Reviews by John E.

Flower is quite possibly one of the most unique games I've played and it's different from what every other game has to offer. ThatGameCompany do have a excellent creative team when they come to developing games.

Throughout this game it pretty much tells the motions of the developers with it's style and passion for the world and flowers. The gameplay is very simple you go around this dead you control the wind and you collect flower petals which the flowers bloom and makes the world more brighter. You use your sixaxis controller and this is just one those games which really works well with the motion sensors and not many games do work well with Sixaxis. Controlling wind an flower is easy you move your controller around and press any button on the controller to blow the wind anyone can really play this game and you can play it at your own pace.

I don't want to go into a lot of detail because this something worth experiencing and giving you more spoilers I think will spoil the experience it's something you have to play yourself. The music is really nice and it fits the game really well.

The only bad point I can really say about flower is it can be finished in about an hour up to 2 hours but I think it does have replay value I've found myself playing through it again. Trophies are also in this game. I managed to pick up Flower for £2.39 as Playstation Store UK/EU had reduced the price for a week because of it's 1st anniversary make sure you download it before the 18th of February at this price it's a steal. Now all I can say is I'm looking forward to what ever ThatGameCompany produce next.

Pros
- Great Detail
- Sixaxis works well
- Good music

Cons
- Very short.

Homie Rollerz is a kart racing game based on some characters on Homie figures you can get from US supermarkets. I've never seen the figures but from what I have read on the internet people consider them racist due to stereotypes the reason I've never seen them is because I'm not from the US and they were only released in the US. But lets get on with this review of the game.

Homie Rollerz was published by Destineer (who in my opinion are known to release awful games) and developed by Webfoot Technologies. The game has up to 8 characters including a Hispanic man in a wheelchair, A talking chilli pepper, Joker, Biker, Zombie, Alien etc. The story in this game is about the character you select and a homeless wizard who grants you wishes but I'm thinking why is a wizard who has powers homeless it's pathetic. Then it also has 11 tracks in the game I'll talk about the tracks later on. As for modes you have challenge mode which is the main story mode and then you have the multiplayer where you can play against your friends with the A.I. I'll admit when I first put this game on I had to laugh at how ridiculous some of the characters are.

The tracks in this game are just bad from the level design I mean some stuff you just crash into because you can't even see that the object is there. At times I found myself going through walls it doesn't help because the track design is terrible. The controls aren't good either the controls are far too tight and it always makes it hard to make sharp turns it gets frustrating far too much.

The A.I is just so difficult to beat considering you haver to come 1st place in every race is not possible. Every other kart seems to be going faster then you every time I was racing the A.I would aim every weapon at me possible putting me into last place. The ramps have objects at the top every time you go up the rump you can't even make it to an object but the A.I can every time. If you ever finish a race you can upgrade or car like putting in a new engine, change the colour of your car, or put on some new tires. I thought Motorstorm was one of the most difficult racing games I've played at least that game gets you get through certain stages before it gets incredibly difficult.

The camera also causes problems because your character is far too close and it just makes it more harder to see what's in front. Pressing the L or R buttons don't help you can tilt your kart to the side but it also tilts the camera. This game was giving me a headache after playing it or about 30 minutes.

The multiplayer I haven't tried this out but seriously who would want to play this game with a friend especially when the DS has far better kart racing games on the market

Overall I would recommend staying away from Homie Rollerz this game is unplayable you can get better kart racers like Mario Kart DS, Diddy Kong Racing DS and My Sims Racing. Avoid the game at all costs it isn't worth the money it's a joke and quite possibly one of the worst kart racers I've played. This game doesn't prove what the DS is capable of the developers could have did a better job. Nothing is good about it I think people will agree on this that's why it gets a 1 out of 10.

Sprung is a dating game or some people call it an adventure game where you play as Brett or Becky both are at a Ski resort Brett's dream date is Becky and Becky's is Brett's. The idea of this game is if your playing as Brett is to get a date with Becky and it's the other way round for Becky's game.

Thought this game you will be asking other girls or guys and getting there phone numbers. You also have some mini games like remember peoples names, and try and remember people's body language. Sprung is really about you and your friends trying to date women or men you have to follow a certain goal in order to pass onto the next chapter. The story does try hard to be funny but I didn't think the humor was that funny at all. Sprung really is just a game that is trial and error if you say the wrong thing you have to redo the scene again and it gets annoying having to read the same text again. The animations are limited and the developers didn't use the DS to it's full ability. It just really makes the game repetitive and here your pretty much doing the same thing over and over each chapter.

