View Full Version : Ayen's Video Game Reviews
I got the idea to do this from Pumpkin's Video Game Diary (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162058-Pumpkin-s-Video-Game-Diary!). Instead of having all my reviews spread out over the forums, I thought I'd have one big thread where I can post them all. Just like on Pumpkin's thread I'll link to them in the first post, and in addition I have EVERY review I posted on EoFF since joining in 2013 linked below so you can find them all easier.
Dark Souls (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1554-Dark-Souls) [10.07.13]
Darksiders (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1556-Darksiders) [10.14.13]
Devil May Cry (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1560-Devil-May-Cry) [10.21.13]
F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1571-F-E-A-R-2-Project-Origin) [10.28.13]
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1575-The-Legend-of-Zelda-Ocarina-of-Time) [11.04.13]
Metal Gear Solid (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1583-Metal-Gear-Solid) [11.11.13]
Super Mario Bros/Sonic the Hedgehog (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1596-Super-Mario-Bros-Sonic-the-Hedgehog) [11.18.13]
Atari Anniversary Edition Redux (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1605-Atari-Anniversary-Edition-Redux) [11.25.13]
Game Dev Tycoon (http://home.eyesonff.com/entry.php/1612-Game-Dev-Tycoon) [12.02.13]
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160623-The-Lord-of-the-Rings-The-Return-of-the-King-Review?p=3492846#post3492846) [12.09.13]
Assassin's Creed II (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/153426-Assassin-s-Creed-II-Review?p=3346088#post3346088) [12.16.13]
StarCraft (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/153590-StarCraft-Review?p=3350147#post3350147) [12.23.13]
Ninja Gaiden (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/153807-Ninja-Gaiden-Review?p=3354006#post3354006) [12.30.13]
Final Fantasy VIII (http://home.eyesonff.com/content.php/2994-Final-Fantasy-VIII-Review) [01.06.14]
Dust: An Elysian Tail (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/154102-Dust-An-Elysian-Tail?p=3361584#post3361584) [01.13.14]
Katamari Damacy (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/154282-Katamari-Damacy-Review?p=3364992#post3364992) [01.20.14]
Batman Arkham Origins (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/154394-Batman-Arkham-Origins-Review?p=3368332#post3368332) [01.27.14]
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/155669-StarCraft-II-Wings-of-Liberty?highlight=StarCraft+Wings+Liberty+Review) [04.21.14]
Final Fantasy VII (http://home.eyesonff.com/content.php/3079-Final-Fantasy-VII-Review) [04.28.14]
Final Fantasy IX (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159059-Final-Fantasy-IX-Review?highlight=Final+Fantasy+Review) [05.19.14]
Secret of Evermore (http://home.eyesonff.com/content.php/3344-Secret-of-Evermore-Review) [06.09.14]
Super Mario RPG (http://home.eyesonff.com/content.php/3317-ToriJ-reviews-Super-Mario-RPG) [06.16.14]
The Last of Us (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/157961-ToriJ-reviews-The-Last-of-Us?p=3442348#post3442348) [06.23.14]
Deadpool (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/157963-ToriJ-reviews-Deadpool?p=3442356#post3442356) [06.30.14]
Game of Thrones (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/157969-ToriJ-reviews-Game-of-Thrones?p=3442597#post3442597) [07.07.14]
Metal Gear Solid 4 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/158119-Metal-Gear-Solid-4-Guns-of-the-Patriots-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3446064#post3446064) [07.14.14]
inFAMOUS (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/158370-Infamous-Review?p=3449780#post3449780) [07.21.14]
inFAMOUS 2 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/158510-Infamous-2-Review?p=3452955#post3452955) [07.28.14]
The Walking Dead Season One (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/158706-The-Walking-Dead-Season-One-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3457611#post3457611) [08.06.14]
Tomb Raider (2013) (http://home.eyesonff.com/content.php/3334-Tomb-Raider-Review) [08.13.14]
Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/158932-Doctor-Who-The-Eternity-Clock-Review?p=3461397#post3461397) [08.20.14]
DmC: Devil May Cry (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159050-DmC-Devil-May-Cry-(Spoilers)?p=3463608#post3463608) [08.27.14]
F.3.A.R. (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159145-F-E-A-R-3-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3465291#post3465291) [09.03.14]
Darksiders II (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159308-Darksiders-II-Review?p=3468174#post3468174) [09.17.14]
Final Fantasy XII (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159421-Final-Fantasy-XII-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3470082#post3470082) [09.24.14]
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159534-Castlevania-Symphony-of-the-Night-Review?p=3471951#post3471951) [10.01.14]
Luigi's Mansion (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159628-Luigi-s-Mansion-Review?p=3473704#post3473704) [10.08.14]
BioShock (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159745-BioShock-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3475593#post3475593) [10.15.14]
Resident Evil (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159852-Resident-Evil-Review?p=3477316#post3477316) [10.22.14]
Silent Hill (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/159896-Silent-Hill-Review?p=3477913#post3477913) [10.29.14]
Yars' Revenge (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160010-Yars-Revenge-Review?p=3479440#post3479440) [11.05.14]
Super Mario Bros/Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160162-Super-Mario-Bros-Sonic-the-Hedgehog-2-Review?p=3481687#post3481687) [11.12.14]
Final Fantasy IV (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160471-Final-Fantasy-IV-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3488944#post3488944) [11.19.14]
Morrowind (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160472-Morrowind-Review?p=3488948#post3488948) [11.26.14]
San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160473-San-Franciso-Rush-Extreme-Racing-Review?p=3488950#post3488950) [12.03.14]
Dragon Rage (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160474-Dragon-Rage-Review?p=3488952#post3488952) [12.10.14]
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160623-The-Lord-of-the-Rings-The-Return-of-the-King-Review?p=3492846#post3492846) [12.17.14]
Shadow of the Beast (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160781-Shadow-of-the-Beast-Review?p=3495146#post3495146) [12.24.14]
Fallout (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/160894-Fallout-Review?p=3496960#post3496960) [12.31.14]
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161087-Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-Review?p=3500669#post3500669) [01.07.15]
F.E.A.R. Online (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161234-F-E-A-R-Online-Review?p=3503867#post3503867) [01.14.15]
Final Fantasy VI (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161368-Final-Fantasy-VI-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3506800#post3506800)[01.21.15]
Super Mario Bros Movie (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161489-Super-Mario-Bros-Movie-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3509730#post3509730) [01.28.15]
Street Fighter II Champion Edition (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161576-Street-Fighter-II-Champion-Edition-Review?p=3511875#post3511875) [02.04.15]
Mortal Kombat (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161668-Mortal-Kombat-Review) [02.11.15]
Soul Blade (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161768-Soul-Blade-Review?p=3515541#post3515541) [02.18.15]
Tekken (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161874-Tekken-Review) [02.25.15]
Beyond Two Souls (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/161956-Beyond-Two-Souls-Review-(Spoilers)) [03.04.15]
The Walking Dead Season Two (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162020-The-Walking-Dead-Season-Two-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3520462#post3520462) [03.11.15]
Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162100-Resident-Evil-3-Nemesis-Review-(Spoilers)?p=3521815#post3521815) [03.18.15]
Silent Hill 3 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162184-Silent-Hill-3-Review-(Spoilers)) [03.25.15]
WWF WrestleMania 2000 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162242-WWF-WrestleMania-2000-Review) [04.01.15]
The Legend of Zelda (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162292-The-Legend-of-Zelda-Review) [04.08.15]
Final Fantasy (http://home.eyesonff.com/content.php/3546-Final-Fantasy-Review) [04.15.15.]
Street Fighter Movie (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162483-Street-Fighter-Review?p=3528340#post3528340) [04.22.15]
Monster Rancher (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews-(Reviewing-games-new-and-old-since-2011)?p=3529262&viewfull=1#post3529262) [04.26.15]
Metal Gear (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews-(Reviewing-games-new-and-old-since-2011)?p=3529742&viewfull=1#post3529742) [04.29.15]
Crash Bandicoot (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews-(Reviewing-games-new-and-old-since-2011)?p=3530721&viewfull=1#post3530721) [05.03.15]
Rush 2 Extreme Racing USA (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews-(Reviewing-games-new-and-old-since-2011)?p=3531411&viewfull=1#post3531411) [05.06.15]
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews-(Reviewing-games-new-and-old-since-2011)?p=3532201#post3532201) [05.10.15]
Xenogears (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews-%28Reviewing-games-new-and-old-since-2011%29?p=3533220&viewfull=1#post3533220) [05.13.15]
Spyro the Dragon (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3534188&viewfull=1#post3534188) [05.17.15]
The Wolf Among Us (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3534967&viewfull=1#post3534967) [05.20.15]
Evil Zone (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3535615&viewfull=1#post3535615) [05.24.15]
Left 4 Dead (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3536049&viewfull=1#post3536049) [05.27.15]
Armored Core (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3537035&viewfull=1#post3537035) [05.31.15]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3537595&viewfull=1#post3537595) [06.03.15]
Dino Crisis (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3538642#post3538642) [06.07.15]
Final Fantasy V (http://home.eyesonff.com/content.php/3589-Final-Fantasy-V-Review-%28Spoilers%29) [06.10.15]
Mega Man Legends (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3540447&viewfull=1#post3540447) [06.14.15]
Yggdra Union (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3541834&viewfull=1#post3541834) [06.17.15]
Casper: Friends Around the World (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3543274&viewfull=1#post3543274) [06.21.15]
Compare & Contrast: Batman (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3544329&viewfull=1#post3544329) [06.24.15]
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3546014&viewfull=1#post3546014) [06.28.15]
The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3547585&viewfull=1#post3547585) [07.01.15]
SimCity 2000 (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3550735&viewfull=1#post3550735) [07.05.15]
The Lucky Dime Caper (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-ToriJ-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3552125&viewfull=1#post3552125) [07.08.15]
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-Ayen-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3553074&viewfull=1#post3553074) [07.12.15]
The Lion King (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-Ayen-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3554315&viewfull=1#post3554315) [07.15.15]
Monsters, Inc. Scream Team (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-Ayen-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3555336&viewfull=1#post3555336) [07.19.15]
Compare & Contrast: Aladdin (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-Ayen-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3558192&viewfull=1#post3558192) [07.22.15]
The Little Mermaid (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-Ayen-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3558193&viewfull=1#post3558193) [07.29.15]
BattleTanx Global Assault (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/162510-Ayen-s-Video-Game-Reviews?p=3558785&viewfull=1#post3558785) [08.05.15]
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Don't be afraid to comment, tell me how wrong right I am, or boss me into reviewing something. I like it.
All new reviews will be posted every Wednesday.
FFIX Choco Boy
04-25-2015, 08:46 AM
So, would you say that Final Fantasy IX is the best game you've reviewed so far, or the greatest?
So, would you say that Final Fantasy IX is the best game you've reviewed so far, or the greatest?
It's somewhere between great and greatest.
Originally published on 11.07.11
http://i57.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/dg32fl.jpg
Monster Rancher (originally Monster Farm in Japan) was a game released by Tecmo in North America for the Sony PlayStation in November 1997. It would go on to receive a cult following, earning four more sequels spanning from the PlayStation 1 to the PlayStation 2 and spin-off games for various consoles and even an Anime. Needless to say, Monster Rancher has found a place in many people's hearts, but let take a look at the first game. The one that started it all.
You start the game off as a Beginner Monster Breeder and after choosing your name you set off to acquire your Breeder’s Assistant, Holly, who will help with the day to day operations of running the ranch.
http://i57.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/2rcy59w.jpg
Nice.
After that you’re off to town to find your first monster. Now the big innovation of this game is the ability to swap a CD ROM (called Mystery Discs) with the Monster Rancher game disc at The Shrine in order to generate a monster for you to breed. Discs can be anything from Playstation games, computer games, etc. This was the game biggest marketing plug as even the back of the CD case warns you not to sit too close to your CDs, as if a monster is going to latch out from them and grab you. Wonder what the children thought of that one?
You have the option of getting monsters in-game without having to use a CD ROM, but that limits you to three of the most basic monsters in the game. For anything else you’d have to use the shrine. You can also combine monsters to get different types and even use items to acquire rare monsters.
The main goal of the game is to be the very best! The best there ever was – by competing in tournaments and rising through the ranks to become eligible for the Big Four not to be confused with the Elite Four from Pokemon. To achieve this you have to work on your monster’s stats: life, power, defense, skill, speed and intelligence. You can raise these for your monsters by doing jobs for gold (cash) or by going through a training program that cost 2,000 gold without a discount.
The game time format goes by weeks, starting off on the first week of April in the year 1000. At the beginning of each month you can choose between three items for your monster to eat, because I guess a monster only needs to eat every 30 days, and official tournaments are held at the end of the month every couple of months. Working and Resting only last one week while Training lasts four. By the way wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to sleep in for seven days straight? On top of the stats you also have to keep a watch on the monster’s loyalty. The higher the loyalty, the less likely he’s to be confused during tournaments.
Battles aren't all that complicated, but depending on how your stats measure up it can be a pain in the ass. You fight with a time limit and the most you can do is close in, back off and attack. Your monster’s will power determines how much damage he can inflict and when it gets low you have to wait before you can attack again. The way to win is to either Knock Out your opponent or have the most health when the time runs out. At the end of each tournament you’ll receive the cash prize and your monster fame level will increase. In some tournaments you can also compete for an item.
If I had to give the game one major criticism it would be in how repetitive it can become. This is an unfortunate setback to the game’s style, but ultimately the most you can do is put your monster to work, train him, watch him sleep, and battle. As you progress in the game you’ll have the option to go on expeditions to collect rare items, but even those get boring after a while. Each monster type offers a new animation while its working, but there’s only so much one can expect from this game. If you’re the type who can get bore easily then this might not be the game for you.
While it’s important that you raise your monster stats up for battle, it can take a long time and your monster only has so many years before they die. That’s right, the monster you’re breeding can die. The average monster's life span is three years with some living a little bit longer. Wait too long and your monster will kick the bucket. You can usually tell when the end is near when Holly is telling you that your monster should retire. You can add some more years to their lives by freezing them and raising another monster in the meantime, but you’re just prolonging the inevitable. You can retire an existing monster by going to the Market place in town and giving them away. The death itself isn’t so much of a con as an inconvenience since many players I know have been caught off guard by it while trying to be patient with training their monster.
Monster Rancher is a fun game for children and adults. If you enjoy breeding animals and a good challenge, then I definitely recommend it.
Get it.
I guess there’s nothing else left to say but:
I wanna be the very best
like no one ever was.
To unlock them is my real test
to breed them is my cause.
I will travel across the CD rack
searching far and wide.
Teach the monsters to understand
the power that’s inside.
Monster Rancher! Gotta unlock’em all!
It's you and me.
Me
*glomps*
Holly
Get off.
I know it's my destiny!
Monster Rancher!
Oh, you’re my best friend
in a world we must defend (from a cow?)
http://i62.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/2v7xmzd.jpg
Moo!
Monster Rancher! Gotta unlock’em all!
A heart so true
our courage will put us through.
You teach me and I’ll scold you!
Monster Rancher!
Gotta unlock’em all!
Gotta unlock’em all!
MONSTER RANCHER!
http://i58.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/29zx346.png
Bolivar
04-26-2015, 10:16 PM
This was back in 2011!? Man time flies...
Lots of ToriJ in this thread!
This was back in 2011!? Man time flies...
Lots of ToriJ in this thread!
This was my first review, too. Before my comeback in 2013 I mostly reviewed old PlayStation 1 games.
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Today we're going back to 1987 to see how another long-time running series got its start. The very first Metal Gear by Konami. Metal Gear was originally developed on the MSX2 computer and later ported to other systems, but we don't talk about the NES version. It stars Solid Snake as he infiltrates Outer Heaven to save FOXHOUND member Gray Fox, and destroy the ultimate weapon, Metal Gear.
http://i61.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/52bdsn.png
I hope I never have to swim my way to a base ever again!
Something that will be unheard of for anyone who started off on Metal Gear Solid, this game begins with no long cut-scene! Granted, that's because they couldn't do that kind of thing back then, but still. Even by 1987 standards this game had a lot more dialog than other games that was around at the time, so the story progression in later games doesn't come as any surprise.
The life bar starts out at the halfway point and will fill in the blank space as you progress through the game. Same thing with the stars next to class. Class affects certain things like how much ammunition you can carry. As always the key is to be stealthy. It's not about shooting your way through hundreds of soldiers like MGS4, it's about staying out of sight and completing your mission objective. Much like MGS1, if you get caught there's a good chance you're boned. Soldiers will dog pile you and go trigger happy. There seems to be inconsistencies when going into new rooms cancels the red alert. If that happens consider yourself lucky.
http://i59.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/2ypbuyq.png
Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
All Snake has at the beginning are the clothes on his back and a pack of cigarettes, and yes the cigarettes can still see infrared sensors. Basically, all the things a lot of us were introduced to with MGS1 goes back as far as the first game. Key cards, boxes, even the old gas room and electrified floor. I was surprised to find cameras considering how shocked Snake was to see them in Shadow Moses.
