The Latest UK Video Games Chart

Welcome back to the Latest UK Video Games Chart, below is a list of last weeks most popular games.

Feb 12^th – 18th

Chris’ Top Ten Zelda Games

When people think about the Legend of Zelda, they automatically think about Ocarina of Time, admittedly, it is one of THE greatest games in the world, but there are other Zelda games in the series and they all have a lot to offer and maybe more than Ocarina of Time. I was watching a video about some other guy’s top ten Zelda game’s and it got me thinking, what are my top ten? Well some in the top five may not surprise you and some might do. If my friends and fellow readers know me well, I am a HUGE Zelda fan; it is my favourite gaming franchise. It always allowed me to go back and collect more things other than thinking ‘I have completed the storyline….now what…’. So, I am going to go into what my favourite ten are and why they strike me in that way! Skyward Strike…NOW!

10. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Gameboy/GameBoyColour)

So we have started with the first portable Zelda game. This game was a wild card for me for a while, it never really captivated me enough to WANT to finish the game, and however as time moved on and I started to understand the mechanics of games and the storylines of them, this then started creeping up towards me. The story is a great one, if any. Link is stranded on an island and the only way that he can leave there is to awaken the sleeping fish. Sounds a little bizarre but what the hell! This game is also great with the ways it sneaked in the Mario characters, e.g. Goomba’s, Chain Chomp and Shy Guys amongst the few. The gameplay itself was not amazing, but it had that air where you would want to overcome what you have lost or died against and then beat the crap out of them with your sword of the item you finally figured out was the answer all along -_-. Other than that this game is a great one, with an interesting story and oh, it got a re-release on the Game Boy Colour ☺ Sweet!

9. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS)

DS games aren’t the greatest in the world, they have completely renovated the way people play games and their lifestyles, but they could never match up to the games on the home consoles. However that changed with the first Zelda game released for the portable system. Phantom Hourglass takes on the graphics of its brother, The Wind Waker, and continues the story from it. It also changed the way that we could play the Zelda games. Swipe the stylus to swing your sword and you can then flip you map out, write on it (that’s right, write on it!) so that you do not forget what it is you had to do next. Ok, you also get to draw out your own route on the sea as you sail along the sea once again to reach your destinations, that’s pretty epic, but what of the story?

Tetra get’s kidnapped by the main antagonist, Bellum (sound’s a bit like a Pok’emon…) and Link gets washed up on a new island, nothing new. Link then has to forge the Phantom Sword to defeat Bellum and so he sails the Great Sea again in search for the pieces to forge the sword. The story itself is great, it really captivates and there is stillroom for a bit of comedy as the game goes on. Another feature added to this game was the online mode. I myself have not played on this, but from what I have read, it seems to be a bit too simple. I have not played it so I won’t go into any more details over it. Either way, this is still a great Zelda game, and one you should look out for!

8. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (Gameboy Advance)

The first Zelda game to be released in Europe over North America! Minish Cap was indeed a game that was interesting in both story and new items. The graphics followed it’s previous counter-part, Four Swords and brings in a whole new world, where Link meets a mysterious hat named Ezlo. There is also a new race to speak to, called the Picori, a little sounding like the Kokori. Either way, the story follows Vaati (previously in Four Swords) who petrifies Zelda, Link must rescue her but he cannot do it alone, he needs the help of Ezlo and the power to transform into the Picori, in other words become really really small! Link was chosen to do this because he is a child and only children can see the Picori. The game brought with it a whole new load of weapons on top of previous favourites. We also saw the return on Tingle in the game and a load of new collectibles, such as Kinstones and figurines. This was released before the Nintendo DS was released, which may be a reason to why this game was not as popular as it should or could have been. Other than that this game is a must have for true Zelda fan boys and girls and truly an extraordinary game!

7. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Gameboy Advance)

I have this game at this number for a simple reason; multiplayer. This was perhaps the most fun I had with a Zelda game, whiles amongst other people! It gave us more reasons to play with each other on our Game Boy Advances and to mess around. It was also a great game to pass the time, as you could also play on your own, however you had to play with multiplayer if you wanted to collect everything! Vaati is the antagonist of this game, as you need to use the four sword to destroy him. The concept of the game is also fun, needing your friends to jump across or to be thrown across to get to a switch; these helped bring players closer to the Zelda franchise!

