Super Mario 3D World - Wii U

When Mario made an enthusiastic leap into the third dimension in his Nintendo 64 debut, few could have predicted what an influence the game would have as the years rolled by. The plumber's magical journey spawned plenty of hopefuls vying for his coveted cloth cap, yet not one of them could touch the mustachioed plumber.

Since that memorable 1996 adventure, Mario has appeared in several wonderful platform capers, including the superb Mario Galaxy games on Wii, but it's taken until now for him to make his glorious big screen return to 3D in Super Mario 3D World.

The game moves away from the fabled Mushroom Kingdom and the expanses of starlit space and instead takes place in the Sprixie Kingdom - a place where Bowser has kidnapped the realm's fairies and plonked them in bottles to indulge his evil whims - something Link has been doing for years without anyone batting an eyelid. It's all utter nonsense, of course, and just a loose framework to hang the game's spectacular action on. And spectacular it certainly is, with the game boasting amazing level design, sublime visuals and yet another glorious soundtrack. In fact, the game has more fun crammed into its first hour than most games with a 12-hour campaign can boast.

The game sets out its stall before the player dives into the action, with the ever-changing title screen showing Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad gleefully scampering around, showing the player all the moves that can be pulled off in the game. It's a glorious opening and one which serves to whet the player's appetite for the action to come.

Once the player takes the plunge into the game proper, a world of wonder opens up, with Nintendo's latest brimming with fresh and playful ideas. Chief among these is the ability for the main character to slip into a cat-like onesie, complete with impossibly cute ears and tail. This snug-fitting new suit is a wonderful addition and not just a visual gimmick. It enables Mario to scuttle up vertical surfaces for a limited time, where coin stashes and emerald stars are squirreled away in the magnificent environments. It's also utterly adorable and it's impossible not to smile as Mario gambols along with cat-like agility, swiping and leaping at enemies with gusto.

Of course, it's not just Mario that is open to the player. Toad, Peach and Luigi can also be selected and each has their own particular trait which serves to help the player navigate their way through the brilliantly thought-out levels.

The new twists and turns don't end there either, as Nintendo have decided to get fruity with the arrival of the double cherry. Chomp down one of these, and a clone of Mario appears and it's possible to have multiple characters rampaging around the screen at any one time - all controlled simultaneously. Some levels have been crafted with this transmogrification at their very core, allowing the player to spread themselves out and activate switches which opens up even more hideaways.

Nintendo have clearly worked long into the night not only devising Super Mario 3D World's delicious levels, but in the look of the game. This is Mario's first perspective shifting romp on Wii U and the detail is stunning. Bloom is used liberally throughout, giving the game a wonderfully soft feel, while the patterns and textures used are glorious. Giant springy gelatinous orange blocks that wobble to life when Mario leaps on them are a personal favourite.

As Mario opens up new locations a few other surprises lie in store. Self-contained mini levels where the player controls Toad are a highlight, with the player tilting and rotating the cube-like settings in an effort to snaffle all the precariously placed stars before the time runs out. Because of the bite-sized nature of these stages, this would make an excellent standalone game on 3DS and the possibility of dozens more portable levels is certainly something I would like to see.

Control - as you would expect - is impeccable, with Mario and chums responding smoothly to button prompts and stick movements. It's also possible to play with all the Nintendo controllers since the launch of the Wii, and you are going to need them all if you want to take part in the game's riotous multiplayer mayhem. It's a madcap dash to the finish line and with up to three others and on a crowded sofa, Super Mario 3D World shines. That said, the single player mode is where the majority of players will find themselves and rest assured - played solo, this is still a wonderful experience.

Super Mario 3D World might not innovate as much as the splendid Mario Galaxy games, but it's still light years ahead of the competition and showcases Nintendo at its playful best. Utterly glorious, packed with an abundance of sparkling content and an absolute joy to play, Super Mario 3D World was the best game I played throughout 2013. A rare and precious treat.

 

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - Wii U

When it comes to repackaging its past, no one does it quite like Nintendo. They have repeatedly blown the dust from old game carts from previous consoles and released them on various formats, especially titles from the NES, SNES and N64 era - although, infuriatingly, still no sign of Pilotwings 64.

