Excuse me, I’m starting to let my nerd show a little but this game looks so much fun. It’s a remake of one of those old school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, and it’s going to probably destroy my social life for at least a week starting August 5th. Leonardo is my boy!!!!! errr, turtle.
For all that I can remember there have probably been about 2 games (SMT: Digital Devil Saga and Disgaea are the only ones coming to mind) which completely blindsided me where I hadn’t even heard of it before it was released, and then became obsessed with it. I can now say I have a 3rd game to add to that list, and it’s this crazy little Henry Hatsworth game. I already know this won’t be a big seller just because it’s coming out in a month with a ton of other great DS games, but it’s really the most unique game I’ve played in a while.
Graphics – The graphics aren’t going to reason you buy this game, but they are pretty decent. The things that stand out to me are some of the great colors they use in the game and some of the effects they have, especially when you go into Tea Time (aka Robot-gasm) mode.
Sound – It takes a lot for me to actually care about sound in a DS game, but the sound and music in this game is awesome. Everyone talks in a pseudo Banjo Kazooie language where grunts and mumbles are a language. I find this kind of moronic babbling amusing, but maybe your too high brow for that kind of this. If that’s the case, go play Scrabble.
Gameplay – This isn’t Professor Layton and the Curious Village. In fact, it’s not even close to it. If anything, this is like if Mario and Puzzle Quest had a baby together. The object of the game is to use the top screen to advance through the level (Mario style), while blocks underneath you creep up slowly which exist to FUBAR your entire game unless you do something about it. Pretty much, you play the game as Henry Hatsworth, you’ll notice the screen below you is getting full, you switch (X button) to the bottom screen and clear it up. Also, clearing certain blocks on the bottom screen give you power ups to go towards the top screen so your constantly encouraged to clear those blocks (in fact they glow on the bottom screen to stand out even when your playing on the top screen).
Some people might think this sounds tedious, but it really makes it pretty fun. Everything about the gameplay in this game is fun. It takes a while to figure out how to do the puzzles in the game, but once you get it you can’t put the game down.
Story – The story is kind of lame. Your an old guy who wants golden clothes and to fight another old guy who wants clothes too. Whatever though, I’m not looking for Final Fantasy X in a DS game, I’m looking for a game which I can pick up for 10 minutes, beat a level, and save it for when I have some more time.
Features – There isn’t anything in terms of multiplayer. There is a money system though which you use to get stronger weapons and fun stuff like that. If I were to have a gripe with the game, it would be that there is no manual save feature. It stinks that you can’t save in the middle of a level and it feels a little weird at first to play without a “saving data, don’t turn power off” screen coming up anytime. The game just saves without you knowing it at the end of a level. Honestly, not a huge gripe but hey I’m trying to be critical!
Overall – I never heard of this game up until a week ago. However, this might honestly be my new favorite DS game ever (sorry FF Tactics A2). The puzzle/platforming gameplay works great, especially for the portable platform. It’s easy to play a quick level, or spend hours beating worlds. If you’ve never heard of this game, and you own a DS, you seriously should look into adding this one to your collection.
PS. Props to EA for developing a good new IP. I know people like to rag on EA, but this game (along with Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space) shows that EA is at least trying to move away from just regurgitating existing franchises annually.
MY VERDICT: Buy
Going into HAWX, I was pretty excited. A couple weeks ago the demo came out and me and runeofred tore it up. I’d have to say though after playing the game, I was a little let down. I’m not saying its a flawed game or anything, but ya know the reason you quite didn’t fully enjoy Assassin’s Creed (well besides the ending)… ya thats the same reason you won’t fully enjoy this game. Great graphics, cool gameplay, but just too damn repetitive.
Graphics – The graphics in this game are top notch like any other Tom Clancy game. The environment is detailed nicely and each plane has it’s own unique look. Explosions and inside of the cockpits are all great too. I can’t really think of too much to say that was bad about the graphics, so I won’t!
Sound – Same with graphics. Everything is presented well.
