Purple Picks

Purple Picks - Week Of 9/22/08

Week Of 9/22/08

By Mike Smith

Lego Caped Crusaders, maraca-shaking monkeys, gritty World War II shooters: this week has it all. Fall is traditionally the best time of year to be shopping for video games, as the console manufacturers desperately jockey for the best starting position in that all-too-imminent holiday shopping season. True to form, September's trend of great new releases continues apace this week. Here are Yahoo! Games' Purple Picks of the bunch.

Wario Land: Shake It

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There's one thing Nintendo does better than anyone else: update old concepts to suit new systems. Wario Land: Shake It stars Mario's coin-greedy counterpart Wario, boasts the usual Wii-friendly motion controls, and a dose of old-school platforming action that'll have you shaking it with the best of them.


Samba de Amigo

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And speaking of shaking it, here's a Wii music game that contains even more shaking than Wario Land. An update of one of the best games for the now defunct Dreamcast, Samba de Amigo lets you shake virtual maracas along to the beat of a variety of cheerful Latin grooves, including numbers from Ricky Martin, Harry Belafonte and Bow Wow Wow. Despite that, the game is really rather good.


Diner Dash Seasonal Snack Pack

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Starring all your favorite Diner Dash characters, Seasonal Snack Pack rolls together the first five Diner Dash episodes with 50 new Story Mode levels. Journey from the Crypt Cafe through the Coral Cove Cafe, and to the Romantic Rendezvous. If you think that sounds like the chapter list on an Indiana Jones DVD, you're not the only one.


LEGO Batman

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With the bestselling Lego Star Wars series behind them, who could blame developer Traveler's Tales for repeating the formula across every movie ever made, ever? The Batman series is next for the plastic-block treatment. The cross-platform LEGO version packs all the fun of the construction kits but none of the pain from stepping on one of the bricks in the dark.


Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

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The first next-generation Brothers in Arms game has absolutely nothing to do with the AC/DC classic rock anthem of a very similar name, but it's none the worse for that. The Brothers in Arms World War II games concentrate on thoughtful, tactical play rather than out-and-out, Halo-style shooting, and if you haven't tried its unique approach to combat, now's the perfect time. Be aware, though: Hell's Highway doesn't shy away from the horrors of war, so if you found Saving Private Ryan a little too messy, you might want to pass this one up.


Best of the Rest

  • Sim City Creator:
    The great-grandaddy of management games comes to the DS this week...
  • Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization
    ...and the great-grandaddy of civilization games returns to the PC, too.
  • Around the World In 80 Days:
    You've read the classic book, right? Yeah, neither have we. But now you can enjoy globe-trotting adventure without slogging through 19th-century prose.
  • Farm Frenzy 2:
    Raise chickens, milk cows, and smoke corncob pipes in this farming time management game.
  • Neverland:
    This trippy hidden-object game has you exploring a psychedelic dreamscape for clues to your past.
  • Magic Seeds:
    Do you have green fingers? This gardening game will help you find out.

Posted: 22 Sep 2008