The problem with this game is it's just dull it's just filled with text with no gameplay at all if you want a dating sim your best off playing a free flash game version over the internet. I have to say the game did have some decent music but it's a shame that the gameplay wasn't worked on more. I thought some free rome where you could go where ever you want might have made this game more interesting but it's nothing like that.

Buzz! is one of the best gameshow video games around because it feels like your actually playing a gameshow. The host of the show Buzz is voiced by Jason Donovan Buzz can be quite annoying host but he offers some humor to the game.

Brain of the UK has themed questions on the UK in an arrange of categorizes UK Cinema, TV & Movies, Around the UK, Art, Motor Sport etc. The problem with Brain of the UK is because this game has so many different versions around Europe and even in Australia and New Zeland you end up getting questions about Finland and other places on europe and I've had some on the US which have really nothing to do with the UK.

The actual stage set is the same as how it is on Buzz Quiz TV the only difference are the flags placed around the studio like the Scottish flag, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. The contestants you choose from are the same as Quiz TV as well as the rounds you would think some different rounds might have been added or additional rounds. The graphics are detailed and still they look really nice.

The single player game features 4 rounds and it's the same one Stop the Clock but at least on Brain of the UK you get more play time on the single player then Quiz TV as that only did offer on the single player 3 rounds. The multiplayer rounds play the same as Quiz TV. The online play also features 4 rounds rather then 3 which Quiz TV had on offer the only problem with the online play on Brain of the UK it's quite hard to find people on it.

Buzz is still a good game I mostly play it on single player and sometimes online if I can get a game it's always a good game to build up on some knowledge. But remember this you must have the buzzer to play this game and you can use the wired buzzers from the PS2. If you do like quizzes your more likely to find Buzz fun with 4000 questions on offer and additional questions on the Playstation Store. Not forgetting the My Buzz quiz which are quizzes that users have made online (if you want to play My Buzz mode you can only play it on multiplayer on this version on Quiz TV you can play it on your own) this game could last you quite sometime.

Leisure Suit Larry a well known series from Sierra which is an adult game of trying to hook up with girls. The publishing rights to this game was given to Codemasters and published by there Funsta brand and the developers are well known for the Worms series Team 17.

Leisure Suit Larry is different from the last one Magna Cum Laude instead of been at college chatting with the ladies your put into a Studio Lot instead of chatting up the women you must do tasks. The Porn movie studio is owned by Larry Laffer and you Larry Lovage takes a summer job at the place you will be doing odd jobs and trying to uncover the mole of a rival company.

The first mission is quite pathetic it has you cleaning up dirt around the studio lot which isn't that fun at all (the pictures you have to clean are pictures of dicks and no I'm not joking I'm serious) even from first starting to play this game you will see how bad the camera is. Then you will be doing the post which you have to deliver packages, also you will have to find pieces of script. I found one mission just to stupid you have climb on top of the roof to get the phone what idiot leaves his phone on top of a building.

The main problems with Box Office Bust is it's terrible camera angles especially when trying to get around tight corners the camera moves around when you don't want it do causing you to die. In buildings the camera is fixed so your can't move it and problems get awful when trying to find your way around the building. I just hate the missions when your timed trying to fight with the controls and camera angles are annoying and sometimes you may possibly fail.

The mini games are quite interesting but the way the mini games are they just are not fun the racing is terrible placing the checkpoints in awkward places not forgetting sometimes even though you have gone though it sometimes it never recognizes it. Shooting you will do in the Wild West stages and the problems are is your in first person view and moving the camera angle about is just far to slow and this causes you to get hit many times. The fighting is rather dull your opponents do the same thing you they will punch you about 2 times then just won't do anything or somethings they will gang up on you so you don't really stand a chance.

The characters look awful they just look like mutants they all seem to have big eyes and big teeth an example of this is Kip the women are suppose to be stunning every character during the cut scenes look like they have a skin disease. Larry Laffer just looks terrible he just looks like a hobo he looked better in Magna Cum Laude at least he looked more human. I have got to say that Larry Lovage doesn't look that bad I mean he looks better in this game then the other one. The horses I have just have bring this in why is do the horses eyes bulge out it's weird they look creepy.

