DVD Talk Forum - The 10 Second Review: Pickmin and Smash Brothers ROCK!

You know - it's a lovely thing to have friends on the inside at Nintendo. You get games before they hit the stores AND you get them for a song. Anyway, guess what I've been playing over the last couple of days - move over Star Wars and Monkey Ball!

Pickmin - Helluva fantastic looking graphics. The lighting effects are lightyears ahead of what I've seen on the PS2 (I havent had a chance to check out the X-box yet).

Zero slowdown when you have a hundred Pickmins, a handful of enemies and you all running around the screen. Of course keeping track of that many characters at once is a pain, but the system is capable of handling it.

How is gameplay? Think of it as . . . well, as an RTS version of Lemmings, sort of. But with more control over your minions. I dont forsee a whole lot of replay value after you beat it - no multiplayer or anything - but it's entertaining just beating it the first time.

How much would I pay for the game? The apparent lack of longevity knocks a couple of bucks off the overall price. I'd go with a nice comfortable 40 bucks.

Super Smash Brothers - Rockem' sockem' galore! Looks great, plays natural (I jumped right in without cracking open the manual), sounds cool. That little yellow Pokemon never looked smoother. Even better? Progressive scan mode! Woo hoo - great looking graphics on a massive screen!

But what about the sound, you ask? Rockin music, heavy hitting thumps, squeeaking Pokemon - what more do you want?

Gameplay? Well, I havent really taken a look at single player yet. Me and all my room-mates got busy right away on the VS matches. However, what little I did check out shows lots of promise. Quest modes, loads of things to unlock, statues to collect - we're talking some Soul Calibur depth here.

But - isnt just a recycled version of the N64 game? So what if it is - I dont have an N64. Anyway, the streamlined, updated and slick looking graphics more than make up for that little detail.