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Wii Sports

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:18:32 +0000

If you have a Wii, you have Wii Sports. Let’s revise the facts. Wii Sports is a straight up game, with five different activities that take full advantage of the brand new sensor-technology packed Wii Remote. Let’s review each sport. When you open up the game, you’ll find tennis at the top of the list. Tennis requires you to swing the Remote when the ball comes at you, cute… The game automatically moves your Mii to the best spot for you to strike the ball, leaving only the air-swatting to you. Golf works pretty much the same as real-life. You have the stance that you have to stand in. Depending on how far back you pull your arm, and how hard you swing, your Mii inside the game will imitate your actions. Of course, if your swing has too much power, the ball’s flight will become choppy and it will fly off course, so be careful.

Bowling also features many real-life similarities. Set your direction and pull the Remote up to your face. This is your ready stance.

At this point, just hold the B button, swing your arm back, and swing it back forward. If you wish to add a little spin to the ball, just twist your wrist while you toss the ball. STRIKE! Baseball puts you in the position of either the pitcher or the batter. If your pitching, all you need to do is “throw a ball” toward your opponent, and if you wish to make it a curve ball or fastball, just hold the corresponding button on your Remote. If you’re batting, no buttons are required, just time your swing and hope for the best. If the ball is caught, you’re out. If it flies into the crowd, you just scored yourself a homerun. If it goes out of boundaries, it’s a foul ball. Pretty simple, right? Let’s go on to boxing.

Here you need to attach the nunchuk to your Remote. Controls are pretty simple. Flick at the air to throw a face shot, jab at torso level to swing a punch at the gut, an uppercut to do the same in the game. To block, simply put the Remote and nunchuk to the place you want to block. (i.e. face or torso) and tilt to the side or pull your body back to spin away from deadly punches. Also, a Wii Fitness program gives you three challenges daily, and depending on your results on these challenges, you get an age that reasonably describes you physically.

Graphics in Wii Sports are mediocre. For example, the animation in Baseball is very choppy when you’re batting. However, bowling pins and the ball itself were very well made. Golf courses were also deeply detailed and the texture on that water is wonderful...a standard detail I expected from Wii Sports.

The sounds in Wii Sports are pretty well-coordinated and sound crisp and clear. The crack of the baseball bat, the swish of swatting at the air, the sound of a landed punch are all well recorded and placed sounds. All in all, this section was great.

I wasn’t very happy with the control features. Let’s start on tennis. First of all, there’s an aim factor. No matter how much you twist and turn your wrist or how hard you swing, the game automatically sends the ball flying at an area close to where your opponent can easily hit it. As for bowling, the controls are very well done. Spins work flawlessly, and the power you put into your throw really affects the actual toss. Boxing, this one really ticked me off. First of all, aiming certain punches at places is really a hassle. An uppercut will take a lot of effort to execute well, you actually have to bring the remote down really low, and swing up rapidly to get the desired effect. Now side-jabs are also a confusing deal.

Like uppercuts, you really have to put power into your swing to land a punch. Shots to the face and gut are a little easier to control, but these areas are often blocked. Baseball, as for the batting section, it’s alright. Pitching gets a little more annoying. Getting those really quick speeds will require some more practice. The controls for golf work well, but the levels put in for power were very low in Wii Sports. Sometimes, just a soft thwack will overshoot the power bar and screw up your shot. But otherwise, very accurate.

Getting hold of the controls is easy, but as your Experience Level gets higher, your job gets harder and harder. I really liked the challenge factor in the boxing section of the game. Right when you turn Pro (1,000 Experience Points for all Sports), opponents get very difficult. As for Tennis, I didn’t see much of a change there. Bowling was very fun for me, getting the spin to work for me definitely took some work, but work that I was willing to do.

Golf is the most challenging of the sports for me, getting the ball to fight the wind speeds and not get in the water had me entertained for some time. Baseball doesn’t offer much of a challenge in the beginning, but as you rise in Experience, you quickly find yourself getting beaten by the opposite team.

Wii Sports is fun when you just get it and play it for a few hours, but I must say, the game got very drab for me after only after a few days. The act of playing the same thing over and over again gets extremely repetitive and annoying just to reach the Pro level. The worst part is, sometimes you’ll lose Experience Points even if you do win an activity for “bad performance.” However I found the Wii Fitness tests very entertaining. I thought of Wii Sports as a “starter” game for the Wii, just to give buyers something to do before buying their first game. A mediocre game, nothing special.

Super Mario Galaxy

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:13:26 +0000

The supposed sequel to Super Mario 64, this game, Super Mario Galaxy, carries the legacy above and beyond to the next level. Bringing back some classic concepts and introducing a couple new ones, this truly is a fun game.

Gameplay:
Super Mario Galaxy begins with… Do I even have to tell you? Yep, once again Mario’s lovely Princess Peach is once again kidnapped by Bowser. This time around, it’s during the Star Festival where, every year, small stars called “Star Bits” fall from the sky and are collected by the Toads of Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach sends Mario a letter, telling him to hurry over to her castle, as she has something for him. You take control of Mario for the first time here, and learn the basic controls. Once you reach the castle, the sky darkens, and a brigade of Bowser’s flying pirate ships attacks the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser literally cuts the castle out of the ground and hauls it away, hinting at a new grand scheme to rule the world. Unknown to him, Mario has somehow boarded to rapidly escaping castle, and has plans to quickly rescue Peach and bail out of there. His plans are interrupted, however, by a Kammy Koopa that blasts him with a bullet of energy, throwing him off the castle completely and into space. I’ll leave the rest for you to find out. Being SM64s successor, the game has a few similar concepts. Once you reach Rosalina’s observatory, you’ll need to walk into domes scattered throughout to begin your adventure. Inside each dome, you have access to 4-5 galaxies, but not all of them are opened for you at once. You will need to beat a few levels in each galaxy and earn Power Stars that will allow you to travel to further galaxies. There are full-level galaxies, and a few bonus galaxies. Bonus galaxies are beaten by collecting only one Power Star, and usually only test your abilities on rolling on a ball, surfing on a Manta Ray, and many more. The final galaxy unlocked in a dome is a Boss Battle where you’ll take on Bowser’s horde. Once you beat this galaxy, you will earn a Grand Star. Grand Stars are important because, like galaxies, all domes aren’t automatically unlocked for you. Once you earn a Grand Star, another dome will be opened with access to a whole new array of galaxies and the process continues. Also, while you’re in the level, make sure to collect the most Star Bits you can. At a few points in the story, hungry Lumas (newborn stars) will appear. Feed them the desired amount and they’ll transform into planets, items that will help you get to the next area, and even whole other galaxies. Also a new introduction to the game are Prankster Comets. Basically, when these orbit around a galaxy, they will have an effect on it. For example, a Daredevil Comet will force you to complete a level in the galaxy with only one health bar. A Cosmic Comet will pit you up in a race against another Mario to a certain point, similar to the races against Piantismo III in Super Mario Sunshine. Fast Foe Comets will speed up the enemies in the level, and trust me; it’s not as easy as it sounds! There are also a few new Power-Ups in the game as well. Among them are Bee Mario, Ice Mario, Spring Mario, and a few others.

Graphics:
Wow, incredible. So far, I haven’t seen anything even closely compare to the job done here. Every galaxy in this game is completely different from the others. There are no two that are even slightly similar in concept. Every one of them has incredible world modeling and texture detail. The thing that impressed me most was world modeling. Every galaxy is really big and has most sections spread out all over the place. The fact that every planet, platform, piece of debris, etc. in this game maintains so much detail, even in the size of each world, is quite impressive, specifically for the Wii. And the thing that I love most is that graphical detail was implemented into every single part of the game. I was looking at the Start Screen a few days back. Basically, here you have to press A and B at the same time. So I pressed A, and the Galaxy logo began to glow a slight blue. I then pressed B alone and the logo glowed white. Once you press them at the same time, the game starts with the logo flashing white with a blue outer glow. Characters are beautifully modeled with lots of detail and light sourcing. Definitely a jump over the last Mario platformer. Honestly, these are the best graphics on Wii, hands down. You won’t find anything much better as of now.

Sound:
Being an avid musician myself, I tend to pay very close attention to the music in a video game. I sometimes just let the character sit there and listen to the tune for a while. Let me tell you, Galaxy’s music is absolutely wonderful. Most of it is orchestrated, and each tune is wonderfully matched with its level. The combination is almost magical. I went from an adventurous ride in the wind, to joyride surf atop a manta ray, and the music makes all the events seem all the more fun. Like Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, wonderful job here.

Control:
I believe this is one of Super Mario Galaxy’s strongest qualities that make it a top notch game. It has very unique uses for the Remote. For example, at one point, you’ll be walking atop a glass ball in which the Star is located. You’ll have to point the Remote straight up to the roof as a stationary position, and to move, simply tilt the Remote in that direction. In another situation, you’ll be mounting a Manta Ray. Hold the Remote as if you’re holding a doorknob, press A to accelerate, and steer by turning in the corresponding direction. One of the things I really liked in this section is that both the Nunchuk and Remote are always being used. Neither is ever used more than the other (except for a few instances) and it creates a good balance between them. Only a few times will you put one down to use the other. But otherwise, you’ll be using them simultaneously to get through the galaxies.

Challenge:
Galaxy won’t be that hard to any player familiar to the gameplay style. There are 60 stars you must collect to beat the game, but 120 to collect to complete the game. I completed both tasks in about 3 weeks and, I’ll just say, a nice surprise awaits you at the end. The game isn’t hard, but it will take a bit of skill to complete, and a whole lot of patience!

Fun:
Super Mario Galaxy provides will provide you with lots of fun for quite a while. It’s a really interesting game with lots of cool features and levels that will keep you hooked. I would really recommend this game to absolutely anyone.

Final Comments:
With all the great things said above, why wouldn’t you get it? Galaxy is out of this world, and you’ll truly enjoy yourself while traveling the skies with this one. A must-play title once again comes out of Nintendo’s hands.

Mario Kart Wii

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:07:29 +0000

Mario Kart began a long time ago and has been placed among some of the really entertaining and fun games of all time. This game, Mario Kart Wii, is no different.

Gameplay: Mario Kart Wii basically supplies you with a few Mario characters, some nice vehicles that have advantages and disadvantages, and basically leaves the driving up to you. If you’re in Grand Prix mode, you’ll choose a specific Cup from the four starting ones that have already been unlocked for you (after gaining trophies on these, the other four Cups will be unlocked). Each Cup is made up of four races on really creative levels, both new (such as Wario’s Gold Mine), and some that you might remember from previous games (such as Mario Circuit from the Nintendo 64). Basically, the trophy you earn on a Cup (Gold, Silver, Bronze) is based solely on a points system.

For example, if you take the checkered flag in first, you’ll earn 15 points, second will get you 13, and so on… until last place which won’t earn you anything. So the game calculates the finishing position of all drivers and adds up their points after the fourth race. If you place in the top three in points, you’ll get a nice cut scene of you and the other two winners racing along and into a crowd of awaiting fans where you will receive your Gold, Silver, or Bronze trophy.

If you place out of the top three, you don’t get a celebration, instead you watch the other three from a hillside. Pretty simple right? Let’s move on. There’s also a Time Attack mode, where you can choose any track you’ve already unlocked and race for your best time on it. Versus mode is the same thing as Grand Prix, but with only one race, not four. Battle mode is a whole other story. It’s pretty much the same as previous battle sequences.

