Ghost Squad

Ghost Squad (Nintendo Wii)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

When the terrorists attack, call on the Ghost Squad for help. Ghost Squad first stole your quarters back in 2004. Now they ask for 120 quarters (plus tax) to help you defend your Wii from those nasty terrorists.

Not much to really say for a light gun game. You point, you shoot, and things on the screen blow up and/or die. That’s exactly what you’ll get from Ghost Squad. See a terrorist, shot them. They’ll shoot back at you whether you kill them or not. See a hostage…try NOT to shoot them. They’re good and don’t do anything to you other than get in the way sometimes and that’s usually what leads to their death. It’s entirely your fault that they get shot, not the terrorists.

One different thing that Ghost Squad does offer are multiple paths. Sure, there are only 3 real levels in the game, but the number of paths you can take in each one add a lot of replayability. Do you want to offer your team back up or be the one to go in and raid? Use your night vision or use your thermal vision? Is the president in the left, center, or right cottage? They’re not all there from the start. You have to play more, go through a few different paths, and beat levels to cause them to get harder.

Another thing Ghost Squad does differently is the action commands you do. They’re nothing complicated. When prompted, you’ll be told to use your fists to avoid close-up enemy attacks or do other jobs such as defusing bombs.

More reason to play are for unlockables. As you play arcade mode, you gain experience points to level up your squad leader. The higher your level is, the more you unlock. All there is are new guns to play with and different outfits to look…good in.

Want more fun? The Wii offers. Ghost Squad offers Party mode to play with 4 squad members together. Do everything you can in the Arcade mode. Fight the same terrorists, save the same hostages, make more decisions, and save the day. Then there are the extra modes to unlock to make things…interesting…

So Ghost Squad doesn’t do anything great, but it doesn’t do anything bad. It’s a great light gun game to add to your Wii collection. Using the Wii Zapper or a different gun peripheral (Wii Wheel Gun, yes) is a definite plus and feels really natural. It’s fun shooting simulated terrorists alone or with your friends. Grab your guns and shoot till you can’t shoot anymore…or till you beat the game in about an hour. But after that grab your guns and shoot till you can’t shoot anymore a few more times.

Rated 3 out of 5

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii)

Rated “E” for Everyone

Mario has finally driven himself and the rest of his party onto the hand-waving game system. In Mario Kart Wii, you’ll once again take the wheel (literally) and torture your friends through 32 courses of fun.

Everything that was in the previous Mario Karts are here. You have your familiar items of bananas and shells. Your favorite characters that Mario keeps hanging around are here. And the format of going through 4 courses with 3 laps each is still used. Don’t forget about the always colorfulness of Rainbow Road. It wouldn’t be Mario Kart without a road of color to drive on…and fall off of.

Along with the old comes the new. New courses. While Rainbow Road will always be its name, this one is new and full of star bits. New items. Some of the items from the DS Mario racer have transferred over. Hope you like Blooper inking your tv screen. New…retro courses. Relive your past in this…new game. New racers. More babies have been added. Even a few other new and older characters in the Nintendo universe have joined the race. New karts…AND BIKES. They handle differently then a kart…duh. But if you haven’t figured out the awesome equation of babies on bikes yet, then…figure out the equation.

Also new with the game comes the Wii Wheel. Now instead of driving with your thumb, you can emulate real driving and have (maybe) a little embarrassment with the Wii Wheel. While the veteran kart drivers may prefer the nunchuk-Wiimote and or the Gamecube controller ways to drive, the wheel may serve well for the rookie kart gamers. It doesn’t NOT work, but it doesn’t serve to being an advantage. It just adds the realism of driving to your game. You actually could drive and eat a banana and throw it at some one behind you just like you’ve always wanted to.

And another new feature to the Mario Kart franchise is online play. Nintendo’s Friend Code system is in effect. So make some friends and compete online. Nintendo is heavily promoting online tournaments to help traffic (ha) more people to their online world.

Battle modes have taken on a team theme. 8 or more players (computer fills out the rest after your 4 or less human friends) split in teams of 2 and battle to score the most points on the other team. Losing all your balloons will cause your team to lose one point and for your teammates to yell at you.

One feature lost, that may not please a few gamers (especially gamer couples), is the feature to play with 2 karters in Grand Prix mode. Only dating back to the original Super Mario Kart did they ever have 1-player GP available. Now you won’t be able to team up/cheat with your partner in trying to become the best racer and unlock everything.

So there you have it. A little of the old and a bit of new mixed together. Nintendo can really go with the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But they did add “put some sprinkles on top” to make people like it just a little more. While nothing drastic has happened to the gameplay other than the simple stunt system and the game still serves to keep every race as tight as possible (going from 1^st to 11^th and back up to 1^st within 2-3 laps), it still serves a great fun time with friends. So it’s not broke, go play it.

Rated 4 out of 5