What do you get when you take a ‘Kill Bill’ approach to a game with some kick-ass cell-shaded graphics? You get one of the first original mature rated games on the Wii, ‘No More Heroes’, a cinematic gaming experience with plenty of laughs courtesy of Suda51 and Co.

For any of you who have played Killer7, you may already know what to expect as far as blood goes, but the similarities end there. This game has plenty of the red stuff and then some. Heads will fly, and bodies will be split in two by the dozen, all in full bloody glory. Still, the game isn’t all about the blood, even though stylistically it adds to the feel of the game. Suda51 is more of a director than anything, and likes to make his games very visual and as cinematic as possible. While the story isn’t nearly as deep as Killer7, one of his last major releases,  it’s comical, and hella fun to watch.

You play as Travis Touchdown. Travis is an anime fan who somewhat reminds me of ‘Fight Clubs’ Tyler Durden with his messy hair, “I’m a badass” attitude and the cool red jacket. He is a lot like most gamers, plays games, watches anime and dreams of being the best around.

Of course, for Travis, being the best around means killing off 10 other assassins to make some serious money and top the charts. With a beam katana “won off an online auction” in hand Travis sets off to raise his ranks. This is where the game begins. Right in the middle of all the action as Mr. Touchdown busts into assassin number 10’s mansion. This game does not waste any time in getting into the action.

The fighting system is surprisingly complex while still being intuitive. Much like the old ‘Double Dragon’ games on the NES you have two attack buttons, ‘A’ and ‘B’, ‘A’ to slash or punch, and ‘B’ to Kick. If you want to attack low or high you raise or lower the Wii Remote. Then at the end of a combo finish off your enemy in a spray of anime style blood with a flick of the controller or a combination of the controller and nunchuck. It’s that simple. The ‘A’ button will also block enemy attacks and deflect bullets Jedi style.

At the end of each major mission is a boss fight. You are allowed to save (on the can, and for some reason Travis never wipes…am I the only one to notice that?) and restore your health before each one. There is a cool feature added in right before the bosses that actually plays a little cell phone message through the Wii Remote speaker. Nice touch.

Between those missions Travis must raise enough money to pay his entry fee for the upcoming fight. You take on odd jobs such as mowing lawns, collecting garbage, taking on minor assassination jobs and picking up coconuts to fund your killing. The game switches to another gameplay mode in which you roam the city sandbox style to buy extras and cash. You can then expand Travis’ wardrobe from there and change clothes to suit your mood. Still, he never forgets to feed his cat.

The game is already known for its imperfections in to overworld such as popups and weird collision detection. While it does hurt the overall experience, I don’t think it’s enough to ruin the game. Still, it could have been pulled off a little better.

All in all No More Heroes is a great game just short of being perfect because of those flaws, especially taking into account the Wii’s capabilities. It should be able to do better than this. Either way, these third party games need our support, and this game is a great third party title. Many Wii owners are pretty hard on Ubisoft, but I think they deserve a little better treatment as they have been behind the Wii since day one, and have always showed excitement and commitment to providing Wii owners with a fun gaming experience despite some minor flaws. This game is worth picking up if you are a Wii owner. If you are still unsure, give it a rental at the very least.