Saying goodbye to my 'City of Heroes'

With a heavy heart I am hanging up my cape.

Granted, it is not a voluntary action. "City of Heroes" is being shut down tonight. Unfairly I may add.
For seven years I have patrolled city streets, fought giant monsters and saved the world. It's also the longest relationship i've had with anything.

Being able to live out your imagination in a comic book world is an extrordinary thing. It is something i'll always cherish.

I've made great characters that will not go away when the servers go dark. Agent Donnell was my first role-playing character I made for a supergroup. Even years after quitting that group I still rp'd as him. He grew and so did I.

Flarearine was created out of a horrible situation. Years ago, my father went into a diabetic coma. I was tasked with staying at home and by the phone. With nothing else to do at 3 a.m. I created a fire/fire blaster. She ended up being my main character.

I just checked. I spent an amazing 1,275 hours (53 days!) playing as Flarearine. Slightly depressing, but you can see how much she meant to me. I could always depend on kicking ass and taking names with her.

"City of Heroes" wasn't just a game for me. It was there for me when I was at my lowest. When I needed a moment of clarity or a simple distraction, it was there for me.

Sure, I may have saved the world from a giant blob monster. But, I think "City of Heroes" actually saved me.

#SaveCOH

Choose your 'Destiny,' just not here

As in, this game sucks.

I'm a sucker for "X-Men" games. I'll go out of my way to play any and all of them. I still have a PS2 copy of "X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse" that I still play.

Which is probably why this stings more than it should.

I knew the game was coming out and I'd been checking local Redbox locations for the game. I finally found one about three miles from my work, so I woke up extra early to go down and get.

Then, of course, I sat at work all day just wanting to play it.

When I finally got home I shot putted the game right into my PS3 and gripped the controller like I was ready for action.

Too bad the game wasn't. It had to install a bunch of files first.

And when I say a bunch of files, I mean it literally took 30 minutes to do. That right there should have told me to power off and take the game back, but noooooo I love "X-Men" games too much.

So I waited. Finally after what seemed forever the game started.

And all I could think was "meh."

The graphics are bad. Not just bad, but if this was on a Playstation 2 people would still be complaining. I literally sat there thinking "people thought this looked good enough to sell?"

The plot is alright. The X-Men and humans are at a rally when all heck breaks loose. You choose one of three characters at the rally: a Japanese girl who is smuggled into the country and who's parents are mutants, a mutant hater and a jock that doesn't really care either way.

You see the chaos at the rally causes mutant powers to come out and your character must decide what to do. And another lame thing, you only get to choose from three powers: energy blasts, shadow swords or rock like armor.

I pick the best character plot wise, the mutant hater. This is where the game took another bad left turn. He accepts being a mutant WAY too fast. As a man who has been taught mutants are evil his entire life I thought it would take more than 10 minutes of game time to be pals with the X-Men.

The game makes a big deal about choices as well. At various points you can choose between working with the X-Men or the Brotherhood. But, there is no incentive to do either. I kept wishing for a third option where the guy tells both off and walks away.

At least the X-Men are cool, the Brotherhood doesn't come off as that at all.

Another notch against the game? You basically fight three groups of people... the entire game. It's literally mashing buttons like crazy against guys in red, then mashing buttons like crazy against guys in white. Then a boss.

And a majority of the boss battles are hilarious... in a bad way. There is really no challenge here. I think I took down 90 percent of the bosses in my first try, without blocking or anything.

But, Tim, you also get to fight alongside the X-Men or Brotherhood! That would be cool if you could tell what the heck is going on. Between the bad graphics and carpal tunnel inducing button mashing it's all a blur of ugly colors.

OK, the game does have a few shining spots. Mike Carey, who writes "X-Men Legacy" handles the script for the game and I'll give him credit for keeping the characters acting who they should be. Never once did I think "OK, Wolverine wouldn't do that."

