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GoNintendo 'End of day' thoughts - Jungle Speed: a great WiiWare game that you're ignoring

by rawmeatcowboy
29 January 2009
GN 1.0 / 2.0

A very wintery time here in NJ. We had a sizable storm on Tuesday night, which made it a bit of mess to travel during Wednesday. I’m hoping Thursday provides better weather for all. Whenever you are, I hope it’s nice and warm! I’m going to go hop into bed…where I know I’ll be warm! I’ll see all of you in just a few, short hours. Take care, friends.

I wanted to do a light-hearted End of day thoughts piece for today. While the topic may not be one that is on the lips of every Nintendo fan out there, I really feel the need to spread the word.

Direct link here

A couple weeks back, North America saw the release of Jungle Speed on WiiWare. We all knew a little about the title thanks to an ESRB rating, but other than that quick bit of information, the game seemed to have come out of nowhere. Unfortunately, I think this surprise announcement/appearance on the Wii Shop Channel really worked against the game. If you saw our latest Top 20 WiiWare post, you noticed that the game isn’t even in the top 20. Trust me, that really is a shame.

Jungle Speed is a virtual representation of a real-life card game. I didn’t know the game existed in the real-world until I became addicted to the WiiWare version. I’m telling you, I had so much fun with Jungle Speed on WiiWare that I went online to search out more information about the title. While I’d love to check out the real version of the game, I think I’ll be sticking with the WiiWare version for now.

So…what is this game all about? Basically, Jungle Speed boils down to this. Your objective is to rid yourself of all your cards. You do this by keeping an eye on everyone else’s cards. When someone pulls out a card that matches the card you put down on the table, that’s when you make your move. You must grab for a totem that sits in the middle of the table. If you grabbed the totem when your card matches another player’s card, you do away with your cards. These cards are then given to the person that lost the matching dual, and their pile grows higher while yours shrinks.

There is a lot more to it than that, but it’s so much easier to understand when you actually sit down to play the game. Just make sure that you have some family/friends around that will want to play. Jungle Speed may not be a lot of fun in single-player mode, but it’s ridiculously fun in multiplayer mode. You can actually play with up to 8 players, half using Wiimotes and half using Nunchuks. Just make sure you pair up with someone that you like!

When you get one of those big games going, the fun doesn’t stop. People are laughing, screaming, and just having a blast. We actually got an 8-player game together at the warehouse, and we had such a fantastic time. Newcomers figured out the game after one play through, and there was not one person that said they didn’t enjoy the title. Watching for matches, grabbing for cards, and piling on the throw-away cards to your opponents…it keeps things lively and fun.

Like I said, there is a lot more to the game than what I’ve said, but you shoudl really check it out for yourself. The graphics are nice, the music is fantastic, the controls are spot-on, and the game has infinite replay value. It’s one of the higher-quality titles on WiiWare, and it really shouldn’t be missed. Take those extra Wii Points you have, round up some friends, and go pick up Jungle Speed.