What's the deal with the Virtual Console catalog? Why is Nintendo releasing such obscure titles every Monday? The only gem they've released lately is Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. That's the one game I'd been waiting for since the launch of Virtual Console. Thanks to Nintendo for releasing it.
But where are the other classic games? Where is Earthbound? Where the hell is Goldeneye? Where is Illusion of Gaia? Where's the original Baseball Stars or Bad News Baseball? The list could go on and on.
Does anybody really want to play Milon's Secret Castle? That game sucked when I was a kid and it sucks even more now. I understand it must take some time and effort to put these games on Virtual Console, so make them worth your time. Don't deliver older games and expect people to lick their chops just because the games are retro. If you really enjoy wasting your time, and ours, with crap, release Friday the 13th! That game is so bad, it's great! I still remember the stupid score to that game and the noise it made when Jason streaked across the screen.
Come on Nintendo, you can do better.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
GTA IV: The Letdown
Grand Theft Auto IV was a letdown. I fully expected GTAIV to be amazing and I was seriously disappointed. San Andreas was a close to perfect game. I don't think there is a game out there that is as huge as San Andreas. You are playing a game that contains an entire [imaginary] state. There are three big cities separated by great distances and rural towns to fill those gaps. Rockstar pushed the genre beyond expectations.
Perhaps I neglected to read the proper previews of GTAIV, but it was tiny compared to San Andreas. Liberty City looked beautiful, but it lacked the variety of San Andreas. I started noticing familiar locations way too soon. And what happened to the RPG elements in San Andreas? It was a fun leveling up all of CJ's skills. It was also fun to gorge and make CJ fat and then work that fat off. That game's attention to detail was amazingly deep. It was the perfect blend of action and RPG. The only game that surpasses it in that aspect, is Fallout 3.
Look, I liked GTAIV, but I didn't love it. That's what I wanted out of GTAIV. I wanted so badly to love that game, but it just didn't have what I was looking for. It was supposed to be the biggest GTA yet. Clearly it had the biggest story yet, but the size of the city and its surrounding areas was tiny compared to San Andreas.
Sure the game got amazing reviews, but I think that was because of hype. People were so pumped for this game that it was going to amaze them no matter what. I think a lot of publications and websites probably felt pressured to give it great reviews because they wanted to sell mags or get more visitors. It was probably one of the most highly anticipated games of all time. Nobody was going to convince themselves that it wasn't up to par. It had to be awesome.
Well, it wasn't awesome. It was very good, but it wasn't new enough to rant and rave over. Fallout 3 was new and different. Little Big Planet was also new and different. But GTAIV felt like a retred of older iterations with much better graphics.
We've come to expect greatness from Rockstar with every GTA outing. Give us a game truly worthy of the GTA moniker. Give us a GTA game that is truly worth 50+ hours of our lives. We want to get lost in every nook and cranny of the GTA universe. Bring back the nooks and crannies.
Perhaps I neglected to read the proper previews of GTAIV, but it was tiny compared to San Andreas. Liberty City looked beautiful, but it lacked the variety of San Andreas. I started noticing familiar locations way too soon. And what happened to the RPG elements in San Andreas? It was a fun leveling up all of CJ's skills. It was also fun to gorge and make CJ fat and then work that fat off. That game's attention to detail was amazingly deep. It was the perfect blend of action and RPG. The only game that surpasses it in that aspect, is Fallout 3.
Look, I liked GTAIV, but I didn't love it. That's what I wanted out of GTAIV. I wanted so badly to love that game, but it just didn't have what I was looking for. It was supposed to be the biggest GTA yet. Clearly it had the biggest story yet, but the size of the city and its surrounding areas was tiny compared to San Andreas.
Sure the game got amazing reviews, but I think that was because of hype. People were so pumped for this game that it was going to amaze them no matter what. I think a lot of publications and websites probably felt pressured to give it great reviews because they wanted to sell mags or get more visitors. It was probably one of the most highly anticipated games of all time. Nobody was going to convince themselves that it wasn't up to par. It had to be awesome.
