Motion controls permeate every aspect of Cricket for the Wii, (Ashes Cricket 2009 in Europe) and the promise of twisting an arm to alter the flight and turn of your leg break or swinging the Wii Remote to simulate driving the ball through the covers is sure to have every lounge room cricket nut salivating. But while they do a reasonable job successfully mimicking the real-world arm movements of bowlers and batsmen, the game’s control system is weighed down by inaccurate gesture mapping and repetitive movements.

The game is divided into three modes: Ashes, Exhibition, and Scenario. Ashes offers five-day, five-match tests between Australia and England using the current real-world player roster. Exhibition allows you to play one-off matches with your choice of the eight available sides in six to 50 over contests. Scenario mode offers seven challenges to complete per nation, which includes hitting a set number of consecutive sixes, taking a required number of wickets within a period of time, and batting out the end of innings to secure victory. Ashes and Exhibition play are straight matches, while Scenario provides some much needed variety. Unfortunately, in the case of the latter, the small country roster and similar nature of the challenges means it doesn’t offer much replay value once completed.

The long length of Ashes matches means it’s not necessarily feasible to play four innings in a single sitting. While you can save and resume matches at will, the fast-forward simulation option found in the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions is missing here. This option awarded you an average score for the innings and let you skip straight to the thing you love doing most–either bowling or batting. The fact that it’s missing seems at odds with the casual friendliness of the game.

Multiplayer is one of Cricket’s strongest components and allows two players to swap the strike, alternate bowling, or battle against each other as their favourite represented international teams. Four-player matches are also supported and pair two players on each team; though the non-striker batsman and the rested bowler are left waiting for their turn. Multiplayer succeeds because it mostly circumvents the game’s unpredictable AI and provides a much more level playing field than playing solo against the CPU. Cricket doesn’t support online play, so you’ll need friends and a handful of Wii Remotes if you want to vie for the virtual cup.

As the bowler, you’re given the option to shine the ball by vigorously shaking the Wii Remote for a few seconds to build up a power meter before each delivery. It’s never required, but doing so offers you additional swing or spin to complement your bowler’s style. Once you’ve decided whether to shine or skip and are ready to start your run, you’ll need to hover over and click a cricket ball superimposed over the middle of the screen. This frees up your cursor and allows you to steer around the pitch by tilting the remote to determine the line and length of your intended delivery. Unfortunately for those who are pedantic about their ball placement or have shaky hands, after just a few seconds, the game locks your marker in place and begins your approach to the crease. The console and PC versions of Ashes Cricket 2009 allowed you to move your cursor until the ball left your hand to help you bamboozle batsmen, but unfortunately, this feature hasn’t made the transition to the Wii, forcing you to bowl the delivery wherever it lies. Your only other option is to do nothing when prompted to bowl and take a one-run penalty for a no-ball.

Not bowling is an easy way to avoid being belted to the boundary on a loose delivery (and makes for boring multiplayer when no one wants to bowl duds), but it is completely at odds with the rules of the sport because failure to release the ball would be called dead in any real-world game. It’s a surprising liberty and punishment for a game that attempts to mirror the sport so closely but often results in long drawn-out overs and frustrated batsmen. If you do manage to get the bowling cursor in a spot you’d like to bowl and lock it in, it’s not uncommon to see the marker shift slightly either left or right of your intended spot. A few pixels here and there may sound inconsequential, but they represent the difference between a tight, scoreless bowling line with LBW (leg before wicket) chances and being flicked off the leg or off stump for runs. Batting is just as frustrating, and because it’s like bowling, there’s no alternative control scheme available for button presses instead of gestures. Every ball faced will require a matching controller shake to be hit. Control is limited to either defensive or aggressive shots by holding the corresponding A or B button as you swing. Striking the ball sweetly necessitates swinging at the correct time, though you’ll need to juggle player confidence and luck because new and rattled players have a smaller strike zone for successfully hitting the ball.

Despite switching developers, receiving a name change, and launching several months after its next-generation counterparts, Cricket is very much based on Ashes Cricket 2009. While many of the bugs that plagued those versions have been fixed, a new crop of issues rear their head here. AI inconsistency still remains and alternates among belting you around the park for overs at a time, fumbling in the field, and bungling chances at wickets. Fielding is a completely passive experience as well. Catches are automatic, you can’t designate an end to return the ball to, and there’s no control of your bowler once the ball has left your hand even if you’re the nearest fielder to the action. Teammates will pick up the ball facing the opposite direction and drop simple catches, but they can inexplicably manage direct hits of the stumps from almost anywhere on the field. That is, once they’re done struggling to pick it up–jogging rather than running and confusedly making a path to play fetch. The only nifty aspect of being out in the grass is the custom fielding placement option. Don’t like where a player is standing? Switch to the overhead field view, pick up a player, and plop them in a new spot. Placement presets are available, but if you’re bowling a line hoping the batsmen will sky an edge, it pays to be able to put a man exactly where you think it will go.