There’s a Balloon war, and Coin Runners. The Balloon war basically groups you and others into two teams, and you must grab your items and attack your opponents in order to loosen one of their balloons and pop it. For every one you pop, you get a point. The team with the most points at end takes it home. Coin Runners is based on the same concept, but this time you are collecting coins randomly scattered around Battle stages. If you manage to hit one of your opponents with an item, they will lose about half of their coins, allowing you to steal them. Just like the Grand Prix, there are both new and classic Battle stages included in Mario Kart Wii.

Graphics: Mario Kart Wii is really impressive when it comes to graphics. New stages are filled with colors and details, and more classic stages are mapped out almost exactly, even maintaining their pixel detail. Very great visuals, characters and karts alike have good detail to them. I think Nintendo did an ace job in this section.

Sound: Not as good as previous games, I think. I usually expect nice tingly tracks from Mario games, but this time around, I don’t think that was achieved. The main menu music is kind of drab; it’s like techno. However, the in-game music is a little better, it actually does have that familiar ring to it. Also sound files from the classic stages were actually implemented right back in throughout this game, giving the classic stages more of that retro feel to them. I really enjoyed that part. Character voices are pretty comical. Hearing your character mock opponents as you pass them really makes you feel good inside. Average job on the sound.

Control: One of the newest and coolest features introduced into the Mario Kart franchise is the Wii Wheel. I must admit, I had very bad doubts about the control problem of the wheel if your sensor bar wasn’t placed just right. Surprisingly though, the Wheel is very accurate and provided absolutely no problems to me as long as I’ve had it. I love the concept, and the perfection of the control made me very happy. A+ job here. Let me talk about the vehicles themselves for a while. Karts aren’t as responsive as the Bikes, which are another new feature to the Mario Kart franchise. You’ll find them much easier to control and drift with, while they may be a little slow.

If you’re fairly new to the Mario Kart series, I seriously suggest you start on 50cc. Me and my pride decided to just go on and skip to 100cc, and we got the hell beaten out of us. The Wii Wheel will take some getting used to. Basically, first get a feel of how much steer gets you far, then work on your fancy driving skills. It should get comfortable after a few days, I suspect you’ll get through 50cc and 100cc rather quickly. Did you notice I didn’t include 150cc in there? Right, let me tell you a few things about 150cc. Basically, it’s hell, hell personalized just for you, literally. I’ve had very bad experiences with it. Check it out, mind you, this all happened within ONE race. So I was riding along in first place and I was just about to finish my second lap. And suddenly, I hear the all-too familiar whistle of TEH BLU SHELLZ, better known as the “Spiky Shell.” So, I take it, I’m pretty far from the second place guy. Then the warning of an incoming red shell begins to sound as I’m midway through my final lap. Apparently, they keep catching up.

Right when I got back on my wheels, Luigi flattens me like a pancake with the Mega Mushroom item (makes you big and allows you to squash people). So I’m flattened for about five seconds and I puff back up, currently in fifth. Suddenly, someone (I think it was Bowser) just storms through me with the Star item, and once again, I’m stalled in the air. I was just about to hit the finish line in eight, when Baby Mario and his Bullet Bill item once again killed me off, and everyone behind me zooms past, conveniently leaving the last place position for me. It wasn’t just that time either. Every single race, the computers seem to leave their dirtiest tricks until the last lap to finish you off...it’s horrible! In short, 150cc doesn’t make you feel like a super car driver, it makes you feel like a lame shopping-cart pusher. I mean, challenge is great and all, but that’s just going overboard.

Fun: Mario Kart Wii is definitely the game to get if you’re looking for a fun and entertaining racer. It has many fun qualities and lots of replay value. I would highly recommend this game to anyone, either a hardcore Mario Karter, or a new rookie to the Mario Kart series. It’s really fast-paced and action-filled. Definitely a must-buy.

Online Play: 12 Karters from around the world on one track. That’s the perfect recipe for online lag, right? Apparently not in Mario Kart Wii. Mario Kart Wii does a great job of handling online play. As long as I’ve had this game, I have never experienced lag. I think online play, which allows you to play in either Battle or Normal racing, is very exciting and entertaining, probably more than playing the game itself. You actually match yourself up against really great drivers in online play. Also, there is a Ranking system. Depending on what position you earn in a race, or how many coins you collect, or how many balloon you popped, you earn lots of points that are added to your ranking. Careful though, poor performances can also subtract from your Ranking as well, so make sure you do your best!

Overall, this is great game for all Wii owners. I highly recommend Mario Kart Wii to anyone. The gameplay is very entertaining,

the new Wii Wheel adds to your experience, and there is more than enough challenge in this Mario Kart, sometimes more than you can handle!

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:03:27 +0000

If you haven’t ever before heard of Guitar Hero, consider yourself “insanely ignorant” because the series has taken the world head-over-heals. Let’s begin shall we?

Game play is unbelievable, simply unbelievable. The game uses a pretty simple system in its game play. First of all you have notes, called “gems” in the game, that run down a fret board and your job is to press down the button on your own fret board, while also strumming the note with a nice little switch at the base of your “guitar.” Sounds easy? As you start out on easy mode, you may easily bore yourself. However, as soon as you’re hit by the medium level notes, you’ll find that this game is no piece of cake. Tracks like “Raining Blood” and “Through the Fire and the Flames” will have your hand zipping up and down at a rapid pace, giving you hardly enough time to strum your notes. Which is where techniques such as the “hammer-on” and “pull-off” come in very handy. Guitar Hero uses real-life tactics to make your life a LOT easier, but it hardly ends here. Guitar Battles allow you to brawl with in-game bosses, which include real guitarists such as Slash and Tom Morello, or friends around the world. Your Star Power is traded in for a brand new Battle Power, a completely unmerciful system that allows you to attack the other guitarist in a way that will have them gasping for breath. Attacks range from making your opponent miss certain notes, flip their guitar to their left hand, or be forced to “fix their guitar” in order for it to work properly again. Of course, they have this advantage as well, so watch out!

As far as graphics, the Wii console is at a slight disadvantage in this portion as opposed to other gaming consoles such as Xbox 360 or the PlayStation3.

However, this hardly makes the game any less fun to play. Not many people care about this portion so just go ahead and go down to the next section.

Obviously, the Guitar Hero franchise knows about sound. Featuring the best set list in the entire series, you’ll be bouncing to the beats in an instant. Tracks like “One” by Metallica and “Cliffs of Dover” offer an amazing sound experience, and, if you have a surround sound system, take full advantage and blast those speakers! The set list has over 40 tracks, but the music doesn’t end there. Bonus and Extra tracks unlocked by beating the game in certain difficulty levels or purchasing them from the store offer another plethora of rock to the game. ROCK ON DUDES!!

Guitar Hero is an amazingly accurate game when it came to timing their notes. Each difficulty contains reasonable note positioning, giving you just the right amount of hardness depending on your experience. The guitar itself is incredibly easy to handle, until you start getting to the medium and hard levels, where an extra fret button is added with each difficulty level you complete. Practice will easily solve this issue.

The guys at RedOctane definitely cranked up the level of the game since the last Guitar Hero game. The redefined Expert mode will make your job so hard it’ll almost seem unfair. Of course, if real guitarists can do it, so can we, right? Challenge is certainly not a problem in Guitar Hero 3. You’ll be playing into the next century with this one, no need to worry about that.

I shouldn’t even have to explain this section. Guitar Hero 3 is probably beyond the definition of fun. Creative mini-movies in between each chapter will give you a laugh or two to give you break from the guitar-shredding. However, there are some flaws in this section. Playing through each song just to pass each difficulty level will get awfully repetitive, and it will get extremely annoying at one point to keep retrying a song to finally pass it.

Overall, another amazing game from RedOctane and Neversoft. Honestly, when I heard Neversoft would be heading this one, I had my doubts, but now they’re completely erased. If you haven’t tried this one, please do, you won’t be disappointed.

Sonic Riders

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:55:47 +0000

Sonic Riders was the first game out of two Sonic games that was based on the concept of airboarding. No doubt an attempt to compete with Nintendo’s popular Mario Kart series, such as other games like Kirby: Air Ride and Crash: Tag erm… Well, I seem to have forgotten the rest of the name so, let’s just get into the review.

Gameplay:
This time around, Sonic and the gang (he, Tails, and Knux) are hanging around in Future City. Tails has a device in his hand that is tracking a Chaos Emerald. The signal gains interference. Suddenly, three mysterious shapes crash through panels of windows from a building, riding strange hover boards. Tails’ tracker finds an emerald, and he points toward the direction it is located. Our favorite hedgehog dashes off, towards the three figures. However, on the boards they zip past him. Knuckles throws a few punches at the biggest and he flies off of the board. Caught by his partner they dash away anyway. Sonic looks at the fallen board and makes a drastic decision. He takes the flying plank and gets the first taste of how this thing actually works. He flies past two of the dark figures and reaches what appears to be the leader. The two combat for a few seconds until Sonic pulls out in the lead. However, he is quickly shot down by his adversary performing a turbulent dive towards him. All three regain their boards as they run away, the leader mocking, “So, you’re the fastest thing alive?” Our blue hedgehog cockily responds, “Heh, new competition!” Basically, this sparks a search for Chaos Emeralds, and a spot in Dr. Eggman’s World Ex Grand Prix. You now own a hover board. Basically, you play it like a Mario Kart game, except for the fact that there are no items and the board accelerates by itself. You can dash at any moment you like, and while you do, you are in attack mode. Hit anyone while you are in this condition and you’ll knock out all their rings and steal a bit of their air. However there is a downside. Doing so wastes your air, which is kind of like “gasoline” in this game(Promoting good Earth-saving techniques are we?). You run out quickly, and when you do, you are forced to run on foot. Luckily, there is a way to replenish your firepower. Simply, charge before a jump (which are scattered all over each level) and jump. Use your Control Stick to do as many gnarly tricks as you can before landing back on the ground. Depending on the ranking of your air performance, you will receive an amount of air that reflects your ranking. A tip for jumping. There are often alternate paths that act as shortcuts. They, however, are going to be a bit harder to get to. Pulling back on the control stick gets you high in the air, and pushing forward gets you major distance. See which one gets you to each of these alternate paths and see what works for you. Now, let’s talk about rings. The maximum you can get on one stage is 100 rings. Build up your collection and head over to the shop to buy more Extreme Gear (fancy name for air board ). There’s bikes, scooters, skates, and more regular boards. However not each board works for just any character. For example, a pair of S Type boots may work for a Speed Type character, but not for a Fly Type character such as Tails. Some Gear will double the rings you receive, some will enhance your performance, some will give you new attack abilities, etc. That’s about it…

Graphics:
Graphics aren’t that good in Sonic Riders. The colors often get muddy, and the motion blur in this game is really overdone. Textures on tracks look rushed and the outside details such as trees, bushes, look very blocky. The characters have pretty nice and fluid animation. Animation during the cut-scenes is pretty weird. Sometimes characters just put their arms up for no reason.

Sound:
Hmmm. All this game has a few techno tracks. Every two levels have the same music track. Not a really good job here. Everything soundwise in this game is pretty drab and really rushed. Nothing will stay in your mind for very long.

Control:
Overall each gear has pretty nice control. Jumps need a bit of work because you may twist this way, but the character goes that way. While you run, the controls pretty much go haywire. They are really sensitive, and if you over-steer, you’ll find your character taking steps backward. Also, it depends on what gear you are riding. For example, there’s a Cloud gear that has absolutely excellent stats. It’s fast as hell and does the quickest tricks you will ever see, but then it majorly over-steers. A minor tilt on the control stick could have you going in circles in the middle of the track.

