Well, it's finally here! The WiiWare title we first told you about exclusively on our site has arrived on the service. So, was it worth the wait? Most definitely. Dive: The Medes Islands Secret is a 2D side-scrolling adventure where you explore a variety of underwater mazes. Controls are very easy. Hold the B Button to swim, and tap it to do a quick dash. You use the Wii Remote's cursor to guide your character as he swims. Holding the A Button will make use of your weapon that has the power to kill or stun enemies and traps. Pressing Right on the D-Pad will pull up your map, while pressing Left will activate your flashlight.

There are 10 levels in the game that are quite large in scope. There are lots of branching pathways and hidden treasures lurking about so you'll need to cover a lot of ground. Your main objective is to find the main treasure in each area that will advance the storyline, however you can always return to levels you've already completed to continue your search. Some areas won't be accessible at the start of the game because of the default diving suit. But by accumulating gold earned from finding small treasures, you can purchase new upgrades.

This game is great fun so far and best of all, no major issues have come up in my playthrough! You can expect a review of this game to appear on our site in the coming days ahead.

Furland is in trouble! With Lord Squarie's forces raining on everyone's parade, who will put a stop this reign of terror? A small group of Furballs, that's who! You roll your cute ball-like character around using your Nunchuk, as you cross a slew of platforming challenges. The first few levels I've played have been pretty enjoyable. Controls are easy enough to understand. Your main attack is a forward thrust which is executed by holding Z to lock on, followed by a shake of the controller as you aim the control Stick in the direction of the target. It only takes few minutes to get used to before you'll be all set. 

By collecting special fruit, you can add energy to the blue bar which represents your special FurPower. Your little green friend's power sends him forward with a quick burst of speed. As you progress to later levels, you'll unlock new Furballs to use, each with their own special abilities. Each level has a bunch of crystals that you can collect, as well as hearts that will increase the number of hits you can sustain before you lose a life. Stone checkpoints are seen frequently, serving as a progress point for when you run out of health. 

There are a few puzzles from what I've seen but the emphasis here is on the platforming aspect. To that end, you'll see bouncy mushrooms which allow you to get to otherwise-inaccessible heights, along with platforms that swing or rotate constantly. Gameplay hasn't really shown off the "Wow factor" as of yet, but hopefully some surprises are in store before I reach the end of the game. The visuals are nice to look at and while they haven't impressed me either, they're still more ambitious than the presentation seen in some of the other WiiWare titles currently available. So far, so good! 

Stay tuned for a full review, coming soon! In the meantime, check out WiiloveitTV for some footage of the game.

HoopWorld is shaping up to be a great game so far! It's an arcade basketball game with a more offensive twist, thanks to a powerful set of moves and a selection of influential items. You can choose from a variety of teams and stadiums. Each set of characters have their own reasons for trying to learn more about this mysterious site, but all are equally ferocious. 

Controls are well-tailored to both rookies and experienced players. Basic moves involve moving using the Nunchuk's Control Stick, shaking the Wii Remote to pass (or attack when on defense), raising both controllers to shoot, and pressing the A Button to use power-ups. There are additional things to keep in mind, and the more time you spend with the game, you'll learn of new techniques to show off your skills. 

The items available in the game offer a lot of room for strategy and planning. You can add one to your inventory simply by running over one of the boxes that randomly appear on the court during gameplay. Each of them have their own coloured icons to help you distinguish between them. For example, the Basket Shield will put up a magical barrier that will prevent the other team from scoring for a short while, and the Shadow Ball will remove 5 points from your rival's score when a successful shot is made.

In addition to three gameplay modes, there's also online leaderboards for North American participants, and even downloadable content. I have yet to determine what DLC will be provided by this service, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what Virtual Toys offers. I just hope we won't have to wait so long like with the promised Puzzle Pack for Spaceball: Revolution. I can't wait to see what other hidden surprises this game has to offer. You can count on a review of HoopWorld to appear here on Wiiloveit.com soon. See below for some footage, courtesy of our YouTube channel.