Guards are divided by gray and red. I'm assuming that the red guards are stronger, but I wasn't crazy enough to pick a fight with them to find out. You can find weapons to defend yourself like a pistol or the mines as seen above. As you can expect these are last resort as using the gun will alert enemies to your presence unless you find the suppressor to equip with it.
http://i61.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/wrhs3o.png
Good to see .85 has always been around in one form or another.
In this game Big Boss is your main contact and does all the things that people who played MGS1 are used to Roy Campbell doing. If you thought Roy was annoying when he called you to explain useless information then you're going to hate Big Boss with a passion. Imagine having a fixed Codec call every time you went into a room. Yeah, any room where Big Boss is programmed to tell you something he will repeatedly call every time you go back to that room. It doesn't matter if you already did what he told you, he will KEEP calling you.
Why did they program him like that? Did they think gamers have amnesia or something? You're not forced to answer or anything, but it gets annoying hearing the transceiver go off again and again for just having to enter that room again. STOP smurfING CALLING! To makes matters worse, Big Boss tells you about a Resistance's leader you're supposed to contact to help you on your mission but doesn't tell you his frequency. You're supposed to just try every possible frequency to find him or just look it up online. I eventually learned that his frequency is 120.79, but that's not the case if you play the game on the original difficulty setting (I'm playing through MGS3 Subsistence) I didn't get a response and couldn't find him! What kind of a deal is that?
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Going up!
The only checkpoints you have in the game are the lifts. When you die you get sent back to the last lift you went through. Even if you save the game manually on the memory card when you load her up that's where you go back to. A fair restarting point all things considered, but it's still extremely frustrating when you die before you can make it back to the lift after getting a necessary item just to have to go back and get it all over again. That level two security card is NOT easy to attain.
First elevator you find is being guarded by two red guards which you have to wait for a shift change in order to get inside. The second elevator you discover is protected by two soldiers who never move. They just stand there turning in only two directions. You have to walk behind and then between them straight into the elevator unseen. I couldn't believe they didn't see me. Good thing people don't know how to turn their heads or I might be a dead Snake. I'm sure there are probably other elevators, but truth be told I didn't get that far.
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GRAY FOX! That prisoner is Gray Fox! Somehow, that just doesn't have the same ring to it.
There are actually a lot of hostages you can rescue on your way to Gray Fox. Some of them offer useful hints that helps you down the line while others are just happy to be free. You have to get caught on purpose in order to get close to Gray Fox. Don't worry, you just need to find the right room and a scene will trigger so you get captured. From there you need to literally punch your way through into Gray Fox's cell. I understand that the walls were probably weak or something, but why is it that Snake can punch through solid walls, but has so much trouble fighting soldiers with his bare hands!?
Playing through this it's easy to see where they got the inspiration for the cell scene in Metal Gear Solid, and the painted over walls in the second floor basement of the Tank Hangar. The more I play this game, the more I come to appreciate MGS1 and all the little nods and throwbacks to the original game, though at the same time some could see them as tired repeats of the older games, like the first boss of FFVII being like the one in VI, or Ocarina of Time Past and Future being like the Light and Dark World in A Link to the Past. These games got away with it because a lot of people started the series with these entries so it was brand new to them. In Metal Gear's case I feel it was more meant as references than just a blatant rehash as these things either fuse or separate older ideas bringing them into a new light. Rather than just copying the old formula.
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Nice name. You stay up all night working on that?
After escaping the cell you have to contend with the first boss of the game, Shotmaker. He sprays you with bullets and the only cover you have is the one on the right. Every time you get out into the open he sprays you with more bullets making it nearly impossible to get anywhere near him, and you need to if you want to get your shots in. You also have to go into the door near the right to get your stuff back before you can even hope of having a chance of beating him. Sorry to say, this is as far as I made it into the game. If the first boss is this hard I don't want to see the other bosses.
Metal Gear has always had an amazing soundtrack and this entry is no exception. The songs that play during the course of the game are very catchy. I still have Theme of Tara stuck in my head. Anyone who played the V.R. Missions in MGS1 will know what I'm talking about. The theme is a little different here (obviously due to tech limitations) and some different tones, but I honestly prefer it to the MGS1 version.
Long story short, Big Boss is actually the Outer Heaven mercenary leader and doesn't want Snake to succeed. I guess all those things he forgot to mention wasn't just because of poor memory. Hell, like most Metal Gear games, Big Boss even breaks the fourth wall and tells you to turn off the console at one point. That's right, even back in the older games Snake was being used for an end goal, though not nearly on as big a scale as MGS1. Boss just wanted Snake to get captured to feed misinformation back to authorities, but grossly underestimated Snake's abilities. Serves him right. The plot twist is a good one and has plenty of clues leading up to it, maybe even too obvious at times. Liquid is a lot like his dad, setting a bomb and giving them a time limit to their battle. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
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It's nice they put the instructions on the title screen. I bet people still don't read it.
Metal Gear is a fun, challenging game to play, and a great game to play if you're like me and started off with MGS1. Seeing where all the inspiration and staples of the series began is a nice treat and the game still holds up reasonably well today. If you like old school stealth games I'd recommend it without hesitation. Until next time, my frequency is 181.80. I'm NOT Liquid. Or Solid Snake.
Get it
Originally published on 11.14.11
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Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise formerly developed by Naughty Dog and published by Universal Interactive Studios for the Sony PlayStation. Later on when the games were moved to other publishers it would become available on multiple platforms. Once upon a time Crash Bandicoot was basically the PlayStation’s equivalent of Mario and Sonic.
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Today we look at the game where our lovable Bandicoot crash into the scene. In case you haven’t figured it out already you play as Crash Bandicoot, an evolved Eastern Barred Bandicoot created by the evil Doctor Neo Cortex who planned to use him as his General for world conquest. Crash was dubbed a failure and escaped the laboratory leaving Cortex to fall back on his companion, Tawna, and our hero must embark on a quest to rescue her (the things we do for women).
In each level you collect Wumpa Fruit. Collect 100 and you earn an extra life. You can find some on the ground, but they’re usually in crates that Crash can open. Some crates contain an extra life and a witch doctor mask called Aku Aku (he always sounds like he’s in the middle of a really complicated tongue twister when you summon him) who protects Crash. Collect three and you become invincible temporarily, laying waste to your enemies and collecting items by simply approaching them. Some levels contains three crates with a picture of Tawna. Finding all three will bring you to a bonus stage.
There are over 30 levels in the game overall, some reoccurring themes, not just in the game itself but the franchise as a whole. The earliest example of this comes in levels 4, 5 and 8. Level 4 introduces the Boulder Chase stages, and of course they add some crates on the road you’re running down. Like you’re really going to try for them with impending death behind you. Level 5 is a water world level which will make a return in the sequel and level 9, Hog Wild, is where you ride on an animal for the remainder of the level.
I think the most annoying part about this game is saving data. Instead of just being able to save in-between stages you can only save if you complete the bonus levels. The problem with this is they aren’t in every stage and should you overlook them, or fail, you won’t be able to save period. Naughty Dog did rectify this problem in future titles and there are various passwords you can input for this so I guess it all worked out in the end.
Another thing, which is rather small in itself, is that the intro does not start when you begin the game. Instead, it runs when you leave the main menu screen on for too long so a lot of people probably missed the intro their first time playing this and not know what’s going on. Granted, that was always the case in video games back in the 80s, especially platformers, but for 1996? Even the game’s rival platform Super Mario 64 had the opening intro at the start so it's a small inconvenience for some. Not to mention it’s just plain weird to have it only cone on during the main title screen.
Crash Bandicoot doesn’t offer anything revolutionary for platformers of its time, but I don’t think that what the game was going for. All this game is trying to be is a fun platformer and it excels at that perfectly. So, if you’re a fan of platformer games I recommend Crash Bandicoot for your gaming pleasure.
Get it
Rez09
05-04-2015, 04:31 PM
Oooooh, the original Crash Bandicoot; I remember loving this game. :D I didn't pick it up until fairly late in the Playstation's life cycle, so it felt a bit clunky even then when I picked it up, but it was still a favorite. I remember adoring the game's general tropical theme and stages (especially the boulder and side-scrolling temple stages), and Pinstripe and Ripper Roo were two of my favorite boss fights on the console, though looking at videos of those fights now I can't really figure out why. I think it's one of those things my younger mind just latched onto for whatever reason. I also seem to remember having a TON of fun collecting all the gems in the stages once I figured out they existed, and it was one of the first great gaming side quest/challenges I remember ever completing, along with getting all the remotes in Gex 2.
It's too bad the series has been rather 'meh' for the past two console generations. :(
Yeah... I kinda wish Naughty Dog either stayed with it, or their last game was the last game in the series.
I never curse so much while playing a game before in my life.
Karifean
05-05-2015, 06:25 PM
Crash Bandicoot 2 and 3 are my two favorite platformers of all time. Such amazing level design. I didn't play the first game until it came out on PSN, and I couldn't really get into it. The lack of refinement from the other two games showed. Especially not being able to save at will was what made me drop the game altogether.
Yeah, the save issue is bogus. I started out with 2 so going back to 1 I can see what you mean. I still got a lot of enjoyment out of it, but 2 will remain my favorite from the series.
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Last December I played San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing and it was one of the best racing games I've ever played for the Nintendo 64, so naturally I tracked down the sequels of the game with the intent to review every single one of them, and this time we take a look at the second entry of the franchise: Rush 2 Extreme Racing USA!
This time we start things off with an opening movie showing a race going on with explosions and all before being shown the game's logo, and then a preview of a race from the game. Kind of annoying. Just take me to the title screen! From there we have the same menus that made up the first game. The first changes from 1 to 2 won't be seen until you make it to the road maps.
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Show me the money!
Unlike the first game that mainly took place in San Francisco, Rush 2 branches out by having maps from Vegas, New York City, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Seattle, and even Alcatraz! You have some special maps involving pipes, a crash course, and a place where you can perform your own stunts. There's a lot of variety in the tracks this time around and I had a lot of fun with each of them.
This time around you can change the features on each map before you click A. You can have the map spin backwards, not sure if that does anything to the actual course or not, mirror it to where you're racing in the opposite direction, edit the amount of fog or wind you have, turn off checkpoints, and even turn on deaths, which may as well be the fun on and off button.
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Have I mentioned lately that I really like green and red?
I'd say we have the same amount of cars as in the first game, but different choices and a lot more options for the cars specs. Not only can you pick a secondary color, but you can add stripes and affect the stats of the vehicle. There are other things on here too like engines and all that, but I don't know much about cars so I really can't get into specifics.
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Time to burn rubble!
Not much has changed in the racing side of things since the first game. You still have to be careful not to run into things and stay on the road or else you'll lose speed. Crashing still produces a large explosion that's cool as hell to watch, but grows ever more frustrating the closer you are to victory. Some times the computer will join you in these crashes. I hit a wall and bounced back only to have a computer car charge headlong into me killing us both. I can't remember how I did it, but I manage to take two cars with me in one of my crashes. Hell, the computer can't even past the finish line without blowing up!
You can adjust the difficulty on each course, but even if you don't the next track always seems to be harder than the last. I didn't have much trouble on the Vegas course only to go to New York or Hawaii to crash a lot more often. By the time I got to the track where you race in a pipe forget about it. That thing was spinning as you went and you can't tell if you should be turning or just let the pipe move on its own. The worse part about that course is if you have checkpoints on the timer is the lowest it has ever been and you'll run out before you can reach the next checkpoint. I couldn't even finish the race until I turned the timer off altogether.
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77 points to Gryffindor – Wait.
The Circuit makes a return and is pretty much the same as the first game. There are twenty-eight races in total and you have no control over the course or the conditions so you have to bear with whatever the computer throws at you. At the very least they don't include the last couple of tracks. You also always have your choice of car and don't have to keep racing with the same set of wheels you had before. Not that I ever had reason to replace my Compact.
I enjoyed the Circuit races immensely and climbing up the ranks. You don't know how satisfying it is seeing yourself go from the last car in the lineup to the top three, or even first. I unfortunately still don't know how satisfying it is to start a race at first place. Maybe if I won more races and didn't crash so much I'd have more points by now. Easier said than done, my friend. If it's not the sharp corners or obstacles standing in your way it's the other cars. Everyone is a dick who wants to win in racing. They don't care how much damage they do to your car as long as they win. You have to crash them before they can crash you. It's a jungle out there.
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I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!
The stunts course is a lot of fun. Basically, all you do is run around and go up ramps to perform as many tricks as you can. It reminds me of the Tony Hawk games, but with cars, and a lot better than the Tony Hawk games. You can drive up ramps and spin in the air. Points are determined by how long you can stay in the air, and how many flips you can do. The catch? You have to land right-side up and not explode.
Since there's no race to the finish the time limit is a lot longer giving you plenty of time to perform as many tricks as possible and there are no other cars in your way. Although, you can get rid of the other cars in the other courses any time you want. Just race with yourself. I never tried that. I like my races to be filled with cars. No fun if you're the only one crashing. Anyway, this course is very large and has a lot of places to explore which makes it great for finding new ways to perform tricks, but not so great because it's easy to get lost. I had to restart the stage because I couldn't find my way back to where the ramps were. Tread carefully.
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The good ol' red, white, and blue!
With more places to race and ways to modify your car, Rush 2 is an even better racing game than the first. If you enjoyed the first game immensely, then chances are you're going to absolutely love Rush 2. Give it a whirl!
Get it
Rez09
05-06-2015, 09:08 PM
Tori! Where is the picture of an amazing spiny jump over the spike pit in the stunt mode?!
I am disappoint.
>: |
Tori! Where is the picture of an amazing spiny jump over the spike pit in the stunt mode?!
I am disappoint.
>: |
-passes game box- You play the game, then!
Smurfing gamers thinking they're so great. Rabble, rabble!
Pumpkin
05-09-2015, 01:34 PM
Can we request reviews?
Can we request reviews?
Yes. It falls into the "boss me into reviewing something" category.
Pumpkin
05-10-2015, 12:27 AM
Oh I didn't see that, I'm blind
I'm going to come up with a nifty list for you
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Originally published on 11.21.11
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In the fall of 1997 Fox Interactive published Croc: Legend of the Gobbos by Argonaut Software for the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Color. The game stars a young baby crocodile named Croc who was found by a species called the Gobbos. Everything was peaceful until one day where the evil Baron Dante invaded and captured the Gobbos and their ruler, King Rufus. Evading capture, Croc now stands alone with the challenging task of freeing the Gobbos and defeating Baron Dante.
Each stage has crystals that Croc collects earning him an extra life, like the fruits did for Crash in Crash Bandicoot. This time however you can take a hit and lose your crystals. Get hit by an enemy without any crystals and you die. There are also five colored crystals that permits you into a bonus stage. You can find crystals in boxes or just lying around on the ground.
In addition to the crystals you'll also be looking for Gobbos. Like the crystals, they can be found on the ground, in boxes, or cages.
There are over 40 levels and 50 different enemies to fight, with up to nine stage bosses. Enemies has a tendency to respawn after you take them out so whenever you have to linger in a spot for too long watch out for their return.
Unlike Crash, where you could only save during the bonus stages, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos gives you the option to save in-between levels so you never have to worry about losing your data. You can also use passwords as an alternative.
The biggest flaw I can see has to be the camera. There are times where the camera doesn't want to work with you. Mainly when you want to see behind Croc. Other than that there isn't much to complain about. It may not be the most memorable game of all time, but the visuals are stunning and without dialog it really does allow you to take in the environment.
Get it
FFIX Choco Boy
05-10-2015, 08:54 AM
I remember playing Croc... At least, in the sense of, I remember that I once had the game disc for Croc in the PS1 while I was playing it, but I have 0 memories of the game itself.
Pumpkin
05-10-2015, 07:14 PM
Okay I have some
Yggdra Union (I want to see if I'm interested) I believe it's for GBA and PSP
Ico (I couldn't complete it) PS2 or PS3
Atelier Totori (I really like this game and would like to hear your thoughts) PS3
I remember playing Croc... At least, in the sense of, I remember that I once had the game disc for Croc in the PS1 while I was playing it, but I have 0 memories of the game itself.
The game was frustrating as smurf.
Okay I have some
Yggdra Union (I want to see if I'm interested) I believe it's for GBA and PSP
Ico (I couldn't complete it) PS2 or PS3
Atelier Totori (I really like this game and would like to hear your thoughts) PS3
You're in luck, I have Yggdra Union and need to play more handhelds. You won't have to wait long.
Rez09
05-11-2015, 05:43 PM
You're in luck, I have Yggdra Union and need to play more handhelds. You won't have to wait long.
Fair warning, if you have the GBA version of that game it is actually quite hard.
You're in luck, I have Yggdra Union and need to play more handhelds. You won't have to wait long.
Fair warning, if you have the GBA version of that game it is actually quite hard.
I have the PSP version.
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. We're into the second week of May and this time I'll be playing another well known title of Squaresoft back when they knew how to make video games. I'm not bitter.
Xenogears! The game stars Fei, a villager of Lahan suffering from amnesia. Yeah, I know, if you've played enough JRPGs in the past you've heard this story a million times. Bear with it, it's worth it. Everything is right as rain until mechs (called gears) attack the village and Fei is forced to leave Lahan behind to begin a new adventure.