Challenge:
Honestly, Sonic Riders never gave me much of a challenge. I got through both story modes awfully quick, and the challenges took about three days. However, gaining all of the rings for all of the Extreme Gear took a few more days. You won’t get stuck much on a game like this.

Fun:
Like most recent Sonic games, this one won’t be much fun. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the voice-acting issues in the Sonic world right now. No different in this game, it’s really bad, sometimes to the point of it being funny. Jet’s laughs are absolutely classic. Also, the storyline in this game is really cheesy. All of the character’s lines sound really stupid and don’t have much depth to them.

Final Comments:
Not really a game I would recommend. I mean, I bought this because I still had some hope in Sonic games, but really, this thing dampened my hopes. Don’t get this unless you’re really looking for something to play. It’s better than some games, but definitely not as good as it could be. Save this for later on, when you really have nothing better to do.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:44:18 +0000

SA2:B is a port of the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure 2 on the GameCube. It’s easily one of the best 3-D Sonic games released, packed with a variety of missions and the extremely popular Chao Garden.

Gameplay:
The story (in chronological order) is this. Basically, Eggman has discovered the “Ultimate Weapon” held by G.U.N. (military service). He plans to uncover this “weapon” and use it to bring the world to his knees. What he discovers is a black hedgehog, Shadow, who has the power of the Chaos Emeralds at his fingertips. Shadow grants Eggman one wish, but the Doctor is cut off as a Military Mech attacks them. This is where Shadow displays his true power. At this point, Eggman commands the new hedgehog to get him the Chaos Emeralds, as he plans to use them for destruction of Planet Earth. However, Sonic enters the mix when he is accused for robbing a bank. Confused, the hedgehog is forced to fight a similar Mech, and meets the mysterious Shadow who framed him. It is also where he sees what the new hedgehog can do. The black hedgehog disappears, however, as soon as the military arrives to take Sonic away, not aware that they have the wrong hedgehog. From there, the story unravels as you race through Story Mode. Let’s talk about gameplay. There’s a lot to cover. From the beginning you have 2 choices. You can either choose to follow the villainous Dark side, where you’ll follow the gameplay of Shadow, Eggman, and Rouge, or the rescuing Hero side, where you’ll utilize Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. There’s three basic gameplay styles. First we’ll talk about the Platform style. Sonic and Shadow are responsible here. This style is all about speed, and getting to the end of a level, kind of like Sonic’s stages in SADX. Collect a few rings here and there, do some grinding, and use the Homing Attack to combo up some points. There’s also a shooter style, which is played by Tails and Eggman. This style is a little different. Here, both characters are in Mechs of their own, equipped with guns and boosters on their feet to help you hover across pits of death. Your setup is like this: Use your laser to lock onto the enemies you need to, note that the more you do lock onto, the more points you receive. Let go of the laser and your cannons deal the destruction. Last is the treasure hunting mode which follows Knuckles and Rouge. Here, you’ll scavenge vast areas for shards of the Master Emerald, and a few other items that will get you to the next areas. There’s also a “Last” story mode, which is unlocked after you beat both the Hero and Dark stories. This mode finishes the story off. Eggman’s ancestor, Gerald Robotnik, has planned to punish the world for killing his daughter and terminating a project on the Space Colony ARK that he had been working on. So, by blowing off half of the Colony, he reveals the Eclipse Cannon, a weapon capable of blowing planets into bits. It is currently at full power, and will be fired just before his execution. The entire team goes up there to fix things, while you control Sonic through the last chamber to cut off the power, and maneuver Shadow to fight off the “Ultimate Life Form,” the Biohazard. Then deliver the finishing blow as Super Sonic and Super Shadow. In the end, Shadow is seemingly lost… Let’s continue. If you’re in a level, and you collect a Chao Key, you’ll be immediately transported to the Chao Garden. The Chao Garden is a place where you can raise small child-like creatures called Chao. In the level, you can also collect crystals and animals to raise your Chao’s stats. The Chao World is really vast. You can compete in races, have your Chao beat up others in a kung-fu style match, take it to the doctor, take it to school, and buy it items such as toys, hats, and TVs with rings that you collect within a level. 2-Player is also pretty fun here. You can choose your game style, choose characters, choose the stage, and battle it out with friends. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle delivers lots of content.

Graphics:
Unfortunately, SA2: B does not sport the best graphics out there for the GameCube. The cut scenes are very rough, and level building and textures don’t look like they’ve been worked on very much. Character models are alright, and the Chao Garden does look a little cleaner, but I believe this section could have been worked on a little more.

Sound:
SA2:B has a bit of a rock music type feel to it. With tracks from Crush 40, and guitar work from Jun Senoue, the message is delivered clearly. The music seems to match perfectly with the level style and each character’s gameplay has a distinct sound to it. For example, Knuckles’ levels feature some nice rap tracks, while Sonic’s levels deliver really upbeat rock, while Rouge’s levels sport smooth jazz music. It creates a nice atmosphere while you play through this game. Lip-syncing, however, did not make my day. There’s a scene where Tails’ lips start moving one entire second before the voice actually kicks in. This happens often, it’s ridiculous.

Control:
Each gameplay style has unique controls, but they’ll be easy to learn. Especially with a small bar at the top showing you the action that corresponds with a button.

Challenge:
The challenge factor in SA2:B is definitely a plus in this game. After story mode, you are able to play the levels you have played in adventure mode, which allows you to choose any level and play it. In addition to this, each level has five goals that you have to achieve, such as a finding a hidden Chao in the level, beating the level in a harder setting, all while getting a ranking based on your performance, “A” being best, “E” the worst. Mind you, there are rewards to this system. For example, if you manage to get all “A” ranks on all missions on all of Sonic’s levels, you unlock a spiffy costume for him that you can use when you play in two-player action. This reward applies to all characters. Also, as you achieve high rankings, you can unlock items that you can purchase for your Chao.

Fun:
This is probably one of the only Sonic games that were executed really well in 3-D. It’s a fast paced adventure with a good storyline, an interactive Chao Garden, and many unlockables that will have you playing for quite a while.

Final Comments:
This is probably one of my favorite games of all time, simply because it really focuses on the speed a 3-D Sonic game should have. There’s level variety all over the place, and extra missions to complete will keep you busy. The Chao Garden by itself is a pretty cool feature that really depends on your actions. I would recommend this game to anyone, Sonic fan or not.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:37:53 +0000

The Paper Mario series began on the Nintendo 64 and quickly became one of the coolest games in the Mario franchise. The second game in the trilogy, Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door is an even better example of what our papery buddy can do.

Gameplay:
Basically, here’s the story. Our lovely Princess Peach is in a rather distasteful neighborhood full of bandits. However, while shopping, she comes upon a strange merchant who offers her a treasure box that will only open for one with a truly noble heart. Of course, it opens for her, and a treasure map is found inside, sparking the adventure to find seven “Crystal Stars” that will open the Thousand Year Door, where a marvelous treasure is said to be stowed. I don’t want to ruin the marvelous story for you so let’s move on. Being a piece of paper has many advantages in the Mario world. Along your journey you will be comically “cursed” with new abilities such as folding into an airplane, rolling like a tube, folding into a paper boat, or just turning sideways to reach new and hidden areas. You will also be joined by several partners that will also aid you in your quest to find the Crystal Stars. For example, Flurrie will blow away loose flaps of the paper world to discover new areas, Bobbery will blow debris out of the way, and Goombella will inform you of people around you, items, your surroundings, etc. On your way to the Thousand Year Door, you will also find special hammers, boots and badges that could aid (and sometimes weaken) your abilities in Battle. Speaking of Battle, this is one of the most entertaining and original concepts I have ever seen. Basically, during every battle sequence you’re on a stage. People are in the grandstands watching your fights with your enemies. If you impress the crowd, they’ll give you star power to fill up your Star Power meter (not to be mistaken with Guitar Hero Star Power). Every time you earn a Crystal Star, you will learn a new Star Power move. There are different moves. Some up your abilities, some heal you, and some deliver massive damage to your enemy. Depending on the strength of the Star Power move, you will require to use up some of your Star Power meter. This is where the crowds pleasure of your show comes in. Please and amaze them with awesome performances and Stylish commands, and they’ll fill up your meter in no time. Do an average job and they’ll start leaving the arena and throwing things at you. Also, as you gain experience, every 10 Level-Ups you will gain a new arena that will seat a larger audience. Giving you more of an opportunity to fill your Star Power meter.

Graphics:
I love the graphics in Paper Mario Games. The shading and animation is brilliant and the frame rate never goes down. Also, another pleasing feature of this game is how Paper Mario’s paper world is actually put into play. You can blow flaps of world away (as mentioned above), peel away sections of the world, fold staircases the other way to allow access to a new area. It all fits smoothly and well. Also, although character sprites are very simple, they are very vibrant and creative.

Sound:
I think Paper Mario is one of the only games I have ever considered to have a good soundtrack. Not just good either, excellent, just excellent. Every level and area has its own wonderfully orchestrated music that kind of tingles in your heart. The music in this game can raise your heart rate while in Creepy Castle, or give you a calm feeling with just a hint of danger in Rogueport. I absolutely loved Paper Mario for this trait. I was really impressed. If you have a good sound system, by all means, blast those speakers!

Control:
Hmmm…Don’t really know how to evaluate control in a Paper Mario game. I’ll try… I had some problems getting the airplane mode to do exactly what I wanted at first but plenty of practice helped. The controls are really responsive and always get you where you want to be quickly.

Challenge:
I was really pleased with the challenge factor in Paper Mario. The game starts out really easy, you do some pretty easy missions, but the story is interesting enough to keep you hooked. After a couple Crystal Stars, the challenge starts to kick in. The thing that I was really happy with is the fact that each level eases you into the next difficulty. It takes some logic and brainwork to get around in the latter levels. You’ll need to solve a few puzzle-like missions and mysteries that may take a few seconds to actually understand. It’s one of the factors that kept me attached to this game. It doesn’t immediately throw you into a pool full of sharks, it teaches you how to think, and sends you into the woods prepared.

Fun:
This could easily be among my favorite games that I’ve ever played. It’s attractive and thrilling storyline is a great one that is entertaining and immediately gets you hooked along with interesting and original gaming concepts that probably only Nintendo can offer. Humor is also often implemented into the game, and all of this comes together that has you feeling lighthearted and happy until the very end of the game.

Final Comments: Another must. I would definitely recommend this game above all others I’ve reviewed so far. It’s fun for all ages, it’s just simply a classic game that’s really fun and attractive. Get it, I can guarantee you that you will LOVE it.

Pac-Man World 3

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:32:51 +0000

Straight from Namco and Blitz Games, Pac-Man World 3 is (obviously) the third part in a series of 3-D Pac-Man games and celebrates the great muncher’s 25th birthday. And honestly, this game isn’t half bad. Let’s begin.