Cricket’s audio and visuals are just as disappointing as the gameplay. Only the Australian and English sides are licensed, though their likenesses are anything but accurate, and the same vague look-alikes are available for the other competing nations. Player animations are for the most part quite natural, though the ball magically warps from ground to the player’s hand, and there is some horrible interlacing tearing on panning shots which make it all but unwatchable. That’s when the ball doesn’t disappear during replays. Small touches, such as bowlers marking their starting point, rocking on their heels before they begin their run, and craning their necks as sixes soar over the rope, help to give the game some flair, but they feel like rearranged deckchairs on the Titanic in an otherwise mediocre game.

Former cricket greats take up the microphone to offer commentary, but they come across so wooden that it sounds like a script-reading session at gunpoint. Rambles about the importance of spinners to a team and appropriate pitch preparation are dull and repeated far too often. The fact that banal anecdotes are cut off midsentence and do not resume after the announcement of a four is an unintended saving grace. It’s not uncommon for commentary to be out of step with onscreen action, and far too often, it’s suggested the ball rocketed to the boundary when it was more like watching snails inch through molasses.

Cricket attempts to replicate its namesake sport for Nintendo’s family-friendly console. But, while its endeavour makes the natural matchup between the device and the sport, frankly, if you’re willing to bowl the potential 1,080 deliveries (assuming there are no sundries) to play a test match in full, you’d be much better served picking up a real bat and ball and heading to the park. At least, that way, you’ll have some fun.

Pro Evolution Soccer has become an established franchise on the PSP, and the 2009 version is the fifth for the console. This year’s edition makes a few new additions, including the new Become a Legend mode, online play, and a soundtrack that doesn’t make you cringe. But with outdated visuals, as well as an absence of licensed clubs and leagues, there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

We hope you’re a Manchester United or Liverpool fan because they’re the only licensed Premier League clubs in PES 2009.

The gameplay in PES 2009 remains largely unchanged from last year, but matches are still challenging and fun to play, and the controls are still intuitive and responsive. It’s easy to link passes and moves using the face buttons, but tricks are awkwardly performed by double-tapping the shoulder buttons. Matches feel fluid; you can easily pass and cross the ball to teammates, setting up some spectacular goals in the process. You’ll need to keep an eye on Pro Evo’s always-challenging AI, which is constantly looking for opportunities to snatch the ball from you, and this makes scoring goals all the more rewarding. There are plenty of game modes packed onto the UMD, with Exhibitions, Leagues, Regional Cups, a World Tour and the Master League all vying for your attention. The latter allows you to take control of your team’s management as you play all of the league and cup matches a real team would play. The only really disappointing game mode is Training, which offers no tutorials to provide tips to Pro Evo newcomers; just the opportunity to hone tricks without hassle from opposition players.

Become a Legend is a brand new mode for this year’s game, which shifts your focus from controlling an entire team to just one individual player. You take a fresh-faced teen from obscurity to the international spotlight as you work your way up from a minor team through to a professional club, international stardom, and eventually retirement. You can customise player attributes for your virtual self, including name, appearance, footedness, and you can even choose from more than 70 different goal celebrations. On the pitch, the camera focuses on your single player, while the rest of the team is controlled by the AI.

Ultimately, Become a Legend is a novel but dull take on Pro Evolution Soccer. At the start of your career, you can spend a considerable amount of time on the bench, and while you can speed up the game when spectating, it’s still a boring process. Once your team’s had some on-field success, you’ll be able to move to more impressive clubs, but you’re not rewarded for being a team player by performing passes and making tackles. The result is that much of your success comes down to the effectiveness of your AI teammates, which makes for an unrewarding experience.

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PES 2009 features online play for the first time, pitting you one-on-one against players from around the world. This is a welcome addition, because playing real people is certainly more rewarding than playing against an AI opponent. However, with occasional lag and an archaic registration system that makes you type in your login credentials every time you play, it can be a frustrating experience. If you find a decent connection, then online gameplay can offer the same enjoyable feel and experience as local multiplayer, but with only five- or 10-minute exhibition matches on offer, it’s a basic mode that offers little in the way of longevity.

While the Dutch, French, and Italian leagues appear in full this year, Liverpool and Manchester United are the only officially licensed Premier League teams. The rest of England’s top leagues are stuck with generic regional names. For example, Tottenham Hotspur is back to being named North East London, despite making a brief licensed appearance in last year’s edition. The Scottish Premier League suffers even greater indignity, with only Celtic and Rangers present in licensed form and only as extra teams to be added to custom leagues. Other popular leagues, including the German Bundesliga, USA’s Major League Soccer, and Australia’s A-League, are completely missing. It’s also a shame that Konami’s much-touted Champions League licence hasn’t made it to the PSP.

The new Become a Legend mode switches focus from an entire team to an individual player, who you’ll take through his professional career.

Pro Evo 2009 isn’t an ugly game, but the player models and animations are starting to look a bit dated. The character animations lack fluidity and variation. Although players are easy to control, they certainly don’t look realistic. The main menu has received a pop-art facelift this year, but the pregame menus and in-game displays look stale. Thankfully, the pervasive menu advertising from PES 2008 is gone. While there are regular advertising billboards around the pitch, they’re not obtrusive and fit the setting. The soundtrack has also undergone an overhaul, replacing the J-pop numbers of PES 2008 with a mix of alt-rock and pop, which suits the tone of the game.

