It just doesn’t get much better than this.  Legos, Rock and Roll, an a Wii.  We’ve loved the Wii Lego games we reviewed in the past so we were way excited when Warner Brothers/MTV sent us a review copy of Lego Rock Band to check out.  Lego Rock Band is one of the latest entries from the super successful Rock Band franchise.  I won’t go into too much detail explaining the gameplay in Lego Rock Band since it is almost identical to that of Rock Band 2.  But, for the uninitiated, the theme of the game is simple: Be a rock star.  You get to form your own rock band, play gigs, go on tour, and wow the universe….literally! And to make beautiful music, all you have to do is strum or drum along with colorful musical Lego brick notes as they stream down the screen (but, you’ll need to have some Rock Band compatible gear (guitars, drums, microphones) to be able to play because Lego Rock Band doesn’t come bundled with any).  The more notes you hit the higher your score.  And the higher your score, the more fans and Lego studs you’ll collect.  You can use your studs to buy new gear or outfits in the store or add new members to your band’s entourage.  Read the rest of the story...

Every year, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) compiles statistics for all of the video games that they rated. This year, we’re very happy to see that of nearly 1,800 games that were rated, 60% were rated E for Everyone and another 16% were rated E10+ for Everyone 10+. We think it’s great news that the video game industry has once again achieved family friendly ratings for over 75% of the games they released. And, we believe that you can really count on the ESRB to do a good job of rating games appropriately. Of all of the games the Five Hens have reviewed this year, we agreed with 100% of the ESRB’s ratings. But don’t take our word for it. According to information on the ESRB’s website lots of other parents agree with the ratings as well:  Read the rest of the story...

Ready? Okay! Let’s check out We Cheer 2 from Namco Bandai.We Cheer 2 is a new cheerleading game exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.  Using your Wii remotes as virtual pom-poms, you follow on-screen “trace lines” for choreographed routines that include arm and body movements. We Cheer 2 features a brand new lineup of 30 heart-pumping songs that will get you charged up and ready to cheer. The game now offers the option to play as boys as well as girls, for a total roster of 45 characters, which is more than double the original line-up. You can also personalize both your character and entire squad with options including uniforms, hats, shoes, and even facial features like eyebrows and lips. New choreographed routines can be performed on more than 20 stages with choices for day time and night time versions of each. With various difficulty selections and options for single and multiple players, We Cheer 2 caters to all skill levels from newbie cheerleaders to varsity level pros.  The “Watch Routine” option allows you to preview a routine before tackling it yourself. This mode also allows you to take snapshots from your favorite spots in the routine and save them to a photo album that can be shared with your friends online through the Message Board. You can learn the basics in Cheer Camp or get your heart pumping in Workout mode. Successfully completing challenges in the single player Championships mode allows you to unlock new stages and songs as well as earn Cheer Points that can be used at the Cheer Shop for new outfits and accessories for you and your squad. Multiple cheerleaders can enjoy We Cheer 2 with options for two players to play cooperatively and up to four players to face-off in competitive Cheer Off modes. Here’s the video trailer for We Cheer 2 from that does a good job of demonstrating the player movements as well as the onscreen gameplay:  Read the rest of the story...

I grew up playing some of the old Spore games on my PC and loved the idea of essentially creating and managing bizarre species of space creatures.  Now Electronic Arts and Maxis have brought Spore to the Wii in their latest release, Spore Hero.  It’s a really fun, colorful, and entertaining game with a story that’s interesting and characters that keep you laughing throughout the adventure.  Here’s the basic story behind Spore Hero: You are an alien space creature that has been hurled through space on a blue meteor that crash lands on a foreign planet.  The inhabitants of the planet you land on don’t seem quite right at first glance.  That’s because “evil” creatures followed you to this planet on red meteors and are quickly spreading chaos around the world using the power of their red meteor crystals to turn the locals into babbling “idiots”.  So, it’s your job to battle the evil creatures and save your new home from evil.  Read the rest of the story...