Super Mario Maker

Platform: Nintendo Wii U

Platform Reviewed: Nintendo Wii U

Genre: Creative Platformer

Release Date: September 11, 2015

Date Reviewed: September 18, 2015

       Super Mario Maker is exclusive to the Nintendo Wii U. Super Mario Maker allows users to create, download, and play user created levels made by the community. The game starts off with a very minimum amount of items you are able to use to create your levels. The amount of things a person can create is endless. With a recent patch you do not have to wait for the full 9 days to unlock all of the content. The more you create, the more things you will unlock. Or do it the cheap way and spam blocks endlessly until you unlock all the content OR just move the clock forward day by day. Either way everything will eventually be unlocked.

The Creation Screen!

       There are four different version of Mario you can create with. First is Super Mario Bros for the NES. There is also Super Mario 3, Super Mario World, and "NEW" Super Mario Bros. U. By default you get Super Mario Bros. and "NEW" Super Mario Bros. U. You acquire the other two by unlocking them. How the creation process works is you select what type of Mario world you would like to create in. From there you slowly start to build your level by using the tools provided on the top of the screen. Everything imaginable is provided for you with some really cool unique twists. For example you can have multiple Bowser's stacked on each other, you can super-size any item or enemy with a mushroom, you can add customer sound effects to anything, you can make bullet bill cannons shoot super stars or springs, the possibilities are endless it seems. At first you are only able to upload 10 creations online for other players to play. In order to unlock more you need other players to "star" your creations. You get 50 stars you will earn a second coin which will allow you to upload 20 levels. So make sure they are quality levels!

You can do anything!

       If you are the type of person who would rather play custom creations and not create then there is a mode for you as well. You can start by playing 10 Mario Challenge which are all custom Nintendo made levels. If you beat all of them you will unlock the levels they played at the Nintendo World Champions. Once you complete that you can try the 100-Mario Challenge which provides the player with 100 lives. The player has a choice to either play on easy, normal, or expert. They all give you 100 lives so choose which is best for your skill level. Once the player completes one you are able to unlock 100 random costumes which you can use in the original Super Mario Bros. as pixelated costumes. There is one other mode you can choose from and that is Makers. In this mode you can pick which levels you want to play based on categories such as Up and Coming, Most Starred, and Featured. In here the player will be able to pick levels of interest and try to complete them. You also have the option of downloading the levels for yourself.

So much Unlockables!

       Super Mario Maker is great at what it offers and allows you to do. The really only complaint I would make about Mario Maker is the fact that some of the random levels you play should not belong on certain playlists. For example you might be playing on Expert mode and receive an auto level where you don't have to press a single button to complete the lever. Another example might be the over the top levels where everything is a troll or there are tons of enemies stacked upon each other. A lot of annoyances but I believe it will get better once more people play these levels and they get put into their respective skill levels. Overall Super Mario Maker is a ton of fun and is highly recommended to anyone who owns a Nintendo Wii U.

Overall Score:

9.5/10

Must Own!

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Chariot

Platform: Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, PS4, PC

Platform Reviewed for: Nintendo Wii U

Genre: Puzzle Plat-former

Release Date: January 8th, 2015 (Wii U), September 30th, 2014 (XB1, PS4, PC)

Date Reviewed: January 8th, 2015

       Chariot is a puzzle plat-former where the goal is to pull, push and guide a Chariot around each level collection treasure and special items. Each level get increasingly harder and longer with challenges on each level as you complete them. After your first run though a level you unlock additional modes and areas for that same level. After the completion of a level you also acquire gold from all of the treasure you have collected overall. You use this gold to purchase upgrades and new items to make your adventure a little easier but to also over come new obstacles in the later levels. Chariot is a well lengthened game that you can spend hours upon hours on unlocking everything and even just going through each level. Each level is a minimum of 15 minutes or longer if you aren't rushing through it. Collect as much treasure as possible because you will need the gold.

"Papercuts Scare me to Death!"

       Chariot is a very pleasing game with lots of humour, and adventures. The big selling point of this game is the cooperative play. Chariot makes it so that if you play with a friend you can overcome even more challenges and get more rewards for your efforts. Chariot is designed for cooperative play. You are obviously able to play solo but it is much more enjoyable with a friend. With cooperative play there are challenges that you and a friend are able to do. If you do these challenges you are able to get diamonds which gives you a lot of gold. It is well worth the frustration sometimes.

Co-op is great in Chariot!

       Chariot is a very beautiful game visually with tons of colors, unique art work, beautiful environments and even other NPC's. Each level has it's own unique look and feel to it. The character models and animations are extremely well done and really captures each of the characters personality. Chariot's soundtrack is top notch as well. Again, each zone has their own unique music and sounds which really sets the mood for each zone.

       In Conclusion Chariot is a must own indie developed game. What I love most about the Wii U version of the game is obviously the tablet feature where you are able to have one person play on the TV and the other play on the tablet anywhere in the house. The one thing I do wish they would have done is add more features with the tablet for in game. Maybe even something small such as interacting with the environment with your finger. If you are looking for a good sit down cooperative game Chariot is perfect for that.

