"The game is heavily influenced by Red Bull rider Julien Dupont"

Yeah, I'm guessing it's also heavily "influenced" by Trials HD and Trials Evolution by RedLynx.

Really, really, really disappointed that this will not be emulated as a CCP in Wii games. The ONLY technical answer I can "accept" is that a very few games (Mon Hun Tri) require both the Wii Mote and CCP during game play. Which Nintendo could have worked around here by just requiring a Wii Remote to be active at the same time as the Pro Controller.

This is a nice idea for a trailer and they executed it effectively, especially when the old version was inset over the new. La Mulana is an instant buy-- I can't wait to add this to my small buy high calibre WiiWare collection!

The game has a great look and idea. I'd like to try it for myself still. I've bought a couple UFO retail Wii games (Domino Rally, Geon Cube, and Ultimate Shooting Collection) that I thought were OK.

I'd go bonkers for Borderlands 2 on Wii U. Guaranteed buy from me. I wouldn't mind (and might prefer) if they didn't do anything more dramatic than move interface elements, as he mentioned. I find his comments encouraging.

Really want this to come to the US. Xenoblade was great but a bit much for me to chew through. Last Story is already pre-ordered, but I see merit here, too, and would like to experience it. 14 hours is FAR preferable to me than 40, 60, or 100.

I think it has potential. Toy Story 3 was supposedly OK. I'm looking forward to learning more about this game (on Wii).

About half way through this game on a leisurely play through. It's janky but charming. If you found fun in Mushroom Men or Death Jr on Wii, you'll probably enjoy this. Some really nice art in Kore Gang. And a really bad (completely manual) camera. But eh... still glad I bought it.

Great interview, thank you. I hope something works out with Nigoro such that I can play this game on my Wii someday.

Bought this when it came out. Motion controls and the nunchuck control are quite nice. The graphics are sharp and even stretch well to widescreen if you don't mind your rider getting a little fat. Branching paths would be nice, I suppose, but the game still conveys a great sense of speed and danger. Of course I wonder if it really earns its nine bucks compared to other channels of digital games, but aside from that (and it's a framework imposed on Sega), am totally happy with my purchase.

I've been waiting for Super Hang On forever. INSTANT BUY from me. WOW! Cool!

I'm late to the party, but hey...

I personally wouldn't detract from the game because of the difficulty. It took me a good while to get gold scores on every last level. The 'do not die' is only an issue if you aren't interested in "S-ranking" all the levels, which - as a gamer that would seem to care about difficulty - you probably are interested in. Losing gems in this game rather than dying actually makes MORE sense to me than running out of lives in the Mario Galaxy games.

Where I would ding the game is the insipid story. And I'm tempted to say the item buying is a dull aspect.

But really, it's the levels, which while they have their moments (all related to the "yarn" analog and finding semi-hidden chutes and passages), they are a bit blah. Kind of like their previous game, Warioland Shake. Ignore the awesome yarn graphics (similarly, try and imagine Warioland Shake's levels without the hand-drawn quality), and just see the shape, flow, and enemy patterns of the levels. They are mostly blocky and straight forward. Compare to Kirby Return to Dreamland, which has much stronger level design, IMHO.

I'd still give the game an 8. And oddly, I have probably not felt as "happy" from games I would give a 9 or more, but the point is, for as much personality and joy Epic Yarn has, it's a little short on the bread and butter game design.

What if the Wii never had motion control simply because some developers would inevitably implement the feature poorly?

A couple comments need the usual reality check. "Game has no flaws-- therefore it deserves a 10!" Well, I'm a bit of a review junky, and almost all reviewers have a score policy that starts from 0 and increases based on merit. None if any pro reviewers start a score at 10 and then deduct for flaws. As for my impressions, I'm over half way through the game and don't find the music as quite or fun as the DS version. However, Fever's music is higher fidelity and more varied, which is nice. I also like the humorous ways they obstruct your view. Speaking of view, I'm not sure I understand how some are worried about input lag with this game. As I understand it, that is usually a function of picture processing - not audio - and if you rely on the picture to advance through this game, you're toast. Easier to play with eyes closed, actually. Though I think some of the graphics (e.g. the intro "title cards") are very pleasant, others (the tiny little image with black around it and a caption cut scene after a game) are just too primitive for the big screen. And weak multiplayer that you have to unlock rather than making it the focus of this game. And lack of realtime feedback on where you're pressing in relation to the beat. And lack of quick retry option. 8/10

8 seems about right. I wanted this to be awesome but my play time since buying it has been more of the 'yeah, this is pretty good' variety rather than 'wow'. Seems like some of the charm from GBA and DS is lost. And it seems like this one was a touch lazy. All the black bordering the pictures in the 'cut scenes' is one example of an artstyle that, imho, regularly crosses from 'streamlined' (to use the review's word) to 'underdeveloped'. And multiplayer should have been a huge part of this edition, but instead it was an afterthought.

Seriously, read TWKs statement a few times, people.... Infrared wavelengths are heat...

It's AWESOME to see a new VC game on Wii in America. COOL!

Well-- disappointing!

The comment in the news article about 'no great loss' is missing the point. I appreciate NL's VC reviews and that they generally put the game in today's context. But surely a big draw, which every gamer will evaluate for himself, of the VC is nostalgia. This game was one of the few I had strong memories of playing when new and yes of throwing a controller in the under water level. It is/was worth six bucks to revisit some of those memories.

