[13/3/08] Bully: Scholarship Edition [Wii]

[emwearz]

Schools in session, cliche saying? maybe, but the game is awesome. We all know it, or at least know of it. Take Grand Theft Auto and throw it into the school yard, it sounds perfect doesn't it? Well it pretty much is, The Wii version which has slight visual tweaks, controls to die for and new classes and takes what all ready was a great game, and makes it one of the best games currently available on the system.

 

System Tested On

PAL Wii displaying at 480p over component cables on a 50inch 1080i Plasma.

 

Gameplay (9.5 out of 10)

The gameplay is something I wont go into in terms of Bully itself, if you dont know how the game plays with its sandbox style gameplay, you really need to go out and get yourself a copy of GTA. The main thing I will talk about is the Wii controls and how they play into the gameplay of Bully.

 

Fighting, its a pretty big part of Bully, hand to hand combat. On the Playstation 2 this was a button masher at best, now on the Wii, it has depth and is actually really fun. You use your nunchuck as your left hand and your wii-mote as your right hand and when "you throw a punch" in real life, you throw a bunch in the game. (Its fairly similar to The Godfather's fighting system, but more polished). Its a big step in the right direction for Bully, its a lot more fun to fight with this system then it ever was on the PS2 version. Big plus.

 

While you now aim with the wii-mote for your slingshot and other projectiles, it is not as polished off as I would have liked the cross hair is centered and any movement in any direction sends it hurtling that way, while it takes longer to get use to than it really should, the absence of a boundary box in the games aiming system is something that Rockstar really overlooked.

 

Classes, Who would have thought I would ever enjoy being back in a classroom, if your not familar with the class system of the game, you have two classes a day which are pretty much jus themed minigames, Scholarship Edition brings with it more interactive ways to play the old classes as well as some all new classes of it's own, which hold up as mini-games on there own. The carnival also has some new Wii-Mote friendly carnival games. The mini-games also for the first time have the ability to be played in Multiplayer mode.

 

The only problem I had with the new classes is the only reward you get for completing them is new outfits that you can change into, and while new extras are always welcome in ports, it feels a bit of a let down, though im sure it would have been too much work for them to go and give you

something worthwhile for your time.

 

Sound (7.5 out of 10)

The music in Bully fits it perfectly, many of the games tracks sound like altered versions of background tracks from another Rockstar game, The Warriors, but they fit the situations really well. No complaints with the music, there none that really get into your brain as video game classics, but it does the job, and it does it well.

 

Every character has there own orignal (If not a bit corny) voice, which makes the world of Bully really come alive, and make you feel like the School is alive.

 

Graphics (8 of 10)

If you have played the PS2 version of Bully, you pretty much know what the graphics will look like, there are some slight tweaks and a new particle here and there but they didnt really take the Wii's hardware to its fullest like they did for the control scheme, but its still a visually pleasing game and looks better then any other sandbox game on the Wii (Scareface / The Godfather) which have horrible pop-up issues, etc.

 

Replay Value (8 out of 10)

Playing this game the first time, may be a replay for many people if they have all ready played it on the Playstation 2, but the Wii version is really worth going through it all again, the fighting system which is really entertaing now as well as the extra classes give Scholarship Edition just enough of a new feeling that former students of Bullworth can still be entertained by another year at everyones number one school.

 

There plently of missions, side missions, bike races, kart races to keep you entertained even after the main missions are all completed.

 

The multiplayed aspect is nothing special, it offers a half hour of competetive play with a friend before its uterly boring, but its still better then no multiplayer at all, which is what you would expect from a sandbox game.

 

Overall (8.25 out of 10)

Over all Bully: Scholarship Edition is a must own for anyone with a Wii, even if you have played it before you will still enjoy another go at this great game. If you never picked it up on its first time around, your one luck person because your first serving will be what I think is the ultimate version of Bully.

 

[L.S.D]

Good review! Look like we have a Wii man here in the forum. it is nice to know that the translation of using the Wii remote is done well here although this still smells of PS2-port-with-Wii-little-tweak

[Fatal Rose]

Thank you for this awesome review. Looks like we have people here covering all systems now.

[Skythe]

Geography class is the only new class with something truly good to offer when you complete them. You unlock the collectible locations (rubber bands, gnomes, G&G cards and transistors) for your map. It's also the only class I had problems with. Mainly Geo 4. I don't know Africa really well and kept failing it.

[L.S.D]

Wait, you mean you need to attend classes for real?!?

[Skythe]

Wait, you mean you need to attend classes for real?!?

 

You don't have to. You can choose to skip them if you like. But about half of all the classes help you acquire stuff or unlock items. At least attending the first class is almost mandatory.

 

Like Shop will unlock the garage for you to always keep a bike in it. Chemistry unlocks the chem lab in your dorm so that you can restock your weapons. Gym unlocks fighting moves and better accuracy. English unlocks the taunting and apologizing system. Art unlocks the ability to increase your health up to 200%. Photography unlocks the ability to use cameras.

 

Math has no purpose. Neither does Music and Biology. All you do when you beat them is unlock clothing items which lands you closer to acquiring 100% (for the 360 owners of this game it's a big deal in getting the achievement point). Geography is the only one that has it's uses other than unlock clothing items.

[emwearz]

I had problems with one of the Geography class's cant remember which one it was but it was the name states inside of the USA one. Man if you don't live in the states it could prove really hard, how the hell am I meant to know where they are.

 

I agree the others class's reward of clothing kinda sucks, but I would still prefer those classes ingame then them not being present.

[Skythe]

What I hate is that you don't get the black ninja costume till Chapter 6. Which becomes pointless from then on.