Two of the boss battles were pretty cool. One you fight John Sublime who keeps injecting himself with powers until he is a giant. Then near the end you find a full sized Sentinal on top of a building.

And you can change costumes and secondary powers. This could have been cool, but there isn't enough there for me to care if my character's outfit looks like Wolverine.

My advice? Pass.

Video game ban: good idea?

So this happened the other day.

I don't think people should sell violent video games to kids, but I also don't think they should be in trouble legally if they do. It's not like they are selling them a weapon.

But the thing that bothered me the most about the Supreme Court ruling was this statement by Justice Scalia:

Unlike depictions of "sexual conduct," Scalia said there is no tradition in the United States of restricting children's access to depictions of violence, pointing out the violence in the original depiction of many popular children's fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella and Snow White.



Hansel and Gretel kill their captor by baking her in an oven, Cinderella's evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by doves and the evil queen in Snow White is forced to wear red hot slippers and dance until she is dead, Scalia said.

First of all, I never read or was read to, those versions of "Snow White" or "Cinderella." And even if kids are, those things are done in a way to teach a lesson to kids.

What lesson do kids learn from beating up and robbing a hooker in "Grand Theft Auto?" That it's her fault?

Or games like "God of War" where people get their heads ripped clean off.

Here's my favorite quote of his:

"Certainly the books we give children to read - or read to them when they are younger - contain no shortage of gore," Scalia added.


What the... what the heck kind of books was he reading as a kid? Good Lord. I don't ever remember reading that Freddy vs. Jason Golden Book. Or those awesome "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, but with the theme of "Saw IV."

In the end I think the stores should enforce these rules, but if things slip through the cracks then it's up to the parents to figure it out. Plus if a parent is dumb enough to buy "Saints Row" for their 9-year-old, then they need to be legally on the hook if that kid ever does something horrible.

E3 2011: Nintendo highlights

This morning Nintendo held its highly anticipated press conference. Everyone assumed the company would be announcing a new console, however, it shocked viewers by debuting its new controller, Wii U.

The controller looks like a small tablet with controls on the ends and a small screen in the middle. It works as an accompaniment to the Wii and offers backwards compatibility to other Nintendo hardware.


As a Wii owner I'm cautiously curious about how useful and simple the device will actually be.

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Wii U - E3 2011: Controller Debut Trailer (Stream), PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The company also announced the celebration of the 25th anniversary of "The Legend of Zelda" with new game "Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword."

Wii Games - E3 2011 - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Tim and I discussed how old we feel if "Zelda" is 25 years old. It was the first game that had saveable content and is the predecessor to modern role playing games. They had a orchestra on stage playing the soundtrack as images from the game were shown. It was a nice treat for long time fans.

And because it wouldn't be Nintendo without Mario, the company also debuted a 3-D version of "Mario Kart" for the 3DS.

3DS Games - E3 2011 - Mario Kart 3DS

E3 2011: Microsoft highlights

The first day of E3 press conferences started with Microsoft making major annoucements about their most popular titles.

"Madden '12"-Ray Lewis, Peyton Ellis and Clay Matthews (with the Lombardi trophy) appeared on stage in full gear following the trailer. I'm wondering if this is cool, considering current NFL labor situation. I don't get the excitement about "Madden" as it seems like the game stays the same, it just updates players.

"Dance Central 2"-As the most popular game on Kinect, it's no surprise that Harmonix made a sequel. It'll be interesting to see how multplayer element works, plus what songs will be added.

"Kinect Star Wars"-This is one of the games I'm most excited about. The game uses the Kinect system to turn players into actual Jedis. Gamers can use their bodies to fight in light saber battles and use force powers to move objects. The game takes place in the prequel trilogy timeline, beginning right after "The Phantom Menace" and ending with the events of "Revenge of the Sith."

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Kinect Star Wars - E3 2011: Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

"Kinect Disneyland Adventures"-The game takes players on various adventures throughout the theme park. It looks like a lame Wii game, but my love of all things Disneyland has me curious.

