Our straight sister site Thumb Bandits has a review up of RockStar game “L.A. Noire”, their review takes a look at the game as though we didn’t really have any background on RockStar or the hype surrounding the title. I have to say I was enjoying “L.A. Noire”, dazzled by those graphics, but quite a few hours in I started to think maybe it wasn’t as great as I’d originally thought. The Thumb Bandits review sort of looks at this aspect and it’s an interesting read. Are you playing “L.A. Noire” still? I know quite a few people on our Twitter are still enjoying it, some clever folk have even finished it. What do you guys think? When you take a step back as this review suggests, is it one of the best games released in eons?

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – Full Written Game Review

When you hear that EA are teaming up with Criterion Games for a Need for Speed title, it’s time to get excited. Criterion are of course the guys and gals behind the multi-platform “Burnout” games, including “Burnout”, “Burnout 2: Point of Impact”, “Burnout 3: Taken”, “Burnout Revenge” and “Burnout: Paradise”. Now Criterion bring us the latest game in the “Need for Speed” franchise, that of “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit”.

If the name sounds familiar you’re clearly a veteran gamer with a game titled “Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit” releasing way back in September 1998. Criterion have taken the franchise back to its roots in more than name only, with more exotic cars and of course awesome police chases.

“Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit” takes place in Seacrest County, an open world with a single player mode of around 14 hours length. Needless to say, most of the gameplay is based around the cat-and-mouse shenanigans of police chases, some of which you are the cat (chasing the mouse) and some vice versa. “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit” features some of the sweetest vehicles you’re likely to see in a racing title, tricked out police cars with EMP pulse weapons and spike strips to make any hoons night more of a nightmare.

Chasing down an assailant in a tricked out cop car is awesome and the detail in the vehicle models is great, right down to the rims. Of course running from the cops in a tricked out sports car is also a lot of fun, both of these ‘careers’ are accessed via a map system in which you choose the next event to take part in. Progression is simple enough, do things in a certain time and it will of course unlock new vehicles and modes of play.

A cool addition to “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit” is the “Autolog” which sees your friends times appearing after each race, telling you who of your friends you beat, or if their time was better than yours. This addition was likened to being Facebook for Need for Speed, given it’s essentially a social feature that shows you how your friends are doing on the same events. This means you can compete with your friends without actually ever racing against them online, though that is always an option too with multi-player.

This being a Criterion title there is oodles of replayability. Events you have already done can be revisited at any time and you can try and better the score / medal gained and this will be updated on the Autolog.

Graphics and sound in “Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit” is superb, the navigation and map system works a treat, though lacking the panache of say “Midnight Club: LA”. The environment of Seacrest County is huge (allegedly 4 times the size of “Burnout Paradise”). Locations feature some truly stunning detail, from the distance vistas, to the forests and coasts, everything is polished to within an inch of its virtual life. Audio too features a 5.1 soundtrack featuring great music and sound effects, with police banter adding to proceedings.

Female Gamer Angle on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit:

Given this is a racing title, there’s little female input, all the artwork for the game seems to suggest you’re male, as does the ingame cues. However, as this is a racing game, there could be anyone in the hot seat tearing up the road, so it’s really a double edged sword. Given the cars are the playable characters as it were, there’s no point in whining there’s no playable female, anyway aren’t most cars named after women.

Anything negative to add? Well, not much, controls can feel a little skittish until you get used to the art of drifting around bends, it also would have been nice to have the “takedown” feature since sideswiping other vehicles will generally see you lose control as they carry on their merry way as though it were a small nudge. There also isn’t much in the way of vehicle upgrades, so people who enjoy tweaking their cars to the enth degree will probably be disappointed, for me though this didn’t affect the game too much. Overall though “”Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit” is a sweet ride and a great example of how to do an arcade racer the right way.

Format reviewed: Xbox 360 (cross format title)

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is the new game from Ninja Theory, probably best known in female gamer circles for the wonderful female led title Heavenly Sword. Sadly, despite rumors to the contrary, Heavenly Sword didn’t get its sequel, instead we get “Enslaved: Odyssey to the West”, a game that it is suggested by some is Heavenly Swords “spiritual successor”, a moniker that is more than a little misleading at best.

