By Aaron N
Now to start this article I must first say that I am a Nintendo fanboy. I have just about every system Nintendo has ever released, yes including the vaunted Virtual Boy. Nintendo is my favorite video game company, it is the one I grew up with and it is the one that I currently play the most. So for this column I want to talk about all five home consoles made by Nintendo and the top five games for each system and a game for each system that I feel is underrated by the vast majority of gamers, and with the announcement of the next Nintendo console dubbed "Project Cafe" this is a fitting article.
Nintendo made gaming history in 1985 by releasing the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. The NES was originally called the Famicon, short for Family Computer, and was released in Japan in 1983. The NES brought arcade style gaming into the living room and this is when home gaming took off. The fifth best game, all of these are my opinion, for the Nintendo Entertainment System is Super Mario Brothers. This game started it all. This is the quintessential platformer and this is the game that got everyone hooked. And it also introduced us to what is arguably the most memorable music in game history. It will go down as one of the best games of all time. It will be forever known as the game that started it all. Number four on this list is a personal favorite: Godzilla. I am a huge fan of the Godzilla series and this game was a favorite of mine growing up. You fight your way through planets eventually facing off against the classic monsters in the Godzilla franchise. It's a fun button masher and it's packed with fun enemies and great music, it is simply a very fun game to play. The third best NES game is Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. This was a game that got you hooked from the start. The simplistic dodge and punch routine was easy to master and each boxer was like a puzzle you had to solve. Each boxer had a unique personality and once again the music was catchy and memorable. This is a game that you can truly pick up at anytime and have fun. Number two on my list is none other than the original Legend of Zelda. This was the first game to have an overworld that you could explore in between levels. It was also one of the first to have the save feature. It introduced us to our hero Link who would go on to be almost as famous as Mario. Also, this was the first game to have a score to it. The music was created as if it was a concert piece and it really showed. Overall this is one of the pillars of gaming and it went on to be known as one of the most important games ever made. Finally, the best game to be made for the Nintendo Entertainment System is Super Mario Bros 3. This game was the top grossing game of all time when it came out. The hype for this game was remarkable. It was the first true sequel to Super Mario Bros to be released in the United States. It took everything great about the original and improved it. There were now overworld maps to go to in between levels. There were more power-ups for Mario to use, new bad guys, and of course King Koopa at the end of the game. The levels were no longer formulaic, there was a different boss for each world. This game was basically 8-bit perfection. The game that I feel is the most underrated game for the NES is Godzilla. This game is just really fun to play. The music is top notch and the worlds that you play in are colorful and eye-catching. I can find myself playing this game over and over and the difficulty is high. I would recommend any Godzilla fan pick this game up and try it out.
Nintendo followed the success of the Nintendo Entertainment System with the aplty named Super Nintendo, which was released in American in 1991. Starting my top five for the Super Nintendo is the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I remember watching my brother play this when I was younger and we both were enthralled with the world that was created. It was our first taste of the Zelda world and boy was it a good one. I remember watching him finally make it to Ganon, it was an amazing experience. "A Link to the Past" brought Zelda back to its roots and explanded on the foundation that was placed in the original game. Number four on my list is Donkey Kong Country 2. I never owned the original so I only played it a few times when I rented it. So DKC 2 was my first taste into the Kong series, and I loved every minute of it. The gameplay was great, the graphics were top-notch, the music was catchy. I still have fun when I throw this game on and try it out. Number three on my list is Star Fox. This game was really the first to have somewhat three-dimensional figures and you could fly diagonally. It was somewhat a precursor of things to come in the next generation of systems. The music was fun to listen to and the enemies were fun to shoot down. It was the beginning of a classic franchise. The runner-up for the SNES is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes 4: Turtles in Time. This game was a must have for all fans of the TMNT franchise. It was a fun button masher and it has brought me back many times to play it again. The levels are each unique in their own right and each boss is like a puzzle you need to solve, and when you finally solve the Super Shredder puzzle, it is a sense of satisfaction. Finally, the best game to be made for the Super Nintendo is none other than they first game to be made for it, and that is Super Mario World. Nintendo followed one of the plumber's most popular outings with an absolute gem of a game. It helped that this was the first game that you experienced the new 16-bit system on. In the game itself you were able to have more leeway with where you explored on the map. There were more secrets and different routes to take. It took a while to complete the whole game and unlock every part. This game also introduced everyone to Yoshi, who would go on to be a staple of the Mario series. This game improved on everything that was ever used in a mario game and still was able to create new aspects of the classic series. Now to move on from a widely popular game to what I feel is the most underrated game of the Super Nintendo, and that is Battle Clash. Battle Clash utilized the Super Scope bazooka that was released for the system. The story is that there is a battle tournament of giant robots. The title character enters the tournament in order to get to the boss of it all, Thanatos, who killed his father. You will use different weapons and different strategies in order to make it through the tournament and Thanatos is one bad man. It is a fun game that I feel anyone would like to play.
Part two of this article will be appearing shortly, it will start with the Nintendo 64 and go through to thecurrent console, the Nintendo Wii.
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Friday, May 27, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Video: Twilight Princess E3 Trailer Unveiling
Here is a video from E3 a few years back when Nintendo first unveiled what would become "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess." Now it would not be released for years after this E3 but I love this video for many reasons. The main reason being the pure excitement in the room once everyone realizes that it is Zelda. Keep in mind that these people jumping up and down and cheering are all professional journalists there for business. It shows how much the Legend of Zelda series has connected with gamers throughout its history that it can turn professionals into little kids in a matter of seconds. It is truly a magical moment.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Godzilla's History in Video Games
By Aaron N
The first major Godzilla game to be released on consoles was "Godzilla: Monster of Monsters." This game was released for the NES in 1988. For some reason this game was subtitled "Monster of Monsters" instead of Godzilla's usual moniker of the "King of the Monsters." This game was fun to play albeit repetitive. The concept of the game was that in the year 20XX aliens invade Earth and have to be fought off by the monster duo of Godzilla and Mothra. You move the heroic monsters across polygonal platforms as if it was a game of chess. Godzilla can move two spaces while Mothra can move four spaces. The enemy monsters would also move towards you on the game board. After your turn is over you enter a sidescroller level depending on which space you land on. These levels were typical short levels with spaceships and other enemies. Your goal in each planet is to defeat all enemy monsters and make your way to the other side where you would move on to the next planet. The amount of enemy monsters in each planet would increase as you progressed through the game. Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Hedorah are just a few of the monsters in this game and there were many other famous monsters from the Godzilla series in the game. It is a somewhat primitive game but "Monster of Monsters" is a fun game to play.
Godzilla would also have another appearance on the NES but this time he would be in the role as the antagonist. This was a reflection of the movie series where Godzilla was becoming the villain that mankind had to battle. Your role in this game was as the military battling off Godzilla and other monsters. It was somewhat an early Real-time strategy game. You would choose what machines to move and where they would go, it was a turn based game. The monsters are very hard to beat and the game is a bit boring but it has great music and it will be fun to play for a little bit of time.
Godzilla made the move to 16-bit with the apltly titled "Super Godzilla" for the Super Nintendo. This game was once again about aliens visiting Earth and unleashing giant monsters on the planet and only Big G can stop them. In this game you move your dot along a map toward the enemy of the level. Once you reach the enemy you have a battle with it. The battles consisted of punching the monster, or spaceship, and walking backwards until you could select an attack to use. The attacks would be tailwhip, nuclear breath, or headbutt just to name a few. Towards the end of the game you can start collecting certain items that will turn Godzilla into Super Godzilla in order to be able to fight the mammoth Bagan at the end of the game. This is a monumental game as it had the appearance of Bagan who is sort of a cult monster, but that story is for a different blog. Super Godzilla is a fun but simplistic game that features many classic monsters and it will be a fun play for any Zilla fan.
Godzilla's next release would be on the Gamecube and the Xbox and was entitled "Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters Melee." The title is a mouthful but it is a fun fighting game. I looked forward to this game because it was the first time you could really rumble with the monsters in the classic series. It touted eleven monsters ranging from Godzilla and Anguirus to Destoroyah and the new and surprise Orga. This game's storyline was the usual "aliens invade Earth" story that had been a Godzilla staple. The game was fun and it was a Godzilla fan's dream to be able to reenact classic battles.
Godzilla would follow this up with two games that were basically just updated versions of "Destroy all Monsters Melee." First came "Godzilla: Save the Earth" in 2004 for the Xbox and the Playstation 2. This game isn't as memorable because it is basically a clone of "Melee", so not much new was brought to the table. Next came "Godzilla: Unleashed" which was released for the Wii and PS2 in 2007. This was once again an updated version of "Melee" but there a few things that make it stand out. The story is different, focusing on crystals forming on Earth and you have to defeat them and Spacegodzilla. Also this game introduced two new original monsters that were made by Atari specifically for the game.
