NASCAR Kart Racing

Football has two sides of gaming: simulation and arcade. You can buy Madden or Street/Blitz. Same with soccer, hockey, basketball and baseball. NASCAR racing, on the other hand, has been stuck in the same genre of racing since the first NASCAR game was made. EA has pushed the series back and forth between the sim and arcade styles of play, but it’s typically the same game tucked underneath.

NASCAR Kart Racing is the first true step away from NASCAR’s traditional boundaries. At first glance, you’ll mistake it for Mario Kart 64. Upon playing it, you’d swear it was from before MK64’s generation. And after seeing the power-ups – which include heat-seeking rockets, oil spills and sticks of dynamite – few will think this is a NASCAR game.

Mechanically, everything you see and experience in NASCAR Kart Racing has an unavoidable “been there, done that” element attached. The controls are predictable, using the Wii remote by itself (and Wii Wheel for better balance), the Wii remote and nunchuk, or the GameCube controller. Up to four can race simultaneously, power-ups are dispersed frequently via highly visible icons, and the courses, while interesting for their architecture, are by no means groundbreaking.

This, and the unexpectedly easy race events, is where NASCAR Kart Racing could slip away from the older Mario Kart-loving crowd. Younger gamers, however, will be quite pleased with what the game has accomplished. For starters, the controls are just slightly below the quality of the Mario Kart games. That says a lot for the programming and QA job, which seems to fall short with every other developer. Sharp turns are easy to pull off, especially with the Wii remote-only controls. Unless you’re being carless, it’s almost impossible to fall off the side of a track. (Just like Mario Kart, some of the courses are suspended in air.)

The gameplay is not overly quick but is at about the speed you’d expect for a kart racer. On certain courses, particularly the city race and industrial environment, the speed feels greater because of the varied background visuals. Speed boosts do not increase the sensation as much as you’ll wish, but they are a significant part of every race. Each event, whether a single or multi-race competition, begins with the selection of two NASCAR drivers. Since the AI is very lenient, your driver and teammate choices do not matter as much as they do in other racing games. Slide, zone, grind and boost are measured in colored icon points and are the only stats available.

When going solo against the AI, players control the first driver and the computer controls the other as your teammate. Teammates don’t do much on their own but always manage to catch up or fall back to the player’s slot in the race. Which is lucky for the player, because you won’t earn a speed boost without getting “in the zone” (drive within close proximity to your teammate). The zone is indicated by what appears to be an electrical shockwave that runs from you to your teammate. Stay within the zone for a few seconds – the time varies depending on your driver’s stat ratings – and you’ll gain a speed boost. But if the zone is broken (if you get too far away from your teammate) before the current boost is filled, that boost will be lost.

Up to three boosts may be earned and stored at one time. Boosts are useful at any point in a race, but they are potentially most effective when you’re still inside the zone. That’s because boosting can create a slingshot effect; if your teammate is in front and you boost, you’ll slingshot ahead. The opposite is also true. For every consecutive slingshot, the slingshot numbers begin to add up, all the way to a maximum slingshot of four. The meaning of these numbers, however, isn’t quite clear, since the speed boosts do not seem to be any more effective as they multiply. But if you are successful in getting a max slingshot, you’ll also earn several additional boosts, which may be the benefit the game is trying to convey.

NASCAR Kart Racing includes 12 different courses, but with many more championships offered, you’ll race each course multiple times before the end. These rehashed moments are occasionally enhanced with the addition of a time trial event (drive more than the set number of feet within the time limit) or a track reversal that is exactly as it sounds.

This isn’t a long racing game or one that will challenge the best of your racing skills. But it provides enough entertainment – decent tracks, solid controls, functional power-ups – to satisfy the needs of the under 12 crowd.

Gameplay: 7.0
Mario Kart with another license. The game is shorter, easier and more repetitive than the MK titles, but most of the power-ups and control styles are the same, and the race mechanics are very similar.

Graphics: 2.0
The background architecture is decent, but don't be fooled by the strategically angled screenshots: NASCAR Kart Racing's washed-out visuals are below the quality of an N64 launch title.

Sound: 3.0
While the gameplay sounds are pretty basic, the voice-overs are downright laughable. Instead of hiring some actors to describe the forthcoming race, the game includes an indecipherable voice track that can only be described as a series of excited utterances. Without any way to understand their mumbling, the descriptions are provided on screen with text.

Difficulty: Easy
This game makes Mario Kart seem very, very difficult.

Concept: 6.0
Nothing fresh or entirely new; just a solid clone of a beloved kart racing franchise.

Multiplayer: 7.5
NASCAR Kart Racing's long-term fun is found within its four-player split-screen racing.

