Introduction
MadWorld is the first game from new developer Platinum games, made up of former members of Capcom's now shut down Clover Studio (responsible for the classic 'Okami').
Single Player
MadWorlds Story revolves around a terrorist plot and a sport known as the Death Watch games. You play as the games main protagonist Jack Cayman a contestant in the Death Watch games who has a prosthetic chainsaw arm. The game is what I call a revival for the beat em up genre, in fact the game reminds of No More Heroes because of the plot, you are fighting people know as KillSeekers so that you will be crowned as the number one killer. The game only has two modes, single player and multiplayer.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer mode works like this, you and your opponent are up against each other to see who can get the most points in a BloodBath challenge, that's it, no battle mode just BloodBath challenges.
Gameplay
At first the games button layout is confusing for example you press Z to jump, but after a while you will adapt to the set up.
The game is a beat em up, you only have one aim and that is to kill anything that moves.
Here's how you attack, by pressing the A button you punch, if you continue to press A then you will perform a punch combo, you can beat the enemy to death if you want but it won't earn you many points, if you hold the control stick up then you will do a more powerful punch, this is good if you want to stun foes. When you are near a KillSeeker you can press and hold A to grab them, once you have done that feel free to do what you want with them, be warned the enemy can fight back but there is a way around that, when holding a enemy you can head butt them by shaking the nunchuk, head butting an enemy can stun them. To throw them shake the wiimote.
On to the chainsaw, if you hold down the B button Jack will release his chainsaw, the chainsaw is powered by fuel, the fuel meter is located below the health bar and the gauge will go down if you are using the chainsaw, to the refill the gauge just stop using the chainsaw.
To attack with the chainsaw swing the wiimote, Jack will swing vertically or horizontally depending on which way you swing the wiimote.
In MadWorld you are scored on your kill's, if you want to can just beat up and cut through all of the KillSeekers but you won't each many points doing so, the idea is to be creative with your kill's.
For example throwing a KillSeeker into a spike will earn you a fairly high amount of points but if you want even more points you need to make sure that the person you kill suffers as much as possible, so to get a high score you should throw an object over the KillSeeker (tires, barrels, anything that will trap them), then impale them with something (Stick a lamppost through their head) and then carry them to the hazard instead of throwing them into it because you will gain more points shoving a guy into a spike than you would if you were to throw them.
Try and use the environment to your advantage and be creative with your kills because it will give you more points. When you have beaten your foe to a pulp you can do special finisher moves, you have two different types of finishers, the A button finisher where you throw the enemy around and the B button finishers which are just plain awesome, these finishers have you do things such as back breaking, beheading and heart removal. In the game there are certain levels where you are on a bike, these levels remind me of that bike mini game in Final Fantasy 7 except this actually works.
In each stage you will unlock bonuses such as happy pills (Pills that give you health), weapons (bats, knifes ect) and balloons (1up's). Another big bonus is the BloodBath challenge, these are bonus games that you find in the stages and they are made so that you can gain more points. These bonus games are really fun and addictive and most of them are based off sports like darts and golf. These games are both silly and fun and you gain a hell of a lot of points doing them. When you have gained enough points you unlock the boss battle, this is self explanatory, you go up against the boss you fight the boss, you kill the boss next stage. The boss fights like the bloodbath challenges are very creative and amusing.
The best thing about the boss fights are the action sequences, here you have to do several wiimote movements, get them right and you will damage the boss greatly, you also get these sequences when you defeat the boss, the boss deaths are some of the funniest deaths I have ever seen in a video game. There are two faults with MadWorld, the first is the length, the game is fairly short and you will have it done in around 5 hours. The second problem is that some may find the game to be repetitive.
Graphics and Sound
Ever seen or read Sin City, well MadWorld looks just like that. MadWorld is black, white and red all over.
The games music is mostly rap so it won't win metal heads over.
Conclusion
Even if you are not a fan of gore MadWorld is still great fun, if you are a fan of Beat em ups or Viewtiful Joe don't be afraid to pick this up.
+ Great Humour
+ Best Beat em up in years
+ BloodBath Challenges are genius
+ Boss battles are well thought out.
- Very short
- Can get repetitive
8/10
Saturday 27 February 2010
Klona Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
It has been years since the last game in the Klonoa series was released, so how does this remake of the first Klonoa game (Klonoa: Door to Phantomile on PS1) fair?
Here is a brief on the games plot: The games two heroes Klonoa and Hewpoe one day witness a crash near their home, the crash is on top of a mountain called Bell Hill, they decided to climb the mountain and investigate unaware of the evils that lurk ahead.
Gameplay
Klonoa plays just like all of the previous games it's a 2.5D platformer.
The Klonoa games are best known for the method used to kill enemies, to kill enemies you have to inflate them into a ball and throw them, inflated enemies can also be used to perform a double jump. To inflate an enemy you press the attack button (Buttons vary on which control method you are using) the enemy is now an inflated ball which is held by Klonoa until you decide to get rid of it, there are two ways of getting rid of the inflated foes you can either throw them by pressing the attack button or you can use them to perform a double jump (Press jump button twice).
Thrown enemies can be used to break objects or kill other foes, most of the games puzzles revolve around inflating enemies so make sure there are enemies to inflate when you are blocked by an obstacle such as a pitfall.
The enemies in this game vary you have enemies known as moo's theses are the games main enemy so I will focus on them, moo's vary in size, shape and ability, you have the normal weak moo's, you have the flying moo's, you have moo's that use weapons, there are also giant and armoured moo's as well.
Klonoa also has the ability to create a gust of wind that blows the enemies the other way, you don't really need this ability but it is good if you are trapped.
Another thing that Klonoa can do is a small hover move that keeps you in the air for a few extra seconds, to do this to press the jump button after jumping, it's a very useful move.
In Klonoa you have a health bar goes down as you take damage, to regain health you need to find these heart shaped metal objects, they come in two colours sliver (One heart) and Gold (Three hearts).
Like most platformers there are collectables to be found in the stages, in Klonoa you have dream crystals these can be found scattered all over the stages, these are like the coins in Mario get 100 of them and you gain an extra life. The games 1up's are in the form of Sliver and Gold coins, sliver coins give you one life and gold coins give you three. Other things to be found in Klonoa include Keys, in certain levels keys are needed to unlock doors. Mirror fairy's, these things are found in bubbles they double the amount of crystals gained making it easier to gain a one up. There is also the Memory clock this is the games checkpoint, find these and attack them so you can start off from that point when you die. The last thing to be found are captured villagers, these are the people who live in Phantomile there are six of them in each stage.
In the game you get to visit different areas each area is dived into two stages or visions as the game calls them, these to are presented in a Mario style, for example the first stage is called Vision 1-1.
You choose what vision you want to do by selecting it on the map.
Each vision is in two parts, vision 2 always has a boss at the end.
There are only two problems with Klonoa that I would like to point out, the first one is the length it isn't a very long game but you do unlock new modes after you complete the game so I suppose there is some replay value.
The other problem is the difficulty, the game is fairly easy.
These problems aside though, Klonoa is a charming yet short adventure.
Graphics and Sound
The graphi's colourful and it looks really clear, Namco have always been a pretty good company when it comes to colourful graphics.
The games music is good and it fits the stages perfectly, the game has two languages for the voice acting there is the Phantomile language (The language that has been used in the past Klonoa titles) and there is the new English voice acting. Given the choice I'd recommend the Phantomile language. The English isn't terrible but it is a bit on and off, some characters are alright while others just sound terrible.
Conclusion
This is a great platforming title for the wii, full of charm though if you want an even bigger, better adventure, get Klonoa 2 on PS2.
+ Same Klonoa gameplay
+ Great graphics
+ Makes good use of all four controller options
+ Full of charm
+ Class example of how a remake should be done.
- Bit short
- Too easy
- English voice acting is bit rubbish.
9/10
NOTE: People have told me that this is one of my better reviews, but it still has it flaws.
It has been years since the last game in the Klonoa series was released, so how does this remake of the first Klonoa game (Klonoa: Door to Phantomile on PS1) fair?
Here is a brief on the games plot: The games two heroes Klonoa and Hewpoe one day witness a crash near their home, the crash is on top of a mountain called Bell Hill, they decided to climb the mountain and investigate unaware of the evils that lurk ahead.
Gameplay
Klonoa plays just like all of the previous games it's a 2.5D platformer.
The Klonoa games are best known for the method used to kill enemies, to kill enemies you have to inflate them into a ball and throw them, inflated enemies can also be used to perform a double jump. To inflate an enemy you press the attack button (Buttons vary on which control method you are using) the enemy is now an inflated ball which is held by Klonoa until you decide to get rid of it, there are two ways of getting rid of the inflated foes you can either throw them by pressing the attack button or you can use them to perform a double jump (Press jump button twice).
Thrown enemies can be used to break objects or kill other foes, most of the games puzzles revolve around inflating enemies so make sure there are enemies to inflate when you are blocked by an obstacle such as a pitfall.
The enemies in this game vary you have enemies known as moo's theses are the games main enemy so I will focus on them, moo's vary in size, shape and ability, you have the normal weak moo's, you have the flying moo's, you have moo's that use weapons, there are also giant and armoured moo's as well.
Klonoa also has the ability to create a gust of wind that blows the enemies the other way, you don't really need this ability but it is good if you are trapped.
Another thing that Klonoa can do is a small hover move that keeps you in the air for a few extra seconds, to do this to press the jump button after jumping, it's a very useful move.
In Klonoa you have a health bar goes down as you take damage, to regain health you need to find these heart shaped metal objects, they come in two colours sliver (One heart) and Gold (Three hearts).
Like most platformers there are collectables to be found in the stages, in Klonoa you have dream crystals these can be found scattered all over the stages, these are like the coins in Mario get 100 of them and you gain an extra life. The games 1up's are in the form of Sliver and Gold coins, sliver coins give you one life and gold coins give you three. Other things to be found in Klonoa include Keys, in certain levels keys are needed to unlock doors. Mirror fairy's, these things are found in bubbles they double the amount of crystals gained making it easier to gain a one up. There is also the Memory clock this is the games checkpoint, find these and attack them so you can start off from that point when you die. The last thing to be found are captured villagers, these are the people who live in Phantomile there are six of them in each stage.
In the game you get to visit different areas each area is dived into two stages or visions as the game calls them, these to are presented in a Mario style, for example the first stage is called Vision 1-1.
You choose what vision you want to do by selecting it on the map.
Each vision is in two parts, vision 2 always has a boss at the end.
There are only two problems with Klonoa that I would like to point out, the first one is the length it isn't a very long game but you do unlock new modes after you complete the game so I suppose there is some replay value.
The other problem is the difficulty, the game is fairly easy.
These problems aside though, Klonoa is a charming yet short adventure.
Graphics and Sound
The graphi's colourful and it looks really clear, Namco have always been a pretty good company when it comes to colourful graphics.
The games music is good and it fits the stages perfectly, the game has two languages for the voice acting there is the Phantomile language (The language that has been used in the past Klonoa titles) and there is the new English voice acting. Given the choice I'd recommend the Phantomile language. The English isn't terrible but it is a bit on and off, some characters are alright while others just sound terrible.
Conclusion
This is a great platforming title for the wii, full of charm though if you want an even bigger, better adventure, get Klonoa 2 on PS2.
+ Same Klonoa gameplay
+ Great graphics
+ Makes good use of all four controller options
+ Full of charm
+ Class example of how a remake should be done.
- Bit short
- Too easy
- English voice acting is bit rubbish.
9/10
NOTE: People have told me that this is one of my better reviews, but it still has it flaws.
Disaster Day of Crisis Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
Disaster: Day of Crisis was announced for the Wii back in 2006 and was set to be released in 2007, but for some reason this game vanished off the radar, because of this gamers started asking weather or not this game would every get a release, then in September 2008 out of nowhere came the news that Disaster was to be released in October 2008.
So after two years in development was this worth the wait or was it a complete disaster?
Gameplay
Chances are you have never played a game like this, it is a mix of genres. I think that this game was made with the sole purpose of showing people what the wiimote could do, just like most early developed wii games like Wii Sports, Wii play and WarioWare Smooth Moves.
On to the game now, you play as Raymond Bryce a former Marine, he is the games main character.
The whole idea of Disaster is to save the lives of people and survive the biggest natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, tornado's, flood's and volcanic eruption's. The disasters are not the only thing in your way though, you also have to deal with a terrorist group known as SURGE as they plan to set off nuclear devices all over America.
The game is a third person action adventure you spend most of your time running around exploring and looking for survivors. The control method is simple, you use the control stick to move, A to jump and B to run. The game lets you control the camera by using the D-Pad on the wiimote. The Z button can be used to call out to people.
In this game you have a health bar that goes down when you take damage, the health bar can be restored by using first aid kits and plasters. If you rescue enough people the health bar will increase.
The other bar is the stamina bar, stamina keeps you going, run out of it and you will die, the stamina bar goes down over time, to regain stamina you need food.
During the game Ray has the ability to break objects to see if there is anything inside them, for example food and first aid. To break the objects you shake the wiimote.
Every now and then you will come to the point where you have save someone or escape an disaster, when this happens an action sequence will start, in action sequences you have to do actions depending on the situation, for example if you are lifting a heavy object you have to press A rapidly and then do a wiimote action that represents lifting, an other example is when running away from something you have to shake the wiimote and nunchuk up and down rapidly to escape. This game is full of these sequences some may think that this is a bad thing but it does give the game a cinematic feel.
The game also has driving sections, in these sections are in first person and normally consist of you being chased by something or you chasing something, these sections aren't bad the control is alright it isn't like Need For Speed where the car has really bad turning.
The last thing I want to go over is the shooting sections, yes this game has violence in it. The shooting sections are done in a Time Crisis style of play, you shoot with the B button and take cover using the Z button. To reload your weapons you shake the nunchuk. If you want to kill your enemies quicker you can focus your vision and zoom in by pressing the C button. As the game goes on you receive different weapons, to switch weapons while in combat press the D-Pad the in the direction which you have set the weapon on (Just like Zelda). These sections show up quite a lot in Disaster so get used to them.
In disaster there are items made to help you survive, to view these items you press the - button on the wiimote. These items are:
Plasters: Used for minor injury, heals 25% of your health.
First aid kit: Used for more serious injuries, heals 50% of your health.
Crackers: These are good for you and they will restore your stamina.
Stanima30: This new product stops all loss of stamina for a short period of time. Good for when there is no food nearby.
Disaster also has a level up system, this can help improve certain abilities such as strength and focus, to level up you will need SP points, you can gain SP points either by finding them or doing actions such as saving people who need help. There is also a point system for guns, this is used so you can buy new weapons for later stages.
Disaster is full of content, the amount of extras and features in this game amazed me and they defiantly add to the games lifespan.