6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo Wii/GameCube)

The beginning of re-inventing the way we all play the Legend of Zelda games starts right here! Twilight Princess brought about a new way to play the Zelda games, using the Wii Remote to slash and hack you way through the games story! Of course there are a lot of people that believe that this game did not do what it said on the tin, being the darkest Zelda game out there. Some say it tried to hard and some say that it definitely is but what do we all know? Of course it is dark, there are hardly many colours used in this game!
The story was good itself! Many people look at a game for a new story or for a better way to play the game or just for a new feel. This game did both of those, being the most beautiful Zelda game of the time and then allows us to have a closer and better feel to riding Epona! There was however a new feature in this game, which included a brand new friend called Midna.

Link was able to transform into a wolf, which gave him the power to howl music notes out, being that games musical instrument. Zelda games have a thing with music, there is a musical instrument in all of them, it just depends whether or not you have noticed them or not!

So in this Zelda game, Link works on a farm, which is then attacked by monsters that take away a few of the children that work there. Link follows and ends up being dragged into the Twilight realm, where he is turned into a wolf. He is then imprisoned but then freed by Midna, who takes him to see Princess Zelda. It is there that you learn of the antagonist, Zant, who has taken over the twilight realm. It is Link’s job to defeat Zant and free the twilight realm and to save Hyrule at the same time.

The great thing with this game is that it did have an amazing twist, and perhaps the greatest boss battle out of all the Zelda games! It was constantly being sold as the Wii console was brought, and helped put Zelda back into the Market, with a nice, fresh and dark tale to go along with it!

5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

This is perhaps the oldest classic out of the entire Zelda series. Of course there are two before this game and to be fair, without them this game would not have existed, but this was a great turning point for the Zelda series, and it also put the franchise back on the map for gamers!

The game kicks us off with Link in bed (which seems to happen a lot!) and is then awoken by the sound of Zelda calling him for help. Of course there is a storm going on at the same time and that can only mean that things are not going to end nicely. The basic concept of this game is that you have to rescue Zelda and the sages before Ganon truly becomes the King of Hyrule and the Sacred Realm. Boasting the new features of the time, A Link to the Past has two parallel worlds, the light and dark. The light world is Hyrule where Link has grown up with his Uncle, and then the Dark World is what the Sacred Realm used to be before Ganon had acquired the Triforce!

This game brought about with it a few new items such as the hookshot and Pegasus boots and continued the top down scrolling screen from the original Zelda. It has a great place in the Zelda history, where it is constantly voted as one of the greatest Zelda games out there. This, I agree. Although it is a bit old, it never gets boring, and it is definitely one that every Zelda fan should acquire, considering is has been re-released on the Wii Virtual Console and the GBA!

4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Nintendo 64)

One of the last games to be released onto the Nintendo 64 and it also one of the greatest. Majora’s Mask is a difficult game to grasp but at the same time one of the most captivating of it’s kind. You have three days, just three to save Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule, from destruction; by the Moon falling onto the land. Doesn’t sound too bad, however you need to travel across Termina, find the four giants and possibly collect every single mask in the game.

Speaking of the Masks, it is perhaps my favourite side mission out of any game! Collecting the masks meant you could show off your reward for helping out a specific character and this then led to getting a bigger and more badass mask at the end, which spawns my favourite Zelda character, Fierce Deity Link. Down side to this mask is that you can only use it during boss battles, but still, it does kick ass! You can also transform into a few of the other races that Termina brings with it including the Deku, Zora and Goron. They all have their own special abilities which help you progress through the game as well as their own variation of a musical instrument!

None of the Zelda games prior to this had the dark feeling this brings with it. The atmosphere whiles playing the game helps bring you into this world that is about to be wiped out, and you are the only one who can save it. But you must go through many tasks before you can fully save it, and they aren’t easy.