There are a few Godzilla games that are not well known that I want to focus on. The first one is "Godzilla" for the Game Boy. This is a puzzle game that consisted of going through a puzzle and punching rocks out of the way in order to reach the end. This game is not well known because, quite frankly, it is simply not a good game. It doesn't feel like a Godzilla game and the gameplay is bad and boring. Another unknown Godzilla game is "Godzilla Generations." This game is unknown because it was never released in the United States. It was released for the Sega Dreamcast. "Generations" had a story to it and you could play as multiple monsters. But for some reason it was never released in the States. I remember reading about it when I was younger and I'm disappointed it was never released here.
The history of Godzilla in video games is very vasy and long. And with the new American movie looming in
horizon, we will have to see if new games will be following it. The franchise has never really entered mainstream video games, hopefully in the future it will finally be able to do that.
The first major Godzilla game to be released on consoles was "Godzilla: Monster of Monsters." This game was released for the NES in 1988. For some reason this game was subtitled "Monster of Monsters" instead of Godzilla's usual moniker of the "King of the Monsters." This game was fun to play albeit repetitive. The concept of the game was that in the year 20XX aliens invade Earth and have to be fought off by the monster duo of Godzilla and Mothra. You move the heroic monsters across polygonal platforms as if it was a game of chess. Godzilla can move two spaces while Mothra can move four spaces. The enemy monsters would also move towards you on the game board. After your turn is over you enter a sidescroller level depending on which space you land on. These levels were typical short levels with spaceships and other enemies. Your goal in each planet is to defeat all enemy monsters and make your way to the other side where you would move on to the next planet. The amount of enemy monsters in each planet would increase as you progressed through the game. Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Hedorah are just a few of the monsters in this game and there were many other famous monsters from the Godzilla series in the game. It is a somewhat primitive game but "Monster of Monsters" is a fun game to play.
Godzilla would also have another appearance on the NES but this time he would be in the role as the antagonist. This was a reflection of the movie series where Godzilla was becoming the villain that mankind had to battle. Your role in this game was as the military battling off Godzilla and other monsters. It was somewhat an early Real-time strategy game. You would choose what machines to move and where they would go, it was a turn based game. The monsters are very hard to beat and the game is a bit boring but it has great music and it will be fun to play for a little bit of time.
Godzilla made the move to 16-bit with the apltly titled "Super Godzilla" for the Super Nintendo. This game was once again about aliens visiting Earth and unleashing giant monsters on the planet and only Big G can stop them. In this game you move your dot along a map toward the enemy of the level. Once you reach the enemy you have a battle with it. The battles consisted of punching the monster, or spaceship, and walking backwards until you could select an attack to use. The attacks would be tailwhip, nuclear breath, or headbutt just to name a few. Towards the end of the game you can start collecting certain items that will turn Godzilla into Super Godzilla in order to be able to fight the mammoth Bagan at the end of the game. This is a monumental game as it had the appearance of Bagan who is sort of a cult monster, but that story is for a different blog. Super Godzilla is a fun but simplistic game that features many classic monsters and it will be a fun play for any Zilla fan.
Godzilla's next release would be on the Gamecube and the Xbox and was entitled "Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters Melee." The title is a mouthful but it is a fun fighting game. I looked forward to this game because it was the first time you could really rumble with the monsters in the classic series. It touted eleven monsters ranging from Godzilla and Anguirus to Destoroyah and the new and surprise Orga. This game's storyline was the usual "aliens invade Earth" story that had been a Godzilla staple. The game was fun and it was a Godzilla fan's dream to be able to reenact classic battles.
Godzilla would follow this up with two games that were basically just updated versions of "Destroy all Monsters Melee." First came "Godzilla: Save the Earth" in 2004 for the Xbox and the Playstation 2. This game isn't as memorable because it is basically a clone of "Melee", so not much new was brought to the table. Next came "Godzilla: Unleashed" which was released for the Wii and PS2 in 2007. This was once again an updated version of "Melee" but there a few things that make it stand out. The story is different, focusing on crystals forming on Earth and you have to defeat them and Spacegodzilla. Also this game introduced two new original monsters that were made by Atari specifically for the game.
There are a few Godzilla games that are not well known that I want to focus on. The first one is "Godzilla" for the Game Boy. This is a puzzle game that consisted of going through a puzzle and punching rocks out of the way in order to reach the end. This game is not well known because, quite frankly, it is simply not a good game. It doesn't feel like a Godzilla game and the gameplay is bad and boring. Another unknown Godzilla game is "Godzilla Generations." This game is unknown because it was never released in the United States. It was released for the Sega Dreamcast. "Generations" had a story to it and you could play as multiple monsters. But for some reason it was never released in the States. I remember reading about it when I was younger and I'm disappointed it was never released here.
The history of Godzilla in video games is very vasy and long. And with the new American movie looming in
horizon, we will have to see if new games will be following it. The franchise has never really entered mainstream video games, hopefully in the future it will finally be able to do that.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Video: IGN fake Zelda Trailer
Here is a video to keep you busy until the next column, which will be next week. This video was made by IGN as an April fool's joke. It was very well made and it made me really want a Zelda movie. Enjoy!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Review: Kirby's Epic Yarn (2010)
By Aaron N
At E3 Nintendo announced a new Kirby title coming out for the Nintendo Wii. This continued what seemed to be a new trend of old franchises being brought back to the current generation in a 2D environment. But this Kirby game looked different than the past titles. It was made entirely of strings of yarn. Also because of this the gameplay would be vastly different as well from the classic Kirby formula. This made skeptics of the fans of the Kirby series, but it would prove to be an interesting and fun gaming experience.
Graphics:
As mentioned before this game was made entirely of strings of yarn. This is an interesting and different concept that really hasn't been seen before. It's a dangerous move in a world where it seems like everyone is looking to make the most realistic looking game. But this move was a beneficial move. The graphics were fluid and the usage of yarn did not hinder any from the look of the game. In fact it actually has beautiful graphics and that is something I never thought I would say about yarn. You can tell the difference between each character and each character design has it's own personality. Even the classic characters that are brought into the world made of yarn look differently than in previous games. It is a unique concept and it puts this Kirby game in a different level all on its own.
Story:
The story begins with Kirby getting sucked into a magical sock by the sinister Yin-Yarn. Now this magical sock is actually a gateway to Patch land which is made up entirely of yarn. There Kirby befriends Prince Fluff who accompanies him on his journey to put the pieces of patch land back together. You do this by defeating the bosses of each world who are made up of special yarn that piece the worlds back together. But while this is all happening, Yin-Yarn is taking over Dreamland and turning it into yarn. The story is told as if it's being read out of a book and it even has a narrator. The narration is clearly written for a child and the narrator speaks in a smooth happy voice, it made me feel like I was watching Nick Jr. But once you get past the childness you can get into the story as since it's written for a child, it's easy to follow and you can turn off your brain and just mindlessly play through the game.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in this game is naturally different than previous Kirby installments. Gone are the days of sucking up enemies and copying abilities. Instead you have a piece of yarn that you throw at enemies which grapples around them. Then you untangle them or you roll them up in a ball to throw at your enemies. Then you reach points in various levels where you turn into different things. For example you can turn into a tank and shoot missles at enemies. You use only the wiimote and you turn it sideways as if it's a classic Nintendo controller. This really helped to make it feel like an old school nintendo game. The levels do become repetitive though. Since you really only have one attack move there isn't much variety in how you defeat enemies. Also there is no way to lose in this game. If you get hit you just lose some jewels that you collect, or if you fall off a cliff you get pulled back up to the part you fell or sometimes further in the level and you lose some jewels. This makes the difficulty of the game almost minimal, but since it was obviously made for children you can understand why they did this. But regardless of the absolute lack of difficulty the game is still really fun to play.
Music:
The music in this game fits in with the classic Kirby soundtrack. The music is catchy and you will enjoy playing the levels because the music is simply enjoyable to listen to. And when you get into some of the classic levels that are redone, you get different versions of the famous Kirby songs and they do not disappoint. The music really adds to the game experience and you are able to listen to it afterwards when you unlock the songs as you play.
Overall:
This game was clearly made for a younger audience, and even though it is blatant at times, it does not make this game any less fun. I would have liked for it to have been a bit harder but I still had a blast playing it. This game had unique graphics and a unique style of play. It is definitely very different than any other Kirby game that has been released, but sometimes different is a good thing. If you want to just shut your mind off and if you can handle the uniqueness then this is definitely a game worth picking up.
Kirby's Epic Yarn gets an 8/10
At E3 Nintendo announced a new Kirby title coming out for the Nintendo Wii. This continued what seemed to be a new trend of old franchises being brought back to the current generation in a 2D environment. But this Kirby game looked different than the past titles. It was made entirely of strings of yarn. Also because of this the gameplay would be vastly different as well from the classic Kirby formula. This made skeptics of the fans of the Kirby series, but it would prove to be an interesting and fun gaming experience.
Graphics:
As mentioned before this game was made entirely of strings of yarn. This is an interesting and different concept that really hasn't been seen before. It's a dangerous move in a world where it seems like everyone is looking to make the most realistic looking game. But this move was a beneficial move. The graphics were fluid and the usage of yarn did not hinder any from the look of the game. In fact it actually has beautiful graphics and that is something I never thought I would say about yarn. You can tell the difference between each character and each character design has it's own personality. Even the classic characters that are brought into the world made of yarn look differently than in previous games. It is a unique concept and it puts this Kirby game in a different level all on its own.
