Ever since E3, Lost in Shadow is one of those games that I just had to try for myself before I made any decisions. Luckily, I was able to fight the crowds at last weekend’s New York Comic Con and secure myself a few minutes with this intriguing side-scrolling adventure, which I surely but quickly became enamored with.

In Lost in Shadow, you play as the shadow of a young boy that has been separated from his body for unknown reasons. By manipulating the physical world using his companion, a sylph, players traverse through the shadow world solving puzzles, collecting “memories” (these basically serve as hit points), and defeating any shadow beasts that may lie in the boy’s path, all in order to climb the tower where the boy’s body lies waiting for his shadow to return.

This game is so impressive because it really shows off the Wii in a variety of ways. With an easy to use control scheme that doesn’t rely too much on motion control and gorgeous art design, this game makes a big impression right away. When I took over the controls and started running around the starting level, I never found myself fumbling over the controls or forgetting which button did what.

Overall, my short time with Lost in Shadow was enough to more than sell me on the game. Be sure to check back here at The Flickcast for updates about Lost in Shadow before its release on January 4th.

Score: 6.5 – XBox Live Arcade – 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00)

The name Diner Dash is nothing new to casual game players as this downloadable Flash game has been floating around for some time. Unfortunately this game has been stuck in the purchase to play sector of the casual games market, not letting players try before they buy. But now, coming to XBox Live Arcade, Diner Dash has been given a second chance to capture a new market of players.

Gameplay:

The basic premise behind Diner Dash is something any food server must deal with on a regular workday. Keep the customers happy. The longer they wait, the less happy they will be. As Flo, the player must seat customers, take orders, deliver food, bring bills and bus tables as quickly as possible to keep everyone happy.

In the early stages, the game quickly adds new elements such as changing party size so that certain parties can only fit at certain tables (much like real life). By placing customers in special seating arrangements by color, players earn bonuses. They can also earn further bonus points by doing multiple table actions at once, like picking up one tables order while busing another at the same time.

Players are also given the option to bring coffee to tables that have been waiting a long time for food or to be seated for a quick boost in their happiness factor. All of these add extra dimension and actual strategy to what could have been a simple button masher and take it to the next level.

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Score: 6.5 – Nintendo Wii – $29.99

Now, I know what you are thinking. Another collection of minigames on the Nintendo Wii. Afterall, it is the defining “genre” of the system right? At San Diego Comic Con, we got the chance to sit down with Hudson and get a first peek at Deca Sports 2.  The followup to their million seller, Deca Sports, Hudson didn’t set out in hopes of improving the ten sports of the original. They looked to put out ten new sports that could only be made as fun as possible through the unique control of the Nintendo Wii.

Gameplay:

Gameplay in Deca Sports 2 is going to inevitably going to be compared to WiiSports and WiiSports Resort. Both franchises are collections of sports games, although the original WiiSports has shown it is more of a tech demo than anything else in terms of actual being a “game.” Deca Sports 2 must also overcome the stigma already attached to it from the lack of WiiMotion Plus.

Not because they didn’t wish to include it, Hudson simply didn’t have enough time after the release of WiiMotion Plus to include the new technology in the game and still keep it on schedule for its recent release. Should Deca Sports 2 have the same level of success, it is highly likely that the third in the series would include WiiMotion Plus.

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Score: 6.0 – XBox Live Arcade – 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00)

Twenty years ago, a little system called the TurboGrafx-16 entered the console wars with Nintendo and Sega. Though it ultimately didn’t survive the long haul, it did produce a few games that have been remembered by its faithful followers. One of these was Military Madness. One of the original turn based strategy games released, it would go on to eventually be rereleased on the PSone years later before going dormant once again. That is, until this week’s XBLA release of Military Madness: Nectaris from Hudson on the XBox 360.

Gameplay:

Military Madness: Nectaris is a futuristic military Turn Based Strategy game on a hexagon based grid. Units consist of various Infantry, Artillery, Tanks, Planes, Mechs and other specialized units each with their unique playstyle and abilities. A new unit, the Commander, has also been introduced to multiplayer component of the series. The Commander is based on customizing its abilities in order to boost attack and defense of other units, attack air unit or various other tactical uses. Units cannot be produced at any time butthe player can “capture” enemy units if they were in wait in factories. Units can be repaired by returning them to factories present on the map.

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Coming at the end of this month, Hudson releases its follow up to last year’s commercial success with Deca Sports 2 for the Nintendo Wii. With ten all different games from the original Deca Sports, Hudson hopes to offer a different experience than that of Wii Sports or Wii Sports Plus. Like Wii Sports, the Deca Sports franchise is geared as a casual pickup and play game featuring a variety of gameplay options. It does, however, put a focus on full game experiences as opposed to the mini-game or made-up sports style of products like Wii Play.

Deca Sports 2 will not feature use of the Nintendo first party peripherals like the Balance Board from Wii Fit or the WiiMotion Plus controller add-on. When asked about it, Hudson representatives told us that WiiMotion Plus had not been announced at the time in development of Deca Sports 2 where they could insert it into the game. Instead, they have already begun discussing using it should they do another Deca Sports in the future.

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