Consoleation Additions: Workin’, (Base)Ballin’, and Bustin’

I picked up three new games this weekend with the last of the petty cash that I’m going to have for a little while, thanks to working a an extra gig. I haven’t played them all yet– only one, in fact– but here’s the rundown:

Help Wanted (Wii): A lot of people tend to knock the Wii for having too many minigame collections, and I can certainly see why the complaints exist… but Help Wanted had such a crazy backstory and a few interesting minigames (such as milking a cow, which I find hilarious for some reason), so I bit on it for the $30 asking price. I’m not sure what to expect from this game, but any game that reinforces a dedicated work ethic upon pain of death via meteor collision seems like it can’t be all bad. I’ll have more on this soon, especially via Twitter for quick-hitting impressions.

Little League Baseball 2009 (Wii): I’ll admit this right now: I have a soft spot for the Little League World Series. I watch games on television when I can and it’s fun seeing kids pour their hearts and sweat into the purity of a game that’s been so tainted in the professional ranks by scandal. It’s the only Little League-licensed game out there, aside from the DS version– so I wanted to see how it was. I’ve played the MLB Power Pros games on the Wii in the past, and they’re great… but the meat of the game is played sans motion controls for the majority of the game modes. That’s not so here, plus there is an option for Classic Controller input, should I wish not to break anything here in the office due to wild waggling. We’ll see how this game is.

Ghostbusters (Xbox 360): I finally gave in and bought this game after some concern about whether I’d enjoy it despite not seeing Ghostbusters II. I’m still very early in the game, having only completed two levels, but I do have some impressions to share. For starters, as a fan of the original film, it’s great to have the cast reunited– if only through spoken dialogue. Although Bill Murray seems a tad inconsistent in the delivery of his lines, Dan Aykroyd really shines in his reprisal as Ray Stantz and Harold Ramis is as deadpan as ever– if maybe a little too flat– as Egon Spengler. The visuals on the 360 are nice enough, although there are times when the framerate takes a critical hit of its own; one instance in particular saw the framerate literally drop to less than 10 frames per second. Ten. Thankfully, these instances are not frequent, but you’ll definitely notice when they happen. The music tends to loop a lot, although it’s pulled right from the Ghostbusters original soundtrack. As for the gameplay, I’m not understanding all of the intricacies yet. It’s a third-person shooter that seems to draw inspiration from several different titles. PKE scans are reminiscent of Metroid Prime, for example. I still have a long way to go and am enjoying myself, but I think it’s more to uncover the story than it is to enjoy the gameplay that gets me there.

I’ll be keeping my eye on updates for the Wii Shop Channel and Xbox Live Arcade this week to see if anything leaps out at me. No new retail releases this week have my attention, so I plan on using this week to play catch-up and enjoy my new games and a couple of days off from show hosting. I’ll also be unveiling this week’s Retro Game on the Brain soon.