Story:
The story begins with Kirby getting sucked into a magical sock by the sinister Yin-Yarn. Now this magical sock is actually a gateway to Patch land which is made up entirely of yarn. There Kirby befriends Prince Fluff who accompanies him on his journey to put the pieces of patch land back together. You do this by defeating the bosses of each world who are made up of special yarn that piece the worlds back together. But while this is all happening, Yin-Yarn is taking over Dreamland and turning it into yarn. The story is told as if it's being read out of a book and it even has a narrator. The narration is clearly written for a child and the narrator speaks in a smooth happy voice, it made me feel like I was watching Nick Jr. But once you get past the childness you can get into the story as since it's written for a child, it's easy to follow and you can turn off your brain and just mindlessly play through the game.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in this game is naturally different than previous Kirby installments. Gone are the days of sucking up enemies and copying abilities. Instead you have a piece of yarn that you throw at enemies which grapples around them. Then you untangle them or you roll them up in a ball to throw at your enemies. Then you reach points in various levels where you turn into different things. For example you can turn into a tank and shoot missles at enemies. You use only the wiimote and you turn it sideways as if it's a classic Nintendo controller. This really helped to make it feel like an old school nintendo game. The levels do become repetitive though. Since you really only have one attack move there isn't much variety in how you defeat enemies. Also there is no way to lose in this game. If you get hit you just lose some jewels that you collect, or if you fall off a cliff you get pulled back up to the part you fell or sometimes further in the level and you lose some jewels. This makes the difficulty of the game almost minimal, but since it was obviously made for children you can understand why they did this. But regardless of the absolute lack of difficulty the game is still really fun to play.
Music:
The music in this game fits in with the classic Kirby soundtrack. The music is catchy and you will enjoy playing the levels because the music is simply enjoyable to listen to. And when you get into some of the classic levels that are redone, you get different versions of the famous Kirby songs and they do not disappoint. The music really adds to the game experience and you are able to listen to it afterwards when you unlock the songs as you play.
Overall:
This game was clearly made for a younger audience, and even though it is blatant at times, it does not make this game any less fun. I would have liked for it to have been a bit harder but I still had a blast playing it. This game had unique graphics and a unique style of play. It is definitely very different than any other Kirby game that has been released, but sometimes different is a good thing. If you want to just shut your mind off and if you can handle the uniqueness then this is definitely a game worth picking up.
Kirby's Epic Yarn gets an 8/10
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Column: The Handheld Wars
By Aaron N
The handheld market began somewhat in 1980 with the release of the "Game & Watch" series. But the market didn't truly skyrocket until Nintendo introduced the Game Boy in 1989. The Game Boy was extremely popular and sold many copies. The Game Boy had many popular titles but it was the classic game "Tetris" that helped it become as popular as it did. This began the boom in the handheld market and it seemed that Nintendo had a stranglehold on the market. It would only be natural that other game companies would see this new market that Nintendo had basically created and would try to capitalize on it and become a competitor. Thus the first major handheld console wars was started.
Sega released their Sega Game Gear in America in 1991. Sega was Nintendo's main competition in the home console market so it was only natural that they would be Nintendo's main adversary in the handheld market as well. The Game Gear used the established "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise to propel itself into the top of the industry, but it would still have a way to go in order to topple Nintendo. The Game Gear touted that it had better graphics than the Game Boy. This was true, for it had graphics very similar to the Sega Genesis albeit still a little inferior to what was on the Genesis. The Game Boy on the other hand had graphics way under what the original Nintendo Enterainment System had. The Game Gear also had another major advantage over the Game Boy which was that it was a color system. This was a big thing for its time. The Game Gear had crisp, bright colored graphics while the Game Boy had graphics that were dull and had a greenish tint to them. So right off the bat just by looks the Game Gear was the superior system. I remember when I was a kid my friend had a Game Gear and it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen at the time. It looked cooler because of the buttons being on the side of the screen, and seeing the colors was something amazing. It was like going from a black and white television to a color television, it was hard to look at black and white televisions the same afterward. But if the Game Gear was so superior looking then why did Nintendo end up winning the war? The Game Boy had a better selection of games and more games to choose from. The Game Gear had the Sonic games but not really many other high quality franchises that could keep people buying them. The Game Boy had Nintendo's vast library of popular franchises that helped keep the Game Boy ahead of everything in the market. Also Nintendo would eventually release the Game Boy Color years after the fact. but it still took care of the dull green look that it had.
Nintendo would continue to be basically the only important player in the handheld market for about a decade. They went on to release the aforementioned Game Boy Color, but also the Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Advanced SP, and countless other different variations of the Game Boy. Each improving on different aspects of the previous version. This ability to revamp and improve the system allowed Nintendo to keep making games and selling systems. Also with the release of the megahit "Pokemon" series to Game Boy systems, it would take a lot to one-up Nintendo. But in 2005 Sony would release the PSP in America and try their hand at topping the handheld goliath. The PSP, short for Playstation Portable, was the first major handheld system to introduce a joystick. Also, the graphics for the PSP were remarkable and very similar to what was being seen at the time on the Playstation 2. The PSP came out a few months after Nintendo released its newest portable system entitled the Nintendo DS. It utilized a touchpad screen and had two screens to play on. The system's graphics were similar to Nintendo 64's, so Nintendo was once again facing a system that had better graphics. Thus the second handheld war was started, but this time it was Nintendo facing off against Sony. The PSP started with a lot of momentum, it had better graphics plus it had the ability to show movies on the system. This was a different variable added to the war. Also, there were many who were not sold on the DS's dual screens and it was thought of as being too gimmicky. But eventually sales of the PSP declined and Nintendo continued to ship out different versions of the Nintendo DS and while the PSP is still being sold, Nintendo has clearly won this war as well.
With Nintendo dominating the handheld market, where does the market have to go from here? At E3 in 2010 Nintendo stated that their only competition was Apple. This was an interesting comment but it makes sense. There are plenty of games on the Iphone, Ipad and the Ipod. Many people who normally would not play games are buying games for those devices. This is who Nintendo needs to compete with now and it is a different competition than one would think of. Also, Nintendo is about to release the 3DS in a few months. This device is more powerful than the Wii and it is amazing to think of where the handheld market has gone since the days of the Game & Watch. It is exciting to think that a third and different handheld war could be on the horizon, but the question remains, will it have the same outcome? Or will Nintendo finally be beaten? We will have to wait to find out, but we as consumers will benefit the most from this.
The handheld market began somewhat in 1980 with the release of the "Game & Watch" series. But the market didn't truly skyrocket until Nintendo introduced the Game Boy in 1989. The Game Boy was extremely popular and sold many copies. The Game Boy had many popular titles but it was the classic game "Tetris" that helped it become as popular as it did. This began the boom in the handheld market and it seemed that Nintendo had a stranglehold on the market. It would only be natural that other game companies would see this new market that Nintendo had basically created and would try to capitalize on it and become a competitor. Thus the first major handheld console wars was started.
Sega released their Sega Game Gear in America in 1991. Sega was Nintendo's main competition in the home console market so it was only natural that they would be Nintendo's main adversary in the handheld market as well. The Game Gear used the established "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise to propel itself into the top of the industry, but it would still have a way to go in order to topple Nintendo. The Game Gear touted that it had better graphics than the Game Boy. This was true, for it had graphics very similar to the Sega Genesis albeit still a little inferior to what was on the Genesis. The Game Boy on the other hand had graphics way under what the original Nintendo Enterainment System had. The Game Gear also had another major advantage over the Game Boy which was that it was a color system. This was a big thing for its time. The Game Gear had crisp, bright colored graphics while the Game Boy had graphics that were dull and had a greenish tint to them. So right off the bat just by looks the Game Gear was the superior system. I remember when I was a kid my friend had a Game Gear and it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen at the time. It looked cooler because of the buttons being on the side of the screen, and seeing the colors was something amazing. It was like going from a black and white television to a color television, it was hard to look at black and white televisions the same afterward. But if the Game Gear was so superior looking then why did Nintendo end up winning the war? The Game Boy had a better selection of games and more games to choose from. The Game Gear had the Sonic games but not really many other high quality franchises that could keep people buying them. The Game Boy had Nintendo's vast library of popular franchises that helped keep the Game Boy ahead of everything in the market. Also Nintendo would eventually release the Game Boy Color years after the fact. but it still took care of the dull green look that it had.
