*LOSTWINDS* (1000 points)

LostWinds is a totally new direction for developers FRONTIER. Having created the “Thrillville” simulation franchise, the team went in a bold new dierction: platform gaming!

LostWinds is a essentially a side scrolling platform game in which you control a little boy in his quest to save the world. Sounds familiar? Well where this game breaks the boundaries is with its control scheme.

Using the Wii-Mote, you control the wind to guide your budding hero. With a simple flick of the wrist and a hold of a button you can draw a path for the wind to carry you. There is a slight learning curve for thankfully the game guides you through it nice and slowly! Before you know it it’ll come to you naturally with no fuss.

Throughout the game you learn new “wind skills” that range from fire manipulation to a form of flying. My one gripe with the game at this point, however, is the lack of enemies to try all your skills on. With baddies only ever appearing in caves, the overground is baron of things to kill… Another downer is the fact that there is only one boss in the whole game. LostWinds essentially suffers from the gamers expectations. When playing such a good game you can’t help but want more from it!

But don’t let this put you off! This is still worth your hard earned 1000points! Other reviewers argue that the game is too short and i agree on some level but think that what FRONTIER has done with 40 odd megabites of space is a real achievement.

————————————————

THE SCORE:

(Gameplay) - has solid controls but suffers from a small environment… if there were more enemies to fight the controls would really have shined through! –9/10–

(Sound) - has a really soothing and catchy soundtrack that’ll have you humming! music is a little repetitive though and the enemies and townsfolk tend to make the same 2 noises all the time. still this is probably due to the space limitations and isn’t that big of a deal… –8/10–

(Graphics) - wind, water and fire effects look very nice and react in a believable manner. the environments are lush and rarely dull, especially the overhead town. –9/10–

(Value) - around 3 hours of solid gameplay. there is also a co-op mode that is fun to play with a friend but it suffers from slowdown which is a pain. there is also one side quest that could add to the total gametime but with no reward for completing it, would you really want to? –7/10–

(Presentation) - all of the menus are easy and simple to use and the in game info is laid out in a clean and unconfusing manner! –9/10–

*84/100* (like a pic “n” mix without the cola bottles… its delicious but it’s missing that little something!) ^_^