Reviews// Inazuma Eleven Strikers

It’s been somewhat fashionable amongst gamers to knock the Wii since about two weeks after it was initially launched. Nintendo promised us an entirely new way to play, something totally different to what had come before and I’m pretty sure that every single one of you reading this was charmed as hell the first time you picked up a Wiimote and took your first tentative steps into the world of Wii Sports.

It was a machine that everyone could get on with, an unassuming happy little box that made everyone who played it smile. That first Christmas after release saw forums cluttered with folks gleefully chatting away about how they’d played Wii Bowling with their grannies. The public’s view of video games took another swing towards the positive in a way not seen since the halcyon days of the original PlayStation.

Everyone wanted one. Even when stories abounded of wrecked TV screens caused by folks flinging their controllers into the air because “Oh no, I don’t need to wrap a cord around my wrist I’m a grown up”, demand stayed high.

The Wii was a perfect family purchase, and Nintendo courted the mass market like a good ‘un. After Wii Sports came other classics; Super Mario Galaxy was a vision of beauty. It was a glorious return to form.

Remember that Twilight Princess was as grown up a Zelda game as Nintendo could get away with?

Remember Super Smash Brothers Brawl? A game so good that Sony’s essentially copied the whole idea for an upcoming flagship release?

And, of course, Mario Kart Wii? It was AMAZING.

Quality Control
But then the gaps between quality releases seemed to grow ever longer. A couple of mis-hits left the hardcore, already feeling quite left out, thinking Nintendo didn’t care about them. Metroid: Other M, for example, was great to begin with but soon grew dull. More and more shovelware began to flood the system.

The innovative controls that were portrayed as ‘The Future Of Gaming’ were tossed aside and simplified for a slew of babysitting simulators and licensed tie-ins. Even the major games companies have pretty much given up on it now – see the debacle of FIFA 13 essentially being a reskin of the previous year’s release for proof. Everyone has moved on. It’s all about the Wii U now. Haven’t you heard?