Gameplay:
This time around, we find our buddy Pac-Man celebrating his 25th birthday in Pac-Village when he’s suddenly teleported away just as he’s ready to blow out the candles. He lands in a sewer where he is communicated with by an old nemesis-turned-ally, Orson. However, the signal is bad so the line cuts off and you’re faced to brave the dangers of the pit yourself. Here you learn the basic controls and features of the game, such as Rev Rolls, Butt Bounces, and punches. You’ll also get a pretty good feel of how this game works. There’s quite a bit of trekking to do to complete puzzles, gain access to the next area, open the door, etc. Once you’re out of the pit. Orson will explain the situation a little more clearly. Basically, a guy named Erwin has begun siphoning energy out of the Spectral Realm (land of the ghosts, specters…) and the real world. By doing so, he is making both worlds very unstable, and if the problem isn’t taken care of soon, both worlds will “fall into each other” and the world will became dark, cold, and basically dead, with ghosts from the Spectral Realm wreaking havoc as well. So Orson pleas Pac-Man to help him restore balance to both worlds before it’s too late. Of course, our buddy Pac-Man takes on the quest eagerly. And so the game begins. This game works pretty much the same as the game before it. You’ll be placed at the beginning of a world, and you’ll have to trek, solve puzzles, find hidden items, combat enemies such as robots, monsters, and Spectrals, and eat Pellets and Fruit bonuses in order to increase your score, all while heading towards the end of a level. Grab a Galaxian and you’ll enter a classic Pac-Man styled maze where you’ll munch all the pellets without getting killed by the cool little ghosts. These stages all have different layouts and will really deliver that retro feel. You’ll also be taking control of a couple of unlikely characters in this game. Yep, Clyde and Pinky, Pac-Man’s arch-enemies, are, as Clyde once states, “on the same side of a Power Pellet” as Pac-Man. You’ll be using each one for different situations. For example, got a giant pillar to knock down? Charge Clyde up at a fountain and use his Sonic Boo to knock it down. Is there a huge pit of death separating you from the next area? Charge Pinky up at three fountains, and she’ll be able to solidify three platforms of spectral energy for Pac-Man to walk on. Pac-Man will also have a few new Power-Ups to help him along the way. One of them is Ribbon-Loop Pellet, which will allow you to literally run circles around your enemies and destroy them in a ranged explosion. The Super Stomp Pellet will increase the power and range of your Butt Bounce. The Electro-Shock Pellet will replace your punch with a mediocre shock that automatically homes into the enemies around you. Along with a few new Power-Ups come some new skills. Among them are the wall-jump, fence-climb, pole-swing, and punching. Not to mention controlling a giant punching, spinning, and smashing robot, Toc-Man.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are…meh. Not the best, not the worst. Pac-Man, Pinky, and Clyde are modeled well, but the rest of the characters look rushed. Especially the self proclaimed “Worst Nightmare.” That guy definitely needs some work. The game’s frame will slow down quite a bit when a lot of activity’s going on, such as the beginning of the Gogekka Towers’ first level. A few levels are a bit rough, but they are pretty large and scale over a massive world. You could start in one place and go through three other different places in the span of just one level. In fact, one level could probably take near 10 minutes to complete.

Sound:
Some of music in this game is very well-made. It has kind of an “epic-adventure” feel to it, and it’s pretty good. However, some of the tracks could use a bit of work. One song I really liked was the one that plays during the classic stages. I swear, I have it on my iPod, and I listen to it all the time.

Control:
The controls are pretty tight in this game, and sometimes, the work is done for you, which is nice, but it takes some of the entertainment out of the game. For example, when you flew off of a Bounce Pad in Pac-Man World 2, you had to control your flight to the next Pad. However in this game, the Pads already have a predetermined path for you. As for a more in-depth look at the controls, they’re easy to use, and it’ll be interesting to see how each move plays out in all of the environments. You won’t ever slip into an abyss, or run into an enemy due to a traction problem, since the controls respond pretty well.

Challenge:
Oddly enough, this isn’t the easiest game you’ll ever play. It’s a game that’ll take a bit of getting used to, but it can be really fun once you do. Like I said, this game isn’t that easy. It’s a pretty challenging package for anyone. I handed the controller over to my cousin on the second level, and he was dying pretty often. It’s probably not what you’ll expect from a Pac-Man game, unless you’ve played any other of Pac-Man World series.

Fun:
I honestly feel that Pac-Man World 3 is a pretty decent and well-built video-game. It has huge levels that will take much more than 5 minutes to complete, not the worst storyline you’ve ever seen, and a great Namco Museum full of extra features such as an exclusive interview with the creator of Pac-Man, a history of Pac-Man, collectible cards, and your very own copy of original arcade game.

Final Comments:
This game isn’t a must-play experience, but it’s definitely worth looking into. Try it, and hey, you just might be interested.

Bomberman Jetters

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:24:48 +0000

Bomberman’s back with a new load of bombs in a full-fledged world. But will this game blow you into the sky with happiness?

Gameplay:
Once you start the game, you’ll be faced with two modes, Normal and Battle. Let’s start with normal mode, which is like the story mode in Jetters. Basically, a gang known to you as the Hige Hige Bandits has plans to destroy Planet Bomber by colliding their artificial comet, the Dark Star into it. The Dark Star is powered by four main engines, which will render it inactive if they are destroyed, which becomes Bomberman’s main mission. Blow this thing up before it reaches Planet Bomber. Alright, main gameplay… As Bomberman, you’ll be traversing small 3-D worlds with bombs at your side. Attacking you will be Hige Hige Bandits, varying in type and strength. You have basic attacks, such as simply throwing your bomb in the desired direction, or a bit more varied attacks, such as kicking a bomb into a base to destroy it. You can also build up your bomb by holding A. A Built-Up bomb will cause a lot more damage than a normal bomb. And that’s basically all you can do. However, a few features will alter your gaming experience. This time around, Bomberman will be aided by all new “Charabombs” which are critters that can help you cross obstacles and basically make life easier. A quick example of a Charabomb is Sharkun, who can traverse water. Simply pick him in your Charabomb menu, and you’ll be set to travel the waters. You can level up your several Charabombs by collecting fruit while you’re holding one. On another note, you’ll also be interacting with all new Special Bombs. This is done by synthesizing items with your regular Fire Bomb. For example, combine a bomb with a water jug, and you’ll get an Aqua Bomb, which will send droplets of water in every direction once it explodes. Combine a light bulb with a bomb and you’ll receive the Thunder Bomb, which delivers a wide-range shock attack to all enemies that are near. Etc. You’ll also be able to collect a few items such as health vessels, and items that will increase your bombs explosion range, your speed, and how many bombs you can actually equip, which doesn’t apply to Special Bombs, which you can only equip one at a time. Also, you’ll be able to switch between Max as well. He’s got this super effective blast that takes a few seconds to charge, but it’s really effective for clearing the area of enemies. But otherwise he’s got the same abilities as Bomberman, but he can’t interact with Charabombs or use Special Bombs. That’s pretty much Normal Mode. Let’s move on to Battle. Battle works pretty much the same way as the classic Bomberman games with a few more modes of gameplay. I won’t bother explaining them all, because there are eight and have very unique instructions, and I’d probably end up with two pages just explaining the modes.

Graphics:
I really don’t know. I think the simple graphics are meant to be like that, but they are still very edgy and have little to no detail on them. All character models themselves have almost no shading. I would almost classify this as a cell-shaded game, but I don’t quite know. The particle effects on charges and explosions are rather nice though. The worlds themselves are really drab. They’re not really that colorful and some of them have that weird maze feel to them. However, the frame rate is always maintained the same.

Sound:
Again, drab. Tracks are really repetitive and can really, REALLY get on your nerves. The level music doesn’t really seem to match and you’d swear that the music to this level should’ve have gone to the other. Oh, and that “Hige” sound the Bandits can really tick the hell out of you. Honestly, mute the sound on your TV and just listen to an MP3 player or something, you’ll life will be much easier.

Control:
Bad. Throwing your bombs in just the right direction can be quite a hassle, and sometimes you’ll die if you don’t pull off a throw just right. Kicking bombs can also get quite tedious, since the bombs usually fly in a predetermined direction, one that’s usually not the right one. Bomberman doesn’t run very fast and it’s usually not a problem, except that as your bomb’s explosion range grows, you’ll have to get away quickly if you don’t want to get hurt. Turning is also a hassle. You won’t be able to pull off those quick 90 degree turns in this game to avoid getting hit by something. The Charabombs movement can also get quite annoying at some points since they usually don’t go in the direction you want.

Challenge:
Not a lot. At some points, you might get really stuck and realize the way out, which is right in front of you, yet so unobvious. The bosses may be a little tricky due to the control issues, but you’ll find a way to defeat them sooner or later. Otherwise, I’m sure you’ll fly through the game.

Fun:
There’s very little to no fun you’ll find in this game, in fact, the only thing you’ll probably find is irritation. If this game sounds amusing, and seems like a fun play, forget it.

Final Comments:
Maybe it’s the fact that they changed Bomberman’s head shape that completely screwed this up. I wouldn’t recommend this game unless you’re easily amused. It definitely doesn’t deserve the title of Bomberman, which is an otherwise fun series.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:02:18 +0000

Released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, TMNT 4 is probably among the best of the series. It’s not very long, but it does offer a nice challenge, a nice fighting system, and decent graphics for its time.

Gameplay:
There’s not much of a storyline this time around. Once you press start, the game goes into a cut scene where Krang is seen in one of his android suits stealing the Statue of Liberty from New York. Next, we see Shredder on the Turtles’ TV, laughing in an evil manner. Last, we see Leonardo demanding the statue back, and the game begins. You pick a character and get thrown in New York. The game is pretty basic. You’ll land in one area, defeat the enemies there, and keep trooping. There’s one button for attacks. Even though it’s only one, with a bit of button mashing, you can pull off some handy combos. There’s also a button for jumping, and if you combine it together with your attack button at certain points of the jump, you can pull off a few aerial attacks. Enemies will vary. Some will be unarmed, but some will have swords, nunchuks, and flame-throwers. Some will take a few hits to defeat, and others will be a bit sturdier. But you will get hit once in a while. Eat up a pizza to fully recover you’re health. There are also special pizzas lying around marked with a bomb. Chomp these up and you’ll turn into a spinning tornado that delivers a one-hit kill to anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact. This lasts about five seconds only, so use it wisely. At the end of each level you’ll encounter a boss fight, which requires a bit of skill in evasion and attack, but they’re pretty easy over all. Also, every few stages you’ll encounter a bonus stage, where you’ll be able to rack up some kills, get a few bonus pizzas, and go up against yet another boss.

Graphics:
Pretty impressive for the SNES. All the sprites are really clean, and animation is really fluid. The frame rate in this game never goes down, which is a big plus due to the amount of activity going on in one area. Also, if you go to the options menu, you can even choose the shading style of your Turtle. You can choose the Animation style, of the Cartoon style, which is a bit smoother.

Sound:
The music in TMNT 4 is really fun to listen to. Sound effects also sound really clean. All the punch and slash and pound effects really give this game a fighting feel.

Control:
The controls here are really tight and respond really well. You can make quick dodges put together great combos without any controller lag. Also, the speed of the game is really good. No enemies are ever faster than you, but they are quick enough to put up a good fight.

Challenge:
Easy Mode isn’t very difficult, but it will take up a few continues unless you’re something of a TMNT god. If so, then feel free to head over to the options menu and crank it up to hard, which is significantly more difficult. Enemies get more aggressive, and boss fights also rise in difficulty.

Fun:
All in all, this game is a pretty fun package. I love button-mashing games so that may be one of the reasons, but it’s a good game at that.

Final Comments:
TMNTs graphics, control, challenge, and gameplay style come together to create a well-rounded video game for the SNES. It will keep you hooked for a while, and, if you haven’t checked this game out yet, do so now.

