises if you venture too far off the beaten path in early sections (in fact there are lots of nice goodies to find in hidden sections of the game). The battle system is you usual turn-based system, your character has a choice of physical and magical attacks which change depending on the “job” class of your character and allocation of skill points. It’s a complex system that’s nicely simplified, so the player doesn’t get too bogged down with the stats. Clothing also adjusts general stats so your character’s wardrobe plays a part in battle too.

In terms of play, Dragon Quest is quite a player friendly RPG, while some games roll you back to your last save after being defeated (losing exp, items and additional items), the worst Dragon Quest does on defeat is take half your money and throw you back to the last village you saved in (this is also true generally in the series). The game also goes lengths to make sure the player is never lost, with characters clearly telling you where to go next, fairly quick and painless tutorials on the various features available and even a quest list to remind players what side-quests they are doing, and the important details of each one. As a result the game can serve as a fairly friendly introduction to RPG’s as well as a friendlier jaunt for more seasoned gamers.

The only problem with Dragon Quest XI is it doesn’t offer much new to the RPG genre bar the large amount of customization, the multplayer has already been dabbled with by Square-Enix before. So if you are looking for a fresh brand new gaming experience, this title won’t offer anything you haven’t seen before. It’s a pure old fashioned RPG at heart, though it covers the basics very well and offers a solid gameplay experience. Theres a lot of back and forth between the various cities in the game too, thankfully however, there is a common item that allows you to instantly transport anywhere you’ve already visited.

Dragon Quest is a great handheld title; it has wonderful visuals, some great character design and easy to use controls and options. It manages to be an appealing starting point for more casual players, while retaining enough of the basic RPG spirit. The multiplayer certainly makes it all the more appealing and the game offers plenty of rewards along the way. The story is compelling enough too, which plenty of characters to interact with and lots of side quests to do in addition to the main story.

The Wii as we all know is very much a family orientated game. There’s been a few variations in controllers – driving wheels, tennis bats and even golf clubs!

The Wii remotes always struck me as being a little big for younger children, always having to stretch to the buttons when using it with one hand. For a console that’s mainly aimed at young kids, this is somewhat of a design flaw.

Minii Me, have produced an entire range of Wii remotes from the remote and nunchuck (£9.95) to the wheel (£4.95), light sword (£8.95) and other sports add-ons (9.95) (including Wii Resorts mega pack! £14.95). Retailing at £24.95 for the main remote and the additional packs at very reasonable prices, this is the perfect present to make your little ones feel special!

I tried out the main remote along with steering wheel on my 5 year old step son. They were an instant hit. Setting up is the same process as with the normal size remotes. After hours of play, on Lego Star Wars no less, they performed very well. The only thing I noted whilst observing play, was the lack of connectivity when the batteries started to run low.

Overall, they were a big hit with the little one. You could clearly see the difference between usage of the remotes. For those with young childeren, I would say this is a must have. 8/10

Available for www.prezzybox.com

To follow on from the PokéPark Wii review, we have Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver to review. These titles are a remake of Pokémon Gold and Silver, the original successors to Red and Blue released on Game Boy Colour back in 2000. This year Nintendo went back to this title, and gave it a significant upgrade for re-release this year.

The first thing that’s noticeable about the game is it comes in a pretty big box for a DS game. That’s because it comes packaged with a new toy called the Pokéwalker. It’s a pedometer with infrared connection and LCD screen that allows you to transfer Pokémon on it (the cartridge has a small infared sensor too) and take them for a “walk”. The longer you walk the more watts you build up, which unlocks new routes and increases odds of encountering rarer items and Pokémon. You can catch Pokémon in a simplified battle mode, play a game of chance to get items and share items with other friends Pokéwalker’s. This doesn’t affect the game itself too much (items and Pokémon are instantly added to your bag and Pokémon storage box) but it’s a nice motivation to get walking. A number of routes include Pokémon that are harder to find in-game and a few with special moves too.

In addition to the Pokéwalker, this remake also brings back the walking Pokémon feature last seen in Pokémon Yellow. Any Pokémon that is in the top slot of your team can walk around Johto with you and can interact with things (via turning and talking to it to see how it’s feeling about things). This paired with the Pokéwalker and little touches make the game feel a bit more immersive. Instead of your Pokemon just being in battles you can interact a little with them (this will be included in the upcoming Black & White through use of an online hub).

The game itself stays pretty true to the original release. The story remains the same as you progress, but everything’s been given a large lick of paint and graphical upgrades, Johto looks even better this time around. There are changes to the game as subtle as weather effects in certain sectors of the game and more major additions like the Pokéatholon, Where Pokémon take part in several Olympic-style mini-games. The slots have also been traded in for a new mini game called Voltorb Flip, a minesweeper like game were the longer you play and keep winning, the more tokens you get. The prizes on offer in both games are available by other means if you dislike the games, but they are fairly solid distractions. The contests from Diamond, Pearl and Platimum do not appear here, which may please some players (though the dress up element remains for taking pictures). The Suicune legendary storyline from Pokemon Crystal is integrated into both titles too. The only differences between the 2 versions is a slightly different storyline, different Pokédex entries and Pokémon.

