Review: Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3)

The month begins with a classic super-hero standoff: Batman versus Spider-Man! Both games have been getting good press lately, although the games themselves could not be more different. Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a kid-friendly 2P sidescrolling beat ‘em up from worthy developer WayForward. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is an action-adventure with dark overtones, more along the lines of last year’s Batman: Arkham Asylum.

You might note another theme to this month’s Wii releases: peripherals! There are no less than six games shipping with plastic parts, from guns to hockey sticks. Got to get those oversized boxes on the retail shelves well ahead of the holiday shopping rush!

Sept. 7
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Exclusive: Wii, DS) – Remember that if you buy both Wii and DS versions, you unlock Bat-Mite. And McDonald’s might have a coupon for you.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Wii, DS) – Four different Spider-Mans means a lot of fun fan service.

Sept. 12
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (Exclusive: DS) – This guy is becoming a much-loved holiday guests.

Sept. 14
Swords (Exclusive: Wii) – PERIPHERAL ALERT! The latest stab at 1:1 swordfighting, Wii MotionPlus-enabled but not included.

Truth or Lies (Wii) – PERIPHERAL ALERT! This party game (should have put ‘Party’ in the title!) requires a USB microphone to determine whether players are telling the truth. A mic bundle is available.

Cabela’s North American Adventures (Wii) – PERIPHERAL ALERT! The bundle of this one includes a bright green shotgun-looking thing. I’m sure it’s meant to be a rifle.

The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest (Wii, DS) – There’s still money in this franchise, we swear!

Rapala Pro Bass Fishing (Wii) – PERIPHERAL ALERT! Guess what peripheral this comes with.

Wild West Shootout (Wii) – PERIPHERAL ALERT! I can’t find a picture of what the “blaster” looks like, but it’s definitely a gun of some type. Amazon says $20 with no gun and $40 with, so the gun must be $20 OF AWESOME.

Dragon’s Lair Trilogy (Wii) – Wait, there were three of those?

Sept. 21
Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City (Exclusive: DS) – The Amazon/GameStop preorder comes with an art book.

Flip’s Twisted World (Exclusive: Wii) – Your next entry in the Klonoa Awards: 3D Wii Platformers That Are Probably Cool But Nobody Buys, Even At A $30 Price Point.

Sept. 28
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Wii) – PERIPHERAL ALERT! This is the music game that added some crap story mode, as compared to the music game that added an entire new instrument. Comes in many, many hardware bundle options.

Sept. 29
NHL Slapshot (Exclusive: Wii) – PERIPHERAL ALERT! When the peripheral’s function is based on swinging, the bigger it is, the more I worry. Slapshot comes with a HOCKEY STICK.

Sept. 30
Intellivision Lives! (DS) – Finally, over 60 crappy old school games in portable form.

The peripheral madness will continue through the end of the year. Glancing ahead, I noticed another Active Life game, the new stuff for Rock Band 3, and Karaoke Revolution: Glee.