The mini map at the bottom of the screen also has problems it can be confusing trying to figure out where you have to go as the pinpoint is there but when the camera moves the point moves with it which can be annoying. The frame rate when in the movie studio you will notice when you move about how jerky the screen is it like goes slow every second or so then speeds up.

If Larry falls he will die and it doesn't have to be a big fall which it can take down your whole health bar so if you die you will have to repeat the whole mission again and to be honest it just gets annoying.

The music in the game actually loops it's self some of the music plays for about 2 minutes or so before looping the whole song again but I found the Wild West music to be pretty decent.

The script writer to the game is one of Adam Sandlers good friends Allen Covert which the jokes that he has provided for this game just aren't funny or entertaining in the least. The script is rather boring and it just seems like a rush job at least the jokes were funny in Magna Cum Laude.

The voice acting is one of the best features within in the game it's actually the only thing which is good well apart from the level designs. The game has great voice talent such as Jay Mohr, Tom Arnold, Carmen Electra, Shannon Elizabeth and more but it's shame that these great voices have been wasted on such a bad game. Actually the voice actors will have got paid more then the budget on this game.

I don't care that this game has no nudity but this game is tedious and I have tried to like this game but I finished with the Wild West Stages tried a few more after beating that I can't put up with it anymore it's just to frustrating. The game states that it uses the Unreal Technology Engine and this is the worst game I have seen that uses it. Leisure Suit Larry Box Office Bust isn't fun it's annoying packed with bugs and glitches bad controls terrible camera angles. The testers of this game should be fired I mean most of these problems should be fixed but Codemasters and Team 17 seemed to not care just because it's a Larry game they knew they are going to be rolling in the cash. The game is priced at 19.99 and still at that price it's to high for a game which is tedious and frustrating and which feels unplayable. The game features trophies but that is something that is not keeping me play this game at all. When I play this game I feel like throwing my controller at the wall and believe me it's that annoying I can guaranty anyone who plays this will feel like that to.

It's a shame for Team 17 the company has been going for years and you would think that the development of this game just could have been done better and with care. If a patch ever gets released that fixes the problems I would rate it higher but for now it's staying with a 2 out of 10. This game has adult talking but the game is rather a childish platform game.

Overall try to forget this game never happened and Team 17 for spoiling a good series should actually been ashamed of themselves. Sorry I complained during this review I just had to because it's really pi**ed me off this game plus it's my fault for buying this piece of garbage and if you have played this game you know what I'm talking about.

Stranglehold is either a game you love or hate the game stars Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo written the story to the game he also also featured in the game. Stranglehold has you playing as Tequila it's a follow up from John Woo's movie Hard Boiled (which I've got to see). The story I found was quite average Tequila loses the girl he loves which he has not been able to see for years she has been kidnapped along with Tequila daughter (Teko) which Russian's have kidnapped them.

The best part about Stranglehold is been able to slow down time and dodge bullets it really makes the game a lot more interesting as it's something different. The show down battles were actually good it just really makes the game more unique and that you can just shoot someone and watch what happens close up like shooting some far in the face it's quite good to see it just slow down.

I enjoyed Stranglehold but then again I found it really repetitive as it many enemies come at you at once and it be honest it gets annoying and sometimes frustrating. The levels were good at the start but I found the worst levels were the boat ones I just didn't enjoy them but I did like the levels later in the game towards the end. Stranglehold is easy to play due to it's very simple controls the buttons you will use most is just L1 and R1.

The one level I thought was kind of pathetic you have a huge gang with guns and such and you have to defend a Jazz group now I don't why the hell they stand there and keep playing. Tequila has to defend them but why would you stand in the middle of a gun fight because I certainly wouldn't.

One of the most annoying things within the game was the voice acting I mean some of the people in the game were Chinese but they had an American accent which I thought if it's Chinese person born in Hong Kong they should at least have the accent. I noticed Tequila having the accent with Chow Yun-Fat doing the voice over (although I am not sure if he does do the voice over as looking in the credits it says someone else does the voice acting for Tequila)

Multiplayer is actually dead no one plays it anymore I only had it for like 4 days so far and only had 1 game online since then I have tried and it says no game found. I don't understand why people don't play this online because it is actually a decent game and online when I got the chance to play it you know it is fun. I am annoyed that the Stranglehold map pack is still on the Playstation Store for £9.99 whats the point since no one plays it anymore.