Gameplay – IMO, I thought the controls were great. I know flight sim enthusiasts aren’t going to fall in love with these arcade-ish style flight controls, but I liked them just fine. This is one of those games with a very quick learning curve, and perhaps too quick. Maybe the biggest thing which made me believe this game might not be worth the buy though is difficulty. I thought it was incredibly easy. I started the game in Elite mode (the hardest mode), continued to play it on Elite mode, and beat the game within 2 days (or about 10 hours of gameplay). Above anything else, this is the one reason I would not buy this game (but would gladly rent it). Also, each mission seems to be too much like the other. I know it’s kind of hard for an air-combat game to reinvent the wheel with each level, but something different from fly around and killing enemies would be nice. And this is coming from a gamer whose favorite genre is racing, so I have a high tolerance for doing VERY repetitive levels.
I also should mention that the CRAZY TRIANGLE SYSTEM (try to bear with me being overly technical) is pretty nifty too. At any time when your getting chased down you can press a button which shows the ideal path to evade missiles, or hit certain ground targets.
Story – Very surprising for this genre (but not surprising for a Tom Clancy game), this game actually has a good story. You start off as a pilot for a PMC, sh*t goes down, you become a pilot for the US. I don’t want to spoil much but you’ll be surprised in how much you enjoy the story.
Features – I’ll be honest, I didn’t play any multiplayer. When I played this game over my break my internet was cruddy and I could never connect to a server. I imagine though that the multiplayer adds a good deal of replay value to this game. There is a ranking system which feels very similar to Rainbow Six Vegas 2. I also have to say, I like that games are letting you track your exact stats more and more.
Overall – Although I wouldn’t buy this game, I definitely was glad I played it. I know some people have a little more free cash to spend than others, but if I were to spend my cash on a game, I wouldn’t buy this one. If I can beat the EXPERT mode in 10 hours, without even being a big flight-sim enthusiast, I can’t imagine how fast people who enjoy this genre would tear this game up. Everything looks, sounds, and controls great… but its the same looks, sounds, and controls constantly for 10 hours in a row.
MY VERDICT: Rental
First things first, I’m going to say it… This game is better than Halo 3 AND Gears of War 2. There. I’ll admit that I was looking forward to making this purchase for 2 reasons.
1. To buy a game I thought would be amazing.
2. To buy a game for that big black machine which has been reserved for strictly LBP and Blu-Ray movies recently.
Well, I can gladly say I am happy for both reasons after playing the game and beating it in about 8 hours.
Graphics – What can I say that you haven’t already heard about this game honestly? EVERYTHING is amazing. I had heard that some of the effects were lacking from reading early reviews but I couldn’t really ever see what they were talking about because I was looking for those flaws the whole way through. MAYBE the flamethrower is a little weird, but honestly, 1 gun that I used maybe a total of 2 minutes the entire game is going to take away from the total experience? Please. The thing I kept on thinking while playing this was just how I’ve never seen anything like it before and how the graphics almost actually did look like the CGI they showed a few years ago.
Sound – Best sound since MGS4 for me. You can ask my roommates, when I played this game the house was rumbling. If you have Dolby 5.1 Sound, then prepare to cream yourself because this game is amazing with a system.
Gameplay – So you’ve probably heard that this game has slower controls and would assume thats a bad thing, right? Well in a weird way, as you play through the game you actually get used to the controls and appreciate it. You feel more like a soldier fighting a war with crazy heavy weapons than a stealth ninja assassin with cat like reflexes. I was skeptical as if I were going to like it but ultimately it won me over. Also for controls, there are a couple of vehicle/mounted weapon sequences and each one of them flows smoothly. There is the occasional loading hiccup when your moving to checkpoint to checkpoint, but once again that’s being nitpicky.
Story – The story isn’t that bad. It’s not great, but it’s not bad. I’ll be honest with you all though and say I really haven’t cared about the story in a FPS since Half-Life 2 came out.