Well, it wasn't awesome. It was very good, but it wasn't new enough to rant and rave over. Fallout 3 was new and different. Little Big Planet was also new and different. But GTAIV felt like a retred of older iterations with much better graphics.
We've come to expect greatness from Rockstar with every GTA outing. Give us a game truly worthy of the GTA moniker. Give us a GTA game that is truly worth 50+ hours of our lives. We want to get lost in every nook and cranny of the GTA universe. Bring back the nooks and crannies.
Killzone 2 Answers My Prayers!
I just read the review for Killzone 2. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/949/949161p1.html
What was my last post about? Bots! What is Killzone 2 providing? Bots!! I'm so glad somebody finally got it right! Now I can play with my wife or friends offline. Guerilla, the developer, clearly have their finger on the pulse. There's absolutely nothing wrong with playing offline multiplayer to hone your skills for the real thing.
As for the rest of the game, IGN says it rocks. I'm extremely excited about playing this game. Too bad I have to wait until February 27th to play it. But that's certainly not too far off. Killzone 2 should hold me over for a couple of weeks until Resident Evil 5 releases. I'm kidding! I'll play Killzone 2 even after I get RE5, but I'll definitely take a break when I get that long awaited sequel.
Thank you Guerilla!
What was my last post about? Bots! What is Killzone 2 providing? Bots!! I'm so glad somebody finally got it right! Now I can play with my wife or friends offline. Guerilla, the developer, clearly have their finger on the pulse. There's absolutely nothing wrong with playing offline multiplayer to hone your skills for the real thing.
As for the rest of the game, IGN says it rocks. I'm extremely excited about playing this game. Too bad I have to wait until February 27th to play it. But that's certainly not too far off. Killzone 2 should hold me over for a couple of weeks until Resident Evil 5 releases. I'm kidding! I'll play Killzone 2 even after I get RE5, but I'll definitely take a break when I get that long awaited sequel.
Thank you Guerilla!
Bots
What the hell happened to bots in multiplayer games? Time Splitters and the original Unreal Tournament had the best bots of any multiplayer game. The bots in Time Splitters ranged from robots to an Elvis impersonator to a giant Hand. The bots in Unreal Tournament weren't as exotic as the bots in Time Splitters, but they could be just as tough. If you pushed the difficulty on these bots to the max, they could present a challenge. It was a great way to practice multiplayer without going online.
Online gaming is wonderful. I love playing Call of Duty: World at War online. But there are some people out there that don't want to play online. I think these people would be more apt to play online if games still featured bots. My wife likes playing certain games with me, but she won't touch first person shooters. She tried the other day, but the control scheme was a bit much for her. But I think she'd be able to enjoy them with the right amount of practice. That is why bots need to make a comeback.
I want to play FPSs with my wife. But there isn't a next gen Time Splitters game slated to be released any time soon. We could always throw in the original Time Splitters on PS2, but it looks like crap on our TV.
Can anybody tell me why there's a stigma against bots?
Online gaming is wonderful. I love playing Call of Duty: World at War online. But there are some people out there that don't want to play online. I think these people would be more apt to play online if games still featured bots. My wife likes playing certain games with me, but she won't touch first person shooters. She tried the other day, but the control scheme was a bit much for her. But I think she'd be able to enjoy them with the right amount of practice. That is why bots need to make a comeback.
I want to play FPSs with my wife. But there isn't a next gen Time Splitters game slated to be released any time soon. We could always throw in the original Time Splitters on PS2, but it looks like crap on our TV.
Can anybody tell me why there's a stigma against bots?
Red Faction
A new Red Faction is looming in the distance. What are we to expect from this game? The original Red Faction had great gameplay and the Geo-Mod was awesome. My friend's and I would screw around in multiplayer trying to make tunnels with impossible-to-climb steep grades. We also tried to create massive rooms in mountains with explosives. Unfortunately you could only do so much damage before the game cut you off.