Disaster should takes about 7 hours to complete on the first play through, the game does have replay value thanks to the hard mode and hidden extras.
The games only big problem is the enemy A.I its bit rubbish.
Also the story is a bit cliche.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics are not that special, they're not bad but they're not that good either.
The sound is great though it helps build the game up and it gives it that cinematic feel I mentioned before. The games voice acing is pretty good too.
Conclusion
It's a year late but that doesn't make it any worse. It is anything but a disaster.
+ Good soundtrack
+ Good voice acting
+ Full of content
+ Some nice ideas...
- ...but some are poorly done
- Doesn't look that great
- Cliche story.
8/10
Disaster: Day of Crisis was announced for the Wii back in 2006 and was set to be released in 2007, but for some reason this game vanished off the radar, because of this gamers started asking weather or not this game would every get a release, then in September 2008 out of nowhere came the news that Disaster was to be released in October 2008.
So after two years in development was this worth the wait or was it a complete disaster?
Gameplay
Chances are you have never played a game like this, it is a mix of genres. I think that this game was made with the sole purpose of showing people what the wiimote could do, just like most early developed wii games like Wii Sports, Wii play and WarioWare Smooth Moves.
On to the game now, you play as Raymond Bryce a former Marine, he is the games main character.
The whole idea of Disaster is to save the lives of people and survive the biggest natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, tornado's, flood's and volcanic eruption's. The disasters are not the only thing in your way though, you also have to deal with a terrorist group known as SURGE as they plan to set off nuclear devices all over America.
The game is a third person action adventure you spend most of your time running around exploring and looking for survivors. The control method is simple, you use the control stick to move, A to jump and B to run. The game lets you control the camera by using the D-Pad on the wiimote. The Z button can be used to call out to people.
In this game you have a health bar that goes down when you take damage, the health bar can be restored by using first aid kits and plasters. If you rescue enough people the health bar will increase.
The other bar is the stamina bar, stamina keeps you going, run out of it and you will die, the stamina bar goes down over time, to regain stamina you need food.
During the game Ray has the ability to break objects to see if there is anything inside them, for example food and first aid. To break the objects you shake the wiimote.
Every now and then you will come to the point where you have save someone or escape an disaster, when this happens an action sequence will start, in action sequences you have to do actions depending on the situation, for example if you are lifting a heavy object you have to press A rapidly and then do a wiimote action that represents lifting, an other example is when running away from something you have to shake the wiimote and nunchuk up and down rapidly to escape. This game is full of these sequences some may think that this is a bad thing but it does give the game a cinematic feel.
The game also has driving sections, in these sections are in first person and normally consist of you being chased by something or you chasing something, these sections aren't bad the control is alright it isn't like Need For Speed where the car has really bad turning.
The last thing I want to go over is the shooting sections, yes this game has violence in it. The shooting sections are done in a Time Crisis style of play, you shoot with the B button and take cover using the Z button. To reload your weapons you shake the nunchuk. If you want to kill your enemies quicker you can focus your vision and zoom in by pressing the C button. As the game goes on you receive different weapons, to switch weapons while in combat press the D-Pad the in the direction which you have set the weapon on (Just like Zelda). These sections show up quite a lot in Disaster so get used to them.
In disaster there are items made to help you survive, to view these items you press the - button on the wiimote. These items are:
Plasters: Used for minor injury, heals 25% of your health.
First aid kit: Used for more serious injuries, heals 50% of your health.
Crackers: These are good for you and they will restore your stamina.
Stanima30: This new product stops all loss of stamina for a short period of time. Good for when there is no food nearby.
Disaster also has a level up system, this can help improve certain abilities such as strength and focus, to level up you will need SP points, you can gain SP points either by finding them or doing actions such as saving people who need help. There is also a point system for guns, this is used so you can buy new weapons for later stages.
Disaster is full of content, the amount of extras and features in this game amazed me and they defiantly add to the games lifespan.
Disaster should takes about 7 hours to complete on the first play through, the game does have replay value thanks to the hard mode and hidden extras.
The games only big problem is the enemy A.I its bit rubbish.
Also the story is a bit cliche.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics are not that special, they're not bad but they're not that good either.
The sound is great though it helps build the game up and it gives it that cinematic feel I mentioned before. The games voice acing is pretty good too.
Conclusion
It's a year late but that doesn't make it any worse. It is anything but a disaster.
+ Good soundtrack
+ Good voice acting
+ Full of content
+ Some nice ideas...
- ...but some are poorly done
- Doesn't look that great
- Cliche story.
8/10
Sonic and the Secret Rings Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
If you had three wishes what would they be?
My first two would be the obvious fame and fortune.
My third and final wish though would have to be me feeling the same about the wii now as I did back when it first came out, and no I don't mean that I want to get rid of feelings of disappointment and wasted potential, no I'm talking about the feeling gamers had back in the early days of the wii.
The feeling of control that the wii gave you was like nothing else you had ever played before, the games were simple, addictive and fun.
Saying that lets look back at one of those early games, Sonic and the Secret Rings.
Single Player
The games story revolves around the famous story book world of the Arabian Nights, a place which brought us tales such as Aladdin and Sinbad. The plot and story are very straight forward, Sonic the Hedgehog is sent to the Arabian Nights by a genie called Shahra to stop an evil genie called Erazor Djinn from destroying it.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer is its own game altogether so here is a quick summary.
The party mode in Sonic and the Secret Rings is nothing more than a clone of Mario Party, you have four characters running around the board looking for items, the character with the most items wins.
The game is split into rounds, at the end of each round you are made to play a mini game (just like mario party).
To sum it up it was alright at the time but now the party mode isn't really worth playing, the board game is boring and the minigames are not that good by todays standard.
Gameplay
This time around SEGA decided to get rid of the traditional 3D platforming that was in the earlier 3D Sonic titles, this time they have gone for a completely different approach to it.
This time around you view sonic from the back, to add to that Sonic is now on rails he can move forward, back and side ways on the path that you are on. Sonic's movement is controlled by tilting the wiimote in different directions,tilting forwards will make him run, tilting backwards will make him backstep, and tilting to the sides will make him shift from side to side.
The movement controls are good but they are ruined by one thing, the backstep. In this game you can not jump backwards or turn around, because of this sonic is left valunable to enemy attack and other hazards, it's something that will annoy you.
On to jumping, straight to the point the jumping is broken, to jump you press 2, but if you want to do a bigger jump or clear a gap then you have to hold the jump button down, this can spoil things because you will find yourself stopping every few moments to charge a jump just so you can go on, to make things worse the jumping charges sometimes messes up so you end up falling of a cliff and dying, that's about it with jumping, on the upside sonic can still do the homing attack when he jumps.
Thankfully the game doesn't punish you for dying as you have unlimited lives.
Sonic also has a new ability known as time break and speed break.
Time break is the ability to slow down time, this is useful for getting through areas that require careful timing or a high amount of focus.
The Speed Break is the ability to break the speed barrier, think of it as a down graded version of the Chaos control power from Shadow the Hedgehog.
These ability's are not to be taken for granted though you will need spirt orbs to power them.
The game lets you play on several levels that are mostly based off the Arabian Nights stories, the levels are a mixed bag, they do have their moments but they also have their problems, some suffer from badly placed pits, obstacles,and platforms, some of the levels have a gimmick that can ruin it, one level has a wind that blows you back so that it is really hard to move forward, at times the wind even threw me back to the start of the stage due to a piece of debris hitting me.
Another thing that annoys me are the enemies, they just get in the way, I know that's the whole idea but these guys really get in the way, it can ruin the games fast pace.
Another problem I have with the enemies is the design, it's really uncreative, most of them are reused over and over just with different colours, after a while the sight of them really starts to annoy you.
What about the big enemies then? Well the boss battles range from mostly bad to a somewhat good, the earlier boss battles are really lame you just run in circles until you or the boss dies, the later ones are an improvement though.
One last thing that annoys me are the extra missions, the main levels are alright but some of the missions are tedious and lengthy, no one wants to do them, but you have to do these missions if you want to get further in the game.
One last thing I want to talk about is the level up system, as the game progresses you gain exp and level up, as you level up you are given the choice to upgrade sonic's ability's, doing this can really help you later on in the game.
As always the game is full of unlockable content including artwork, sound track, movies and more.
There is fun to be had in SatSR but there are also a lot of problems that can ruin it for you as well, but if you look past those problems here is a lot of fun to be had, the faluts won't bother you loads and they will at times be balanced out by the games good factors.
The game should take around eight to ten hours to complete.
Graphics and Sound
For an early wii title SanSR does look quite nice, Soinc looks much better than he did in the last few games and the levels do look like they have some life in them, the jungle level being a good example. What I also like is the way the cutscenes are done.
The music is different to the other sonic games, this time around the sound track has lyrics to go with it. In all the soundtrack is good.
Conclusion
The game did try something different which we do like to see, back then it was worth having but by todays standard its just another game, does have its faults but still fun.
+ Alright graphics.
+ Decent Soundtrack
+ nice unlockable content
+ Well presented cut scenes.
- Controls have some problems
- Broken jump
- Enemies are pretty crap
- Mostly bad missions
- Party mode is weak
7/10
If you had three wishes what would they be?
My first two would be the obvious fame and fortune.
My third and final wish though would have to be me feeling the same about the wii now as I did back when it first came out, and no I don't mean that I want to get rid of feelings of disappointment and wasted potential, no I'm talking about the feeling gamers had back in the early days of the wii.
The feeling of control that the wii gave you was like nothing else you had ever played before, the games were simple, addictive and fun.
Saying that lets look back at one of those early games, Sonic and the Secret Rings.
Single Player
The games story revolves around the famous story book world of the Arabian Nights, a place which brought us tales such as Aladdin and Sinbad. The plot and story are very straight forward, Sonic the Hedgehog is sent to the Arabian Nights by a genie called Shahra to stop an evil genie called Erazor Djinn from destroying it.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer is its own game altogether so here is a quick summary.
The party mode in Sonic and the Secret Rings is nothing more than a clone of Mario Party, you have four characters running around the board looking for items, the character with the most items wins.
The game is split into rounds, at the end of each round you are made to play a mini game (just like mario party).
To sum it up it was alright at the time but now the party mode isn't really worth playing, the board game is boring and the minigames are not that good by todays standard.
Gameplay
This time around SEGA decided to get rid of the traditional 3D platforming that was in the earlier 3D Sonic titles, this time they have gone for a completely different approach to it.
This time around you view sonic from the back, to add to that Sonic is now on rails he can move forward, back and side ways on the path that you are on. Sonic's movement is controlled by tilting the wiimote in different directions,tilting forwards will make him run, tilting backwards will make him backstep, and tilting to the sides will make him shift from side to side.
The movement controls are good but they are ruined by one thing, the backstep. In this game you can not jump backwards or turn around, because of this sonic is left valunable to enemy attack and other hazards, it's something that will annoy you.
On to jumping, straight to the point the jumping is broken, to jump you press 2, but if you want to do a bigger jump or clear a gap then you have to hold the jump button down, this can spoil things because you will find yourself stopping every few moments to charge a jump just so you can go on, to make things worse the jumping charges sometimes messes up so you end up falling of a cliff and dying, that's about it with jumping, on the upside sonic can still do the homing attack when he jumps.
Thankfully the game doesn't punish you for dying as you have unlimited lives.
Sonic also has a new ability known as time break and speed break.
Time break is the ability to slow down time, this is useful for getting through areas that require careful timing or a high amount of focus.
The Speed Break is the ability to break the speed barrier, think of it as a down graded version of the Chaos control power from Shadow the Hedgehog.
These ability's are not to be taken for granted though you will need spirt orbs to power them.
The game lets you play on several levels that are mostly based off the Arabian Nights stories, the levels are a mixed bag, they do have their moments but they also have their problems, some suffer from badly placed pits, obstacles,and platforms, some of the levels have a gimmick that can ruin it, one level has a wind that blows you back so that it is really hard to move forward, at times the wind even threw me back to the start of the stage due to a piece of debris hitting me.
Another thing that annoys me are the enemies, they just get in the way, I know that's the whole idea but these guys really get in the way, it can ruin the games fast pace.
Another problem I have with the enemies is the design, it's really uncreative, most of them are reused over and over just with different colours, after a while the sight of them really starts to annoy you.
What about the big enemies then? Well the boss battles range from mostly bad to a somewhat good, the earlier boss battles are really lame you just run in circles until you or the boss dies, the later ones are an improvement though.
One last thing that annoys me are the extra missions, the main levels are alright but some of the missions are tedious and lengthy, no one wants to do them, but you have to do these missions if you want to get further in the game.
One last thing I want to talk about is the level up system, as the game progresses you gain exp and level up, as you level up you are given the choice to upgrade sonic's ability's, doing this can really help you later on in the game.
As always the game is full of unlockable content including artwork, sound track, movies and more.
There is fun to be had in SatSR but there are also a lot of problems that can ruin it for you as well, but if you look past those problems here is a lot of fun to be had, the faluts won't bother you loads and they will at times be balanced out by the games good factors.
The game should take around eight to ten hours to complete.
Graphics and Sound
For an early wii title SanSR does look quite nice, Soinc looks much better than he did in the last few games and the levels do look like they have some life in them, the jungle level being a good example. What I also like is the way the cutscenes are done.
The music is different to the other sonic games, this time around the sound track has lyrics to go with it. In all the soundtrack is good.
Conclusion
The game did try something different which we do like to see, back then it was worth having but by todays standard its just another game, does have its faults but still fun.
+ Alright graphics.
+ Decent Soundtrack
+ nice unlockable content
+ Well presented cut scenes.
- Controls have some problems
- Broken jump
- Enemies are pretty crap
- Mostly bad missions
- Party mode is weak
7/10
Warioware Smooth Moves Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
Once again I am looking at early 2007, the Nintendo wii has not long been out and gamers are anticipating the release of the PS3 (or at least they were until they found out the price).
Looking to make a good first impression Nintendo continued to rapidly release titles for the wii. 2007 was set to be release year for big titles such as Excite Truck, Mario Strikers (the first wii game to have online play), Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Which only just got the December 2007 release in Japan), Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario and Super Mario Galaxy.
In comes Warioware Smooth Moves, a game that was made to show people what they could do with the wiimote (in all fairness we already had that with wii play but this is way better).
Single Player
The single player mode is the same as every other warioware game, your goal to to complete all the stages by playing micro games.
As always Wario's trademark humour is present.
The game follows this plot. One day Wario was minding his own business sitting on his ass at home eating sweets when this little what ever the hell it is comes and runs off with it, after that everything is just random.
