It's getting to be Christmas season crunch time, and there are plenty of you wanting to know what to get your loved ones, or yourself! I've tried to be helpful with my Buyer's Guide feature, but those are games I've played over the course of the last year (excluding obvious titles like Mario Galaxy, Phoenix Wright, and Phantom Hourglass, which of course you should buy).

However, there are so many games being released for Wii this month that it might be useful to take a look at some of the critical reception for each. Please bear in mind that I'm using metacritic.com for these review averages. Careful investigation should follow if you want to know more.


Image from Metacritic.com.

Godzilla: Unleashed is averaging a pretty low 48, but Play magazine gives the game an 80.

From Games Radar's Review:
You wouldn't know it from the nearly identical packaging or from the website that it shares with the PS2 and DS versions, but the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed is a notably different game. Sure, you're still playing the part of a giant monster stamping around various cities and mashing other monsters in the face with buildings, but there are several things here you won't find in the other versions. This results in a better game, although it's still rife with problems.

Sounds like this monster game has many weak points, all for massive damage.


Image from Metacritic.com.

dragon ball z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is getting a respectable 73, with IGN.com being on the high end with 80, and Game Daily bottoming out at 60. It's probably a safe bet for fans of the anime.

So says GameSpy:

If you've played any of the previous Tenkaichi titles, you know exactly what to expect here - a relatively shallow button-masher that does a darn fine job of letting you relive the Dragon Ball experience.

Anime games have never had much appeal for this blogger, probably because I don't really watch much anime. I know this is like a hockey player not growing a playoff beard, but hey, that's me!