Nintendo would continue to be basically the only important player in the handheld market for about a decade. They went on to release the aforementioned Game Boy Color, but also the Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Advanced SP, and countless other different variations of the Game Boy. Each improving on different aspects of the previous version. This ability to revamp and improve the system allowed Nintendo to keep making games and selling systems. Also with the release of the megahit "Pokemon" series to Game Boy systems, it would take a lot to one-up Nintendo. But in 2005 Sony would release the PSP in America and try their hand at topping the handheld goliath. The PSP, short for Playstation Portable, was the first major handheld system to introduce a joystick. Also, the graphics for the PSP were remarkable and very similar to what was being seen at the time on the Playstation 2. The PSP came out a few months after Nintendo released its newest portable system entitled the Nintendo DS. It utilized a touchpad screen and had two screens to play on. The system's graphics were similar to Nintendo 64's, so Nintendo was once again facing a system that had better graphics. Thus the second handheld war was started, but this time it was Nintendo facing off against Sony. The PSP started with a lot of momentum, it had better graphics plus it had the ability to show movies on the system. This was a different variable added to the war. Also, there were many who were not sold on the DS's dual screens and it was thought of as being too gimmicky. But eventually sales of the PSP declined and Nintendo continued to ship out different versions of the Nintendo DS and while the PSP is still being sold, Nintendo has clearly won this war as well.
With Nintendo dominating the handheld market, where does the market have to go from here? At E3 in 2010 Nintendo stated that their only competition was Apple. This was an interesting comment but it makes sense. There are plenty of games on the Iphone, Ipad and the Ipod. Many people who normally would not play games are buying games for those devices. This is who Nintendo needs to compete with now and it is a different competition than one would think of. Also, Nintendo is about to release the 3DS in a few months. This device is more powerful than the Wii and it is amazing to think of where the handheld market has gone since the days of the Game & Watch. It is exciting to think that a third and different handheld war could be on the horizon, but the question remains, will it have the same outcome? Or will Nintendo finally be beaten? We will have to wait to find out, but we as consumers will benefit the most from this.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Retro Review: Bomberman Hero (N64 1998)
By Aaron N
For my first retro review I am going to go all the way back to 1998 and review a game that I recently picked up for the first time in over a decade. Bomberman Hero plays more like an adventure game than its predecessors. It was a different drection for the franchise and I feel like it paid off. When this game first came out, I rented it and got all the way to almost the end when I had to reluctantly return it. So when I bought it at a local used video games store I was able to finally beat it and complete a mission I started in middle school. This review will not compare it to games of this generation but rather be a review as if it just came out.
Graphics:
The graphics for Bomberman Hero are standard for Nintendo 64 games. There isn't much definition to the characters and they all have a blocky look to them, but that was the standard for 64-bit gaming. It did seem though that the graphics did not look that much improved from the launch games for the N64. This is slightly disappointing because while the graphics are great, I wish they could have progressed a little since Mario 64, which other games have shown the capability to do so. With that being said, I was still able to be immersed in the world of Bomberman and the graphics were still great for its time.
Story:
The story for Bomberman Hero is not really that complex. A robot from another planet comes to Bomberman's home planet after his princess is taken from him by an evil group of aliens. So he enlists the help of our bomb-wielding hero to defeat the aliens and save the princess. There is no spoken dialogue in the cutscenes but only text and random noises and music. This makes the cutscenes somewhat boring and they do not do a good job of holding your attention. This makes the story somewhat hard to follow.
Gameplay:
Bomberman Hero plays a lot like Mario 64. Now I know that Mario 64 created the mold for three-dimensional platforming, but it is way too similar to use that excuse. While he may not be able to long jump or do other jumps that Mario does, it still feels like they took the engine from Mario 64, replaced the levels and main character, and then were done with the game. With all that said though it is still a fun game to play. You play through a handful of planets, each consisting of three parts. Each part has a different amount of levels but usually averaging about six levels per part. The second section has a mini-boss, who is a recurring nemesis of Bomberman throughout the game. The final section has a different boss for each planet. Along the way there are different modes of Bomberman that you can utilize in its level. For example there are levels that have you use a helicopter attachment, and some that have you play as an underwater submarine Bomberman. These levels are fun and different and it adds flavor to the game. Bomberman himself is very limited on what he can do. Basically you can just jump, throw bombs short and long, and kick a bomb. It is very limited but the levels are simple so you really don't need to do more. One more thing I noticed about the levels was that it is possible to run through most levels without attacking many enemies. This makes the game very easy. It does even itself out because the boss levels are quite difficult, especially the final boss who takes a while to defeat.
Music:
Bomberman Hero has very simplistic music. It does not consist of much besides the same rhythm being recycled during the song. It also plays the same songs throughout many levels. It feels like the game has only four or five different songs. So the songs become annoying at times and you beg for something different to be played. But the music is still catchy and they somehow fit for each level. They fit the atmosphere of the levels and they add something to the gameplay. The music, for the most part, is very laid-back and they let you relax and play the game. This is important because gaming can be very frustrating at times and this takes away some of that stress.
Overall:
Bomberman Hero is a fun game to play and it is a different take on the franchise than it has had in the past. I actually like this game better than Bomberman 64 and I found it easier to play. The graphics could have been better but are still good. The gameplay was somewhat generic and a clone of Mario 64 and they could have made the story less boring to follow. But all in all it was a fun game and regardless of these shortcomings I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, fun game to play. You are able to shut your mind off, sit back and enjoy the game.
Bomberman Hero gets a 7/10.
For my first retro review I am going to go all the way back to 1998 and review a game that I recently picked up for the first time in over a decade. Bomberman Hero plays more like an adventure game than its predecessors. It was a different drection for the franchise and I feel like it paid off. When this game first came out, I rented it and got all the way to almost the end when I had to reluctantly return it. So when I bought it at a local used video games store I was able to finally beat it and complete a mission I started in middle school. This review will not compare it to games of this generation but rather be a review as if it just came out.
Graphics:
The graphics for Bomberman Hero are standard for Nintendo 64 games. There isn't much definition to the characters and they all have a blocky look to them, but that was the standard for 64-bit gaming. It did seem though that the graphics did not look that much improved from the launch games for the N64. This is slightly disappointing because while the graphics are great, I wish they could have progressed a little since Mario 64, which other games have shown the capability to do so. With that being said, I was still able to be immersed in the world of Bomberman and the graphics were still great for its time.
Story:
The story for Bomberman Hero is not really that complex. A robot from another planet comes to Bomberman's home planet after his princess is taken from him by an evil group of aliens. So he enlists the help of our bomb-wielding hero to defeat the aliens and save the princess. There is no spoken dialogue in the cutscenes but only text and random noises and music. This makes the cutscenes somewhat boring and they do not do a good job of holding your attention. This makes the story somewhat hard to follow.
Gameplay:
Bomberman Hero plays a lot like Mario 64. Now I know that Mario 64 created the mold for three-dimensional platforming, but it is way too similar to use that excuse. While he may not be able to long jump or do other jumps that Mario does, it still feels like they took the engine from Mario 64, replaced the levels and main character, and then were done with the game. With all that said though it is still a fun game to play. You play through a handful of planets, each consisting of three parts. Each part has a different amount of levels but usually averaging about six levels per part. The second section has a mini-boss, who is a recurring nemesis of Bomberman throughout the game. The final section has a different boss for each planet. Along the way there are different modes of Bomberman that you can utilize in its level. For example there are levels that have you use a helicopter attachment, and some that have you play as an underwater submarine Bomberman. These levels are fun and different and it adds flavor to the game. Bomberman himself is very limited on what he can do. Basically you can just jump, throw bombs short and long, and kick a bomb. It is very limited but the levels are simple so you really don't need to do more. One more thing I noticed about the levels was that it is possible to run through most levels without attacking many enemies. This makes the game very easy. It does even itself out because the boss levels are quite difficult, especially the final boss who takes a while to defeat.
Music:
Bomberman Hero has very simplistic music. It does not consist of much besides the same rhythm being recycled during the song. It also plays the same songs throughout many levels. It feels like the game has only four or five different songs. So the songs become annoying at times and you beg for something different to be played. But the music is still catchy and they somehow fit for each level. They fit the atmosphere of the levels and they add something to the gameplay. The music, for the most part, is very laid-back and they let you relax and play the game. This is important because gaming can be very frustrating at times and this takes away some of that stress.
Overall:
Bomberman Hero is a fun game to play and it is a different take on the franchise than it has had in the past. I actually like this game better than Bomberman 64 and I found it easier to play. The graphics could have been better but are still good. The gameplay was somewhat generic and a clone of Mario 64 and they could have made the story less boring to follow. But all in all it was a fun game and regardless of these shortcomings I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, fun game to play. You are able to shut your mind off, sit back and enjoy the game.
Bomberman Hero gets a 7/10.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Video: Nintendo Training Video
This is a video made by Nintendo and sent to stores in 1991. It is funny to see some of the stereotypes from that time, and also to see what problems they were faced with. It's an entertaining watch and see if you can recognize the guy who has the problem with the Game Boy.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Column: Remembering the Release of the Nintendo 64
By Aaron N
For the current generation of gamers there was one system that made gaming into what it is today, and that system is the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo 64 can be considered one of the, if not the, most revolutionary gaming systems ever made. If you think about the difference between modern gaming and classic gaming it has to be the switch from two-dimensional platforming to 360 degree gaming. The first system to successfully do this and make it mainstream was the Nintendo 64. For this column I want to take you back to the release of the Nintendo 64 and put you in the mindset of someone who saw this revoultion for the first time and witnessed the future of gaming. I will also talk about the things that made the Nintendo 64 so unique and revolutionary.
