CreatureX

Can you give some details on what is wrong with the interface?

drmoze

Just picked up Tiger Woods today too. Will report back on how it plays (hopefully somewhat like a home golf 'simulator'). I'm gonna play it like the amateur I am, trying to give it my best swings. (None of that one-handed swipe junk that was in the promo video!)

fujishig

I rented a couple of Wii games in the past few weeks. While I love the games that I actually bought (Zelda, trauma center, Elebits, Rayman, and Super Monkey Ball) I just found the control schemes of both rental games too difficult to use.

The first game I rented was Dragonball Z, which has gotten decent reviews. The one huge knock against this game was that it forces you to be within a certain distance from the receiver... which is fine for a smaller tv, but not for a bigger TV. While I could see the novelty of the new control scheme, it just seemed really cumbersome to have to remember all of these movements to do simple moves.

The second game was Sonic. I was really impressed by the presentation and some of the longer levels. However, I had a really hard time figuring out how to do some of the moves... it took me forever to learn to flick the wiimote in order to boost, because the instructions just tell you to move it forward quickly, and even then I found that I couldn't do it consistently. And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to do a backward dash or a boost start. Fun game, though, and I can see how much fun Excite Truck must be (unfortunately, it's always rented out).

I'm sure as developers get more comfortable with the controls, new games will come out that better utilize them. I'm now hesitant about SSX Tricky, since it's supposed to have a pretty tough learning curve...

Patman

I'm hoping to hear that you can really take your normal swing in this game and have it impart the swing into the game in a realistic manner. I seldom play the Wii sports golf because the swing required was too candy-ass for me to consistently enjoy it.

rayw69

The UI is counter-intuitive in almost every way. It is a bit hard to describe. When you think you should be using the A button to press on arrows you can visually see, it turns out you are required to use the d-pad. Leaving your cursor hovering over clothing items for a period of time zooms into the item.

I think my main problem with it is, that the cursor is always "active". Think of how the Wii News channel works when you scroll vertically. It requires you to hold down the B button to scroll. In TW, it scrolls as default.

There are multiple menus which scroll when you move over them with the cursor. There are 11 "pages" of modifications you can make to your character's face. When you want to page up or page down, you move your cursor to the bottom of the designated area, and it changes pages. However, on the right side of the screen, there are controls to zoom in or rotate your avatar, so you can better see the changes being made. When you move the cursor to go use these zoom/rotate controls, your cursor inevitably crosses over one of the areas which cause the page to change.

In general, there are far too many UI "gimmicks" that use the Wii remote.

rayw69

I don't play golf, so I can't provide any feedback based on a real golfer's perspective. However, I would say that the IGN review has it just right. The fact that the game detects draws and fades is a real nice addition. However, the fact that the game does not track your swing 1 to 1 like Wii Sports Golf does makes it very hard to pull off non-full power shots. Instead of shortening your own swing, you are watching your character and interrupting his/her swing at the correct point, in order to achieve less power.

The game is definitely harder though. Which addresses my main complaint about the Tiger Woods series from the past. I don't see myself ripping off Eagles and Birdies with the same frequency any time soon.

DodgingCars

I'm actually renting SSX and Sonic now. I like both the games, but neither are $50 buys for me. I may pick them up later for $20. I found the Sonic controls to work ok for the few levels I played (I'm in the 1st world after the prologue.).

I had a few problems with SSX, but they were minor. For some reason I couldn't carve right. Now it works fine. I'm hoping it was just a fluke thing. I've had a lot of fun with the game, but it does seem that sometimes I can "flip" the remote and get the character the flip and sometimes he spins instead. Other than that, I've enjoyed them both. I'll probably send both back to gamefly tomorrow though and check out some other stuff.

I still haven't played Elebits or Rayman yet.

chess

Damn it (takes Tiger off his shopping list).

Guess I'll be waiting for Mario Golf.

Patman

Thanks for the feedback. Guess I'll try renting it first to see if the swing mechanics are tolerable.

drmoze

Re: Tiger Woods:

Didn't have much time to fool around with it last night--just did some customization and shot 9 holes. I agree the interface is clunky and user-unfriendly. (Surprised me that this would be a problem!) It's mostly in the customization and pro shop, though. Once you're playing, the game interface is fine. But the active cursor in the customization screens does scrolland switch things accidentally. Plus, you don't have an 'OK' button to confirm choices and end a set of options. Instead, you have to hit the '-' button to back out of option screens until you are far enough back to where you want to be (e.g., to the game start menu). Not very friendly.