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Kinect Disneyland Adventures - E3 2011: Debut Trailer (Stream), PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The most addictive game ever

There's an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" called "The Game" where an alien captivates the crew with a puzzle game so it can take over the Enterprise. Everytime I play "Bejeweled 3" I think of that episode.

Hardcore gamers talk about marathon "Call of Duty" sessions where they lose a weekend to the game. However, there is no game out there more addictive than "Bejeweled."

I don't if it's the simplicity of it or the hypnotic nature of the jewels, but there is no such thing as a quick game of "Bejeweled."

Playing is relatively simple and involves lining up the same jewels in rows of three or more. The more jewels in a row, the more specialty jewels created. Plus, when several rows are made to create combinations, the game can get exciting.


"Bejeweled 3" has added a few updates from the previous edition, including graphics and fun versions of the classic game, like poker and lightning (the speed version). These additions have given the game a new feel and help it fit in with more modern games.

The game continues to infinte levels and high scores, there's no beating the game. It simply continues until there are no more moves. Players don't have to be avid gamers to play and that's one of the most appealing things about it.

It one of those games that you can turn your brain off and just play. It's great after a long stressful day.

Let me tell you something BROTHA!

"Wrestlemania" is less than a week away so I thought some blogs about wrestling would be a clever thing.

Especially considering it's not Stephanie who is writing them.

Other than "Wrestlemania," WWE also has something else big out this week: "WWE All Stars."

The new video game has the stars of today taking on the biggest stars of yesterday.

Yes, there are current stars like Rey Mysterio, Sheamus and Kofi Kingston alongside classics like Ricky Steamboat, Andre the Giant and The Ultimate Warrior.

It's just too bad the end result couldn't live up to the dream of what could have been.

Kind of like when WWE bought WCW 10 years ago (March 23 to be exact, nerdy!).

I played one version of the demo on the Playstation network and a different one on the XBox 360 at Best Buy.

Both were very "meh."

Stephanie and I both got a first look at this game back at E3 and even then we had some issues.

The first is the size of the characters. Each one looks like they've been on super steroids for years. Even little Rey Mysterio looks like a bodybuilder. And for a business that's always been troubled by talk of steroids... not the best idea to do.

Controls are basic enough, two sets of attacks and two sets of grapples. Nothing complex. But, that also means not a lot of variety.

The actions, much like the muscles, are also extremely exaggerated. For example, when Mysterio flings an opponent around, the other guy flies high into the air and spins around like crazy.

One side of the coin would say that's a cool thing. The other side is just reminded of this.

Overall, save your money. Don't even Redbox it.

Rent the last "Smackdown vs. Raw" game.

Mini-review: 'Marvel vs. Capcom 3'

Like with the Chris Jericho book, let me start by saying I love this franchise.

I've loved it since "X-Men vs. Street Fighter" way back in 1996!

Basically it takes two very popular franchises in themselves and has the characters fight each other. Players choose who they want to play and have at it.

Many people, myself included, will say that "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" is the best of the bunch. I even have the game on my Playstation 3 (it was only $10!).

Sad to say that "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" is still the best game of the franchise.

That's not to say "Marvel vs. Capcom 3" isn't good, but after waiting 10 years, nothing can make up for all the anticipation.

There is a loosely thrown together plot (I think), shown through cutscene videos. Heroes from each side fighting each other, like Deadpool and Dante and Chris Redfield and the Hulk. Eventually the bad guys are revealed, Dr. Doom/Wesker ("Resident Evil")/Magneto/Super Skrull etc.

I won't spoil the big bad, but he's BIG.

In all there are 36 playable characters on the disc (more to be downloadable). That is nowhere near the 56 on "Marvel vs. Capcom 2."

That is only the start of the problems.