If you've ever played Picross DS, you likely already have a good idea of what to expect from Animal Color Cross. This promising game takes the picross formula and breathes life into it by adding the element of colour, to spruce up images. All of the puzzles are divided up into different regions around the world, including Africa, Asia and North America. And each region features 9 different puzzles with varying grid sizes and difficulty levels. Completing each puzzle will uncover a hidden piece of a picture puzzle on the top screen of the region selection menu.

The setup is similar to other Picross games, with numbers located on the side to provide clues of where squares should go. However, another dimension is added when multiple layers come into play. each colour has its own layer and accompanying puzzle. On the right is a sidebar that allows you to toggle between the multiple coloured layers, and use one of three tools: a marker, a move tool, and a function where you can place X's on the board. Although 90% of the game is tap-based, the D-Pad can be used as shortcuts to access functions quicker. Once you get the hang of it, it can be quite fun to play. By the end of a puzzle, you'll have an entire color image displayed on-screen to represent your success.

I'm a big fan of Picross DS so naturally, I'm having fun with this $5 title. And if you're an impatient fan of this puzzle craze, wondering if it's a worthwhile investment, I'd say go for it. I do have some minor issues with the interface so far, but of course, these will be addressed in my upcoming review. Stay tuned for a deeper examination of this title, coming soon to Wiiloveit.com

I think just about everyone who has been keeping tabs on Jett Rocket has been pretty stoked over its upcoming release. Well, it's finally out in North America and inquiring minds want to know, how is it? The start of the game introduces players to the main character of the game. Jett acts as an inspector who patrols the area, ensuring that the planet is free of trouble. Soon, he finds his patrol ship under attack by a mysterious creature who knocks him out of the sky. The exact point where he lands will be your starting point in the game.

    In this small Tutorial level, you'll meet up with Jett's dolphin friend Rudolpho, who will brief you in on the Power Plant Posse, an organization that's stealing energy sources to serve their own evil ends. You control Jett by use of the Nunchuk's analog, and pressing the A Button to Jump. Shaking the Wii Remote will perform a forward dash, while shaking mid-air will get you to perform a devestating aerial attack. This can not only be used to attack menacing enemies, but activate switches as well. At the end of each level is a generator that will take you back to your ship.

    Clearing the Tutorial level will allow you to access the game's first world, Atoll. When you enter the first stage, you'll be introduced to a jetpack, this special add-on that allows you to hover across greater distances by pressing and holding A in mid-air. This pack has a limited amount of energy, so you'll need to refuel by standing on top of special yellow platforms and shaking the Wii Remote repeatedly. 

    The worlds I've seen so far have a good sense of structure and design. In addition to troublesome enemies, there's also hazards that you'll need to clear, secret item locations, and puzzles to solve. You'll also find blue chips littered throughout each stage. Collecting every last one is mostly for the sake of completion, however, you'll need a certain number of items to access new venues later on. Naturally, the initial stages are fairly straight-forward and offer little in the way of challenge. However, once I reached the 2nd World, I did notice that the challenge increased as did the amount of puzzle incorporation, which is great.

    I'm really enjoying myself so far and I can attribute much of my enjoyment to the absolutely stunning visuals. If you saw the trailer for the first time and knew nothing about Jett Rocket, I'd bet you'd conclude this was a retail game. The graphics are that good. I did notice two occasions where the framerate chugged along for a few seconds, but otherwise, the action is almost always consistent. I also encountered a few minor glitches so far, but nothing game-breaking. My only worry so far is the length of the game. I did expect this to happen considering how powerful the visuals are - after all, the size restrictions are hard enough to work with as it is. I'm already over 50% done the game. However, I have a feeling that there will be an adequate sense of replay value to keep me playing. Stay tuned for a full review of this game, coming soon to Wiiloveit.com! In the meantime, check out some rough footage of the game in action:

X-Scape is Q-Games' latest DSiWare project and it's guaranteed to be a memorable experience for all who give it a go. Plays will pilot a futuristic ship known as the VIXIV which features two different formations for ground and aerial assaults. You'll journey to multiple planets to uncover a mysterious story about an evil empire that has sprung into action. 