As for the control mechanics, still a mixed bag for me. It does seem to track hooks and slices well. But several times I lined up at the tee for an actual shot (holding the B trigger to begin a real swing), head down(!), and after I swing I hear no ball contact, and am looking at the screen to see my character with his club at full backswing position after I followed through. Not sure why this happens, but it happens a lot. (And my sensor bar is fine for everything else.) After a while I could not get consistent power on swings--taking a full swing would only give 50-60% or so, which is disastrous. Not sure why this happened, but it may be some subtle timing issues. It is also *very* hard to control speed on putts. Once or twice I hit hard putts, 30-40 feet, but later with some long putts, trying to do the same motion, I was getting 10-foot putts. (5-putt anyone?)

So, the game can be played with real golf-type swings, but there are still some timing nuances that I apparently haven't figured out yet and which I've not been consistent with. If I figure these things out (consistent swing response and putting strength), it will be very fun indeed, and not a ridiculously easy golf game (like Wii Sports Golf, which I still kinda like). Plus there are a lot of courses, so the variety will be there.

I'm wondering if a full-sized golf club attachment (and enough room in front of the tv!) would make things easier and be an even better sim.

Has anyone played Tiger Woods and Super Swing and can offer a comparison?

tpc

The wii has been a disappointment to me lately, as there's just not a lot good coming out for it, but I guess we knew that drought was coming. I have gotten some miles out of the VC of late though... finished a couple seasons of Tecmo Bowl and Donkey Kong Country last night, and they are as much fun as I remember. For my money, DKC is one of the best platformers ever made.

I beat it in under three hours though... I seem to remember it taking a lot longer... even about 3 years ago when I gave it a spin on the GBA. *shrug*... still 8 bucks well spent.

Next, I think I'm going to give the original Zelda a spin.

Michael Corvin

I was thinking the same thing when I beat Super Castlevania IV. Short. I can't believe I bought some of these games at full price for such a short amount of play time.

slop101

Yeah, but those games were just as fun (if not more so) the 3rd or 4th time through as they were the 1st or 2nd. The same can't be said of even the better 20-hour action games of today.

tpc

I think in many ways, it's a matter of improved skills.

Seriously.

When I go back and play games like this, I'm blown away by how slow they feel compared to today's games. I think in many ways, it's an improved reaction time. I could be totally off my rocker, here, but I think that decreases the challenge, and thus decreases the playtime.

Some of it is also familiarity. You go "I've been here before... I know what to do" and there's less of that discovery time.

Josh H

I think it's more familiarity than decreased skills.

Go back and play some of the really hard games like Battletoads or the NES Ninja Gaiden games. Those games require crazy reaction time etc.

I beat those when I was young, and can barely get past the first or second levels today. So I highly doubt its improved skills, it's just games like DKC or Super Mario World were never all that hard, and are even easier now when you remember how to get past parts you got stuck at the first time or two through the game.

shumway

You also weren't knocking down Scotch or micro-brews while playing them 'back in the day' either.

Michael Corvin

I still don't.

shumway

Yeah, 'cept for the summer after HS when I thought it was awesome to get drunk and play PS1 games.

tpc

Don't knock a good Micro Brew. I'm working on my own Chocolate Stout right now, and I anticipate it will go great with some Old School Zelda.

KurrptSenate

o sh!t

chocolate stoudt sounds pretty bangin

PixyJunket

Heh.. alcohol + video games is every Saturday at my place.

Josh H

That's limited to multiplayer outings with friends a couple times a month.

I'm not knocking down scotch or micro-brews while playing SMW by myself on the virtual console or Battletoads on an emulator.

JasonF

This article is a week old, but I don't think it was posted here, and it's just too funny to let it go by:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070308/...tendo_designer

Nintendo in general and Shigeru Miyamoto in particular coming out against sequels? What's next -- fish coming out against water?

slop101

Hypocracy aside, I kinda understand what he's getting at, but after playing some God of War 2 last night (which is a very violent game about revenge that also happens to be a sequel), I say fuck him - I really don't care what a game's about - I just want it to be fun - and violent sequels can be just as fun as a game designed by Miyamoto.

JasonF

I get what he's saying, too -- a lot of development time goes into copying last year's hit or coming up with a different variation on "Player has big gun and uses it to blow things up." Unique concepts for games are always welcome, and the best games tend to tread new ground. But he's a bad messenger for "no sequels," particularly since he's just finishing development on yet another Super Mario Brothers game.