Nintendo Power was key in the hype of the Nintendo 64. The first time word got around that Nintendo was planning on making a new system there was immediate hype surrounding it. This coming off the heels of the Super Nintendo which was a great system in its own right and still had some momentum, Donkey Kong Country 3 for example would be released after the Nintendo 64 came out. I got that and Waverace 64 for Christmas that year. The codename for the Nintendo 64 was the Ultra 64. They would obviously eventually change the name to the much catchier Nintendo 64. Then the first images came out of the games on the N64 and our collective jaws hit the floor. For the first time you saw a three dimensional image of Mario. The worlds looked crisp and beautiful. You were able to explore much more than just right and left. Now you could go in all different directions, it was a thing of beauty.
The huge thing for us though was the promotional video that Nintendo Power sent out to commercial the upcoming Nintendo 64. In this video they followed three young gamers as they were introduced to the world of the N64. A man named Ken Lobb would show them around. This man would eventually be one of the best game developers in the industry. The kids were shown Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Mario and Pilotwings would be the two launch games while Shadows of the Empire would be released shortly after. This was really the first time we were able to see the gameplay of the Nintendo 64. This is when the full effect of the new 360 degree gameplay was seen to the fullest. We were in awe of what we were seeing. It was a weird video at times but it really made you want the Nintendo 64...right now. My mom used to say that the video had subliminal messages in it because we would go crazy about the system and be obsessed with having it. Even after all these years I go back and watch it and I want to buy a Nintendo 64 even though I have one, so I think my mother was right.
The Nintendo 64 was released on September 29th, 1996, and it was very hard to find. It seemed like everyone was trying to find it and everyone would fail. It was as if they said they released the system but in reality they kept them in the factories. We were very lucky though. My dad and I went to Sears for an unrelated reason and we went passed their electronics department and saw that somehow they still had a couple of Nintendo 64's! So naturally we had to buy one for my brother and surprise him when we came home from school. That was a day that changed our lives forever. I remember I had to read the book "Indian in the cupboard" for school, but I clearly couldn't concentrate while my brother was playing Mario 64 in my basement. So I went downstairs so I could "read" while watching Mario 64, not much reading was done that night. I was amazed by what was on the television. It was truly revoltionary and it is hard to explain how it felt to see it. My next door neighbor came over once to play Mario 64 when it came out and I can still picture his face as he played it for the first time. His mouth was literally open and he didn't say anything. He just sat there, mouth agape, going around the new three-dimensional world.
There were many things about the Nintendo 64 that made it revolutionary. The obvious one has already been touched on and that is the 360 degree motion and the three dimensional worlds. Because of this Nintendo had to ditch the primary usage of the directional pad and go with a control stick. This was so that you could move diagonally. The N64 would be the first major system to use the control stick which is now essential for gaming on the current generation of systems. Nintendo 64 was also the first major system to have four controller ports instead of two. Other systems had extra ports you could buy and attach to the ports of the system in order to have more than two, but the N64 was the first one to have four installed into the system. Four players seems to now be the norm when it comes to multiplayer games. The Nintendo 64 also brought about the rumble pack. The rumble pack was released with Star Fox 64. This allowed players to feel a rumble when something hit them or something major happened in the game. This increased gameplay and made players feel more into the game and helped them get engrossed in the gaming experience. These are just main creations by the Nintendo 64 that made it revolutionary but the full impact of the Nintendo 64 may truly never be discovered.
The Nintendo 64 created modern gaming and it was essential in the evolution of the industry into the juggernaut that it is today. Since the Nintendo 64 many systems have duplicated what the N64 did and many have improved upon it. But there will never be a system that has impacted gaming like the Nintendo 64 did and it will forever be remembered.
For the current generation of gamers there was one system that made gaming into what it is today, and that system is the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo 64 can be considered one of the, if not the, most revolutionary gaming systems ever made. If you think about the difference between modern gaming and classic gaming it has to be the switch from two-dimensional platforming to 360 degree gaming. The first system to successfully do this and make it mainstream was the Nintendo 64. For this column I want to take you back to the release of the Nintendo 64 and put you in the mindset of someone who saw this revoultion for the first time and witnessed the future of gaming. I will also talk about the things that made the Nintendo 64 so unique and revolutionary.
Nintendo Power was key in the hype of the Nintendo 64. The first time word got around that Nintendo was planning on making a new system there was immediate hype surrounding it. This coming off the heels of the Super Nintendo which was a great system in its own right and still had some momentum, Donkey Kong Country 3 for example would be released after the Nintendo 64 came out. I got that and Waverace 64 for Christmas that year. The codename for the Nintendo 64 was the Ultra 64. They would obviously eventually change the name to the much catchier Nintendo 64. Then the first images came out of the games on the N64 and our collective jaws hit the floor. For the first time you saw a three dimensional image of Mario. The worlds looked crisp and beautiful. You were able to explore much more than just right and left. Now you could go in all different directions, it was a thing of beauty.
The huge thing for us though was the promotional video that Nintendo Power sent out to commercial the upcoming Nintendo 64. In this video they followed three young gamers as they were introduced to the world of the N64. A man named Ken Lobb would show them around. This man would eventually be one of the best game developers in the industry. The kids were shown Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Mario and Pilotwings would be the two launch games while Shadows of the Empire would be released shortly after. This was really the first time we were able to see the gameplay of the Nintendo 64. This is when the full effect of the new 360 degree gameplay was seen to the fullest. We were in awe of what we were seeing. It was a weird video at times but it really made you want the Nintendo 64...right now. My mom used to say that the video had subliminal messages in it because we would go crazy about the system and be obsessed with having it. Even after all these years I go back and watch it and I want to buy a Nintendo 64 even though I have one, so I think my mother was right.
The Nintendo 64 was released on September 29th, 1996, and it was very hard to find. It seemed like everyone was trying to find it and everyone would fail. It was as if they said they released the system but in reality they kept them in the factories. We were very lucky though. My dad and I went to Sears for an unrelated reason and we went passed their electronics department and saw that somehow they still had a couple of Nintendo 64's! So naturally we had to buy one for my brother and surprise him when we came home from school. That was a day that changed our lives forever. I remember I had to read the book "Indian in the cupboard" for school, but I clearly couldn't concentrate while my brother was playing Mario 64 in my basement. So I went downstairs so I could "read" while watching Mario 64, not much reading was done that night. I was amazed by what was on the television. It was truly revoltionary and it is hard to explain how it felt to see it. My next door neighbor came over once to play Mario 64 when it came out and I can still picture his face as he played it for the first time. His mouth was literally open and he didn't say anything. He just sat there, mouth agape, going around the new three-dimensional world.
There were many things about the Nintendo 64 that made it revolutionary. The obvious one has already been touched on and that is the 360 degree motion and the three dimensional worlds. Because of this Nintendo had to ditch the primary usage of the directional pad and go with a control stick. This was so that you could move diagonally. The N64 would be the first major system to use the control stick which is now essential for gaming on the current generation of systems. Nintendo 64 was also the first major system to have four controller ports instead of two. Other systems had extra ports you could buy and attach to the ports of the system in order to have more than two, but the N64 was the first one to have four installed into the system. Four players seems to now be the norm when it comes to multiplayer games. The Nintendo 64 also brought about the rumble pack. The rumble pack was released with Star Fox 64. This allowed players to feel a rumble when something hit them or something major happened in the game. This increased gameplay and made players feel more into the game and helped them get engrossed in the gaming experience. These are just main creations by the Nintendo 64 that made it revolutionary but the full impact of the Nintendo 64 may truly never be discovered.
The Nintendo 64 created modern gaming and it was essential in the evolution of the industry into the juggernaut that it is today. Since the Nintendo 64 many systems have duplicated what the N64 did and many have improved upon it. But there will never be a system that has impacted gaming like the Nintendo 64 did and it will forever be remembered.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Column: Is the Industry becoming stagnant?
By Aaron N
There is a big trend recently within the video game industry. The trend I'm talking about is the revival of classic franchises. This has really come to a head recently with the creation of NBA Jam, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. While it is amazing to see newer versions of classic games, it concerns me to see this trend. I don't want to see the video game industry turn into the movie industry. It seems that everywhere you look at movies there is a remake or a sequel being made. There is very little originality in the movie industry anymore and I don't want to see the originality leave the industry that I love so much.
The video game industry is the most lucrative industry in the world right now. It has exploded so fast that it's incredible to believe that it's still in it's adolescent stages. If you think about it, video games first came on the map in the 1980's, that's just about three decades ago. It worries me to see that it has so quickly become dependant on it's past. What we enjoy today was built upon originality. Think about all the original ideas that have been made since the first game was made. From the first time we pressed the jump button in the original Super Mario Bros to when we turned on the wii and used motion controls for the first time, the name of the game has been originality and innovation. The unoriginality has been apparant especially whenever I play a game on the wii that forces me to turn the wiimote on its side to play like an old NES controller. It makes me wonder where all the innovation went to. Not that using a wiimote like that is going backwards but if it is used too much then I feel like it could hurt the future and make it become stagnant.
