In honor of Go Vacation on Wii being released this week, I thought I’d do a quick blog about video games that really make you feel like you’re on a vacation. And we’ll start with a quick preview of Go Vacation!

Go Vacation (Wii)

This is a new Wii game by Namco. It’s basically a sequel to their super fun We Ski and We Ski and Snowboard games. Except in this one you can do more than snow sports. There are four resorts: beach, city, snow, and mountain. And any kind of vacation sport activity you can think of, you can do in this game! There are jet skis, ATVs, surfing, beach volleyball, car racing, skateboarding, rollerblading, dancing, skiing, dogsledding, and much more! So much more, that brother Jeff calls it “Namco’s Every Game Ever!” But what makes this game like a real vacation is you can explore the island resort at your leisure, sightseeing the land to find secrets and hidden activities, photo opportunities, and more. I won’t talk too much about Go Vacation now, as I’ll put up a full review later. But I will say that so far, it’s really fun!

Since the game is made by Namco, they put a lot of classic Namco game cameos and references in Go Vacation. Since I’m a big classic Namco fan, I love this kind of stuff. The bay on the beach is shaped like Pac-Man, and in the city, there are bushes cut to look like Pac-Man, and neon ghosts on the side of a building. One of the racing mini-games in the city is definitely imitating Ridge Racer. And the background music is just remixed tunes from Namco games like Pac-Mania, Toy Pop, and Dig Dug. And I’m not even halfway through the game; I can’t wait to find out more!

Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube)

This wasn’t the best 3-D Mario game ever, but there is one thing they did right. They got the feel of being on an island resort spot on. Even though Delfino Marketplace was the hub world, the island felt connected, as you could see other parts of the land from nearly any stage. And the levels fit the theme well, too. There was a port town, a beach, an amusement park, heck, even the ‘ghost house’ level was a haunted resort hotel!

Road Trip (PS2)

This was a racing game that no one ever played, probably. In Japan, it was a Choro Q game. Choro Q is a popular toy line of little chibi cars, and they were brought to the US as Penny Racers. In fact, some of the Choro Q games were called Penny Racers in the US, too (like the N64 game). Most of the Choro Q games were not very good, but Road Trip was an exception.

The gimmick in this one was that, to get to the next race track; you had to drive to the next town, which was a pretty good distance away. So it kind of felt like you were on a road trip, and getting there was half the fun. A lot of the roads felt like you were on a highway, and you could see your next destination off in the horizon, like a Las Vegas style town or a rustic canyon village. If you ventured off the beaten path, you might find some hidden secrets, photo booths, and other goodies. So if you want a good yet obscure game to play on your PS2, I’d recommend giving Road Trip a try. You might be surprised!

Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)

I’m not a very big Sonic fan, but Adventure is one of the few that I do like, despite its problems and the fact that it hasn’t aged quite as well. But the stages definitely had a vacation theme, what with a beach, snowboard, theme park, and casino levels. Even the hub world felt like a resort city, complete with a tram that took you to some ruins to explore. I heard that Sonic Team even travelled to South America to get ideas for the game. So for some reason, Sonic Adventure has a tropical vacation feel. But you know, a lot of Sega’s titles in the Dreamcast era had a bright and sunny, tropic feel to them. It’s hard to explain, but hopefully you know what I mean.

Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Xbox 360)

Don’t laugh, this game did have a vacation feel since you did a lot of outdoor summer activities like beach volleyball, pool games, a casino, jet skis, and a waterslide. Speaking of the slide, the DOA girls must be really tough, because they could fall right off the waterslide, and get right back on later! I never could get to the bottom of the slide either, it was hard!

DOAX2 had some problems, of course. The main one was that none of the games were very fun. Jet Ski racing was kind of neat, but nothing else was. You’d think that their flagship game, volleyball, would’ve been better, but it wasn’t. If you want to play a REAL good beach volleyball game, then might I suggest Beach Spikers from Sega on GameCube. That one was WAY better, and you can even play as Ulala, so I liked that.

The other problem I had with the game was the characters. Now, you’d think that being on a vacation island with a bunch of pretty video game ladies would be neat, but they were all snots to each other! In the game you can make friends with the other characters by giving them presents, but they would rudely give them back to you without even opening them! I never could figure out what you needed to do in that game to make friends. Even the animals in Animal Crossing were nicer than that. You could give them garbage and they’d happily take it. The lesson here is that no matter how pretty you may be on the outside, if you act rude and snotty on the inside, you won’t be attractive at all.

In the comments section, let me know what games YOU think have a vacation feel to them?

Tags: Misc