At its roots, the game contains two different main phases: free-movement mode and tunnel mode. In free-movement, players traverse a 3D space full of polygonal structures, locating Power Crystals and defeating meancing enemies. The first-person camera is great and the controls take about 10 minutes to get used to before you'll notice yourself improving. By default, movement is mapped to the touch screen with button presses allowing you to fire at opponents. But if you so desire, you can try D-Pad movement or even inverse controls if you're used to that sort of thing. 

As you meet certain conditions, you'll open up Warp Gates that will allow you to travel to other planets connected to one another. And this is where the second phase comes into play. Tunnel mode is somewhat reminiscent of AiRace: Tunnel. Here you have a given time limit to make it to the end of the tunnel, before your ship's shields give out. More time can be acquired by defeating enemies and shooting floating time icons. You'll also need to dodge traps which can sometimes come by surprise. But these fast segments are great.

Art Style: light trax is a single-player racing game that constantly shifts between 2D and 3D views. There are four different selections on the Main Menu. 'Light Races' and 'Light Tours' allows you to tackle individual stages or a series of tracks, respectively. The 'Freeway' is where you'll explore different routes or set a distance record within a given time limit. You also have the ability to  see a demonstration of how to play the game.

    You take control of a white line of light that's racing against other coloured beams to reach the finish line first. The top-right of the screen shows your time, lap number, and a heart icon representing your health. For every hit sustained (by crashing into an obstacle), you'll lose a heart. If you lose them all, you'll be disqualified from the race. Travelling along a path beside another line will enable you to rack up boost power, and pressing the 2 Button will give you a temporary speed increase. Tracks feature heart icons, boost panels, panels that will force you to travel along a different path, patches that will slow you down, and boost pick-ups that can be activated on demand. 

    Each invisible vertical/horizontal path can only carry one light beam at a time, meaning that if you try to cut someone off to overtake them, they'll be forced to move to a different path. Learning how the racing mechanics function is important to succeeding, and after one or two races, I further understood how to play. It's very pick-up-and-play and with each stage recording your best record, I can already foresee a good chunk of replay value existing in the game. Each race starts off slow but as you charge up boosts and overtake opponents, your light will travel at a faster speed.

    It seems as though there are 15 individual stages in total and the ones I've played thus far are of good length. When you clear a tour in 1st place, you'll unlock a new route on the Freeway. You'll need to access the route and reach a specific destination before time runs out so you can enter the new tour. I've really enjoyed my travels along the 3D Freeway so far. It reminds me of a digital information highway with branching paths that can only be accessed once certain conditions have been met. Of course, the mechanic of travelling beside lines to rack up boost power still carries over here, but here you can travel at really fast speeds after having built up a great deal of energy. You can just as easily crash into other light beams on the track and suffer a loss in energy, so you have to pay attention and even look ahead for what's coming up. Not only is this mode just as fun, but it's also very relaxing. Making my way to the new tour I unlocked led me along a sub-pathway that was actually quite exciting with different special effects.

    Just like in the other WiiWare entries in this series, you can adjust the contrast to either darken or brighten the lights. Either way, the visuals look great and have a strong cyber feel to them. The songs I've heard so far are really good, with one or two being quite addicting to listen. This is quickly vying to become my favourite Art Style game and I look forward to seeing how I feel about the whole thing as I make even more progress. A full review will be available soon here on Wiiloveit.com!

The latest football/soccer game for the Wii just in time for the upcoming World Cup! EA has taken an arcade approach with this title, and rather than centering on realism, they've decided to focus more on fun gameplay using motion controls. 