Red Faction 2 featured improved gameplay with better weapons, but the Geo-Mod sucked! You could only blow up graham cracker shaped panels with foam mesh behind them. It completely ruined the appeal of the Geo-Mod. It was a step backwards and I hope THQ regrets that.
Both games had a great multiplayer element though. The use of bots is always a welcome feature. The weapons were fun and the amount of destruction was wonderful. The Fusion Rocket Launcher was quite memorables with its death dealing. The Rail Driver was another cool weapon in both games. It was the bane of our existence in Red Faction, but it was the key to success in Red Faction 2.
Hopefully Red Faction Guerilla will give us the freedom we had in the original Red Faction, as far as Geo-Modding goes. They need to keep the controls from Red Faction 2 because they were much tighter and more refined.
Red Faction Guerilla has the foundation to be an amazing game. Let's hope the developer chooses to build on the existing foundation. They would be remiss to scrap what worked in the first two games.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Boom Blox
Very rarely am I impressed by a puzzle game. Tetris is still the greatest puzzle game ever made. It's been a long time since that game came out and it has yet to be topped. It has extremely simplistic game play, but it's extremely addicting. Plus the score to that game is incredible. Obviously there are just three songs to choose from, but "Type A" is by far the best song in the game.
Boom Blox is not very similar to Tetris. The only similarity is that they're both puzzle games. Boom Blox has more in common with Jenga than any video game. My wife and I love to play it together. She's not a fan of first person shooters, so this is a great way to play games with her.
The game is extremely addicting. All you're doing is knocking blox off of platforms, but it requires a lot of thought. It's very rare that you actually have to do a lot of thinking in games nowadays. You have to consider the angle at which you're throwing baseballs, bowling balls, or whatever else there is to chuck. Then you have to factor in which way the block is going to fly after you hit it. You have to determine whether or not it will bump into a negative points block and send it flying as well, thus negating your score. You are alotted a certain number of throws to get a gold medal on some levels.
There's a game mode where you grab blox with a hand tool. Once you grasp a block you have to carefully maneuver it away from the other blox. Some of the platforms are set up in such a way that if you pull the wrong block, the weight of one side will tip the other. In some cases the platforms will cave in one themselves. It's not a bad thing for the platforms to fall, but you have to get a certain amount of points or remove a certain number of objects before that happens.
Once you have had your fun with the story and co-op, there's the level editor. You can design your own puzzles in whatever manner you choose. You can then play those levels together or share them with other Wii owners online.
Hopefully we can expect more creativity like this from EA and Steven Spielberg in the future. It seems like good things happen when EA and Spielberg collaborate. The first time they did it, Medal of Honor was born. I certainly hope they continue to push the perameters of puzzle gaming. That way I can have another game to play with my wife.
Boom Blox is not very similar to Tetris. The only similarity is that they're both puzzle games. Boom Blox has more in common with Jenga than any video game. My wife and I love to play it together. She's not a fan of first person shooters, so this is a great way to play games with her.
The game is extremely addicting. All you're doing is knocking blox off of platforms, but it requires a lot of thought. It's very rare that you actually have to do a lot of thinking in games nowadays. You have to consider the angle at which you're throwing baseballs, bowling balls, or whatever else there is to chuck. Then you have to factor in which way the block is going to fly after you hit it. You have to determine whether or not it will bump into a negative points block and send it flying as well, thus negating your score. You are alotted a certain number of throws to get a gold medal on some levels.
There's a game mode where you grab blox with a hand tool. Once you grasp a block you have to carefully maneuver it away from the other blox. Some of the platforms are set up in such a way that if you pull the wrong block, the weight of one side will tip the other. In some cases the platforms will cave in one themselves. It's not a bad thing for the platforms to fall, but you have to get a certain amount of points or remove a certain number of objects before that happens.