Pilotwings

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:55:47 +0000

Pilotwings is a flight simulator that was a launch title for the Super Nintendo. In this game, the objective is to progress through lessons using various flying apparatuses in order to earn the Pilot Wings. Pilotwings used Mode 7 technology to create a 3-D effect that was groundbreaking at the time.

Each lesson consists of challenges involving up to four flying machines. Generally, these challenges entail either flying through or touching objects, and then landing. You are then judged on a number of criteria, and are then given an amount of points based upon your performance. Each event can have a maximum of 100 points. Each lesson has a set amount of points needed to move along to the next lesson. The first few lessons are very basic, introducing each apparatus. Later on, weather comes into play. Snow, rain, wind, and even nighttime await the player near the end.

The easiest apparatus to fly is the light plane. It is introduced in the first lesson and is the only one to appear in every lesson. Usually, the objective is to fly through rings, but in the later levels you will be asked to fly through arches on the ground. You will also land the plane. The aspects that can be controlled are the speed of the plane, the nose pitch, and the angle of the wings. In order to land, the pitch can't be overdone and the wings obviously can't touch the ground. If you mess up or attempt to land outside the runway, you will crash. The light plane event is usually scored on these four categories: Rings/Arches (graded on how many are flown through), Time (complete the event in a set time limit for the points), Angle (graded on how straight the wings are on landing), and Accuracy (graded on how close you land to the center of the runway).

Skydiving is the second hardest event, and it is also first introduced in the first lesson. Your objective is to free-fall through some rings, and then land on a predetermined platform. When free-falling, you can lean forward or backward to move through the air. Once you get down to 1000 ft., you can manually open your parachute at any time. You will safely land as long as you open your parachute. Landing accurately, however, is somewhat difficult. This event is graded on three categories: Accuracy (graded on how close you land to your target), Rings, and Speed (graded on how fast you complete the event.)

Introduced in the second lesson, the Rocketbelt is the second easiest event. It is also my favorite. In this event, you use a jetpack to touch or go through various objects, then land on a predetermined platform. You can use two types of jets, fast or slow, and you can also change the camera angle to an overhead view. Controlling the Rocketbelt takes some getting used to, because you will have to account

for its momentum. Many times I've overshot a turn. The Rocketbelt is by far the easiest craft to land, especially when you switch to the overhead view. This event is graded on three categories: Accuracy, Time, and Speed. If you land before touching all the objects, points will be lost.

The most difficult craft is first introduced in the third lesson. It is my least favorite, and can be very frustrating. The object of the Hang Glider event is to use a thermal to rise up the a predetermined height, or sometimes a ring and then land on a platform. It is difficult pick out exactly where the thermal is, although there is some wind billowing up, its not quite there. It is very near, but is easy to miss. This thing is even more difficult to land accurately than the skydiving event. You can flare to make a quick turn, but if you flare too long, you'll drop like a rock. If you don't flare immediately before landing, you'll crash. Hang-gliding is graded on three categories: Accuracy, Speed, and Time.

There are some hidden bonus games that can be played to help boost your score. These are triggered by landing on the moving platforms in Rocketbelt and Skydiving, and landing on the Rocketbelt/Skydiving platform while hang-gliding. Each of the three crafts has its own bonus game. In one of them, you are a penguin that must dive into a pool. In the other two, you are a birdman. In one, you hop from platform to platform, and you fly in the other. Triggering a bonus stage garners an immediate 100 point score for the event (no matter what you did), plus any points attained in the bonus stage.

After the fourth lesson, the next stage is a Secret Command level. There is also one after the eighth lesson. The Secret Command level features a helicopter, with which you must make your way through enemy forces. The object is to reach and land on a helipad without getting shot down. This is the only level in which you can shoot. There are enemy Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM) firing at you, and you can use your missiles to get rid of them. The copter will crash if hit. You can ascend and descend vertically, and lean forward and backward to move in those directions. Once you land on the helipad, the stage is over. There are no points to worry about.

Overall, the game is easy to pick up and play, but gets challenging in a hurry. The game is fun, but the hang-gliding can get annoying. The graphics look great for the time, especially the last two lessons, which take place at sunset and at night. The music is hit and miss, with great music for the Secret Command levels. However, the music for the Rocketbelt stage sounds like a guy saying "blah" over and over.

Although the idea of of a flight-simulator with almost no shooting doesn't seem too interesting, chances are you'll get sucked right in. Pilotwings is definitely worth a play.

F-Zero

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:51:21 +0000

The Super Nintendo came out in 1991, boasting superior technology than that of its rival, the Sega Genesis. One of Nintendo's main boasts was the fact that background tiles could be rotated and scaled, this technology is known as Mode 7. Nintendo created F-Zero to show off the effects of Mode 7. F-Zero is a futuristic racing game that blew people away with the sense of speed it evoked. Because of this, it became very popular and spawned sequels.

Grand Prix mode is the heart of the game. You can choose one of three leagues, consisting of five tracks apiece. You then choose one of the four cars, and choose from four different difficulty levels (one of which is unlockable). There are 20 cars competing in a Grand Prix race. Each course has five laps.

On the first lap, for example, you must finish in at least fifteenth place, but on the last lap you must place at least third. If you ever slip to twentieth place you lose a car also. There is no penalty for not winning a race, as long as you finish at least third. After each lap, you are given a speed boost to use at any time. Also, after the first lap, "traffic" cars show up. These serve no purpose except to get in your way and deal damage. Each car can only take damage for so long before losing power and eventually blowing up. You take damage by running into other cars, hitting the outside boundary of the track, or by hitting various pitfalls. You automatically blow up if you land outside the track. If you blow up, obviously you lose your car. There is also a pseudo-point system, as it is only a way to get extra cars. You get points based on what place you finish a lap in and a race in. The point system can be maxed out by finishing every lap in all five races first. By getting 10,000 points, you get another car.

These are used to continue the game if you lose. The track order in the Grand Prix often feels wrong as there are some easy courses in the Queen and King leagues, especially the second to last course, Red Canyon II.

The other mode is Practice. Essentially, this is a time trial mode. You have the option of racing against one car of your choice or going solo. The biggest drawback to this mode is the fact that only seven out of fifteen tracks are available. These are all the tracks in the Knight League, and one each from the Queen and King Leagues. It is easier to race because there are less cars, no traffic, and no placing requirements.

Each track is flat, bounded on each side by barriers made of connecting circles. Hit one, and the car bounces away, using physics to do so. There are other pitfalls such as magnetic bars that can deal a lot of damage, road mines, or just rough patches that will slow you down. Jumps are also prevalent, and they can be beneficial or dangerous, depending on how they're handled. A jump can speed you up, but if you're not careful, you could fly off the track. There are arrows on the Death Wind and Fire Field tracks, these provide huge speed boosts. There is a pit road you can use to recharge your energy, but it does slow you down a bit. The Death Wind courses have an additional twist; there is an invisible wind pushing you to one side. This highly affects turning ability. Some courses reuse parts of prior courses, and the two Red Canyon courses are remarkably similar.

There are four cars usable in F-Zero. Each car has its own stats and abilities. The Blue Falcon is mostly average, with slightly bad turning, but good acceleration. The Golden Fox is the worst of the bunch.

While it does have the best acceleration in the game, the turning is awful, the top speed is very slow, and the body is terrible. The Wild Goose has good handling, top speed, and the best body, but it doesn't accelerate particularly well. Still a good car, but the best one is the Fire Stingray. The Fire Stingray has incredible handling, the highest top speed, and the second-best body, but has weak acceleration. This car isn't very well-suited for beginners, but once you get the hang of the game, there is no turning back.

The graphics are somewhat lacking, especially in the backgrounds. The background is usually a sea of waves, while this works for Big Blue, it doesn't for Silence (Purple waves?). There are couple things in the distance, but they are small and usually ignored. Not all tracks use the wave background, but none of the backgrounds look any good.

The cars look decent enough, but detail is sacrificed in order to make the cars look like they are going really fast. The speed makes the graphics passable, as you're not paying much attention to them. The music and sound are decent, but sound muffled, which is slightly annoying.

Overall, despite its shortcomings and lack of options, this is a really fun game to play. The omission of multiplayer hurts this title, but otherwise it is very solid. The replayability is somewhat low, although I tend to play this game a lot, others forget about it. It can get very difficult on the Expert and Master difficulty levels. I'd recommend this to anyone who has a SNES or a Wii.

Town & Country Surf Designs

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:47:05 +0000

Back in the late 80's, a company called Town & Country Surf Designs was among the most popular surfing and skateboarding companies around. To help capitalize on that success, they allowed their logo and mascots to appear on the NES game T&C Surf Designs, which was released in February 1988, which was coincidentally the month of my birth. T&C Surf Designs was a game that had three versions of play, the Street Skate Session (skateboarding), the Big Wave Encounter (surfing), and Wood and Water Rage (which alternated between Street Skate stages and Wave Encounter stages). There are four useable characters, two each for skating and surfing. The surfing characters are Thrilla Gorilla (who was the hero of the superior T&C 2), and Kool Kat (which was a cat in a tuxedo). The skaters are Tiki Man (a dude with a giant tiki mask, also my favorite character), and Joe Cool (a guy in over-sized pink shades). There is no difference in the abilities of these characters, however in the skating portion, the player's choice of character will determine the color scheme of the course, and in the surfing portion, the enemies are different looking, so it is a purely aesthetic choice. In both modes of the game, health is measured in blocks. Usually, when a player starts a stage, there are four blocks, however, in later levels, that number will diminish. The number of blocks may be increased to a maximum of eight. Both modes use the same music. It is repetitive and annoying, as the same five second tune is repeated endlessly.

The surfing portion of T&C Surf Designs was very poorly made. The gist of that mode is to surf from one end of the wave to the other. The controls are atrocious and its difficult to survive for long without wiping out. In fact, a fat guy in an inner tube can work that wave better than I can. It's hard to believe how many times that inner tube guy took me out because I couldn't control the surfer well enough to get out of the way. Even when I make to the end of the wave, I have no idea how I did it. Sometimes I do the exactly same thing twice in a row and end up getting vastly different results, which adds to the confusion factor. A player can increase their amount of blocks and score points by performing very difficult tricks and staying on the wave. The best strategy I can make is to hold Right and hope it gets me to the end of the wave, which works for a few levels. The graphics on this portion are okay, but it doesn't really look much like a wave. There isn't much of a reward for finishing a level, only a small congratulatory screen with a bunch of sailors watching the character surf to the shore.

Despite the name T&C Surf Designs, this game should have just been a skateboarding game because that mode is actually fun for a while. The player rides a skateboard thorough an urban course littered with coins and obstacles. The first couple of stages are pretty good, but because every stage just adds a small section to the beginning of each stage, it gets repetitive quickly. By the twelfth stage, the course is at full length and you only start with one block, and every stage after repeats this. The player may increase the amount of blocks by passing checkpoints in the level. More often than not, the player winds up seeing the game over in this mode because of the time limit, which is one minute. The time is sufficient for the first few levels, but soon there just isn't enough time to make through the entire course. However, if you have eight blocks of health, the timer will freeze, allowing players to take their time, but if a block is lost, the timer restarts. Points can be scored by collecting coins or jumping on certain obstacles, as well as grinding on the higher guardrails (remember to hold Back when jumping to keep a hold of the board). The graphics of this portion are better, but not particularly great.