The game starts off with a very 1990s style animation of a spacecraft under attack that leads to the evacuation of the crew and the Captain getting blown up with the ship after activating the self-destruct sequence. This is the clip they also play if you wait at the title screen so you can watch it twice!
The scene ends with a naked woman before taking us to Lahan under attack. After that plays out we cut back to a foreshadowing scene the day before to see our hero with a picture of a fire. Two minutes in and I'm already confused as all hell.
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Shame this won't be worth anything until I'm dead.
Fei's room is where we get our first feel for the controls. One of the first things I noticed is how sensitive the camera is. You can push it ever so slightly and it will still tilt farther than you want it to while trying to see something. Then they throw a bunch of obstacles in your way so you can't see anything!
There's a considerable amount of lag whenever you leave a room. Fei can even move for a good couple of seconds before the game starts to load.
I hope you like zoom ins because boy are there a lot of them! Zoom in when you leave a house, zoom in when you enter, zoom in at the end of a battle, zoom in when a clip ends, you even zoom in at the title screen! What is the deal? Why does everything have to zoom in?
You'd think with how much they love using the zoom in feature that you can use it manually for the camera, but no. You're forced to deal with an over-the-head view while trying to navigate the area around you.
On a positive note, you can jump. Yeah, an RPG where you can actually jump! You can jump on the bed! I'm playing an RPG and I am jumping on my bed!
Another thing that's annoying is when you're trying to leave and the NPC you talked to is still talking. Yeah, with lesser NPCs you still have control of your character. This wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so many long pauses between text boxes. You think the character is done speaking only to take a couple of steps to find out that they still have something to say. Who does that?
Oh, and there are typos in the text boxes as well. Either missing words or letters screws up the flow of a sentence. Square had a lot of translation problems back then so it's no surprise and luckily it only occasionally happens.
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Citan just had to live on top of a SMURfING mountain, didn't he?
Xenogears battle system puts more of an emphasis on combos instead of straightforward physical or magic attacks. Each command spends a set number of points. The stronger you get through battle, the more points you have to spend, and the more points you have to spend, the more combos you can string together for more damage.
It reminds me of Legend of Legaia with all the commands you had to punch in in that game. There's also Chi which has power attacks that affect health or status alignment. There's more animation too as the character will run right in front of the enemy before you choose which command to put in.
Fighting in the gears is mostly the same thing, only with gears you have to keep an eye on your fuel. Run out of fuel and you're smurfed. Gears also have their own health and requires new parts to upgrade them instead of just leveling up.
You can't use the same healing items on gears either so you need to find different ways to keep their HP up. There's Frame HP and Chu Chu that can help with that. Before that boost and enhancements work just fine, although boost only works for fuel.
I actually enjoy the gears battles a lot more than the regular ones and it's another thing that makes Xenogears stand out among the hundreds of other RPGs that are out there. The hunting for different parts gives me happy memories of Armored Core just without the detailed customization.
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All right, time to put all that Evangelion binging to good use.
Sweet Jesus, where do I even begin with this story? Xenogears probably has the best amnesia story I've ever seen in a JRPG so far. Fei goes through several different flashbacks and we're shown clues to who he is prior to the reveal.
They aren't just ass pulls for the sake of shock value, you can actually piece this stuff together and it makes sense when the reveal happens. It then expands and the more things tie together the crazier, and crazier it gets until you reminiscent about the time Xenogears was about a small village getting ready for a wedding.
The religious symbolism in the game is really well done. The meaning behind the two one- winged angel statues you see later in the game is beautiful, and much later on ironic after you find out the truth. Just how everything came to be and the connection to the opening at the start ties together very nicely. Usually, I don't have any issues with giving spoilers, but this is one of those times where I'm not going to give too much away since it's something you really need to experience for yourself.
The characters are all likable and has several memorable villains along the way. They even have voice actors whenever the game switches to animation during some of the scenes. Though the lip synch could use some work.
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Oh, I'm supposed to press X. I had so many X's in my face that I forgot.
Xenogears is the most ambitious RPG to come out of Square, and I don't think they've made anything since that comes close to it. Crazy to think that once upon a time this game could have been Final Fantasy VII. Regardless of what it's called, Xenogears is a great game worth checking out if you love the genre.
Get it
Regarding the typos and whatnot - the translation's arguably really well done, considering there was one translator working on the whole game. ONE! As a professional translator I can attest that, given the circumstances, the guy did amazingly.
Did they ever start hiring more people to do the translations for them? Because that trout is just ridiculous.
Translating is actually one of the most underrated professions. People expect us to work fast, efficiently, and for free. Apparently, at the beginning there were more translators on the team, but for one reason or another, they left. I expect they were hilariously underpaid.
There's honestly only so much one person can do - you need editors, you need to divide your work reasonably, which is why translating games is always done by teams. The poor guy reportedly moved into his office to finish the translation on time. A couple typos is really the least of your problems when you're sleep deprived.
Well, like I said, it only happens occasionally. I wasn't trying to pick on the guy or anything.
I know you weren't ;)
It's just funny to see how all this video gaming stuff used to require such sacrifice. I think the creator of SH1's cutscenes also had to do it alone and also had to move into his office, and I'm pretty sure Yasunori Mitsuda did the same when he wanted to prove he could compose the soundtrack to Chrono Trigger. I'm just hoping that Xenogears guy got to work on some better organized projects later.
Wolf Kanno
05-17-2015, 08:50 AM
Most of the team didn't want to deal with, not only was the game text heavy but some of the misspelled religious terms were a result of the translators trying to translate the katakana that was translating Jewish and Latin terms into Japanese. According to an interview with Richard Honeywood (http://www.ffcompendium.com/low/interview.shtml) (Square-Enix's Head of Localization) Xenogears and the troubles it caused actually allowed some positive changes to occur on how Square went about localizing future titles.
Originally published on 11.28.11
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Spyro the Dragon. Another video game from my childhood that I have many fond memories of, and perhaps the only game I've played where the enemies actually moon you. Oh yes, they know you're literally going to toast their asses so why not show it to you?
Spyro would go on to become a critical and commercial success, but much like Crash Bandicoot, things would go downhill when the series moved on to other developers. I don't know what the deal is, but it seems whenever platformers venture too far away from their roots things just doesn't work out too well. Just ask Sonic.
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Originally developed by Insomniac Games, Spyro the Dragon charged his way into all of our hearts in the fall of 1998. At the beginning of the game we cut to an on-air interview being conducted, and how dragons got their hands on human equipment to begin with is anyone's guess. Everyone has lived in harmony up to this point, but when a creature called Gnasty Gnorc is mentioned, one of the dragons cite that he is not a threat to the Dragon Kingdom, and ugly. Well, as you can probably imagine by his name alone, Gnasty Gnorc doesn't like this one bit and cast a spell that turns all the dragons into stone (so much for not being a threat), except for Spyro, who manages to evade the spell due to his small stature. Honestly, when I watched it it looked like he was just lying there the whole time.
This pegs the question, if he's powerful enough to just turn all the full-grown dragons into stone what's stopping him from invading their worlds? Better yet, why are adult dragons, upon being released, so okay about a baby dragon going after a guy who just kicked their asses without having to leave his lair? It makes no sense, but I digress.
You start off in the Artisans world where you release your first dragon (not a very hard spell to reverse). He gives you some starting information and tells you to free dragons first before going after Gnasty Gnorc. After the clip you can save your game by stepping on the platform left behind by where the dragon was once trapped. Each dragon you release will offer you tips throughout the game, some of them helpful, some of them not so much, and others will just waste your time.
In order to access the next world you have to release a set number of dragons, gems, and dragon eggs. Instead of levels you access each stage through portals. Latter worlds offer a Flying Stage where Spyro can fly freely through the air and has to get past four different sets of obstacles before time runs out.
Throughout the game Spyro has a little golden firefly that follows him around. This firefly acts as a means of protection against enemies and each hit it takes changes the color of its body. When the firefly is no longer present that means one more hit will cost you a life. In order to keep the firefly afloat seek out animals and burn them. Doing so will release a butterfly (don't ask me why) to feed your butterfly.
There isn't much in ways of drawbacks without nitpicking. There are times where the camera won't follow the player, but I didn't find the issue to be as apparent as it was in Croc. As I've already mentioned above, the dragons can go from helpful, to not so helpful, especially if you actually took the time to read the instruction manual. Playing the game you can really tell how much thought and effort went into it. It looks great, it sounds great, the music is great, the voice acting isn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not bad either. For something mainly meant for kids it's pretty good. The characters designs and level designs also look great and the game itself really takes advantage of everything the original PlayStation had to offer.
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Today we'll be looking at another popular game by Telltale based on the Fables comic books created by Bill Willingham: The Wolf Among Us!
You play as Bigby, formerly known as the Big Bad Wolf, who has been appointed sheriff of Fabletown where all the fables have come to start a new life for themselves.
Bigby comes across a murder of one of the fables and begins an investigation that gets crazier, and crazier with each new episode. If it's anything like Phoenix Wright's cases I'm going to need a drink.
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Nice wallpaper.
As usual the most you have to do is click on text boxes, fulfill quick time events, and explore areas to advance the plot.
Since I'm playing on the computer this time around it's less about pressing the right button and more about hovering the mouse over the right text box. At least they're in text boxes and not just rows of text on top of one another.
The artwork is beautiful and does its best to capture the comic book world it's inspired from. Since I haven't actually sat down and read a single Fables comic I can't really comment any further than that.
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Should I kick it down? I should kick it down, I'm sure Beauty won't mind.
Moving around is as restrictive as you can expect. There are even fewer walking around moments than in The Walking Dead games. Makes sense since you're not running away from walkers or crazy people.
There are plenty of times where you can just punch a person, and I'd be lying if I said that didn't feel good. Some times it's unavoidable and you end up in a fight with that person regardless, but some times it's actually a result of your own choices.
This game makes it pretty easy to want to punch someone, stomp on them, or rip off their head in front of an entire community. Not that I have any experience with that.
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In the first episode you meet a woman named Faith, a prostitute that's fallen on hard times. Times would become even tougher because later the same night you find her head delivered to your doorstep and the mystery begins. You go from lead to lead trying to solve it and can even name who you suspect. I named the Pimp at first, made the most since.
But doesn't there seem to be something missing from this investigation? Something that's kind of important? Evidence! You're never able to find any evidence linking to the actual murders. They even say as much near the end. You have to rely on a single witness' testimony to lock the guy up.
Maybe that was part of the point to make you wonder if the guy was really guilty or not, but damn. You'd think during an investigation there'd be some time set aside to actually finding something more reliable than people's stories.
People aren't the most reliable of sources. They can lie, or their memory can be crap. Hell, your witness basically DOES lie to you in the end. No wonder Bigby drinks.
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The characters are awesome and I love the tie ins with all the different fables. From the little things like Huff and Puff cigarettes and Georgie's tattoo, to bigger things like the relationship between Bloody Mary and the Magic Mirror.
Bigby is just a guy with a dark past trying to do what's right and having one wrong thing after another happen to him. Hardly anyone will give this guy a break. If I had a nickel for every time someone picked a fight with him I'd need a bigger coin purse.
Snow is a pretty good supporting character to Bigby and shows you can be a strong woman without having to run around and beat people up. A rarity these days. That's a pretty big departure from how she was in her original fairytale.
Some of the voices are recognizable if you played The Walking Dead first. Melissa Hutchison (the voice actor for Clementine) pulls double duty as Toad Jr. and Beauty using her Season 1 Clem voice for Toad and Season 2 voice for Beauty. I kept expecting Beauty to say, “Still not bitten!” whenever she was together with Beast.
Dave Fennoy (voice for Lee) also plays Bluebeard in this. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with companies hiring on the same voice actors for other roles, it's just a little daunting hearing the same voices for vastly different characters.
To Fennoy's credit, he changes his voice just enough to where he does sound like a different character with some familiarity. But Hutchison? That voice just doesn't work coming out of those characters mouths.
Another favorite of mine is Nerissa, formerly known as The Little Mermaid. I may be a bit bias in this area because I always liked The Little Mermaid, but they really do do a good job bringing this character to life.
When you first meet her she's in nothing but her underwear and it's the most natural piece of nudity I've ever seen in a game. It's the only piece of nudity I've ever seen in a game.
Nerissa starts out as just a woman just trying to get by and turns out to be the mastermind behind the whole thing. She pretended to be Faith, made sure Bigby found the real Faith, and saw to it that the Crooked Man was locked away. That's badass! But enough about the good guys (though I guess that's debatable) let's talk about villains.
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Bloody Mary. Not since Carver have I utterly despised a villain as much as Bloody Mary. From the very first moment I saw this character I wanted nothing more than to rip her smurfing head off, and because of this she's a brilliant villain.
This woman could give Ramsay Snow from Game of Thrones a run for his money. She's battrout insane and doesn't give two trouts about anything. She's just waiting for an excuse to be let off her leash.
The Crooked Man is more your subtle, manipulative villain who works through pawns to keep his hands clean. A man who takes advantage of people to meet his own ends. He nearly talks his way out of guilt near the game's climax. Assuming you bring him back alive, that is. Man do they give you SO many chances to kill him.
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What more can I say? The Wolf Among Us is a great game and it's easy to see why so many fans are hoping for a sequel.
If you love all things Telltale, or point and click adventures, or if you're familiar with the comics at all, then this may very well be the game for you.
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Originally published on 12.05.11
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If you don't like Anime I suggest you turn back now.
Evil Zone, Eretzvaju in Japan, is a versus fighting game developed by YUKE's Future Media Creators (best known for their work on the WWE SmackDown series) and published by Titus Software in North America and Europe.
It should be noted that the game is not based off any existing Anime. The game is simply Anime inspired. More on that in a moment.
After starting up the game it opens with some narration by Paul Eiding (best known for his work as Roy Campbell in the Metal Gear Solid series) who also offer his voice for one of the main playable characters in the game. He tells us about the game's main villain, Ihadurca, a being capable of existing in multiple dimensions at one time. When she threatens the world of I-Praseru the inhabitants, through great cost, manages to conceal her in a confinement they call Evil Zone. Knowing that this would only be temporary, they summon warriors from different worlds to compete in a tournament to determine the strongest fighter that would challenge Ihadurca to the death in Evil Zone.
Why don't they just summon an army?
Once the beginning narration is over we get an animated montage of all the characters in the game and they are as followed:
Danzaiver: “The power of the Supreme Ruler destroys evil! The ultimate hero! DANZAIVER!” Who also looks like a VR Trooper. Danzaiver is part of the Galactic Frontier Civilization Defense System as a special inspector and is the game's self-proclaimed protagonist.
Alty Al Lazel: A sorcerer of great power, but a shy, sensitive soul who tries to appear tougher than he really is. As an native to I-Praseru he opposes the summonings and enters the tournament to take out Ihadurca himself, even though he seems to be responsible for the summoning of most of the main characters. Oops.
Keiya Tenpouin: Keiya of Tenpouin Clan. A mysterious and dark soul with great fashion sense. He's entering the tournament because he wants to take Ihadurca power and use it to resurrect a lost love one call Himika. Aww! I guess he isn't so bad after all. You know, when he's not stepping on your head.
Erel Plowse: You know that Anime character where the first aspect of them you notice is their breasts? Say hello to Erel Plowse! Although to be fair, by Anime standards her breast size aren't really all that abnormal. Erel is a Mercenary with a suit of living armor (that's right, I said LIVING!) name the void, who has a love interest going on with Al, which of course is the reason she wants to enter the tournament and defeat Ihadurca to impress him. Because nothing says “I love you” like killing a woman! No really, what the hell?
Midori Himeno: Well, no Anime-inspired game is complete without a Martial Artist! Midori is a passionate young grappler who attends the Fuin Martial Arts School in Japan. Always seeking strong opponents to fight, Midori jumps to the call of competing in a tournament where she has a chance to face an extremely dangerous and powerful supreme being that could kill her! Seriously, what is wrong with the females in this game? Is there not one sensible female character?
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*sighs in content*
Setsuna Saizuki: Is a college student who shares her body with Karin. A kind of spirit being that only Setsuna can see and gives her supernatural powers. Unlike Erel who enters the tournament to impress a boy she likes, and Midori who's just looking to show off her fighting skills, Setsuna is lured to Ihadurca through an unknown connection between her and Karin which is revealed in her story.
While the English version claims she's a college student it should be noted that in the Japanese version she was a 14 year old girl. I can only suspect that the change was due to all the various panties shots you'll see of her during game play. She's not the only character in the game to get an age change, but hers is a bit more notable since well, she doesn't look 21 at all.
Gally “Vanish” Gregman: Then we have our Bounty Hunter, Gally “Vanish” Gregman, voiced by Paul Eiding. He's pretty much the large powerhouse of the game and his motivations for entering the tournament is quite simple. He was hired and paid to do it. Despite being a well-accomplished Bounty Hunter he's a good person at heart who loves his wife (yes, he has a wife, and a dog, and a wee bit of a drinking problem) very, very much.