Multiplayer
The games multiplayer is a disappointment to say the least, it is fun and a good laugh when you have friends around but it is ruined by one big problem, you have to play with one wiimote, now I'll give them credit they knew this and based some of the multiplayer games around it but being honest when I think of multiplayer the first thing I think of is the option to play with more than one controller, having to take off the strap and changed the controller between mini games is insane and you never get enough time to prepare for the next game because of it.
Gameplay
Just like in previous games you find your self playing five second long micro games, that's it there isn't much more that can be said the games are choose at random but often follow a theme, for example on Wario's levels all of the games are Wario related, in 9-volts level all of the micro games are Nintendo related.
As the game goes on you are shown different ways to play the mini games, these techniques (known as forms) vary on the micro games, the forms range from simple stuff like the controller (a form where you have to point the wiimote at the screen), to sillier stuff like the elephant (a form where you have to but the wiimote over your nose as if it were a trunk).
As always Warioware is a fun game that will always make you smile and laugh.
Now onto one fault that did bother me when playing the game. Some times when playing the micro games the control doesn't work, this is normally due to the limitations of the wiimote, it doesn't always detect the movement correctly with is a pain because you often end up being forced to play one of the mini games that doesn't work as well as it should.
At the end of the day warioware is one of those games that you really need imagination to play, if you look at it as pointing/waving/waggling the wiimote then you are not going to enjoy it as much so you really need to be in the right mode to play it, act as if you are running, act as you would if you did the ingame tasks, that's the key to the games success.
In all Warioware Smooth Moves is worth playing, buying it on the other hand is an entirely different question, the game only takes two hours to complete so you really need to be the type of person who can always go back to a game.
This one speaks for its self.
Graphics and Sound
I'm not quite sure what to think of warioware games, they do look nice but the games are so varied that you are never quite sure what to think of the visual's, most people who be bewildered by the strangeness. But looking past that Warioware is a genially pretty game.
Just like all of the other warioware games smooth moves has an incredibly catchy soundtrack that will stick in your head.
Conclusion
It always has been a good show case for the wiimote's potential. I'm still waiting for something like the starwing mini game, that would be ace.
+ Pretty Visuals
+ Same great gameplay
+ Catchy tunes
+ Great sence of humour
+ Shows off the wiimotes potential.
- Multiplayer is lacking
- wiimote doesn't always work
- Very, very short.
8/10
Once again I am looking at early 2007, the Nintendo wii has not long been out and gamers are anticipating the release of the PS3 (or at least they were until they found out the price).
Looking to make a good first impression Nintendo continued to rapidly release titles for the wii. 2007 was set to be release year for big titles such as Excite Truck, Mario Strikers (the first wii game to have online play), Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Which only just got the December 2007 release in Japan), Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario and Super Mario Galaxy.
In comes Warioware Smooth Moves, a game that was made to show people what they could do with the wiimote (in all fairness we already had that with wii play but this is way better).
Single Player
The single player mode is the same as every other warioware game, your goal to to complete all the stages by playing micro games.
As always Wario's trademark humour is present.
The game follows this plot. One day Wario was minding his own business sitting on his ass at home eating sweets when this little what ever the hell it is comes and runs off with it, after that everything is just random.
Multiplayer
The games multiplayer is a disappointment to say the least, it is fun and a good laugh when you have friends around but it is ruined by one big problem, you have to play with one wiimote, now I'll give them credit they knew this and based some of the multiplayer games around it but being honest when I think of multiplayer the first thing I think of is the option to play with more than one controller, having to take off the strap and changed the controller between mini games is insane and you never get enough time to prepare for the next game because of it.
Gameplay
Just like in previous games you find your self playing five second long micro games, that's it there isn't much more that can be said the games are choose at random but often follow a theme, for example on Wario's levels all of the games are Wario related, in 9-volts level all of the micro games are Nintendo related.
As the game goes on you are shown different ways to play the mini games, these techniques (known as forms) vary on the micro games, the forms range from simple stuff like the controller (a form where you have to point the wiimote at the screen), to sillier stuff like the elephant (a form where you have to but the wiimote over your nose as if it were a trunk).
As always Warioware is a fun game that will always make you smile and laugh.
Now onto one fault that did bother me when playing the game. Some times when playing the micro games the control doesn't work, this is normally due to the limitations of the wiimote, it doesn't always detect the movement correctly with is a pain because you often end up being forced to play one of the mini games that doesn't work as well as it should.
At the end of the day warioware is one of those games that you really need imagination to play, if you look at it as pointing/waving/waggling the wiimote then you are not going to enjoy it as much so you really need to be in the right mode to play it, act as if you are running, act as you would if you did the ingame tasks, that's the key to the games success.
In all Warioware Smooth Moves is worth playing, buying it on the other hand is an entirely different question, the game only takes two hours to complete so you really need to be the type of person who can always go back to a game.
This one speaks for its self.
Graphics and Sound
I'm not quite sure what to think of warioware games, they do look nice but the games are so varied that you are never quite sure what to think of the visual's, most people who be bewildered by the strangeness. But looking past that Warioware is a genially pretty game.
Just like all of the other warioware games smooth moves has an incredibly catchy soundtrack that will stick in your head.
Conclusion
It always has been a good show case for the wiimote's potential. I'm still waiting for something like the starwing mini game, that would be ace.
+ Pretty Visuals
+ Same great gameplay
+ Catchy tunes
+ Great sence of humour
+ Shows off the wiimotes potential.
- Multiplayer is lacking
- wiimote doesn't always work
- Very, very short.
8/10
Metal Slug Anthology Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
Ah Metal Slug possibly the greatest shoot'em up series ever, every time you play a Metal Slug game you know its gonna be good.
Since its debut in 1996 Metal Slug has gained a huge following and its own franchise.
Single Player/Multiplayer
Metal Slug is an arcade game at heart so the game never changes no matter how you play it, one play, two play its all the same.
Metal Slug Anthology was released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Metal Slug franchise, the game contains six classic metal Slug titles plus an all new one.
Let me tell you about each game:
Metal Slug (1996).
This is the game that started it all. Your mission is to shoot your way through wave after wave of enemy solider's and defeat General Morden.
Metal Slug 2 (1998)
The sequel to the hit Metal Slug added two new playable characters as well as new enemies including Alien's.
Metal Slug X (1999)
This game is just Metal Slug two but with a bunch of changes and improvements.
Metal Slug 3 (2000)
Metal Slug 3 took the last two games and went absolutely crazy, this is considered by many to be the best Metal Slug game, it has new enemies, new weapons, and levels with split paths, it has a huge amount of replay value.
Just to demonstrate how awesome Metal Slug 3 is let me tell you what the first enemy you kill is, go on guess, a GIANT ENEMY CRAB.
Metal Slug 4 (2002)
As always the Metal Slug games are still adding new stuff, this game has new weapons and new characters to play as.
Metal Slug 5 (2003)
You'd think by now that the Metal Slug formula would start to get stale well it doesn't. Metal Slug 5 gives you new ability's, new attacks and new background graphics to boot. This one does lack some of the older features but it does add new stuff like cut scenes to replace it.
Metal Slug 6 (2006)
This is the newest game available in the Metal Slug Anthology. This game features the most changes, now you can choose the games difficulty at the start, you can carry two weapons, and you can also build up a score by killing enemies, the more enemies you kill the more your score gets multiplied by.
The games are all alike but that is no bad thing really considering that this is the type of game that never gets old no matter how many times you complete it.
Gameplay
All the games play the same, which is good because that saves me going over all 7 games again.
Metal Slug is a side scrolling run and gun shooter, the aim is to kill your way to victory by shooting, stabbing, and blowing up anything that stands in your way.
I'll start with the controls, in the arcade the metal slug games tend to have a joy stick and three buttons, sadly the wiimote doesn't have the ideal layout for a three button arcade game, thankfully they found a way around it.
To play the game you hold the wiimote on its side as if it was a NES controller or something. You use the D-Pad to move, + to start and - to pause.
The 1 and 2 buttons act as the shoot and jump, the A and B buttons do nothing. What is this no grenade button, well good news they found a way around it, to throw and grenade you just shake the wiimote making the game fully playable.
The Metal Slug games have always been known for their trademark action and humour. The Metal Slug games have some of the best weapons and power-up's in video game history, for example one power up is that you can get fat from eating too much food, when this happens you fire power increases and you weapons are more wide spread. Another example are some of the weapons, you have the normal stuff like machine guns, laser beams and rocket launchers but you also have more bizarre stuff like thunder clouds and nappie wearing chimps that shoot enemies for you. Awesome.
Another thing that metal slug is famous for are the vehicles, the vehicles in these games are awesome, in fact did you know that Metal Slug is the name of the tank you use in the game ? Anyway these vehicles are great, they have large fire power and health bars (something you don't have), out of all the things you can ride on Metal Slug I'd have to say that my favourite is the Elephant.
Metal Slug is one of those classic hard core one hit kill games, you get hit by anything even once and you are dead, die three times and it is game over, fortunately unlike the arcade version you get unlimited continues so you don't have to spend all of your money trying to complete it.
All of the Metal Slug stages follow the same format, you fight some bad guys, rescue some prisoners of war who give you weapons that are in their underpants, fight some more enemies, save some more P.O.W.'s, fight a boss.
It's funny you'd think that games with a constant format would get dull and repetitive but for some reason they never do, people still play the old 2D Mario games, people still play the old 2D Sonic games and people are still playing the Metal Slug games, they have this never ending appeal that gives you near to endless replay value. The humour helps too ,if Metal Slug was more serious and didn't have that sence of humour I wouldn't see myself playing it so much.
I think I have said enough, Metal Slug, always has been fun, always will be fun.
Graphics and Sound
Metal Slug's soundtrack is time less everyone who has played the games knows it and it is used in all of the games.
The graphics are some of the best 2D sprites ever, Neo-Geo were great at 2D graphics, they have been using the same sprites for years and they still look nice despite their old age.
Conclusion
It's one of the best completion games ever made, each game is a classic and it is jammed fully of content.
+ 6 Classics
+ and a new one
+ good emulation
+ Great sound track
+ Cool unlockable content
- Some of the bosses just won't die
- some areas will pee you off.
9/10
NOTE: This is one of my worst reviews, I wasn't even taking a serious approach to it.
Ah Metal Slug possibly the greatest shoot'em up series ever, every time you play a Metal Slug game you know its gonna be good.
Since its debut in 1996 Metal Slug has gained a huge following and its own franchise.
Single Player/Multiplayer
Metal Slug is an arcade game at heart so the game never changes no matter how you play it, one play, two play its all the same.
Metal Slug Anthology was released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Metal Slug franchise, the game contains six classic metal Slug titles plus an all new one.
Let me tell you about each game:
Metal Slug (1996).
This is the game that started it all. Your mission is to shoot your way through wave after wave of enemy solider's and defeat General Morden.
Metal Slug 2 (1998)
The sequel to the hit Metal Slug added two new playable characters as well as new enemies including Alien's.
Metal Slug X (1999)
This game is just Metal Slug two but with a bunch of changes and improvements.
Metal Slug 3 (2000)
Metal Slug 3 took the last two games and went absolutely crazy, this is considered by many to be the best Metal Slug game, it has new enemies, new weapons, and levels with split paths, it has a huge amount of replay value.
Just to demonstrate how awesome Metal Slug 3 is let me tell you what the first enemy you kill is, go on guess, a GIANT ENEMY CRAB.
Metal Slug 4 (2002)
As always the Metal Slug games are still adding new stuff, this game has new weapons and new characters to play as.
Metal Slug 5 (2003)
You'd think by now that the Metal Slug formula would start to get stale well it doesn't. Metal Slug 5 gives you new ability's, new attacks and new background graphics to boot. This one does lack some of the older features but it does add new stuff like cut scenes to replace it.
Metal Slug 6 (2006)
This is the newest game available in the Metal Slug Anthology. This game features the most changes, now you can choose the games difficulty at the start, you can carry two weapons, and you can also build up a score by killing enemies, the more enemies you kill the more your score gets multiplied by.
The games are all alike but that is no bad thing really considering that this is the type of game that never gets old no matter how many times you complete it.
Gameplay
All the games play the same, which is good because that saves me going over all 7 games again.
Metal Slug is a side scrolling run and gun shooter, the aim is to kill your way to victory by shooting, stabbing, and blowing up anything that stands in your way.
I'll start with the controls, in the arcade the metal slug games tend to have a joy stick and three buttons, sadly the wiimote doesn't have the ideal layout for a three button arcade game, thankfully they found a way around it.
To play the game you hold the wiimote on its side as if it was a NES controller or something. You use the D-Pad to move, + to start and - to pause.
The 1 and 2 buttons act as the shoot and jump, the A and B buttons do nothing. What is this no grenade button, well good news they found a way around it, to throw and grenade you just shake the wiimote making the game fully playable.
The Metal Slug games have always been known for their trademark action and humour. The Metal Slug games have some of the best weapons and power-up's in video game history, for example one power up is that you can get fat from eating too much food, when this happens you fire power increases and you weapons are more wide spread. Another example are some of the weapons, you have the normal stuff like machine guns, laser beams and rocket launchers but you also have more bizarre stuff like thunder clouds and nappie wearing chimps that shoot enemies for you. Awesome.
Another thing that metal slug is famous for are the vehicles, the vehicles in these games are awesome, in fact did you know that Metal Slug is the name of the tank you use in the game ? Anyway these vehicles are great, they have large fire power and health bars (something you don't have), out of all the things you can ride on Metal Slug I'd have to say that my favourite is the Elephant.
Metal Slug is one of those classic hard core one hit kill games, you get hit by anything even once and you are dead, die three times and it is game over, fortunately unlike the arcade version you get unlimited continues so you don't have to spend all of your money trying to complete it.
All of the Metal Slug stages follow the same format, you fight some bad guys, rescue some prisoners of war who give you weapons that are in their underpants, fight some more enemies, save some more P.O.W.'s, fight a boss.
It's funny you'd think that games with a constant format would get dull and repetitive but for some reason they never do, people still play the old 2D Mario games, people still play the old 2D Sonic games and people are still playing the Metal Slug games, they have this never ending appeal that gives you near to endless replay value. The humour helps too ,if Metal Slug was more serious and didn't have that sence of humour I wouldn't see myself playing it so much.
I think I have said enough, Metal Slug, always has been fun, always will be fun.
Graphics and Sound
Metal Slug's soundtrack is time less everyone who has played the games knows it and it is used in all of the games.
The graphics are some of the best 2D sprites ever, Neo-Geo were great at 2D graphics, they have been using the same sprites for years and they still look nice despite their old age.
Conclusion
It's one of the best completion games ever made, each game is a classic and it is jammed fully of content.
+ 6 Classics
+ and a new one
+ good emulation
+ Great sound track
+ Cool unlockable content
- Some of the bosses just won't die
- some areas will pee you off.