Our heroes in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West are the playable character of Monkey and his unwanted partner Trip (Tripitaka). Yes if the names sound familiar it’s because the game seems to be loosely based on the 1970s Japanese TV show “Monkey” and ancient Chinese novel “Journey to the West” with demons replaced with droids and the magic replaced with technology. As in the TV series, Monkey is “Enslaved” with a headband, that places him in the control of Tripitaka, she can cause him immense pain and he will die if she dies, their partnership is born. This is the overall plot device of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West with Monkey as the playable lead. The storyline has him controlled by the female character of Trip, whom he must see to safety. Despite this element of control in the overarching framework, she is still portrayed as too weak to make it on the journey without him.

Might as well jump straight to the female gamer angle from that. As you can tell Trip is non playable and also the dependent, weaker character in the games overall story. Without the strength of Monkey, Trip it would seem would be useless at fighting the elements, in similar fashion to the girly priest of the Monkey TV series. This Trip however is adept at technology and is essentially the smarts of the pair, so I suppose it could be argued that whilst – as usual – the inherent sexism is there with regards to her being unable to physically make it, she is at least blessed with the brains. Sadly, Trip is not a patch on the female character of Nariko seen in Heavenly Sword, nor that of Kai who appeared in that game also. As far as female characterization goes, Ninja Theory have taken a step back with Enslaved, which is a travesty.

Gameplay in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is fairly standard stuff, with the player controlling the third-person Monkey as he runs, jumps and essentially smashes enemies with his energy bo-stick, oh and from time to time he also flies around on his ‘magical’ cloud (well this is based on Monkey!).

With Trip as the non playable side-kick, Monkey can order her to do various things, such as distract enemies or follow him. Monkey can also throw Trip to places she can’t reach herself and also aid her in various other ways. So here’s the thing, controls in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West are pretty good, but not great. At times the camera angle will have you cursing and some may suggest the fact you cannot leave a platform unless you can do so safely (ie you can’t fall off) might hinder the overall complexity of the title. For me, I think this game would be extremely frustrating were that not the case, because it is at times difficult to tell just where you should be leaping to. The game also features the usual array of upgrades to weapons utilized by collecting energy balls across levels. Health-packs too are spread throughout levels and handily at boss fights.

Graphically speaking Enslaved: Odyssey to the West features a beautiful landscape of post-apocalyptic fallout, 150 years in our future. Unlike other games set in this destroyed landscape, the world here is vibrant with nature and bright colors abound. Oddly within minutes of playing we realize this is America, New York to begin with to be exact, which feels strange given the high fantasy elements of the game, but then this is what games should be, fantasy. The audio is superb, with voice acting and characterization that Ninja Theory have become renowned for. The voice acting / actors for Enslaved are wonderful, with Andy Serkis doing the motion capture and voice acting for Monkey and Lindsey Shaw doing the same for Trip, Richard Ridings voices Pigsy. Deaf or hard of hearing gamers should have little issue playing this title as the developers have included subtitles.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is driven by two characters and for that reason we want to feel connected to them (as many of us did with Nariko and Kai in Heavenly Sword), sadly this connection – though it exists – just doesn’t feel as strong as it did in Heavenly Sword, where the characters seemed to emote more. Having said that, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West certainly does have its moments and the characters overall are definitely some of the better ones in the realm of gaming, unsurprising given Ninja Theory’s production techniques.

So should you purchase Enslaved: Odyssey to the West? Probably, it’s a great game, but if you missed Ninja Theory’s previous title – Heavenly Sword – you will be able to pick that up for a song and in my opinion – despite being shorter by a smidge – it is the better of the two. If on the other hand you want a new game, Enslaved is one of the better titles on shelves at the moment. It’s not without a few issues, annoying camera angles, at times sticky controls and of course the peripheral female character disease, but it also features a great story, stunning visuals and some great voice acting and motion capture. Oh just don’t get me started on that weird ending, did someone else entirely write that?

U-Haul Rating
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is the girl you move on with after the most amazing threesome. Yes Ninja Theory did us female gamers proud with Heavenly Sword, two female characters, both beautiful and emotional, a gaming threesome made in heavenly heaven. Then comes Enslaved, the good looking girl you pick up in a bar, you u-haul with and realize she’s just not quite as good as her predecessor, oh and it all ends weird.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West gets the Alice Piezecki L Word rating. It’s a bright and vibrant character, with compelling stories, but she somehow always seemed secondary in a way. Alice too had moments of onscreen greatness, with an ending that was all too questionable.