The company has also been castigated for retreading familiar ground from some quarters, regurgitating updated versions of popular first-party tiles such as Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Donkey Kong, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Mario platformers and Zelda. But Nintendo always manage to pull out the stops to make these core titles worth investigating and it's this quality which draws people to Nintendo's consoles. And that leads us neatly to Nintendo's most recent first-party reboot - a remake of GameCube classic The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker HD.

At its release back in 2003, there was a great deal of negative reaction to the game's visuals - a criticism I never personally understood. Perhaps people were expecting more realism from a new Zelda game and The Wind Waker's cell-shaded visual style jarred with their expectations. However, because of the decision to go with a highly stylised look a decade ago, time has been incredibly kind to this splendid adventure - especially as the game is now presented in glorious pin-sharp high definition.

While Zelda games are known for their devious dungeon designs, familiar weapons and hulking great bosses, it is impossible to go any further without talking a bit more about The Wind Waker's graphics. The visuals are enchanting, boasting rich and vibrant colours, spellbinding lighting effects and wonderful animation - it is quite incredible and one of the most attractive game worlds you'll ever find yourself in. Thankfully, The Wind Waker has much more going for it that just an eye-popping visual charm - underneath the glorious fresh paint job is a classic Zelda adventure which, in my opinion, stands side-by-side with anything else from the Zelda series.

The dungeons and their puzzles have been wonderfully devised and there are several stand-out moments for the series woven into the fabric of the game. But it's the decision to have Link traverse this vast and beautifully realised world by boat which really stands out and is one of the game's crowning glories.

There's something magical about heading out to sea with Link at the helm of the mysterious King of Red Lions, swiftly cutting through the waves and continuously moving ever onwards on the quest for adventure. There are plenty of islands to explore and as new items unlock as you spend more time with the game, returning to areas peppered across the archipelago throws up an abundance of mysterious charms. Splashing about in the salty sea spray and sailing away from the main quest also throws up a galleon-full of wonderful secrets and a beguiling collection of charismatic characters to converse with, making this chapter of Link's adventures one of the very best.

The threat from adversaries is never far away, but The Wind Waker's combat is rather good, making these bouts of hack and slashing highly enjoyable. While going toe-to-toe with enemies could never be described as complex, with Link's ever growing arsenal of weapons - including some old favourites - it is rarely boring. Add to that the use of handy button prompts which allow our green-clad hero to dodge, weave and hurdle opponents opening up weak points, and these frequent scraps are allowed to flow perfectly.

The Wii U control pad is used to great effect and although simple, it allows the player to swap items on the fly, while also acting as a handy map - both in dungeons and while cutting a swathe through the expansive seas. It can't be underestimated how this small change affects gameplay as there's now no need to pause the game to fuddle about with inventory management.

Despite its age, The Wind Waker looks and feels like a completely new game. Those who played and loved the original will warm to this beautiful version, while newcomers are in for a treat as they are blown gently through this quite incredible game.

Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is quite simply one of the most magical and beautiful video games ever created and a game everyone should experience first-hand.

The Wonderful 101 - Wii U

It's safe to say that the lure of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and The Wonderful 101 were enough to twist my arm and persuade me to buy a Wii U. Monster Hunter was - as expected - incredible and still remains
in my top games of the year, so could The Wonderful 101 possibly live up to my lofty expectations, too? The answer is mixed and while the game is truly wonderful (sorry, I couldn't resist) in places, some niggles with the game's controls sour the experience slightly, but more of that later.
    The story follows the Wonderful 100 - you are the 101st member - a gallant band of masked superheroes who are in the midst of a titanic struggle against the alien GEATHJERK army - a mob who are intent on destroying the world. It's all a bit cliched, but as a framework to hang the blistering action on, it works perfectly and there's a huge dollop of humour thrown in to keep the story light-hearted and fresh.
    The twist with The Wonderful 101 is that you don't control a single member of this mighty force - you actually control all of them simultaneously. You also have the ability to fuse your heroes together to create mighty weapons of mass destruction, including a brilliant blue sword, a giant gun and an apartment-sized fist, with which to smash the robotic extraterrestrial menace.
    Platinum Games were widely applauded for the implementation of deep and satisfying combat systems in games such as Bayonetta and Vanquish and that rich tradition continues here. However, you will need to spend a bit of time experimenting here to get under the game's skin and draw the most from the experience.

