It seems Nina Williams, everyone's favorite blonde bombshell from the Tekken series, isn't content to share the spotlight with her fellow fighters. Instead, she wishes us to see her extracurricular activities in this action spin-off. What warrants our interest in her out of all the Tekken warriors? Well, she is a blonde bombshell. Isn't that enough?
No. Death by Degrees is an exercise in tolerance, and no matter how many sexy and impractical outfits Nina changes into, she can't excuse the game's shortcomings. With frustrating conventions like fixed camera angles and constant quests to unlock doors, it plays a lot like an old Resident Evil game. But where the RE games were tense and atmospheric, Degrees is sluggish and bland. And the load times are inexcusable. In the end, Degrees makes you want to turn on an old Tekken game, select Nina, set down the controller, and watch the AI opponent pummel her for wasting your time.
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (E) (4.5 stars)
Nintendo
GameBoy Advance
Zelda games call on you to root for the little guy, and Minish Cap reveals that the littler the guy, the bigger the rooting. With the help of an obnoxious bird, Link shrinks down smaller than a bug and joins forces with the microscopic Minish people to save Hyrule kingdom. Despite its small scale, Minish Cap has lots of epic grandeur.
The King Of Fighters 2002/2003 (T) (3.5 stars)
SNK NeoGeo
PlayStation 2
Mortal Kombat: Deception has chess and puzzle modes. Street Fighter Anniversary Collection has nostalgic unlockables. What does King of Fighters have? Try well-balanced character rosters and frantic tag-team brawls. For those who like their fighting games to simply be about solid, intense combat, it's a good thing.
Racing Gears Advance (E) (4 stars)
Orbital Media
GameBoy Advance
Who wants to play a realistic racer with realistic cars? Why bother when there are games like Racing Gears Advance, with exaggerated physics, where you can fire missiles at the front-runner before taking out the pack behind you with an oil slick? The great tracks hearken back to the glory days of arcade racers.
Matthew Scott Hunter has been known to mumble, "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start" in his sleep. E-mail him at
[email protected].