The battle mode is the same as it’s always been, with its turn based limited animation fighting. New animations are added to Pokémon encounters and some general tweaks are added to the system, but otherwise its business as usual. There’s generally a good mix of wild Pokémon to encounter in your travels and the level progression is pretty good, though the game suddenly makes it harder to level near the end of the Johto league. Once the Kanto region (where Red,Blue and Yellow took place) is unlocked, it’s a bit too true to its original form with wild Pokémon at lower levels, the only way to level up your league winning Pokemon is to battle trainers. It can turn the game into a rather large grinding session. If you can persevere with the harder levelling, there’s still plenty to explore.

If you remember the original Gold and Silver and it was your favourite of the series, or you’re a big Pokémon fan, this title will help tide by the months till Black and White appears. This particular entry isn’t likely to win over those critical of the series, but some of the ideas tested here make for a slightly more personal experience and hint at some curious new approaches to the series with upcoming releases.

With just days to go till the latest installment of Toy Story hits the UK theatres, you may not be surprised to find that hot on the tail of the films release is the video game. Licensed titles are always approached with caution, many of them can be rather cheap tie in’s with by the numbersplatforming or just overall charmless gameplay. On top of that its a multformat title and (as most Wii owners will testify) when it comes to games with multiple releases normally the Wii version of such titles tends to be the most disappointing.  However this one turns out to be a pleasant surprise.

Now it should be stressed to anyone considering picking up this title on Friday before seeing the movie next week, the games hub sets itself after the events of the movie, and as such,  just playing the game is a giant spoiler in general for the movie. Basically this game is designed for play after you’ve seen the film – its worth holding off as the levels tie into the movie in an interesting way without being a tired retelling of what you already saw. This review will be spoiler-free however.

The game offers 3 playable characters thoughout the game: Woody, Jessie, and Buzz. For the most part the characters are the same, though they have a few unique abilities or special areas only they can reach in the game. For example, only Woody can use his pullstring to swing across using hooks, and only Jessie can make super-precision jumps on certain objects like pins in a wall. Some levels allow for choices between the 3 and others will exclusively use a single character due to the story or location. There’s 2 main modes to play though – the traditional story mode which is your standard platforming romp or “Toy Box” mode – a “sandbox” mode with various large areas that players are welcome to roam and customise.

The story mode is pretty much what you expect it to be in terms of platformers. With all the run and jump action and mini-game action thats usually part and parcel of such titles. Along with the platforming there’s also puzzles and challanges to complete – this ranges from the usual collecting of items to more unusual things like guiding parachuting army men to targets. Graphically, the game is a little rough-looking due to the graphics being a port stepdown from the HD console versions, but it’s a small price to pay as the game itself is pretty much like it’s HD console brothers. One thing you might notice is that some voice actors reprise their roles from the movie, yet some of the main characters have different voice actors. For those not a fan of the voices, the playable characters thankfully dont quip too much. Additionally most of the music is based off the original soundtrack so it fits in with the feeling of the movie as well.

A nice aspect of the levels is that there’s a number of objectives to complete, and a certain amount of variation in each level, so its not just simply a case of jumping over obstacles and beating up baddies, theres various things you have to do before you can advance. The most impressive example of this is a level set in a child’s room, in which the child starts telling a story in voice-over, and all the things that they make up actually changes the level as you advance. The level seamlessly transitions from filling the bedroom with hazardous coffee-lava, and into blasting the toys into space. In addition, there’s a co-op mode for a friend to jump into the story. The nice thing about it is that the game allows players to work together without having to worry about lives – they just respawn at the nearest checkpoint if they get knocked out or fall, and the other player can get farther ahead for them in some cases

The only problem is that this mode is short, its about seven levels long and while they are quite big levels it’s easy to complete the game in just one sitting (as I did). Though the game is clearly aimed at a younger audience, it’s still more fun than other licensed children’s games. Players can always go back to collect the trading cards and tokens hidden in the levels if they wish… or they can move onto the much-hyped attraction of the game, the “Toy Box” mode.

This mode starts out with the Wild West town of Woody’s Round-up, and you’re asked to do tasks for various characters littered about the place. As you do these tasks, you get more characters and places in the Toy Box, and unlock more customizable options. You can change the look of the town or the outfits of the locals, you can collect items scattered all over the place, and you can even pick up and throw the townspeople just for fun (they won’t complain!). Theres plenty of challenges and missions to do and on top of that an achievements list for doing various things. Other areas are also accessible, like a Haunted Mansion or Enchanted Forest, and include a few bonus levels. While it’s not entirely customizable (buildings can only have paint schemes changed) it’s nice being able to run wild and do missions at will, and the noise the townsfolk make when thrown will put a smile on anyone’s face. Some of the fun things from the story mode are available too, like grinding rails and rideable Bullseye. There are only two major niggles for this section: there’s no co-op available for it (which is a shame, as story mode’s co-op is a lot of fun), and the costume-change missions can be troublesome if you get extra outfits early on, as you’ll have a massive amount of outfits you have to sort through to pick the right one

Overall, Toy Story 3 is a fairly fun family game with low thrills. It won’t win any awards for originality (though the Toy Box is a neat use of large gaming environments), and it’s not as long as the 60+ hour epics some gamers have come to expect, but what it lacks the game makes up for with buckets of charm that’ll leave most people with a warm fuzzy feeling without outstaying its welcome.