NBA Jam is back and more outrageous than ever before. Between the photo realistic faces of both current players and legends (look at Kobe in the screenshots below and try not to laugh. I dare you!), and the crazy jumps, spins and dunks, I can’t stop laughing. With new gameplay, a classic NBA Jam mode, multiple career modes, boss battles, and plently of unlockables, there’s something for any basketball fan. Adding to the nostalgia are phrases from the original game and the voice of Tim Kitzro, alongside some new lines to keep the title fresh. With the 30 current NBA teams and the ability to use motion controls, the Wii Remote on its side, the Classic Controller or the Classic Controller Pro, NBA Jam should be something to keep an eye on this October.

What do you get when Mario opens up a theme park and gives away 100 Pauline dolls, and Donkey Kong doesn’t get one? One angry ape, ready to make Mario and the Minis come to save the day. With more puzzles than ever before, Mini-Land Mayhem also brings a new feature to the game: user-based content. While using the stylus in the main game to place warp pipes, springs, and blocks to get through each level, players can also create their own levels and share them with friends. These can be shared over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and people can vote for their favorites. Another nice addition is a help button, a new map mode, and an in-game Super Guide, so people that are new to puzzle games can join in the fun without frustration. The Minis, Mario, and DK will be back this holiday season.

New to the Wii “insert-fun-noun-here” games is Wii Party, bringing more minigames and flailing fun to the entire family. Think of it as Mario Party, only missing Mario and replacing him with Miis. With 13 different game modes and over 70 minigames, I’m sure you can find something to enjoy, such as Board Game Island (essentially Mario Party).

Some of the minigames seem like your standard tag, balancing and running around the screen types, while others take advantage of the audio speaker in the Wii Remote. One of these involves placing all of the Wii Remotes on a table, and an animal appearing on the screen. The winner is the person who grabs the controller that is making that animals sound. Another type of game that brings Wii Party off of the screen and into the room is a hide and seek game, where all but one player leaves the room. The one remaining player hides all of the controllers and then everyone comes back to find them. Hm.

Sound like fun? If so, you can play it this fall.

He races. He golfs. He can kick winning goals in soccer, has an amazing tennis arm, pitches well in baseball, and can save the Princess. It’s all in a day’s work for Mario, and he’s back with four more sports in Mario Sports Mix. Now you can compete as your favorite Mushroom Kingdom characters in hockey, volleyball, basketball (although basketball isn’t new for him), and dodge ball.

Staying true to older Mario sports games that don’t follow the exact rules to the sport, power-ups and coins will help boost your score and bring your team to victory. Each character will also have a special that is unique to themselves to crush the competition. There will be plenty of different courts and rinks to add new challenges to every game, some with moving platforms and with extra ways to earn points. You can team up (or against) your friends in Mario Sports Mix next year!

Goldeneye for the Wii is exciting, but also a bit misleading.

First, note that this is not a remake of the N64 classic. Yes, they share the same name, but this is a marketing strategy and is NOT completely truth. You will now play as the Daniel Craig version of James Bond, with many level alterations and complete changes. The mission structure will remain the same, where extra objectives will be added depending on the difficulty chosen. The multiplayer portion with support both split-screen and online play for up to eight players, but it seems that no direct remakes of the old levels will be included. It has also been confirmed that there will be support for both motion control and the classic controller.

For those unaware, Goldeneye was originally released on the N64, and is considered by many to be the best first-person shooter of all time. It had excellent level design, with a fleshed-out multiplayer component that never got boring. FPS’s to this day are still taking queues from it, and I’m hopeful that this remake/upgrade will be worthy of the name.

Metroid is a series whose fans are split in to three groups: The group that loves the 2D games, the group who loves the Prime series, and the group that is in love with anything with the Metroid name attached to it. With the Prime series taking over on consoles for the past few years, the 2D entries we did get were limited to handhelds… but not anymore! Well, not completely.