9/10
NOTE: This is one of my worst reviews, I wasn't even taking a serious approach to it.
No More Heroes Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
Back in 2008 gaming had once again come under controversy, news papers and politicians alike were going crazy thanks to Manhunt 2.
In the end action was taken Manhunt 2 was banned and it looked like violent games were about to come under fire like they did in Germany and Australia, fearing the worse developers did what they could to make sure that their games would not under underfire.
Enter no more heroes a game that was so gory and so over the top that the developers decided to censer it in Europe and Asia.
Who would have ever thought that to be a good thing.
Single Player
The game has you take the role of big time loser Travis Touchdown who is on a quest to become the worlds greatest assassin after killing a drifter.
The drifter turned out to be a highly trained assassin, one of the best in the world, he was so good that he was ranked 11th.
Now taking the rank of 11th Travis has to kill his way to number 1, but it won't be easy he will need, skill, wits and a hell of a lot of money.
Gameplay
No more heroes is a sandbox hack 'n' slash action adventure game.
The sandbox section involves roaming around the fictional town of Santa Destroy, like all modern sandbox games you can walk or drive around the area going from place to place doing tasks. Just like other sandbox games Santa Destroy is full of huge landmarks such as Destroy Stratum.
The sandbox makes up only a small part of the games and being honest there really isn't much freedom or a lot to do, Santa Destroy can feel a bit empty at times, there are people in Santa destroy but not that many. You can also enter buildings, there are shops like AREA 51 and Beefhead Video, services like the job centre and gym, and some random ares where you do challenges like time attacks.
On to adventure, sandbox games are also regarded as adventure games in some respect but to me the adventure aspect are the stages them selves. The stages in no more heroes are fairly big, for example the first stage has you running around a mansion killing people so that you can find the exit. There is a lot to see in the levels.
Now on to the action and hack and slash this is the games main focus, you just go around killing everyone that stands in your way, as classic as it gets.
You play the game using the wiimote and nunchuck, the controls are spread out across them.
When roaming around freely you can use the A button to dig and the B button to run faster, but be warned you need batteries to do so.
When driving you hold the A button to accelerate and the B to break, if you break and swing the wiimote you can do drifts which is good because you can turn without slowing down. If you hold down the Z button you can use turbo but like running it drains your batteries power.
On last thing, if you shake the wiimote while driving you can do a jump.
The bike jump seems like a waste of time really because while it is really cool you can't jump over this with it, trust me I've tried, even if you are mile over something you will still hit a wall and crash, there are only two parts in the entire game where the bike jump comes in handy.
On to the normal gameplay controls, just like any hack and slash game you can get past a hoard of enemies just by mashing the attack button over and over again, while this may seem redundant and repetitive (like most modern hack and slash games) this is quite fun , the combat has some complexity to it.
The B button will let you punch and kick your enemies, doing a fully charged punch or kick will daze your enemies, when dazed you can either cut them to ribbons or grab the and preform a wrestling move on them, the wrestling moves are the most powerful attacks in the game, no joke, learn to make use of them, you preform the moves buy going a series of timed wiimote actions.
Seeing how you are fighting huge groups of foes at once you will need a way to defend your self, you do this by locking on to an enemy. Once locked-on you will automatically block any attacks the enemy uses on you and I mean attacks from all enemies not just the one you are locked-on to.
As the game goes on you can gain new ability's and power ups that help you though out the game, make sure you get as many as possible because chances are you won't be able to get through the entire game without beefing up first.
While I did say that the stages are great for exploring they can also end up being linear, a lot of the time you have to take a set path, there are times where you get to got to extra areas and get items but that's about it.
Now on to the boss battles, these are what the game is all about, there are 10 bosses in the game who you have to defeat, each boss battle is different so they never feel the same or dull.
The bosses themselves are all very memorable, fighting a big muscled guy in a super hero costume who shouts "Destroy Busta!" while firing laser beams at you is just awesome.
The bosses are no push overs either to beat them you will have to do it the old fashioned way, find the pattern and expose their weakness.
In all no more heroes is an enjoyable experience with some fun mini games and very memorable moments. A huge part of the games appeal is the humour everything is so well written and funny, it will have to in stitches.
No more heroes is a classic hack 'n' slash game it should take around half a day to complete the first time but if you want more there is also the higher difficulty you unlock when you have completed it.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically No More heroes is good but it isn't much of an improvement over Killer 7 (A game made by the same people). Visually though No More Heroes is great, the game just oozes with style, remember what I said about the censering of no more heroes while here is what what happened, in the American Version the enemies bleed when you kill them, actually bleed would be an understatement they explode into a fountain of blood, in the other versions of no more heroes the enemies explode into piles of ash and coins which is cool because the ash makes it look more artistic and the coins make it like older games such as street gangs where the enemies would drop coins when you killed them.
As for the sound the game does have a good sound track even though most of the levels share the same music, the music is catchy and it does suit the game well, the driving music for example is just perfect.
Conclusion
In all No more Heroes is a very enjoyable and humours game that can be played over and over.
+ Good, deep, complex fighting
+ Lots of style
+ Great Humour
+ Awesome cast of characters
+ Lots of extra content.
- Santa destroy is empty
- Some of the mini games are weak
9/10
Back in 2008 gaming had once again come under controversy, news papers and politicians alike were going crazy thanks to Manhunt 2.
In the end action was taken Manhunt 2 was banned and it looked like violent games were about to come under fire like they did in Germany and Australia, fearing the worse developers did what they could to make sure that their games would not under underfire.
Enter no more heroes a game that was so gory and so over the top that the developers decided to censer it in Europe and Asia.
Who would have ever thought that to be a good thing.
Single Player
The game has you take the role of big time loser Travis Touchdown who is on a quest to become the worlds greatest assassin after killing a drifter.
The drifter turned out to be a highly trained assassin, one of the best in the world, he was so good that he was ranked 11th.
Now taking the rank of 11th Travis has to kill his way to number 1, but it won't be easy he will need, skill, wits and a hell of a lot of money.
Gameplay
No more heroes is a sandbox hack 'n' slash action adventure game.
The sandbox section involves roaming around the fictional town of Santa Destroy, like all modern sandbox games you can walk or drive around the area going from place to place doing tasks. Just like other sandbox games Santa Destroy is full of huge landmarks such as Destroy Stratum.
The sandbox makes up only a small part of the games and being honest there really isn't much freedom or a lot to do, Santa Destroy can feel a bit empty at times, there are people in Santa destroy but not that many. You can also enter buildings, there are shops like AREA 51 and Beefhead Video, services like the job centre and gym, and some random ares where you do challenges like time attacks.
On to adventure, sandbox games are also regarded as adventure games in some respect but to me the adventure aspect are the stages them selves. The stages in no more heroes are fairly big, for example the first stage has you running around a mansion killing people so that you can find the exit. There is a lot to see in the levels.
Now on to the action and hack and slash this is the games main focus, you just go around killing everyone that stands in your way, as classic as it gets.
You play the game using the wiimote and nunchuck, the controls are spread out across them.
When roaming around freely you can use the A button to dig and the B button to run faster, but be warned you need batteries to do so.
When driving you hold the A button to accelerate and the B to break, if you break and swing the wiimote you can do drifts which is good because you can turn without slowing down. If you hold down the Z button you can use turbo but like running it drains your batteries power.
On last thing, if you shake the wiimote while driving you can do a jump.
The bike jump seems like a waste of time really because while it is really cool you can't jump over this with it, trust me I've tried, even if you are mile over something you will still hit a wall and crash, there are only two parts in the entire game where the bike jump comes in handy.
On to the normal gameplay controls, just like any hack and slash game you can get past a hoard of enemies just by mashing the attack button over and over again, while this may seem redundant and repetitive (like most modern hack and slash games) this is quite fun , the combat has some complexity to it.
The B button will let you punch and kick your enemies, doing a fully charged punch or kick will daze your enemies, when dazed you can either cut them to ribbons or grab the and preform a wrestling move on them, the wrestling moves are the most powerful attacks in the game, no joke, learn to make use of them, you preform the moves buy going a series of timed wiimote actions.
Seeing how you are fighting huge groups of foes at once you will need a way to defend your self, you do this by locking on to an enemy. Once locked-on you will automatically block any attacks the enemy uses on you and I mean attacks from all enemies not just the one you are locked-on to.
As the game goes on you can gain new ability's and power ups that help you though out the game, make sure you get as many as possible because chances are you won't be able to get through the entire game without beefing up first.
While I did say that the stages are great for exploring they can also end up being linear, a lot of the time you have to take a set path, there are times where you get to got to extra areas and get items but that's about it.
Now on to the boss battles, these are what the game is all about, there are 10 bosses in the game who you have to defeat, each boss battle is different so they never feel the same or dull.
The bosses themselves are all very memorable, fighting a big muscled guy in a super hero costume who shouts "Destroy Busta!" while firing laser beams at you is just awesome.
The bosses are no push overs either to beat them you will have to do it the old fashioned way, find the pattern and expose their weakness.
In all no more heroes is an enjoyable experience with some fun mini games and very memorable moments. A huge part of the games appeal is the humour everything is so well written and funny, it will have to in stitches.
No more heroes is a classic hack 'n' slash game it should take around half a day to complete the first time but if you want more there is also the higher difficulty you unlock when you have completed it.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically No More heroes is good but it isn't much of an improvement over Killer 7 (A game made by the same people). Visually though No More Heroes is great, the game just oozes with style, remember what I said about the censering of no more heroes while here is what what happened, in the American Version the enemies bleed when you kill them, actually bleed would be an understatement they explode into a fountain of blood, in the other versions of no more heroes the enemies explode into piles of ash and coins which is cool because the ash makes it look more artistic and the coins make it like older games such as street gangs where the enemies would drop coins when you killed them.
As for the sound the game does have a good sound track even though most of the levels share the same music, the music is catchy and it does suit the game well, the driving music for example is just perfect.
Conclusion
In all No more Heroes is a very enjoyable and humours game that can be played over and over.
+ Good, deep, complex fighting
+ Lots of style
+ Great Humour
+ Awesome cast of characters
+ Lots of extra content.
- Santa destroy is empty
- Some of the mini games are weak
9/10
Sonic Unleashed Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
Since his 3-D debut Sonic has had many ups and downs in gaming.
So can this new sonic game bring back the glory days?
The answer is yes.
Singleplayer
The game starts with Sonic facing off against Eggman (Again), Eggman believes that he has sonic beat until it becomes apparent that sonic has all 7 chaos emeralds and is overwelmed by super sonic, unable to fight that power Eggman flees the battle with sonic chasing him.
Sonic traps Eggman and forces him to surrender unaware that it is a trap. Eggman traps sonic and shoots him with a beam that not just sucks the power out of the emeralds but also split the Earth below into 7 pieces.
To make things worse the beam has turned sonic into a monster. After falling out of space and back to earth Sonic befriends a creature which he fell on, Sonic names the small creature chip. Sonic must stop the new evil that Eggman has awakened.
Gameplay
The game is spilt into 2 types of gameplay, Day time which is your normal sonic levels which involve running from A to B, and night time where you are the werehog who has to get from A to B by fighting hordes of enemies and solving puzzles.
Playing the day time levels I suspected that Sega had taken example from sonic and the secret rings and had the developers improve on it drastically. For starters you are not on-rails you have 100% control on the 3D sections. You control sonic using the control stick and use A to jump; in the day stages sonic has some new abilities to help him get through the stage quicker. First there is the drift, sonic can use drifting to get around sharp and long turns with out losing speed, if you are going straight sonic will slide, use sliding to get under obstacles. The other new add-on is the boost gauge which lets you do boosts; you fill the gauge by collecting rings and getting bonus chains, collect enough rings and the gauge gets bigger. You can not boost if the gauge is empty, the down side to using the boosts is that you have less control over movement and that when you hit a wall you hit it hard, it will take a few seconds to recover.
The daytime levels also have 2D sections where like in old sonic games you have to get from one end to the other. The problem with the 2-D section's is that you don't seem to have 100% control over sonic more like 90%, but when you consider how the game is that's probably for the best. I'll be fair the stages must have taken a long time to make they as they are so big and well planned out. You are ranked on how quick you finish the stage in the Wii version. It's just a shame there aren't many day stages in the game.
Since the sonic adventure it seems that Sega can not make a 3-D sonic game without there being some new gameplay mechanic. Sonic Unleashed has the WereHog. The WereHog is the thing sonic turns into at night time. The WereHog stages differ to the sonic stages I will go as far as to say it is like you are playing a different game. For starters the WereHog stages are part platformer, part beat'¢em up.
The stages are split into different parts you have the parts where you are fighting through hoards of enemies, the parts where you are doing traditional platforming and the parts where you are puzzle solving.
I'll start on the fighting, as you go through the level every now and then you will be stopped by a force field and forced to fight through a hoard of enemies, once you have cleared through the foes you can progress through the stage. I will admit that after a while this may begin to get slightly dull, the special moves that you learn as you gain Dark Gaia points will add more to the gameplay, when playing as the werehog you have 2 bars ones the health bar and the other is the unleashed bar, using the unleashed bar powers up Sonic until the bar is empty, it makes Sonics attacks more powerful and changes some of his special moves.
The platforming sections are quite straight forward, it normally consists of you either getting to the other end of the stage by jumping over holes and gaps, climbing up poles and across ledges while avoiding obstacles. The other half of the platforming is finding 3 keys every time you run into a force field with 3 dots on it.
One of the annoying things about the WereHog stages is the invisible walls and there are a lot of them.
The puzzle solving is more or less no brainers such as putting boxes on buttons, putting out fires and using the environment to get around without dying. It doesn't sound like much but the puzzles really show their true colours in the extra rooms in the temples, the puzzles in the temples have you use both Sonics to get past the obstacles and to the bonus items in the rooms, take note that you need medals to get into these rooms, I'd say the rooms in the temples are the most enjoyable part of the WereHogs game.
The game may only have a few day stages but the extra missions make up for it. The game should last you about a week.
Graphics & Sound
Considering that the game is exactly the same on the PS2 I will admit that it does look quite nice for a wii game, Sonic looks detailed and the stages look well polished especially when you consider how fast you are running through them.
The music in this game is joy to listen to, easily the best sonic music I have heard in years. Each song matches the stages perfectly.
Control
The game uses all 3 controllers, the wiimote, the classic controller and the GameCube controller. So which is best?
Wiimote: I do like the ideas put into this game with the wiimote but sadly it doesn't work as well as I had hoped it would, in the day stages the wiimote doesn't always detect the homing attack and boost properly.
In the night stages the wiimote doesn't cut it, the fighting is just to shoddy and tiring and the climbing isn't much better, nearly everything requires you to use the motion controls in the night stages.