Linedwell Rainrix: Say hello to the sociopath that only a mother could love. Linedwell Rainrix, Lie for short, is a psychopath who wants to become a metal rock musician. Naturally. In his possession is a magic sword that goes by Shahal (meaning Lucifer – god of the morning star) who is enemies with Keiya after killing his lover.
Kakurine: Kakurine is a priestess over 10,000 years old, but lives beyond time and in the body of a little girl. She even goes as far as to act like one, but her voice will hit puberty faster than you can say YUGIOH! Kakurine has transcendental powers and is one of the tougher opponents in the game, normally found near the end of each Story Mode before you finally reach Ihadurca. Why she chose a body of a little girl is never fully explained, but at least she isn't spending all her time in a school.
Ihadurca: Last, but certainly not least, The Absolute Existence, Ihadurca! Not much back story is offered of her from and since I want to avoid as many spoilers as possible you'll just have to play the game to find out more.
With the montage complete we are brought to the main menu of the game which consist of four primary modes: Story, One Player Battle, VS, and Survival, with a Practice mode near the end.
Story Mode: Every character in the game has their own unique story that is presented in the form of a TV show. After the preview we're given a pre-match and post-match clip with the character you're fighting. Since there are only ten characters there are only ten episodes, meaning you face a copy of yourself. The end of each story isn't anything amazing though, it's done in Japanese animation but the animation is silent and often interrupted by the credits.
One Player Battle: This is basically Story Mode without the story. If you like the classic arcade feel of a fighting game this is the mode for you.
VS Mode: Challenge a friend and pick one of eleven stages available to you in VS Mode. Ten stages belonging to their respective characters, with a background song that is their own personal theme, and the eleventh stage basically being the training stage used in Practice Mode. The game is only two players, so if you have more than two people you're gonna have to take turns.
Survival Mode: Basically what you would expect it to be. Choose your fighter and then take on as many enemies as you can before dying.
Every character can charges up their health bar causing a red crystal to appear that acts as your finisher. Every character has one. The whole animation (not drawn) for the finish will only be shown if the opponent's health bar is low enough for them to be taken out with the move.
There is no regular jumping performed in the game, but you can perform a jump attack. It's a simple control system where you don't have to worry about complicated combos to perform certain moves. I'm looking at you Mortal Kombat!
The biggest con in the game is basically the dubbing. It's godawful! Some times it isn't so bad, but other times you can see the character is clearly still talking even though no sound is coming out of their mouth. It's just distracting and takes you out of the story.
Another flaw is that the story can be a little hard to follow at times. Some of the characters will start talking and offer little to no explanation on what they're actually talking about. You'll have to read their bio if you want the full story.
Overall, whether or not you'll enjoy this game comes down to one simple question. Do you like Anime? If you're a huge Anime nut then chances are you'll enjoy this game. If you're not a fan of Anime, if you don't enjoy it at all, then your chances of liking this game are rather slim. You may or may not enjoy the actual game play, but as far as everything else is concerned? You're probably not going to like it. So, if you're a huge fan of Anime and/or fighting games in general I recommend checking it out.
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Two weeks have passed since the infection spread across the city of Pennsylvania. Green Flu, they called it. A highly contagious virus that caused aggression, mutation, and loss of higher brain functions. There were only four of us now. Bill, Louis, Francis, and myself. For whatever reason we were immune to the virus.
I wasn't in any position to ask why. Only thankful that I didn't have to worry about becoming one of those things. I heard it said all the time that, “There are some things worse than death.” I didn't believe it until I saw the infected running through the city with nothing to guide them, nothing but their rage.
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Bill always did like disgusting things.
Bill noticed something different about a corpse we found and knelt down for further inspection. Said they were changing. Changing into what? The sound of a woman crying took our attention away from the corpse. A survivor? I never thought I'd see another face outside of the group again. Turns out I wouldn't. When Bill and I got closer Bill saw it was another infected and quickly turned off my light. Things would only go from bad to worse when a horde came out of nowhere. Louis came in to warn us only for his flashlight to provoke the Witch and cause her to attack.
We ran and fought our way through the horde. New mutations we've never seen before came at us from every side. Smoker, Boomer, Hunter, and worse of all the Tank. A large monstrosity that if I never saw again as long as I lived it would be too soon. We managed to escape to a rooftop where we learn of an evacuation point by Mercy Hospital from a passing helicopter. Our nightmare was just getting started.
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The hospital is really the last place you want to go during a zombie outbreak, but some things can't be helped.
Truth be told, I can't remember a lot of what happened between the rooftop and the helipad. We restocked on our equipment and took off without a moment's hesitation. All I had was a pistol and a fully automatic rifle. Managed to grab a second pistol later on and felt like Lara Croft. Always did prefer twin pistols, and anything with a scope. Makes taking off heads a hell of a lot easier.
I remember getting hit by a Boomer. Green slime covering my body luring in the horde. I couldn't see a smurfing thing! Just shot whenever something got too close. Some times I shot my teammates. Not proud of it. Maybe if they didn't CONSTANTLY get in my way I wouldn't have shot them so damn much! Why am I the only one expected to crouch down when I take point?
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“Get to the choppa!” Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Once we made radio contact with the pilot we had to hold out until he arrived. They came in droves and I thought it'd never end. Why couldn't we get the slow as hell zombies like in Resident Evil? No, we had to deal with 28 Days Later bulltrout!
Good news? We made it to the chopper. Bad news? The pilot was infected and I had to put a bullet in his head. Not a pretty sight. Our next stop was Riverside which we heard was free from infection. Worth checking out, at least.
Any hope we had of Riverside being a safe place to hide out vanished when we found an enraged lunatic at the church who rang the bell to notify the horde just so he didn't have to share his safe room with us. He was as good as dead, anyway. Our next goal was to escape by boat. That one ended up more of a chore than last time.
I got turned around and while trying to make it back to the group I was overwhelmed by zombies. To make matters worse there was a Tanker on my ass while trying to make it to the boat. Bill was there to help while the others was already on the boat. I thought I was going to die right there, but even though I was as slow as a snail I managed to make it. I should have died a thousand times over, and yet, somehow I'm still breathing.
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When it came time for me to return the favor, it was too late. Bill was grabbed by a Smoker and the rest of us had already dropped down to the next rooftop with no way to get back up. He was lost. I never felt trouttier for anything in my entire life.
Mere moments later we found another survivor who looked and sounded like Bill. He was even dressed in the same clothes and had the same name. Weird. I gave him my health pack, as if that would somehow make up for my failure of saving the last Bill.
I made the stupid ass move of shooting a Witch after hearing her cry. Not sure what I was thinking. Didn't even recognize her until I shot her and she nearly took my head off. God knows I wouldn't make it on the streets if I was alone. I can barely see anything out here. Whenever I turn at the sound of gunfire I have to look around just to see where the damn things are coming from. This flashlight isn't worth trout.
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As if I needed another reason not to get on a plane.
We managed to make it to the airport and waited for a military C-130 Hercules to pick us up. This was starting to become routine. After a while even the Tankers weren't scaring me anymore. They have become routine. Was this really the life I wanted? Just going from point A to point B shooting up zombies, stopping at safe houses, and holding out until rescue came? Not like I had much choice in the matter.
At least this time I got to fire a sub-machine gun at the horde. Not that it did much good in the end. Zombies kept coming from behind me to the left and right and the gun could only turn so far, yet for whatever stupid reason I kept firing from it. After all, it was a sub-machine gun! Didn't mean trout when that Tanker showed up. Where's the Incredible Hulk when I need him? Come out of nowhere and maul your stupid ass!
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Hm. Wouldn't make a bad poster for a movie, honestly.
As you can probably guess by now, the plane that saves us crashes and we're left on our own again. This time traveling through a forest having to follow train tracks to find our way out. Bill really shouldn't let me lead anymore. I ended up getting turned around so bad we backtracked all the way back to the safe house. Francis wasn't about to let me hear the end of that one. Oops! Sorry, Francis! I didn't mean to hit you...
Following the train tracks led us to the military base, but it was abandoned. Of course it was. Why should we expect anything to go right now? Every time we get rescued either the vehicle we're in go down or we're right back where we started. Luckily, hope wasn't completely lost. I got to a radio transmission just in time to prompt the military to send an APC our way. All we had to do was hold out.
By this point I wasn't even worried. I just kept filling these things with led until backup arrived. There never seems to be enough bullets, though. When I didn't have time to reload I'd just switch to the next weapon. When the swarm surrounds you you'll soon find just how much time reloading takes away from you.
In the end we came out on top like we always did and were escorted away by the U.S. army. Guess I should be happy our military didn't end up like the one from 28 Days Later. I'm not above shooting a man in the dick. We could finally put this nightmare behind us and find whatever peace we could get from a world torn apart. Huh? What the smurf is downloadable content?
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5,234 zombies were harmed during the making of this review.
Originally published on 12.12.11
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Transformers, more than meets the eye. Yeah, this has nothing to do with Transformers. This is an action, third person shooter, Mecha simulation developed by From Software in Japan. So, it's more like every single Anime to ever do with fighting robots.
The game takes place in what we can only assume is some time in the future after a major event simply dubbed The Great Destruction (and I thought my titles were bland) wiped out the majority of Earth's population leaving those who survived the event to live underground where powerful companies rose to power. The two most noticeable being Murakumo Millennium, and Chrome. Wait a minute. Chrome?
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All your Mecha are belong to us.
Being the two largest companies they're in a constant battle for supremacy. This of course gives a mercenary organization by the name of Ravens' Nest the perfect opportunity to cash in on the competition. This is where you come in. Of course, they don't just let anyone in. After you choose the name for your pilot, get ready to be sucked right into the action because the game starts off with a test to become a Raven.
The main menu consists of the garage, top ten Raven rankings, email, missions, the shop, and system data. In the garage you can modify your current Mecha, assembling different parts you can purchase from the shop, giving it a paint job, etc.
Selecting the gun titled Missions will give you a list of jobs, showing you the award money for each signifying its difficulty, and the missions you perform will advance the story accordingly. Some missions offer bonuses and others threaten deduction if certain terms mentioned in the mission briefing are not met. At the end of each job you do you'll see a screen which lists the awards, cost of the mission, your balance, and then the total of money you have remaining. Ammunition and parts, as you would imagine, are expensive so the more ammunition you use up, and the more damage you take, the more cash that is deducted from your pay. It's basically like winning a million dollars on a game show, by the time you're finished paying taxes on it you have half of what you started out with.
Now, it is possible to get into debt with this game. Once your cash starts going into the negatives it's a good idea to start selling some parts in the shop to help you get back on your feet. If you die during a mission you won't get a Game Over right away, but you will lose money. With each mission you succeed your success rate goes up, points are gathered and you may even find yourself on the top ten Ravens list.
Story is mainly told through emails and mission briefings. There are very few FMVs throughout the game and the few that are there aren't anything spectacular. The opening FMV that plays before the title screen is pretty much the only one that's worth watching.
On top of Scenario Mode the game gives us a VS Mode for two players play, but it isn't anything great. Basically, you just set up your Mecha, choose your stage and battle against each other on a split screen.
There's a problem with the graphics on a level which only becomes apparent on missions where there's a secret access. The only hints you get to a secrete passage is through cracks on the walls, or by seeing it from a side view. Problem is, with the graphics the way they are there are times where you see lines in walls that leads you to believe there's a secret passage when there isn't. Aside from that though, graphics are what you can expect from 1997.
The game has a tendency to lag during stages where you have a lot of enemies on screen. It's not the worst lag you'll ever experience in your life, but it still has a risk of getting you killed.
Despite its flaws, Armored Core offers an enjoyable gaming experience and the fact that you never see your main character, or any humans at all really, allows you to become that character and imagine yourself inside the Mecha kicking ass! If you're a fan of third person shooters, giant robots blowing stuff up, and/or letting your imagination run wild, I would recommend giving Armored Core a go.
Try it
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Two years ago I reviewed the first installment of the series “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.” Hard to believe it's been two years since I played a Phoenix Wright game.
Believe it or not, Phoenix Wright was the sole reason I bought a Nintendo DS. After being introduced to it through a YouTube Let's Play, though I remember seeing something about it in Nintendo Power and wanting it then, I just had to have it. So, I went out, bought a DS, and then got the first game and it was worth every penny.
I plan to continue my journey with Phoenix Wright, but I'm not alone. Today I have a very special guest. A fellow critic who specializes in Visual Novels: Karifean!
Take it away, Karifean!
Karifean: Justice For All is the second game in the Ace Attorney series. Like its predecessor, it follows the story of Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney, as he defends his clients in courts from being wrongly convicted.
Opposing him are self-centered prosecutors that would go to any lengths to get a “Guilty” verdict. It's up to you to investigate crime scenes and question witnesses to ultimately bring the truth to light and expose the real criminal.
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This guy must have gotten caught in one of the riots. Too soon?
Karifean: In terms of gameplay not much has changed from the first game; it follows the same standard formula but brings some new concepts to the table. Namely, during the second case of the game you get the ability to see people's lies being manifested as locks, so-called “Psyche Locks,” which you can break using evidence to reveal whatever that person may be hiding.
I found them to be quite a good addition to the usual investigating since they work as kind of an inference phase where you recall all the testimony and evidence you've found and put together all the pieces of the puzzle to see just what you've actually learned.
ToriJ: While I appreciate their use, I can't help but groan every time a Psyche Lock reels its ugly... lock... Come on, I'm just asking a simple question. STOP HAVING SO MANY smurfING SECRETS AND ANSWER!
But this is less an actual criticism of the Psyche Locks and more a compliment to the game's ability to immerse you into the story. I felt as Phoenix did, being hit by road block, after road block and being exhausted by the end of it all.
Another addition to the game is the utilization of character profiles as evidence. Instead of just looking at them through the Court Records like before you can choose to present them while talking to witnesses and use them in court to further prove your case. A small change, but still provides a new dimension to a simple formula.
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No, I'm talking to the other lawyer in a blue suit with spiky hair.
Karifean: The game is mostly linear, albeit with the player being given free reign during the investigation phases. There are no branching storyline paths, although there is one bad ending. The exclamation marks from the first game that represent how many times you can screw up are replaced by a life bar, which allows for more variable penalties. Justice For All also reduces the amount of days for a trial to two instead of the original's three, which I consider a welcome change as it fixed some pacing issues I had with the first game.
ToriJ: I thought I remembered something about trials being three days. I was taken aback at first when there were only two, not that I'm complaining. I can't believe I used to go through three separate court scenes. I must have blocked it out in my trauma or something.
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You'd think it'd be because the victim had a broken neck, but nope!
Karifean: As for the overall story, Justice For All is a bit unfortunately sandwiched between the first and third games which both had incredibly engaging plots, but the story is still quite good. It expands upon plot threads introduced in the first game such as the Fey family's channeling powers, and it certainly lives up to the series' standard of having an absolutely amazing final case.
On the mystery side, the game is pretty good about having its reveals be deductible ahead of time; at least by the start of the second trial day there are enough clues to put the rest of the puzzle pieces together yourself, if you like doing that. Even if you don't, it's just as enjoyable to wait and see everything fall into place all on its own.
ToriJ: The game's cases follow a similar pattern to the first, the first case is about lovers; the second has Maya as the accused; the third is centered around a bizarre bunch of characters; and the fourth is an “All or nothing” battle where you can't afford to make the tiniest mistake.
At first it feels like they're recycling, but the deeper you dig the better it gets. By the second case the game really picks up steams and never fails to impress. The third case in particular stands out to me because there is no clear “bad guy” in all of it. Everyone from the guilty down to the victim all seem like good people and you genuinely feel bad for them.
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If your heart doesn't melt for this girl, THEN YOU ARE MADE OF STONE!
Karifean: The characters are just as great as before. Maya reprises her role as Phoenix's assistant and Gumshoe returns as the main detective. New to the series are Maya's younger cousin Pearl as well as Manfred von Karma's daughter, Franziska, an 18-year-old prosecutor prodigy who ends up being the main opposing prosecutor in this game.
And of course, every case has its own little cast of colorful characters you get to interact with for a good 5-10 hours. Pretty much all of those side characters are well-written and serve their purpose well. There are a few single characters I didn't care for, but apart from those I have no complaints. A good case lives and dies with its cast and Ace Attorney manages to keep it strong at all times.
ToriJ: Although, if Franziska was a real prosecutor she would've been hauled off to jail for assaulting a judge, and a detective, and a lawyer, and several different witnesses! That's not even including the tracking device she planted on a member of LAW ENFORCEMENT! Really, why hasn't this woman been charged yet? I can count at least eight different cases of assault with a deadly weapon! But damn if she doesn't come through for you in the end.
I agree that all the side characters are written well, and I love the main cast. Maya is my favorite character for being so upbeat and Pearl is just the cutest thing I've ever saw! Detective Gumshoe is always a treat to be around and he also comes through for you big time in the end. And don't worry Edgeworth fans, you'll see him in his usual role before the end. At the end of the day this game actually managed to make me like lawyers.
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Nothing will ever beat that sound.