Moves like this and R Type have me very troubled about the possibility of transferring VC to WiiU!

I just remembered a third Capcom box art screwup.

They omitted the 'Wii' logo on the spine of Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles.

Eh, this is understandable of them to state and I think it's going to take a couple years of the WiiU on the market for gamers, developers, and Nintendo to feel out the balance of cross-porting vs tablet use. I read gamefaqs userreviews frequently and I have seen almost as many people complain that a Wii title doesn't make use of "The Wii's unique capabilities" as I have people complain about tacked-on waggle. Crystal Dynamics probably could have pulled the life bar, inventory and map down to the tablet and kept the game exactly the same with some graphical enhancements. But they, frankly, picked the harder and nobler route.

Offer alternative and fixed inserts like with Okami?

The graphics look excellent. Will this be any fun with just two players rather than four? Will the game AI fill out the other to slots to keep a four player party or can it work with just two people in the party?

Embarrassing for Nintendo.

I was hoping the reviews for this would turn out stronger. The opening comment about it being decisive is true based on reviews which range, if not from good to bad, from mediocre to bad. A part of me thinks this had the potential to be a cult classic but I think between Mushroom Men and Epic Mickey, I have the "good but not great, Wii exclusive platformer" slot covered. At least the publisher had the good judgment to release this at $20 MSRP in the US.

This will amaze and delight me for years to come. The only thing I don't care for is the cheesy text at the bottom of the box art.

Can't wait for this. I MIGHT be more excited for it than I was for Skyward Sword. The DS version is one of my fave for that platform and the GBA version was the first GBA game I imported. LOVE IT!

I thought official word on Rhythm Heaven was February. The screenshot above says March.

Been playing this a few days. Love it. Much "deeper" than you'd expect at first. An awesome addition and Wii exclusive.

Looking very forward to the review!

Any chance this will have decent AI? I'm not sure I have real life friends that would be in to this, but if the computer puts up a challenge, I think I will want this in my collection! By comparison, the Mario Parties have decent fan service but absolutely do not cater to a single player experience.

Looks fun and polished. I'm going to give it a lot of consideration when it's out. I like the vibe of Prope's games.

The 40 MB limit is indeed completely, utterly, archaic. Nintendo is checked-out on so many fronts related to online sales and play.

Usually I roll my eyes at commentators on 8-rated reviews that complain the score isn't a 9 or 10. This is not one of those times. For me, based on novelty, art direction, mystery, replay value, and "compelling-ness", this is a 9 for sure! An absolute MUST GET for any DS owner.

Not to be nit-picky... but why stipulate the requirement "only Nintendo-platform [including VC] titles"? Just to be the only 'Best Castlevanias' list omitting Symphony? Because what other title would bump in to this list than that one?

This is good news. So we don't have an explanation for the drought, the backlog (above-mentioned Sega game included... and how 'bout Lufia?) and the future with Wii U, but at least we know there is still some steam left. A relief.

Awesome article. Bought the Bit.Trip Complete Wii disc day 1. Love it! Future classic!

I'd sure love to see Monster World IV or Twinkle Star Sprites for Wii VC... Please, Nintendo!

Cool art style to this game.

I always think these journals would be fun to read for some of the younger members that might be inspired to pursue a career in development. Go for it!

Wow at some of the melodrama above.

And props to Sega for the heads-up. Here's to good karma towards one of Nintendo's best third-party publishers on both DS and Wii! Gotta get Alien Infestation!

I'm not as harsh as some regarding the Wii's VC library because really there are multiple dozens of gems there and enough gameplay to dig in to for a couple years at least [unless you've been buying VC since the launch and actually beating a game every couple weeks]. With that said, would it be so much to ask for Nintendo to communicate a little bit as to the complete evaporation of NA Wii VC titles?? Do we have ANY reason to think more are coming [at least before the Wii U]?

Looks completely AWESOME! Can't WAIT!!

Good point, Token Girl

@acc "it seems like you don't understand how the accelerometers actually work. They read the position of the remote, and use the value of these coordinates to determine the angle at which the remote is tilted, a fixed number of times per second"

Sorry, I hate to beat a beat a dead horse, but you are flat out wrong. The accelerometers do not measure coodrinates. They measure acceleration in three axes. Based on inertia against a damped mass you could infer the change in orintation, but the sensor is NOT transmitting "27 degree decline in the Y axis" and tiny little sensors in consumer electronics ARE subject to some error. Much credit is due to the smoothing and interpolation of the host software for the generally good result.

Awesome work and nice little interview. Just bought the PDF- keep it up Ray and thanks for all the great Retronauts, too.

Totally, completely awesome update! Can't wait for some of these to make way to the North American store. Yay!

Freaking amazing. Awesome that someone has done this, at least in Japan.

FYI, I went looking for more videos on youtube and a hardcore SNES wrestling fan has four volumes with impressions of perhaps every SNES wrestling title. NCW is at the end of video 1 and the review is very positive.

External upscalers have been around for a long time, but I have to hand it to these guys. Targeting retro gamers (and to an extent, Wii users), is a clever choice. Thanks for the profile!

"It's painfully obvious that much of Rare's current problems stem from the fact that its target audience isn't the average 360 owner." Oh? Alternate theory: much of Rare's current problems stem from vastly changed (and much departed) staff and an irrevocably altered culture as a result of said personal changes and corporate acquisitions.