Bully: Scholarship Edition

"Bully Scholarship Edition, very Similar to the Original"

I could very easily sum this review up in one sentance; "It's Bully with slightly better graphics, and a few new features." But I'd rather give it an actual review. Hi, I'm Game_Reviewer, and this is Video Game Reviews. Today's game is Bully : Scholarship Edition for the Nintendo Wii.

Visuals - 8.5
I give the visuals an 8.5.
Bully Scholarship Edition (Will from now forth shal be known in this review as Bully SE)'s Graphics were only slightly better than the original's, but that does increase it a pretty decent amount of points. If I was doing the original, I'd give the visuals a 7.5, which proves that Bully SE is only slightly better than the original, sorry for the repeative sentance. The graphics of Jimmy Hopkins, the main character, changed slightly, but was by-far the least changed in the game. The biggest change in graphics from the jump from the PS2 to the Wii was...I'd say the Bullworth Academy School Grounds. Leaves on the ground, the occasional dead trees, and at it's best, I'd say the Halloween time in the School Grounds makes it look very realistic with decorations and costumes, like the typical boarding school holiday.

Sound and Music - 7.5
I give the sound and music a 7.5
Bully SE had good songs, very nice battle themes, bike riding theme...I liked it for this reason; in everyother game I've never heard everything's own theme LIKE the bike riding theme and battle themes for each social group, Townie, Nerd, Preppie, Bully, Greaser, and Jock. To me, Bully SE had one of the most extravigant songs on the Wii, next to Smash Brothers Brawl, and Twilight Princess. I give the music alone an 8. Onto the sounds...The sounds were decent...just decent. The sounds made when destorying boxes, hitting cars, etc. were not very realistic at all. Same with a mission where you have to destory as many things as possible and beat a Townie girl at how expensive of things you can break, whever you break a jar, piece of glass, etc, it is always the same. Some of the voices had bad quality, making is sound like the source of the voice was concealed behind something, giving it faint volume. I give the sounds alone a 6.5, bringing the total to 7.5

Gameplay - 8
I give the gameplay an 8
Oh boy, do I have alot to say about the gameplay...
The gameplay is decent, and very good at the same time. The idea of using the Wiimote Nunchuck combo and swing to punch, was ingenoius thinking for Rockstar North and Nintendo. The only downside is that it is too easy to punch when you don't want to, for instance, if you are near an authority figure, if you hardly even move the Wiimote Nunchuck, you punch, which usualy spells, yes, you get caught and sent to the principals office. Which brings up another gameplay experience. If you get sent to the principals office too many times, you have to mow a lawn in Bullworth Academy. Unless it's around Christmas time, then you have to shovel snow from sidewalks. The missions involve things such as crude humor, very slight sexual themes, gross impundancy, etc. There is a Halloween Prank where you make a dog "do it's business" on the lawn and set it on fire in front of the teachers' lounge, which sets the Gym teacher out and stomps it. Then, the person which you assosiated with on the prank, runs away, making you highly vulnerable to being caught. During Christmas, you can help a drunken hobo and get back at kids making fun of him, by throwing snowballs at all kids who walk, ride, or run through your area. You can make out with girls (and with a couple guys but we won't talk about that), interact with students such as paying people to help you fight people. Also the classes were very good and interactive such as the biology, using the pointer as your hand also selecting your tools for the assignment, and also Music Class, using your Wiimote Nunchuck Combo as Various instruments such as marakas, bells, and drums. The new features of Scholarship Edition also include using your pointer as the aimer while shooting a sling-shot, spud gun, etc, This game also has a wide variety of curse words and or inappropiate scenes. It is this reason that I recommend this game for persons of the age 12 or older.

Controls - 7
I give the controls a 7.
Just like above, the Wiimote Nunchuck combo, it is far too easy to punch and kick. The controls can be confusing at first, but they are pretty easy if you've dealed with something similar before. It took me a little bit to figure out and memorize the controls, especialy the whole changing items and weapons thing. I would always choose the slingshot when I wanted the skateboard, and I still do. So I recommend this for moderately experienced gamers.

ETT
The ETT is to beat the game and defeat Gary Smith, the final Boss, takes about...eh 4 hours, but to completely beat the game, it takes about 8 hours. Bully SE is relatively easy to do a speed run on, I did it with a time of 4 hours 13 minutes (not including the extra missions). But I did all extra missions, got all the extra secrets like G & G cards, garden gnomes, etc. after that and I got about 7 Hours 54 minutes.

Replayability - 9.5
I give the replayability a 9.5
You can play the game, and save. If you like a certain part or scene in the game, you can just save in a different slot, and still continue the game you were on. If you like saving many files on one game like I do, you'll love this game. There can be up to 50 saves in on game, however, this takes up memory. Other than that, it is a very good game that allows you to replay.

Diffuculty - Very Moderate (Just above Moderate and just below hard)
Some bosses are very easy to defeat (like gym class bosses). Yet some are hard (greasers' final boss is harder than the actual final boss), Some missions took me up to 15 tries such as the mission where you destory enough stuff in the yard of one of the teachers. Mission difficulty-Very hard. Anyway other than alot of the bosses and missions, the game is rather easy.

Enjoy-Ability - 7.5
This game is easy to enjoy, especialy with the wide range of weapons and things you can interact with. If you like breaking the rules, this game is a must-have. If you like being a goody-two-shoes, following rules and going to classes, this game is a must have. Change your appearence to go with your personality. Wear school uniforms to stay out of trouble, or don't if you like punishment. This game definately has a little bit of something for every kind of gamer that's out there!

Overall Rating/Review

Overall, I give this game an 8/10.
It is a great game for the Wii, and next to Call of Duty 4, is the most adultish or mature game in my eyes. The only thing wrong with this game is that there are not enough missions. There could be many more missions than there is. The missions that were there were good, just not enough.

Game_Reviewer, out

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/14/08

Game Release: Bully: Scholarship Edition (US, 03/04/08)