T&C Surf Designs is best played multiplayer with the skateboarding section and aiming for besting each others point scores. The game isn't bad, but it has some serious flaws. This game is a decent blast to the past overall. I can't stress this enough, if you ever play this game, remember to play the skateboarding section, because the surfing can just be infuriating.

Super Mario Bros. 3

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:39:04 +0000

Back in 1985, Nintendo released a game called Super Mario Bros. for its fledgling console, the NES. It completely changed the world of gaming, and the sequel was highly anticipated. Unfortunately, Super Mario Bros. 2 deviated from the formula of the first game. While SMB 2 wasn't a bad game, it was a disappointment to many gamers. Nintendo then decided to bring back the formula of the first game, which resulted in what many call the greatest game ever for the NES, Super Mario Bros. 3.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is far deeper than the first two installments, boasting almost 100 distinct levels spread over eight worlds. Each world has its own theme, and most of the levels within reflect that. The Worlds are called; World 1: Grass Land; World 2: Desert Land; World 3: Water Land; World 4: Giant Land; World 5: Sky Land; World 6: Ice Land; World 7: Pipe Land; and World 8: Dark Land.

Each world has a map screen, a first for the Mario series, that allows one to choose a path to progress through the world. Many levels can be skipped entirely, but they often block off mushroom houses or mini-games. Most worlds have mini-games that can be completed for lives or items. These can range from duels with Hammer Bros. to a game of Memory that awards a life, coins, or a item for each match. There are also Mushroom Houses that gives one a free item. Not everything on the map screen is there to help you. There are fortresses, which vary in style, but are basically an area with dark themes with enemies that usually don't appear anywhere else. At the end of each fortress is a fight with a fairly easy mini-boss called Boom-Boom. At the end of the first seven worlds, there is a castle that will lead you to the airship level. The airship level is a side scrolling level where an obscene amount of cannonballs, Bullet Bills, flamethrowers, and Bob-Ombs are thrown at you.

Once you complete the side scrolling portion, there is a duel with one of Bowser's children, which usually fight much the same way, although the two with projectiles bouncing around are the hardest to defeat.

The controls are superb, and the levels are designed well to take advantage of that. Many of the early levels are quite easy to beat, but the last two worlds pose a stiff challenge to even the most grizzled platforming vets. Early in the game, however, some newbies might despair when faced with the prospect that even the sun has turned against you, or slightly later when they must avoid a man eating fish, or even the end of the Third World and the showdown with Wendy O' Koopa. The difficulty is paced well throughout the game, however, I think the 3rd and 4th Worlds should have been switched in the order.

SMB 3 expands on the original in many ways, but perhaps the most important addition was the immense number of items and power-ups. All of the items can be used on the map screen, and one can hold up to 28 at one time. The items range from the classic mushroom and fire flower, to a hammer to break rocks on the map screen, and a special whistle that takes Mario to the Warp Zone. There are many new power-ups in SMB 3. The first is the leaf, which gives Mario raccoon ears and a tail, and allows him to fly by building up the meter and repeatedly pressing A. The frog suit makes Mario look like a frog, with only his face sticking out. It is near worthless on land, but it greatly increases his mobility in the water. The Tanooki suit is essentially the same as the leaf, but with two differences. First, in addition to the ears and tail, Mario is almost completely covered in fur. Secondly, and more important, Mario can turn into a statue by pressing down + B, crushing anything under him. The last suit is the rarest and best of the suits.

The Hammer Bros. suit turns Mario into a Hammer Bro, with the ability to throw hammers and retreat into his shell to block projectiles. There is also a power-up of the leaf called the P-Wing, which allows Mario to fly over a level without needing to power up the meter. After completing one level, Mario reverts to Raccoon Mario. One special item appears in level 5-3, the Kuribo's shoe. To obtain it, Mario must attack one of the Goombas wearing one from below. The Kuribo's shoe protects Mario from anything below him except pits, so Mario can stomp on anything, including Spinies. It disappears at the end of the level.

SMB 3 looks far better than most NES games. The backgrounds are colorful, and thanks to the cartoon-ish look of the game, everything looks like it should. Mario and Luigi look almost as good as they do in Super Mario World. All the Koopalings look distinctive, which is a huge plus.

Overall, the game looks good, with the exception on the levels within Giant World, which look pixilated and ugly.

Overall, this game is almost perfect, and deserves a spot among the greatest games of all time. The re-playability is through the roof because of the nonlinear paths and the large amounts of secrets just waiting to be uncovered. The games even sports a Mario Bros. mini-game in two player mode. This is a must-play for any gamer.

Punch-Out!!

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:31:38 +0000

Punch-Out!! for the NES is a re-release of the classic Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!. After Tyson lost his heavyweight championship to Buster Douglas, Nintendo chose not to renew his contract. It is virtually identical to the prior release, with the exception that Tyson was replaced by a guy named Mr. Dream. In Punch-Out!!, the player uses the appropriately named character Little Mac. Nintendo was forced to make him short so that you could see the other boxers. This makes Mac the ultimate underdog. As his physical prowess is dwarfed by the other boxers, Mac must rely on his guile, grit, and determination to win.

The object of the game is to rise to the top of the three W.V.B.A. circuits, then to win the dream fight against Mr. Dream. Along the way, you will encounter a number of wacky boxers, such as the over-the-hill Glass Joe, the incredibly fat King Hippo, the drunkard Soda Popinski, and the ever flexing (and disturbingly jiggly) Super Macho

Man. You begin at the bottom of the standings. By defeating each boxer you take their spot in the rankings. You progress through the Minor, Major, and World Circuits in order to get to the Dream Fight.

Each boxer fights in a given pattern. You will see the normal jabs and hooks, but most of the boxers have a special attack that is devastating to Mac if he can't avoid it. Most of the boxers also have moments when they are vulnerable. They also tip off what attack they are going to use. Learning to exploit each opponent's weaknesses is key to beating the game. The challenge is learning how to defeat each boxer. Doc Louis, your trainer, may give you clues between rounds, or he will give you basic boxing advice like "Keep your guard up!" or "Join the Nintendo Fun Club today, Mac!!" The boxer might also inadvertently spill the beans. However, once you know how to defeat each boxer, the game gets pretty easy.

Mac can throw punches with both hands, either to the body or the head. If you can catch your opponent unaware, you can earn a star. You can collect up to three at a time. When Mac has at least one star, he can use a powerful uppercut. He can dodge to each side, and block as well. However, blocking has a downside. It uses up a heart. But its better than getting hit, in which you lose three. If the opponent blocks or dodges your attack, you lose a heart. Hearts are important, for without them, Mac cannot attack. Mac is forced to dodge until he gets them back. The controls work flawlessly, as is necessary because timing is very important. You start with a different amount of hearts in each battle. There are three ways to win a fight: KO, TKO, and decision. KOs and TKOs both require knockdowns, which are achieved by depleting the opponent health bar to empty. If the boxer stays down for 10 seconds, it is a KO. A TKO requires the player to knock down the opponent three times in a single round.

It is the most common way to win. To win by decision, you must meet a predetermined point total and both boxers must be standing at the end of three rounds. Sometimes, it is impossible to KO and/or win by decision.

The game features huge sprites with great detail. However, the ring looks drab and boring. And, apparently, everything requires two exclamation points. The sound as a whole is pretty good, although the sound effects leave something to be desired. Simply put, the game is fun. I still enjoy pummeling Don Flamenco into submission even when it has become ridiculously easy. The characters are all pretty funny stereotypes. They all seem to have personality, except Mr. Dream, who is generic. The Mike Tyson version is slightly better because beating up Tyson is cooler than fighting some cheesy Tyson-wannabe. Still, Punch-Out!! is worth playing, unless you can play the Tyson version.

Kirby's Adventure

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:05:32 +0000

In 1993, the NES era was finally ending. The Genesis and Super Nintendo were fully established, and the Nintendo juggernaut of the 80's was disappearing. Kirby's Adventure was one of the last titles to be released for the NES, and it was an outstanding swan song.

In Kirby's Adventure, you play as a pink puffball/balloon thing. Kirby's main attack is to use his amazing suction power to suck up the enemy and spit it out. However, he can gain a special ability from many enemies by swallowing them. These abilities include things such as a beam attack, a sword, a laser, and even a UFO. His other main abilities are a slide kick and the ability to puff himself up and fly indefinitely. Kirby has six health blocks. He loses one every time he is hit by an enemy attack. If he is hit, he also gets his power knocked out of him. You must suck it back in or you lose it. The gameplay mechanics make this game starkly different from its platforming counterparts.

The game is fairly easy to play through. The game consists of eight worlds (although world 8 isn't really a world). There are approximately six stages in each world, plus various mini-games and a boss. The mini-games range from a crane game for extra lives to an arena battle against a mini-boss for its power and full healing. The game auto-saves after every stage completed. There are multiple secrets inside levels that can open up parts of the overworld that were previously closed off.

The stages themselves are very well-made. Often, the game will have the best power for any particular spot available to you. The stages are generally pretty straightforward, although there's some swimming stages thrown in. The stages are designed to prevent people from flying completely over them, which could be tempting for some. At the end of every stage, there is a mini-game in which Kirby is launched up in the air. Depending on your performance, you could receive points or even an extra life.

Overall the game is one of the best for the NES. The graphics are stellar, probably because the developers have figured out all the tricks for the NES. The rotating Butter Building is especially cool. The music is decent and it fits the game. The story is sort of ho-hum. Kirby must defeat King Dedede to regain the dreams of Dream Land. There is a twist, however. There is a lot of replay value in Kirby's Adventure, whether it's attempting to get 100% completion by finding all the secrets or playing through the Extra mode, which features half-health and no saving. This is a must play for any classic gaming enthusiast or Kirby fan.

Excitebike

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:06:51 +0000

Excitebike was released as a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is notable for its design-a-track mode, which was groundbreaking at the time. In this game, you control a bike that races through tracks laden with hills and obstacles. Your goal is to get the fastest time possible. You can choose to race alone or with other bikes. The other bikes merely serve as obstacles.

There are five tracks in Excitebike, consisting of two laps apiece. Every track sports a different color. There are various pitfalls in each one, ranging from mud to speed bumps. There are also spots where you can instantly cool down your bike. If you manage to beat the third place time, you can move on to the next track.

The bike can be controlled in a number of ways. There are two gears; one fast, one slow. The downside of the fast gear is that you run the danger of overheating. Overheating will force your bike off the track for a second before you can continue. The slow gear is not as fast, but won't make the bike overheat. The bike can be moved up and down the track. When it is airborne, the bike can be tilted back and forth. This is essential to landing jumps. If your tilt is off, you'll crash. You can also hold back to execute a wheelie, which will allow you to pass speed bumps with ease.

The design-a-track mode is a great addition to the game. However, it is not very intuitive. There is a list of letters ranging from A to S, these represent all the parts in the game. It is a hard to remember which is which. Once a track is completed, it is fun to run through it a few times. Unfortunately, the lack of a save option does not allow the tracks to be saved.

The track editor adds some replay value to the game.

The game is very challenging. While the first track is a breeze, the last four can be very difficult. There is almost no music to speak of in this game. There's a little intro theme and that's it. The sounds consists of various whirring sounds. The game looks fine for its age, although it looks very bland. Excitebike is good for a little diversion once in a while, but it isn't something I'd play for long periods of time. Overall, this is a fun game, but not a great game.