In the same breath as revivals are the many sequels that are coming out in record numbers it seems. Now sequels are not bad either but it is when the sequels are being made for the sole purpose of making money and nothing new is brought to the table. The best example I can give for this is the recent Force Unleashed 2 game that come out in 2010. This game was basically a clone of the original gameplay wise and was clearly made to just make money. Granted there are plenty of sequels that progress the industry and are innovative and original in their own right. But these are drowned out by the bunch of bad sequels. I know the money is in sequels and those have helped the industry explode. Super Mario Bros 3 was insanely hyped up and at the time and was the highest grossing game ever, then came the Halo sequels which almost everybody played, and now it seems like every Call of Duty game that is released makes more money than they last. So I can see why making sequels are so appealing to designers, but for the sake of the progress of the industry originality needs to keep being injected into the system and new concepts need to be made.
There is a big trend recently within the video game industry. The trend I'm talking about is the revival of classic franchises. This has really come to a head recently with the creation of NBA Jam, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. While it is amazing to see newer versions of classic games, it concerns me to see this trend. I don't want to see the video game industry turn into the movie industry. It seems that everywhere you look at movies there is a remake or a sequel being made. There is very little originality in the movie industry anymore and I don't want to see the originality leave the industry that I love so much.
The video game industry is the most lucrative industry in the world right now. It has exploded so fast that it's incredible to believe that it's still in it's adolescent stages. If you think about it, video games first came on the map in the 1980's, that's just about three decades ago. It worries me to see that it has so quickly become dependant on it's past. What we enjoy today was built upon originality. Think about all the original ideas that have been made since the first game was made. From the first time we pressed the jump button in the original Super Mario Bros to when we turned on the wii and used motion controls for the first time, the name of the game has been originality and innovation. The unoriginality has been apparant especially whenever I play a game on the wii that forces me to turn the wiimote on its side to play like an old NES controller. It makes me wonder where all the innovation went to. Not that using a wiimote like that is going backwards but if it is used too much then I feel like it could hurt the future and make it become stagnant.
In the same breath as revivals are the many sequels that are coming out in record numbers it seems. Now sequels are not bad either but it is when the sequels are being made for the sole purpose of making money and nothing new is brought to the table. The best example I can give for this is the recent Force Unleashed 2 game that come out in 2010. This game was basically a clone of the original gameplay wise and was clearly made to just make money. Granted there are plenty of sequels that progress the industry and are innovative and original in their own right. But these are drowned out by the bunch of bad sequels. I know the money is in sequels and those have helped the industry explode. Super Mario Bros 3 was insanely hyped up and at the time and was the highest grossing game ever, then came the Halo sequels which almost everybody played, and now it seems like every Call of Duty game that is released makes more money than they last. So I can see why making sequels are so appealing to designers, but for the sake of the progress of the industry originality needs to keep being injected into the system and new concepts need to be made.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Video: Star Fox 64 Promotional Video
This video was sent out by Nintento Power before Star Fox 64 hit stores in 1997. We had a subscription to Nintendo Power so we got this video cassette, yeah no dvds back then, in the mail and proceeded to put it in the vcr and watch it. This video was so entertaining that we watched it over and over again and memorized the whole thing, I can still quote it today.
For one thing the acting in this video is hilarious. They take it so seriously yet it's still over-the-top and goofy. The way Nintendo portrayed Sega and Sony in this video is interesting as well. Sega is a big doofy guy who is just a follower and is dumb. While Sony is the cunning, mob type guy who is like a rat. While Nintendo is portrayed as the cool person who also is better than all the rest.
The video made me want to play Star Fox 64 right away. I don't know what it was about the Nintendo Power videos but they did a great job at making me want to play whatever they were advertising. They were able to put in the jabs at the competition while also putting in the serious information about the game. It must be noted that Star Fox 64 was the first game to incorporate the new rumble pack which according to the video "lets players feel the game." This was another revolution in the gaming industry as now you see the rumble feature put into every game on every system.
I thought this would be a great video to start the video series with. It is both funny and educational, and it's one of the more important videos for me as a gamer. It has some history to it and it is also very unique. I will end this off with the best line from the video and it is the epitome of propaganda in the video. It is said by Sega after being shown the light by Nintendo: "We just can't beat you guys."
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Review: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 (2010)
By Aaron N
The sequel to the widely popular and well recieved installment to the Star Wars franchise was released in late 2010. Much was secret about this game and the story was never really talked about. You will find out why later in the review. To me this game never seemed more than a simple cash in. The original one was full of promise and hard work that definitely payed off when you played this game. While this one was still well hyped, it didn't seem to have the buzz around it that the first one had.
Graphics:
The graphics in this one were good. They used the same engine as before but it didn't seem to be improved. So the graphics while still good, were outdated and seemed worse than in the original. The graphics in the cut scenes were good but something was off with how the characters spoke. In the original it did it's best to make realistic lip movements and it did it well. This one however seemed to have moved back a few steps in that department as sometimes it looked like the words did not seem to be in sync or even match the lip movements. I know they had actors playing the characters, especially starkiller, but they could have done better with this one especially when they indeed did better in the previous installment. During the gameplay itself the graphics worsened and when they would speak it reminded me of something you would see on the original Xbox. The graphics in this game did not match up to other games released this year let alone in the past few years.
Story:
You play as a clone of Darth Vader's secret apprentice...or do you? Our main character starts off on the cloning planet of Kamino. Then you progress to different planets in what seems to be a loosely tied attempt at telling a story. The main goal however is for our hero to find his love interest from the first game. This ends up tieing in with his other goal of finding Darth Vader and finding out who you really are. Throughout the game you hear that there is no way anyone can clone a Jedi but Vader insists that you are a clone. This would lead to great drama and make you want to find out what you really are wouldn't you think? In fact it was the exact opposite, I really didn't care how the story ended up, I just wanted to complete the game. Lucky for me the game is very short. There is, although, an ending where you get to choose whether you want to go dark side or light side. I chose dark side the first time because I was upset with the game. A friend of mine said something about the ending that I agree with. He basically said that in the first game you felt compelled to make the decision to either go dark or stay light. But in this game you had no reason to go one way or another. The canon ending to this game leaves it open for a sequel which must be inevitable. There basically is no story and the some assemblence of a story that the game has plays out like a bad fanfic you would find on the Star Wars message boards.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in this game is the same as in the first one. Although instead of learning new moves you basically remember them and it tells you how to use them. You still plow through endless waves of stormtroopers and other enemies. There are times where the game gets frustrating with it's lack of save points in the middle of the battle and you will find yourself playing the same battles over and over again until you get lucky and make it to the end. The last fight with Vader is repetitive and drags on. There is no reason to do anything other than button mash your way through the game. When you do die though, which is hard to do, in the middle parts of the levels you just come back in the same place as if nothing happened and continue the level. The game leaves no sense of satisfaction of making it through levels and you feel nothing, well maybe some anger, as you finish each puzzle. They didn't improve at all from the original game in gameplay and it just seems like it should have been a downloadable addition to the original.
Music:
How could you go wrong with music while having the brilliant scores done by John Williams from the Star Wars saga movies? Just play this game. The music while amazing in the movies just seems forced. They are placed in there in the worst spots and they play in the background while not matching anything happening on screen. It was as if they took a song off one of the soundtracks that was made to sink perfectly with what was happening in the movies, then they didn't change a thing and put it in the level. It made you think more of the part of the movie that it fit with and it took you away from the game experience. It would have been much better if they made a new score or at least a few new songs for the game. You know George Lucas has the money.
Overall:
When I went into this game I feared that it was just made to cash in on the original and cash in on the Star Wars juggernaught. There was nothing in this game that made me think otherwise. The Starkillerstory was finished after the original game. It went nicely into episode 4 and could fit in with the saga somewhat easily. This one does not fit in nicely at all and the random characters that are thrown in there like Boba Fett don't seem to fit at all. The game plays as if it was just thrown together and made to make money. It is hard to find anything good to say about this game and you might as well just play the original.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 gets a 4/10
The sequel to the widely popular and well recieved installment to the Star Wars franchise was released in late 2010. Much was secret about this game and the story was never really talked about. You will find out why later in the review. To me this game never seemed more than a simple cash in. The original one was full of promise and hard work that definitely payed off when you played this game. While this one was still well hyped, it didn't seem to have the buzz around it that the first one had.
Graphics:
The graphics in this one were good. They used the same engine as before but it didn't seem to be improved. So the graphics while still good, were outdated and seemed worse than in the original. The graphics in the cut scenes were good but something was off with how the characters spoke. In the original it did it's best to make realistic lip movements and it did it well. This one however seemed to have moved back a few steps in that department as sometimes it looked like the words did not seem to be in sync or even match the lip movements. I know they had actors playing the characters, especially starkiller, but they could have done better with this one especially when they indeed did better in the previous installment. During the gameplay itself the graphics worsened and when they would speak it reminded me of something you would see on the original Xbox. The graphics in this game did not match up to other games released this year let alone in the past few years.