I do think Midway could have done a better job I did feel that the game were to short and the story felt rushed you didn't get much information on the bosses it was just like this you meet them you don't really get to know much about them then kill them. Stranglehold is good but could have been better the graphics are decent but it has problems as the audio sometimes just cuts off for no apparent reason. This game is only worth getting if you see it cheap as I didn't really think it was long enough without multiplayer I found that the game really doesn't have replay value because it's rare I will play through a game twice. If Stranglehold has a sequel for some reason I just hope it's made by a Japanese developer. The last thing I have to say is the ending with Teko was actually good as it was sweet revenge.

Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection known in the US as Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection brings 40 Mega Drive games on both PS3 and XBOX 360 along with 9 games which are mostly arcade games while I think 2 are Master System Games.

Now finally they got something right with this collection it's been ages but Streets of Rage is here all 3 of them which was one of the main reasons I bought this for it's classic music specially SoR 2 I just love it. All the Sonic games are featured from Sonic 1, 2, 3, 3D, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (which is just Puyo Puyo a game I have never quite liked) something that is missing is the lock on feature Sonic 3 with Knuckles has been taken out of the game which is a shame. It's great to see Comix Zone back it's still hard but it's still one hell of a good game (One thing I have to had Comix Zone had a problem for no reason the game crashed on level 1 emulation problem I think and I can tell you it wasn't my PS3 that crashed the game).

Many other titles are on here again the likes of the boring Ecco the Dolphin I could just never get into that game, Vectorman (I don't call this a classic at all), Gain Ground (I like the game but it's repeated again), Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle (I didn't really think much of this one as Miracle World back on the Master System).

The game did need Gunstar Heroes a lot of people will agree with me on that one kind of makes me wonder why Dynamite Headdy is one the collection Gunstar Heroes was developed by Treasure as well and it's not on here. Dynamite Headdy is a classic game and I am glad it is here I still own the cartridge and I still think it's a great game even to this very day. What did annoy me though is Space Harrier 2 is missing that game is a classic and I thought Super Hang On should have been on here the music was awesome in that game.

The collection is full of RPG games to name one of them Shinning Force 1 & 2 are on the collection personally I am not a big RPG fan though I did like Final Fantasy 7 and 8. All the Phantasy Star games are here from Master System to the Mega Drive the problem is to unlock Phantasy Star you need to beat the boss in Sonic 2 with 2 players which is a pathetic way to unlock the game as if you don't have 2 controllers then you can't unlock it.

Space Harrier the arcade game is featured on this collection but the problem is the music doesn't sound right it hasn't been emulated that good kind of makes me think why didn't they use the 32X version. Shinobi the arcade game is also on the collection I have yet to unlock the game and also Fantasy Zone which is not that bad.

The trophy's in this game are easy certain ones will require you to collect so many coins or beat Stage 1 of Streets of Rage with all 3 characters they are easy to get.

The Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection doesn't have artwork of the games of the Mega Drive and only features the Genesis artwork as well as only having the US versions of game. This can be noticed as The Story of Thor is named as it's US name Beyond Oasis same goes for Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island as it was known here but in the US it is called Sonic 3D Blast. The interviews are the same from the last collection so no change at all.

Overall this game is worth buying as your getting 49 games altogether for the price of £24.99 I still own my Sega Mega Drive but it still doesn't stop me buying this collection. Some games are not all that good while others are classics it would have been nice to add some online for Streets of Rage or even Sonic 2. The last thing I have to add if you haven't played your Genesis or Mega Drive in a long time this will bring back the best times that Sega brought us unlike most of the bad games Sega are publishing/developing now.

The Club developed by Bizarre Creations and Published by Sega has 8 men fighting out in order to be the best in The Club. The game of the Club has you going around prisons, old warehouse, manor house and such which you have to kill people to score points. The idea behind this game I have to say is weird but it's not that bad.

The game has different stages such as Sprint this has you going around the stage where you have to score as much as possible, Siege is the mode i hate your in a area a marked area and if you leave you have about 5 seconds to get back into the marked area or you will die you must stay in the area and kill as many people possible oh but the people are all over around you, Time Attack has you doing laps you have to survive and gain as much points possible, Survivor has you scoring as much as you can within the time limit if not then you fail, the final mode is Run the Gauntlet you have to sprint through the level as fast as possible.