Features – One of the things I loved most about K2 was the multiplayer. Matches are made up of a certain number of rounds and game modes switch seamlessly while your on a single map. So you’ll vote on a map, get in the map, play execution and as soon as the round is over, it will switch to the king of the hill mode while everyone is still running around the map. VERY cool feature and I bet a lot of games in the future are gonna be stealing that one. I also appreciated the stat tracking and medal progression in the game. I’ll definitely be playing this game for many hours to come.
Overall – The original Killzone was supposed to be the Halo-killer. It wasn’t. But for me, Killzone 2 is. If there is one thing that Halo has going better it is the replay system. But I enjoyed everything in Killzone 2 more than i did in Halo 3. I’m really starting to believe that the PS3 exclusives are a good deal better than the 360 exclusives. I mean, to me my top 3 favorite games out now are PS3 exclusives (MGS4, Killzone 2, and LBP). And even though Final Fantasy is coming out on both, FF Versus is going to be PS3 exclusive too. Killzone 2 is just another step for PS3 gaining ground the best way it can, making awesome video games that people will buy consoles to play it. If you have a PS3 and haven’t picked up Killzone 2 you are definitely missing out on a candidate for GOTY.
MY VERDICT: Buy
So over this past weekend I decided I was going to rent the new Street Fighter game. I’ve been hearing lots of praise for the game and wanted to give it a go. From playing the game for the past 5 days or so, I can tell you that it is definitely worth your money to rent it, and probably worth your money to buy it (if your into fighting games).
Graphics – The first thing that pops out at people when they put in SF4 is the new cel(ish)-shaded graphics. I don’t know if any of the engines or graphics from Prince of Persia were put into this game, but I definitely had the feel that the new Prince of Persia game and SF4 had a great deal in common. The characters feel cartoony, but not too cartoony. In addition, the graphics all run smoothly and all the super combo and ultra combo mini-cutscenes flow well.
Sound – I’m iffy on the sound in this game. There definitely is A LOT of sound, and even A LOT of good sound; but it’s kind of overkill. It goes from J-Pop, to announcers, to screaming, to yelling, to grunting, and so on. I guess what I really mean is that the fighting sounds in the game (the yelling, screaming, general fighting SFX) are done very well, but the menu music and announcer’s just drive you insane.
Gameplay – SF4 doesn’t really try to reinvent the wheel in terms of gameplay, but there are a couple new nuances to this game which add to the experience. All the combos are the same and if you’ve played any Street Fighter game before, you’ll easily master the combos again. down-over-A…CONSTANTLY. The main new features in terms of gameplay are the revenge bar and focus attacks. The revenge bar is Street Fighter’s way of having rubberband physics. Like in some racing games, if you crash early, it’s easy to come back because the computer seems to slow down for you. With the revenge bar, if your getting your ass wooped early on, you’re attacks will have more damage and when they do finally land… FURY IS GIVETH! Basically, fights will stay closer. The focus attacks are kind of cool in the sense that they are semi-unblockable, but that’s about it.
Features – One big gripe I had with Street Fighter was the lack of truly different things. There’s your standard arcade mode, a time attack, and a survival mode. But that’s about it. I would have loved to at least see some sort of tournament mode. The multiplayer is pretty cut and dry too. I will say though that the quality of matches on XBL is very good and there is almost no waiting time in lobbies for a fight and the matches are generally lag free.
Overall – Like I said earlier, this game is a definite rent and a possible buy. If your familiar with the SF series then rent the game first and see what you think. If your not familiar, then I would say download the demo of Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix on Xbox Arcade and see if that’s your kind of style.
MY VERDICT: Rental
Retro Game Challenge is your classic “game with a sh*tload of other games in it”. The whole concept of the game is you are a little kid who must escape the 80’s, via a GameMaster who has a weird obsession of trapping you there in the 80’s. I promise I wasn’t on shrooms when I wrote that last sentence, man.