Karifean: Justice For All replaces the OST from the first game with an all-new soundtrack. As someone who loved the previous soundtrack this change was a bit unwelcome to me, but several of the new tracks are really good and it undeniably still fits the series very well. And on the off occasion that one of the original tracks does make a return, the nostalgic feeling that accompanies it is overwhelming.
ToriJ: So much time has passed since I played the first game, that I didn't even notice the change. Obviously I know there are several new soundtracks that I agree fit the series, and I recognize several tracks from the first game. Mainly in places like the office and the courtroom. The song that plays when you cry out “OBJECTION!” is still by far my favorite track.
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Don't say it, Maya!
Karifean: Overall, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All is certainly a worthy successor to the original. Everything lovable from the first game makes a return and while it doesn't have the kind of overarching storyline the other games in the series all have, its individual cases are very strong, and the final case is definitely one of the most thrilling cases in the series.
The Psyche Locks went on to become series staples, featuring in every mainline Ace Attorney game from there on, and the lore established through Maya's hometown and extended family also runs deep through the entire franchise. And while it may not be quite as amazing as the first or third games, it's a game to be appreciated regardless and a very important chapter in Phoenix's story.
ToriJ: Wait, you're telling me that these become series staples? I'm going to have to deal with MORE of them down the road? REVIEWER TORIJ CHOOSES DEATH!
On second thought, death sucks. Reviewer ToriJ chooses life.
Well, I haven't played the third game yet, but I agree that Justice for All is an enjoyable game possessing a good moral story for why lawyers and prosecutors do what they do. The fourth and final case alone is worth playing through the game for just to experience it. By the ending I actually had a smile on my face.
Karifean: Get it
ToriJ: Get it
Originally published on 12.19.11
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Capcom. Who here hasn't heard the name of the Japanese company best known for their work on Mega Man, Street Fighter, Ghosts'n Goblins, Resident Evil, and Devil May Cry? Even if you aren't familiar with them, chances are you heard one of these games listed above. In 1999 with the success of the survivor horror games, Resident Evil, it only made sense to further cash in with a new title, and that brings us to this week's review.
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The game stars Regina, an intelligent weapons expert voiced by Stephanie Morgenstern. Where have I heard that voice before?
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Oh my god, it's Sailor V!
Regina, alongside her comrades Gail, Rick, and Cooper, drop down on Isla Nublar Ibis Island where they are on a mission to find Doctor Edward Kirk. A man who was believed to be dead, but was discovered to be alive during a recon mission, said to be in charge of a secret weapons project prompting our agents to investigate the area.
Disaster strikes when our beloved Cooper, a man we've known for under a minute, is blown away from the others as they parachute down and is taken away from us tragically by a Tyrannosaurus Rex! It's okay. I'm sure our heroes will go looking for him and avenge his death!
Gail: Leave him.
He was only a plot device anyway.
With Cooper out of the picture it's up to Regina, Rick, and Gail to finish the mission. Reaching the guard house they find that something is wrong as there is no one nearby. Rick enters the facility to secure the control room while Regina and Gail are left to survey the outside area and we're finally allowed to move the main character around.
Now, if you've played Resident Evil you're going to notice a lot of similarities not just in graphics and game play, but in the controls. Unlike Resident Evil however, you can move around with your weapon at the ready. This comes in handy if you need to fire straight away, but you can't run in this state.
The game focus less on action and more on suspense and puzzles. You never know when a dinosaur is going to show up on screen and there are many puzzles throughout the game you'll have to solve in order to progress further. The story isn't anything amazing, but it's not terrible either. The banter between characters is pretty fun. Like for example when they lose Gail in the beginning (boy they don't keep track of their teammates very well)
Rick: Good news. I've got the control system back online! What's the situation over there?
Regina: It's Gail. I've lost him.
Rick: So, what's the bad news?
Another feature includes your character being thrown into life or death situations. You need to tap on buttons very quickly in order to avoid certain death. In other words, they're a bunch of Quick Time Events before they were common.
The inventory allows you to sort out your supplies, items, and examine items and weapons. You can also create new items or update some with the mix tool. Like Resident Evil, if your inventory is full there are certain rooms you can go to to empty it out.
If you've played Resident Evil, you've basically played this game. I understand that it was made by the same people, but would it have killed them to at least try to make this different? Aside from a few minor differences, Dino Crisis is basically Resident Evil meets Jurassic Park.
It doesn't just copy game play mechanics and graphics, it even copies story points. The member of the teammate you know virtually nothing about dies in the opening FMV, the buildup to meeting the first enemy of the game, etc. Hey, at least the first Resident Evil had a better reason for why they couldn't just call in the chopper.
Rick: I say what we outta do is call in the chopper and get off this deathtrap.
Regina: That's a great idea, but Cooper has the radio and he's missing.
That's right. They only have one radio. What, did they blow all their money on the cool outfits?
Anyway, Dino Crisis isn't a terrible suspense thriller. The voice actors for the game are decent, and the characters are fun. I just believe the game better qualities are buried by the fact it's basically a Resident Evil clone. If they could've just found a way to give the game its own identity I think they could have had something great.
Try it
Formalhaut
06-08-2015, 02:42 AM
I smurfing love Phoenix Wright. Easily one of my top video game series. You should definitely carry on playing the series Tori as it only get better from the second one.
In regards to the cases, I'd agree with your assessment. If you do play on more Tori, you'll notice patterns developing in the third and final cases respectively. The final case is always the massive climax case (and how in No.3!) and is usually very difficult. But the third cases are always very... goofy. Not goofy, but definitely much more humorous. I like how the pattern is set. It just gives you something to look forward to building up to the third case.
I find Maya equally fabulous as you do but Gumshoe is one of my favorite characters. You also mentioned the music you two: I actually like how the music changes each game. It gives each game a distinctive feeling; each game has their own objection theme, their own cross-examination theme, and it gets my blood pumping when I start to hear the allegro version of the cross-examination music.
Great reviews, both of you. You should definitely carry on with the series Tori. If you can play the Professor Layton series as well, that'd be awesome so you can play the crossover between the two.
Sephex
06-08-2015, 04:33 AM
Whoa, caught up. Nice review on Wold Among Wallstreet Us! I thought it got silly at the very end (action wise), but it was another solid entry from Telltale ultimately!
Great reviews, both of you. You should definitely carry on with the series Tori. If you can play the Professor Layton series as well, that'd be awesome so you can play the crossover between the two.
Trials & Tribulations is already next on my list if I can find a copy for a reasonable price. Blasted thing is going for one-hundred dollars on Amazon.
Whoa, caught up. Nice review on Wold Among Wallstreet Us! I thought it got silly at the very end (action wise), but it was another solid entry from Telltale ultimately!
The Bigby/Bloody Mary fight was ridiculous, but so, so satisfying.
Pumpkin
06-08-2015, 09:23 PM
Excited for your next reviews!
Originally published on 12.26.11
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Mega Man Legends is an action RPG developed and published by Capcom in December 1997 in Japan before coming over to North America in the late summer of 98. It presents a new spin on the Mega Man franchise making our main character a Digger, who just happens to look like a robot.
We open up to find our world is flooded in water (this must be where Nintendo got its inspiration for Wind Waker). Only a few islands remain in the midst of the flood with energy sources being rare. To cope, various Diggers go around the world finding quantum refractors in ancient ruins to use for energy, the shards being used for currency. However, the item that every Digger looks for is something called the Mother Lode, an item of suppose infinite power that will take care of the world energy needs in one fair swoop, but the Diggers don't seem to be anywhere close to finding it.
The game stars Mega Man Volnutt, voiced by Corey Sevier (that's right, before he was Apollo, he was Mega Man!), a Digger aboard the ship titled Flutter, living there with his Spotter Roll Caskett and her grandfather Barrel Caskett.
Roll, Barrel. Barrel, Roll. Roll, Barrel. Barrel, Roll.
Mega Man, do a Barrel Roll!
The game's antagonists come in the form of pirates known as the Bonnes, though their service bots look more like legos. They want to steal the legendary secret treasure said to be on Kattelox Island. Led by their leader, Teisel Bonne, and his sibling, Tron Bonne, they quickly become obstacles for Mega Man and his team to overcome.
Mega Man has two weapons that he can have equipped. The first one is on his left arm, the second his right. If neither arm has anything equipped Mega Man will perform a kick in their place.
The overall gameplay of Mega Man Legends can be a lot of fun. You have room to run around, jump, blow up enemies, and chase after cars. Just be sure not to get hit because, as you'd imagine, that will hurt. The storyline gives us a new spin on Mega Man, mainly because this isn't the same Mega Man. Reading up more on the Mega Man Legends series I found they take place thousands of years after the ZX series, and Professor Barrett found this Mega Man alongside Data, a monkey which only Mega Man can understand.
The dialog and voice acting is cringe worthy at times. It's what you can expect from a game mostly aimed at kids, but I didn't see anything that talks down to them or insult their intelligence. The villains are over the top and hilarious. Not very menacing, but for what they are they do their job well. The graphics now is another story. They're bad. Crash Bandicoot and Croc, two games made around this time are far better in the graphics department. Even Armored Core has this thing beat.
You can upgrade Mega Man weapons by buying parts or finding them on your journey These upgrades will help make Mega Man stronger, something you'll want to keep an eye on. Because there's nothing more embarrassing than getting beat up by legos. A lot of the enemies look really cool, and you can make Mega Man look even more like the classic robot we all know and love by getting all the appropriate parts. In conclusion, if you can get over inferior looking graphics and hideous voice acting, Mega Man Legends can be a lot of fun.
Try it
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone is a tactical role-playing game by Atlus that was originally published on the Game Boy Advance, and then later ported to the PSP. The game stars Princess Yggdra who assembles a Royal Army to battle the evil Bronquian Empire.
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No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!
We start off with some images and a text scroll explaining the plot before being led to our title character escaping from Imperial forces. She takes refugee in a thieves hideout, so the Imperials do the only rational thing and burn it to the ground.
When their leader, Milanor, comes back, he decides he doesn't like that one bit and the battle is on, but first a tutorial, and another tutorial, and another tutorial, AND ANOTHER TUTORIAL! My god, there are more tutorials than game modes, just get to the point!
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Roll the dice, play your cards, break the rules that's who you are, whoever said play it safe never played the game.
Yggdra plays a lot like a board game. You can move each character a certain number of spaces that's allowed on the card you chose, and engage in battles with enemies when you're close to them. Steps are counted for every character instead of individually so choose your movement wisely. The game takes into account stats, and what weapon you're equipped with to improve your chances in a fight.
Morale is another thing you have to watch out for in this game. Your morale goes down if you lose a fight and if it reaches zero the game is over. The enemies have morale too and you need to take that down to zero in order to defeat them. The PSP version is a little more forgiving with morale boosts since you're gain some back upon leveling up.
You can find items to aid you on your quest by exploring the maps of each stage, but you have to land on the space the item is on. You can also visit villages and get advice or assistance from the villagers you interact with, so it's worth it to explore a bit despite how linear it can all feel.
Saves happen in-between stages, and there are checkpoints in longer stages which reset your cards so you can use them again, but heaven forbid you have to shut the game off for any reason during the checkpoints because then you have to start all over. I was so exhausted during stage three because it just went on, and on, and on!
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Can't counter!? I call hax!
Engaging an enemy takes you to a separate screen where the two armies battle it out for supremacy. Whoever the attacking army is is the one who gets the first charge, and then the defending army gets a chance to counter-attack. Needless to say, the army who gets the first strike has the advantage.
There isn't exactly a whole lot you can do on this screen. You can toggle between passive or aggressive, but for the most part you just watch the two armies fight with your fingers crossed. If you hate repetitiveness in your games, you're not going to have much fun here. At the very least, you can speed up the fighting so it's over with quickly.
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Cardcaptors, a mystic adventure! Cardcaptors, a quest for all time!
Cards make up the basis of your entire party. Run out of cards and the game is over. The further you get into the game, the more cards you find and can equip before a battle. Power determines how much damage the enemy takes in a fight, while the Ace is what weapon the Union leader requires for the card to be any good.
Each card has its own skill that is useful in battle. A few examples of this include restore allies, kill all enemies, change the field, and invincibility. The power level of the card determines how much damage your enemy takes, and the Ace matches what kind of weapon the Union Leader needs in order for it to be of any use.
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Sulu. You can call me Mr. Sulu.
The characters are all interesting enough and the voice acting is solid. I swear Yggdra sounds so much like the voice actress for Rebecca in the first Resident Evil game, but I checked and it's not her. Actually, nobody seems to know who Yggdra's English Voice Actress is. Or any of the English voice actors for that matter.
Yggdra has a certain innocence about her, but when it comes time to start cutting bitches, she rises to the challenge considerably. Milanor is your laid back thief who's a little bit of a ladies man, and then you have characters like Durant who is honorable, loyal, and performs his duty well. I like his spear. You can never go wrong with a good spear. Unless the other people have axes.
I like the animation of the characters. Every character that talks has their own animation you can see on the left side of the screen while they're talking that's pretty well done, and a sprite on the right that's charming to look at and provides other expressions for the characters in certain scenes.
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Kind of a sweet subtitle when you think about it.
Bottom line? Yggdra Union edges on the boring and repetitive side. The characters are all interesting enough, but it just doesn't balances out how lackluster the gameplay is. On the bright side, it's one of those games where you know right away whether you'll like it or not. The things seen above with the board and battle screen? That's basically the whole game. If you get past that you may enjoy it. If not then you're gonna have a bad time.
Try it
Pumpkin
06-17-2015, 08:31 PM
I might look in to it~
Sephex
06-18-2015, 03:22 AM
Mega Man Legends should be a "Get it" but I'll admit the game didn't age well and he does control a little stiff. Still, everything else in that game is fun!
Originally published on 01.02.12
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Late into the PlayStation's life, one of the games we received was based off the direct-to-video spinoff/prequel to the 1995 featured film, Casper. Casper: Friends Around the World kicks off with Casper playing with all of his friends when Kibosh, an evil ghost who runs a haunting school, is sickened by what he sees and casts a spell that sends Casper's friends spread out through the world leaving Casper with no choice but to find them all and bring them home.
Before I go any further, I hope you guys like hearing one person talk constantly because when you get to the title screen that's all you're going to hear. Every time you go to an option on the title screen you hear Casper speak. Every. Single. Time. It's like the video game designers were afraid kids would get bored if Casper didn't speak every minute or so.
You start off with a default map of Hollywood which represents the first level. The goal in each level is to find your missing friend and the map. There's a floating knob you can find that leads you to a mini game featuring Casper's uncles Stretch, Stinky and Fatso. The minigame plays like Ping Pong. Don't worry if you miss it because the game will bring you to it at the end of the level if you do.
Aside from that, it's your basic side scrolling game with 3D elements. You can jump, float, parachute, bounce, duck and shoot ghostly spheres at enemies. Casper has a life bar, extra lives you can find, and continues when you run out of those lives. Fall into something like say, water, and Casper life bar takes a dive. What is it with some games making water your enemy? Casper may not be able to swim, but the boy is a ghost! How does that hurt him? Oh, and if you think you can go through walls or doors in this game, forget it. If you find a closed door that needs opening you can't just walk through it. I know they don't want to make it too easy, but come on! What's the point of playing as a ghost if you can't even go through walls?
I don't have any complaints about the gameplay. The graphics and voice acting is decent. As for the story itself? It's so-so. Nothing great, but nothing flat out terrible either. It's a pretty straightforward premise, and you know right away what your goals are so there's not much I can see to pick apart. The game offers a reasonable challenge without going overboard with the difficulty. It's something that kids could enjoy, especially if they're fans of Casper. Heck, if you're feeling nostalgia for some Casper older people may enjoy it, too.
Try it
Rez09
06-22-2015, 12:18 AM
Oh man, I just watched a video of that Casper game and he makes Gex seem quiet. x.x
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Over the years superheroes have undergone a lot of retellings and reimaginings. One such example that stands out even today is Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson taking on a much darker side of the Dark Knight that comic book writer, Frank Miller made popular again.
With the popularity of the movie it only made sense to create a video game tie-in to profit even more off the success of the movie. This gave us video game adaptions on the NES, Sega Genesis, and the Game Boy, but today I'll be doing a Compare & Contrast of the NES and Genesis versions of the game to decide which one is the best. So, hang onto your seats because we're going to Gotham!
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I'm Purpleman!
Gameplay wise both are pretty straightforward. The NES version has a button for jumping and attacking while allowing you to toggle between different weapons you pick up along the way. The Genesis version starts you off with batarangs right away and makes use of the C button to throw them.
While you don't get as many batarangs as the NES version, I fail to see how that's a bad thing. Nintendo gives you so many batarangs you'd have to go out of your way to run out of them, whereas the Genesis forces you to use them more sparingly to make each batarang count. It's more realistic in the long run as Batman doesn't just have a million of them to pull out of his ass any time he wants.
Chances are you're going to be punching a lot regardless of which game you play. On Genesis you'll be punching air because if you get too close to a bad guy he'll hurt you. But on the NES? You're going to be punching like a madman just to get at the enemy before they come charging at you and even then you'll still miss on occasion. They may as well call the game Batman Punch Out!