Overall Rating:

9.0/10

Must Own!

Mario Kart 8.

Console: Nintendo Wii U

Genre: Kart Racing

Release Date: May 30th, 2014

Date Reviewed: June 20th, 2014

I’ve been a big fan of the entire Mario Kart series since the very first one on the SNES. I have played and owned all of them at some point. I even enjoyed Mario Kart: Double Dash immensely for the Nintendo Gamecube. I just recently bought a Wii U to add to my collection and decided to buy the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition. I to this day love my new Wii U and the games I have for it. Enjoy the review!

Gameplay:

Mario Kart 8 (MK8) is a breath of fresh air to the series. The very first Mario Kart game to be HD on the big screen! MK8 plays like any other Mario Kart game. There is a great new mechanic in MK8 that adds a “WOW” factor to the races. The new mechanic is anti-gravity. With this mechanic you can basically race in any direction! You drive upside down, around in loops, etc… This adds new dynamic to the Mario Kart. With this new mechanic they can create new and refreshing courses to future Mario Kart games. Even with Mario Kart 8, these courses are really enjoyable. MK8 also offers some new items to use against other racers. One of these new items is the boomerang. Using this item allows you to, you guessed it, throw a boomerang ahead or behind you and it comes right back to you. You can throw the boomerang up to 3 times in front of you or behind you. When you throw it, the boomerang will go ahead and then circle back to you allowing you to throw it again. Very handy item if you have the accuracy to use it like the green shell. Another new item added to the game is the “8” item. When you use this you will get 8 items that circle around you. Some of these items include a star, a bomb omb, a banana and a green shell. Whichever item is in front of you circling, you will use that item first.

Anti Gravity is the new Mechanic.

Coins make their way back into MK8 as well. These coins will help you unlock new karts, wheels, and parasails. There are a lot to unlock with these coins so make sure you collect them. You can collect up to 10 per race. Drift boosting also makes a return to MK8 but it is much easier to do this time around. Simply press and hold the right of left trigger to drift and continue to hold it to get a boost when you let go of it. There are also many different characters that you can unlock in MK8. Unlocking characters is extremely easy. By completing courses and earning cups you will always unlock a random character. Some of these characters include Rosalina, Toadette, and all of the Koopa Kids. The Wii U tablet can be used as a controller or can be used as a secondary screen which displays the race track and all of the racers. The same modes are back as well including Grand Prix, Versus, Time Trials, and Battle. All of these can be played online while Time Trials gives you uploaded ghost data to race against.

Online racing in MK8 is fantastic. The Wii version had a lot of lag issues while racing online. MK8 puts you up against 11 other people per race and I have not experienced any lagging or hiccups in my connection while racing. If you need something to do besides earning trophies in Grand Prix then give the online modes a try. It is great if you are racing competitively or just for fun. You start off with 1000 points and depending how well you do you will earn a certain amount of points. But if you’re coming in 10^th, 11^th, or 12^th all of the time then you will slowly start to lose points. It’s a good system especially if you are very good at the game. What I mean by that is Nintendo tries to promote “just have fun” feel online instead of “you have 18 losses and 2 wins, you suck”. This way people don’t really care and race to have fun. At the time of this review my score is at 1600.

Awesome character Roster.

Overall reaction for MK8 has been very positive for me. I am still having a lot of fun with the game just by racing online and with communities I know and enjoy playing with. I am very happy that you are able to join communities to play with your friends, live streamers, youtubers, etc… MK8 is very fun, beautiful, fast paced and cheerful as it always has been. This is a great edition to the series and probably one of the best since Mario Kart: 64.

Graphics/Visuals:

MK8 is the first Mario Kart game to enter the HD market with Wii U being able to do so now. The characters look so good; all of them have received a major HD upgrade. The character animations are very good as well. The biggest thing you will notice when playing MK8 are the environments of the courses. I have caught myself multiple times not paying attention to the races themselves because I was just amazed by the environment. They are very colorful, detailed and look outstanding.  The visual effects are extremely well done and the game runs incredibly smooth. No lag, no frame drops, just smooth gameplay all the way through.

Soundtrack/Music:

The second you load up MK8 the music starts up. The menu music is fast paced and sounds great. Gets your adrenaline going. The menu music has a nice rock feeling to it with small sections with an electric guitar. Compared to MK7, the music in MK8 is much much better. The new courses are no remixed versions of older tracks. All music in the new tracks is brand new editions to the series. The music in the older tracks from previous games are the same obviously but sound so much better and updated to today’s standards.

Menu music is sooooooooooo good.

Final Thoughts:

MK8 is a breath of fresh air. Yes it remains to be basically the same as the previous games but the game has been amped up to HD quality with a brand new anti-gravity mechanic that adds a lot to the game itself. With the amazing quality, to great online play MK8 is definitely a breath of fresh air. You will enjoy this game immensely with endless game play. I highly recommend this game to everyone.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

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