Yes, they probably needed to cut back on characters to make up for the updated graphics, but I'm thinking people would rather have more characters than ultra-slick 3-D graphics.

I know I would.

But, another problem. Most of the characters here are from the previous games. Same exact moves and specials. I noticed that the addition of Jean Grey seems to be Psylocke from the previous games with slightly new stuff.

The new characters do rock though. Deadpool is fun and crazy, Amaterasu (the dog from "Okami") is a lot of fun to play.

Another issue is the controls. I am fully used to the mega popular controls and combos from "Street Fighter," but this game throws those out in favor of easier controls. Which kind of makes me feel like I'm cheating. Super powers are now just one button... crazy.

Without spoiling too much, the endings are also disappointing. They are basically around two drawings with some text.

Seriously.

A few of them are interesting as they merge the two universes. Arthur from "Ghouls and Ghosts" fights Fin Fang Foom, Zero gets some help from the Silver Surfer etc. You can YouTube these clips by the way. Just put the character's name and ending together.

If you can find it at a Redbox like I did, then rent it. But, do not drop $60 plus on it.

'Rock Band' Tuesday

It's time to open the shirt, let the chest hair flow and sing in your highest voice possible.

Oh, yeah that can only be one thing.

Bee Gees.

The brotherly trio has six of their greatest hits released today as downloadable content:

"Jive Talkin'"


"Night Fever"

"Stayin' Alive"

"Nights on Broadway"

"Tragedy"

"You Should Be Dancing"

I normally would skip a week like this, but I've had "Tragedy" stuck in my head all day long.

Great...

Great 'Rock Band' song week

Each week new songs are put out to be downloaded into the "Rock Band" games.
Usually I'm not so gung-ho about downloading a ton of songs.

At last count I have 27 downloaded songs. Three of those were free and a handful more were only $1.

Say in the past couple of months I have "purchased" two songs ("Poker Face" and "It's the End of the World As We Know It" by R.E.M. *had a free coupon*).

This week might just change that.

Not only are the pre-sale songs being released ("Blue Monday" by New Order, "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads and "My Own Summer" by The Deftones) but also a collection of Bon Jovi's "Greatest Hits."

"Bad Medicine"
"Blaze of Glory"
"Have a Nice Day"
"I'll Be There For You"
"Lay Your Hands on Me"
"It's My Life"
"Livin' on a Prayer"
"Runaway"
"Wanted Dead or Alive"
"We Weren't Born to Follow"
"Who Says You Can't Go Home"
"You Give Love a Bad Name"

Yes, some of those songs are already in previous games. They are actually re-releasing them with vocal harmonies and keyboard parts. You want to play the keys in "Livin' on a Prayer?" An extra $2.

Not that I'm complaining.

I am looking to pick up "Blue Monday," "It's My Life," "Livin' on a Prayer," "Runaway" and "We Weren't to Follow."

"It's My Life" is a great song, even though there is no Talk Box attachment for "Rock Band..." yet.

The entire Bon Jovi pack is 12 songs going for $19.99, which is almost $4 in savings. I just don't love the rest of the songs enough to spend the money.

Besides, dropping $10 in one sitting is enough.

E3 leftovers

As promised, here is Stephanie trying out the new Kinect game "Dance Central."



And so she's not along in embarrassment, here is me with the Nintendorks singing "The Power of Love."

Five songs that MUST be in 'Rock Band 3'

By now everyone has heard, read or saw how awesome "Rock Band 3" is going to be.

I personally got a first hand taste of awesomeness.

Just playing a few songs and falling in love with the keyboard got me thinking about what other songs should be included.

Harmonix announced 83 songs in the setlist and only released 22 so far, which leaves more than 60 to be debated and wished for.

And before anyone says anything Europe's "The Final Countdown" is on "Lego Rock Band."

One song I would just LOVE to see is Guns N' Roses "November Rain," but with all the drama I could see it not being included.