Metroid Other M is an experiment that’s being marketed and released as a full retail game with mixed emotions from the Metroid community. As things stand, “excitement” tends to be the main word to describe their emotions, but almost all are hesitant to declare confidence in the title. After all, it’s being co-developed by Team Ninja and Nintendo, with a variety of different gameplay styles all thrown into one. The main focus of Metroid: Other M will take place in 2D/3D, with Samus running, jumping, exploring, morphing, and shooting her way through various levels. This will be handled by holding the Wii Remote horizontally, like you’re using an NES controller. When the remote is pointed at the TV, the game will switch into a first-person mode, which has been reported to work seamlessly and fluidly.

The biggest worry for Other M focuses on the involvement of Team Ninja, who is notoriously known for the Ninja Gaiden series. Metroid: Other M is said to be extremely cinematic and action packed, which almost goes against the nature of the foundation of the franchise. Metroid usually focuses on exploration and the feeling of isolation, but the action packed nature that Team Ninja added has a few fans nervous.

Most hands-on impressions seem to be positive, but I can’t help but feel uneasy while watching the videos from E3’s show floor. It’s just so fast, with non-stop action, which I’m just not used to from the series. How is everyone else feeling about the game? Are you excited or nervous? Let us know in the comments!

Screenshots (Click to expand)

Looks like another game from my early days is getting to see the light of day again. Donkey Kong Country Returns just added to the excitement that was the Nintendo Conference. With the return of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, it looks like some of the awesome gameplay from the old games is back, along with new fresh ways to update the series (besides the fact that Retro Studios, known for the Metroid Prime series is designing the game).

Not only will aspects of the Donkey Kong Country games be present, but influences of Donkey Kong 64, like Diddy’s Peanut Gun will be back. And if that’s not enough to make you excited, the controls might. If you don’t want to use the Nunchuck, the Wii Remote can be used on its side. I. Want.

Look for it this holiday season.

After Zelda, this game may have stolen the show. Sure, it sounds crazy that a Kirby game could do that, but there is something about Kirby’s Epic Yarn that pulls me in. Maybe it’s because growing up I spent hours playing and replaying Kirby games, but I think it’s the fact that he’s made out of yarn. Yes, you heard me. This Kirby game looks as it someone sewed a giant quilt together and had yarn characters run through it. This leaves so many possibilities. While it looks like his main weapon is a lasso-like piece of string that attaches and smacks enemies, he can also transform into cars, spaceships, parachutes, and surf across levels.

The entire thing is adorable. If you can watch that trailer and not smile/be happy (even if you hate Kirby with every cell inside your body), you have no soul.

When the first images of Epic Mickey came out back in 2009, I was skeptical. I love Mickey Mouse and everything Disney, but the concept art consisting of steampunk and an angry American icon didn’t make me want it more. What I saw today though, did.

From what I witnessed, the steampunk was gone, although it may just not have been a part of the demo. Mickey looked more concerned than ready to beat up the nearest character, and he still wields the magic paintbrush from the concept art. The brush actually gives him two abilities: one is a painting ability that allows you to add more to your environment, and the other is a paint thinner that erases whatever you decided needs to go. This gives the game a sort of good guy/bad guy feel. You can make the game easier by erasing obstacles and characters that get in your way, making you a more deviant character. Characters that may have helped you earlier might not be so friendly later. By not erasing things, the game may be a little harder, but people you meet will help you out, and you will get extra quests that may have been locked if played as “Bad Mickey.”

There are three different game areas, a Quest area, an adventure area, and a platforming area. During the conference the Quest area was highlighted, as well as a Steamboat Willie side scrolling platformer that definitely got the crowd excited. With old characters (ever hear of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?), and loved characters (well, as much as you can love Smee from Peter Pan), Epic Mickey is, without a doubt, something to anticipate.

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future will be the third installment in the series of puzzle games by Level 5. While the first one was charming for its logic puzzles and cute little story, the second Layton game (The Diabolical Box), felt as if I was playing the same game again. This isn’t like how crazy people complain about the Zelda series and how you go through so many dungeons/kill bosses etc., Layton’s logic puzzles were the exact same puzzles, only with a different coat of paint. With 167 new brain teasers in Unwound Future, hopefully we will see some new tricks when Layton looks at Luke with the sparkle in his eye and exclaims “That just reminded me of a puzzle!”

If one Layton game was not enough for you, Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle was also announced as a working title for the 3DS. This might actually bring a spark to the series with the 3D allowing for some new and interesting ways for puzzles to be created.