    The action is relentless - rarely does the game pause for breath - with the player buffeted between one eye-popping boss battle to the next even bigger showdown. Learning which formations to unleash on these daunting foes is half the battle and finding their weak point and exploiting it with style and panache is a great feeling. Mind bending combinations can be pulled off and the game allows players to mix and match multiple fighting styles simultaneously to cause complete carnage. These commands are issued either with the Wii U's right stick or by drawing a variety of shapes on the touch pad. It takes a while to get used to this, but perseverance pays off, even if the command input sometimes doesn't quite register properly in the heat
of battle.
    Other issues arise when the action switches from the TV to the pad's screen when your bustling mob are indoors. Everything gets far too cramped and controlling the camera can be more difficult than it really needs to be. That said, it's an ambitious project and one that at least attempts to use the Wii U's gamepad for something other than an extra inventory screen.
    To reward experimentation and effectiveness while battering the alien forces into submission, medals as dished out on the completion of levels, giving the game plenty of replayability for those who simply need to Hoover up all those shiny platinum medals. Collecting achievements in the shape of bottle caps also gives the player plenty to think about while saving the planet.
    Visually, The Wonderful 101 is an absolute triumph, with its magical isometric vantage point giving a fresh perspective on the action, while the stunning tilt-shift effect, bright colours and clean lines simply add to the game's splendid visual appeal. The characters, too, are a delight, with the bunch beautifully detailed and bursting with charm and character. They gleefully slap down GEATHJERK forces with aplomb and enthusiastically scamper across the screen with vim and vigour, accompanied at all times by a stirring soundtrack.
    So while The Wonderful 101 occasionally misses a beat, it's a unique and refreshing all-action experience which rewards the player handsomely. There's really nothing quite like it on the market and is yet another corker of a game on Nintendo's home console.

Pikmin 3 - Wii U

Incredibly, it's been 11 years since Captain Olimar first plucked a ruby red Pikmin from the soil of an alien planet and embarked on a quest to find the missing parts of his ruined ship, the S.S Dolphin on the GameCube.
    The brainchild of Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto subsequently spawned a sequel which catapulted the cult classic through the arboretum into mainstream consciousness.
    Evidence of the game's growing appeal can be found by merely glancing at Nintendo's work over recent years. Transferring data from the Wii to the Wii U was anything but a slog thanks to a wonderful animation sequence involving the plant-like Pikmin. Olimar and some of his Pikmin chums are coming to the next Smash Bros game, they made an appearance in Wii U launch title Nintendo Land and nabbing a Pikmin hat in Animal Crossing: New Leaf always brings a smile.
    Now, Pikmin 3 has landed on Wii U, bringing the much-loved series into the high definition era for the first time and with it, a whole heap of expectations from a  Wii U audience starved of first-party Nintendo titles.
    The people of Koppai are running out of food and decide to launch a trio of intrepid explorers - Captain Charlie, Alph and Brittany - into the vast vacuum of space on board the SS Drake to search for vittles to feed their dying planet.
    However, a near disaster while entering a suitable planet's atmosphere scatters the three astronauts and so begins the latest entry in the Pikmin series.