Another thing you're going to be doing a lot of is wall jumping. It's like the developers were playing Ninja Gaiden while making this. You need to get the jumping down precisely by level two if you want to get anywhere in this game. Some times you have to fall off a platform and then quickly jump off it to avoid danger. At least the Genesis version gives you a grappling hook! The Genesis version requires a lot less jumping.
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You can't even go to the museum in this town without being shot at!
Both games are loosely based off the movie, but the Genesis version is closer to being a faithful adaption in level design. You get stages based around the chemical plant where the Joker is made, and the art museum the Joker and his men attacks. You even get to ride in the Batmobile and the Batplane.
In the NES version the stages are barely recognizable due to the limitations of the Nintendo and the enemies make no sense! You're fighting ninjas and robots. Since when in the hell did the Batman movie have robots? Is that supposed to be Firefly at the first boss stage? I'm fighting Firefly! Actually, that's kind of cool.
Another point in the Genesis version is there are a couple more stages and challenging boss fights in it. Even if you're doing a speed through of the game you get ten more minutes of game time than you would in the NES version.
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What the hell is that green thing supposed to be? An alien? A robot? A demon from the lowest depths of hell?
When it comes to graphics, it isn't a fair comparison. The Genesis wins hands down. Better all around console and they just rendered everything with more detail. Batman looks like he does in the film, the backdrops are clearer to what they represent, and when they do show clips the images look like they were ripped right out of the movie.
I realize that the Genesis version doesn't have as many cut-scenes as the NES, but what the NES has isn't that great to begin with. We get some animation of the Batmobile and them overusing the “Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight” line, and that's mostly it. The Genesis version cuts to the chase and the few cut-scenes you do get are a lot more enjoyable.
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Case in point, you get to knock the Joker in some chemicals. What more could you ask for?
At the end of the day, Batman is one of the few video game adaptions of a movie that's actually good. Batman looks great, the stages are all inspired by the movie, and you get a kick ass final boss fight with the Joker. If you really want to experience Tim Burton's Batman movie in video game form, then you can't go wrong with the game on Sega Genesis!
NES Batman: Skip it
GEN Batman: Get it
Rez09
06-25-2015, 03:32 AM
Out of curiosity, do you think that Batman on the NES would have been a better title without the license?
Also, as an aside, every time I see the boxart for these games I can't help but remember . . .
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I loved that stuff as a kid. :(
That was real?
And maybe. Still would have reminded me of Ninja Gaiden more than anything.
Scotty_ffgamer
06-25-2015, 05:05 AM
A couple of things:
A) Did you manage to beat the Joker on the NES version? I think this is one of the hardest games I've ever beaten in all honesty. There were a few parts where I was having to spam my projectiles and I was actually running out of them during the game, so getting the Joker was pretty difficult for me. That fight was pretty crazy if I remember right though.
B) What did you think of the music? This is one of the things I really like about Batman on the NES. I haven't played Batman on the Genesis, but I'm sure I'd probably like the music there too. I just generally like the soundtracks on those old Sunsoft games.
A couple of things:
A) Did you manage to beat the Joker on the NES version? I think this is one of the hardest games I've ever beaten in all honesty. There were a few parts where I was having to spam my projectiles and I was actually running out of them during the game, so getting the Joker was pretty difficult for me. That fight was pretty crazy if I remember right though.
B) What did you think of the music? This is one of the things I really like about Batman on the NES. I haven't played Batman on the Genesis, but I'm sure I'd probably like the music there too. I just generally like the soundtracks on those old Sunsoft games.
A) Didn't get that far sadly. I'm only aware of how the boss fights play because of the longplays I sat through.
B) I actually don't remember anything about the Genesis' soundtrack. Both opening songs are the same and the NES' music stuck with me more. I don't usually talk about the music in things I review so it got left out.
Scotty_ffgamer
06-25-2015, 05:38 AM
I spent days with my NES left on so I wouldn't lose my progress while I tried to get to the end and beat Joker, haha.
I know you don't tend to comment on music, I was just curious what you thought. The soundtrack was what original drew me to the game. I've been wanting to check out a bunch of other Sunsoft games just because I think they tend to have good soundtracks.
Speaking of Batman reminding you of Ninja Gaiden, I still need to try to beat the first one. I got pretty close to the end, but I haven't been able to play my NES in quite a while now.
Originally published on 01.09.12
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Harry Potter. Does this even need an introduction? Screw it, I'll give one anyway. Harry Potter is a book series about a young boy wizard written by author J.K. Rowling. The first book was published back in 1997 in the UK before being brought over to America a year later. It would soon be followed up by sequels and its very own Movie Franchise in 2001. Since then it has integrated itself into our culture. With the growing success of the series it was only natural for it to expand other mediums. This brings us back to 2001 for the PlayStation release of:
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The first in a long line of video games based on the Harry Potter series would be published by EA Games. The plot? Well, everybody knows the plot. Once upon a time there was this really bad dude who did bad things to good people.
Lord Voldemort
I'm going to kill you now.
Lily Potter
NO!
Harry Potter
Momma!
Lord Voldemort
I'M MELTING!
In his attempts to kill Harry something happened, something that nobody knows, and Harry Potter got out of the incident with nothing but a scar (why is it lighting shaped?) and Lord Voldemort was no more. With his parents dead, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, took the young Harry Potter to live with his only remaining non-magical (otherwise known as Muggle) family.
Professor McGongall
Dumbledore, why are you leaving him with these people?
Albus Dumbledore
Because they are the only family he has.
Professor McGongall
But they're douchebags! Mark my words they'll have him living in the cupboard under the stairs!
Albus Dumbledore
Oh, don't be silly.
Eleven years down the line Harry Potter is miserable, go figure, but that all changes when he gets his invite to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Since his Aunt and Uncle tries to fight him on it they have to send Big Foot to get the kid.
Hagrid
You're a Wizard, Harry!
Harry Potter
Will I get to pull a bunny out of a hat?
Hagrid
No.
Harry Potter
Saw a lady in half?
Hagrid
No.
Harry Potter
Make my Aunt and Uncle disappear?
Hagrid
No.
Harry Potter
Do I get a wand?
Hagrid
Yes.
Harry Potter
Woohoo!
So, he goes off to Hogwarts, is sorted into Gryffindor, and we begin the game!
None of the actors from the movie reprise their roles in this game, but some of the voices they do get does a pretty good job at impersonating them. Namely Harry, Ron, Neville, and Snape. I couldn't hear the difference much when I was a kid. The game does a good job of making the characters look like the actors from the film and even incorporates things from the books that were left out of the movies, like Peeves. Although, Hermione Granger's hair is so bright it looks blond. You know what? I think that is blond! Yeah, because you all remember how J. K. Rowling described her in the books with locks of blond hair, or how for the movies Emma Watson had to dye her hair blond? No? Of course not. Because her hair is brown!
The various mini-games found throughout can go from fun to annoying depending on your preference. Flying is basically Harry Potter going through rings (I'm having Superman 64 flashbacks), a race the clock challenge to get to class, pressing the buttons on the controller the Professor points at during class, a shooting range (what?), oh and for a boss battle we have Draco Malfoy throwing firecrackers at you. I'm not even kidding. Yes, they're given the label of Wizard Crackers, but bottom line is, Malfoy is trying to kill you with firecrackers! Why be sly, cunning and manipulative, when you can blow up your rival in broad daylight!?
In closing, if you're a huge fan of Harry Potter then chances are you'll enjoy this game. If you aren't, why would you get it in the first place? This is ToriJ signing off.
Try it
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Hello and welcome to ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Allow me to introduce to you Disney's Month! A time set aside where we look at various video games through the years based on memorable Disney's characters that we all know and love. And what's better way to start than with the mouse that started it all, Mickey Mouse!
The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse is the first entry to the “Disney's Magical Quest” franchise developed by Capcom for the Super Nintendo. We were going to get a Sega Genesis version, but for whatever reason that got abandoned. Next time, baby. Next time. Until then, let's see what Mickey has to offer us.
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I think the bird could have chose a safer place to sleep.
Mickey Mouse is your basic 2D side-scroller where you can collect points and there's a time limit on each stage. At first all you can do is jump on enemies and grab objects, but once you get the other costumes you can unlock more variety. There are four costumes overall: Default, Magician, Firefighter, and Mountain Climber. As a Magician you can shoot magic, Firefighter can put out fires (duh), and the Mountain Climber can scale up obstacles to get to high places.
You can switch between the four costumes at any time during the game (once you have all of them that is) and each one provides their own advantages, but it's only the final stage where you need to switch between them a bit more. Otherwise, the game makes it obvious which one you need at what time. Certain bosses are more vulnerable to a set costume and there's a magic and pump meter for the Magician and Firefighter respectively.
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I'm the king of the world!
The game has six stages that are divided up in four parts. Some of the stages have mini bosses you can fight and then the main boss that comes alive in part-4. Despite the difficulty levels there to force you to invest more time to it, the game is still pretty short. I was able to beat it in less than a day and it was only my first time playing. That's short even by retro game standards.
First couple of levels are kind of generic, but serve their purpose. Level design picks up at the third level when it feels like you're descending into the bowels of hell! And knowing Disney that's probably intentional, the sick smurfs. Then you have the mountain and ice levels which are a lot of fun. The final stage with the castle gives me Mega Man vibes since you can run into a lot of the bosses you already faced.
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Emperor Pete? Yeah, that's a name that inspires fear into the hearts of your enemies. Pete.
Our story centers around Mickey's dog Pluto being kidnapped by the evil Emperor Pete, and it's up to the mouse himself to rescue him. Points for not making the damsel the girl in this, but I have to ask... Who kidnaps a dog? Seriously. Is Emperor Pete that desperate for companionship he couldn't chip in for his own pet?
Apart from that, and the occasional scene with the wizard in the image above and Goofy, there isn't much story as you're most likely to expect. The game has a lot in common with Mario in terms of gameplay, and it wouldn't surprise me if Capcom used those games as a point of reference. Even the plot is more or less the same, but at least nobody says, “Your dog is in another castle!”
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I hate this boss with a passion, and apparently so does Mickey. Just look at how angry he is! He knows this stage is pure bulltrout.
Most of the bosses you encounter are creative and as fun as they are challenging. The first couple of bosses aren't much to look at, but once you get to stage three things get interesting. You encounter a monster who shoots fireballs at you and raises up the lava to ram you into the spike ceiling above.
Stage Four has a giant bird that charges at you from the background and you have to literally hang on for dear life to survive. You also need to take away her eggs and use them against her before they hatch and create baby birds you have to worry about. Reminds me of Queen Gohma a little bit.
On the fifth stage as seen above, you have this guy who will skate from the left and right platform shooting snowballs at you. You can jump on top of him for a hit and either freeze or dodge the snowballs. The thing is he always spends more time on the left platform, but you never know when he's going to stand on the right.
He skates over to the right only to go back to the left, and when he finally does land on the right it's too late for you to react. You keep getting hit every time. You can also run out of energy for the pump and only have the Magician left, but magic doesn't do jack trout against this guy. All you have left is the jump and good luck with that.
Then there's Emperor Pete himself. Holy smurf, this guy is tough. It's like he heard all the jokes you made at his name and was hell-bent on making you pay for each one. First of all, there are minor enemies that attack you during that provides power ups when you beat them, and Pete fires electricity trout at you.
I lost count of how many times I had to hit this asshole before he finally went down. I wasn't even sure if I was causing damage as he kind of just flickers in and out. For all I know that was a glitch or just a regular effect or something. It wasn't until he started changing color that I knew his health was going down. After you beat him you find Pluto and the game comes to its conclusion. Let's check out the ending.
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A dream? A dream!?
The last couple of hours I spent chasing that stupid dog around was all just A DREAM?! I ran across an entire world map for that dog! I literally made a descent into hell! I climbed a mountain! I went ice skating and kept falling off trout! I went through a castle, ran out of water pump, and had to start the whole level over again! I spewed out so many profanities that every single church in my city burned to the ground! And you're telling me that it was all just A DREAM?!
SMUUUUURF YOUUUUUUUUU!
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Okay, I might have overreacted just a tad – Smurf you! Smurf you! Smurf you – I am at peace. I'm on a sunny beach with birds singing and blah, blah, blah!
The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse! What more can you say? It's fun, it's challenging, it's a disturbing insight into what goes on in Mickey's head. If you like Mickey then you may enjoy it, but if you're looking for something a little longer you may be left disappointed. I'm ToriJ, and I haven't even gotten started. See you all next week!
Get it
Scotty_ffgamer
07-02-2015, 07:59 AM
I really need to play this game again.
Sephex
07-02-2015, 09:28 AM
That game brings me back to that mega issue of Nintendo Power I had where they published reader's designs for potential Mega Man robot masters! The cover was Mickey with that Fireman stuff on!
Originally published on 01.16.12
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SimCity 2000 is a simulation, city-building game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It was originally released for the PC, as all Sims games are, before being ported to a wide-selection of platforms through the years, eventually making it way to the Sony PlayStation.
Right off the bat I have to comment about the box. For some reason the box is made to contain three different discs, but there's only one. Is there something I'm missing? Why can't it just be a regular case? What does it need all the extra space for?
You know how when you get a new game, you're excited and you put it in without even touching the instruction manual? Yeah, you're not gonna want to do that with this game. This is the kind of game where you're gonna want to read the instruction manual before playing, otherwise you're going to be lost. Fortunately, the manual has a boot camp that doesn't take very long in order to learn the basics.
If you don't feel like creating your own city you can load up one of the many pre-made ones. No matter where you are you'll have a cursor you can move around. While in your city you can move this up to the many different icons (these are your tools) on the top, left, right and bottom parts of the screen. Highlighting one will show you a set that goes with it.
As Mayor, you are responsible for the health, wealth, and happiness of the Sims living in your town. In order to do this you'll want to plan your strategies well. You'll want to keep tabs on things like water, power, and transportation. Provide government services, education, recreation, work on the city's budget, taxes, and land manipulation. Don't worry about building houses, stores, factories, or other buildings as the Sims will take care of that themselves. They're almost like people that way.
There are several menus in the game you can check out any time. Speed, Options, Disasters, and Newspaper. Speed allows you to change the speed of how things run, options let you edit sound, music, budget, have it automatically go to an important event in the city, and turn off disasters. Disasters range from fire, flood, airplane crash, tornadoes, earthquakes, monsters, hurricanes, and riots if you really want to be mean.
With the Newspaper Menu you can have a Subscription, which delivers a newspaper to you twice a year. You'll receive an extra copy only during reports of important occurrences, inventions, and major development. Depending on how large the city is affects how many Newspaper selections you have.
When you get into building your own city you can choose the difficulty setting and the year. Depending on what year you choose will affect the tools you can use. At any time you can edit the map through the Edit New Map option on the main menu. There is also a Load Scenario selection on the main menu, which is actually recommended before going through boot camp.
All in all, this is definitely a thinking and patience game. If you're not big on patience or just looking for a game that doesn't require much thinking, this is definitely not something you'd want to pick up. If you are a patient gamer and like to be challenged intelligently, this is the game for you. I'm not sure if it matters which port you get it on, but I'm going to take a leap of faith and say the PC version is probably superior, but there's nothing wrong with the PlayStation version if you'd rather play it on that.
Try it
FFNut
07-05-2015, 07:14 PM
I remember playing this a while ago. Man was I a bad mayor!
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Welcome to the second week of Disney's Month! Today we're looking at The Lucky Dime Caper starring the one, the only, Donald Duck! The Lucky Dime Caper is a platformer that came out for the Sega Master System in 1991, and re-released on the Game Gear two years later. I have both copies of the game, but decided to focus on the Master System for this review. I'll look into the Game Gear version another time.
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Okay, does NO ONE see the woman blatantly staring through the window?!
The game starts off with Uncle Scrooge giving each of his nephew a lucky dime before Magica De Spell barges in, takes the children, and Scrooge's lucky dime with her leaving it to Donald Duck to rescue the day! Don't call the police or anything...
I hope you're a fast reader because the text will just fly across the screen. You barely have enough time to finish a sentence before the next line appears, and there's no way to slow it down. There isn't even an options menu! You just go straight to the world map once the opening is finished.
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Where did I put the bug spray?
After you select a stage to fly to you'll be taken to a 2D side screen to begin your advantage. At the start you have a hammer and a jump attack. You can get a secondary weapon that's like a Frisbee, but the hammer does a lot more damage.
Each stage has its own unique enemies to fight so you're never facing the same creature twice. This brings about a lot of interesting foils to Donald and shows a lot of creativity from the game makers.
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The fish must be hungry.
There's a time limit on each stage that starts to change color the less time you have. The time limit is actually pretty slow and I can only recall it turning yellow once during my entire playthrough.
Be weary of enemies, because if you get hit two or three times you're done for. You start off with three lives and can find more by killing enemies. Another powerup you can find are little red stars. Collect five of them and Donald will receive a limited time invulnerability. Best thing about the game is unlimited continues. If you get a game over you won't start back at the beginning of the game. Once a stage is cleared it remains clear.
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You aren't worth it, guys. You just aren't worth it.