If you love Grand Theft Auto, you’ll love Mafia II. That’s just how it is. Mafia II is very similar to Grand Theft Auto in it’s concept – driving missions, fighting missions, assassination missions and more – but thankfully, there is a lot of original and authentic touches to Mafia II that make it worth playing.

The story in Mafia II revolves around a young Italian-American in Empire City, his name is Vito Scaletta and he’s the playable protagonist. When you start off playing the game, you get Vito’s background, where you’re told he came to America as an immigrant with his family from Sicily. Vito falls in with a bit of a rough group and through his association with them, he ends up shipped off to war rather than doing prison time. This is where you learn the movements and controls of playing as Vito and the war scenes are pretty unusual and set-up the atmosphere for the early part of the game which is set during war time.

When Vito’s buddy Jo manages to get him some fake discharge papers to get him out of the army, he of course gets deeper into the life of petty crime, eventually moving into the higher ranks of assault, assassination and more. This takes place in the game through a variety of story-based missions that have you driving some cool 1940’s and 1950’s cars, using some old-style weapons and running around some very stylishly designed areas of Empire City. There are also the expected melee missions where you need to beat up some Empire City residents and although for me this slowed the game down a little, it wasn’t enough to ruin it.

One of the most impressive aspects of Mafia II is the graphics and the sound. The graphics are beautifully made with a real atmospheric feel to them for Empire City. When you start off the game, it’s snowing and there’s lovely snow effects dotted around adding to the mystery of the city. As you move through different seasons, one of the most memorable is the fog which makes it difficult to see, but adds to the feel of the game. There is some pop-up issues where cars or buildings will suddenly appear and that’s a little disappointing, but again, not enough to ruin the experience of the game.

The characters are well-crafted, although the female characters don’t seem to have as much care or thought put into them as the male characters. Needless to say this shouldn’t be a surprise since the title is hardly female friendly. Most female in-game characters are either prostitutes or bar sluts, other than Vito’s sister who’s a bit of an idiot that supports her abusive husband. Needless to say there is no lesbian content and women overall are portrayed as sex objects, with even the in game collectibles being that of Playboy magazines featuring full screen naked women, seemingly there for no apparent reason other than for titillation purposes. This is a bit of a shame as it brings the class of the title down somewhat.

The sound in Mafia II is what makes this game one of the most enjoyable of it’s type on the market at the moment. It has an authentic 1940’s and 1950’s soundtrack and it brings great joy to play the game with the music adding to the vibe. When you steal or ‘obtain’ certain vehicles in the game, they’ll be tuned to certain radio stations. This is when you start to hear a bunch of songs that are authentic to the time and it really add to the game. It’s fascinating to hear so many old style songs that were so obviously about sex, but with masked lyrics, pretty amusing. The radio broadcasts are great and give a little insight into what they would have been like during the war and the voice acting is top notch also.

Overall, Mafia II is an excellent title. It’s one of those games that if you enjoy relatively linear task based games, it should be high on your purchase list. The storyline, characters and gameplay may not be totally original, but it doesn’t matter. Mafia II has the ‘it’ factor where you want to keep playing until you finish the game. The music, setting and atmosphere is spot on and will keep you going through the 15 chapters of the game. Definitely worth getting now!

U-Haul Rating
Mafia II is an excellent title. If you met this in a bar you would want to hire that U-Haul and move it in. It has longevity and the two of you will go on some cool adventures together, even if those adventures involve listening to Bing Crosby as you drive over to ice someone.

This is all about being tough. This is definitely a Helena in Prison situation. Hot, tough, good to look at and sounds awesome.

From the moment one saw the enigmatic bright eyed boy of Limbo, one could not help but be intrigued at what developer Playdead were up to. Screenshots began to appear, all in black, greys and whites and all with some eery captivating notion embedded in every pixel. What was Limbo and who was this little boy.

The answer is a fairly simple one, this little boy is you, a gaming character of no specific name or address, the silhouette of a tiny hero looking for his sister in an eery, disturbing world. That world is, Limbo, the place between heaven and hell and abode of death (theologically speaking). In gaming terms Limbo is a shadowy world of darkness, of nightmarish and devious creatures and even more evil traps.