Anyways, you are given 4 challenges for each little game which resembles other popular games. I thought of it like how at the store you can buy the real brand cereal, or the gigantic bag of cereal by some copy-cat cereal for less. Although these games aren’t necessarily worse than their original, it’s hard to just ignore the fact that they aren’t the original versions of the game. Then again, if your just looking forward to this game to have a ton of different games on your DS you’ll probably get over it quickly.
I only got the chance to play the game for 2 hours or so today but I’ve enjoyed it. It’s given me a well needed break from constant amounts of Final Fantasy Tactics A2. I unlocked all the challenges for the first game, and started working on the 2nd game. Both of them work fine and I only experienced a hiccup on the Galaga-clone game when I had a screen full of enemies.
One thing I have to say which kind of disappointed me was the complete abandonment of the touch screen. I realize it’s hard to implement the touch screen on games that were designed for arcades over 20 years old but completely ignoring the screen just feels awkward. Again though, I’m being nitpicky and these are relatively minor gripes.
Retro Game Challenge does a good job for what it is. Having a bundle of games in a collection with a bigger story behind it is a refreshing idea instead of just giving a list of classic games you can instantly play out of the box. I would recommend this game if you like old school games and like playing games on the go.
But if your someone who’s debating whether to get this game or the Sonic UGC (which probably narrows it down to about 5 people in the world haha), get the Sonic game.
MY VERDICT: Rental
So yesterday was the release of a game I’ve been looking forward too for a long time, and that’s the Sonic Collection. Over 40 Genesis games!? HD Genesis sprites!? Dolby Surround 5.1 Midi Tones!? YES!!!!!!!! In a celebration of the game release, I thought I’d give my little list on the 5 games I’m most jacked up about.
#5 Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
At #5 we have our favorite mustachioed villain, Dr. Robotnik. O how you bring joy to me with…beans? In the sad spin-off of Robotnik entering rehab after a bad night in the Casino Night Zone, a game is created which features Dr. Robotnik NOT losing. WHAT!? Ya, it’s a weird concept I know. But the joy of Robotnik doesn’t last too long, because by the end of the game it’s the same routine.
Any gamer + tons of beans = the death of Robotnik
#4 Shinobi III
Honestly, just tell me “ninjas” and I will throw it in a top 5 list somehow. Shinobi III really got me pumped with the way it embraced the whole feeling of “fighting fast”. Without this game I doubt games like Devil May Cry or God of War would exist today. And if you disagree with me, I will throw a shuriken right between your eyes. BOW TO YOUR SENSEI!
#3 Sonic II
So let’s see, “what character almost single handedly sold an entire system?”. Ya that’s what I thought, Sonic. Sonic II was awesome. When everybody looks at games they always break reviews up into graphics, sound, gameplay, etc. Well this game was awesome in all those areas. I know that the last levels in this game are some of my favorite memories ever from video games. Tails, DRIVING A PLANE?! WHAT!?! Ya, I was the kid freaking out when I saw that one.
#2 Shining Force II
The sequel to the best game on the Genesis (I know you cheated already and saw what’s number 1). Better graphics and improved gameplay made this game a very good sequel to the original. This whole series isn’t as well known as other games like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics, but Shining Force IMO does the best job at strategy RPG’s
DRUMROLL….
#1 Shining Force I
The best game for the Genesis. I was sucked into this game from the first level. The strategy! The role-playing! The STRATEGY-ROLE-PLAYING! AMAZING! While this game isn’t as technically sound as the sequel, this game started it all. The thing that probably hooked me the most about this RPG is that every single battle meant something. Nowadays, games are filled up with lots of random battles or sidequests to promote level-grinding and making the game longer. Shining Force was just straight plot the entire way through, making it completely easy to stay addicted. I know that the Shining Force series isn’t the most popular, but you should really check it out if you have the chance to.
Also, a new DS Shining Force game is coming out soon! Shining Force Feather. February 19th for Japan and later in Spring it should be coming to the States. There have been a couple games to come out since Shining Force III (only for the Sega Saturn), but they haven’t been anything like the original. This game is promising that it’s going back to the roots so I’m definitely crossing my fingers.
SEACREST…OUT!
thebvan