OK, so here are my top five picks in no paticular order:

1. Aha "Take on Me"



2. The Killers "Somebody Told Me"



3. Coldplay "Clocks"



4. Elton John "Tiny Dancer"



5. Meat Loaf "I Would Do Anything For Love"



What other songs should be included?

E3: Day 2-The Kinect isn't for clumsy people

One of the big stories from this year's E3 is Microsoft's new Kinect for the XBOX. After a demo at the Microsoft press conference, I wasn't impressed. Well today I got to play it myself and guess what, I'm still not impressed.

I played a dance game that made me feel woefully uncoordinated and a downhill racing game that defied the laws of gravity.

One of the main problems I found is that if you're a little clumsy or balanced challenged like me, then the Kinect will be extremely difficult to master.

During the dance game I transformed from someone who loves dancing and does it all the time into my mother who has two left feet and no semblance of rhythm.

I also tried out "Dance Central" on the Kinect, with the same results. I know what you're thinking. I'm clearly the problem, not the system. However, I'm awesome at "Dance Dance Revolution," so it's obviously not me.

Anyway, back to the Kinect. Next I tried out a racing game that required a lot of leaning and jumping. And I mean a lot of leaning. The system did not measure small movements, so I had to really lean into the game to register a change.

While I did feel like I'd had a good workout, the experience wasn't fun and isn't that supposed to be the whole point of video games.

So, while it may be the future of gaming, the Kinect is not for the uncoordinated or clumsy.

E3: Day 2-I'm a rock star

As a really bad gamer, the only games I have any ability at are music games like "Rock Band." Harmonix and MTV Games have come to my rescue with "Rock Band 3," the latest in its blockbuster franchise.

The big news for this new edition is that it features keyboards, which is something that no music game has tackled yet. They have also updated it to include a pro element, so that all the time spent playing "Rock Band" can result in learning a musical instrument.

Other new elements include, individual players being able to drop out or join in, three part harmony and the ability to make a setlist on your computer and send it to your game console.

Players also have the ability to play bass on the keyboard or vice versa.

Playing the actual game didn't feel much different than it did before, but the song choices were broader with the added keyboards. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen has been a popular choice. Other songs include, "Break on Through to the Other Side" by The Doors and "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure.

There was also a demo of "Green Day: Rock Band," which features a lot of their newer songs, and while fun, wasn't different from playing a regular "Rock Band" game.

MTV Games also introduced its new dance game, "Dance Central" for the Kinect. In this game the player mimics the dance moves on the screen, which are set to popular hits like "Poker Face" and "Funkytown."

Of all the dancing games previewed this week, "Dance Central" was definitely the most fun. However, using the Kinect will require a little practice and a certain amount of coordination.

The MTV games booth has so far provided the most fun and featured games that I would actually want to play at home.

E3: Day 1 Photos

This is the "Karaoke Revolution: Glee" booth, where I joined New Directions and sang "Gold Digger." If you're a fan of the show the game will be a lot of fun.


Microsoft has several demos set up of the Kinect. Here an attendee enjoys bowling on Kinect sports.

This is the chaos that took place when the doors opened.

E3: Day 1 in the South Hall

Since Tim is a far more proficient gamer than myself, I can't really demo difficult games like "Assassin's Creed" or "Metal Gear Solid." However, what I will do is preview games that are family-oriented and easy to pick up.

Walking into the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center was like walking into a 12 year old boy's dream. Everywhere you turn there are all manner of games to play.

You may recall that I wasn't impressed with the demo from yesterday's press conference. Upon watching people experience it live, my opinion hasn't changed. The sports game featured someone bowling and if I hadn't known better I would assume they were playing a Wii.

"Dance Central," from the makers of "Rock Band," could be fun but you really have to have a little rhythm to start with. Those with two left feet will find this game challenging at any level.

Finding the Kinect area too crowded I headed over to "Def Jam Rapstar" which had me showing off my mad rhymin' skills as I posted a very good score on Snoop and Dre's classic "Nothin' but a G Thang."