There are only seven stages in the game with no parts to them, so it's actually a lot shorter than Mickey Mouse. You can do a run-through of the whole game in twenty-eight minutes if you're skilled enough. The first three levels are about saving the nephews, and the next three levels are spent tracking down the stolen dimes, and then you go off to face Magica De Spell herself.
The bosses are fairly challenging and can lead on to “duh” moments when you finally figure out what you're supposed to do. On the third stage I kept running away from boulders until I realized I'm supposed to smash the statues to the left and right of me. Never felt like a bigger idiot. Magica De Spell is the easiest of them all. Her crystal ball can be destroyed by the hammer in a few hits and she cowers. If it's so important WHY DO YOU HAVE IT WIDE OPEN WHERE I CAN GET TO IT?!
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Stop! Hammer Time!
The graphics held up pretty well for a Master System game. At times I would have thought it was for the Sega Genesis. All of the stages are bright and colorful and characters like Donald are drawn exactly as they appear on TV. Bonus points for making the few cut-scenes in the game match the in-game graphics, also.
Everything is clearly defined and pleasing to look at, except the waterfall in level two. Do not stare directly into the waterfall on level two. I guess the bricks seen up above aren't better in that respect, but at least they aren't moving. There's a lot going on in each of the stages without it being too jarring. The game designers should give themselves a pat on the back, they did good.
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Not worth the price of admission, dude.
After flying halfway across the world to get his nephews and the dimes back, we return to Uncle Scoorage's home where he bestows Donald Duck's reward. A lucky dime! Wow. You're rich and all you'll give him for his troubles is a dime? That's kind of dickish. Mind you, that was only for getting his dimes back after the nephews. If Donald actually needed a reward to save his own nephews he'd deserve that level of trolling.
Wait, if Donald is their uncle, and Scrooge is their uncle, then where are their parents? You only ever see them with Donald or Scrooge, I don't think their parents have ever made an appearance, have they? Did they just dump them on Donald's doorstep one day and split? What a bunch of assholes!
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smurf this trout!
Donald Duck is what you would expect going in. Just a whacky, fun platforming game with a lot of creativity. If you love Donald Duck or enjoy platformers in general then it's worth checking out.
That concludes this week's edition of Disney's Month. Stay tuned because next week we're going to the Pride Lands!
Get it
Rez09
07-09-2015, 06:18 AM
I've never played this one, though I did play Deep Duck Trouble, which I believe is the follow-up title. I'll have to give this one a try sometime. :D
Originally published on 01.23.12
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Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue the video game was developed by Mass Media Inc (N64), Climax Studios (PlayStation), Natsume (GBC), and Red Sky Interactive (Mac/Win). THQ published a majority of the ports with the exception of PC, which was developed by Bandai America. Today we'll be looking at the PlayStation version developed by Climax Studios, but first a quick look into the history of Power Rangers.
Power Rangers is a popular action-hero franchise that began in 1993 by Bandai America, using stock footage from a Japanese show called Kyuryu Sentai Zyuranger. Needless to say, Power Rangers was a huge success, and despite complaints of violence and racism, Power Rangers went on to make series, after series, after series. Even making a featured film in 1995 and another movie that would start the Turbo Rangers series in 1997.
By 2000 we had Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue, adapted from Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive. The video game was to come out in June and give us the ability to control all five Lightspeed Rangers with the Titanium Ranger being the secret unlockable character. We kick things off with the intro to the show before going to the title screen. Get used to having the Lightspeed Rescue theme stuck in your head because you're going to hear it a lot.
At the start of each stage you'll be shown a series of clips taken from the live action show. Before you can get to the action however, you receive a quick mission briefing by your commanding officer, Captain Mitchell and Miss Fairweather. The information they give you can be repetitive.
It's your pretty basic beat 'em up. You punch, block, etc. Until you clear an area you're unable to move on to the next one. The weird thing about that is even if it's telling you the area you're in isn't cleared, you can still trigger the next mini boss fight, but won't be able to reach him so he'll just be standing there. If the area isn't cleared why have the mini boss appear at all?
The game allows for single or multiplayer with your usual difficulty settings. What strikes me odd about the difficulty in this game, is that if you choose easy you don't get every level in the game. It leaves out the final level. It reminds me of Castlevania 64 where if you play it on easy you only get five of the ten levels in the game. This one isn't as bad as that, but why leave out a stage based solely on the difficulty setting? I understand wanting people to beat the game on a stronger difficulty in order to unlock something, but don't leave out a part of the game entirely because of it.
One positive note about the game is if you're a fan of the show, it has all the actors reprising their roles for the voices so it really does make you feel like you're a part of the team. This is more or less really a game for the fans of the show, if you're not a Lightspeed Rescue fan at all this isn't a game you're going to enjoy. Despite everything, it's not the most challenging game you'll ever play either, even on Hard Mode I was still able to beat it on my own without too much of a fuss. If you're one for challenges you wouldn't be getting too much here.
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue is just a fun game for fans of the show to enjoy, but that isn't to say someone out there who's never heard of the show couldn't enjoy it. If you enjoy platformers, action, and beat 'em uppers, then you may very well enjoy this game regardless.
In other words if you have some time to kill, IT'S MORPHING TIME! LIGHTSPEED RESCUE!
No, they don't really say “it's morphing time” beforehand, but wouldn't it be so much cooler if they did?
Try it
Note Italics represent action.
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Do you like The Lion King? Of course you do, it's one of the greatest animated films of all time. I can still remember seeing it in theaters and having a good time with it. So, naturally, knowing there's a video game of the movie out, what kid wouldn't want to play it? Shouldn't be that bad, right? I mean, it's a kid's game. Stay away. Stay the smurf away. This is one of the hardest games I've ever played, and considering I gone through Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden, that's saying a lot. Let's pop this son of a bitch in.
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Wouldn't it just be terrible if he dropped him?
Opening isn't too bad, you have the iconic birth of Simba scene with Rafiki and a 16-bit instrumental of “The Circle of Life” that sets the tone for the game pretty well. At least we have an options menu this time!
Your choice of difficulty is Easy, Norman, and Difficult. I guess Hard was too generic for their liking. Basically, the higher the difficulty, the lower the lives you have. What I found interesting is this game was developed by Westwood Studios, the same company who created Command and Conquer. I bet they were laughing their asses off with how hard they made this, well karma is a bitch, my friend, you were bought out by EA!
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I'm the king of my castle!
There isn't much to say about the first level. You get to run around the Pride Lands killing enemies and finding bug items hovering in the air. There's something in it for you if you take the time to look around the stage instead of plowing right through it.
The meter on the top right corner is health, while the meter on the top left is your roar meter. Roaring comes in handy for stunning enemies so you can hit them. You can't paw people or have any other offense except the jump button until you're an adult. Certain bug items increase your meters, while others can take it away. Find the right ones and you can trigger a bonus stage where you play as either Timon or Pumbaa.
One thing I really like about the game is that it has pre-recorded lines from the movie in the cut- scenes, which was rare for that time. Especially on a system like the Sega Genesis that isn't exactly known for its voice acting. The first stage is good, it's the second stage and beyond when things start transitioning into bulltrout territory.
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Gotta love it when the game assumes you're too stupid to figure out trout on your own.
Oh. My. God. This stage. I can't even hate on the design aspect of it, the level is designed beautifully like it was ripped straight out of the movie. If you're basing a game off a film then this is how you do it. The stage is very creative with jumping on rhinos, jumping on giraffes, and being swung around by monkeys. All with the familiar “I Just Can't Wait to be King” music.
You can't smurf around on this stage, if it even senses you're having a good time it will bite you in the ass. Try to get past the giraffes, fall in water. Swing from the rhinos' tails, fall in water. Jump on logs, fall in water. There are less people falling in water in public swimming pools! But that's not even the worse of it, oh no. As if to put a giant middle finger on this child hell we have the most frustrating part of all.
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The mother smurfing ostrich!
I hate ostriches. In this part you have to jump and duck accordingly before getting hit. Straightforward enough. The challenging part comes when you have to make a double jump halfway through. You need to tap C twice at just the right time or you're hitting the ground. Even after I learned how to do it I still have trouble getting past this part.
Come on... get up there! Get the smurf up there! You're only level two! The second level of a game should not be this hard! GET THE smurf OVER IT!
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AHHHHHHH!
If this is where gaming is headed smurf it, count me out! Out of playing, out of writing, I wouldn't hang about. You can't make me play another stage! Opens the door to his bedroom to leave.
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Slams the door shut.
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Anger is contagious, it seems.
If you can make it past one hellish musical number, we have another in the form of the Elephant Graveyard. Why do all the hyenas look like Banzai? At least when they're not performing the Ed salute. Was Scar experimenting with cloning or something?
Anyway, we have hyenas, we have flying birds wanting to kill you, and bones falling apart every which way. Some times it's not even worth stopping to take out an enemy, you're better off just running like a bitch. Occasionally, if you want to get past a blockade you do have to face the hyenas. It's nearly impossible to tell when they're going to jump, and you can only jump on them when they're tired.
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Great, more water.
After you reach a checkpoint you need to wall jump while trying to avoid a rising stream of... green water? How did the water get polluted? No wonder these guys betrayed Mufasa, who could live like this?
Why do hard games always feel the need to have a wall jump? Is there a checkoff list I don't know about? “Making a hard game? Here are things to add for maximum frustration!” To their credit, they mended it to fit with the theme of Lion King. Simba hanging from the cliff with a scared expression on his face is a lot like when Mufasa was hanging off a cliff before Scar killed him. Now, if I can just get up this–!
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smurfING HELL!
Takes the game out from the system and readies to bang it into the ground. Stops midway and cries out in frustration before putting the game back in and turning the Genesis on.
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I hate my life.
You thought that last stage was bad? Get a load of this. The infamous stampede scene. Simba can be moved to the left and right of the screen in order to avoid the in-coming buffalo, and you need to jump to avoid rocks that appear in front of you. Give the devil his due, they managed to recapture the intensity of this scene from the big screen. You really do feel like Simba did when his life was on the line.
Gets hit by a buffalo. Goddamn! Gets hit by another buffalo. Allahdamn! Gets hit by rocks. Zeusdamn! Continues to get hit. Odindamn! Radamn! Yevondamn! Cthulhudamn! Flying- spaghetti-monster damn! There aren't enough gods in the universe to fully describe how aggravating this is! Takes out the game from the system a second time and puts it on a table, brings up a hammer over it, but manages to stop himself. Puts the game back in.
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Don't fall! Don't fall! Don't fall!
Simba's Exile is no better. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse they drop rocks on you. Meanwhile, you need to make careful jumps like in the image above to get anywhere. Naturally, you'd want to take your time, but how can you with all these rocks falling from the sky!?
In one part of the level you're being chased by a boulder and there's an enemy in your way. You don't have the time to stun him fast enough before that boulder gets you. If the boulder hits it's an instant death. You have to get hit and keep running for dear life. That's another thing about this game, no matter how good you get you're still going to get hit.
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What the smurf?
Hakuna Matata... More like Hakuna Mattrouta, you're better off cutting off your damn fingers! Look at this! Forget Mario 2 falling logs, this takes the cake. You know what's worse? When you're swinging from point A to point B. Simba doesn't want to go in the direction you want him to and ends up jumping the other way. Go left. Go left! Not right, left! Don't even get me started on the monkey at the end. He throws a bunch of bananas at you (at least I think those are bananas) and then slam his fist into the ground. Get used to jumping.
After the Hakuna Matata stage we're brought to the second half of the game where you play as Adult Simba. Okay, being able to slash things in the face is extremely satisfying. Makes fighting off hyaenas a little easier, too.
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Adult Simba is all business.
While the slash helps a little bit, the game makes up for this by having the latter stages be even harder! Simba Returns is a damn maze! There are hyaenas everywhere! Where am I suppose to go!? If I never see another hyaena as long as I live it will be too soon.
Another enemy the game introduces by this point are leopards. I don't remember those being in the film, but at least it makes sense to the setting. They're not just adding robots and ninjas for the hell of it.
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smurf you, Scar, you piece of trout!
On the last stage you get to go one on one with Scar himself on Pride Rock. The whole place looks like it's descending into hell as we speak. The fight itself is pretty reminiscent of the movie scene, they're swiping their claws at each other, Scar keeps pushing you back, and the animation on each sprite is well put together.
Scar's health is ridiculously high and your swipes don't do nearly enough damage. God help you if you have a three button Genesis controller like me because special moves are a million times harder to pull off. Maul! MAUL! If you're lucky enough to get to the top cliff you need to throw his sorry ass over the ledge, but that only works if you get his health down. So, get ready for tapping your fingers off because that's a lot of swiping.
Almost there... Almost there...! Yeah, you better back up, you son of a bitch! DIE! DIE! DIE! JUST smurfING DIE ALREADY–!
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NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
smurf THIS GAME! I'd rather push out a golf ball sized kidney stone out of my dick than play another infuriating second of this 16-bits of ass! It'd be easier to run off to the jungle and punch the wildlife! This game is a piece of trout and I want the last seven days of my life back!
Takes the game out of the system and holds it up. Be prepared for an ass whopping! Bashes the cartridge onto the floor repeatedly while screaming. Brings the cartridge out to the kitchen's table and smashes it relentlessly with a hammer! Do you feel the love now, bitch? Takes the game outside, throws it into the dumpster, lights a match and tosses it in burning the game with the garbage.
UPS Man: Walks up to the scene. Package for a Mr. Ayen.
Ayen: Takes the box and opens it to unveil the Super Nintendo version of The Lion King … Tosses it into the fire with the Genesis version.
Skip it
Originally published on 02.04.12
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Monsters, Inc. Scream Team is based off of Disney PIXAR Monsters, Inc. which was scheduled to hit theaters just three days after the game was released in North America. The game was developed by A2M and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and acts as a prequel (naturally) to the events we would later see in the film. Knowing this, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anybody that the game opening would basically be a movie trailer before coming to the title screen.
Now unfortunately, with the exception of three actors, none of the cast members from the movie reprise their roles for the game, but the voice actors they get for Sulley and Mike aren't all that bad and in some cases Carlos Alazraqui does sound a little like John Goodman. The story is simple enough, Mike and Sulley want to become top scarers at Monsters, Inc. so they go to Scare Island in order to learn. The scene before the training level is pretty hilarious, but once you get to the actual training you may come to find it's a bit tedious. This is at a time where games just assumed you knew nothing and explained everything to you even if it's something simple, which older games would have taught you by just playing it. Instead, they stop you, show you, and tell you during, and after a while hearing Roz speak just gets tiring.
The main objective is to scare robot children called Nerves. Each robot child is color coded, and you have to stock up on ooze in order to charge up your Fright Meter. How making faces and poking your eye counts as scary is beyond me.
But beware of... TOYS!
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In Scream Team you'll fight with various different toys in each stage. An attack by a toy cost one health point, but don't worry there are plenty of ways available to defend yourself.
In each stage you'll be looking for three medals that you need at least one of in order to pass. These medals, depending on your performance, can either be bronze, silver, or the beautiful, beautiful gold medal. To get a gold medal, you must get all eight Nerves that are in that stage, the silver medal can be earned by collecting all ten Monster Tokens, and the Bronze can be awarded with scaring a total of five Nerves.
One unlockable includes actual scenes from the film. At the time for those eagerly awaiting the movie and got the game first, this is a pretty nice extra, but now? You can just watch the movie so it's not an award that has carried on well with time.
Whether or not you like this game will depend on a few factors, one being age. Now I obviously can't speak for every gamer of all ages, and I won't even try, but this as you can imagine is a game aimed at kids and not something I can see many adults, especially old-time gamers, enjoying all that much both for it repetitiveness (though some kids probably won't like that either), and assuming you're an idiot.
Scream Team offers a fun experience for kids and fans of the movie, and if you're a parent with a child who wants to keep that kid distracted with something they can do with their fingers which doesn't involve collateral damage to your house, I'd recommend it.
Try it
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Ayen: We have an interesting one for you all today. Why do I say we? Because I'm being joined today by special guest, Maybee, from Eyes on Final Fantasy.
Disney's Aladdin was made by Virgin Games and Capcom for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo respectively. These games came out around the same time, but are vastly different to the point of unrecognizably. The question that remains is, which company did the better job? That's what we're here to find out.
Aladdin was an animated movie that came out in 1992 and became one of many Disney's classics. It was like The Little Mermaid for boys. I have a lot of fond childhood memories watching the trilogy and the old cartoon show they used to have. Unfortunately, I missed both of these games growing up. I didn't have a Super Nintendo and the Genesis version just past me by, so keep in mind this is my first time playing both.
Maybee: Aladdin SNES and Aladdin Sega are really two completely different games. One is more calm, Mario- esque styled platforming, while the other is hack' n slash with a times you have to slow down and take things steady and use tactics by throwing apples now and again, changing up the pace. I have no idea why they choose apples as a weapon for Aladdin, while his character is a orphan street rat who's starving for just a piece of bread. Doesn't he want to eat them? Shouldn't they be used as health, like how Castlevania uses food to keep up your strength, even if it's just rotten tossed away chicken hidden by a doorway?