Classic controller: This controller works really well with both stages but is out done by the GameCube controller in the day stages. It does work well the only problem is that at time the position of the control stick can feel a little awkward and uncomfortable. It can't be beat on night stages though as the buttons are played perfectly, the Y & X are used to attack and it works well you can attack quickly without messing up when trying to use the special attacks you learn. It's also better for climbing as you use the R button the grab things.
GameCube: Godly on day stages you have better grip of the controller and better control over Sonics movement the buttons also feel better placed on the GameCube controller so you don't have to worry about pressing Y instead of X as the buttons are all different shapes and sizes.
Night time would have to be a no as using the shoulder buttons to punch left and right just felt odd for me, I couldn't punch as fast as I could before.
Summary
It may not be what the fans want but it still doesn't stop Sonic Unleashed from doing what it set of to do. Now make a game with sonic stages only and you are on to a winner Sega.
+ Closest to classic sonic we have had in a while
+ Boss Battles Are fun
+ The game can be rewarding
- Lack of balance between Sonic and Werehog stages
- Wearhog levels are to simular
- Missing levels in wii version
8/10
Since his 3-D debut Sonic has had many ups and downs in gaming.
So can this new sonic game bring back the glory days?
The answer is yes.
Singleplayer
The game starts with Sonic facing off against Eggman (Again), Eggman believes that he has sonic beat until it becomes apparent that sonic has all 7 chaos emeralds and is overwelmed by super sonic, unable to fight that power Eggman flees the battle with sonic chasing him.
Sonic traps Eggman and forces him to surrender unaware that it is a trap. Eggman traps sonic and shoots him with a beam that not just sucks the power out of the emeralds but also split the Earth below into 7 pieces.
To make things worse the beam has turned sonic into a monster. After falling out of space and back to earth Sonic befriends a creature which he fell on, Sonic names the small creature chip. Sonic must stop the new evil that Eggman has awakened.
Gameplay
The game is spilt into 2 types of gameplay, Day time which is your normal sonic levels which involve running from A to B, and night time where you are the werehog who has to get from A to B by fighting hordes of enemies and solving puzzles.
Playing the day time levels I suspected that Sega had taken example from sonic and the secret rings and had the developers improve on it drastically. For starters you are not on-rails you have 100% control on the 3D sections. You control sonic using the control stick and use A to jump; in the day stages sonic has some new abilities to help him get through the stage quicker. First there is the drift, sonic can use drifting to get around sharp and long turns with out losing speed, if you are going straight sonic will slide, use sliding to get under obstacles. The other new add-on is the boost gauge which lets you do boosts; you fill the gauge by collecting rings and getting bonus chains, collect enough rings and the gauge gets bigger. You can not boost if the gauge is empty, the down side to using the boosts is that you have less control over movement and that when you hit a wall you hit it hard, it will take a few seconds to recover.
The daytime levels also have 2D sections where like in old sonic games you have to get from one end to the other. The problem with the 2-D section's is that you don't seem to have 100% control over sonic more like 90%, but when you consider how the game is that's probably for the best. I'll be fair the stages must have taken a long time to make they as they are so big and well planned out. You are ranked on how quick you finish the stage in the Wii version. It's just a shame there aren't many day stages in the game.
Since the sonic adventure it seems that Sega can not make a 3-D sonic game without there being some new gameplay mechanic. Sonic Unleashed has the WereHog. The WereHog is the thing sonic turns into at night time. The WereHog stages differ to the sonic stages I will go as far as to say it is like you are playing a different game. For starters the WereHog stages are part platformer, part beat'¢em up.
The stages are split into different parts you have the parts where you are fighting through hoards of enemies, the parts where you are doing traditional platforming and the parts where you are puzzle solving.
I'll start on the fighting, as you go through the level every now and then you will be stopped by a force field and forced to fight through a hoard of enemies, once you have cleared through the foes you can progress through the stage. I will admit that after a while this may begin to get slightly dull, the special moves that you learn as you gain Dark Gaia points will add more to the gameplay, when playing as the werehog you have 2 bars ones the health bar and the other is the unleashed bar, using the unleashed bar powers up Sonic until the bar is empty, it makes Sonics attacks more powerful and changes some of his special moves.
The platforming sections are quite straight forward, it normally consists of you either getting to the other end of the stage by jumping over holes and gaps, climbing up poles and across ledges while avoiding obstacles. The other half of the platforming is finding 3 keys every time you run into a force field with 3 dots on it.
One of the annoying things about the WereHog stages is the invisible walls and there are a lot of them.
The puzzle solving is more or less no brainers such as putting boxes on buttons, putting out fires and using the environment to get around without dying. It doesn't sound like much but the puzzles really show their true colours in the extra rooms in the temples, the puzzles in the temples have you use both Sonics to get past the obstacles and to the bonus items in the rooms, take note that you need medals to get into these rooms, I'd say the rooms in the temples are the most enjoyable part of the WereHogs game.
The game may only have a few day stages but the extra missions make up for it. The game should last you about a week.
Graphics & Sound
Considering that the game is exactly the same on the PS2 I will admit that it does look quite nice for a wii game, Sonic looks detailed and the stages look well polished especially when you consider how fast you are running through them.
The music in this game is joy to listen to, easily the best sonic music I have heard in years. Each song matches the stages perfectly.
Control
The game uses all 3 controllers, the wiimote, the classic controller and the GameCube controller. So which is best?
Wiimote: I do like the ideas put into this game with the wiimote but sadly it doesn't work as well as I had hoped it would, in the day stages the wiimote doesn't always detect the homing attack and boost properly.
In the night stages the wiimote doesn't cut it, the fighting is just to shoddy and tiring and the climbing isn't much better, nearly everything requires you to use the motion controls in the night stages.
Classic controller: This controller works really well with both stages but is out done by the GameCube controller in the day stages. It does work well the only problem is that at time the position of the control stick can feel a little awkward and uncomfortable. It can't be beat on night stages though as the buttons are played perfectly, the Y & X are used to attack and it works well you can attack quickly without messing up when trying to use the special attacks you learn. It's also better for climbing as you use the R button the grab things.
GameCube: Godly on day stages you have better grip of the controller and better control over Sonics movement the buttons also feel better placed on the GameCube controller so you don't have to worry about pressing Y instead of X as the buttons are all different shapes and sizes.
Night time would have to be a no as using the shoulder buttons to punch left and right just felt odd for me, I couldn't punch as fast as I could before.
Summary
It may not be what the fans want but it still doesn't stop Sonic Unleashed from doing what it set of to do. Now make a game with sonic stages only and you are on to a winner Sega.
+ Closest to classic sonic we have had in a while
+ Boss Battles Are fun
+ The game can be rewarding
- Lack of balance between Sonic and Werehog stages
- Wearhog levels are to simular
- Missing levels in wii version
8/10
Naruto Clash Of Ninja Revolution Nintendo Wii Review
Introduction
Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution is a 3-D fighting game featuring characters from the Naruto Anime/Manga.
The game modes include Single player which features normal mode, time attack mode and survival, multiplayer mode, mission mode which acts as the games story mode and mini games.
Single Player
On to the single player. As I said before, single player has 3 modes to play. You have the normal mode, which is just a dozen stages you have to complete. Sadly, it's made pointless by the fact that you lose all of your points if you lose, meaning that you would be better of just playing survival.
Time attack is the same as normal but you are marked on how quick you get through the 12 stages instead of being ranked by how many points you earn.
The mission mode acts as the games story mode.
The story starts the chuin exam saga when everyone is training for the 4th round; the 1st mission is just a tutorial where you are taught how to fight.
The mission mode has chapters, and in each chapter you fight a different character, as well as given a task.
If you do what you are told to do you succeed and get to go on to the next chapter, but if you beat the opponent without doing the task or if you lose to the opponent, you fail and have to try again.
The tasks range from simple stuff like beating an enemy while low on health to slightly harder stuff like beating an enemy with a certain move.
The cut scenes in the mission mode are quite simple. The character sprites appear on screen and start talking. The characters are voiced by the cast of the Naruto dub.
Gameplay
The mission mode should take about an hour to do. When you finish the mission mode you will probably be disappointed by how easy it was, but luckily you unlock the choice to play it on a higher difficulty by completing it.
On to the fighting itself. The game play is simple at first, but it can become quite advanced if you are using different combos or are playing the game on a high difficulty.
The game has many different types of attacks.
Taijutsu (Physical attacks) - This is the main type of attack, and it is done by shaking the Wii Remote. If you keep shaking you can do a combo attack. Take note those attacks can only be done if you hit the enemy. Like most 3-D fighting games, the control stick affects what attacks are used.
Ninjitsu (Special attacks)/weapons- These types of attacks are done with the "A" button. Ninjitsu are the special attacks that can be done by the games characters. Each character has their own attacks that can be done using the "A" button and the analogue stick. The special attacks can only be done if you have enough chakra in the chakra gauge at the bottom corner of the screen.
The other use of the "A" button is throwing weapons. Throwing weapons are weak and are only good for slowing your opponent down or hitting them when they are in the air.
Finishing moves/transformations- The finishing moves/transformations are done by pressing the D-pad right. When the chakra gauge is full, your character will attempt to do a finisher on the enemy. When the control stick is held down when you press the D-pad, this can cause the character to change form or use a different finisher. When you use the finishing move, you're shown a few Wii Remote movements to do. If you do them correctly, the power of your moves will increase.
Recently I have started using the Nintendo Gamecube controller and Nintendo Classic controller and I must admit that the game really benifits from this feature.
When fighting you can take advantage of the hazards on the stage, if you hit your opponent hard enough you can knock them off the stage triggering a small cut scene, in the cut scene you can hit the enemy while in midair by shaking the wiimote dealing extra damage.
The game also has a mini game mode where you can play mini games you have unlocked such as shuriken throw, where you have to throw shrunken at wooden boards that have Naruto and other characters on them.
Graphics and Sound
The game uses standard cel-shaded graphics, which is nothing special. Characters and objects are all colour, but there are no shadow effects. The shadows are pixelated, sadly.
The games Music is pretty much remixes of the rubbish music in the anime, being honest this version is quite good.
+ Decent cell-shaded graphics.
+ Solid fighting game play.
+ The music is a nice touch.
- Far too short.
- Battles can get repetitive.
- Motion for finishers is bad.
Good game ruined by its lifespan. If more effort had gone into mission mode, this would have been longer and better.
7/10
NOTE: This was my first written review from 2 years ago, it's not very good.
Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution is a 3-D fighting game featuring characters from the Naruto Anime/Manga.
The game modes include Single player which features normal mode, time attack mode and survival, multiplayer mode, mission mode which acts as the games story mode and mini games.
Single Player
On to the single player. As I said before, single player has 3 modes to play. You have the normal mode, which is just a dozen stages you have to complete. Sadly, it's made pointless by the fact that you lose all of your points if you lose, meaning that you would be better of just playing survival.
Time attack is the same as normal but you are marked on how quick you get through the 12 stages instead of being ranked by how many points you earn.
The mission mode acts as the games story mode.
The story starts the chuin exam saga when everyone is training for the 4th round; the 1st mission is just a tutorial where you are taught how to fight.
The mission mode has chapters, and in each chapter you fight a different character, as well as given a task.
If you do what you are told to do you succeed and get to go on to the next chapter, but if you beat the opponent without doing the task or if you lose to the opponent, you fail and have to try again.
The tasks range from simple stuff like beating an enemy while low on health to slightly harder stuff like beating an enemy with a certain move.
The cut scenes in the mission mode are quite simple. The character sprites appear on screen and start talking. The characters are voiced by the cast of the Naruto dub.
Gameplay
The mission mode should take about an hour to do. When you finish the mission mode you will probably be disappointed by how easy it was, but luckily you unlock the choice to play it on a higher difficulty by completing it.
On to the fighting itself. The game play is simple at first, but it can become quite advanced if you are using different combos or are playing the game on a high difficulty.
The game has many different types of attacks.
Taijutsu (Physical attacks) - This is the main type of attack, and it is done by shaking the Wii Remote. If you keep shaking you can do a combo attack. Take note those attacks can only be done if you hit the enemy. Like most 3-D fighting games, the control stick affects what attacks are used.
Ninjitsu (Special attacks)/weapons- These types of attacks are done with the "A" button. Ninjitsu are the special attacks that can be done by the games characters. Each character has their own attacks that can be done using the "A" button and the analogue stick. The special attacks can only be done if you have enough chakra in the chakra gauge at the bottom corner of the screen.
The other use of the "A" button is throwing weapons. Throwing weapons are weak and are only good for slowing your opponent down or hitting them when they are in the air.
Finishing moves/transformations- The finishing moves/transformations are done by pressing the D-pad right. When the chakra gauge is full, your character will attempt to do a finisher on the enemy. When the control stick is held down when you press the D-pad, this can cause the character to change form or use a different finisher. When you use the finishing move, you're shown a few Wii Remote movements to do. If you do them correctly, the power of your moves will increase.
Recently I have started using the Nintendo Gamecube controller and Nintendo Classic controller and I must admit that the game really benifits from this feature.
When fighting you can take advantage of the hazards on the stage, if you hit your opponent hard enough you can knock them off the stage triggering a small cut scene, in the cut scene you can hit the enemy while in midair by shaking the wiimote dealing extra damage.
The game also has a mini game mode where you can play mini games you have unlocked such as shuriken throw, where you have to throw shrunken at wooden boards that have Naruto and other characters on them.
Graphics and Sound
The game uses standard cel-shaded graphics, which is nothing special. Characters and objects are all colour, but there are no shadow effects. The shadows are pixelated, sadly.
The games Music is pretty much remixes of the rubbish music in the anime, being honest this version is quite good.
+ Decent cell-shaded graphics.
+ Solid fighting game play.
+ The music is a nice touch.
- Far too short.
- Battles can get repetitive.
- Motion for finishers is bad.
Good game ruined by its lifespan. If more effort had gone into mission mode, this would have been longer and better.
7/10
NOTE: This was my first written review from 2 years ago, it's not very good.
Monday 8 February 2010
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Directors Cut Nintendo DS review
Introduction
This game is the best point and click adventure that I have ever come across, it's better than Ace Attorney, it's better than Sam & Max and it's better than Zack & Wiki.
Broken sword: Shadow of the Templar's Directors cut is a remake of the cult 1996 PC point and click classic. This game has everything (well almost everything) murder, terrorism, clowns and medieval cults all in one exciting point and click adventure.
Gameplay
So the game starts off in Paris and you take the role of Nicole Collard a French reporter who has been asked to meet up with an old friend of her father. Sadly all is not well as the person she is meant to meet is shot dead by a mime off all people!
This bit wasn't in the original version of Shadow of the Templars which came out in 1996, this is a new chapter that has been added for the DS version (You never played as Nicole in the original).