From the moment you begin, Playdead Studios Limbo the game lures you in, as you wonder just what on earth this is. Is it a game, it doesn’t feel like a game in its most generic sense, it feels like an interaction, an immersive story in which there is little sound, no orchestration, just you, searching in the dark, your tiny feet crunching on damp grass as strange insects chirp in the distance.

Graphically speaking Limbo is a true dichotomy, for it is bland with its lack of color, whilst at the same time, managing to be one of the most wondrous gaming worlds seen for some time. The misty blacks and greys add to the overall mind-fuck that is this world of Limbo. Playdead Studios have managed a triumph of subtle horror, of simplistic yet intricate world design. Just wonderful.

Sound in Limbo is barely present. There is no overpowering orchestration, no booming explosions, screams, no blood curdling or maniacal sound bites one would usually associate with this sort of genre. There is an aural mood of peace and subtle terror. It is here again where Playdead have excelled themselves as masters of deception, for this mix of a peaceful soundtrack with the abject horror of those moments where a trap snaps shut, or there is a zap of deadly electricity only heightens the mood and atmosphere.

At its heart Limbo is a puzzle title, where one must traverse the eery backdrop for a lever to pull, a boulder to avoid, a jump to make, a switch to throw. Despite this however, Playdead Studios somehow manage to inject newness into the genre, at least for the first half of the game. Herein lay traps so devious Grimtooth himself would smile agog at the thoughtful design and mechanisms herein.

Sadly there is a downside as was just previously touched upon, the game seems an opus of two very distinct parts. For the first 10 or 12 chapters everything is new, it defies the very nature of the puzzle genre. Yes there are traps to avoid and switches to pull, but this is almost done in a magical manner. Then there is a tipping point, where Limbo makes a move away from this wonderful newness and steps back into old genre shoes. An eventuating shame, but not one that ruins the game overall, for those earlier levels will no doubt stay with one for a very long time.

Control in Limbo is as gentle as the masterful art style and subtle soundtrack, everything is simple, there are no insane complicated combination’s. The only complaint regarding control would be that sometimes the “leap of faith” mentality of darkened levels leaves the player feeling duped, as though luck plays a larger part than skill or logical thought. This though is a minor flaw and does nothing to ruin what is a superlative title.

Should you purchase Limbo, despite it only lasting a few hours and costing a rather steep 1200 Microsoft Points? Yes. Support Playdead in there efforts to burst the stagnated bubble of “same old same old” video game titles we are forced to endure month after month. Hopefully if they make another Limbo styled title they won’t change up the overall feel of the game half way through, which is this reviewers only true complaint, well, that and the lack of true ending. Limbo left one with something akin to the feeling felt when one finished Another World as the credits rolled by.. what.. that’s it?! What about those creepy little Lord of the Fly Boys? I want to know more Dammit!

Limbo by Playdead Studios is a wonderful title featuring a fresh approach to how sometimes less is more. There is no dramatic soundtrack, no masses of textures and color to make the eye pop, there is just style, meets craft, meets art. Limbo is a wonderful title that only stumbles ever so slightly by changing the overall feel halfway through and forcing us to endure a few “leap of faith” gameplay moments. If you love gaming, at the very least download the demo, then prepare to purchase Limbo.

U-Haul Rating
Limbo by Playdead is the cute / quiet babydyke you crushed on at school. Complicated, beautiful and subtle. You will definitely want to hire that U-Haul and move Limbo on in. The first half of your time with Limbo though will be the best, fresh, new and exciting.

Limbo gets the “Stendhal Syndrome” L Word Rating here at Lesbian Gamers. Remember when Bette Porter starts crying at the beauty of the art before her, left agog at its ethereal wonder? Well that’s pretty much how the first hour or so of Limbo might make the more tender-hearted gamer feel. It is beautiful yet terrifying and it is definitely art meets game design. Now go wipe your tiny white blinking eyes.

To say Mass Effect 2 is epic would be an understatement. I was thrilled with the original Mass Effect, even with it’s most obvious flaws, and assumed that I would get a marginally better game with Mass Effect 2. Needless to say, my expectations were completely blown away.