Just think, Link only went and came to this place all because he was looking for Navi, or was he? Either way Skull Kid or in actual case the Majora’s Mask ruined this and sent Link spiraling into another adventure before he knew it!

Majora’s Mask is a classic Zelda game, one of the most important milestones of its career.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)

Determining what the greatest game in the world is a hard one. Many people would usually vote because of biased opinion, which gaming usually conveys. Lots of people would think Call of Duty is the best because; it is great for it’s multiplayer, or Halo because it brings us together to kill Aliens and fellow Spartans. Either way, we all know that this game is one of the greatest!

Ocarina of Time lands number three in my list because, despite its general awesomeness, it just doesn’t cut out to make those special top two places in my list. Admittedly it is the game that got me into the series, as it did for many people. The graphics at the time were spectacular and it was amazing to see the Zelda franchise move into this area of 3D world gaming, since most of the games had stuck to the side scrolling, screen switching phase, this moved the game into the free roam world. Did you know it was also the first game to feature any playable way of riding a horse, whiles doing what you want. Bet you did not know that! Either way, playing this game is nostalgic to any Zelda fan, but it is not always their favourite.

The graphics, of course, at the time where astounding, portraying a beautiful land known as Hyrule, galloping or running along it’s scenery, taking in the different sights and lands that you could experience to the finest detail, until the one known as Ganondorf destroys that beauty and turn’s the land upside down! Of course now it does not look anything like I just described, but that is, what I can guess, what most people would have thought during the times of this games release.

A particular thing I love about this game is all the little things you can do on the side of the main quest. Granted, there may not be a lot, but nonetheless they were fun and brought about an extra need, instead of having to save Hyrule. Perhaps one of the best mini games that the game had was fishing. Now fishing seems to be a big part of later Zelda games, Ocarina brought about a new way in which you could fish and enjoy yourself…until the biggest fish gets caught…and then runs off…bugger.

The main quest itself is not too straight forward, nor is it a walk in the park (unless you have completed it fifty million times by now!). The Master Quest version of this game on the Gamecube and 3DS allows us to relive all of Ocarina’s glory, with a few twists and turns here and there. Not as great as the original, as everything is pretty much twisted around, but not a big flop!

Ocarina of Time is obviously one of the greatest, that’s why it makes number three for me, but it was not THE greatest Zelda game for me. Now to Number Two…

2. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo Wii)

Now this game was not on everyone’s good list. Many reasons that sprouted were because of the graphics, the controls never responded correctly etc. I personally believe that these were all great within the game. This is not because I’m an avid Zelda fan and I believe that everything they do makes it AMAZING. I sincerely think that utilizing the graphics in an art style form, with that mixture of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, I believe that it brought about a sense of purpose, and that was to Prologue the entire Zelda franchise! The graphics were fun and bubbly, they may have not been that dark and twisty edge that Twilight Princess brought about without but whiles on the island of Skyloft (Link and Zelda’s home) it gave a sense of security. Admittedly when you travel to below the clouds on the ‘land’ the colours are still there but you feel as if you are not safe anymore, which in a sense is a good thing because there are pretty much monsters everywhere…

The story depicts Link and Zelda as the chosen people, who will lead the land below the skies to peace and away from the evil known as Demise. The biggest and greatest thing that this brought to the Zelda franchise was emotions and a heart felt story. Link expresses a lot of emotion during this game and quiet frankly, it gives the player that feeling as though they MUST accomplish this for Link’s sake! Zelda meant a lot more to this game than just the princess who has been captured. She mattered to Link. They have this connection where you can tell there is a love story going on, but at the same time Demise was close to being free and it was not time for all the lovey stuff.

The controls can take time to get used to though. With this game you have to be patient with how the controls work and this is meant for 1:1 gaming. Either way you cannot just push aside how epic and truly magnificent the gameplay is for this game, as you get to literally move Link’s sword where you want and think strategically about where you have to hit you foes, as they all need to be hit somewhere important, apart from the obviously slash and hack!

There are bits on the side that you can do with this game as well, such as bug collecting, collecting random objects to upgrade your weapons, which increase the power, speed, or the type of thing that that weapon brings to the game!