Doom

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:29:18 +0000

A Classic FPS, ported to so many consoles. I am going to take a look at most of the versions.

I’m sure by now we all know what Doom is; it’s a classic game that inspired what we know today and by that I mean all of the FPS games that are released today. There is just so many FPS games today that you don’t know which one to pick.

Well, imagine the 90’s: Most games are side-scrollers and the only ‘Shooter’ Games that we would get would be a game like contra; running sideways across the screen and shooting the crap out of all the 2d figures.

Now, in 1992 a company called “id” arrives to change the gaming industry forever, changing your 2d shooters to this:

Back then as well as today graphics were everything and I don’t know why but it especially was back then. I mean gamers enjoyed their side-scrollers and the gaming technology was relatively new still but throw in something 3d and people start going wild to try and get their greedy hands on it. This changed however as most of those kids back then chose to stick with the 2D classics they grew up with in the odd person from that age.

Now the image above is not the game in question. In case you don’t realize that is Wolfenstein 3d. id’s original FPS that is considered the grand-daddy of all FPS games. The problem with Wolfenstein 3d (and this is just speculation), is that id was a new company and didn’t have relatively good marketing ploys. So a few people bought Wolfenstein 3d but when 1993 arrived. id used a tactical marketing ploy to really get Doom on the charts. They sent out Shareware versions of Doom featuring the first of the three episodes of the game “Doom”. This is where id got cooking. People played the game to find out that yeah, it was crazily innovative but the part that got most gamers was the fact that the ending of the first episode enticed you to buy the rest of the game…

So enough of the story, I’m going to review the original Doom:
Doom, what words can describe this monstrosity of awesome? I’d say simply epic and revolutionary. Why? Well, playing through this game for the first time is just amazing. You start out as some random army marine trapped on the mars moon ‘Phobos’ and that was really it. The story was as simple as escaping a moon in the future, or so you thought. First comment when you start the game is; “Holy crap, the music is brilliant”. Now, you’re running around with a pistol when you see a zombie walking around shooting you with a shotgun and it gets crazier from this too. You come across crazy imps that spit fireballs and have spikes all over them but the part that got me as a kid was the pinky: A giant pink beast with a gigantic mouth and… Holy crap, it scared me, I mean even the imps looked somewhat human but these… Just wow! Words cannot describe the pixilated beast. Did I say pixilated? Maybe by today’s standards but no, I’m getting confused with the ports; the millions of ports that were made.

Things to note about Doom is just the simplicity of it, who knew that running around blasting random beasts without much of an apparent story could be so much fun? There is nothing more satisfying than blasting the ever-living crap out of random beasts that terrify you. That is the instinct in this game, your mind freaks at the horrifying sight on your Computer screen; basic instinct is to put a bullet in its head. Oh wait. There’s more and by that I mean more beasts… Lots of them, holy hell there is tons of them and a hell of a lot of different types too (pun intended). Open a door; oh, monsters, shoot-em! Step on a switch; oh, monsters, shoot-em! Turn around; oh, monsters, shoot-em! There is not a thing you can do in this game that doesn’t result in monsters and beasts appearing all over the place. Trap Doors are a big thing with id it seems further on. All you see is holes in the walls everywhere because id decided to stuff trap doors everywhere and not really for short cuts either. Most of these are for holding more monsters believe it or not. Monsters, beasts, demons, whatever you want to call them, they’re everywhere! It’s a little secret they use to keep the game fresh, and it works. These trap doors are placed in rooms you’ve already passed, so when you get a key or pass a certain area. Trap doors open and more beasts are roaming rooms you’ve been in. Most of the time you have to backtrack and explore the mazes of levels that are bestowed upon you later on in the game; so you want something to do rather than running around like a clueless moron. Thank you id, you’re a complete jerk for loading this game with monsters to slaughter us but we love you!

You may be thinking it’s as simple as running through an assortment of levels through out the game from how I worded my writing but did you notice the ‘Key words’ being “Key” & “Backtracking”. So while this was an action game the levels consisted more and more of scavenger hunts. No clues I’m afraid but if you go into a room full of demons then you’d better hope that that’s your clue to seek and destroy. Just don’t destroy the key, not that you can thankfully. Finding these keys though can be a real jerk. It can and will become a big search which is sort of a letdown and killer to the mood. But it gives you something to do at least. Other than shooting stuff of course but as you may have guessed already the keys are for opening doors (Key-cards to be completely accurate). To be honest though I could have done without the keys because they are not really fun to get, but that is just me.

To sum it up Doom is an absolute classic, and while Wolfenstein 3D was first it just can’t beat Doom. To my knowledge Doom is still way better than any FPS today simply because it is quite long for its time with three episodes of absolute legacy. This is not a game that intends to be forgotten. Even a fourth episode was added later on to the game and it was renamed “The Ultimate Doom”, ultimate? It most certainly is. Doom is the ultimate FPS experience. It’s scary and it makes you sit on the edge of your seat and fear for your character’s life plus it has an unparalleled soundtrack that perfectly blends into the game and immerses you into the experience all while still remaining an interesting experience that you won’t soon forget.

A few problems to find with it though is that while Doom is great in the entertainment factor, dying a lot just happens on certain levels and I often just felt out of place on some levels: Let’s just say that some earlier levels seem More difficult than some of the later levels and leave it at that.

I always felt somewhat mocked by the ending of doom and I mean yeah; you escape so onto living life right? Guess again, Earth has been over-run. Can you say sequel? Oh boy. Back to action, that’s right; Doom 2. Now don’t get me wrong this was not by any means a disappointment. Everyone wanted a sequel and you can’t go wrong since the original never got old. So here you have it now, yet another doom game and I repeat: “id, we love you”. This time you’d think it would be different but no. It’s the same game pretty much with many more levels and some new AI brought into it. This game is a little less popular, taking into account that it was the same game with different levels. One thing that I do find annoying about this one is that the levels are constructed in a manner that is more tedious; they made it more of a maze. Some of the later levels took me up to an hour to fight my way through and there is a lack of enemies at that long point of duration. The trap doors are there, but it was literally back and forth through the whole level over and over again. The enemies ran out because they just eventually all got killed by you unless you weren’t killed already of course.

This is something that got to me and to make matters worse you’ll notice that the music is a huge down step. In the original doom, the tunes were so awesome that it just immersed you into the game. If you recall my Day of Reckoning Review I noted the music since it was one of the most redeeming factors of the game, this may just be a personal issue but in doom 2 there is this chill music that’s nice and calm for most of the game. Chill? Is Doom about “chilling”? No, doom is about fighting for your life and putting bullets in the heads of scary frigging beasts. I was stunned to hear this music when I first played Doom 2. That’s not to say that there wasn’t some semi-suitable music for the game, just generally. It was not very enticing to the mood of the game, and that’s a problem for me personally. That is just me though.

Other than a few minor drawbacks Doom 2 was also excellent, it’s Doom people and Doom rules so there is not much good to say about it that I haven’t said already in the Doom review above. All of the features that you love from the original doom are present in Doom 2, and some! One thing people most often note is the boss of Doom 2. It’s just an evil face on the wall but you can’t even concentrate on it. Too many other enemies are emerging from well, everywhere. On the occasion a platform is lowered that you can jump on and it will raise you high enough to get a few shots off on the face. It doesn’t really attack you, stuff flies out of its head but to be frankly honest I don’t know what comes out of its head. I believe it’s the flaming skull enemies.

The reason why I can’t concentrate on it is because I’m getting murdered by millions of other monsters in the room. Supposedly, it has been noted over the internet that this is not the real boss because there is some weird noises at the start of the boss. If you play that message backwards it says: “To win the game you must kill me. John Romero” and then if you run into the wall below the face you see John Romero’s head on a stick. I am not going to say if this is real or not since I’ve never tried it personally, I deleted my Doom 2 file on my dream cast after I beat it. I only have room for one doom file at a time. I’m trying to find out though… Sort of, but sorry, I cannot clarify if that is real or not. I remember hearing that message though but since it’s in reverse it just sounds like gurgled noises.

Overall, Doom 2 is a worthy sequel to Doom. It was not as popular as the original for the reasons I have stated, but it is definitely a good game.

What’s next? Doom 3? Well, sort of, this is the “controversial” sequel that I am going to talk about now and no I’m not talking about that newer Doom 3 that was released recently, I am talking about the true third game in the series: Final Doom.

Now when I heard of this game I thought it was just another expansion to Doom, like the Ultimate Doom was. So why was this so disliked? At least that’s my take on it by reading reviews on game spot and other places like that, that it was disliked I mean. Most of the comments are things like “too old looking”, “Graphics are terrible compared to FPS’ today” and “Doom should hang up its hat for good”. All I honestly have to say is dang people! Get over it, Doom isn’t about graphics. Let’s take an honest look at what doom ended up being like in Doom 3. It wasn’t liked as much as your common FPS, it wasn’t honestly true to what Doom was. Doom was just a simplistic game that didn’t need to bear a storyline. It didn’t need a real purpose; it was just about blasting aliens. Honestly, the only faults I’m finding all over the place is about the graphics and how you can’t aim up and down and you can’t honestly tell me that’s a valid argument and it’s not like Final Doom was released recently since it was released around the same time as the other 2 Dooms on PC. There is no point in even stating what doom is about and why it’s good since I just stated that throughout this entire review.

Now is Final doom honestly that bad? No, I’ve been playing a bit of it. It is more of an extremist doom because it’s frigging hard. It comes with 2 different ‘missions’ I guess, I believe its two separate games in one, because I can’t tie them together, but who cares? Honestly, I don’t try and make sense of it; I just enjoy the games for what they are. If you want the story, read the books, there’s only like 4 of the books. Anyways, this one is on my dream cast as well and there was no label for final doom. I had noticed these other two games called “TNT Evilution” & “Plutonia experiment”. Turns out that those were the two games or possible ‘episodes’ of Final Doom, so how are they? Well, I cannot honestly say that I’ve played through the entire game successfully. I’ve needed pass codes eventually just to view the levels. TNT Evilution is your average difficulty, I could make it through most of it on the first two difficulties but it’s still a hard game.

Plutonia experiment is insane though! If anything this is the second episode but I still think they’re both two separate games altogether. I am honestly going to say that I could not make it through the first level on easy without a few attempts. You may be thinking this is why people disliked it, but no. It just requires more problem solving and strategy. This is unlike doom since it’s more like the stealthy type of games you see today, sort of. You need to hide a lot if you can guess that but to the avail of the players though it really keeps you on the edge. Health is everywhere and I mean ‘everywhere’. There are so many freaking enemies that it’s just jaw-dropping. If you view one of these levels you’ll probably be swearing at how tremendously hard it looks. Now that I’ve looked into it, it appears that Plutonia was meant to be a sequel to doom 2 that was meant for extremely skilled players of Doom 2 only. The levels are insane, I honestly can’t beat it, but I have played every level as well as watched them on you tube. So I guess that is where some of the hate comes from, is in the difficulty but I’ve made it to level 24 without using a pass code and that’s fine. That’s about 75% of the game there. There is normally enough health to keep you alive. So I’ll let it slide. Plutonia is really difficult but it’s still incredibly fun despite that. How is TNT Evilution?