Overall: 7.3
It won’t blow the minds of anyone expecting a true NASCAR or Mario Kart experience. But if you enjoy the latter and want a fun clone of that franchise, NASCAR Kart Racing is one of the best made for Wii.

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If you’re a gamer, you’d have to have been living under a rock to have never heard of the Halo franchise. The flagship series behind Microsoft’s console efforts, Bungie’s Halo series has been among the most successful across two different console generations, first appearing on the original Xbox before finishing the fight on the Xbox 360 2007’s Halo 3 marked the end of the initial Halo trilogy of games, as well as provided a bookend to the adventures of the Master Chief, leaving many gamers to wonder what the future had in store for the hallowed franchise.

Fortunately for Halo fans, Microsoft is not one to rest on their laurels, as 2009 is set to bear not one but two titles from the Halo universe, including a standalone expansion titled Halo 3: ODST launching this fall and a new prequel set before the events of the first Halo title, Halo Wars. However, in a departure from the previous titles in the Halo series, Halo Wars is a real-time strategy game instead of an action title, giving players the opportunity to command several units across the game map from a top-down perspective instead of a first-person one. While consoles and strategy games have seldom mixed in the past, developer Ensemble Studios (the highly-capable team behind the great Age of Empires games on the PC) has taken great strides to make sure that Halo Wars lives up to the Halo name, providing tons of action while staying pretty accessible for gamers of all skill levels.

Halo Wars takes place roughly twenty years before the events of the very first game in the series. Without giving anything away, the storyline and characters in Halo Wars are as deep as anything a fan of the series would hope for, revealing plenty of plot twists and elements from the series, as well as some pretty big revelations here and there.

As far as the actual mechanics of the gameplay, Halo Wars is a lot more action-oriented than most PC RTS titles. You won’t spend a lot of time building up your structures and units, as you’ll instead focus more on exploring the sections of the map and eliminating the threat of your enemies.

While Halo Wars does seem to focus more on the action element of things, there are still some pretty substantial unit creation functions. You’re able to create new structures and buildings capable of improving your current technology as well as build units as you play. The game also employs the use of Hero units that have special abilities and functions, setting them apart from other units on the map.

One of the elements that seem to be a hotbed for frustration when it comes to console RTS games are the controls. While several games in the genre have taken great strides to make the experience comfortable and accessible, none have come close to matching the mouse/keyboard configuration on the PC. Halo Wars also puts its own unique spin on controls, and while it still doesn’t quite hit the mark to matching the overall comfort of PC strategy games, it comes pretty darn close.

The controls in Halo Wars are quite solid and benefit from being built from the ground up for console gaming. The thumbsticks allow you to look around the map and zoom in on your units, while the A button is used to select units that are highlighted by your cursor. The X button is your main interaction button, allowing you to move units around the map and interact with other units or attack enemies with your primary attack function. Pressing Y when targeting an enemy unit allows you to perform a secondary attack function, like throw grenades or run enemies over if you’re in a Warthog. The secondary attack function is a nice addition that helps keep the game in its action roots while still making it deep and compelling for hardcore strategy fans.

Additionally, aside from the basic functions of the face buttons, the game also streamlines the controls to allow you to select the units you want a lot more easily. Using the bumper buttons, you can select all of your units or all of the units currently on-screen with a simple button push, or you can use the right trigger to switch between different unit types. Additionally, the D-Pad is used to utilize any Heroes that you may have, using their special abilities, as well as cycling through your Bases, Armies and any Alerts that may come up. Halo Wars uses every button on the controller, but fortunately never feels overwhelming or cluttered.

The game also features some cool online abilities, allowing players to participate in six-player skirmishes over Xbox LIVE. Online, you can play as either UNSC or Covenant forces, utilizing each of their respective technological advances and specialized units.

Graphically, Halo Wars is a pretty solid looking game. The unit models are nicely rendered and take on realistic damage as they see combat, and the environments are colorful and feature some great details that fans of Halo games will get a kick out of. The one main issue with the game’s aesthetic are the framerates, which can be very choppy when the action is in high gear.

The game’s soundtrack is very well done, with a great score that punctuates the on-screen action very well. The sound effects are crisp and the voice work is also spot on.

While PC gamers and hardcore RTS enthusiasts probably won’t be able to see what all of the fuss around Halo Wars is about since their platform has put out much more groundbreaking RTS titles in the past few years, console gamers and Halo fans who have yet to experience a truly great RTS game on a console will now have their chance.

Review Scoring Details for Halo Wars

Gameplay: 9.0
A highly action-oriented RTS game, Halo Wars gets huge props for creating a control scheme that proves that RTS games can be done comfortably and intuitively on a console.