Now off to the main story. Meet George Stobbart an American man who is touring Europe, he is currently staying in Paris, unaware of what awaits him...
On to the actual gameplay now, what can I say it's a point and click (Or seeing how this is DS point and tap) you use the stylus to do everything in this game no control input needed, you tap where you want to walk to, you tap a person when you want to talk to them, you tap the objects that you want to look at, it is just like using a mouse.
Throughout the game you will need to do tasks such as combining items, playing with your surroundings, talking to people and solving puzzles ect.
These puzzles are both fun and creative, if the puzzles are too difficult or if you are stuck on a certain spot then you can tap on a question mark that appears on the top right side of the screen, doing this will show you several clues and hints on where to go next, what you need to do and how to solve a puzzle.
The game has you travel to different parts of Europe such as France, Spain and Ireland. In the game there are many different people to talk to, all of which are full of character. The game also has some good humour that has aged really well.
Graphics and sound
The graphics in Broken Sword are based on the style of classic animated films (Think early Disney) and these graphics just like the game they have aged really well, also the animated cut scenes are still enjoyable even without the lack of voice acting.
The sound is just as good now as it was all those years ago; my only criticism is that this version doesn't have the voice acting that was in the original game.
Oh and one more thing the games updated artwork was done by the guy who did the artwork for the Watchmen.
Summary
This is still a masterpiece today, it's funny, it's creative, it's exciting, it's everything you'd want from this type of game and it should appeal to both sides of the "gaming void" (AKA the casual/hardcore rubbish).
+Great story
+Great cutscenes
+Gameplay has aged really well.
-Feels a little short
-No voice acting
8/10
NOTE: My only DS review, I loved this game I really did, the review is short but I proof read it alot because at the time the site I wrote these reviews for wanted to make the editor. I have the sequel but I'm not having much luck getting it to run on my Windows 7 computer.
This game is the best point and click adventure that I have ever come across, it's better than Ace Attorney, it's better than Sam & Max and it's better than Zack & Wiki.
Broken sword: Shadow of the Templar's Directors cut is a remake of the cult 1996 PC point and click classic. This game has everything (well almost everything) murder, terrorism, clowns and medieval cults all in one exciting point and click adventure.
Gameplay
So the game starts off in Paris and you take the role of Nicole Collard a French reporter who has been asked to meet up with an old friend of her father. Sadly all is not well as the person she is meant to meet is shot dead by a mime off all people!
This bit wasn't in the original version of Shadow of the Templars which came out in 1996, this is a new chapter that has been added for the DS version (You never played as Nicole in the original).
Now off to the main story. Meet George Stobbart an American man who is touring Europe, he is currently staying in Paris, unaware of what awaits him...
On to the actual gameplay now, what can I say it's a point and click (Or seeing how this is DS point and tap) you use the stylus to do everything in this game no control input needed, you tap where you want to walk to, you tap a person when you want to talk to them, you tap the objects that you want to look at, it is just like using a mouse.
Throughout the game you will need to do tasks such as combining items, playing with your surroundings, talking to people and solving puzzles ect.
These puzzles are both fun and creative, if the puzzles are too difficult or if you are stuck on a certain spot then you can tap on a question mark that appears on the top right side of the screen, doing this will show you several clues and hints on where to go next, what you need to do and how to solve a puzzle.
The game has you travel to different parts of Europe such as France, Spain and Ireland. In the game there are many different people to talk to, all of which are full of character. The game also has some good humour that has aged really well.
Graphics and sound
The graphics in Broken Sword are based on the style of classic animated films (Think early Disney) and these graphics just like the game they have aged really well, also the animated cut scenes are still enjoyable even without the lack of voice acting.
The sound is just as good now as it was all those years ago; my only criticism is that this version doesn't have the voice acting that was in the original game.
Oh and one more thing the games updated artwork was done by the guy who did the artwork for the Watchmen.
Summary
This is still a masterpiece today, it's funny, it's creative, it's exciting, it's everything you'd want from this type of game and it should appeal to both sides of the "gaming void" (AKA the casual/hardcore rubbish).
+Great story
+Great cutscenes
+Gameplay has aged really well.
-Feels a little short
-No voice acting
8/10
NOTE: My only DS review, I loved this game I really did, the review is short but I proof read it alot because at the time the site I wrote these reviews for wanted to make the editor. I have the sequel but I'm not having much luck getting it to run on my Windows 7 computer.
Tekken 6 Xbox 360 review.
Introduction
15 years, that is how long it has been since the release of the first Tekken game, in those 15 years the Tekken series has evolved with each installment, Tekken started it all, Tekken 2 improved the gameplay, Tekken 3 helped revolutionize the 3D fighter, Tekken 4 added scenery and walls, Tekken 5 improved the game even further.
So can Tekken 6 keep up the pace or has the series reached it peak?
Single Player
Tekken 6 includes a new mode known as the scenario campaign, seeing how that covers the main story line I'll tell you about it first.
The scenario campaign is reminiscent of the Tekken force mini game that featured in Tekken 3 and 4 (which is why it is being referred to by fans as Tekken Force mode).
The scenario campaign is a simple beat'em up, your goal is to fight wave after wave of enemies until you reach the boss at the end of the stage.
The controls are split in this mode, both the L Stick and D-Pad are used to move around the map. When you encounter enemies the control changes it becomes more like the controls used in the regular game, the L stick still lets you move around as normal but the D-Pad is used in the same way as in the arcade game, with the D-Pad you can jump, duck, and run when fighting an enemy.
Besides the movement the scenario campaign has the excact same controls as the regular Tekken 6.
Being honest the scenario campaign mode is a bit dull at first but once you start to drive deeper into it you find that there is alot more to it than meets the eye, as beat'em up's good this one is pretty good, it's not Madworld good but it is still a lot of fun, it is also very rewarding, just playing it unlocks content like new items and extras.
The games story is also well put together as well.
Tekken 6 takes place where Tekken 5 left off, Jin Kazama is the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu after winning the king of Iron Fist tournament 5, with the Tekken Force at his command he orders the complete take over of the world, months later small incidents turn into major conflicts with the Tekken Force dominating on all sides.
Unable to accept a world ruled by anyone but him self Kazuya Mishima (Now head of the opposing G corporation) puts a bounty on Jin.
In response the Mishima Zaibatsu announces the King of Iron Fist tournament 6.
The scenario campaign itself follows the story of Lars Alexandersson a Tekken Force commander who has gone against the company, only he can stop Jin's madness.
Also available is the arena mode which is a lot like the story mode from Tekken 5 only a lot weaker, it seems that the developers couldn't be bothered with it in this game, this time there are 4 stages as opposed to 8 and there are no cut scenes between fights, it is also very easy when compared to the regular arcade mode.
Multiplayer
The scenario campaign also has the option to play cooperatively either online or at home with friends, if anything this improves the experience because the scenario campaign was originally intended to be played cooperatively anyway.
As for the arcade game it is the same deal as always two fighters battle it out to see who is better, this can be played both online and offline.
Gameplay
Now lets talk about the real Tekken 6.
This home port of Tekken 6 isn't based off the 2007 arcade version, instead it is based off the updated version of Tekken 6 known as Bloodline Rebellion which came out in arcades a year ago.
The game features what is easily the biggest and best character roster for any Tekken game ever, the game brings back all of the characters from Tekken 5 and Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, it also features six new playable characters, these include Alisa Boskonovitch, a robot who can make jets and chainsaws pop out of her body, Bob, a morbidly obese freestyle karate practitioner, and Lars who I have already mentioned.
In all the game has 41 fighters to choose from, all available from the get go, no unlocking required.
The game is split into 2 modes, the online mode (which lets you play the game online) and the offline mode, where you can play the arcade version of Tekken 6, play time attack and so on.
Out of all the modes available in offline my favorite has to be the ghost mode, ghost mode is the same as the arcade mode from Tekken 5, the idea is to endlessly fight computer controlled characters or 'ghosts' as the game calls them, I know it dopesn't sound that good but there is one thing that caught my interest, in ghost mode you can go online and download 'ghosts', the ghost data is the records of other Tekken players, I'm a bit skeptical about this because of the ideal of being able to play a persons data offline, wouldn't it be the same as playing a computer controlled character?
Anyway as for the gameplay itself, two words, near perfection.
There is not such thing as a perfectly balanced fighting game but Tekken 6 comes as close as you can get, all the characters have their strengths and weaknesses (except for maybe Jin who was labeled as over balanced in Tekken 4 and 5).
The gameplay is really fast paced and well thought out I don't think I have every played anything this well built, the game tweaks and builds on everthing that was in Tekken 5, the result, better gameplay and more balanced characters, its a good thing they decided to base this off Bloodline rebellion because the original Tekken 6 was said to lack some fair character blance, some off the new characters were "too good".
Another thing that has been improved from Tekken 5 is the ability to customize characters. In Tekken 5 it was good but no where near the standard of the arcade version. In Tekken 6 it is just as good, the customization possibility's are almost endless, like Tekken but wish Street Fighter characters were in it, well now they can be. Thought the character customization was good in Soul Calibur IV well check out Tekken 6.
Now on to the negatives, so far this year we have several new major fighting games and they all seem to share the same problem.
All of these games have an over powered, unfair, cheap final boss.
You thought Seth in Street Fighter IV was bad well check out Azazel.
Azazel has got to be the most unfair boss I have ever fought in any fighting game ever. The first problem is defense, near enough every attack you do is blocked by Azazel, on the flip side some of Azazel attacks hurt you even if you have the guard damage switched off, too add no that it has some attacks that you can't even block.
The other problem with this boss is power, Azazel can kill you with a few hits, but to kill Azazel you have to be a master at juggling, because of Azazel's hard to break defense and extra large health bar you need to get in as many hits as possible while it is in midair (you can't defend in mid-air).
Cheap boss aside Tekken 6 is easily one of the best Fighters to come out this gen (if not the best), like most good fighters Tekken is easy to learn hard to master, you will become addicted.
Graphics and Sound
Tekken 6 is a beautiful game both visually and graphically, the games conversion from arcade to home has been a huge success, it looks almost as good as the arcade version.
The games sound track is the best since Tekken 3 no question, the sound track fits perfectly with all the levels, they hit all the right notes with this game.
Conclusion
Best Tekken game? Yes. Best fighter out this year? Possibly.
+ Well balanced gameplay
+ Stunning graphics
+ Amazing soundtrack
+ Character customization is huge
+ Scenario Campaign is good...
- ... but not for everyone
- Cheap boss
- Arena mode is weak.
10/10
NOTE: First of all I got the game 2 days before release, the review was put up the day the game went on sale, looking back I over rated the game, it is great but not a ten out of ten, the hype got the better of me. This is my first and only xbox 360 review no idea if I will do anymore.
15 years, that is how long it has been since the release of the first Tekken game, in those 15 years the Tekken series has evolved with each installment, Tekken started it all, Tekken 2 improved the gameplay, Tekken 3 helped revolutionize the 3D fighter, Tekken 4 added scenery and walls, Tekken 5 improved the game even further.
So can Tekken 6 keep up the pace or has the series reached it peak?
Single Player
Tekken 6 includes a new mode known as the scenario campaign, seeing how that covers the main story line I'll tell you about it first.
The scenario campaign is reminiscent of the Tekken force mini game that featured in Tekken 3 and 4 (which is why it is being referred to by fans as Tekken Force mode).
The scenario campaign is a simple beat'em up, your goal is to fight wave after wave of enemies until you reach the boss at the end of the stage.
The controls are split in this mode, both the L Stick and D-Pad are used to move around the map. When you encounter enemies the control changes it becomes more like the controls used in the regular game, the L stick still lets you move around as normal but the D-Pad is used in the same way as in the arcade game, with the D-Pad you can jump, duck, and run when fighting an enemy.
Besides the movement the scenario campaign has the excact same controls as the regular Tekken 6.
Being honest the scenario campaign mode is a bit dull at first but once you start to drive deeper into it you find that there is alot more to it than meets the eye, as beat'em up's good this one is pretty good, it's not Madworld good but it is still a lot of fun, it is also very rewarding, just playing it unlocks content like new items and extras.
The games story is also well put together as well.
Tekken 6 takes place where Tekken 5 left off, Jin Kazama is the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu after winning the king of Iron Fist tournament 5, with the Tekken Force at his command he orders the complete take over of the world, months later small incidents turn into major conflicts with the Tekken Force dominating on all sides.
Unable to accept a world ruled by anyone but him self Kazuya Mishima (Now head of the opposing G corporation) puts a bounty on Jin.
In response the Mishima Zaibatsu announces the King of Iron Fist tournament 6.
The scenario campaign itself follows the story of Lars Alexandersson a Tekken Force commander who has gone against the company, only he can stop Jin's madness.
Also available is the arena mode which is a lot like the story mode from Tekken 5 only a lot weaker, it seems that the developers couldn't be bothered with it in this game, this time there are 4 stages as opposed to 8 and there are no cut scenes between fights, it is also very easy when compared to the regular arcade mode.
Multiplayer
The scenario campaign also has the option to play cooperatively either online or at home with friends, if anything this improves the experience because the scenario campaign was originally intended to be played cooperatively anyway.
As for the arcade game it is the same deal as always two fighters battle it out to see who is better, this can be played both online and offline.
Gameplay
Now lets talk about the real Tekken 6.
This home port of Tekken 6 isn't based off the 2007 arcade version, instead it is based off the updated version of Tekken 6 known as Bloodline Rebellion which came out in arcades a year ago.
The game features what is easily the biggest and best character roster for any Tekken game ever, the game brings back all of the characters from Tekken 5 and Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, it also features six new playable characters, these include Alisa Boskonovitch, a robot who can make jets and chainsaws pop out of her body, Bob, a morbidly obese freestyle karate practitioner, and Lars who I have already mentioned.
In all the game has 41 fighters to choose from, all available from the get go, no unlocking required.
The game is split into 2 modes, the online mode (which lets you play the game online) and the offline mode, where you can play the arcade version of Tekken 6, play time attack and so on.
Out of all the modes available in offline my favorite has to be the ghost mode, ghost mode is the same as the arcade mode from Tekken 5, the idea is to endlessly fight computer controlled characters or 'ghosts' as the game calls them, I know it dopesn't sound that good but there is one thing that caught my interest, in ghost mode you can go online and download 'ghosts', the ghost data is the records of other Tekken players, I'm a bit skeptical about this because of the ideal of being able to play a persons data offline, wouldn't it be the same as playing a computer controlled character?
Anyway as for the gameplay itself, two words, near perfection.
There is not such thing as a perfectly balanced fighting game but Tekken 6 comes as close as you can get, all the characters have their strengths and weaknesses (except for maybe Jin who was labeled as over balanced in Tekken 4 and 5).
