The first Castlevania game for the NES was very popular and is remembered fondly to this day (even if it is hard.) It’s not surprising that it was eventually given a sequel, but the sequel’s not so fondly remembered…

With the first Castlevania all you ever had to do was get to the end of very linear levels, but this was often very tricky because of the many, very agile enemies. You never had to really think about what had to be done, it was just that what had to be done was difficult. Castlevania II meanwhile, puts you into a 2D world which is basically completely open and you have to figure everything out for yourself.

Story-wise, you find out that Dracula put a curse on Simon just as he was defeated at the end of the first game and so he needs to revive Dracula so that the curse can be reversed.   You travel around looking for different parts of Dracula so you can put him back together. It’s a bit weird really. In fact, the whole game is weird.

To be honest, without following an online guide, I don’t think I’d ever have completed Simon’s Quest. You’re given no real direction as to what you need to do and often what you need to do is just totally random and bizarre. “Stand in this exact spot and crouch while holding a piece of garlic,” is the kind of thing that you’ll find in any guide and exactly the kind of thing you have to do throughout. I’ve no idea how anybody ever figured these things out for themselves.

Other than being hard to figure out, I don’t think Castlevania II is quite as hard as Castlevania as the enemies always seemed easier to fight. The bosses are much easier and the enemy creatures don’t seem so overpowered. This is a good thing, I think, since the first was often far too difficult… The problem is that it’s just much harder in different ways!

As always with Castlevania, this game has a really fantastic soundtrack which I thought set the tone perfectly. I did feel, however, that a little less was drawn from literature and mythology this time, than is usually the case, which is a shame. Nonetheless, I still found this game very enjoyable (once I used a guide) and would probably recommend it to fans or to people who love hard games. Rating: 6.8/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

Mario Kart Wii is the sixth Mario Kart and a definite favourite of mine. I think it has the perfect combination of a good selection of characters and a great set of race tracks. A great starting point, if you’ve not tried Mario Kart before.

So let me tell you about the available characters. Right away you have Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Koopa Troopa and Baby Peach. This is quite a nice selection and it’s nice to see Baby Peach incorporated after her introduction in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. There are then thirteen characters to unlock too! I won’t say much, other than that, as a fan of Donkey Kong games I was very pleased, also your Mii is one of them, which is nice. I was a bit sad that ROB and Petey are not in this game though.

And what about the tracks? There are sixteen new ones and sixteen returning one. Of the new ones, I thought Wario’s Gold Mine (which has you racing through a mine), Mushroom Gorge (which has you bouncing on giant mushrooms) and Grumble Volcano (where you race around an erupting volcano) were three of the best. Pleasing returns include Ghost Valley 2 (from Super Mario Kart), Desert Hills (from Mario Kart DS) and DK’s Jungle Parkway (from Mario Kart 64). But, really, every track in this game is one I like a lot (although I’m not sure what DK Summit actually has to do with Donkey Kong.)

In terms of new features there’s quite a lot as well. For the first time, you can do races with up to twelve players! This makes things very hectic, especially with new items like the Mega Mushroom. Before the Nintendo Wi-Fi service was discontinued, it had a very fun online mode and they even produced several unique challenges for people to do. Also, for the first time, you can ride bikes instead of just karts – I could never get used to them, but they add some nice variety. Finally, as it is a Wii game, motion controls were added, so you can use the Wii Wheel and control the vehicle with a kind of steering wheel, but if you don’t like motion controls, regular options are available too. I don’t like the motion controls, but I know people who love them.

Overall though, as is always the case with these games, what I loved the most about it was the multiplayer mode. I have probably spent more time playing Mario Kart Wii’s multiplayer mode than that of any other game in the series. It’s just endlessly fun. It’s all very good, but the multiplayer is fantastic. Rating: 9.5/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

Yoshi’s Woolly World  is Yoshi’s first HD adventure and the opportunity was taken to make things very visually appealing. Obviously the characters in Yoshi games are not hugely realistic, so instead of aiming for realism with the HD graphics, they decided to try and make everything look like it’s made of wool. It looks wonderful.

As with almost every other Yoshi game, Yoshi’s Woolly World is a 2D platformer, In some regards a lot of this is retreading old ground, but the old ground is good fun, so I wouldn’t like to complain. I wouldn’t like to say that this game does nothing new either; the bosses all make good use of being in a 3D plane and so do a few of the levels. It’s a pleasant mixture of new ideas along with the familiar.

But let’s talk about the story (since that’s always important to me.) The fact that everything is made of wool is not just an art style, but also a plot device. Kamek travels to Craft Island turns several Yoshis into balls of wool and then steals them for Baby Bowser; two Yoshis remain and must reform their friends and defeat Baby Bowser. It’s a little hard to place this in regards to other Yoshi and Mario games and I would have liked a slightly more comprehensive story, but I didn’t mind too much. Essentially, this is entirely standalone.

If I were to sum up how it feels to play Yoshi’s Woolly World I’d use one word: pleasant.  The levels are fun and never too easy or too hard. Visually, everything looks nice and relaxing. The music is enjoyable and has a kind of “good time” feel to it. Actually, speaking of the music, there were one or two times where it was absolutely sublime. The soundtrack is good, but if it had all been on the level of the best tracks… wow.

Beyond the main game, there are a few lovely little extras. Firstly, the game is compatible with Amiibo and every one that you scan unlocks you a Yoshi with colours that looks like the character whose Amiibo you scanned. I really loved playing as Donkey Kong Yoshi, Lucina Yoshi and Ness Yoshi in particular. Another thing I liked a lot was that there’s a bestiary which fills up with all the enemy creatures you’ve seen, giving you their names and so forth – I always appreciate features like this. There’s also a cooperative mode, which is good to have if you prefer to play things with a friend.

On the whole, I wouldn’t say that Yoshi’s Woolly World was an especially groundbreaking game, but there also aren’t many bad things I can say about it either (it is sometimes hard to find health though). I used to play a level each day after work (when I had a chance) and it was really nice to unwind to. I guess I just maybe wish it could have done something a little more. Rating: 8.3/10

Buy it here.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)