Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo
System: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Christopher Troilo

Mario has come a long way from his days of jumping over barrels on a 2D screen while attempting to save his beloved from the clutches of Donkey Kong. Nearly 10 game systems later, he finds himself in 3D, on the Wii in a brand new adventure spanning the universe, aptly named Super Mario Galaxy.

The famed plumber, on his way to the Mushroom Kingdom to visit Princess Peach, witnesses from afar that his archenemy Bowser is up to no good. With his mighty airship, Bowser literally steals Princess Peach’s castle and carries it, with her in it, off into outer space. Mario leaps into action and onto the castle, only to be knocked off and sent hurtling into space by one of Bowser’s minions.

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Publisher: Activision
Developer: Next Level Games
System: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Action Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Christopher Troilo

Spider-Man is doing his nightly duty of patrolling the New York City rooftops, fighting off a barrage of villains, when suddenly his enemies begin vanishing into thin air. As Spidey runs to escape suffering a similar fate, he’s rescued by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D, who teleports Spider-Man to his airborne command center. Once in Fury’s audience, Nick explains that shards of a meteorite crashed to Earth, and the pieces are scattered all over the globe. A mysterious force has been collecting these shards and using them to create holographic monsters called Phantoms, which are wreaking havoc. Fury believes these Phantoms are connected to the disappearance of Spider-Man’s foes.

Spider-Man decides he’s the only one who can stop this evil entity, so he has Fury drop him off at the locations where the meteorite remnants have been spotted. Upon arrival, Spidey finds that each one of the shards is being protected by a horde of Phantoms. Each group of creatures is led by one of Spider-Man’s arch nemeses, such as Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus, all of which are under mind control. As Spider-Man defeats these villains and frees them from being manipulated, they become his allies, helping the web-slinger fend off more Phantoms and rescue additional meteorite shards.

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Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Paon
System: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Racing
Release date: Available now
Review by: Christopher Troilo

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is a game that follows in the spirit of the Nintendo 64′s Diddy Kong Racing, where the cast of characters from the Donkey Kong universe race against one another across of a multitude of tracks and landscapes. In the game, you can choose to be a member of the Kong clan, such as the big DK himself, or one of the crocodile baddies, like King K. Rool, the main antagonist in the series.

Originally conceived as a GameCube title for the bongo drum gamepad extension, Barrel Blast has been redesigned as a Wii game to take advantage of the system’s motion control system. To accelerate, you must drum the Wiimote and nunchuck up and down as quickly as you can. Once you reach your maximum speed, you’ll maintain it unless you boost or hit something. To turn left or right, you must tap the appropriate bongo by shaking the controller in the hand of the direction you wish to turn. Jumping requires quickly flicking both controllers up at the same time.

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Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Retro Studios
System: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Action adventure
Release Date: Available now
Review by: Christopher Troilo

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the tenth game in the successful Metroid Prime franchise from Nintendo. Picking up some months after the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, bounty hunter Samus Aran wakes up in her ship due to errors found during diagnostic checks. She then docks with the Galactic Federation to recharge and gather her new assignment details.

During Samus’ briefing, Space Pirates launch a full on assault of the space station and of the planet they’re orbiting. With her fellow bounty hunters, Samus defends the station and joins in the counteroffensive on the planetary surface. When the Space Pirate attack is neutralized, Dark Samus appears and corrupts Samus and the other hunters by firing Phazon, an unstable form of energy-induced matter, at them.

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Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Next Level Games
System: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Sports
Release Date: Available Now
Review by: Christopher Troilo

Mario Strikers Charged is a direct sequel to the popular GameCube title, Super Mario Strikers. Strikers Charged is a soccer game in the same way you’d call Mario Kart a driving game; while the basics of the sport are there, it’s not without a multitude of the unique power-ups and weapons we’ve all come to know and love.

All of the captains from the GameCube version have returned along with some new characters, who can be unlocked as the game progresses. As expected, each captain has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. For example, Bowser is extremely strong, but slow as molasses. Players like Mario and Luigi are more balanced, while Daisy and Peach are speedy.

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Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4
System: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Survival Horror
Release Date: Available Now
Review by: Christopher Troilo

It’s been about six years since the events in Raccoon City (the focal point of the previous Resident Evil games), and now Leon has taken the “quiet” job of protecting the President’s daughter, Ashley. Incredibly, Ashley has vanished, and was last seen in a remote Spanish village.

With his escort, Leon soon finds himself in the rundown town, looking for answers from the locals who greet him with a less than joyous reception. As Leon begins poking around, the natives become restless…well…more like bloodthirsty. Since the leader of the clan isn’t letting go of Ashley amicably, Leon is forced to respond using his own recipe for success (extreme brute force) in order to find the President’s daughter and discover the truth of what’s happening to the deranged townsfolk.

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Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: HudsonSoft
System: Wii
Genre: Party game
Release date: Available now
Review by: Christopher Troilo

Since the explosion of Wii Sports as the new must-play game at social gatherings, video game makers are racing to release the next great party title for the Wii. Mario Party 8, Nintendo’s latest installment of the popular series, wants to be this game. To be succinct however, Mario Party 8 will provide most gamers with only moderate amounts of entertainment, occurring mostly when players feel the need to take a break from superior Wii party offerings.

Mario Party 8 has a very basic premise in terms of story. Mario and his friends are attending a carnival, with the ringleader being an animated fellow named MC Ballyhoo, who serves as your host for the duration of the game. Ballyhoo invites the Mario characters to partake in the Star Battle, from which the winner will receive the Star Rod, a trinket that just so happens to be Bowser’s latest object of affection. When Bowser tries to swipe the game’s trophies, it’s up to the gang save the carnival.

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