Geeks unite!

This game just happens to be the sequel to one of XBOX’s greatest games of all time, with the chance to be evil, even. Here’s to hoping they didn’t screw up the formula for what makes a good Star War’s role-playing game.

#1.885525:3418152745.jpg:sith36.jpg::
#1.885524:2283420390.jpg:metroid_prime3b.jpg::

Billy Drown

the Juice

Samus Aran, Nintendo’s first lady, is on another adventure in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

Her engagement this time deals with something about light and dark worlds and being stalked by these evil forces called Ing, all while trying to uncover the mysteries that happened to these troops. Well, at least that is what the back of the game box told me.

And with that I found my first somewhat flaw with this wholly enjoyable game. If you played the first Prime you already know that there are hardly any cut-scenes in the Metroid universe.

Instead of watching and hearing the story unfold you have a nifty scanner that you scan objects with to fully understand the whole story, which means you have a whole lot of reading to do. I’m probably the only one who didn’t quite understand the story, since all sci-fi dialogue confused me.

But not really understanding what I was reading (which sucked) actually added a lot to the game. I actually felt like I was Samus Aran, crash-landed on this mysterious planet on the way to find the troops. As she learned, so did I. Echoes would have lost so much of the tone of the game if the story were played out in cut-scenes.

Echoes feels and plays out a lot like the original. So if you enjoyed the first one you will love the sequel.

For newbies to the series the controls might feel a bit wonky at first, but in about half an hour you will adjust to the controls and be exploring like the best of them.

Some new weapon upgrades discovered throughout the adventure add a new assortment to your arsenal for alien ass kicking. There is a dark beam that does more damage to the beasties in the light realm and a light beam that of course does more damage to the beasties in the dark realm.

To discover these new weapon upgrades there is a lot of adventuring to do. I found myself wandering around aimlessly, almost to the point of hoping that I would stumble upon something new.

When I usually found something new, and of course it just happened to be a new baddie, I found out that this sequel is a lot harder then the original.

Some people may put their controllers down in disgust trying to kill off the bugs. Some may find the exploring tiresome after a bit. harder, with scarier baddies, but if Nintendo could of made the dark world a whole new planet, I would’ve welcomed it with open arms. Light and dark as the only difference between the two worlds got repetitive.

All in all, Echoes is a fun adventure, even though all the searching can be a bit tedious at times. But as the story develops and you progress further in the game you’ll find it really hard to put down.

Four out of five stars

Nintendo’s new dual-screened handheld game system launches this week.

Too bad Sony couldn’t get out their handheld, PSP, now as well. It would’ve been great to see the two compete.

The upper screen is where most of the action takes place. The bottom screen has a touch pad on it for the stylus pen. It will be interesting to see what concepts game publishers come up with to bring the best out of the stylus pen.

There will be only a handful of new games released for the DS. Leading the charge is a Super Mario 64 DS, a rehashing of the brilliant Super Mario 64. Another unique DS game is Sega’s bizarre Feel the Magic: XX/XY, which should delight gamers with all of the mini-games tangled in a love story/adventure-type game play.

If the lack of launch games scares you away from the DS, remember that the DS is backwards-compatible — it can run all the games the Advance could. But that compatibilty means most people will probably stop buying the Advance in favor of the DS.

Nintendo will probably be raking in a lot of greenies with the DS over this holiday season, but once the more powerful Sony PSP is released in 2005, things could change.

It would almost seem odd for someone else besides Nintendo to reign on top in the handheld market but it could happen. But for now the only other handheld that the DS will have to compete against is Nintendo’s own Game Boy Advance. I could count Nokia’s N-Gage, but the N-Gage was a failure from the start because of its poor design and lack of decent games.

Will the DS deliver what video gamers have come to expect from Nintendo’s handheld offerings? Or will the DS be an oddity and a failure, dragging Nintendo from its high peak and letting Sony rest comfortable on top of the handheld market? Only time will tell.

#1.885570:1951128386.jpg:nintendo ds.jpg::

Goldeneye: Rogue Agent

If I feel half of the bliss from Rogue Agent that I felt when I played the first Goldeneye I will be a happy man. Here’s hoping EA Games can deliver what Rare delivered almost 10 years ago: the perfect first person shooter.