The gameplay is really fast paced and well thought out I don't think I have every played anything this well built, the game tweaks and builds on everthing that was in Tekken 5, the result, better gameplay and more balanced characters, its a good thing they decided to base this off Bloodline rebellion because the original Tekken 6 was said to lack some fair character blance, some off the new characters were "too good".
Another thing that has been improved from Tekken 5 is the ability to customize characters. In Tekken 5 it was good but no where near the standard of the arcade version. In Tekken 6 it is just as good, the customization possibility's are almost endless, like Tekken but wish Street Fighter characters were in it, well now they can be. Thought the character customization was good in Soul Calibur IV well check out Tekken 6.
Now on to the negatives, so far this year we have several new major fighting games and they all seem to share the same problem.
All of these games have an over powered, unfair, cheap final boss.
You thought Seth in Street Fighter IV was bad well check out Azazel.
Azazel has got to be the most unfair boss I have ever fought in any fighting game ever. The first problem is defense, near enough every attack you do is blocked by Azazel, on the flip side some of Azazel attacks hurt you even if you have the guard damage switched off, too add no that it has some attacks that you can't even block.
The other problem with this boss is power, Azazel can kill you with a few hits, but to kill Azazel you have to be a master at juggling, because of Azazel's hard to break defense and extra large health bar you need to get in as many hits as possible while it is in midair (you can't defend in mid-air).
Cheap boss aside Tekken 6 is easily one of the best Fighters to come out this gen (if not the best), like most good fighters Tekken is easy to learn hard to master, you will become addicted.
Graphics and Sound
Tekken 6 is a beautiful game both visually and graphically, the games conversion from arcade to home has been a huge success, it looks almost as good as the arcade version.
The games sound track is the best since Tekken 3 no question, the sound track fits perfectly with all the levels, they hit all the right notes with this game.
Conclusion
Best Tekken game? Yes. Best fighter out this year? Possibly.
+ Well balanced gameplay
+ Stunning graphics
+ Amazing soundtrack
+ Character customization is huge
+ Scenario Campaign is good...
- ... but not for everyone
- Cheap boss
- Arena mode is weak.
10/10
NOTE: First of all I got the game 2 days before release, the review was put up the day the game went on sale, looking back I over rated the game, it is great but not a ten out of ten, the hype got the better of me. This is my first and only xbox 360 review no idea if I will do anymore.
Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers NES review
Introduction
With films like Alvin and the chipmunks 2 being released in cinemas is it any wonder that people hate chipmunks these day.
But what about 20 years ago, back then chipmunks were cool, we had the Alvin and the chipmunks cartoon (awesome) and Disney's Chip 'N Dale Rescue rangers (double awesome).
Single Player
This game like Duck Tales was developed by Capcom and shared many similarities with the cartoon it was based on and Capcom's MegaMan games.
The single player mode allows you too play as either Chip or Dale who are on a quest to rescue their friend gadget and defeat the evil Fat Cat once and for all.
Multiplayer
The best thing about the game is its brilliant co-op multiplayer, alone this game is good but with a friend it is brilliant.
Gameplay
The game itself is a mix of Megaman and Super Mario 2.
The game has similar gameplay and physics to MegaMan but it also takes ideas from mario two like how you kill enemies by throwing things at them.
Control wise they are the same as Super Mario 2 only difference is that pressing down and jumping lets you jump down platforms instead of doing a super jump.
In the game you have three types of items that you can pick up and use.
The first are the boxes, you can throw these at enemies and you can hide in them by pressing down, they do not affect your speed.
The second item is the Tomato's, likes the boxes you can pick them up and throw them at enemies, unlike the boxes the Tomato's are much bigger and slow you down when you carry them.
The last item are the bombs, these things can explode but they are more powerful than the other throwing weapons.
There are also items and power ups that you can find along the way.
There is the acorn that recovers your health, the P bottle that seems to do nothing at all, the stars, collect so many and a one up appears. There are also big boxes that contain special items, it can range from a bee that gives you invincibility and kills all enemies in sight or cheese that makes one of the rescue rangers appear and destroy fences and walls blocking your way.
The enemies themselves are easy to kill and they all go down with one hit, there are variations, like the mechanical dogs that are are the games box art and some bears that shoot snoot from a gun.
In the game you get a map screen so you get to choose what levels you do, thanks to this the game can be fairly long (for nes), or really short.
At the end of each stage you fight a boss, after you beat the boss you get a bonus stage. A quick tip for the bonus stage, ignore all other boxes and go for the top middle one as they always contain a 1 up.
The game itself isn't very hard, but it does provide some challenge.
In terms of lifespan the game isn't long but it has some replay value so you can go back to it any day.
Alone or with friends the game is great fun.
Graphics&Sound
With it being Capcom the graphic are good for NES and they look just like the MegaMan games.
The music is great too, another thing this shares with duck tales.
Conclusion
If you own an nes and are looking for some sweet co-op action get this.
+ Great 8-bit graphics
+ Nice 8 bit tunes
+ Good blend of balanced gameplay
+ It's like MegaMan
- Fairly easy
- fairly short
8/10
With films like Alvin and the chipmunks 2 being released in cinemas is it any wonder that people hate chipmunks these day.
But what about 20 years ago, back then chipmunks were cool, we had the Alvin and the chipmunks cartoon (awesome) and Disney's Chip 'N Dale Rescue rangers (double awesome).
Single Player
This game like Duck Tales was developed by Capcom and shared many similarities with the cartoon it was based on and Capcom's MegaMan games.
The single player mode allows you too play as either Chip or Dale who are on a quest to rescue their friend gadget and defeat the evil Fat Cat once and for all.
Multiplayer
The best thing about the game is its brilliant co-op multiplayer, alone this game is good but with a friend it is brilliant.
Gameplay
The game itself is a mix of Megaman and Super Mario 2.
The game has similar gameplay and physics to MegaMan but it also takes ideas from mario two like how you kill enemies by throwing things at them.
Control wise they are the same as Super Mario 2 only difference is that pressing down and jumping lets you jump down platforms instead of doing a super jump.
In the game you have three types of items that you can pick up and use.
The first are the boxes, you can throw these at enemies and you can hide in them by pressing down, they do not affect your speed.
The second item is the Tomato's, likes the boxes you can pick them up and throw them at enemies, unlike the boxes the Tomato's are much bigger and slow you down when you carry them.
The last item are the bombs, these things can explode but they are more powerful than the other throwing weapons.
There are also items and power ups that you can find along the way.
There is the acorn that recovers your health, the P bottle that seems to do nothing at all, the stars, collect so many and a one up appears. There are also big boxes that contain special items, it can range from a bee that gives you invincibility and kills all enemies in sight or cheese that makes one of the rescue rangers appear and destroy fences and walls blocking your way.
The enemies themselves are easy to kill and they all go down with one hit, there are variations, like the mechanical dogs that are are the games box art and some bears that shoot snoot from a gun.
In the game you get a map screen so you get to choose what levels you do, thanks to this the game can be fairly long (for nes), or really short.
At the end of each stage you fight a boss, after you beat the boss you get a bonus stage. A quick tip for the bonus stage, ignore all other boxes and go for the top middle one as they always contain a 1 up.
The game itself isn't very hard, but it does provide some challenge.
In terms of lifespan the game isn't long but it has some replay value so you can go back to it any day.
Alone or with friends the game is great fun.
Graphics&Sound
With it being Capcom the graphic are good for NES and they look just like the MegaMan games.
The music is great too, another thing this shares with duck tales.
Conclusion
If you own an nes and are looking for some sweet co-op action get this.
+ Great 8-bit graphics
+ Nice 8 bit tunes
+ Good blend of balanced gameplay
+ It's like MegaMan
- Fairly easy
- fairly short
8/10
Bart Vs The Space Mutants NES Review.
Introduction
Can you belive that is has now been 20 years since the first episode of The Simpsons aired?
The Simpsons is one of, if not the best know TV show on the planet.
In 1990 Acclaim released Bart Vs The Space Mutants on NES, Master System and Game Gear.
I've owned the game gear version and I can tell you now that it is the best of all three 8-bit versions.
But that isn't saying much!
Single Player
The game is based on the first season of the simpsons so don't expect any references to well know episodes. The story is about some aliens who are plotting to take over the world with a super weapon.
The super weapon can only be powered by certain things though. This weapon needs purple things to power it.
So you play as Bart Simpson going around getting rid of anything purple.
To quote the games box:
"Hello, fellow humans!
Bartholomew J.Simpson here, with a very important secret: SPACE MUTANTS ARE INVADING SPRINGFIELD!"
Now if you know this why are you keeping it a secret seriously.
In fact according to the box:
"Only Bart can see the space mutants with his X-ray glasses."
Then why do you give the glasses to someone else so that they will believe you, idiot.
One thing that does make me laugh is this last paragraph:
"So if you're a decent person a patriot, and somebody who cares about this sorry planet, you'll do the right thing. Save the Earth! BUY THIS GAME!
Thanks man."
Gameplay
It sucks, there isn't anything else I can say about it, it just sucks.
The game is a standard platformer you go from left to right getting past enemies, should be too hard but there are two problems.
One, the enemies are invincible, you can not kill them.
Two the controls are broken.
These two problems alone kill the game.
One thing that I hate about this game are the controls, get this you press the A button to jump and you hold down the A button to run, this makes jumping over things really awkward, its almost impossible to do, which is a problem when you are trying to jump over the invincible enemies.
The movement controls don't help either, the control is terrible.
I'll be honest I can't get past the first stage of the game,you get 3 lives with no check points or continues. For these reasons I cannot ever see myself completing this game.
If you do complete this game you should get a medal, you should then be sent to a mental asylum for putting yourself though it.
The game has near to no lifespan at all, if you are good enough to get past the first level chances are you won't be playing for much longer as the game is said to get harder as it goes on.
Each stage has you go after things that power the aliens machine so you cannot complete a stage unless you get rid of near to every item.
To add to that some of the methods for getting rid of the tiems are ridiculous, you wouldn't think to buy a wrench to turn on the fire hydrant so that you could wash away wet paint.
The B button is used to spray paint over the objects in the first stage but after that there won't be much use for it.
Graphics and Sound
For NES I wouldn't call the graphics bad, but they are not very good either, the best looking thin in the game i Bart and even then he is oddly drawn, his nose disappears whenever he faces the screen.
Everything else in the game, namely the aliens and the people look bland and uninspired. The best looking thin in the game is the back grounds.
The sound is terrible, the music is just the simpsons theme looped over and over throughout the entire game, even the sega version had different music for each stage.
Conclusion
This was the first of many simpsons games but I'd say that this was by far one of the worst.
+ It's the Simpsons
+ Good for nostalga
- It has a rubbish looping sound track.
- Crippled controls
- overall terrible gameplay
- no continues
4/10
NOTE: Not one of my favourite reviews but I couldn't stand this game and felt like giving a game a negative review because I'll be honest I haven't done that much.
Can you belive that is has now been 20 years since the first episode of The Simpsons aired?
The Simpsons is one of, if not the best know TV show on the planet.
In 1990 Acclaim released Bart Vs The Space Mutants on NES, Master System and Game Gear.
I've owned the game gear version and I can tell you now that it is the best of all three 8-bit versions.
But that isn't saying much!
Single Player
The game is based on the first season of the simpsons so don't expect any references to well know episodes. The story is about some aliens who are plotting to take over the world with a super weapon.
The super weapon can only be powered by certain things though. This weapon needs purple things to power it.
So you play as Bart Simpson going around getting rid of anything purple.
To quote the games box:
"Hello, fellow humans!
Bartholomew J.Simpson here, with a very important secret: SPACE MUTANTS ARE INVADING SPRINGFIELD!"
Now if you know this why are you keeping it a secret seriously.
In fact according to the box:
"Only Bart can see the space mutants with his X-ray glasses."
Then why do you give the glasses to someone else so that they will believe you, idiot.
One thing that does make me laugh is this last paragraph:
"So if you're a decent person a patriot, and somebody who cares about this sorry planet, you'll do the right thing. Save the Earth! BUY THIS GAME!
Thanks man."
Gameplay
It sucks, there isn't anything else I can say about it, it just sucks.
The game is a standard platformer you go from left to right getting past enemies, should be too hard but there are two problems.
One, the enemies are invincible, you can not kill them.
Two the controls are broken.
These two problems alone kill the game.
One thing that I hate about this game are the controls, get this you press the A button to jump and you hold down the A button to run, this makes jumping over things really awkward, its almost impossible to do, which is a problem when you are trying to jump over the invincible enemies.
The movement controls don't help either, the control is terrible.
I'll be honest I can't get past the first stage of the game,you get 3 lives with no check points or continues. For these reasons I cannot ever see myself completing this game.
If you do complete this game you should get a medal, you should then be sent to a mental asylum for putting yourself though it.
The game has near to no lifespan at all, if you are good enough to get past the first level chances are you won't be playing for much longer as the game is said to get harder as it goes on.
Each stage has you go after things that power the aliens machine so you cannot complete a stage unless you get rid of near to every item.
To add to that some of the methods for getting rid of the tiems are ridiculous, you wouldn't think to buy a wrench to turn on the fire hydrant so that you could wash away wet paint.
The B button is used to spray paint over the objects in the first stage but after that there won't be much use for it.
Graphics and Sound
For NES I wouldn't call the graphics bad, but they are not very good either, the best looking thin in the game i Bart and even then he is oddly drawn, his nose disappears whenever he faces the screen.
Everything else in the game, namely the aliens and the people look bland and uninspired. The best looking thin in the game is the back grounds.
The sound is terrible, the music is just the simpsons theme looped over and over throughout the entire game, even the sega version had different music for each stage.
Conclusion
This was the first of many simpsons games but I'd say that this was by far one of the worst.
+ It's the Simpsons
+ Good for nostalga
- It has a rubbish looping sound track.
- Crippled controls
- overall terrible gameplay
- no continues
4/10
NOTE: Not one of my favourite reviews but I couldn't stand this game and felt like giving a game a negative review because I'll be honest I haven't done that much.
Golden Sun Game Boy Advance Review
Introduction
Camelot the company famous for golf and tennis games.
Their most popular games include Everybody's golf, Mario golf and Mario tennis.
So how do they cope when they swap golf clubs for swords?
In 2001 Camelot released Golden Sun for GBA, the first 32-bit handheld system. Until Golden Sun all other RPG's had been ports of SNES games.
The game was published by Nintendo, who in all fairness has a good record as far as RPG's go.
Single Player
The games story revolves around the elemental science known as Alchemy and the magical power known as Psynergy.
You take the role of Isaac a boy from a village called Vale.
One day Isaac's life is changed after Vale is nearly destroyed by a land slide, many are lost including Isaac's friend Felix.