At its core, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 doesn’t deviate from previous entries in the series, and while there are new game modes this year, they don’t offer a compelling reason to upgrade. The new online mode, while shallow, is still fun to play, and the Become a Legend mode is a novel but boring take on the standard game. This is still an enjoyable football experience at heart, but it’s only for those willing to look past the game’s flaws.

Source [ GameSpot ]

In the WWE, it’s not uncommon for seemingly vanquished superstars to return at random, handing out fresh beatdowns and earning back their former glory. After a disappointing showing last year, THQ’s long-running SmackDown vs. Raw series has returned to the ring, having spent the year slimming down and focusing on its core strengths. The work has paid off: a lot of extraneous elements have been removed, the creation toolset is better than ever, and there are two modes that offer satisfying single-player arcs. Though it is still hampered by a number of lingering issues, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 manages to recapture some of the glory of its younger years.

Head punches are a perennial classic.

Ready or Not rip

The most notable improvements are in the single-player realm. The lackluster 24/7 mode has been ditched in favor of a lengthy Career mode and the scripted Road to Wrestlemania. In the Career mode, you choose a superstar (existing or created) and enter a bracket to make a bid for the title belt. Each bracket has five opponents including the current champion, and you’ll have to earn stars by winning matches in order to get a shot at the title. You win up to five stars for each match by earning points in three areas: match results, technical, and excitement. These categories encourage you to get into the WWE superstar mindset by rewarding you for both pummeling and mocking your opponent. At the end of each match your attributes will increase and your health will replenish based on how the match went–no micromanagement here. You’ll also earn amusing awards for things like striking your opponent 35 times or breaking a barbed-wire-wrapped plank over his or her back. It only takes a handful of successful matches to earn you a title shot, which is great because it keeps your career moving along at a good clip. This action-packed Career mode is the perfect complement to the Create A Superstar mode, and winning belt after belt as you bulk up your created character is satisfying and fun.

The other single-player mode, Road to Wrestlemania, features six unique story arcs that let you play as WWE superstars like The Undertaker or John Cena and defeat numerous foes (and a few nemeses) on your quest for Wrestlemania glory. Matches are interspersed with story scenes packed with typical WWE action and voiced by actual WWE superstars, so fans of outrageous melodrama will be well pleased. In keeping with traditional SmackDown vs. Raw strengths, the superstar models, entrances, and arenas are all excellent. While the character animations are good (despite occasional clipping problems), the wrestlers still lack fluidity when maneuvering around the ring. This feels like a result of staying too true to the source material: though WWE wrestlers do often move slowly, it’s not very exciting to actually plod around the ring in a video game. The audio only further detracts from the excitement factor. Four-hundred-pound men hit the mat with all the impact of a child shutting a car door, and the strongest punches sound like a raw chicken breast being dropped on the floor. It dampens the supposedly hard-hitting action, and while the once-dismal announcers from years past have been improved quite a bit, the sound design is in serious need of a shot in the arm.

Despite how it may sound, the action is indeed hard-hitting. It’s easy to perform powerful moves using the analog stick and a few buttons, and the breadth of things you can do in and out of the ring is impressive. From removing the turnbuckle cover to slamming your opponent through a burning table, there’s no shortage of satisfying ways to deal damage. Specific match types have their own nasty additions, from rubbing your opponent’s face against the elimination chamber to the powerful hot tag, which allows a tag team partner to build up momentum so that, when tagged in, he or she will get the quicktime chance to unleash two unblockable attacks followed by a finisher. Enabling such a wide variety of moves is one of SmackDown vs. Raw 2009′s chief strengths. Like previous games in the series, it too relies on relative position to increase your repertoire, and your wrestler is still prone to miscues as a result. However, missing a move because you aren’t quite in the correct position is less frustrating than missing one because your opponent is in an uninterruptible animation. This usually crops up in matches with three or more players, when one player is performing a move on another. In these realistic-to-a-fault situations you get a good feeling for just how exciting it is to stand passively aside while other wrestlers battle it out.

In addition to the Career and Road to Wrestlemania modes, the competent AI and unique wrestler abilities make playing single-player much more appealing in SmackDown vs. Raw 2009. No longer content to stand around drooling, computer opponents will actively attack you, tag their partners (you included), and use environmental elements reasonably well. Though the Road to Wrestlemania and early stages of the Career mode will seem easy to experienced players, it won’t feel like you’re playing against brainless apes. Last year’s fighting style system has been removed, and in its place are unique wrestler abilities that existing superstars have and created superstars can earn. The effects range from attribute boosts (able to remove belt in ladder match faster) to enhanced abilities (can regenerate a small amount of health). While these abilities aren’t particularly powerful, they can come in handy during tight matches.

Who says divas can’t get along?

While you might not have tight matches against the computer, you are sure to find tough competition online. You can use SmackDown, Raw, ECW or created superstars as you face off in ranked or unranked play in any of the match types that support one to four players (six-man matches and royal rumbles only available locally). Agai