Graphics: 8.0
The game features some pretty cool effects and brightly colorful environments, and the unit models take on some impressive amounts of damage. Unfortunately, the choppy framerates are a problem when the action gets hairy.

Sound: 9.5
The soundtrack is on par with the rest of the Halo games, which is a big compliment. The voice work is also great and the sound effects are appropriately huge.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.5
Halo Wars is a great entry to the series, and also introduces a lot of story elements that provide some great insight to the Halo universe.

Multiplayer: 9.0
The 6-player skirmishes that allow you to choose between Covenant and UNSC are a great touch and a lot of fun online.

Overall: 9.0
A solid RTS on the Xbox 360 Halo Wars may not break the mold, but it does provide an impressive entry to the series and one that finally makes the genre feel at home on a console.

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Evolving Dragonball: Namco Bandai's Bryant Green Talks Dragonball: Evolution

“There will be some classics familiar to the Dragonball fans, as well a whole mess of new special moves that are not only Dragonball: Evolution-specific, but are exclusive to our particular game!”

The Dragonball series has seen many evolutions. From anime to toys to video games and a ridiculous number of branded merchandise, Dragonball is all but inescapable. Though the long-running Dragonball and DBZ series are no longer leading the airwaves, their characters, stories and unique battles still enthrall millions of fans all over the world.

This spring, Dragonball will have the chance to expand its audience even further with Dragonball: Evolution, a live-action adaptation of the popular franchise. Evolution is also being turned into a fighting game for PSP. "The characters in our game, which follows the film story exclusively, will take on their film personas," said Bryant Green, Assistant Localization Producer. "Dragonball: Evolution was designed from the beginning with the idea of bringing such a classic story to life through film, and in our [Namco Bandai’s] case, this is expressed through a PSP game, based on the Fox theatrical interpretation of the Dragonball story.

"While the characters do not have their classic anime appearance, fans of the series will hopefully be delighted to find that many of the character traits that made them so endearing in the animated series are present in their on-screen (and of course in-game) personas as well."

With Dragonball: Evolution being the first live-action DB movie, the famed franchise is about to enter a new chapter. What does this mean for the DB game series and the way it will evolve?

Bryant Green: I think that the Dragonball game series will continue to evolve in a fashion similar to how we’ve seen it progress thus far. However, with the new film and film-based game coming out, I think that we will see a rise in interest from a larger cross-section of the public that may have not been aware of the series and its popularity. Our new game and certainly the film will provide an opportunity for new fans (and all of our existing fans, of course) to experience the excitement of the Dragonball storyline in a different context, live action, and I think that this sort of ‘evolution’ per se, will find us with a new group of fans around the world who can voice their own preferences, interests, and ideas for the series to help us develop Dragonball further.

Let's get into the gameplay: is this going to be a fast, arcade-style fighter like the Budokai Tenkaichi games?

BG: You bet! In fact, we had a look at previous Namco Bandai-designed Dragonball titles, and brainstormed about how we could make a better fighter. We spent a lot of time looking at the Dragonball PSP series-based games such as Dragonball: Z Shin Budokai and Shin Budokai: Another Road, and decided that we could make an even ‘speedier,’ more action-packed fighter with loads of combos that are quick to learn and easy to execute.

Tell us about some of the special moves you'll be able to perform, and how they'll differ from the other DB games.

BG: Well, I don’t want to spoil all the surprises, but there will be some classics familiar to the Dragonball fans, as well a whole mess of new special moves that are not only Dragonball: Evolution-specific, but are exclusive to our particular game!

Thus far, the game images appear to be locked into a fixed side view. Does mean Evolution is more of a retro-inspired fighting game? Will we be able to sidestep attacks?

BG: I would describe Evolution’s fighting style as somewhere between the classic 2-D Fighter and a more modern 3-D fighter. So, 2.5-D I guess? (Ha!) But really, when fighting, the characters appear mostly in 2-D, but the depth of the levels and how the camera handles the battles adds an element of depth and allows for the player to take in more of the stage and backgrounds. I think Dragonball fans will also find the fighting system to be intuitive and familiar—regardless of their preference for 2-D or 3-D fighters.

With regards to sidestep attacks you’ll be able to avoid an enemy’s attack by side-stepping from their combos.

How will the characters' flying abilities be utilized, if at all?

BG: Since this was a fighting game, we felt that we should focus more on the fighting engine. We would have liked to have added the flying abilities feature, but it would have been hard to even out the characters if some could fly and others could not. However, all Evolution characters have the ability to ‘hover’ in a 360-degree manner around their respective opponents to give an edge for combat and combos.