The game is an arcade shooter and if you enjoy those this may be your type of game I found this a decent game but I mostly recommend this for online play which still gets used which I am surprised as it's not really a popular game (online is busy at certain times). Online is decent but can be hard the guns are always in the same place they never change and one thing I hate is spawn kills and trust me it happens quite a bit. If people know the map inside and out and know where the good guns are you really don't stand a chance while fighting unless you get a good shot at the head. Online features 8 modes my favorite has to be Team Siege 2 teams one has to defend your zone while the other team has to kill them but beware your team sometimes turn on you which gets annoying. Free for all death matches in the prison is one of my favorites only thing I hate is people trying to get the sniper riffle. Getting online is easy hardly any wait times just enter a match and your straight in the match which you can join a match that is already going which is good as it is fast. If you want more information about online just check the official website of The Club.

This is a decent game I got it pre-owned for £8 and it's quite good I like the theme music and the characters I found were great I did like Kuro, Seager and Nemo. Overall the graphics are not fantastic a bit PS2 style then PS3 however this game is quite fun if you see it cheap I recommend it. Bizarre Creations are on to something good with this game and if they improve on it and make a sequel I think it could be even better for one thing as I said the characters are great. That's all I can really say as it really has a plot to sum up this it is a crazy game.

Sonic Team finally release another Sonic game after the abysmal Sonic The Hedgehog next gen which was released on 360 and PS3 I thought of losing hope for Sonic.

Sonic returned in 2008 and Sonic Team bring us Sonic Unleashed (known in Japan as Sonic World Adventure) the story is pretty much this Sonic fights Dr Eggman Sonic transforms to Super Sonic. Eggman catches Sonic and so on which changed Sonic to a Werehog. Sonic later meets Chip who doesn't really know his name but he guides you around the game. In the game you will meet Tails and Amy Rose but what surprises me is no Knuckles I think that Amy Rose should have been removed shes awful in the Sonic games.

So about the levels they are actually great when your Sonic the levels don't last long but they are fun and fast which is what a Sonic game should be. However the downfall the Werehog makes it boring it's everything but fast yeah your strong but your slow and it takes ages just to do one level. So you will get some Sonic levels then during the night your turn to a Werehog.

The graphics are great the levels have a lot of detail specially during the day time stages when Sonic is running at a fast speed it sort of looks good. As for the Wii controls they do suit the game and rather work well.

Chip the new character is actually quite good but for me he is to jokey and I think that side was put in for the kids I would have rather Knuckles guide you or something.

The soundtrack is something that I like to this game that horrible Rock music is gone and it features nice orchestral music which in my opinion fits the mood of the game. Glad the rock music had gone it's awful to see that in any Sonic game.

Sonic this time around is good the only problem is the Werehog I don't know if it was Sonic Teams experiment but it's failed and could have been a better story. I think Sega and Sonic Team could put more effort in the games it just feels like they just don't anymore I still like Sonic specially the classic Mega Drive games but for 3D games of Sonic or Mario which I would say Mario games are better. If you enjoy the fast pace of Sonic you will enjoy those parts but as I said the Werehog runs it down due to been very slow.

Finally a Resident Evil movie which is like the game and not those awful live action movies with fake characters like Alice.

Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield most known from there appearance in Resident Evil 2. Leon S.Kennedy in one of my favorite of the Resident Evil games number 4. The story is pretty much what you would expect from Resident Evil in my opinion it is best that you go and Play Resident Evil 2 to understand this movie.

People have said that the animation is bad I'm guessing they are blind because to me it looked fine and it some parts it looks beautiful. The only problem is when the people speak it's a bit out of sync. People have said the voice acting was bad well 2 things is Claire Redfield has the same voice as she did in Resident Evil 2 and Leon S Kennedy voice is the voice from Resident Evil 4. Paul Mercier does Leon and Alyson Court does Claire's voice.

I quite liked the new character which was Angela Miller she was good in the story plus to see a build up on Leon and her throughout the movie was good. Though Leon seems to have no expressions and sometimes he does look like he wasn't interested.

The movie needed more zombies and the violence and blood did seem to be toned down, anyone remember Resident Evil 4 where you die you get your head chopped off it would have been great if someone like that happened. I have been a fan of Resident Evil since the start and if your a fan your going to enjoy otherwise your not.