Story:
You play as a clone of Darth Vader's secret apprentice...or do you? Our main character starts off on the cloning planet of Kamino. Then you progress to different planets in what seems to be a loosely tied attempt at telling a story. The main goal however is for our hero to find his love interest from the first game. This ends up tieing in with his other goal of finding Darth Vader and finding out who you really are. Throughout the game you hear that there is no way anyone can clone a Jedi but Vader insists that you are a clone. This would lead to great drama and make you want to find out what you really are wouldn't you think? In fact it was the exact opposite, I really didn't care how the story ended up, I just wanted to complete the game. Lucky for me the game is very short. There is, although, an ending where you get to choose whether you want to go dark side or light side. I chose dark side the first time because I was upset with the game. A friend of mine said something about the ending that I agree with. He basically said that in the first game you felt compelled to make the decision to either go dark or stay light. But in this game you had no reason to go one way or another. The canon ending to this game leaves it open for a sequel which must be inevitable. There basically is no story and the some assemblence of a story that the game has plays out like a bad fanfic you would find on the Star Wars message boards.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in this game is the same as in the first one. Although instead of learning new moves you basically remember them and it tells you how to use them. You still plow through endless waves of stormtroopers and other enemies. There are times where the game gets frustrating with it's lack of save points in the middle of the battle and you will find yourself playing the same battles over and over again until you get lucky and make it to the end. The last fight with Vader is repetitive and drags on. There is no reason to do anything other than button mash your way through the game. When you do die though, which is hard to do, in the middle parts of the levels you just come back in the same place as if nothing happened and continue the level. The game leaves no sense of satisfaction of making it through levels and you feel nothing, well maybe some anger, as you finish each puzzle. They didn't improve at all from the original game in gameplay and it just seems like it should have been a downloadable addition to the original.
Music:
How could you go wrong with music while having the brilliant scores done by John Williams from the Star Wars saga movies? Just play this game. The music while amazing in the movies just seems forced. They are placed in there in the worst spots and they play in the background while not matching anything happening on screen. It was as if they took a song off one of the soundtracks that was made to sink perfectly with what was happening in the movies, then they didn't change a thing and put it in the level. It made you think more of the part of the movie that it fit with and it took you away from the game experience. It would have been much better if they made a new score or at least a few new songs for the game. You know George Lucas has the money.
Overall:
When I went into this game I feared that it was just made to cash in on the original and cash in on the Star Wars juggernaught. There was nothing in this game that made me think otherwise. The Starkillerstory was finished after the original game. It went nicely into episode 4 and could fit in with the saga somewhat easily. This one does not fit in nicely at all and the random characters that are thrown in there like Boba Fett don't seem to fit at all. The game plays as if it was just thrown together and made to make money. It is hard to find anything good to say about this game and you might as well just play the original.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 gets a 4/10
Monday, February 7, 2011
Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (2010)
By Aaron N
The lightning quick blue hedgehog returned to his roots in 2010 with the game Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. Sonic returned to action in a four level downloadable game for all three major consoles and also for apple software. And once again thanks to my amazing girlfriend who bought me this, I was able to experience Sonic's return to its roots for myself. Sonic has recieved much criticism lately since his move to 3D gaming way back on the Sega Dreamcast. I for one liked Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, but I seem to in the minority. I do agree that the 3D sonic games have been subpar. The worst in my opnion being Sonic the Hedgehog that came out in 2006. I couldn't even finish that game it was that bad. Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the early pillars in gaming and helped launch Sega into being a viable competitor to the dominant Nintendo. Turning back the clock seemed to be just what our favorite hedgehog needed.
Graphics:
It really seems that game developers now have caught a hold of how to take great graphics and the 3D style and bring it into a two demensional world. The graphics on Sonic 4 were top notch. Although a tad bit cartoony in nature, Sega was able to still have the high quality graphics that you would expect from a game in this generation and also keep the spirit of a 2D sidescroller. Nothing is lost in this game as all the movements of the enemies and Sonic are very fluid and crisp. There are no skips or problems in the game.
Story:
They don't explain the story in this game but did they ever explain the story in any Sonic game? I mean sure when they introduced Knuckles they had to a little bit, but the story was never really neccesary for past Sonic the Hedgehog game pre-Sonic Adventure. They all had the same Dr. Robotnik, or Eggman as he is called now but he will forever be Robotnik in our hearts, is threatening to destroy the world and Sonic has to make his way through different zones until he finally comes face to face with the evil eggshaped doctor. Sonic 4 is no different in this aspect. There really is no story but it doesn't matter because come on it's Sonic.
Gameplay:
This is where Sonic 4 really shines. This is one of the most fun game you will play in a while. The levels are formulaic and repetitive but it really doesn't matter. Each level differs just enough from the previous one that you are able to enjoy the repetitiveness and not have it get annoying. Since this is only part of the whole game you have four zones to play through. The zones are a throwback to previous zones in past Sonic games, but at the same time they are made to be different where it is a completely new experience. The boss battles against Robotnik are the usual you would expect. There is a pattern to everything he does and you just have to figure out what that pattern is and from then on you are golden. The levels increase in difficulty slightly as you progress but they have just enough difficulty that you feel accomplished when you spin the sign at the end of the level. There was one problem though with this game, the final boss is incredibly difficult. You will find yourself getting very angry at him and the game. But while I say this is a problem, it is also a strength of the game. For the first time in a long time I felt like I had to beat the final boss, scratch that I needed to beat the final boss. I would be at work and I would think about how to beat him or how much I couldn't wait to get my hands on that controller and have another go at him. And when you finally do beat him you feel very accomplished. I have not had a gaming experience like that in a while.
Music:
The music is exactly what you would expect from a Sonic the Hedgehog game. The songs are very catchy and they fit the zone you are playing at the time. The music in Sonic 4 is the type you will find yourself humming or whistling as you will be unable to get them out of your head. This is especially true for the songs in the final level for you will be playing those a lot because of the difficulty.
Overall:
All in all Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 is a must have for all Sonic fans and for all gamers in general. It will have you wanting to play it over and over again and it will make you feel like a child again. It is easy to pick up and start playing. This coupled with the extra stuff to get, like emeralds, gives this game a lot of replay value. And this made my girlfriend 2 for 2 when it came to video games this year, can she pick them or what?
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 gets a 9.5/10
The lightning quick blue hedgehog returned to his roots in 2010 with the game Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. Sonic returned to action in a four level downloadable game for all three major consoles and also for apple software. And once again thanks to my amazing girlfriend who bought me this, I was able to experience Sonic's return to its roots for myself. Sonic has recieved much criticism lately since his move to 3D gaming way back on the Sega Dreamcast. I for one liked Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, but I seem to in the minority. I do agree that the 3D sonic games have been subpar. The worst in my opnion being Sonic the Hedgehog that came out in 2006. I couldn't even finish that game it was that bad. Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the early pillars in gaming and helped launch Sega into being a viable competitor to the dominant Nintendo. Turning back the clock seemed to be just what our favorite hedgehog needed.
Graphics:
It really seems that game developers now have caught a hold of how to take great graphics and the 3D style and bring it into a two demensional world. The graphics on Sonic 4 were top notch. Although a tad bit cartoony in nature, Sega was able to still have the high quality graphics that you would expect from a game in this generation and also keep the spirit of a 2D sidescroller. Nothing is lost in this game as all the movements of the enemies and Sonic are very fluid and crisp. There are no skips or problems in the game.
Story:
They don't explain the story in this game but did they ever explain the story in any Sonic game? I mean sure when they introduced Knuckles they had to a little bit, but the story was never really neccesary for past Sonic the Hedgehog game pre-Sonic Adventure. They all had the same Dr. Robotnik, or Eggman as he is called now but he will forever be Robotnik in our hearts, is threatening to destroy the world and Sonic has to make his way through different zones until he finally comes face to face with the evil eggshaped doctor. Sonic 4 is no different in this aspect. There really is no story but it doesn't matter because come on it's Sonic.
Gameplay:
This is where Sonic 4 really shines. This is one of the most fun game you will play in a while. The levels are formulaic and repetitive but it really doesn't matter. Each level differs just enough from the previous one that you are able to enjoy the repetitiveness and not have it get annoying. Since this is only part of the whole game you have four zones to play through. The zones are a throwback to previous zones in past Sonic games, but at the same time they are made to be different where it is a completely new experience. The boss battles against Robotnik are the usual you would expect. There is a pattern to everything he does and you just have to figure out what that pattern is and from then on you are golden. The levels increase in difficulty slightly as you progress but they have just enough difficulty that you feel accomplished when you spin the sign at the end of the level. There was one problem though with this game, the final boss is incredibly difficult. You will find yourself getting very angry at him and the game. But while I say this is a problem, it is also a strength of the game. For the first time in a long time I felt like I had to beat the final boss, scratch that I needed to beat the final boss. I would be at work and I would think about how to beat him or how much I couldn't wait to get my hands on that controller and have another go at him. And when you finally do beat him you feel very accomplished. I have not had a gaming experience like that in a while.