This game is scheduled for release on Oct. 5 on all platforms and will be $69 for XBOX and Playstation and $59 for Wii. While it has all the usual elements you would expect from a karaoke style game, "Rapstar" does offer a few differences.

For example, players can rap as a duet, in battle mode or for the really adventurous they can try freestyle mode, where players use their own lyrics over instrumental versions of the playlist.

This game is made for a party, it provides all the fun of "Rock Band," but with a hip-hop appeal. There is also the added element that players can make a video of themselves and upload it to the Def Jam site. "Rapstar" was a lot of fun and I definitely need to go back and rock some Notorious B.I.G.

Next door to "Rapstar" was "Karaoke Revolution: Glee" for the Wii. It is basically a karaoke game that uses the best numbers from season one of the hit FOX show. While fun for fans of the show, if you're not familiar with the show's arrangement of a song it can be difficult to follow along, as the "Glee" cheerleader singing with me found out.

Finally, I hit up the Disney booth and played a racing game based on the "Cars" shorts featuring Mater. It took me a minute to get the hang of playing on a Wii, but once I did I could see how kids would really love racing along as their favorite "Cars" character or creating their own.

So Day 1 is almost over for me, I'm exhausted and haven't even hit up the West Hall yet. Who knew video games were so grueling?

Tomorrow "Rock Band 3."

E3: Microsoft

Earlier this morning, Microsoft held its E3 press conference. The studio responsible for the XBOX previewed several new games including, "Halo: Reach," "Gears of War 3" and "Metal Gear Solid: Rising."

However, a majority of the event focused on the new Kinect, which was formerly known as Project Natal. Kinect is a system that enables players to let go of the controller and use their entire bodies during gameplay. Demos featured track and field on a sports game, a racing game and a animal game where a little girl played with a tiger, like it was her pet.

Unfortunately, once you get past the bells and whistles, nothing about Kinect seemed especially impressive. Of course, watching a demo and playing are completely different experiences, so once there is a playable demo, I may feel differently.

However, right now, I'm unimpressed with Kinect and its games. It just looked like a Wii, but not quite as fun. Kinect is set to be released on Nov. 4.

Probably, the biggest announcement came when the new XBOX was unveiled. The new version will have a 250GB hard drive, be Wi-fi ready and is slimmer than previous consoles. The new XBOX ships today and will be available later this week for the same price of $299.

The strange world of sequels

In the movie world it is commonly known that a sequel can suck. There are so many examples that my hands would bleed from typing them all out. I will quickly mention "Scream 2" though. Or "Transformers 2."

Sorry, the door was open, I had to!

But, in the world of video games sequels are supposed to rock. "Halo 2," "Street Fighter 2," "Resident Evil 2," "Super Mario Bros. 2" and "WWF: No Mercy" (Holy crap, did that game rock back in the day.)

Then what in the blue hell happened with "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2"?

I loved the first one. Like addicted-ly loved it. I must have played that straight through a couple of times. Everything was good; the graphics, the characters, the cut scenes, the voice acting.

Man, what a game.

Then a new company took over.

And all hell broke loose.

I ran out to Best Buy and put down $29.99 for the PS2 version when it came out a few weeks ago. And, within minutes, wanted to either cry or break the friggin' game.

Let's break it down:

The graphics - If the graphics in the first game were good, then why are they bad in this one? Shouldn't they have the same program from the first one? All you need to do is IMPROVE it then, not take several steps back. But, that seems to be a lingering thread here.

The characters - Out of all the "new" characters in the game, you really only get 5-6 new ones. The rest are leftovers from the old game or its predecessor "X-men Legends." And for those who don't believe me then really just compare Jean Grey and Invisible Woman. All of the other characters are from the old games! And with the same powers. Plus, I found some sort of weird bug with Green Goblin which caused him to not have any power to use any of his powers.