3 years later Isaac is assigned with preventing the return of alchemy after the elemental stars are stolen from Mt.Aleph by two fire adapts known as Saturos and Menardi.
Can Isaac stop the return of alchemy?
Multiplayer
The game features a mode that lets you battle with other Golden Sun owners, which is quite different because most RPG's don't have that.
The game also lets you link up to Golden Sun: The lost age.
Gameplay
There are many turn based RPG's out there but Golden Sun does a good job of standing out.
Golden sun is at first your typical turn based RPG, you run around, get into random fights, kill stuff, gain exp all the usual stuff. But in golden sun it isn't all about grinding (in fact you end the game at about level 30).
Like i said the game play in general isn't anything special, it plays just like every other RPG you would have played, the reason golden sun stands out is because of its class system, the class system plays a huge role in the game, without it the game would be impossible to beat.
In the game you have several classes, you have a balanced classes, offensive classes, magic classes and so on.
The class system is controlled using magical creatures known as Djinn, there are four types of Djinn, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, each has their own advantages, try using different Djinn on your characters, there are certain spells and ability's that can only be gained using Djinn.
Djinn are more helpful than level ups will ever be, using them can double you stats, to add to that you can set you Djinn's on and off.
Setting them on increases your stats and lets you use different spells and ability's.
On the other hand setting them off lets you summon creatures to assist you in battle. At the end of the day your skill is determined by how well you use your Djinn.
And that is why Golden Sun stands out, it is one of the few RPG's were grinding isn't important, very few RPG's are like that in fact there is only one other RPG I can think that works like golden sun (Final Fantasy VIII).
There is also one other area where the game stands out, in golden sun you have a power known as Psynergy. Phynergy is the power to do things with your mind for example more objects, see hidden things and read peoples mind, in all fairness it does add some more variety to the game play and it does make for some interesting puzzles.
Graphics and Sound
Golden Sun has what were probably the best graphics on the GBA at the time, even later in the consoles life the graphics still stood out as some of the best.
As for the music, well it is a good enough sound track but not the best I have heard in an RPG.
Conclusion
In all golden sun is one of the GBA's best games, I strongly recommend this to any RPG fan.
+ Good Graphics.
+ Has interesting characters.
+ Brilliant Class system.
+ Psynergy adds variety to the gameplay.
- Can leave you confused at times.
9/10
Camelot the company famous for golf and tennis games.
Their most popular games include Everybody's golf, Mario golf and Mario tennis.
So how do they cope when they swap golf clubs for swords?
In 2001 Camelot released Golden Sun for GBA, the first 32-bit handheld system. Until Golden Sun all other RPG's had been ports of SNES games.
The game was published by Nintendo, who in all fairness has a good record as far as RPG's go.
Single Player
The games story revolves around the elemental science known as Alchemy and the magical power known as Psynergy.
You take the role of Isaac a boy from a village called Vale.
One day Isaac's life is changed after Vale is nearly destroyed by a land slide, many are lost including Isaac's friend Felix.
3 years later Isaac is assigned with preventing the return of alchemy after the elemental stars are stolen from Mt.Aleph by two fire adapts known as Saturos and Menardi.
Can Isaac stop the return of alchemy?
Multiplayer
The game features a mode that lets you battle with other Golden Sun owners, which is quite different because most RPG's don't have that.
The game also lets you link up to Golden Sun: The lost age.
Gameplay
There are many turn based RPG's out there but Golden Sun does a good job of standing out.
Golden sun is at first your typical turn based RPG, you run around, get into random fights, kill stuff, gain exp all the usual stuff. But in golden sun it isn't all about grinding (in fact you end the game at about level 30).
Like i said the game play in general isn't anything special, it plays just like every other RPG you would have played, the reason golden sun stands out is because of its class system, the class system plays a huge role in the game, without it the game would be impossible to beat.
In the game you have several classes, you have a balanced classes, offensive classes, magic classes and so on.
The class system is controlled using magical creatures known as Djinn, there are four types of Djinn, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, each has their own advantages, try using different Djinn on your characters, there are certain spells and ability's that can only be gained using Djinn.
Djinn are more helpful than level ups will ever be, using them can double you stats, to add to that you can set you Djinn's on and off.
Setting them on increases your stats and lets you use different spells and ability's.
On the other hand setting them off lets you summon creatures to assist you in battle. At the end of the day your skill is determined by how well you use your Djinn.
And that is why Golden Sun stands out, it is one of the few RPG's were grinding isn't important, very few RPG's are like that in fact there is only one other RPG I can think that works like golden sun (Final Fantasy VIII).
There is also one other area where the game stands out, in golden sun you have a power known as Psynergy. Phynergy is the power to do things with your mind for example more objects, see hidden things and read peoples mind, in all fairness it does add some more variety to the game play and it does make for some interesting puzzles.
Graphics and Sound
Golden Sun has what were probably the best graphics on the GBA at the time, even later in the consoles life the graphics still stood out as some of the best.
As for the music, well it is a good enough sound track but not the best I have heard in an RPG.
Conclusion
In all golden sun is one of the GBA's best games, I strongly recommend this to any RPG fan.
+ Good Graphics.
+ Has interesting characters.
+ Brilliant Class system.
+ Psynergy adds variety to the gameplay.
- Can leave you confused at times.
9/10
Beyond Good & Evil Game Cube Review
Introduction
In gaming there seems to be a lot of good games that don't quite get the sales they deserve, Capcom's Okami, Sony's Ico and Platinum Games Madworld all being prime examples.
Beyond good and evil just so happens to be one of those games.
This is odd really considering that this game had something that the other three didn't, good advertising.
The game is designed by Michel Ancel, the creator of the Rayman games.
Single Player
The game is set on a planet known as Hillys a once peaceful place that is now plagued by war.
You take the role of Jade, a reporter who lives on Hillys with her uncle Pey'j (Who is some sort of man-pig).
As I said Hillys is at war with a race or aliens known as the DomZ.
Jade lives in an island lighthouse that acts as an orphanage for children who are affected by the war.
The people of Hillys are protected by a military group known as the Alpha sections, but the Alpha Sections seem incapable of doing just that. Because of this people across Hillys start to grow suspicious and uneasy, there is something that the Alpha Sections aren't telling us and it is up to Jade to solve the conspiracy using the greatest weapon known to man... the truth.
Gameplay
Beyond Good & Evil is a jack of all trades, it comes under different genres, it is mainly a 3rd person action adventure, but it also comes under the category of racing and stealth.
I'll start with the adventure aspect. Playing it this game reminded me of Jak 2 for some reason, it may have been because of the story and setting, think about it you are a member of a resistance that is trying to take down an oppressive government, you drive vehicles and always have a partner following you.
It also reminds me of Zelda, you fight enemies with a weapon, you explore the world, you go through multiple lairs/dungeons (what ever you want to call it), you take part in multiple side quests, you jump at the end of the ledge ect. The game does play like Zelda, which isn't really a surprise when you consider that Zelda is the base for most adventure games. That doesn't make it a copy of Zelda though, far from it.
The game has an emphasis on team work, in the game you have a partner who helps you fight and solve puzzles, you can give items to your partner if need be, your partner plays a big role in this game you can't really do anything without him.
Next is the travel the game lets you drive two vehicles, the hovercraft and the space ship.
The hovercraft is your standard vehicle you use it to travel around Hillys, it drives just like a car would, and you can upgrade your hover craft by buying vehicle parts from the black market. The hovercraft is also used in some of the side quests such as racing and chasing looters.
The hovercraft can also be used in combat thanks to its gun.
The other vehicle is the space ship you can used this to fly around Hillys you get it pretty late in the game so there isn't really that much to see and do once you've obtained it.
Now to move on to the games more interesting feature, the camera. Remember the camera in Zelda Wind Waker, well this is just like that.
The camera plays a huge part in the game, you use it in main story to gather evidence of the conspiracy, the camera can be also be used to take personal pictures that you want to keep. The great thing about the camera is its importance, a lot of focus went into it, you can use it to decipher codes and you can use it to take pictures of animals for research. The camera mode can also be used to do long range attacks.
On to one of the games more interesting elements now, stealth.
The games stealth is pretty good, every now and then you come to a section where you have to sneak past a group of alpha section guards, to be honest this is a bit like Metal Gear Solid you are meant to sneak past the guards but doesn't mean you have to, if you want you can kill them instead (Which isn't easy when they are in a group). The stealth isn't perfect but it does work well and it does build up a good amount of tension when playing the game.
The game also has several mini games, these are here for the side quests the games are a novelty more than anything.
The games combat is pretty good too, it is like a mix between Starfox Adventures and a Hack n Slash game. You can take on multiple enemies at once without having to focus on just the one, so yeah the combat is pretty good.
The game has quite a big focus on collecting stuff as well, in the game you have to collect pearls to be able to buy things from the black market, to get pearls you have to find them, most of the pearls are obtained in the main story but you can get even more doing the side quests. Other collectables in the game include stuff like health upgrades which are pretty much standard among adventure games these days.
One thing that does make this game stand out well is the way it is presented, the game feels like a movie at times, you have many scenes that stick with you (Like the roof top chase near the end of the game) it makes the game feel like an epic.
On to the negatives now I have two complaints.
There is a lot of try and die in the stealth sections, there are some parts of the game where being spotted means instant death.
The game isn't as long as it should be, in all it is about ten hours long which isn't much for a game that passes itself off as an epic.
Graphics and Sound
For what they are the graphics in this game are pretty damn good in fact they almost look as good as the games artwork (The box art being the best example).
The music is great too it all fits in with the situation that you are in. The most interesting part of the sound track is that some of the songs are in Spanish which makes it sound cooler because I don't understand a word of it.
Conclusion
It really should have sold better. Good news for those who never got to play this there is a sequel in the works, well there was a sequel in the works. Word on the net is that Ubisoft want to can it.
+ Nice Graphics
+ Interesting if humorous story
+ Some nice ideas
+ Jack of all trades...
- ...Master of none.
- Some annoying try and die
- Bit on the short side.
9/10
In gaming there seems to be a lot of good games that don't quite get the sales they deserve, Capcom's Okami, Sony's Ico and Platinum Games Madworld all being prime examples.
Beyond good and evil just so happens to be one of those games.
This is odd really considering that this game had something that the other three didn't, good advertising.
The game is designed by Michel Ancel, the creator of the Rayman games.
Single Player
The game is set on a planet known as Hillys a once peaceful place that is now plagued by war.
You take the role of Jade, a reporter who lives on Hillys with her uncle Pey'j (Who is some sort of man-pig).
As I said Hillys is at war with a race or aliens known as the DomZ.
Jade lives in an island lighthouse that acts as an orphanage for children who are affected by the war.
The people of Hillys are protected by a military group known as the Alpha sections, but the Alpha Sections seem incapable of doing just that. Because of this people across Hillys start to grow suspicious and uneasy, there is something that the Alpha Sections aren't telling us and it is up to Jade to solve the conspiracy using the greatest weapon known to man... the truth.
Gameplay
Beyond Good & Evil is a jack of all trades, it comes under different genres, it is mainly a 3rd person action adventure, but it also comes under the category of racing and stealth.
I'll start with the adventure aspect. Playing it this game reminded me of Jak 2 for some reason, it may have been because of the story and setting, think about it you are a member of a resistance that is trying to take down an oppressive government, you drive vehicles and always have a partner following you.
It also reminds me of Zelda, you fight enemies with a weapon, you explore the world, you go through multiple lairs/dungeons (what ever you want to call it), you take part in multiple side quests, you jump at the end of the ledge ect. The game does play like Zelda, which isn't really a surprise when you consider that Zelda is the base for most adventure games. That doesn't make it a copy of Zelda though, far from it.
The game has an emphasis on team work, in the game you have a partner who helps you fight and solve puzzles, you can give items to your partner if need be, your partner plays a big role in this game you can't really do anything without him.
Next is the travel the game lets you drive two vehicles, the hovercraft and the space ship.
The hovercraft is your standard vehicle you use it to travel around Hillys, it drives just like a car would, and you can upgrade your hover craft by buying vehicle parts from the black market. The hovercraft is also used in some of the side quests such as racing and chasing looters.
The hovercraft can also be used in combat thanks to its gun.
The other vehicle is the space ship you can used this to fly around Hillys you get it pretty late in the game so there isn't really that much to see and do once you've obtained it.
Now to move on to the games more interesting feature, the camera. Remember the camera in Zelda Wind Waker, well this is just like that.
The camera plays a huge part in the game, you use it in main story to gather evidence of the conspiracy, the camera can be also be used to take personal pictures that you want to keep. The great thing about the camera is its importance, a lot of focus went into it, you can use it to decipher codes and you can use it to take pictures of animals for research. The camera mode can also be used to do long range attacks.
On to one of the games more interesting elements now, stealth.
The games stealth is pretty good, every now and then you come to a section where you have to sneak past a group of alpha section guards, to be honest this is a bit like Metal Gear Solid you are meant to sneak past the guards but doesn't mean you have to, if you want you can kill them instead (Which isn't easy when they are in a group). The stealth isn't perfect but it does work well and it does build up a good amount of tension when playing the game.
The game also has several mini games, these are here for the side quests the games are a novelty more than anything.
The games combat is pretty good too, it is like a mix between Starfox Adventures and a Hack n Slash game. You can take on multiple enemies at once without having to focus on just the one, so yeah the combat is pretty good.
The game has quite a big focus on collecting stuff as well, in the game you have to collect pearls to be able to buy things from the black market, to get pearls you have to find them, most of the pearls are obtained in the main story but you can get even more doing the side quests. Other collectables in the game include stuff like health upgrades which are pretty much standard among adventure games these days.
One thing that does make this game stand out well is the way it is presented, the game feels like a movie at times, you have many scenes that stick with you (Like the roof top chase near the end of the game) it makes the game feel like an epic.
On to the negatives now I have two complaints.
There is a lot of try and die in the stealth sections, there are some parts of the game where being spotted means instant death.
The game isn't as long as it should be, in all it is about ten hours long which isn't much for a game that passes itself off as an epic.
Graphics and Sound
For what they are the graphics in this game are pretty damn good in fact they almost look as good as the games artwork (The box art being the best example).
The music is great too it all fits in with the situation that you are in. The most interesting part of the sound track is that some of the songs are in Spanish which makes it sound cooler because I don't understand a word of it.
Conclusion
It really should have sold better. Good news for those who never got to play this there is a sequel in the works, well there was a sequel in the works. Word on the net is that Ubisoft want to can it.
+ Nice Graphics
+ Interesting if humorous story
+ Some nice ideas
+ Jack of all trades...
- ...Master of none.
- Some annoying try and die
- Bit on the short side.
9/10
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