Does Evolution include a combo system of any kind? If so, talk about it and the different kinds of attacks you can string together.

BG: Dragonball: Evolution does include a variety of combos and a combo-based system; all players will find that there is a great deal of skill involved with mastering the combos. We have some special techniques that appear only in this game. Without saying too much, many of our combos and attacks also tie together with the film. There will be a variety of fun kick-and-punch combos, as well as some that utilize each of the character’s unique talents and skills. No spoilers, but I anticipate our players will have a great deal of fun stringing together deadly combos and ending them with some pretty cool moves!

Ki management is going to be an essential part of every battle. Tell us why.

BG: Since Ki is basically your life force, it would be wise to maintain a standing level of Ki; running out completely leaves you exposed to your enemies. Having to charge your Ki back to a reasonable level will take time and when you are in the heat of battle, there is no time to step out and regain Ki. So it is the player’s responsibility to manage what Ki they have, and to use it effectively and efficiently. I believe a great deal of Ki management is based on timing; the player who knows when to use and hold on to it will become the strongest; not because of the character selected, but because of timing and management of the Ki gauge.

Can you tell us which characters are going to be included in the game?

BG: I can give you a few clues: Goku, Master Roshi, Bulma, Mai... and maybe a few surprise guests will be present.

As a game based on a movie, how will Evolution's story differ from the DB sagas we've already experienced? Will the game feature any scenes from the film?

BG: Dragonball: Evolution follows the original story of Dragonball, the story that started it all. Our game does not go into the details or storylines of other, existing Dragonball-related stories. But our tale does offer some excellent background info for those who might be new to the story. With regard to content from the film, and without giving away too many spoilers, I can say that there are indeed a lot of elements from the film in the game that are certain to please both our old and new fans alike.

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Godfather II Exclusive

Creative Director Mike Perry offers up some strategies for being a successful Don. The Godfather II is scheduled to release on April 7 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, and is rated M for Mature.

Strategies of a Don

One of the things I like about the Godfather II is its replayability. Your goal in the game is to take over all rackets, businesses, and Crime Rings and eliminate all rival families. But the rival families share the same goal as you, and will try to take your business and eliminate you. This means that the game will play out differently every time, with different families taking different strategies. After playing the game a couple of times (which I hope you do!), you can start to see and develop some of your own strategies for being a successful Don. Here are some of mine.

Prepare for the Inevitable
As any fan of the Godfather II film knows, Carmine Rosato is a rat who tries to set up Michael Corleone through a meeting and a "truce" with Frank Pentangeli. The meeting takes place at Richie's Tavern in New York. In the game, as in the film, this meeting will explode into violence. To get an edge on Carmine and the cops who report to the scene, take over Richie's tavern as soon as you can when you get to New York. Then, hire at least 4-5 associates to guard to the business. By the time you meet with Carmine, you'll have your own group of henchmen already there to back you up.

Hire Only the Best
After eliminating Carmine Rosato's family, you'll get the chance to head down to Florida and work with the biggest syndicate boss of them all, Hyman Roth. But before heading south, take a good look at your family. Do they all have Advanced Weapon Licenses? Made Men with Advanced Licenses can carry level 2 weapons, and you'll should find at least one of those weapons in New York. Head over to Le Maison Rouge and scope out the recruits. If they have the skills you need and have Weapon Licenses that are better than the Made Men already in your family, hire them. Need to make room in your family first? Well, you know what you need to do.

Stock up on Cash
When you arrive in Florida, you'll notice that there are two SaniCo Drug Smuggling rackets. Adding those to the two SaniCo rackets in New York will complete a Crime Ring. The Drug Smuggling Crime Ring is lucrative, as it doubles the income from those rackets. More money means more guards and more upgrades for your Made Men, so take over the SaniCo rackets as soon as you arrive. But keep them guarded! Rival bosses Tony Rosato and Rico Granados know the value of that Crime Ring, and will do anything to take it.

Cripple Your Opponent
Before pressing forward to take all rackets and business in Florida, head back to New York. Don't worry, you can always keeps tabs on every city just by looking at the Don's View. Back in New York, show everyone what a... considerate... Don you are by doing Favors for people you meet on the streets as well as for Corrupt Officials. New York is a great place for doing Favors. The city is so dense that people asking for Favors, as well as their "targets", are not too far from each other. This is a great way to stockpile more cash, but also a great way to learn Kill Conditions for Tony Rosato's Made Men. Most of his men hang out in New York, so once you learn the Kill Conditions, you can hunt them down right away. Whacking Tony's Made Men in New York will cripple his ability to attack you in Florida, allowing you to concentrate on another rival, Rico Granados.

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