This week has a mix of flavors: port, remake, sequel, and spiritual sequel. The rhythm game downloadable content ranges from Bob Seger to The Cars.
The final week of February 2009 had some decent releases despite the Wii selection being slim.
For Wii, there was Capcom's Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop and Disney's Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3 Senior Year. On DS the selection was a little more abundant and was flavored with several RPGs. The releases included Ignition's Blue Dragon Plus, a real-time strategy RPG; Atlus' Legacy of Ys: Books I & II remake; Graffiti's C.O.R.E., a first-person shooter; and D3 Publisher's Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, a puzzle-RPG hybrid.
Guitar Hero: World Tour gets a touch of Bob Seger with three songs by the 1960s' rock star. Meanwhile, Rock Band jumps a decade ahead with the rest of The Cars' debut album.
Since this is the last week of February, Harmonix has yet not lived up to their promise of the Wii's Rock Band 2 downloadable content catching up to the catalogs on the other consoles. However, the company continues to work through releasing that backlog to Wii gamers.
Wii Games
Dead Rising: Chop Till You DropPublisher: Capcom Cost: $39.99 ESRB Rating: Mature Release Date: February 24 Using the same engine as Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop is a port of the 2006 Xbox 360 game with added Wii functionality. Like the original, Chop Till You Drop takes place in a mall with both outdoor and indoor environments. Using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk players can aim and fire guns, swing and throw weapons, and shake off zombie attacks. Players can use a variety of weapons from the mall's stores, such as golf clubs, lawnmowers, and frying pans. |
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Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3 Senior YearPublisher: Disney Cost: $39.99 (w/ microphone)/$29.99 (game only) ESRB Rating: Everyone Release Date: February 22 Based on the popular third High School Musical movie, Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3 Senior Year is a karaoke game featuring 25 songs from all three High School Musical movies. With numerous modes, such as Duet, Versus, and Team Play, the game features Olesya Rulin, who plays Kelsi, as a vocal coach to help budding singers out with various vocal exercises. |
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DS Games
Blue Dragon PlusPublisher: Ignition Cost: $29.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone Release Date: February 24 A sequel to the 2007 Xbox 360 release, Blue Dragon Plus is a real-time strategy RPG. Like the first game, the characters control phantom shadows as they frantically fend off oncoming enemies in an isometric perspective using simple touch screen commands. The 30 hour quest features approximately a half hour of cut scenes |
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C.O.R.E.Publisher: Graffiti Cost: $29.99 ESRB Rating: Mature Release Date: February 24 The much-delayed first-person shooter C.O.R.E. is finally seeing release this week. From rookie developer NoWay Studio, C.O.R.E. contains 14 non-linear levels with over 20 different types of enemies to deal with, as well as a mystery to unravel involving the C.O.R.E. meteor research lab. The game features eight different weapons, most with alternate firing options, and single-card multiplayer for up to four players. |
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Legacy of Ys: Books I & IIPublisher: Atlus Cost: $34.99 ESRB Rating: Teen Release Date: February 24 After a brief delay (and the addition of a packed-in soundtrack CD), Legacy of Ys: Books I & II is finally hitting shelves. Legacy of Ys is a 3D remake of the first two games in the Ys series, which also appeared in retro form on the North American Virtual Console last fall. The story is focused on a young adventurer, Adol, who sets out to unravel the mystery of Esteria and the mythical land of Ys. It has a remixed musical score, new enemies, new equipment, optional touch screen control, and local wireless multiplayer for up to four players. |
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Puzzle Quest: GalactrixPublisher: D3 Publisher Cost: $29.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ Release Date: February 24, 2009 The follow-up to 2007's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords features a few new twists. First, instead of having a fantasy theme like the original, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix has a science-fiction theme as it takes place in space. Also, while the gameplay is still a Bejeweled-inspired affair, Galactrix features hexagonal game boards and pieces that add new depth to the mechanics. It still features the extensive RPG aspects that made the original stand out and it has over 150 battles in story mode, and many more in mission mode. There are also three game modes for wireless multi-card multiplayer. |
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DLC
Guitar Hero: World Tour
This week's Guitar Hero: World Tour downloadable content is from Bob Seger, featuring two tracks with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band and one track credited to Seger only. Each song is available now for 200 Wii Points ($2) each.
- "Get Out Of Denver" by Bob Seger
- "Her Strut" by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
- "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Rock Band 2
The Cars' 1978 self-titled debut album, which was originally the second full downloadable album release on Rock Band for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, has hit the Wii's Rock Band 2 music store. Featuring songs including "Good Times Roll" and "My Best Friend's Girl," the album's selections are available now for 200 Wii Points ($2) each.
Note: This week's downloadable content only features eight songs and The Cars' debut album had nine. This is because "Just What I Needed" by The Cars is already available for download.
- "All Mixed Up" by The Cars
- "Bye Bye Love" by The Cars
- "Don't Cha Stop" by The Cars
- "Good Times Roll" by The Cars
- "I'm in Touch with Your World" by The Cars
- "Moving In Stereo" by The Cars
- "My Best Friend's Girl" by The Cars
- "You're All I've Got Tonight" by The Cars
For Nintendo's Virtual Console and WiiWare releases for this week, check out our weekly article.