The cut scenes - Where the first "Ultimate Alliance" had great cut scenes, I could watch that opening cut scene over and over, this one? Not so much. Most of them are like crude drawings that show us what is going on. Like they ran out of money and memory to do good ones.

The voice acting - Is beyond bad, when it's there. There are a lot of points when one side would talk and another character would just be text.

It is a horrible excuse of a game with a ton of glitches and bugs. Save the three citizens and still can't continue on? Well, just reload the level a couple of times. And don't get me started on the Auto Save "feature" or as I like to call it "The Let's-Make-Tim-Pissed" feature.

Save your money and then be mad at NSpace. Of course... they also made the "Hannah Montana" video game.

A good way to explain the 'Star Trek' alternate timeline

Cryptic Studios is currently working on a massively multi-player online roleplaying game for the "Star Trek" franchise that takes place more than 30 years after the last episode of "Voyager."

Part of the making the game includes keeping the timeline that "Star Trek" has made. So everything that happened in the original series, next generation, etc. happened in this game.

As well as Nero's home planet of Romulus being destroyed.

As we, tried to, explain in a previous episode of "Viewpoints On..." Nero and Spock didn't go back in time to alter the original timeline. They went back in time AND into an alternate universe.

Well, the makers of the game made a nice, fancy chart to fully explain things a lot better than Stephanie or I could.

http://www.startrekonline.com/startrek_xi

E3 2009: Hands-on 'Super Mario Bros.' Wii

At this year's E3, Nintendo unveiled its latest console Mario effort -- "Super Mario Bros. Wii." The latest Mario outing comes in the form of a four-player co-op experience, not unlike Media Molecule's 2008 hit, "LittleBigPlanet."

At E3, I had the chance to play a couple of the game's levels. I wasn't blown away, but I did walk away looking forward to getting my hands on the full game.

"Super Mario Bros. Wii," as its title implies, is a 2D sidescroller for the Wii. However, considering that up to four can play together simultaneously, this installment plays a little differently than past Mario Bros. games. The best way to describe the game is that it feels very similar to "LittleBigPlanet" -- only it's a Mario game.

On hand at E3 were 10 different stages. Not all of them employed significant co-op elements, but some did. For instance, in one stage, some players traverse an underwater cave while one player uses a search light to illuminate the area. The level is infested with enemies, so without the light, players won't last long. Obviously, the level requires that players work together to complete it.

However, in other levels, very little co-operative play is required to progress. In these stages, "Super Mario Bros. Wii" feels just like any other Mario Bros. game -- only there are four characters running around. Both in levels where playing cooperatively and levels where there's very little cooperation required, it's often more fun to work against your team mates. While the game is oriented around working together, it definitely has a competitive component to it. After all, the player with the most points at the end of the stage is declared the winner.

As a result, "Super Mario Bros. Wii" features a chaotic but fun combination of cooperative and competitive gameplay. For instance, at one point during my hands-on time with the game, I helped one of my team mates respawn by freeing them from a bubble, only to have that player immediately betray me. While I was jumping over a chasm, he jumped on my head, sending me straight into the pit. Why did he do that? No particular reason, other than it was funny (for him).
While Nintendo's latest Mario Bros. game is admittedly a fun four-player experience, at least some of the Mario Bros. experience doesn't translate to multiplayer. For me, at least part of what made past Mario Bros. games so much fun was trying to speed through levels as quickly as possible. However, that's not something you can really do in "Super Mario Bros. Wii." The Wii version is fundamentally slower, thanks to the addition of other players.

From my playtime with the game, "Super Mario Bros. Wii" seems to be an enjoyable and considerably unique addition to the Mario Bros. series. Essentially, it's a "LittleBigPlanet-style" refresh to the series, and while it's not really a very impressive game, it's hard not to have fun playing the game. I definitely look forward to playing more when it hits store shelves this fall.