As I have stated it’s a bit harder but I would not say any harder than the originals, it’s really still worth it and it does bring variety to the series. So it seems that TNT was thrown in there as a classic and easier-going game. Then you have Plutonia on top of that totaling in about 60+ levels. 60? Holy-frogs-of-hell man! That is a lot of levels. Doom and doom 2 only had like half of that unless you count the ultimate doom which was just doom with an extra 10 levels or so, an extra episode anyways, so in the long run Final doom is definitely worth it. I love it; I may even go as far to say it beats its predecessors. Maybe not though and the reason I say ‘Long run’ is for Plutonia you’ll need some serious training to beat the game so they should have called it “Difficult Doom” or “Get ready to die Doom” or how about “Find the health packs ASAP Doom”! Final doom is excellent otherwise especially in the music department, even though Plutonia used recycled music from the original Doom.

Before we get to console ports of these original dooms I have one more to comment on. Another “infamous” Doom game and you probably know which one I mean, visiting our old 1996 cartridge based friend the N64. That’s right, Doom 64 (Dang, how many dooms are there?). This one there’s not much to say and I’m really running out of a variety of comments. I enjoyed Doom 64 but again with the reviews. “Graphics outdated”, “seems too old”, etc. Doom 64 deserves its credit; it is doom for the N64. No, not a port it is its own version. Again some new levels and some new weapons and well, unfortunately I can’t say new enemies since it has very little variety compared to Doom 2 and final doom which came out before it and while I’m on the ‘enemies department’, the imps look nothing like they have before, no angry face and no spikes on them. Other than that it seems to be following the original doom since it seemed to disregard all of the new enemies that existed in Doom 2 and Final doom, that being a minor drawback though I won’t complain much. Some of the new enemies were just bizarre and difficult anyways. Only new things are really in what your character can do since he can now jump and there really isn’t much point to that anyways other than the final boss. You can choose to play like a real fps now where you can look up and down, or you can choose the classic style of control (something the Wii should learn to allow in every game; classic control and same goes for the DS). I choose the classic style since it makes the game easier and it is like the originals. It remains true to what doom is and that is what I like. That’s all that there is to really say about that. It’s an excellent nostalgic game.

Complaints that I have about it is that it’s such a dark game so it’s often hard to see and I don’t always know where enemies are until I’m already losing health. It’s not like this in the whole game however. Later on you’re in out door levels but it seems that they always felt the need to add all these dark rooms in random areas and I’m not talking about rooms where photographs are made, I mean dark black rooms that sometimes flicker on and off. They did this on occasion with the originals and I always hated it since I couldn’t see and I’d get killed. They didn’t do this too often with the originals but now they have to overplay it so much in Doom 64 that it’s just ridiculous. Thankfully it doesn’t take too much of a toll on you with enemies in these rooms like the originals but it’s disorienting trying to venture your way through these rooms and it’s tedious as hell (yes, pun intended).

The only other complaint that I have with this game is the lack of music, may I ask why they felt the need to plaster this dark and Gothic music in the game that’s barely heard? Often times all the music is this cackling laugh from the she-boss of the game. It really doesn’t make me too enthusiastic to play it. I want rocking beats when I play a game like this, what ever happened to that? I saw no fault in the music before.

Overall, Doom 64 gets repetitive without the music and it seems like there isn’t much variety in the levels. It is still an enjoyable game but it doesn’t hold your attention for too long and that means you have to come back to it every once in a while. Still though, while it is repetitive it is still interesting to play it and its still Doom.

*Sighs* saving my pet peeves for the end. Let’s get to it, Doom ports! I’m not going in-depth to each port as the other dooms’ I just have to say what’s good and what’s bad.
Familiarity first with Super Nintendo; what a glorious console I mean everyone loved it, but with a crummy Wolfenstein 3D port it was a touchy subject. Anyways it is released and it was alright. My only complaints are just draw distance and stiff controls. You can’t see enemies in the distance which is a problem and the controls are so stiff and unresponsive that it just makes for a mediocre port. With all the other ports out there especially the excellent Xbox live port but that segment will come soon. So all I really have to complain about with the Super Nintendo version is those two things and the graphics are better on every other port but that doesn’t matter too much. What’s good about it from the other versions is the music. It was enhanced with the SNES’ superior sound chip but for an odd reason I still prefer the PC music of “The Ultimate Doom”. Not bad but the only reason I play it is to make an interesting video.

Me commentating after I played SNES on nightmare.

Unfortunately the little amount I’ve played of the Jaguar and PS1 versions aren’t enough to review them but they seem alright other than no music on the jaguar. So it’s time to look at the best port before the dreaded version. Doom on Xbox live arcade! I love this game, I couldn’t resist buying another version of doom but this was only like 400 points and it features 4-player co-op online! That is my dream; I would have never imagined the sight of multiplayer doom. This port is also very well polished with better controls (mostly), better graphics and a perfect port of the PC version with all 4 episodes. My one complaint however is why in god’s name must you hold the ‘L’ button down to run at the proper speed and turn around fast? The controls are as stiff as the Super Nintendo version if you aren’t holding the ‘L’ button down. Why? It is so painful after a while and why even it even gives you the option is beyond me? Most of the other ports just automatically let you run fast and if anything the ‘L’ button should have been used to walk slowly, like the other way around? Sheesh, I’d rather tape the button down.

One and final decent port to look at, to quote Game spot again and other reviews they all say “Released to late, Terrible graphics, why isn’t this golden eye” and other crap like that. Its doom, you seriously think they’re going to favor the Saturn in a port? No one gave a crap about the Saturn except me and I like this port. Screw the people that say the frame-rate sucks and all that jazz it is good and it is one of my favourite ports since it is the only one I’ve played to include both Doom and Doom 2. I have no complaints about it but it does do the same thing as the Xbox version with the button holding. Only this time you actually run the right speed and if you want to go extra-fast you hold down “y” I believe so now that is what I’m talking about. Saturn version is one of my favourite ports.

32X port: Now when you look at the Game Boy advance version it is just humiliating. You wanted the 32X review? Patience since I have to say that for a 32-bit port of doom on GBA why is the graphics so bad? I’m not normally one to complain but give me a break; Super Nintendo was 16-bit and was less superior to the GBA graphics-wise so how did they manage to produce two GBA ports with terrible graphics? Other than that though the controls were okay but not the best, I can’t remember them entirely since it was years and years ago that I played the GBA version.

Now it is finally time for everyone to hear my opinion on the worst port created. Can you guess? Thirty-two-Ex time; Nothing but complaints on my part so I won’t praise this one much so with an honest look the first thing that gets you is the music. It is so bogged down to a ridiculous extent. What they couldn’t at least give the worthless 32X a better sound chip stupid Sega and their need to make a billion add-ons! While the music is a lot worse, at least there is music and some of it can still be catchy but it’s basically just noise made entirely of beeps and cricks. I started a silent LP on this to take a look for myself and it’s not terrible but it has the stupid button-holding mechanics again due to the genesis’ lack of buttons so you have to hold ‘C’ I think to strafe which is a problem for me. I need to strafe in doom and the same button was also shared with the door-opening button or the shooting button depending on what control scheme you picked. Here you’d also think they’d fix that for the 6-button controller so you had an alternative but no dice. They also managed to screw up the power-up colors which isn’t a big deal since it’s kind of better to not have that monochrome screen with invincibility but it sucks because it just barely tints the screen gold so you can’t even really tell the difference between invincible or not.

With all these ports I’d stick to the Xbox Live version. Make that the Xbox live version with a side of tape.

Hope you enjoyed this review sorry for the delay, only took me three months so I really hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading and a special thanks if you read the whole thing!

Mega Man 3

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:54:44 +0000

Dr. Wily has failed in his first two attempts at taking over the world. In this, his third attempt, he has built 8 new robots. These eight robots are; Spark Man, Snake Man, Needle Man, Hard Man, Top Man, Gemini Man, Magnet Man, and Shadow Man.'

Mega Man must traverse through each of these stages. Each stage has graphics and enemies that go with the boss robot master at the end of the stage. For example, Gemini Man, for example, takes place in a space-like atmosphere.

Mega Man may go through these eight stages in any order he pleases, but there are suggested orders to go through. Each expert has a different order that he or she likes to go through the stages in.

After these eight bosses, he must then go through a revisited portion. These four stages have two bosses from Mega Man 2. The four revisited stages are Spark Man, Neddle Man, Shadow Man, and Gemini Man. These stages are more difficult than the first eight stages. You do not receive these weapons though. Once you escape this, you fight Break Man. Then you go into Dr. Willy's Castle. Again, in one of the stages, you must fight the eight new bosses again.

You have a life bar with 28 units. Each enemy when you get hit takes off a different amount of health. When you reach zero units you die and go back to the beginning, the halfway point of the stage, or between the gates of the robot master. Falling into pits or touching spikes result in instant death

This is really a fun game and doesn't necessarily require a player to have played the first games to get the story. I enjoy this game. New to this game is a slide feature and a robot dog rush.. You slide by pressing down and A. Also this game has special secrets. You get different upgrades for Rush for defeating certain stages.

Again, you have great replay value in trying different orders to go through the first eight stages in before getting to the four revisited stages. The graphics are excellent for an eight bit game. The play control is great. Each stage has a different tune so you don't have the same background music throughout the whole game. You can continue with a password. Unlike the first game, this game doesn't require you to play straight through in one sitting. A turbo controller isn't necessary. If you haven't played this game, I highly recommend it.

Super Mario Bros. 2

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:52:21 +0000

In 1988, Nintendo made a sequel for the main character of the system. However, they chose not to go the route of having the Japan sequel, instead basing the sequel of a Japan game called Doki Doki Panic. The story of the game is that Mario was having a dream, he awoke to find exactly what he saw in the dream.

In this game there are seven worlds. The first six have three stages, and the seventh has two stages. You start being able to take two hits. Falling into a hole will kill you even if you are big.

This game uses four of the Mario characters. Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess. Each one has their own strength. Luigi can jump the highest. Princess can jump the longest, Toad can pick up veggies or the much needed coins fastest. Mario is just your average player. He is neither the best nor the worst at jumping or picking up objects. Stages may have a quirk that one of the characters can take advantage of. For example, if you use Princess in world 5-1, you can float over long pits easier than timing your jump just right.

You can pick up some enemies and veggies to throw against other enemies as your attack. You can also pick up a potion to enable you go into subspace. If you drop your potion in the right area you can get a mushroom which allows you to take an extra hit. Any grass you pull up will be changed to coins for the first two times you enter subspace in a stage. Coins are used at the end of the stage in a slot machine type bonus game for extra lives.

The guarding of almost every stage is Birdo. This enemy will spit out eggs or fire. If he spits out eggs, pick up an egg as he shoots it to you and throw it at him. Three hits and he's done for. In later levels, there will be blocks to hit him with as he shoots nothing but fire. The last stage in every world will have a boss. Each boss is defeated in a similar fashion. Some of these bosses take up to six hits. The final boss of the game is Wart. Wart is a frog-like enemy who attacks dreams.

Some of the public turn away from this game because of the differences between this game and other games in the series. This in my opinion is a mistake. This game is quite fun. The replay value is greater because you have twenty stages in all and four different characters to choose from. This makes the replay value better because you can mix and match. Once you beat the game, try a different character. There are 160,000 combinations one can use, and that's assuming you do not warp.

The graphics are good for an NES game. You have different types of stages. You have different music for being in a cave like area. You have special music when in a boss area. There is no time limit, so you can spend as much time as needed and not rush. The controls are excellent, some parts have tricky jumps though. The story is original, and even more true for a Mario game. The challenge in the game is pretty good because of the replay value. If you haven't played this game, I'd highly recommend it.