Pikmin 3's gameplay isn't a radical departure to what has gone before - it's still an action/strategy hybrid, where your chosen astronaut romps about beautiful environments, recruiting an army of Pikmin followers to bash through obstacles and drag fruit and assorted trinkets back to the safety of the spacecraft before night descends.
    Once darkness falls, nocturnal creatures emerge, chomping down any Pikmin that have been accidentally been left behind. It can be stress-inducing as the sun sets and you frantically leg it towards safety before suddenly realising you've left a handful of your colourful charges out in the wild.
    However, despite the grim outcome once dusk settles over the land, there's no rush to accomplish tasks and the player is free to get their hands dirty rooting around in flower beds and snuffling out new paths to their heart's content - as long as there is enough fruit juice on board the SS Drake to keep the pint-sized space explorers sustained.
    Fruit that was hastily abandoned in the rush to get to safety the night before is still there the next morning and by taking things at a more relaxed pace, you learn to appreciate the work Nintendo has put into crafting this delightful world.
    The Pikmin come in various flavours, each type having its own strengths and weaknesses and choosing how best to deploy them around the luscious gameworld lies at the heart of the Pikmin experience. Red Pikmin, for example are fire resistant, while the yellow blighters conduct electricity, while rock Pikmin are a dab hand at smashing through glass barriers.
Squads can be split, put into groups and divided among the three explorers and this focus on team work becomes vital as you progress through the game.
    Controlling your Pikmin army and flipping between sets is easily handled but despite Nintendo's best efforts to integrate the Wii U's controller, the old Wiimote and nunchuk system works so much better than playing solely on the pad.
Controlling via the Wii U's controller is a fiddly and frustrating business and it jars when compared to the fluid  motion sensing control option. It's something of a missed opportunity and the Wii U pad is quickly cast aside, only ever glanced at occasionally when you need to check a map of the level. Its one saving grace is that the pad can be used to take pictures which can then be uploaded on to Miiverse for the world to see.

    The to HD has had a striking effect and while I've never been one to get overly excited about visuals, seeing the Pikmin world in full, colourful, eye-popping HD really is quite an experience. Every new piece of collected fruit can be rotated and gawped at and it can be a mouth-watering experience, while Nintendo prove once again that when it comes to water effects, they are the best in the business.
    Sound design also stands out and helps give Pikmin 3 its quirky atmosphere. The off-kilter soundtrack plinks and plonks beautifully in the background, while the main characters chirrup away to each other in a garbled tongue in a similar style to characters in Skip Ltd and Punchline's games such as Chibi-Robo, Chulip and Giftpia.
    Aside from the main story mode, there are two others to dive into: Mission and Bingo Battle. Mission is split into three activities: Collect Treasure, Battle Enemies and Defeat Bosses. These are wonderful little timed excursions and can be played either solo or with a friend.
    Bingo Battle is Nintendo at its best and involves a head-to-head competition where players are tasked with finding specific fruit and enemies to complete a line on a bingo card. It's a riot, with players scampering desperately around the level in a bid to outdo their opponent. It's a simple idea, but Nintendo execute it brilliantly and is a mode which will keep everyone laughing and shouting long into the night.
     When it comes to first-party titles, Nintendo are hard to beat. Their core titles are consistently good across all platforms and Pikmin 3 illustrates this perfectly. It might not be radically different to previous games but the Japanese giant have carved out a slice of delightful entertainment which shouldn't go unnoticed. Wonderful and uplifting, Pikmin 3 is a gem.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Rejoice, my fellow hunters! Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is almost with us! Well, we still have a few months to wait, but I hardly need much persuasion to post something Monster Hunter related, so here we are.

Ultimate is stomping its way to the US on March 19, before swimming across the Atlantic - presumably tied to the back of a Lagiacrus - a few days later on March 22. Ultimate will be released simultaneously on Wii U and 3DS and that means one thing - I'll finally be picking up a Wii U to coincide with the release. I've been putting it off for too long and this gives me the perfect excuse to jump into Nintendo's new console.

While the Wii U version will have full online play, the 3DS version doesn't have this feature. However, cross-platform saves mean I gather resources on the bus to and from work on my 3DS and then transfer them to the Wii U when I get home. Perfect.

While it's doubtful we'll ever celebrate Monster Hunter like they do in Japan, I really hope this is the version which finally convinces those sitting on the fence how good Monster Hunter really is.

And, as if all this Monster Hunter goodness wasn't enough, there are rumours abound that Monster Hunter 4 - due to arrive in Japan this year on 3DS - will also be coming to Vita. The thought of playing an import version on the Vita's sumptuous screen is enough to make a wyvern cry shiny tears of joy.

I'm off for some 1000 Year Crab and Hairy Tuna sushi to celebrate!