#1.885572:3740099444.jpg:GERA_Octopus_14.jpg::

For half a decade, Tony Hawk skateboard games have been staples of the extreme sports video game world. And while Tony Hawk Underground 2 is good, it seems to herald the fade-out of the once-engaging franchise.

The great gameplay, with some new ideas, is still intact. But the feeling of joy that was once there is now missing.

The idea of Hawk’s team vs. Bam’s team sounds fun, since you try to destroy as much of a city as you can.

The plot is a step down from the first Underground, and the cutlines were the only thing that kept me playing.

That’s not right – an extreme sports game should rely on the gameplay to keep you entertained.

But props still go to the new character design for both the skaters and the rest of the game’s cast. The new cartoonish look gives the game a playful feel and makes the cut scene facial animations fun to watch.

By this time next year another Hawk game will probably be sitting on store shelves. Hopefully by that time the developers will think of something to liven up this franchise. If not, hopefully Mr. Hawk and friends will take a few years off before people lose their interest.

#1.885617:2735252481.jpg:tony-hawks-underground-#7CF.jpg::

When a video game makes masses of people flock to get it, the video game must be good. But when a game makes grown men weep like little girls, it must be damn good.

Halo 2 is that kind of game. When it comes out Wednesday at midnight, don’t push, don’t pull, don’t worry – all of you Master Chief lovers will get a copy.

#1.885665:2018705593.jpg:halo_21bgrayscale.jpg::

I’ve never liked multiplayer games. I just always found it better to play with myself … er, play by myself.

But that’s all changed now, because Donkey Konga showed me how much more fun it is to play with others.

Donkey Konga, from Nintendo and Namco, is a rhythm-based game where players drum on bongo controllers when notes of music scroll on the TV. What the player is trying to do is keep the beat to the songs – 33 in all.

Most of the time, well for me at least, slapping on the bongo controller sounded horribly offbeat. Even so, I was still having one hell of a good time looking like a fool.

Most guys won’t mind looking like a fool playing this game, but when your girlfriend wants to join in (and she will) your idea of a good time will be broken by her. Once she starts out bongo-ing you and making fun of your skills, feelings might be hurt.

But enough about my sad story. Overall this game will make a girlfriend feel wanted if her boyfriend has neglected her by playing other games.

Check your maturity at the door when you beginning playing this game. Not only will you be banging on your bongos, but you will also be toe tapping and singing along to such hits as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and the Pokemon theme song.

#1.885704:121729607.jpg:donkeykonga.jpg::

Since there wasn’t a fourth book in the Lord of the Rings series, EA Games is milking this cash-producing franchise by releasing a game around the same time people would be salivating for another movie.

Old school role-playing game fans are the folks being targeted for this game.

If you are looking for a hack-and-slash game, stay away from this one.

#1.885706:2245771495.jpg:LOTR.jpg::

1. The Grudge

God bless Sam Raimi for helping bring us an American version of Ju-On: The Grudge.

Sure the story may be a bit wonky, but seeing that damn Japanese woman’s face is worth the price of admission.

I just wish I would stop seeing it when I’m trying to sleep.

2. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

George Romero’s little film is hailed as one of the greatest horror movies of all time – hell it’s even one of the greatest movies of all time. It defined what a horror movie should be. The tension errily mounts as the stumbling dead slowly walk to the cabin and it becomes almost unbearable.

Unfortunately the only tension I experience when I see slow-moving zombies is from my belly-laughs, because I am reminded of my drunken uncle.

3. Jaws

I used to like swimming. I used to like tubing. I used to like a lot of things to do with big bodies of water.

Damn Spielberg for making me afraid to take a dip in a lake, or even my bathtub.

4. Ernest Scared Stupid Go ahead and laugh, but that damn troll scared the poo out of me when I was a little kid. It didn’t help matters that I had a tree in the woods behind my house that looked like the one in the movie.

Maybe one of these days I can walk by that tree without glancing over at it every three steps.

5. Castle Freak

Starring Jeffrey Combs, the poor man’s Bruce Campbell, Castle Freak was a straight-to-video movie that actually had scares in it.

Sure, Combs overacts (like he usually does) but the actor who portrays the freak haunting the castle brings a frighteningly real presence.

#1.885769:3752262138.jpg:nightZombies.jpg:Zombies from the 1968 original Night of the Living Dead, directed by George Romero.:

I will always have a place in my heart for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but after their last video game outing they