What do we do when we're bored? We make lists! At least that's what Games Radar has done on this occasion, and man oh man is this one a barrel of laughs. I'll leave you guys with a small part of what you can expect to read.
Oh MadWorld. MadWorld, MadWorld, MadWorld... hardcore gamers had such high hopes for you at the beginning of 2009. One of the first games to be announced by Platinum Games, a company that included many of the same people who made perennial critics-darling Okami, it would be published by Sega with some real hype behind it. And it was not only visually striking, with its color scale of black, white and red, but also insanely, satisfyingly violent. How could it go wrong?
Well, from a critical standpoint, it didn't. Sure, the murderous action got slightly repetitive, the announcers were incredibly crass and regrettably unfunny, and it occasionally had some less-than-sensitive portrayals of other races. Yet it was still a remarkable game that offered lots of varied ideas on how and where to kill people, took full advantage of the system's waggly strengths and used a look that ably hid its graphical weaknesses. But again, it was a situation of the sales not really happening for this hard-edged game, the second strikeout this year for Sega on the Wii.
Eclipsed by: All-Star Cheer Squad 2 & We Cheer 2
While the Wii's install base (estimated at 700 billion) isn't enough to support an insanely violent adventure, it's apparently strong enough for not one, but TWO cheerleading sequels in 2009. Not unlike the long-standing sales rivalry between NBA 2K and NBA Live, the All-Star Cheer Squad and We Cheer franchises battle over that fat pom-pom dollar. Do Wii have spirit? Yes, sadly, “Wii” do, even if “we” don't.
Above: We dare you to guess which of the two this is
I gotta tell you guys, we all thought the scenario Crystal Bearers and Final Fantasy XIII releasing so close to each other in japan would be trouble for the Wii exclusive former, who couldn't stand up to the great appeal of it's long-in-development cousin, even though it carries the same name. This however, is a situation in a league of its own. Good sweet lord... to be eclipsed by a game that wasn't released internationally, and hit retail over six months after, that just goes beyond the line there. SEGA must be pretty upset with THQ huh?
And look everybody!! We can all stop theorizing about why Deadly Creatures drowned at retail. It wasn't because people were put off from the concept of playing as fatal insects or lack of advertising or anything, it was because they all saved their cash for 8 months in anticipation for the release of Cars Race-O-Rama! Well thats that ten month old mystery put to rest.
Oh one last thing, can one of you guys tell Henry Gilbert, bold writer of this article to take Muramasa off that list on your way out? Kthx. Last i checked, that game did fairly well at retail.
How technical is your game?