This is not a bad game, it is literally one of the best that the Zelda franchise has to offer and by far the most moving and emotional of the entire series! However, it did not make it to number one for me, this little one did!

1. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GameCube)

I may get absolutely killed by saying this but it is my favourite of the Zelda games. I had never been as excited for any other game than this! I had to wait 3 MONTHS before I could play this game, because it came out before my birthday. Since I got it I never came out of my room!

I’m not sure entirely why but I loved the graphics. They went extremely well with the story and the music is utterly magnificent, it literally brings a joy to my heart when I hear the music from this game! The gameplay itself was good, even though it was the standard hack and slash.

The thing about this game was that it felt alive! There was a lot to explore amongst the Great Sea, and there were also a lot of characters to develop through. Music wise it brought about a new instrument, the Baton, that controls the wind, which works in your favour throughout the game. Back to the graphics, there were a lot of talks about how these would affect how people would perceive the game. Of course it was a risky decision for Nintendo to move into this direction but it did not disappoint…well to certain people. Some thought it looked too childish and that it was not as good as Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask. However you have others such as myself that believe this game was a very very very…important milestone for Zelda! It sprouted those wings of a new timeline, years after the events of Ocarina the sea demolishes Hyrule to keep it safe. Sounding so tragic, but finding Hyrule during the game, under the sea, is one of my proudest moments in video gaming history!

Every Zelda game has its music and this one does not disappoint! This soundtrack is a little lighter hearted, bringing about a nice sense of enjoyment whilst playing through the game whilst still maintaining that edge that something serious is going down!

That brings me to the main story. You start off pretty much the same as in all Zelda games. Asleep, lazy and then you get woken up! This time by your sister. You continue your normal adventures on Outset Island until your sister gets kidnapped. Then it’s on! However you cannot go for your sister unless Tetra allows you to travel with her on her pirate ship! As you continue your journey things start to unravel and come clearer to the person playing the game and to Link!

In contrast to Ocarina, you can see the scenery is much more colourful and yet as beautiful as the land of Hyrule was delivered to us. Of course everywhere you look the sea pretty much gets caught in your eye, but it’s the people, the islands and the story that really captivate what Wind Waker is all about. Simply just walking around, slashing at pigs and then running away from them is fun! You also have mini side quests such as the post delivery and collecting figurines (which is my favourite of them all!)

What Can We Expect from Future Zelda Games?

One thing for sure, Zelda is going to be sticking around! There are rumours that they should be rebooting the entire series, which in my point of view, is an outrage, as they have worked on this series for twenty-five years and it would be a waste to just let it all go like that! But on the other hand we have two more Zelda games heading our way, one for the 3DS and one for the Wii U. No details have yet been released for either of these, which make the anticipation all the more exciting! Majora’s Mask looks very much like it will get a remake for the 3DS but that looks very far off, as they want an original game for the 3DS, not just remakes. What can we expect? Only time can tell and hopefully Nintendo, Shigeru and co get something spectacular together!

The Latest UK Video Games Chart (13/2/12)

Welcome back to the Latest UK Video Games Chart, below is a list of last week’s most popular games.

Both Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and The Darkness II entered high this week, leading the way for a number of high profile games in the coming weeks and months. Not a huge amount of movement in terms of the other Top 20 titles, though it’s a shame to see Catherine so low, however this is understandable due to its potentially niche audience.

Feb 4^th – Feb 11th

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2012 UKIE Ltd

Review: One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP

Most anime games never turn out the way they should. Most would expect a nice open world in which you can explore the lands that your favourite character explores and lives around. Also, if they include fighting in the anime then you would most definitely want fighting sequences to happen. Most games do not deliver these things and it is a bit of a drawback to wanting to play the game when you find these things aren’t within the game. However, we can see that there are a few exceptions; one being the new One Piece game for the 3DS; Unlimited Cruise SP. This is a special port of both episodes released for the Wii, put into a single cartridge for 3DS only.

