Nintendo Hits New York
The Gal gets a tour of the lastest GameCube titles.

The fine folks at Nintendo recently swung through the Big Apple to show off some of their latest wares to the press. GameGal joined them in their hotel-suite-tuned-arcade to get a little hands-on time with some of their upcoming titles. Here’s what caught our eye:

Beyond Good and Evil
This is a game we’ve been hearing some serious positive buzz about. It’s an action/adventure title that also includes some stealth, puzzle solving, platform jumping and even a little vehicular combat. But from what we’ve seen and played so far, rather than spreading itself too thin, BG&E uses these different styles to keep the game fresh and moving briskly.

As Jade, a photojournalist in a world of strange animals and creatures, you have to battle monsters, rescue innocents and uncover a vast conspiracy. To this end, you can use your camera to snap photos, a la Metal Gear Solid or Fatal Frame, and send them back to your allies as evidence.

We especially liked the inviting, cartoony graphics and the undercurrent of a strong storyline. We think Beyond Good & Evil will be a must-play game when it’s released later this year.

P.N.03
A highly stylized third-person shooter, P.N.03 has also been a high-profile project for Nintendo. As a bounty hunter named Vanessa, you get sent to a far-off planet to investigate what happened to the colonists there. We’ll give you a hint – it has to do with killer robots with bad attitudes.

You spend the rest of the game dishing out all kinds of mayhem to said robots – all without ever losing your cool. The game’s defining image is of Vanessa standing, hip cocked, subtly tapping her leg to the game’s techno-lite soundtrack. No matter what kind of acrobatics she performs, it’s always with a dance-like grace, and she always returns to her standing bop. Seems like a great place for an iPod product tie-in, if we do say so ourselves.

Despite having a butt-kicking female lead – who even manages to keep most of her clothes on -- some may be turned off by the lack of plot or dialogue. This game is pretty much all action. But it has a great look and feel, and seems like it will be a highly competent take on the genre.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron -- Rebel Strike
Just as we were starting to think that the Rogue Squadron series had reached the end of its lifespan, Lucasarts goes ahead and raises the stakes on us.

By adding some major graphical improvements and an all-new third-person “on-foot” mode, Rebel Strike manages to create a fresh new experience.

Even revisiting old standbys like Hoth is a blast. Instead of lassoing AT-ATs, like you did in Rogue Leader, this time you’re on foot, running beneath their legs. As Luke Skywalker, you grapple up underneath the giant machines, cut open a hole with your lightsaber and toss in a grenade.

Then it’s back to your ship for some classic Rogue Squadron air-to-air combat.

The out-of-ship sequences aren’t as slick as a game fully developed as a third-person shooter, but it’s a more advanced version of the similar concept seen in last year’s Clone Wars game.

Of course the game looks great, with tons more ships on-screen at once. From all indications, Rebel Strike will be a great addition to this series.