By Chad Sapieha

Monday, February 14, 2005 Updated at 1:07 PM EST

Special to Globe and Mail Update

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 Game publishers usually try to launch as many games as they can before Christmas in an attempt to cash in on the holiday spending frenzy, which tends to make the winter and spring months slim pickings for new video game releases.

But that doesn't seem to be the case for Nintendo this year. Even with the release of critically acclaimed games like Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes at the tail end of 2004, the early months of 2005 have already seen quality games released for all of Nintendo's systems, including Resident Evil 4 for the GameCube and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap for Game Boy Advance.

And it's not stopping there. Nintendo fans won't have to wait long before seeing these high-profile titles gracing the shelves of their favourite game shops:

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat: GameCube, expected release March 14.

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 Remember the giant bongo drum controller that came with Donkey Konga, the one you used for a few weeks until you grew bored with the game and ended up putting it on the top shelf of your games closet? Best take those drums down and dust them off because Nintendo is coming out with a side-scrolling platform adventure game that uses, of all things, the bongo controller.

Tap the left drum to make your monkey move to the left, tap the right to make him move to the right, and clap your hands to stun or punch enemies. It might seem a bit goofy at first, but it only takes a few minutes to become comfortable with this strange new method of control. Using the bongo drum controller doesn't seem to have placed any limitations on game design either; Jungle Beat has surprisingly deep platform action, including earned moves, item collection, and clever boss fights.

Nintendo will be offering Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat bundled with a bongo controller for the price of a standard GameCube game, and without drums for about $20 (Cdn.) less. Those of you who already own a bongo controller and are thinking you'll just spend the 20 bones you save on Fritos and Slurpees should consider this: having a second bongo controller may breathe new life into your copy of Donkey Konga — it would allow you and a pal to beat out rhythms head-to-head.

NBA Street V3: GameCube, expected release mid-February

The third entry in the NBA Street basketball franchise developed by Electronic Arts' Vancouver studio provides more of the same raunchy, stylish, and fast-paced three-on-three hoops action popularized by the first two Street games.

Custom-designed players bounce basketballs off the butts of other ballers and trash-talk the opposition as they strive to increase their reputation on the street. V3 has a much deeper interface than its predecessors; providing the ability to control players all the way to the rim and allowing up to four moves to be executed while in the air.

V3 also marks the first time we can and design our own courts via the new Court Creator mode.

NBA Street V3 is available for all three major consoles, and the PlayStation2 and Xbox versions include on-line play, which begs the question: why get excited about the GameCube version? Three words: Mario, Luigi, and Peach. Only the GameCube edition allows players to take it to the hoop with Nintendo's holy trinity of game characters. And Peach wears short shorts.

Timesplitters: Future Perfect: GameCube, expected release March 8

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is another game available for all three major platforms, but it too may have special appeal to GameCube owners. The only feature specific to the GameCube edition is a split-screen mode included to make up for the lack of on-line play found in the Xbox and PlayStation2 versions, but the fact that there are so few quality first-person shooters available for the 'Cube means that Future Perfect may be something of an oasis for FPS-starved Nintendo loyalists.

Future Perfect continues the Timesplitters' tradition of strong storytelling. The series' third outing sees players trying to track down the energy signatures of time crystals in order to destroy them and set history back to the way it was before the timesplitters arrived.

The demo I tried gave me access a pair of levels set in disparate locales. The first took place in early 20th century Scotland and made me feel like I was playing Call of Duty rather than a sci-fi shooter. The guns, including pistols and rifles, were authentic to the era, and the graphics were outstanding, featuring swooping planes and dynamic environments. The second mission took place in the far future on a desert planet with timesplitters shifting in and out of time. These two missions represent the most compelling FPS game play I've experienced on the GameCube. Here's hoping the rest of the game is just as engaging.

Star Fox Assault: GameCube, expected release February 15

After briefly dabbling in the world of adventure gaming in the series' last GameCube outing, Star Fox Assault harkens back to the Star Fox of old by providing a very familiar space combat experience.

Aerial fights are fast-paced and chaotic, requiring players to pick up weapon upgrades and supplies in the midst of heated dogfights. Ground battles involve piloting a giant tank and are equally hectic. Some missions will require players to switch between tank and ship to turn the tide of battles on land and in the sky as needed.

Star Fox Assault looks like it will appeal to quick fix gamers, providing short missions with lots of action, but it may be lacking in depth and innovation. Players appear to be confined to rail-based movement throughout some of the game, which sort of made me feel like I was just playing gussied-up 3D version of an old 2D shooter.

Yoshi Touch and Go: Nintendo DS, expected release March 14

Yoshi Touch and Go is aimed squarely at a younger audience and is the first game for the DS that allows players to do something Nintendo has been hinting at since the announcement of its touch screen system: guide a character by drawing paths.

The demo I saw was composed of an air level and a ground level. In the air, players direct Baby Mario as he glides down from the heavens by using the stylus to draw paths made of clouds that lead him away from danger. We can draw circles of clouds around damaging objects to create a barrier, and blow into the microphone to make unwanted clouds drift away.

Eventually he lands on Yoshi's back, and the two begin to crawl across the land in side-scrolling fashion. We can draw bridges of clouds that will allow Yoshi to traverse gaps and tap the screen to make him flutter kick. The few moments I spent with Yoshi Touch and Go were fun, but it remains to be seen if this fairly simple style of play can be engaging over the course of a full-length game.

WarioWare Touched!: Nintendo DS, expected release February 14

The WarioWare franchise is ideally suited to take full advantage of the DS' innovative functionality. In WarioWare Touched! will scratch, rub and doodle on the touch screen and scream and blow into the microphone to successfully complete more than 100 patented Wario micro-games.

Some of the five-second games include drawing a mustache on Wario, painting a woman's nails, solving math problems, lighting candles, shoving a tissue up a nose, placing coins in a purse, and swirling a black hole to suck planets into it. Indeed, the eclectic nature of the games in Touched! could indicate that the game's title has more to do with the designers' mental states than the fact that we use a touch screen to play.

The most interesting thing about WarioWare Touched! is the way it makes players interact with the micro-games. It's almost more of a challenge to figure out how to do what's required in each game — draw, speak, or push a button — than it is to do it. There's nothing else like it.

Retro Atari Classics: Nintendo DS, expected release March 14

Most gamers have played many of the 10 titles slated to appear in Retro Atari Classics, but they probably haven't played them on a touch screen.

Using a stylus provides a far greater level of precision in games like Missile Command and Centipede than their original rolling ball controllers (it also prevents the old gaming injury of getting the skin on your hand caught in the crack where the ball meets the table).

On the other hand, the control schemes for other games should just be left alone. The Retro Atari Classics version of Asteroids, for example, has players controlling the action taking place on the top screen by using the stylus to manipulate a larger picture of the ship on the bottom screen. Needless to say, it's not particularly intuitive.

Other games, like Breakout, don't seem to fit the DS' two-screen design. The paddle is on the bottom screen and the bricks are on the top screen, which makes it easy to lose the trajectory of the ball as it passes between screens.

The classic Pong might be the most entertaining game Retro Atari Classics will offer. It allows players to connect and play against each other over a wireless LAN. It's the perfect distraction for a pair of friends on a short subway trip.