This game starts off where Luffy and co land amidst an area full of pirates, awaiting the scene of Ace’s execution. Not all the people here however are pirates. You have the marines who are holding the execution and then Whitebeard, the most powerful pirate, is there to rescue Ace. Luffy also states he is there to rescue Ace. This then leads onto an army load of fights as you take control of each team to progress through the story. The controls are ok for this; the camera angles however do let the game down slightly. At times you could be looking for your enemy, only to be knocked about and have half of your health left before launching your first attack. In other times, if you are clever enough, you can target you enemy quickly so you do not loose sight of him/her, a very clever thing to do! You get to play as many different characters, who have different abilities and skills, which may interest some, but other characters seem a little ‘pointless’ to play as and seem to just ‘fill’ the game in areas where needed.

Another mode you can play on is a special mode where Luffy is told to go to four different islands, with his crew, and find the treasure amongst the islands, whiles battling past enemies. The great thing about this mode is you get to free roam on not just the island, but also your ship, giving you a great experience. The down side to this is finding items to progress to the next step. It is not clear where the items are and you can be looking for hours on end and come up with nothing. This does not help in keeping you occupied and playing the game further on! The controls for this is pretty much the same as when you fight in the episodes in which you try and save ace, with the exception of carrying on after beating your enemies. The downside to this mode is that to save it you need to be on your ship, which can take a while if you went exploring on the different islands.

The last mode you get to play on is the survival mode. You have to beat 200 different bands of enemies before you lose all of your health. Sounds simple, perhaps not though. It would seem you need to be clever of your surroundings and make sure to roll out of your enemy’s way before you get hit. You can however choose through a variety of character, which you unlock as you go through both parts of the game previously stated. You also have a gallery in which you can view a 3D model of the character see what they look from different angles and different costume (which only changes slightly.)

The 3D effect for this game is a nice effect, with some of the stuff seeming to come out rather nice. It also makes the graphics look nicer and smoother but a little bit chunky with the hands, but there’s no real problem with that. Some cut scenes can be watched in 3D, which gives another great effect to the game, as it really makes use of the 3DS system. The voices of the game are also in Japanese with English subtitles. There is however no option to change the language into English Dubbed, which may annoy those who try and read the words, which can be small!

In comparison to other anime games, this is ok, but not as great as what is out there. Fair enough this is on the 3DS system, but with games such as Naruto, Bleach and Dragon Ball Z raging around on our consoles and hand held systems, they need to up the game with One Piece. In other words, it would be nice if they had a story and layout like Naruto had, where you can collect items and progress through the story or just have the plain fighting of Dragon Ball Z, but work to a nice fighting system that uses One Piece to it’s advantage!

Overall 6/10

This is a great game to play every once in a while, it however does not captivate for more than a few hours, which seems a little disappointing. You can choose a great selection of characters and the 3D sequences do their job right! All in all this is a nice little game to play if you’re new to One Piece, hardcore fans will obviously love this more than I have, however I did give this a try considering I am not up to date with the anime itself!

The Latest UK Video Games Chart

Welcome back to the Latest UK Video Games Chart, below is a list of last week’s most popular games.

January 22nd – 28th

The Latest UK Video Games Chart

Well I’m back again with the Latest UK Video Games Chart and I’m still tweaking that pesky layout, below is last week’s list.

January 15th - 21th

The Last Story Limited Edition Details Arise

Nintendo have announced an exclusive limited edition bundle coming for The Last Story , the latest action-packed RPG from legendary Hironobu Sakaguchi (founder of the Final Fantasy series), available exclusively on Wii across Europe from February 24th.

The limited edition The Last Story bundle will be available for pre-order while stocks last, featuring a copy of the game, an exclusive SteelBook cover decorated with stunning artwork, and a The Elements Of The Last Story package which includes The Premium Soundtrack CD and The Illustrations art booklet. The CD features a 7-track selection of music from the game composed by Nobuo Uematsu who has worked on many projects within the Final Fantasy series.

The Last Story adds a modern twist to the traditional RPG style, offering a strategic, real-time combat system and allowing you to customise your character and weaponry. By mastering a mysterious ability called The Gathering you will be able to help the main protagonist Zael and his band of mercenaries complete the many missions and battle vast bosses by discovering their weak spots and using teamwork to bring them down. The Last Story not only features a story-driven single player campaign, but also two online multiplayer modes, Deathmatch and Co-op, allowing you to battle against or alongside up to five other people across Europe.