    You can use the Wii Remote on its own for casual play, the Wii Remote/Nunchuk combo for more advanced players, or the Classic Controller for button-focused gameplay. Thus far, I've only dabbled with the dual-controller scheme but I intend to give all of them a go in time. With this in mind, A is used to pass and B is to lob. If you hold those two buttons, you can apply a more powerful kick or extend your shot's reach. Pressing the +Control Pad will perform various tricks when you have the ball in your possession. The analog stick on the Nunchuk is used to control movement, while the Z Button is used to increase the speed of your runner. When you feel you have an opening, you shake the Wii Remote to shoot the ball towards the goalie. Shaking the Wii Remote also allows you to tackle opponents when you're on defense. More or less, this is an overview of the basic controls in the game.

    There are a few moments in the game that almost feel like the Megastrike moves from Mario Strikers Charged. For example, if a player decides to deliver a cross move during a corner kick, the game will go in slow motion and you'll need to press A when the ball lights up, before your rival does. During penalty kicks, the game will, again, go into slow motion and depending on the quality of the kick, the goalie will only have a short time to respond. If you press A at the right moment, you'll save the ball! 

    The game has a really nice setup to it and I think it looks great! There are 5 different modes in the game: you can complete a variety of challenges under Zakumi's Dream Team, enter the main fray under the 2010 Fifa World Cup option, setup an exhibition match in Hit the Pitch, battle friends tourney-style in the Global Elimination mode, or take on the world in the game's Online mode. Thus far, the game's a lot of fun and the ability to play online in this game is a big plus. Being able to rack up stats that amount to your country's overall score is a great feeling, and it keeps in check with the World Cup appeal of this release. Stay tuned for a review, coming soon to Wiiloveit!

It's about time online chess came to WiiWare, don't you think? Digital Leisure is proud to be the first developer to pull it off and for the most part, it's pretty decent. You can play on your own against a computer, alternate with a friend, use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to face people from around the world, and you can take advantage of WiiConnect24 to have long-distance battles. Lots of settings you can adjust, as well. Players can change such things as the appearance of the chess pieces, the in-game clock, and the background itself. 

Chess Challenge! can be played in either 3D or 2D view. In 3D, you'll use the B Button and drag your cursor around the screen to adjust the camera, to ready yourself for playing the game. With the Display Mode set to 'On', selecting a piece (by holding the A Button) will cause surrounding squares to light up, telling you where you can move. When pieces get taken out of play, a sound effect will play, and they will get pushed off to the side of the table you're playing on. Standard rules in chess are included here, and you have the ability to pull off advanced moves as well such as Castling. There are a couple options that seem to be missing though, such as the ability to show the last move that was made. If anything, this forces you to play close attention to the game but since other chess games feature this ability, it may be missed by some players. 2D view works the same way as the first, except that your background looks a lot nicer, and you don't have the ability to see which pieces have been taken out of play. 

On your own, it's a great way to test your skills, especially since the computer can be very challenging. But of course, chess is more fun when you play with another person, and there are multiple ways of doing just that. The online mode works great from what I've seen so far, and I haven't noticed any lag from my games (not like it matters in a game like this anyway). While you're waiting for a match to appear, you can practice against a bot off to the side. When you're actually playing a match, you have the ability to change your Mii's facial expressions, just like in Texas Hold'em Tournament. So there is some interaction there, but of course, some will long for text or even voice chat abilities as the games stretch on. Defeating opponents adds points to your ELO rating and helps you climb up the leaderboards when compared with the rest of the world. Naturally, unlike in Texas Hold'em Tournament, performing well is only for bragging rights and doesn't let you unlock any new features or accessories for your Mii.

So far, my thoughts on the game are fairly positive. There are some issues that I have with it, but that'll be covered in my upcoming review of both the WiiWare and the DSiWare version. Stay tuned for a full review coming soon to Wiiloveit.com!