This is not to say that Mass Effect 2 is a perfect game- it is not. But it is one of the best games I have seen in a long time- and I have been gaming since I was a young girl with my Atari 2600 (sorry Pong, you were just a little before my time!) This game is MASSIVE, with many different components, so let’s break it down to the The Good, The Average, The Bad, and The Romance. A warning- I will try my best not to spoil, but there may be slight spoilers on who shows up in the game, but I will not spoil major plot points.

The Good:
Let’s start with the good. It seems the Bioware has taken the criticism from the first game and changed the things that needed to be changed. Sorry Mako fans, but there is no driving around on planet anymore, praying that you will find some random heavy metal or Prothean beacon to give you XP. Also gone are the crazy side missions where you went to the exact same warehouse to kill faceless mercenaries/cultists/randomcrazydude. You are still gathering your team (up to 12 with the downloadable character), except after recruiting them, you are given a choice to do a mission exclusive to them to gain their loyalty. These loyalty missions are well thought out and cover a variety of different things to do, so they are not the cookie cutter missions of the first game. Each planet/station/ship has a different look and feel to it, and the graphics and most of the voice acting are pretty outstanding. The random conversations you overhear are sometimes quite amusing, and I found myself stopping randomly just to listen to what a group of NPCs were talking about.

You can choose the Paragon and Renegade path, just like the first game, and just as in the first game, how you choose to play will affect how the other characters will interact with you. I played through the first time as a pure Paragon, and on the second time through I chose a few Renegade options, just to see what would happen. I was amazed at how different the characters reacted to me- it makes playing through the game multiple times seem fresh and new. The interrupt sections they added (quickly choosing to act when a certain symbol flashes on the screen) have also made the game play more intriguing. You can either end up giving a team member a much needed hug, or kicking a character through a window. You are never sure of the consequences of your actions, and that is what turns what could be just a good game into a great game.

One of the best things about the game? The storyline. It is engaging not only continues from the last game, but seamless shows you where it is going for the third one. I won’t spoil what happens, but needless to say, it is excellent.

The Average:
If you have not played Mass Effect 1, you can still get great enjoyment out of Mass Effect 2, but some of the story or the people who show up will fly completely over your head. I know that myself and my friends that played both games would sometimes squeal with delight over a certain random character popping up from the first game, and referencing some choice we had made. This showed me that everything I did in Mass Effect 1 directly effected what happened in the 2nd one. If you start over as a completely new character, the game makes basic choices on who survived the last game and what happened. I have not played as that type of character, but from what I have seen the choices are decent.

The voice acting overall was stellar, but there are a few choices that are odd. Marin Sheen as the Illusive Man throws me off- his character looks nothing like how Martin Sheen looks in real life. I am unsure if other people feel this way, or if it was just me that kept thinking “Why is President Bartlett in Mass Effect 2?” Although the music is stellar in the game, sometimes the sound would go all funky on me. I tried to adjust the in-game music though the options menu, but then occasionally when a conversation was going on I couldn’t hear what was being said or the dialogue cut out completely. This was minor though, and hopefully something they can fix in the third one.

The RPG elements have been streamlined this time around. For pure RPG players, this will be very very annoying. You can still customize your character (both in how they look and what type of character they play) by adding points to various skills, but it is not to the extent of most RPGs. For the average player though, this is a relief.

The third person shooter elements have also been changed, and not always for the good. The cover system has been upgraded, but still needs some work. I found myself randomly accidentally popping up at the worst moments, and had a hard time getting back under cover. The game also favors a character who can shoot from far away, making playing as a Vanguard very very tough. I ended up dying more a Vanguard at first until I figured out best how to use my squad and my powers. You also no longer have unlimited ammo- which can be frustrating when you are being surrounded. This does, however, make you use more then one weapon, and figure out which weapon works best in what situation.

The AI is both good and bad. Overall I let my AI just do their thing, and most of the time they did very well. However, they would occasionally walk right into my line of fire, and then yell at me. And every once in awhile I would enter a room and start a firefight, only to discover my teammates were still outside of the room. These were minor instances though, and rarely happened.

The Bad: My one massive complaint about the game? The mining system. This involves (on the Xbox 360) pressing down the left trigger while SLOWLY moving the left toggle to find minerals for your upgrades. This was slow and frustrating. I understand why the developers wanted to make it difficult, otherwise you could upgrade too quickly. But this was tedious and boring, and could give you a case of serious hand cramps. I ended up making phone calls while mining, and or doing something else (the controller vibrates when you come across minerals). I believe once I even made myself dinner while mining. Since the rest of the game grabs your attention and sucks you in, this was jarring and unwelcome.