The Latest UK Video Games Chart

Well I’m back again with the Latest UK Video Games Chart and I’m trying out a new layout, below is last week’s list.

January 8th - 14th

POS.		TITLE	PUBLISHER	LAST WEEK
1	-	FIFA 12	EA SPORTS	1
2		JUST DANCE 3	UBISOFT	4
3		THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM	BETHESDA SOFTWORKS	5
4		BATTLEFIELD 3	EA GAMES	2
5		CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3	ACTIVISION	3
6	-	ZUMBA FITNESS	505 GAMES	6
7		ZUMBA FITNESS 2	505 GAMES	12
8		RAGE	BETHESDA SOFTWORKS	9
9		ASSASSIN’S CREED: REVELATIONS	UBISOFT	10
10		NEED FOR SPEED: THE RUN	EA GAMES	7
11		MARIO KART 7	NINTENDO	13
12		YOUR SHAPE: FITNESS EVOLVED 2012	UBISOFT	-
13		FORZA MOTORSPORT 4	MICROSOFT	11
14		SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD	THQ	8
15	-	SUPER MARIO 3D LAND	NINTENDO	15
16	-	FOOTBALL MANAGER 2012	SEGA	16
17		RAYMAN ORIGINS	UBISOFT	19
18		MARIO & SONIC LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES	SEGA	14
19		KINECT SPORTS: SEASON TWO	MICROSOFT	18
20		WII FIT PLUS	NINTENDO	-

Prince of Persia Jumps Its Way onto the 3DS and Wii

Nintendo’s eShop (along with Nintendo DSi shop and Wii Shop Channel) gets an update this week, and included for 3DS and Wii owners are the retro Prince of Persia games.

Depending on where you shop, you will get a different version of Prince of Persia. Those who browse the eShop will find the Game Boy Color version while those who check out the Wii Shop Channel will find the SNES version.

For DSi owners…Yeah you’re screwed as you get no Prince of Persia. On the plus side you get 40-in-1 Explosive Megamix and a cute looking tower defense game called Come On! Heroes. Okay so that’s not much of a consolation, especially with the former sounding like a huge waste of time. At least the latter seems to be charming with a cute visuals and hopefully an amusing story behind it.

You can check out the prices and descriptions below.

For those using Nintendo Video, you’ll be pleased to hear that:

“Available this week via Nintendo Video, is the next instalment of the Circus 3D series. Circus 3D is a series of clips which will transport you into a world of a real life circus and put you the viewer in the heart of the action wherever you may be. Take in a birds-eye view of an acrobat on parallel bars or feel like you are with the artists on stage through innovative points of views. Watch an aerial performance from the floor or the point of view from inside a cage with tigers. Circus 3D will offer you an exhilarating experience which immerses you into circus life as if you were actually there, all in 3D and in the palm of your hand.”

“Also available this week via Nintendo Video is a 3D clip courtesy of Red Bull, showcasing some of the world’s best skiers taking part in the Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel, Austria. From the Start all the way down to the finish, this unprecedented 3D clip provides a breathtaking insight into the toughest downhill ski race in the world.”

The Latest UK Video Games Chart

Push Start is going to start providing you with the UK’s gaming habits. The titles below are what gamers of the UK are playing right now… or at least what they were playing last week. We’ll aim to provide you with this information every Monday.

January 1^St – 7th

1.  FIFA 12

2.  Battlefield 3

3.  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

4.  Just Dance 3

5.  The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

6.  Zumba Fitness

7.  Need For Speed: The Run

8.  Saints Row: The Third

9.  RAGE

10.  Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

11.  Forza Motorsports 4

13.  Zumba Fitness 2

14.  Mario Kart 7

15.  Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games

16.  Super Mario 3D Land

17.  Football Manager 2012Sonic Generations

18.  Kinect Sports: Season 2

19.  Rayman Origins

20.  EASports Active 2