Music:
The music is exactly what you would expect from a Sonic the Hedgehog game. The songs are very catchy and they fit the zone you are playing at the time. The music in Sonic 4 is the type you will find yourself humming or whistling as you will be unable to get them out of your head. This is especially true for the songs in the final level for you will be playing those a lot because of the difficulty.
Overall:
All in all Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 is a must have for all Sonic fans and for all gamers in general. It will have you wanting to play it over and over again and it will make you feel like a child again. It is easy to pick up and start playing. This coupled with the extra stuff to get, like emeralds, gives this game a lot of replay value. And this made my girlfriend 2 for 2 when it came to video games this year, can she pick them or what?
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 gets a 9.5/10
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Review: Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010)
By Aaron N
The Donkey Kong Country series made it's return to consoles in November of 2010. The last time a Donkey Kong Country game was released was way back in 1996 for the super nintendo. The game would be followed up by the aptly named Donkey Kong 64 for the nintedo 64 but it was a totally different gaming experience. It went from the sidescroller jump-on-enemies gameplay, to the 360 degree gameplay made famous by Mario 64. The Donkey Kong Country series is very dear to my heart, and thanks to my amazing girlfriend who got me this game for Christmas, and Sonic 4, I was able to see firsthand the revival of this classic franchise. How did the move back to sidescrolling go for this classic gaming franchise? Let's find out.
Graphics:
Let's start off with the graphics. There is one thing you can count for with the wii it seems, and that is cartoonish grapics. It can't have as realistic graphics as the xbox 360 or the PS3 so Nintendo seems to have grown into using more cartoonish graphics for the most part. Now that is not a bad thing. Many times the cartoony graphics are beautiful. Take for instance Super Mario Galaxy 2. This game did not have the most realistic graphics but you could still get enthralled in the universe it created and be amazed by how great the graphics looked. Donkey Kong Country Returns is no different. You could see his fur move as Donkey Kong ran through the levels. You could believe that these characters could exist in that world. Also even though it was a 2D sidescroller, the game stil had depth to it. In many instances it forced you to play in the background of the level. This is where the graphics really shined through.
Story:
The story for DKC Returns is a different one than past games in this franchise. Gone is the typical King K Rool steals something from the title Kong characters and the Kong duo have to defeat the meniacal king in order to restore order to the world, or just get the bananas back. Instead it's a new story about a race of creatures who look to be made out of musical instruments who can control animals by playing a catchy song, (which is indeed very catchy). They do however take Donkey Kong's precious pile of bananas. This leads to Donkey and Diddy Kong setting out to take back what is rightfully theirs. It was interesting that "Returns" returned to the classic combination of Donkey and Diddy Kong. The last two DKC games featured the duo of Diddy and Dixie Kong and then subsequently Dixie and the overgrown Kiddie Kong. The Kongs fight their way through different creatures til they eventually fight the head bad guy. I will let you find out what happens when you play it.
Gameplay:
The gameplay for DKC Returns was phenominal. Once you start playing the first level you will immediately be put back to a time when nothing really mattered. It makes you feel like a kid again, and isn't that what video games are supposed to be all about. The controls are very easy to use and there really isn't much to get used to. The controls are very similar to the other DKC games so you can basically jump right in and play the first level without much of a learning curve. I had only a few gripes with the game play. First you are given two lives per Kong character you have. Let's say you have both Donkey and Diddy, you have two hits until you lose Diddy then two more hits with just Donkey until game over. But this isn't my gripe, I actually think that's pretty cool. My gripe is that in some levels like for instance the cart levels, once you fall or get hit you are basically done. This is where the game gets repetitious, for you find yourself playing the same part over and over again just trying to get to the next save area of the level and even then sometimes you run out of lives right after that and you have to start the level all over again. Needless to say it gets very frustrating at times. My other main gripe is that some parts in the levels are almost impossible to do if you don't have Diddy by your side. When you have Diddy you have the luxery of being able to hover with the use of Diddy's jetpack. Donkey by himself does not have a good jump and is kind of useless at times. Other than that the gameplay is fluid and extremely fun to play.
Music:
The music is a very important part of the gaming experience. As I write this I am listening to video game music. The music in "Returns" is very good and definitely fit in the DKC franchise. While there wasn't many tracks that will become iconic or that will stay with you, when you are playing the game the music gets you into the world that was created in this game. It is definitely an important part of the experience of playing Donkey Kong Country Returns.
Overall:
Donkey Kong Country Returns is a welcome addition to this franchise. The characters, world, and everything in it all seemed to fit within the franchise. This game did not seem to be made just to make money off of an old franchise but rather it improved on the past games and added something to the franchise. I had a lot of fun while playing this game and I can guarantee that you will have fun as well.
Donkey Kong Country Returns gets a 9/10
The Donkey Kong Country series made it's return to consoles in November of 2010. The last time a Donkey Kong Country game was released was way back in 1996 for the super nintendo. The game would be followed up by the aptly named Donkey Kong 64 for the nintedo 64 but it was a totally different gaming experience. It went from the sidescroller jump-on-enemies gameplay, to the 360 degree gameplay made famous by Mario 64. The Donkey Kong Country series is very dear to my heart, and thanks to my amazing girlfriend who got me this game for Christmas, and Sonic 4, I was able to see firsthand the revival of this classic franchise. How did the move back to sidescrolling go for this classic gaming franchise? Let's find out.
Graphics:
Let's start off with the graphics. There is one thing you can count for with the wii it seems, and that is cartoonish grapics. It can't have as realistic graphics as the xbox 360 or the PS3 so Nintendo seems to have grown into using more cartoonish graphics for the most part. Now that is not a bad thing. Many times the cartoony graphics are beautiful. Take for instance Super Mario Galaxy 2. This game did not have the most realistic graphics but you could still get enthralled in the universe it created and be amazed by how great the graphics looked. Donkey Kong Country Returns is no different. You could see his fur move as Donkey Kong ran through the levels. You could believe that these characters could exist in that world. Also even though it was a 2D sidescroller, the game stil had depth to it. In many instances it forced you to play in the background of the level. This is where the graphics really shined through.
Story:
The story for DKC Returns is a different one than past games in this franchise. Gone is the typical King K Rool steals something from the title Kong characters and the Kong duo have to defeat the meniacal king in order to restore order to the world, or just get the bananas back. Instead it's a new story about a race of creatures who look to be made out of musical instruments who can control animals by playing a catchy song, (which is indeed very catchy). They do however take Donkey Kong's precious pile of bananas. This leads to Donkey and Diddy Kong setting out to take back what is rightfully theirs. It was interesting that "Returns" returned to the classic combination of Donkey and Diddy Kong. The last two DKC games featured the duo of Diddy and Dixie Kong and then subsequently Dixie and the overgrown Kiddie Kong. The Kongs fight their way through different creatures til they eventually fight the head bad guy. I will let you find out what happens when you play it.
Gameplay:
The gameplay for DKC Returns was phenominal. Once you start playing the first level you will immediately be put back to a time when nothing really mattered. It makes you feel like a kid again, and isn't that what video games are supposed to be all about. The controls are very easy to use and there really isn't much to get used to. The controls are very similar to the other DKC games so you can basically jump right in and play the first level without much of a learning curve. I had only a few gripes with the game play. First you are given two lives per Kong character you have. Let's say you have both Donkey and Diddy, you have two hits until you lose Diddy then two more hits with just Donkey until game over. But this isn't my gripe, I actually think that's pretty cool. My gripe is that in some levels like for instance the cart levels, once you fall or get hit you are basically done. This is where the game gets repetitious, for you find yourself playing the same part over and over again just trying to get to the next save area of the level and even then sometimes you run out of lives right after that and you have to start the level all over again. Needless to say it gets very frustrating at times. My other main gripe is that some parts in the levels are almost impossible to do if you don't have Diddy by your side. When you have Diddy you have the luxery of being able to hover with the use of Diddy's jetpack. Donkey by himself does not have a good jump and is kind of useless at times. Other than that the gameplay is fluid and extremely fun to play.
Music:
The music is a very important part of the gaming experience. As I write this I am listening to video game music. The music in "Returns" is very good and definitely fit in the DKC franchise. While there wasn't many tracks that will become iconic or that will stay with you, when you are playing the game the music gets you into the world that was created in this game. It is definitely an important part of the experience of playing Donkey Kong Country Returns.
Overall:
Donkey Kong Country Returns is a welcome addition to this franchise. The characters, world, and everything in it all seemed to fit within the franchise. This game did not seem to be made just to make money off of an old franchise but rather it improved on the past games and added something to the franchise. I had a lot of fun while playing this game and I can guarantee that you will have fun as well.
Donkey Kong Country Returns gets a 9/10
Friday, February 4, 2011
Welcome to Time Out Video Games
Welcome to Time Out, your place for video game reviews and more. I hope that you enjoy this blog as I will try to give insight into my opinion on video games I have played. I will also post columns about the industry and other fun stuff. So please keep visiting my blog for updates.
Have fun,
Aaron
Have fun,
Aaron
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