Ayen: Well, the SNES version does replenish health with a turkey.
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Hot potato!
Ayen: Yeah, this looks awesome. One thing to note is that Disney actually did the animation for this game, and it shows. Aladdin and the rest of the cast look exactly as they did in the movie.
We have two primary attacks and a jump button. You can even parry with the sword. There's some funny animation you can prompt when you hit certain enemies with apples, like a guard's underwear showing. Priceless.
All throughout each stage you can find apples, hearts, extra lives, and gems which are used as currency to buy more lives and continues. Genie and Abu heads can activate a bonus level if you get enough of them before the end of the stage.
Unlike The Lion King, Aladdin eases you into the difficult parts as you play through. It isn't until the halfway mark during the Cave of Wonders that things start to get harder for the player.
The Escape from the Cave level in particular was a giant pain in the ass! One part requires to jump on sinking lava platforms and wait for it to sink low enough to avoid the spikes on the ceiling, but jump too soon and the lava spits out fire to kill you. When I FINALLY made it through, I took more than a nanosecond grabbing hearts only for a boulder to kill me, so I had to do it ALL OVER AGAIN!
Oh, and bats. Damn every single bat in this game. Damn them to the lowest pits of hell where they can burn for an eternity!
And when that wasn't enough bulltrout? Genie balloons. You have to jump and grab onto Genie balloons one at a time before they pop and try not to fall to your death. Good smurfing luck!
The last level is a combination of every single challenge in the previous stages combined with the intent to make your life miserable, and at the end you face Jafar who is surprisingly easy all things considered. Honestly, all you do is throw apples at him. That's a reoccurring theme in this game. The bosses themselves aren't that hard, but the latter levels are certainly a pain in the ass
Maybee: However what tears apart one from the other is the beautiful graphics settings, amazing OST soundtrack which follows songs from the animated classic Disney flick, and the better gameplay. The Genesis version has better colors, better oomph, better excitement and playing through the game is a fun and action- packed adventure. The beginning level is the thrilling Prince Ali, a parading tune humming in the background as you brush through a vibrant Agrabah.
The SNES version however just feels dry, lacking and empty. The colors feel dry and depressing. For example take the Genesis version of The Cave Of Wonders level and the SNES's. The Genesis has a swinging, almost dangerous sounding tune, creative design, colorful fish, ancient Shiva Indian statues, and falling rocks you must avoid. The SNES' version of the level is just a very basic cave design, and a log that you must use to avoid drowning in the water. That's all.
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Logs
Ayen: What happened to Aladdin? He looks pixelated as smurf! The guards in earlier levels are better define than he is. Also, Aladdin moves so slow that even the snails are telling him to get a move on!
There's no sword for you to use in this version, the only means of attack is throwing apples (which only stuns unless you're attacking lesser enemies) and jumping on them. Guys, you know you have four buttons, right? You can add some more attacks, you know!
On a positive note, the sound is good. Aladdin sounds like himself whenever he's hit. The music isn't half bad, either, as to be expected with the Super Nintendo. While the character sprites don't look the best in comparison with the Genesis version, I can't find much problem with the backgrounds and attention to detail. Seeing the palace for the first time is simply jaw dropping.
Another positive are the bosses. They're a little more challenging than the Genesis version. Jafar especially. He isn't just in the background zapping you. He's in the foreground with attack patterns to overcome and his serpent form is a lot harder, and at least you get to see him in his genie form even though you don't get to fight it. I guess since that scene was more about outwitting Jafar it made no sense to make it a boss fight. I still think it would have been awesome.
Maybee: The Genesis version feels more creative, alive, and like you're hanging out in a wild party- while the SNES version feels like you're sitting next to an alone, depressed guy who's so consumed by his awful life he's hasn't cleaned himself in days.
Things do improve for the SNES version, the depressed guy begins to take some medicine for his mental illness, while the Genesis version is when you have awoken up from the awesome party last night to find your self in the trash.
Yes, the last few levels on the SNES are quite incredible, while the Sega version- the last few levels are rushed. Music is even re-used for the final level. The last boss for the Sega is disappointing. It's just a small snake! However the SNES does the final boss right by having Snake Jafar take up most of the screen- he's large, powerful and makes Aladdin look small- and you feel small and gulp slightly in terror.
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Let me show you how SNAKE like I can be!
Maybee: The SNES version also has a beautiful and calm A Whole New World level whereabouts you take Princess Jasmine on a gentle carpet ride through the starlight sky, while you take it easy for a while- a break needed after some tricky levels, and just sit back, relax and collect gems. Gems are needed if you want to unlock a little extra something in the SNES version. Though it's so small, it's basically worthless and it's not worth your time and effort. So there's no point to the gems.
The Genesis version uses the gem system quite well. They are actually good for something. If you collect a certain amount, you can buy extra lives or a continue.
The SNES gives you the promise of something great if you somehow manage to collect all gems, and then slaps you in the face.
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Apu has just played the SNES version and collected all the gems. He's done. He's done.
Maybee: The SNES does have a Genie level bonus at the end- so does the Genesis, both of them depend solely on luck. You could end up with something fantastic like a new life or just win Jafar laughing in your face.
Even though the SNES version does improve things later on, it's not good enough and it doesn't save it from being a slightly average game. It's only the last level where things get bad for the Genesis, and the last few levels where things get good for the SNES.
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Maybee: I love this level. Truly.
Ayen: It's a good level.
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What is Grand Maester Pycelle doing here?
Ayen: In-between stages you get story based off the movie being told largely in the form of pictures and text. The Genesis version does take a lot of liberties with the story like having more interactions with Jafar's disguise long before Aladdin gets thrown into the dungeons.
The SNES version stays more true to events from the movie. Images have a lot more variety to them and even in-game cut-scenes and gameplay recreates the scenes from the movie a lot better. Now imagine if Disney did the animation for them, it'd be perfect! The only thing that really sticks out from the norm with the SNES version is this.
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I don't remember that part of the movie.
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Maybee: The Genesis is just a better game overall. I think that the thing that pushes the SNES version to the ground though, is it's downright terrible carpet level, compared to the Genesis. The SNES has annoying falling rocks that are almost impossible to avoid and it's just no fun. It's scream and toss away your controller frustrating. However the Genesis has a pressure test. How well do you work under pressure? The level starts off slow and steady, but picks up speed as you go along, and it gets crazy fast! You begin to hold your breath as you try and hope that you do the right thing (which is press up or down in time) and pray that Aladdin will make it to the end of the level. If you fail the test, it's alright. The game is forgiving and lets you skip on to the next level after a few attempts.
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Fun. Good times. Heart-racing level.
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Pain. Misery. Sorrow. Plenty of tears and not the happy tears. These tears are sad.
Maybee: Both games are pretty tricky and they're not really easy or simple for games aimed at children. Though, personally I feel like the Genesis version is the ten times better pick. It's fun, colorful, feels like your playing an actual Disney game, and it has the better soundtrack. The Genesis also uses more tracks from the Aladdin movie with Prince Ali, One Jump Ahead, Arabian Nights, Friend Like Me, and A Whole New World. The Genesis/Mega Drive version just feels more faithful and more Disney. Is the Sega version a perfect game? No, it's not without its flaws, though it's the better Aladdin game overall.
Ayen: In closing, this is actually a closer match than I thought it was going to be. While the Genesis version has heads over shoulders the best gameplay out of the two, SNES can become really fun once you get the hang of it and the stages are better put together than on the Genesis. The Genesis stages feel like they're all over the place and rushed as a result. Meanwhile, it feels as those Capcom took more time making their game and did their own thing with it, so props to them.
But at the end of the day, I have to give the victory to the Genesis version, even if it's just barely. You can't go wrong either way.
GEN Aladdin: Get it
SNES Aladdin: Try it
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The Little Mermaid. As a kid I loved this movie. It was one of my favorite Disney's films of all time, and since then it became my number one favorite from the company. The story is fairly straightforward with wonderful animation that holds up even today and a great soundtrack, but I'm not here to talk about the movie. I'm here to talk about the game.
This was another entry in Capcom's classics of the old 8-bit era before they went to trout. Originally came out on July 1991, two years after the movie. There's a version for the NES and the Game Boy. They're more or less the same game but with the limitations of the Game Boy affecting the latter. Since there aren't many differences, I'm just going to go ahead and review the NES version.
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Kiss her already! You would've had to pry me away with a crowbar by now!
The game kicks off with some images explaining a little bit of backstory on Ariel and the plot of the game. Apparently, Ursula plans to take over the ocean and Ariel reverts back to her mermaid form to go rescue them. I like how she just transforms back at will. What the hell did she need the trident for in The Little Mermaid 2?
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smurf you! I'ma save my friends!
You see these cut-scenes throughout the game in-between each stage, but there isn't much variety. They recycle the same drawing of Ariel in all the talking scenes and just change her clothes depending on which form she's in. There are a few different images at the beginning and the end, but that's it. Even Ursula cut-scene image is the same as her boss sprite. These were the NES years of gaming so I won't be too hard on it.
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I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all out of bubblegum!
Holy trout what happened to the colors? Did the designers not know what red looked like? You colored it in the cut-scenes okay. I don't know if they thought red would clash with everything else or not, but they made her hair and even the hearts a mix of purple. I know the NES is capable of having red colors. We've all played Mario.
I don't even get a full heart meter? What? Why even have two extra ones there if they aren't filled? You can find new hearts inside of seashells that act as weapons, but it's rare.
Ariel can trap enemies in bubbles and use them as projectiles. She can also swim faster underwater to help avoid obstacles. There are power ups found in treasure chests that can increase the power or the range of Ariel's bubbles. Some chests are easy enough to open, but others can be a little tricky and requires more than just the seashells. I never figured out how to do it.
Apparently, Ariel can dig through sand to find treasure, too, except I never done it. I don't even remember seeing anything that resembles sand! There are six levels in the game overall. Very little sand to be had in them.
Enemies ranges from fishes, seahorses, and annoying octopuses that shoot trout at you. Any enemy you can't trap in a bubble can be frozen for a time. Levels are loosely based on places from the movie for the first two, and then starts adding filler. There's a pretty fun ice level and an underwater volcano stage. The fifth stage is at Ursula's castle can be a bit of a puzzle, but once you figure out the pattern it's a piece of cake.
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Queen, huh? Here's your crown! Throws fish at Ursula.
At the end of each stage you face the boss. First level has the all too familiar Glut the Shark. After that you face the moray eel, Flotsam and Jetsam, and then two filler bosses before Ursula herself. You have both regular size Ursula to contend with and then the giant from the end of the movie. Having Ariel be the one to take Ursula down is a welcome change of pace.
Bosses are pretty easy to whip. All you have to do is throw bubbles at them and avoid them when they zip across the screen. The second boss fight is a little harder because you have all these crabs falling from the sky that you need to trap. Third is mainly hard because you need to throw a seashell up at an angle to hit the boss. Fourth guy shoots enemies at you from canons that you need to hurl back at him.
Ursula started off as hard for me at first because you need to avoid multiple enemies she throws at you. This changed drastically when I realize you don't have to move to the left or right of her platform to hit her. All you have to do is aim straight up at her face and enough hits will do her in. That remains true for the next stage when she's a giant. The only challenge is fighting the currents, which isn't that hard. Next to The Lion King and Aladdin? The Little Mermaid is a cakewalk. You'll still get a fair amount of challenge, but it's a more forgiving kid's game than the other Disney games I played. I dare say the Game Boy version is even easier than this one.
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Once Ursula is defeated and the day is saved, King Triton changes his daughter back to a human so she can marry Eric and that's it. The game is over.
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Until the divorce proceedings.
And that's The Little Mermaid. Great game for kids. If you're like me and you absolutely love The Little Mermaid franchise I think you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Even the Game Boy version can be a lot of fun despite its many limitations. This is easily my favorite Disney game by far, which makes sense given my feelings on the movie.
This concludes Disney's Month. I hope you had a fun time reading all of my reviews and who knows we may do this again next year. I will see you guys in the month of August where I have even more amazing games laying in wait.
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Get it
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Yeah, BattleTanx! This game was the trout for me and my friends back in the day. Four player action!
I reviewed the original BattleTanx back in 2012. It was the first N64 review I ever did when I mostly looked at PlayStation 1 games. To my surprise, BattleTanx is somewhat of a obscure game, so I thought it was long overdue that I shed some more light on the kickass sequel!
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War. War never changes.
First off, the graphics. Holy smurf balls, can you believe this game only came out a year after the last one? Talk about an overhaul. The graphics are heads over heels better than the previous game, no question there.
Gameplay wise, not much has changed. You still have your regular ammo as well as your power-ups and the four basic color groups. Only thing that's different is that you can turn the top part of the tank by pressing the R button so you can shoot in different directions. The computer was able to do this in the first game, but for some reason you couldn't.
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Choose your destiny – Oops! Wrong game.
BattleTanx Global Assault brings back a couple of the game modes from the first game, while introducing new ones and refining old ones. For instance, Annihilation has been replaced with Tank Wars, where you can battle it out with an army for three minutes, so it doesn't matter how many times you get blown up, the match will continue until those three minutes are up.
THEN it matters how many times you got blown up because you just cost your team the match. Feel good about yourself yet?
I love this version over Annihilation because it gives you more time enjoying each stage and blowing up trout. Just pick four opposing forces and go nuts!
Among the new game modes to be introduced in this game are Convoy, Frenzy, and Hold 'Em. Convoy is what the name implies, you can either protect a convoy crossing the map from attackers, or be the one to do the attacking. Needless to say the latter is easier. This is my least favorite of the game modes as it has limited maps, and only two colors to choose from. Games can be over rather quickly, too.
Frenzy and Hold 'Em are like Battlelords. With Frenzy you have to be the first to rescue ten people before your enemies do. Hold 'Em is even more like Battlelords with the bases and everything, only the person you're saving starts off in a neutral zone and has to be returned to the base and protected until time runs out. Since I already said Battlelords three times, that also makes a return in this game alongside Deathmatch (now you have to kill TEN enemies!) and Family Mode. They're all a lot of fun, except when you're losing. Then they're infuriating!
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Wake up, San Francisco!
This time around the maps goes from the US to Europe, namely London, Paris, and Germany. You can even play around the White House, Eiffel Tower, and the Berlin Bridge as a level in the game. One of my all time favorite levels is Paris Crossfire. Great place to have a four-way Battlelord match if you ask me. What really stands out to me with this game after all these years is one simple fact.
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You can blow up the White House.
You can actually destroy the White House in this game. You can't destroy the Eiffel Tower, but you can blow up the White House. Can you imagine if a game tried to do something like this now? People would flip!
The game's timeline takes place in 2006, so... I just killed Bush.
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Give my regards to the devil.
Let's not forget the good old fashioned Campaign mode. Is it as hard as the first one? No. Not even a little bit. I'm not saying you won't get any challenge from it, but like playing The Little Mermaid after The Lion King and Aladdin, it's a breeze compared to its predecessor. Also, since Madison, Griffon's wife who you rescue in the first game, is with you, the Campaign is two- player.
The use of gray on tanks can get confusing at times. You're gray, your allies are gray, and some of the enemies are gray, and before you can spot the symbol letting you know if they're friend or foe, you either attacked your ally or got shot by the enemy.
Campaign combines all the previous modes together to give you an overall enjoyable experiences. You have to rescue people, escort convoy, eliminate enemies, and there are some stages that are original just for the Campaign. Like destroying objects or racing to safety while everyone is trying to kill you.
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Edge?
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No, Edge! Use the power of the Spear for life, not death!
Five years after the events of the first game, Griffon and Madison are living peacefully in San Francisco with their son Brandon when the evil Queenlord, Cassandra, who determines their son has a power simply referred to as “The Edge” and wants to abduct him to harness that power. In fact, she's even responsible for the virus that killed off the majority of the women population so only those with the Edge would survive. Diabolical!
While BattleTanx always felt like it could be a comic book story, Global Assault takes it even further and introduces a lot more Sci-Fi elements into it with Cassandra being able to take over the minds of entire armies, and Brandon more or less being a super child. The Edge is also brought in later as a power up you can only use once per level that causes mass confusion upon any tank you come across giving you a free shot.
Cut-scenes take place in-between each level offering a lot more story this time around to keep you invested. The final stage feels like you already won with the combination of the title screen music and Griffon and Madison getting control of their son back. It's also the most random stage I've ever encountered. The goal is to find Cassandra before she can unleash her evil plan, and when I first played it I won in a couple of seconds by just blowing up random tanks. Second time it took a lot longer. Seems like they put her in any old tank and the level has the potential to end before it even began. Luckily, you can replay it by loading up your game to get the most out of it. Minor inconvenience at best.
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I've been hit!
As much as I enjoy the game, I've played it so much to the point that I get bored with it very easily. I'll come back to it after years, play with it for a bit, and then end up turning the game off. So it's definitely possible to hurt yourself through overexposure, even when it comes to your favorite games.
That being said, it's still a great game with a lot of fun to be had. If you never played it before and don't mind older games, I can't recommend Global Assault enough. Tanks, explosions, the destruction of real life places? What more can you ask for in a game? Pick it up and give it a whirl.
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