A blast from the past: Age of Empires 2

Nothing shouts trebuchet like a walled wonder.

The chances are, if you have been playing video games for longer than ten years, you are well acquainted with the screenshot above. Age of Empires 2 marked a golden age for the RTS genre. It was at a time when thousands of nine year olds were tricked into learning history by the most popular exclusive of it's time. Parents and children alike finally met in harmony over what appeared in the eyes of an adult as a Medieval learning programme and in the eyes of the kids as a knight on knight bloodfest.

What was fun about Age of Empires? Within the game you were god. It allowed people to control other people in a very perverse way, with sweet looking graphics. The Sims had recently exploded, having exploited our inner power-freak already and Ensemble were following (in many ways) a similar route with their second instalment. How many of us can claim they didn't build jaguar pens on the 'create mode' and watch sadistically as villagers got torn apart. Or create opposing armies of thousands and make them charge each other, just out of curiosity or boredom. There's probably more wrong with a game like this than with Grand Theft Auto but under the glossy appearance of an educational experience, funnily enough no one seemed to care. Besides, playing a dark age tyrant is pretty fun.

Dictatorial undertones aside, Ensemble also did a beautiful thing by this game. It's difficult to listen to the theme tune without having to breathe a heavy sigh of nostalgia. It was so immersive, you could lose yourself for hours constructing giant cities, exploring the hundreds of units and buildings. The graphics were intelligently implemented and gave the game a look that still holds substance today. What's more, conquering an enemy would involve destroying their pain-stakingly created villages, one by one and for this reason was a savagely glorious affair. Nothing can beat setting each house alight, before laying waste to them all with a single round of flaming catapult fire. As a child, there was also plenty of information to soak in. You could stray from the action for a while to visit the history pages. Yes, to learn! Although I often spent more time wondering how an overweight king could outrun my best cavalry.

The recent instalments, although undoubtedly accomplished games, lack the pure brilliance of this little gem. Maybe it's time to start bringing back the old methods. Whad'ya say Microsoft?

Mario Kart 7: 3DS review

Mario is infuriated as multiple slow moving fish overtake his water-clogged kart.

The basic formula for racing games has indeed become well established within modern gaming and in no title is the hideous theme of repetition more apparent than in Mario Kart. The functions of a red shell or a smiling banana are now integrated strongly into general knowledge and yet the love of the franchise continues to grow exponentially. Will Mario Kart provide a revolutionary step forward in the series? Probably not but it might be worth reading anyway.

What is the point of 3d, I hear nobody ask? It seems the pure futility of such a feature as 3d is beyond the notice of the public. Unlike with the addition of colour or sound in cinema, 3d does not in any way contribute to the evocative impact of creative media. You could argue the inclusion of sound in film empowered actors with speech, thus increasing emotional depth and you could also say that colour helped clarify on-screen events and added a new level of artistry to the industry but what exactly does 3d contribute? Except for tremendous migraines. I was hoping that here in the UK there would be an uprising of sorts in response to the increase of cinema prices, there was no such reaction. It's not surprising then, that following James Cameron's 'Avatar' and the inevitable popularity of 3d and anything related, that handhelds would follow suit.

So what you are looking at now is the result of a 20 year old video game converted for the new era. It is incredibly difficult to take such a concept seriously, especially as the protagonist of said game is a middle-aged plumber who shares his race track with an Arabic mushroom and vomit-yellow caterpillars. Mario Kart can be celebrated for these reasons however. It is very much a light-hearted and accessible experience. There are few games, even now, that rival the pick-up-and-play facilities of Mario Kart 7, especially as the online system and tournaments are so easy and efficient. The interface is basic and the mechanics more so. And yes, the use of 3d is about what you would expect, nothing particularly necessary here and just as good with the feature turned off.

The bigger surprise for fans than the 3d, will be the inclusion of two new kart features in the form of gliders and propellors. Credit to Nintendo, as they have attempted to progress the racing format in this sense. A glider will allow you prolonged air-time after launching off a cliff or high jump, whereas the propellors, wait for it, allow you to move through water. Let's think about that for a second. When in the history of video games has the inclusion of underwater levels been beneficial? It should be made punishable by death for modern game developers to include underwater content but here we have it again, in the form of Mario Kart 7. One of these features was a welcome addition. Despite being a seemingly small addition, it has a strong and noticeable impact on the gameplay. The glider can be controlled, meaning that whether you dip or fly higher, hit or miss obstacles, your finishing spot will be affected. This has led to moments of brilliance, for example you may, with a touch of luck, hit someone mid-air with a forward thrown banana, thus knocking them 5 places back. I wish I could reiterate the same sentiments towards the propellor but like an appendix, it's presence is almost entirely useless and should have been cut out before the game was allowed to live.

The online feature is a joy and one of a handful of gameplay options. Players' mii and nationality are exhibited and represent you in the loading screens, while your customised kart and racer do the same within gameplay. Naturally, there are plenty of competitors in the international arena that have invested too many hours into honing their racing skills but with this level of luck-based gameplay, you might find that a star is all you need to make 1st place. Other new features are the '7' weapon, which is a combination of seven of the items, the fire flower, a fun bouncy-flame launching item and the handy tanooki tail, a manually controlled melle attack/defence item. There are also a multitude of new characters and kart customisations, which help add to the depth. Most impressive are the maps. They're often recycled versions of old favourites but there's new stuff here as well, some of them delightfully inventive and despite the occasional unfair glitch positive influences on the game.

It's polished. There's no doubting that. For many, a casual pick-me-up game is essential to their collection. Look no further than Mario Kart 7 if that is the case, it's an old contender, remade to near perfection and provides a perfect distraction in times of need. That said, don't expect anything fresh, you know what you're buying with Mario games but this is an assured example of repetition done right.

8.0/10