It is inevitable; every successful franchise will at some point get a spin off. FINAL FANTASY had FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES, RESIDENT EVIL has OPERATION RACOON CITY but a lot of the time these spin offs just don’t seem to have the same kind of pull as the original games however this time the POKEMON franchise seems to have created a game which could easily stand on its own two feet and not under the huge shadow of the main game.

POKEMON CONQUEST is a strategy based game, in the style of games such as FINAL FANTASY TACTICS and SUIKODEN TACTICS where you, and an army of warriors, must band together to stop and evil warlord from destroying the region. To do this you must take over every city in the region, recruiting the fallen leaders thus creating an unstoppable army of Pokemon Trainers. One the journey your side aim is similar to the rule of the original game, catch all the Pokemon possible. Although there is a very small amount of Pokemon to capture, you will find a wide array of Pokemon from each Generation to fill your time with.

Although POKEMON CONQUEST is nowhere near as complex as FINAL FANTASY TACTICS it still holds well as a game.  We are given a whole new region with a wide array of characters to fill your army with. For fans of the series this will be a nice little time filler while you wait for POKEMON BLACK/WHITE 2 to be released later this year. For younger fans of the series this will also be a welcome challenge, with a whole new style of game to play around with.

As a whole a very good game, a simple one but a good game none the less. If you are waiting for BLACK/WHITE 2 then this is the best way to spend your time.

Release date:  OUT NOW
Format:   Nintendo DS
Certificate: PG
Amazon Price (from 2/9/12): £22.99

For the first time I have been given the chance to official review a game sent to me by the good folks at Nintendo, and when I heard it was a horror title I must say I was pretty excited.

PROJECT ZERO: Wii EDITION is a remake of the highly praised PS2 game PROJECT ZERO 2: CRIMSON BUTTERFLY (also released on X-Box), with some different Wii features added that are meant to add a certain new edge.

PROJECT ZERO 2 follows the story of two twin sisters Mio and Mayu who, whilst lost in the woods, come across an abandoned village where lost travellers are rumoured to find themselves and never seen again. The sisters find themselves haunt by evil spirits with only one way to defend themselves, a mysterious camera called The Camera Obscura, a device that can exorcise ghosts by taking their picture. As Mayu falls deeper under the spell of the village it is up to Mio to uncover the truth of the villages deadly past.

I will not go too much into the plot as, unlike the films we normally review here at Snakebite Horror; I find that ruining a game is far, far worse so I will take some time to tell you about the good and bad points of the game, starting with the bad points. What I disliked about this rehash was the control system, something that has affected many a Wii game in the past. The controls seemed a little stiff and complicated for the type of game this is, you need to keep your controller hand still while you use the nun-chuck to move Mio around HOWEVER the slightest knock of the hand and you have the flashlight going upwards or downwards. Okay not a major issue but after a while it gets a tad annoying. The camera fighting is also hard to get used to, especially as Mio is slow as hell, but it is an aspect you make yourself get used to during gameplay.  If the gameplay was

Graphically the game looks okay, it holds a lot of its Last-Gen console feel to it (which I liked) but still feels like it works today which is similar to the re-releases of other games via the PlayStation 3 i.e. RESIDENT EVIL: CODE VERONICA. What I loved with PROJECT ZERO 2: Wii Edition were a few small additions to the game such as the Radio playing through the speaker in the Wii controller, which gave the game a creepy edge to it but the major selling point of the game as a whole was the story, I love a good supernatural horror, it beats having yet another zombie game am I right?

Another addition to this edition of the game is the Haunted House mode where you have to move around a series of haunted house whilst trying not to be scared i.e. move the controller. This mode, although fun, seems to class ANY movement, no matter how slight, as you being frightened which is a bit of a jip really.

As a whole PROJECT ZERO 2: Wii EDITION is a nice little rehash of a Last Gen classic which still holds strong today. If you can put up with the clunky controls for the sake of a good story line then this is a great choice for you.

Release date:  Out Now
Format: Nintendo Wii
Age Rating: 16 
Amazon Price: £29.99 (checked on 10/7/12)