Once you have had your fun with the story and co-op, there's the level editor. You can design your own puzzles in whatever manner you choose. You can then play those levels together or share them with other Wii owners online.
Hopefully we can expect more creativity like this from EA and Steven Spielberg in the future. It seems like good things happen when EA and Spielberg collaborate. The first time they did it, Medal of Honor was born. I certainly hope they continue to push the perameters of puzzle gaming. That way I can have another game to play with my wife.
Classic Game Music vs. Current Game Music
Something occurred to me the other day while I was playing Castlevania III on my Wii. Classic gaming music is much more memorable than current game music. It seems kind of strange that in an era where the graphics are so amazing, the scores aren't that compelling. Scores range from heavily symphonic to hard rock nowadays. While the scores seem exciting while you're playing the games, you don't really remember them though.
Composers only had 3 notes to work with in the NES era. Yet those composers constructed the most memorable game scores of all time. From Mario to Zelda to Metroid to Mega Man; all of those franchises had amazing scores. I can recall most every score to every level in Mega Man 2 & 3. It's hard to forget the triumphant score from Zelda. I doubt there's a gamer alive that doesn't know the Mario theme. The music from World 1 in Super Mario Bros 3 is in the top 5 game scores ever.
Then there is Castlevania. I think that series produced the most memorable scores of any franchise in history. Every level in Castlevanias I-IV is mezmerizing. The triump of the series is level 9 in Castlevania IV. Granted the composer had more than 3 notes to work with since it was a 16-bit system, but it's impressive what he managed to do with that technology.
There is only one other game score that equals that level. That would be the "March of Norfair" from Super Metroid. As you descend into the depths of Norfair (Ridley's lair) you are greeted by a building cadence. That cadence then grows into a cacophony of chanting and horns. The lower depths of Norfair look like Hell and the score fits the locale.
The N64 had some memorable scores, but not enough to compare to NES and SNES. There were a few memorable scores on Game Cube, PS2, and XBOX. 360, PS3, and Wii have some decent scores, but none of them are awe inspiring. I'm afraid those days are over.
Fortunately most of these old school scores can be found online. There are a lot of remixes, but you can find some pretty accurate reconstructions. Even if these scores weren't online, I'd still be able to hum and whistle them. These scores helped define a generation of gaming that will never be forgotten.
Composers only had 3 notes to work with in the NES era. Yet those composers constructed the most memorable game scores of all time. From Mario to Zelda to Metroid to Mega Man; all of those franchises had amazing scores. I can recall most every score to every level in Mega Man 2 & 3. It's hard to forget the triumphant score from Zelda. I doubt there's a gamer alive that doesn't know the Mario theme. The music from World 1 in Super Mario Bros 3 is in the top 5 game scores ever.
Then there is Castlevania. I think that series produced the most memorable scores of any franchise in history. Every level in Castlevanias I-IV is mezmerizing. The triump of the series is level 9 in Castlevania IV. Granted the composer had more than 3 notes to work with since it was a 16-bit system, but it's impressive what he managed to do with that technology.
There is only one other game score that equals that level. That would be the "March of Norfair" from Super Metroid. As you descend into the depths of Norfair (Ridley's lair) you are greeted by a building cadence. That cadence then grows into a cacophony of chanting and horns. The lower depths of Norfair look like Hell and the score fits the locale.
The N64 had some memorable scores, but not enough to compare to NES and SNES. There were a few memorable scores on Game Cube, PS2, and XBOX. 360, PS3, and Wii have some decent scores, but none of them are awe inspiring. I'm afraid those days are over.
Fortunately most of these old school scores can be found online. There are a lot of remixes, but you can find some pretty accurate reconstructions. Even if these scores weren't online, I'd still be able to hum and whistle them. These scores helped define a generation of gaming that will never be forgotten.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)