The Romance:
I have a serious problem with the romances in the game. In the first game, you had the chance to romance Liara as both a male and female Shepard. Now, I know that the developers called Liara’s race “monogendered” but let’s be real- all of them were voiced by women and the body was CLEARLY female, so for lesbian gamers this was awesome. Of course, our poor gay male counterparts had no one they could romance but the women, so I do see the double-standard. In the second game, male Shepard can only romance women and the female Shepard can only romance men (there is some flirtation you can have with Kelly, but as far as I can tell she does not count as a romance option). You have the choice of continuing your romance from the first game or cheating on them. However, since your romance from the first game (whoever you chose) only BREIFLY shows up in the game, it can be very frustrating. Apparently the decision to cheat or stay faithful will effect what happens in Mass Effect 3, and all I have to say is- it better pay off in a great way. I am disappointed that there are no real gay or lesbian options, especially in a future with many kinds of humans and aliens and beliefs and ways of life. I am sure homosexuality is not something that is just wiped out in the future. My other minor complaint about the romance is that, let’s face it- the men that female Shepard are can be paired with are not that great. The male Shepard has much better options with the women, all of who have distinct personalities and stories. It feels like the romances for the female Shepard are just slapped together.

Overall, this game is a great one. Minor flaws aside, it is a step up from the first one. RPG fans will be pleased for the most part of the RPG elements, shooter fans will enjoy the combat, and anyone who loves Science Fiction will enjoy the story. Female gamers will be pleased to have a strong, female protagonist that can look and act how they would want them to. There are no wallflowers with a female Commander Shepard, and to play a woman who commands respect is the best part of the game.

Review by Xan

U-Haul Review Status:
Mass Effect 2 is a science fiction epic, with you at the epicenter. Be you hero or villain, you can be a cool, kick ass female commander, though this time there’s no lesbian loving for you. Though this is annoying, it won’t ruin the entire Mass Effect 2 experience for you. Go get it, hire that U-Haul and move this baby on in.

Mass Effect 2 is worthy of only one L Word rating, that of Carmen’s Lapdance. Now you know we only give the Carmen’s Lapdance rating to those games that are very special indeed, because let’s face it, if you’re being compared to Sarah Shahi’s perfect gluteal muscles, you’re very, very special.

Take two of the most prolific video game characters in history, throw them together in the Winter Olympics with all of their friends, add a Wii remote and get set for some fun. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is the followup to Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games which released in late 2007. Sega and Nintendo both come together once more strapping on skates and ski’s and joining around 20 other characters from both the Mario universe and the Sonic universe. All your favorites are there including Tails, Robotnik, Amy, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Princess Peach and more.

You select a character, each have their own specific skill set, but it’s all very simple and works surprisingly well given the pairings of the skills with characters you can see fitting well with that skill-set (ie Bowser has high power, Sonic is fast etc). You’re now set to play your favorite character in various Winter Olympic events and it’s fun!

One of the cool features in the game is the ability to tweak the controls to suit yourself, got a Wii Fit Balance Board? Add that into the mix, want to use the Wiimote and Nunchuk, you can do that too, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t. Most of the controls are motion based, though there are points where button presses take place.

The controls are tight for the most part, but it’s not perfect (what Wii game is?), sometimes small adjustments work better than large ones, so this sort of stunts the game somewhat, at least until you become accustomed to it. That said, there is still plenty of fun to be had.

Graphically Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is lovely, as you would expect from the might of both Nintendo and Sega. Presentation is well thought out with great textures, environments, character models and sweet cut-scenes. Needless to say this isn’t an all beige affair, with bright popping colors around every snowdrift.

Overall Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is definitely a better title than its predecessor (Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games). The mini-games are fun, the controls have been tweaked and once you get used to them, you’ll have a blast. There’s plenty of re-playability with the varied gameplay modes, though there is no online option.

U-Haul Review Status:
Two of the biggest names in gaming, coming together with their posse to kick some butt in Winter Olympic event minigames! If that sounds good to you, hire that U-Haul and let Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games move in with you.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games gets the L Word ‘ensemble’ rating. When you get the whole cast together, you’re sure to have a good time. They’ve all got different characteristics and when together it’s a party.