I haven’t gotten very far into Shaun White Snowboarding, but I have enjoyed the training levels that I have done so far. I’m glad that I was given the Wii version, because it allows the player to use the Wii balance board as a snowboard, with the Wii remote for extra functions. It is a combo that works surprisingly well and, in my limited experience with real life snowboarding, is in the ballpark for how the act should feel.

The game has a pretty laid back interface where the player chooses a male or female character to act as their on screen avatar while the other runs the video camera that follows. Your van travels from one country to another, exploring different mountain ranges, each of which lends itself to speed runs, trick runs, and other challenges. The difficulty level is relatively low compared to a game like SSX, but that’s all right with me; it would probably feel a bit dull if the balance board were not involved.

Anyway, so far so good with this game. I will post again if some unforeseen surprise presents itself. In the meantime, I wonder if anyone is developing a surfing game for the balance board…

Billed as “the most beautiful mahjong game ever made,” Fire Maple Games‘ Mahjong Forests is certainly pretty to look at. It reminds me a bit of Puzzle Quest in that it wraps its core function- a puzzle game- around a fantasy-themed story (albeit a very thin one in this case). All of the games are essentially solitaire mahjong, where you take away pairs of tiles until you are either stuck or have removed all of the tiles; the challenge is in the tile layouts, some of which are diabolical enough to require multiple attempts.

Unfortunately, it can also be a significant challenge to distinguish one tile from another depending on the set. As the player progresses through the ten sets of five layouts, he or she unlocks new tile themes in addition to the traditional Chinese set: different types of trees, for example, or weather, or birds.

The time spent trying to distinguish between two similar looking trees would not be a big deal if it were not for the fact that the levels are timed, with the results determining some kind of unexplained rank system. Finishing a layout is all you need to unlock the next, and finishing the 50 regular layouts is all you need to unlock the final level, so I am not sure if finishing them all within a certain time limit unlocks more. In any case, the photograph-pattern tiles may add to the “beauty” factor but I think they detract from the playability at times.

Mahjong Forests cost about $25, and offers numerous hours of play (and replay, if you wish), so it is a pretty good value. Some other types of games outside of “story” mode might have been welcome, but if you are looking for a good solitaire challenge, check it out.

For one reason or another, I have bought four games in the last couple of days, plus one for someone for Xmas. The ones I got for myself are:

Rock Band (PS3): found it for $70, including all peripherals, at the Lansdowne Digital World. Sweet deal, and works well. I had kind of lost interest in this kind of game after Guitar Hero 80s but adding the drums and a new selection of music makes this a pretty fun game.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (PS3): now marked down to $25 for PS3 and Wii, I picked this up because my son plays this game like a crack addict. It is fun, I guess, and a good way to smooth over the rough edges of the movies that he hasn’t seen yet.

Fallout 3 (PS3): I had heard nothing but good things about this game from friends and review sites, and was tempted by the special edition, plus a $20 gift card from Toys R Us that I got in return. It is a pretty interesting game, with writing well above average and some innovative mechanics for driving the story based on your actions. It’s like a post-apocalyptic Grand Theft Auto.

Zenses Ocean (DS): a game designed for users who want to “chill out” with a puzzle game that combines zen imagery with ocean sights and sounds. There is another title in the series with a rainforest theme. Basically, an ok puzzle game capitalizing on the idea of zen, but not so much really about zen. Oh well.

If you have ever spent hours zoning out playing the version of Solitaire that comes with Windows (or the real thing with cards), Fairway Solitaire from Big Fish games is the crystal meth to the old school’s dope. Cleverly adapting rules from golf- a game I would ordinarily never want to play- Fairway Solitaire takes a seemingly simple game structure and makes one of the most compelling casual games I have ever seen. Players advance through 9 or 18 hole courses where the conditions for success vary from winning a certain level of prize money to a continuous run on cards to finishing a given number of strokes under par.

At $20, Fairway Solitaire is probably the best bang for the buck you will get from any game this year- especially one involving golf clubs.

Everyone’s favourite antigravity racing game hits the PS3 as a direct download from the online store, and it is well worth the $20. The experience is basically the same as previous games, with updated ships and graphics and new courses and trophies and so on. Good stuff.